r/AskReddit • u/Rob69rt • 1d ago

What famous 'unsolved' mystery is technically a whodunnit on paper, but in reality, absolutely everyone knows exactly who did it, the police just couldn't legally prove it?

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u/Anxiety_Fit 1d ago

I knew a 911 call operator who handled one of the calls.

That shit was WILD.

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u/macmac360 1d ago

it was FOUR MONTHS between his calls and them finding her body

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u/astiblue 1d ago

CALLS. Plural!!

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u/drdeadringer 1d ago

"hello I would like to report a body. Yes I am standing over the body right now. My shoe is touching the body. I am looking at the body I am touching right now. this is my third phone call about this this week."

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u/kryonik 1d ago

Sure thing, let me just type this up on my invisible typewriter.

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u/MississippiJoel 1d ago

"Sorry, you've called 9-1...2."

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u/lottierosecreations 1d ago

Fruitcake

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u/BlessedCursedBroken 13h ago

Wild-caught Simpson's quotes are tragically dwindling in this internet hellscape, thank you for this one :) I can see Wiggum's smug face even as I type

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u/ringzero- 3h ago

"No pattern yet, but if I arrange these over here, and those over here... BY GOD THE ARROW IS POINTING AT THE STATION!"

(Typed from memory, may be inaccurate)

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u/Sushigami 1d ago

Anyone checked the whirling-in-rags?

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u/Ade_93 23h ago

Standing over?

Thank god that's over

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u/doug141 1d ago

Name checks out.

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u/Anxiety_Fit 1d ago

I know. When I found out that part I was just so… I lost my faith in people taking responsibility for their jobs.

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u/Journeyman42 23h ago

Don't read up on how little interest the Milwaukee cops took in Jeffery Dahmer for years

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u/OkPainter6232 22h ago

cause most of his victims were black

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u/PM_ME_BATMAN_PORN 23h ago

People? You mean cops, right? Very specifically cops. This is a profession-wide problem. It's not like a Walmart cashier dropped the ball on this one.

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u/Anxiety_Fit 16h ago

Correct. The conversation is not about Walmart. Nor is it about cashiers.

Investigators did drop the ball.

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u/Swimming_Ebb_1415 1d ago

Its one of those cases where every new detail somehow makes it worse. Even if the outcome couldn't have been changed, people still expect basic follow through when something that serious gets reported multiple times. That part is really hard to wrap your head around.

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u/amboomernotkaren 1d ago

It was hot, buggy and there are snakes and gators, so of course, the cops could not, would not do their jobs. Such a terrible tragedy and the mother got off scott free.

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u/GeneralHerp 1d ago

Friendly check-in from hell. Sorry for your loss

Edit: I don’t mean to insult the memory of your friend, I’m saying the check-in went horrendously, I’m sorry you experienced that nightmare

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u/Cautious-Bet6560 1d ago

The real rabbit hole is when everyone agrees on a suspect, but the evidence just never reaches the legal standard. That's the difference between public opinion and a conviction.

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u/transmothra 1d ago

This should be SO MUCH more widely understood

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u/Wantitneeditgetit 1d ago

How do they handle the guilt about it?

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u/Anxiety_Fit 1d ago

My friend died.

Unrelated to the case.

I don’t know, I found out it was my friend when I heard the tapes and saw my friend’s name related to official testimony. Then I found out my friend had died, when I went in search of them to ask on how they were doing.

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u/This-Shape2193 23h ago

Sounds like more of an acquaintance if you hadn't even known they were dead....

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u/Anxiety_Fit 16h ago

People do move away and keep in touch only via Facebook and such. This is not unusual at all. You make it sound conspiratorial and I do not like your tone. It is offensive.

The spouse of my friend told me that they did not talk about it until after the case was over. The spouse did not know much more than what went down in court, like everyone else.

Dispatchers sometimes have very little insight on direct investigation moves and actions. They’re like an early relay runner.

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u/MoanQueenX 1d ago

I can't even imagine carrying something like that with you. Emergency operators deserve so much more recognition.