Dean's World

Defending the liberal tradition in history, science, and philosophy.

True Mysteries: One Solved, One Not

I love mysteries. While I don't read much fiction, I am a huge fan of the British Detective genre that includes Sherlock Holmes, Inspector Morse, and A Touch of Frost. Mysteries are a kind of junk candy for the insatiably curious; they are intellectual challenges in which one only succeeds by failing - stories are considered "good" only if one fails to predict the ending.

Consequently I have always been interested in real-life mysteries - like what happened to Amelia Earhardt, The Marie Celeste, and Jimmy Hoffa. The demise of Judge Crater was once on that list, but apparently isn't anymore.

It has been solved - some believe - and in a most dramatic fashion: a letter opened after the death of the 91 year old wife of one of the suspects. Judge Crater Disappearance Finally Solved

However, there is another mystery of more recent vintage that hasn't been solved. Two years ago a pizza delivery man robbed a bank and was captured wearing a bomb locked around his neck. 40 minutes later, it exploded and killed him. There have been no clues since. Pizza Man's Public Death Still Unsolved

Will we have to wait 70 years for the solving of this mystery? Care to speculate? Or do you have an interesting unsolved mystery you would like to share?

Posted by Scott Kirwin | Permalink | Technorati Trackbacks
Steven Den Beste (mail) (www):
8.19.2005 1:14pm
Scott Kirwin (mail) (www):
SDB
I'm aware of that book; I wasn't aware that the mystery is considered solved.
8.19.2005 4:02pm
John Anderson (mail):
Shucks, I was hoping for "Judge Crater Found - Hugh Hefner's Dad!"

But it seems his body may have been found in the Fifties.
8.19.2005 9:43pm
AlPratt (mail):
Here's a real unknown triple murder case. From the 1930s.All cites from the NYT.
1/4/31: Secretary (60 yr old male) to eccentric millionare found murdered in very strange location.
5/11/33: Eccentric millionaire and new (male) secretary murdered in same location.
5/12/33: Same pistol used as in 1931 murder.
5/13/33: Murdered secretary secretly married.
5/14/33: Murder site was bootleg hideout.
5/15/33: Ridley left $1,000,000 cash.
5/20/33: Ridley will faked.
10/11/33: Two imprisioned for will fraud.
But nobody has any idea who killed the three men. Motives not clear either.
8.20.2005 5:12pm