The FBI estimates that at any given moment, there are between 25 and 50 serial killers in the United States. That's less than comforting. Here are a few that were never caught, and are probably in a neighborhood near you.
West Mesa Serial Killer (2001-2005)
Victims: 11
A desert mesa in Albuquerque, New Mexico, rises above 118th Street. It is there that in 2009, the first bones were discovered. The case of the West Mesa Serial Killer would begin after a woman walking her dog found what appeared to be a human femur sticking out of the ground. Police called to the scene would find a total of 11 skeletal remains in this lonely arid landmass.
A decade later, one detective remains on the case, but the outlook is bleak. The victims, all in the trades of prostitution and drug trafficking, were Hispanic women, except for one African-American woman who was four months pregnant at the time of her murder. It remains unsolved today.
(Photo credit: Vice)Long Island Serial Killer (1996-Present)
Victims: 10
Also known as the Craigslist Killer, his modus operandi is to lure sex workers to his location. Each of the victims advertised their services on Craigslist right before their executions. The town of Gilgo Beach on Long Island is gripped in fear by this maniac prostitute-strangler who has already claimed the lives of 10 women.
The disappearance of Shannon Gilbert, 23, prompted the discovery of four bodies in December 2010. Six more were found in the same locale only months later. Although the case remains wide open, behavioral psychologists believe the perpetrator is long gone, given the intense media exposure of his brutality. Police have profiled the Long Island Serial Killer as a white man between 20 and 40 years old with access to burlap sacks, in which he contained the bodies.
(Photo credit: Investigating Crimes)Daytona Beach Killer (2005-2007)
Victims: 4
In the span of two years, officers in Daytona found four bodies all killed with the same gun, a Smith & Wesson .40 Cal Sigma Series VE. Laquetta Gunther, Julie Green, Stacey Gage and Iwana Patton were all shot execution style.
Ridgewood Avenue would be the setting in this case, and the victims were prostitutes who prowled these streets in search of bare necessities such as booze, drugs and cigarettes. It is surmised that the Daytona Beach Killer would solicit their sexual services and make them kneel down. The case is cold, as primary detective Chief Mike Chitwood said, "If you look at the history of serial killers, when all is good with their lives, they stop killing. When things get bad in their lives, they start up again."
(Photo credit: Orlando Sentinel)Eastbound Strangler (2006)
Victims: 4
A drainage ditch behind a seedy motel would be the final resting place for four women in 2006. Barbara Vreidor, Molly Jean Dilts, Kim Raffo and Tracy Ann Roberts were each found strangled to death, face down, within a month's time.
One prevailing theory is that the Eastbound Strangler is not one, but two men, an African American and a Caucasian, as one witness suggested. They would lure these women, also prostitutes, into a van and entice them with drugs, asking them if they wanted to party at the Golden Key Motel. The bodies were all barefoot, as well, suggesting the murders happened indoors. In 2015, police offered a $25,000 reward for information.
Edgecombe County Serial Killer (2005-2012)
Victims: 10
A farmer in May 2015 was walking in the tiny rural town of Rocky Mount, North Carolina, when he smelled rotting flesh. He assumed it was a deer until he saw two human hands raised above the foliage, as if trying to block a bullet. Melody Wiggins, a local escort, was the first of nine black women who reached their brutal fate over the course of seven years.
The victims were scattered across three counties, found naked in fields. They were all on the edge of their lives, weak and vulnerable. In 2009, Anthony Pittman, a sex offender, was convicted of one of the killings, but investigators believe he is not the sole killer in this tragic small-town mystery.
(Photo credit: Old Cat Lady)The Jeff Davis 8 (2005-2009)
Victims: 8
Two of the Jeff Davis 8 were cousins, two were roommates, and every victim knew intimately of each other, suggesting without a doubt that the murderer knew them all personally, as well.
On May 20, 2005, a fisherman in Jennings, LA, cast his line out from a bridge over the murky swamps of Jefferson Davis Parish. He saw what appeared to be a mannequin floating in the water, but this mannequin had flies buzzing over it. It turned out to be the corpse of 28-year-old Lynn Lewis, the first of eight victims that would rock the town of only 10,000 people.
Ernestine Patterson, 30, Kristen Lopez, 21, Whitnei Dubois, 27, Laconia Brown, 23, Crystal Zeno, 24, Brittney Gary, 17, and Necole Guillory, 26, all lived within the confines of Jennings' savage sex and drug trade. Detectives haven't the slightest clue who is responsible for their deaths.
(Photo credit: The Every Three Weekly)I-70 Killer (1992)
Victims: 6-8
Interstate 70 runs along Indiana, Missouri and Kansas. In April and May of 1992, it was terrorized by one lone gunman. Six store clerks were shot, each having met their fate over a measly sum of money. Every clerk was a petite brunette, except for one man, who might've confused the killer with his pony tail. In the following two years, the same suspected serial murderer would strike Texas and kill two more. The I-70 Killer is still a ghost 24 years later.
Frankford Slasher (1985-1990)
Victims: 8-9
In a string of murders that would get progressively worse, the Frankford Slasher petrified residents of Frankford Avenue in Philadelphia. Along this neighborhood of vacant buildings and sealed storefronts would be the resting place for nine women stabbed dozens of times. The first victim, Jeanne Durkin, 28, was stabbed 74 times. In an abandoned train yard only a short time later, Helen Patent was shanked 49 times until her entrails were visible to those who found her.
The perp was described as a "smooth talker" who would prey on women in bars. He would console them and once posed as a counselor. The bastard even rented an office in a church. Witnesses remember him as a middle-aged white man. In 2008, police received word that their prime suspect had died, though we can never be too sure.
Honolulu Strangler (1985-1986)
Victims: 5
Hawaii's first serial killer of note specialized in binding and raping women and leaving their corpses in lagoons. In total, five women died the same way. A strange twist in the story happened when a man called the cops and told them that a psychic told him that a dead body was on Sand Island. They followed the lead and found their fifth victim.
This man, who is unnamed, was eventually taken in for a polygraph test and an interrogation, where he failed both. His wife further informed the cops that he had left the house in a rage after fights and on every one of these nights, a murder happened. She also said he was into S&M bondage, which coincided with his MO. This surprisingly has never led to a conviction, which has led some to believe that the Honolulu Strangler was, himself, a member of law enforcement.
(Photo credit: Pacific Worlds)Charlie Chop-Off (1972-1974)Victims: 6
A lighthearted nickname for such a resoundingly torturous killer, Charlie Chop-Off struck fear into Upper Manhattan in the early 1970s. He would lure young boys with promises of quarters and stab them dozens of times. They gave him the name "Chop-Off" because he would mutilate their penises. Douglas Owens, 8, Wendell Hubbard, 9, Luis Ortiz, 9, and Steven Cropper, 8, were all murdered in the same ghastly manner.
On May 15, 1974, police arrested Erno Soto for a botched abduction of a nine-year-old Puerto Rican boy. He confessed to one of the murders, but given the lack of evidence, they exonerated him and placed him in an asylum for the criminally insane.
(Photo credit: Gidy)