History Series / UnsolvedMysteries

* HarassingPhoneCall: Taken UpToEleven with the Bashir Kouchacji story - during the 1980s, the Washington restaurateur was getting up to 20 harassing and threatening phone calls a day, some of which seemed to have been made by a child, and theorized the calls may have had something to do with his abduction and brief imprisonment by the PLO while in Lebanon. Even after checking himself into a mental hospital to escape the harassment, the callers were still able to reach him in the hospital. To make matters worse, Bashir's son was attacked by unknown assailants, and Bashir himself nearly escaped death when his car was set on fire. The perpetrators of this harassment have never been caught.

* HeKnowsTooMuch: Frequently very ominously implied as the reason behind the deaths or disappearances of the topics of the segments. The Keith Warren segment takes this UpToEleven--not only was the victim probably murdered because of what he knew, but so was a GuiltRiddenAccomplice who finally worked up the nerve to confess to his role in the crime.

** Luis Diaz was convicted for being the Bird Road Rapist and was sentenced to [[UpToEleven thirteen life sentences plus 55 years]]. It turns out that Diaz was innocent all along; he was exonerated after serving 25 years when DNA evidence proved he was not the rapist. The real perpetrators, now believed to be more than one, have never been caught.

** The Keith Warren case took this UpToEleven. Aside from his likely murder being made to look like a suicide (numerous toxins were found in his body, he was wearing clothes that weren't his, both the rope and the tree that he was hung from were far too fragile to support his weight, and the rope was tied in a ridiculously elaborate fashion that would have been impossible for him to do), when a friend of his called his mother, wanting to talk to her, he was soon found dead by the side of the road. Despite injuries that clearly indicated that he'd been beaten with an object, it was ruled as a hit-and-run.

* KillEmAll: Some cases have a scenario, be it at the hands of a SerialKiller or not, where everyone in a setting or situation are killed. One particularly harrowing example is the case of Rachel Timmerman, a young mother who after being raped by an acquaintance, Marvin Gabrion, was later murdered by him. He also is suspected in killing three associates of his (two of which were witnesses on the night he raped her and one who went out on a date with her the night of her abduction) and [[WouldHurtAChild her eleven-month-old daughter, Shannon]], whose bodies were never found.
** The Las Cruces bowling alley massacre in 1990, in which the robber-killers shot all ''seven'' of their hostages multiple times (including four children, of whom three died). In an aversion, three of the victims survived and were able to give police a good enough description of the suspects to create composites. However, the crime remains unsolved. One of the surviving victims died of complications from her injuries nine years later.

* AdultFear:
** Something terrible happening to you or a loved one. These are ''real'' people featured in these segments, none of whom the viewer would ever had known about had it not been for these terrible things that happened to them. It's chilling to realize that you or someone you love could easily be the focus of one of these stories, especially considering how many of these incidents took place in the middle of something utterly common and mundane--a late-night trip to the ATM/supermarket/coffee shop, etc.
** Every "missing child" story is undoubtedly every parent's worst nightmare, made even worse by the fact that many of these children have never been found.

* IAteWhat: Dian Harlin is rumored to have served her husband Hugh ''dog food'' for dinner on at least one occasion, including baking it into a casserole (which he ate without suspecting).

* WifeHusbandry: After Franklin Delano Floyd kidnapped Michael Hughes from his school, an investigation found that Michael's mother Sharon had herself been kidnapped by Floyd as a child. He raised her as his own--molesting her the entire time--then married her when she came of age, then killed her either when she got fed up with the abuse and tried to leave, or because he feared she would turn him in regarding ''another'' murder he had committed. [[note]] In 2014, Sharon was finally identified as Suzanne Maree Sevakis, who had been kidnapped by Floyd after he and her mother broke up, and Floyd finally admitted to killing Michael Hughes the very day he abducted him. [[/note]]

* 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!", "There were cigarette butts found by his car but he didn't smoke!", etc.

* RedHerring: A lot of suspects have ultimately turned out to be completely innocent, despite their admitTtedly weird/creepy/suspicious/inappropriate behavior.

* {{Mondegreen}}: According to one segment, the common English name for the Yeti, the abominable snowman, is actually a Mondegreen of the original translation: abominable-''smelling'' man.

* SpellMyNameWithAnS: Victor Simon ran into a combination of this and {{Mondegreen}} when trying to research his birth family. He assumed for a long time that his family name was "Shiman," as that was how "Simon" would be pronounced in Hungarian, but searches for "Shiman" turned up nothing and prevented him from making any headway until he realized the error. Additionally, a newspaper article about his mother's death spelled her name as "Schmon."

** Played with in the case of Candy Belt and Gloria Ross, who worked at a massage parlor/brothel in Kentucky when they were murdered. The brothel's madam was convinced that the victims were murdered ''by'' one of the town's police officers, who had been a steady client until she banned him from the premises, and was frustrated that no one in the town seemed to care because the victims were sex workers. This officer was eventually charged with the murders but was acquitted, and the killings are still unsolved.

** Perhaps the most famous example profiled on the show is Michael Swango, who may have been responsible for as many as 60 poisoning deaths (although he only confessed to four) - both patients and coworkers - in both the U.S. and Zimbabwe. Sadly, many of those deaths could have been prevented - despite several suspicious deaths under his watch at Ohio State, the university opted to let his residency expire quietly rather than investigate thoroughly, and he ''continued'' to find work in the medical field for more than a decade afterward, despite the clouds of suspicion that followed him. He is now serving life without parole.

** Perhaps the most infamous example featured on the show is Michael Swango, who may have killed as many as 60 people (including coworkers as well as patients) by poisoning them. Many of these deaths could have been prevented if Ohio State University had done a proper investigation into the suspicious deaths that occurred there under Swango's watch, rather than quietly letting his residency expire. Even more unbelievably, Swango continued to find work in the medical profession until he was finally arrested in Zimbabwe, 14 years after his killing spree began. Swango has admitted to causing only four deaths, but those were still enough to put him in prison for life without parole.

* TamperingWithFoodAndDrink: In 1967, Joe Maloney offered his ex-wife, June, a drink, which unbeknownst to her was tainted with poison Joe had stolen from a friend's laboratory. June lapsed into a coma and lingered for three months before succumbing. Joe was apprehended in Ireland years later but freed as the nation had no extradition law with the U.S., making his case also one of the worst examples of KarmaHoudini profiled on the show.
** Elizabeth Ortiz, who poisoned her husband Gilbert's muscle-building amino-acid milkshakes with insecticide, then ran off with their young son. Miraculously, Gilbert survived, though the poison severely damaged his nerves and liver. Elizabeth was eventually captured in Mexico and Gilbert and his son were reunited. Sadly - see under BittersweetEnding above - Gilbert's relationship with his son is now strained (to say the least).

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 was syndicated in Canada but aired on a number of Creator/{{CTV}} affiliates.

Although it's presented like a piece of fiction, most every mystery is real. In fact, roughly 400 of this show's mysteries have been solved. It is believed to have originally directly competed with ''America's Most Wanted''. All versions of the show have a telephone hotline set up that you can call if you have any information, while the current version only has [[http://www.unsolved.com a website]]. Some of the mysteries presented back then have remained unsolved to this day, while others are still being solved. You may watch the original show with iconic host Robert Stack on Hulu and Amazon streaming services, with new updates from as late as 2017. Thanks to [=FilmRise=], [[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzirOgADPOz0eapgwBcX9Gw Unsolved Mysteries now has its own [=YouTube=] channel]].[[note]]The episodes are not presented as originally broadcast, as the opening disclaimer is voiced by a different narrator, and repeat airings of stories are cut (except for Update segments), with some episodes on the channel comprised of stories that aired in several different episodes. Also, the exhortation for viewers with relevant information about a story to phone the show's (now inactive) toll free number, 1-800-876-5353 (or, in the syndicated/Lifetime episodes, their local law enforcement agencies), is cut from each story, replaced by a blanket exhortation for viewers to visit the show's official website with information. A few episodes also had clips from other TV shows or movies removed, probably for copyright reasons.[[/note]]

* DatedHistory: Quite a few of the high-profile mysteries aren't so mysterious anymore. [[note]]The [=FilmRise=] reruns of the original series on [=YouTube=] bring the viewer up to date with updates on cases resolved since the original series went off the air.[[/note]]

* OffingTheOffspring: The case of Darlie Routier, convicted of murdering her own children, despite her insistence (as well as some evidence showing) that she is innocent and that an intruder took their lives. There ''is'' some evidence suggesting that she did in fact kill her kids (crime scene appearing staged, Darlie's [[AngstWhatAngst indifferent behavior]] after the murders, etc.) She currently sits on death row.[[note]]Profiles of the case on other similar shows, such as ''Deadly Women'', portray Darlie unambiguously as guilty.[[/note]]

** In the early morning hours of December 30, 1999, the home of [[https://www.yahoo.com/news/man-arrested-nearly-20-old-161552513.html Danny and Kathy Freeman]] was torched. Investigators found their bodies in the rubble and that their daughter Ashley and her friend Lauria (who had been spending the night) had vanished. After years of speculation as to their fate, including that ''they'' had murdered the couple and then run off, the murderer of all four has finally been arrested.

Although it's presented like a piece of fiction, most every mystery is real. In fact, roughly 400 of this show's mysteries have been solved. It is believed to have originally directly competed with ''America's Most Wanted''. All versions of the show have a telephone hotline set up that you can call if you have any information, while the current version only has [[http://www.unsolved.com a website]]. Some of the mysteries presented back then have remained unsolved to this day, while others are still being solved. You may watch the original show with iconic host Robert Stack on Hulu and Amazon streaming services, with new updates from as late as 2017. Thanks to [=FilmRise=], [[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzirOgADPOz0eapgwBcX9Gw Unsolved Mysteries now has its own [=YouTube=] channel]], with every episode complete and unabridged. For free.

* ShoutOut: One story profiled legendary police detective Eliot Ness and the one case he was never able to crack, a grisly series of torso slayings in Cleveland in the late 1930s. Host Robert Stack had portrayed Ness on the 1960s TV series ''Series/TheUntouchables'' and, in the opening salvo to the story, talked about what he'd learned about Ness' character through his work on the series.

* ChildhoodBrainDamage: Teenager Jennifer Pratt, an aspiring model, sustained a nearly fatal blow to the head in 1987 that authorities believe was probably meant for her drug-dealer boyfriend, Curtis Croft. She miraculously survived after months in a coma, but was left with permanent brain damage, which noticeably affected her motor skills and speech, as was evident during her interview. Frustratingly, several of Jenny's classmates believed they knew who was responsible but were unwilling to name names, and Curtis Croft himself was uncooperative. Not helping matters was Jenny's mother, who instead of being grateful that her daughter was still alive, only mourned the loss of the "old" Jenny.

** On occasion, new developments in cases would occur before the segments even ''aired''. An example is the Adam and Elena Emery case, who were believed to have staged their own suicides in 1993 after Adam was convicted of a 1990 murder. Before the case aired, Elena's skull was found, confirming that she was in fact dead, though the circumstances of her death remain unclear.

* OffingTheOffspring: The case of Darlie Routier, convicted of murdering her own children, despite her insistence (as well as some evidence showing) that she is innocent and that an intruder took their lives. There ''is'' some evidence suggesting that she did in fact kill her kids (crime scene appearing staged, Darlie's [[AngstWhatAngst indifferent behavior]] after the murders, etc.) She currently sits on death row.