Have Any of Netflix’s ‘Unsolved Mysteries’ Cases Been Solved?
“Perhaps you may be able to solve a mystery.” Anyone who watched the original Unsolved Mysteries remembers trench-coated host Robert Stack inviting viewers to share their tips on the many cases of unsolved murders, missing persons, and long-lost relatives featured on the true crime show. In its original run, audience tips helped catch criminals and reunite long-separated family members. But has Netflix’s Unsolved Mysteries reboot had the same success in moving cases from the unsolved to the solved file?
None of Netflix’s ‘Unsolved Mysteries’ cases have been solved – yet
Twelve different cases were featured in the first two seasons of Netflix’s Unsolved Mysteries, which premiered in 2020. While many tips have poured in from viewers about the whereabouts of Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès (who is suspected of murdering his entire family in 2011) and “death row fugitive” Lester Eubanks, as well as other cases, so far none have been solved.
“We had thousands of tips and leads that came in, but nothing was solved,” Unsolved Mysteries producer Terry Dunn Meurer recently told Gizmodo. “But it does take a while for cases to get solved. They can’t just have a tip and go and make an arrest.”
Specifically, Dunn Meurer said that police were still pursuing leads in the Alonzo Brooks murder (featured in the season 1 episode “No Ride Home”) and that the journalist following season 2’s “Death in Oslo” case (where an unidentified woman was discovered dead in a Norweigan hotel room) was still receiving tips from viewers.
A new season of ‘Unsolved Mysteries’ premieres Oct. 18
Fans will get a chance to try to crack nine new cases when the third season of Unsolved Mysteries premieres on Netflix on Oct. 18. Three new episodes will debut on that day, followed by three more episodes on Oct. 25 and Nov. 1.
While details about this season’s mysteries are still under wraps, Netflix has revealed the titles of the upcoming episodes:
- “Mystery at Mile Marker 45” (Week 1)
- “Something in the Sky” (Week 1)
- “Body in Bags” (Week 1)
- “Death in a Vegas Motel” (Week 2)
- “Paranormal Rangers” (Week 2)
- “What Happened to Josh?” (Week 2)
- “Body in the Bay” (Week 3)
- “The Ghost in Apartment 14” (Week 3)
- “Abducted by a Parent” (Week 3)
The first episode of Unsolved Mysteries Volume 3, “Mystery at Mile Marker 45” will look at what really happened to Tiffany Valiante. Valiante was a New Jersey teen who died in 2016 after being struck by a train. Authorities rules her death a suicide, according to NJ.com, but her family has questioned that finding.
Some original ‘Unsolved Mysteries’ cases have been solved
While none of the mysteries featured on the most recent incarnation of Unsolved Mysteries have been solved, viewer tips frequently helped solve many cases featured on the original show, which aired from the late 1980s to the early 2000s.
One of the show’s earliest episodes focuses on Georgia Tann, who ran a black-market adoption ring in Tennessee in the 1920s, ‘30s, and ‘40s. After the broadcast, roughly 50 parents were reunited with children that Tann had kidnapped or coerced them into relinquishing, according to a report from the Los Angeles Times.
Another episode focused on auto executive Liz Carmichael, who went on the run after being found guilty of fraud. An episode focusing on her disappearance aired in 1989. Shortly after, a viewer tip led to Carmichael’s arrest in Texas, where she’d been living under an assumed name. (Carmichael’s story is explored in detail in the HBO docuseries The Lady and the Dale.)
Overall, of the 1,300+ cases featured during the show’s original run, more than 260 have been solved. Half of cases involving wanted fugitives went on to be solved, according to the show’s website, and more than 100 families were reunited with lost loved ones. Unsolved Mysteries also helped exonerate seven wrongfully convicted people.
Unsolved Mysteries Volume 3 premieres Tuesday, Oct. 18 on Netflix.
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