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Hello and welcome. It's time for Perhaps It's You, your favorite unofficial Unsolved Mysteries rewatch podcast. My name is Liz. And my name is Samantha. Were you going to say more? I feel like I'm talking weird. Hi. Hi, friends. You're talking a little slowly. I don't know. It's almost a sultry voice. I don't know what I'm doing. We're here. This is your Unsolved Mysteries podcast, Liz. I know you have other projects. Oh, yeah. Okay. Hi. Hi, everyone. We're here to talk about Unsolved Mysteries for some reason. We're on our sixth season. You'd think I'd be used to it by now, but...
Whatever. Hey, how's it going? How are you, Samantha? Fine. Happy Easter. Oh, yeah. Happy Easter. A holiday I keep forgetting until, like, randomly I'll be like, oh, yeah, it's Easter. It's because you don't get time off work for Easter, so it's just a chore, really. It is. Although, maybe I should say Happy Bunny Day because it's Bunny Day and Animal Crossing. Oh, yeah. That creepy bunny is visiting your island. That bunny is terrifying. His name is Zipper, which sounds like a serial killer. And also, when he first greeted me, he was literally just dancing by himself to no music in the cemetery part of my island.
His giant... So I recently have been playing a different game on the Switch. I've been playing Mario 3D World, which is really fun. And so I've kind of neglected Animal Crossing. And I haven't done any of the Bunny Day stuff until I logged in today for the official Bunny Day. Has he been wandering around your island just randomly? No, he showed up like a week ago to tell me, hey, collect some eggs. But he did that by just like...
dancing alone in a cemetery that's really on brand for zipper because so i mean this is probably gonna we're probably gonna lose some of our listeners who don't play animal crossing at this point but last year at the start of the pandemic when everyone was first getting into animal crossing as an escape from the horrors of reality the bunny day thing was the first holiday in animal crossing and this freaking creepy ass bunny would just like randomly show up on your island and just like creep around so you'll just see him in like the background just this horrifying bunny just like creeping around a tree horrible the stuff nightmares i want that peacock for festival to come back. The sultry peacock that only knew music and dance.
I like the peacock. That was a fun holiday. I'm not big on the bunny day thing, but I guess I'm not big on Easter maybe. The candy is solid. The color scheme is good, but everything else about Easter kind of gets a thumbs down from me. Partly just sometimes it falls on my birthday and that's just unacceptable. True. Not this year, but I'm still bitter. As much as I love the Cadbury mini egg though, which I had, that was my breakfast as I had some Cadbury mini eggs. As it should be on Easter. I had some Reese's eggs. Oh man. Yeah. I had some yesterday though.
Those are solid. Okay, so do you have any updates? Nope. Okay, here's my very important update. I watched some videos about coconut crabs yesterday. Was it because I sent you that thing about the coconut crabs crashing someone's barbecue in Australia? I sort of got into this little rabbit hole about how crabs are an evolutionary advantage and everything's going to evolve into crabs. Are we going to evolve into crabs? Well, okay, that's probably an exaggeration, but it's like...
Several things evolve into crabs. I don't know. You look it up. But I watched this video, a couple of videos about coconut crabs and how terrifying they are. But I learned that a coconut crab can live up to 120 years. Oh, my God. Which brings me to my update. Time is running out to find the coconut crabs that ate Amelia Earhart. We can still bring them to justice.
Everyone. They're out there. Smug. I don't want any coconut crabs being wrongfully convicted of this. They're smug. They got away with it. They are laughing in their little coconut bunkers. They make like these caves full of the coconut husk.
Are you going to go into one of those caves and just find the bones of Amelia Earhart? That's what we need to do. That's what we need to do to find her. Is anyone from Unsolved Mysteries listening? The next round of reboot episodes should have an episode about we need to capture the coconut crabs responsible for this. Yes. And then maybe eat them. Are they in danger? Didn't I say that? I think they maybe are. Also, sometimes they eat things that make them poisonous. Oh, you got to be careful. Yeah, you got to be careful about finding the coconut crabs that ate Amelia Earhart's body and cooking them up yourself.
We need a trial. You can't just immediately cook them. They're crabs. I think you're forgetting. Or you're going to get a little crab lawyer. A little crab judge in a little judge robe.
Oh, it would look so cute with a gavel though. That would really cuten up the coconut crab. They're hideous. I saw, so what I mentioned was that I was just randomly scrolling through Facebook and someone I'm friends with had shared this post about this family in Australia that were having a barbecue and apparently the scent of the barbecuing meat attracted 50 coconut crabs and they were just like around the fire with these people like begging, like dogs beg for food, but it's just a bunch of coconut crabs. The post said, don't worry, they're harmless, but we all know different. Yeah, harmless except that they're strong enough to break coconuts.
So that doesn't sound very harmless to me. Also, yeah, hideous. So a crime against my eyes. I was also wondering if we should talk about that Zoom seance that we did a little while back while we were on an unexpected hiatus. Samantha and I, you know, we try to learn. We try to expand our wealth of knowledge that we bring to this podcast. We previously talked about that Zoom class we did on ghost investigations, which I loved and wished was longer. It was delightful. The ladies that put that on were pure delight to talk to. In stark contrast, the Zoom seance we did a couple weeks later. Yeah, not all of our adventures.
are successful. Maybe that's the way to phrase it. And so I signed us up for a zoom seance, which was supposed to be a class. I was supposed to teach you about seances, but also everybody was going to have a chance to like ask questions of the other side. I was like, great. This is a great thing for Samantha and I to do to learn while we're still stuck indoors. Right. We can't, we can't do a ghost tour right now. We can't go to a museum. We'll, we'll do this. And.
This person is well known. Like it wasn't like a rando we found. Right. Like it seemed legit. Well, oh boy. Where to even begin? How many minutes in were I before you went? This is a total fraud. About two minutes in because this person opened by singing the praises of a certain spiky haired ghost investigator on the Travel Channel. Always suspicious when someone starts off by saying what a class act Zach Bagans is.
Not a good sign. That was about when my eyebrows raised. But then as soon as the seance started, I was like, this is a grift. The thing is, I feel like on some level, I could have appreciated a grift that was better executed. I would have liked to have witnessed a skillful grift. Yeah. And also one that was harmless, which I'm sure we'll get to. This I wouldn't call harmless. This was neither of those things. The fast talking.
was such a giveaway like she was talking very fast and throwing a lot of information at you but it gave you no chance to really think about it or question it we were like always moving on to the next thing she had a lot of props she had some dowsing rods which she would ask yes or no questions so she was clearly just moving herself she had a talking crystal ball it was like i don't remember what that talking ghost thing is called but she did somehow like oh the ghost box i think it's called a ghost box except that she ended up using the one on her phone i don't yeah i don't know OK, so you might say, Liz, I don't believe in ghosts. Of course, the woman holding the seance was a con artist. And I would say, OK, but in contrast, we had just taken this ghost hunting class by these very sincere people. And maybe you don't believe in ghosts, but those people believe in ghosts. And I think that they are acting sincerely. This person does. I don't know if she believes in ghosts or not, but she doesn't believe in a fucking thing she's talking about. And she is just a grifter. Yeah.
There wasn't an element of a class. I'm not even sure I could call this a seance because it was more like a fake psychic where you're in an audience and Sylvia Brown is calling on people and asking. She started out saying, oh, I'm contacting this person whose name starts with a J. I'm feeling someone who's like blah, blah, blah. I don't know if it was because of the particular group or if it was because it was over Zoom and Zoom is awkward, but it was a quiet group and no one was really speaking up and being like, oh. Maybe we were all just expecting a class. We weren't expecting a fake psychic. I don't know.
So at one point, she just kind of gave up on that and just started going around asking people, is there someone you hope to contact today? And they would be like, oh, you know, my brother, whatever. And then immediately, no hesitation. She's like, oh, yeah, he's here. And he wants you to know this. It was just like so rapid fire. I'm like, wouldn't you pretend to like spend some time contacting them? I'm getting a, oh, maybe it's a, no, it was immediate. Oh, yeah, he's here. He loves you. He wants you to be happy. Next. Everyone got the answer they wanted, the answer that they were looking for.
That in and of itself was suspicious because I'm like, there's no way that's how it would work. Some ghosts are going to be busy and not going to show up or like it's going to take you some time to contact them. You have to bring them forward. I don't know. Try a little harder. It's just like, oh, yeah, they're here. They're standing right behind you. There was no theatricality to it in a way. It's like I not just past Halloween, but the Halloween before I went and attended a fake seance that was done in the Victorian style. And that seance was such a production. And honestly, I believe that one more, even though it was openly fake.
Because he put a lot of effort into sleight of hand and writing these things on chalkboards and just like the theatrics of it. This was none of that. It was literally like, I'm getting an M. Anybody know anyone with an M? And then sometimes people were like, no, like it would be the most open, vague.
prompt or whatever you call it and literally someone whose name starts with an M and there was like 40 people on the zoom call and they were like no not I don't know any dead people with M or just be like the water I'm getting the water and everybody would be like I don't know my uncle drank water like it was so vague it was so vague He had legs or something? Okay. Samantha and I gave up very early in this. We're just messaging each other back and forth. And I was like, did she seriously just ask? Did this motherfucker seriously just ask, did he have legs? Because she was like, I'm getting legs. And it was like really like, yes, yes, he had legs. I think it was supposed to be like, like maybe he injured a leg or something. I think that's what she was going for. But because there wasn't an element of theatricality, it was just like she was asking if he had legs. Did he? And then I don't know. Can you imagine if he didn't though? And she'd be like, no, you know, he didn't have legs. And then she was like, yes. She would have been like, of course, that's what I'm getting at.
Yeah, that's true. They're just vague enough that you can make it. He was one of those people that didn't have legs. I see it now. Okay, so you're saying, Liz, what's the harm in this? Except that you were annoyed. Well, the thing is, most of the people in this class that wasn't really a class had very specific people that they wanted to contact because they are still grieving and are clearly in a lot of pain. So while I thought this would be like a fun afternoon exercise, it was actually...
the saddest shit ever. It was sad. And I would even say like, you know, maybe if this brought them some level of closure or peace or whatever, then maybe that would be okay. Except that there were times where I was like, oh boy, this is not good. One person asked like about their deceased relative. Their question that they wanted to ask her was, was it an accident? And she said no. And given that this was clearly a fraud, I'm like, what? I mean, you have a 50-50 chance. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't, I guess. But like, what are you doing? You can't just say that to people. Because now what?
Are they going to go forward and do that information? Or maybe they're going to believe something about their dead relative that maybe wasn't true. I don't know. That was just like, we can't be doing this. What are you doing? It was hard to sit through and listen to. Yeah. I mean.
The only positive thing I can say about it is people did seem comforted by these, I would say, very obvious lies. But people did seem comforted. They seemed to take some solace in this information that people weren't in pain anymore. And, you know, there's no time and space for ghosts. So they're just like vibing everywhere. And I hope it made those people feel better because it seemed like they were really struggling.
uh but god damn was that not a fun time it was also like four hours long at one point i just it was not four hours long it just felt like it was at least two or three hours long at one point i was listening on my phone because i couldn't get my computer to work and so i just put it on mute and went for a while i took my dogs for a walk and i was just listening to this and i'm like there's no way i'm speaking up i was halfway tempted to ask if we could contact robert stack to see what she would have said but yeah it was like almost too sad to do something like that even though it was clearly a grift i'm like i don't know i'm just gonna put this on mute and listen until i can't listen anymore It was tempting to like really point out that it was a grift, but also I didn't want to hurt people who were very sad. And so, yeah, eventually I just kind of checked out and I was like, I hate this so much. Yeah. So I don't know. The cons continue, I guess. I guess. There's still those frauds. And some of them are really, they're not even trying. They're just clearly moving dowsing rods to get a yes answer to a question that you obviously want to hear. Yes. He loved you. Okay. Next question. Let's consult the rods. You literally can see her wrist moving. Yeah. Yeah.
Wow. That was really something. Mm-hmm. Okay. So let's talk about Unsolved Mysteries now, I guess. Yeah, we are on season six, episode 11. Okay. So I have the very first mystery. This is for the investigators segment, which we get every so often, which is about the people who solve mysteries more than it is about the case. But this one's kind of about both, actually. The case takes place in San Francisco, California, December 1993. So we are learning about a man who supplied noodles to restaurants in Chinatown and ends up stabbed to death. And I was like, maybe I should get into the noodle game.
Sounds delicious. I would eat more than I would eat at the restaurants. So there was no solution in sight with this case, and the detective in charge had an unconventional approach. He ends up sharing the case file with a college class called Murder We Solve, which was created by Professor Brooke Stewart. I'm so jealous of the people that get to take this class. Yeah, this sounds fun as hell. Way more fun than the classes I took in college. Yeah. So this class, or a previous version of this class, had already helped solve one case, which was the slaying of a taxi driver in 1992.
So after working on this case for a year, inspector, I wrote down his name weird. Inspector Sanders, I guess. was kind of at the, you know, he'd worked on it for a year. He hadn't come up with a good lead. So he decides to bring it to this class and present it to them. And this guy's got style also. He really does. And he's a good speaker. Like, he's very engaging. He has a mustache, and I called it The Charmer. Nice. This episode is chock full of mustaches. It really is. Okay. So he thought that working with the class would allow him to see the case with fresh eyes and maybe get him a lead that way. So the victim's name is Jin Frang, and he was 42 years old. He was a businessman and an owner of two noodle factories.
And on December 18th, 1993, he and an employee were attacked by a pair of assailants and Jin died from stab wounds. So Inspector Sanders arrived at the scene at 1.30 a.m. And this is kind of the rundown of events. So the rear window of Jin's van had been broken and the van was ransacked. No fingerprints were found, but the murder weapon was left behind, which was a cheap steak knife. And he says something like, oh, it's clearly been washed like a hundred times. Like maybe it was used in a restaurant. It's like not new at all. They also recovered a revolver style BB gun. And they were not sure at first if this was used in the assault, but it turns out that it is.
So that night, Jin had offered a ride to one of the factory supervisors, Ying's son. Shortly after midnight, they left work. They exited the building and entered Jin's van, which seems like it was parked right outside. The window of the van was already broken, but they didn't notice. They drove about 100 feet before two men jumped up in the back of the van and started to demand money. Both spoke fluent Cantonese. He was struck in the head with a gun and told not to turn around. Strangely, this robbery took place for half an hour, which is really a long time, as the assailants tore up the van and demanded, quote, the money.
They seem to think that Jin had a large amount of money on him. That doesn't seem to be true. So eventually one of the men stabbed Jin once directly in the heart. Oh my God. So either you would think they're very skilled at the art of stabbing or they just got really lucky. So the assailants ran off telling Yi that they would kill her if she moved. So she stayed there in the van for two hours before daring to exit the vehicle and call the police. She didn't hear a car leave the scene. Okay.
After a little investigation, they find out that it is typical for Jin to have about $1,000 on him at the end of the day because he would go to restaurants and collect cash payments in person. There was also an anonymous tip to the police station saying that he was involved in gambling and may have collected debts. So there's some speculation that he was a bookie. And apparently there was a rumor going around that he had $25,000 on him, which would make a little more sense. Right. So this is what's presented to the class. And then each student comes back with their theory of the case. Some of them did investigations on their own. Some of them seem to have just made shit up based on what they thought might happen. Some of them were clearly treating this like a novel. And they were like, well, the best ending would be.
But sadly, this exercise didn't work. There is no update to this. It's kind of speculated that it was related to gambling. But honestly, I don't know that they ever found any solid evidence about that. It remains unsolved.
Yeah, I did think that some of the students in the class did come up with some interesting theories, especially the ones that actually went out there and like talked to like one of the students in the class had like a friend or relative who lived in Chinatown. And so they went and talked to that person and got some interesting information. It's just a shame that it sort of never went anywhere. Yeah, she went and learned sort of about like Chinese gangs and how some Vietnamese gangs were sort of up and coming and trying to make a name for themselves. So maybe they would be acting more aggressively. The thing is, it's all just like total speculation. It's not really necessarily connected to this case. I don't think they were ever able to like.
track down the knife or and you know it was a bb gun it wasn't a real gun um i thought this was an interesting approach though like i like the way that the detective described like wanting to get different perspectives which is like I don't know. It's not something you hear about. Like, oh, we're going to go out and seek like diverse opinions. And like maybe these young people will have some fresh ideas that I never would have thought of. And it sort of was true. Like the person that went out and talked to their friend in Chinatown, that person told them, well, don't rule out Vietnamese gangs because they would be fluent in Cantonese, which is something that I think the police dismissed because the attackers were speaking Cantonese. So he was right in that they did bring some fresh ideas that they hadn't considered. So I really liked that. It's just, again, like kind of a shame that it didn't actually solve this case. I think that this detective clearly did really want to solve this case and, you know, was.
willing to put in the extra time and effort um yeah it's just never really panned out i wish i could take this class oh my god i would take it so seriously oh 100 i would be like i'm solving this case even though i don't know maybe it's unsolvable i'm not really sure yeah it's a shame and it doesn't seem like there's hard evidence so no yeah dang it sorry jen no i wonder what happened to his noodle empire yeah hopefully delicious i know right All right. So this episode of Unsolved Mysteries is actually pretty full of mysteries. There's no unnecessary updates. I know. This is a pretty good episode. I was happy about that. And our next segment is A Lost Love. This is actually, they call it Lost Rescuers, which is really fun. This case made me cry, but it's in a good way. Okay. So we are looking for the saviors of Colleen Frangioni. I hope I pronounced her last name right. 42-year-old Colleen Frangioni is the mother of two sons who was paralyzed in 1978. She, at the time of this filming, had spent the past 15 years speaking to junior high students about seatbelt safety.
And she feels that through her speeches, she has helped save lives. And now she is searching for two men who saved her life during the accident that paralyzed her from the waist down. Do you know any older people that insist that they shouldn't wear a seatbelt because it's actually more dangerous? I have known people like that. Yes. I don't know why I find that. So it's just like clearly not true.
vehicle accidents are so much less deadly than they used to be, which also cars are just like built with more safety stuff, but also like so fewer people end up going through the windshields of cars. But I saw this Twitter conversation about like, do you know any boomer who like insists that they know a person that would have died if they had been wearing their seatbelt? And all these people were like, oh my God, yes. It's so absurd too, because it's like, well, what do you, why do you think we wear a seatbelt? There's this big seatbelt is trying to get out money from us. It's the government trying to control us.
restraining us in our cars or something by inserting some straps into cars yeah it's just like the company that makes that fabric That seatbelt fabric. Big seatbelt. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. So this is what happened. On September 23rd, 1978, Colleen was returning home from a night out in Newport, Rhode Island. She was a single mom, and so she really never got to do a lot of stuff by herself. And this was sort of a rare evening where she got to go out dancing with friends. So sad! Unfortunately, just before 1 a.m., she was turning onto Rogers Road, and she came to a complete stop. I'm not sure if it was a stoplight or a stop sign, but she was completely stopped. Unfortunately, a car filled with teenagers behind her did not stop, and they struck her from behind. Teens, get it together.
I think from what I understand, it wasn't described super well, but I think the car hit her. It spun her car around and she hit another car. And this twisting motion, because she wasn't wearing a seatbelt, twisted her spine and caused two of her vertebrae to break and her spinal cord was severed. She was also knocked unconscious. And at this point, flames started to engulf the car she was in. And because she was unconscious, she was within probably minutes of dying. Patty and Joe Trifero, who lived across the street, ran out and tried to help her, but the door was crushed.
And then also there was flames everywhere, and so they really weren't able to get access to her. It seems pretty dangerous to even try to help her, honestly, if this reenactment is pretty accurate. The car is already on fire, and it's probably pretty hot. I think that's part of why they weren't really able to get at her, was because they kind of would have had to go through some flames. At this point, two men appeared and shouted for them to get a crowbar. They ran to their house, to their garage, to try and find a crowbar. At this point, while they were gone, they believed that these two men pulled Colleen out and took her over to a nearby sidewalk.
At this point, a third rescuer appeared who was a woman who they believe probably had some medical training because she immediately took charge of the situation. She recognized that Colleen was going into shock. She told him to call 911 and elevate her legs, get a blanket. At this point, paramedics arrived and firefighters arrived in the scene kind of within minutes. At that point, the scene was so chaotic that the two men who had pulled Colleen out vanished. And Colleen was unconscious for the whole time. So she doesn't remember any of this. Well, so, you know, you are a hero. You pull someone from a burning building or burning car. Sorry.
Like, how long are you going to stand around? Well, you're not really needed at that point. The paramedics are there. The firefighters are there. We meet. So spoiler alert, they find these two guys and they don't seem they're pretty unassuming guys. I don't think they were staying around to get accolades. They did what they did and they left. And I feel like standing there for three hours like him. There's my medal. I am the one that pulled her from the burning car. Thank you. Yeah, that's not how these guys are. And but unfortunately, that means that no one knows who rescued Colleen.
She regained consciousness and learned that she was paralyzed from the waist down. Four months later, she was released from the hospital. Four months? Yeah. Oh, my goodness. Wow. Yeah, she went through all the physical therapy and everything. That hospital pill. Oh, my God. Holy shit. Four months? Aye, aye, aye. I'm going to wish I was still in that car.
i mean it's true it's really true and it's unfortunate that's the first thing you think about because when i was watching this episode too i was like oh my god she's a single mom like yeah oh dear lord i can't imagine so um in 1985 she remarried uh since the accident she has always thought about the accident and the two men who helped save her life uh a priest gave colleen's parents what they thought was the name of one of the men he said it was gray myers um However, they couldn't find anyone with that name in the Newport area. Four years later, an acquaintance that Colleen met at a beauty salon told her that she believed the other man's name was John. His nickname may have been JJ and he was in the Navy. He had apparently been transferred to the West Coast. Attempt to locate the man was unsuccessful. Is that even true? No, that wasn't true. None of that was true, including the name, the nickname. No, the people who rescued her were Ray Myers. That was true. And Mike Kane.
Oh, Mike has a mustache. I was just about to say, Mike Kane has an imposing mustache. Should you give this thing a name? The Walrus Deluxe. If you've been listening to this podcast for a long time, you know we already have the Walrus. We can't have the Walrus again. But this is a very Walrus-y mustache. And it is imposing. So I think the Walrus Deluxe is the only appropriate name. There was someone else who I think was a witness that I called Citizen Hero, who had a smaller but very thick mustache.
Yeah, Mike Kane's mustache is impressive. That guy is committed. That's not just like, I think maybe I'll have a mustache. He's dedicating himself to that mustache. That's like a marriage.
Yeah, it's an impressive mustache. So on the night of the broadcast, both Colleen's rescuers were watching and called the telecenter. Like I said, their names were Ray Myers and Mike Kane. They both live in Providence, Rhode Island. And we got to see their reunion, which is really sweet. Colleen was so thankful to be able to thank them. And these two guys, like I said, are just like, they went on with their lives. They did what anyone would do, which I don't think is true, but they did what needed to be done. And then they just assumed that they would never hear from this woman again. Especially Mike Kane. He was like...
a little bit suspicious. He was like, why does this woman want to talk to me? And then he was like, I don't know. I talked to her. She seemed really sincere that she just wanted to thank me. This is a grift. This is a grift. This is a grift. And he's like, I guess I just asked for money or something. I don't understand what he thought this was until he met her and decided she was legit.
One of these people, I think that, wait, it's Mike and what's the other guy? Ray. I think she was talking to Ray on the phone for hours. Like she describes being in bed and her husband falling asleep because she's talking to Ray about like his whole life. And I feel like they ended up becoming good friends. I think so. Which is kind of amazing. I'm not sure that I got the vibe that Mike Kane wanted to be friends, although I think he did appreciate being recognized. But Ray, yeah, in his sweet acid wash jeans. Ray just wanted someone to notice him. And he found that. And Mike, his only friend is his mustache. He doesn't need any other friends.
It's true. It's really true. So that was this mystery. I thought, like I said, the reunion made me tear up. It was so sweet. Colleen, I mean, Mike's not wrong. She is very genuine. She is super sincere. Like, I'm not even sure I can handle it. So I do understand Mike's weariness a tiny bit. Also, Colleen, when we're talking about fashion later, is wearing the most amazing pink turtleneck that has these, like, jewels on the shoulder. Yeah. It's like a dress. It's a turtleneck dress. Oh, it's so good. It looks really good. Okay. Now we have a much sadder one.
Now we move on to an unexplained death from going back to Thursday, January 12th, 1984. This takes place in Atlantic City, New Jersey. So seven-year-old Gary Grant Jr., which is not the name for a child, so just keep in mind that Gary Grant Jr. is seven. You're going to have to keep reminding yourself. Before we get into how sad this is, how cute was this neighborhood? I know. The beginning of the reenactments. The reenactments until, you know, everything goes to hell are pretty adorable. So Gary Grant Jr. had a day off school because it was like a conference day. He lived with his mother, May, who had been separated from his father, a police detective, for the past year.
obviously his father is gary grant senior okay so may he like gets up is having breakfast and may ask gary if he was going to go play with his friends and he said no because he had an appointment at 2 30 and what's what a thing for a seven-year-old to say i know it's so hilarious i love when little kids are trying to act like adults and use like adult language it's just the best he's like i have an appointment at 2 30 and i was like gary grant jr we would have been friends i have this very vivid memory of being on the school bus in like the fourth grade and telling another child to mind their own affairs butt tracks and then being like what are you talking about anyway mind your own affairs okay um when may pressed him by what on earth a child had an appointment for he just said that it was a secret and she was like yeah yeah okay so he did get dressed and went to play around noon he said he would be back around four before dark for dinner and his mom emphasized he really did like dinner so he would be back by 4 30 he still wasn't home and you know how this is gonna go may went to look for gary at a friend's house but was told that he'd actually left around 4 30
When another two hours passed without hearing from Gary, she phoned her husband, Gary Grant Sr., the police detective. So Gary Grant Sr. actually called off work so he could go look for Gary Jr. Gary Grant Sr. has a mustache. It is the copiest mustache you ever saw. So it is called All Cats Are Beautiful.
Okay, Gary Grant Sr. has an impressive mustache in real life. And then the guy they get to reenact him has like an even bigger mustache. Yeah, yeah. Does that guy just play cops on TV? He must. To have invested in a mustache like that. So Gary Grant Sr. keeps looking for Gary Grant Jr. until two in the morning. By actual daybreak, the police department is searching. Gary Grant Sr. obviously can't be a part of the official shirts, but he keeps looking on his own, like handing out flyers at the boardwalk, going to arcades, which someone had seen him at the arcade. It was like earlier that day. So that didn't really lead to anything.
By that night, there's this horrible shift as it starts to get dark, where he goes from looking at places where maybe Gary is still alive, to looking at places where Gary would be dead, like alleys and dumpsters. By 3.30 the following afternoon, the body of Gary Jr. was found in a vacant lot less than two blocks from his home. And I think... I don't know if in the reenactment it's at the same location, but it sort of suggested that the reason his body wasn't found earlier is because there's a lot of weeds. Yeah, it was overgrown. I think Robert Stack did mention that. Yeah. He had been bludgeoned to death. They also found a length of pipe at the scene that was assumed to be the murder weapon. There's a really sad reenactment where Gary Sr., who's been driving around for like three days without sleeping, looking for his son, happens upon all these police cars by the house and has to be informed by officers that his son is dead. Well, it's horrible because so the police have found his body and then they issue a radio silence because they know he's driving around in his police cruiser.
So they issued this radio silence so they could try and get a hold of him and tell him. And then he happens upon the scene and he knew immediately what it was. Yeah. That's horrendous. It's really, really awful. So detectives investigating started the way they would for any case by tracing Gary Jr.'s movements that the days prior to his death and talking to his friends.
This led them to talking to Boo Mason. At this point, I'm just going to warn you that there's some very dated language in this episode that you might find upsetting when we're talking about Boo. He was developmentally disabled. He was 12 years old, but he was friends with Gary Jr. despite the five-year age gap. And he was actually smaller than Gary Jr., which is sort of relevant.
This immediately makes me angry because, at least in the reenactment, they talk to him without his parents? Yeah, they bring him and his grandmother into the police station and then immediately separate them. Okay, well, first they go to his house. Oh, that's right. Yeah, at the front door they start talking to him. Yeah, they talk to him without a parent, which I think, I don't know. I don't know that you should be able to do that. And Boo told the police that he had played with Gary Jr. on Wednesday, but they were supposed to meet up on Thursday and he never showed. At this point, I just wrote down worst toupee ever.
that's so mean which was a journalist that we hear from okay whatever and then mac was like what's the best toupee ever and i was like i wouldn't know that's a good question that's a good follow-up question is a good if it's good if it's working i wouldn't know about it okay so They are at first satisfied with Boo's answer that he didn't see Gary the day of his death. However, after talking to a few more people, they decided that's probably not true. So they go back to his house and they pick him up that night. He's accompanied, as Samantha was saying, he's accompanied to the police station by his grandmother. But as soon as they get there, they separate them and they question Blue alone. For like hours. Which does not seem legal to me. I don't know if the grandmother like consented to that. She probably thought she had to. It's really shitty. Okay. So at some point, Boo supposedly said that he hit Gary and Gary didn't get up.
Which, in the episode, they tell us is a detail only the killer would know. Except what Boo tells us is that, yeah, everybody in the neighborhood knew about this, knew what happened, and had theories. But also, like, the detail is he fell down and didn't get up. But that's also just like, he died. What are you talking about? Only the killer would know that he was dead? Yeah. Okay, anyway, so at this point, the police type up a confession for Boo and his grandmother to sign, and Boo signs it while insisting that he did not kill his friend.
And I hope this reenactment is not totally accurate because the grandma signs it immediately. And I was like, bitch, you're selling out your grandson. I don't know that she was the best actress. She had like a vaguely surprised look on her face. And she was just like, oh, better sign this. Look, probably she felt like she had to sign it. They didn't have a lawyer there. I don't know how old this grandmother is. They're in, you know, the authority position telling her to sign it. It's really shitty, but things do not. I was like, great. We're going to see this kid get railroaded, but don't worry. It's not as bad as you think. He was charged with murder and sent to a juvenile detention center.
Great. We hear from an adult boo, Mason, who says he was told that if he confessed, he could go home, which is something you've probably heard in other cases. And since he had been interviewed for hours in the middle of the night and he's 12, he was super tired and he wanted to go home. So he was like, great, I'll confess and I'll leave. Well, but he confessed in a way that was like, OK, I'll tell you what you want to know, but I didn't do it because he did continue to insist that he didn't do it. He just I'm sure repeated what they told him and then also probably just rumors from the neighborhood. But at the same time saying this is what I know, but I didn't do it.
Yeah, he's basically saying, yes, Gary's dead, but I didn't kill him. He was my friend. Let me go home. Yeah, 12. I'm 12 and handicaps. And this is disgusting. Anyway, so Boo was given a polygraph that was inconclusive. However, when he was asked if he killed Gary and he said no, that part came up as true.
Fortunately, the absolute blessing in this case is that when this is brought to court, a judge throws it out immediately. Yeah, it was immediately apparent that this was the coerced confession, which to me, I was like, I can't believe that ever happened in the history of our justice system. I know. Recognize the false confession and threw it out. At this point, by season six, we have so little faith that we're like, great, this kid's going to get railroaded. It's going to ruin his entire life. Well, probably. This interview with him is certainly from prison. They just let him put on a polo shirt. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. That's what I thought, too. But fortunately, the judge said, no, this confession was not made voluntarily and the charges were dropped. Hallelujah. Okay.
So later, again, this is another instance where Unsolved Mysteries treats graffiti like it's a clue. And you go, no, literally anyone can write anything. That means nothing. But later, a cop car was vandalized to say, Gary Grant is dead and I am living. Another will die on January 12th, 86, if all goes right. And that would have been the second anniversary of his death. We hear from Gary Sr., who says that he believes this was an adult's handwriting and therefore wouldn't have been by boo. Another message is later found on a sidewalk that says, Gary Grant Jr. lives. Still, I killed him. Son of a bitch. Son of a pig officer.
Payback is an MF. The great part about this is that you get to hear this read by Robert Stack. You get to hear Robert Stack say, Payback is an MF. Which is now my new favorite thing. Guess what? No update. This case is still unsolved. Oh, dang it. Which is very sad. We don't know why anyone would want to kill a seven-year-old. The theory is that this is somehow to get back at Gary Grant Sr., but even he's like, no one ever said, I'm going to get you back. He doesn't have a Joker nemesis that's been...
They'll be willing to kill a seven-year-old to get back at him. I don't know. There's been some anonymous tips over the years. Let's see what this said. Gary Sr. found a tape that contained two 911 calls about the case. The first one occurred on March 8th, 1986. The caller claimed to be Gary's killer and asked about receiving a reward for turning himself in. He ended the call by stating they would never catch him. The second one occurred on June 2nd, 1986. The caller claims that Gary's killer had confessed to him. He claims that Gary's killer had committed the crime because of an arrest by Gary Sr. The caller has never been identified and is unknown if he is actually involved in Gary's murder. Gary Sr. still believes that Boo Mason has some involvement in Gary's death.
He believes it is most likely he witnessed the attack or knows the perpetrator. However, no evidence has ever been found to link him or anyone else to the crime. I think if Boo knew the perpetrator, he would have told them. I absolutely agree. I think that he cared about his friend and wanted to help and almost got railroaded for this crime he had nothing to do with. Anyway, sad case, but at least we didn't get to see a 12-year-old.
chewed up by the system um yeah okay that one was an interesting case and this next one is also quite interesting this last one is wild this is bananas so this is a missing person but it's also kind of an unexplained death so this we're looking for hugh harlan who uh just picture in your head dear listeners like a fisherman like but the fisherman like this fisherman is a huge pothead Put those two people together in your mind, and I guarantee you're imagining Hugh Harlan right now. If the Gordon's fishermen took some time off fishing to follow around the Grateful Dead, it would be this guy.
Yes. So Hugh Harland is missing. Robert's text says, on the surface, Morro Bay, California is a picture postcard seaside fishing village. But this charming town holds the secret to a murder, or perhaps two. So Hugh Harland is a well-known resident of Morro Bay. He sometimes worked as a fisherman. They tell us that Hugh fished when the spirit moved him. I'm guessing he maybe had another source of income. Possibly. Possibly.
uh morrow bay uh businesswoman and resident catherine cordero is interviewed throughout the show she uh tells us a little bit about hugh and my favorite quote possibly ever on unsolved mysteries she gives us about hugh she says he wasn't just a weirdo he might have been weird at times but he wasn't a weirdo don't dismiss him samantha he wasn't just a weirdo look the guy was weird as hell but he was also a human being yeah so What were you going to say about me after I'm dead? Oh, Liz, she wasn't just a weirdo. Sure, she was kind of a loner. Yes, she talked about unsolved mysteries too much, but she was a human being with thoughts and feelings of her own. Yeah, I don't quite know how to square he wasn't a weirdo. He may be weird, but he wasn't a weirdo. It's just really a funny way to describe someone. But I mean, also in a way, it seems like really accurate for this man. But anyway, I don't really know how to explain that. So she was also like a local businesswoman. She said that he would stop by and sometimes he would just pitch up his sleeves and help out.
You know, and sometimes that meant their work just happened to go on for six, seven, or ten hours, and he just stuck around and helped out. He wouldn't even take any money for his help. That's when she calls him weird. When the spirit moved him. Yeah. So he would go down and he would fish when he felt like it. And he did bring in, it seemed like, enough money to get by. However, his wife, Diane, Robert Stack says, squandered what little money he earned. Bitches be shopping.
Well, so it seems like she would just spend all this money. So she was known around town as the dog lady. She loved these dogs she had. And it seems like would just spend all her money on the dogs. And then, like, maybe. That's what people are going to say about us, Samantha. Probably. Honestly, probably. So they're described as not getting along very well. And then Diane would apparently do bizarre things, including opening a can of dog food and serving it to Hugh for dinner. I don't know. Maybe he had it coming. Maybe. Apparently, Hugh got wise to that. He was like, why are you feeding me dog food? So she would cook it in a casserole.
Okay, look, I'm not sure this woman was entirely well. No, I don't think so. It is odd. This whole segment is odd. It's a little odd. And I do think you're right. I think Diane, we might be dealing with some, you know, untreated mental illness on Diane's part. But for some reason, cooking dog food into a casserole because he was, he didn't like you just plopping some dog food onto a plate and giving it to him. So he cooked it into a casserole. She was like, I know what to do. Somehow that's so funny to me, but maybe she didn't give her money for food and they had dog food. And she was like, I'm gonna make this work somehow.
It could be. Yeah, we don't get, like, the story directly from them. So it seemed that Diane, this is according to Robert Stack, cared more for her dogs than she did for Hugh. In fact, around town, she was known as, like I said, the dog lady. And this is, I don't know, seems true. She probably did care about her dogs more. On October 13th, 1982, the badly decomposed body of a woman was found just off the beach at Merome. Police could not identify her, but they could identify the murder weapon, which was a dog leash. She had been strangled with it.
Seems like something from a book. Honestly, it kind of does. And this is like the setting of a cozy mystery. It is. Don't you think? Like this more of California where people just fish when they feel like it? Absolutely. So this almost doesn't seem real, but it is. So the investigators put out a news media release with a description asking for the public's assistance identifying the deceased woman. Later in the evening, the department was contacted by Hugh Harlan. Hugh Harlan was shown several pieces of jewelry and he identified the jewelry as belonging to his wife, Diane.
I was wondering about this. This happens in mysteries where family members are asked to identify jewelry. And I asked Matt, like, would you be able to identify my jewelry if I'm done? He was like, some of it. And I was like, yeah, it would really help if I owned less jewelry. And then I was like, if I have to do this for my mom, man, oh, man.
Mom, that jewelry collection might be your downfall. Where I'll be like, I think so? It's really true. Seems like her colors. The problem is I don't wear jewelry, really. I mean, my wedding ring, I guess you could probably identify me from that. But otherwise, I wear hardly any jewelry. So I guess no one's going to be able to identify my dead body. You got tattoos. It's fine. That's true. So Hugh told police that Diane had been away from home for 12 days. But he said that he wasn't worried until he heard about the body because she was known to occasionally disappear for long periods of time. She was like, look, she didn't really like me.
She just left for a while. It wasn't that unusual. It was cool. It was cool. So what I think should have concerned him, though, is that apparently the day she disappeared, he said that the dogs came home without her and without their leashes on. Which I don't know if that was normal. It seems like it wouldn't be. Look, I love my dogs more than most people. And if you find my dogs, if they just come home without me one day, you should worry. I would think Diane would not just let her dogs wander around town by herself if she loved them as much. But I don't know. I don't think we're getting all the details. But according to the reenactment, at least...
He kind of threw that piece in there that the dogs didn't have the leashes on because the investigators were getting suspicious. And they were like, well, what about this dog leash? And he's like, oh, no, you mentioned it. When the dogs came home, they weren't wearing their leashes. And the investigators were like, really? So he also changed his story several times. At this point, they began to look more closely at Hugh as a possible suspect. Is it also possible that Hugh was just high? I think maybe he was always high. Because at some point, this guy like...
mentions that from time to time he was known to smoke pot. And I was like, oh, really? You don't say. Yeah, I'm not sure there was ever a time this guy wasn't high, to be frank. So that might have been part of the issue. Probably. So Catherine Cordero, who I mentioned before, apparently went and talked to him herself to decide if he had killed his wife. And she was like, I just asked him flat out. Hugh, you know, a lot of people are suspecting you. Did you kill her? I know she was bizarre and I know she tried to push your buttons. Did you do it? Which, yeah, is quite bold. But he told her he didn't and she believed him.
I mean, he said he didn't do it, so there you go. Facts. Yeah, so police actually eventually did rule out Hugh as a suspect. But we don't know why! Why? I don't know if there's just hardly any evidence. I'm not sure exactly how they ruled him out. Maybe he had an alibi. I'm not really sure. Although she was gone for 12 days. I don't know. Maybe they figured out the time of death. I don't know. We're not given a ton of information. Then on November 1st, 1986, Hugh went to a friend's house to borrow some tools for a construction job he was doing up the coast. He set out for San Simeon, about 27 miles north of Morro Bay. Hugh's friend, Steve Matthew, said he soon received a disturbing phone call.
which was from a mutual friend in Cambria, wondering why Hugh's truck was sitting off on the side of the road and had been there for several days. So this was obviously made them nervous. They got a couple of friends and they went out to check on the abandoned truck. They looked around. They saw his glasses on the dash. They saw a couple of tins on the dash. One was, what did they say? They said it was tobacco and ragweed.
It was like some braggity weed he was known to have for time to time. Something like that. So I think the most suspicious thing is he left that behind. That's a really good point. So they said that all of these things weren't adding up. And then they also, as they were looking around, saw the keys in the bushes. Like a little way. The reason they found those keys was because I was going to go piss there. And then he was like, oh, these are the keys. Except they said it in this like.
I don't remember. Who's going to... I don't remember. They said it in some polite way, but it was basically like, when the guy went to pee in the bushes, he found the keys. It was lucky, I guess. So the question is, did Hugh Harlan meet with foul play, or did he choose to disappear because he killed his wife? Now, I think... I mean, we don't really know, and this case is completely unsolved. Actually, Diane's murder and Hugh Harlan's disappearance is completely unsolved. I looked at the Unsolved Mysteries wiki, and there's nothing. Very strange. Who knows if he just vanished into thin air? I sort of feel like he had been ruled out as a suspect. I guess I don't know why he would decide at this point to just disappear. It's been four years. But it's also suspicious that both him...
His wife was murdered and then he disappeared. Like, I don't know. These don't strike me as people that would have a lot of enemies. So that is weird. It's someone that got fed dog food back for revenge. Why would he abandon his weed? That's really the thing that gives me pause. Also, the truck has value. Like, his friend, the person saying he's not just a weirdo, is like, if he was going to leave, he would have given the truck to someone to have. He wouldn't just abandon it. Yeah, they said he was the type of person that would have, like, helped someone out by giving them his truck. Oh, they could have sold it, right? Yeah, make the money.
Not just throw the keys in the bushes. No, someone will pee on these. It's very odd. It has the setup of a cozy mystery, but no resolution. So it's frustrating because there's clearly something intriguing going on. Someone should write the fictionalized version of the story. There's also a mustache in this segment.
Manny Silva has a mustache that sort of all shifts to the left. Even out that mustache. Mac called it lefty. It also had a stingray shape. I wanted to call it a stingray. Obviously I've already called a mustache that. So I ended up calling it the sting raw, which is one of my laziest moments of all time.
yo it's not the sting ray it's the sting raw oh that's very good that's very good no it's not at all but that brings us to the end this one's fascinating this is one where i feel like when people ask like are there any mysteries that you would love to like like yes i want to know i really want to know what happened to these people same with jen man i want to know what happened to this guy in his noodle empire yeah okay so we're at the end it's time to rate it yes mysteriousness very mysterious a very mysterious one and remains mysterious to this day Actually, every segment that wasn't heroes pulling someone from a car, not solved. We have no idea what happened. We don't know what happened to Jen. We don't know what happened to Gary Jr. And we don't know what happened to either of these people in this last mystery. Could not be more mysterious.
yep uh two thumbs up for mysterious oh absolutely and then reenactments i feel like were also really good solid i think um i liked the ones in chinatown i think the ones with gary jr were all very sad but sort of adorable and then the thing of his dad coming up on the scene was so heartbreaking oh and then these ones with the coast just have some great uh yeah cozy mystery type vibe she's like out walking the dogs along the beach yeah and also in the um The Lost Love. They had like, so they did the mystery and then at the end they had this like montage set to music of like the car accident. It was very dramatic. Yeah. Which that was completely an aesthetic choice on Unsolved Mysteries part. It didn't really add to it, but it was well done. I think maybe they just sunk some money into that car accident. Oh, sure. Absolutely. A little more mileage out of it. They're like, we set something on fire. You are looking at that again. So that was good. Thumbs up. Yeah. I feel like I have to give it a thumbs up for fashion too. I mean, we usually include mustaches in fashion and this is a smorgasbord of mustaches. You couldn't get more mustaches.
Plus, we have the detective in the first mystery wearing, I don't know, what I want to describe as a pimp hat. Just like a formal men's hat with a big feather in it. So that's great. There was also multiple turtlenecks. Yeah, and some of them jeweled. I mean, come on. What more did you probably want? It just says it all. It truly does. And then Robert Stack. Okay, you're going to say, Liz, he wasn't in this that much. Yes, but we got the phrase that payback is an MF.
said in robert stack voice my new if this was still an age where you picked wacky things to be your ringtone if we still like even allowed our phones to ring my ringtone would be robert stack saying payback is an mf can i get someone to teach me how to do like audio drops like i need some of these quotes to just be like i can just press a button and it'll just be robert stack saying payback is an mf like when someone gets arrested or something and we're talking about it i can just hit a button payback is an mf uh so obviously he gets a thumbs up just for that 100 Yeah. Okay, so what are we going to rate this episode? It's on a scale of five Robert Stacks. Obviously, five Robert Stacks is the best. I would have put this at a five. Five is reserved for, oh, I don't know, the magic rock. Five is, it's never going to get better. It's because you're going to force your friends to watch it. That actually really is how we determine what is a five. I mean, does it belong in the Louvre? Should you be looking, going into the Louvre to see Mona Lisa, Winged Victory, and a segment from Unsolved Mysteries when she put this in there?
No, but it is. This is a solid episode. Very mysterious. Well done segments. No filler. I'm sorry. I just have this picture in my head. That's just like panning from the Mona Lisa over. And it's just a framed picture of that guy looking at the magic rock in his cop uniform. Even like a video. It's just a still.
I'm sorry. You're right. This isn't bad, but it's pretty good. Is it a three and a half or a four? Oh, I think it's a four. I think it is really good. I would love to be in this class that gets to solve mysteries. I'm glad that this kid, Boo Mason, didn't get railroaded for a murder he didn't commit. So that was a relief. Plus someone got fed dog food. I mean, there's just some surprises. There's this stoner fisherman. Yeah. It's also super mysterious and there's no unnecessary update.
Yeah. It was a good episode, actually. This is why we do this. Yeah, agreed. If only they could all be this good, but there's just not that many. No, I'm sure next week we're going to be back telling you this sucked.
Why do we do this? I hate everything. Yes. But this was quality. I highly recommend watching this one. Agreed. Me too. Okay. So now we like to wrap up the show with a little palate cleanser. A little recommendation of how you can waste more time. And I have a fun TV recommendation, which also sort of ties into our first mystery, only because they both take place in San Francisco, Chinatown. So I just finished watching the TV show Warrior.
which was originally on Cinemax, but you can now watch it on HBO Max. It is a show that takes place in 1870s, San Francisco Chinatown. And it is about Chinese immigrants coming into the country, forming Chinatown and sort of racism and power struggles from that. But really it's an excuse for nudity and Kung Fu fighting. And also for reminding you that racism is bad.
And I like all of those things. I have learned recently that in general, I'm not really looking for a movie or a TV show with fighting. But if you tell me that the people in the fight are horrible racists, I'm a lot more invested. It sounds really cathartic, honestly. It is so satisfying when you see people who have been established as horrible racists just get their asses handed to them. It's similar to how in John Wick, you appreciate that his motivation is for his dog, right? And then you're like, all of this is justified.
I understand now. And in this, you're like, yes, get those racist assholes. Oh, so good. So the main character is Assam who has just immigrated to the United States, to San Francisco. He's looking for his sister who had immigrated a few years earlier.
And that, of course, immediately goes to hell. So it's about him being forced to join one of the gangs in Chinatown and they're sort of rival gangs and they're fighting all the time. So you have that storyline. You have the storyline of the cops that have to walk the Chinatown beat and how bad they are at their jobs. And you have the Irish immigrants who are mad that they're being replaced. They're not being hired anymore because people are hiring Chinese immigrants and paying them less. So there's like tension there. There's like the mayor and the rich people, whatever.
Mostly there's a lot of cool fighting. There's amazing costumes. The woman that runs the bar brothel. Oh my God. The looks that she serves. She gets, she keeps coming down this like amazing staircase and like most fabulous gowns I've ever seen.
And I might be in love with her. That sounds amazing. It's really fun. A lot of the characters are really fun. Some of the rich people storylines, I'm like, whatever. I don't care who gets this. Every so often, it's almost trying to pretend it's prestige television. And it's like, let's talk about who gets this contract to make the cable cars. And you're like, I don't care. More sex and fighting. But that is most of it. There's only two seasons. It looks like production got stopped for COVID. And I'm not sure it's going to be picked back up, which is kind of sad. Because I would watch more. But it was a good time.
I enjoyed myself. It sounds, like I said, extremely cathartic. Yeah, it is. And all the food looks really good. So that's one issue is that it made me really hungry. I was going to say, that sounds like a problem because it's going to make me want to eat some delicious food. Yeah.
That's an awesome recommendation. What are you going to recommend this week? This book was recommended to me by friend of the pod, Rob, from the podcast Our Strange Skies. He's been on our show a few times. We've been on his show. Lots of fun. He reads a lot, and so I knew that he was the person to go to for book recommendations about sharks. Ah, yes. For some reason, something I want to read about lately, we, for our book club, recently read a fictional book that sort of had sharks in it, sort of didn't. I actually didn't finish the book. Maybe because it just wasn't scratching that itch. For some reason, I'm like, I really need to read about sharks, and this doesn't have enough sharks in it.
You've had this like unquenchable thirst for some sort of shark novel and you've just been demanding people. And everybody's just like Jaws. And you're like, no, not that one. A different shark book. And everybody's like, I'm sorry, Samantha. I don't think I've read a different fictional book about a shark. But you can't be satiated. I've done some Googling and I have a few books lined up. But I really wanted someone to recommend something that was really good because I've been burned before. Like there was a time where I was trying to find books about killer squid and I read several and didn't like any of them. So I don't want to be wasting my time with these bad killer shark books.
i want a good one so rob didn't have any fiction recommendations but did have a recommendation for a non-fiction book uh about a shark attack a series of shark attacks actually and it is the book close to shore by michael capuzo rob recommended this to me literally yesterday i'm almost done with the book it's really really good i was like how are you recommending us because i'm almost done i have like listening to the audiobook and i have like maybe an hour left maybe 30 minutes it's a short book too it's not super long um but i listened to it yesterday while i was doing stuff around the house very much enjoying it uh for some reason it's the sound of this audiobook has like an old-timey radio sound i don't know if it's like if it's just this narrator or what but it's it really adds to it because the events that uh took place the events of this these shark attacks took place in 1916 so the old-timey sound of this audiobook i think it kind of adds to the experience but this is the series of shark attacks that inspired so this is inspired jaws um so they were uh shark attacks that happened along the jersey shore of the united states in 1916 and what i found the most interesting about this book so first of all the book is really well written rob recommended it because he said it reads like a thriller and that's really true it feels like fiction because the narrator paints these really vivid pictures about like what everyone looked like how they like society is changing like women are starting to swim in the ocean which was previously scandalous and like starting to wear like bathing suits which was unheard of and like so he paints this picture about a society that's changing and like how like especially along the ocean like how like swimming in the ocean ties into these ideas of like masculinity it's very fascinating
And I will say it starts out a little bit slow because he does paint this really vivid picture about what's going on, but I enjoyed it. And then you get into the shark attacks, which he describes in a way that's like, I don't know, if you're afraid of sharks, it's probably not the book for you. Obviously, you're probably not going to pick this up anyway, but they're very frightening. And so this was thought to be a rogue shark. It was a shark that wouldn't play by the rules. True. You laugh, but that's actually true. Researchers have researched this series of shark attacks, and they think it was one shark who basically discovered that there was no competition for human meat. Other sharks weren't going after humans, and so this was easy prey. And also, what fascinated me the most is how...
much it took for the people in the united states to believe that it was a shark that was doing this like i feel like i think about sharks and like how afraid people are of sharks now and you think about it as being very illogical because shark attacks are so infrequent but it was almost like the reverse back then where they were convinced this was a tuna like a giant tuna or it was a turtle yes like like everyone was like they couldn't be sharks sharks don't attack humans sharks are timid sharks are afraid of people like there's no way like fishermen who lived who basically lived on the ocean were like sharks don't wouldn't attack people they're more afraid of people than we are of them like this had to have been a swordfish Is what everyone said. No one believed that it was a shark for the longest time. Yeah. Which is so ironic to me because Jaws is kind of what tipped us over the edge the other way and everyone became terrified of sharks. And this like real life event is what inspired Jaws. So I thought that was super fascinating.
So, yeah, if for some reason you're like me and are really interested in reading a story about sharks. I demand to read about sharks. Have we looked into the turtles in the area, though? That's so funny. It is funny because, like, so trigger warning, this is going to be gory, but some of these people were, like, very horribly attacked, like bitten in half. And people were like, well, it couldn't have been a shark. It must be a turtle.
I want to meet that turtle. Big ass turtle. Yeah. Fascinating. Oh, I did forget to say one thing for my recommendation that I wanted to, which is sort of based on a proposal Bruce Lee had made. He had shopped the idea of a show set in early Chinatown around to a few networks. And so this is kind of based on his idea, which I think is interesting. It sort of seems like he pitched the show, everybody passed, and then someone kind of stole his ideas to make the show Kung Fu. So that sucks.
Yeah, I just wanted to add that note of credibility that is Bruce Lee connected. Very nice. Very nice. Yeah, that's it. That's all I got. All right. I think it's time to bring the episode to a close and remind you that you're going to want to slam that subscribe button. You're going to want to sprain your finger slamming that subscribe button. We would love a five-star review on any platform that you can give us a review. We have a website. Perhaps it's you.com. You can, I don't know, find contact info and some of our recommendations there.
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It's so gorgeous. You're going to love it. It's by a guest artist. It's really something. So you're going to want to be signed up for that. I recently learned that one of my favorite bad movies, Octopus 2, River of Fear, is available on 2BTV. Should we do that as a Patreon bonus episode? I'm very tempted to make you watch it and we do that for Patreon content. I think maybe we should wait until we can watch it together. I was just going to say it would be way better if we could watch that at your house. So maybe we'll wait, you know, to be fully vaccinated and then...
Just think about this title. Octopus 2 River. I understand it without having seen Octopus 1. Yeah, Octopus 1 is just octopus attacking people. And it's also quite bad, but it's not the gem that Octopus 2... Hold on. Don't spoil anything, but you're saying Octopus 1 is just octopus attacking people? Octopus 2 is more than that? Yeah, it is. It's a very complex plot, like what's going on. Is it like King Kong and Godzilla? Think about the fact that there's a killer octopus in a river. Just from the title.
It's always not just a killer octopus killing people in a river versus an ocean. You're going to have to see. All right. It's really... Fast forward to us covering this and I'm like, this is a masterpiece. Yeah, somehow I doubt it. Now I'm kind of really excited to do that. Gotta get that vaccine. Get to my veins. Okay. All right. Thanks, everybody. Bye. Keep barking.