Random 'Unsolved Mysteries': Where Are They Now? (25 items)

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  (#1) D.B. Cooper

  Then: D.B. Cooper is the alias of an unidentified man who took control of a Boeing 727 by claiming he had a bomb, then successfully ransomed the plane's safety for $200,000 before disappearing from the aircraft. 

  Now: Following Cooper's daring escape, the FAA cracked down on airline safety, and the number of skyjackings dropped significantly. As of 2018, the FBI was still trying to solve the case. They posthumously investigated an Oregon man who was reported by his niece, but what little DNA evidence they were able to find turned out to be inconclusive. 
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  (#2) The Gulf Breeze UFO Incident

  Then: Ed Walters, a contractor living in Gulf Breeze, Florida, claimed that he experienced a series of UFO sightings in 1987. After providing photos to UFOlogists, his claim seemed somewhat more substantiated, but the sightings remained unverified. 

  Now: In 1990, after Ed Walters's unsuccessful bid for city council, a family moved into the home that Walters was living in during the period of his sightings and found a model of one of the UFOs from the original photos. Walters still maintains that he saw something in the sky over Gulf Breeze in 1987, and claims the model was planted by "professional debunkers."
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  (#3) Kayla Unbehaun

  Then: Around July 5, 2017, Kayla Unbehaun was 9 years old when she went missing from Wheaton, IL, while in the care of her mother, Heather Unbehaun, after attending a Fourth of July parade. Family members said that after the parade, Heather had packed up her car to take Kayla on a camping trip in Wisconsin, and they were supposed to return the next day for a court-ordered parenting exchange. When her father, Ryan Iskerka, came to pick her up for the exchange, neither Kayla nor Heather were there. A warrant was issued for Heather's arrest. Kayla's case was featured along with other cases that allegedly involved family abduction in a November 2022 episode of Unsolved Mysteries.

  Now: On May 13, 2023, Kayla was found alive at age 15 in Asheville, NC, along with her mother, who was arrested on a fugitive charge. According to police, someone at Plato's Closet (a secondhand clothing store) in Asheville recognized Kayla from Unsolved Mysteries and notified authorities.
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  (#4) Gail Delano

  Then: In 1986, Gail Delano went missing from her home in Maine following a blind date. Two years later, she ended up on Unsolved Mysteries in a bid by her family to track her down.

  Now: Shortly after Delano's episode aired, the Maine State Police reported her body had been found surrounded by prescription medication in an Alabama motel room. They believe that she faked her disappearance, flew to Alabama, and killed herself. 

   
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  (#5) Jeremy Bright

  Then: Jeremy Bright, age 14, disappeared in 1986 while attending a county fair. Initially, the police believed the boy ran away with the fair workers. But after an anonymous tip from an inmate, they began to suspect foul play. 

  Now: A week after Bright's case was featured on Unsolved Mysteries, one of the prime suspects, Bright's former babysitter, was arrested for stabbing a woman to death. As of 2018, Bright is still considered missing, although his family presumes him to be dead. 

   
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  (#6) Michaela Garecht

  Then: In 1988, Michaela Garecht visited a store with a friend. While inside, a man moved her friend's scooter close to his car. When Michaela went to get it, the man grabbed her and drove away. 

  Now: As of 2012, the FBI still believed Garecht's case was solvable, and they hoped the return of Jaycee Dugard (another girl who was kidnapped in broad daylight, near where Garecht was abducted) would help them track down a lead. 
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  (#7) The Murder Of Diana Roberston

  Then: In 1985, a series of murders occurred in the woods outside Tacoma, Washington, that were dubbed "the Tube Sock Killings" due to a tube sock being tied around the female victims' necks in each case. First, Steven Harkins and Ruth Cooper were murdered while on a camping trip at Tule Lake. This was followed by the discovery of the body of Diana Robertson in the same area a few months later.

  What makes this murder even more chilling is that Robertson and her boyfriend's daughter was found wandering alone at a Kmart in the area. The boyfriend, Mike Riemer, was the prime suspect in all three murders. 

  Now: In 2011, hikers discovered a partial human skull in nearby Mineral, WA, that was later determined to be that of Mike Riemer, making him the fourth victim, rather than the perpetrator of the Tube Sock Killings. 

   
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  (#8) The Marfa Lights

  Then: Since the 19th century, the Marfa Lights have intrigued and captivated all sorts of UFO enthusiasts. In 1989, Unsolved Mysteries delved into the possible origins of the lights. Could they be the ghost of a vengeful indigenous spirit? Or are they simply refracted starlight? Robert Stack deemed the results inconclusive. 

  Now: In 2004, a group of physics students from UT Dallas spent three days investigating the incident and came to the conclusion that the Marfa Lights are nothing more than the headlights of cars traveling down Interstate 67. Or are they?
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  (#9) The Pizza Parlor Killer

  Then: In 1991, a string of seemingly random killings occurred in Sacramento, California, that claimed the lives of five people over two weeks. Three of the victims were employees at the Round Table pizza parlor. 

  Now: Shortly after the initial broadcast of "The Pizza Parlor Killer" episode, Eric Royce Leonard was apprehended, and following a trial, sentenced to the death penalty. No motive was ever discovered and, as of April 2018, he remains on death row. 

  
   
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  (#10) The Signal Mountain Murders

  Then: When Richard Mason, Kenneth Griffith, and Earl Smock decided to take their ATVs to a lake near Chattanooga in 1988, the last thing they expected was to be gunned down. But shortly after they disappeared, their bodies and vehicles were discovered - and all evidence pointed towards a local named Frank Casteel.

  Now: Nine years after the murders, Frank Casteel was finally found guilty of the triple homicide, despite there being no physical evidence tying him to the case. In 2003, he appealed the ruling, but was once again found guilty of the slayings. 

   
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  (#11) The Las Cruces Bowling Alley Murders

  Then: In early 1990, two gunmen robbed the Las Cruces Bowl in New Mexico, shooting seven people (including children), four of whom died. The assailants also attempted to burn the bowling alley down, but to no avail. 

  Now: The slayings remain unsolved, although the documentary A Nightmare in Las Cruces was released two decades afterwards in hopes of shining some light on the horrific incident. 

   
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  (#12) The Murder Of Angela Cummings

  Then: In 1990, a call was placed into the "Kevin & Bean" morning show on the radio station KROQ where the caller claimed to have committed a murder. Many people believed the mystery caller was admitting to the murder of Angela Cummings, a woman who was found shot dead in Yuba, California. 

  Now: After Unsolved Mysteries aired Angela's segment twice (once in 1990, and again in 1991), Kevin and Bean revealed the call had been a hoax that they instigated.

   
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  (#13) The Connecticut River Valley Killer

  Then: From 1978 to 1987, an unidentified serial killer operated throughout the Connecticut River Valley, where he would stab women to death, and sometimes sexually assault them. In 1988, Jane Boroski managed to survive 27 wounds inflicted by the killer, and provided the police with an accurate description of what he looked like. 

  Now: The case went cold after Boroski's escape, but there were a couple of suspects tied to the slayings: one who had attempted to kill a woman in a similar manner, and another who quickly moved away from the northeast after the attempted murder of Boroski. This second suspect later killed himself after murdering his wife and children. 

   
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  (#14) Baron 52

  Then: At the tail end of the Vietnam War, Baron 52, a surveillance plane carrying eight members of the Air Force, was shot down over Laos. When the plane was recovered, the remains of four of the crewmen were missing, leading to speculation about whether they had been captured. Even if they had been captured, according to the Paris Peace Accord, the men couldn't be returned from a POW camp because the flight took place a week after the US had officially ended their involvement in the Vietnam War and was therefore illegal.

  Now: In 1995, it was revealed that the US Government considers the four missing crewmen "accounted for," despite their disappearance, and that almost half of the cases of MIA soldiers will never be solved. 

   
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  (#15) Little Miss Lake Panasoffkee

  Then: In 1992, Unsolved Mysteries ran an episode that focused on discovering the identity of a woman whose body was found decomposing with a man's belt around her neck in Lake Panasoffkee in Sumter County, Florida in 1971. The attempt to identify the body was unsuccessful. 

  Now: In 2012, the University of South Florida performed an isotope analysis on the woman's body and discovered that she was an immigrant from Greece.

   
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  (#16) The Sumter County Does

  Then: On the morning of August 9, 1976, the bodies of two people, "Jane and John Doe," were discovered by a local. They were both shot in the back, and neither of the bodies carried any identification. It was believed at the time that the two Does were brother and sister. 

  Now: Despite finding the weapon, no one was ever charged with the murder of the two Does. In 2007, their bodies were exhumed, and after DNA testing, it was proved that the man and woman weren't brother and sister. 

  
   
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  (#17) The Heirs Of Walter Rice

  Then: When two burglars broke into Walter Rice's home in the early '90s, the last thing they expected to find was Rice's decaying body. Eventually, a friend of one of the robbers placed a call to the police informing them of Rice's death. By the time he was discovered, Rice had been dead for over a year. After all was said and done, it was discovered that Rice died with an estate that added up to over $140,000 - but he seemingly had no heirs. 

  Now: Despite the best efforts of the Unsolved Mysteries team and law enforcement, no one ever came forward to claim themselves as Rice's heir, and his fortune was turned over to the state. 

  
   
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  (#18) The Kansas City Arsonist

  Then: On Thanksgiving Day 1988, the Kansas City Fire Department was dispatched to a trailer fire, only to be greeted by a massive explosion that killed six firefighters. It was discovered in the following investigation that large amounts of explosives had been purposefully placed in the trailer by an unknown arsonist. 

  Now: A segment on the Kansas City Arsonist ran in 1995, and in 1996, five people were implicated in the arson and murder and sentenced to life in prison the following year. 

   
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  (#19) The Oakville Blobs

  Then: Over a period of three weeks in Oakville, Washington, a blanket of rain fell that contained a gelatinous substance with a consistency similar to Jell-O. After the first appearance of the blobs, various community members came down with a flu-like illness that lasted for the length of the globby rainfall. 

  Now: A sample of the goo was brought to the Washington's Department of Health, and after some tests, it was discovered that the gel was made up of deceased jellyfish, whose toxic bodies probably caused the flu-like symptoms. After this discovery, theories about military involvement exploded. 
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  (#20) Marvin Gabrion

  Then: In 1997, Rachel Timmerman was set to testify against Marvin Gabrion in a Michigan rape case when she and her daughter disappeared before the trial. One month later, Timmerman's body was found in a lake chained to a cinder blocks. Three other people connected to Gabrion also went missing around this time.
  
  Now: Gabrion was finally tried for Timmerman's murder in 2002. In a surprising end to the trial, Gabrion was sentenced to death in a state that does not carry the death penalty due to the murder occurring on federal land. After a lengthy appeals trial that saw the death penalty overturned, it was once again reinstated. 

   
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  (#21) Dana Point Jane Doe

  Then: In 1987, the body of a young woman was found at the bottom of a cliff in Dana Point, California. Despite tracking down the cab driver who'd given her a ride, her death remained a mystery after her 1995 episode of Unsolved Mysteries aired. 

  Now: In 2015, one of Dana Point Jane Doe's friends was able to identify the mystery woman as Holly Glynn. 

  
   
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  (#22) Wendy Von Huben

  Then: In 1997, Wendy Von Huben and her boyfriend, Jesse Howell, disappeared in Florida. Not long after, Von Huben's parent's began receiving mysterious phone calls, allegedly from their daughter. And when Howell was found bludgeoned to death, it was assumed she had met a similar fate. 

  Now: Three years after the disappearances, a serial killer known as the "Railroad Killer" admitted to killing von Huben and Howell and directed the police to the former's remains. 
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  (#23) The Murder Of Brook Baker

  Then: In 1997, 19-year-old journalism major Brook Baker was found stabbed to death in her bed. Suspects included members of a local fraternity that Baker was investigating for sexual assault and someone posing as a roommate, as Baker had just put out an ad looking for someone to live with her. Unfortunately, the leads didn't go anywhere. 

  Now: The same year Baker's episode of Unsolved Mysteries aired, another student, Erika Norman, was killed off campus in a similar fashion. In 2001, Brian Jones was convicted of murdering Baker and Norman and given life in prison. 

   
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  (#24) Michael Wayne Brown

  Then: After killing a man in cold blood while robbing his insurance firm, Michael Wayne Brown was sentenced to death in the Oklahoma prison. There, he met Donna Moses, a local who corresponded with several incarcerated people. Brown and Moses would get married in 1984, and a few months later, she would allegedly help him escape the facility. After the jail break, the two disappeared for 14 years.

  Now: A year after their segment on Unsolved Mysteries aired in 1998, an employee at a video store in Kettering, Ohio, recognized the mugshot of Michael Wayne Brown as his boss, Kenneth Ginter. The two were one and the same, and Brown had been living in the small town for six years, where he opened the video store. Once authorities were alerted, Brown was arrested and returned to Oklahoma. Ginter's wife, meanwhile, is suspected to be Donna Moses.

  
   
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  (#25) Candy Belt And Gloria Ross

  Then: In 1994, two employees were found dead at New Life Fitness and Massage, an erotic massage parlor in Oak Grove, Kentucky. At the time of the initial investigation, the rest of the women who worked at New Life were adamant that the police were involved.

  Now: It wasn't until 2012 that former police officer Leslie Duncan admitted to tampering with physical evidence in connection with the double homicide. A year later, Frank J. Black Jr. and former police office Edward T. Carter were arrested for the homicides of Candida "Candy" Belt and Gloria Ross. 

  
   

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