The Bay Area, while truly wonderful, is also the sad home to our fare share of high-profile and terrifying crimes. From Fatty Arbuckle's notorious sexual assault scandal at the St. Francis Hotel in 1921 to the 1974 kidnapping of heiress Patty Hearst, there's a dark side to San Francisco. The following cold cases remain unanswered, and they continue to haunt locals to this day:
The Zodiac Killer
Our most famous and perhaps scariest unsolved crime, the Zodiac Killer murdered throughout the Bay Area in the late 1960s and early 1970s. If you haven't seen David Fincher's film Zodiac, you should. It's a pretty accurate portrayal of events and was shot locally. The real life killer wrote numerous letters to both the media and law enforcement, claiming a victim list of 37 people. Only seven victims can officially be tied to the mysterious killer, five of whom actually died. The case of the Zodiac Killer remains open in the North Bay, and local authorities still get regular calls with tips and clues from amateur sleuths. No one has heard from the Zodiac Killer himself in decades.
Kristin Modaferi
Like so many of us, Kristin Modaferi relocated to the Bay Area from across the country. The North Carolina native had just moved to Oakland and taken a job at a San Francisco coffee shop when she disappeared in 1997. Modaferi was last spotted leaving Spinelli's Coffee at the Crocker Galleria in the Financial District. She was due to start a photography class at UC Berkeley the next day. Modaferi was never heard from again, although her name pops up in local news every year or so as potential evidence still trickles in.
PanAm Flight 7
A Pan Am airplane named "The Romance of the Skies" took off from SFO in 1957 but never arrived in Hawaii as scheduled. Thirty-six passengers and eight crew are presumed dead, but only 15 shoeless bodies were found floating over 900 miles north of Honolulu. All of them were wearing life jackets. The cause of the plane's crash remains a mystery.
The Doodler
Nicknamed "the Doodler" because his modus operandi was to sketch victims, have sex with them and then stab them, this unknown San Francisco serial killer hunted the Castro District in 1974 and 1975. Up to 14 victims have been attributed to the Doodler. In fact, a suspect was identified, but three key witnesses refused to come forward for fear of outing themselves as gay. The Doodler's identity remains a mystery.
Gold Coin Mystery
In 2014, a still-anonymous Northern California couple found gold coins buried in their backyard. Upon investigation, the value of the coins was estimated to be around $10 million dollars. A theory proposed by Mashable says that the coins are actually the haul from a 1901 robbery at the San Francisco Mint. (This is a really good theory.) Officially, however, the mystery remains unsolved.
Jenner Beach Double Murder
Camping near the beach is one of life's great pleasures. At least it should be. In August of 2004, a young couple was shot in their tent while camping on Fish Head State Beach in Jenner, Sonoma County. The victims were both counselors at a Northern California Christian camp and hoped to rent a room nearby, but couldn't find one. Camping on a state beach is technically illegal, but the 20-something couple didn't have a lot of other options. They'd started their road trip from Fisherman's Wharf the day before their murders, which remain unsolved to this day.
The Blue Lady
Perhaps in your youth, you caught the episode of Unsolved Mysteries that featured "the Blue Lady," a ghost said to haunt the Moss Beach Distillery and roam the coastal cliffs nearby. Many claim to have spotted a beautiful woman in ghostly blue, and legend has it that she was murdered while walking up to the restaurant. Her killer was never caught. Cynics might scoff, but when it comes to spotting a ghost, locals will send you to the Moss Beach Distillery every time.