Missing... Have You Seen This Person? Was the precursor to Unsolved Mysteries and had all the earmarks of what that series would later become. The show contained a lot of the same writers, directors and
producers who would go on to work on Mysteries including John Cosgrove and Terry Dunn Meurer. It aired on NBC and was hosted by Family Ties mom Meredith Baxter and her then husband David Birney. Each of the three episodes presented cases of either missing persons or abducted children. Most of the missing children were parental abductions and were quickly closed the night of the broadcast, but a few of the missing persons cases remain unsolved. The first episode was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Informational Special.
Special #1 aired on April 29, 1985. Among the segments featured was the case of three-year-old Laura Bradbury, who went missing in 1984 in Joshua Tree National Park. Child actor Ricky Schroder is Bradbury's cousin and he presents her case in this episode. Bradbury's disappearance is still unsolved. Sisters Debbie and Kathy Caruso were abducted by their father in 1977 and, as a result of this broadcast, were located and reunited with their mother. Another segment involves Paul Cosner, who went missing in November 1984 after leaving his home to meet with a potential buyer of his 1980 Honda Prelude. A few years later Cosner's car was found in the possession of serial killers Leonard Lake and Charles Ng. In 2001, a judge officially ruled that Cosner was one of the duos victims.
Special #2 aired on January 22, 1986. Some of the cases include the 1985 abduction of 5-year-old Benjamin Studer by his father. The boy and his babysitter were watching the show the night of the broadcast and the babysitter called the police. Another case involves a fifteen-year-old Oregon girl who ran away from home and was found working on the Sunset Strip. In September 1984, a Vietnam veteran who may have PTSD went missing. His remains would later be found in a wooded area in 1987. Also, in an update to Special #1, Debbie and Kathy Caruso, along with their mother, appear on camera talking with Meredith Baxter and David Birney. A roll call of 20 missing children concludes this episode.
Special #3 aired on April 23, 1986. A few of the segments include 8-year-old Cherrie Mahan, who disappeared from a bus stop in February 1985. This case is still unsolved but in 2018 her mother received a letter from someone claiming to know the identity of Cherrie's killer. In October 1985, an eighty-three-year-old woman disappeared while on her way to the supermarket. Also in October 1985, fifty-seven-year-old Jim Nestor disappeared after leaving his home to go visit a friend. Ironically, Nestor had helped in the search for three-year-old Laura Bradbury, who's case was featured in Special #1. In February 1988, Nestor's skull was found in a remote wooded area. The cause of death is unknown.
Unfortunately, Missing... Have You Seen This Person? Is considered "lost media" these days because it hasn't been seen since it originally aired back in the mid-eighties. No recordings of it are known to exist and the only thing to be found of it is a 10 second promo on Youtube. An official release is not very likely either considering that most of the child abduction cases from Unsolved Mysteries have been removed. Another factor is that half of the cases have been solved and those family members probably don't want any further publicity. Having never actually seen this show I can't really give it a rating, but since it's from the same makers as Unsolved Mysteries, it has to have that same high quality standard. It's ironic that a show focusing on missing persons is literally itself, missing.
Special #1 aired on April 29, 1985. Among the segments featured was the case of three-year-old Laura Bradbury, who went missing in 1984 in Joshua Tree National Park. Child actor Ricky Schroder is Bradbury's cousin and he presents her case in this episode. Bradbury's disappearance is still unsolved. Sisters Debbie and Kathy Caruso were abducted by their father in 1977 and, as a result of this broadcast, were located and reunited with their mother. Another segment involves Paul Cosner, who went missing in November 1984 after leaving his home to meet with a potential buyer of his 1980 Honda Prelude. A few years later Cosner's car was found in the possession of serial killers Leonard Lake and Charles Ng. In 2001, a judge officially ruled that Cosner was one of the duos victims.
Special #2 aired on January 22, 1986. Some of the cases include the 1985 abduction of 5-year-old Benjamin Studer by his father. The boy and his babysitter were watching the show the night of the broadcast and the babysitter called the police. Another case involves a fifteen-year-old Oregon girl who ran away from home and was found working on the Sunset Strip. In September 1984, a Vietnam veteran who may have PTSD went missing. His remains would later be found in a wooded area in 1987. Also, in an update to Special #1, Debbie and Kathy Caruso, along with their mother, appear on camera talking with Meredith Baxter and David Birney. A roll call of 20 missing children concludes this episode.
Special #3 aired on April 23, 1986. A few of the segments include 8-year-old Cherrie Mahan, who disappeared from a bus stop in February 1985. This case is still unsolved but in 2018 her mother received a letter from someone claiming to know the identity of Cherrie's killer. In October 1985, an eighty-three-year-old woman disappeared while on her way to the supermarket. Also in October 1985, fifty-seven-year-old Jim Nestor disappeared after leaving his home to go visit a friend. Ironically, Nestor had helped in the search for three-year-old Laura Bradbury, who's case was featured in Special #1. In February 1988, Nestor's skull was found in a remote wooded area. The cause of death is unknown.
Unfortunately, Missing... Have You Seen This Person? Is considered "lost media" these days because it hasn't been seen since it originally aired back in the mid-eighties. No recordings of it are known to exist and the only thing to be found of it is a 10 second promo on Youtube. An official release is not very likely either considering that most of the child abduction cases from Unsolved Mysteries have been removed. Another factor is that half of the cases have been solved and those family members probably don't want any further publicity. Having never actually seen this show I can't really give it a rating, but since it's from the same makers as Unsolved Mysteries, it has to have that same high quality standard. It's ironic that a show focusing on missing persons is literally itself, missing.
