Lost Heirs cases--best kept secret of UM!! - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

Robert Stack, Jr. · 12-15-2012, 10:59 PM

Most of us are intrigued by Missing Persons, Wanted, and Unexplained Death segments. Most of us are easily bored by Lost Loves, UFO, and Ghosts segments. Sci-Med and Unexplained...some are good and some are bad.

But I am starting to think that the least used designation may hold the best stories. That's right...those few and far between segments known as "Lost Heirs."

George Marsh
Charlie Scheel
Howard Drummond
Katherine Bennett

Am I missing any? Does anyone else feel the same way about these seggies?

MegtheEgg86 · 12-16-2012, 12:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Robert Stack, Jr.

Most of us are intrigued by Missing Persons, Wanted, and Unexplained Death segments. Most of us are easily bored by Lost Loves, UFO, and Ghosts segments. Sci-Med and Unexplained...some are good and some are bad.

But I am starting to think that the least used designation may hold the best stories. That's right...those few and far between segments known as "Lost Heirs."

George Marsh
Charlie Scheel
Howard Drummond
Katherine Bennett

Am I missing any? Does anyone else feel the same way about these seggies?

I LOVE "Lost Heirs" segments! My favorite is the Dorothea Allen story. I loved the reenactments (who could forget that photo-cutting scene?) and the speculations about who she might have been were really fascinating. It was also cool to see a case about something across the pond as well.

But yes, totally agree--Lost Heirs has a lot of great segments.

tamanshud · 12-16-2012, 09:22 AM

I love them, but they're so sad - like the unidentified bodies.

Gelatinous Goo · 12-16-2012, 10:31 AM

Yes, these cases have always ranked among the most fascinating and intriguing. We can now employ modern tools such as ancestry.com in an effort to learn more about these people.

I often wonder if watching these segments as a child helped serve to subconsciously guide me towards the career path that's provided me with such enjoyment.

RobinW · 12-16-2012, 01:53 PM

I always wondered what it must have been like to work in the Telecenter when these cases aired. When there's unclaimed money at stake, I'm sure there were bound to be tons of frauds and scam artists calling in trying to get their hands on it.

I particularly liked the mystery-within-a-mystery "Lost Heirs" case about the prospector named Dan Willans because not only did he leave an unclaimed fortune behind, but he just vanished without a trace and no one ever found out what happened to him.

I think the saddest may have been Walter Rice, who died of a heart attack in his trailer, but was not found for over a year until robbers broke in and found his body

.

ernmerica · 12-17-2012, 05:31 AM

Lost Heir segments are second worst only to lost loves. I only want to see intriguing and grisly murder segments. The worst is the updates to the lost segments, its always in some ghetto airport in the 80s with a lot of crying

pardilia · 12-17-2012, 11:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ernmerica

Lost Heir segments are second worst only to lost loves. I only want to see intriguing and grisly murder segments. The worst is the updates to the lost segments, its always in some ghetto airport in the 80s with a lot of crying

Wow.

I always liked the lost heirs and the lost loves ones because it was nice to see some happiness on the show - and proof that the show was doing some good. Being reunited with people you thought were out of your life forever is no doubt an emotional experience - I'm sure most people can think of at least someone in their life that if they were separated from in such a manner would cry in a "ghetto airport" upon seeing them again.

bluejazz87 · 02-04-2015, 05:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ernmerica

Lost Heir segments are second worst only to lost loves. I only want to see intriguing and grisly murder segments. The worst is the updates to the lost segments, its always in some ghetto airport in the 80s with a lot of crying

Oh so you're only concerned with being entertained and not actually helping people. Cool story bro.

PracTz · 02-05-2015, 02:00 PM

It seemed that a good number of these folks with 'Lost Heirs' had gone to a great deal of trouble to distance themselves from their original families (and the original families may have been more toxic than they wanted others to think)to the point of telling few, if any, folks in their new lives any identifying clues re their own past lives. IOW, while the segments were fascinating to me, I couldn't shake the feeling that these folks would have preferred the 'Heirs' to STAY lost [and not get a penny of the monies the deceased had earned after leaving them].

DP1 · 02-07-2015, 12:59 AM

But what about when their lost heirs are their own children? I recall one case about a man who ran a newspaper stand in Sacramento. He was something on a local fixture in the area he worked. He died and left behind some money. It was eventually discovered, I believe, that he had been married years earlier in Pittsburgh and had a daughter. After he divorced the wife, he left his daughter and never saw her again. I'm not even sure if she knew about him.

That kind of mentality (abandoning your children after a divorce and never seeing them again) is something I'll never understand and that wasn't the only case on UM like that.

PracTz · 02-09-2015, 02:55 PM

DPI,
I didn't say that ALL of these folks had done everything they could to bury their original families but there were many depicted who did- who had NO known offspring. Yes, I agree that one should not cut off one's offspring but not all of them had offspring.

boechsner · 02-11-2015, 01:59 PM

I've added on to the Lost Heir list. These segments were all Lost Heirs:

George Marsh
Charlie Scheel
Walter 'Curly" Green
Dan Willans
George J. Stein
Howard Drummond
Dorthea Allen
Lorene Roberts
Katherine Bennett
Scott Hill
Sandy Breed & Bruce Clark
Walter Rice
The Family Bible Jonathan Grady Found

I have never seen the Sandy Breed & Bruce Clark segment and I only recently discovered that it even existed.

TheResearcher · 02-21-2015, 09:41 PM

I agree that Lost Heirs is one of the saddest segments of UM. Especially the guy who wanted to get married to the girl he loved, only to not be wealthy enough.

xxxxmattxxxx69 · 02-22-2015, 02:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by boechsner

I've added on to the Lost Heir list. These segments were all Lost Heirs:

George Marsh
Charlie Scheel
Walter 'Curly" Green
Dan Willans
George J. Stein
Howard Drummond
Dorthea Allen
Lorene Roberts
Katherine Bennett
Scott Hill
Sandy Breed & Bruce Clark
Walter Rice
The Family Bible Jonathan Grady Found

I have never seen the Sandy Breed & Bruce Clark segment and I only recently discovered that it even existed.

Was Walter Rice the guy that the burglars were the ones that found his body and the state of SC got any money he left because no family came forward?

xxxxmattxxxx69 · 02-22-2015, 02:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by boechsner

I've added on to the Lost Heir list. These segments were all Lost Heirs:

George Marsh
Charlie Scheel
Walter 'Curly" Green
Dan Willans
George J. Stein
Howard Drummond
Dorthea Allen
Lorene Roberts
Katherine Bennett
Scott Hill
Sandy Breed & Bruce Clark
Walter Rice
The Family Bible Jonathan Grady Found

I have never seen the Sandy Breed & Bruce Clark segment and I only recently discovered that it even existed.

Was Walter Rice the guy that the burglars were the ones that found his body and the state of SC got any money he left because no family came forward?

12-15-2012, 10:59 PM	#1
Robert Stack, Jr. Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Dec 22, 2005 Posts: 50	Lost Heirs cases--best kept secret of UM!! Most of us are intrigued by Missing Persons, Wanted, and Unexplained Death segments. Most of us are easily bored by Lost Loves, UFO, and Ghosts segments. Sci-Med and Unexplained...some are good and some are bad. But I am starting to think that the least used designation may hold the best stories. That's right...those few and far between segments known as "Lost Heirs." George Marsh Charlie Scheel Howard Drummond Katherine Bennett Am I missing any? Does anyone else feel the same way about these seggies?

12-16-2012, 09:22 AM	#3
tamanshud Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Sep 30, 2012 Location: Texas Posts: 93	I love them, but they're so sad - like the unidentified bodies.

12-16-2012, 10:31 AM	#4
Gelatinous Goo Member Forum Regular Join Date: Apr 14, 2010 Posts: 573	Yes, these cases have always ranked among the most fascinating and intriguing. We can now employ modern tools such as ancestry.com in an effort to learn more about these people. I often wonder if watching these segments as a child helped serve to subconsciously guide me towards the career path that's provided me with such enjoyment.

12-16-2012, 01:53 PM	#5
RobinW Member Senior Member Join Date: Jul 14, 2010 Posts: 1,874	I always wondered what it must have been like to work in the Telecenter when these cases aired. When there's unclaimed money at stake, I'm sure there were bound to be tons of frauds and scam artists calling in trying to get their hands on it. I particularly liked the mystery-within-a-mystery "Lost Heirs" case about the prospector named Dan Willans because not only did he leave an unclaimed fortune behind, but he just vanished without a trace and no one ever found out what happened to him. I think the saddest may have been Walter Rice, who died of a heart attack in his trailer, but was not found for over a year until robbers broke in and found his body .

12-17-2012, 05:31 AM	#6
ernmerica Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Mar 07, 2011 Posts: 131	Lost Heir segments are second worst only to lost loves. I only want to see intriguing and grisly murder segments. The worst is the updates to the lost segments, its always in some ghetto airport in the 80s with a lot of crying

02-05-2015, 02:00 PM	#9
PracTz Member Senior Member Join Date: Jul 14, 2002 Location: United States of America [Happily Living in the 20th Century] Posts: 2,711	It seemed that a good number of these folks with 'Lost Heirs' had gone to a great deal of trouble to distance themselves from their original families (and the original families may have been more toxic than they wanted others to think)to the point of telling few, if any, folks in their new lives any identifying clues re their own past lives. IOW, while the segments were fascinating to me, I couldn't shake the feeling that these folks would have preferred the 'Heirs' to STAY lost [and not get a penny of the monies the deceased had earned after leaving them].

02-07-2015, 12:59 AM	#10
DP1 Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Nov 21, 2004 Posts: 394	But what about when their lost heirs are their own children? I recall one case about a man who ran a newspaper stand in Sacramento. He was something on a local fixture in the area he worked. He died and left behind some money. It was eventually discovered, I believe, that he had been married years earlier in Pittsburgh and had a daughter. After he divorced the wife, he left his daughter and never saw her again. I'm not even sure if she knew about him. That kind of mentality (abandoning your children after a divorce and never seeing them again) is something I'll never understand and that wasn't the only case on UM like that.

02-09-2015, 02:55 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	DPI, I didn't say that ALL of these folks had done everything they could to bury their original families but there were many depicted who did- who had NO known offspring. Yes, I agree that one should not cut off one's offspring but not all of them had offspring.

02-11-2015, 01:59 PM	#12
boechsner Member Senior Member Join Date: Oct 18, 2000 Location: Green Bay, WI Posts: 2,212	I've added on to the Lost Heir list. These segments were all Lost Heirs: George Marsh Charlie Scheel Walter 'Curly" Green Dan Willans George J. Stein Howard Drummond Dorthea Allen Lorene Roberts Katherine Bennett Scott Hill Sandy Breed & Bruce Clark Walter Rice The Family Bible Jonathan Grady Found I have never seen the Sandy Breed & Bruce Clark segment and I only recently discovered that it even existed.

02-21-2015, 09:41 PM	#13
TheResearcher Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Aug 25, 2012 Location: California Posts: 25	I agree that Lost Heirs is one of the saddest segments of UM. Especially the guy who wanted to get married to the girl he loved, only to not be wealthy enough.