True Crime On This Day November 25th

November 25th

On November 25th in true crime, a missing person mystery, arson, cold case murder in Oxfordshire, and an unsolved murder in Texas.

1978

In Columbus, Ohio, 28-year-old John Allen Hale disappeared without a trace. He was last seen driving a car, but it has never been clear if he was alone in the car.

John’s business partner supposedly had links to organised crime but again it was never made clear. What is clear, is that John was never seen again, and his car has never been recovered.

The circumstances surrounding the disappearance remain a mystery.

1979

In Miami-Dade County, Florida, the body of 27-year-old Teresita Celia Rodriguez was discovered face down on a dirt road near 10 Street.

She had last been seen a few blocks away after getting into an argument with her brother. Her death has long been treated as suspicious but as of 2022, it remains unsolved and an active cold case in the State of Florida.

1980

In San Bernardino County, California, an unidentified arsonist set fire to woodland. The fire grew to become a wildfire, flamed up by winds around the San Bernardino Mountains.

It took almost a week for the fire to be completely put out. By that point, four people had been killed and 77 injured. Over 300 homes were also destroyed by the fire. No suspect has ever been caught.

1981

In Seattle, Washington, on this day, 24-year-old Antiques store owner Benjamin Logan Bullitt was reported missing and presumed drowned.

Bullitt was a member of the family that founded the KING Broadcasting Company, an American media conglomerate founded in 1946 which went defunct in 1992 when it was sold to The Providence Journal.

Bullitt had been sailing on a 65-foot yacht with friends on Washington Lake when he was alleged to have fallen overboard in the middle of the night.

Two others were on board at the time of the incident. Despite a search of the waters, no trace of Bullitt was ever found. The circumstances of his disappearance remain sketchy at best and there has been no trace of him since, with some investigators suggesting foul play.

1982

In Travis County, Texas, the body of 19-year-old Southwestern University student Ruth Elizabeth Bettis was discovered in a field near a rural road. Her light blue 1969 Volkswagen Beetle was found nearby. Bettis had been raped and shot by an unidentified assailant.

She was last seen alive the night before at a strip club called Sugar’s, where she was working to help pay for her education. Witnesses saw her get into her Beetle with an unidentified man.

In 2017, Texas’ Department of Public Safety increased the reward for information that leads to the arrest of the person or persons responsible for her murder, to $6,000 (USD).

Despite a large investigation into her death, no suspect has ever been found and her case remains unsolved.

1983

In Woodstock, Oxfordshire, the decomposing body of 23-year-old Finnish nursing student Eila Karjalainen was found in a remote area of Barnham Woods on the Blenheim Estate.

She was on holiday visiting Oxford at the time of her disappearance, three months earlier on August 7^th 1983. Her rucksack and some of her belongings were later unearthed five miles away beside the A40 at Bernard Gate.

She had been raped and strangled to death by an unidentified killer who was suspected of picking her up while she was hitchhiking.

Despite links to a jailed killer in 2014, no one has ever been charged with her murder and her case remains unsolved.

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