The Horror of Reality: 15 Shocking Murders That Defined a Generation

In 1993, 10-year-old Holly Piirainen went missing while visiting her grandparents in Sturbridge, Massachusetts. Two months later, her body was discovered on a rural road. People reached out to the family including 10-year-old Molly Bush, who wrote them a condolence letter. About 7 years later, in 2000, Molly went missing at the age of 16 and her body was found three years later buried in a similar manner to Holly. Police believe their murders are linked and to this day the murders remain unsolved.

18-year-old Alexis Valdez who lived with his aunt and her boyfriend Silvestre Diaz got into an argument in late December of 2013 because Alexis was living there rent-free and not contributing to the household. On Christmas Eve, when his aunt was out, he smashed Diaz’s head with a hammer. Then he chopped off Diaz’s arms and pulled out his eyes. He then decapitated him, leaving his head on his aunt’s pillow as an “early Christmas present.” He then called 911 and confessed to the murder and said he would have killed his aunt too had she been home.

In 1980, a 12-year-old girl named Georgia Jane Crews went missing in the small town of Montverde in Florida. Two days later, the local police department, the girl’s grandmother and the police marshal’s wife all received an unidentified caller saying, “You know that 12-year-old girl you’re looking for? She’s dead.” Eight days later her decomposing body was found near a K-Mart parking lot, with a stab wound in the back. The killer was never found.

In 2013, guests staying at the Cecil Hotel in Los Angeles complained about problems with water pressure, it being black and having an unusual taste. Next morning, the body of 21-year-old Elisa Lam was found in the water tank atop the hotel. She was last seen on the hotel’s elevator security camera. In it, she was seen exiting and re-entering the elevator, talking and gesturing in the hallway outside, and sometimes seeming to hide within the elevator, which itself was malfunctioning. Her case still remains unsolved.

Manson Family was a cult led by Charles Manson. The group consisted of about 100 followers who were mostly young girls who were drawn to the commune by hippy culture and drug use. They were radicalized by Manson’s teaching and believed he was a manifestation of Jesus. In 1969, he sent five members of his “family” to two homes in Los Angeles to kill anyone who lived there. They killed actress Sharon Tate (who was 8-1/2 months pregnant) and four other people who were renting with her. They were also responsible for a number of other murders, assaults, petty crimes and thefts.