Detectives, investigators and forensic experts dedicate their lives to cracking and solving
cases, whether they are recent or cold.
There are hundreds upon thousands of cold cases that are waiting to be solved and who
knows, maybe information that you can provide could help bring closure to a decades-old
cold case.
5 - Karina Holmer In March 1996, 20-year-old Karina Holmer left
her home in Skillingyard, Sweden headed for Boston, USA on what she believed would be
the trip of a lifetime.
Little did Karina Holmer know that just weeks later, her dream trip would be cut short and
she would become the centre of one of Boston’s strangest unsolved cases.
Earlier that year, Karina had won $1,500 on the lottery and with the money burning a hole
in her pocket, she decided to buy a ticket to the U.S.
Karina also planned to work as an au pair during her trip, even though she never obtained
a work visa/permit.
Despite not having the necessary paperwork, the Rapp family welcomed Karina into their
home with open arms and described her as “having a sunny personality and kind nature.”
The Rapp’s left Karina to run the household during the week, giving her the weekends off
to explore Boston.
When she wasn’t at work, Karina enjoyed partying and made good friends with other
foreign au pairs.
March 21st 1996 started like any other night out for Karina and her group of friends, the
girls piled into a nightclub called Zanzibar and enjoyed drinks whilst dancing the night
away.
As Karina was only 20 years old at the time, she had used a fake ID to gain entry into
the nightclub and buy drinks.
As the evening went on, Karina became more and more intoxicated and eventually became
separated from her friends.
At this point, Karina was incredibly intoxicated and was asked to leave Zanzibar by the bouncers.
Karina obliged and left the nightclub without her friends.
At around 3 AM club-goers witnessed seeing Karina at the intersection of Boylston and
Tremont, some of these witnesses claim that she was walking whilst others state that she
was in a car.
This would be the last time that Karina was ever seen alive again.
It wasn’t until June 23rd 1996 that Karina’s friends, her employers and the community of
Boston learnt of what had happened to the Swedish au pairher.
On June 23rd the top half of Karina’s body was found amongst bin bags in a dumpster.
There was little forensic evidence save for a partial fingerprint on one of the bin bags.
In the weeks before Karina’s body was discovered, she had written a letter to a friend back
home saying “Something terrible happened” and told the friend that she was constantly
stressed and homesick.
Karina was due to return home in August 1996, telling her family she was ready to leave
the au pair life behind.
Over 25 years later, Karina’s case remains cold and investigators are left wondering,
where is the other half of her?
If you have any information you are asked to contact the Boston Police on 617-343-4500.
4 - Emma Winnall Since the passing of her beloved husband,
93-year-old Emma Winnall had been taking life one day at a time.
Emma had 5 children, along with 7 grandchildren who always kept her on her toes and were always
there to help her.
As she had gotten older, her health began to decline and her family decided to hire
a carer to provide her with the extra support she needed.
On May 1st 2012 life for the Winnall family took a horrific turn when they received a
call from Emma’s carer.
At around 8:30 am that morning, the carer arrived at Emma’s apartment in Moseley,
Birmingham to start work for the day.
According to the carer, she heard Emma shouting for help and rushed into the flat, only to
find Emma laid in bed severely injured.
The carer immediately called 999 and Emma was rushed to the hospital with a fractured
skull amongst other injuries.
When interviewed by Birmingham Police, the carer told them that they had put Emma to
bed as normal before leaving the flat and locking the door.
West Midlands Police examined Emma’s flat but found no signs of forced entry and concluded
that whoever was responsible had entered using a key.
They also found that nothing appeared to be missing from the flat and ruled out robbery
as a motive.
Emma’s family confirmed that she had no known enemies and had no idea who would want
to hurt a vulnerable 93-year-old, they told newspapers that she loved to play bingo and
dominoes and loved spending time with her family.
Sadly, CCTV cameras were not in operation at the time of the attack and those in the
area didn’t report seeing or hearing anything suspicious.
There was little forensic evidence and West Midlands Police found themselves at a dead
end.
Police spoke with Emma several times, however, due to her head injury, she was confused and
disorientated.
On May 29th 2012, Emma passed away due to complications from her injuries.
Emma’s family and the community of Moseley mourned her loss and vowed to find the person/s
responsible.
A 56-year-old woman and a 28-year-old man whose identities have been withheld were arrested
in connection with the crime, however, they were released days later without charge.
Since 2012, Emma’s case has run cold and the West Midlands Police and CrimeStoppers
are asking for your help.
If you have any information you can contact CrimeStoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111,
alternatively you can call the West Midlands Police on 0345 113 5000.
3 - Bowmanville Jane Doe On October 27th 2006 a man came across skeletal
remains whilst he was out searching for dogwood plants.
According to the DNA Doe Project, the man was searching for the plants in a marshy area
behind the Darlington Nuclear Plant in Bowmanville, Ontario when he came across a skull and a
femur.
He immediately called the police and within minutes they had arrived at the scene and
began their investigation.
Forensic investigators were able to uncover a skull, a femur and other partial remains
that had been scattered across the marshy field.
From their analysis, they were able to determine that the remains belonged to a possibly white,
African American or First Nations female between the ages of 18 and 25 and that she had been
deceased for between 2 and 10 years before her discovery.
The forensic anthropologist also noted that the woman had a very well-healed nasal fracture
at the point where the nasal bones meet the soft part.
It is noted by the Doe Network “The fact that her nose had been fractured would not
have been obvious unless someone who knew her at the time saw her post trauma/surgery
or she told someone.”
Experts commented that regardless of whether the woman had a fractured nose or underwent
a surgical procedure, she had sought out medical treatment and aftercare which explains the
healing.
The anthropologist also commented that the woman had “nice teeth” with visible white
fillings on the front teeth.
She had silver fillings in her back teeth, prominent upper and lower protruding teeth
as well as a distinctive upper and lower ‘narrow’ jaw.
In 2010 the Durham Police Department discovered a distinctive ring near to where the woman’s
remains had been found.
It is described as a size 9 gold red garnet ring with two one-point diamonds on either
side.
The inside of the ring is stamped with the word “Burns” which was later determined
to be the mark of Burns Jewelers who operated at 20 Simcoe Street North in Oshawa between
1923 and 1994.
Despite all of this information, the Durham Police Department found themselves at a dead-end
and were unable to identify who the remains belonged to.
In absence of her true identity, the woman has been dubbed as the “Bowmanville Jane
Doe” and investigators are asking for the public’s help in identifying her.
If you have any information you are asked to contact the Durham Police Department on
905-579-1520 quoting case number 20060291.
Alternatively, you can contact the Ontario Provincial Police Department’s Missing Persons
and Unidentified Bodies/Remains Unit on 877-934-6363.
2 - Kevin Palmer The strange disappearance of Kevin Palmer
is one of just thousands of active cold cases in the UK right now.
In 1999, Kevin along with his wife and daughter lived in Malaga, Spain where Kevin worked
as a timeshare salesman for apartments and holiday homes.
Kevin had grown up in the UK and moved to Malaga (MAL uh guh) in the years prior to
his disappearance for work.
Details about Kevin’s life are few and far between and we have been left to speculate.
For reasons that are still unknown to this day, Kevin left his home in Malaga on March
12th 1999 and boarded a flight to the UK.
Some newspapers report that Kevin was headed for Newcastle in the North East of England,
these claims are unsubstantiated and it has been confirmed that Kevin landed at Gatwick
Airport and headed to Titchfield, Hampshire.
It has also been confirmed that Kevin, along with 2 friends spent the evening at the Sir
Joseph Paxton Pub and the Abshot Country Club.
The last confirmed sighting of Kevin was at the Abshot Country Club in the early hours
of March 13th 1999.
Witnesses reported seeing Kevin, along with his 2 friends getting into a taxi towards
Bishops Waltham.
At some point during the journey, it is alleged that Kevin and the 2 other men got into an
altercation in the back of the taxi.
According to reports, 3 men got out of the taxi and only 2 of them got back in.
Kevin was apparently left on the ground before the 2 men ordered the taxi driver to continue.
Those who knew the two men who were with Kevin that night alleged that they returned to the
scene hours later to retrieve Kevin.
These witnesses never gave any more information in regards to this and the investigation has
remained cold ever since.
In 2014 police began digging at the Gordon Arms in hopes of finding evidence connected
to Kevin’s disappearance.
This dig came after a 2009 coroner’s inquest that had an ‘open verdict’ on Kevin’s
passing.
Sadly, the 2014 search turned up no new evidence and police are back to square one with their
lines of enquiry.
Detective Superintendent Paul Barton is now appealing to anyone with information to come
forward and told the Daily Echo “I am really keen to trace the taxi driver from that night.
I am also appealing for anyone who knew Kevin Palmer in 1999 to come forward and speak with
Police.”
If you have any information you are asked to contact the Hampshire Constabulary on 01962
841534, alternatively you can contact CrimeStoppers on 0800 555 111.
1 - Nation River Lady On May 3rd 1975 a farmer came across the remains
of a woman floating in the Nation River close to the Highway 417 bridge in Casselman, Ontario.
It was determined that the woman had been strangled before being thrown off the bridge
and into the river.
Her hands had been bound with a man’s necktie and her head had been wrapped in cloth.
Investigators also found signs of a struggle on the Highway 417 bridge and analysis of
the woman revealed that she had been in the water anywhere from fall 1974 to weeks before
her discovery.
After cross-referencing missing person reports, the Ontario Provincial Police quickly found
their investigation at a dead end.
In absence of her true identity, the woman has become known as “The Nation River Lady”
and for over 46 years, her case has remained unsolved.
The Nation River Lady is described as a white female between the ages of 20 and 45 with
naturally dark brown hair that was dyed strawberry blonde.
Her eye colour is listed as unknown and she is around 5’1'' to 5’5” and 100lbs.
The Doe Network specifies that the Nation River Lady previously had her appendix removed
and her fingers and toes were painted with a bright pink/red polish.
Jane Doe had extensive dental work and wore partial dentures complete with porcelain teeth
in her upper and lower jaw.
The coroner also noted that Jane Doe’s natural teeth were bad and required fillings.
The tie that had been used to bind her wrists was discovered to be a ‘Canadian Tie’
that had 3 Canadian emblems on a navy blue background.
After digging deeper, investigators discovered that the tie had been made in Montreal and
sold throughout Quebec and Eastern Ontario.
After the woman’s body was discovered and the Ontario Provincial Police publicly appealed
for information, a store clerk came forward with an interesting account.
The clerk who worked in Marmora remembered selling a provincial necktie to a couple,
they recalled that the woman matched the description of the Nation River Lady but they were unable
to pinpoint the exact date of the sale.
Over 300 people have been ruled out as being the Nation River Lady and despite her case
being reopened twice, her case has remained stone cold.
DNA, dentals and fingerprints are available for comparison and anyone with information
is asked to contact the Ontario Provincial Police: Criminal Investigations Branch on
705-329-6111, alternatively you can contact Crime Stoppers Canada on 1-800-222-8477.