Greater than 35 years after she began making “Unsolved Mysteries,” the documentary stalwart’s co-creator Terry Dunn Meurer nonetheless finds herself amazed at what’s taking place out on the planet.
Murders, lacking folks, paranormal experiences, attainable alien encounters — few tales have been off the desk for “Unsolved Mysteries” because it began on NBC in 1987. It later aired on CBS, Lifetime and the erstwhile Spike TV earlier than being revived by Netflix in 2020, the place 5 new episodes at the moment are streaming as a part of Quantity 4.
The brand new batch runs the gamut of the “Unsolved Mysteries” spectrum, highlighting the instances of a severed head discovered within the woods in Pennsylvania, a physique present in a blood-drenched basement and a school scholar discovered lifeless on stage in a locked theater. However the collection bookends its fourth quantity with two episodes which might be a departure from its current choice for lesser-known instances –– Jack the Ripper and the Mothman.
However that is just the start for the collection’ fall rollout. Selection can completely reveal that 4 further episodes will drop in October — simply in time for Halloween — as a part of Quantity 5. Whereas Netflix received’t but reveal what these episodes will give attention to, Meurer can barely comprise her pleasure for certainly one of them. “It’s the most baffling thriller of all of them I’ve ever completed,” she says. “That’s all I can say proper now!”
For now, Meurer spoke with Selection about making Quantity 4, how the massive departures of Jack the Ripper and Mothman made the reduce — and why she nonetheless can’t shake the case of the severed head case. Warning: There are gentle spoilers within the interview beneath.
True crime documentaries come out seemingly each week today. Does that change the way you strategy what “Unsolved Mysteries” has been doing for greater than 35 years?
We’ve by no means considered ourselves as a real crime collection. We prefer to set ourselves aside and say we’re extra of a thriller present. So we’re all the time searching for mysteries, and possibly we’re selective another way, as a result of it has to have sure thriller components. It might probably’t simply be a criminal offense, and we strive to usher in paranormal tales as effectively. In order that limits the form of tales we’re prepared and in a position to sort out. We’re searching for that number of thriller that some true crime doesn’t have.
Courtesy of Netflix
These new episodes start and finish with the tales of Jack the Ripper and the Mothman, that are much more recognizable figures than the opposite episodes you’ve gotten completed on Netflix. Why give attention to these now?
With Jack the Ripper particularly, all people has heard the title, however folks don’t essentially know precisely what he did and the way did it. And a few folks in all probability don’t even know that it’s unsolved. So sure, it’s a little bit of a departure for these causes, but in addition as a result of it’s such an previous case. It is usually one of many oldest instances now we have ever completed, together with our classic episodes.
There are not any members of the family to interview concerning the case and the victims, so now we have some actually good specialists who’ve devoted their lives to investigating Jack the Ripper and all the assorted suspects. Individuals in all probability don’t know there are nonetheless new suspects being named.
As for Mothman, it’s a nice story that we already did in our classic episodes, however we not too long ago heard there was a brand new cluster of sightings across the Chicago O’Hare Airport space. So this new episode is form of like a large replace on the Level Nice Mothman episode [from 2002]. Has the Mothman moved on to Chicago? What does it imply if folks actually consider [it is a harbinger for something bad]?
One of many issues we all the time search for with regards to paranormal tales is basically credible witnesses. If we are able to’t discover witnesses which might be credible, we wouldn’t do the story. So we researched the Mothman case, and located plenty of witnesses, and a few air site visitors controllers and pilots and cargo handlers at O’Hare who’ve additionally seen the Mothman and gave us statements, however weren’t prepared to be interviewed.
The good thing about doing this present for greater than three a long time is you get to replace your personal work, and also you even use a few of your classic Mothman reenactments on this episode. However for these watching carefully, did you additionally use these new real-life witnesses within the reenactments of their tales?
We don’t often do this, however we did on this case. We simply felt like it could make it slightly bit extra credible. That was a selection, truly. With the classic collection, we’d have dialogue and see folks’s faces. Typically, we had actual cops or different actual folks, after they have been prepared. However with the Netflix collection, the reenactments have been extra evocative. Photographs of arms and toes and backs of heads. We went slightly farther with the Mothman episode with the true folks, simply to combine it up slightly bit.
Courtesy of Netflix
How was it doing that?
Oh, everybody wished to do it. We didn’t have to speak them into doing it. These folks have been actually traumatized by this expertise. That’s one of many issues that I feel makes them so credible. By some means, it could have felt odd to place an actor in these particular ones. I don’t know why. And now we have usually heard by means of the years that persons are so appreciative of the catharsis from telling their story in an interview, and feeling like they’re doing one thing to advance the thriller and get it solved.
That’s on the core of what we’re doing. Sure, it’s leisure. However these are actual folks with actual tales and actual mysteries. If we may help them clear up these, that’s why I’ll do “Unsolved Mysteries” till the day I die.
The three lesser-known episodes in the midst of the season are actually chilling. However the standout could also be “The Severed Head,” just because there’s a lot that occurs in a single episode. There’s a severed, embalmed head discovered with crimson rubber balls the place her eyes needs to be. You suppose it’s truly the lacking head of a robbed grave from the Fifties, however then you definitely show it isn’t, in order that could possibly be an entire different story. Then there’s the odd feud between an previous man and the 15-year-old who discovered the top, and the way that will have spiraled into utilizing the top as retaliation, and later suicide. How did you discover this wild story?
That’s truly certainly one of my favourite episodes, and the one I’m most hopeful will get solved. Chief Mike O’Brien and Andy Gall, the 2 investigators in that case, are that lady’s household now. They’re so obsessed with fixing this case. It was very multi-layered, and greater than a lot of our instances in current reminiscence, it was an training for me, as a result of I didn’t know something concerning the physique components commerce. I additionally didn’t know that when a head is embalmed, you may’t get DNA from it. We tried it. We paid to ship a few of these samples to a different lab, and so they tried however mentioned they couldn’t get any.
These guys have tried every thing to resolve it. They’ve used NASA satellites making an attempt to see if a automotive was parked there when the top was left, after which there’s the Jay character. We focused this story a variety of years in the past when Jay was nonetheless alive, however we didn’t interview him then. He’s such a thriller within the case already, and then you definitely discover out Jay dedicated suicide.
That case simply has plenty of twists and turns, and a lot intrigue. How did the top get there? Who put it there? Who is the top? The place is the remainder of her physique? There are such a lot of mysteries. I do know the detectives really feel that if we are able to determine who she is, we are able to hint again what occurred to her.
You mentioned you focused this case years in the past. How lengthy does it take to supply these episodes?
It takes about two years to get a season completed. Perhaps longer, relying on the case, however that is simply half the season. The remainder of it is going to drop in October.
What resonated with you concerning the different two episodes this season –– “Physique within the Basement” and “Homicide, Heart Stage?”
Effectively, with “Physique within the Basement,” it was fascinating to me that the cops began off pondering it a murder, after which thought it could possibly be an accident. Often, it goes the opposite means in these instances. We’ve by no means completed a case like that earlier than, which made it actually attention-grabbing to inform. And so they have been baffled. When Det. Dave Candy got here to us, he mentioned, “Earlier than I retire, I’ve to really feel like I’ve completed every thing I can to unravel this.”
And Sigrid, within the different episode, was simply this lack of a stupendous life so a few years in the past. That one, you hope somebody is watching who is aware of the reality. However the truth that all 4 of these investigators are nonetheless so obsessed with fixing her case in spite of everything these years. A number of instances we key off the eagerness of the members of the family or the detectives, and I’d say that’s the case in all three of the center episodes this season. You wish to assist them clear up these instances.
You’re a number of volumes into “Unsolved Mysteries” on Netflix with this longer format that focuses on one case an episode. How has that have been within the legacy of the present?
You already know, within the classic episodes, we have been doing 100 mysteries a season. So, the possibility to resolve extra instances was there. I really like doing the deeper dive into the instances, and I feel our viewers does too. That’s what we’ve heard. However for me, with the mission of making an attempt to resolve as many instances as we are able to, we’re restricted now. We’ve 9 episodes this 12 months. The primary season on Netflix, we did 12. We wish to clear up these mysteries — it isn’t nearly telling the tales.
The early years of “Unsolved Mysteries” have been well-known for serving to transfer the needle on instances you coated. Have you ever seen progress in fixing the instances you’ve highlighted on Netflix by means of your tip web site, Unsolved.com?
There was one case that was solved. It was in Quantity 3; it was a parental abduction case. However I’ve been shocked that a few these instances that I believed have been slam dunks haven’t been solved. I nonetheless learn each tip that comes by means of that we ship off to the U.S. Marshals, and we ship them loads.
However with these wished instances, as an example, what I feel and hope occurs is that when these new episodes drop, folks return and rewatch the others. So, we might have one other shot at getting solutions. When it aired on NBC, it confirmed as soon as, and that’s all you’ve bought. On this case, folks can circle again on Netflix, and hopefully we can have some solved mysteries.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
