Deaths of some people interviewed on UM

[jimbou81]

Thank you for continually looking for information on this case, maybe one day something will pop up that helps me find my lost relatives.

I was reading some of other threads about this case, many of them are several years old, here is some info that some don't know.

- My father, James E. Boumgarden, celebrated his birthday on March 29, 1947 however some documents found showed March 26, 1947. He was born in Cook County Illinois (Chicago) he was raised up in Rochelle and Paynes Point Illinois and went to Stillman Valley High school.

- As kids they may have been living near each other, but the twin may have been adopted by another family away from the area, or his current family had moved him away from the area, or he may have never been adopted at all and just moved from home to home. As an adult he may just come visit the area to visit an old friend or adopted family member or what ever the case may be.

- At the baseball game my uncle Rick didn't know about the twin at that time as it was years before my father started looking. He couldn't recall the team or date that he played against.

- My father didn't want to start looking until after his adopted father passed away because he was afraid it would have upset him if he was looking for his "real" family. This maybe the case with the twin also. Remember my fathers adopted grandmother knew about the twin. When she told my mother about the twin, that is when some of the pieces started to come together.

- UM contacted me back in 2007 before they started airing on Spike. I did have an update for them, they didn't pursue the update.

- My parents did go to all the libraries and high schools in the area searching yearbooks for a kid his age, but as I stated above the twin likely moved away from the area before high school.

- My father had a doctor confirm that he had an Identical twin before he knew that he had a twin because the doctor told him that he was missing an organ (sorry I don't remember which one, I can update this part later when i find out) and his twin had the other. Common in the type of twin he was, they were basically one step away from being siamese twins.

- His half sister, Judy S., was given up for adoption because she had a tumor at birth, her unmarried (very important for that time period) mother was unable to pay for the surgery so the first couple that paid for the surgery got to adopt her. Their mother was given no choice or no rights.

- My father and twin were considered "unadoptable" because of a possible heart defect and possible mixed race. She was forced into giving these kids up because she was unmarried. Because of this they were placed on the "blackmarket", documents were sealed (maybe even changed too). I guess this was as a punishment to his mother so she could never find them.

- The update Spike didn't air: A good friend of my fathers, who runs a store in the area, said that he thought he saw a ghost when a man walked into the store. When he confronted him about the case he said he didn't want to have anything to do with the family then walked out of the store and got in his truck and left. My fathers friend tried to stop him but the "twin" wasn't willing to talk.
This also confirms some the other reports my family received saying the same thing, that he didn't even know about.

If the twin doesn't want to be contacted, then their isn't much we can do, hopefully he will change his mind someday and contact me (it isn't hard to find me online) If he has any kids, they would be my cousins and about as close as you can get to being half brother and/or sister.

I would like to thank every one who has done some research online for this case. Because of the adoption, sites like ancestry or even facebook probably wouldn't get you very far unless we knew "Bill's" adopted last name.

[kadrmas15]

Bob Pickens, the businessman ripped up by Garlon Houston Russell, the guy who molested the kid in the nudist camp segment, Pickens died on January 13th, 1994, at the age of 62, 3 days short of his 63rd birthday.

[DazzlerSparkler]

What about the lady and her foster parents? I can't remember her name, but her father abused her, with a belt so she went to foster parents and they made her feel right at home. She had a happy birthday and did everything with her parents. Then she had to go back to her dad but one night she ran away...eventually her father was taken away from her. Eventually she found her adoptive parents. I don't remember the lady's name, but I think she had curly wavy brown hair. And I noticed something strange with her front teeth. Anybody remember who this woman is, and if her foster parents are still around?

[Gelatinous Goo]

Originally Posted by DazzlerSparkler

What about the lady and her foster parents? I can't remember her name, but her father abused her, with a belt so she went to foster parents and they made her feel right at home. She had a happy birthday and did everything with her parents. Then she had to go back to her dad but one night she ran away...eventually her father was taken away from her. Eventually she found her adoptive parents. I don't remember the lady's name, but I think she had curly wavy brown hair. And I noticed something strange with her front teeth. Anybody remember who this woman is, and if her foster parents are still around?

One of the best and saddest Lost Loves segments of all time. It shows how inspiring a little love and care can be when you're seemingly without hope. I too forget their names. If somebody wants to chime in with that info, I'll be glad to do a little digging around.

[MissFit29]

Originally Posted by Gelatinous Goo

One of the best and saddest Lost Loves segments of all time. It shows how inspiring a little love and care can be when you're seemingly without hope. I too forget their names. If somebody wants to chime in with that info, I'll be glad to do a little digging around.

That was Sharon Stevens. Her foster parents were the Zelinsky's (check the spelling - not sure if that is corrent). Bill and Cynthia, I think.

[McBevis]

Originally Posted by Gelatinous Goo

One of the best and saddest Lost Loves segments of all time. It shows how inspiring a little love and care can be when you're seemingly without hope. I too forget their names. If somebody wants to chime in with that info, I'll be glad to do a little digging around.

Not sure what ever became of Sharon Stevens, but as far as I can ascertain, Bill and Cynthia Zelinski are both still alive and actually not even as old as you might think (78 and 77, respectively), considering that this case took place more than 50 years ago.

[McBevis]

Something else I also discovered. I know he's not an interviewee but rather the subject of a segment, but I did find out that Gene Flannes (the Hot Springs con artist) died on 5/29/09 at the age of 86.

[Gelatinous Goo]

Originally Posted by McBevis

Not sure what ever became of Sharon Stevens, but as far as I can ascertain, Bill and Cynthia Zelinski are both still alive and actually not even as old as you might think (78 and 77, respectively), considering that this case took place more than 50 years ago.

That's rather odd to me. You'd think they would be in their 90's at this point. Bill has been wheelchair-bound for nearly 20 years. Wasn't he on oxygen in the update? Either way, I'm glad to hear that they're still with us. Thanks for doing my legwork for me!

[McBevis]

I did some more digging and discovered the following:

Catheryn Saalfeld (Walter "Curly" Green segment). Younger sister Curly's girlfriend. Died in 1990 at the age of 87.

Fred Cappelli (Michael Rosenblum segment). Reluctant participant in police cover-up conspiracy. Died in 1990 at the age of 67.

Sheldon Weinberg (Mastermind of Manhattan Medicare fraud scheme). Died in 2007 at the age of 83.

Dr. Richard Boggs (Mastermind of Glendale, CA murder/insurance fraud scheme). Died in 2003 at the age of 69.

Vickie Landrum (Betty Cash UFO segment). Died in 2007 at the age of 83.

Iva Platt (Eleanor Platt & John Elias segment). Mother of Eleanor. Died in 2010 at the age of 97.

Joan Resch (Tina Resch segment). Foster mother of Tina. Died in 2000 at the age of 72.

Dr. David Cawood (Tennessee home invasion segment). Died in 2006 at the age of 69.

[xxxxmattxxxx69]

Dennis Cole The father of murder victim Joe Cole died in 2009 at the age of 69

Reggie White died in 2004 at age 43 after being interviewed for a church burning segment down south

[dynoguy88]

Looks like the father of Cindy James, Otto Hack, passed away on June 25, 2010 at the age of 90.

Cindy's sister Melanie wrote on her blog that her parents were married for 68 years when he died. During the final months of Otto's life, he told his children that he could feel Cindy's presence and that it was getting stronger and stronger. There was a sense of peace as his life came to an end because he knew in his heart we soon be reunited with Cindy.

Cindy's mother Tillie is still alive and she's 88 years old. She has alzheimer's and is no longer able to take care of herself. She lives in home for elderly alzheimer's patients.

[crystaldawn]

Impressive research guys on finding these....

Very sad about Otto Hack. It seems like Melanie Hack was a bit hesitant to publish the book about Cindy because of how her father might react. I wonder if now that he's passed away it will get published.

[dynoguy88]

Originally Posted by crystaldawn

Impressive research guys on finding these....

Very sad about Otto Hack. It seems like Melanie Hack was a bit hesitant to publish the book about Cindy because of how her father might react. I wonder if now that he's passed away it will get published.

It's been about 2 years since I last exchanged emails with Melanie. But in her last email, she told me that her dad had hopes that the book would be published before he died. He just didn't want to deal with any publicity it would generate.

Last I heard, the book at 500 pages was being split into two books because there's so much info to include.

I'd like to drop Melanie an email asking about the latest developments of the book but it's been only 3 months since her dad died and I don't want to bug her at an emotional time.

[xxxxmattxxxx69]

Oh I forgot about Roger Roxas from the Ferdinand Marcos buddha segment. He suffered a fatal heart attack before he was set to take a stand in court in 1991 at 58

[McBevis]

Originally Posted by xxxxmattxxxx69

Oh I forgot about Roger Roxas from the Ferdinand Marcos buddha segment. He suffered a fatal heart attack before he was set to take a stand in court in 1991 at 58

I think that this segment was from 1993, and I remember Robert Stack saying that Roxas was 49 at the time of the interview.