6 In 2008, 13-year-old Arushi Talwar was murdered. The in-house cook of Arushi’s family, Hemraj, was also found murdered. Despite a lot of evidence and investigations, the murderer of Arushi Talwar is still not identified.

Arushi was the only child of Rajesh and Nupur Talwar, dentists living in Delhi, India. On 16 May 2008, the Talwars discovered Arushi’s body in her room. Their in-house cook, Hemraj, was missing, and the initial investigations of the police confirmed that Hemraj might have killed Arushi as he tried to assault her after drinking an entire bottle of Scotch. Rajesh Talwar also offered $500 to anybody who would rush to Hemraj’s village in Nepal to bring him back. 

However, the next day, Hemraj’s dead body was discovered on the terrace of the same household. Both Arushi and Hemraj were found with their throats slit. Arushi was hit on her forehead, Hemraj was hit from the back. Even though Arushi was not sexually assaulted, traces of infection were found in her vagina.

The police considered Rajesh Talwar, Arushi’s father. as the prime suspect. They believed that Arushi and Hemraj were involved in a sexual relationship, and Rajesh murdered them after finding this out. The police also suspected Rajesh of an extramarital affair and said that Hemraj was blackmailing him and informed Arushi about this, so he killed them both. 

However, the Talwars and their friends called this investigation a cover-up, and it was later handed over to CBI. CBI suspected Rajesh’s assistant and two other domestic help. The CBI believed that they were trying to sexually assault Arushi and Hemraj found out so both were killed. However, it was reported that the CBI was adopting questionable methods to convict them, and these three men were released as no suitable evidence was found against them. 

In 2009, a new CBI team conducted the investigation and they also named Rajesh Talwar as the prime suspect. In 2013, Arushi’s parents were sentenced to life imprisonment but were released in 2017 due to a lack of evidence. Up to today, it remains one of the unsolved crimes. (1, 2)

7 Two Dutch students had gone hiking in the Panamas in 2014 but went missing. After extensive investigations, their body parts were found. In 2017, their death was linked to some local murders. The real cause of death is still unknown. 

In 2014, two Dutch girls named Kris Kremers and Lisanne Froon had gone hiking in Panama. They were fresh graduates and were interested in hiking. They moved to Panama intending to help the local children through volunteering. After six weeks into the vacation, these two girls went hiking in a nearby forest. They even posted on Facebook about this hike and explained that they would walk to Boquete. Some locals had witnessed them having brunch with two Dutchmen as well. 

However, that very night, these girls went missing. Their parents also stopped receiving texts from them. Soon, their parents arrived in Panama and offered $30,000 as a reward to anyone who could find them. After 10 weeks of substantial searches, Lisanne’s backpack was recovered along with their mobile phones, cash, passports, and camera. The call records showed that both girls had dialed emergency numbers before their phone batteries died. 

Their camera had over ninety flash photos taken in darkness. It was believed that they were near a river at that time. Some plastic bags, toilet paper, and even the back of Kris’ head were also featured in those pictures. The searches were continued, and after two months, parts of their body like their pelvis and their boots with feet were found along with 33 scattered bones.

The DNA tests confirmed that they belonged to Kris and Lisanne. In 2017, their death was linked to some local murders, but no clear evidence has been found yet. (1, 2)

8 Jil Dando, a popular journalist on the BBC show Crimewatch, was murdered in front of her own house in 1999. A person called Barry George was arrested but was released later due to insufficient evidence. It is an unsolved crime even now. 

Jill Dando was a popular British journalist on BBC. She hosted the show “Crimewatch” and discussed unresolved crimes. Her death became an unresolved crime. 

On 26 April 1999, Dando returned from her father’s place to her own house in Fulham around 11:32 p.m. As soon as she reached the front door, she was shot dead.  The autopsy reports had revealed that the gun was pressed against her head at the time of the shooting. One of the neighbors of Dando confirmed that he didn’t hear the gunshot, but he had seen a tall man, aged around 40, leaving Dando’s house. At that time, the neighbor wasn’t aware of her murder. 

After extensive investigations, some potential suspects were narrowed down by the police. This list included a jealous ex-boyfriend, a professional murderer hired by someone, some insane fan, etc. After one year of investigation, the cops identified a local man named Barry George who had a history of stalking and abusing women. He was arrested in 2000 but was later released due to insufficient evidence. As of today, this crime is still unresolved. (source)

9 In 1981, a German girl, Ursula Herrmann, was abducted when she was cycling very close to her home. Her parents also received cryptic calls and ransom notes before her disappearance. Two weeks after her disappearance, Ursula’s body was found buried in a forest.  

Ursula Herrman was a ten-year-old girl living in Germany. On 15 September 1981, she was cycling from her cousin’s home to her own, which was only a ten-minute distance from her house. However, she disappeared after that.

After two days, her parents started receiving cryptic calls where no one was speaking, and only radio jingles were played. Later, her parents received a ransom note where the kidnappers demanded DM 2 million. After Ursula’s mother said they would pay the ransom, the kidnappers sent another ransom note stating payment instructions.

After two weeks of her abduction, an extensive search was performed in the forest, and Ursula’s dead body was found buried in a box. It was a furnished box with food, a radio, ventilation, etc. However, the air exchange wasn’t sufficient, and forensic reports stated that Ursula had died of suffocation.

Werner Mazurek, a neighbor of Ursula, was considered a suspect, but he had an alibi. One of his friends told the police that Mazurek had dug a hole in the forest, but he later denied it. Afterward, this case stalled.

However, in 2007, Werner Mazurek and his wife were arrested as a tape recorder was indeed found from Mazurek’s home, and the police suspected that jingles were played on it. Later, Mazurek was sentenced to life imprisonment while his wife was released.

However, the DNA analysis performed on the box where Ursula was found could not provide any proper matches. The saliva samples of Mazurek also didn’t match. Hence, even though Mazurek was convicted, there was no appropriate evidence against him. Therefore, this case remained an unsolved one.

In 2018, Ursula’s brother was awarded payment for the family’s partial damage. (1, 2)

10 On 26 January, Australian Day, 1966, three children took a bus ride to reach Glenelg Beach and mysteriously disappeared without a trace. 

Three children, Jane, Arnna, and Grant, were taking a bus to Glenelg Beach on 26 January 1966. However, they mysteriously disappeared and never returned to their parents. Though many people confirmed seeing them at various locations that day, nobody could tell where they had gone. 

The police had conducted a detailed search but didn’t find any sign of the kids. Many theories made the rounds after that. It was thought that the kids were accidentally buried while playing with sand. Some also said that they might have been kidnapped. The mother of these children, Nancy, was painfully blamed after their disappearance and until her death, she lived an agonized life. The parents of the kids even separated due to this immense trauma. 

Dieter Pfennig was a suspect, as he was convicted for the murder of a schoolgirl in 1983. However, no strong evidence was found against him. The government announced a $1 million reward for a report of any trace of the children. However, despite several investigations, the case remains unresolved. (source)