The Chicago Strangler: 20 Chilling Clues Behind the City’s Most Overlooked Serial Killer Case
Over 50 women, mostly Black, mostly vulnerable, were found strangled and discarded across Chicago over a 17-year span. Abandoned lots, alleys, vacant homes—their bodies left behind like clues in a horror story no one wanted to read. The city insisted there was no serial killer. But the numbers—and the patterns—told a darker story.
This isn’t just a string of cold cases. It’s a haunting reminder of who gets protected and who gets forgotten. While officials shrugged and files gathered dust, someone kept killing. And someone may still be out there. These 20 chilling entries uncover the ignored warnings, eerie patterns, and the disturbing possibility that a predator walked free—again and again.
Dozens of Bodies, One Killer?
Between 2001 and 2018, Chicago saw the deaths of over 50 women—most found strangled, dumped in abandoned buildings, alleys, or vacant lots. The eerie consistency of these killings raised suspicions among activists and independent researchers long before law enforcement took notice. Victims were often Black women from underprivileged neighborhoods, many struggling with housing or addiction.
Despite the mounting pattern, police dismissed any link between the deaths. It wasn’t until an algorithm flagged the similarities that momentum built. But by then, crucial time—and evidence—had already slipped through the cracks. The city had a pattern, a body count, and a potential serial killer… but no answers. Was a monster hiding in plain sight?
The Algorithm That Called It First
In 2019, a data science nonprofit called the Murder Accountability Project (MAP) did what Chicago PD hadn’t: it connected the dots. Using algorithmic clustering, MAP discovered a chilling pattern in unsolved strangulations of women in Chicago. The data suggested that these were not isolated tragedies—they bore the hallmark of a serial offender.
The system flagged over 50 cases with suspicious similarities: ligature marks, locations, body positioning. But even after the findings were made public, city officials downplayed the results. MAP’s revelation forced a troubling question—how could a computer see what detectives ignored for nearly two decades? The killer, if real, had likely already vanished into the shadows—or worse, was still lurking nearby.
Ignored Voices and Missed Warnings
Activists in Chicago’s South and West sides had been sounding the alarm for years. They saw the pattern in the streets, long before the data confirmed it. Mothers, organizers, and neighborhood watch leaders repeatedly warned that women were disappearing under suspicious circumstances—but their pleas went unanswered.
Law enforcement labeled many victims as drug users or sex workers and classified their deaths as non-suspicious. In a city struggling with systemic inequality, these women were too often treated as disposable. Had their lives carried more societal value, would the investigation have begun sooner? By the time the media noticed, too many voices had already been silenced—permanently.
The Serial Killer Theory Police Rejected
Despite mounting evidence, the Chicago Police Department consistently rejected the idea of a single serial killer. They argued that the cases were unrelated—products of domestic disputes, street violence, or random crime. Their public stance: no serial threat existed.
But journalists and watchdogs weren’t convinced. The similarities in location, cause of death, and victim profile were too strong to ignore. Critics accused the CPD of neglecting the pattern due to racial and economic biases. Could it be incompetence—or something more uncomfortable? As frustration brewed among community members, one thing became clear: if a serial killer was out there, they had been given years to hunt uninterrupted.