Alcatraz Island via Wikipedia Located in the San Francisco Bay, Alcatraz Island was initially explored by Juan Manuel de Ayala in 1775, a Spaniard, who named the island Isla de los Alcatraces, meaning ‘island of the pelicans’. In the 1850s, the U.S army built a fortress to protect the San Franciscans from war, but it was never used and instead became a military prison. Finally, in 1909, the fortress was pulled down, and the new jail was built was by prisoners from the militar

Children have been going missing since records began, but not until recently has there been proof that some were taken to be auctioned off to the highest bidder. Photo by freestocks on Unsplash Since the late 1960s, it’s estimated that around 2,000 parents have lost newborn children under suspicious circumstances. Many of these couples haven’t seen their child again, don’t know why they died, and don’t have a grave to visit. “When the doctors said: Choose!, I realised somethi

For four months, he shackled, tortured and raped six women in the basement of his Philadelphia home. To outsiders, Gary Heidnik was the founder of the United Church of the Ministers of God and a cunning investor, but to the women in the hole under his house, he was a murderer and a cannibal. The house via allthatsinteresting.com Heidnik was born on the 22nd November 1943 and was raised in Eastlake outside of Cleveland, Ohio. His parents divorced when he was still a baby, and

Robert Hansen hunted his victims and crossed them off on a map. When the police walked into Cindy Paulson’s motel room at Big Timber, she was shaking and hysterical, trying to remove the handcuffs digging into her wrists. She’d survived an attack by a man who had paid her for sex and instead abducted her, tied her up in his home, and would have eventually killed her if she hadn’t escaped. Cindy’s quick thinking and luck helped her get away from her captor, but there were many

Patrick Warren and David Spencer simply disappeared. David Spencer and Patrick Warren via guardian.com Over the years, the missing children case has caused much speculation and criticism due to the lack of urgency around the disappearances. Was it down to a lack of importance because of their working-class backgrounds, or was it because they didn’t fit the “missing white girl” aesthetic the media wanted to report on? In the winter of 1996, Patrick, who was 11 and David, 13, w

For the McCann family, the newest search isn’t about publicity, it’s about keeping someone locked up.

John Haigh's methods for his victim's disposal are the stuff of nightmares. However, there's always evidence left behind. Born into an average family, John George Haigh moved from Lincolnshire to West Riding of Yorkshire when he was younger. The boy was a fan of classical music and played the piano, which won him a scholarship to Queen Elizabeth Grammar School and Wakefield Cathedral. Haigh had an odd sense of humour and was bullied at school. A lover of strange pranks, he'd

The islanders locked their doors, but nothing could stop the bogeyman from entering their homes, and no one would forget his mask. Jersey lighthouse via Britannica.com Famous for its woollen trade and cows, Jersey is smaller than the Greater London region. At only nine miles wide by five miles long, the tiny island is part of the sovereign state of the United Kingdom that sits in the Channel between England and France. Its population in the 1950s was just over 30,000 inhabit

The 8-year-old’s murder changed England’s laws. Sarah Payne via bbc.co.uk Playing hide and seek with her brothers and sister in a cornfield, Sarah crawled through a gap in the tall harvest and onto the road adjacent to the field. She was heading back to her grandparents’ home because she’d received a knock on the head, but while walking down the road, she was abducted by a man in a white van. What came next was England’s worst child murder at the time. Eight-year-old Sarah g

Harvey Glatman was a serial killer who murdered three women and disposed of their bodies but not before taking photographs of their suffering. Harvey Glatman was born on the 10th of October 1927 in the Bronx, New York. An awkward child, Glatman excelled at school and had a high IQ. He enjoyed the arts and had a passion for photography growing up. Harvey Glatman via Murderpedia When he was a toddler, his family moved to Denver, Colorado, where his mother had family. He attende

The teenager hired a hitman to kill her, or did she? Natalie Bollinger via Broomfield Police Department The story surrounding Natalie’s murder is odd, to say the least. Drugs, Craigslist, and a stalker all play a part in this case, but how involved was each element, and why are there still multiple unanswered questions? Natalie was 19 years old and about to finish high school in Broomfield, Colorado. She’d gained a scholarship, studying to become a registered nurse at college

Police admit Georgina Gharsallah’s homicide case was full of mistakes from the outset. Georgina Gharsallah via BBC.co.uk On the 7th of March 2018, the 30-year-old mother of two, Georgina Gharsallah, went into town to run errands like any other day. She visited the JobCentre to look for new work opportunities and went to a phone shop. She was recorded on CCTV in the phone shop in Worthing, West Sussex, on the south coast of England, but after this stop, she vanished on a busy

Armed with disguises and a gun, Miriam Rodríguez was an unstoppable force. Miriam Rodríguez via thesun.co.uk Picking through the dirt at an abandoned ranch outside of San Fernando, Tamaulipas in Mexico, Miriam Rodríguez found her daughter’s scarf. It was a devastating discovery that would later uncover part of Karen’s femur, among the dozens of bodies buried in the area. However, Miriam would not be deterred from her mission; she would find the people who abducted and killed

The nine-year-old was taken on her way home, but the investigation was more sinister than anyone dreamed. Shannon Matthews via express.co.uk In 2008, Madeleine McCann’s abduction still filled the air on every news channel. The image of the three-year-old was plastered everywhere and no one could escape the mention of her name. Her kidnapping was the nightmare of every parent in the country, and for Karen Matthews, she was about to share the pain the McCanns were going through

The nightmare phone call leading to Shawn Grate's capture lasted 20 minutes before help arrived. Shawn Grate via Ashland County Sheriff’s Office Shawn Grate had a long history of violence, but his good looks and charisma meant he charmed everyone he met. He was known as a ‘nice guy’, and that’s what made him even more deadly. The missing On the 16th of August 2016, Elizabeth Griffith disappeared from a car park in Ashland, Ohio. According to CCTV, the 29-year-old was shopping