Cases that should have been profiled on UM

[mikewho]

One of the cases that stands out to me is the colonial parkway murders. I think it was 4 different couples with one of the couples never found. Surprised it was never on um(unless I missed it).

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonial_Parkway_Killer

[Steve W.]

April Tinsley from my hometown:

http://www.truecrimediary.com/index....e=cases&id=178

[unsolved88]

I've been researching this case for over two years and have recently written to Dateline NBC about profiling it, but have yet to hear anything back. Read the circumstances and tell me it doesn't sound like the quintessential UM segment.

http://charleyproject.org/cases/h/herrera_johnnie.html

I also have a huge thread for this case on Websleuths.

[WishfulDreamer]

Originally Posted by Steve W.

April Tinsley from my hometown:

http://www.truecrimediary.com/index....e=cases&id=178

That is such a heartbreaking case. I figured the letter writer probably was the killer even before he was conclusively linked with DNA, considering the letters (and disgusting ''souvenir'') he sent the 5-year-old girl. How horrible. I really hope it is given media coverage and the killer is found, because I think children are absolutely at risk with him still prowling around.

[Kane]

Whenever this topic comes up, it's hard for me to not cite a particular case from my home state of Massachusetts: Virginia Douglas. She went missing in 1988, and her husband claimed that she disappeared while they were on a weekend trip to Maine. But physical evidence found in the couple's Lexington home suggested that she never went to Maine that weekend.

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/..._virginia.html

[Steve W.]

Originally Posted by WishfulDreamer

That is such a heartbreaking case. I figured the letter writer probably was the killer even before he was conclusively linked with DNA, considering the letters (and disgusting ''souvenir'') he sent the 5-year-old girl. How horrible. I really hope it is given media coverage and the killer is found, because I think children are absolutely at risk with him still prowling around.

agreed

I was 5 years old at the time of the April Tinsley murder and one of my aunts was actually babysitting me in that time period and at the time she lived fairly close to where she was abducted.

Anyway, what I don't understand is why the witnesses that saw her get pulled into the truck didn't immediately call 911 or follow the driver. If they could tell that is was an abnormal occurrence why didn't they act on it? That area of the city is the downtown Fort Wayne area so there was probably A LOT of witnesses at approximately 3:30 in the afternoon.

[SheRaaa]

I think the West Memphis 3 would have been a great Final Appeal segment back in the day, plus the actual murders have never been solved so definitely a good candidate for UM (plus it had the satanic panic angle!)

Additional cases that totally deserved their own UM segments:

-The Springfield 3

-Scott and Amy Fandel case out of Alaska (so creepy and gritty, perfect for UM!)

-Another vote for the Colonial Parkway murders

-Anna Christian Waters

-Johnny Gosch and Eugene Wade Martin

-Jacob Wetterling

-Kevin Collins

-Etan Patz

[Steve W.]

Originally Posted by SheRaaa

I think the West Memphis 3 would have been a great Final Appeal segment back in the day, plus the actual murders have never been solved so definitely a good candidate for UM (plus it had the satanic panic angle!)

Additional cases that totally deserved their own UM segments:

-The Springfield 3

-Scott and Amy Fandel case out of Alaska (so creepy and gritty, perfect for UM!)

-Another vote for the Colonial Parkway murders

-Anna Christian Waters

-Johnny Gosch and Eugene Wade Martin

-Jacob Wetterling

-Kevin Collins

-Etan Patz

Do you think that "Jeff Gannon"/"James Guckert" could actually be Johnny Gosch or do you think that theory is farfetched?: http://truthalliance.net/Forums/tabi...c/Default.aspx

[UMFaninMD]

Angie Dodge. Dateline profiled the case last year but I think UM could have done it some justice.

http://www.henrysforkcountry.com/full.php?sid=171

The Frankford Slasher

http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/s...her/index.html

[TracyLynnS]

When UM aired, the Oakland County Child Killing (Michigan) case was cold. It happened in the late 70s and has never been solved. They've even exhumed dead suspects trying to link them to the murders. Would have been interesting to see UM investigate it.

I think the perp was David Norberg, but who knows. There was a rich auto executive's son with a record who killed himself at the time of the investigation and the killings stopped. Could have been him, I guess.

[DarkDante]

Originally Posted by Kane

Whenever this topic comes up, it's hard for me to not cite a particular case from my home state of Massachusetts: Virginia Douglas. She went missing in 1988, and her husband claimed that she disappeared while they were on a weekend trip to Maine. But physical evidence found in the couple's Lexington home suggested that she never went to Maine that weekend.

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/..._virginia.html

You and me both Kane. I'm trying to jog my memory but didn't you personally write into UM at some point and suggest this as a potential case but they decided not to go forward with it?

It really is your prototypical Unsolved Mysteries case. It has all of the intrigue that so many hallmark UM cases have. I've read the summation on The Charley Project so many times now and it really makes it look like Virginia's husband is guilty as heck. However being that he himself has long since passed, I doubt there will be any resolution to this case unless somehow they are able to locate some trace of what may have happened to Virginia Douglas.

As far as my submission goes, there may be few cases as mysterious as that of The Lyon Sisters, Sheila and Katherine from Maryland. On the day of their disappearance (3-25-75), the two girls went to a local mall for lunch. They along with several other children encountered a man with a briefcase. Inside the briefcase was a small tape recorder with a microphone attached and apparently he made recordings of several of the children including Sheila and Katherine.

A short while after being seen with this man, both girls vanished and police have never been able to locate the man with the briefcase and tape recorder. Nobody is sure whether or not he has anything to do with the disappearance of the Lyon sisters, however he is considered to be the only possible lead that the authorities have in this case.

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/l/lyon_sheila.html
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/...katherine.html

PS: As an aside one case they should profiled as a full on feature would be that of Jo Ellen Weigle. It was profiled briefly as an FBI ALERT in 1990 but the case is intriguing so I would've been interested to see it profiled in full.

http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/...d.php?t=276358

[DarkDante]

Alright I'm going to submit one other case for the reason alone that this is a Sitcoms Online forum and I'm not sure how many of you are aware of this unsolved homicide:

In 1975, after successfully spinning off a sitcom for Valerie Harper ("Rhoda"), "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" spun off a sitcom for Cloris Leachman entitled "Phyllis". The series cast an actress named Barbara Colby to portray Phyllis' boss Julie Erskine.

However, only three episodes into production, Colby was gunned down in Venice after returning to her car from an acting class. Accompanying Colby to her car was actor James Kiernan who survived the assault just long enough to give a description of the assailants to police. Kiernan also noted that he did not recognize the shooters and police have determined that since there was no attempt to rob either victim that the shooting was a likely random act of violence.

Liz Torres was drafted in to take over the role of Julie Erskine and according to some reports Cloris Leachman taped a eulogy for Barbara Colby to air after the final episode of "Phyllis" which featured Colby, although whether or not this eulogy ever aired is a matter of some conjecture.

Sadly nearly forty years later, Colby and Kiernan's killers remain at large.

[Kane]

Originally Posted by DarkDante

You and me both Kane. I'm trying to jog my memory but didn't you personally write into UM at some point and suggest this as a potential case but they decided not to go forward with it?

Yes. I wrote to UM to suggest that case as a potential segment, but nothing ever came of it.

It really is your prototypical Unsolved Mysteries case. It has all of the intrigue that so many hallmark UM cases have.

No argument here. That is part of the reason why I suggested that case to UM.

Indeed, Virigina's husband was suspected of being involved in her disappearance. Even some family members were suspicious of him. There were some things about the case that didn't make sense, including the fact that the couple decided to leave town for the weekend without giving advance notice to anyone in their family - let alone a visiting relative. Also, the shades were open all weekend and the refrigerator was fully stocked. Virginia's family doesn't believe she would have left the house in such a condition if she was planning to travel.

The more the detectives investigated the case, the more convinced they became that Virginia's disappearance didn't happen in Maine as her husband claimed. Instead, they believe she was murdered at home and buried somewhere.

[Wamisto]

The Dyatlov Pass Incident.

In 1959 nine ski hikers were found dead in the Ural Mountains under mysterious circumstances.


From the wikipedia article: "Investigators at the time determined that the hikers tore open their tent from within, departing barefoot into heavy snow and a temperature of −30 °C (−22 °F). Although the corpses showed no signs of struggle, two victims had fractured skulls, two had broken ribs, and one was missing her tongue and there was radiation present as the bodies were aged very quickly ... Three of them had fatal injuries: the body of Thibeaux-Brignolles had major skull damage, and both Dubunina and Zolotarev had major chest fractures. ... Notably, the bodies had no external wounds, as if they were crippled by a high level of pressure."


Just found out about this mystery yesterday, and my first thought was, "Why didn't Unsolved Mysteries do a segment on it?"

[dks64]

I just looked the Dyatlov Pass Incident up, VERY interesting.