This past week, I am absolutely crushed to say that Buzzfeed Unsolved finished off its last season of “True Crime.” The internet has lost a wonderful and lighthearted show, filled with classic bits and some truly unique investigations一that being said, we still have “Supernatural,” but I’ve found that my favorite thing to do in the wake of a show’s funeral is to go back and re-watch some of my favorite episodes. Maybe you’re in mourning with me, maybe you’ve never even heard of this show. Bottom line, it’s a hilarious and engrossing show that I recommend to everyone, so without further adieu, here are just a few of my favorite episodes throughout the series!
The strange story of an unknown criminal that hijacked a plane, demanded ransom money, and then parachuted out of the plane with his reward. Despite there being a lengthy and extensive manhunt, the man using the alias “Dan Cooper” (a.k.a. D.B. Cooper) was neither identified nor caught.
In order to hijack the plane, D.B. Cooper handed a flight attendant a note claiming he harbored a bomb, which he presented as a briefcase containing several multicolored wires and a battery. After the flight landed and refueled, all of the passengers were evacuated (sans two pilots, a flight engineer, and a flight attendant) and Cooper received his money. The plane then took off once more, coasting slowly at a lower altitude where Cooper jumped out of the plane with a parachute and his duffel bag full of money.
With no conclusive suspects and only a few leads throughout the years, this 1971 crime remains unsolved.
The growing and isolated paranoia of the Australian Tromp Family caused the two parents and five adult children to drive north-bound with no warning or means of communication. All of their ID’s, phones, and credit cards were left within their farmhouse, and the three children had no information beforehand that their parents were planning some kind of off-the-grid roadtrip. Only one of the Tromps一25-year-old Mitchell一 was not swept up in the paranoia, and eventually, he, his 22-year-old sister, Ella, and their older sister, Riana, individually escaped their parents.
Ella was the first to arrive back on their farm, followed by Mitchell, then Riana, only to be greeted by the police attempting to locate a destination of the family’s spontaneous getaway. The parents, Jacoba and Mark, also eventually became separated, though they, too, found their ways back.
This entire phenomenon has several theories, though the most popular and widely-accepted theory is chalked up to a rare psychological condition coined as “folie a deux,” or a collective delusion that tends to happen between couples and tightly-knit families. Despite attempts at qualifying this strange case’s catalyst remains unsolved.
One of the most decorated and pioneering pilots to ever fly the skies, Amelia Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, disappeared during her attempt to circumnavigate the globe. With several obstacles such as cloudy skies, a faulty radio, and low fuel, Earhart’s unknown fate could have had any number of causes. During one of the final legs of her flight, she stopped transmitting, and she, her plane, and Noonan were never seen again.
Despite several searches over and within the ocean, as well as several islands surrounding the possible crash site, no conclusive results have ever been found, and Earhart’s disappearance remains unsolved.
Nearly 31 years ago, 13 pieces of art were stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum within around 81 minutes. Two men entered the museum dressed as police officers after being allowed into the employee entrance by the guard on duty. At the request of one of the “officers,” the guard stepped away from his desk and was therefore unable to contact authorities as he and the other guard on duty were handcuffed and stowed in the basement of the museum.
After methodically avoiding several of the museum’s outdated security measures, the thieves departed with the stolen art, never to be seen again. With no specific suspects and no leads surrounding the whereabouts of the stolen art pieces, this case remains unsolved.
In 1934, John and Clarence Anglin escaped the Alcatraz prison with fellow inmate Frank Morris. Thought to be inescapable, these three men organized a plan in which they had been chipping holes around their air vents using crude, hand-made tools and utilized a utility tunnel behind their cells to escape onto the roof of the prison. They then climbed down the prison wall using pipes and reconvened on the beach after climbing over a surrounding fence, where they made their way off the island using homemade life vests they had crafted out of rain jackets and vulcanized with a steam pipe.
The following morning, hand-crafted heads were found in place of the three escapees, and a widespread search of the bay and surrounding areas occurred. Though some of the men’s belongings were later discovered, no bodies or evidence of the men living lives on the mainland were ever found, and so the case remains unsolved.
Taking place in 1900, this case features the disappearance of the three men in charge of taking care of the lighthouse on the island of Eilean Mor within the Flannan Isles, off the coast of Scotland. This island had several rumored spiritual superstitions that have spurred endless theories, as the men disappeared after a massive seastorm.
The circumstances of their vanishing set up a strange and confusing timeline, with food on the table that was ready to be eaten, stopped clocks, a prepared and unlit lamp, and two missing coats. Overall, with no bodies ever found and no witnesses, these disappearances remain unsolved.
In the mid-1980’s, a criminal or organized group of criminals blackmailed and threatened Japan’s biggest corporations in confections. They consistently threatened to poison candies, and eventually followed through and visibly-labeled candies tainted with cyanide and continued their reign of terror with messages and demands for unclaimed ransoms.
These crimes nearly named the end of companies like Glico and Morinaga, and with several letters with hints at their identity/identities, they simultaneously painted Japanese officers as incompetent. With only one dead lead toward a suspect, the case went cold and to this day remains unsolved.
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These videos are only a few of my favorites from the “True Crime” series, and with dozens to binge, join me in reminiscing the comfort of the wonderful “Buzzfeed Unsolved: True Crime” series, featuring the hilarious and charming friendship of Ryan Bergara and Shane Madej. The show will be missed, and though there will be no new episodes, there will never be a shortage of smiles from the dozens of episodes available free on YouTube and offered on Hulu or Prime Video.
One reply on “My Favorite “Buzzfeed Unsolved: True Crime” Episodes (RIP)”
I love this show 🙂