Riddles

When Christine Collins was reunited with a boy the LAPD claimed was her missing son Walter, she immediately said he was …

The Stoneman left no traceable murder weapon at any of his thirteen confirmed crime scenes, despite the weapon being pre…

Investigators examining the apartment at 2337 West Monroe Street after the December 4, 1969 raid counted the bullet hole…

A nuclear detonation produces a distinctive optical signature known as a double-flash: a brief, intense first flash, a b…

When Betty Bersinger discovered Elizabeth Short's body on Norton Avenue on January 15, 1947, investigators noted somethi…

Robert Maxwell's naked body was found floating in the Atlantic Ocean near the Canary Islands on November 5, 1991. A Span…

The Monster of Florence committed eight double murders across seventeen years — from 1968 to 1985 — using the same firea…

Sandra Rivett was attacked on what was normally her night off — Thursday — but she had changed her schedule that week. S…

When Ted Weiher's body was found in the Forest Service trailer in June 1978, investigators noted several survival resour…

When Roberto Calvi's body was found hanging under Blackfriars Bridge, investigators noted an unusual detail about what w…

The bodies that washed ashore on Uruguay's coast between 1976 and 1979 were victims of a specific execution method used …

Five fishermen depart from a harbor in a 17-foot open boat on a calm morning. Within hours, a violent storm hits. The bo…

What social media hashtag, modeled on a famous Nigerian kidnapping campaign, was used by Ethiopians to demand answers ab…

Daphne Caruana Galizia's blog, Running Commentary, was more widely read than any newspaper in Malta. On an island of few…

A former intelligence chief disappears from a foreign city. Investigators find his luggage still in his hotel room five …

When Lithuanian regulators asked Swiss banks about securities worth 290 million euros that Snoras claimed to hold in acc…

The attackers took Myrna Mack Chang's portfolio and purse but left her jewelry and car untouched. What does this pattern…

Operation Speedy Express was conducted in two provinces of the Mekong Delta. One was Vinh Binh. What was the other provi…

In November 1908, a local miner in San Vicente became suspicious of two foreign lodgers at his boarding house. What sing…

The rebel invasion of Freetown on January 6, 1999, was given an operational name that was also a statement of intent — a…

A man is found dead, hanging from a low hook on a bathroom wall in a prison cell. The official cause of death is listed …

Steven Tari built his cult around a system of young women and girls who served as his concubines and were presented as s…

A journalist works undercover for years. His face is unknown to the public. He operates safely because no one can identi…

Abdul Haq earned a famous nickname from the CIA during the Soviet-Afghan War. What did the agency call him?

Two separate autopsies were performed on Akiel Chambers. The first pathologist ruled drowning. The second pathologist di…

The Aranykez Street bomb was hidden inside a specific type of vehicle parked on the street. When the target drove past i…

Azory Gwanda was last seen in a specific type and color of vehicle on the day he disappeared. What was it?

Chiang Kuo-ching was a conscript in which branch of the Republic of China's military when he was accused of the 1996 mur…

Emilie Meng's body was found on a significant date in the Danish calendar. When was she discovered, and how many days ha…

Investigators arrive at the scene of a warehouse fire. The building is completely destroyed. They observe the following:…

A man is found hanged from a showerhead in a prison cell. He leaves behind a suicide note confessing to a separate murde…

The Hwaseong killer left biological evidence at multiple crime scenes in the 1980s that police collected but could not a…

Cuba's Atencion numbers station broadcast encrypted five-digit codes to spies across the United States for decades. The …

On the day Juliana Campoverde disappeared, her mother received a text message from Juliana's phone at 7:51 PM. Elizabeth…

A pair of shoes is recovered from a forest path five hundred meters from a triple homicide scene. Laboratory analysis re…

Ben Barka was lured to Boulevard Saint-Germain under the pretext of meeting filmmakers to discuss a documentary project.…

A forensic investigator arrives at a small apartment where two men have been found dead, officially from carbon monoxide…

The MV Le Joola had a certified passenger capacity of 536, yet an estimated number nearly four times that boarded on Sep…

Eighteen thousand armed soldiers were stationed within the city where civilians were being massacred. They had the capac…

The gunmen used a specific type of modified ammunition designed to cause maximum tissue damage, ensuring that their targ…

The toxic waste dumped across Abidjan was generated by a specific onboard chemical process used to remove sulfur from lo…

In the Gudmundur and Geirfinnur case, how many bodies were recovered by investigators to support the murder convictions …

Jessie Misskelley's confession stated that the victims were bound with rope. When investigators examined the crime scene…

Ben Needham disappeared from an outdoor area where heavy machinery had been operating. Investigators later used ground-p…

The four confirmed victims attributed to Rex Heuermann were all wrapped in the same distinctive material before being le…

Fred van der Vyver had an alibi for the time of Inge Lotz's death — objective documentary evidence that placed him at hi…

Archbishop Romero was shot with a specific type of rifle while celebrating Mass. The weapon choice — a .22 caliber Remin…

Two pathologists examined Boris Berezovsky's body and reached opposite conclusions. The police's pathologist concluded t…

Harry Thaw shot Stanford White three times on the rooftop of Madison Square Garden on June 25, 1906, in front of hundred…

When Edgar Allan Poe was found outside Ryan's Comet Saloon in Baltimore on October 3, 1849, witnesses noted something im…

The statistical argument against Lucia de Berk calculated the probability that a nurse would be present at so many incid…

Natalia Estemirova worked for a Russian human rights organization that documented abuses in Chechnya, building case file…

The Texarkana Phantom struck eight victims across five attacks, but investigators noticed a precise environmental condit…

The Boy in the Box was found wearing freshly laundered pajamas, with clean fingernails and recently cut hair — but the m…

Medical examiners who studied the Kingsbury Run victims consistently noted something unusual about the decapitations tha…

The first official ruling on the deaths of Kevin Ives and Don Henry claimed what unusual cause of death — later proven t…

Dorothy Kilgallen was found dead in a specific room of her townhouse that investigators noted was unusual. What was stra…

When Suzie Streeter's friends arrived at the East Delmar Street house the afternoon after graduation, they found somethi…

How many days passed between Elisa Lam's disappearance on February 1, 2013 and the discovery of her body in the Cecil Ho…

The Axeman always entered his victims' homes the same way, through a wooden door — but he did not pick the lock or kick …

Witnesses at Glenelg Beach observed the unknown man buying food for the three Beaumont children. According to the case d…

When investigators searched the Moore house on the morning of June 10, 1912, they found an unusual object placed deliber…

Frank Morris and the Anglin brothers needed the night guards to believe they were asleep during the escape. What objects…

Investigators found no human remains after the Sodder house fire, but forensic science tells us that one particular body…

Andreas Gruber found a set of footprints in the snow leading from the forest to his barn in late February 1922. He told …

Jill Dando was killed by a single bullet fired at contact range. What is the specific term for this type of shot — where…

The bodies of several Hammersmith murder victims were found to carry microscopic particles that told investigators the k…

When Joseph Moore entered the Flannan Isles lighthouse on December 26, 1900, he noticed that something the keepers would…

Emanuela Orlandi was not simply a Roman teenager — she held a status that made her disappearance a matter of internation…

Hotel CCTV footage at the Sligo City Hotel captured Peter Bergmann making multiple trips toward the sea during his three…

In 1674, workmen in the Tower of London discovered a wooden chest containing the bones of two children buried beneath a …

Despite sixteen attacks across three years and 28 murders, forensic investigators recovered a consistent ballistic signa…

When Geli Raubal was found dead, investigators noted that the room's door appeared to be locked from the inside. However…

Barbara and Patricia Grimes were found on January 22, 1957, on German Church Road in Willow Springs — miles from their S…

When police re-examined the Somerton Man's suit in July 1949 — seven months after his death — they discovered a tiny rol…

When his catamaran capsized off the New Guinea coast in November 1961, Michael Rockefeller improvised a flotation device…

When William Desmond Taylor's body was discovered on the morning of February 2, 1922, investigators noted something unus…

Afonso Dias was convicted of kidnapping and murdering Rui Pedro in 2009, eleven years after the disappearance. What crit…

The pellet found in Georgi Markov's thigh was composed of 90% platinum and 10% iridium. Forensic scientists at Porton Do…

Gareth Williams was found dead inside a locked bag in his bathtub. Experts attempted to prove a person could lock themse…

She is the most-kissed face in history, yet no one who kissed her knew her name. She has saved millions of lives, yet sh…

Jorge Matute Johns vanished from a nightclub in Concepción on November 20, 1999. His remains were found four and a half …

A man survived kidnapping, torture, and three years of secret imprisonment. Decades later, he entered a courtroom and to…

A murder victim is found in a rural ditch. He is a slight man — approximately 110 pounds — and fully clothed. Among his …

The victim's flesh pieces were entirely free of blood, and his fingertips showed wrinkling consistent with water exposur…

What properties of thallium sulfate make it particularly suited for covert poisoning — specifically, what two sensory ch…

Hussain Najadi founded a banking group in 1975 that eventually became one of Malaysia's largest financial institutions. …

Police found blood on the ice, a drag mark leading to open water, and two sets of boot prints — one matching Lundblad's …

A detective arrives at the scene of a suspected self-inflicted death by fire in a remote location. The victim's body sho…

The official autopsy listed hypothermia as the cause of death for five of the six victims. However, one physical finding…

Aivar Rehe left his home on the morning of September 23, 2019. He told his family he was going for a walk. Police search…

Thousands of people watched it happen. Over a hundred suspects were arrested within days. Yet after forty years, no one …

A body is found at 6:00 a.m. on a Cairo roadside. A forensic pathologist establishes the victim was shot once through th…

Mellory Manning's watch was found stopped at 10:59 pm. Investigators used this to establish a key moment in the crime. W…

A plane's instruments tell the crew they are approaching their home airport. The instruments are not malfunctioning. The…

The Zodiac Killer mailed his first cipher to three newspapers split across three separate letters. Each letter contained…

When police arrived at the 34th-floor apartment after Ana Mendieta's death, they found Carl Andre alone with visible inj…

Andrew Gosden bought a train ticket from Doncaster to London Kings Cross on September 14, 2007. The ticket clerk offered…

After Marita's disappearance, her mother Susana Trimarco conducted her own investigation that led to the rescue of hundr…

Police spent thirty-six hours treating Hemraj as the primary suspect in Aarushi's murder before discovering his body on …

When the skeletal remains of the two children were re-examined in 1998 using modern techniques, what significant finding…

The reagent log showed Dr. Wijewardena's last chemical withdrawal was dichloromethane on September 5, but no sign-out en…

Lake Nyos released a massive cloud of a single gas that killed 1,746 people. The gas is colourless, odourless at lethal …

Dulcie September was killed with a specific type of weapon that is characteristic of professional assassinations rather …

The forensic examination found that lividity patterns indicated Yoshiko had been lying on her back for six to ten hours …

Itavia Flight 870 was flying between two Italian cities when it crashed into the Tyrrhenian Sea. What was the departure …

In which mountain range in Lebanon was Kamal Jumblatt's ancestral home and the site of his assassination located?

De Mauro was investigating the death of Enrico Mattei for a film director. What was Mattei's official cause of death whe…

Jean Dominique was not only a journalist — he had a professional background in another field that informed his understan…

The Joyita was found 37 days after departure, waterlogged and listing — but still afloat. What unique feature of her con…

Peter Falconio and Joanne Lees were traveling on one of Australia's most iconic highways when the attack occurred. What …

The bomb at Piazza Fontana was placed in a black leather bag under a central table in the bank's main hall, detonating a…

The state investigation claimed Regina Martínez was killed during a burglary. What fact about the crime scene most direc…

Tommy Lynn Sells was caught because of the extraordinary actions of a thirteen-year-old girl on New Year's Eve 1999. Aft…

Eighteen people passed Wang Yue's body on the road before someone finally stopped to help. What was the occupation of th…

The Carroll A. Deering ran aground on a treacherous underwater sandbar off the coast of North Carolina known as the grav…

The murder weapon used to kill Alistair Wilson was found ten days after the shooting. Where was it discovered?

The Kenyan government claimed Julie Ward was killed by lions and that lightning burned her remains. A British pathologis…

Bobby Fuller was found dead in a car with a gasoline can nearby. The single most important piece of physical evidence — …

Katrien De Cuyper's body was discovered six months after her disappearance in a specific industrial area of Antwerp. Whe…

The coroner documented torture marks on Celso Daniel's body that preceded the eight fatal gunshot wounds. What does the …

Karen Silkwood's apartment was found to be contaminated with a specific radioactive substance traced to the Kerr-McGee p…

Lab tests on Chad Langford's hands found no gunshot residue, despite the fatal wound coming from his own .45 caliber ser…

The parcel bomb that killed Dele Giwa bore an official marking that made it appear to be a legitimate government communi…

The remains of Katarzyna Zowada were recovered from Poland's longest river as it passed through the eastern outskirts of…

Dino Bravo was found dead in his living room. What item in his hand indicated he was completely unsuspecting of his kill…

Kirill Zhalo was accredited to the Russian embassy in Berlin under a specific diplomatic title that is commonly used as …

Father Kunz was found wearing dark slacks and a white t-shirt, barefoot. What does this choice of clothing most likely i…

What was the name of Marlene Garcia-Esperat's weekly anti-corruption newspaper column, which she used to expose graft in…

Melissa Witt's body was found fifty miles from Fort Smith in a national forest that spans much of northwest Arkansas. Wh…

Mikhail Lesin is best known for creating a specific Russian television network that broadcasts in multiple languages and…

The bomb that killed Milan Levar was determined to be made with military-grade explosives. Why does this detail signific…

Investigators found that someone searched 'how to wreck a hard drive' and 'water damage to a notebook computer' on Grica…

The most critical piece of evidence in the Sandra Mozarowsky case is a document that was removed from the police file an…

What was the name of Sattar Beheshti's blog, which he used to criticize the Iranian government?

Two forensic teams disagreed about whether Shimoyama was alive or dead when struck by the train. What specific physical …

Sombath Somphone received a prestigious award in 2005 for his community development work, often described as Asia's equi…

Galya Tannenbaum was connected to two deaths in the Denver area, both caused by the same poison. What substance was used…

The Tylenol capsules were found to contain a specific poison in lethal concentrations — some capsules held up to ten tho…

The bomb that killed Mumcu contained approximately 2.5 kilograms of a specific military-grade plastic explosive containi…

The UpStairs Lounge fire killed 32 people in under six minutes. Investigators identified the accelerant used to start th…

A detective is called to investigate a reported home burglary. The homeowner — who lives alone — says she returned from …