Everyone loves a good mystery. It entertains us and keeps us on our toes.
However, the cast of Criminal Minds can't be everywhere to help us when cases go cold and unfortunately stay that way for a long time. Here are three of the craziest unsolved crimes that we may never know the answer to.
1. The Jamison Family
Bobby, Sherilyn, and Madyson Jamison vanished on October 8, 2009 and nothing has ever been exactly proven. Their truck was found with their dog under it, almost dead from malnutrition, while all their belongings remained in the truck (I.D's, money, phones, along with almost $32,000 in cash). Theories stretched from "they faked their own deaths" to "drug dealing".
Four years later their bodies were found around three miles of the truck and almost unidentifiable. The cause of death was undetermined and the only clue found was the photo above of Madyson Jamison that was found on one of the cell phones. Many people think that the photo was taken by the possible killer because the girl looks so distressed.
2. The Sodder Family
This case is especially creepy. It takes place in the Sodder family home on Christmas Eve in 1945. It caught fire at 1 A.M and trapped five of the Sodder Children—Maurice, (14), Martha (12), Louis (9), Jennie (8), and Betty (5), in the home. Their dad George tried to save them, but the fire was too crazy. He phones for help, but no one came until 8 A.M and at that point, there was hardly anything left.
Here's where it gets interesting: There were no bodies found in the rubble. It was simply thought that the fire was so hot that it just melted all evidence of bodies.
But there was another theory.
George, a born Italian, was a known protestor of Mussolini. 6 months prior to the fire a salesman was selling insurance, and when George said no multiple times, the salesman swore at him and said, "Your damn house is going to go up in smoke, and your children are going to be destroyed. You are going to be paid for the dirty remarks you have been making about Mussolini. "
The sons also noticed a man parked near their house and watching them as they walked home from school.
There's more.
Jennie Sodder couldn't understand how all five children could burn in a fire and leave nothing behind. When she asked a crematorium employee, he said that bones can remain in a fire for two hours at 2,000 degrees. Their house burned in forty-five minutes.
Their houses wiring had also been cut and not faulty like they thought. Someone reported someone messing with George's car and the ladder that usually rested at the side of the house, which would have allowed George to help rescue his kids, was mysteriously gone.
The last crazy thing happened in 1968, twenty years later. Jennie Sodder received a letter from Kentucky that held a photo of a man in his 20's. On the back said " Louis Sodder. I love brother Frankie. Ilil Boys. A90132 or 35." The man resembled Louis Sodder, one of the kids presumed dead in the fire. A private investigator was sent to Kentucky but he never came back.
Guess nobody will ever know what really happened to the family.
3. Elisa Lam
Elisa, a 21-year-old, Canadian Student in Vancouver, visited L.A and checked into the Cecil Hotel on January 2013. When she didn't check in with her parents after five days, they called the L.A police. When a week went by with no leads to the disappearance of the woman, they released the bizarre surveillance tapes that left people with more questions than answers.
The video depicts Lam in the hotel elevator, acting strangely. She was peeking around the corner of the elevator, hiding, and at one point, seemed to be looking at something. Even then, some of the footage seems to be removed halfway through. The hotel was known for its crimes and criminal activity, so rumors spread fast.
Around the same time, hotel guests complained that the color of their water was strange and tasted strange. When the employees went to the water tanks to investigate, they found Elisa. She was floating naked with her clothes and belongings beside her.
An autopsy revealed no sexual assault, drugs, or signs of attempted suicide. They ended up listing it as an accidental drowning. However, if it was accidental, how did she manage to get up to the roof (access was blocked), get onto the water tank (which were propped up on water tanks), and open the heavy lid?
Her blog remained active after her death which could be due to auto-posting but it could suggest an alternative source to these updates since her phone was never found with her.