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150-543: The official number of murders attributed to the Cleveland Torso Murderer is twelve, although recent research has shown there could have been as many as twenty or more. The twelve known victims were killed between 1935 and 1938. Some investigators, including lead detective Peter Merylo, believed that there may have been thirteen or more victims in the Cleveland , Youngstown and Pittsburgh areas between

300-451: A mother conceals the identity of the father of her child. While mitochondrial and Y-chromosome DNA matching offer the most definitive confirmation of ancestral relationships, the information from a tested individual is relevant to a decreasing fraction of their ancestors from earlier generations. Potential ambiguity must be considered when seeking confirmation from comparison of autosomal DNA . The first source of ambiguity arises from

450-401: A separation from his wife. Sweeney was personally interviewed by Ness. Before the interrogation, Sweeney was found to be so intoxicated that he was held in a hotel room for three days until he sobered up. Under questioning, he is said to have "failed to pass" two very early polygraph machine tests. Both tests were administered by polygraph expert Leonarde Keeler , who told Ness that Sweeney

600-521: A 52-year-old Cleveland resident named Frank Dolezal (May 4, 1887 – August 24, 1939), who at one point lived with Polillo and also had connections to Andrassy and Wallace, was arrested as a suspect in Polillo's murder; he later died under suspicious circumstances in the Cuyahoga County jail while in the custody of Sheriff Martin O'Donnell. Dolezal was later posthumously exonerated of involvement in

750-512: A Y-chromosome test to determine their father's paternal ancestry . These men often took part in surname projects . The first phase of the Genographic Project brought new participants into genetic genealogy. Those who tested were as likely to be interested in direct maternal heritage as their paternal. The number of those taking mtDNA tests increased. The introduction of autosomal SNP tests based on microarray chip technology changed

900-686: A bridge connecting the two communities. Ohio City remained an independent municipality until its annexation by Cleveland in 1854. A center of abolitionist activity, Cleveland (code-named "Station Hope") was a major stop on the Underground Railroad for escaped African American slaves en route to Canada. The city also served as an important center for the Union during the American Civil War . Decades later, in July 1894,

1050-543: A butterfly on his left shoulder, the head of the comic character " Jiggs " on his left ankle, and an image of Cupid on his right ankle. His undershorts bore a laundry mark indicating the owner's initials were J.D. Despite morgue and death mask inspections by thousands of Cleveland citizens in the summer of 1936 at the Great Lakes Exposition , the victim known as the "tattooed man" was never identified (His tattoos suggested that he may have been either in

1200-510: A center of finance and business. Cleveland's economic growth and industrial jobs attracted large waves of immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe as well as Ireland . Urban growth was accompanied by significant strikes and labor unrest, as workers demanded better wages and working conditions . Between 1881 and 1886, 70 to 80% of strikes were successful in improving labor conditions in Cleveland. The Cleveland Streetcar Strike of 1899

1350-525: A clean and convenient location to kill victims. In addition to Dolezal and Sweeney, authorities also considered Willie Johnson, an African-American male who committed a similar murder in June 1942. Johnson had been spotted by a young girl while disposing of a trunk, which was later found to contain the torso of 19-year-old Margaret Frances Wilson. Wilson's head and arms were found in nearby bushes, while her legs would be found at Johnson's home two weeks later. It

1500-770: A downtown Heinen's supermarket. Cleveland's historic ecclesiastical architecture includes the Presbyterian Old Stone Church in downtown Cleveland, the onion domed St. Theodosius Russian Orthodox Cathedral in Tremont , and the Catholic Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist along with myriad other ethnically inspired Roman Catholic churches. The Cleveland City Planning Commission has officially designated 34 neighborhoods in Cleveland. Centered on Public Square, Downtown Cleveland

1650-425: A gene segment of significant length does not disprove the shared ancestry of a distant cousin. The best autosomal DNA method for confirming ancestry is to compare DNA with known relatives. A more complicated task is using a DNA database to identify previously unknown individuals who share DNA with the individual of interest; and then attempting to find shared ancestors with those individuals. The first problem with

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1800-578: A gradual economic recovery under Mayor George V. Voinovich in the 1980s. Downtown saw the construction of the Key Tower and 200 Public Square skyscrapers, as well as the development of the Gateway Sports and Entertainment Complex – consisting of Progressive Field and Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse – and North Coast Harbor, including the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame , Cleveland Browns Stadium , and

1950-613: A high school diploma or equivalent. The median age was 36.6 years. As of 2020 , the racial and ethnic composition of the city was 47.5% African American, 32.1% non-Hispanic white , 13.1% Hispanic or Latino , 2.8% Asian , 0% Pacific Islander , 0.2% Native American, and 3.8% from two or more races . 85.3% of Clevelanders age five and older spoke only English at home, while 14.7% spoke a language other than English, including Spanish , Arabic , Chinese , Hungarian , Albanian , and various Slavic languages ( Russian , Polish , Serbian , Croatian , and Slovene ). The city's spoken accent

2100-413: A hobo to investigate this idea. The 2018 film The Kingsbury Run was based on a modern copycat of the murders. The murders and the hunt for the perpetrators were also covered in an episode of Unsolved Mysteries . The award-winning graphic novel Torso written by Brian Michael Bendis tells the hunt for the killer by Eliot Ness. American author John Peyton Cooke wrote a fictionalized account of

2250-804: A homogeneous settlement of New England Protestants , it evolved into a city with a diverse religious composition. The predominant faith among Clevelanders today is Christianity ( Catholic , Protestant, and Eastern and Oriental Orthodox ), with Jewish, Muslim , Hindu , and Buddhist minorities. Within Cleveland, the neighborhoods with the highest foreign-born populations are Asiatown/Goodrich–Kirtland Park (32.7%), Clark–Fulton (26.7%), West Boulevard (18.5%), Brooklyn Centre (17.3%), Downtown (17.2%), University Circle (15.9%, with 20% in Little Italy), and Jefferson (14.3%). Recent waves of immigration have brought new groups to Cleveland, including Ethiopians and South Asians , as well as immigrants from Russia and

2400-759: A large area of Cleveland, stretching from the Cuyahoga River to East 55th Street to Prospect Avenue, under the guise of conducting city fire inspections. While the search never turned up any new or incriminating information that could lead to the arrest and conviction of the Torso Murderer, it did serve to focus renewed public attention on the inadequate and unsanitary living conditions in the downtown area. Teams uncovered hundreds of families living in hazardous fire traps without toilets or running water. The interests of social reform did ultimately come to light even if those of law enforcement did not. At one point,

2550-508: A late-model Cadillac close to the crime scene at about 11:00 p.m. that same night. The physical evidence of the decapitation suggested it had been done while the victim was alive, and the autopsy report stated that the body was drained of blood. The head had been cut off between the first and second cervical vertebrae. There was no evidence of drugs or alcohol in the victim's body, and nothing to suggest that he had been tortured or bound before being killed. John Doe II had six tattoos, hence

2700-486: A male torso and lower legs floating in a stagnant pool near East 37th Street while waiting for an eastbound freight train. The torso was removed and sent to the morgue, where the coroner noted the body had been severed between the third and fourth cervical vertebrae as well as between the third and fourth lumbar vertebrae. A search was made for the rest of the body. Police found a dirty felt hat labelled 'Laudy's Smart Shop, Bellevue, Ohio ', which appeared to have blood spots on

2850-635: A naturalization ceremony of new immigrants. Cleveland's location on the Cuyahoga River and Lake Erie has been key to its growth as a major commercial center. Steel and many other manufactured goods emerged as leading industries. The city has since diversified its economy in addition to its manufacturing sector. Established in 1914, the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland is one of 12 U.S. Federal Reserve Banks . Its downtown building, located on East 6th Street and Superior Avenue ,

3000-619: A parent. Only identical twins inherit exactly the same gene segments. Although a child inherits exactly half of their DNA from each parent, the percentage inherited from any given ancestor in an earlier generation (with the exception of X chromosome DNA) varies within a normal distribution around a median value of 100% divided by the number of ancestors in that generation. An individual comparing autosomal DNA with ancestors of successively earlier generations will encounter an increasing number of ancestors from whom they inherited no DNA segments of significant length. Since individuals inherit only

3150-505: A person's precise genetic connections to indigenous ethnic groups from around the world. Law enforcement may use genetic genealogy to track down perpetrators of violent crimes such as murder or sexual assault and they may also use it to identify deceased individuals. Initially genetic genealogy sites GEDmatch and Family Tree DNA allowed their databases to be used by law enforcement and DNA technology companies to do DNA testing for violent criminal cases and genetic genealogy research at

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3300-475: A possible suspect. From his confinement, Sweeney sent threatening postcards and harassed Ness and his family into the 1950s; the postcards only stopped arriving after his death. Sweeney died in a veterans' hospital in Dayton, Ohio , on July 9, 1964. While Sweeney was considered a viable suspect, the evidence against him was purely circumstantial . In 1929, Sweeney was a surgical resident at St. Alexis Hospital in

3450-409: A prediction of biogeographical origin, often called ethnicity. A company offering the test uses computer algorithms and calculations to make a prediction of what percentage of an individual's DNA comes from particular ancestral groups. A typical number of populations is at least 20. Despite this aspect of the tests being heavily promoted and advertised, many genetic genealogists have warned consumers that

3600-573: A residential street. In the late 1880s, writer Bayard Taylor described it as "the most beautiful street in the world". Known as Cleveland's "Crystal Palace", the five-story Cleveland Arcade (sometimes called the Old Arcade) was built in 1890 and renovated in 2001 as a Hyatt Regency Hotel. Another major architectural landmark, the Cleveland Trust Company Building , was completed in 1907 and renovated in 2015 as

3750-517: A small portion of their DNA from each of their great-grandparents , cousins descended from the same ancestor may not inherit the same DNA segments from that ancestor. All descendants of the same parent or grandparent, and nearly all descendants of the same great-grandparent, will share gene segments of significant length; but approximately 10% of 3rd cousins, 55% of 4th cousins, 85% of 5th cousins, and more than 95% of more distant cousins will share no gene segments of significant length. Failure to share

3900-461: A son of Charles Darwin and Charles' first cousin Emma Darwin . In 1875, George Darwin used surnames to estimate the frequency of first-cousin marriages and calculated the expected incidence of marriage between people of the same surname ( isonymy ). He arrived at a figure of 1.5% for cousin-marriage in the population of London , higher (3%-3.5%) among the upper classes and lower (2.25%) among

4050-802: A total of 13 times beginning in 1868. It was the river fire of June 1969 that spurred the city to action under Mayor Carl B. Stokes, and played a key role in the passage of the Clean Water Act in 1972 and the National Environmental Policy Act later that year. Since that time, the Cuyahoga has been extensively cleaned up through the efforts of the city and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA). In addition to continued efforts to improve freshwater and air quality, Cleveland

4200-576: A veteran of the American Revolutionary War . Cleaveland oversaw the New England –style design of the plan for what would become the modern downtown area, centered on Public Square , before returning to Connecticut, never again to visit Ohio. The town's name was often shortened to "Cleveland", even by Cleaveland's original surveyors. A common myth emerged that the spelling was altered by The Cleveland Advertiser in order to fit

4350-468: A year, whereas Wallace had only been reported missing for ten months since August 1936. Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County . Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie , it is situated across the Canada–United States maritime border and lies approximately 60 mi (97 km) west of Pennsylvania . Cleveland

4500-439: A year. In an era when forensic science was largely in its infancy, these factors further complicated identification, especially since the heads were often undiscovered. During the time of the "official" murders, Eliot Ness , leader of The Untouchables , was serving as Cleveland's Public Safety Director, a position with authority over the police department and ancillary services, including the fire department. Ness contributed to

4650-460: Is 569 feet (173 m) above sea level ; however, the city lies on a series of irregular bluffs lying roughly parallel to the lake. In Cleveland these bluffs are cut principally by the Cuyahoga River , Big Creek, and Euclid Creek . The land rises quickly from the lake shore elevation of 569 feet. Public Square, less than one mile (1.6 km) inland, sits at an elevation of 650 feet (198 m), and Hopkins Airport, 5 miles (8 km) inland from

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4800-983: Is an advanced form of Inland Northern American English , similar to other Great Lakes cities, but distinctive from the rest of Ohio. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, Cleveland saw a massive influx of immigrants from Ireland, Italy , and the Austro-Hungarian , German , Russian , and Ottoman empires, most of whom were attracted by manufacturing jobs. As a result, Cleveland and Cuyahoga County today have substantial communities of Irish (especially in West Park), Italians (especially in Little Italy), Germans , and several Central -Eastern European ethnicities, including Czechs , Hungarians , Lithuanians , Poles , Romanians , Russians , Rusyns , Slovaks , Ukrainians , and ex- Yugoslav groups, such as Slovenes , Croats and Serbs . The presence of Hungarians within Cleveland proper was, at one time, so great that

4950-781: Is home to several major cultural institutions, including the Cleveland Museum of Art , the Cleveland Museum of Natural History , the Cleveland Orchestra , the Cleveland Public Library , Playhouse Square , and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame , as well as Case Western Reserve University . Known as " The Forest City " among many other nicknames , Cleveland serves as the center of the Cleveland Metroparks nature reserve system. The city's major league professional sports teams include

5100-549: Is now exploring renewable energy. The city's two main electrical utilities are FirstEnergy and Cleveland Public Power . Its climate action plan , updated in December 2018, has a 2050 target of 100% renewable power , along with reduction of greenhouse gases to 80% below the 2010 level. In recent decades, Cleveland has been working to address the issue of harmful algal blooms on Lake Erie, fed primarily by agricultural runoff, which have presented new environmental challenges for

5250-446: Is one of the 22 chromosomes other than the X or Y chromosomes. They are transmitted from all ancestors in recent generations and so can be used to match with other testers who may be related. Companies were later also able to use this data to estimate how much of each ethnicity a customer has. FamilyTreeDNA entered this market in 2010, followed by AncestryDNA in 2012, and the number of tests grew rapidly. By 2018 autosomal testing had become

5400-865: Is the city's central business district, encompassing a wide range of subdistricts, such as the Nine-Twelve District , the Campus District , the Civic Center , East 4th Street , and Playhouse Square . It also historically included the lively Short Vincent entertainment district. Mixed-use areas, such as the Warehouse District and the Superior Arts District , are occupied by industrial and office buildings as well as restaurants, cafes, and bars. The number of condominiums , lofts , and apartments has been on

5550-471: Is the most populous city on Lake Erie, the second-most populous city in Ohio, and the 54th-most populous city in the U.S. with a population of 372,624 in 2020. The city anchors the Cleveland metropolitan area , the 33rd-largest in the U.S. at 2.18 million residents, as well as the larger Cleveland– Akron – Canton combined statistical area with 3.63 million residents. Cleveland was founded in 1796 near

5700-424: Is the warmest month with a mean temperature of 74.5 °F (23.6 °C), and January, with a mean temperature of 29.1 °F (−1.6 °C), is the coldest. Normal yearly precipitation based on the 30-year average from 1991 to 2020 is 41.03 inches (1,042 mm). The least precipitation occurs on the western side and directly along the lake, and the most occurs in the eastern suburbs. Parts of Geauga County to

5850-452: The Cfa humid subtropical climate . Summers are hot and humid, while winters are cold and snowy. East of the mouth of the Cuyahoga, the land elevation rises rapidly in the south. Together with the prevailing winds off Lake Erie, this feature is the principal contributor to the lake-effect snow that is typical in Cleveland (especially on the city's East Side) from mid-November until the surface of

6000-689: The Cleveland Browns ( football ; NFL ), the Cleveland Cavaliers (basketball; NBA ), and the Cleveland Guardians (baseball; MLB ). Cleveland was established on July 22, 1796, by surveyors of the Connecticut Land Company when they laid out Connecticut 's Western Reserve into townships and a capital city. They named the settlement "Cleaveland" after their leader, General Moses Cleaveland ,

6150-470: The DNA Doe Project to identify the victims through genetic genealogy . Edward Anthony Andrassy, age 29, was discovered on September 23, 1935, in a gully at the base of Jackass Hill where East 49th Street dead-ends into Kingsbury Run. Andrassy's head was discovered buried near the rest of his body, which was found to be emasculated and only wearing socks. The autopsy report stated that Andrassy

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6300-569: The Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. Jones Day , one of the largest law firms in the U.S., was founded in Cleveland in 1893. Healthcare plays a major role in Cleveland's economy. The city's "Big Three" hospital systems are the Cleveland Clinic , University Hospitals , and MetroHealth . The Cleveland Clinic is the largest private employer in the state of Ohio, with a workforce of over 55,000 as of 2022 . It carries

6450-697: The Great Lakes connected Cleveland to the Atlantic Ocean via the Erie Canal and Hudson River, and later via the Saint Lawrence Seaway . The town's growth continued with added railroad links . In 1836, Cleveland, then only on the eastern banks of the Cuyahoga, was officially incorporated as a city, and John W. Willey was elected its first mayor. That same year, it nearly erupted into open warfare with neighboring Ohio City over

6600-680: The Great Lakes Science Center . Although the city emerged from default in 1987, it later suffered from the impact of the subprime mortgage crisis and the Great Recession . Nevertheless, by the turn of the 21st century, Cleveland succeeded in developing a more diversified economy and gained a national reputation as a center for healthcare and the arts. The city's downtown and several neighborhoods have experienced significant population growth since 2010, while overall population decline has slowed. Challenges remain for

6750-729: The former USSR , Southeast Europe (especially Albania ), the Middle East, East Asia, and Latin America. In the 2010s, the immigrant population of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County began to see significant growth, becoming a major center for immigration in the Great Lakes region. A 2019 study found Cleveland to be the city with the shortest average processing time in the nation for immigrants to become U.S. citizens . The city's annual One World Day in Rockefeller Park includes

6900-557: The populist Mayor Tom L. Johnson , who was responsible for the development of the Cleveland Mall Plan . The era of the City Beautiful movement in Cleveland architecture saw wealthy patrons support the establishment of the city's major cultural institutions. The most prominent among them were the Cleveland Museum of Art , which opened in 1916, and the Cleveland Orchestra , established in 1918. In addition to

7050-596: The 1920s and 1950s. Two strong candidates for addition to the "official" list are the unknown victim nicknamed the "Lady of the Lake", found on September 5, 1934, and Robert Robertson, found on July 22, 1950. The victims of the Torso Murderer were usually drifters whose identities were never determined, although there were a few exceptions. Victims numbers 2, 3 and 8 were identified as Edward Andrassy, Florence Polillo and possibly Rose Wallace, respectively. Andrassy and Polillo were both identified by their fingerprints, while Wallace

7200-405: The 1960s, Cleveland's economy began to slow down, and residents increasingly sought new housing in the suburbs, reflecting the national trends of suburban growth following federally subsidized highways. Industrial restructuring , particularly in the steel and automotive industries, resulted in the loss of numerous jobs in Cleveland and the region, and the city suffered economically. The burning of

7350-452: The 20th century, a period that saw the development of the city's cultural institutions. By the 1960s, Cleveland's economy began to slow down as manufacturing declined and suburbanization occurred. Cleveland is a port city , connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence Seaway . Its economy relies on diverse sectors that include higher education, manufacturing, financial services, healthcare, and biomedicals. The city serves as

7500-632: The 21st century, as DNA tests became affordable. The tests have been promoted by amateur groups, such as surname study groups or regional genealogical groups, as well as research projects such as the Genographic Project . As of 2019, about 30 million people had been tested. As the field developed, the aims of practitioners broadened, with many seeking knowledge of their ancestry beyond the recent centuries, for which traditional pedigrees can be constructed. The investigation of surnames in genetics can be said to go back to George Darwin ,

7650-649: The Cleveland Transit System, the predecessor to the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority . After the war, Cleveland initially experienced an economic boom , and businesses declared the city to be the "best location in the nation". In 1949, the city was named an All-America City for the first time, and in 1950, its population reached 914,808. In sports, the Indians won the 1948 World Series ,

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7800-493: The Coast Guard; US Navy or the merchant Marine service) ^   **:  The victim was believed to be a 40-year-old man. Clothing was muddied and piled up next to the head, ten feet from the nude body, in an isolated East Side woodland section. There were bloodstains on the coat and blue polo shirt, part of the clothing found with the head. Coroner A.J. Pearse said that the preliminary investigation disclosed that there

7950-661: The Cuyahoga River in June 1969 brought national attention to the issue of industrial pollution in Cleveland and served as a catalyst for the American environmental movement . Housing discrimination and redlining against African Americans led to racial unrest in Cleveland and numerous other Northern U.S. cities. In Cleveland, the Hough riots erupted from July 18 to 24, 1966, and the Glenville Shootout took place on July 23, 1968. In November 1967, Cleveland became

8100-635: The East and West Sides, while Broadway–Slavic Village is sometimes referred to as the South Side. Several neighborhoods have begun to attract the return of the middle class that left the city for the suburbs in the 1960s and 1970s. These neighborhoods are on both the West Side (Ohio City, Tremont, Detroit–Shoreway, and Edgewater) and the East Side (Collinwood, Hough, Fairfax, and Little Italy). Much of

8250-497: The Geni global family tree). Living DNA , founded in 2015, uses SNP chips to provide reports on autosomal ancestry, Y, and mtDNA ancestry. By 2019, the combined total of customers at the four largest companies was 26 million. By August 2019, it was reported that about 30 million people had had their DNA tested for genealogical purposes. GEDmatch said in 2018 that about half of their one million profiles were American. Due to

8400-581: The Kingsbury Run area. He also had an office on the same street where a man named Emil Fronek claimed a doctor had tried to drug him in 1934. Fronek's story was ultimately discounted as he could not relocate the building with police the following day. Upon finding a victim with drugs in her system and looking through buildings, it was found that Sweeney did have an office next to a coroner, in the area where Fronek had suggested he had been drugged. Sweeney would practice in their morgue , which would have been

8550-565: The Nickel Plate Road police building. His head was found near the Shaker Heights Rapid Transit tracks. The victim's body was nude but unmutilated and found only about fifteen hundred feet away from the head. There was no blood on the ground, indicating he had been killed elsewhere. A railroad worker testified that the head was not in the vicinity at 3:00 p.m. that day, and an eyewitness described seeing

8700-489: The Nine Hostages and Genghis Khan ), more recent SNP studies have shown many of these to be invalid. In particular, STR mutations are now known to be largely unreliable in proving kinship, as these mutations can appear in multiple unrelated lineages by chance. SNP testing is necessary to prove a true relationship, as these mutations are considered so rare that they could only have arisen in one individual in history. In

8850-706: The South. Between 1910 and 1970, the black population of Cleveland, largely concentrated on the city's East Side, increased significantly as a result of the First and Second Great Migrations . Cleveland's Latino community consists primarily of Puerto Ricans , as well as smaller numbers of immigrants from Mexico, Cuba , the Dominican Republic , South and Central America, and Spain. The city's Asian community, centered on historical Asiatown, consists of Chinese , Koreans , Vietnamese , and other groups. Additionally,

9000-400: The Torso Murderer taunted Ness by placing the remains of two victims in full view of his office at City Hall . The man who Ness believed to be the killer would later also provoke him by sending postcards . Most researchers consider there to be twelve victims, although some have counted as many as twenty or forty. Evidence suggests a woman dubbed the "Lady of the Lake" could be included. There

9150-572: The Torso Murderer. Dismembered bodies were also found in the swamps near New Castle between 1921 and 1934 and between 1939 and 1942. In December 1938, the Torso Murderer allegedly sent a letter to Ness, claiming that he had moved to California and killed a woman there and had buried the head in Los Angeles . In the letter, the killer referred to himself as a "DC" or Doctor of Chiropractic . An investigation uncovered animal bones. A decade later, this "confession" resulted in authorities considering

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9300-650: The Torso Murderer. The almost identical similarities between the Pittsburgh victims to those in Cleveland, both of which were directly connected by a Baltimore and Ohio Railroad line, were enough to convince Cleveland investigator Peter Merylo that the Pittsburgh murders were related. The headless body of an unidentified male was found in a boxcar in New Castle, Pennsylvania , on July 1, 1936. Three headless victims were found in boxcars near McKees Rocks on May 3, 1940. All bore similar injuries to those inflicted by

9450-516: The Torso slayings. The other lead suspect, Dr. Francis Edward “Frank” Sweeney (May 5, 1894 – July 9, 1964), was a veteran of World War I who was part of a medical unit that conducted amputations in the field and at one point suffered nerve damage from a gas attack . After the war, Sweeney became an alcoholic due to pathological anxiety and depression derived from his wartime experiences. His heavy drinking began in 1929; by 1934 his alcoholism led to

9600-526: The Y-Chromosome, which is present only in males and only reveals information on the strict-paternal line. As with the mitochondria, close matches with individuals indicate a recent common ancestor. Because surnames in many cultures are transmitted down the paternal line, this testing is often used by surname DNA projects . While early studies using STRs made bold claims that large numbers of men descend from prominent historical individuals (e.g. Niall of

9750-492: The arrest and interrogation of one of the prime suspects , Dr. Francis Sweeney, and personally conducted raids into shantytowns and eventually burned them down. Ness's reasoning for doing so was to catalogue fingerprints to easily identify any new victims, and to get possible victims out of the area in an attempt to stop the murders. Four days after the burning, on August 22, 1938, Ness launched an equally draconian operation where he personally dispatched six two-man search teams on

9900-574: The broader strike wave that swept the U.S. that year. Cleveland's population continued to grow throughout the Roaring Twenties . The decade saw the establishment of the city's Playhouse Square , and the rise of the risqué Short Vincent . The Bal-Masque balls of the avant-garde Kokoon Arts Club scandalized the city. Jazz came to prominence in Cleveland during this period. Prohibition first took effect in Ohio in May 1919 (although it

10050-435: The city and for northern Ohio. At the 2020 census, there were 372,624 people and 170,549 households in Cleveland. The population density was 4,901.51 inhabitants per square mile (1,892.5/km ). The median household income was $ 30,907 and the per capita income was $ 21,223. 32.7% of the population was living below the poverty line. Of the city's population over the age of 25, 17.5% held a bachelor's degree or higher, and 80.8% had

10200-450: The city and the county have significant communities of Albanians , Arabs (especially Lebanese , Syrians , and Palestinians ), Armenians , French , Greeks , Iranians , Scots , Turks , and West Indians . A 2020 analysis found Cleveland to be the most ethnically and racially diverse major city in Ohio. The influx of immigrants in the 19th and early 20th centuries drastically transformed Cleveland's religious landscape. From

10350-439: The city and the county include Aleris , American Greetings , Applied Industrial Technologies , Eaton , Forest City Realty Trust , Heinen's Fine Foods, Hyster-Yale Materials Handling , Lincoln Electric , Medical Mutual of Ohio , Moen Incorporated , NACCO Industries , Nordson Corporation , OM Group , Swagelok , Kirby Company , Things Remembered , Third Federal S&L , TransDigm Group , and Vitamix . NASA maintains

10500-594: The city ascends into the Heights on the east, where the region known as the " Snow Belt " begins. Extending from the city's East Side and its suburbs, the Snow Belt reaches up the Lake Erie shore as far as Buffalo . The all-time record high in Cleveland of 104 °F (40 °C) was established on June 25, 1988, and the all-time record low of −20 °F (−29 °C) was set on January 19, 1994. On average, July

10650-489: The city boasted the highest concentration of Hungarians in the world outside of Budapest . Cleveland has a long-established Jewish community , historically centered on the East Side neighborhoods of Glenville and Kinsman, but now mostly concentrated in East Side suburbs such as Cleveland Heights and Beachwood , location of the Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage . The availability of jobs attracted African Americans from

10800-645: The city from Santa Monica, California in the Women's Air Derby . The Van Sweringen brothers commenced construction of the Terminal Tower skyscraper in 1926 and oversaw it to completion in 1927. By the time the building was dedicated as part of Cleveland Union Terminal in 1930, the city had a population of over 900,000. Cleveland was hit hard by the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and the subsequent Great Depression . A center of union activity ,

10950-402: The city saw significant labor struggles in this period, including strikes by workers against Fisher Body in 1936 and against Republic Steel in 1937. The city was also aided by major federal works projects sponsored by President Franklin D. Roosevelt 's New Deal . In commemoration of the centennial of Cleveland's incorporation as a city, the Great Lakes Exposition debuted in June 1936 at

11100-522: The city's North Coast Harbor , along the Lake Erie shore north of downtown. Conceived by Cleveland's business leaders as a way to revitalize the city during the Depression, it drew four million visitors in its first season, and seven million by the end of its second and final season in September 1937. On December 7, 1941, Imperial Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and declared war on the U.S. Two of

11250-418: The city's west side is led by president and CEO Christine Alexander-Rager. Formerly known as City Hospital, it operates one of two Level I trauma centers in the city, and has various locations throughout Greater Cleveland. In 2013, Cleveland's Global Center for Health Innovation opened with 235,000 square feet (21,800 m ) of display space for healthcare companies across the world. To take advantage of

11400-426: The city, with improvement of city schools, economic development of neighborhoods, and continued efforts to tackle poverty, homelessness , and urban blight being top municipal priorities. According to the U.S. Census Bureau , the city has a total area of 82.47 square miles (213.60 km ), of which 77.70 square miles (201.24 km ) is land and 4.77 square miles (12.35 km ) is water. The shore of Lake Erie

11550-482: The demographics. Women were as likely as men to test themselves. Members of the genetic genealogy community have been credited with making useful contributions to knowledge in the field, an example of citizen science . One of the earliest interest groups to emerge was the International Society of Genetic Genealogy (ISOGG). Their stated goal is to promote DNA testing for genealogy. Members advocate

11700-525: The distinction of being one of the best hospital systems in the world. The clinic is led by Croatian-born president and CEO Tomislav Mihaljevic and it is affiliated with Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine . University Hospitals includes the University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center and its Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital . Cliff Megerian serves as that system's CEO. MetroHealth on

11850-416: The east receive over 44 inches (1,100 mm) of liquid precipitation annually. With its extensive cleanup of its Lake Erie shore and the Cuyahoga River, Cleveland has been recognized by national media as an environmental success story and a national leader in environmental protection. Since the city's industrialization, the Cuyahoga River had become so affected by industrial pollution that it "caught fire"

12000-507: The efforts of the settlement's first lawyer Alfred Kelley , the village of Cleveland was incorporated on December 23, 1814. In spite of the nearby swampy lowlands and harsh winters, the town's waterfront location proved to be an advantage, giving it access to Great Lakes trade. It grew rapidly after the 1832 completion of the Ohio and Erie Canal . This key link between the Ohio River and

12150-913: The few cases where the same SNP mutation occurs in different lineages, the accompanying SNPs ensure its recognition as a de novo mutation. Pedigree family trees have traditionally been prepared from recollections of individuals about their parents and grandparents . These family trees may be extended if recollections of earlier generations were preserved through oral tradition or written documents. Some genealogists regard oral tradition as myths unless confirmed with written documentation like birth certificates , marriage certificates , census reports, headstones , or notes in family bibles . Few written records are kept by illiterate populations, and many documents have been destroyed by warfare or natural disasters . DNA comparison may offer an alternative means of confirming family relationships of biological parents , but may be confused by adoption or when

12300-758: The fifth-largest city in the nation, with a foreign-born population of 30%. At this time, Cleveland saw the rise of radical labor movements, most prominently the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), in response to the conditions of the largely immigrant and migrant workers. In 1919, the city attracted national attention amid the First Red Scare for the Cleveland May Day Riots , in which local socialist and IWW demonstrators clashed with anti-socialists. The riots occurred during

12450-491: The first humans came to North America and what path they followed. For several years, researchers and laboratories from around the world sampled indigenous populations from around the globe in an effort to map historical human migration patterns. The National Geographic Society's Genographic Project aims to map historical human migration patterns by collecting and analyzing DNA samples from over 100,000 people across five continents. The DNA Clans Genetic Ancestry Analysis measures

12600-469: The first major American city since the Great Depression to enter into a financial default on federal loans. The national recession of the early 1980s "further eroded the city's traditional economic base." While unemployment during the period peaked in 1983, Cleveland's rate of 13.8% was higher than the national average due to the closure of several steel production centers. The city began

12750-425: The first major American city to elect an African American mayor, Carl B. Stokes , who served from 1968 to 1971 and played an instrumental role in restoring the Cuyahoga River. During the 1970s, Cleveland became known as "Bomb City U.S.A." due to several bombings that shook the city, mostly due to organized crime rivalries. In December 1978, during the turbulent tenure of Dennis Kucinich as mayor, Cleveland became

12900-464: The foot of East 49th Street and Praha Avenue next to Andrassy. Evidence suggested that the unidentified victim's body was saturated with oil and set afire after death, causing the skin to become reddish and leathery. It also appeared as though the victim's body hair had either been shaved or burned off. The unidentified male became known as John Doe I. Florence Genevieve Polillo, age 44, was discovered at 2315 to 2325 East 20th Street in Cleveland. Florence

13050-400: The fortunate situation of shared DNA between two individuals with comprehensive family trees, but finding multiple shared ancestors raises the question of from which of those ancestors was the shared segment inherited. Resolving that ambiguity typically requires finding a third individual sharing both the ancestor and the gene segment of interest. A common component of many autosomal tests is

13200-880: The general public for either twelve STR markers on the Y chromosome or mutations on the HVR1 region of the mtDNA. The phase of the project in 2016 was Geno 2.0 Next Generation. As of 2018, almost one-million participants in over 140 countries had joined the project. Genetic genealogy has enabled groups of people to trace their ancestry even though they are not able to use conventional genealogical techniques. This may be because they do not know one or both of their birth parents or because conventional genealogical records have been lost, destroyed or never existed. These groups include adoptees, foundlings, Holocaust survivors, GI babies, child migrants, descendants of children from orphan trains and people with slave ancestry. The earliest test takers were customers most often those who started with

13350-473: The general rural population. A famous study in 1998 examined the lineage of descendants of Thomas Jefferson 's paternal line and male lineage descendants of the freed slave Sally Hemings . Bryan Sykes , a molecular biologist at Oxford University , tested the new methodology in general surname research. His study of the Sykes surname, published in 2000, obtained results by looking at four STR markers on

13500-549: The golden age in Downtown Cleveland retail, centered on major department stores Higbee's , Bailey's, the May Company , Taylor's , Halle's , and Sterling Lindner Davis , which collectively represented one of the largest and most fashionable shopping districts in the country, often compared to New York's Fifth Avenue . In 1929, Cleveland hosted the first of many National Air Races , and Amelia Earhart flew to

13650-408: The growth has been spurred on by attracting creative class members, which has facilitated new residential development and the transformation of old industrial buildings into loft spaces for artists. Typical of the Great Lakes region , Cleveland exhibits a continental climate with four distinct seasons, which lies in the humid continental ( Köppen Dfa ) zone. The climate is transitional with

13800-590: The headquarters of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland , as well as several major companies. The GDP for the Greater Cleveland MSA was US$ 138.3 billion in 2022. Combined with the Akron MSA , the eight-county Cleveland–Akron metropolitan economy was $ 176 billion in 2022, the largest in Ohio. Designated as a global city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network , Cleveland

13950-614: The hockey team, the Barons , became champions of the American Hockey League, and the Browns dominated professional football in the 1950s. As a result, along with track and boxing champions produced, Cleveland was declared the "City of Champions" in sports at this time. Additionally, the 1950s saw the rising popularity of a new music genre that local WJW (AM) disc jockey Alan Freed dubbed " rock and roll ". However, by

14100-644: The increase since 2000 and especially 2010, reflecting downtown's growing population. Clevelanders geographically define themselves in terms of whether they live on the east or west side of the Cuyahoga River. The East Side includes the neighborhoods of Buckeye–Shaker , Buckeye–Woodhill , Central , Collinwood (including Nottingham ), Euclid–Green , Fairfax , Glenville , Goodrich–Kirtland Park (including Asiatown ), Hough , Kinsman , Lee–Miles (including Lee–Harvard and Lee–Seville), Mount Pleasant , St. Clair–Superior , Union–Miles Park , and University Circle (including Little Italy ). The West Side includes

14250-557: The internal organs within the abdominal cavity and the heart, were never found. The unidentified male became known as John Doe V. On April 8, 1938, a woman's leg was located in the Cuyahoga River in the Cleveland Flats. A month later on May 2, two burlap bags containing a woman's nude bisected torso; thighs and feet were discovered floating in the river to the east of the West 3rd Street Bridge. Her head and arms were never found. She

14400-421: The killings could have been committed by different people. This was based on the assumption that the autopsy results were inconclusive. Merylo believed that the Torso Murderer could have been a transient who was riding the rails , as most of the murders occurred near railroad tracks, and believed this was why there were murders in other states that were similar to the killings in Cleveland. Merylo went undercover as

14550-402: The knees, washed up on the shores of Lake Erie just east of Bratenahl on September 5, 1934. A subsequent search yielded only a few other body parts. The head was never found. She was nicknamed the "Lady of the Lake". She had an abdominal scar from a likely hysterectomy , which was common and made it more difficult to identify her. After she was found, several people reported seeing body parts in

14700-484: The lake freezes, usually in late January or early February. The lake effect causes a relative differential in geographical snowfall totals across the city. On the city's far West Side, the Hopkins neighborhood only reached 100 inches (254 cm) of snowfall in a season three times since record-keeping for snow began in 1893. By contrast, seasonal totals approaching or exceeding 100 inches (254 cm) are not uncommon as

14850-480: The lake, is at an elevation of 791 feet (241 m). Cleveland borders several inner-ring and streetcar suburbs . To the west, it borders Lakewood , Rocky River , and Fairview Park , and to the east, it borders Shaker Heights , Cleveland Heights , South Euclid , and East Cleveland . To the southwest, it borders Linndale , Brooklyn , Parma , and Brook Park . To the south, the city borders Newburgh Heights , Cuyahoga Heights , and Brooklyn Heights and to

15000-563: The large immigrant population, African American migrants from the rural South arrived in Cleveland (among other Northeastern and Midwestern cities) as part of the Great Migration for jobs, constitutional rights, and relief from racial discrimination . By 1920, the year in which the Cleveland Indians won their first World Series championship , Cleveland had grown into a densely-populated metropolis of 796,841, making it

15150-407: The latter procedure involves the relatively poor family history knowledge of most database populations. A significant percentage of individuals in many DNA databases have done DNA testing because they are uncertain of their parentage, and many who confidently identify their parents are unable or unwilling to share information about earlier generations. It may be easier to identify a shared ancestor in

15300-513: The limited geographical distribution of DNA tests, there is inherent racism in the databases and results. The CEO of 23andME, Anne Wojcicki, said in 2020 that her company is "part of the problem." Experts in genetics and health inequities believe the inherent racism of these DNA analyses can be addressed by building diverse ethnocultural teams and encouraging Black, Indigenous and People of Color to get their DNA tested. The publication of The Seven Daughters of Eve by Sykes in 2001, which described

15450-410: The male chromosome . It pointed the way to genetics becoming a valuable assistant in the service of genealogy and history . In 2000, Family Tree DNA was the first company to provide direct-to-consumer genetic testing for genealogy research. It initially offered eleven-marker Y-chromosome STR tests and HVR1 mitochondrial DNA tests but not multi-generational genealogy tests. In 2001, GeneTree

15600-430: The mitochondria. The mitochondria is transmitted from mother to child, and so can reveal information about the direct maternal line. When two individuals have matching or near mitochondria, it can be inferred that they share a common maternal-line ancestor at some point in the recent past. Y-Chromosome DNA (Y-DNA) testing involves short tandem repeat (STR) and, sometimes, single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) testing of

15750-530: The mouth of the Cuyahoga River as part of the Connecticut Western Reserve in modern-day Northeast Ohio by General Moses Cleaveland , after whom the city was named. The city's location on the river and the lake shore allowed it to grow into a major commercial and industrial metropolis by the late 19th century, attracting large numbers of immigrants and migrants . It was among the top 10 largest U.S. cities by population for much of

15900-473: The murders and the subsequent investigation by Eliot Ness. Trail of Cthulhu , a tabletop role-playing game inspired by the works of horror writer H. P. Lovecraft , contains an introductory adventure in the first edition rulebook entitled The Kingsbury Horror which is based on the Torso Murders. General: ^   *:  The victim, found at Morgan Run, near E 55th Street, Cleveland,

16050-741: The murders in his novel Torsos , which was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award for Best Gay Men's Mystery for 1993, and was noted by Marilyn Stasio in The New York Times Book Review for its atmospheric depiction of Cleveland, Ohio , during the Great Depression . The Unknown Beloved by Amy Harmon is a fictionalized treatment of the Cleveland Torso Murders. American Demon, written by author Daniel Stashower , details

16200-530: The name on the newspaper's masthead . The first permanent European settler in Cleveland was Lorenzo Carter , who built a cabin on the banks of the Cuyahoga River. The emerging community served as an important supply post for the U.S. during the Battle of Lake Erie in the War of 1812 . Locals adopted Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry as a civic hero and erected a monument in his honor decades later. Largely through

16350-456: The neighborhoods of Brooklyn Centre , Clark–Fulton , Cudell , Detroit–Shoreway , Edgewater , Ohio City , Old Brooklyn , Stockyards , Tremont (including Duck Island ), West Boulevard , and the four neighborhoods colloquially known as West Park : Kamm's Corners , Jefferson , Bellaire–Puritas , and Hopkins . The Cuyahoga Valley neighborhood (including the Flats ) is situated between

16500-466: The nickname "The Tattooed Man". On July 22, 1936, the severely decomposed , decapitated remains of a white male were located near a homeless camp in the Big Creek area of Brooklyn, west of Cleveland. This was the only known West Side victim of the Torso Murderer. Police conducted a thorough search of the area and found the man's head, which was a skull at that point. Cheaply made, bloodstained clothing

16650-801: The number of consumers ordering them, rose dramatically. In 2018, a paper in Science Magazine estimated that a DNA genealogy search on anybody of European descent would result in a third cousin or closer match 60% of the time. The original Genographic Project was a five-year research study launched in 2005 by the National Geographic Society and IBM , in partnership with the University of Arizona and Family Tree DNA. Its goals were primarily anthropological. The project announced that by April 2010 it had sold more than 350,000 of its public participation testing kits, which test

16800-634: The open Cleveland Mall and share a common neoclassical architecture . They were built in the early 20th century as the result of the 1903 Group Plan. They constitute one of the most complete examples of City Beautiful design in the U.S. Completed in 1927 and dedicated in 1930 as part of the Cleveland Union Terminal complex, the Terminal Tower was the tallest building in North America outside New York City until 1964 and

16950-472: The possibility that the Torso Murderer had some connection to the Black Dahlia case , in which the bisected remains of 22-year-old Elizabeth Short were found in the unfinished Leimert Park housing development of Los Angeles on January 15, 1947. Both Short and the Torso Murderer victims had been thoroughly cleaned after death, and a butcher knife was believed to have been used in both cases. However, Short

17100-411: The predominant type of test, and for many companies the only test they offered. MyHeritage launched its testing service in 2016, allowing users to use cheek swabs to collect samples, and introduced new analysis tools in 2019: autoclusters (grouping matches visually into clusters) and family tree theories (suggesting conceivable relations between DNA matches by combining several MyHeritage trees and

17250-653: The proximity of universities and other medical centers in Cleveland, the Veterans Administration moved the region's VA hospital from suburban Brecksville to a new facility in University Circle. Genetic genealogy Genetic genealogy is the use of genealogical DNA tests , i.e., DNA profiling and DNA testing , in combination with traditional genealogical methods , to infer genetic relationships between individuals. This application of genetics came to be used by family historians in

17400-561: The request of law enforcement. This investigative, or forensic, genetic genealogy technique became popular after the arrest of the alleged Golden State Killer in 2018, but has received significant backlash from privacy experts. However, in May 2019 GEDmatch made their privacy rules more restrictive, thereby reducing the incentive for law enforcement agencies to use their site. Other sites such as Ancestry.com , 23andMe and MyHeritage have data policies that say that they would not allow their customer data to be used for crime solving without

17550-406: The rest of the body. The victim's head had been disarticulated at the level of the third intervertebral disc. The unidentified female became known as Jane Doe IV. On the same day, the body of John Doe VI was discovered at a nearby location on the Cleveland lakefront, in plain view of Safety Director Eliot Ness's office at City Hall. Similar to the other victims, the head was severed from the body and

17700-484: The results may be inaccurate, and at best are only approximate. Modern DNA sequencing has identified various ancestral components in contemporary populations. A number of these genetic elements have West Eurasian origins. They include the following ancestral components, with their geographical hubs and main associated populations: Genealogical DNA testing methods have been used on a longer time scale to trace human migratory patterns . For example, they determined when

17850-528: The seven major haplogroups of European ancestors, helped push personal ancestry testing through DNA tests into wide public notice. With the growing availability and affordability of genealogical DNA testing, genetic genealogy as a field grew rapidly. By 2003, the field of DNA testing of surnames was declared officially to have "arrived" in an article by Jobling and Tyler-Smith in Nature Reviews Genetics . The number of firms offering tests, and

18000-437: The socket of the shoulder joint. The neck and head were also disarticulated between the seventh cervical and first thoracic vertebrae. Multiple hesitation knife marks at the surface of the skin were present. There was considerable water and gravel found in both pleural cavities. The probable cause of death was officially undetermined via the coroner's case file. The unidentified female became known as Jane Doe I. The eighth victim

18150-495: The southeast, it borders Warrensville Heights , Maple Heights , and Garfield Heights . To the northeast, along the shore of Lake Erie, Cleveland borders Bratenahl and Euclid . Cleveland's downtown architecture is diverse. Many of the city's government and civic buildings, including City Hall , the Cuyahoga County Courthouse , the Cleveland Public Library , and Public Auditorium , are clustered around

18300-472: The tallest in the city until 1991. It is a prototypical Beaux-Arts skyscraper. The two other major skyscrapers on Public Square, Key Tower (the tallest building in Ohio) and 200 Public Square, combine elements of Art Deco architecture with postmodern designs. Running east from Public Square through University Circle is Euclid Avenue , which was known as "Millionaires' Row" for its prestige and elegance as

18450-485: The top. A blue work shirt, covered with blood, was found wrapped in newspaper along the bank of the creek where the body was found. A fire crew dredged the water in the creek in attempt to locate more parts of the body. The head was never found, nor the body identified. The victim's kidneys and stomach were removed, as were his genitals. The coroner declared the probable cause of death as decapitation. The unidentified male became known as John Doe IV. On February 23, 1937,

18600-409: The underlying similarity of every individual's DNA sequence. Many short gene segments will be identical by coincidental recombination (Identical by State: IBS) rather than inheritance from a single ancestor (Identical by Descent: IBD). Segments of greater length offer increased confidence of a shared ancestor. A second source of ambiguity results from the random distribution of genes to each child of

18750-422: The upper portion of an unidentified female victim was found washed up on Euclid Beach on 156th Street. The legs, arms and head were never found, likely because they were less buoyant than the torso and possibly sank to the bottom of the lake. Three months later the lower half of the torso washed ashore at East 30th Street. The upper extremities were disarticulated at the level of the glenoid fossa , better known as

18900-481: The use of genetics in genealogical research and the group facilitates networking among genetic genealogists. Since 2006 ISOGG has maintained the regularly updated ISOGG Y-chromosome phylogenetic tree . ISOGG aims to keep the tree as up-to-date as possible, incorporating new SNPs . However, the tree has been described by academics as not completely academically verified, phylogenetic trees of Y chromosome haplogroups. mtDNA testing involves sequencing at least part of

19050-427: The victim remains unidentified. The head was disarticulated at the level of the third inter-vertebral disc and had knife marks on the dorsum of the second and third cervical vertebrae. Extremities at all the major joints were all disarticulated as well. The coroner ruled the cause of death as undetermined though he noted it was probably a homicide. The lower half of a woman's torso, thighs still attached but amputated at

19200-421: The victim's torso in half or severing their appendages. In many cases the cause of death was the decapitation or dismemberment itself. Most of the male victims were castrated . Some victims showed evidence of chemical treatment being applied to their bodies, which caused the skin to become red, tough and leathery. Many were found after a considerable period of time following their deaths, occasionally in excess of

19350-415: The victims of the attack were Cleveland natives – Rear Admiral Isaac C. Kidd and ensign William Halloran. The attack signaled America's entry into World War II . A major hub of the " Arsenal of Democracy ", Cleveland under Mayor Frank Lausche contributed massively to the U.S. war effort as the fifth largest manufacturing center in the nation. During his tenure, Lausche also oversaw the establishment of

19500-694: The wartime contributions of those serving the Union from Cleveland and Cuyahoga County would be honored with the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument on Public Square. The Civil War vaulted Cleveland into the first rank of American manufacturing cities and fueled unprecedented growth. Its prime geographic location as a transportation hub on the Great Lakes played an important role in its development as an industrial and commercial center. In 1870, John D. Rockefeller founded Standard Oil in Cleveland, and in 1885, he moved its headquarters to New York City, which had become

19650-447: The water, including a group of fishermen who believed to have seen a head. The Lady of the Lake was found virtually in the same spot as Jane Doe I. Both victims had on their skin a chemical which was believed to have been lime chloride . It is supposed that the killer meant to use a quickening lime to decompose the bodies quicker, but mistakenly used lime that would preserve the bodies instead. On July 22, 1950, Robert Robertson, age 41,

19800-576: Was a second victim who was also considered to be a victim of the Torso Murderer in 1950 named Robert Robertson due to the fact that his head was also cut off in a manner very similar to the confirmed victims. Only three victims were positively identified; the other ten were six John Does and four Jane Does . Exhumations of unidentified victims started in August 2024 after the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office partnered with

19950-450: Was acquired by Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation (SMGF), which provided free Y-chromosome and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) tests. GeneTree later returned to genetic testing in conjunction with its Sorenson parent company until it was acquired by Ancestry.com in 2012. In 2007, 23andMe was the first company to offer saliva -based direct-to-consumer testing, and the first to use autosomal DNA for ancestry testing. An autosome

20100-433: Was claimed that Johnson was acquainted with Wallace and, possibly, Polillo, but, while Coroner Samuel Gerber touted him as a suspect, he was never conclusively linked to the Torso Murders. Johnson was tried and convicted of Wilson's murder and, after a lengthy psychological evaluation , was executed by electric chair on March 10, 1944. In 1997, another theory postulated that there may have been no single Torso Murderer—that

20250-591: Was completed in 1923 by the Cleveland architectural firm Walker and Weeks . The headquarters of the Federal Reserve System's Fourth District, the bank employs 1,000 people and maintains branch offices in Cincinnati and Pittsburgh . Cleveland and Cuyahoga County are home to Fortune 500 companies Cleveland-Cliffs , Progressive , Sherwin-Williams , Parker-Hannifin , KeyCorp , and Travel Centers of America . Other large companies based in

20400-529: Was decapitated in the mid-cervical region with a fracture of the mid-cervical vertebrae. The coroner also noted that he had rope burns around his wrists. The cause of death was decapitation; hemorrhage and shock. He had been dead for two to three days. At one time, Andrassy had been an orderly in the psychiatric ward at Cleveland City Hospital. However, at the time of his death, he was unemployed and had no visible means of financial support. The decapitated remains of another white male were also located in weeds at

20550-686: Was discovered at 2138 Davenport Avenue in Cleveland. Police believed he had been dead six to eight weeks and appeared to have been intentionally decapitated, fitting the profile of other victims. Robertson was estranged from his family, had an arrest record and was an alcoholic on the fringes of society. Despite widespread newspaper coverage linking his death to the Torso Murderer, detectives treated it as an isolated crime. Between 1921 and 1942, nine people, eight of them unidentified, were found dead and dismembered in swamps or around train yards near Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania . The so-called "Murder Swamp Killings" have been theorized to be additional victims of

20700-435: Was estimated to be 20-to-23-years-old, light complexion, reddish brown hair, chestnut colored eyes, stood 5 foot 10" or 11" tall, slender build, weighed 165 lb. He had six unusual tattoos on his body: a bird and band and the names "Helen and Paul" on the inner side of his left forearm, a heart and anchor in red and blue on the outer side of his right forearm, a flag and the initials "W.C.G." on the inner side of his right forearm,

20850-531: Was found dismembered and had been wrapped with paper and packed into half-bushel baskets, but her head was never discovered. The autopsy report stated that her cause of death was a slit throat. Due to the lack of the head, the coroner could not definitively rule her death a homicide . The decapitated torso of an unidentified man was located on June 5, 1936, between the New York Central and Nickel Plate Road tracks next to an old freight shed in front of

21000-424: Was found nearby. A pathologist discovered a large quantity of dried blood that had seeped into the ground beneath the man's body, indicating he was killed at that location. For the first time the murderer had ventured far away from Kingsbury Run, and instead of transporting the victim, he had killed him in the place he was discovered. The victim's long hair, poor clothing and location near a homeless camp suggested he

21150-453: Was known to have disappeared ten months earlier on August 21, 1936, while it was estimated that the victim had been dead for one year when found. Officially the victim remains unidentified and is known as Jane Doe II. On July 6, 1937, the upper portion of a man's torso wrapped in a burlap sack for chicken feed, plus his two thighs, were discovered floating in the Cuyahoga River in the Cleveland Flats just below Kingsbury Run. The head, as well as

21300-493: Was located beneath the Lorain-Carnegie Bridge on June 6, 1937. Lying in a rotting burlap bag, along with a newspaper from June 1936, was the partial skeleton of a woman who had been dead approximately one year. The body was decapitated and missing a rib. She was tentatively identified as 40-year-old prostitute Rose Wallace, who had vanished from the same bar Polillo had, but this could not be confirmed. Wallace

21450-444: Was not decapitated, as was a signature for the Cleveland victims. Furthermore, the murder took place a near-decade after the letter was received. Aside from circumstantial evidence and sheer speculation, there is nothing connecting Short to the Torso Murderer. Authorities interrogated around 9,100 people during the search to find the Torso Murderer. There were only two main suspects: Frank Dolezal and Francis Sweeney. On August 24, 1939,

21600-589: Was not well-enforced in Cleveland), became law with the Volstead Act in 1920, and was eventually repealed nationally by Congress in 1933. The ban on alcohol led to the rise of speakeasies throughout the city and organized crime gangs, such as the Mayfield Road Mob , who smuggled bootleg liquor across Lake Erie from Canada into Cleveland. The era of the flapper marked the beginning of

21750-418: Was one of the many vagrants who rode in and out of Cleveland on the nearby railroad tracks. However, the advanced state of decay of the body made it impossible to get any fingerprints, and the head would have been decomposed and unrecognizable by that point. Searches through missing persons reports were unsuccessful. The unidentified male became known as John Doe III. A homeless person discovered two halves of

21900-542: Was one of the more violent instances of labor strife in the city during this period. By 1910, Cleveland had become known as the "Sixth City" due to its status at the time as the sixth-largest U.S. city. Its automotive companies included Peerless , Chandler , and Winton , maker of the first car driven across the U.S. Other manufacturing industries in Cleveland included steam cars produced by White and electric cars produced by Baker . The city counted major Progressive Era politicians among its leaders, most prominently

22050-434: Was some doubt that the man was murdered. Not a single clue was found with the body other than the clothing. ^   ***:  Dental work was considered a close match by police and her son, who said he was certain that the victim was his mother. Exact identification could not be achieved because the dentist who carried out the work had died years before. Doubts remained because the body was estimated to have been dead for

22200-472: Was tentatively identified via her dental records. The victims appeared to be lower class individuals–easy prey during the Great Depression . Many were known as "working poor", who had nowhere else to live but the ramshackle shanty towns , or " Hoovervilles ", in the area known as the Cleveland Flats . The Torso Murderer always beheaded and often dismembered their victims, occasionally severing

22350-429: Was the culprit. Ness apparently felt there was little chance of obtaining a successful prosecution , however, especially as Sweeney was the first cousin of one of Ness's political opponents, U.S. Congressman Martin L. Sweeney , who had hounded Ness publicly about his failure to catch the killer. After Sweeney committed himself to an institution, there were no more leads or connections that police could assign to him as

22500-486: Was the only victim to have morphine in her system, estimated at 0.002 gm. per 100 gm. sample. The unidentified female became known as Jane Doe III. On August 16, 1938, a dismembered body was found at a dump at the end of East Ninth Street in Columbus, Ohio , by men combing for pieces of scrap metal. The body of a woman was wrapped in rags, brown paper and cardboard. Uncharacteristically, the head and hands were found with

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