Do you know who killed Frank Shipley in 1970? On the evening of May 5, 1970, Frank Shipley and his wife returned to their home in the 5500 block of N. 18th Street in Arlington, Virginia, to a scene of unsettling disruption. They had unknowingly walked in on a burglary in progress, interrupting a thief who was in the midst of invading their private space. The unexpected confrontation quickly escalated when the intruder, startled by their arrival, turned on the couple.
The suspect was a white male, estimated to be in his 20s, with a slight build, standing approximately five feet, eight inches tall, and had dark-brown or black wavy hair.
The focus of the intruder's demands was a coin collection belonging to Mr. Shipley, indicating a possible knowledge of its existence and value. As Frank Shipley was in the process of complying with the burglar's orders to hand over the collection, the immense stress of the situation took a fatal toll. He suddenly collapsed, having suffered a severe heart attack amidst the terrifying ordeal.
Panicked by the turn of events, the suspect abandoned his initial quest for the coins and fled the scene. He made his escape in Mr. Shipley's own 1968 Dodge Dart. Although the stolen vehicle was later found abandoned, the man responsible for the tragic death of Frank Shipley was never apprehended. The case remains one of Arlington's unsolved cold cases, with no arrests ever being made and the identity of the suspect a mystery for decades. Investigators believe the suspect's specific targeting of the coin collection suggests he had some prior knowledge of collectible coins.
