• 6 months ago
#UnsolvedMysteries #Netflix #RaymondBurr
These are the "Unsolved Mysteries" episodes that will keep you up at night. For this list, we'll be ranking the scariest and most memorable episodes of the original Unsolved Mysteries series that gave us the creeps. Our countdown includes friends to the end, scared to death, the Tatum House, and more! Which mystery still keeps you up? Let us know in the comments!
Transcript
00:00Maybe you can help solve a mystery, or at least stay awake thinking about one.
00:06Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the top 20 Unsolved Mysteries
00:11episodes that will keep you up at night.
00:20For this list, we're ranking the scariest and most memorable episodes of the Unsolved
00:24Mysteries TV series that gave us the creeps.
00:28That means we'll be allowing moments from the original series, as well as moments from
00:31the latest Netflix revival of the series.
00:3720.
00:40A Salon Owner Goes Missing in 13 Minutes
00:43Some fans are split on the 2020 Netflix reboot of Unsolved Mysteries, a much more serious-minded
00:49and true-crime-focused take on the classic spooky series.
00:52This case seems to garner universal interest from viewers.
00:56Specifically, the death of Georgia salon owner Patrice Endres.
01:12Police claimed there was only a 13-minute window within which Endres could have been
01:16abducted from her business, and her killer has never been found, even though remains
01:21were found relatively close to the salon more than a year later.
01:24The kicker here is how guilty her husband, Rob, comes across in the episode, and how
01:29much of an outlier it is compared to the stoic nature of the season's presentation on the
01:32whole.
01:3319.
01:34Stockton Arsonist
01:35There's just something creepy about finding some lost, obscure footage on an old VHS tape.
01:53This is made doubly disturbing when it's also an actual unsolved mystery.
01:57The Stockton Arsonist episode of the series followed a family whose car broke down on
02:01the side of the road, during which time the young son found an abandoned jacket with a
02:05tape inside the pocket.
02:12On the tape is what appears to be an intentionally set-home arson, which is bad enough, but the
02:17voice speaking on the tape makes mention of Satanism, while a search of the site later
02:21by police turned up ritualistic paraphernalia.
02:33Updates in later episodes reveal that two underage suspects were ultimately tried, but
02:38it's the Satanic implications, including the discovery of a ceramic skull, that are hard
02:42to forget.
02:5418.
02:56The Tallman House
02:57Ghost stories and creepy reenactments are absolutely essential aspects of a classic
03:02unsolved mysteries episode, and this one certainly delivers the goods.
03:06It all started with a second-hand bunk bed for the Tallman family, a seemingly innocuous
03:10purchase that would turn their lives upside down.
03:13For it was soon after bringing the bed into their home that the Tallmans experienced all
03:17sorts of unexplained paranormal phenomena, from disembodied voices calling out in the
03:22home to household items operating strangely and dangerously, as well as unexplained fires
03:27in the garage.
03:28The reenactment clicks all the boxes for a classic unsolved mysteries fan, guaranteeing
03:33unsettled dreams and a questioning over what might lie beyond.
03:4717.
03:49The Lizzie Borden House
03:51The tried-and-true murder mystery always makes for creepy nighttime viewing when it comes
03:54to diehard fans of unsolved mysteries.
03:57And what better true crime tale than the infamous case of Lizzie Borden?
04:10This episode not only detailed facts about the horrible double murder from New England,
04:14but also goes into the present-day history of the Fall River home that Lizzie shared
04:18alongside her father, stepmother, and live-in maid.
04:31The house may be a popular bed-and-breakfast for the brave and the bold, but there are
04:35also plenty of late-night ghost stories that keep us awake wondering whether or not Lizzie
04:39still prowls the hallways, axe steadily in hand.
04:5216.
04:53The Vampire Cult Murders
04:55While we admit there's something comfortingly nostalgic about the early internet footage
04:59present within this episode of Unsolved Mysteries, there's nothing remotely funny about the
05:03actual case.
05:20Richard and Naoma Wendorf were the victims of a local gang who were obsessed with vampirism,
05:25to the point where one of the men arrested for the murders was actually convinced he
05:28was immortal.
05:29The Wendorf's daughter, Heather, was supposedly involved with the group, but any charges
05:33against her were eventually dropped.
05:35The episode itself points out the vampire's cultural significance over the years as a
05:39media symbol, while also doing a good job of presenting the real-life creepiness of
05:43those real-life fans who take their obsession too far.
05:5615.
05:59The Tatum House
06:00Okay, so it isn't as if Unsolved Mysteries needed an excuse to be creepy, but this Halloween
06:04episode delivered the supernatural goods with a host of frightening tales.
06:15The Tatum House segment dealt with poltergeist activity in a home owned by a retired married
06:19couple, who reported continued unexplained noises in the house.
06:23The reenactments forgo cheesy theatrics and overacting, and instead describe the Tatum's
06:27experiences with a basic matter-of-fact delivery that makes it all the more real.
06:41As a result, we can identify much more with how the couple must have felt, particularly
06:46Jim Tatum, who becomes increasingly upset as he described what happened to the camera.
07:0314.
07:04The Allagash Abductions
07:05Okay, we admit it.
07:13Sometimes the recreations on Unsolved Mysteries and other similar shows are more, well, humorous
07:18than frightening.
07:19Thankfully, this is not the case with our next entry, a harrowing tale of an alleged
07:23contact with the extraterrestrial.
07:26The Allagash Abductions doesn't play it light, or for laughs, but instead presents the four
07:30subjects as men who definitely seem to be shaken by a collective experience.
07:38As a result, we can put ourselves in their shoes, and imagine how we might feel if we
07:42felt we were abducted by visitors from outer space.
07:45It's here that Unsolved Mysteries has always shined, and an example of why this episode
07:50continues to give us the creeps.
07:5913.
08:02The Blind River Killer
08:03We sometimes take solace in the fact that many notorious killers have been caught by
08:07police and brought to justice.
08:09But what about the ones who get away?
08:11Sadly, there was no justice during the lifetime of Gordon McAllister, who passed away in 2012
08:17without discovering the identity of the Blind River Killer.
08:20This unidentified man accosted and robbed McAllister and his wife Jackie while they
08:23were parked for the night in their RV at a rest stop.
08:26The reenactment in this episode really drove home the tragedy of when McAllister's wife,
08:30as well as a good Samaritan at the rest stop, were shot and killed by the gunman.
08:35But we can't help but wish things could have turned out differently.
08:4312.
08:46Prison Mystery
08:47Speaking of reenactments, the updated version of Unsolved Mysteries, hosted by Dennis Farina,
08:52featured increased production values when it came to staging these sequences.
08:55As a result, this episode from the iteration's second season has aged pretty well, all things
09:00considered.
09:01The murder mystery, which serves as the centerpiece to this episode, deals with Judge James
09:04Michael Franke, who was hired by the Oregon State Prison System to try and increase inmate
09:09capacity.
09:16The reenactments do a great job of stressing how Franke was murdered outside of his office
09:20in an apparent robbery gone wrong, while also lending credence to the theories that he might
09:25have been the victim of an inside hit by corrupt government officials.
09:28Either way, it's truly chilling stuff.
09:4211.
09:44Edward Bell and Larry Dickens
09:46Many A-list actors come from humble origins, and Matthew McConaughey is no exception, with
09:51one of his first on-screen roles being here reenacting a terrible 1978 murder case.
09:57McConaughey plays Larry Dickens, who was the tragic victim of what can only be described
10:01as a senseless rampage by one Edward Bell.
10:05Bell, who was thankfully captured years later thanks to viewer tips, attacked the Dickens
10:11family with no apparent motive, and seemed to be a career criminal with offenses dating
10:15back years before the incident.
10:22What's troubling about this episode isn't only the reenactment, but the fact that Bell
10:26was out on bail only two months after his arrest, thus allowing him to slip through
10:30the system for far too long before he was brought to justice.
10:3710.
10:41Resurrection Mary
10:42There's a tinge of sadness to the next entry on our list, the tale of Resurrection Mary.
10:53It's a ghost story about a young life taken too soon, and the people who swear they've
10:57seen her spirit prowling the streets near Resurrection Cemetery in Illinois.
11:12Mary Bregovy was her name, and she was a girl who's said to have died in a car accident
11:16during the mid-1930s.
11:18Multiple folks claim to have encountered her over the years, some of whom have even attempted
11:22to give her rides, only for her to disappear.
11:25The episode itself possesses a dreamlike allure, and captures well the tragedy of Mary's story.
11:30This is perhaps in part why the story of Resurrection Mary has survived to this day.
11:439.
11:48Ray Rivera and the Mystery on the Rooftop
11:51The case of Ray Rivera is the very first to be covered on Netflix's Unsolved Mysteries
11:55reboot.
11:56Rivera's death seems to be a suicide on the surface, but forensic evidence and medical
12:00examiner data led many to believe that this finance writer was the victim of foul play.
12:17A letter found near Rivera's computer complicated matters further with its talk of secret societies
12:22and Hollywood bigwigs, while Ray's employer placed a gag order that forbade anyone to
12:26speak of the case to police.
12:40With all of these loose ends involved, one might think there would be a stronger push
12:44for the truth, but the unsolved nature of this crime, and the police's backpedaling
12:48into once again calling it a suicide, leaves us awake at night wanting some closure.
12:538.
12:54The Circleville Letters
13:06The word, chilling, doesn't even begin to describe what happened to the residents of
13:09Circleville, Ohio during the late 1970s.
13:12Small town gossip turned deadly when residents of this otherwise unassuming small town began
13:17receiving threatening letters about their personal lives, increasing exponentially to
13:21the point where the entire community was turned upside down with paranoia, fear, and anger.
13:38The reenactments do a great job of presenting how tense and on edge the whole affair made
13:43the community, and the voiceover of the Circleville writer is delivered in an ultra-creepy monotone.
13:49Finally, it's revealed that even the crew behind Unsolved Mysteries wasn't safe from
14:00being harassed, as they received a threatening postcard prior to airing the episode.
14:167.
14:19to the end.
14:32Not every unsolved mystery can be resolved during the lifetime of a family member, friend,
14:37or in this case, a dedicated prosecutor.
14:39Richard Garrett was determined to uncover what happened to Kevin Ives and Don Henry,
14:43two popular teenagers who were tragically run over by a train under mysterious circumstances.
14:49It took multiple autopsies and the testimony from witnesses as bizarre as former professional
14:54wrestler Billy Jack Haynes to discover that the boys were murdered and brought to the
14:58tracks, not accidentally run over while under the influence of marijuana.
15:17The episode detailing their demise is a somber and sad affair, a story that haunts us almost
15:22as much as it seemed to haunt Garrett, who died in 2018 without receiving an answer to
15:27his investigation.
15:386.
15:40Danny Casolaro
15:49We would need a lot more time to fully detail all of the twists in the story of Danny Casolaro.
15:55Because this thing reads like a paranoid thriller from the 1970s.
15:59Casolaro's body was found as an apparent suicide while staying in a West Virginia hotel.
16:03The thing is, Casolaro was a computer industry writer, hot on the heels of a story that he
16:08felt involved upper-level government officials, organized crime, and lucrative contracts for
16:13law enforcement software.
16:24Casolaro's family felt that his fear of blood made his method of suicide unlikely, and the
16:28local investigation into the case seemed skewed against letting anyone else in on any specifics.
16:34Honestly, we suggest doing a deep dive into this case yourself.
16:37It's compelling stuff.
16:395.
16:40War of the Depews
16:42Once a happy couple, various issues would later culminate in Dennis Depew assaulting
16:46his wife Marilyn.
16:47While he told his children that he was taking her to the hospital, a few days later police
16:51would find Marilyn's body off a deserted road.
17:02Now here comes the biggest twist of the episode.
17:05The night that it aired, a woman named Mary came to her house to find that her boyfriend
17:09Hank was in a hurry to leave the house.
17:11After he left, it wasn't long before she discovered who her boyfriend really was.
17:26Later that evening, police were able to track Dennis down, and after a brief standoff, he
17:32life.
17:334.
17:34Spirits at the Comedy Store
17:43Sometimes buildings have personalities all their own.
17:45Case in point, California's classic stand-up venue, the Comedy Store, which possesses a
17:50history dating all the way back to the 1940s and 50s.
17:53The Comedy Store was known as Ciro's during these days, and was a hub for criminal activity
17:57for the local mobsters.
17:59As a result, some people claim to have witnessed paranormal activity and other mysterious occurrences,
18:04such as inanimate objects being moved around by an unknown force.
18:07Given the fact that so much comedy seems to come from pain, we're not entirely ruling
18:11out the possibility that the Comedy Store walls have some sort of bad juju lurking deep
18:15inside.
18:163.
18:17Scared to death
18:18There's harassment, and then there's what reportedly happened to Cindy James.
18:28The nurse claimed to be the victim of threatening phone calls, letters, and behavior for over
18:32seven years.
18:33So much so, she told friends that she feared she was going to be, quote, scared to death.
18:40Still, James' reluctance to reveal specific details about the case has raised suspicion
18:51about what exactly happened leading up to her death in 1989.
19:02The unsolved mystery's take on her tale raises more questions than answers about how
19:06she was bound, hand and foot, with a lethal dose of morphine found in her system.
19:11Yet, it's the evidence and mystery behind the death of Cindy James that continues to
19:15haunt our dreams every time we rewatch the episode.
19:182.
19:19The Son of Sam
19:21The name of this pic is probably a familiar one, even if you've never seen an episode
19:25of Unsolved Mysteries.
19:26David Berkowitz was known as the Son of Sam when he terrorized New York City during the
19:30late 70s, stalking and killing young couples who were parked out in cars late at night.
19:42Berkowitz, who also bore the moniker the 44-caliber killer, claimed satanic leanings in letters
19:48and confessed that he was driven to commit these heinous acts by a dog owned by his neighbor
19:52Sam.
19:53Serial killer stories are always uneasy listening, so it just goes to show that this episode
19:57of Unsolved Mysteries had us reaching for the nightlight when it was bedtime.
20:01Before we unveil our number one pick, here are some honorable mentions.
20:05The ATM Abduction of Matthew Chase
20:08Because crime can strike anywhere and at any time.
20:18The Connecticut River Valley Killer
20:20Will the truth ever come out?
20:31The Disappearance of Tara Calico
20:33A Kidnapping and a Grainy Polaroid
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21:05Shane Stewart, Sally McNally, and Satan
21:17Satanic panic refers to a period during the 1980s where moral outrage over the occult,
21:22heavy metal, and Dungeons and Dragons spilled over into accusations of satanic ritual abuse.
21:28Shane Stewart and Sally McNally were teenagers whose disappearance and violent deaths were
21:32attributed to their involvement in a local cult.
21:50Although today, satanic panic is largely seen as a reaction to Christian conservatism, misinformation,
21:56and paranoia.
21:57Those involved at the time seemed to be searching for something to blame for this tragic loss.
22:07A person of interest in the murders didn't emerge until 2017, when a Texas Sheriff's
22:12office named John Gilbreath as someone who possessed, quote, biological material associated
22:17with the case.
22:18Sometimes, reality is much scarier than anything associated with imagination or the devil.
22:23Do you agree with our picks?
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