I recently acquired this segment from UM's classic years. I did a search on the boards, but it turned up absolutely nothing. I don't know if it's ever been shown on Lifetime, personally I have never seen it on there, but it could have been.

Michael Fagen married Pat Long, and the two lived with Pat's kids from her previous marriage. Pat grew hostile towards her children, and eventually sent them off to their father as she could no longer deal with them. Michael and Pat's relationshiop also strained. They had a child, Brendan, and Pat hoped that would help soothe things between her and Michael, but she admitted being jealous of the new baby. Pat moved out, and Michael raised Brendan for two and a half years. Pat and Michael appeared to be on the way to reconciliation, but when Michael travelled to be with his dying brother, Pat took the opportunity to kidnap Brendan.

This is a rare segment in that it was solved before it aired: Pat turned herself in after seeing a commercial preview for the show

A laugh out loud moment comes as Michael is just sitting down on the couch where Pat is watching television and eating popcorn. Just then the baby cries, and Michael asks Pat if she'd like to take this one as it sounds like a dirty diaper. Pat doesn't flinch, so Michael goes off to take care of it himself.

Huh. SO must have thought I was using a derogoratory term, which I was NOT. That's just how his name is spelled.

wiseguy, that's happened many, many times with this case. The reason nothing turned up in your search results is they all end up that way. You have to search for Michael ***en, using the symbols not the letters. I've been particularly astute in those threads.

I tried searching using the symbols, but it kept coming up 'fatal error'. To ensure the search function was working properly, I typed in a random word - dale - and it produced results.

Pat seemed to have some mental issues. She was certainly unstable in my view

Yes I plan on putting that one on volume 9 as its one of those that has never aired on Lifetime to my knowledge. She was certainly a miserable excuse for a mother IMO and I was certainly glad to see the little boy was reunited with his father.

I love that I have no idea who you guys are talking about, and I'm guessing it's probably because I couldn't get his entire name in... :lol: However, if it's never been aired on Lifetime, that's probably another reason why it's all coming up one big blank for me.

Could you give us a hint here as to his name? I'm just amused by the overzealous filter :)

As an aside, I play a well-known online game. Their official message boards also like to filter perfectly innocuous words. There's a game item called something like "Drape of the Healer" which the filters won't even acknowledge because the item contains the word rape. Somebody figured out if you throw in a bold tag in the middle of the offensive word the filter wouldn't recognize it (i.e. "Dr(boldtag)(/boldtag)ape"). Just a thought :)

Could you give us a hint here as to his name? I'm just amused by the overzealous filter :)

As an aside, I play a well-known online game. Their official message boards also like to filter perfectly innocuous words. There's a game item called something like "Drape of the Healer" which the filters won't even acknowledge because the item contains the word rape. Somebody figured out if you throw in a bold tag in the middle of the offensive word the filter wouldn't recognize it (i.e. "Dr(boldtag)(/boldtag)ape"). Just a thought :)

His last name is F*A*G*A*N (omit the * of course) :lol:

Oh! I was thinking it was A*S*S*E*N or something like that...I was thinking "what kind of name is that?" :happyface

His last name is F*A*G*A*N (omit the * of course) :lol:


I have to be twelve instead of 27, because I seriously feel for the poor guy saddled with that last name. :lol:

I still don't know anything about the case.

I tried searching using the symbols, but it kept coming up 'fatal error'. To ensure the search function was working properly, I typed in a random word - dale - and it produced results.

I was just kidding about that, searching via the symbols. :D But it did enable me to throw in the "I've been particularly astute in those threads" line. There were no previous threads on this case, to my knowledge.

I can toss out nonsense with a straight face. Once I felt really bad about it. I was getting buffet comps every day at Caesar's Palace about 15 years ago. A big outdoorsman guy from North Dakota who was a brakeman on the railroad was on vacation and sitting next to my friends and I at Caesar's sportsbook every night. He asked how I got the comps. "Oh, it's simple. You know those blackjack machines near the entrance? If you play them often enough some comps come wrapped around the coins. On the quarter machines they wrap drink tickets on the coins, but on the dollar machines once in a while you get buffet comps."

My friends and I didn't think anything of it. It was typical of the BS we used to tell tourists. But a few hours later our new friend sat down next to us and was annoyed. "I just blew $150 in those dollar blackjack machines and never got a single buffet comp. This just isn't my town."

Whoops. I never told him that story was a gag, but I tried to make up for it by including him in the buffet comps every night for the remainder of his visit.

TJ adjusted the filter so the last name is no longer a mystery..:)

Was Michael ever given custody of Brandon? I know in the update, it mentioned that Pat turned herself in shortly after the segment aired but there were not any further updates.

Was Michael ever given custody of Brandon? I know in the update, it mentioned that Pat turned herself in shortly after the segment aired but there were not any further updates.

The UM wikia page just says he was reunited with his father and Pat was given a 4 month prison sentence.

Was Michael ever given custody of Brandon? I know in the update, it mentioned that Pat turned herself in shortly after the segment aired but there were not any further updates.

Hi there, I’m Brandon Fagan, the one from the episode. This thread is pretty old so I don’t know if youre still interested to know, but my dad was given sole custody of me and raised me by himself. I am blessed to have been saved and am eternally grateful to Unsolved Mysteries for bringing me home. I shudder to think what would have happened had I not been found.

My dad is well and he lives in Sacramento, CA now.

Hi there, I’m Brandon Fagan, the one from the episode. This thread is pretty old so I don’t know if youre still interested to know, but my dad was given sole custody of me and raised me by himself. I am blessed to have been saved and am eternally grateful to Unsolved Mysteries for bringing me home. I shudder to think what would have happened had I not been found.

My dad is well and he lives in Sacramento, CA now.

Hi Brandon and welcome to the board. I wasn't familiar with this story either but I am glad to hear that things worked out and you were returned to your dad. Thank you for the update. :wave:

Hi there, I’m Brandon Fagan, the one from the episode. This thread is pretty old so I don’t know if youre still interested to know, but my dad was given sole custody of me and raised me by himself. I am blessed to have been saved and am eternally grateful to Unsolved Mysteries for bringing me home. I shudder to think what would have happened had I not been found.

My dad is well and he lives in Sacramento, CA now.

Thanks for posting Brandon! This is a very rare UM segment that only aired a few times to my knowledge (perhaps because it was solved so quickly) but I have watched the segment. It's great to know that you had a happy and stable upbringing and that UM played a small hand in that. :)

Hi Brandon! Welcome, and thanks so much for posting an update! Your segment was always very memorable for me because your dad seemed like such a kind, loving, gentle man. I'm so glad you were well taken care of and I hope you and your dad are happy and well.

Hi there, I’m Brandon Fagan, the one from the episode. This thread is pretty old so I don’t know if youre still interested to know, but my dad was given sole custody of me and raised me by himself. I am blessed to have been saved and am eternally grateful to Unsolved Mysteries for bringing me home. I shudder to think what would have happened had I not been found.

My dad is well and he lives in Sacramento, CA now.

Welcome, BrandonF! :wave:

Wow -- this is awesome. I'm really happy you posted this and I'm even more happy to hear that you had a good life. I agree with Meg that your dad seemed like a really good guy. All the best to you both!

I am curious whether or not Pat ended up having any more children.

I think she definitely had some psychological issues that resulted in the loss of her kids.

It is also strange to me that she would complete chiropractor school, but not practice. I looked up her license information on the California Chiropractor License Search, and it shows that it was expired as of 1984 (only one year active).

This one stands out for me, because on the original segment (from Lifetime), when the update pops up, it's not RS narrating it, but instead, Danny Dark (the guy who voiced the original intro).

Am glad this one was resolved so quick though!