Unsolved Mysteries
I'm still working on the book "The Cases that Haunt Us" by John Douglas but what is really haunting are the re-runs of "Unsolved Mysteries". Now that I am on vacation, I have been able to watch a couple of them on Lifetime. What the channel (famous for running movies about battered wives and other such sorrows) did was re-run the shows with new updates that include voice-overs by original host Robert Stack. If a mystery remains unsolved, they no longer run the show's old phone number but a P.O. box one can write to with leads.
I have to say, it's quite depressing. I feel that just like the "Jack the Ripper" Whitechapel murders, some of these cases will remain a mystery. One case involved the murder of two little boys. They used to play cops-and-robbers by this old shack and one day it was found burning and their bodies were inside. A fireman noticed a piece of plywood that had a burned-in circle nearby and surmised it was used to keep the helpless boys locked inside. The case was ruled an accident and the boys said to be playing with matches and gasoline but it was plain to see they were too old and therefore too wise to not just bust out of the shack once it caught fire! Instead, the fireman and one of the boys' moms could smell foul play. It turns out there were several eye witnesses who saw two men holding the door closed and one even saw more- he saw the boys being pushed in. Those who saw what they saw were not believed because they had criminal pasts of their own, but most were young so I gather their pasts were not too horrible so as not to take their story seriously. It seems a cover-up was involved.
Another case was about a woman who dissappeared following the murder of her married lover. Apparently, they used to steal away amorous encounters in his car by the Louisiana bayou and there he was found slumped over dead of a shotgun blast to the head. Her clothes were found which meant if she took off and left on her own she was only wearing a bra and slip. The story, because of his being married, became a scandal. But it was soon forgotten until twenty years later when a woman claimed her surly and mean father confessed as he was about to die. Only, he claimed his equally surly and gun-toting wife did the killing and did it inside their house and he just helped dispose of the bodies. A cop who investigated the crime on his own time feels what really happened was he saw the couple in the car making love and shot the man then pursued the woman. His house was less than a mile away. God only knows what he did to and with her. She was a single mom and her daughter wants closure but if she didn't get it in the 80s and 90s I doubt she will now.
Other cases involve government conspiracies and simple missing person cases that can easily be explained except there is no body. Like that of an older man who was a Baptist minister and never picked up his wife of sixty-seven years at the bus depot. It seems he probably had a mild stroke and became disoriented because he was seen by a store clerk in a different town and first seemed normal but then started to become upset and mentioned not being able to find his wife. His car was found but he probably died in the woods.
One final case I'll mention: A man was looking for his son after the ex-wife refused him visitations and he got a court order for full custody. The update said the ex-wife was found but by then (1999) his son had died at eighteen of lukemia. Very sad.
I have to say, it's quite depressing. I feel that just like the "Jack the Ripper" Whitechapel murders, some of these cases will remain a mystery. One case involved the murder of two little boys. They used to play cops-and-robbers by this old shack and one day it was found burning and their bodies were inside. A fireman noticed a piece of plywood that had a burned-in circle nearby and surmised it was used to keep the helpless boys locked inside. The case was ruled an accident and the boys said to be playing with matches and gasoline but it was plain to see they were too old and therefore too wise to not just bust out of the shack once it caught fire! Instead, the fireman and one of the boys' moms could smell foul play. It turns out there were several eye witnesses who saw two men holding the door closed and one even saw more- he saw the boys being pushed in. Those who saw what they saw were not believed because they had criminal pasts of their own, but most were young so I gather their pasts were not too horrible so as not to take their story seriously. It seems a cover-up was involved.
Another case was about a woman who dissappeared following the murder of her married lover. Apparently, they used to steal away amorous encounters in his car by the Louisiana bayou and there he was found slumped over dead of a shotgun blast to the head. Her clothes were found which meant if she took off and left on her own she was only wearing a bra and slip. The story, because of his being married, became a scandal. But it was soon forgotten until twenty years later when a woman claimed her surly and mean father confessed as he was about to die. Only, he claimed his equally surly and gun-toting wife did the killing and did it inside their house and he just helped dispose of the bodies. A cop who investigated the crime on his own time feels what really happened was he saw the couple in the car making love and shot the man then pursued the woman. His house was less than a mile away. God only knows what he did to and with her. She was a single mom and her daughter wants closure but if she didn't get it in the 80s and 90s I doubt she will now.
Other cases involve government conspiracies and simple missing person cases that can easily be explained except there is no body. Like that of an older man who was a Baptist minister and never picked up his wife of sixty-seven years at the bus depot. It seems he probably had a mild stroke and became disoriented because he was seen by a store clerk in a different town and first seemed normal but then started to become upset and mentioned not being able to find his wife. His car was found but he probably died in the woods.
One final case I'll mention: A man was looking for his son after the ex-wife refused him visitations and he got a court order for full custody. The update said the ex-wife was found but by then (1999) his son had died at eighteen of lukemia. Very sad.
posted by Spleengrrl @ 4:38 PM
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