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

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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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  (#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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  (#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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  (#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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  (#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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  (#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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