The Unsolved Criminal Mysteries of 2007

Law-enforcement officials will have their hands full in 2008 trying to wrap up cases that left them stymied in 2007.

In Chicago, the search continues for two women missing from their suburban homes. Stacy Peterson, a 23-year-old mother of two from Bolingbrook, Ill., was reported missing on Oct. 29. Officials have named her husband, former police sergeant Drew Peterson, as a suspect.

Lisa Stebic, of Plainfield, Ill., disappeared on April 30. Her husband, Craig, has been named a person of interest in the case. He said he was working in the backyard and their two kids were out when Stebic vanished.

In Colorado, police have identified a suspect in the disappearance of an escort in Grand Junction. Lester Ralph Jones, an employee at an RV dealership, was named in connection with the disappearance of Paige Birgfeld, a 34-year-old mom of three. Birgfeld was reported missing on June 30. Authorities discovered her car burned a day later. Foul play is suspected.

The search continues for Kyle Fleischmann, a 24-year-old man from Charlotte, N.C., last seen leaving a bar on Nov. 9, as well as for Kara Kopetsky, a 17-year-old student from Belton, Mo., last seen at her high school on May 2.

Authorities in California have spent half a year searching for a 19-year-old college student last seen heading to a party at a convicted sex offender's house in West Los Angeles. Donna Jou, of Rancho Santa Margarita, disappeared June 23 when she left to attend a party at the rented home of John Steven Burgess, 35. He was arrested in July on a crack cocaine charge and has been named a suspect in Jou's disappearance.

In Baton Rouge, officials are looking for the killers of two graduate students from India shot execution style in an apparent home invasion on the Louisiana State University campus. Chandrasekhar Reddy Komma and Kiran Kumar Allam were killed on Dec. 13 in university housing. Police are searching for up to four black men believed to have traveled in a light-colored Oldsmobile Alero.

Internationally, though Aruban officials have closed their investigation into the disappearance of Alabama teen Natalee Holloway, her family continues to speak out on behalf of the girl, who vanished on May 30, 2005. Her mother is considering appealing the Aruban prosecutor's decision to close the case.

And the mystery of missing toddler Madeleine McCann only deepens as police across Europe hunt for the girl, who disappeared in Portugal on May 3 while on vacation with her parents.