Has Netflix's 'Unsolved Mysteries' Helped to Solve Any Cases?

After two years of waiting, Volume Three of Unsolved Mysteries has made its way to Netflix.

There are nine episodes in the third season, which drop in three installments of three episodes each, on October 18, October 25 and November 1.

Just like the first two volumes of Unsolved Mysteries on Netflix, this season looks at numerous unsolved cases ranging from unexplained deaths, mysterious UFO sightings, and puzzling disappearances.

The original Unsolved Mysteries, which aired from 1988 to 2002, saw 260 of the 1,300 cases featured in the show solved.

According to the Unsolved Mysteries website, half the cases in the show featuring wanted fugitives had been solved, more than 100 families were reunited with lost loved ones, and seven individuals wrongly convicted of crimes were exonerated and released.

Has Netflix's Unsolved Mysteries Helped to Solve Any Cases?

Unfortunately, none of the cases featured on Netflix's Unsolved Mysteries have been resolved so far.

The good news is, various cases from the first two volumes have received crucial updates since they premiered on Netflix. After all nine episodes of season 3 have aired on Netflix, it is possible those cases could receive updates, too—or even be solved.

From any of the cases included in the three seasons of Netflix's Unsolved Mysteries, audiences can submit any information they might have at unsolved.com/tips/.

After the release of seasons 1 and 2 on Netflix in 2020, Unsolved Mysteries creator Terry Dunn Meurer told Gizmodo: "We had thousands of tips and leads that came in, but nothing was solved. But it does take a while for cases to get solved. They can't just have a tip and go and make an arrest."

Rey Rivera

Episode 1 of Netflix's Unsolved Mysteries series focused on the case of Rey Rivera, whose body was found on May 24, 2006, at the Belvedere Hotel in Baltimore, Maryland.

The Baltimore Police Department recorded that the young filmmaker died in an apparent suicide, but Unsolved Mysteries cast doubt over this conclusion, suggesting his fall from the top of the Baltimore hotel may have been staged.

Since the release of Unsolved Mysteries, an investigation by forensic Miryam Moya has invalidated the theory of suicide. Instead, Moya has focused on a hit-and-run being the possible cause of death. She published her findings in the book: Rey Rivera, Suicide or Homicide?

Alonzo Brooks

The fourth episode of Unsolved Mysteries season 1 explored the disappearance and death of Alonzo Brooks.

Brooks, a 23-year-old black man, attended a party with friends on April 3, 2004, but never made it home. His body was uncovered by his family at a creek.

The party Brooks had attended was held in La Cygne, a heavily white-dominated town. At the time the local Sheriff called in the KBI (Kansas Bureau of Investigation) and FBI to investigate the suspected hate crime.

Ultimately, the KBI ruled Brooks's death not to be a hate crime simply because they found there was no evidence to prove the theory, and the case was closed.

However, a recent discovery following an FBI investigation has cast doubt on the KBI's findings.

In November 2020, the official Unsolved Mysteries Twitter account shared there had been an update on Brooks's case.

The tweet said an FBI investigation had revealed that another party was held on the same evening Brooks disappeared. When that party ended after a fight broke out, guests headed to the party at a farmhouse that Brooks was attending. The farmhouse was the last place Brooks was seen alive.

Unsolved Mysteries tweeted: "UPDATE: The FBI learned of the second party in La Cygne, Kansas the night Alonzo Brooks disappeared. Attendees left the party after a fight broke out, then headed to the Farmhouse where Alonzo was last seen. If you attended either party or know someone who did, please come forward."

JoAnn Romain

On January 12, 2010, 55-year-old JoAnn Romain attended an evening church service. It would be the last time she was seen alive.

Her car was discovered parked near the Church driveway during a routine police patrol, with her bus in the front seen. Police noticed shoe prints in the snow leading to Lake St. Clair, however, there was no sign of JoAnn in the water.

Diving teams searched for JoAnn in the following days, with no success. It was only two months later, her body was discovered on the Canadian side of the Detroit River, 30 miles from where she was last seen.

At the time of her death, Grosse-Pointe law enforcement believed Romain had died by suicide, but her family believes she was the victim of foul play.

As seen in the fifth episode of Unsolved Mysteries season 2, "Lady in the Lake," Romain's cousin, Tim Matouk, was named one of the primary suspects in her death.

He declined to appear in the Netflix episode but later agreed to an interview with Unsolved Mysteries creator Terry Dunn Meurer.

During their conversation, he vehemently denied killing Romain. He shared he was at work on the evening his cousin died and his phone records and testimony from Michigan state troopers solidified his alibi.

He also discussed in depth the phone call between himself and Romain, which led family members to suspect he may be the killer.

Speaking in Unsolved Mysteries, JoAnn's daughter, Michelle Romain, shared how a few weeks before her mother's death, she received a call from Matouk that left her shaken and scared.

She also said that her mother told her after the call if anything sinister happened to her, they were to look to Matouk as the suspect.

Matouk insisted that he called Romain to question her after he heard from another family member she had been talking about him in a negative light.

He said he never threatened her in any way, reflecting: "Let's go back to John Matouk (Romain's brother). On your show, John Matouk said they were very close. Well, she never told him that I threatened her or if anything happens to her, look at me. I believe that was made up."

Lester Eubanks

Lester Eubanks was convicted of the 1965 murder and attempted rape of 14-year-old Mary Ellen Deener. He was sentenced to death row but this was commuted to a life sentence in 1972.

However, he escaped from jail in 1973 and has been on the run for the past 50 years. He is one of the U.S. Marshal Service's 15 most wanted fugitives to this day. His story was featured in the ninth episode of Unsolved Mysteries' second season, titled "Death Row Fugitive."

There was an update on his case in March 2021, with U.S. Marshals believing Eubanks was living in the Los Angeles area after receiving photographs of the fugitive allegedly working and socializing with friends.

Speaking to NBC Los Angeles, U.S Marshal David Siler said: "We believe that he may have never left the Greater Los Angeles area. We know that he has a footprint there, we know that he has associates throughout the area, we just need to talk to those people."

As of October 22, Eubank's whereabouts are still unknown.

Stolen Kids

The final episode of Unsolved Mysteries season 2 investigated the disappearance of Christopher Dansby and Shane Walker, two toddlers who went missing just months apart in Harlem, in 1989.

They have still not been found, but after the Unsolved Mysteries episode aired, their mothers, Allison Dansby and Rosa Glover submitted their DNA to genetic databases in an effort to find their children, the Unsolved Mysteries Twitter account announced.

Newsweek reached out to the Unsolved Mysteries team for comment.