Disappearance of Roxanne Marie Sims

There is not much information is this case about 18-year-old Roxanne Sims. She disappeared sometime in 1977  from Portland, Oregon. Her last date is seen is Jan 1, 1977. She's a white female. She's 5'6" and 125 lbs. She has brown hair, but may where a brown afro wig. She often wore a multi-patched fur jacket, and often wore brown and wooden platform heels.

SOURCES:
NamUs
Charley Project 
National Missing Person Directory 

Murder of Hannah Latham

18-year-old Hannah was an orphan who lost both of her parents when she was young. She was taken in by William Blenkinsopp and his wife. When she was old enough she worked for Nellie Jackson and her family in Brignall.

Hannah spent New Year's Eve of 1812 in Barnard Castle, England. She had saved some money to buy little presents for the family and was carrying the money in her purse.

She spent some of the evenings at the Ship Hotel on The Bank. She had left before 10 p.m. to walk four miles home through the snow to Brignall. She was able to travel two miles past the Holy Trinity Church in Startforth and up to a narrow road towards Cross Lanes. This is where she met her killer.

There was evidence she fled from her killer escaping into a field before returning to the road. He had caught up to her though. Unfortunately, she had been raped and her throat was slit. One article stated that her head was nearly cut off.  She was found on New Years morning.

Crowds came and trampled the scene destroying any evidence that may have been there. Many wondered if the killer had attended the funeral and if they knew the killer. It was never found out who had ended the young girl's life so viciously.

SOURCES:
The Times
The Northern Echo

Murder of Aaron Prasad-King

On December 31, 2003 around 6:40 a.m. people delivering newspapers on N. Missouri Ave. and N. Mason St. heard gunshots. They then stumbled upon 16-year-old Aaron Prasad-King lying in an alley between N. Missouri and N. Michigan. Aaron was still alive, but was suffering from a gunshot wound and was taken to the hospital. He succumbed to his injuries in the morning on Jan. 2, 2004.

Witnesses saw an unidentified individual wearing dark clothing run east on N. Shaver across Michigan after the gunshots. 

There is upwards to a $2,500 reward leading to an arrest in this case. 

SOURCES:

The City of Portland Oregon

December 30, 1903 Iroquois Theater fire Jane Doe

Image created by Charles N. Landon and published by the Tacoma Times

On December 30, 1903, the play Mr. Blue Beard was playing at the Iroquois Theater in Chicago Illinois. During the second act, the curtain was caught on fire possibly by an electrical short circuit. This made several of the theatergoers go into a panic. Some were calmed by the fact of an actor trying to keep them calm. But the theater was burning down around them so many tried to escape.

The fire extinguishers that the theater had were meant to be thrown at fires on the ground and were useless against this fire as it rose. Three exits were forced open but unluckily lead to unfinished fire escapes. Some of the doors opening caused the fire to increase. Many people were trampled, crushed and asphyxiated in the fire.

Even though the theater claimed before the fire that it was "absolutely fireproof" it was not. It had been noted by several people including the fire department captain, and the editor of Fireproof Magazine that it was not.  In fact, it was hazardous as the theater did not follow the ruled. The fire warden was warned, but because they knew the owner would ignore it. Unfortunately, the carelessness of the owners caused 602 people to die.

One of the victims were never identified.

The victim was a white woman around 50-year-old. Her face was still recognizable when she died. She is buried in Montrose Cemetary in Chicago.

SOURCES:
Unidentified Wiki
Wikipedia
Find a Grave

December 31, 1993 Barstow, California John Doe

On December 31, 1993, the body of a man was found in the desert in Barstow, California. He had been murdered within days of discovery.  He was a white male between 20 and 30 years-old. He was 5'9" and 209 lbs. He was wearing a brown leather bomber jacket (De Pelle Moda) size XL, a white tank top, blue denim bib overalls (Dickies) size 44, black belt, and white athletic shoes (All-Star), and white socks.

SOURCES:
NamUs

Disappearance of Lilian Culbert Williams

In either 1967 or 1968, 41-43year-old Lillian Williams was last seen at her residence at Grambling University in Lincoln Parish, Louisiana. There is little information in this case.

Lillian was in her early 40's when she went missing and is an African American woman. She's around 5'0" to 5'5" and around 900 to 200 lbs. She has black hair and brown eyes.

SOURCES:

NamUs

Charley Project

Unsolved Murder of Paul Mairano

On December 26, 1999, 21-year-old Paul Mairano was last seen by his father. On Jan. 25, 2000 Paul's body was found in the trunk of his grey 1999 Lexus CS300. It had been towed from 108 Eastern Ave in Worcester, Massachusetts before it was known he was in the trunk. It was found that he had been shot in the head and then the killers hid his body in the trunk.

SOURCES:

City of Worcester 

The Gatton Tragedy: Murder of the Murphy Siblings

Norah              Michael                Ellen

On the night of  Boxing Day on December 26, 1898, around 8 p.m. 27-year-old Norah, 18-year-old Ellen, and 29-year-old Michael Murphy left their home at Black Fellow's Creek outside of Gatton, Australia in a two-wheeled cart.  Michael was driving his sisters to a dance held at the Gatton Divisional Hall and hoped to arrive by 9.  They were looking forward to the dance.

Unfortunately, they didn't know until they arrived at the dance hall that it had been canceled. It was canceled due to the lack of females that were going to arrive. So the trio had to return back home. But they were never to arrive back home.

When they didn't return their mother knew something was off and asked her son-in-law William McNeil to go look for them. He found them that morning after following his Sulky's recognizable tracks due to a wobbly wheel. 

He found them in a horrifying sight. All three of them were dead and the horse had also been killed. William shocked went to a hotel that was close by and told them of the news and contacted the police. Due to him telling people at the hotel people flocked to the scene and this caused evidence to be contaminated by the onlookers. 

At the scene, Ellen and Michael were laying back to back while Norah lay a few yards away on a neatly spread rug. The girls had them hands tied behind their backs with handkerchiefs Micheal may have had his hands tied at one point. Micheal had been both beaten and shot to death. The girls had been sexually assaulted and then they were beaten to death. Norah may have also been strangled with the hames strap that was tightly wrapped around her neck. Their horse had been shot and killed and 15 shillings were missing from Michaels purse. His purse was in his hand and a breeching strap nearby. 

Some suspected maybe they were killed by family members or they had been killed by a local priest as someone heard a woman screaming "father" that night. But the police believed that it may have been a transient who was in the area who killed the three. 

They had two main suspects one was man name Richard Burgess, but he had a solid alibi and the other was a man named Thomas Day. Thomas's hut was near the scene and someone claimed to see him wash the blood from a pullover days later. But there was no clear evidence of who the murderer or murders were. No one was charged with this case and will remain unsolved. 

SOURCES:
Wikipedia
Gatton Murders
Western Mail
Daily News
Huff Post

Murder of Avery Vernie "Peaches" Shorts

On December 26, 1980, 6-year-old Avery "Peaches" Shorts left her home in Knoxville, Tennessee with 58 cents in her pocket. She planned to get a soft drink with it. Before she left the home her mother, Hazel Smith, made sure her coat was buttoned up and her shoes were tied. Peaches then told her mother "Mama, I love you" before leaving to get a soft drink around 3:30 p.m. Peaches never made it back home though.

A few minutes before she left Mitch Reed came to the home. He asked Hazel if he could move in with her. Hazel stated she'd think about it. He was irritated about the rejection and knew she spent the night before with another man. She asked if she can borrow some money so Peaches can get a soda. He left 58 cents on the table and left.

 The two weren't dating, but he wanted to. He spent the summer driving her and her kids around and spent money on clothes and a camera. At one point she told him she lost those items. He once had asked her out and when he was rejected he'd muttered something along the lines of getting even.

On the way to the store which was a 15 minute round trip Peaches stopped and played and by 5, she got to the store. Her mother states that she talked to the store and they stated she got there around 5 and 50 minutes later she called the police. A search ensued, but signs of the 6-year-old couldn't be found.

A little over a year later on Jan. 23, 1982 Peaches body was found buried under a cattle chute off of Singleton Station Rd. in Blount County. It was believed that she was first strangled by hand and then had the wire wrapped around her neck to either finish up the job or to make sure she was dead. The wire was believed to have been found by the killer where her body was buried. Her coat was still buttoned up and the hair ties were still in her hair it's not believed that the murderer sexually abused her.

Police only had the suspect and that was Mitch Reed. Her body was found a 15-minute drive from her home and a mile from his parent's home. There was no evidence though that could convict. He was also a suspect in the 1979 strangulation murder of 62-year-old Emma Brewer. Her case is also still unsolved.

SOURCES:
Knoxville Tennessee 
Knox News

Murder of Sherri Swalley

In December of 1973, John Swalley, the father of 8-year-old Sherri Swalley and her 5-year-old brother decided that they were going to Disneyland in Florida for Christmas. They were planning on driving from Ohio to Florida. On December 23, 1973, they had stopped in Atlanta, Georgia. They were visiting a friend at the Pace Setters apartments and spend the night.

Sherri and her brother played with other children from the apartment complex. Sherri was last seen when a lady who lived in the apartment complex had asked Sherri to go and invite her dad and those they were staying with to dinner. That was around 8 p.m. and was the last time anyone saw Sherri alive. It was possible she was last seen with a teenager that night.

Sherri was found the next morning around 10:30 a.m. in view of 150 apartments in front of the woods. It was obvious that she had been dragged into the woods where she was sexually assaulted and stabbed in the chest and her face was slashed. The weapon was a thin blade knife. After the attack, her killer dragged her out of the woods to where she was found the next morning.

SOURCES:
Atlanta Police Department 
The Marion Star
Dayton Daily News
The Greenville News
The Atlanta Voice