While some true crime shows might provide viewers with closure by ensuring that the victim receives justice, there are others that continue to haunt everyone involved. Cases like the murder of six-year-old JonBenét Ramsay have sparked numerous theories, in-depth investigations, and docudramas, yet they continue to be open cold cases with little sign of closure.

People are continually drawn to these stories by their combination of intrigue and hope. Every day there is a chance of waking up to breaking news of new leads or an arrest, as was the case with recent developments in Madeleine McCann's disappearance. With the help of these documentaries and crime series episodes, we may be getting closer to the answers with each new discovery.

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1. Hunting Mr. Cruel: Where is Australia's Worst Serial Killer?

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A vicious child rapist tormented young families on Melbourne's streets from 1987 to 1990, shattering any sense of security in the city. The man broke into the houses of girls between the ages of 10 and 13, tied up their family, and kidnapped them while donning a creepy, tapered balaclava. After a terrifying experience in his alleged residence, two of the girls were released. Police have not been able to convincingly connect the fourth victim, whose body was discovered in 1991, to Mr. Cruel.

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Mr. Cruel methodically washed his victims at a time when forensic evidence was in its infancy, and he left no signs of his presence at any of the crime scenes. He threatened the family by carrying a knife and a gun, and more worrisome still, he recorded his actions on camera or camcorder. Police could see that the quiet man had been watching the residences before his strikes. Mr. Cruel has never been located despite the efforts of multiple committed task forces. The documentary can be seen here.

2. The Vanishing of Richey Manic

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Richey Edwards, lyricist and rhythm guitarist for the Manic Street Preachers, was a pioneer of Cool Cymru and a key figure in the politicised rock uprising that emerged in Wales. The outspoken thinker became friends with the Preachers' original line-up while working as a chauffeur and roadie before becoming their fourth member and primary spokesperson in 1989. He contributed 80% of the lyrics to the band's most critically acclaimed album, The Holy Bible, making up for any musical shortcomings with his stunning language.

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Edwards was candid about his battles with anorexia, severe despair, and self-harm. He used a razor blade to etch "4real" into his arm in 1991 while speaking with NME journalist Steve Lamacq. There were 18 stitches needed for the wound. He had twice checked himself into hospitals and rehab centres by 1994. Richey Edwards vanished on February 1st, 1995, the day before he was scheduled to board a flight for the band's Holy Bible tour of the US. Investigators may have concluded that Edwards committed suicide based on his prior behaviour, but those closest to him (including Edwards himself) argued he would never have gone that far.

3. The Beaumont Children: What Really Happened?

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Jane, Arnna, and Grant Beaumont, who were then nine, seven, and four years old, travelled to Glenelg Beach, a well-liked gathering place for visitors and locals with white sand and surf music, via a short bus journey from their home on January 26th, 1966. Their mother let them to take the brief journey and anticipated them to return home on the 12pm bus because they had been dropped off there by their father the day before and had made their way home safely.

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By 2pm, the parents searched the area for the kids when they hadn't come home, and they promptly filed a missing persons report. The children were allegedly spotted with a "tall, thin male in his mid-30s in swim trunks," according to several witnesses. Although their mother portrayed them as reserved, Arnna's casual remark the day before that Jane had "acquired a boyfriend down the beach" implied that the man had made an effort to win their trust. The case is frequently referred to as the loss of Australia's innocence because it has remained unresolved despite several suspicions and inquiries.

4. The True Story of the Tylenol Murders

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Seven residents of the Chicago area passed away suddenly in September 1982. Theresa Janus (19), Mary McFarland (31), Mary Kellerman (12), Adam Janus (27), Stanley Janus (25), Mary McFarland (31), Paula Prince (35) and Mary Reiner were their names (27). Despite the fact that only the Janus family was familiar to each of the victims, it was soon discovered that they were all connected by the fact that they had just recently consumed extra-strength Tylenol capsules.

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Police uncovered other contaminated bottles in stores in addition to the five bottles they had taken from the victims' houses. According to police speculation, someone stole bottles from multiple stores in the Chicago region, poisoned some capsules with potassium cyanide, and then replaced them so that unwary customers could purchase them. Due to this incident, tamper-proof packaging and safety seals were widely adopted. The murderer was never discovered.

5. MH370 - MH370: The Lost Flight

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On March 8, 2014, a Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777 scheduled to go from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing took off, never to be seen again. 40 minutes into the flight, the aircraft lost contact with air traffic control, but military radar continued to follow it for another hour. The aircraft diverted from its intended course, passing across the Malay Peninsula and the Andaman Sea before totally vanishng 200 nautical miles north-west of Penang. ATC saw the flight. The aeroplane has never been found, and all 227 passengers and the 12 crew members are assumed dead even though some minor pieces of wreckage have been found.

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Sadly, four months later, a second Malaysian Airlines flight (MH17) met with disaster when it was shot down over Ukraine by a Russian Buk 9M83 surface-to-air missile, killing all 283 passengers and 15 crew members. The families of MH370 passengers still don't know why or how their loved ones perished, whereas there is at least a plausible explanation for what happened to MH17 (despite how heinous it is).

6. Night Shift Nightmare: The Unsolved Austin Yogurt Shop Murders

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Amy Ayers, Eliza Thomas, Jennifer, and Sarah Harbison, four teenage girls, were hanging out in a yoghurt shop in 1991; two of them were working, and the other two were waiting for their friends and a ride home. A police patrolman discovered the I Can't Believe It's Yogurt! business on fire at midnight. The bodies of four girls, two of whom had been sexually assaulted, and their nude state were quickly found by first responders.

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The FBI has a Y-chromosome match to DNA obtained on one of the victims, but the piece only reduces the field of candidates to thousands. Although several men have been implicated in the crime, including two who were wrongfully convicted, it has never been formally solved. There is hope that improvements in DNA technology will soon reduce the number of suspects and bring about justice.

7. The West Memphis Three: An ID Murder Mystery

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Three 8-year-old boys rode their bikes to Robin Hood Hills, a neighbouring woods, in 1993. They never returned. Numerous documentaries have dealt with the subsequent inquiry and erroneous conviction of Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley. The injustice they endured led to one of the most researched criminal prosecutions in history. 2011 saw the release of Echols, Baldwin, and Misskelley, but the truth is that the three little boys at the centre of the case were never given justice.

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The West Memphis Three: An ID Murder Mystery emphasises the crime itself and potential forensic clues that were either ignored or disregarded by past investigations, in contrast to other documentaries that have concentrated solely on the trial. It was produced in 2020 and is the most recent WM3 documentary, therefore it contains the most recent data. One thing is certain, sadly: the crime has not yet been solved.

8. The Imposter

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The 1994 disappearance of thirteen-year-old Nicholas Barclay is another well-reported case that has remained unsolved. The teen spent the entire day playing basketball at the neighbourhood courts, and when it got dark, he used a payphone to ask his half-brother Jason for a ride. Jason told him to go for contacting their mother while she was in bed getting ready for her late-night work. Since then, Nicholas Barclay had vanished.

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We won't ruin the documentary for you, as it is a shocking watch. Whatever conclusion you may draw by the end, it's worth noting that Nicholas' teachers had reported seeing bruises on his body, leaving several unanswered questions about the days before his disappearance. Available to stream on Tubi.