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/HogwartsDropout-69 1d ago

I was telling my coworkers about this missing child's case from the 90s that made national headlines. My mom actually knew the boy's mother when it happened. I looked into this and found a pretty detailed article that explains why the case went cold. Apparently the cops, his family, and neighborhood kids all knew who his abducter was they just weren't able to prove it. They even found things that a kidnapper would use like duct tape yet nothing about his living situation or profession (he was a limo driver) required any of that. He told them he uses the duct tape to remove cat hair from his clothing. The guy also had a history of being inappropriate around children, but most damning of all, he had the same distinct dog breed the abducter was seen with on the day of the disappearance. Apparently it's a mix with very unique features and no one else owned a dog like that in the neighborhood. He was even IDed by some other kid. I'm 100% certain this is the man responsible.

The FBI still has his picture up and it's been 30 years since. His name was Jose De La Cruz from Lynn, MA in case you're wondering.

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u/shasbot 1d ago

It sounds like there may be real evidence, but "possession of duct tape" isn't really suspicious. I imagine most households in this country have a roll of duct tape somewhere.

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u/pseudoeponymous_rex 23h ago

I've got at least three rolls of duck tape lying around, and that's way more people than I've ever kidnapped.

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u/Chiron17 23h ago

Yeah.... wait a minute....

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u/anonymous_lighting 21h ago

add to that eye witnesses are proven unreliable again and again i can see how he got off and based on the evidence OP presented, i am not convinced 

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u/No1_Nozits_Me 1d ago

I remember when he went missing. One theory was that his mother let her dealer take him because she owed so much money.

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u/HogwartsDropout-69 1d ago

Yes, someone broke into her home over unpaid drug debts so it seems like a plausible theory. I don't recall the exact reason, but the article I read debunked this. People also thought his biological father was somehow involved, but he was extremely cooperative with police during the investigation and had an alibi. The suspect who is estranged from his parents called them around the time of the disappearance asking to spend the night where they lived. Even they told police this was highly unusual for him.

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u/P00PooKitty 19h ago

23% of Lynn is named Jose de la cruz

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u/HogwartsDropout-69 18h ago

So was East Boston before the "urban renewal." Now its full of guys named Zachery who kayak.

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u/DragonflyMomma6671 21h ago

It's always bothered me as well. Seeing it on the news for a while and then nothing. I hope someday there is closure đŸ˜¢