Cold Cases in West Virginia

ColdCaseIndex documents 7 cases in West Virginia, dated 1945 to 2018. 2 are recorded as unsolved. The earliest is Sodder Children (1945) and the most recent is Whitey Bulger (death) (2018).

Status of the 7 cases in this index
  • Unsolved 2 (29%)
  • Solved or convicted 3 (43%)
  • Closed without conviction 2 (29%)
West Virginia cases by decade
Decade of the incident or disappearance. Select a column to see every case from that decade.
012341940s: 1 case1940s1950s1960s1970s: 1 case1970s1980s: 1 case1980s1990s: 2 cases21990s2000s2010s: 2 cases2010s
Show as table
DecadeCases
1940s1
1970s1
1980s1
1990s2
2010s2
West Virginia on the map
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Homicide clearance in West Virginia, 1965 to 2024

5,375Homicides reported
1,222Not cleared
77%Clearance rate
63%US clearance rate, 1980 to 2024

A homicide is "cleared" when police make an arrest or close it by exceptional means, so an uncleared case is not always an unsolved one. Source: Murder Accountability Project analysis of FBI Uniform Crime Report data, as published by Project: Cold Case. These are statewide totals and are separate from the ColdCaseIndex entries listed below.

By type

3 Missing Persons2 Multiple Homicides1 Suspicious Death1 Homicide

All West Virginia cases

Conviction 2018

Whitey Bulger (death)

Notorious Boston mob boss and longtime FBI informant Whitey Bulger, 89, was beaten to death hours after arriving at USP Hazelton in West Virginia on October 30, 2018.

Hazelton Homicide Age 89
Conviction 2011

Aliayah Paige Lunsford

Aliayah Paige Lunsford, a 3-year-old girl, was reported missing on September 24, 2011, from her home in Weston, West Virginia. Her mother, Lena Lunsford, was convicted of murdering the child in 2018, but Aliayah's body has never…

Weston Missing Person Age 3
Unsolved 1994

Victor Dwight Shoemaker Jr. ("J.R.")

Five-year-old Victor Dwight Shoemaker Jr., known as "J.R.," vanished on May 1, 1994, while visiting his grandfather's home near Kirby in Hardy County, West Virginia.

Kirby Missing Person Age 5
Ruled Suicide 1991

Danny Casolaro

Freelance journalist Joseph Daniel "Danny" Casolaro, 44, was found dead on August 10, 1991, in the bathtub of Room 517 at the Sheraton hotel in Martinsburg, West Virginia, with cuts to his wrists.

Martinsburg Suspicious Death Age 44
No Conviction 1980

The Rainbow Murders (Vicki Durian and Nancy Santomero)

Two young women hitchhiking to a Rainbow Gathering were shot to death on Briery Knob in rural Pocahontas County, West Virginia. A local man, Jacob Beard, was convicted in 1993 but acquitted at a 2000 retrial after serial killer…

Pocahontas County Multiple Homicide
Conviction 1970

Mared Malarik & Karen Ferrell (WVU Coed Murders)

West Virginia University freshmen Mared Malarik, 19, and Karen Ferrell, 18, vanished on January 18, 1970, after leaving a movie in downtown Morgantown and accepting a ride toward their dormitory.

Morgantown Multiple Homicide
Unsolved 1945

Sodder Children

Five of the ten Sodder children disappeared during a Christmas Eve house fire in Fayetteville, West Virginia. No remains were found in the ashes.

Fayetteville Missing Person