History Series / UnsolvedMysteries

This TV show ran from 1987-2002, with intermittent breaks in between, and was hosted for most of its run (which {{Channel Hop}}ped from NBC to CBS and then Lifetime) by Creator/RobertStack. It was revived from 2008-2010 on Spike TV, hosted by Creator/DennisFarina, and again beginning in 2020 on Creator/{{Netflix}} with all-new mysteries. The original series run also aired in Canada on some Creator/{{CTV}} affiliates.

** The bizarre story of Clarence Roberts of Nashville, Indiana, may be an extreme example. A body found burned to death on a fire on his property in 1970 was identified as Roberts. Ten years later, a body found in a second fire in which the Roberts residence was destroyed was ''also'' identified as Clarence Roberts. This second fire, determined to be arson, also killed Roberts' wife, Geneva. Roberts had been in substantial debt in 1970, and many in Nashville believe he murdered a transient and planted the transient's body in the first fire so he could disappear and his wife could collect on his life insurance. Investigators believe Roberts set the second fire deliberately to murder his own wife and [[HoistByHisOwnPetard ended up killing himself accidentally]], but some believe he faked his death a second time.

* YourCheatingHeart: Extramarital affairs played a part in a number of the murder, missing persons, and "Lost Loves" cases profiled. One of the latter cases involved a woman named Laura Young, who attempted to file for death benefits after her husband, Harry, was killed during World War II, only to discover that Harry's extramarital lover, a woman named Estela, had already filed for same, using Laura's identity. The affair resulted in a daughter, who finally met her half-brothers thanks to the show.

* DepartmentOfChildDisservices: Sometimes plays a role, particularly in some of the "Lost Loves" segments. One woman, Sharon Stevens, as a girl, was taken from her loving foster home to be returned to her abusive father who, among other things, used the belt buckle his daughter had given him for Christmas to beat and cut her. Another story involved a possibly corrupt juvenile court judge who awarded custody of a girl to the woman who kidnapped her, overruling the objections of the girl's own mother. This judge is believed to have been a co-conspirator in a notorious "baby broker" operation in which babies from poor backgrounds were kidnapped and adopted out to rich couples, and was eventually forced to resign in disgrace.

** "Baby broker" Georgia Tann. The show doesn't mention that in addition to kidnapping babies from poor families so she could adopt them out to rich couples, she had her staff neglect and starve the babies for whom she was unable to find homes, and hundreds of the babies died. The Creator/InvestigationDiscovery ''Deadly Women'' episode profiling Tann theorized that this would make Georgia Tann the most prolific serial murderer in American history.

* MamaBear: "Sue" (not her real name), the Texas housewife and mother of a three-year-old who chased an intruder out of her house at gunpoint and even fired several shots at him, though none did serious damage. She later found out that the intruder, Edward Howard Bell, was wanted for the 1978 murder of Larry Dickens. [[note]]Bell, who was captured due to viewer tips, given a 71-year sentence and died in prison in 2019, is also a person of interest in the murders of six young girls, including Rhonda Johnson and Sharon Shaw, who were profiled in a separate episode. The man who was convicted of Johnson's and Shaw's murders, Michael Self, is now believed to have been framed by corrupt cops, but died in prison before he could be exonerated.[[/note]]

* YoungFutureFamousPeople: A young Creator/MatthewMcConaughey starred in one episode as Larry Dickens, a former [[SemperFi United States Marine]] who was shot to death while confronting a pedophile.

* RealityEnsues: A particularly sad case came in the case of Colorado resident Jason Horsley, who even after several run-ins with his neighbor, Malaika Griffin, about he and his fiancee apparently trespassing on her property, still thought there was some good in her and tried desperately to befriend her. Sadly, he may not have truly realized that not only was Griffin a racist but a Black supremacist who had no desire to try and attempt a friendship with any White people and ultimately killed him over another perceived slight. Being cordial to a racist, especially a violent one at that, will not make them change or even curtail their racist views.

* DomesticAbuse: Frequently. Friends and relatives of missing or murdered women often cite that their husbands/boyfriends were violent and believe them to be responsible. In at least two instances, it wasn't even the women who had vanished/been killed, but friends of theirs who had tried to help. Some of the "wanted" segments take it further, with everyone knowing for a fact that the man in question is guilty and the focus being on catching him.

** Some research will turn up examples of some sad or unfortunate things that have happened to people who were interviewed on the show in the years since. Some have passed away under sad circumstances, such as Nyleen Kay Marshall's mother, Nancy, who was raped and murdered in 1995 in Mexico. Others have ended up on the wrong side of the law, such as the motorcyclist who found the Good Samaritan who saved his life after an accident, then went on to be convicted of molesting a child.

* YoureNotMyFather: Helen Rose Myerion, a First Nations (Native) Canadian, disowned her father, Archie, when he refused to sign the consent form for her to join the Armed Forces during World War II, and told him he would never see her again. They would remain estranged for the rest of their lives, much to Archie's regret. However, Helen Rose's siblings were able to reconnect with her thanks to a viewer tip.

* IdenticalTwinMistake: Jim Baumgartner never knew he had a twin brother until friends and family told him they'd seen him in places he'd never been. They looked so alike the even Jim's ''father'' was fooled. In one instance, Jim literally missed meeting his twin by a few minutes when the two men visited the same convenience store on the same day. Sadly Jim died without ever meeting his twin (though he was able to find a long-lost older sister he also hadn't known about previously), but his family has continued the search.

* BitchInSheepsClothing: Some of the individuals interviewed regarding murders or missing persons cases were later revealed to have been responsible for the murder, abduction, etc. One example is record promoter Chuck Dixon, who had very complimentary things to say about Kevin Hughes, the ''Cash Box'' magazine UsefulNotes/CountryMusic chart director whose murder in 1989 was thought to be related to a chart fixing scheme in which Hughes refused to participate. When the murderer, a fellow ''Cash Box'' employee, was eventually caught, he revealed that Dixon himself had ordered the hit for that exact reason. Unfortunately, Dixon could not be charged, since he had passed away by then. The hit man himself got a life sentence and died behind bars.

* BitchInSheepsClothing: The case of Kevin Hughes, Country Music chart director for ''Cash Box'' magazine whose murder in 1989 was thought to be a hired hit stemming from Hughes' refusal to fix the charts. In his interview, Chuck Dixon, a record promoter, gave Hughes a glowing testimonial. When the case was finally solved, it turned out that Dixon himself had masterminded the murder as part of a chart fixing scheme and hired a fellow ''Cash Box'' employee to carry it out. Dixon, however, had already passed away before he could be charged in the case. The hit man himself got a life sentence and died in prison.

** Stephanie Gaffney was eight months pregnant when she became a victim of New York City's "Zip Gun Bomber," whose attacks - consisting of mailing a package which appears to be a gift and fires three shots at the recipient when opened - killed at least one person and injured at least five others between 1982 and 1996. Miraculously, Stephanie survived and her unborn baby was unharmed and born healthy, apparently because Stephanie was holding the package at an angle when the shots were fired.

** Stephanie Gaffney was eight months pregnant when she became a victim of New York City's "Zip Gun Bomber," whose attacks - consisting of mailing a package which appears to be a gift and fires three shots at the recipient when opened - killed at least one person and injured at least five others between 1982 and 1996. Fortunately Stephanie and her unborn baby survived, and Stephanie believes the only reason for this is that she was holding the package at an angle when she opened it.

* OutOfCharacterAlert: Loved ones of the missing/murdered become convinced that foul play was involved rather than an accident or suicide when they notice something unusual--"My wife ''never'' goes anywhere without her purse!", "He ''always'' drives with the windows rolled up!", etc.

*** This doesn't only apply to kids either. In 1910, Conradina Olson's son, Edwin, opted not to accompany his mother on a train trip to a doctor's appointment. Conradina was never seen alive again, and Edwin blamed himself for the rest of his life.

** Four of the people shot in the Las Cruces bowling alley massacre were children. All but one of them died, with the youngest victim just two years old.

** Dennis [=DePue=] pushed his wife, Marilynn, down the stairs during an argument - in front of their children - and afterward told the kids he was taking her to the hospital. Instead, he shot her in the back of the head and dumped her body in the nearby countryside.

** Jim Burnside told his wife, Annette, he'd kill her and her entire family if she ever tried to leave him. When his five-year-old daughter asked him if he'd kill her too, Jim, without missing a beat, replied, "Yes, I'll kill you too." He later made good on his threat to kill Annette.