
He traveled across South America, raping and killing as he drifted from one country to another. Police had ruled out that theory and suggested someone was acting in response to an already-high number of rape cases that were only increasing.Īfter being kicked out of his home as a child - he had assaulted his sister - Pedro Lopez grew up on the streets of Colombia.

Families of the victims had another theory, stating that witnesses claimed they had been picked up by plain-clothes police almost immediately before turning up dead. Law enforcement said that they were investigating, but at the time, they had no idea if it was one killer or a group of vigilantes acting under a single name. Hercules." The Statesman called "Hercules" a "serial killer," while Al Jazeera called him a "vigilante." The difference? That's kind of difficult to define. but it also felt like justice." It was the note around Rakib Molla's neck that was signed, and it read: "I am Rakib who raped. It felt strange and scary to see this happen in my area. Mahmud Hasan was one of the first on the scene when a body was discovered on January 26, 2019, and later said, ".strangest was the note that hung around his neck. Let's look at who's out there hunting in 2022. In addition to some that have managed to elude capture for a long time, there are a handful of new ones cropping up, too. That's not to say there are no serial killers out there - there are.

It's also possible that young kids and teens who have the potential to grow up to become serial killers are instead getting the help they need first, so that's all good news. There are also factors like cell phones and an increased connectivity between parents and children that make picking out victims a little more difficult these days. There are a few theories that experts have put forward to explain just what's going on here, and they involve things like advances in investigative methods and forensic science, a higher chance of getting caught - and being linked definitively to more crimes - and stricter sentencing. That dropped in the 1990s, again in the 2000s, and by 2016, there had been only about 100 that had cropped up in the prior decade. According to research done by Radford University's Mike Aamodt (via Discover), they are fewer serial killers on the prowl since the dawn of the new century. The 1980s were something of a high point for serial killers, with almost 770 - that we know of - operating across the U.S.

So, here's some good news for anyone who suffers from regular nightmares that involve being stalked by a serial killer: They're on the decline.
