What percentage of fugitives on Unsolved Mysteries were never caught?

[mozartpc27]

I thought of this topic when thinking about how wild it is that Randall Utterback has never been tracked down.

Understand I am not necessarily talking about the William Bradford Bishops of the world, who fled before being charged with anything. I guess there are three kinds of potential fugitives:

1. The William Bradford Bishops, who flee a jurisdiction before anyone is aware of their crimes. Not so surprising when they are never caught, because among other things they have a head start.

2. The David MacLeods of the world - the ones who were on bail or some other kind of release and didn't show up for court dates or other types of meetings. Again, they get a head start on the authorities.

3. Randall Utterbacks and the like - these are the folks I mean for this post. People who escape custody and were evidently never caught.

Obviously there were the Alcatraz folks, but UM did that more because of their per-existing notoriety rather than as a "pure" UM segment, and in any event there is a very, very good chance we know exactly what became of them.

But aside from them, and Utterback, did UM profile other people who escaped from prison and who were never found? For some reason I find this particularly weird, I guess because in my mind the government has a more compelling motive to find and return convicted felons who escape prison than people, or at least people who escaped from their custody, rather than those who are merely persons of interest or who have been charged but not yet convicted with something. In the latter two cases, the fact that the person has disappeared is arguably simply a flaw in is character - he (or she) simply walked away rather than face the music. Whereas when it is an escape situation, there exists the notion that the government failed in its responsibility, and has been made a fool of.

I think what I find especially weird is that Utterback has apparently hidden his identity for years over what are, in the grand scheme of things, relatively minor charges when you come right down to it. Some have mentioned statute of limitations issues, but I don't think they would apply when he fled custody. I would imagine they still want to find this guy, though perhaps because of the relatively low-level nature of the offenses with which he was charged, it hasn't been a priority and maybe at this point no one is actually looking. But by the same token he really can't use his real name for anything.

I know in the actual thread on this case it has been speculated that he is getting help from his family, which seems very plausible.

But are there any others like Randall in the UM catalogue?

[Labonte18]

I don't have specific stats, but.. I'd say it's a very small number that were not captured.

The one that I always think of, and I can never remember her name.. The woman who killed someone by DUI and skipped out. Never captured. And.. I just can't figure out how. The only answer there is that she had to have had help. There's ZERO chance she could have pulled that off on her own.

Someone will help me out here and post the name of the person I'm thinking of. I just have a mental block on it.

Technically, I don't think she fits your criteria, either. As I believe she skipped out after conviction but before sentencing?

[Librarian1]

Originally Posted by Labonte18

I don't have specific stats, but.. I'd say it's a very small number that were not captured.

The one that I always think of, and I can never remember her name.. The woman who killed someone by DUI and skipped out. Never captured. And.. I just can't figure out how. The only answer there is that she had to have had help. There's ZERO chance she could have pulled that off on her own.

Someone will help me out here and post the name of the person I'm thinking of. I just have a mental block on it.

Technically, I don't think she fits your criteria, either. As I believe she skipped out after conviction but before sentencing?

I believe you may be referring to Gloria Schulze.

[Janel "Jaycee" Miller]

Originally Posted by Labonte18

I don't have specific stats, but.. I'd say it's a very small number that were not captured.

The one that I always think of, and I can never remember her name.. The woman who killed someone by DUI and skipped out. Never captured. And.. I just can't figure out how. The only answer there is that she had to have had help. There's ZERO chance she could have pulled that off on her own.

Someone will help me out here and post the name of the person I'm thinking of. I just have a mental block on it.

Technically, I don't think she fits your criteria, either. As I believe she skipped out after conviction but before sentencing?

I am 99.9 percent positive you are referring to Gloria Schulze, who the segment alleged was responsible for the death of Angela Marie Maher. Regarding Schulze evading capture, is it possible she too is now dead?

[Labonte18]

Originally Posted by Librarian1

I believe you may be referring to Gloria Schulze.

Originally Posted by Janel "Jaycee" Miller

I am 99.9 percent positive you are referring to Gloria Schulze, who the segment alleged was responsible for the death of Angela Marie Maher. Regarding Schulze evading capture, is it possible she too is now dead?

Thank you both for helping with my horrendous memory. I just can never remember names on many of these cases, but, especially this one gets me every time.

Yes, that's the one. and.. There is just NO chance at all that she managed to hide without massive help. I've always had the thought that if she is still alive, she shacked up with someone in the remote woods of Minnesota and is just living off the grid.

as is the case with DB Cooper, who smoked and drank like a chimney.. And Elvis who ate Peanut Butter, Banana and Bacon sandwiches and took drugs like chiclets... Even if they were alive after their supposed death.. They're dead now.. Does Gloria fall into this category? Well.. quite possibly.

But.. Working on the assumption that she is still alive.. I think my theory of her going off grid with someone is the only thing that adds up. She didn't have the skills or money to hide. and I just don't think in todays world, she could have remained hidden in plain sight for 30+ years

Again.. She ran before her trial, so.. i don't think she really fits OP's question. but, even if you count situations like this in.. It's still a really small number of cases that the person hasn't been found.

Even Donald Eugene Webb was eventually found.. Once they dug him up out of his ex wife's backyard.

Edit - How does a chimney drink? That was supposed to be smoked like a chimney and drank like a fish, but.. My mind got ahead of my fingers, apparently.

[Clockwork]

I think even back in the day when this show was popular that it was hard to just blend in and not have anyone notice you. Edward Bell I believe was in Columbia for 10 years before he got noticed and I believe the segment was the reason why. In other words it is not easy to hide away. And I am talking about the days of 30-35 years ago with less technology/social media/cameras and a society that minded their own business a lot more. Someone is going to recognize you. Imagine when Dennis Depue's girlfriend got told by someone she knew who he was after seeing the segment.

[dynoguy88]

Gloria Schulze has successfully remained in hiding for all these decades because of two major advantages; rich parents who bought top notch lawyers and a justice system that never considered killing someone while drunk driving a serious crime. How else do you explain the fact that Schulze missed 6 court appointed drug testing dates and nothing was ever done about it? Not even a single phone call to ask where the hell she was.

Her parents' money helped her stay hidden but the fact that law enforcement has never made much of an effort to find her has certainly helped. I can only hope that drunk driving/manslaughter rules have gotten better since the 90's. Shulze never had any remorse for what she did.

Another fugitive that SHOULD have been caught long ago is Richard Bare. We just passed the 40th anniversary of him killing Sherry Hart and he has never been found. Everything about this man and this case seems over the top evil. Knocking her out when she rejected his advances and then making the effort to drive her out to the wilderness and push her off a cliff. Family is most likely helping him stay hidden. I don't think they're rich like the Schulzes' but they know where he is and most likely helped him escape. I read an old newspaper article a couple years ago where his sister was defending him and said he would never do such a thing. As if Sherry threw herself off that cliff.

[Gelatinous Goo]

I've read that Bare is hiding in plain sight; lots of people know where he is. I don't understand why he hasn't been apprehended. My mind thinks to the stereotypical caricature of lazy, corrupt, Southern small town police who have the answers yet do nothing. I mean, what else could it be after nearly 40 years?

Joe Maloney is a big one. I recently read that there's a new podcast that goes in-depth and interviews friends and associates in Ireland. The guy doing the podcast is convinced he's still alive at 88 and that nobody should ever underestimate him.

[Labonte18]

Originally Posted by dynoguy88

Gloria Schulze has successfully remained in hiding for all these decades because of two major advantages; rich parents who bought top notch lawyers and a justice system that never considered killing someone while drunk driving a serious crime. How else do you explain the fact that Schulze missed 6 court appointed drug testing dates and nothing was ever done about it? Not even a single phone call to ask where the hell she was.

Her parents' money helped her stay hidden but the fact that law enforcement has never made much of an effort to find her has certainly helped. I can only hope that drunk driving/manslaughter rules have gotten better since the 90's. Shulze never had any remorse for what she did.

Another fugitive that SHOULD have been caught long ago is Richard Bare. We just passed the 40th anniversary of him killing Sherry Hart and he has never been found. Everything about this man and this case seems over the top evil. Knocking her out when she rejected his advances and then making the effort to drive her out to the wilderness and push her off a cliff. Family is most likely helping him stay hidden. I don't think they're rich like the Schulzes' but they know where he is and most likely helped him escape. I read an old newspaper article a couple years ago where his sister was defending him and said he would never do such a thing. As if Sherry threw herself off that cliff.

Even with the above.. She still, my opinion, would have been caught.. There is and has been a warrant out for her since she was tried in absentia. So.. That by itself would get 90% of people. All that would have to happen is that you have a car accident, or get a speeding ticket.

I can't see her being a situation like the couple up around Portland(?) that owned or ran a video store. And, even they.. Didn't really last all that long. They were caught.

Richard Bare.. I just read up on that one. I've heard that case before, but didn't remember details.. Yeah.. Shocking that he was never caught.