For many of us, it's our worst fear: to lose a loved one at the hands of another, and never receive answers or justice. But, unfortunately, there are hundreds of cases just like this across the globe. From unidentified Does with nobody to miss them, to the gruesome slaying of children, these are just three horrific historic mysteries that will leave you with more questions than answers.

Home to the Sundance Film Festival, Butch Cassidy and an expansive mountain range beloved by skiers across the country, Utah is one of America’s most beautiful states. But it is also known to the true-crime community as the birthplace of Gary Ridgway and was, at one point, one of Ted Bundy’s favourite haunts. It is a state full of grisly cold cases. In today’s episode of Cold-Case Detective, we’ll be exploring three chilling unsolved cases from Utah.

From the outside, 1117 Morningside Avenue looked like a standard American home. White panelled and consisting of two storeys, it was a cosy place for Billy Isom, Freta Bostic and Jesse Hanni to call their own. But when they were all found dead inside one winter morning, the feeling of homeliness changed. As the police tried to discover the secrets it held within its walls, the structure seemed intimidating and foreboding, unable to shed light on one of Iowa’s most grizzly crimes.

In Sweden, around 25,000 people are reported missing every year. Although the vast majority of those people are found, about 2,700 of them are discovered dead. Linda Chen, unfortunately, became one of those statistics after she suddenly and inexplicably vanished in the summer of 2009.

Langtang National Park is one of Nepal's most inviting tourist attractions. With breathtaking mountain views and clear, glassy lakes, the park spawns 660 square miles and is home to some of the country's most spectacular wildlife, including snow leopards and red pandas. While the park attracts up to 18,000 visitors a year, it is no stranger to losing some of those travellers. Aubrey Sacco is one of those who vanished within its boundaries, never to be seen again.

In 2022, a study using 2020 FBI crime data revealed that New Mexico has the second-highest rate of violent crime of any US state. Further information showed that it has had an abysmally poor clearance rate over the last few years of just over 30% between 2019 and 2021. Unfortunately, for those of us in the true crime community, this isn’t particularly new information; some of the most well-known unsolved cases in our whole community come from New Mexico, including the West Mesa slayings and the vanishing of Tara Calico. In today’s video, however, we aim to shed light on some lesser-known cases from the state, as we explore three disturbing unsolved disappearances from New Mexico.

Cheryl Gene Grimmer was last seen at the shower block on Fairy Meadow Beach, New South Wales, on January 1st, 1970. She was just 3-years-old at the time of her disappearance and was 3ft tall with blonde hair and blue eyes. One distinguishing physical characteristic of Cheryl is that she has a navel which protrudes one centimetre due to a medical condition. She was last seen wearing a royal blue swimming suit with net panelling and carrying a white towel. There is currently a one million dollar reward available in her case. If you have any information about her disappearance, you can call Crimestoppers on 1800-333-000.

Oftentimes in the true crime community, we find ourselves sitting in the grey area - we generally don’t have enough information to reach a concrete verdict in the cases we read about. Then, when there are cases that go to court, we are confident it will be a slam-dunk. After all, if the police and prosecutors have enough information for it to go to trial, what more could they need? But today’s video will show that that’s not always enough, as we take a look at three famous trials that shockingly resulted in the defendant’s freedom.