Hey everybody,

Just curious what everybody thinks are the most iconic segments of UM for them personally. This doesn't necessarily mean creepiest or highest profile cases, but which segments were the ones that got you hooked on the show?

For me, I can remember loving so many segments, but the ones that always hold a special place in my heart are the following:

Tim McClure--This is my all-time #1. An perlexing man, to say the least
Dorothy Donovan
Cindy James--I have definitely spent more time on this case than any other
Blair Adams
Blind River Rest Area
Dana Satterfield
L.A. Tunnel-drilling bank robbers

I suspect these are on the "usual suspects" list for most. Let me know what you think.

Thanks!

Here are a few of mine, however they seem to change from time to time:

(a) Don Kemp
(b) Jack Davis Jr.
(c) Gus Hoffman (for some reason I woke up in the middle of the night thinking about his case)
(d) Mark Groezinger

I could honestly keep going. For some reason, I seem to identify more with the unsolved deaths of males in their 20s, 30s. Maybe it is because of my own age range and I can definitely see myself in these scenarios.

Thanks for the input. Those are great segments. I especially love UM's over-the-top depictions of the "bad boy" bikers

Hey everybody,

but which segments were the ones that got you hooked on the show?

Thanks!

I'd say a few of the early episodes that really got me hooked were

a.) Gulf Breeze UFO sightings
b.) Dexter Stefonek
c.) Anna Anton & Greg Webb

The early ones that I can recall (I was about 10-11 years old when the show first aired) reeling me in:
Kathy Hobbs
Tara Calico
Charles Morgan
Baskins/Maples
William Bradford Bishop
Kari Lynn Nixon
Liz Carmichael/The Dale

Many others, of course (I watched the show EVERY WEEK until about 1995), but those are the ones I remember very clearly from the early days.

Probably the very early episodes I first saw as a child in the late 1980's.

1. The Unabomber
2. Son of Sam shootings
3. Matthew Chase
4. Gulf Breeze "UFO's"
5. Scary Polaroid Photo of the two kids tied up.

I used to watch Unsolved Mysteries translated in French syndication when I was a kid. But here below are the cases which really hooked me back on that other place we cannot name:

1. ATV murders
2. Rachel Runyan
3. Connecticut Valley Serial Killer
4. Sacramento Thrill Killer
5. Beverly McGowan
6. Deborah Poe
7. Kurt Cobain's death segment

I think it is interesting that a lot of us grew up with UM.

I remember two segments vividly from my childhood. I would watch it at my grandmother's house. I don't remember my parents watching the show.

(a) The Charles Morgan segment - just being thrown into water tied down to a chair. That was a lot to gather.
(b) The priest segment where a priest was exhumed and his body had no signs of decay. I don't think I've seen this segment in twenty plus years. But as a child, it was really scary.

(a) The Charles Morgan segment - just being thrown into water tied down to a chair. That was a lot to gather.

That was Dan Short, the bank manager who was thrown into a lake tied to a chair in Noel, MO. Charles Morgan owned an escrow company and was shot in the back of the head in a desert near Tucson, AZ. Both very unnerving cases.

I remember seeing UM on television as a kid, but I can't say I really became hooked, per se, until I started catching the Lifetime reruns around 2004-2005.

Some of the segments I vividly remember watching from that time:

-Dick Hansen
-The Hum (I watched this one at a friend's apartment and it was the last time I clearly remember seeing the show on Lifetime proper)
-Chad Langford
-Clay Taylor
-Jill and Julie Hansen
-the 'countess' of Cleveland

I remember two segments vividly from my childhood. I would watch it at my grandmother's house. I don't remember my parents watching the show.


My grandma watched UM with me as well; she was a mystery buff. Some of the segments that really kindled my interest were:

Eleanor Farber/John Burns
Don Kemp
Patricia Meehan
Son of Sam
Michael Rosenblum
Audrey Moate
Lisa Bishop/Freedon
Queen Mary episode (with the Tallman haunting)
Amy Billig

The earliest segments I remember seeing and being hooked on the show were:


1. ATV Murders
2. Matthew Chase
3. Omar the Arsonist
4. Tara Calico
5. Tara Breckenridge

Anthonette cayedito dexter stefonek

I saw the show before it went to Lifetime and here are some that stood out for me:

Missing Time
Doreen Picard/Susan Laferte
Ayleen Conway
Cindy James
Tallman Hauntings
Texas UFO
Mabel Woods
The Wackers
Circleville Letters
Look At It Omar ;)

I remember seeing UM on television as a kid, but I can't say I really became hooked, per se, until I started catching the Lifetime reruns around 2004-2005.

Some of the segments I vividly remember watching from that time:

-Dick Hansen
-The Hum (I watched this one at a friend's apartment and it was the last time I clearly remember seeing the show on Lifetime proper)
-Chad Langford
-Clay Taylor
-Jill and Julie Hansen
-the 'countess' of Cleveland

What was the Countess of Cleveland all about? I've never heard of this UM story.

http://unsolvedmysteries.wikia.com/wiki/The_Countess

As far as iconic UM goes, I have several: Charlotte Noe, Wendy Camp, Patricia Meehan, the "Omar" arsonist. But my favorite? I can't think of her name. But she's alive and in Omaha. :D :D :D

As far as iconic UM goes, I have several: Charlotte Noe, Wendy Camp, Patricia Meehan, the "Omar" arsonist. But my favorite? I can't think of her name. But she's alive and in Omaha. :D :D :D
Or, perhaps, made her way to Biscayne Bay? :)

Or, perhaps, made her way to Biscayne Bay? :)

Unfortunately, I think that is exactly what happened.

Judith Himes
George Owens
Haunted bunk beds

Circleville Letter Writer
The Unabomber
Matthew Chase
Judy Hymes
Dennis DePue
Jule and Julie Caylor (THE FREAKING SALAD BAR ALONE)
Larry Dickens
Resurrection Mary
Cindy James
Teresita Basa
Bryan Nisenfield
Monika Rizzo
Nelson DeCloud (SHOES!!!!!!!!!!!)
Angela Hammond
Allagash Abductions
Sacramento Thrill Killer
Deborah Poe
The Countess
Kurt Sova
William Bradford Bishop
Jennifer Pratt
Son of Sam
Zodiac Killer
Omar The Arsonist
Tara Calico
Mabel Woods
Boston Rapist
Katherine Korzilius
Satanic Cult Murders
Ashley Freeman and Lauria Bible
Chandra Levy/Joyce Chiang
Eric Tamiyasu
Sharon Kinne (obviously now lets go get some margaritaaaaaaaaaas)
ATV Murders
The Angel in the School Hostage Crisis (I forget the name of the school but the lady named Doris died)
Spontanious Human Combustion
Margo Freshwater
Antoinette Cayaditto

I was going to be so sad if your list had neglected Sharon, DazzlerSparkler. :)

The Wackers
Padre Pio
Allegash Abductions
The Julia Staab Hauntings
A Georgia Haunting
Tina Resch
Miracle of Fatima
Judy and Becky Case
Wadada
Stockton Arsonist
Tammy Lynn Leppert.

For me it has to be the black hope cemetery segment, although i don't believe in ghosts the whole thing is pretty crazy, i even read the book these people wrote about it all. and also the curious case of Charles morgan, although i believe there is a simple answer...

a few other segments that i like are..

Robert Borton
Circleville writer
the 2 marys
Marie Hiley
Blair Adams
Resurrection Mary
Cindy James

Theres more than likely another 50 that i'm forgetting but these are the ones that come to mind!

Tony Alamo, if he were still alive he could run for office ;)
No pun intended, but that is my favorite off the rails segment.

Tony Alamo, if he were still alive he could run for office ;)
No pun intended, but that is my favorite off the rails segment.

"I didn't say Moses, you liar!!!! What have you been doing while everyone else was reading their Bibles?! You sorry weasel!!!" :lol:

Most quotable segment ever. Obviously, his crimes are no laughing matter but the actor they got was just perfect for the part and there were many unintentionally funny moments.

In addition to all the usual suspects listed by other posters, I would definitely nominate Bonnie Wilder (absolute tragedy that it never made it to Prime and is now probably lost forever).

Megadeth T-Shirt man is also a UM mainstay.

DB Cooper - one of America's most famous mysteries done with the kind of sumptuous production values that UM was able to afford in its glory days.

I'll never watch it again, but the (40 minute!) segment on crop circles was also somewhat iconic of UM's worst qualities - the credulous acceptance of woo-woo nonsense.

In addition to all the usual suspects listed by other posters, I would definitely nominate Bonnie Wilder (absolute tragedy that it never made it to Prime and is now probably lost forever).


It was on the forbidden site, but got taken down recently. I'm sure some helpful posters can point you in the right direction to see it again, or it'll make a reappearance on the forbidden site. It is definitely a great segment!

"I didn't say Moses, you liar!!!! What have you been doing while everyone else was reading their Bibles?! You sorry weasel!!!" :lol:

Most quotable segment ever. Obviously, his crimes are no laughing matter but the actor they got was just perfect for the part and there were many unintentionally funny moments.

😂

and the part where he threatens the judge to be heard in his court and calls him a nazi?

Yes his crimes were horrendous. I’m glad they got such a great actor who aced the part. Made him look like the fool that he really was.

I said it in another thread...but the segment of the church exploding and the car getting run off the highway were used for years and years in the intro so I think those two are way up there.

Trying to go back in time and remember them as I first watched them.

Audrey Moate
Rudolph Hess
Huey Long

IIRC, all three of these were extended segments that I thought UM really did well and are unforgettable after you watch them for the first time. As for Huey Long and Rudolph Hess, I think most American viewers did not know much about those political corruption cases, and there were good theories brought to light.

For me 2 others that really scared me in real time were IH 70 Killer and Blind River Rest Stop.

Bad Area Rest Stop and Orange Sock Murders are iconic unsolved cases that I figured would have been solved by now. It goes to show that we really can't take for granted how well the show has helped so many cold cases.

another personal favorite is the nerdy possessive boyfriend segment, thanks to this forum that case has really become iconic for me. and come on, shoot at your girlfriend and hold her at gunpoint...then you tell her "I love you" as you release her? that is always ridiculous every time I watch it.