Cases that were asked to be Unsolved Mysteries but were rejected

[Montanacool360]

I came across some missing Persons cases that were sent to UM back when stack hosted the program but they got rejected but some have appeared on other missing shows. I’m wondering if anyone else knows any other unsolved murders, Missing Persons cases, unexplained deaths or other cases that were sent to UM to be considered but we’re rejected by producers.

Missing Persons segments that got rejected

1. Jacob Wetterling. I truly think this would’ve made a great re-enactment with stack creepy voice narrating it.

2. Michael Adams who disappeared from Amarillo Texas but was featured on missing rewards

3. Jaycee Dugards disappearance who knows maybe if her case is featured on UM she is found much sooner. Her poster was featured on an episode of UM but i read a few years ago Jaycee mother tried to get her case as a full re-enactment on UM similar to Michaela Garetcht case

4. Regina Bos. I heard on a podcast her family submitted her case but it was too early on the investigation and lacked certain criteria and the case was only three or four months old at the time.

5. I’m sure several Jane and John Doe cases were rejected as well


Anyways does anyone know any cases that would’ve made great UM re-enactments but we’re rejected for some reason or another?

Also did you or someone you know ever submitted a case to UM in the 90s or early 2000s when Stack was hosting the show?

[omegadoom]

The parents of Richard Guerrero (one of Jeffrey Dahmer's victims) contacted Unsolved Mysteries to have their missing son's case featured on the show.

[TheCars1986]

Debi Whitlock was pitched to UM as a full blown segment about her murder, and initially it seemed like they were going to do it but backed out after her family was under the impression that they were going to send a film crew out to film interviews.

[ctgrumpybear]

Winston Richard “Skip” Morris of Barre, Vermont Was missing and family ask unsolved mysteries to profile the case but never did

The case pop up in news last year because he was Id as a John Doe found in Salem NH 50 years before

Also make me wonder about if they ever would ask to show the bear brook murders

[unsolved88]

The family of missing teen Roger Ellison from Colorado claimed on Websleuths that they reached out to the show to cover the case, but never received any type of response.

I thought I remember reading somewhere that Noreen Gosch requested her son Johnny's case be covered, but that the show declined outright. Given some of the weird theories and accusations in the Gosch case over the years (the pedophile ring conspiracy theory started around 1990, UM's heyday), I can kind of see why UM might not have wanted to get involved.

[Labonte18]

Originally Posted by unsolved88

The family of missing teen Roger Ellison from Colorado claimed on Websleuths that they reached out to the show to cover the case, but never received any type of response.

I thought I remember reading somewhere that Noreen Gosch requested her son Johnny's case be covered, but that the show declined outright. Given some of the weird theories and accusations in the Gosch case over the years (the pedophile ring conspiracy theory started around 1990, UM's heyday), I can kind of see why UM might not have wanted to get involved.

I think talking to Noreen Gosch alone would convince them to not get involved.

I've said before, I think losing her son tripped a circuit breaker in her mind.

[dynoguy88]

Originally Posted by Labonte18

I think talking to Noreen Gosch alone would convince them to not get involved.

I've said before, I think losing her son tripped a circuit breaker in her mind.

I think I already know the answer but what's your opinion about the revelation Noreen Gosch made under oath that Johnny ended up knocking on her front door in 1997?

In 1997 – 15 years after Johnny Gosch’s disappearance – Noreen Gosch awoke to a knock on her door at 2:30 AM. Although the unexpected visitor pulled open his shirt to reveal a familiar birthmark on his chest, Noreen claimed she recognized the visitor right away. The man was her now 27-year old son Johnny.

According to Noreen, he was accompanied by a man she had never seen before. Although she spoke with her son for over an hour, “Johnny would look over to the other person for approval to speak.” The long-missing boy supposedly told his mother he was still in danger and refused to disclose where he was living before vanishing once again.

I had to pick my mouth up off the floor with that revelation but does it make any sense at all?

[Labonte18]

Originally Posted by dynoguy88

I think I already know the answer but what's your opinion about the revelation Noreen Gosch made under oath that Johnny ended up knocking on her front door in 1997?

I had to pick my mouth up off the floor with that revelation but does it make any sense at all?

No, it doesn't.

I can give two possibilities.

1) See above. She's out of her mind.

2) This was a VERY cruel hoax perpetrated on her and because she is out of her mind, she was more susceptible to it.

Note that neither of these do I find her at fault for. Or blame her. I pity the poor woman. I just think the stress and everything to do with losing her son has pushed her to the point that she just exists on the edge of reality. At least where he's concerned. And, maybe slightly over the edge.


My point here.. Which I feel like i'm beating around the bush on... I'm far from just saying "Oh, Noreen's a crazy loon".. I.. *AM* saying that she's a crazy loon more or less, but in the nicest possible way. That I understand how she got to that point. I'm really trying to get the point across here that there's different levels of thinking someone is crazy. I think she is, but for all the right reasons.

[Jon]

I just watched a segment where the unsolved mystery was whether chocolate hearts are aphrodisiacs. And they created a reenactment of the guy trying to score with his girlfriend, and Stack even narrated it ("he cooked dinner, put on sweet music, and hoped for the best"). Even though I've seen this one before I am still in total amazement this was approved and they wasted Stack's valuable time.

So yeah, all of the ideas you say were rejected would have been better than that...

[Huskerz85]

Originally Posted by unsolved88

I thought I remember reading somewhere that Noreen Gosch requested her son Johnny's case be covered, but that the show declined outright. Given some of the weird theories and accusations in the Gosch case over the years (the pedophile ring conspiracy theory started around 1990, UM's heyday), I can kind of see why UM might not have wanted to get involved.

By the same token, if UM took a look and did a good job, they could've gone a long way towards tamping down all the crazy, tin-foil-hat stuff that later popped up.

[dynoguy88]

I can't say whether or not the case was submitted or rejected to UM but I was always surprised that the Springfield Three was never featured on the show. I never heard of the case until it was featured on 'Disappeared,' but apparently this was a HUGE story, and it continues to be.

A segment would have been very easy to film, as the three women just disappeared. I'm sure the suspect they would have focused on, at the time, would have been Suzie's ex-boyfriend Dustin Recla. It could have featured any time after season 4.

Speaking of the Springfield Three, I saw this trailer on YouTube for a movie that was made about it. But they had to make up a story for it and looking at this...ugh...it just seems to so disrespectful towards the family and friends who have to live each day haunted by images of what could have happened. And the fact that they use everybody's real names? I'm relieved to read that almost all the comments are blasting the movie as disrespectful...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6aXHUtum1A

[MediaHoarder]

I suspect that UM refusals to do cases were often based in part on the attitude of LE towards the idea. If local LE is opposed, it seems a good segment would be difficult to make.
Likewise, many of the subsequently disappeared segments were done due to various legal threats or LE requests.

[Labonte18]

Originally Posted by MediaHoarder

I suspect that UM refusals to do cases were often based in part on the attitude of LE towards the idea. If local LE is opposed, it seems a good segment would be difficult to make.
Likewise, many of the subsequently disappeared segments were done due to various legal threats or LE requests.

Perhaps partially. But there've been cases done that were highly critical of LE. So, while it might play a part.. It certainly wouldn't be a 'kill switch' or anything.

I'm sure if LE asked them not to do it, for a good reason, they'd take that into account. Or, if they were asked to leave specific information out they would likely honor that.

[MediaHoarder]

Originally Posted by Labonte18

Perhaps partially. But there've been cases done that were highly critical of LE. So, while it might play a part.. It certainly wouldn't be a 'kill switch' or anything.

I'm sure if LE asked them not to do it, for a good reason, they'd take that into account. Or, if they were asked to leave specific information out they would likely honor that.

Certainly not an absolute barrier, but likely a factor. If LE is tight-lipped and no one is alleging they are mishandling it then its hard to find much to say.

But for what it is worth, in later years LE was much of why segments have gone missing from the re-released series. It seems the producers have become more subservient to LE with time.

[TheCars1986]

There has been confusion with regards to the Springfield 3 and whether or not they were ever due to be featured on UM, or if they were in a special alert type of segment. No one has ever really determined conclusively if it was.