Many of your may remember the case of Michael Rosenblum, the young man from Baldwin Boro, Pennslyvania who mysteriously vanished on Valentine's day in 1980. At the time of his disappearance Rosenblum, was battling an addiction to painkillers and the UM segment (broadcast: 1/11/89) focused on the possibility that the Baldwin Boro police department may have somehow been involved in Michael's disappearance and death (Rosenblum's remains were found ten years after his disappearance).

I've recently come across literally tons of articles on the case which I'll share with the members of the forum now.
====================
The first article from 1980 deals with Maurice Rosenblum's attempts to gain access to Michael's medical records from the day he vanished. As you may remember Michael was admitted into the hospital the morning he vanished complaining of a severe drug hangover. Interestingly it seems that Michael's family was unaware that Michael was even at the hospital the morning of his disappearance until months after the fact. You would've thought that Michael's girlfriend who was with him at that time would've passed that information on to them.

Man seeks medical records in hunt for missing son (6-18-80)
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=3k4NAAAAIBAJ&sjid=zm0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=3733,3045041&dq=michael+rosenblum&hl=en

The second article from 1980 contains an early summation of the case as well as an interesting quote from Police Chief Aldo Gaburri (who was featured heavily in the UM segment). Gaburri mentions that the investigation into Michael's disappearance was initially hampered due to the fact that The Rosenblums didn't want to publicize the case. Michael's girlfriend Lisa is also interviewed in this article and isn't very sympathetic towards Michael's plight blaming him for "getting her in this mess". It's also interesting that Lisa fled Pittsburgh shortly after Michael was reported missing relocating to Florida.

Shadyside Man's Disappearance Baffles Cops
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=XmkdAAAAIBAJ&sjid=aFwEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6167,4315183&dq=michael+rosenblum&hl=en
==========================
In 1982, Maurice Rosenblum asked the attorney general to probe into Baldwin Boro's handling of the case. Rosenblum believes that the officers at the scene that day (the ones who found the car on River Road) may have seen his son and failed to report it. Here is an article on Aldo Gaburri's reaction to the probe:

Chief Confident Probe Will Clear Baldwin Cops
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=j8MdAAAAIBAJ&sjid=qWEEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5044,785942&dq=michael+rosenblum&hl=en
==========================
Two articles from 1983 dealing with the Baldwin Boro Police Department being cleared as it pertains to Michael Rosenblum:

Police cleared in disappearance
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=gu4NAAAAIBAJ&sjid=om0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=5467,3604635&dq=michael+rosenblum&hl=en

Baldwin Cops Clear In Cover Up Charge
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=1xgeAAAAIBAJ&sjid=BGAEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4882,7666042&dq=michael+rosenblum&hl=en
==========================
There are literally tons of articles dealing with Gaburri's ouster. As detailed in the UM segment in 1987, Chief Aldo Gaburri was ousted from office due to his handling of the Rosenblum case.

Highlights include: It seems that at one point Baldwin Boro Council was also going to file charges again Fred Cappelli. However, there also seemed to be some evidence that Cappelli didn't forge Chester Lombardi's signature on the backdated letter to begin with. A handwriting expert believed that the letter was not forged, however Lombardi's widow also testified during the Gaburri review that the signature may not have been that of her husband's. There is also some evidence to suggest that the Baldwin Boro Police Department may have attempted to make contact with Lisa via phone to inform her that her car was in their impound lot. Also in one of the artciles Maurice Rosenblum seems to dismiss that drugs had anything to do with his son's disappearance.

Gaburri articles:
http://www.google.com/archivesearch?q=Michael+Rosenblum&scoring=a&sa=N&sugg=d&as_ldate=1980&as_hdate=1989&lnav=hist6
==========================
1987 Summation of the Rosenblum case dealing with Maurice receiving an anonymous letter implicating the Baldwin Boro Police Department in Michael's disappearance. The writer of the anonymous letter is identified in article 2:

1 - http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=CgQOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=1m0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=4590,9019065&dq=michael+rosenblum&hl=en

2 - http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=bbUqAAAAIBAJ&sjid=QmMEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6978,5485359&dq=michael+rosenblum&hl=en
==========================
In 1988 Maurice Rosenblum discovered a bone fragment on a South Side cliff that he believed to be his son's. This was documented on UM. He sent the bone to Dr. Cyril Wecht who could not determine if the bone was of human origin.

Bone too dry to prove origin:
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=hlMNAAAAIBAJ&sjid=3m0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6711,19679&dq=michael+rosenblum&hl=en

The coroner also determined the bone Maurice found was not human:
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=bBwhAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ZWMEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3136,3758054&dq=michael+rosenblum&hl=en

The police officer who sent Maurice the anonymous letter was also later dismissed from the force. This officer believed that it was due to the fact he was a whistle blower:

Inquiry of Chief blamed in officer's firing:
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=rOQhAAAAIBAJ&sjid=a2MEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4157,3829601&dq=michael+rosenblum&hl=en

The two officers who were alleged to have been involved in Rosenblum's disappearance sued a magazine alleging their involvement. Stephen Tercsak (interview in the UM segment) was one of the principals interviewed in the original article:

Officers sue magazine over Rosenblum story:
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Xd4cAAAAIBAJ&sjid=VmMEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5919,289791&dq=michael+rosenblum&hl=en
==========================
Gaburri won't help "Unsolved Mysteries" Interesting article dealing with Gaburri's instructions to his officers they not help UM in their production of a feature on the Rosenblum case:
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=UVMNAAAAIBAJ&sjid=9W0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6804,9520905&dq=michael+rosenblum&hl=en

After the "Unsolved Mysteries" broadcast an anonymous caller called into the telecenter alleging that he shared a jail cell with Michael Rosenblum on the day of his disappearance. Maurice also commented that although the UM segment said what he wanted it to say, he also conceded it wasn't strong enough. In another interesting note despite UM never updating the case until Rosenblum's remains were found, they did receive over 200 calls pertaining to Michael Rosenblum on the night of the broadcast (come on UM fans want to know what those calls were about!):

Father gets anonymous call on son:
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=CLoiAAAAIBAJ&sjid=QbUFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1692,2481450&dq=michael+rosenblum&hl=en

Police doubt missing man was sighted in Baldwin jail:
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=XPgjAAAAIBAJ&sjid=0GMEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2638,82884&dq=michael+rosenblum&hl=en

Missing man's dad wants son declared dead
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=jhwhAAAAIBAJ&sjid=m2MEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2696,5714041&dq=michael+rosenblum&hl=en
===============
Articles detailing the discovery of Rosenblum's remains in 1992:

1 - http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=-dMxAAAAIBAJ&sjid=DuIFAAAAIBAJ&pg=6379,791837&dq=michael+rosenblum&hl=en

2 - http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=CfcjAAAAIBAJ&sjid=B2QEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2280,4090109&dq=michael+rosenblum&hl=en

3 - http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=_NMxAAAAIBAJ&sjid=DuIFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1390,4141490&dq=michael+rosenblum&hl=en

Thanks for all the articles! I look forward to reading them.

Many of your may remember the case of Michael Rosenblum, the young man from Baldwin Boro, Pennslyvania who mysteriously vanished on Valentine's day in 1980. At the time of his disappearance Rosenblum, was battling an addiction to painkillers and the UM segment (broadcast: 1/11/89) focused on the possibility that the Baldwin Boro police department may have somehow been involved in Michael's disappearance and death (Rosenblum's remains were found ten years after his disappearance).

I've recently come across literally tons of articles on the case which I'll share with the members of the forum now.
====================
The first article from 1980 deals with Maurice Rosenblum's attempts to gain access to Michael's medical records from the day he vanished. As you may remember Michael was admitted into the hospital the morning he vanished complaining of a severe drug hangover. Interestingly it seems that Michael's family was unaware that Michael was even at the hospital the morning of his disappearance until months after the fact. You would've thought that Michael's girlfriend who was with him at that time would've passed that information on to them.

Man seeks medical records in hunt for missing son (6-18-80)
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=3k4NAAAAIBAJ&sjid=zm0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=3733,3045041&dq=michael+rosenblum&hl=en

The second article from 1980 contains an early summation of the case as well as an interesting quote from Police Chief Aldo Gaburri (who was featured heavily in the UM segment). Gaburri mentions that the investigation into Michael's disappearance was initially hampered due to the fact that The Rosenblums didn't want to publicize the case. Michael's girlfriend Lisa is also interviewed in this article and isn't very sympathetic towards Michael's plight blaming him for "getting her in this mess". It's also interesting that Lisa fled Pittsburgh shortly after Michael was reported missing relocating to Florida.

Shadyside Man's Disappearance Baffles Cops
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=XmkdAAAAIBAJ&sjid=aFwEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6167,4315183&dq=michael+rosenblum&hl=en
==========================
In 1982, Maurice Rosenblum asked the attorney general to probe into Baldwin Boro's handling of the case. Rosenblum believes that the officers at the scene that day (the ones who found the car on River Road) may have seen his son and failed to report it. Here is an article on Aldo Gaburri's reaction to the probe:

Chief Confident Probe Will Clear Baldwin Cops
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=j8MdAAAAIBAJ&sjid=qWEEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5044,785942&dq=michael+rosenblum&hl=en
==========================
Two articles from 1983 dealing with the Baldwin Boro Police Department being cleared as it pertains to Michael Rosenblum:

Police cleared in disappearance
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=gu4NAAAAIBAJ&sjid=om0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=5467,3604635&dq=michael+rosenblum&hl=en

Baldwin Cops Clear In Cover Up Charge
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=1xgeAAAAIBAJ&sjid=BGAEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4882,7666042&dq=michael+rosenblum&hl=en
==========================
There are literally tons of articles dealing with Gaburri's ouster. As detailed in the UM segment in 1987, Chief Aldo Gaburri was ousted from office due to his handling of the Rosenblum case.

Highlights include: It seems that at one point Baldwin Boro Council was also going to file charges again Fred Cappelli. However, there also seemed to be some evidence that Cappelli didn't forge Chester Lombardi's signature on the backdated letter to begin with. A handwriting expert believed that the letter was not forged, however Lombardi's widow also testified during the Gaburri review that the signature may not have been that of her husband's. There is also some evidence to suggest that the Baldwin Boro Police Department may have attempted to make contact with Lisa via phone to inform her that her car was in their impound lot. Also in one of the artciles Maurice Rosenblum seems to dismiss that drugs had anything to do with his son's disappearance.

Gaburri articles:
http://www.google.com/archivesearch?q=Michael+Rosenblum&scoring=a&sa=N&sugg=d&as_ldate=1980&as_hdate=1989&lnav=hist6
==========================
1987 Summation of the Rosenblum case dealing with Maurice receiving an anonymous letter implicating the Baldwin Boro Police Department in Michael's disappearance. The writer of the anonymous letter is identified in article 2:

1 - http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=CgQOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=1m0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=4590,9019065&dq=michael+rosenblum&hl=en

2 - http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=bbUqAAAAIBAJ&sjid=QmMEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6978,5485359&dq=michael+rosenblum&hl=en
==========================
In 1988 Maurice Rosenblum discovered a bone fragment on a South Side cliff that he believed to be his son's. This was documented on UM. He sent the bone to Dr. Cyril Wecht who could not determine if the bone was of human origin.

Bone too dry to prove origin:
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=hlMNAAAAIBAJ&sjid=3m0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6711,19679&dq=michael+rosenblum&hl=en

The coroner also determined the bone Maurice found was not human:
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=bBwhAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ZWMEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3136,3758054&dq=michael+rosenblum&hl=en

The police officer who sent Maurice the anonymous letter was also later dismissed from the force. This officer believed that it was due to the fact he was a whistle blower:

Inquiry of Chief blamed in officer's firing:
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=rOQhAAAAIBAJ&sjid=a2MEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4157,3829601&dq=michael+rosenblum&hl=en

The two officers who were alleged to have been involved in Rosenblum's disappearance sued a magazine alleging their involvement. Stephen Tercsak (interview in the UM segment) was one of the principals interviewed in the original article:

Officers sue magazine over Rosenblum story:
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Xd4cAAAAIBAJ&sjid=VmMEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5919,289791&dq=michael+rosenblum&hl=en
==========================
Gaburri won't help "Unsolved Mysteries" Interesting article dealing with Gaburri's instructions to his officers they not help UM in their production of a feature on the Rosenblum case:
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=UVMNAAAAIBAJ&sjid=9W0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6804,9520905&dq=michael+rosenblum&hl=en

After the "Unsolved Mysteries" broadcast an anonymous caller called into the telecenter alleging that he shared a jail cell with Michael Rosenblum on the day of his disappearance. Maurice also commented that although the UM segment said what he wanted it to say, he also conceded it wasn't strong enough. In another interesting note despite UM never updating the case until Rosenblum's remains were found, they did receive over 200 calls pertaining to Michael Rosenblum on the night of the broadcast (come on UM fans want to know what those calls were about!):

Father gets anonymous call on son:
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=CLoiAAAAIBAJ&sjid=QbUFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1692,2481450&dq=michael+rosenblum&hl=en

Police doubt missing man was sighted in Baldwin jail:
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=XPgjAAAAIBAJ&sjid=0GMEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2638,82884&dq=michael+rosenblum&hl=en

Missing man's dad wants son declared dead
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=jhwhAAAAIBAJ&sjid=m2MEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2696,5714041&dq=michael+rosenblum&hl=en
===============
Articles detailing the discovery of Rosenblum's remains in 1992:

1 - http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=-dMxAAAAIBAJ&sjid=DuIFAAAAIBAJ&pg=6379,791837&dq=michael+rosenblum&hl=en

2 - http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=CfcjAAAAIBAJ&sjid=B2QEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2280,4090109&dq=michael+rosenblum&hl=en

3 - http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=_NMxAAAAIBAJ&sjid=DuIFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1390,4141490&dq=michael+rosenblum&hl=en
Great research DD. Enjoyed reading those articles.

I've only gotten to the 2nd one of all the articles, (thanks for posting them DarkDante!) but I had to stop for a second to complain.

What in the world was going on with journalism in the 1980s? They repeatedly published Michael Rosenblum's home address, his father's home address, and a photo and home address of his beautiful female friend who lived there with her 3 young kids!

Wasn't anyone worried about the safety of any of those people?

Does anyone think that it was odd for Michael Rosenblum's girlfriend to move away so quickly after he "disappeared"? Do you think she was involved in his death?

Maybe she was mad at him after he drove off in her car and she called the police and said he was drugs or stole her car (or something like that), they find him and arrest him, he's belligerent at the jail (one of the above things had someone claiming to be in jail w/Rosenblum that day), and some officer(s) or guard(s) snaps back at him, kills him somewhere inside the jail, and then they take his body and throw it over that cliff?

What do you think of that scenario?

Does anyone think that it was odd for Michael Rosenblum's girlfriend to move away so quickly after he "disappeared"? Do you think she was involved in his death?

Maybe she was mad at him after he drove off in her car and she called the police and said he was drugs or stole her car (or something like that), they find him and arrest him, he's belligerent at the jail (one of the above things had someone claiming to be in jail w/Rosenblum that day), and some officer(s) or guard(s) snaps back at him, kills him somewhere inside the jail, and then they take his body and throw it over that cliff?

What do you think of that scenario?

Yeah the first time I read that article I thought that Michael's girlfriend may have been involved in his disappearance given that she left town so quickly and her less than sympathetic demeanor towards him after he vanished. But it doesn't seem like Maurice Rosenblum ever focused his investigation towards the girlfriend. Given how aggressive Maurice seemed to be in pursuing this case, I would think if he even had an inkling that Michael's girlfriend was involved in his disappearance that he would've been all over something like that. Therefore I personally don't think she had anything to do with his disappearance. I do find her statements to the newspaper however to be particularly cold given the circumstances.

Something else I noticed for the first time in reading the articles was I was surprised to find out how old Michael and his girlfriend were. I always assumed they were in their late teens but Michael was twenty-five and his girlfriend was nearly thirty. His girlfriend (if she's still alive) would actually be turning sixty next year. Crazy how time passes.

I've only gotten to the 2nd one of all the articles, (thanks for posting them DarkDante!) but I had to stop for a second to complain.

What in the world was going on with journalism in the 1980s? They repeatedly published Michael Rosenblum's home address, his father's home address, and a photo and home address of his beautiful female friend who lived there with her 3 young kids!

Wasn't anyone worried about the safety of any of those people?

That caught my attention too. But I think it was just a sign of how different things used to be. I was looking through some old family photos a couple months ago and I came across my parents wedding announcement from 1977. In it, the article gives the exact address of both my mom and dad at the time. You obviously wouldn't see that in wedding announcements these days.

Different times.

Fantastic work Dark Dante, enjoyed those articles.

Thread of the year nomination :)

Yeah i found it laughable too about the addresses, It's available on Google Earth for everyone to see!

Strange to read about Lisa, she wasn't really in a caring mood toward Michael.

Is it ever mentioned how old Michael was when he vanished? I've never heard any listed!

Is it ever mentioned how old Michael was when he vanished? I've never heard any listed!


Something else I noticed for the first time in reading the articles was I was surprised to find out how old Michael and his girlfriend were. I always assumed they were in their late teens but Michael was twenty-five and his girlfriend was nearly thirty. His girlfriend (if she's still alive) would actually be turning sixty next year. Crazy how time passes.

Thanks DarkDante. I looked at this thread a long time ago and then today when watching just jotted it down. I've always assumed he was much younger, perhaps nineteen to twenty-two.

I just saw this case for the first time today and the various threads on this board have given me a great deal to think about. I was wondering about the tires being flat (maybe I need to go back and re-watch the segment) - why are we sure the tires were flat when the car was recovered two hours later when it wasn't found at the impound lot until 90 days later? I'm not claiming this is a cover-up, but while tires might not go flat in two hours without an obvious problem, 90 days is something else entirely. And, if the tires were not flat at the time Michael disappeared, that could change many thoughts about this case.

I just saw this case for the first time today and the various threads on this board have given me a great deal to think about. I was wondering about the tires being flat (maybe I need to go back and re-watch the segment) - why are we sure the tires were flat when the car was recovered two hours later when it wasn't found at the impound lot until 90 days later? I'm not claiming this is a cover-up, but while tires might not go flat in two hours without an obvious problem, 90 days is something else entirely. And, if the tires were not flat at the time Michael disappeared, that could change many thoughts about this case.

The tires were flat when the car was found on River Road. I believe they mentioned the car was found resting on it's bent tire rims when it was recovered by the Baldwin Boro Police. It was then towed to the impound lot where it was claimed 90 days later.

The tires were flat when the car was found on River Road. I believe they mentioned the car was found resting on it's bent tire rims when it was recovered by the Baldwin Boro Police. It was then towed to the impound lot where it was claimed 90 days later.

Thanks for replying. I was just suggesting that if we question whether or not the police department really sent the letter they claimed to send, we might also want to question their claim of how the car was found as I assume no one else inspected it until 90 days later.

Sorry to bump an older thread, but it's hard to know which Michael Rosenblum thread to bump and my comment relates directly to an article linked in this thread. I just saw this segment for the first time, and was surprised by a line from the continued portion of the second article in the first post of this thread (can't link or quote it, sorry!). "Shadyside Man's Disappearance Baffles Cops"

Ms Sharer said she traveled with Rosenblum from the hospital to West Homestead, where she and her 4-year-old daughter were forced from the car.

"He threw the car in reverse and hit a telephone pole. Then he told us to get out. He was very agitated. I wasn't about to stand there and argue with someone who was drugged," she said.

This isn't quite how it's depicted on UM - I don't think her child is in the scene (?!?) nor does he back into a telephone pole (I can see that being unrealistic to film so going over the curb as he drives off may have been intended to give the same impression?).

Anyway, I was just wondering if this had been discussed on here before. The girlfriend's child being present surprised me, though I don't know if it ultimately has any effect on the story.

The phone calls that suggested Michael had been arrested are too bizarre to overlook, even if they can't be corroborated. Easily one of the most compelling segments I've seen yet!

Such a sad case. I can't find anywhere that says what Michael's age was when he disappeared. I always assumed he was in his very early 20's or even late teens (I guess I always assumed this because Stack makes reference that Michael began using drugs in high school and the fact he still lived with his parents).
Here is an interesting photo and would put Michael at around 26. Pittsburgh (Taylor) Allderdice is in Squirrel Hill . The photo is in all likelihood Michael.


http://www.allderdice72.com/class_profile.cfm?member_id=4181661


http://www.allderdice72.com/class_profile.cfm?member_id=4181661

I guess I should have read earlier posts about his age. This is definitely him, then.

http://www.allderdice72.com/class_profile.cfm?member_id=4181661

I guess I should have read earlier posts about his age. this is definitely him, then.

http://www.allderdice72.com/class_profile.cfm?member_id=4181661

That is a pretty cool picture of Michael Rosenblum you dug up nonetheless. Always pictured him as sort of the laid back, long haired nineteen seventies type kid.

Yeah as I mentioned Michael Rosenblum was a lot older than what we were led to believe on the UM segment. UM gave the impression that Rosenblum was an adolescent although to be fair his exact age was never mentioned on the segment. But yeah, if Michael was still alive today he'd be cruising towards sixty right now.

My heart honestly goes out to Michael Rosenblum. We had someone come on the forums who claimed she knew Michael before he became involved with the whole drug scene and said he was a really nice guy but his demeanor changed once he got heavily involved with the drugs he was taking. I think his mother basically summed up her son's situation when she said that "Michael got into drugs at a time which was probably the worst time for any kids to get into drugs". I agree completely with her and feel bad that her son's story didn't have a happier ending than it did.

That is a pretty cool picture of Michael Rosenblum you dug up nonetheless. Always pictured him as sort of the laid back, long haired nineteen seventies type kid.

Yeah as I mentioned Michael Rosenblum was a lot older than what we were led to believe on the UM segment. UM gave the impression that Rosenblum was an adolescent although to be fair his exact age was never mentioned on the segment. But yeah, if Michael was still alive today he'd be cruising towards sixty right now.

My heart honestly goes out to Michael Rosenblum. We had someone come on the forums who claimed she knew Michael before he became involved with the whole drug scene and said he was a really nice guy but his demeanor changed once he got heavily involved with the drugs he was taking. I think his mother basically summed up her son's situation when she said that "Michael got into drugs at a time which was probably the worst time for any kids to get into drugs". I agree completely with her and feel bad that her son's story didn't have a happier ending than it did.

Michael's parents are among my favorite people ever interviewed on UM. All missing persons/unexplained death cases are sad. It just semes like his parents suffered (unnecessarily) twice as bad for a dozen years due to poor police work (or corruption).

(forgive me for bumping an old thread - was searching for info on the case and this was the most recent thread directly related)

This is yet another case I haven't seen before (hard to believe - I watched UM all the way through from Season 1 to 8 not too long ago). It is one of the most bizarre I've seen too.

We know Michael had a drug problem and that there was something odd going on with the police. We don't however know how he died or anything about the surrounding circumstances of his disappearance. That's pretty much the bulk of the UM segment (from Amazon S1E13)

I went search through the board here looking for info on the case and found this thread - figured I'd comment here, but it didn't have too much other information/speculation to it, so I went searching again and found this thread

http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?t=138994&highlight=michael+rosenblum

As he has with other cases (such as Rhonda Hinson for example),TheCars1986 presented a simple theory that cuts through all the hype & mystery the show tried to build up (from an even older thread I haven't yet seen)

I had never seen this case before, and after watching it I'd have to say it's one of the top three most bizarre cases ever profiled on UM. After watching it though, I don't see any clear evidence of any murder or police cover up on anything other than shoddy police work. It's pretty cut and dry that the police chief had his clerk forge the documents. Why else would two different people lie to implicate the chief in a missing persons case? The flat tires can easily be explained as just faulty tires. He was at the gas station having them refilled, so there was obviously a problem with the tires and the pressure from having more air put in the tires expanded the leak and probably made it worse. I've had two tires randomly go out on me before, shortly after refilling them with air. I think that he was probably going to buy more drugs when he left his girlfriend stranded at the gas station. Maybe that was the only way he knew how to come down from such a hangover? I think he then got some drugs and en route back to his parents house is when the tires went flat. I really can't say for sure if he died accidentally or killed himself. If he died accidentally, he was probably high on drugs at the time he abandoned his car. But it seems unlikely than an overdose victim would ingest drugs, then wander around into the wilderness and die. But stranger things have happened. If he killed himself it's possible that the stress from being back on drugs and getting kicked out by his parents would lead him to suicide. Maybe he was on drugs when he killed himself, and the flat tires were what ignited him to do so. It was known that he was irritable (from the drug withdrawal he was experiencing) at the time since he was seen arguing with his girlfriend, who kept trying to take him to the hopsital. Add in the fact that he most likely still had drugs in his system and it's obvious that he was unstable at the time he left his girlfriend. So suicide IMHO is a very likely scenario. The reason why his body was never found was because it was there for a long period of time, and succumbed to the elements.


As for the cover up by the police, I think it was done just to cover their own asses knowing that they did a horrible job in investigating his disappearance. As for the phone calls Michael's father received, I tend to think they were either pranks or placed by someone who was a "conspiracy theorist" who figured that the cover up implicated that the police had a hand in Michael's disappearance. And does anyone else NOT find anything odd about the arrest warrant? Just because you're considered a missing person does not automatically exempt you from comitting crimes...and I think the composite looked a lot like Michael. Even if you were to visually place sunglasses on the composite you could still see a strong resemblence. Hence the reason they issued the warrant. Michael's parents should have sued the PD for their lackluster attempt to find their son and also for trying to cover up their own mistakes. If the police were involved, don't you think someone would have came forward accusing them? Two people publically appeared on camera stating that the chief had the letter to Michael's girlfriend forged, so wouldn't it be logical that one of these two people (or certainly others) would have heard rumors about Michael being arrested by the Baldwin PD and came forward as well?


Like others have stated before, I think UM tried bringing out all of the "mysterious" aspects of every case, no matter how trivial they were, just to boost their ratings and to tell a good mystery tale. Michael was a known drug user and clearly unstable at the time of his disappearance. That's why I believe it was either suicide or (less likely) an accidental drug overdose.


This is an eminently reasonable analysis - the point about the lack of evidence pointing to murder or a cover up of such (by the police) is an important takeaway I think.

On the other hand........

I've always thought that Michael Rosenblum was murdered by the police and then it was covered up. The letter forgery might have been just "shoddy police work," but I find those words a bit tame due to the deliberateness of it, how can you explain the phony composite tailored to look exactly like Michael, and how an arrest warrant was dispatched for him TWO MONTHS after he disappeared without a trace?

Michael was missing at the time. I'm sure his family feared for the worse, but a missing person can still be alive and can still commit crimes. I don't find it all that odd that a warrant was issued for his arrest, the composite looked a lot like Michael.


Depending on the drugs Michael was hooked on and the severity of the withdrawal symptoms, I can find it plausible that while going through a bad withdrawal, Michael did indeed commit a crime or two.

If you want to continue to debate this point, ask yourself why would the police release a warrant out of the blue like this? To me, doing so (when the accused didn't commit a crime/the crime in question) would make their malfeasance/possible cover-up all the more obvious and thus, blow their own ship right out of the water.

Whatever happened, it's obvious the police tried to cover up SOMETHING, even though it might have been something as minor as simply forgetting to send out the letter about Lisa's car being in the impound.

If the only screw-up the cops actually made was forgetting to send the letter and they are completely innocent, then this whole case is a lesson in why it's a bad idea for LE to go to great lengths to cover up their mistakes. All they might have done wrong was make a simple clerical error, but because they wouldn't admit it and tried to pretend it didn't happen, the whole thing wound up looking mighty suspicious and blew up in their faces.

This seems to sum it up nicely. The police were lax and lazy, blatantly so. They tried to cover up their laziness, but it quickly got out of hand, to the point where it was just easier for them to keep spinning their BS rather than come clean (this would include their attempts to stonewall further investigation by UM and other sources). If the police did have a more direct involvement in his death, I'm betting it was accidental in nature (i.e. he ODed/died while jailed, or from being handled too roughly - nothing deliberate)