Unsolved Mysteries From the Archives We Can't Forget

Voice from the Grave

(NBC)

This Unsolved Mystery is unique because it was eventually solved, but the way it was solved remains puzzling to series producer Terry Dunn Meurer and others involved with the series. In 1977, a woman named Teresita Basa, who worked as a respiratory therapist, was found murdered under a burnt mattress in her Chicago apartment. The only clue was a note she left for herself about getting theatre tickets for someone with the initials "A.S."

Five months later, one of Teresita's co-workers, Remibias Chua, started having dreams about the murder. While asleep, she would speak in Teresita's voice to her husband, claiming that the killer was a man named Allan Showery and that he took Basa's jewelry to give to his girlfriend. They decided to share this information with the police. Astonishingly, the detectives discovered that Showery did know Basa, and they found evidence that his girlfriend was indeed wearing her jewelry. When confronted with this evidence, Showery confessed to the crime. However, nobody could explain rationally how Chua had such detailed knowledge about the murder. The segment gained popularity, and in 1996, NBC turned it into a TV movie. Dunn Meurer told Vulture:

You can decide: Was Teresita’s friend possessed by her spirit? But the fact that she had the very, very specific information about Allan Showery, the jewelry, and how Teresita was murdered, I have to believe that she got that information somewhere. She was a co-worker, they didn’t even know each other that well, but it’s interesting that Teresita chose her to channel this information through. I love that Showery was so freaked out that he was like, ‘Yeah, I did it, I did it!’

Cheerleader Murder

(Investigation Discovery)

One of the most upsetting cases on Unsolved Mysteries is that of 15-year-old cheerleader Jessica Keen from Weinland Park, Ohio, who disappeared in 1991 before her body was discovered in a local cemetery two days later. Police were able to determine that Keen had been held hostage before she was assaulted, she then escaped before she was caught and assaulted again before she was beaten to death with a headstone. In 2008, the case was finally laid to rest when Marvin Lee Smith was busted for assaulting two women. When he was brought in by the police his DNA was a positive match for Jessica's murder.

Scared To Death

(twitter/myfavmurder)

In 1989, Cindy James was found dead near an abandoned house, her arms and legs bound behind her back, with a nylon stocking around her neck. The autopsy revealed that she died from a morphine overdose, and the police concluded it was a suicide. However, the circumstances leading up to her death were highly unusual.

For seven years before her disappearance, Cindy had reported being harassed and physically attacked by an unknown person. She received threatening notes and phone calls, found dead cats in her garden, had her phone wires cut, and experienced multiple assaults. One time, she was stabbed through the hand with a paring knife in her own home, and another time, she was found battered and suffering from hypothermia in a roadside ditch.

Despite these incidents, the police did not thoroughly investigate her home or search for evidence, and they dismissed her claims, suggesting she had made it all up. After her death, a doctor speculated that Cindy might have had multiple personalities, and one of these personalities could have been responsible for killing her. 

Dunn Meurer isn't sure what to think of this case, saying:

That she was tormented for seven years and ended up dead, this has always been a real puzzler. It’s really hard to believe that she could have taken the drugs, then also hogtied herself. I think we can rule out ‘accident.’

Son Of Sam

(getty images)

David Berkowitz, nicknamed 'The Son of Sam,' was a serial killer who killed six women and injured seven others in New York City during the late 1970s. He is now serving a life sentence for his crimes. However, even though the case seems straightforward, some people have doubts about the conclusions.

Certain discrepancies in eye-witness accounts have led some to question if Berkowitz acted alone, raising the possibility of other perpetrators. Additionally, some theories suggest he might have been involved with a Satanic cult.

Up in Smoke

(NBC)

The "Up in Smoke" segment of Unsolved Mysteries is about spontaneous human combustion, a mysterious phenomenon. It looks at three cases, two of which resulted in death. The third case involves Kay Fletcher, a woman who experienced her back emitting smoke with a burnt flesh smell one morning, but she was not injured. One expert suggests that spontaneous human combustion might occur due to internal electrical currents causing a spark that sets the body on fire, similar to a wick. However, there is also a skeptic who dismisses this idea as "crackpottery."

The Murder Of Richard Hanson

(film rise)

On April 29th, 1991, Richard Hanson, a resident of San Jose, was spending time with friends after a difficult divorce. Little did he know it would be his last night alive. As they left a bar, Hanson noticed his friend Jean being followed on the highway. Worried, he made the other driver pull over and confronted him. The man pointed to the back of Jean's car and then shot Hanson twice, killing him, before fleeing the scene.

Until now, the identity of the suspect and the motive behind the shooting remains unknown. One theory suggests that the man might have been angered by Jean's vanity plate, which read '49R HUGS,' referring to the San Francisco 49ers football team, and targeted her due to her team affiliation.

Hugh Harlin

(san luis obispo tribune)

Dian and Hugh Harland lived in Morro Bay, California, and their marriage faced challenges. Dian's excessive spending on her dogs strained their relationship, while Hugh struggled to support her on his modest fisherman's salary.

In 1982, Dian was found dead with a dog leash around her neck. Hugh was a suspect but was not charged. Then, on November 1st, 1986, Hugh disappeared during a trip to San Simian. His truck was found abandoned with his keys nearby. Some believe he fled to avoid being linked to his wife's murder, while others think he might have been kidnapped and killed by the same person who murdered Dian. Hugh was never seen again, and the case of his wife's murder remains unsolved.

Dreamy Disappearance

(NBC)

In 1981, a 20-year-old woman named Cindy Anderson started having frightening dreams about being kidnapped and killed. Then, one morning, she vanished without a trace and was never found. Before her disappearance, someone spray-painted "I love you Cindy — by GW" on a wall near her workplace at a legal office, but the culprit remained unknown to the police. The day before she went missing, Cindy received a distressing phone call that upset her, and a month later, an anonymous woman called the police claiming that Cindy was being held captive in a nearby house's basement but didn't provide any other information.

There are different theories about what might have happened to Cindy. Some people believe she might have known too much about a local drug ring connected to the legal firm where she worked, while others think she might have chosen to run away from her strict Christian family and start a new life elsewhere. The mystery surrounding her disappearance remains unsolved. Unsolved Mysteries producer Terry Dun Meurer said of the chilling case:

Just the fact that she predicted her disappearance, and we still don’t know where she is is, frightening. We were always questioning what the motive would be. Why Cindy? I don’t know, unless they knew her or it was a crime of opportunity like the Patrice Endres case in volume one. She was just working in her hair salon in the middle of the day, and in 13 minutes, somebody abducts her. Cindy could have experienced the same thing. It was very lucky in Patrice’s case that her remains were found so everyone knew she had died. I have a feeling that Cindy is not with us any longer. I think that if she had just run off, she would eventually either come home or been identified.

Rest Stop Killer

(NBC)

In 1991, Gordon and Jackie McAllister, a couple married for 39 years, were on vacation in their RV, and they stopped in Blind River, Ontario, for the night. At around one in the morning, a man claiming to be a police officer knocked on their door. When Jackie opened it, the man pulled out two guns and demanded their money and valuables. After she complied, he shot and killed Jackie. Gordon managed to escape from the RV, and the man chased after him.

At that moment, 29-year-old Brian Majors arrived at the same location, and the gunman also killed him. The attacker then fled in a blue van. Gordon was able to provide a description of the killer, and a composite image was created, but the man was never apprehended. It is suspected that the assailant might have been a police officer named Ronald West, who lived nearby. He owned a blue van and the same type of guns used in the murders. Ronald West was already convicted of other murder charges, but he never confessed to this particular crime. Dunn Meurer says:

This is one of those ‘not doing anything wrong’ [cases]. Anyone is kind of programmed that when a police officer shows up, you answer the door and interact with them. Unfortunately, these people did that and two of them were murdered. It’s scary that this guy is still out there. I don’t think they had any DNA in this case, so maybe he’s behind bars for some other crime and we don’t know it. This is another example of a random murder. That’s so scary.

The Lizzie Borden House

(wikimedia)

The Lizzie Borden House is the site of one of the most infamous unsolved murders in the world. Today, anyone can stay at the house as it's been turned into a charming bed and breakfast, but in season 11, episode 6 of Unsolved Mysteries it was revealed that this bed and breakfast may very well be a dead and breakfast.

Owner Martha McGinn explained that she lived in the Borden house as a child and believes that it's haunted by the ghosts of Borden's victims. Most of the paranormal activity happens in the downstairs area where Andrew Borden was murdered; McGinn believes that this crime led to the many bad vibes in the house. She tells the series that throughout her time in the home she's heard footsteps moving around the hallways, windows slamming shut, and she's even noticed what she believes to be a Victorian shadow person floating across the floor.

Lady in the Lake

(NBC)

In the 11th episode of Unsolved Mysteries season 15, titled "Lady in the Lake," JoAnn Romain vanished after attending a prayer service on a cold January night in 2010. Investigators concluded that she died by suicide, suggesting that she jumped into Michigan's icy Lake St. Clair.

At around 10 that night, the police found JoAnn's car parked near the church, which seemed unusual at that hour. Upon searching the car, they discovered her purse. Following footprints in the snow, they traced a path leading to Lake St. Clair. The police believed that Romain had sat down and lowered herself into the icy water from two ledges. Her body was found 70 days later at Boblo Island, along the Detroit River’s Canadian shoreline—35 miles away from where she was supposed to have entered the water. The authorities officially ruled her death as a suicide. However, the episode suggests that there are reasons to consider the possibility that she may have been murdered. But by who?

The Allagash Abductions

(film rise)

Four men, namely Jack Weiner, Jim Weiner, Chuck Rak, and Charlie Foltz, claim to have had a frightening encounter with aliens during a camping trip in 1976 in the Maine wilderness. They kept their experience private for years before finally deciding to share it publicly. Each of the men underwent polygraph tests and hypnosis to verify their accounts, and their stories have remained consistent and credible. Jack Weiner told Unsolved Mysteries:

I was starting to have nightmares, really terrible nightmares that I could not explain. I found myself in a very brightly lit room. I had no idea where I was or why I was there. To my left, I could see my brother Jim, Chuck Rak, and Charlie Foltz sitting on some type of bench, and they were all naked. I was wondering why they weren’t helping me, because I felt like I was in danger, and while I’m trying to figure this out, I notice this figure or a dark, shadowy-type figure emerging from this light– this bright light in front of me. I would wake up, uh, uh, sweating and breathing heavily and just in a– in a state of terror and shock.

In 1988, Jack’s twin brother Jim said he was also having nightmares.

In August 1976, four men were camping in Maine's Allagash wilderness for two weeks. The Allagash is a vast area in the northernmost part of the state. On the second night of their trip, Jim spotted a bright object in the sky. He explained:

It was just floating above the treetops, didn’t seem to be moving in any direction. And I looked at it through the binoculars for maybe 15 seconds, 30 seconds, and it suddenly just winked out from the outside edges inward. I mean, it literally just went whooht, like that, and it was gone. There was something about this thing that left me with an odd feeling that wasn’t quite right, but I really didn’t dwell on it.

As the men continued their journey through the Allagash wilderness, they decided to try night fishing on the fourth day. To mark their campsite, they built a bonfire. However, while they were out on the water, Chuck Rak was the first to notice they were not alone:

I had a feeling there was someone staring at me from behind me. I turned over my right shoulder like that, and I saw this large, round globe of light that looked exactly like what we had seen two nights previously.

The men all state that they were on the lake for about 20 minutes, but when they returned to shore their massive bonfire had burned down to the coals, it was as if they had been gone for hours. The men went home 10 days later, never again seeing the strange light. Rather than keep the story to themselves, the four men were open about their experience with the UFO, although no one really believed them.

Fowler suggested that the Allagash four should undergo hypnosis with a trained hypnotherapist to remember the details of their sighting. During hypnosis, each man had terrifying memories resurface, all very similar. Independently, they drew illustrations of their incredible recollections. All four claimed they were taken aboard the alien craft, where they were forced to undress for medical examinations. The aliens collected samples of their skin, body fluids, blood, urine, and semen. It was only after the hypnosis sessions that they realized they had recalled the same horrifying events. Each of them took polygraph tests and passed.

The Haunting On 37th Street

(film rise)

The Woods family in suburban Washington experienced unsettling spiritual activity in their home. After living there for seven months, they heard a mysterious music box sound at night but couldn't find its origin. Ed also had an encounter with something rattling his office doorknob. Soon, they started witnessing full-bodied apparitions, including a man resembling a riverboat gambler, a little girl named "Pinky," and the ghost of a woman wearing flannel pajamas.

The most disturbing spirit in the house appeared in the bathroom, touching people while they showered. Investigation revealed that the woman in flannel pajamas had once lived on the same block and passed away from cancer. A paranormal investigator discovered that the home was situated in an area with high electromagnetic pollution, which was likely causing the haunting. Despite the activity being aggressive, it was not deemed dangerous.

Ed Baker

(film rise)

In the 1980s, Ed Baker was a successful leader of an oil investment firm in Texas, making lots of money. But his gambling and extravagant spending caused financial problems, leading him to take money from his clients' accounts. When his investors asked for their money back in 1985, Ed couldn't repay them. To cover his losses, he borrowed money from people associated with the mob.

As he couldn't repay the loan, Ed received death threats. Afraid of possible imprisonment or worse, he disappeared on November 6, 1985. Two days later, his burnt-out Jaguar was found with charred remains in the front seat. The body couldn't be identified, but the police thought it might be Ed's. However, some believe he might have faked his death using a body double and is now living in another country.

The Chilling Story Of Audrey Santo

(littleaudreysantofoundation)

The Santos family, residing in Worchester, Massachusetts, went through a life-changing event when their young daughter, Audrey, almost drowned in their pool, leaving her with severe brain damage. After this incident, something unusual happened in their home - religious objects began producing oil.

As devout Catholics, the Santos family believed that Audrey had supernatural powers, and they claimed the oil possessed healing properties. While some questioned the authenticity of these events, the house became a destination for religious pilgrims. Tragically, Audrey Santos passed away in 2007 at the age of 23. Since then, many people have requested the Church to consider her for sainthood.

The Mysterious Death Of David Chase

(film rise)

The story of David Chase begins with a mysterious death. In 1995, after cashing a check and going to a bar with his friend Matt, David disappeared. Matt claimed David went for a swim in the snow-covered, icy river and was never seen again. Days later, David's body was found, appearing to have drowned, but the autopsy raised suspicions.

Months later, a private detective named Phil Harris approached David's girlfriend, Judi, claiming to have heard David's voice from beyond the grave, saying he was murdered. Harris shared details about how Matt supposedly killed him, but he tragically died of a heart attack before further investigation. The case remains unsolved.

Over the years, Judi has alleged that David was murdered to cover up negligence and trafficking in the child services department in their area. However, the truth may never be known, and David's voice has not been heard since.

The Black Hope Curse

(NBC)

In Season 12, episode 7 of Unsolved Mysteries, there's a terrifying story that resembles a horror movie. Sam and Judith Haney started building a swimming pool in their backyard when an elderly local man revealed that their home was once a makeshift burial ground called Black Hope Cemetery.

Sam continued digging, and he discovered the remains of multiple people, many of whom were once enslaved. They even found a couple's remains, still wearing their wedding rings. Frightened, the Haneys stopped digging, but the disturbance had already awakened the spirits.

Strange things started happening - plants decayed, chilling air pockets appeared, and neighbors witnessed malicious shadow figures. One neighbor tried to dig up more graves to prove the cemetery's existence to the city but had a massive heart attack during the act. The Haney family faced financial ruin due to court costs and eventually lost their home.

The Demonic Bunk Bed

(NBC)

Alan and Debby Tallman purchased a used bunk bed for their children, but it unintentionally brought a demonic presence into their lives for nine months. Initially, their kids kept falling sick without any clear cause, and their belongings seemed to move on their own. However, the most frightening incidents involved their youngest child.

Whenever their daughter slept in the bunk bed, she experienced horrifying visions of her room engulfed in flames, with a red-eyed witch lurking behind her door. Seeking help, the family sought guidance from their pastor, but instead of stopping the strange events, the supernatural occurrences increased. Doors would slam on their own during the night, and mysterious voices called out to them from outside.

When the red-eyed witch reappeared, the Tallmans decided to leave the house and eventually burned the bunk bed a few weeks later. After removing the bed, they were no longer troubled by supernatural experiences.

The Neighborly Ghost

(NBC)

In this segment of Unsolved Mysteries, we meet Heidi Wyrick, a young girl with a unique ability to see ghosts. Her encounters with the spirit world began when she saw the ghost of an old man named "Con," who appeared bloody and wrapped in bandages. Heidi talked to Con, but when she told her parents about it, they got scared.

Heidi's parents tried to find someone matching Con's description in their neighborhood, but they couldn't find anyone. Through research, they discovered a person named Lon Batchelor who lived in the neighborhood 20 years ago, and he matched the description of Con. Batchelor, along with another spirit, became regular visitors to their house, and they didn't cause any disturbances.

However, when Heidi's mother became pregnant, a new and ominous dark figure appeared. This new entity was not as friendly as Batchelor and his friend. After the baby was born, the dark figure started bothering Heidi, scratching her during the night.

As an adult, Heidi shared with Unsolved Mysteries that she continues to see spirits regularly, but the mysterious dark figure is the only one that has persisted since her childhood.

The Mann Family Haunting

(film rise)

In 1991, the Mann family in Lake Wales, FL, experienced a haunting. Their son Alan saw a ghostly woman in the house during the day, and his mother Linda noticed wisps of smoke near the couch. To investigate further, they used a Ouija board to communicate with the spirits.

During the Ouija session, they learned the ghost's name was "Kramer," but not everyone in the family believed it was a real haunting. However, things changed when Linda seemed to be possessed by a spirit one night and attacked her husband. She had no memory of the incident, which made it even more unsettling.

The haunting continued with strange incidents, including reports of lamps emitting fire, visits from paranormal investigators, and a mysterious smell lingering in the house. After a local minister came to visit, the strange occurrences stopped. Despite this, the Manns and others involved chose to leave the house permanently, leaving the haunting behind them.

House of Terror

(NBC)

The Unsolved Mysteries episode "House of Terror" suggests that Xavier Ronsin, a failed businessman, might have killed his family out of shame. His friend, Bruno De Stabenrath, talks about their upbringing in Versailles, where Ronsin took pride in his noble family heritage. In 2011, the Dupont family was living in Nantes on the French coast, seemingly leading a perfect life. However, things took a dark turn when Ronsin supposedly sent letters to friends, claiming he would be working for the US Drug Enforcement Agency and disappearing with his family. This raised suspicion, leading the Parisian police to investigate.

During the sixth visit to the Dupont home, they discovered the bodies of the entire family buried under the patio. The victims had been drugged and shot with a .22 long rifle. Strangely, Ronsin was nowhere to be found.

About three months before the family's tragedy, Ronsin inherited a .22 long rifle after his father's death and obtained a firearms license shortly after that. He also bought a silencer a month later. These facts pointed towards Ronsin as the primary suspect, but no blood evidence was found at the family home.

Unsolved Mysteries' revelation focuses on Ronsin's activities in the weeks following the murders. His credit card was used at various restaurants in southern France, and he was spotted carrying a large bag in Roquebrune-sur-Argens. It is implied that he might have taken a trip to familiar French locations before potentially committing suicide. However, the case remains unsolved.

Unknown Arsonist

(NBC)

In 1989, a father and son found a videotape in an abandoned camouflage jacket on the side of a road in Stockton, California. When they watched the tape at home, they saw footage of a burning house, and the person filming it was narrating the arson, expressing excitement about the flames and mentioning coyotes howling. The police investigated and discovered a ceramic skull near where the tape was found, leading them to suspect a possible connection to Satan worship.

After the Unsolved Mysteries episode aired, viewers called in with valuable information. They revealed that the fire actually occurred in 1988 in Redwood City, about 80 miles away from Stockton. Eventually, the police arrested two troubled teenagers in connection with the arson.

The Tatum House

(film rise)

In January 1986, Jim and Kay Tatum experienced something that they've never been able to explain. In season one of Unsolved Mysteries Kay said that she woke from a restless sleep and went to the bathroom, while inside she noticed a man walking past the door. At first she thought it was a burglar, but after waking her husband they believed that Kay had experienced a kind of waking dream.

Two months later, Jim was working in the attic with a drill before coming downstairs for dinner. Later that night the sound of the drill could be heard throughout the house even though it was unplugged. Kay tells the series:

I was really frightened and I reached down and felt it and it was ice cold. It had not been turned on.

One month later, Jim finally had a run in with the entity that put him on high alert. In a peculiar series of events, Jim found himself awake hours ahead of Kay. When she woke up, Kay would often  ring a bell to summon him if she needed assistance upstairs. However, one morning, he was startled by what he believed to be the sound of Kay ringing the bell. Upon reaching her, he discovered she was sound asleep. Perplexed, he investigated the bell, guessing that he had made up the sound.

This back and forth with the bell happened three times in a row so the couple devised a code to counter the mysterious phenomenon. According to their plan, three rings of the bell indicated Kay's call for him. In one morning instance, he distinctly heard the three rings. Yet, upon reaching the master bedroom, Kay was asleep, and the bell was inexplicably located in the adjacent room. As he exited, the bell rang once more, leaving the couple baffled by the unexplained disturbances. Jim told Unsolved Mysteries:

I was frightened. My hair stood up on my neck. I told Kay then, no more bell. I'm not going to answer that bell anymore, and that bell has not rung since.

The Tatums moved away, leaving the house to the entity.

Resurrection Mary

(film rise)

In January 1979, a Chicago cab driver picked up a female passenger at Resurrection Cemetery, where over 150,000 souls were buried. But before he could let her in, the woman mysteriously vanished. The cab driver had encountered Resurrection Mary, Chicago's most famous ghost. Local historian Richard Crowe told Unsolved Mysteries:

I think that of all the ghost stories worth believing in, Resurrection Mary is the one with the best documentation. The witnesses that I’ve found are remarkably level-headed. And they’re primarily blue collar, middle-class types who have steady jobs and who have no other major claims to psychic encounters in their lives.

In 1939, Jerry Palus met up with Resurrection Mary at a Chicago dance hall. He was entranced by this beautiful blonde woman and he offered her a ride home. He later said:

As we walked along to the street she says well you might as well take me down to Archer Road. And I said what for? I said you live up here where you told me. And she says no I want to go out to Archer Road.

He continue, claiming that he hit the brakes in front of Resurrection Cemetery, Mary got out of the car and vanished right in front of his eyes. The next day Jerry drove to the house where Mary claimed to live and met her mother - she told him that Mary had passed away five years prior.

Over the years, people have repeatedly reported seeing Resurrection Mary at various places like clubs, in taxis, and walking around the cemetery. Is she an urban legend? Or is there a ghost haunting the windy city?

The UFO 'Missing Time' Phenomenon

(film rise)

Unsolved Mysteries attempted to investigate UFO abductions, particularly cases where people experienced time skips while witnessing strange lights in the sky. In one episode, they interviewed Robert Matthews, a 19-year-old member of the Air Force, who saw a set of lights over Cape Cod, MA, while waiting for someone from the base to pick him up. After seeing the lights move, he called the base to inquire about the delay.

According to Matthews, the person he spoke to said they had sent a truck to pick him up, but nobody came. Strangely, his second call was made almost an hour and a half later, even though he perceived them as being just minutes apart. To add to the mystery, the driver who was dispatched to get Matthews confirmed that there was no one at the pickup site when they arrived.

The episode featured multiple abductees with similar stories, making for a truly eerie experience.

Friends To The End

(NBC)

In 1987, two teenagers named Kevin Ives and Don Henry went hunting one night in Bryant, Arkansas and were tragically run over by a cargo train. Initially, authorities considered it a suicide, claiming the boys were in a drug-induced state after smoking 20 joints and laid down on the tracks together. However, their families fought to reopen the case, and the truth was revealed.

Upon reexamination, it was found that while the boys had smoked a small amount of marijuana, one of them was already dead from stab wounds, and the other was unconscious from a blow to the head when the train hit them. Moreover, someone had placed a green tarp over their bodies, likely to hide them from the train engineer's view and prevent the train from stopping in time.

The cause of death was changed to murder, but despite the investigation, the case was closed in 1995 without any arrests made. Some believe the boys might have encountered individuals involved in a meth-dealing ring, and there are suspicions that the police might have been somehow involved, leading to a poorly handled investigation.

The Mysterious Death of Jane Doe

(amazon prime)

In 1987, coroner Cullen Ellingburgh received a call to investigate the case of a woman found at the bottom of a cliff in California. The woman was in her mid-20s and had fallen to her death during the night, hours before she was discovered. The last person to see her alive was a cab driver, whom she had asked to take her as far as her money would allow.

The identity of the woman remained a mystery for 26 years, haunting the coroner. Eventually, DNA testing confirmed that the remains belonged to 21-year-old Holly Jo Glynn, and her cause of death was determined to be suicide.

Halloween Party Death

(cleveland 19)

In 1981, a 17-year-old named Kurt Sova vanished after attending a Halloween party in a Cleveland suburb. Initially, the party's host denied its occurrence, but it was later confirmed, revealing that Kurt, who was not known to drink, had consumed a large amount of Everclear grain alcohol. Despite his parents' five-day search, Kurt's body was eventually found barefoot in a nearby ravine, a place his father had previously searched.

Adding to the mystery, a stranger saw a flyer about Kurt in a record shop and told the clerk that the search was pointless, as the boy would be found dead soon. Strangely, despite Kurt being missing for five days, the coroner determined that he had died only 24 to 36 hours before being discovered.

The following year, a 13-year-old boy who knew Kurt was also found dead in a ravine, and his shoes were missing. However, this case, too, remains unsolved.

Dunn Meurer says of this case:

On a case like this one, somebody knows... This story reminds me of the Alonzo Brooks case, where a young man goes to a party, suddenly he disappears, and then his body is found in an area where they’d already searched. You hope somebody will come forward, somebody who was at the party, who saw something, maybe somebody who’s more mature now and just has to get this off their chest. That’s what you can hope for in terms of getting this case solved.