Cold Cases in West Virginia
ColdCaseIndex documents 7 cold cases in West Virginia, spanning 1945–2018. 3 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 West Virginia Cases
Whitey Bulger (death)
Notorious Boston mob boss Whitey Bulger was beaten to death hours after arriving at a West Virginia federal prison. Fotios 'Freddy' Geas was charged. Bulger had been an FBI informant for decades.
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 h
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. He was last seen walking back alone through the woods
Danny Casolaro
Investigative journalist Danny Casolaro was found dead in a Martinsburg, West Virginia hotel bathtub. His death was ruled suicide. He had been investigating what he called 'The Octopus,' a vast government conspiracy invo
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
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. Their decapitated bodies
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. The family believed the children were kidnapped, and the case has never be