Cold Cases in Ohio
ColdCaseIndex documents 21 cold cases in Ohio, spanning 1934–2023. 12 of these cases remain fully unsolved. Each case page includes documented details, status, and information on how to submit a tip.
By Type
By Status
All Ohio Cases
Doerman Children
Chad Doerman shot and killed his three young sons execution-style in the front yard of their Clermont County, Ohio home. He was sentenced to death.
Dayton Shooting
Connor Betts opened fire in the Oregon District of Dayton, Ohio, killing nine people including his sister. Police shot him dead within 32 seconds of the first shots.
Otto Warmbier
American student Otto Warmbier was detained in North Korea for 17 months and returned to the U.S. in a vegetative state. He died days later. North Korea claimed he contracted botulism.
Sierah Joughin
Twenty-year-old Sierah Joughin was abducted while bicycling in rural Ohio. James Worley, a convicted kidnapper, was convicted of her murder and sentenced to death.
Tamir Rice
Twelve-year-old Tamir Rice was shot and killed by Cleveland police officer Timothy Loehmann within two seconds of arriving at a park where Tamir was playing with a toy gun. A grand jury declined to indict the officers. T
Katelyn Markham
Twenty-one-year-old Katelyn Markham vanished from her Fairfield, Ohio home. Her fiancé John Carter confessed to killing her in 2022 after her remains were found.
Anthony Sowell Victims
Anthony Sowell was convicted of murdering 11 women in Cleveland whose bodies were found in and around his home in 2009. He preyed on vulnerable women in his neighborhood. Sowell was sentenced to death and died on death r
Jessie Davis
Nine-months-pregnant Jessie Davis vanished from her Ohio home. Her boyfriend, Canton police officer Bobby Cutts Jr., was convicted of her murder.
Brian Shaffer
Brian Shaffer, a 27-year-old Ohio State medical student, vanished in the early hours of April 1, 2006, after being recorded on security cameras outside the Ugly Tuna Saloona bar in Columbus. No footage ever showed him le
Ariel Castro Victims
Michelle Knight, Amanda Berry, and Gina DeJesus were individually abducted and held captive for about a decade in Ariel Castro's Cleveland home. Amanda Berry escaped in 2013 with her daughter born in captivity. Castro pl
Niqui McCown
Niqui McCown disappeared after leaving work in Dayton, Ohio. Her car was found abandoned at a nearby apartment complex. She has never been found.
Patricia Adkins
Honda worker Patricia Adkins vanished after reportedly planning a secret trip with a married coworker. Her car was found at the plant. She has never been found.
Amy Mihaljevic
Ten-year-old Amy Mihaljevic was lured from a Bay Village, Ohio, shopping center on October 27, 1989, and abducted; her body was found in a rural field months later. The killer has never been identified.
Barbara Blatnik
Seventeen-year-old Barbara Blatnik was found strangled near the Ohio Turnpike in Northfield. Her case has been tentatively linked to other unsolved murders along the turnpike corridor.
Louise Virginia Peterson Flesher ("Belle in the Well")
A woman's body was found weighted down in a rural well in Lawrence County, Ohio, in April 1981, and for 38 years she was known only as "Belle in the Well." In 2019 the DNA Doe Project identified her as Louise Virginia Pe
Marcia King (Buckskin Girl)
Known as 'Buckskin Girl' for the fringed jacket she wore, Marcia King was found murdered along US Route 40 near Troy, Ohio in April 1981. She was unidentified for 37 years until DNA genealogy testing identified her in 20
Circleville Letter Writer
Starting in 1976, residents of Circleville, Ohio received threatening anonymous letters revealing personal secrets. School bus driver Mary Gillispie's husband Ron died in a suspicious car crash. Paul Freshour was convict
Mary Ellen Deener
Lester Eubanks was convicted of murdering 14-year-old Mary Ellen Deener in 1966 but escaped from an honor furlough in 1973. He has been a fugitive for over 50 years and is one of the U.S. Marshals' most wanted fugitives.
Marilyn Sheppard
Marilyn Sheppard was bludgeoned to death in her Bay Village, Ohio home. Her husband, Dr. Sam Sheppard, was convicted of murder in 1954 but his conviction was overturned. Retried in 1966, he was acquitted. His case inspir
Beverly Potts
Ten-year-old Beverly Potts disappeared from a Cleveland park while attending a neighborhood show. Despite one of the largest manhunts in Cleveland history, she was never found. The case remained one of Cleveland's most h
Cleveland Torso Murders
The Cleveland Torso Murderer killed at least 12 people in the Kingsbury Run neighborhood of Cleveland between 1934 and 1938. Victims were decapitated and dismembered; most were never identified. Despite legendary detecti