And only in the US. No other country at any other point in history had so many documented serial killers. I think it's because in the 1970s, your ID was a handwritten piece of paper without even a picture on it, there was no internet, no fingerprint database, DNA wasn't a thing, there was no national news, and no nationwide police agency, but there was a massive highway system and a huge, easily traversable landmass. Packing up and moving to a new town with a fake name and a fake ID where no one had ever heard of your crimes was never easier than in 1970s USA.
this post was submitted on 28 Jul 2026
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Nobody wants to work (at serial killing) anymore
Millenials killed the serial killing industry!
Weird that the article doesn't mention removing lead from gasoline.
My thoughts exactly. It impacted way more of society than people realize. Even those that lived through those times don't know.
Because that had nothing to do with it. If leaded gasoline caused serial killers, there would be a worldwide increase in the number of serial killers, but this isn't the case.
This number of serial killers is unique to the US in this specific time period because, at that place, during that time, it was never easier to be a serial killer. Technology had progressed enough to give us cars, highways, guns, and ammo, but hadn't progressed enough to give us nationwide databases, nationwide news, DNA science, or IDs that couldn't be easily forged.
Only in this place, during this time, could someone kill multiple people, leave behind virtually no evidence, then move hundred of miles away under a fake name and repeat that process as many times as they wanted.
Anywhere else but the US, they would have to cross a national border, which would be tracked and documented and required documents that couldn't be easily forged. Any other time in history, you either can't move hundreds of miles easily, or forensic science has advanced enough to make it much more difficult to leave no evidence behind.
They forgot about 50 serial killers in just 10 years???
Did the definition of a serial killer change after the 1970s?
No. Forensic science improved, communications technology improved, and government-issued IDs became more difficult to forge.
Once police agencies started communicating with each other and sharing evidence with each other, it became a lot more difficult to just disappear, move a few states away, and reappear as someone else with another name.