This was the "lost love" story about the woman searching for her foster parents whom she knew only as "Mommy Pat" and "Daddy Mike". This woman had a very traumatic childhood and the memories of living in comfort and safety with her foster parents came to her years later as flashbacks. For that reason, it was postulated that she may have been suffering from false memory syndrome and that Pat and Mike may never have existed at all. This was further corroborated by her biological mother who insisted she had never been in foster care.

I recently found this on the UM wiki:

A viewer told Unsolved Mysteries that Pat and Mike McGuire did actually exist and sent a photograph of Pat. However, they have been unable to locate either Pat or Mike.

I also found this strange website which appears to have a transcript of the Spike version of this episode and it is mentioned again...

http://www.livedash.com/transcript/unsolved_mysteries/7140/LIFEP/Friday_January_14_2011/548158/

(probably best to search the page for Pat and Mike)

Can anyone confirm that this info is indeed correct?

If this is the one where the girl was taken away from the father because he beat her..had a happy yr with the foster parents and then was taken away again...I just saw this ep about two days ago...shows her reunited with the foster parents...they were touched that they made such a difference in her life.

If this is the one where the girl was taken away from the father because he beat her..had a happy yr with the foster parents and then was taken away again...I just saw this ep about two days ago...shows her reunited with the foster parents...they were touched that they made such a difference in her life.

There was at least one, possibly two other episodes about abused girls being reunited with foster parents but I don't remember an update on this one.

Very interesting if that info on the wiki site is true. I wonder where they got their information.

If this is the one where the girl was taken away from the father because he beat her..had a happy yr with the foster parents and then was taken away again...I just saw this ep about two days ago...shows her reunited with the foster parents...they were touched that they made such a difference in her life.
I believe that one is the Sharon Stevens case.

I believe that one is the Sharon Stevens case.

Your so right...I think that was the woman's name :) well remembered!!!

Very interesting if that info on the wiki site is true. I wonder where they got their information.

I have an episode guide someone wrote based off the Farina episodes and it mentions the update. I would guess the info is legitimate then. At least we can confirm that Pat and Mike existed. I had my doubts prior to this.

I hope this was solved and we just haven't had an update!

I hope this was solved and we just haven't had an update!

I saw this just last night on season 5 of the Robert Stack episodes on Amazon Prime. It made me quite sad. At the end of the segment, the "update" showed a picture and said that after the case had originally aired, a viewer claimed to know Pat and Mike and that the couple had indeed cared for a little girl about 3 or 4 years old around the time the segment stated that Miriam was with them. The picture, sent by the caller, was not a close up, but was supposedly of Pat, from some distance. That was all the information that was given. I assume that nothing more has come of this. It would have been nice to see it fully resolved. Anyone know anything else about this?

I still have a hard time believing they existed. Miriam seemed a little off her rocker.

I still have a hard time believing they existed. Miriam seemed a little off her rocker.

Didnt her mother tell her that never happened? Even if they did possibly identify the couple who adopted her, the whole story just seemed strange to me. :confused:

I don't know. The psychiatrists they interviewed seemed to think the memories were real. And it's possible her mother didn't want to admit that she was in foster care.

This is about the way I see it. First of all, this is not the way "false memory syndrome" (itself a bogus term -- there is no such diagnosis officially, and the term was created to shield child molesters) is supposed to work. No one hypnotized this woman and implanted suggestions, these are memories that she herself has.
Miriam was not with these people for very long. Records were kept on paper in those days, not on computer, and a lot of things can happen. I'm betting on the whole thing being real. I have heard much weirder things.

I really want Pat and Mike McGuire to be real, just because it makes me feel really sad when I consider the possibility that they are not. And that is a very real possibility.

Ugh, that woman annoyed the heck out of me. I don't believe one word of her story. That photograph could've come from anywhere. The saddest thing is that she was probably very much loved by her father and her mother and she is simply tarnishing their good name because of her own mental issues.

Ugh, that woman annoyed the heck out of me. I don't believe one word of her story. That photograph could've come from anywhere. The saddest thing is that she was probably very much loved by her father and her mother and she is simply tarnishing their good name because of her own mental issues.

I believe this is a bit harsh. And a bit more vitriol than what is called for unless you knew these people personally. We really have no way of knowing if any of this is true or not. But even if it wasn't its obvious she had some sort of childhood trauma. That's nothing to take lightly or deride someone over. I doubt she did it just to slander her parents for the hell of it, though I guess anything is possible.

And the photograph did not come from nowhere, it came from people who confirmed this was someone who adopted a little girl around that time. Yes its true there is no way of knowing if it was her. But its still something of substance.

On the other hand, like you I can't help but think if this was true someone would have admitted it or confirmed it at some point or another, especially after her folks were gone. Other family members or friends of the family were bound to have known about it and I have a hard time getting past the fact no one confirmed it even after her real parents are gone. So I lean towards it probably not being true. But I think she sincerely believed it happened.

I believe this is a bit harsh. And a bit more vitriol than what is called for unless you knew these people personally. We really have no way of knowing if any of this is true or not. But even if it wasn't its obvious she had some sort of childhood trauma. That's nothing to take lightly or deride someone over. I doubt she did it just to slander her parents for the hell of it, though I guess anything is possible.

Nah, she even admitted she only had happy memories of her father before these "repressed" memories started popping up, so I'm going with them being mostly loving. To go on national television and slander her parents like that, I think she deserves the "vitriol". It was totally unnecessary to do that.

I believe she has some mental issues, so sure, there's a possibility she really believes it herself. However, she seems sane enough that she should be able to realize that memories that suddenly come to the surface decades later could be false.

The photograph came from someone who CLAIMED to know Pat and Mike, but that could be a photograph of anybody since they were never found. Also, did this person contact the show and provide the photo or was this info related to UM by Miriam?

Glad this topic popped back up to the top. I generally go to sleep with UM on Pluto playing with the TV off and just listening to the audio. This case came on Sunday night, I believe, and I heard the 'update' music playing after it and.. I didn't remember the names to try to look it up after the fact.

I kinda fall on the side that this didn't really happen, but maintain an open mind to the possibility. The fact that Miriam's mother said she was never in foster care..

That's what I hate about the updates from the Stack episodes.. All the updates are just text on the screen, so I hear them as I'm falling asleep and then forget to come back and look up what the update was.

I truly thought I had seen every episode of Unsolved Mysteries several times over. I’ve been a fan since the very beginning and it’s still one of my all-time favorite shows.

Surprising, I saw a segment this week I hadn’t seen before. It was about a woman named Miriam who has memories from her childhood about being placed in a foster home. Her foster parents, Pat and Mike, were very loving. She didn’t want to go back to live with her real parents but she had no choice in the decision.

Is this a super rare segment or have I just missed seeing it up until now?
Do you think her memories were legit? Unfortunately, there wasn’t an update at the end.

There's already a thread on here about this and it has had recent activity. Just keep scrolling until you find it (or someone else will undoubdtedly provide a link).

I saw this one when it originally aired and have certainly seen it a few times more recently. I skip over it every time now.

Whether real or imagined, this couple provides comfort to this woman from a troublesome time in her life.

Thank you. I missed the earlier thread.

I saw the segment on one of the Farina episodes. At the end, he showed the picture of Pat that was sent in by a viewer, but said no one else has come forward. Sadly, without any additional verification, I can't say I'm convinced.

I truly thought I had seen every episode of Unsolved Mysteries several times over. I’ve been a fan since the very beginning and it’s still one of my all-time favorite shows.

Surprising, I saw a segment this week I hadn’t seen before. It was about a woman named Miriam who has memories from her childhood about being placed in a foster home. Her foster parents, Pat and Mike, were very loving. She didn’t want to go back to live with her real parents but she had no choice in the decision.

Is this a super rare segment or have I just missed seeing it up until now?
Do you think her memories were legit? Unfortunately, there wasn’t an update at the end.

Ive seen the segment several times since the Amazon release several years ago. but I cannot recall if I ever saw it before then. after watching it I thought some of her story seemed unbelievable, but she is also recalling memories from a very early age so it is hard to know what is true and what is not.

Put me down as another UM fan with an extremely negative view of this segment. It never should have been green-lighted, it took up too much time, and it will never be successfully updated because it was all in Miriam's head.