The Most Famous Cold Cases in FBI History

Every police force in the U.S. has cold cases that are waiting to be solved. Sometimes, those cases are important enough that the FBI becomes involved. I’m exploring 20 of the most famous cold cases in FBI history.

It wasn’t until 1908 that the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)  came to fruition. At that point, more than 100 cities had populations exceeding 50,000 people, and crime and corruption rates increased with growing populations. While some areas had local police forces, federal laws were sparse and the Secret Service was tasked with handling national crime and security.

When a factory worker lost his job in Ohio and hopped on a train to Buffalo to shoot President McKinley, Teddy Roosevelt transitioned from the vice presidency to the presidency. He pushed for a federal agency.

The FBI is currently authorized to investigate and solve federal crimes that fall under nine categories: civil rights violations, counterintelligence threats, cyber crimes, organized crime, public corruption, terrorism, violent crime, weapons of mass destruction, and white-collar crime.

I watch a lot of crime documentaries and reenactment shows, so I’ve learned about hundreds of cold cases over the years. For this article, I’m highlighting cases I see mentioned in cold case forums and on shows like “Unsolved Mysteries.” They are sorted by date (oldest to newest). (Also Read 21 of Most Famous Cold Cases in American History.)

Wall Street Bombing

• Victims: 300 injuries and more than 30 deaths
• Nature of Crime: Bombing/Terrorism
• Date: September 16, 1920

During the lunch rush in mid-September, a man parked his horse and cart in front of the U.S. Assay Office on Wall Street and walked away. The Wall Street Bombing injured hundreds and killed dozens. Descriptions of the cart’s driver were vague, and a reconstruction of the bomb and the fuse didn’t provide enough to find a suspect. The FBI suspected that it was the work of an Italian anarchist, but there wasn’t enough evidence to lead to an arrest.

Roland T. Owen

• Victim: Artemus Ogletree (20)
• Nature of Crime: Murder
• Date: January 2, 1935

Roland T. Owen checked into the President Hotel in Kansas City, and a bellhop took him up to room 1046. Over the next few days, hotel staff found his behavior to be unusual and he had a guest who would sit alone in the dark with the room locked from the outside. Days later, Owen was found with stab wounds, bound ankles and wrists, and a skull fracture. He died at the hospital.

Authorities discovered Owen’s real name, Artemus Ogletree, several years into the investigation. His mother had been getting calls and letters from someone posing as Ogletree. While Kansas City detectives named a suspect, the FBI cleared him, and the case remains open today.

Black Dahlia

• Victim: Elizabeth Short (22)
• Nature of Crime: Murder
• Date: January 15, 1947

This famous FBI cold case was featured in an Oscar-nominated film starring Scarlett Johannsen and Josh Hartnett. Elizabeth Short’s life was cut short when someone murdered her, cut her body in half, and disposed of it in a Los Angeles park. The FBI received an anonymous letter, but the fingerprints weren’t on file, so the killer has never been identified.

Boy in the Box

• Victim: Joseph Augustus Zarelli (4)
• Nature of Crime: Child Abuse/Murder
• Date: February 25, 1957

The body of a young boy was found in a JCPenney box hidden in a wooded section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was naked and badly beaten. From that day in 1957 until 2022, the boy’s identity remained a mystery.  However, advancements in DNA testing finally led to the boy’s identity six decades later. While his identity is now known, it’s uncertain who killed him.

Alcatraz Escape

• Nature of Crime: Prison Escape
• Date: June 12, 1962

Alcatraz was a high-security island prison off the coast of San Francisco. Because guards performed a dozen checks of each prisoner and 14 escape attempts between 1934 and 1961 failed, it was assumed the prison was escape-proof. In 1962, Clarence Anglin, John Anglin, and Frank Morris escaped and were never seen again. Wreckage of their rubber raft and a handmade life vest were found onshore.

The Zodiac Killer

• Victims: David Faraday (17), Darlene Ferrin (22), Betty Lou Jensen (16), Cecelia Ann Shepard (22), and Paul Lee Stein (29) died; while Bryan Calvin Hartnell (20) and Mike Mageau (19) survived.
• Nature of Crime: Murder
• Dates: 1968 and 1969

For at least two years, the Zodiac Killer murdered at least five people in Northern California. After the murders, he’d send cryptic letters to authorities and newspapers taunting them to find him. The Zodiac’s identity has been debated for decades, but he’s never been caught.

D.B. Cooper

• Victim: Northwest Orient Airlines
• Nature of Crime: Hijacking/Ransom
• Date: November 24, 1971

Right around Thanksgiving in 1971, a man calling himself Dan “D.B.” Cooper purchased a ticket from Portland, Oregon, to Seattle, Washington. After ordering a drink, he handed an employee that he had a bomb and showed her the wires in his briefcase. He told her to tell the captain, demanding four parachutes and $200,000 in small bills.

After landing in Seattle, Cooper demanded the pilot fly him to Mexico City. Somewhere between Seattle and Reno, he used the parachutes to escape. His identity has never been solved.  In the 1980s, a boy found some of the cash in a rotting package, the rest has never been recovered.

Jimmy Hoffa

• Victim: Jimmy Hoffa
• Nature of Crime: Disappearance
• Date: July 30, 1975

Since his disappearance in 1975, rumors regarding Hoffa’s burial site have ranged from the Meadowlands (Giants Stadium) to a ball field below Pulaski Skyway. He’s never been found despite several tips that he’s buried in a steel drum in different locations.

Truman Presidential Library Thefts

• Victim: President Truman
• Nature of Crime: Theft
• Date: March 24, 1978

On the morning of March 24th, two suspects broke into Independence, Missouri’s, Truman Presidential Library and smashed the display case containing three ceremonial swords and two daggers given to President Truman by the Saudi Arabian Crown Prince and the Shah of Iran. The value of the items in 1978 was upwards of $1 million, which is about $4.61 million today.

Keddie Cabin Murders

• Victim: Sue Sharp (36), John Sharp, and (17), and Dana Wingate (17), Tina Sharp (12)
• Nature of Crime: Murder
• Date: April 11, 1981

Sue Sharp left her abusive husband and moved her five children across the country from Connecticut to California. Sharp and her children stayed with her brother until she landed a job at a nearby lodge and was offered a cabin as part of her employment benefits.

Fourteen-year-old Sheila returned from a sleepover on the morning of April 11th to find her mother, brother, and brother’s friend murdered. Her other two brothers were upstairs asleep and hadn’t heard anything. No one could find the other child, 12-year-old Tina. Tina’s body was found in 1984 about 100 miles away. DNA found at the scene has never been matched to a suspect.

New Bedford Highway Killer

• Victim: At least nine women
• Nature of Crime: Murder
• Dates: July 1988 to March 1989

The New Bedford Highway Killer murdered at least nine women along Route 140 in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Two more women in that area disappeared, but their bodies have never been found. Despite having three possible suspects, no one has ever been arrested for these murders.

Gardner Museum Heist

• Victim: Museum
• Nature of Crime: Robbery
• Date: March 18, 1990

In the early morning, two men in police uniforms rang the buzzer at Gardner Museum’s employee entrance and stated they were responding to a disturbance. Once inside, the men handcuffed the two on-duty guards and put them in the basement. Those men walked out with 13 priceless works of art from the Dutch Room. Despite a $10 million reward, the paintings remain missing and the FBI keeps looking for the clues needed to solve this famous cold case.

I-70 Killer

• Victims: Ten people, including two survivors
• Nature of Crime: Murder
• Dates: April 8, 1992 to January 15, 1994

Since the 1990s, authorities and the FBI have been trying to identify a serial killer who claimed several victims. Each victim worked or shopped in stores close to the I-70. Most of the victims were in Kansas and Indiana, but officials believe a pair of unsolved murders in Texas are also tied to the I-70 killer.

George Stanley “Junior” Burdynski

• Victim: Junior Burdynski
• Nature of Crime: Disappearance
• Date: May 24, 1993

When 10-year-old Junior Burdynski went missing, the FBI discovered that three neighborhood men were sexually abusing neighborhood boys. This launched the FBI’s first online undercover child predator investigation. Two years later, the FBI’s Innocent Images program launched. Despite these advancements, he’s never been located.

Amber Hagerman

• Victim: Amber Hagerman
• Nature of Crime: Abduction and murder
• Date: January 13, 1996

She’s the reason AMBER alerts exist today. However, Amber Hagerman’s abduction and murder have never been solved. She was riding her bike when she disappeared and was found dead four days later. DNA was found at the scene, and hopes are that is what will break this unsolved murder.

JonBenet Ramsey

• Victim: JonBenet Ramsey
• Nature of Crime: Strangulation
• Date: December 26, 1996

Six-year-old JonBenet Ramsey’s death is one of the best-known modern FBI cold cases. After being found dead in her home, Ramsey’s parents also found a lengthy ransom note. Strangulation is her official cause of death. While there have been many suspects over the years, her killer has not been identified.

Ricky McCormick

• Victim: Ricky McCormick
• Nature of Crime: Murder
• Date: June 30, 1999

McCormick was a felon who couldn’t read or write. After taking a bus from St. Louis to Orlando, he returned to St. Louis days later. McCormick went back to work and disappeared. After finding his body three days later, it’s what was in his pockets that baffled investigators. He couldn’t write, but his pockets contained cryptic noes. The FBI’s cryptography experts and other specialists have been unable to crack those letters. Despite not having all of the answers, authorities believe McCormick was murdered.

The Jamison Family

• Victims: Bobby, Madyson, and Sherilyn Jamison
• Nature of Crime: Disappearance
• Date: October 2009

The Jamison family disappeared while looking to purchase 40 acres of land in the San Bois Mountains. Investigators found the family’s pickup, dog, and personal items, but there was no trace of the parents or their young daughter. Four years later, hunters found the remains of two adults and a child. While a medical examiner confirmed they were the Jamison’s remains, their disappearance and cause of death remain under investigation.

Missy Bevers

• Victim: Missy Bevers
• Nature of Crime: Murder
• Date: April 18, 2016

Bevers arrived in the early morning to set up for a Camp Gladiator fitness class she taught at Creekside Church in Midlothian, Texas. Half an hour later, her first group of students walked in to find her dead from a head wound. The only lead the FBI has involves video footage of a person in tactical clothing with “Police” across it.

The Delphi Historic Trail Murders

• Victims: Liberty German and Abigail Williams
• Nature of Crime: Murder
• Date: February 13, 2017

German (14) and Williams’ (13) parents dropped the girls off at the Delphi Historic Trail in Indiana. They arranged to pick them up later, but the girls never showed up at the designated pick-up location. The next day, volunteers found their bodies. German captured video footage of their killer, but the suspect’s identity remains a mystery.

Those are 20 of the most famous cold cases in FBI history. Keep reading to learn more about some of the most significant cases in U.S. law enforcement history.