Hi all,

Some of the most disturbing cases to me were the Special Alert segments. They always seemed to be short segments that were desperate for that one clue to solve a seemingly unsolvable case. I just watched one this morning on the disgustingly disturbing case about the newborn baby being murdered minutes after its death. A hunter heard the screams and witnessed the murder. Did they ever find the person responsible for this crime?

It got me thinking about other Special Alert cases: are there any updates to the pizza robberies, the poor girl from Philadelphia that was found in a TV box, et al.?

Also -- and I don't know if this was a Special Alert or not -- but has there ever been an update to the horrifying case about a woman and her son who were terrorized (the mom, I believe, was continuously raped in front of her son) on a canoe trip? I can't seem to find this segment anywhere.

Thanks for any info you guys can provide!

Yes, the newborn baby murder has been recently solved, partly I think. The mother was arrested, not sure about the man who killed the baby. I'll go look around and see if I can find the update info for you.

Here's the link to a thread here about the murdered baby case. Includes a mugshot of the mother, Penny Anita Lowery, in post #19:

http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?t=258549&highlight=newborn

I don't think the Sherry Eyerly case was a special alert, but it was a pizza delivery set up:

http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?t=278620&highlight=pizza

http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?t=215769&highlight=pizza

Morris Davis was also killed in a pizza delivery set up:

http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?t=181431&highlight=pizza

http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?t=137183&highlight=Morris+Davis

Here's a link to the Romper Room gang pizza robberies. I don't remember seeing this case on UM but looks like it was:

http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?t=267703&highlight=pizza

Here's a thread about the girl in the TV box:

http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?t=197891&highlight=philadelphia

The rafting mother and son attack was made into a movie, iirc. I can't remember the details right now. Maybe someone else can help out there and with the rest of the other cases.

Thanks so much for the links! I appreciate it. I'm so glad the mother has been captured!

the canoe trip is a full segment and not a special alert. The victims name was given only as "Teresa", and it happened on Memorial Day weekend. Jeannie Boylan did a couple of fantastic composite sketches of the suspects, but unforuntanely, I think the case is sitll unsolved.

the canoe trip is a full segment and not a special alert. The victims name was given only as "Teresa", and it happened on Memorial Day weekend. Jeannie Boylan did a couple of fantastic composite sketches of the suspects, but unforuntanely, I think the case is sitll unsolved.

Even more shocking are some recent allegations that she fabricated the whole thing for attention. I read some articles on another forum that cast some serious doubt on the woman's credibility. I think one of the articles mentioned that the police even stopped their investigation.

The king of the Special Alert cases has to be the unidentified Grateful Dead fan, a.k.a. Jason Doe. The segment is less than a minute long, but there are pages of threads here devoted to him and Websleuths even has their own sub-forum about him.

P.S. Love your avatar, kolson82! Nice to meet a fellow "Stagefright" fan :wave:.

The little girl stuffed in a box was Barbara Jean Horn.

Her neighbor, Walter Ogrod was convicted in 1996 and sentanced to death. However, his first trial in 1993 ended in a mistrial, and there is significant evidence that he may be innocent. I've read that convicted child killer Raymond Sheehan was actually identified in a photo lineup by an eyewitness. Also, Ogrod is several inches taller than the description of the suspect seen carrying the box. The death order was actually signed in 2005, but he is still in prison, fighting a legal battle to be released.

I don't believe it was actually a special alert case either, but it might have led UM producers to start the segment type. The segment itself is pretty unusual IMO because it consists entirely of RS interviewing a PA law enforcement officer. I was pretty young at the time it was broadcast, and I remember my parents commenting at the time about how UM really had to streach the small amount of information they had to make a segment- a photo of the box and the composite sketch were the only two clues shown.

I can only remember RS doing on-screen interviews in two other cases- Pat Mealbach (trying to prove she was a member of the Dodge family) and Jenny Pratt (hit by a 2x4 while on a motorcycle), and both of these were featured on the 3rd Anniversary Special.

I can only remember RS doing on-screen interviews in two other cases- Pat Mealbach (trying to prove she was a member of the Dodge family) and Jenny Pratt (hit by a 2x4 while on a motorcycle), and both of these were featured on the 3rd Anniversary Special.

Stack also interviewed detective (deputy district attorney?) Richard Garrett regarding developments in the Don Henry and Keven Ives case.

It seems like these interviews were phased out and didn't occur beyond the first season (or the 3rd anniversary show).

Even more shocking are some recent allegations that she fabricated the whole thing for attention. I read some articles on another forum that cast some serious doubt on the woman's credibility. I think one of the articles mentioned that the police even stopped their investigation.

I remember reading that website as well. Certainly doesn't paint the victim in sympathetic light. I can't remember if the police were suspicious of her story as well or if it was just some nasty blog from someone who knew her.

Even more shocking are some recent allegations that she fabricated the whole thing for attention. I read some articles on another forum that cast some serious doubt on the woman's credibility. I think one of the articles mentioned that the police even stopped their investigation.

Wow. I hadn't heard that. If true, that's just pathetic. I've never seen this segment aside from when it originally aired, yet it has always stuck with me to the point where I may not remember the details like places and names, but terrifying things that happened (or maybe didn't, I guess) have always stayed with me.

P.S. Love your avatar, kolson82! Nice to meet a fellow "Stagefright" fan :wave:.


RobinW, that's great! Italian horror movies are easily my favorite kind of horror film. I reviewed the film for my movie blog a while ago: http://kolson-kevinsblog.blogspot.com/2009/10/italian-horror-blog-thon-stage-fright.html