Buzz
Halloween is the annual celebration where fear turns into thrilling entertainment. Yet, amidst the playful traditions like trick-or-treating, there are instances of genuinely horrifying and unsettling events. October 31 has witnessed gruesome murders and baffling disappearances that surpass the fright of any ghost, monster, or witch. These mysteries, tied to Halloween, carry an added layer of terror and remain unresolved to this day.
ALSO CHECK OUT: Top 10 Brutal Unsolved Halloween Murders
10. The Killings of Ronald Sisman and Elizabeth Platzman
In the early hours of Halloween morning in 1981, Ronald Sisman and Elizabeth Platzman, a couple from Manhattan, were brutally murdered in their Greenwich Village apartment. They were viciously beaten and then shot execution-style in the head, while their home was thoroughly ransacked. Sisman’s alleged involvement in drugs led authorities to initially suspect a drug-related motive. However, the case took a strange twist when a prison informant revealed that an inmate, later identified as the infamous “Son of Sam” killer David Berkowitz, had allegedly predicted the crime weeks before it occurred.
Berkowitz, convicted in 1977 for a series of shootings that killed six and injured seven, has long been rumored to have ties to a satanic cult and may not have acted alone in the “Son of Sam” murders. The informant claimed Berkowitz spoke of a cult plan to invade a Greenwich Village home on Halloween, perform a ritualistic murder by shooting a couple, and ransack the place to destroy evidence. When questioned, Berkowitz alleged that Sisman possessed snuff footage of one of the “Son of Sam” shootings and intended to use it to evade drug charges. While no evidence supported Berkowitz’s claims, his detailed description of Sisman’s apartment was unnervingly accurate. The connection between these murders and the “Son of Sam” case remains unclear, and the crime is still unsolved.
9. The Vanishing of Hyun Jong ‘Cindy’ Song
Hyun Jong “Cindy” Song, a 21-year-old South Korean student at Pennsylvania State University, vanished after attending a Halloween party in 2001. Dressed in a bunny costume, she spent the night at a State College nightclub before being dropped off at her apartment at 4:00 AM. This was the last time anyone saw her. A search of her apartment revealed no signs of a struggle, but her belongings, including the false eyelashes from her costume, were found, suggesting she had returned home. Her disappearance remains a mystery.
Soon after, a witness reported seeing a woman resembling Cindy in Philadelphia’s Chinatown, crying for help inside a car with an unidentified man. In 2003, a peculiar lead emerged when Hugo Marcus Selenski, a Luzerne County man, was arrested after five bodies were discovered buried in his backyard.
Although none of the remains found were identified as Cindy, an informant informed the police that Selenski and his accomplice, Michael Jason Kerkowski Jr., had kidnapped her. The informant alleged that after Cindy was assaulted and killed, her body was buried at a separate location. Kerkowski’s remains were discovered in Selenski’s backyard, and the informant claimed Kerkowski was murdered for keeping Cindy’s bunny ears as a memento. Despite extensive investigations, no evidence has linked Selenski to Cindy’s disappearance. However, in January 2014, the charred remains of twelve more individuals were unearthed on his property. It remains uncertain if any of these remains belong to Cindy Song.
8. The Killing of Nima Louise Carter
On Halloween night in 1977, 19-month-old Nima Louise Carter was placed in her crib by her parents at their Lawton, Oklahoma home. The next morning, they were horrified to find her missing. With the windows in Nima’s bedroom locked, investigators believe the abductor hid in the closet and smuggled the child out while her parents slept in the living room. A month later, children playing in an abandoned house four blocks away made a gruesome discovery: the decomposed body of an infant fell out of the refrigerator. The child was identified as Nima Louise Carter, who had suffocated to death.
A similar incident occurred in Lawton in April 1976 when twin sisters Mary and Tina Carpitcher, aged three, were lured from their home by a young woman and trapped in a refrigerator at another abandoned house. Found two days later, Mary had suffocated, but Tina survived. Tina identified her abductor as a local teenage babysitter named Jacqueline Roubideaux. However, her young age made her testimony unreliable, and insufficient evidence prevented charges at the time. Roubideaux later became Nima’s babysitter and was a prime suspect in her murder, but again, no evidence linked her to the crime. Years later, Roubideaux was convicted of Mary Carpitcher’s murder and sentenced to life in prison. She died of liver cancer in 2005 without confessing to Nima’s still-unsolved murder.
7. The Killing of Chaim Weiss
Chaim Weiss, a 15-year-old Orthodox Jewish student at the Mesivta of Long Beach yeshiva in New York, was tragically found dead on his dorm room floor the morning after Halloween in 1986. He had suffered a fatal blow to the skull and multiple stab wounds to the head, but the murder weapon was never found. The absence of any struggle suggested Chaim was attacked in his sleep, with his body later moved to the floor. Described as a well-liked boy, the lack of a clear motive left investigators baffled.
The killer appeared to understand Orthodox Jewish traditions. Despite the cold weather, Chaim’s window was left open, a practice meant to release the spirit of the deceased. After the murder, a memorial candle was placed in his room by a rabbi, and two days later, a second candle mysteriously appeared, though no one claimed responsibility. With no signs of forced entry, it seemed the killer knew the dormitory well. Another student recalled being briefly awakened when their door was opened and quickly closed that night, raising the possibility that the killer had entered the wrong room initially. After 28 years, the case remains unsolved, with no suspects or explanations for the brutal murder.
6. The Mystery of ‘Orange Socks’
On Halloween in 1979, the body of an unidentified young woman was discovered in a concrete culvert near Interstate 35, close to Georgetown, Texas. The victim, believed to be in her twenties, had been sexually assaulted and strangled, likely on the same day. The only distinctive clue to her identity was a silver, oval-shaped ring on her hand. Found nude except for a pair of orange socks, she became known as “Orange Socks” to investigators. Her true identity remains unknown.
Years later, serial killer Henry Lee Lucas confessed to the murder of “Orange Socks.” He even admitted to engaging in necrophilia with her body after her death. However, Lucas had no knowledge of the woman’s identity, claiming he picked her up while she was hitchhiking and only recalled her name as “Joanie” or “Judy.” In 1984, after being sentenced to death for her murder, Lucas retracted his confession to avoid execution. Further investigation revealed he was likely in Florida on the day of the crime. Known for falsely confessing to numerous murders, Lucas’s actual victim count remains unclear. He died in prison in 2001, but “Orange Socks” is just one of many unidentified victims linked to him.
ALSO SEE: Top 10 Halloween Pranks That Went Horribly Wrong
5. The Walker County Jane Doe
On the morning of November 1, 1980, a truck driver found the nude body of a teenage girl near Interstate 45 outside Huntsville, Texas. The victim had been sexually assaulted, beaten, and strangled. Never identified, she became known as the “Walker County Jane Doe.” Estimated to have been killed hours before her discovery, witnesses came forward with details of her activities on Halloween night, hinting at a possible backstory.
After being dropped off by an unidentified man at a South End Gulf station, Jane Doe reportedly asked several people for directions to the Ellis Unit Prison, saying she intended to visit a friend there. However, when her photo was shown to Ellis Unit inmates, no one recognized her. Later, a truck stop waitress had a similar interaction with Jane Doe, where the girl claimed to be 19, from Aransas Pass, and suggested her parents didn’t care about her. The murder occurred exactly one year after the “Orange Socks” case, and with many similarities, Henry Lee Lucas was considered a suspect. However, no evidence linked him to the crime, and Jane Doe’s identity remains unknown.
4. The Killing of Marvin Brandland
In 1982, 69-year-old Marvin Brandland and his wife, Ethel, lived in Fort Dodge, Iowa. On Halloween, they were handing out candy to trick-or-treaters when a masked man appeared at their door, demanding, “Trick-or-treat. Give me your money or I’ll shoot.” Thinking it was a prank, the Brandlands tried to remove his mask, but the man refused. He forced his way inside, brandished a gun, and ordered the couple to the basement to open their safe and hand over their money.
The Brandlands grew suspicious because only a handful of people knew about their basement safe. Marvin remained convinced that a friend or relative was pulling a Halloween prank. As the masked intruder led them through the kitchen toward the basement, Marvin attempted to seize the gun. The assailant shot Marvin in the throat before fleeing, leaving his mask behind. Ethel, devastated by her husband’s death, passed away a few months later. Over the years, a family acquaintance allegedly boasted about the murder, prompting DNA testing on the mask. However, insufficient usable material prevented conclusive results, leaving Marvin Brandland’s murder unsolved.
3. The Vanishing of Steven Damman
On Halloween in 1955, Marilyn Damman took her two-year-old son, Steven, and seven-month-old daughter, Pamela, to a supermarket in East Meadow, New York. While shopping, Marilyn left Steven outside with Pamela in a carriage. Ten minutes later, she returned to find Steven and the carriage missing. The carriage was later discovered a block and a half away, with Pamela still inside, but Steven was gone. He has never been seen since.
In cases of infant abductions, it’s often theorized that the abductor wanted a child to raise as their own. Over the years, DNA testing has been used to determine if Steven Damman was given a new identity. Investigators once noted a resemblance between Steven and the infamous “Boy in the Box,” an unidentified child found murdered in a cardboard box in Philadelphia in 1957. However, DNA tests confirmed they were not the same person. In 2009, a Michigan man named John Barnes believed he might be Steven, but DNA analysis ruled this out. It’s possible Steven Damman is living under a different identity, unaware of his true origins, but his fate remains a mystery.
ALSO SEE: 10 Most Horrific Murders Committed On Halloween
2. The Unsolved Death of Chris Jenkins
Chris Jenkins, a 21-year-old University of Minnesota student, went to a downtown Minneapolis bar on Halloween night in 2002. He left the bar around midnight and vanished. Four months later, his body was found in the Mississippi River, still clad in his Halloween costume, suggesting he died shortly after disappearing. Highly intoxicated that night, his death was initially ruled an accidental drowning or suicide. His parents, unconvinced, pushed for further investigation, leading to the case being reclassified as a homicide in 2006.
Authorities have kept specific details under wraps but revealed that an incarcerated individual claimed to have witnessed Chris’s murder and disposal into the river. While police find the account credible, no charges have been filed. Some speculate Chris may have been a victim of the enigmatic “Smiley Face Murders,” a series of drownings involving around 40 male college students in the U.S. during that period. In some cases, unexplained “smiley face” graffiti was found near the drowning sites, fueling theories that the victims were drugged and thrown into water to mimic accidental deaths. Although no such graffiti was linked to Chris’s case, its similarities to other unsolved drownings remain notable.
1. The Tragic Death of the Key West Newborn
On the morning of October 31, 2004, a housekeeper at the Hilton Resort and Marina in Key West, Florida, discovered something shocking in the lobby’s ladies’ restroom trash bin. At first, she might have thought it was a Halloween prank, but the horrifying reality set in when she realized it was the body of a newborn girl. The infant still had the umbilical cord and placenta attached, suggesting she had been recently born and discarded. Authorities quickly began piecing together the events.
Earlier that night, a visibly pregnant woman and three men were seen in the hotel lobby. The woman entered the restroom while the men waited outside. A female witness who entered the restroom heard the pregnant woman groaning in a stall. When the witness questioned the men, one identified himself as her boyfriend and even called out a name resembling “Samantha” or “Sonia.”
The woman remained in the restroom for about 40 minutes. Upon exiting, a security guard noticed her clutching her stomach and inquired if she was okay. She claimed she had overindulged at the nearby Fantasy Fest. The group was escorted out, but the newborn wasn’t discovered until the next morning. Investigators collected fingerprints, blood samples, and DNA evidence from the restroom, even comparing it to suspects like Casey Anthony. Despite these efforts, the mother and the three men remain unidentified, and no one has been charged in the infant’s death.
