Who might be those American serial killers who were never caught?
Having a dear one taken away too violently from you is a trauma nobody will ever get over. And the worst is that the killer who did that is still free to make more victims. How do we deal with that? How can we move on knowing that a killer is on the loose because they outsmarted the authorities?
While it’s unsettling to read about the atrocious acts committed by serial killers such as Jeffrey Dahmer or Ted Bundy, it’s just as engrossing to speculate about the ones still at large—or the ones who are so skilled we don’t even know they’re out there.
In this article, we will talk about an unsettling topic: American serial killers who are still (maybe) roaming free…
The West Mesa Bone Collector
The so-called American serial killers, “West Mesa Bone Collector” (because there might be more than just one person), may be active in Albuquerque, New Mexico, or anywhere else for that matter, with a nickname that seems more suited for a movie poster than a police investigation.
When authorities discovered 11 bodies buried in the West Mesa neighborhood of Albuquerque in 2009, the enigmatic murderer gained considerable interest. When police dug up a former construction site after receiving a tip that a woman had seen a human femur bone partially exposed, they found the bodies of women who had been reported missing in 2003 and 2005.
Police thought about several suspects, but there wasn’t enough proof to convict anyone. Because many of the victims were involved in prostitution, recent theories have suggested that the West Mesa Bone Collector may actually be a group of people operating human traffic.
Police confirmed that the case is still ongoing as of 2021, but no new evidence has advanced it even though they receive between 20 and 30 tips annually. Currently, a reward of $100,000 is offered for helpful information. So if you have information regarding this, other than what’s widely known don’t hesitate to inform the authorities.
The Babysitter Killer
Among the American serial killers who were never caught, there is a gruesome one who targeted children only. If anyone remembers, the crimes happened in the 70s ( there was definitely something wrong with the era). The unidentified serial killer known as the Oakland County Child Killer—also called the Babysitter Killer—killed at least four children in Oakland County, Michigan. FBI profilers speculated that the killer had some kind of twisted parental instinct because he bathed each child before committing the crimes, which is how he came up with his macabre alias.
In Michigan, the murderer’s decision to target children shocked parents who started being overly protective and led to numerous neighborhood watch programs. The case is still unresolved despite some encouraging leads, such as the finding of a car thought to be the murderer’s. Investigators were able to create a DNA profile of the murderer in 2012, which was the most recent development. However, it did not match anyone who had been arrested in connection with the case or, for that matter, anyone else in the police system.
The extent of the kidnappings, however, maybe the most unsettling aspect, aside from the fact that the murderer is still at large: all four of the children were detained for four to nineteen days before being bathed and killed.
The Black Doodler
The Doodler might have been able to get a more flattering nickname, such as “The Artist” or “The Sketcher,” if he had been more considerate of the male models that he used. Instead, he stabbed them and sexually assaulted them, killing between six and fourteen people in San Francisco. Between January 1974 and September 1975, several men from the city’s gay community vanished, while others suffered injuries or were the targets of attempted murder.
The LGBTQ+ community was not widely accepted in San Francisco’s mainstream in the 1970s, despite the city’s long history of liberal views. As a result, many of the killer’s surviving victims refused to cooperate with police for fear of being outed. Because of this, authorities had very little information to work with, and the case is still unresolved.
The decades-old mystery, however, might be nearing a resolution, unlike many of the cases on this list. In recent years, more victims have come forward, and authorities claim to have identified a person of interest who is still living in San Francisco based on fingerprint and DNA evidence. Anyone who assists them in locating the last pieces of evidence needed to prosecute the case is currently eligible to receive a $200,000 reward.
The Zodiac Killer
There is no single person on this Earth who doesn’t know about the Zodiac killer. Perhaps the most notorious unresolved serial killer case in the United States is the Zodiac Killer, which was made possible in large part by the 2007 blockbuster “Zodiac” starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Robert Downey, Jr.
In the late 1960s, the Zodiac killer taunted police by sending cryptic clues and messages to investigators as well as to the press in the San Francisco Bay Area, similar to how Jack the Ripper did in London almost a century earlier.
By leaving hints at the murder scenes, threatening to shoot school buses full of kids, mailing pieces of the victim’s clothing to the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper, and attacking the public if newspapers didn’t publish the cryptic letters that became his signature, the killer introduced himself to residents of the city in a real game of cat and mouse.
The case was initially opened by police in 1969 following the double murder of two high school students who were parked in a “lover’s lane.” Although the Zodiac, who went by the nickname, claimed to have killed 37 people in total, five murders have been conclusively connected to the case.
Over the years, there have been many suspects, but the police never caught the killer…and probably never will. Who knows if he is still alive…
The Alphabet Killer
Because it has to be an alphabet killer if there was a zodiac one… Right? The Alphabet Murders took place in Rochester, New York, at the beginning of the 1970s. The killer’s choice of victims is what gives him his alias: he only selected young girls whose first and last names started with the same letter.
The case of the Alphabet Killer is still a terrifying mystery. Despite numerous witnesses—including drivers who saw 10-year-old Carmen Colon frantically attempting to flee—police have never been able to solve the case of the three victims who were tragically beaten and strangled.
Unfortunately, same as others on the list, the killer was never caught even though the police had various suspects based on possible witnesses. They had 4 suspects who were directly linked with the victims but not enough evidence to keep them under arrest…
Servant Girl Annihilator (or the Midnight Assassin)
Another figure that shook down the entire country is the so-called Servant Girl Annihilator who was never caught. Between December 1884 and December 1885, the Servant Girl Annihilator, as he was known at the time, murdered seven women and one man in Austin, Texas, making him one of the country’s first known serial killers.
All of the victims were domestic workers who were either killed outside of their homes or dragged out of their beds while they were asleep. The murderer used an ax to kill three victims in a single night (Dec. 24, 1885); this signature earned him the more politically correct moniker of the Austin Ax Murderer.
Although a New York Times article from December 26, 1885, stated that over 400 people had been arrested in connection with the case, police records are limited because the case occurred almost 125 years ago.
If you enjoy reading articles or watching documentaries about serial killers, you might have heard about the book written by Elizabeth Kendall, the woman who had a relationship with Ted Bundy.
The Phantom Prince: My Life with Ted Bundy is an extraordinary book that lets you enter the mind of one of the most notorious American killers of all time through the eyes of a woman who actually loved him without knowing who he is for sure.
She just got out of a failed marriage, and all she wanted was a loving partner who could be a good father to her daughter… But she met Ted Bundy. The rest you can read for yourself if you purchase the book.
Are there any other American serial killers that we forgot to mention? Tell us in the comments below. We are excited for an engaging and interesting chat!
Related topic: 8 Most Notorious and Dangerous Killers In the USA.
