Stories that didn't add up - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

rerungirl · 12-01-2004, 05:56 PM

Have there been any stories on Unsolved Mysteries that just didn't ring true to you? I have to say of all the segments I've seen over the years only two come to mind. I thought the story about the soldier who met his exact double at a train station (only to lose the man's name and contact information) always seemed a little fishy to me. Also, something didn't seem quite right about the woman who was trying to find one of her former teachers. The teacher came from a fairly prominent family and I never understood why no one from the school or her old neighborhood had any idea what happened to her and her father.

TCB(SC) · 12-01-2004, 09:09 PM

Right after I saw the last repeat of the story about the nurse searching for her former teacher, I took the teacher's name and her father's name and did one of those public records searches, but turned up no matches for either of them. Their names have since slipped my mind, but if I see a repeat of that episode again it won't hurt to try and search for them again.

Opal · 12-02-2004, 03:57 AM

Stories that didn’t add up?.... The one about the crazy man that got into this other guy’s truck comes to mind. The man managed to get away, but the psycho found his house anyway and killed the mom.

How in the hell did he randomly find the guy's house? If it was just a coincidence, that would be the freakiest thing ever! Some suspected the son of killing the mother, and that he made up the story about the psycho --- but there were eyewitnesses who saw him.

But I think there's has to be more to this story --- it just doesn’t add up.

CrushedVelvet · 12-02-2004, 04:39 AM

The one about the newly divorced dad living on a ranch with his son...they were having breakfast and some man pulled up and his dad went to talk to this man, got in the car, and haas never been seen since (maybe) There have been numerous sightings of him in bars that havent panned out. I personally think that someone called to report a sighting to keep the cops thinking the guy disappeared willingly but actually met foul play....

Kane · 12-02-2004, 09:05 PM

I'd say that Donny Hansen's story didn't add up. As you'll recall, he was accused of killing his sisters (who were twins). At one point during the 1986 house fire, he was seen hiding a shotgun before anyone had a chance to learn that a crime had even taken place. His claim was something to the effect that people would suspect him, thinking that he did it.

Also, he was caught at the Hansen property by a security guard, and claimed that he was there to feed his dog. Yet, by all accounts, he knew that his dog was elsewhere. It was believed that he was there to steal incriminating evidence (such as the shotgun).

In addition, it doesn't make sense that a couple of total strangers would randomly go to someone's house, shoot someone, and set the place on fire. The prosecutor who was interviewed for the UM segment, was not convinced by such a claim. It was too convenient for these people that the gasoline and shotgun just happened to be in the residence. Whoever killed the Hansen sisters had to have already known that there was a shotgun and container of gasoline available at the Hansen property.

I wanted to believe that Donny Hansen was innocent. But after seeing the segment multiple times, I became increasingly skeptical. It's possible that he didn't pull the trigger himself, but I strongly believe that he was involved, and that he didn't act alone. This might explain why he was overheard yelling at someone to "get out," and why some neighbors reported seeing two people running away from the area.

Mr. Fuji · 12-03-2004, 03:21 PM

I posted this earlier, and it didn't get the response I wanted. Maybe someone else will read it and add a comment or two.

Something seems really fishy about this whole deal. First of all, how could he pick the wrong person out of a lineup if he spent hours and hours up close and personal with the kidnapper? The guy that he picked out of the lineup (whose name escapes me...was it Henderson?) is obviously not the kidnapper; there was no physical evidence linking him to the crime, the other eyewitness who saw Grundhofer with the kidnapper said he definitely was not the kidnapper, and you could tell just by watching his reaction to the whole situation that he was innocent. In addition, that eye witness said that when he saw the kidnapping, his initial reaction was that the whole thing was a joke. I don't know, this whole story has scandal written all over it. I wonder if there would be a motive for Grundhofer to have faked the whole thing. It just seems really odd that police wouldn't be able to find the kidnapper of a higher up like Grundhofer, especially one with as little experience as this kidnapper supposedly had. How could he slip through all of the searches if he was such an inexperienced criminal. I don't know, anyone else get that same feeling when watching this segment?

justins5256 · 12-04-2004, 02:02 AM

Okay, I've got to get in on this one.

Some time ago, I saw a story about a Japanese family that moved to New York to open a clothing store, and basically start a new life in America. Sorry, I can't remember names. I do remember that the husband knew very little English, and his UM interview was done with a voiceover. Anyhow, all was well until one day his wife goes missing. A day or two later her remains were found in a dumpster in an alleyway. She had been stabbed to death. There were few clues other than the testimony of a night watchman (who discovered the body) who claimed to have seen a skinny, geeky looking guy with blood on his shirt putting something in to the dumpster. He thought this was suspicious, so he jotted down the license plate number, and the make/model of the car. The case seemed close to resolution until the police found out who the car actually belonged to. The car belonged to a young college girl who knew absolutely nothing about the murder, and claimed she had not even driven the car on the night in question. A test of the engine confirmed she was telling the truth. The watchman was given a polygraph test and passed. So, I guess I just don't see how they could have gotten the wrong car, unless the watchman and/or the college girl were involved in the murder somehow, but I really don't think this is likely.

Does anyone else remember this story, and have any thoughts on the whole car issue?

JS

jeeps · 12-04-2004, 05:09 PM

I do remember this story justin. Thanks for refreshing my memory with details. All I can remember about the case was the despair her husband felt...and how they eventually closed the business because he didn't want to live in a city where people killed randomly. Hard to believe no leads...unless they just haven't updated the piece.

Just like the doctor who was missing the night before September 11th...I can't even imagine a reason for the set-up of her disappearance. Who was the woman she was shopping with? Why would she be shopping with someone and her husband had no idea the identity of that person. Not that he would know every single person she knew but since this person never came forward it seems suspicious.

jeeps

benoitbabe · 12-05-2004, 03:09 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by CrushedVelvet
The one about the newly divorced dad living on a ranch with his son...they were having breakfast and some man pulled up and his dad went to talk to this man, got in the car, and haas never been seen since (maybe) There have been numerous sightings of him in bars that havent panned out. I personally think that someone called to report a sighting to keep the cops thinking the guy disappeared willingly but actually met foul play....

I belive they had an update on this one. His body was found and there was a suspect. I not sure when the update aired. I remember the update though. Dose anyone elese?

Kane · 12-05-2004, 05:52 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by benoitbabe
I belive they had an update on this one. His body was found and there was a suspect. I not sure when the update aired. I remember the update though. Dose anyone elese?

It sounds like the case of Leonard Dirickson. But are you sure there was an update on the case. So far, I can't find anything on the web to suggest that he's been found (deceased or otherwise).

PracTz · 12-06-2004, 01:03 PM

How about the one about this woman who'd been in a horrible car accident as a small child that had taken the lives of her mother and sisters who was desperately searching for her mother's family as an adult?
What's weird is that I think she got a few cards from an aunt when she was a teen- and, they DID reunite in an Update Segment due to the special and her whole mother's family claimed to be ecstatic to find her again. Yet, I found it odd that her father claimed to have had few occasions in which his late wife had talked about her family and that he didn't know where (or even WHO) they were or how to contact them. I couldn't quite shake the feeling that her father and the late mother's family had somehow had a major falling out after the accident and contact became limited- but none of the adults now wanted to own up to whatever roles they'd played in the distancing of that side of her family from the sole surviving daughter so they just let her (and the UM producers) believe the loss of contact had been entirely accidental and inadvertant!

UMfan0682 · 12-06-2004, 07:44 PM

One case I always found to be a little suspicious was the case of two young lady's who went horseback riding. The first lady's horse somehow was spooked, and when her friend caught up to her, she had been severely injured. I can't remember the details, but her family suspected murder because of the injuries and she had a large life insurance policy.

I remember when she died, her boyfriend was cleaning out her things the very next day. The only other details I can recall is her name might have been Shelly. Crystaldawn or Kane, can you help me out with details?

crystaldawn · 12-06-2004, 08:30 PM

Hey! Yes, I think her name was Shelly Malone. It was indeed a very bizarre story that didn't make sense. Its been a while since I've seen it but I do remember soon after her death they found a bunch of empty Cartier boxes in the dump.

UMfan0682 · 12-06-2004, 10:21 PM

Hey Crystaldawn, yes, that was her name. Thanks. Very interesting case.

One more that comes to mind:

The case happened in the 70's maybe. This man was in the military living on the base with his family. They had been into an argument earlier and he was in the living room sleeping on the couch. He claimed a group of around 4 broke into his home including a women, who said something strange along the lines of "Pigs have to die". He says they beat his wife and kids and he was able to escape.

The investigators came up with a very solid scenario that he murdered his family. It was based on blood splatter patterns, the position of the bodies and his testimony. I remember a map of the house showing how and when he killed his family.

Forgive me if this case has been discussed before.

justins5256 · 12-06-2004, 10:28 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by UMfan0682
Hey Crystaldawn, yes, that was her name. Thanks. Very interesting case.

One more that comes to mind:

The case happened in the 70's maybe. This man was in the military living on the base with his family. They had been into an argument earlier and he was in the living room sleeping on the couch. He claimed a group of around 4 broke into his home including a women, who said something strange along the lines of "Pigs have to die". He says they beat his wife and kids and he was able to escape.

"Acid is groovy. Kill the pigs."

The infamous Jeffrey Mcdonald case. He is still in jail to this day.

JS

12-01-2004, 05:56 PM	#1
rerungirl Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Sep 23, 2002 Location: Midwest Posts: 295	Stories that didn't add up Have there been any stories on Unsolved Mysteries that just didn't ring true to you? I have to say of all the segments I've seen over the years only two come to mind. I thought the story about the soldier who met his exact double at a train station (only to lose the man's name and contact information) always seemed a little fishy to me. Also, something didn't seem quite right about the woman who was trying to find one of her former teachers. The teacher came from a fairly prominent family and I never understood why no one from the school or her old neighborhood had any idea what happened to her and her father.

12-02-2004, 04:39 AM	#4
CrushedVelvet Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Oct 25, 2002 Location: Southern California Posts: 331	The one about the newly divorced dad living on a ranch with his son...they were having breakfast and some man pulled up and his dad went to talk to this man, got in the car, and haas never been seen since (maybe) There have been numerous sightings of him in bars that havent panned out. I personally think that someone called to report a sighting to keep the cops thinking the guy disappeared willingly but actually met foul play....
	__________________ CrushedVelvet

12-02-2004, 09:05 PM	#5
Kane Member Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Mar 07, 2001 Location: MA, United States Posts: 3,367	The 1986 murders of the Hansen sisters I'd say that Donny Hansen's story didn't add up. As you'll recall, he was accused of killing his sisters (who were twins). At one point during the 1986 house fire, he was seen hiding a shotgun before anyone had a chance to learn that a crime had even taken place. His claim was something to the effect that people would suspect him, thinking that he did it. Also, he was caught at the Hansen property by a security guard, and claimed that he was there to feed his dog. Yet, by all accounts, he knew that his dog was elsewhere. It was believed that he was there to steal incriminating evidence (such as the shotgun). In addition, it doesn't make sense that a couple of total strangers would randomly go to someone's house, shoot someone, and set the place on fire. The prosecutor who was interviewed for the UM segment, was not convinced by such a claim. It was too convenient for these people that the gasoline and shotgun just happened to be in the residence. Whoever killed the Hansen sisters had to have already known that there was a shotgun and container of gasoline available at the Hansen property. I wanted to believe that Donny Hansen was innocent. But after seeing the segment multiple times, I became increasingly skeptical. It's possible that he didn't pull the trigger himself, but I strongly believe that he was involved, and that he didn't act alone. This might explain why he was overheard yelling at someone to "get out," and why some neighbors reported seeing two people running away from the area.

12-04-2004, 02:02 AM	#7
justins5256 Member Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Aug 08, 2002 Posts: 3,866	Stories that didn't add up Okay, I've got to get in on this one. Some time ago, I saw a story about a Japanese family that moved to New York to open a clothing store, and basically start a new life in America. Sorry, I can't remember names. I do remember that the husband knew very little English, and his UM interview was done with a voiceover. Anyhow, all was well until one day his wife goes missing. A day or two later her remains were found in a dumpster in an alleyway. She had been stabbed to death. There were few clues other than the testimony of a night watchman (who discovered the body) who claimed to have seen a skinny, geeky looking guy with blood on his shirt putting something in to the dumpster. He thought this was suspicious, so he jotted down the license plate number, and the make/model of the car. The case seemed close to resolution until the police found out who the car actually belonged to. The car belonged to a young college girl who knew absolutely nothing about the murder, and claimed she had not even driven the car on the night in question. A test of the engine confirmed she was telling the truth. The watchman was given a polygraph test and passed. So, I guess I just don't see how they could have gotten the wrong car, unless the watchman and/or the college girl were involved in the murder somehow, but I really don't think this is likely. Does anyone else remember this story, and have any thoughts on the whole car issue? JS

12-01-2004, 09:09 PM	#2
TCB(SC) Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Aug 26, 2004 Location: Charleston, South Carolina Posts: 11	Right after I saw the last repeat of the story about the nurse searching for her former teacher, I took the teacher's name and her father's name and did one of those public records searches, but turned up no matches for either of them. Their names have since slipped my mind, but if I see a repeat of that episode again it won't hurt to try and search for them again.

12-02-2004, 03:57 AM	#3
Opal Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Aug 13, 2004 Posts: 365	Stories that didn’t add up?.... The one about the crazy man that got into this other guy’s truck comes to mind. The man managed to get away, but the psycho found his house anyway and killed the mom. How in the hell did he randomly find the guy's house? If it was just a coincidence, that would be the freakiest thing ever! Some suspected the son of killing the mother, and that he made up the story about the psycho --- but there were eyewitnesses who saw him. But I think there's has to be more to this story --- it just doesn’t add up.

12-03-2004, 03:21 PM	#6
Mr. Fuji Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Jul 23, 2004 Posts: 235	I posted this earlier, and it didn't get the response I wanted. Maybe someone else will read it and add a comment or two. Something seems really fishy about this whole deal. First of all, how could he pick the wrong person out of a lineup if he spent hours and hours up close and personal with the kidnapper? The guy that he picked out of the lineup (whose name escapes me...was it Henderson?) is obviously not the kidnapper; there was no physical evidence linking him to the crime, the other eyewitness who saw Grundhofer with the kidnapper said he definitely was not the kidnapper, and you could tell just by watching his reaction to the whole situation that he was innocent. In addition, that eye witness said that when he saw the kidnapping, his initial reaction was that the whole thing was a joke. I don't know, this whole story has scandal written all over it. I wonder if there would be a motive for Grundhofer to have faked the whole thing. It just seems really odd that police wouldn't be able to find the kidnapper of a higher up like Grundhofer, especially one with as little experience as this kidnapper supposedly had. How could he slip through all of the searches if he was such an inexperienced criminal. I don't know, anyone else get that same feeling when watching this segment?

12-04-2004, 05:09 PM	#8
jeeps Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Sep 28, 2004 Location: Boston, MA Posts: 72	I do remember this story justin. Thanks for refreshing my memory with details. All I can remember about the case was the despair her husband felt...and how they eventually closed the business because he didn't want to live in a city where people killed randomly. Hard to believe no leads...unless they just haven't updated the piece. Just like the doctor who was missing the night before September 11th...I can't even imagine a reason for the set-up of her disappearance. Who was the woman she was shopping with? Why would she be shopping with someone and her husband had no idea the identity of that person. Not that he would know every single person she knew but since this person never came forward it seems suspicious. jeeps

12-06-2004, 01:03 PM	#11
PracTz Member Senior Member Join Date: Jul 14, 2002 Location: United States of America [Happily Living in the 20th Century] Posts: 2,711	How about the one about this woman who'd been in a horrible car accident as a small child that had taken the lives of her mother and sisters who was desperately searching for her mother's family as an adult? What's weird is that I think she got a few cards from an aunt when she was a teen- and, they DID reunite in an Update Segment due to the special and her whole mother's family claimed to be ecstatic to find her again. Yet, I found it odd that her father claimed to have had few occasions in which his late wife had talked about her family and that he didn't know where (or even WHO) they were or how to contact them. I couldn't quite shake the feeling that her father and the late mother's family had somehow had a major falling out after the accident and contact became limited- but none of the adults now wanted to own up to whatever roles they'd played in the distancing of that side of her family from the sole surviving daughter so they just let her (and the UM producers) believe the loss of contact had been entirely accidental and inadvertant!

12-06-2004, 07:44 PM	#12
UMfan0682 Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Jul 11, 2004 Posts: 124	One case I always found to be a little suspicious was the case of two young lady's who went horseback riding. The first lady's horse somehow was spooked, and when her friend caught up to her, she had been severely injured. I can't remember the details, but her family suspected murder because of the injuries and she had a large life insurance policy. I remember when she died, her boyfriend was cleaning out her things the very next day. The only other details I can recall is her name might have been Shelly. Crystaldawn or Kane, can you help me out with details?

12-06-2004, 08:30 PM	#13
crystaldawn Member Forum 4000 Club Member Join Date: Dec 17, 2002 Location: Illinois Posts: 4,261	Hey! Yes, I think her name was Shelly Malone. It was indeed a very bizarre story that didn't make sense. Its been a while since I've seen it but I do remember soon after her death they found a bunch of empty Cartier boxes in the dump.

12-06-2004, 10:21 PM	#14
UMfan0682 Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Jul 11, 2004 Posts: 124	Hey Crystaldawn, yes, that was her name. Thanks. Very interesting case. One more that comes to mind: The case happened in the 70's maybe. This man was in the military living on the base with his family. They had been into an argument earlier and he was in the living room sleeping on the couch. He claimed a group of around 4 broke into his home including a women, who said something strange along the lines of "Pigs have to die". He says they beat his wife and kids and he was able to escape. The investigators came up with a very solid scenario that he murdered his family. It was based on blood splatter patterns, the position of the bodies and his testimony. I remember a map of the house showing how and when he killed his family. Forgive me if this case has been discussed before.