Post-Show Lives that got worse

[DazzlerSparkler]

I noticed several cases featuring people whose lives have taken a turn for the worse.

Heath Marksch of the Vess lost loves segment. In 1999 he got arrested for drugs and the rap sheet only got worse.

Steve Newton the security guard in the motorcycle accident saved by a young woman. They reunited but in 1999 (geez what is it with that year) he was convicted of sexually abusing a minor and is now a registered sex offender.

There's a woman in a lost loves segment I can't remember the name but she was in desperate need of a kidney and she found her sister but they were unfortunately not a match and she ended up dying. Very sad.

And of course Jonathan Ortiz beating the **** out of Gilbert.....

Do you know of any other cases?

[Hot Jock]

Nyleen Kay Marshall’s mother, Nancy, was raped and murdered in Mexico back in 1995.

Wayne Hecker was stricken with a very aggressive form of cancer and succumbed to it in 2015 after battling it for more than half a decade.

[TheCars1986]

Jim Boumgarden died roughly a year after his segment aired, and he never got to find his twin.

[bell83]

I came here solely to mention Gilbert Ortiz. Horrible.

[amandab1234]

Paula Pasciak’s mother ended up homeless didn’t she? I remember hearing Stack mention it (that the trauma of losing her daughter was too much and she wasn’t able to hold a job & soon after lost her home)

[dynoguy88]

Originally Posted by bell83

I came here solely to mention Gilbert Ortiz. Horrible.

Indeed. And just to add another layer of suck to an already depressing situation, Elizabeth might have been released from prison.

Elizabeth was given a life sentence plus six years for child abduction and bodily harm. She attempted to appeal her conviction in 2004, but was refused. She was denied parole in 2010 and 2014. Surprisingly, she has since been released from prison.

That is from the UM wiki page. But I can't find any other source that says she was released.

[Kane]

Originally Posted by Hot Jock

Wayne Hecker was stricken with a very aggressive form of cancer and succumbed to it in 2015 after battling it for more than half a decade.

I didn't know that Wayne Hecker died until I read your post. Since the 1992 disappearance of Tara Breckenridge remains unsolved to this day, I imagine that he was still under a cloud of suspicion at the time of his death, having never been either implicated or cleared in the case.

Jay Durham, who survived a hit and run incident in 1992, died in 2014. The trucker who nearly killed him has never been identified.

[justins5256]

During UM's first season, they showed a lost love story about a man named Carl Dentai and his daughter, Bridgette, who were looking for a kind-hearted GI named "Phillippe" whom they met in Europe at the height of World War II. As a result of the broadcast, "Phillippe" was identified as Phillippe Pelletier and he was reunited with the Dentai family. The reunion was shown on UM and this may have been the first lost love case the show ever solved.

In 1995, Pelletier was arrested for patronizing a prostitute.

Carl Dentai and his daughter have since passed away, and Pelletier has as well. It's kinda surreal to think that NONE of the key players in this segment are alive anymore, yet it still gets repeated and is on Amazon Prime.

[unsolved243]

Originally Posted by dynoguy88

Indeed. And just to add another layer of suck to an already depressing situation, Elizabeth might have been released from prison.



That is from the UM wiki page. But I can't find any other source that says she was released.

I got them from the update on Amazon Prime. It's very upsetting that she spent barely a decade in prison for trying to kill Gilbert.


Another case with a bad ending was Gale Samuels. She had a rare blood disorder and needed a tranfusion from a blood relative. However, she was adopted and didn't know anything about her birth family. Even worse, she learned that her adoption was handled by a baby broker who put fake names and addresses on birth and adoption records. Sadly, Gale passed away without ever finding her family.

[amandab1234]

Originally Posted by justins5256

During UM's first season, they showed a lost love story about a man named Carl Dentai and his daughter, Bridgette, who were looking for a kind-hearted GI named "Phillippe" whom they met in Europe at the height of World War II. As a result of the broadcast, "Phillippe" was identified as Phillippe Pelletier and he was reunited with the Dentai family. The reunion was shown on UM and this may have been the first lost love case the show ever solved.

In 1995, Pelletier was arrested for patronizing a prostitute.

Carl Dentai and his daughter have since passed away, and Pelletier has as well. It's kinda surreal to think that NONE of the key players in this segment are alive anymore, yet it still gets repeated and is on Amazon Prime.

Was Bridgette young when she passed away? I imagine IF she survived, she’d in her 70s more less right?

[James T]

Originally Posted by DazzlerSparkler

There's a woman in a lost loves segment I can't remember the name but she was in desperate need of a kidney and she found her sister but they were unfortunately not a match and she ended up dying. Very sad.

I got the impression that she was only really interested in finding her sister because it was a shot at saving her life. There appeared from the segment to be some silly jealousy from her towards the sister in their younger years, neither of them were really interested in the other & until her situation became desperate she showed no real interest in finding her. She could have hired a private detective at any time or just kept in touch with her in the first place.

[James T]

Originally Posted by justins5256

During UM's first season, they showed a lost love story about a man named Carl Dentai and his daughter, Bridgette, who were looking for a kind-hearted GI named "Phillippe" whom they met in Europe at the height of World War II. As a result of the broadcast, "Phillippe" was identified as Phillippe Pelletier and he was reunited with the Dentai family. The reunion was shown on UM and this may have been the first lost love case the show ever solved.

In 1995, Pelletier was arrested for patronizing a prostitute.

Carl Dentai and his daughter have since passed away, and Pelletier has as well. It's kinda surreal to think that NONE of the key players in this segment are alive anymore, yet it still gets repeated and is on Amazon Prime.

He must have been in his seventies at the time-really his life got better.

[MegtheEgg86]

Jack Quinn's wife apparently lost their home and went on welfare after his disappearance according to a few articles I read.

[justins5256]

Originally Posted by amandab1234

Was Bridgette young when she passed away? I imagine IF she survived, she’d in her 70s more less right?

I just searched the "Deaths of UM people" thread

According to some posts there

Carl Dentai (Brigitta's father) died in 2000 at the age of 81

Pelletier died in 2001 at about the age of 75 (may have been 74 or 76)

Brigitta Dentai-Laramie died in 2004 at the age of 65

[ontarioboi]

the boyfriend in the tom johnson cased died in a car accident in Africa in 1997 no?