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Chicago Strangler
The Chicago Strangler is a suspected serial killer, or group of killers, believed by some to be responsible for the deaths of women in Chicago, Illinois. The Murder Accountability Project has identified 51 strangulation and asphyxiation deaths in the city between 2001 and 2018. Most of the victims were Black women, and many of the bodies were found on the city’s South and West Sides.
1987 · IllinoisUnsolvedDardeen family homicides
The Dardeen family homicides were a series of murders that occurred on November 18, 1987, near Ina, Illinois, United States. The victims were members of the Dardeen family, including Ruby Elaine Dardeen, her young son, and her newborn daughter. Investigators determined that members of the family were victims of a targeted attack.
2008 · IllinoisUnsolvedLane Bryant murders
The Lane Bryant murders was an incident of mass murder at a Lane Bryant clothing outlet in the Brookside Marketplace in Tinley Park, Illinois, United States, a suburb of Chicago, that occurred on February 2, 2008. The shooting resulted in five people killed and a sixth injured. Police said the attack appeared to have been a botched robbery attempt, though the motive of the shooting remains unknown for certain.
2026 · Harvey, IllinoisUnidentifiedUnidentified person, Harvey, Illinois (2026)
An unidentified person was found in Harvey, Illinois on August 25, 2026. No name has been established. NamUs case UP162635.
2026 · Appellate Court of IllinoisIn courtPeople v. Medera
Appellate Court of Illinois issued an opinion on November 12, 2026 that deals with an innocence claim. From the opinion: “…his or her conviction based on a claim of actual innocence or where there was a substantial denial of…”
1992 · IllinoisOverturned
Wrongful conviction of Juan Rivera
Juan A. Rivera Jr. (born October 31, 1972) is an American man who was wrongfully convicted three times for the 1992 rape and murder of 11-year-old Holly Staker in Waukegan, Illinois. He was convicted twice on the basis of a confession that he said was coerced.
1999 · Chicago, IllinoisUnidentifiedUnidentified man, Chicago, Illinois (1999)
An unidentified man was found in Chicago, Illinois on December 28, 1999. No name has been established. NamUs case UP129086.
1999 · Chicago, IllinoisUnidentifiedUnidentified man, Chicago, Illinois (1999)
An unidentified man was found in Chicago, Illinois on September 8, 1999. No name has been established. NamUs case UP129100.
2019 · Chicago, IllinoisUnidentifiedUnidentified man, Chicago, Illinois (2019)
An unidentified man was found in Chicago, Illinois on August 15, 2019. No name has been established. NamUs case UP60200.
2026 · Appellate Court of IllinoisIn courtPeople v. Lehnert
Appellate Court of Illinois issued an opinion on November 10, 2026 that deals with an innocence claim. From the opinion: “…plea claim but reverse the dismissal of his actual innocence claim and remand for further proceedings.…”
2000 · Northlake, IllinoisMissingJeremiah Meara
Jeremiah Meara, 60 at the time, was last known to be in Northlake, Illinois on March 13, 2000. NamUs case MP7391.
2002 · Chicago, IllinoisUnidentifiedUnidentified man, Chicago, Illinois (2002)
An unidentified man was found in Chicago, Illinois on April 5, 2002. No name has been established. NamUs case UP129238.
2018 · IllinoisUnsolvedDuck Walk Killer
The Duck Walk Killer is an unidentified spree killer who murdered at least two men in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois, in 2018.
2011 · IllinoisMissingDisappearance of Timmothy Pitzen
On May 11, 2011, six-year-old American boy Timmothy James Pitzen () was dropped off at school in Aurora, Illinois, by his father James Pitzen. He was picked up shortly after by his mother, Amy Fry-Pitzen, who took him on a three-day trip to various amusement and water parks. Fry-Pitzen's body was subsequently found in a motel room in the city of Rockford, Illinois, having died by suicide, with a note stating that…
1978 · IllinoisOverturnedThe Ford Heights Four
The Ford Heights Four (Verneal Jimerson, Dennis Williams, Kenneth Adams, and Willie Rainge) were formerly imprisoned convicts, who were falsely accused and convicted of the double murder of Lawrence Lionberg and Carol Schmal in Ford Heights, Illinois, and later exonerated. Jimerson and Williams were sentenced to death, Adams to 75 years in prison and Rainge to life. Following the murder in 1978, the four spent…
1991 · IllinoisOverturnedDixmoor 5
The Dixmoor 5 are five African-American men who, as teenagers, were falsely convicted of the November 1991 rape and murder of 14-year-old Cateresa Matthews in Dixmoor, Illinois. At the time of arrest, the defendants, Robert Taylor, Jonathan Barr, James Harden, Robert Lee Veal and Shainne Sharp were all between the ages of 14 and 16. During high-pressure interviews, three of them gave false confessions leading to…
1988 · IllinoisUnsolved
Murder of Jaclyn Dowaliby
The murder of Jaclyn Marie Dowaliby is an unsolved child murder which occurred in Midlothian, Illinois, on September 10, 1988, when a seven-year-old girl was abducted from her bedroom and murdered by an unknown individual or individuals. Her strangled body was discovered in a section of wasteland in Blue Island four days later. Dowaliby's mother and stepfather were tried for her murder in 1990; her mother was…
1983 · IllinoisOverturnedRolando Cruz case
Rolando Cruz (born 1963) is an American man known for having been wrongfully convicted and sentenced to death, along with co-defendant Alejandro Hernandez, for the 1983 kidnapping, rape, and murder of 10-year-old Jeanine Nicarico in DuPage County, Illinois. Cruz and Hernandez both became suspects after making detailed reports to the police, which they later claimed to be false, about the murder. Their first trial…
1985 · IllinoisOverturnedMurder of Jeanine Nicarico
The Jeanine Nicarico murder case was a complex and influential homicide investigation and prosecution in which two men, Rolando Cruz and Alejandro Hernandez, were wrongfully convicted of abduction, rape and murder in 1985 in DuPage County, Illinois. They were both sentenced to death. The case was scrutinized during appeals for being weak in evidence.
2007 · IllinoisMissingDisappearance of Lisa Stebic
Lisa Michelle Stebic, née Ruttenberg (born May 19, 1969) is an American missing person. The mother of two went missing from her home in Plainfield, Illinois on April 30, 2007. Stebic is 5 feet 2 inches (1.57 m) tall, 120 pounds (54 kg), with brown hair and brown eyes.
1988 · IllinoisOverturnedJoseph Burrows
Joseph H. Burrows (October 5, 1953 – October 15, 2009) was an American man who was wrongfully convicted of the murder of farmer William E. Dulan at his home in Iroquois County, Illinois, in 1988. After his conviction and sentence to death in 1989, Burrows was held for nearly five years on death row. Peter Rooney, a reporter for the Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette, obtained a recantation from a key witness against…
1984 · IllinoisOverturnedLeroy Orange
Leroy Orange (born July 20, 1950, in Chicago, Illinois) is an American man, who on January 12, 1984, was arrested along with his half-brother, Leonard Kidd, for the murders of four people (Ricardo Pedro, 25, Michelle Jointer, 30, Renee Coleman, 27, and Coleman's 10-year-old son, Tony) at 1553 W 91st Street in Chicago's South Side Brainerd neighborhood based on false accusations by Kidd. Orange was convicted on the…
2025 · Bloomington, IllinoisMissingAshton Auth
Ashton Auth, 16 at the time, was last known to be in Bloomington, Illinois on October 21, 2025. NamUs case MP155334.
1982 · Elgin, IllinoisMissingDebra Wienke
Debra Wienke, 25 at the time, was last known to be in Elgin, Illinois on September 30, 1982. NamUs case MP162498.