On the websites of several law enforcement organizations, you may find various fascinating reports and data regarding the number of murders in Minnesota by year. For example, the Federal Bureau of Investigation prepares and releases a Uniform Crime Report annually, which provides detailed information on the various types of crimes, crime rates, and crime locations in every state, county, and city across the country. Another great example is Project: Cold Case, which not only provides a public database filled with nearly 25,000 cold cases, but also provides statistics and other information regarding the number of unsolved homicides in every state in the United States, as well as each state’s clearance rate.
It’s estimated that there were around 5,866 homicides in Minnesota from 1980 to 2019, according to Project: Cold Case. Furthermore, today there are nearly 1,932 murders in Minnesota that remain unsolved, regardless of the fact that approximately 3,934 of those homicides were solved within that time frame. As previously mentioned, Project: Cold Case also houses a database which can be utilized by anyone, that holds the basic information for almost 25,000 unsolved murders across the country.
One of the categories that can be found within their database includes the many instances of northern Minnesota murders, which include: the 1987 murder of Anita Carlson, the 1986 murder of Nancy Daugherty, the 2001 murder of Rachel Anthony, and the 1983 murder of Joseph “Scriver” Olson, among others. Other unsolved homicides that can easily be found in the database with a simple search are the various central Minnesota unsolved murders, including: 1981 murder of Myrtle Vera Cole, the 1985 murder of Cassandra Rhines, the 2007 murder of Alison Daniels, the 1985 murder of Vittini “Tina” Doreen Slaughter, and the 2000 murder of Keke Jefferson-Moore, among countless others.
Unlike in many states, counties, and cities across the United States, there are no publicly available databases containing all of Minnesota’s unsolved homicides. Due to this, it can be a daunting task to look up the countless unsolved homicides in the state within one website. Some cases which can be found within both news articles and in Project: Cold Case’s database are the few murders in Ramsey County, Minnesota, which include: the 2013 murder of Hagos Tsegay Melake, the 1999 murder of Nathan Andrew Edberg, and others. Lastly, another example of the types of Minnesota cold cases which may be hard to find are the many Saint Paul, Minnesota, unsolved murders. These include: the 2017 murder of Sadeya Hall, the 2010 murder of Danny Wright, the 1989 murder of Frank Kastelic, and the 2000 murder of Wesley Morrison, among others.