Unsolved Mysteries / Headscratchers

The DB Cooper sketch

In the segment focusing on the infamous disappearance of D.B. Cooper, one of the flight attendants who spoke with Cooper is interviewed on the show, and claims that she thinks one of the reasons Cooper has remained elusive is because the composite sketch is actually inaccurate. She then provides a better sketch of what Cooper actually looked like (the only real differences is a slightly rounder head shape, and a cleft chin). Here's what's odd, this updated composite sketch has never been widely circulated. If you look up any article concerning Cooper, you'll see the original two composites (one of him wearing goggles, the other without), but the amended composite featured on this show is never displayed. Why is that?
- More like than not, the first iteration is seen as a more enduring image of the hijacker. It's entirely likely that professional law enforcement circulated the updated sketch, but to the general public the original sketch is just the most famous.

This is something I don't get about abducted people, both children and adults, that were featured on the show and whose cases remain unsolved. Why did these people not attempt to flee captivity or contact anyone? If this troper were ever kidnapped, the first things I would do would be to escape from my captors, contact the police and/or my family, and both of the above.
- You might not be able to escape; and often kidnappers threaten to harm the victims' loved ones if they try.
  - Even worse, in all likelihood, these people were murdered the day they vanished and therefore couldn't escape and/or contact anybody. Stories of people being rescued after having been missing for years are wonderful, but they're the exception, not the rule.
- Why didn't those idiots on the Titanic just swim to shore?
  - Well, there was a case (in Japan) where a woman was kidnapped at nine and lived with her kidnapper for 9 years. When asked why she ain't escape when the chance presented itself,she said she, quote, "lost the energy to escape", so maybe that's the case in some of the "happier" stories. In the cases where they're kids, they might have a case of trauma bonding or they might not have known they were kidnapped to start with. Other than that, a lot of times when people are kidnapped, they're scared so, with probably infinite things running through their heads at once, they probably don't try because, in a sense, they're in "Freeze Mode".

The case of Matt Flores: Matt was murdered in the parking lot of a software company in California back in 1994. To this day, nobody knows who murdered him and why. In spite of twenty witnesses there and security cameras, no more evidence has surfaced. Now that brings me to a question: one theory is that the murder was done by a Professional Killer who may have mistaken Matt for their actual target. Why would a professional killer carry out a murder in a public place with plenty of people in broad daylight?
- What really unnerves me about the Matt Flores case is why did the company Matt worked at refuse Unsolved Mysteries the right to show the security footage showing the vehicle that was following Matt, resulting in UM's producers having to do a recreation of the security footage. That's a little suspicious, don't you think? The same thing happened with the case of Dale Kerstetter. Even more problematic is the recreated footage that UM produced has been circulated on other mystery shows as official footage, which probably has hindered both these cases badly, since the real security footage probably contain missed details that might be helpful in solving them.
  - There was an active investigation at the time this first aired in 1995 and the show was asked by authorities not to show the film.

If Curt Borton's sister ran away from her brother when she encountered him for fear of her safety, then why did she take the story on national TV? If she is afraid that Curt is deranged, wouldn't blowing his cover to the world put her in danger? Either she wants to find her brother or she doesn't...it seems very contradictory to shun him and then plead for people to reunite them.
- Some personality quirk of her's?

The Haunted Bunk Bed Story. Aside from the fact that destroying the bunk bed made the hauntings and hallucinations stop, what exactly was it that tipped off the family that the bunk bed itself was the reason for the haunting incidents? None of the instances of hallucinations, or apparition sightings seemed to be specifically tied to the bunk bed.
- If I remember correctly, the hauntings/weird events started once the bed was brought into the house and slept in, so they assumed they were caused by it. But the Unsolved Mysteries Wiki page on this case says that a book featured this case, but made no mention of the bed, and instead said the events were caused by the house being on Native American burial ground.

This is a bit meta, but what the hell was the deal with Tim McClure and his mother's murder? This is quite possibly the most baffling mystery that the series has ever profiled, and there seems to be as much evidence that Tim was guilty as there is that he's innocent. The case against Tim was eventually dismissed with prejudice so it is clear that there is not enough evidence to convict him beyond a reasonable doubt, but the amount of weird coincidences that circumstantially imply his involvement in his mother's death is mind-blowing.
- If you look up info regarding the Tim McClure case, you'll see it's one of the most poorly presented cases on the show. The most jarring aspect is only Tim was interviewed. None of his family members were. The show even went out of it's way to say they believe Tim is innocent in the murder of his mother, however Tim's own daughter went on the Unsolved website to say that they do not think he's innocent and were quite upset that the show's producers didn't interview anyone else other than Tim.

Why does the show leave out what could be extremely relevant information about the victims or the suspects. Google searches on cases have revealed numerous things that could have had a bearing on the case and/or inspired someone to come forward.
- The show may not have been allowed to say the other relevant information. Police always withhold information to make sure the people who come forward are related to the case. A show such as Forensic Files for example are allowed to go into greater detail as the majority of cases have been officially closed plus a show like Forensic Files is 1 case per half-hour long episode unlike Unsolved Mysteries which typically has 4 or more cases in an hour. Some parts may also be due to network censors as the show was on during prime time Wednesday nights on NBC than cable.
- In addition to the above, it is worth noting that UM definitely had an agenda in their presentation of stories, and would often leave out details in order to make segments seem more bizarre and mysterious. One particularly egregious example would be the Circleville Letter segment, as we would learn in subsequent years that Mary knew much more about the letter writer(s) than she let on, and that law enforcement had a prime suspect in mind that UM didn't even mention. The fact is that presenting the story as a mysterious stalker terrorizing an innocent family and an in-law getting framed for it made for much better TV than the way it actually happened.