A wife discovers her husband’s dead body in the cold of a wintery February morning of 1900.

Sir Harry Oakes, one of the richest men in the world, was found brutally murdered in his bed at the age of 68. A life of immense wealth and privilege was suddenly cut short by a killer whose identity remains shrouded in mystery.

In 1908, a fire engulfed an entire home, killing the family inside and uncovering a gruesome burial ground with dozens of victims. Located in Laporte, Indiana where rich men were lured from across the United States with promises of matrimony and fairytale love. Most of them never to be seen again and their dreams shattered by a dark romance.

In 1869, Frederick Joseph Siegfried died under suspicious circumstances. Nearly three years later, his body was exhumed and arsenic was discovered. One man was accused, tried twice and acquitted.

On a warm August night in 1984, twenty-year-old art student Dawn Svocak vanished after leaving Blair’s Bar in Plattsburgh, New York. More than forty years later, her murder remains unsolved, leaving behind a haunting mystery, a grieving family and a community still searching for answers.

References:

Bergin, T. (1984, September 22). Body found; may be missing woman. Press-Republican.

Botsford, S. (1989, August 8). Mother lives with the loss every day. Press-Republican.

Downs, J. (1984, August 23). Friends fear for friend; clues few. Press-Republican.

Downs, J. (1985, May 22). Burial set; anguish continues. Press-Republican.

Jorzillieri, M. (1985, May 16). Dawn Svocak’s remains coming home for burial 40 weeks after murder. Adirondack Daily Enterprise.

King, R. (1984, August 31). Missing woman may have boarded bus. Press-Republican.

Lamoureux, J. (1984, September 25). Police lack suspect, weapon in murder case. Press-Republican.

Lamoureux, J. (1995, April 23). Man arrested for hindering Svocak murder probe. Press-Republican.

Peyton, M. (1984, October 4). Students gather to honor friend. Cardinal Points.

Press-Republican. (1984, August 21). Police seek woman who is missing.

Press-Republican. (1984, August 24). Student still missing. Press-Republican.

Press-Republican. (1984, September 24). Murder suspected in Svocak case. Press-Republican.

Press-Republican. (1984, September 26). Police pursue new leads in Svocak investigation. Press-Republican.

Press-Republican. (1985, June 6). Dawn A. Svocak. Press-Republican.

Press-Republican. (1995, April 21). Svocak case still alive: “Hindering” charged in ’84 local murder. Press-Republican.

New York State Police. (n.d.). Homicide victim: Dawn Andrea Svocak. https://troopers.ny.gov/homicide-victim-svocak-dawn-andrea

February 1896, May McDermott, professionally known as Little May Smith was a young prostitute found dead in San Francisco, California. Strangled to death in her room on. 137 Morton Street, her death so violent fingers were bruised onto her lifeless neck.

References
A new Jack the Ripper. (1896, February 13). Cumberland Evening Times.
The strangler stalks at large. (1896, March 11). The San Francisco Call
Five years of Undetected Crime. (1896, August 7). The San Francisco Call.
May Smith's Murderer. (1896, February 21). The San Francisco Call.
Sacramento Daily Union. (1875, August 16).
Sacramento Daily Union. (1896, March 2).
Schimmel, J. F. (1996, March 1). 100 years ago: The night they expelled Maiden Lane harlots. San Francisco Examiner.
Field, P. (n.d.). Maiden Lane and the pot-holes of history. FoundSF