The Most Dangerous Active Serial Killer In 2019

There are two kinds of serial killers: those who get caught and those who don't. Based on FBI statistics, the U.S. has around 50 active serial killers at any one time. Not cool. In fact, becoming a serial killer is possibly the least cool thing you can do. Just don't become a serial killer, okay? Promise?

Some serial killers are smarter than others, eluding capture through false evidence and an uncanny ability to leave little trace, while others seem to get off through sheer luck. 

Pedro Lopez might still be a dangerous, active serial killer

Such was the case with Pedro Lopez, one of the most prolific serial killers of all time. Biography tells us he was convicted in 1980 of killing 110 people in Peru and Ecuador. His conviction amounted to a grand total of 14 years behind bars before he was deported to Colombia, which institutionalized him and then released him. His whereabouts are currently unknown, but assuming he is still alive and hasn't magically seen the light, this tragic, sadistic being would take the cake for the most dangerous active serial killer in 2019. 

But the fact that we are aware of Lopez's identity makes him the exception to the rule. 

We don't know the names of many active serial killers

Generally, if a serial killer isn't behind bars, it's because we don't know who they are. Thus, the best we have to work with are their grim serial killer nicknames, usually based off of an element of their behavior or the location of their crimes. For example, the Long Island Serial Killer, also known as the Gilgo Beach Killer, is suspected of killing at least 10 victims and dumping their bodies in a marsh, all in close proximity to Long Island's remote Gilgo beach, according to NBC

There's also the "Smiley Face Killer(s)." The jury is still very much out as to whether this actually the case of a serial killer or a network of serial killers, but detectives have postulated that this person or group of people may be responsible for over 40 drowning deaths across the Midwest and on the East Coast, according to Rolling Stone. The common link? A smiley face drawn on the wall where a body has been dumped. 

So while we have the name of who may be the world's most prolific, active serial killer, we don't know where they are. Perhaps on "shudder island." Really though, it's the criminals we've never heard of that are likely the most dangerous. Silent but deadly, indeed.