Random 'Unsolved Mysteries' Helped Close The Books On These Chilling Cases (12 items)

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  (#1) The Stockton Arsonist

  The story of the Stockton Arsonist begins innocently enough: In 1989, a man named Joseph Villa and his son were walking down a highway in Stockton, CA, after their car broke down. On their way to a payphone, the son discovered a discarded camouflage jacket with a videotape tucked inside. Curious about the tape's contents, Villa's son took it to watch later.

  At home, Villa and his son watched an unsettling home video of a house on fire. A narrator spoke about Satanism from behind the camera, but he made little sense. Police were baffled by the tape and couldn't determine where the fire occurred, although TV commercials that appeared later on the tape indicated it was filmed in 1988, one year before Villa and his son discovered the mysterious video.

  In 1990, Unsolved Mysteries aired an episode about the fire and immediately received calls from viewers. The house was actually located in Redwood City, CA, about 80 miles west of Stockton. Police were even able to meet with the fire chief who responded to the incident - he had also happened to videotape the fire himself. The investigation led to the arrest of two teenage boys. Both were tried as minors, with one going to juvenile detention and the other to a mental hospital.
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  (#2) The Slaying Of Marilynn DePue

  Marilynn and Dennis DePue had been married for 18 years when Marilynn filed for divorce in 1989. Their marriage had become increasingly volatile, with Dennis making claims that Marilynn turned their three children against him. Even after their divorce, Dennis continued to use the family's guesthouse as an office and constantly entered the home even after Marilynn had the locks changed.

  On Easter Sunday, 1990, Dennis pushed Marilynn down a flight of stairs before beating her severely. Dennis told his children that he was taking Marilynn to the hospital, but Marilynn was never seen alive again. Her body was found by the side of the road a few days later with a single bullet hole in the back of her skull. Dennis was nowhere to be found.

  Marilynn DePue's slaying was featured on Unsolved Mysteries less than a year after her demise. A friend of Dennis DePue's, who had been living under an alias, called in Dennis's license plate number the night the episode aired, and a high-speed chase between Dennis and the police ensued. The chase ended with a shoot-out and Dennis taking his own life. It was later revealed that Dennis's girlfriend had been watching the program and asked the friend to call in the license plate number.
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  (#3) Georgia Tann's Missing Children

  Georgia Tann was responsible for more than 5,000 child abductions that occurred between 1924 and 1950. Tann's Tennessee Children's Home Society was actually a front for a black-market adoption ring, wherein she sold children - ranging in age from infants to teenagers - to the wealthy.

  Tann kept up a facade of being a strong advocate for child welfare, even advising Eleanor Roosevelt. At the same time, she sold children to Golden Age celebrities like Joan Crawford. When Tann was finally exposed, less than 10% of the children she took were reunited with their birth parents. Tann perished shortly after her operation was exposed, and she never paid for her actions.

  Unsolved Mysteries aired an episode about the children of Georgia Tann in 1989, resulting in some people being reunited with their birth families after appearing on or watching the broadcast. The episode allowed Tann's children, now adults, to locate their biological parents after being taken decades earlier.
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  (#4) The Disappearance Of Alex Cooper

  Alex Cooper was a successful traveling salesman in his mid-60s when he mysteriously vanished in April of 1987. Cooper's adult daughter saw his car parked near the river but couldn't locate her father anywhere. Cooper's wife, Margaret, confided to her daughter that she hadn't seen Cooper in more than 24 hours. The family worried about Cooper possibly meeting with foul play or falling into the river after having heart trouble.

  The family declared Cooper deceased a year after his disappearance, but then Margaret made a mysterious discovery: When she attempted to gather Cooper's birth certificate and other personal documents, she discovered that "Alex Cooper" didn't exist until their marriage in 1952.

  Answers began appearing in 1992 when Unsolved Mysteries aired an episode about Alex Cooper, and a viewer called in to say they had recently seen a man who looked just like Alex, though this man was named David Cooper. It was later revealed that Cooper had changed his identity after being falsely accused of theft in his mid-20s. When he was asked to produce a birth certificate at age 65 to receive Social Security, he couldn't bear to tell his family the truth about his past, so he fled. As a result of the broadcast, the still-living Cooper was reunited with his family.
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  (#5) The Chevy Chase Bandit

  Southern California saw a series of bank robberies in late 1987 attributed to a man who came to be known as the Chevy Chase Bandit. The nickname came about not because of his appearance, but because people witnessed him trip and fall during one of his holdups in a manner similar to Chevy Chase on Saturday Night Live. His actions were anything but comical, though - he threatened tellers' lives if they didn't hand over all of their money.

  Unsolved Mysteries aired an episode focusing on several high-profile, unsolved bank capers, including those of the Chevy Chase Bandit. Although no one came forward when the episode first aired, the FBI received a call several months later from someone who saw the episode rebroadcast and recognized the offender as Bernard Strick. Strick had been a lawyer before he was disbarred after being convicted of manslaughter. He began holding up banks soon after. He served just four years in prison for his bank heists and passed in 2013.
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  (#6) The Disappearances Connected To Robert Weeks

  Robert Weeks was a suspect in the disappearances of his wife, business partner, and two girlfriends, all of whom vanished between 1968 and 1986. Not until the 1986 disappearance of Weeks's girlfriend Carol Ann Riley did the police noticed a disturbing pattern.

  Carol Ann Riley was supposed to go on a date with Weeks the night she vanished, and she was planning to break up with him during their outing. Five years prior, Weeks's girlfriend Cynthia Jabour also went missing the night she planned to break up with Weeks. Both women's cars were found in hotel parking lots days after they disappeared.

  A similar story unfolded with Weeks's wife, Patricia, who vanished without a trace three weeks after filing for divorce in 1968. Her abandoned car was also found in a parking lot. Even Weeks's business partner, Jim Shaw, disappeared in 1971 after he accused Weeks of embezzlement. Robert Weeks fled town in 1986 after being questioned by police regarding the disappearance of Carol Ann Riley.

  Robert Weeks was taken into custody the day after Unsolved Mysteries aired an episode about him in May 1987. Weeks's new girlfriend watched the episode and realized she had no choice but to contact the authorities. Weeks was eventually sentenced to life in prison for the slayings of Patricia Weeks and Cynthia Jabour, though he was never convicted for the disappearances of Riley and Shaw. Weeks perished in prison in 1996 without ever disclosing where he disposed of the remains.
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  (#7) The Mysterious Case Of Gabby's Bones

  Newel Sessions called the police in 1992 claiming he had found a trunk containing a human skeleton. The trunk belonged to a friend of Sessions's only known as “Gabby,” who had been storing the trunk at Sessions's home since 1986. Gabby was equally as surprised as Sessions about the trunk's contents and cooperated with police in their investigation.

  Gabby claimed he had bought the trunk in the early 1970s but had been unable to open it. At the time, the authorities could only determine the skeleton belonged to a middle-aged man, who could have perished as early as 1908. They also discovered a bullet lodged in the skull behind the left eye, indicating foul play.

  When Unsolved Mysteries aired their episode on Gabby's bones in 1993, no one came forward with new information. Not until 2017, when a woman named Shelley contacted authorities after seeing a rerun of the episode, was the case finally solved. Shelley claimed the remains belonged to her grandfather, Joseph J. Mulvaney, who had possibly been slain by Gabby in 1960. Gabby, whose real name was John David Morris, was in fact the son of Mulvaney's wife, and Shelley indicated that her grandmother may have also been involved in Mulvaney's demise. Morris was not tried, as he had taken his own life years earlier. Mulvaney was given a proper military burial on March 29, 2019.
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  (#8) The Wrongful Conviction Of Patricia Stallings

  In the summer of 1989, Patricia and David Stallings rushed their infant son, Ryan, to the hospital due to excessive vomiting. He was kept in intensive care for days until he recovered, but lab reports showed something ominous: Traces of chemicals found in antifreeze and nail polish were found in Ryan's system.

  The Stallings said that both items were kept in their home, and an investigation ensued after doctors suspected Patricia of administering the chemicals to her son. During a supervised visit, Patricia was left alone with Ryan, who became ill again just a few days later. Ryan ultimately perished, and Patricia was charged with first degree murder. While in prison, she gave birth to a second child, DJ, who immediately became a ward of the state. Patricia was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison. Oddly, DJ showed many of the same symptoms as Ryan, although he was never left alone with Patricia.

  Several physicians contacted Unsolved Mysteries after the show aired an episode on Patricia Stallings, who had been convicted just three months prior. The doctors all claimed that both Ryan and DJ had a rare medical disorder called Methylmalonic acidemia, which displayed symptoms of poisoning. Patricia's conviction was immediately overturned, and the Stallings were given full custody of DJ. They sued the hospital and settled for several million dollars.
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  (#9) The Disappearance Of Alberta Elaine

  A doctor reassured Joseph Schambier that all was well after his wife, Garnet, gave birth to their daughter, Alberta Elaine, at their home in Pittsburgh, PA, on June 16, 1939. However, Garnet passed just hours later due to undiagnosed complications from the delivery.

  Her end was both tragic and strange. She had told her husband that he should leave Alberta Elaine with family friend Alice Miller should anything happen to her. When Schambier enlisted in the army two years later, he left Alberta Elaine with Alice Miller before being deployed. When he returned to the US in 1943, Miller had vanished, and Alberta Elaine had been given up for adoption. Because the adoption was sealed, Schambier was unable to track down his daughter.

  In 1989, Unsolved Mysteries featured the story of Alberta Elaine, and one viewer quickly began researching the case. The viewer discovered that Alberta Elaine had perished in a blast when she was 18 - her husband had rigged their car with dynamite, ending them both. While Schambier grieved the loss of his daughter, he said he was grateful to finally have closure after nearly 50 years.
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  (#10) The Location Of Cult Leader Tony Alamo

  People already knew who Tony Alamo was when he was featured on Unsolved Mysteries in May of 1991. Alamo and his wife, Susan, founded a church in 1969 that soon became a religious cult in rural Arkansas. Alamo took his followers' wages and advocated for cruel punishment of children. When Susan passed in 1982, he became even more erratic, interring Susan in a heart-shaped tomb and demanding followers hold 24-hour vigils in anticipation of her resurrection.

  By the late 1980s, Alamo's compound had transformed into a sweatshop, with followers making expensive denim jackets that Alamo sold for hundreds and even thousands of dollars. His followers were never paid. Alamo eventually fled in 1989 after the Department of Labor investigated conditions at the compound.

  Viewers called in with tips on Alamo as soon as Unsolved Mysteries aired the episode covering his actions. Thanks to viewers, police captured Alamo several weeks later, and he was sentenced to six years in prison for tax evasion. Nearly a decade later, Alamo was charged with multiple counts of child molestation in relation to his cult and received a life sentence. He perished in prison in 2017.
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  (#11) The Slaying Of Ethel Kidd

  Ethel Kidd's daughter began to worry when she couldn't contact her mother on the morning of April 13, 1989. Kidd's son-in-law went to her house to check on her, and although her car was in the driveway, Kidd was nowhere to be found. The son-in-law also found a road atlas in the front yard, which was eventually turned over to police. Inside the atlas, police found a series of notes written on motel stationery detailing how to solicit Johns on the road, how to end someone's life, and how to assume a new identity.

  Kidd's body was found a week later by a man hunting in the woods. Police determined she had been strangled the day she disappeared, then stored in a freezer and tied to a tree in the woods shortly before the hunter found her body. Police noted that the cord used to end Kidd was similar to what was used on motel curtains at the time.

  The bizarre handwritten notes found inside the atlas eventually solved Kidd's slaying thanks to an observant viewer. An unidentified person watching Kidd's episode of Unsolved Mysteries called in to say they recognized the handwriting as that of Edward Wayne Beverly. Beverly was already serving time for an unrelated offense, and he was eventually given three life sentences for the abduction, assault, and slaying of Ethel Kidd. He passed in prison in 2008.
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  (#12) The Kidnapping Of Zenith Helton

  Connie Jean Helton had just married her sixth husband, Donald Hanes, and was hoping to have another child when her adult daughter, Kelly, came to visit with her two young children. Connie Jean was infatuated with Kelly's baby, Zenith, and offered to include the baby on her and Donald's insurance plan if Kelly was willing to sign some paperwork. The paperwork was actually adoption papers, and a legal conflict over Zenith's custody ensued. On October 17, 1995, Connie Jean and Donald picked Zenith up for a scheduled visit and were never seen again .

  Police could not locate Connie Jean, Donald, or Zenith for more than a year. That is, not until Unsolved Mysteries covered the case on January 3, 1997. A viewer called in saying they had seen a woman and child who resembled Connie Jean and Zenith while vacationing in Reykjavik, Iceland. The random tip proved true, and Zenith was reunited with her mother. Connie Jean and Donald were immediately taken into custody.

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