I was watching Pluto TV this morning and my favorite "feel good" segment popped up -- "The Friend of Russell and Jean Johnson" --

https://unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com/wiki/The_Friend_of_Russell_and_Jean_Johnson

Long story short -- they are an elderly couple, just getting by in Florida when a somewhat down on his luck man happens upon their house asking for work so he can get some food. Jean and Russell don't have any work, but they don't turn him away -- they have him in for a nice lunch and some well needed relaxation. Their good deed seems to return the favor when they start receiving checks in the mail, presumably from their visitor, who now appears to be back on his feet.

With all due respect to all the people who experienced tragedies on the show, I don't think you can run across anyone as good or wholesome as Jean and Russell.

I also enjoyed how Unsolved Mysteries couldn't pass up the chance at giving it an ominous tone when the man showed up and then a supernatural tone when he seemed to disappear after he left.

Now, I am sure the checks were an anonymous gift from someone they knew, even possibly a family member, but it's nice to speculate. I love Robert Stack's closing remarks:

"Did the Johnson's experience a Christmas miracle? Perhaps. Or perhaps they simply experienced the everyday miracle of kindness -- which is never out of season."

It works well as a timely Christmas tale. Happy Holidays!

I was watching Pluto TV this morning and my favorite "feel good" segment popped up -- "The Friend of Russell and Jean Johnson" --

https://unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com/wiki/The_Friend_of_Russell_and_Jean_Johnson

Long story short -- they are an elderly couple, just getting by in Florida when a somewhat down on his luck man happens upon their house asking for work so he can get some food. Jean and Russell don't have any work, but they don't turn him away -- they have him in for a nice lunch and some well needed relaxation. Their good deed seems to return the favor when they start receiving checks in the mail, presumably from their visitor, who now appears to be back on his feet.

With all due respect to all the people who experienced tragedies on the show, I don't think you can run across anyone as good or wholesome as Jean and Russell.

I also enjoyed how Unsolved Mysteries couldn't pass up the chance at giving it an ominous tone when the man showed up and then a supernatural tone when he seemed to disappear after he left.

Now, I am sure the checks were an anonymous gift from someone they knew, even possibly a family member, but it's nice to speculate. I love Robert Stack's closing remarks:

"Did the Johnson's experience a Christmas miracle? Perhaps. Or perhaps they simply experienced the everyday miracle of kindness -- which is never out of season."

It works well as a timely Christmas tale. Happy Holidays!

I remember on the original broadcast after the segment when they showed the UM logo they played a unique Christmas tune and If I remember correctly they went straight back to a murder case straight after. :lol:

This was such an awesome segment. Even though I like the creepy, weird missing and murder segments and usually don't care as much for the "feel good" stories, this was really good. I agree with you, ghosthouse, that Russell and Jean seem about as genuine, caring, and down-to-earth as it gets. They seem like the type of people you'd love to have for neighbors and that you wouldn't mind one bit helping out.

Obviously UM played up the supernatural part, but it was cool especially being a Christmas segment. My best guess is that a homeless guy really did happen to walk up to them and they helped him out. Someone they know or who knew them heard the story, and so they decided to pay it forward to them. It's amazing to hear how they scraped together what little cash they had to give that man. If someone heard that, they probably wanted to help them out knowing they didn't have much money themselves.

Even in the re-enactment, you could tell Jean was beyond touched when they got the check. It's one of my favorite moments on UM.

I still would love to know who this guy was and whether or not he (or someone close to him) was the person sending the money to the Johnson's.

That’s a fun one we often overlook to talk about the darker cases. Thanks for reminding us of this one!

That’s a fun one we often overlook to talk about the darker cases. Thanks for reminding us of this one!

Sweet, down to earth people who were down on their luck yet still thinking of others. I agree that this is a great segment.

Sweet, down to earth people who were down on their luck yet still thinking of others. I agree that this is a great segment.

It is a good human interest story. The lost loves and lost heirs segments are often good human interest stories, too. It's a contrast to the darker cases, but UM was great at providing a variety of stories that contrasted with one another, especially theme-wise. Such variety was one of the show's strongest qualities IMHO.