Hey there, DETECTIVES! DETECTIVE WRITER here to tell you all about an unsolved crime, the case of Laetitia Toureaux.
Laetitia Nourrissat Toureaux was born in Oyace on September 11th, 1907. On May 16th, 1937, Toureaux entered an empty Paris Metro carriage and less than 90 seconds later, she was found murdered at the next stop in Porte Dorée. She was stabbed to death.
What makes the case interesting is that after police investigations, it was discovered that Toureaux had led a double life: she was from Italy but her whole family relocated to France. During the day, she worked in a factory but at night, she was a dancer in a dance hall, had various lovers, and frequently visited the Italian Embassy. It was later revealed she was a spy and was hired to gain access to La Cagoule, a far-right terrorist group. Her case was later dropped two years later, due to the beginning of World War II. To this day, her murder remains unsolved.
I hope you have enjoyed this storytime as much as I did, DETECTIVES! Please let me know in the comments if you want more storytime! Have a great day, night, afternoon, or evening, DETECTIVES! Stay tuned for next week’s post; until then, keep on sleuthing, DETECTIVES!
Hey there, DETECTIVES! DETECTIVE WRITER here to tell you all about a topic that has fascinated me for years, the case of the mysterious Poe Toaster.
Now, you may be wondering who this person is, why they are called the Poe Toaster, or even what is this person’s true name- would you believe me if I told you I have no clue either? Yup, that’s right – no one has no clue actually.
The Poe Toaster is a term for someone who is unidentified and goes in front of the cenotaph or empty tomb of the famed author Edgar Allan Poe every year on January 19th, his birthday.
The individual is dressed in black with a large hat and white scarf, pours a glass of cognac, toasts to the memory of Poe, and leaves but three roses are left behind along with the unfinished bottle of cognac.
The empty tomb marks the site of Poe’s original grave in Baltimore, Maryland. The interesting aspect is that despite people trying to discover who the Poe Toaster could be, the person has continued to remain a mystery. Even with various notes sometimes left behind throughout the years and surprisingly in 2010, 2011, 2012, until 2015 the Maryland Historical Society organized a competition to bring back the Poe Toaster. A true Poe throwback.
I hope you have enjoyed this storytime as much as I did, DETECTIVES! Please let me know in the comments if you want more storytime! Have a great day, night, afternoon, or evening, DETECTIVES! Stay tuned for next week’s post; until then, keep on sleuthing, DETECTIVES!
Hey there, DETECTIVES! DETECTIVE WRITER here to tell you all about an unsolved crime in Nigeria, the murder of Ifeoma Aggrey-Fynn.
Ifeoma Aggrey-Fynn was born on June 8th, 1980 to a Ghanaian father and a Nigerian mother. She had a degree in Linguistics and Communications from Abia State University. In 2003, she became a TV presenter. In 2009, she began to host television and radio shows, gaining more popularity.
On June 2nd, 2015, when she was 34 years old, Aggrey-Fynn traveled to see her family in Aba, a city located in Southeast Nigeria. Allegedly, she was on a bus when it was suddenly attacked by bandits. They opened fire and she was hit and later died of her wounds. However, there is also another version of her death, her boyfriend was driving her home when they were approached by gunmen and shot at them. Her boyfriend was then kidnapped while she was dying. Neighbors soon found her and took her to the nearby hospital where she was pronounced dead. However, despite these distinct stories, neither one was ever truly confirmed to be accurate and to this day, Aggrey-Fynn’s killer(s) have not been found. Her death continues to remain a mystery.
I hope you have enjoyed this storytime as much as I did, DETECTIVES! Please let me know in the comments if you want more storytime! Have a great day, night, afternoon, or evening, DETECTIVES! Stay tuned for next week’s post; until then, keep on sleuthing, DETECTIVES!
Hey there, DETECTIVES! DETECTIVE WRITER here to tell you all about an unsolved crime in Thailand, the murder of Kirsty Jones.
Kirsty Jones was a British woman who went on vacation in Thailand in August 2000. On August 10th, 2000, in Chiang Mai, Thailand, Jones was found raped and strangled inside her hotel room. She was only 23 years old. Unfortunately, after 20 years of the case remaining unsolved, the statute of limitations expired in 2020 which is the limit in Thai law. To this day, Jones’s killer(s) has not been identified and no one has been charged.
I hope you have enjoyed this storytime as much as I did, DETECTIVES! Please let me know in the comments if you want to have more storytime! Have a great day, night, afternoon, or evening, DETECTIVES! Stay tuned for next week’s post; until then, keep on sleuthing, DETECTIVES!
Hey there, DETECTIVES! DETECTIVE WRITER here to tell you all about an unsolved crime in Russia, the murder of William Pokhlyobkin.
William Vasilyevich Pokhlyobkin was born on August 20th, 1923, in Moscow, Soviet Union. Pokhlyobkin was active as a private in the Soviet-Finnish War and German-Soviet War. He attended several universities and became a member of numerous political, social, and educational groups and communities. Due to a book on tea, he published, he was labeled a dissident (an individual who opposes official policy) in 1968. He then was forbidden from publishing any more books, leaving him time to work on cooking. In 1993, he was awarded the Langhe Ceretto Prize for culinary writing.
Between March 27th and 31st 2000, at either 76 or 77 years old, Pokhlyobkin was found dead in his apartment in Podolsk, Russia. Someone had stabbed him to death eleven times with a screwdriver. He was found by the chief editor of the Polyfakt publishing house who was worried about a delay in his book and came to see him. The strangest part was that alcohol was found in his system, despite the fact that he never drank. To this day, Pokhlyobkin’s killer(s) has not been found to this day and numerous works he had written have never been published.
I hope you have enjoyed this storytime as much as I did, DETECTIVES! Please let me know in the comments if you want to have more storytime! Have a great day, night, afternoon, or evening, DETECTIVES! Stay tuned for next week’s post; until then, keep on sleuthing, DETECTIVES!
Hey there, DETECTIVES! DETECTIVE WRITER here to tell you all about a mystery that has creeped the heck out of the coast of the Salish sea surrounding British Columbia and Washington, USA – severed feet and a lot of them.
Yes, you have heard that right: at least 30 human feet have been located nearby since August 20th, 2007. The most recent discovery was on January 1st, 2019 on Jetty Island in Everett, Washington when people found a boot with a foot inside it.
You may find this hard to believe, but ever since 1887 in Vancouver, human feet have been strangely appearing throughout decades, leading to the area where the foot was found to be called Leg-In-Boot Square.
According to local authorities, the feet have been a mix of individuals who have unfortunately taken their lives or passed away in accidents; therefore, detaching the feet from the bodies while decomposing. However, some individuals with missing feet have been identified while some have not and remain unknown. 13 out of 15 feet have been officially identified in British Columbia.
Although, there have been a few controversies with the circumstances, including a hoax after June 18th, 2008, in Vancouver Island, after an animal paw was found stuffed in a sock with dried seaweed. On August 31st, 2011, in Oak Beach, British Columbia, multiple running shoes were found with raw meat inside of them after another foot was discovered in Vancouver, making it the 11th. Why do you believe so many feet have been found in these two locations? Why there? Why mainly feet and not other parts of the human body? What do you think, DETECTIVES?
I hope you have enjoyed this storytime as much as I did, DETECTIVES! Please let me know in the comments if you want to have more storytime! Have a great day, night, afternoon, or evening, DETECTIVES! Stay tuned for next week’s post; until then, keep on sleuthing, DETECTIVES!
Hey there, DETECTIVES! DETECTIVE WRITER here to tell you all about an unsolved crime in New York that has yet to be solved, the Chen family murders.
(This is a photo of the family that has no known date).
In the early 2000s, a Chinese couple from the Fujian province, Chen Jinfeng and Hai Yi Li immigrated to the United States and settled in Guilderland, New York. In 2004 and 2007, the couple became parents to two sons, Anthony and Eddie.
On October 8th, 2014, around the midafternoon, a coworker of Chen’s came over to the family home and found the bodies. He was concerned when Chen didn’t show up for work at the King’s Wok restaurant but when he saw the family’s bodies, he had to ask another coworker to call 911 because his English was limited. The crime scene was sealed by police and officers did not immediately release any information about the murders. The tech company Apple even refused to reveal the family’s iPhone records which eventually they did. However, most relatives from the family spoke to the Chinese media in NYC’s Chinatown and that’s how information was given to the public. Details revealed that tragically the family had suffered multiple stabbings and beatings from a hammer. Chen’s brother stated that his brother’s body was discovered on the first floor while his wife and sons were upstairs and covered by a blanket. Due to the autopsies, the time of death was estimated around 3:30 and 6:30 A.M. EST on October 8th, 2014 – the same day they were found.
Although there have been over a few theories as to who may have been the murderer(s), unfortunately, to this day, the horrific crime continues to remain unsolved.
Please let me know in the comments if you want to have more storytime! Please let me know if you have any clues or ideas for the killer that can perhaps finally put this case to rest. Hate, ignorance, and murder need to be punished and all victims deserve respect. Stay tuned for next week’s post; until then, keep on sleuthing, DETECTIVES!
“Writing is medicine. It is an appropriate antidote to injury. It is an appropriate companion for any difficult change,” by Julia Cameron.
As a self-proclaimed bookworm and self-published author, writing actually saved my life. No, I don’t mean that figuratively. Writing truly saved me. And because of that experience, I believe that if you have challenges, there is power in verbally expressing your feelings through the written word.
Growing up as the daughter and granddaughter of Ecuadorian immigrants who worked hard to provide the best life possible for me and with Spanish as my first language, I did not realize how much writing would help me process my circumstances. When I first attended school, I recall struggling to communicate with teachers and classrooms, being unable to respond back to anyone who spoke to me in English, and having a difficult time reading or writing because I only knew Spanish. I was in regular classes but receiving extra help and through time, my teachers helped me learn English through the guidance of short stories, adventure and mystery books, essays, and of course Disney shows, films, and music! I realized that through words, there is so much potential, imagination, and creativity to be had.
I cannot tell you how many times I found myself excited reading a book, unable to contain my joy at discovering what would happen next–imagining that one day I would hold my own novel and a little girl would read my work and picture herself as an author too as I had done when I was young. Whenever anyone asked me what I aspired to be when I grew up, I would always say “A writer. I want to be an author and publish 1,000 books.” I didn’t know how long it would take, nor how many obstacles I would have to face, but I was willing to face it all to accomplish my dream. Sometimes, I would receive joyful cheers but more often, I was told to seek a more “Serious” career choice or at least to find a job on the side to support myself so I wouldn’t be a struggling author living on ramen noodles in NYC. I know, what can I say? Latinos are very resourceful, I guess. I can’t say they were wrong though, it is best or at least recommended to be able to support yourself but always strive to achieve your ultimate goals.
Aside from obtaining the money to publish, the other challenge was not knowing what I would ever write about. In 2009, I encountered horrific bullying when I entered middle school for the first time. I wasn’t as strong mentally, physically, or emotionally as I wish, but I took the traumatizing experience as my inspiration to write. My first novel, The Doctor: The Toxic Combination of Love, Hatred, and Revenge is Served was based on a fictional version of myself, a woman who looked exactly like me but was a total badass. Detective Sasha Thomas is a woman who has gone through quite a bit of trauma in her life and faced many people who betrayed her and made her feel small. I decided to write her story because I wanted to finally release all of my past hurts, tears, and bitter moments where I considered myself a failure. The deeper I dove into her story, the more I realized just how alike Sasha and I really are.
Writing Sasha’s story began to heal me mentally and emotionally in more ways than one because while I originally thought she and I were completely different aside from our similar looks, I learned that is not the case. Being a trauma survivor, bullying took so much from me: my confidence, self-esteem, self-love, and especially my self-respect- just like they did for Sasha. For three years, my life was in absolute hell but the only thing that helped me overcome it, aside from having a guidance counselor to talk to, was writing. I journaled every single thing that went through my mind. Whether it was good or bad, I wrote it all down. Although I never actually discussed out loud what went down during those three years, writing it, for me, was enough.
During my last few semesters in college, a professor in my fiction writing course had this prompt for us: “If there was another version of you, perhaps in another universe, how would they be? Would this individual be the opposite of you or would they be the same as you? How do you picture it?” I honestly can’t express how much fun I had with that prompt and how much it helped me unpack myself. At first, I only wrote a couple of paragraphs, but I just knew there was more to be said so I kept writing. Pretty soon, a short story assignment transformed into a fifty-plus page paper that my professor said, “Sally this is not a short story, this is a book!” At that moment, I made the choice to just go for it and give this opportunity my all, despite being in between classes, part-time jobs, and the pandemic, buckled down and started writing.
Upon finding New Degree Press thanks to a fellow author friend, I was able to finally accomplish my dream of publishing a novel. The moment you are able to sit back and view that everything you strove to achieve has arrived is such an intense feeling that I can hardly describe it in words. Writing is an absolute game changer and perhaps one day, it can ensure you tell your own story like I did.
Hey there, DETECTIVES! DETECTIVE WRITER here to spice things up a bit, I am going to introduce an Asian American content group/band I am pretty fond of, the North Star Boys. I have never done this before, but considering we are now in a new year, I wanted to start our first January post with a bit of fun, or at least I hope it’s fun. I will state this story is completely FALSE and purely for laughter and perhaps I will write more in the future. Please let me know in the comments your thoughts and opinions, DETECTIVES! Now, let us begin with this story: FAKE murder mystery edition.
“The North Star Boy Murder in LA Edition
Part 1”
By Detective Writer
It was a mildly chilly afternoon on Saturday, January 28th, 2023, in Los Angeles, California. The North Star Boys consists of members: Justin Phan, brothers Oliver, and Sebastian Moy, Darren Liang, Ryan Nguyen, brothers Kane, and Ty Bray – who is also known as Manager Ty, and Regie Macalino. The boys were relaxing and lay down in the living room of their brand-new home for the next several months before heading to the Asian supermarket also known as H Mart so they could gather items for their highly anticipated and famed Saturday night for drinks and movie night. Justin decided to go upstairs to his room and play one of his favorite video games, “Valorant,” Darren got hungry and went to the kitchen to heat up some leftover spicy chicken ramen, Sebastian and Kane chose to go to their rooms and stream on Twitch, Oliver walked over to the table to work on some music, Manager Ty was out for a few meetings, Regie was watching tv, and Ryan got a little bored so he took a mini nap on the couch. A few hours passed and it was already 6:30 P.M. PST (Pacific Standard Test).
Manager Ty drove back to the house after having a meeting in San Diego. Upon his arrival, he called for the boys to come together in the living room because he had an announcement to be made.
“Boys, I have some very important news to tell you. So, as you know we are taking a break for a few days before we go back to the Philippines next month. But seeing as how we have been chilling for a bit, I have an idea for a new video but first, I want you all to go to H Mart, get snacks, food, and anything you need and I will explain in more detail when you return,” said Manager Ty. Not thinking too much of Ty’s request, the boys gathered together and drove off in several cars to the nearest H Mart. The boys got their items, paid, and drove back to the house. Their media team, Angel and Bae told the boys they would stay behind and just relax since there was no rush to record anything yet. When they returned, they encountered quite a surprise.
Manager Ty was on the ground and unconscious. He was flat on his back and on top of him, there was a note.
The note stated “A brand new video idea: murder mystery with a twist. One of you may or may not be my killer but try to figure out what happened to me.”
“Really, what the heck? We gotta solve a fake crime now?” asked Regie.
“Sounds like it, great should be fun,” said Justin.
“Come on, boys you heard the man, let’s solve a fake murder,” said Oliver.
“Nah, one of you could be a damn killer, I’m going solo,” said Ryan.
“This should be cool,” said Kane motioning to the media team filming the group. The North Star Boys then began to form a large circle, realizing that anyone of them could have been the mysterious “Killer.”
“This is gonna be a long night, Stars,” said Justin as he looked into the camera.
PART 2 COMING SOON!
I hope you have enjoyed this storytime as much as I did, DETECTIVES! Please let me know in the comments if you want more game times! I hope you liked it, DETECTIVES and North Star Boys! Have a great day, night, afternoon, or evening, DETECTIVES! Stay tuned for next week’s post; until then, keep on sleuthing, DETECTIVES!
Hey there and happy holidays, DETECTIVES! DETECTIVE WRITER is here to tell you about a case that has finally reached a breakthrough! The murder of the child formerly known as the “Boy in the Box,” whose actual name is Joseph Augustus Zarelli.
Now, a few posts earlier I discussed this case and the link is here, but before, the boy was not identified until 65 years after his body was first discovered on December 8th, 2022.
Joseph Augustus Zarelli was born on January 13th, 1953 and he passed in February 1957, when he was only four years old. Now, what I am able to reveal here is a bit graphic so please feel free to skip forward if you do not wish to hear the details of this boy’s murder.
When Joseph was found, his body displayed signs of severe malnourishment, he had surgical scars on his groin and ankle, he had an L-shaped spot under his chin, and his hair had been cut very short. He was also nude. Although the police had opened the case on February 26th, 1957, and his fingerprints were taken, he was not identified until after 60+ years.
However, on November 30th, 2022, thanks to genetic testing and forensic genetic investigation, the Philadephia police department discovered that he had been the child of a prominent family from Delaware County, Pennsylvania. The boy’s body had been exhumed twice to obtain DNA, once in 1998 and another time in 2019. The police continue to investigate further and will update the public on any more information they find.
I hope you have enjoyed this storytime as much as I did, DETECTIVES! Please let me know in the comments if you want more storytime! Have a great day, night, afternoon, or evening, DETECTIVES! Stay tuned for next week’s post; until then, keep on sleuthing, DETECTIVES!
Detective Writer 