There's been some talk lately about ideas for segments that involved crime or missing persons that were denied by UM. I just now discovered that another missing person case was denied by UM, that of Michael Adams, although his case would make it to Missing: Reward, hosted by Stacy Keach, which I have heard is a show similar to UM.

http://www.findmikeadams.com/story.html

I must say, the fact that UM would turn down some cases on missing persons in order to air fluff pieces and/or cases that turned out to be phony, somewhat damages UM's reputation for me. Don't get me wrong, I still think UM was a great and important program, but this just kind of taints it a little bit for me.

Any thoughts on this?

That would have made for a nice little case. I think it has something to do with the theft he witnesses. I don't think his coworker had anything to do with it, but might know more than he's telling.

But it is disappointing to think what cases got passed over in favor of stuff like message in a bottle, child genius, Georgia Rudolph, UFO cures cancer, and Cokeville.

I believe that someone at the Jacob Wetterling Foundation confirmed that UM declined to do a story on his abduction.

I must say, the fact that UM would turn down some cases on missing persons in order to air fluff pieces and/or cases that turned out to be phony, somewhat damages UM's reputation for me. Don't get me wrong, I still think UM was a great and important program, but this just kind of taints it a little bit for me.

Any thoughts on this?

UM is like any network televisions show. It has to deal with the demands of the network.


1. UM is not going top be of use if it's off the air. If they have to appease the networks every now and then, I think it;s worth it.

2. I personally think there were other reasons for why they declined segments. A big issue could be production schedules, budgets and legal matters.

3. I also think another issue is repetition in stories. If you look at the UM catalog there are a lot of cases that are similar. I'm sure UM might not want to run too many missing child or roberry cases in a row and put them off.

4. Personally I think there are very few bad episodes of UM. Even the Lost Loves cases tend to be very well done. In any show that runs this long, your bound to have a few episodes that a person will dislike. I really think it is personal taste rather than show quality.

I'm pretty sure AMW has the same issues.

I personally think there were other reasons for why they declined segments. A big issue could be production schedules, budgets and legal matters.

Agreed. Although UM had its share of "fluff pieces", it would be a mistake for us (or anyone else for that matter) to presume that as the actual reason for why some more essential story ideas were declined. It could be very well that accepting a "fluff" story and declining another story was just a coincidence.

In any event, I recall reading a 1994 interview with show producer John Cosgrove in which Cosgrove acknowledged the impossibility of accepting every story idea offered to the show. He admitted that he wished they could do every one of them.

Sadly, no single TV series can profile every unsolved case. And I will admit that I pine for the days when we had at least two shows of that ilk in production. (In fact, during the late '80s and early '90s, there were no less than four of them in on the air at the same time: UM, AMW, Missing/Reward, and Crime Stoppers 800.)

The only thing I think you could blame UM for is that they may have taken less crime cases because they had to make room for UFO, Bizzare Legends, Mircles, Ghosts, Lost Loves cases.

I myself like the UFO, Legends and Ghosts cases, whiles some other's don't.

I don;t know if UM could have survived on only Crime cases. Anyone have an opinion on that?

I believe that UM was a well-received show in the very fact that it differed from other broadcasts, absolutely. AMW and other crime shows basically only focus upon finding criminals and missing persons. UM had great variety with eerie crimes, baffling missing persons, strange legends, intriguing ghost and UFO segments, lost loves, etc. Even with its share of poor actors, I think UM pulled off the reenactments better than any show I've ever seen. The whole setup and style, the music, the overall format...in that, UM is so unique and I agree it garnered its popularity through variety as well as style.

I believe that UM was a well-received show in the very fact that it differed from other broadcasts, absolutely. AMW and other crime shows basically only focus upon finding criminals and missing persons. UM had great variety with eerie crimes, baffling missing persons, strange legends, intriguing ghost and UFO segments, lost loves, etc. Even with its share of poor actors, I think UM pulled off the reenactments better than any show I've ever seen. The whole setup and style, the music, the overall format...in that, UM is so unique and I agree it garnered its popularity through variety as well as style.

Yeah I think this is key. Unsolved Mysteries was great because it concentrated on the mystery and wasn't a true crime show. It's bad that it couldn't cover all but that's the point of the show and it's not a total service. If some crimes needed to cover, there were shows that were just pure crime and criminals like AMW. UM was for a different niche.

The only thing I think you could blame UM for is that they may have taken less crime cases because they had to make room for UFO, Bizzare Legends, Mircles, Ghosts, Lost Loves cases.

I myself like the UFO, Legends and Ghosts cases, whiles some other's don't.

I don;t know if UM could have survived on only Crime cases. Anyone have an opinion on that?

I loved the ghosts, UFO, and Legends. They upped the creepy factor for me when I was young (murder can only scare you so much, I guess!). I don't think I would have liked the show as much without them.

I loved the ghosts, UFO, and Legends. They upped the creepy factor for me when I was young (murder can only scare you so much, I guess!). I don't think I would have liked the show as much without them.

Totally agree :cool: . They other segments made the bizare murders even creepier in my opinion. Sort of set up the mood.

I tend to think the Lost Loves segments kind of hurt the mood of the show. Just too normal and optimistic for me.:D

Totally agree :cool: . They other segments made the bizare murders even creepier in my opinion. Sort of set up the mood.

I tend to think the Lost Loves segments kind of hurt the mood of the show. Just too normal and optimistic for me.:D

I have to agree with the thinking that if it weren't for the wide spectrum of things covered, it wouldn't have been quite so successful. A perfect example is AMW. Personally, I'm not a fan of AMW, mostly because of the fact that it's always the same type of stuff. I like to have things changed up, a bit. Although there are some segments that definitely shouldn't have been made, like the child geniuses one. I can't begin to describe how much that segment annoyed me.

I don;t know if UM could have survived on only Crime cases. Anyone have an opinion on that?

Would probably agree there.

It used to annoy me sometimes how we had to sit through Lost Loves cases, Ghosts and other cases with Crime cases (Wanted, Missing Persons, Fraud etc) placed between these, but I do think looking back now it helped break up the tension of such cases and also with the variety helped give the show its unique edge.

Some time ago I went back and watched some old VHS I had pieced together of only crime cases (maybe 1 hr or 2 hrs in length made up of only crime cases) - by the time they had finished I was seriously ready to cut my own wrists or even my own throat - the stuff is just so depressing and almost fills you with despair that there just seem to be so many psychopaths and maniacs out there! Then I had to remember, this is the noughties and not the 80's or 90's anymore, so no need to despair :)

Would probably agree there.

It used to annoy me sometimes how we had to sit through Lost Loves cases, Ghosts and other cases with Crime cases (Wanted, Missing Persons, Fraud etc) placed between these, but I do think looking back now it helped break up the tension of such cases and also with the variety helped give the show its unique edge.

Some time ago I went back and watched some old VHS I had pieced together of only crime cases (maybe 1 hr or 2 hrs in length made up of only crime cases) - by the time they had finished I was seriously ready to cut my own wrists or even my own throat - the stuff is just so depressing and almost fills you with despair that there just seem to be so many psychopaths and maniacs out there! Then I had to remember, this is the noughties and not the 80's or 90's anymore, so no need to despair

Arguably, there are as many psychopaths now as there were back then.

I'm a little puzzled why you watch UM if you so affected by this stuff. I guess it's the old horror movie thing.

Arguably, there are as many psychopaths now as there were back then.

Personally, I would've left the "arguably" out. We never seem to run short on psychopaths. We just get new ones. :(

Arguably, there are as many psychopaths now as there were back then.

I'm a little puzzled why you watch UM if you so affected by this stuff. I guess it's the old horror movie thing.


That's probably very true, but they are probably caught a lot more easily now.

I guess I should've explained myself, I'm referring to the original runs of UM when they were on TV years ago and also the re-runs with the updates on Lifetime (Robert Stack narrations).

At the time when they first aired they weren't so bad, but as I was explaining I think that the segments being mixed up with a combination of UFOs, Lost Loves, Crime etc helped to give variety to the show and ease the tough cases.

The difference was watching a number of cases straight for a couple of hours, just wanted to see what it would be like if the show had been like that when it actually aired.


I guess it's the old horror movie thing.

Am not quite sure what you mean here, could you explain?

I'm not a big fan of modern horror, I just don't find them scary at all. On most occasions they just bore me to death.

But UM was real life stuff.

Another case that was denied by UM (and AMW) was that of Barry "Bucky" Gephart, an 11 year old boy who disappeared from Albuquerque in 1981. Sadly, it appears that he was beaten to death by his alcoholic and drug-addicted parents, and tossed in a dumpster. :( Even worse, his body will probably never be found and the statute of limitations on this case ran out. Why is there even a statute of limitations on this case? Ugh, the whole thing is sickening.

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/k/kephart_barry.html

http://25missingpersons.proboards.com/thread/904

I'm guessing the reason they passed on this case was because 1) it's pretty obvious what happened to him, and 2) the unlikelihood he will ever be found. I think it would have been a good idea to air the case just to expose to the world how horrible the parents were/are.

Oh, and apparently the parents abused all 4 of their kids.

Another case that was denied by UM (and AMW) was that of Barry "Bucky" Gephart, an 11 year old boy who disappeared from Albuquerque in 1981. Sadly, it appears that he was beaten to death by his alcoholic and drug-addicted parents, and tossed in a dumpster. :( Even worse, his body will probably never be found and the statute of limitations on this case ran out. Why is there even a statute of limitations on this case? Ugh, the whole thing is sickening.

IIRC, the state had a 15 year statute of limitations on murder back then. It's since been changed.

The second links says the mother is dead and the surviving father can never be charged "Because the statute of limitations for a charge of child abuse resulting in death ran out in 1986."

The boy went missing in 1981. That means the state only had a 5 year statute of limitations on killing a child by abuse. I wonder if they ever changed it.

So if you killed your kid in NM, all you had to do was lay low for 5 years and the law couldn't touch you. Who the heck were these boneheaded lawmakers, writing the states laws back then? No value on life at all. 15 years statute on murder and 5 years on baby killing. Unbelievable!

And I just realized....

UM and AMW might not have wanted to get involved for a few reasons.

That statute in that case was up in 1986. UM didn't even begin airing until 1987. If they had run the case, there may have been a chance of finding the remains and solving the murder, but there'd never be any conviction.

So there you'd have the two guilty parents outed on TV. Due to the statute being up, they just got away with murdering their child and now the whole country knows it = Vigilante Justice?

another case that was denied by UM was that of Lorne Landeen. He was a 22 year old college student that disappeared in 1986 in Tuscon, Arizona. It is believed he planned on going jogging by a canyon when he vanished.

http://charleyproject.org/cases/l/landeen_lorne.html

There are several possibilities with this case. One is that he fell into the canyon. The second is that he voluntarily disappeared (he was reportedly upset just prior to his disappearance and his grades had plummeted). And third is foul play.

Perhaps the strangest part of this case is that his keys were found in his abandoned car (along with his wallet) but the ignition key was missing. Elsewhere on the net, it says he had a habit of tying his ignition key to his shoelaces, but I can't imagine what for.

His family tried desperately to find him, even going as far as to try and track him by the unusual eyeglass prescription he wore, but no luck.

Here is an article where it says the case was denied by UM, but picked up by a show called Reunion, which I have to assume is like the lost love cases on UM? I can't find anything about Reunion online. Lorne's mother was told by the producers that the case didn't have a strong enough story line. (huh?) I'm really starting to dislike Cosgrove/Meurer.

http://www.chickensoup.com/node/31319

Lorne's mother was told by the producers that the case didn't have a strong enough story line.

I know of someone who actually contacted the show to see if they would do a story on her daughter that went missing. Like any parent you think the worst, but her daughter was starting to hang around some less the perfect people. From what I gather it was a 50/50 shot at best that the story would be green lighted. The biggest obstacle was law enforcement. The city I live in has a huge problem with transparency when it comes to investigating this kind of stuff. The cops literally refused to talk to representatives from the show or give any kind of comment. Her mom found out that the detectives had changed the status of the case from possible abduction to probable run away without telling her mom. A non family member had to go into the police station request copies of the case files and pay a $20 service fee. After that the show went on to a different case. I never really got a whole lot of information from the family either, just little tidbits here and there. It was just really strange. One week me and this girl were doing a project in Sunday school church and the next week, our Sunday school teacher was informing us (at the request of the family) that she had disappeared and if we knew anything. Eventually she was found, but I tried googling her name or searching her name through charley project and her name never has come up.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think I heard somewhere that the Johnny Gosch case was denied by UM.

I agree. Unsolved Mysteries couldn't possibly take every case even if they wanted to. Plus, some cases barely have any information available and its pretty hard to fill a segment if there's hardly any information available. The ghost, psychic, ufos ect segments made Unsolved different than the others and made it more interesting. Not everyone was a fan of certain segments but it was about every type of Unsolved Mystery. Maybe someone would tune in only interesting in the UFO segment but ended up recognizing a lost love or missing persons in the hour episode. There a lot of ways you can look at it.

I stand by my original statement from 4 years ago. It should be noted that some of these UFO cases and such have been DONE TO DEATH on all manner of different shows. Meanwhile, there are A LOT of murder and missing persons that are unsolved and haven't got any national exposure.

I stand by my original statement from 4 years ago. It should be noted that some of these UFO cases and such have been DONE TO DEATH on all manner of different shows. Meanwhile, there are A LOT of murder and missing persons that are unsolved and haven't got any national exposure.

To be fair I think there are/were some UFO cases that I understand UM would do. Kecksburg, Rendleshem, and Roswell come to mind. There were a lot of other ones that are pretty intriguing and some that I just don't understand why they featured them. The guardian case (I think it was called) where someone "video taped" a UFO landing. It was obvious the whole thing was a hoax. The Kevin and Bean call in segment was just idiotic. Who in there right mind is going to take 2 DJ's seriously? And the update that it was a hoax was like 2 weeks after it aired.

The Kevin and Bean call in segment was just idiotic. Who in there right mind is going to take 2 DJ's seriously? And the update that it was a hoax was like 2 weeks after it aired.
Unfortunately, LAPD and many families did. I can understand why they would, particularly the families, thinking that maybe this caller was speaking about a murdered loved one and this might be the big break in solving the case. LAPD spent hundreds of hours and plenty of funds investigating the lead because they thought it was legitimate. Now watching the segment it seems so fake, but when I first heard that phone call, not yet knowing it was a hoax, it seemed like it really could be real. I think the true idiocy is in the DJs themselves for wasting everyone's time and lying on camera just for some high ratings. And as a former L.A. resident, it saddens me that these two are still on the radio. Thankfully, UM showed viewers (even in reruns) the true colors of these fools.

Perhaps the strangest part of this case is that his keys were found in his abandoned car (along with his wallet) but the ignition key was missing. Elsewhere on the net, it says he had a habit of tying his ignition key to his shoelaces, but I can't imagine what for.


Runners often do this so they don't have to leave the key in the car. At least, my runner husband does. Not all running shorts have pockets.

Runners often do this so they don't have to leave the key in the car. At least, my runner husband does. Not all running shorts have pockets.

I do this too. Even when the shorts have pockets, the ones on women's running shorts are so shallow I'm terrified of my keys jouncing out somewhere.

Roger Ellison's sister said his case was denied by UM. Interestingly, she says it was turned down for the same reason a Jacob Wetterling segment was turned down: because producers didn't think it was "solveable".

That's unfortunate. No crime case is unsolvable. Things that are virtually unsolvable are all of the ghosts, miracles, UFO's, etc they had on there.

I've also heard that the Johnny Gosch case was not UM material, due to the nature of the abduction.

They were probably trying to be different from America's Most Wanted.

I think the Gosch case still would have made for great television. It probably won't ever be solved, but after reading the Wikipedia page, it's truly incredible...the kid disappears, then years later, supposedly visits his mom and then later, creepy photographs, possibly of her kid, show up? Truly puzzling.

Perhaps the strangest part of this case is that his keys were found in his abandoned car (along with his wallet) but the ignition key was missing. Elsewhere on the net, it says he had a habit of tying his ignition key to his shoelaces, but I can't imagine what for.

When he ran he probably dressed in clothes that had no pockets so the one thing he needed was his car key so he tied it to his shoe. these days running shorts usually have a tiny pocket in them for a key.

This kind of proves he went running.

It's unfortunate, but not really surprising that UM sometimes denied cases that would have been great to profile:

Article (http://www.springfieldnewssun.com/news/news/local/cold-case-turns-into-closed-case-for-springfield-1/nMzY7/)about an father and son, Tom and Kim Wells, shot over a rental dispute in 1984 (the killer confessed in 1993 while in prison for other crimes, but the family didn't learn of this development for years because they weren't notified at the time). The tragedy was compounded when Kim Wells, who survived the attack, later died of AIDS he contracted from the blood transfusion he received in the aftermath of the shooting. Tom Well's grandson repeatedly requested that UM investigate the case; if it had received more publicity, it's likely that the family would have found out about the killer's confession earlier.

Another case (http://articles.philly.com/1994-08-21/news/25842465_1_mark-himebaugh-psychic-powers-cadaver-seeking-dogs)of a missing boy, Mark Himebaugh, that UM turned down, purportedly because the disappearance could not be re-enacted with any drama. There are several articles about the case online and I'm surprised that UM didn't rethink profiling the case in the mid-nineties. In 1993, a prostitute alleged (http://articles.philly.com/1993-07-23/news/25976035_1_drug-charges-prostitute-police-in-new-jersey) that a client, Thomas Butcavage, showed the man a video of himself assaulting a boy that he then identified as Himebaugh and also admitted to kidnapping other kids (a local news station did an interview (http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/Convicted-Sex-Offender-Person-of-Interest-Mark-Himebaugh-Thomas-Butcavage-Video-Sex-Abuse-320683412.html) with the informant last year). Butcavage was never charged in Himebaugh's case, but he's currently in prison for crimes against other kids. From the 1993 article:

"Tommy" was quoted as saying that he "likes to drive outside the local area, sometimes up to 100 miles, and snatch a child off of a corner, take them somewhere and kill them." According to the prostitute, "Tommy" tried to enlist his help in kidnapping children.

A sneaker belonging to Himebaugh - who was last seen walking toward his house after watching a nearby brush fire - was found a few blocks from the boy's home. In the affidavit, the prostitute said that "Tommy" told him, ''I'm the one that put the sneaker there" to confuse investigators.

Last month, Cape May County Prosecutor Stephen D. Moore released a composite sketch of a long-haired man with thick, dark-rimmed glasses. Witnesses told police they saw the man with Himebaugh minutes after his disappearance.

Self proclaimed psychic Dorothy Allison, who was featured on UM, offered her services to Himebaugh's family:

Himebaugh said he had found Allison preoccupied with her celebrity. He said he had been repulsed by what seemed to be her lurid fascination with murder.

"She brought with her a Japanese film crew, and it seemed like she was only interested in performing for the film crew," Himebaugh said. "She was boasting about her work on other crimes. I thought she was crass. She was spooky with her attitude and her graphic description of the children she found. She turned me off. . . . Anything that she came up with in her mind, she did not reveal to us."

UM also turned down a case submitted by Massachusetts state police, that of an unidentified woman who was found (http://www.officialcoldcaseinvestigations.com/showthread.php?14603-Massachusetts) in October of 1995, and was later linked to a younger unidentified woman found in Connecticut around the same time. Both women were later identified (http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2014/07/19-year_old_jane_doe_murder_my.html)as mother and daughter Maria and Elizabeth Honsch; Robert Honsch has been charged with the murders.