Unresolved cases and historical puzzles, explored with care, evidence, and an open mind.
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Real people. Documented evidence. No speculation dressed up as fact.
Omaha, Nebraska · June 13, 2001
Open missing-person caseNineteen-year-old Jason left home to walk toward a planned meeting with a friend near Benson High School. He never arrived. The FBI continues to list his disappearance. What happened during that ordinary walk remains unknown.
Read the full file →Aurora, Colorado · May 2004
Unsolved homicideAl Kite rented a room to a man who introduced himself as “Robert Cooper.” Days later, Kite was found murdered. Investigators say the renter supplied false identifying details and remains their primary suspect. His actual identity is still unknown.
Read the full file →Springfield, Missouri · June 7, 1992
Open missing-person casesSherrill Levitt, her daughter Suzie Streeter, and Suzie’s friend Stacy McCall disappeared from Levitt’s home overnight. Their belongings and cars were left behind. Many theories circulate, but there is no established explanation for what happened.
Read the full file →Niterói, Brazil · August 1966
Unexplained deathsTwo electronics technicians, Manoel Pereira da Cruz and Miguel José Viana, were discovered dead on a hillside wearing improvised lead eye masks. A cryptic notebook mentioned timed actions and capsules. The cause of death was not conclusively determined; explanations involving UFOs or rituals remain speculation.
Read the full file →From ancient burial rituals to a medieval manuscript nobody can read, the past has left plenty of unfinished files. Some are unexplained. Others are simply too strange to forget.
1518 · Strasbourg
In the summer of 1518, an outbreak of compulsive dancing swept Strasbourg, with historical accounts describing dozens or hundreds of people affected. Accounts differ on how many died, if any. Ergot poisoning and collective psychological distress have both been suggested, but the cause remains debated.
The unanswered question: Why did the dancing spread?
Read the full file →c. 100 BCE · Salango, Ecuador
Archaeologists studying a burial complex at Salango documented two infants interred with the cranial vaults of other young people arranged around their heads. The extraordinary ritual is documented in archaeological research, but its exact significance is unknown.
The unanswered question: What did these unusual burials signify?
Read the full file →Early 1400s · Europe
Its parchment dates to the early fifteenth century, and its pages contain an undeciphered script alongside puzzling botanical, astronomical and bathing illustrations. The manuscript is real. The identity of its author, the text’s language and its meaning remain unsettled.
The unanswered question: Is it a cipher, a language, or something else?
Read the full file →897 CE · Rome
In 897, Pope Stephen VI had his predecessor Pope Formosus exhumed and tried after death. The episode reflected intense struggles for church and political power; it was bizarre, but it is an established historical event rather than an unsolved disappearance.
The unanswered question: How did political conflict reach this point?
Read the full file →Early medieval · Scotland
An enigmatic long-snouted creature appears on Pictish symbol stones. Some scholars have compared its form to aquatic animals or mythical creatures. What the motif meant within the Picts’ still-undeciphered symbol system is unknown.
The unanswered question: What did the beast symbol communicate?
Read the full file →Original reporting, research and reference materials for the files on this page.
