Cold Cases : Famous Unsolved Mysteries, Crimes, and Disappearances in America

Murders and other violent crimes often leave an indelible mark on society. The eighteenth-century murder of "Beautiful Cigar Girl" Mary Rogers helped the then newly-emerging tabloid papers become a fixture in the United States. The Federal Aviation Administration was spurred into requiring electronic screening of passengers and carry-on luggage by a series of highly-publicized hijackings. Abductions of youth gave birth to Amber Alerts and advertising missing children on milk cartons. And popular TV shows like Law and Order, CSI, and Cold Case document our fascination with police investigations, heinous criminals and the complicated aftermath of their actions.This book examines 40 well-known cases of unsolved murders and suspected abductions over a period of over 160 years. Cases are organized chronologically to give readers insight into the evolution of criminal investigation techniques and forensics in the last century and a half; later chapters detail how modern forensics were used in attempts to solve old cold cases or helped generate new leads.

Hlna Katz is an award-winning Canadian journalist with a master's degree in criminology from the Universit de Montral, Qubec. She is the author of The Mad Trapper: The Incredible Tale of a Famous Canadian Manhunt and Gang Wars: Blood and Guts on the Streets of Early New York, and lives in Canada's Northwest Territories.