From the evidence room
Cold Cases
Vanished hijackers, unbreakable ciphers, stolen masterpieces and strangers nobody could name. Real cases, told carefully — with what is known kept apart from what is guessed.
10 case files on record · 7 still unsolved · a new file can turn up on any day’s front page.
A note on these stories: they involve real people, many of whom were hurt or killed. We stick to the documented record, we don’t name living people as suspects, and we try to remember that every “mystery” was somebody’s family first.
FILE CF-0051 · 1971
The Hijacker Who Jumped Into the RainIn 1971 a quiet man in a business suit hijacked a passenger jet, collected $200,000, and stepped out of the back of the plane into a storm at night. Nobody has seen him since.
Unsolved
FILE CF-0052 · 1948
The Man on Somerton BeachIn 1948 a well-dressed stranger was found dead on an Australian beach, with the labels cut from his clothes and a scrap of poetry hidden in his pocket. It took 74 years to learn his name.
Identified
FILE CF-0053 · 1970
The Woman in Ice ValleyIn 1970, hikers in Norway found the burned body of a woman nobody could identify. She had travelled under at least eight false names. Half a century later, we still don’t know who she was.
Unsolved
FILE CF-0054 · 1912
The House in VilliscaOne summer night in 1912, eight people were killed in a small Iowa town. A preacher was tried twice. Nobody was ever convicted, and the house still stands.
Unsolved
FILE CF-0055 · 1922
The Footprints at HinterkaifeckBefore six people were killed on a remote Bavarian farm in 1922, the farmer found footprints in the snow leading to his house — and none leading away. The case was never solved.
Unsolved
FILE CF-0056 · 1990
Thirteen Empty FramesIn 1990, two men dressed as police officers walked into a Boston museum and left with a Vermeer, three Rembrandts and more. The empty frames are still hanging on the wall.
Unsolved
FILE CF-0057 · 1987
The Night Max Headroom Hijacked ChicagoIn 1987, a man in a rubber mask took over two Chicago TV stations, rambled, hummed, and was spanked with a flyswatter on air. He was never caught.
Unsolved
FILE CF-0058 · 1911
The Summer the Mona Lisa VanishedIn 1911, a handyman walked out of the Louvre with the Mona Lisa under his smock. Nobody noticed for a day — and the theft is a big part of why she became the most famous painting in the world.
Solved
FILE CF-0059 · 1969
The Cipher That Took 51 YearsIn 1969, a killer mailed a page of 340 strange symbols to a San Francisco newspaper. For half a century, nobody could read it. In 2020, three amateurs finally did.
Unsolved
FILE CF-0060 · 1926
The Eleven Days Agatha Christie DisappearedIn December 1926, the world’s future best-selling mystery writer vanished, sparking a nationwide manhunt. She turned up in a spa hotel under someone else’s name — and never explained why.
Found
The Hijacker Who Jumped Into the RainIn 1971 a quiet man in a business suit hijacked a passenger jet, collected $200,000, and stepped out of the back of the plane into a storm at night. Nobody has seen him since.
Unsolved
FILE CF-0052 · 1948
The Man on Somerton BeachIn 1948 a well-dressed stranger was found dead on an Australian beach, with the labels cut from his clothes and a scrap of poetry hidden in his pocket. It took 74 years to learn his name.
Identified
FILE CF-0053 · 1970
The Woman in Ice ValleyIn 1970, hikers in Norway found the burned body of a woman nobody could identify. She had travelled under at least eight false names. Half a century later, we still don’t know who she was.
Unsolved
FILE CF-0054 · 1912
The House in VilliscaOne summer night in 1912, eight people were killed in a small Iowa town. A preacher was tried twice. Nobody was ever convicted, and the house still stands.
Unsolved
FILE CF-0055 · 1922
The Footprints at HinterkaifeckBefore six people were killed on a remote Bavarian farm in 1922, the farmer found footprints in the snow leading to his house — and none leading away. The case was never solved.
Unsolved
FILE CF-0056 · 1990
Thirteen Empty FramesIn 1990, two men dressed as police officers walked into a Boston museum and left with a Vermeer, three Rembrandts and more. The empty frames are still hanging on the wall.
Unsolved
FILE CF-0057 · 1987
The Night Max Headroom Hijacked ChicagoIn 1987, a man in a rubber mask took over two Chicago TV stations, rambled, hummed, and was spanked with a flyswatter on air. He was never caught.
Unsolved
FILE CF-0058 · 1911
The Summer the Mona Lisa VanishedIn 1911, a handyman walked out of the Louvre with the Mona Lisa under his smock. Nobody noticed for a day — and the theft is a big part of why she became the most famous painting in the world.
Solved
FILE CF-0059 · 1969
The Cipher That Took 51 YearsIn 1969, a killer mailed a page of 340 strange symbols to a San Francisco newspaper. For half a century, nobody could read it. In 2020, three amateurs finally did.
Unsolved
FILE CF-0060 · 1926
The Eleven Days Agatha Christie DisappearedIn December 1926, the world’s future best-selling mystery writer vanished, sparking a nationwide manhunt. She turned up in a spa hotel under someone else’s name — and never explained why.
Found
Case tapes
Video essays on unsolved mysteries, from The Screening Room.
