Most of us are intrigued by Missing Persons, Wanted, and Unexplained Death segments. Most of us are easily bored by Lost Loves, UFO, and Ghosts segments. Sci-Med and Unexplained...some are good and some are bad.

But I am starting to think that the least used designation may hold the best stories. That's right...those few and far between segments known as "Lost Heirs."

George Marsh
Charlie Scheel
Howard Drummond
Katherine Bennett

Am I missing any? Does anyone else feel the same way about these seggies?

Most of us are intrigued by Missing Persons, Wanted, and Unexplained Death segments. Most of us are easily bored by Lost Loves, UFO, and Ghosts segments. Sci-Med and Unexplained...some are good and some are bad.

But I am starting to think that the least used designation may hold the best stories. That's right...those few and far between segments known as "Lost Heirs."

George Marsh
Charlie Scheel
Howard Drummond
Katherine Bennett

Am I missing any? Does anyone else feel the same way about these seggies?

I LOVE "Lost Heirs" segments! My favorite is the Dorothea Allen story. I loved the reenactments (who could forget that photo-cutting scene?) and the speculations about who she might have been were really fascinating. It was also cool to see a case about something across the pond as well.

But yes, totally agree--Lost Heirs has a lot of great segments.

I love them, but they're so sad - like the unidentified bodies.

Yes, these cases have always ranked among the most fascinating and intriguing. We can now employ modern tools such as ancestry.com in an effort to learn more about these people.

I often wonder if watching these segments as a child helped serve to subconsciously guide me towards the career path that's provided me with such enjoyment.

I always wondered what it must have been like to work in the Telecenter when these cases aired. When there's unclaimed money at stake, I'm sure there were bound to be tons of frauds and scam artists calling in trying to get their hands on it.

I particularly liked the mystery-within-a-mystery "Lost Heirs" case about the prospector named Dan Willans because not only did he leave an unclaimed fortune behind, but he just vanished without a trace and no one ever found out what happened to him.

I think the saddest may have been Walter Rice, who died of a heart attack in his trailer, but was not found for over a year until robbers broke in and found his body :eek: .

Lost Heir segments are second worst only to lost loves. I only want to see intriguing and grisly murder segments. The worst is the updates to the lost segments, its always in some ghetto airport in the 80s with a lot of crying

Lost Heir segments are second worst only to lost loves. I only want to see intriguing and grisly murder segments. The worst is the updates to the lost segments, its always in some ghetto airport in the 80s with a lot of crying

Wow.

I always liked the lost heirs and the lost loves ones because it was nice to see some happiness on the show - and proof that the show was doing some good. Being reunited with people you thought were out of your life forever is no doubt an emotional experience - I'm sure most people can think of at least someone in their life that if they were separated from in such a manner would cry in a "ghetto airport" upon seeing them again.

Lost Heir segments are second worst only to lost loves. I only want to see intriguing and grisly murder segments. The worst is the updates to the lost segments, its always in some ghetto airport in the 80s with a lot of crying
Oh so you're only concerned with being entertained and not actually helping people. Cool story bro.

It seemed that a good number of these folks with 'Lost Heirs' had gone to a great deal of trouble to distance themselves from their original families (and the original families may have been more toxic than they wanted others to think)to the point of telling few, if any, folks in their new lives any identifying clues re their own past lives. IOW, while the segments were fascinating to me, I couldn't shake the feeling that these folks would have preferred the 'Heirs' to STAY lost [and not get a penny of the monies the deceased had earned after leaving them].

But what about when their lost heirs are their own children? I recall one case about a man who ran a newspaper stand in Sacramento. He was something on a local fixture in the area he worked. He died and left behind some money. It was eventually discovered, I believe, that he had been married years earlier in Pittsburgh and had a daughter. After he divorced the wife, he left his daughter and never saw her again. I'm not even sure if she knew about him.

That kind of mentality (abandoning your children after a divorce and never seeing them again) is something I'll never understand and that wasn't the only case on UM like that.

DPI,
I didn't say that ALL of these folks had done everything they could to bury their original families but there were many depicted who did- who had NO known offspring. Yes, I agree that one should not cut off one's offspring but not all of them had offspring.

I've added on to the Lost Heir list. These segments were all Lost Heirs:

George Marsh
Charlie Scheel
Walter 'Curly" Green
Dan Willans
George J. Stein
Howard Drummond
Dorthea Allen
Lorene Roberts
Katherine Bennett
Scott Hill
Sandy Breed & Bruce Clark
Walter Rice
The Family Bible Jonathan Grady Found

I have never seen the Sandy Breed & Bruce Clark segment and I only recently discovered that it even existed.

I agree that Lost Heirs is one of the saddest segments of UM. Especially the guy who wanted to get married to the girl he loved, only to not be wealthy enough.

I've added on to the Lost Heir list. These segments were all Lost Heirs:

George Marsh
Charlie Scheel
Walter 'Curly" Green
Dan Willans
George J. Stein
Howard Drummond
Dorthea Allen
Lorene Roberts
Katherine Bennett
Scott Hill
Sandy Breed & Bruce Clark
Walter Rice
The Family Bible Jonathan Grady Found

I have never seen the Sandy Breed & Bruce Clark segment and I only recently discovered that it even existed.

Was Walter Rice the guy that the burglars were the ones that found his body and the state of SC got any money he left because no family came forward?

I've added on to the Lost Heir list. These segments were all Lost Heirs:

George Marsh
Charlie Scheel
Walter 'Curly" Green
Dan Willans
George J. Stein
Howard Drummond
Dorthea Allen
Lorene Roberts
Katherine Bennett
Scott Hill
Sandy Breed & Bruce Clark
Walter Rice
The Family Bible Jonathan Grady Found

I have never seen the Sandy Breed & Bruce Clark segment and I only recently discovered that it even existed.

Was Walter Rice the guy that the burglars were the ones that found his body and the state of SC got any money he left because no family came forward?

That kind of mentality (abandoning your children after a divorce and never seeing them again) is something I'll never understand and that wasn't the only case on UM like that.

Sometimes the relationship between husband and wife has gotten so bad that that seems like the only option. Happened in a family of someone I know - she grew up for years thinking her father had left the family, but as it turned out, her mother had pretty much chased him away.

I do like the lost heirs cases a nice twist on the lost love cases which often are quite cheesy.

I do like the lost heirs cases a nice twist on the lost love cases which often are quite cheesy.

I would agree. I love the prospect of someone who needed it coming into a windfall, although sadly, I think the majority of the lost heir cases profiled on UM went unclaimed and/or the person was not located.

Really agree with this. Just saw the George Stein case, which I had never seen before, from season 1. Cool stuff. Can't really theorize at the moment, but a genuine mystery here.

Was Walter Rice the guy that the burglars were the ones that found his body and the state of SC got any money he left because no family came forward?

Well, replying to a 7 year old post, but.. Yes, correct.

This was the case that I was looking into when I accidentally solved the Lori Jane Reaves case.

That case is very weird. I've been wanting to try to get in contact with the investigator who was in charge. He's retired.. But I've been to the cemetery where he is buried and.. There's no marker. But, it's known that a marker was placed. They used some of his money to put a marker in for him. And it was a big-ass marker. One of the big marble ones that would be for a husband and wife. So, it's not like someone walked off with it.

Supposedly, the investigator got info that led back tot he CIA and the CIA issued a 'no comment'

I agree that Lost Heirs is one of the saddest segments of UM. Especially the guy who wanted to get married to the girl he loved, only to not be wealthy enough.

The Katherine Bennett segment is incredibly sad. After the death of her husband, the fact that she existed as a hermit for an entire decade in her cluttered messy home, wearing her husband's clothes, basically living in her own filth, covered with flees, breaking off contact with the outside world.

But at the same time, I am intrigued about her past. I wonder if the living in the orphanage and never having any family saga she told in-laws was all a lie. I read the letter (that was shown) that she wrote in 1945 and it seems she had waaaay more knowledge about her family than a person who grew up in a orphanage would know; like that her father died before her birth, the name and address of her mother and her second husband as well as details about her brother.

Could her family have been horrible people that she decided to cut all contact with? It would be interesting to know.

Could her family have been horrible people that she decided to cut all contact with? It would be interesting to know.

It's only speculation, but my take was that she was just a different person (to put it politely). It's not uncommon to hear of or experience a family member who abandons their own family, cutting all ties, at some point in their lives. Many times, this seems to coincide with marrying somebody. I've seen it happen with people in my own circles. Fabricating a past is another thing, but we weren't given enough information to know what kind of people her family were.

On the whole, I'd probably rank Lost Heirs as one of my least favorites, only surpassed by the Aliens/Paranormal and Treasure segments.

BUT...the Howard Drummond segment was one that intrigued me. He was the guy that lived on a shoestring budget and lived like a hermit in the YMCA. They had talked about how he was super interested in the Royal Wedding and how he had magazine subs to Psychology Today and Soviet Life.

When I was a kid watching, that always set off red flags to me -- if a guy had no family and no past and he was interested in Soviet Life magazine, I was like this guy might be a USSR spy! But i guess they afterwards they found people from his past and my spy theory was foiled. Good segment tho!

That case is very weird. I've been wanting to try to get in contact with the investigator who was in charge. He's retired.. But I've been to the cemetery where he is buried and.. There's no marker. But, it's known that a marker was placed. They used some of his money to put a marker in for him. And it was a big-ass marker. One of the big marble ones that would be for a husband and wife. So, it's not like someone walked off with it.

Supposedly, the investigator got info that led back tot he CIA and the CIA issued a 'no comment'

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/21361312/the-index-journal/
That newspaper article is very interesting. If he were a CIA asset how and why did he spend ten years as a hotel chef at a mid-range hotel (https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g33778-d114115-Reviews-The_Griswold_Inn-Essex_Connecticut.html)in Connecticut?

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/21361312/the-index-journal/
That newspaper article is very interesting. If he were a CIA asset how and why did he spend ten years as a hotel chef at a mid-range hotel (https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g33778-d114115-Reviews-The_Griswold_Inn-Essex_Connecticut.html)in Connecticut?

Yeah.. I don't know what to make of that. Wish I could get my hands on the file, which is why I'd like to talk to the investigator. I mean, there's no secrets needed to protect.. The state got the money. They're not giving it back.. This guy was someone's family.

There was no suspicion about his death.. Hell, I can't see them sitting on the info to bust the people who tried to break into his house.

I'd probably start with who issued the birth certificate and do they have evidence to back it up or is it totally fabricated?

Usually.. Lies are small. So, if he (or others) did forge his identity, there's traces of truth there. Like the DOB is still his or something. Even the FBI, when they do witness protection, they'll keep names similar..

I'd probably start with who issued the birth certificate and do they have evidence to back it up or is it totally fabricated?

Usually.. Lies are small. So, if he (or others) did forge his identity, there's traces of truth there. Like the DOB is still his or something. Even the FBI, when they do witness protection, they'll keep names similar..

They'd also give them a real social security number. It's almost as if he were hiding from the government.

It's only speculation, but my take was that she was just a different person (to put it politely). It's not uncommon to hear of or experience a family member who abandons their own family, cutting all ties, at some point in their lives. Many times, this seems to coincide with marrying somebody. I've seen it happen with people in my own circles. Fabricating a past is another thing, but we weren't given enough information to know what kind of people her family were.

Looking at the math, Katharine was 31 years old when she met Gilbert and 32 years old when she married him. So she was already an adult when that whole ordeal went down. But you're right. We just don't have enough information about her life before she met her husband.

Fabricating your past to that degree just gives me the impression that you either hated or were ashamed of your blood relatives.

I get how some people would find the Lost Love & Lost Heir segments boring - I did too and there are still a few I skip over when I rewatch em.

Over time though, I've come to view them as fascinating time capsules in a way - like the Unexplained Death & Wanted cases, these show tidbits of what life was like 'back in the day' before computers, social media etc.

I'll also go out on a limb and say some of the 'Legend' (treasure) stories are hidden gems as well - my favorite being the Superstition Mountain & Beale's Cypher segments

Fabricating your past to that degree just gives me the impression that you either hated or were ashamed of your blood relatives.

Could very well be. Other possible options include being ashamed of some aspect(s) of herself or of her husband's life. Some form of mental illness/personality disorder could also be to blame, at least partially. Again, it's all speculative in this particular instance. I'm only throwing these scenarios out there as the hypotheticals that they are. Perhaps someone in her family still may have some pieces to the puzzle, but after so much time, who knows?

I get how some people would find the Lost Love & Lost Heir segments boring - I did too and there are still a few I skip over when I rewatch em.

Over time though, I've come to view them as fascinating time capsules in a way - like the Unexplained Death & Wanted cases, these show tidbits of what life was like 'back in the day' before computers, social media etc.

I'll also go out on a limb and say some of the 'Legend' (treasure) stories are hidden gems as well - my favorite being the Superstition Mountain & Beale's Cypher segments


I always loved the WWII Lost Loves segments.. Some of them, it just astounded me that they were solved. They just had so little info and it was, at the time, 40+ years prior... And in wartime.

Even the vietnam war ones.. Jim whatshisname.. Baczkowski. Ok, i feel much less ashamed for not remembering his last name now... That was a really good story with a nice happy ending. Well, maybe not long term, since he passed in '99.


Many of the adoption ones and the like.. DNA and 23andme and so on probably will solve more of those than UM ever did.