What do you get when you mix a Hollywood blockbuster, a mysterious crime, and a famous fiction writer?
A recipe for a great story, and that's just what this new theory about an infamous cold case delivers.
The case of the "Lady of the Dunes" has haunted police for decades - but author Joe Hill's new theory could solve it.
A Forgotten Cold Case
In July, 1974, a young girl walking her dog in Provincetown, Massachusetts made a grisly discovery by the side of the road.
Her beagle led her to the abandoned body of an unidentified woman, beginning a murder investigation that is still unsolved to this day.
The body was badly decomposed, and the killer had taken the victim's teeth and hands to try and disguise her identity.
Investigators could only rule that the "Lady of the Dunes" was between 20 and 49 years old.
They checked thousands of missing persons cases, but could not make a match.
Through the decades, police have exhumed the body three times, hoping to find a new clue.
But the only leads police have produced are a series of sketches, clay models, and scans reproducing the woman's appearance.
A New Theory
The unsolved mystery of the murdered woman's identity could stay unsolved forever. But one amateur sleuth has a surprising theory that could solve it.
In 2015, Stephen King's son and fellow horror author Joe Hill was watching his favorite movie, Jaws.
Out of the blue, Hill spotted a woman in the crowd scene who bore a striking resemblance to the Lady of the Dunes.
The extra was even wearing a blue bandanna, the kind that was found nearby the victim's body.
Because of the timing and location - Jaws was filmed 100 miles south of Provincetown on the island of Martha's Vieyard, in the months before the body was found - Hill believes the extra could be the victim.
The author admits his pet theory is "out there," but as an FBI agent friend of Hill's said, "Odder ideas have cracked colder cases."
Hill has shared his unusual idea with police, but some investigators have labeled it as "wild speculation."
It's not the first outlandish theory about the Lady's death. In the early 1980s, investigators followed leads connecting her to infamous Boston mobster Whitey Bulger.
Bulger and his associates were known for removing their victims' teeth, to keep their bodies from being identified.
Serial killer Hadden Clark also confessed to the Lady's murder, but police say Hadden is a schizophrenic, and his admission is not trustworthy.
Do you see the resemblance? Do you have any theories about the Lady's murder?
[H/T: The Sun]