0 km · Los Angeles
In 1978 Rodney Alcala won an episode of The Dating Game despite an earlier violent criminal record. Years of appeals, reexamined evidence and investigations across states ultimately produced convictions for seven murders. The television appearance opens the story; the victims and the limits of the evidence are its center.
1 km · Los Angeles
Before it became shorthand for mystery, the Cecil was a commercial hotel in 1924 Los Angeles. This extensive dossier follows its original design, documented deaths and crimes, Elisa Lam’s case, the Black Dahlia legend and the building’s conversion to affordable housing, separating evidence, testimony and myth.
9 km · Los Angeles
Elizabeth Short's 1947 murder led to a remarkably fast fingerprint identification, mailings to the press and decades of competing suspects. This dossier separates what the records establish from what the name “Black Dahlia” has obscured.
162 km · San Diego
In December 1986, Cara Knott vanished while driving home on Interstate 15 near San Diego. Highway patrol officer Craig Peyer was convicted of murdering her. The record reveals earlier nighttime stops, calls to his agency, and a long legal dispute over state responsibility.
295 km · Vale da Morte
An abandoned vehicle linked to four German tourists missing in 1996, traces found thirteen years later, and two 2022 searches show how the desert can conceal people even near a road. This dossier separates facts, search hypotheses, and questions that remain open.