Half Solved Mysteries

[RobinW]

I think it would be a neat idea to devote a thread to those odd cases on Unsolved Mysteries that were technically "solved", but still left a lot of jarring loose ends and nagging unanswered questions . A few examples:

The Freedom 2: This is definitely a prime example of a very fascinating case with a very unsatisfying ending. It involved two guys, John Russell and Bob Dozier, who claims to have been involved in a boat accident in the middle of the ocean until it became apparent that there was likely no accident at all and they were just perpetuating an elaborate fraud. Two women who were on the boat, Sherry Russell and Kristen Tomlin, were never accounted for. Anyway, both men were eventually captured, served a couple years for insurance fraud and were released. But we never found out what happened to the women ! It seems likely that Sherry Russell was in on the fraud, but no one knows if Kristen Tomlin was knowingly involved and or if she's even still alive. UM originally had an update from a couple who claimed they sold their boat to both men and the wife after the incident, so it seems she at least survived, but there's been no follow-up on her.

Georgia Ann Boyd: This was a strange case where this woman with a mysterious secret past married a man named Dereld and had two kids with him. She was threatened and harrassed by some unknown people before dying of a cerebral hemorrage. Anyway, Dereld starts looking into her past and thinks the people harrassing her may been members of a biker gang she used to belong to. Whenever he tries to ask questions, everyone including cops and media figures advise him to back off. Anyway, the whole segment is dark and ominous, but when the update hits, it suddenly morphs into a "lost loves" segment! Dereld has an emotional meeting with Georgia's original family and meets the kids that Georgia had in a previous marriage, but we never find out who was harrassing Georgia or why all these people were mysteriously covering up details about her past! It is possible Dereld did find out some unsavory things about Georgia, but out of the respect for the family, the show decided not to reveal them.

Danny Paquette: He's murdered 20 years after his mother, Reena, was burned to death and the cops ruled it a suicide , and people wonder if he was killed because he might have seen the man who killed her. However, it's been revealed that a man named Eric Windhurst killed Danny for reasons not related at all to his mother, so Reena's death remains an unsolved mystery. The man who may have been responsible for her death was in prison for another crime, but was released on a technicality around the time the segment aired, so her killer may still be out there...

Sea Lion Killings: Two men are arrested and punished for the murder of Bobo the sea lion, but are found to be not responsible for the murder of Bruno the sea lion (who was the main focus of the segment), so they never did found out who Bruno's killer was. Kinda unsettling to find out there were so many different people out there who felt compelled to murder innocent sea lions .

Johnny Lee Wilson: I only include this one because Chris Brownfield, the man who confessed to the murder of Pauline Martz, claimed he had an accomplice that night. After Johnny was pardoned, did anyone ever find out if the accomplice was named or caught? Since Brownfield claimed the accomplice was the one who actually killed Pauline Martz, I always wondered if Brownfield just made him up, so that he could do a good deed and get Wilson off the hook without having to confess to committing the actual murder.

Any other frustrating examples you can think of?

[justins5256]

I saw one recently that bothered me and that fits the criteria: The Chevy Chase Bank Robber.

During at least one of the robberies he handed the teller a note claiming that he had a partner in the bank who was also armed and watching the tellers.

Then there was an update a year later indicating that the Chevy Chase Robber was positively identified as Bernard Strick and that he pleaded guilty and got some prison time. No mention of the partner.

I wonder if the police investigated the possibility of an accomplice or if it was just presumed he was bluffing. In the end, I suppose it was a bluff. What the threatening note indicated should probably be taken with a massive size grain of salt. Telling the bank tellers that they were being watched by someone who could pick them off if they didn't comply with the demands is a powerful threat in itself and under the circumstances, who would really call the bluff?

For some reason, a tiny part of me still wonders if he did have an accomplice who got away. I think it is highly unlikely, but it's not impossible.

[RobinW]

Originally Posted by justins5256

For some reason, a tiny part of me still wonders if he did have an accomplice who got away. I think it is highly unlikely, but it's not impossible.

I'd say it's most likely it was just a bluff as bank tellers are taught not to provide any resistance and will never question if the robber's threat is a bluff, no matter who ridiculous it may sound. I remember the movie, "Out of Sight", where George Clooney's character robs a bank by simply pointing to some random stranger and informing the teller that the man was an accomplice and would shoot the manager if she did not hand over the money.

[Oooga Chucka]

I'm not sure if this counts, but the Orange Sock Murders was kind of half-solved. They cleared the husband, but made no other progress. I don't know if you can call that half-solved, but they did devote an update to it...

[RobinW]

Originally Posted by Oooga Chucka

I'm not sure if this counts, but the Orange Sock Murders was kind of half-solved. They cleared the husband, but made no other progress. I don't know if you can call that half-solved, but they did devote an update to it...

For that one, I'd consider half-solved to be if they arrested someone for killing one of the women, but then found out they didn't kill the other one.

[MegtheEgg86]

Rebecca Young. All the evidence strongly pointed to a single suspect who police were poised to arrest, but couldn't. There was even an eyewitness to the crime, who after initially calling police never recontacted them, despite an appeal on UM.

The "Lost Loves" story of that fellow named Darnell (?) and the woman he was in love with who called herself Georgia. The whole segment was centered on finding out who she really was and the details of her (apparently shady) past, but the update only told us Darnell had reunited with Georgia's family, with no mention of him ever finding out anything further about her.

Micki Jo West. Marvin Lee Irvin, the ex-husband of one of West's friends, confessed to her murder and told police she was buried in a Kansas cornfield with two other women. Those women they found, but West is still missing.

[soilentgreen]

Sherry Eyerly; they found out who her killers were (William Smith and Roger Noseff) but were unable to locate her remains.

A fragment of Michael Rosenblum's skull was found, but it could not be determined how he died or why his remains were in that vicinity. (My guess is accidental or deliberate overdose).

[justins5256]

Just thought of two more contenders:

Devin Williams - his body was eventually recovered (partial skeletal remains, I believe) yet there is still no good explanation for how he died, or why he was acting so strangely when he disappeared.

Corinne "Punky" Gustavson - her killer was identified as Clifford Sleigh and he was convicted of her murder. However, the UM segment tried to link her death with an earlier abduction and molestation of another young girl named "Mandy". That case is still unsolved.

[RobinW]

Originally Posted by soilentgreen

Sherry Eyerly; they found out who her killers were (William Smith and Roger Noseff) but were unable to locate her remains.

Good choice. Another glaring loose end in that case is Daryl Wilson, the guy who committed suicide when the psychic led the police to him. It's not clear whether that guy was really involved or if being falsely accused murder prompted him to kill himself.

[RobinW]

Originally Posted by MegtheEgg86

The "Lost Loves" story of that fellow named Darnell (?) and the woman he was in love with who called herself Georgia. The whole segment was centered on finding out who she really was and the details of her (apparently shady) past, but the update only told us Darnell had reunited with Georgia's family, with no mention of him ever finding out anything further about her.

Yeah, that was the same one I mentioned in my original post (his name was Dereld, not Darnell). It seemed like there was some massive cover-up involving Georgia since NO ONE Dereld encountered wanted to talk about her, but that was all forgotten about once they did the update. She definitely lead a wild life though since she had SIX kids before the age of 22! Georgia's family seemed like nice enough people too, so I always wanted to find out why she was estranged from them.

[XCalibur]

Originally Posted by RobinW

Yeah, that was the same one I mentioned in my original post (his name was Dereld, not Darnell). It seemed like there was some massive cover-up involving Georgia since NO ONE Dereld encountered wanted to talk about her, but that was all forgotten about once they did the update. She definitely lead a wild life though since she had SIX kids before the age of 22! Georgia's family seemed like nice enough people too, so I always wanted to find out why she was estranged from them.

It could be that Georgia's family was not connected with her shady past, she may have simply been a runaway who chose to live a wild life, just because thats how she was and not because of anything her family did.

The threats and stalking may have been because of things entirely unrelated to her family and they may know nothing about it. Once she died its entirely possible whoever was stalking her lost interest, no need to harrass a dead person after all.

[justins5256]

Thought of a couple more...

Susan Harrison - she was a missing person and her estranged husband, Jim Harrison, a suspect in her disappearance when the story first aired on UM. Some time later, there was an update indicating that her body was found. Her murder is still unsolved, to my knowledge.

Michael Henley - it was believed that he was abducted in 1988. Then he was thought to be a young boy depicted bound and gagged in a photo discovered in a Florida parking lot in 1989. However, we now know that his remains were found in 1990 not far from where he disappeared and foul play is not suspected.

[RobinW]

Just thought of two more:

John & Linda Sohus: They think they found John's remains and Christopher Chichester/Clark Rockefeller was captured, but Linda's whereabouts are still unknown and they haven't found out if Chichester was responsible for what happened to them.

Julie Cross: The female secret service agent who was murdered by two robbers. One of them was captured and is currently on death row, but I don't think they've ever found the other one.

[xxxxmattxxxx69]

Jim Boumgarten(Sp?) was trying to uncover family secrets of his past. He found out about family he didn't know existed but was never able to meet his long lost twin brother as Jim died

[MegtheEgg86]

Originally Posted by justins5256

Thought of a couple more...

Susan Harrison - she was a missing person and her estranged husband, Jim Harrison, a suspect in her disappearance when the story first aired on UM. Some time later, there was an update indicating that her body was found. Her murder is still unsolved, to my knowledge.

Easily one of the scariest updates ever.