According to statistics, most murder cases are quickly solved; 90% of missing persons, whether alive or deceased, are found after some time. However, some cases from the last century remain unsolved and linger in the minds of investigators.
The Hinterkaifeck Murder Case
On the night of March 31 to April 1, 1922, six people were brutally murdered in the village of Hinterkaifeck, near Munich, Germany. The victims were the couple Andreas and Cecilia Gruber, their children – Victoria, Joseph, Cecilia – and their maid, Maria Baumgartner. All six were struck on the head with a sharp object by the assailant. Despite approximately 100 people being interrogated in this case, no suspect or motive for the murders could be established.
One theory suggests the murderer could have been a drifter who broke in and committed the crime; another theory posits that the perpetrator might be Victoria Gruber’s ex-husband, who was believed to have died on the battlefield. In 2007, students at the Police Academy in Fürstenfeldbruck claimed they could use modern investigative techniques to identify the killer. However, they ultimately could not solve the case.
(Illustrative Image: Russian7).
The Death of the “Black Dahlia”
On January 15, 1947, the remains of 22-year-old Elizabeth Short were discovered on an abandoned lot near Los Angeles. Her body had been cut in half. Elizabeth worked as a waitress and dreamed of becoming an actress. She was fond of wearing black dresses, which earned her the nickname “Black Dahlia.”
Elizabeth was last seen on January 9, 1947, at the Los Angeles Biltmore Hotel. At various times, 22 individuals were declared suspects in this crime, with around 60 people confessing to the murder. However, police were unable to gather any evidence to substantiate claims against any of them.
The “Somerton Man”
On the morning of December 1, 1948, the body of a well-dressed man, approximately 45 years old, was found on Somerton Beach in Adelaide, Australia. There were no signs of violence or injury on the victim’s body. During the autopsy, it was discovered that the stomach of the deceased was filled with blood. Experts speculated that the cause of death might have been poisoning, yet no traces of poison were found in the body.
The police were astonished to find that the deceased had no money, and all labels from his clothing had been cut off. It appeared that someone did not want the police to identify the victim. Later, it was discovered that on November 30 of the same year, an unnamed person had sent a suitcase to the Adelaide railway station’s locker. The suitcase contained clothes that fit the “Somerton Man” perfectly, although the labels were tattered.
Despite three items bearing the name “T. Kin” showing signs of chemical laundering, this information yielded no results for the investigation. In his secret pants pocket, the man had a folded piece of paper with the words “Tamam Shud“. It was torn from a collection of poems titled “Rubaiyat” by the famous Persian poet Omar Khayyam. In Persian, “tamam shud” means “finished” or “completed.”
A copy of the Rubaiyat, with the last page torn out, was found belonging to a doctor living in Glenelg. The doctor claimed that on November 30, he had found a book on the front seat of his car. Forensic experts confirmed that the page had indeed been torn out. The book was carefully examined, and the back bore a pencil mark resembling a code. Additionally, the book contained a phone number belonging to a woman named Jessica Powell.
This woman stated that the book once belonged to her, but she had given it to her friend, Lieutenant Alfred Boxall, in 1945. The police located Boxall, but he showed them a completely intact copy of “Rubaiyat!” Over time, a theory emerged suggesting that the “Somerton Man” was a Soviet spy. Not far from where his body was found, there was a large missile testing site.
In November 2013, the late Jessica Powell’s daughter informed television reporters that her mother was a Soviet intelligence agent. For some reason, she may have killed the “Somerton Man” using a type of poison that left no trace on the body. Curiously, most evidence in the Somerton case has been lost or destroyed.
The Disappearance of the Beaumont Children
Another mysterious crime in the vicinity of Adelaide occurred on January 26, 1966. On that day, the three children of Jim and Nancy Beaumont – Jane, 9 years old, Arnna, 7 years old, and Grant, 4 years old – went to the beach at Glenelg. It was a 10-minute bus ride from their home, but by noon, the children had not returned. By evening, the parents reported them missing to the police. A 74-year-old woman claimed she saw the children playing at a fountain with a young man.
Thousands of volunteers joined the search effort. The media also became involved, but to no avail. A few years ago, the book “The Satin Man” was published in Australia, in which the author claimed that his father, businessman Harry Phipps, who passed away in 2004, was a pedophile and was the one who killed the Beaumont children.
After the book was published, two individuals contacted the police, recounting that one summer day in 1966, Phipps had hired them to dig a two-meter deep hole in the yard of the New Castalloy factory he owned. An immediate assumption arose that the remains of the missing children were buried there. The police decided to excavate, with scientists from Flinders University also participating. Animal bones of various species were found, but no human remains were discovered. Hopes of solving one of the “mysteries of the century” never came to fruition.
