MovieChat Forums > Disappeared (2009) Discussion > Which cases do you find most bizarre?

Which cases do you find most bizarre?

posted 13 years ago by charles_allen95
33 replies | jump to latest

I'm going to list mine numerically:

1. The Jamison family. Reason, they go up on the mountain to look at land, and as they leave they pull over to the side of the road and get out of the truck. But, their wallets, jackets, cell phones, and the family dog are all abandoned. Now, the local sheriff, their friends and family have all thought that they were forced out of the truck based on the stuff left behind in it. However, there were no foot prints nearby other than the Jamisons's. With the help of the blood hounds, investigators were able to get at least a good idea on the route they might have walked which ended at the water tank. No new developments have surfaced since.

2. Leah Roberts. A young woman decides to go discover America and drives from North Caralina to Washington state. Her jeep goes up a mountain road and over a guard rail. She herself is nowhere to be found in the wreckage meaning that she most likely was not in the vehicle to begin with. Thats it....wrecked jeep, but no Leah, and no sign ever of where she might have gone or what happened to her.

3. Tara Grinstead. Beauty queen and school teacher vanishes from her home. No signs of a struggle. She takes her purse and keys with her making it look as though she left with someone she knew. Only evidance that stuck out was the latex glove found in her yard containing male DNA which did not match any men that Tara was associated with.

Those are the top three that stick out in my mind but I'd like feedback on this topic.

[–] lilypad183 13 years ago

hi charles,
in my eyes, the most interesting case is the mc stay family. i do believe they took off on their own and weren't kidnapped but i can't imagine why they did it with the 2 little boys.

what adults do to themselves is one thing but involving children is beyond horrible. they have been deprived of their extended family's love and any ty[e of normal life because their parents made selfish decisions.

[–] Sethslvr 13 years ago

I agree about Tara Grinsted...that is so strange!

Last nights episode with Amber was really bizarre!!

Move, and I'll sock ya one!

[–] filmfanatic101 13 years ago

One that sticks out to me is Maura Murray. She left willingly and drove hundreds of miles away from her college. A bus driver saw her on the side of the road with her lights on, but she told him she was fine and didn't need any help. She has never been seen or heard from with the exception of an eerie voicemail her boyfriend received of somebody panting and weeping.

[–] lilypad183 13 years ago

"She left willingly and drove hundreds of miles away from her college."

film,
our daughter went to college near where maura went. actually it's not even 100 miles from the college to where she was last seen.

i personally think she took off on her own because of all the stress she was under.

[–] charles_allen95 13 years ago

Hey lily, you're right by saying it was wrong to involve the children. I haven't watched that episode in a while but I think the wife was wanted by authorities because why would she need so many aliases?

[–] filmfanatic101 13 years ago

film,
our daughter went to college near where maura went. actually it's not even 100 miles from the college to where she was last seen.

i personally think she took off on her own because of all the stress she was under.

Oh, was it? It's been a while since I've seen her episode, but I may re-watch it on Netflix. Thanks for the correction.

[–] lilypad183 13 years ago

"Oh, was it? It's been a while since I've seen her episode, but I may re-watch it on Netflix. Thanks for the correction. "

film,
no problem. we wouldn't have known that except we drove it so many times.
she went to one of the five colleges in amherst, ma.

[–] Seyphfa 13 years ago

Definitely the Springfield 3. Two high schoolers and one of their mothers disappear a few days after high school graduation. Purses, cars, all still there. Apparently they were seen by a witness in a car with a man acting strangely (a kidnapper?). There's a guy in prison right now who says he knows what happened but he's waiting to tell. There's also rumors they're buried under a hospital parking garage; I don't know why they don't just dig it up and check once and for all.

[–] filmfanatic101 13 years ago

I agree about the Springfield 3. Out of all the episodes I've seen, this one was the most chilling for me to watch. The idea of those three women buried under the parking garage is disturbing, yet plausible. They need to dig it up!

[–] carolmr527 9 years ago

I also agree. The Springfield Three is the case that to me is the most haunting AND the most bizarre.

[–] lilypad183 13 years ago

"I haven't watched that episode in a while but I think the wife was wanted by authorities because why would she need so many aliases?"

hi charles,
it's very suspicious that she changed her name so many times, i don't think that makes her look very good at all.

also, the show said they paid cash for their house but they had no furniture.
supposedly it was in storage. i recently read the bank foreclosed on the house!

[–] HeywoodJablomy 13 years ago

i recently read the bank foreclosed on the house!

Yeah, well, the banks tend to do that when you stop making mortgage payments. Did you think they'd continue making payments on their house after they went missing?

Also, the wife changed her first name more than once, but she wasn't suspected of committing any crimes under these names. It's not illegal to change your name...

[–] lilypad183 13 years ago

"Yeah, well, the banks tend to do that when you stop making mortgage payments. Did you think they'd continue making payments on their house after they went missing?"

heywood,
my point is that the show said they bought the house outright, supposedly there was no mortgage.

there are lies being told, these parents are very suspicious.

[–] BeccaGudd 9 years ago

The McStay family were murdered and buried in a desert in California. But I'm sure you know that by now!

[–] Mister_Anderson 13 years ago

There are so many puzzling episodes. One that hasn't been mentioned thus far is Ray Gricar, the former DA from Center County, PA. The Penn State scandal adds more mystery to the whole thing.

Also,
The Springfield 3
Britannee Drexel
Brandi Wells
Kara Kopestsky
And many others...

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[–] HeywoodJablomy 13 years ago

Springfield 3 is the strangest one by far, IMO. I also think the McStay family, the Jamison family, and Amber Gerweck stories were bizarre. I know Amber was found, but the fact that she traveled hundreds of miles in a fugue state with no memory how she got there, who she met, or where she slept for weeks was one of the craziest things I've ever heard of.

[–] sonomagirl2120 13 years ago

I can't stop thinking about the Mc Stay family....last night E had an hour devoted to their case so I learned a bit more about them. I now do believe they knowingly entered Mexico with the intent of disappearing.

[–] Sunflower017 13 years ago

I watched that special too and I also think they intended to dissapear. I think they are hiding from someone.

[–] sonomagirl2120 13 years ago

That friend of Joey McStay's in Costa Rica was very shady the way he was answering Laura Ling's questions....I almost felt like he was protecting Joey or knew something more but was not telling. The show also mentioned texting going back and forth (near that bridge)on Summer's phone and then nothing....would phone records show who she was texting??
I just watched part of the show again...their phones RECEIVED texts near the bridge but neither Summer or Joey were returning any....I wonder why they don't do a search of that area?

[–] Twilight33 13 years ago

DEFINITELY the Jamison family and the McStay family. Total mysteries!

Also, what was the case of the girl whose body was found, I believe, on an interestate in southern california? She had been selling magazines with her boyfriend at one point and traveling around the country. Her mom had been researching the Doe Network and eventually found her...anyway HOW did she end up in the freeway and WHY was she there? Very baffling and weird!

[–] HeywoodJablomy 13 years ago

That was Samantha Bonnell. Another weird one...

[–] DaysFan79 11 years ago

Well we know now the Mcstay's didn't leave on their own accord. Their bodies have been found and positively identified. The Jamison's also have been discovered (strangely close to the same time as the Mcstay's) although we are still waiting for confirmation. But it was near where they disappeared and confirmed as 2 adults and a small child. Both of these cases were really bizarre.

But I agree with the original poster and others who have mentioned Leah Roberts and The Springfield Three. With Leah's case, there was DNA found but it takes what seems like an eternity to confirm who it belongs to. They have a possible suspect who now lives in Canada, and he has experience as a mechanic so he could have easily staged the car crash scene. Hopefully they catch this guy soon and put him away.

I think Leah struck up a friendship with him at the restaurant where she was last seen. She sounded like a kind person, social and maybe too trusting and probably mentioned to him she was traveling from out of state. He could have offered to show her around which ended up being a big mistake.

The Springfield Three is baffling because it was 3 women. But maybe like the Jamison case, they were forced to leave at gunpoint which would have made it easy. I wish everything didn't boil down to money, and they would just confirm whether there are bodies under the concrete or not.

[–] 11 years ago

[deleted]

[–] ambermae_19 11 years ago

1. The McStay Family
2. Ben McDaniel
3. Ray Gricar
4. Brian Barton
5. Charles Allen Jr
6. Brianna Maitland

[–] febarbieheadsfree 11 years ago

I find the Amber Gerweck case weird. It got solved, mostly, and she was found, but I don't get how she suddenly got amnesia. And where did she stay? How did she eat? It's just really bizarre to me.

At one point didn't they say that someone grabbed her shoulder and that's the last thing she remembered? (It's been a while since I saw this episode so I'm not positive). Who was that? Did they do anything?

The case is solved but there are still so many questions (to me, anyway).

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[–] hilaryjrp 9 years ago

I find the Amber Gerweck case weird. It got solved, mostly, and she was found, but I don't get how she suddenly got amnesia. And where did she stay? How did she eat? It's just really bizarre to me.

For me, it's a story that never should have been told on Disappeared. The best episodes of this series respect certain people who want to be kept off-camera (Maura Murray's mother, Robert Hoagland's third son, etc.). Obviously, some people don't want anything to do with reliving their nightmares in public. But in the Amber Gerweck case, way too much was left out. For a security camera in a dollar store to capture her movements (applause for that dollar store)--but then NO OTHER camera all the way to Illinois? Unbelievable. No mention of why she lived alone without her children. Playing up the fact that she performed secretarial work for a "Homeland Security" company... "Disappeared" has never once seemed sensational-for-sensation sake to me--except for this episode.

This wasn't an episode where you end up really caring about the "amnesiac."

[–] 9 years ago

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[–] hilaryjrp 9 years ago

Michele Whittaker's episode is my favorite happy ending episode. I never had drug, alcohol, or problems with the after-effects of rape. The point is her episode didn't make a secret of anything about her. I took away from her story that her mother never helped her after the rape, and Michele, in a way, showed her mother what it's like to be totally forgotten. Of course it wasn't right for law enforcement to waste resources searching for her, but this was a rape victim who never got justice, and disappearing was her way of getting it. (By the way, disappearing or moving to great distances after a rape happens often enough to be considered an outcome to be anticipated.)

In the Amber Gerweck episode, no mention at all was made of her personal situation (and certainly no mention of mental health issues was made) before the disappearance other than to play up how responsible she was at her job. If people want to be on Disappeared but maintain total secrecy, they shouldn't be on it. Even the girl's poor father came clean about being suspected of complicity in her disappearance, and he and the producers didn't suppress it.

To each his/her own.

[–] 9 years ago

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[–] jefgg 9 years ago

Leah Roberts' disappearance is very sad. I remember seeing volunteers conducting a search of the area where her vehicle was found. For a split second I thought one of the volunteers was Leah. Then I realized it was her sister. I wonder if their strong resemblance created false leads.