If we were doing UM Awards on this board, there are so many categories...

Least Believable Suspect Spouse

Least Believable Person Interviewed on UM

Most Sympathetic Person Interviewed on UM

Most Polarizing Person Interviewed on UM

Worst Police Incompetence

Best Police Work

Best Paranormal Segment

Most Baffling Work/Govt-Related Murder/UD

Most Touching Lost Love Case

Most Perplexing Missing Person Case

Segment You Can't Watch Alone Late at Night

Creepiest Music

Worst Segment

Most Tear-Jerking Moment

Scariest Composite Sketch

Worst Police Incompetence: Norman Ladner

Best Police Work: Adam Emery, but this is more about the prosecutor's fortitude during his trial.

Best Paranormal Segment: Queen Mary ship

Most Perplexing Missing Person Case: Dale Kerstetter, Geoffrey Sullivan

Scariest Composite Sketch: Son of Sam sketches

Worst Police Incompetence: Norman Ladner

Best Police Work: Adam Emery, but this is more about the prosecutor's fortitude during his trial.

Best Paranormal Segment: Queen Mary ship

Most Perplexing Missing Person Case: Dale Kerstetter, Geoffrey Sullivan

Scariest Composite Sketch: Son of Sam sketches

All great choices. Son of Sam sketches are definitely in my Top 5 scariest composite sketches. I have not seen the Dale Kerstetter case in awhile but it's definitely perplexing from what I've read on this board. Having been on the Queen Mary and had my own paranormal experience, I second Queen Mary.

If we were doing UM Awards on this board, there are so many categories...

Least Believable Suspect Spouse

Least Believable Person Interviewed on UM

Most Sympathetic Person Interviewed on UM

Most Polarizing Person Interviewed on UM

Worst Police Incompetence

Best Police Work

Best Paranormal Segment

Most Baffling Work/Govt-Related Murder/UD

Most Touching Lost Love Case

Most Perplexing Missing Person Case

Segment You Can't Watch Alone Late at Night

Creepiest Music

Worst Segment

Most Tear-Jerking Moment

Scariest Composite Sketch

I'll play.

Least believable suspect spouse: Christy Nichols' husband/Paul Pollis

Most Sympathetic Person Interviewed: Patricia Stallings

Most Polarizing Person: Rob Shaffer

Best Police Work: Nelson DeCloud Case

Best Paranormal Segment (Tie): Queen Mary and Mothman

Most Baffling Govt/Work-Related Murder: Su Taraskiewicz

Most Baffling UD (tie): Rae Ann Mossor/Dale Kerstetter/Cindy James

Most Touching Lost Love Case: Vietnam Nurse

Most Perplexing Missing Person Case (tie): Patricia Meehan, Judy Hymes, Amy Billig, Amy Bradley, George Owens, Tami Lynn Leppert

Segment You Can't Watch Alone Late at Night: Beverly McGowan

Worst Segment: Fertility Statues/My Paranormal Partner

Most Tear-Jerking Moment: Jenny on Speedboat Case

Scariest Composite Sketch (tie): "Sam" from the Beverly McGowan case, Son Of Sam, Blind River Rest Stop, 1-70 Killer, Wadada

Great thread idea. Here are mine:

Least Believable Suspect Spouse - Leonard Rizzo

Least Believable Person Interviewed on UM - "Katie" the gold sweating woman

Most Sympathetic Person Interviewed on UM - Bill Day

Most Polarizing Person Interviewed on UM - Tim McClure

Worst Police Incompetence - Jay Given

Best Police Work - Dimitric Moore

Best Paranormal Segment - Tatum's Ghost

Most Baffling Work/Govt-Related Murder/UD - Frank Olson

Most Touching Lost Love Case - All of them involving missing family members

Most Perplexing Missing Person Case - AJ Breaux

Segment You Can't Watch Alone Late at Night - Fertility statues

Creepiest Music - Hilda Roche

Worst Segment - Aphrodisiac

Most Tear-Jerking Moment - Patricia Stallings

Scariest Composite Sketch - Blind River killer

Great thread idea. Here are mine:

Least Believable Suspect Spouse - Leonard Rizzo

Least Believable Person Interviewed on UM - "Katie" the gold sweating woman

Most Sympathetic Person Interviewed on UM - Bill Day

Most Polarizing Person Interviewed on UM - Tim McClure

Worst Police Incompetence - Jay Given

Best Police Work - Dimitric Moore

Best Paranormal Segment - Tatum's Ghost

Most Baffling Work/Govt-Related Murder/UD - Frank Olson

Most Touching Lost Love Case - All of them involving missing family members

Most Perplexing Missing Person Case - AJ Breaux

Segment You Can't Watch Alone Late at Night - Fertility statues

Creepiest Music - Hilda Roche

Worst Segment - Aphrodisiac

Most Tear-Jerking Moment - Patricia Stallings

Scariest Composite Sketch - Blind River killer

Oh, Patricia Stallings. I might have to amend my selections.

If we were doing UM Awards on this board, there are so many categories...

It's so hard to pick one!

Least Believable Suspect Spouse: Mark Nichols

Least Believable Person Interviewed on UM: Sam Patel (I'd pick Ida Pruitt but we know that one is solved at least)

Most Sympathetic Person Interviewed on UM: Patti Cordova

Most Polarizing Person Interviewed on UM: Dan Killaby

Worst Police Incompetence: Doug Johnston

Best Police Work: Ethel Kidd

Best Paranormal Segment: The Gray Man

Most Baffling Work/Govt-Related Murder/UD: Matt Flores/Paul Whipkey

Most Touching Lost Love Case: Delia Fazzani

Most Perplexing Missing Person Case: Tara Breckenridge

Segment You Can't Watch Alone Late at Night: Any home invasion

Creepiest Music: I'll put the "duh duh!" update music in second place and go for the moaning music after the creepy piano (as heard in the Doreen Picard/Susan Laferte segment)

Worst Segment: Men in Black

Most Tear-Jerking Moment: Always, Karen gets to me when they have the reenactment of her father telling her it's okay to go (pass away) while she is comatose due to cancer and that the Three Musketeers will always be the Three Musketeers. I always get teary watching that part.

Scariest Composite Sketch: Epes Post Office bandits (also because of the music!)

If we were doing UM Awards on this board, there are so many categories...

It's so hard to pick one!

Least Believable Suspect Spouse: Mark Nichols

Least Believable Person Interviewed on UM: Sam Patel (I'd pick Ida Pruitt but we know that one is solved at least)

Most Sympathetic Person Interviewed on UM: Patti Cordova

Most Polarizing Person Interviewed on UM: Dan Killaby

Worst Police Incompetence: Doug Johnston

Best Police Work: Ethel Kidd

Best Paranormal Segment: The Gray Man

Most Baffling Work/Govt-Related Murder/UD: Matt Flores/Paul Whipkey

Most Touching Lost Love Case: Delia Fazzani

Most Perplexing Missing Person Case: Tara Breckenridge

Segment You Can't Watch Alone Late at Night: Any home invasion

Creepiest Music: I'll put the "duh duh!" update music in second place and go for the moaning music after the creepy piano (as heard in the Doreen Picard/Susan Laferte segment)

Worst Segment: Men in Black

Most Tear-Jerking Moment: Always, Karen gets to me when they have the reenactment of her father telling her it's okay to go (pass away) while she is comatose due to cancer and that the Three Musketeers will always be the Three Musketeers. I always get teary watching that part.

Scariest Composite Sketch: Epes Post Office bandits (also because of the music!)

I agree with you about Mark Nichols.

I remember those post office bandit sketches with the green background they used. Nightmare fuel.

Least Believable Suspect Spouse : Judy Groezinger

Least Believable Person Interviewed on UM : Chad Noe

Most Polarizing Person Interviewed on UM : Rob Shaeffer

Worst Police Incompetence : Eric Tamiyasu

Best Police Work : Not sure

Best Paranormal Segment : The Queen Mary

Most Perplexing Missing Person Case : Audrey Moate

Segment You Can't Watch Alone Late at Night : The Unabomber segment when I was a kid and he was still at large

Creepiest Music : The original Update music

Worst Segment : Schoolgirls dancing around in forest looking up at the Sun streaming through the tree's.

Most Tear-Jerking Moment : The interview with Nyleen Kay Marshall's mother

Scariest Composite Sketch : Connecticut River Valley Killer

Least Believable Suspect Spouse : Judy Groezinger

Least Believable Person Interviewed on UM : Chad Noe

Most Polarizing Person Interviewed on UM : Rob Shaeffer

Worst Police Incompetence : Eric Tamiyasu

Best Police Work : Not sure

Best Paranormal Segment : The Queen Mary

Most Perplexing Missing Person Case : Audrey Moate

Segment You Can't Watch Alone Late at Night : The Unabomber segment when I was a kid and he was still at large

Creepiest Music : The original Update music

Worst Segment : Schoolgirls dancing around in forest looking up at the Sun streaming through the tree's.

Most Tear-Jerking Moment : The interview with Nyleen Kay Marshall's mother

Scariest Composite Sketch : Connecticut River Valley Killer

Which one was the schoolgirls segment? And yes to the Connecticut River Valley Killer. Unabomber is scary too.

cool idea for a thread!

Least Believable Suspect Spouse: Tie between Leonard Rizzo and M. Nichols

Least Believable Person Interviewed on UM: Ida Pruitt and her entire family really. I would also suggest adding a category for cons/frauds and psychics.

Most Sympathetic Person Interviewed on UM: Christoph Day's father.

Most Polarizing Person Interviewed on UM: Tim McClure

Worst Police Incompetence: Mountainair/Steve Sandlin's murder and Orange Socks

Best Police Work: Roxanne and Kristopher Jeeves

Best Paranormal Segment: Gray Man

Most Baffling Work/Govt-Related Murder/UD: Paul Whipkey

Most Touching Lost Love Case: Fritz and the Soldiers

Most Perplexing Missing Person Case: Amy Wroe Bechtel

Segment You Can't Watch Alone Late at Night: EAR/ONS

Creepiest Music: probably the OG theme song or the closing credits with the soprano sax. for segment music it's impossible to pick one. the music in the Queen Mary and Doreen Picard segments stands out. The IH 70 Killer music as well.

Worst Segment: aphrodisiacs

Most Tear-Jerking Moment: Jim Pearson and Mitchell Shigemoto's reunion. Lisa Kimmel's segment also gets me during her mom's interview.

Scariest Composite Sketch: IH 70 Killer

Most Sympathetic Interview: Victor Simon - Adopted into a family at age two (not as a son but as working farmhand) thrown out on the street by age 6. Despite never experiencing love and being shown no model of what love is throughout his entire childhood, he went on to be an extremely loving father to his children and family. His last quote of the segment hits hard; “I’d just like to see someone and talk to someone that I belong to.”

Most Amazing Human Being: Ellen Morrill – From the Lost Loves Jimmy and Tammy segment. A single mother of three taking in three more children in her tiny two-bedroom apartment after they had just lost their own mother to cancer. “She just asked me to take her kids and I told her I would because I loved her children. They were easy to love.”

Best Police Work: Hilda Roche – Investigators had to look through three years of lease agreements (equaling 30,000 files) for the 1,400 different unit apartment complex just to come up with Gregory Barker’s name. That had to be tedious work but it paid off.

Worst Police Work: Ashley Freeman and Lauria Bible – The fact that family members, not the police, discovered Dave Freeman’s remains in the house rubble was bad enough. But the blatant evidence left behind that was ignored for nearly two decades is infuriating. Those girls were in captivity for over a week and they would have been rescued and be alive today had the bare minimum police work been done.

Most Hated Person Who was Never Interviewed – Beverly Noe. Even though she turned down UM’s request for an interview and never appeared on camera, I despised that woman. And this was before I knew about all the other crimes she had committed, including kidnapping Jonathan for an entire year.

Most Sympathetic Interview: Victor Simon - Adopted into a family at age two (not as a son but as working farmhand) thrown out on the street by age 6. Despite never experiencing love and being shown no model of what love is throughout his entire childhood, he went on to be an extremely loving father to his children and family. His last quote of the segment hits hard; “I’d just like to see someone and talk to someone that I belong to.”

Most Amazing Human Being: Ellen Morrill – From the Lost Loves Jimmy and Tammy segment. A single mother of three taking in three more children in her tiny two-bedroom apartment after they had just lost their own mother to cancer. “She just asked me to take her kids and I told her I would because I loved her children. They were easy to love.”

Best Police Work: Hilda Roche – Investigators had to look through three years of lease agreements (equaling 30,000 files) for the 1,400 different unit apartment complex just to come up with Gregory Barker’s name. That had to be tedious work but it paid off.

Worst Police Work: Ashley Freeman and Lauria Bible – The fact that family members, not the police, discovered Dave Freeman’s remains in the house rubble was bad enough. But the blatant evidence left behind that was ignored for nearly two decades is infuriating. Those girls were in captivity for over a week and they would have been rescued and be alive today had the bare minimum police work been done.

Most Hated Person Who was Never Interviewed – Beverly Noe. Even though she turned down UM’s request for an interview and never appeared on camera, I despised that woman. And this was before I knew about all the other crimes she had committed, including kidnapping Jonathan for an entire year.

Agree with you about Ashley Freeman and Lauria Bible. Sometimes police incompetence has me shaking my head. incidentally, just watched the Gabby Petito docuseries on Netflix. The cops in Moab, Utah really dropped the ball when someone called 911 to report Brian's abuse against Gabby.

Worst Police Work: Ashley Freeman and Lauria Bible – The fact that family members, not the police, discovered Dave Freeman’s remains in the house rubble was bad enough. But the blatant evidence left behind that was ignored for nearly two decades is infuriating. Those girls were in captivity for over a week and they would have been rescued and be alive today had the bare minimum police work been done.



Ugh you're right, this wins. I think I had blocked it out because I hate thinking about it. The business card alone should have had the case cracked, and nope. Everything about this one makes me sick.

Least Believable Suspect Spouse - Jule Caylor

Least Believable Person Interviewed on UM - "That man, he's got Jonathan" (which probably doesn't count)

Most Sympathetic Person Interviewed on UM - Gord McAllister

Most Polarizing Person Interviewed on UM - maybe Adam Hecht's mom

Worst Police Incompetence - Michael Rosenblum investigation

Best Police Work - Officer who helps teen being sent to jail by her father

Best Paranormal Segment - Does the Loch Ness monster count? I'm a big fan of Nessie.

Most Baffling Work/Govt-Related Murder/UD - Dave Bocks

Most Touching Lost Love Case - widows who received mail from their Army spouses

Most Perplexing Missing Person Case - Judy Smith

Segment You Can't Watch Alone Late at Night - semi going down the road at the end of a story about an unknown serial killer in Ohio. For some reason that seemed especially scary. The killer is on his way to find another victim.

Creepiest Music - Original music

Worst Segment - Lucky rock

Most Tear-Jerking Moment - Larry's mom watching Larry Dean Dickens kill her son. That actress was exceptional.

Scariest Composite Sketch - Blind River Killer

Least Believable Suspect Spouse - Jule Caylor

Least Believable Person Interviewed on UM - "That man, he's got Jonathan" (which probably doesn't count)

Most Sympathetic Person Interviewed on UM - Gord McAllister

Most Polarizing Person Interviewed on UM - maybe Adam Hecht's mom

Worst Police Incompetence - Michael Rosenblum investigation

Best Police Work - Officer who helps teen being sent to jail by her father

Best Paranormal Segment - Does the Loch Ness monster count? I'm a big fan of Nessie.

Most Baffling Work/Govt-Related Murder/UD - Dave Bocks

Most Touching Lost Love Case - widows who received mail from their Army spouses

Most Perplexing Missing Person Case - Judy Smith

Segment You Can't Watch Alone Late at Night - semi going down the road at the end of a story about an unknown serial killer in Ohio. For some reason that seemed especially scary. The killer is on his way to find another victim.

Creepiest Music - Original music

Worst Segment - Lucky rock

Most Tear-Jerking Moment - Larry's mom watching Larry Dean Dickens kill her son. That actress was exceptional.

Scariest Composite Sketch - Blind River Killer

I remember the teen being sent to jail. Her stepfather was molesting her and then trying to paint her as a bad kid. I remember that she got reunited with the police officer who believed her story. That was some good interviewing on his part.