True Crime On This Day December 26th

December 26th

On December 26th in true crime, the Vampire of Sacramento, prison release, cold case, gruesome discovery, vanished without a trace.

1978

Former Indian Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, was released from her cell in the early evening, after spending one week in jail. She had been arrested on suspicion of planning the murder of opposition leaders, and contempt of parliament.

Her arrest sparked nationwide strikes and demonstrations, with one group of people even hijacking an Air India flight in protest.

Indira Gandhi was the first and only female Prime Minister of India, and served multiple terms until her assassination in October of 1984.

1979

In Onondaga County, New York, 28-year-old Angela Elaine Allen disappeared without a trace. She was reported missing on December 28^th after her mother became concerned for her whereabouts.

Her husband, Hubert J. Allen, was the last person to see her alive and told investigators that she had gone shopping. Six years later, Hubert was charged with the murder of a former girlfriend and their six-year-old son.

He was sentenced to 50 years in prison. Investigators suspect that he killed Angela and buried her body in the northern part of the county where they used to go on dates.

However, he has never been charged with her murder. As of 2022, Angela’s disappearance remains a cold case.

1980

Between December 29^th 1977 and January 27^th 1978, Richard Trenton Chase, AKA: The Vampire of Sacramento killed six people.

He was arrested shortly after and found guilty on May 8^th 1979. He became known as the Vampire of Sacramento because he drank the blood of some of his victims, engaged in necrophilia, and ate some of their remains.

Chase was given the death penalty by gas chamber at San Quentin Prison but committed suicide on this day in 1980.

1981

In Prince George’s County, Maryland, the decomposing body of an unidentified adult black male was discovered in shallow water. He had been spotted by hikers at the Patuxent River Park.

No missing person’s report matches up with the man’s description and he was alleged to have died at any point from the Summer of 1981.

The man’s identity and the circumstances of his death remain a mystery. His case is still open.

1982

In Dundas, New South Wales, Australia, 10-year-old Bradford Warner Pholi vanished without a trace. He was last seen leaving his family home to board a train to Newtown to visit his aunt for Christmas.

He had gone to the Eastwood railway station shop to purchase some cigarettes for his aunt but was never seen again. His mother reported him missing shortly after and a search began of the local area.

No sign of Pholi has ever been found but foul play has long been suspected. His disappearance remains unsolved.

1983

In Dallas, Texas, two-year-old Amber Nicole Crum disappeared from a pickup truck outside of McDonald’s Grocery, in the city.

She was with her mother’s boyfriend, James Britton Monroe, and was in his truck when he went inside for a few moments to run an errand. When he returned to the truck, Amber had disappeared.

Three weeks later, Monroe was charged with Amber’s murder. Her mother, Stephanie Hughes Crum, claimed that Amber had been abused and was often found with hand-shaped bruises on her body.

She claimed that Amber had been cold and lifeless on Christmas night but later recanted her statement, saying she was coerced by police to say her daughter was already dead before she disappeared.

A judge threw out the case against Monroe, citing a lack of evidence. The case went cold until 2007, when investigators linked David Elliot Penton to Amber’s disappearance, along with other young girls from the area.

Penton had been in prison since 1987 for the murder of his nine-year-old niece and child abuse death of his infant son. Despite confessing to a cellmate, he has never been charged. Amber’s case remains open and unsolved.

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