All language subtitles for unsolved.mysteries.behind.the.legacy.2023.1080p.web.h264-cbfm_track3_[eng]

For every mystery,
there is someone

somewhere who knows the truth.

Perhaps that
someone is watching.

Perhaps it's you.

[eerie music]

[phone ringing]

Hello?

STUART SCHWARTZ:
"Unsolved Mysteries"

was really the first
program that combined

mysteries genres into one.

We were true crime, yes.

But we were also
unexplained phenomenon.

We were also lost love.

We were also missing persons.

"Unsolved" was really unique.

And there was really, at
the time we were doing it,

nothing like it on television.

We were basically
creating a new format.

When the series
started, I certainly

didn't think that it was going
to last as long as it did.

And I don't think
anybody thought it would.

I think everybody kind of went,
maybe a year, maybe two years,

and then that'll be it.

Suddenly, "Unsolved"
was a big hit.

The audience really
liked "Unsolved Mysteries."

First of all, it
was about a mystery.

Mystery shows have
done well on TV.

If you look at the schedule,
there's always a bunch of 'em.

And these are
unsolved true stories,

which makes that even better.

Over the years, it's
been amazing to see

that "Unsolved Mysteries"
has become a household name.

Before the series,
you would hear people

say, well, that's a mystery.

But now, more often than
not, I hear them say, well,

that's an unsolved mystery.

[eerie music]

CHRISTINE LENIG:
It was so unique.

It was the first show of
its kind that, you know,

really engaged the
audience as part

of the storytelling process.

And it's what really
fueled the success.

Because the fans would help
solve the case, and then

we would do updates.

And they'd come back for more.

The show was so talkable.

Audiences watch it at night.

And then, the next
day, they'd want

to talk about what happened.

So it just became really,
like, water cooler TV.

[fireworks exploding]

By the time we
got to season four,

our ratings were really good.

We were typically-- it's
certainly in the top 20 shows

most weeks.

Many weeks, we're in the top 10.

And we really had momentum.

JOHN JOSEPH: I think
what's interesting is

that this show set the stage.

It set a certain
kind of standard

and a certain trend
in television,

and it changed the parameters.

Because at that time, people
weren't doing shows like this.

And it really--

I think that's why people
still like the show today

because it was unique.

And it was kind of,
like-- had its own style.

And people really
respond to that.

You know, you're making
something out of nothing.

Well, it's something to me.

[music playing]

The thing that sparked
"Unsolved Mysteries"

as a series was really
a series of specials

that John and Terry
had done for NBC called

"Missing, Have You
Seen This Person?"

People started to figure
out, well, wait a second.

We can do all sorts of stories
that are mysteries that

will fall under the
umbrella of a show

called "Unsolved Mysteries."

When we launched the weekly
series in October of 1988,

we had already produced seven
"Unsolved Mysteries Specials"

that NBC had put in different
places all over their schedule.

And they didn't give
us any promotion.

They didn't give
us any publicity.

We were just kind of
being tested out, I think,

because they wanted to
see if the audience would

be interested enough in the
show to try and find us.

The very first specials
surprised the heck

out of everybody because
they did really well.

Every week, we'll be bringing
you the most intriguing stories

from across the country.

JOHN COSGROVE: I think,
when we went to series,

people were really stunned.

The whole Hollywood community,
nobody had heard of us.

They called up and
said, um, "Unsolved

Mysteries," who are you guys?

[music playing]

TERRY DUNN MEURER: I really
didn't know if the series

would be a success or not.

I wasn't sure if
the audience would

come back each
week to see stories

that didn't even have endings.

These are unsolved cases.

But then what we started
to see was that the show

actually created endings.

And the audience was
coming back to see

what cases have been
solved or if there

were any updates for the cases.

And it all just
took off from there.

[music playing]

What are you afraid of?

The dark?

Flying?

Heights?

JOHN COSGROVE: Bob Stack
was an ideal choice

for "Unsolved Mysteries."

He had that deep,
gravelly voice.

He had gravitas, that feeling
of whatever he says is true.

He was legendary.

You're on a dark, lonely road.

The shadows seem
to reach for you.

That voice was just so
perfect at telling the stories,

getting people involved.

And also, I think people
really liked him as a person

because he was a
very likable guy.

And he was a Hollywood icon.

Join me on Wednesday
for our next edition

of "Unsolved Mysteries."

SHANNON MCGINN: We shot
a lot of his stand ups

on location and oftentimes
at night to make it creepier,

and with the fog
and the trench coat.

CREW: Clear the umbrella.

SHANNON MCGINN: And sometimes
it was cold and damp out.

But he was a real trooper.

He never complained once.

Join me for this intriguing
new mystery as well as

these fascinating cases.

CREW: Cut.

Please join me.

JOHN JOSEPH: Working with
Bob Stack, as a director,

was always a pleasure because
he was so easy to work with,

and he obviously knew
how to hit his mark

and say his lines
like a super pro.

We did have one
time, though, that we

had-- ran into some problems.

I know, sweetheart.
I know.

I know.
I know.

I know.
I know.

I know.

JOHN JOSEPH: We had this scene
where Bob had to hold a dog.

And no matter how we
had him hold the dog,

the dog was squirming, and
Bob Stack was having trouble.

And he was kind of
swearing under his breath.

At the beginning, he was
trying to be a trooper

and get through it.

But after a while, he says,
I can't hold this dog.

I'm sorry.

[laughs]

CREW: Beautiful.

Other than that, how'd you
like the show, Mrs. Lincoln?

[music playing]

Whenever I'm talking about
"Unsolved Mysteries," one

of the questions
that people always

ask me is, how did
you ever find all

the stories that you produced?

ROBERT STACK: When we
return, a cold-blooded killer

strikes at a scenic restaurant
in the Canadian wilderness.

SHANNON MCGINN: It's hard for
people to remember the tools

that we had back
in the late '80s

and '90s were so different
in making television.

The research was a lot
more difficult in finding

stories back in the day.

A lot of times, cold calling.

We would just call
up police stations,

and we would call
up local newspaper.

And we would just ask if there
were stories that they had.

STACY SCHNEIDER: We divided
up the country state by state

and made contacts
in those states.

And when we'd hear
of a good story,

we'd call our contacts to
help us flash them out.

We weren't just looking
for unsolved murders

and missing persons
and wanted fugitives.

We wanted any kind of story
imaginable-- missing heirs,

treasure, lost loves, UFOs,
even legendary creatures

like Bigfoot.

We had over 20 different
categories of mysteries.

I think one of the
most popular UFO stories

we did was about three
people who were driving

down a highway in Texas.

It was at night.

Mama, what's that light?

CHRISTINE LENIG: And they see
this big light in the sky.

I don't know.

It's awful bright.

Is that an airplane?

CHRISTINE LENIG: It's kind
of shaped like a diamond.

They get out of the
car to investigate,

and this heat is
radiating from this UFO.

WOMAN: And I stood there,
looking up to try to figure

out what this object was.

Mama, I'm sick.

TERRY DUNN MEURER:
After this happened,

these three people
found radiation

burns on their bodies, and
they were totally traumatized.

The military said nothing
strange had happened

in the area that night.

But you know something
happened to those people.

On one, you're there.

[explosion]

One of my favorite
stories was about a man

who claimed he was reincarnated
from a World War II submariner

who had died during the war.

MAN: I was in my bunk
when the attack happened.

SHANNON MCGINN: The fact
that he had all these details

about what had happened
on the submarine

down to what he was wearing,
where he was in the submarine

and that we were
able to fact check

with the actual
story of this man.

ROBERT STACK: With each
session, more details

emerged, details that
appeared to come from the life

of James Edward Johnston.

I still can't
understand how someone--

this is before the
internet-- could

have such specific
details and information

about another person's
life who they never

knew and had died years before.

You just cannot
make this stuff up.

MAN: Here, Joe.

Found it buried in
your front yard.

Look at 'em, Joe.

Back in the days before
there was an internet,

the way we would find stories
was through a clipping service.

And what they did was they
sent newspapers to people

all over the
country whose job it

was to go through those
papers, local newspapers,

find stories in the
categories that we

sent them, and literally cut
those out of the newspaper,

and send them to us.

And when you hit
paydirt, when you

found a clipping
with a great story,

there was nothing like it.

You would get goosebumps.

One of the most
dramatic stories that we

did was the story
of a young woman--

her name was Angela Hammond--

who was abducted
from a phone booth

while she was talking
to her fiancee.

While we were
talking on the phone,

she mentioned to
me about a truck

circling around the
block, an older model

green Ford pickup truck.

--pickup truck.

They keep circling
around the block.

BOYFRIEND [ON PHONE]: Do
you recognize the truck?

No.

BOYFRIEND [ON PHONE]: He's
probably not from around here.

Maybe he's just lost.

ANGELA [ON PHONE]: I guess so.

Anyway, do you still want
to go to the lake this week?

ROBERT STACK: Angie remained
unconcerned, until the truck

parked next to the phone booth.

Uh, Rob, he's pulling
up next to the phones.

BOYFRIEND [ON PHONE]:
What's the driver look like?

TERRY DUNN MEURER: And she
gave a description of the guy.

And she gave a
description of the truck.

Mustache, beard, and glasses,
and he's wearing overalls.

Maybe I should
come down there.

Oh, Rob, no.

I'm sure it's OK.

And that's when I heard
a scream on the phone.

[angela screaming]

TERRY DUNN MEURER: The
fiancee is on the phone.

He rushes to get to
this parking lot,

and he sees the
truck driving away.

His car breaks down, actually.

And he watches his girlfriend
being abducted and driving off.

And she's never been found.

We received a lot of tips
for the Angela Hammond story

because the fans really locked
into this really unique clue,

which was there was this fish
decal on the back of the truck

that the abductor had.

And even to this day,
they're still out there

looking for her and the
truck because the story

is still unsolved.

TERRY DUNN MEURER: I think
the audience really related

to Angela's terror and to
her fiancee's desperation

to try and save her.

It was a sad story.

There are certain
things that we learned

to look for that would make
a story really engaging

and resonant for viewers.

One of those things
is twists and turns.

So we would look
for the unusual.

We look for the emotional.

We would look for the relatable.

Our viewers could
really identify

with the people in our
stories because they

were just like them.

And so I think that
was a really powerful

part of the appeal of the show.

ROBERT STACK: The Wackers
are quiet, unassuming people

who tend to mind
their own business.

Bill.

ROBERT STACK: Hardly
the type to draw

the wrath of an unseen enemy.

TERRY DUNN MEURER: One of the
more popular stories we did

was about a married couple that
was being absolutely terrorized

by anonymous phone calls--

Hello?

TERRY DUNN MEURER:
--threatening notes,

and even violent attacks.

And I think that what
the viewers responded to

in that story was the fear
that this couple felt,

knowing that they
were being watched

and never knowing when
their assailant was

going to strike again.

[muffled screaming]

As the show became more popular,
we started getting huge piles

of mail from viewers.

Some of it was fan
mail for Robert Stack.

But a lot of the letters
were from viewers wanting

us to feature their stories.

I actually think the majority
of the stories we produced

were submitted by "Unsolved
Mysteries" viewers.

ROBERT STACK: Eight
years ago, the mill town

of East Millinocket,
Maine was safe and secure,

the last place you'd expect
a brutal murder to occur.

TERRY DUNN MEURER:
We did a story

called "Maine Petition," which
took place in a small town.

And it's one of those stories
that we might not have done,

it might not have come to the
attention of the researchers

if the people in the town
hadn't sent in a petition--

I think it was
6,000 signatures--

asking us to do this story.

MAN: I saw Joyce.

She wasn't moving.

Her body looked like
it had been beaten.

TERRY DUNN MEURER: And that
case was eventually solved.

Joyce's killer was identified.

[music playing]

[eerie music]

GIRL: Please.

One of the things
we've set out

to do from the
very beginning was

to find stories that had a
scary or creepy element to them

because, let's face it,
people do like to be scared.

You're about to have the
rare and disturbing opportunity

to go inside the
mind of an arsonist.

JOHN JOSEPH: There
was this one story

we did called "Unknown
Arsonist," where a guy found

a jacket on the side of a road.

There was a videotape
in the jacket, pulled

out the videotape, played it.

JOHN JOSEPH: The person
who had set the fire

was narrating the tape.

Like, he was watching
the fire happen

and narrating it
at the same time.

It was very creepy.

JOHN JOSEPH: Once
we aired the show,

I think a thousand tips came in.

And the police
ended up solving it.

And it turned out to be
two juveniles that had set,

like, 25 other fires.

I think one of the most
incredible paranormal stories

we produced was about a nurse
by the name of Teresita Basa.

ROBERT STACK: Initially, the
apartment seemed unoccupied.

But soon, the firemen
made a grim discovery.

TERRY DUNN MEURER:
Teresita was brutally

murdered in her
apartment in Chicago,

and there were no suspects.

Police were at a total dead end.

A Chicago couple claimed that
the victim Teresita Basa had

named her own killer
after she was murdered,

speaking to them from
beyond the grave.

TERRY DUNN MEURER: A woman
that Teresita used to work with

started going into
trances, and she would

speak in the voice of Teresita.

You must go to the police.

The police cannot
find my killer.

Tell them his name
is Allan Showery.

TERRY DUNN MEURER:
And she actually

named Teresita's killer.

And it turned out she was right.

Allan Showery was his name.

And he was arrested.

And he was so freaked out by
how police were able to track

him down that he confessed
to Teresita's murder

in the courtroom.

That is one story I
will always remember.

[music playing]

[eerie music]

JOHN COSGROVE: When you talk
about "Unsolved Mysteries,"

one of the key
factors is the music.

It scared the heck
out of people.

We get letters from people
who say, it's been 30 years,

and I'm still scared by the
"Unsolved Mysteries" music.

It is a key part of
the show because it

sets up the atmosphere of
weirdness and scariness.

We love to go to scary movies,
and "Unsolved Mysteries" is

able to tap into that feeling.

What's surprising to me is, 35
years later, when people either

hear "Unsolved Mysteries"
they go, oh, my god,

that theme song.

Or if they hear the theme
song, they go, oh, my god.

I remember that.

You know, I remember
climbing under the couch.

That music scared me so much.

I think that combination
of that music and Robert

Stack's voice were key elements
on why the show was so popular.

[music playing]

TERRY DUNN MEURER: When we
first produced the "Unsolved

Mysteries Specials," John and I
were on location all the time.

But once the series
began, we were just

too busy to go out on the road.

So all the series producers
and the series directors

got to go out.

And they got to
have all the fun.

And they came home with some
great stories about production.

One of the best things
of "Unsolved Mysteries"

was that we shot on location, in
the places with the people that

were involved in that mystery.

And for some places,
it was the first time

they'd ever seen a TV film
crew come into their town.

And they would just
roll the red carpet out.

We'd be on local news.

I mean, it's kind of hysterical
to think today, with all

the reality television.

But those days, it was very
unusual sometimes for places

that we went to.

And everybody
could not have been

more friendly, more helpful.

And I think that helped a lot in
solving a lot of the mysteries.

TERRY DUNN MEURER:
Law enforcement

agencies in the smaller towns
were incredibly helpful.

They'd give us
helicopter support.

And they would give us
vehicles and actual officers

for our recreations.

I mean, they would close
off highways for us.

But it was always
a little bit risky.

I remember one shoot.

We probably had the entire
police department helping

us recreate a crime
scene, and we were

just about to start shooting.

And they got called
to a real crime scene.

And the crew was
left just standing

there with nothing to film.

But they eventually
came back, and we

eventually got our scenes.

[music playing]

Hi, I'm Shane's dad.

Do you remember me?

Mr. Stewart.

When you go to
the small town, you

can't get actors
because you're far away

sometimes from a major city.

And you do want to work
with the real people.

Excuse me.

Where are you from?

I'm from Brooklyn.

That's what I
thought you said.

What section?
- Bed-Stuy.

What we found is that-- it
got tricky because when it was

an emotional story or something
with a murder or somebody died,

the family, like, it almost
bring them to tears sometimes.

It was really hard to watch.

Well, we've just completed all
the tests on your little girl,

and I'm afraid the
results confirm

that she's going to need a
complete blood transfusion.

SHANNON MCGINN:
A lot of times we

had to cast people that
weren't necessarily actors

or certainly not good actors.

So we had people
who are overacting,

people who are under
acting, and people

who are not acting at all.

Sometimes people would
even play themselves,

and that was always
a problem too

because they'd be so nervous.

And, you know, it
was really tough.

The directors had a big
challenge a lot of times,

working with the actors.

- Well, I know her a little bit.
- Oh, good.

Would you like to come
down to the station

and give a statement?

Well, if my mama
can come with me.

We would go into a
small town to do a story,

and we would cast,
quote, unquote, "actors."

And they would all come
from small theater groups.

It's good to see you.

Who the hell is Fifi?

DAVID VASSAR: And so "Unsolved"
was America's little theater.

WOMAN: Yeah, there was no reason
for you to upset Ida like that.

That was totally
uncalled for, Wendy.

She loves that little boy.

I love him too.

That's why I want to
spend more time with you.

You get enough time
to spend with him.

But he needs me.
He needs--

ROBERT WISE: The casting
process is always

very interesting problem.

What was most
important for us was

that the actors looked
like the real people,

so the audience
wouldn't get confused.

And their ability to act
wasn't nearly as important.

One time, we did a story about
a fugitive who was on the lam,

and we cast a guy who
looked exactly like him.

The show aired, and someone
called in that the fugitive

was eating at a restaurant.

So they sent the police
over, and they arrested him.

But it was the actor,
not the fugitive.

So after that, we decided
to start giving the actors who

played bad guys a card
they could carry around

with them to prove
to law enforcement

that if they were ever arrested,
that they were just an actor

and they were not
a wanted fugitive.

JOHN JOSEPH: We did
have one time, though,

that we had to
cast a scene where

these two guys robbed somebody.

And we're calling people
in to, you know, audition.

And so we'd have them do
a little quick improv.

So these two guys come in,
and they do the improv.

And they scared
everybody in the room.

They, like, did the
perfect robbery.

They, like,
strong-armed the person.

They gave him a look and--

you know, we're all
like, oh, my god.

How did-- so I asked them.

I said, how come you--

what do you guys really do?

And they go, oh,
we're really robbers.

That's what we do.

So they got the part.

TERRY DUNN MEURER: When
the actors didn't match

the real people quite as
well as we needed them to,

we would use makeup and wigs
to help create a better match.

And some of those
wigs and mustaches

actually made matters
worse, I think.

They-- looking back on
some of those recreations,

they were just too funny.

There's actually an Instagram
account called Wigs of Unsolved

that one of our
fans put together,

and it's dedicated to the
ridiculous-looking wigs

of "Unsolved Mysteries."

Don't stop, Holly.

Just keep going.

SHANNON MCGINN: Another
funny part about the actors

is-- we would come into town,
and we would do local casting.

And any time we
would ask an actor

if they could do something,
like drive a stick shift car

or ride a horse or
swim or drive a boat,

they would always say yes.

So we did a story
once about a couple,

and they were horse riders.

And so when we cast
the lookalike actor,

asked him if he rode a horse.

Oh, yeah, I grew up on horses.

I've ridden officers
all my life.

We hired these two.

They got him up on a
horse, and they were

riding alongside of the road.

It's supposed to be
a nice, romantic ride

together to establish
their love relationship.

And the horse
just takes off, just

galloping away from the set.

Fast.

And you could see he had no
idea how to control this horse.

He was hanging on for dear life.

Luckily, the woman
was a good horsewoman,

and she was able to
catch up to his horse,

stop the horse before he fell
off and really hurt himself.

Needless to say, there were
no horse riding scenes with him

after.

Have you got the note?

What note?

The note from
the parking garage.

STUART SCHWARTZ:
For the most part,

the actors in our recreations
were actors who were just

starting out in their careers.

But sometimes some
of those actors

would actually
become really famous.

TERRY DUNN MEURER:
Daniel Dae Kim

was one actor who was
cast on "Unsolved."

He played the relative
of a murder victim.

[speaking korean]

TERRY DUNN MEURER:
And Cheryl Hines too.

She played the mother
of a child who was

almost murdered by her nanny.

DOCTOR: Can you tell
me how this happened?

I-- I-- she apparently
had some sort of seizure

and fell and hit her head.

How far was the fall?

MOM: It wasn't far.

She just fell on the floor.

I don't know.

I wasn't there.

She was with the nanny.

STUART SCHWARTZ: Perhaps the
most famous of those actors

was Matthew McConaughey.
- I want talk to him.

All right, honey.
Honey, look.

STUART SCHWARTZ:
Who played a murder

victim in one of our stories.

And we all still laugh because
the episode was shot in Texas,

before Matthew even moved to LA.

And it was in the
summer, and it was hot.

So the director told
Matthew he could take

his shirt off for the scene
where the character was

mowing the lawn.

Now Matthew McConaughey
is very famous

for his shirtless scenes.

Give me the keys!

No!

Tell him to give me the keys.

MOM: Don't give him the keys.

Tell him to give me the keys.

If you don't leave,
I'll call the police.

STUART SCHWARTZ: And Matthew
McConaughey had to do

a fairly robust death scene.

He was working in his garage,
and he was shot by a man

who pulled up with a shotgun.

ROBERT STACK: Larry had been
shot four times in the chest

and once in the head
with a .22 pistol.

STUART SCHWARTZ: Let's
just say that his acting

has come a long way since then.

And in fact, he did an
appearance on "The Tonight

Show," and he referred to the
"Unsolved Mysteries" story

in that segment as his first
big break in Hollywood.

[music playing]

It was a big challenge
making TV in those days.

I remember when computers
came out, and you had--

its own suitcase, lugging it
around and the first Motorola

cell phones that were this
brick that we were so excited

that we could call from set.

And we also shot on film, which
requires so much more lighting.

Sometimes, on a night shoot, you
would spend the first six hours

lighting, and then you'd
have the other half a day

to do the shooting.

And now you put up one light,
and you're ready to go.

I think the hardest part of
producing "Unsolved Mysteries"

was that essentially,
we were shooting

a mini movie in four or
five days with actors

and costumes and vehicles.

RAYMOND BRIDGERS: There
were a lot of challenges

on the production.

And sometimes you'd end
up with huge set pieces

because it'd be a big crime or
some kind of event happening.

And a lot of the
directors, we came

from the documentary
world, where

we were used to sitting back and
just recording and documenting

what was going on.

Suddenly, we've got actors.

We've got props.

We've got period pieces.

I think it really spurred
the creativity because John

and Terry weren't telling
us-- they weren't saying,

no, don't do this, don't do
that, do things this way.

They were saying, just
go out there and get us

a great story because
we trust your judgment.

I think one of the
most memorable stories

that I directed was a
story called "KC Blast."

It was a story about
six firefighters

who died while fighting a
fire at a construction site.

DISPATCHER: Pump for 30 to 97.

So as a director, I had to
try to find a way to recreate

this moment, so
the audience really

feels that what the
firefighters were up against

and the tragedy
of what happened.

So we try to make it
as real as we could.

We exploded it.

And we brought in
some dummies and put

them in firefighter suits.

There's shots where
you see what looks

like firefighters getting blown
away literally by the fire.

I felt like we really were
able to capture that moment

and how tragic this
event really was.

DISPATCHER: Pumper
41 or Pumper 30.

Pumper 41 or Pumper 30.

For some reason,
this one really

hit home for me because
these were firefighters.

They're just doing their
job trying to save property

and they died in the process.

Obviously, it was
hard for us as a crew

to hear those kinds of stories.

Look at this.

DAD: What do you got?

There's some weird tracks.

BEN STASSEN: One of the most
memorable stories from Unsolved

was "Bigfoot."

We rented the Harry and the
Hendersons Bigfoot costume,

and we hired the 6 foot 7 inch
actor to wear the costume.

And he was a rather
foreboding figure.

One of the sightings
in the Bigfoot story

took place outside
of a bar at 2:00

in the morning when
the crowd came out.

We're set up and we're
filming and we're filming

and we're filming
and the bar closes.

And a half a dozen patrons
come out of the bar,

clearly, they'd been
imbibing most of the evening,

and the Bigfoot goes by.

A couple of people scream,
and one of the guys

actually jumped off the
curb and chased the Bigfoot.

The entire crew lost it.

Everybody broke up because
it was just hysterical.

It was one of the best
moments in the 14 years

I worked for the show.

On March 1st at
exactly 7:27 PM,

tragedy struck the West
End Baptist Church.

JOHN COSGROVE: There was a story
we did called the "Lucky Choir"

and it was a story about a
church that had an explosion,

a gas heater went.

SHANNON MCGINN: All 10 to 12
people showed up late that day.

So it blew up and there was
nobody inside the church.

We found a little abandoned
church in the state

where this had
happened and they were

going to let us blow it up.

JOHN COSGROVE: We hired
a special effects fellow.

And the director said
don't go too far,

we don't want to rattle the
windows in the neighborhood.

He completely
overdid the amount

of dynamite and explosives
inside the church.

JOHN COSGROVE: Boom.

Boom.

It was a huge explosion.

It didn't rattle the windows.

It broke windows for about
five or six blocks all around.

SHANNON MCGINN: And also
not only did it explode,

but all these pieces of wood
started flying and hitting

the hut, and the producer
almost got stabbed by a piece

of wood coming through.

So I guess it was
a second miracle

that nobody was injured.

ROBERT STACK: The story
began with a violent storm

on July 2nd 1947.

RAYMOND BRIDGERS: As a director,
probably my best memory

is the "Roswell" UFO story.

We built a two scale
replica of the flying saucer

that someone claimed to
have seen crashed in a gully

in New Mexico.

We created alien beings
based on eyewitness accounts.

That's really the
first time that I

felt like I was making a movie.

BEN STASSEN: One of
the strangest stories

that I ever directed was
a story called "Rainboy."

This guy was possessed
and he had the capacity

to make it rain inside.

If you're going to have it
rain inside, you have to have

what's called a wet set,
which means that you build

the set at a 30-degree
angle, so all

the water runs off into a
trough that is then recovered.

What's up?

BEN STASSEN: We ended
up putting sprinklers

off camera in the ceiling.

We just basically turned them
on and off to create the effect.

We had to waterproof
the living room

floor, walls and furniture.

And then after each
take quickly rush in

and squeegee off the floors.

BEN STASSEN: In
between every take,

it was like 35 or 40
minutes for the second take.

The actor's hair was wet.

The actor's wardrobe was wet.

We had industrial dryers
to dry the soaked clothes

and our poor wardrobe
supervisor really

had our work cut out for her.

It was a nightmare.

This is your fault. You made
it rain in the living room.

You made it rain in peps places.

This is all your fault.

It's you, Danny.

You're the one that's doing this
and you have to make it stop.

The pots and pans that
were over the stove, they

started rattling.

That's when I got
levitated off the floor.

We used a hidden
harness to levitate

the actor and a bungee rig to
slingshot him across the room.

It wasn't like somebody taking
your hand and pushing you.

It was like feeling
it all over your body.

BEN STASSEN: One of the
weirdest things about Rainboy

was that on the morning
we left, all the crew was

on the same floor in the hotel.

And there was two inches of
water in everyone's room,

including the hallway
outside our room.

I called the hotel
manager who said

there wasn't a plumbing
problem and there

was nothing to explain it.

So whether or not it was
a supernatural force that

was instigated by the
Rainboy who, in fact,

we had interviewed during the
show, I'll leave it to you.

STUART SCHWARTZ:
And a lot of stories

we also employed special
effects for things like car

crashes and stunts.

And those were very real
because those were created

by real Hollywood stuntmen.

JOHN JOSEPH: Well, you got
a story where this guy lived

in a small town and
for some reason,

he jumped on an airplane
to leave the town.

What a story?

I mean, we're like,
OK, wait a minute.

Now we're going to show this guy
getting on a wing and the plane

taking off with the
guy on the wing.

How are we going to do that?

We had to have a stunt pilot
who could fly the plane.

We had to find a
stunt guy who would

be willing to get on the wing.

We made special rigging so the
person could hang on the plane,

and you couldn't see
it on the camera.

And I couldn't watch.

I mean, I did watch, but I
can't believe we're doing this.

We did pull it off.

Nobody got hurt.

You know what?

It was amazing they
solved the case.

The whole mystery
was who was this guy

and why did he
jump on the plane,

and they were actually
able to identify

him and find out what happened.

SHANNON MCGINN: As
the seasons went on,

we got more complex with
stunts and with special effects

and we were able to do
much bigger stories.

One that I produced was about
a woman who had actually

gotten run over by a boat on a
lake, but it was a hit and run.

So to do that reenactment, we
actually had to jump like boats

over each other off of a ramp.

They had to build the
ramp in the water.

We had to put a
camera in the boat.

It took multiple
nights of shooting.

No one was hurt.

And I would just always be
so happy when it was over

and we were done and
we got what we needed.

You stay here.

JOHN JOSEPH: We were
working on a story

about a murder that happened
inside a trailer that

was burning.

So I had literally
four or five people

running around inside
a burning trailer,

and we're trying to
figure out how to do

this and make it look real.

And what they did was they
piped the inside of the trailer

with like you turn on your
gas stove like gas lines

that they could turn
on and turn off.

Literally we go action,
they turn it on,

the fire would
start, we'd run it

for like two or three minutes.

Because we couldn't burn
the walls because then it

would look burn.

At the end of the whole stunt,
we did burn down the trailer

but it was a really
tricky stunt.

STUART SCHWARTZ: One
of the great things

about Unsolved Mysteries for
the audience and also for us

as producers is that we
traveled all over the world.

BEN STASSEN: The most memorable
international story that I

directed was "Mummy's Curse."

We spent two nights in
the Egyptian Museum.

We were in the treasure
room with all the treasures

that Howard Carter had
pulled out of the tomb.

The life mask of Tutankhamun is
likely the most iconic artifact

ever created by the human race.

It was really awesome.

TERRY DUNN MEURER: In Turkey,
we search for "Noah's Ark"

and we did the miracle
at "Fatima" in Portugal.

We filmed a number
of cases in Mexico.

"Nazca Lines" in Peru,
and in the South Pacific

we did a story about
"Amelia Earhart."

We got Wallach.

Amelia Earhart.

What's this stuff doing here?

SHANNON MCGINN: One of the most
interesting episodes I produced

was about "Anastasia."

This was in the early 90s and
Russia had just opened up.

[foreign language]

Yes, but I would like
to see the pictures.

SHANNON MCGINN: So the
challenge of shooting in Russia

was so complex.

First of all, we only
took a couple of Americans

and hired everybody
else locally.

So that means everything had
to be translated because very

few Russians spoke English.

ROBERT STACK: And so the
great riddle continues.

Is the body of Grand
Duchess Anastasia

hidden in a shallow
grave near the spot

where the rest of her family was
found or did Anastasia somehow

survive the assassination?

Only to emerge years later as
the eccentric Anna Anderson.

JOHN JOSEPH: They were trying
to prove that Anastasia

wasn't in the grave.

And there was a number of women
who had claimed to be Anastasia

and she was still alive.

Suspect just
exhumed these bodies

and they literally laid out
the entire family in this room

so they could figure
out who was who.

We were ushered into this room.

It was really astounding.

It was just like
watching history.

TERRY DUNN MEURER: I think
everyone who worked on the show

and all the viewers
probably have

their own favorite Unsolved
Mysteries case from the show.

One of the really creepy
and puzzling stories we did

was about a woman
named Cindy James

who had been terrorized by an
unknown assailant for seven

years.

I mean, these
attacks were crazy.

He had a knife put
through her hand.

She was found unconscious
numerous times.

There was no
independent corroboration.

Cindy saw this person or
sometimes she said there was

two, sometimes three people.

TERRY DUNN MEURER:
And she was eventually

found dead in the yard
of an abandoned house.

But then it turned out that
there was a chance she had

dissociative identity disorder.

And one of her
identities was actually

the source of the attacks.

Why are you doing this to me?

TERRY DUNN MEURER:
Then the theory

became that one of
her personalities

had ultimately killed her.

So the question
was, did she really

have an unknown assailant?

I've got a young lad
here who went to spirit.

SHANNON MCGINN: We did an
episode about a psychic artist.

ROBERT STACK: During
the past four decades,

Coral Polge has drawn more
than 100,000 eerie portraits.

SHANNON MCGINN: She would
go to big groups of people

and she would touch
the person's hand.

And then just with
a pad and a pencil,

she would sketch a portrait of
someone that had gone beyond,

but that was related
somehow to the person.

CORAL POLGE: And I honestly
don't quite know how I do it.

I just sense them.

Also there is an element of what
we call automatic control, as

if somebody takes
over my hand and gives

me a certain amount of help in
getting the drawings accurate.

SHANNON MCGINN: After
we finished the episode,

I asked if she could
do a portrait for me.

So she did one, it was an older
lady, I didn't recognize it.

She was a little frustrated so
she said let me do another one.

Did another one, older
man, didn't recognize him.

But I took the sketches with me.

And I went home and my mom said,
"Those are my grandparents."

And she went and got photos
of my great grandparents

who I had never met and didn't
know that what they look like.

And the pictures
that she showed me

were so close to the sketches.

They ended up using them in the
episode against a photograph

of the real people.

ROBERT STACK: Morning coffee
at K and Mike Fletcher

is hardly ranked as
an unsolved mystery,

until the peculiar events
of February 11th 1996.

It happened just after 9:00 AM.

STUART SCHWARTZ: One of the
creepiest stories that we ever

did was about a
phenomenon called

spontaneous human combustion.

When a perfectly
normal person burst

into flame without warning
and without apparent cause.

STUART SCHWARTZ: One
of the challenges

in that story was
the recreation,

because we had to literally
set somebody on fire.

So how do you do that?

Well, we used something called
a fire suit which a stunt person

would put on and the fire suit
was coated with a flammable gel

that you could
actually set on fire.

One of the things that happened
is when we aired the story,

we would get calls
at our phone center

from viewers who
were scared that that

was going to happen to them.

After crushing
Capone in Chicago,

Eliot Ness became one
of the most respected

lawman in the country.

TERRY DUNN MEURER:
One story we produced

was about the real Eliot Ness.

It was about the only case
that he'd never solved,

and Bob loved doing that story.

That was one of his favorites.

TV ANNOUNCER: Tonight's episode,
"The Waxey Gordon Story."

Starring Robert
Stack as Eliot Ness.

TERRY DUNN MEURER:
In the early 60s,

Bob played the role of Eliot
Ness in the Untouchables.

And I think he really identified
with Ness as a crime fighter.

It's like Lexi's got
his eye on New Jersey now.

STUART SCHWARTZ: And he brought
the gravitas of Eliot Ness

to his role as a host
of Unsolved Mysteries.

RAYMOND BRIDGERS: He
really loved this show.

He loved being involved in it.

He loved the mysteries.

He always wanted to know
what was the backstory.

He was a big
proponent of the show

and a big champion of the show.

TV ANNOUNCER: Update.

Within minutes of our
broadcast, two viewers

call our 800 number
to report that they

recognized Arthur Frankfurt.

RAYMOND BRIDGERS:
It was pretty cool

when cases started to be solved
because people watching had

a stake in the show.

Even the very first
episode of the first season,

a case was solved.

ROBERT STACK: June
21st 1986, Gail Delano

drove alone to a restaurant
in Brunswick, Maine

to meet a blind date.

BEN STASSEN: The
first story I directed

was about a young woman in
Maine named Gail Delano,

and she had disappeared.

ROBERT STACK: If anyone watching
tonight has seen Gail Delano

or knows anything about her
mysterious disappearance,

please contact the
Maine State Police.

BEN STASSEN: The thought
among police and her family

was that she was
answering personal ads

and she may have been
abducted by one of the people

that she connected with.

The show aired, and
someone who worked

in the morgue in a
small town in Alabama

recognized Gail's photograph
from Unsolved Mysteries

and in fact solved the mystery.

And that was the moment
that I realized that this

was a different kind of show.

SHANNON MCGINN: The minute
that we solved the mystery,

it exploded.

Even more people
started to watch.

It was unbelievable.

Tonight, we present an
unusual update about lost love.

CHRISTINE LENIG: Nobody loves
anything more than hearing

Bob Stack say the word
update, because then you

know a mystery has been solved.

RAYMOND BRIDGERS:
When we got to solve,

we really went
into scramble mode.

The next time we
were on the air,

we wanted to update the
audience as quickly as we could.

We sent crews out to do
interviews and to get footage,

and we may have had a show
that was all ready to go.

And suddenly, we're rearranging
everything because we need

to free up 5 minutes of time.

So we always had extra stories
so we could swap stories

in and out of shows as needed.

LAVAR BATES: When the guy
from Unsolved Mysteries

called me said that Peggy
had seen me on television

and seen me.

RAYMOND BRIDGERS: One of the
things we had to do, of course,

was to pull Bob Stack in.

Sometimes we'd want
to film him on camera.

It was never just
like, Oh, an update.

Great.

It's on the air.

There was a lot that
went on behind the scenes

to make that happen.

TERRY DUNN MEURER: When
the series first began,

viewers were told
to write to a PO box

and we got bags and bags
full of viewer mail.

Then we went to an
800 number where

people would call a
phone center and we

call that the Telecenter.

ROBERT STACK: For
the past seven years,

the phone center has been an
integral part of our operation.

TERRY DUNN MEURER:
This was a huge room,

almost like a warehouse
in Los Angeles.

And it was filled
with probably 50

operators all
sitting at desks each

with a phone in front of them.

Background action.

Action.

TERRY DUNN MEURER: And
when the show would air,

it would start on the East Coast
and the calls would immediately

start to come in with tips.

JOHN COSGROVE: What a fun part
was the law enforcement people

were in the teller centers
and if a veritable tip came in

that operators
held up a red flag.

And every once in a while, you'd
see like six or seven red flags

and scurrying around.

A case could be
solved that night

and the audience loved it.

The capture of
a criminal suspect

always brings us
great satisfaction.

Tonight, another
fugitive is in custody.

Thanks to your calls.

STUART SCHWARTZ: We did a
fugitive case about a man

who was wanted and on the run.

We got a call at
our phone center

from somebody who said that she
was a housekeeper in a motel

and she had observed
somebody who looked

exactly like our suspect.

PAM POTEETE: It's
the way he acted.

He was weird.

Man he stood by the beds,
in between the beds,

by the luggage.

He would never sit down.

They want you to make the
beds, stuff like that.

STUART SCHWARTZ: She
searched his trash can

and she found paper
with his name on it.

We immediately notified
the authorities

and they caught up with
him and arrested him.

ROBERT STACK: The
mystery of Melissa Mundy

begins in 1985 in the small
Maryland town of Hancock.

JOHN COSGROVE: We did a
story about a teenage girl

named Missy Mundy.

She got romantically
involved with a man named

Jerry Strickland about
five or six years older

of a shady character.

She ran away with him.

We wanted to tell this story
to try to recover Missy Mundy

because she was in harm's way.

ROBERT STACK: Missy was
swept off her feet by Jerry.

JOHN COSGROVE: And so we put
up pictures of Missy and Jerry.

ROBERT STACK: Within
minutes of our broadcast,

20 viewers in this
small rural community

called the police to say
they recognized Jerry

Strickland and Missy Mundy.

Seven hours later, the police
arrested the fugitive couple

at a friend's house.

They discovered that
Jerry and Missy had

themselves watched
the broadcast and were

waiting for the police.

I figured the time was about
seven hours and 15 minutes

from the time the
Unsolved Mysteries aired

and he was in custody.

JOHN COSGROVE: When
the police showed up,

he said "You must be
from Unsolved Mysteries."

They've been watching Unsolved
Mysteries and their own story

and sat there and waited
for the police to come up.

And they put the
cuffs on him and

about to push his head down so
he could go in the police car.

And he said, "That's my favorite
show Unsolved Mysteries."

TERRY DUNN MEURER:
Some of the arrests

were really quite dramatic there
was one fugitive named Dennis

Depue who was wanted
for killing his wife,

and he led police on a
15 mile high speed chase.

He broke through a couple
of police barriers.

He shot at the police, and then
he turned the gun on himself.

He walk up to the van
and you recognize him

as being the person that
was on Unsolved Mysteries.

It's a funny feeling.

ROBERT STACK: Update.

TERRY DUNN MEURER:
Sometimes, I catch myself

saying we solved these cases.

But the truth is, as the
producers of the show,

we didn't solve these
cases, it was the viewers

and it was diligent law
enforcement agencies that

actually solve these cases.

It's hard to
believe, but over 600

of all the cases we ever
produced have been solved.

And 180 were wanted fugitives
who were brought to justice.

And that's something
we're very proud of.

STUART SCHWARTZ: One of the
most satisfying kinds of stories

to do for us was what we call
Lost Loves, where somebody was

looking to find
someone who had been

really important in their life.

TERRY DUNN MEURER: These were
stories of families torn apart

by adoption or maybe a war.

Sometimes people who
just wanted to say

thank you to someone who had
had an impact on their lives.

STUART SCHWARTZ:
More often than not,

we would solve those stories.

And when we did, we would
put together a reunion

and be able to
film the first time

that those people
saw each other.

And sometimes decades.

Those were very
emotional, very live,

and caught on tape so to
speak, really authentic.

The emotions were amazing.

It wasn't emotional
just for them.

It was emotional for our crew,
emotional for our viewers,

emotional for our producers.

The tears were flowing
freely everywhere.

ROBERT STACK: For a
mother and daughter,

it was an emotional end to 26
years of painful separation.

I think one of the
most emotional cases

for me that was
solved was one that we

called a final appeal story.

ROBERT STACK: July 9th 1989
at Saint Louis, Missouri,

Patty Stallings
rushed her critically

ill son to the hospital.

TERRY DUNN MEURER: It was about
a woman named Patty Stallings

who was accused of poisoning
her five-month-old son

with antifreeze.

But there was strong
evidence that she

had not killed her baby.

As a mother myself, it
was just devastating to me

to think that this woman could
spend the rest of her life

in prison knowing that she
had not killed her child.

On the night the story
aired, calls from physicians

familiar with MMA poured
into our Telecenter.

Patty Stallings new attorneys
petitioned the court

to grant her another
trial, based on the fact

that she had previously
received ineffectual counsel.

On July 30th 1991,
Patty Stallings

was granted a new trial
and released from prison.

After the Unsolved
Mysteries aired,

people were writing
and calling and just

want to know how can we help.

I can't thank those
people enough because,

I mean, through all of
that, wheels started turning

and everything just started
pushing forward really fast.

TERRY DUNN MEURER: Medical
experts and prosecutors

took another look and it was
determined that Patty's son had

died from a rare
genetic disease,

and she was released
from prison.

Unfortunately, we
can't undo the suffering

that the Stallings have endured
during this entire ordeal.

I apologize to them
both personally

and for the state of Missouri.

RAYMOND BRIDGERS: We always kind
of felt like Unsolved Mysteries

went beyond television
because a lot of people

were affected by this
show, a lot of people

were helped by this show.

And this show brought
some amount of comfort

to a lot of people.

As long as this show
has been on the air

and as long as it's ever
going to be on the air,

we're going to
continue to do updates.

Stories get solved
all the time that

aired five years ago, 10
years ago, 20 years ago,

and we're still doing updates.

What's your behind the music?

What's your Unsolved Mystery?

What's your true
Hollywood story?

STUART SCHWARTZ: Over the
years, Unsolved Mysteries

became a staple of television
and also a household name.

That led to a lot of parodying
of Unsolved Mysteries

on other shows.

Don't even get me started
on Unsolved Mysteries.

STUART SCHWARTZ: It was
really an homage to the series

and an affectionate
parody and a compliment.

As the host of
Unsolved Mysteries,

I've come to appreciate
all the hard work

that goes into a
dramatic recreation

of a real life event.

Saturday Night
Live did a parody

of the way we did
the recreations

of Unsolved Mysteries.

You have to take your knocks,
like when you get famous,

you've got to take your knocks.

I think Unsolved Mysteries
has remained popular

all these years because
of all the viewers

around the world whose
lives are touched.

After the show ended, I would
travel on other projects,

sometimes wearing my Unsolved
Mysteries jacket in airports.

And I was always stopped by
fans of the show who told

me how much it meant to them.

It's been five weeks
and the entire country

is demanding to know who
committed this horrible crime.

STUART SCHWARTZ:
Unsolved Mysteries

viewers were the best.

There are no other viewers
on television like them.

I think it's because
they felt they

were actually part of the show.

You could never be a
part of will and grace,

you could never be a
part of murder she wrote,

but you could be a part
of Unsolved Mysteries.

BEN STASSEN: Unsolved
Mysteries is simply

unlike anything
I've ever worked on,

and I've been doing
this for 50 years.

So that counts for something.

JOHN JOSEPH: I lost
track of how many stories

they did on Unsolved, but
what was really amazing

is that every story was unique.

It was different.

Having this experience was
something I'll never forget.

It was really astounding.

What's most
remarkable maybe is

the fact that Unsolved Mysteries
has never been off the air.

I mean, it went from
network into cable

and it's still going and reruns.

It's one of those shows that
feels like it's been on the air

forever, and feels like it will
always be on the air forever.

It's like I Love Lucy except
it's a little scarier.

JOHN COSGROVE: One
thing I feel is

that the show made a difference,
and it feels so great to have

been a part of it.

TERRY DUNN MEURER: We
are so proud of all that

Unsolved Mysteries
has accomplished,

and we hope that more cases
will continue to be solved.

John and I would
love to take credit

for the success of this series.

But I truly believe that it's
the Unsolved Mysteries fans

that deserve all the credit.

We are overwhelmed
by the love that they

have shown for this series.

And we can't thank them
enough for their help

in solving so many cases.

They've proven what
we always believe

to be true, which is someone
somewhere knows the truth.

Perhaps that
someone is watching.

Perhaps it's you.

[theme music playing]