Anyone remember Walter Rice segment?

[crystaldawn]

I was going through some NBC episodes today I received in a trade and came across this one. I had never seen it and don't remember it even being mentioned on the board. It was an elderly black man named Walter Rice. He was a recluse and lived in a trailer in McCormick, SC. He never talked with his neighbors and seemed to have no family. Apparently gradually his utilities were shut off due to non-payment and his mail was being returned (apparently no one knew or cared enough to figure out why). Finally 2 men are attempting to rob Walter's trailer and when they break in find Walter's lifeless body in his trailer. He had apparently died of a heart attack a year earlier!! Seeing the body scared the robbers away so (people speculate as much as a month or two later) persuade one of their girlfriends to call police and then Walter's body was located. He died in early '92 and was 73 years old. He was found to have an estate worth $140,000 and UM was looking for heirs. By going through some check stubs they found in his apartment they found out he worked as a cook in Connecticut for 10 years. His former co-workers really knew nothing about his personal life but he did live in a dorm for the restaurant workers and they speculate this was how he was able to save up so much money. They do know his birthdate and that he had several siblings but don't think he ever married or had children so are hoping a niece or nephew will come forward. Another interesting clue they found was that Walter had a passport and it was full of stamps from all sort of exotic locations. Anyone remember seeing this segment?

[synthisislab]

Nope, it doesn't ring a bell but sounds like a great candidate for vol 15.

[joshypiano]

What date do you have for this one? I don't have it in any of my lists or on any episode guide I can find. Are the other segments from this episode you watched well known?

[crystaldawn]

Originally Posted by joshypiano

What date do you have for this one? I don't have it in any of my lists or on any episode guide I can find. Are the other segments from this episode you watched well known?

I have the airdate as 1/26/94. The other segments on this episode are Amy Billig, update where a baby abandoned to a good samaritan on a train finds her birth family, Oliver Munson disappearance and Meredith Atkinson is searching for her birth mother Rose Marie Ledbetter. All of those segments (with the exception of the Rice one) are well known.

[joshypiano]

Originally Posted by crystaldawn

I have the airdate as 1/26/94. The other segments on this episode are Amy Billig, update where a baby abandoned to a good samaritan on a train finds her birth family, Oliver Munson disappearance and Meredith Atkinson is searching for her birth mother Rose Marie Ledbetter. All of those segments (with the exception of the Rice one) are well known.

Thanks. I'm glad I asked you that question because when I went back to add the Rice case to my list, I realized I don't have the Munson case listed anywhere in my list at all and its one of those cases i remember really well. I noticed it's not on yours either.

[george ramos]

Wow, his dead body was in his trailer for one year? That's creepy.

[crystaldawn]

Originally Posted by george ramos

Wow, his dead body was in his trailer for one year? That's creepy.

I agree and its also very sad. I mean can you imagine being dead for a year and nobody even realizing you were gone or missing you?

[mphs95]

Originally Posted by crystaldawn

I was going through some NBC episodes today I received in a trade and came across this one. I had never seen it and don't remember it even being mentioned on the board. It was an elderly black man named Walter Rice. He was a recluse and lived in a trailer in McCormick, SC. He never talked with his neighbors and seemed to have no family. Apparently gradually his utilities were shut off due to non-payment and his mail was being returned (apparently no one knew or cared enough to figure out why). Finally 2 men are attempting to rob Walter's trailer and when they break in find Walter's lifeless body in his trailer. He had apparently died of a heart attack a year earlier!! Seeing the body scared the robbers away so (people speculate as much as a month or two later) persuade one of their girlfriends to call police and then Walter's body was located. He died in early '92 and was 73 years old. He was found to have an estate worth $140,000 and UM was looking for heirs. By going through some check stubs they found in his apartment they found out he worked as a cook in Connecticut for 10 years. His former co-workers really knew nothing about his personal life but he did live in a dorm for the restaurant workers and they speculate this was how he was able to save up so much money. They do know his birthdate and that he had several siblings but don't think he ever married or had children so are hoping a niece or nephew will come forward. Another interesting clue they found was that Walter had a passport and it was full of stamps from all sort of exotic locations. Anyone remember seeing this segment?

CD, I watched this on your Vol 15 and it broke my heart. How sad to be dead and not noticed for a year, only to be found by criminals breaking into your home.

[mah79]

Hi Everyone,
I just recently saw the Walter Rice case. Actually, the only place I was able to access the case was with the Spanish translation of Unsolved Mysteries (Misterios Sin Resolver, Herederos Perdidos=Unsolved Mysteries, Lost Heirs). I am fluent in Spanish, so I was able to get the gist of what happened to Walter (the heart attack, the 2 robbers who discovered his body, how he worked as a chef from 1963 to 1983 and amassed his fortune). I remember of course the Oliver Munson, Rose Marie Ledbetter and Amy Billig cases from NBC and Lifetime, but nothing on Walter.
Was there ever any update on Walter, or his heirs? What a very sad story.
On a side note, has anyone ever had the opportunity to watch UM in another language. It is quite an interesting experience...especially for cases that I have never seen before.
THese are other Misterios Sin Resolver that I have found: Oliver Munson, I think Chaim Weiss, the antique bible (Charles Lazarus), Oscar Norton and Lorene (the woman whose sisters were looking for her after their mother died and left her a fortune). Pretty interesting stuff.

[rhzunam]

Originally Posted by mah79

On a side note, has anyone ever had the opportunity to watch UM in another language. It is quite an interesting experience...especially for cases that I have never seen before.
THese are other Misterios Sin Resolver that I have found on youtube: Oliver Munson, I think Chaim Weiss, the antique bible (Charles Lazarus), Oscar Norton and Lorene (the woman whose sisters were looking for her after their mother died and left her a fortune). Pretty interesting stuff.

I watched it sometimes in Spanish and I hated it. Especially since they were mysteries that I hadn't seen in English including the Raymond Burr episode.

As for this case, is this the one that had the cooking students telling him what would he do for the weekend and he always laughed and said the same phrase (I don't remember the specific phrase)?

[mah79]

Yes, that's the one. I never caught what he said to the other chefs. One of them said (I'm translating) "YOu know what today is, right?" And Walter says, "Yes, it's Saturday night." Then he says something else but i forget what.

[Gelatinous Goo]

Walter Rice--Born July 6, 1920, Died Feb. 1992, McCormick, SC. Social Security card was issued by the State of Florida. At some point his address is listed as being 507 S. Oak St., McCormick, SC, 29835. This is now a vacant lot on a quiet street with small southern-style houses.

The 1930 census lists a Walter Rice, born around the same time and living in Connecticut. The ages nearly matched up, but the ethnicity was wrong. There was a Walter Rice in Florida, but the DOB is off by two years and the day and month are off.

This one will be tough to crack due to his common name and the lack of a middle name. If only we had access to his passport/other documentation.

[xxxxmattxxxx69]

Originally Posted by Gelatinous Goo

Walter Rice--Born July 6, 1920, Died Feb. 1992, McCormick, SC. Social Security card was issued by the State of Florida. At some point his address is listed as being 507 S. Oak St., McCormick, SC, 29835. This is now a vacant lot on a quiet street with small southern-style houses.

The 1930 census lists a Walter Rice, born around the same time and living in Connecticut. The ages nearly matched up, but the ethnicity was wrong. There was a Walter Rice in Florida, but the DOB is off by two years and the day and month are off.

This one will be tough to crack due to his common name and the lack of a middle name. If only we had access to his passport/other documentation.

I believe in a spike edition of this case they said since he was dead for too long without an heir coming forward the state of SC got whatever money he left in his will

[MegtheEgg86]

Originally Posted by xxxxmattxxxx69

I believe in a spike edition of this case they said since he was dead for too long without an heir coming forward the state of SC got whatever money he left in his will

Spike covered that segment?!?!? Why would they rehash such a pathetically sad story knowing it had a pathetic ending? I can certainly understand UM doing it in an attempt to find an heir, but I feel there is absolutely no reason to re-broadcast a story like that, all these years later. Poor man.

[xxxxmattxxxx69]

Originally Posted by MegtheEgg86

Spike covered that segment?!?!? Why would they rehash such a pathetically sad story knowing it had a pathetic ending? I can certainly understand UM doing it in an attempt to find an heir, but I feel there is absolutely no reason to re-broadcast a story like that, all these years later. Poor man.

Ya Spike covered that segment. Thats even worse than the ones they update after the suspects have been released from prison(Greg Webb)