- When people reach the news or become famous
in some other way, we almost always know
who they are immediately.
But in a world where information is instant,
there are some people who are well known,
well known that is for everything except
for their true identity.
Here are ten mysterious people whose identities
are still unknown.
Number ten are the Bear Brook Murders.
On November 10, 1985, a hunter walking in Bear Brook
State Park in Allenstown, New Hampshire,
discovered a barrel with bodies of a woman
and a young girl inside of it.
In May of 2000, another barrel was found near
the same location containing the bodies of two other girls.
All four victims were killed between 1977 and 1985
but even with DNA analysis, none of them
have ever been identified and the case
of the Allenstown Four is considered
one of the most infamous cold cases in American history.
Number nine is Palme's Killer.
Swedish prime minister Olaf Palme was shot and killed
by an assassin while walking home from the theater
in Stockholm on February 28, 1986.
His wife, Lisbet, witnessed the shooting and identified
a man named Christer Pettersson as the culprit
nearly three years later, however,
Pettersson was acquitted due to a lack of evidence
and Lisbet's testimony being deemed unreliable.
Despite all of the witnesses, the PM's killer
is still unidentified and many claim
that there is a conspiracy at play.
Number eight is Tiananmen Square Tank Man.
On June 5, 1989, the day after the Chinese military took
the lives of hundreds of protesters in Tiananmen Square
in Beijing, an unknown man in a blatant act of defiance
against the government stepped into the path
of a column of tanks and refused to let them pass
without crushing him.
Though he's the main subject of what is considered
one of the most iconic images of the 20th century,
Tank Man has never been identified and otters still
neither of the crew of those tanks.
Number seven is El Dorado Jane Doe.
On July 10, 1991, a woman's body was discovered
in a motel in El Dorado, Arkansas.
Her ID showed that she was Cheryl Ann Wick
but when police contacted her family,
they found the real Cheryl Ann Wick was alive and well.
The dead woman had gone by a number of aliases
and stolen identities, none of which were her.
James McAlphin, Jane Doe's ex boyfriend,
was convicted of her murder
but not even he could give her real name.
The murder may be solved but who the victim was
is to this day unknown.
Number six is Monsieur Chouchani.
Monsieur Chouchani was the claimed name
of a Jewish teacher who instructed students
in post World War II Europe.
A truly bizarre man, Chouchani refused to tell anyone
his real name and he was described as being repugnant
but incredibly knowledgeable.
He has no literary works credited to him
but is considered a huge inspiration
to some writers and philosophers.
Even after his death, in 1968,
his real identity was never determined
and his gravestone identifies him simply
as Monsieur Chouchani.
Number five is the Kissing Sailor.
On August 14, 1945, World War II ended
with Japan's surrender.
As people all over Times Square in New York City celebrated,
photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt snapped an iconic photo
of an excited sailor planting a kiss on a nurse.
The picture was published in Life magazine a week later
and has since become a symbol of triumph
for the United States but despite its fame,
the identities of the kissing pair
have been debated for over half a century.
Many have claimed to be the ones in the photo
but to this day, nobody knows for sure.
Number four is Jerome - Nova Scotia's Silent Castaway.
On September 8, 1863, a sick looking man
was discovered in Sandy Cove, Nova Scotia, Canada.
He was found on a beach with both of his legs missing,
clearly recently amputated and unable to speak.
When asked his name he made a sound
that resembled Jerome so the name stuck.
Jerome spent the next 49 years staying with various families
in the community until his death in 1912.
But his real name, where he came from
and how he got to that beach were never determined.
Number three is the Zodiac Killer.
Between December of 1968 and October of 1969,
seven people lost their lives to the Zodiac,
a serial killer operating in different cities in California.
But they may not have been the only ones.
The Zodiac sent several letters to local news agencies
and claimed that he had been responsible
for at least 37 deaths.
Four of the letters included coded messages,
each one presumably using a different cipher.
Only one of them has ever been solved,
the others still stump amateur and professional sleuths
to this day and unbelievably after all this time,
the case is still open.
Number two is Man of the Hole.
Considered the last of his tribe, the Man of the Hole
is a mysterious individual who lives a solitary life
moving around in the Amazon rainforest of South America.
He's been credited with building several different houses
or hunting lodges out of leaves and branches
and digging deep holes to either trap animals or to hide it.
Little to nothing is known of this man
including what language he speaks or what his tribe
was called and he avoids people as much as possible
even firing arrows to those who get too close.
And number one is Jack the Ripper.
Jack the Ripper is the name given
to an otherwise unidentified serial killer
who took the lives of at least five people
in White Chapel, a district of London, England
from 1888 through 1891.
Typically targeting female prostitutes,
the elusive murderer would slit their throats
before mutilating their bodies.
The cases had over 100 hypotheses presented
about the killer's true identity.
There's even a name for the study and analysis
of the ripper's cases, ripperology.
But unbelievable, even after all of this time
to this day, he has never been identified.
Ten mysterious people whose identities have yet
to be discovered to this day despite all of the information
available at our fingertips, it seems like
a preposterous idea, however, no one has been identified.