The story of JoAnn Romain, a 55-year-old Michigan woman whose 2010 disappearance is one of the subjects of Netflix’s latest edition of its “Unsolved Mysteries” reboot series, involves a lot of questions and very few answers. But a decade after the devoted mother vanished from a church parking lot, co-creator Terry Meurer keeps coming back to one “small little clue” that could hold the key to what really happened.
“A couple of key things that I think are interesting are the fact that her coat was zipped up when they found her, and she never, ever zipped up her coat,” Meurer told TheWrap.
Romain’s body was discovered by a fisherman in Canada 70 days after her disappearance — and 30 miles away from where she was last seen.
“I know it sounds like a small little clue, but that’s one of the things that sticks out to me,” Meurer said. “What happened to her cell phone? That was never found.”
According to Meurer, local law enforcement in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan, declined to be interviewed for the Netflix series. However, it’s made clear in the episode that their belief from the beginning of the investigation has been that Romain voluntarily left her purse in her car after leaving the church service that night, walked over an icy, snowcapped embankment, and drowned herself in Lake St. Clair.
Romain’s family is not convinced — and neither is Meurer.
“This is one of those other cases where you hear about this 55-year-old woman, and you understand that she’s in five-inch heels and that she’s very religious, she loves her kids to death, it’s dead of winter, freezing out. You stand there at this church, which I did, and see what her path would have been to go and walk into that lake, and it absolutely makes no sense at all,” Meurer said.
“Statistically, it’s so rare that someone kills themselves by drowning, but by walking into a freezing lake in the middle of winter is just hard. It’s beyond belief for me,” she said. “But I don’t know who killed her. I don’t know how she died.”
Multiple autopsies were performed on Romain’s body after it was discovered, but it was so badly waterlogged and decomposed by sea life that they were unable to determine the manner of her death.
“It’s too bad in that particular case that the autopsy didn’t show something. They did three autopsies and came up with very, very little in the way of a cause of death,” Meurer said.
Despite law enforcement’s beliefs, Meurer said “nobody could prove that she was suicidal.”
“Unsolved Mysteries Vol. 2” is now streaming on Netflix.
7 TV Shows That Have Cracked Real Mysteries, From 'The Jinx' to 'Unsolved Mysteries' (Photos)
The debut of Netflix's "Unsolved Mysteries" reboot earlier this month has set off a clamoring for cold cases to be reopened and brought to justice. In that spirit, we've compiled a list of TV shows that have actually solved crimes, exonerated people, and found answers to the unknown, from "The Jinx" miniseries that lead to the arrest of Robert Durst, to "Extinct or Alive," which found a living animal thought to have died out over 100 years ago.
Robert Durst in HBO's "The Jinx"
"Unsolved Mysteries"
Back before the Netflix reboot, this classic series was on network television. Creator Terry Meurer told TheWrap that during its original 23-year run, the series helped to solve over 260 cold cases. She has high hopes that this new incarnation of the series will have the same luck.
Netflix
"Cold Justice"
This crime series from Dick Wolf and Magical Elves works with local law enforcement to solve cold cases. The resulted thus far: 45 arrests and 18 convictions, according to Oxygen.
Oxygen
"The Jinx"
This miniseries written by "All Good Things" director Andrew Jarecki led to Robert Durst's long-awaited arrest for the murder of Susan Berman just one day before the finale of "The Jinx" aired on TV. Durst had admired Jarecki's work on "All Good Things" and had offered to be interviewed for the miniseries.
HBO
"Extinct or Alive"
This one has more to do with animals than humans, but we have to give Animal Planet credit for discovering live members of a species that was believed to have been extinct. Last year, series host and biologist Forrest Galante found a female Fernandina Tortoise -- presumed extinct since 1906 -- on a remote volcanic island in the Galapagos.
Photo credit Mark Romanov and John Harrington
"Expedition Unknown"
Host Josh Gates took part in finding one of 12 treasure boxes that were buried in different American cities nearly 40 years ago by Bryon Preiss, whose 1982 book "The Secret" gave elaborate clues to the boxes whereabouts. In one episode, Gates meets a family who located the Boston box.
Discovery
"America's Most Wanted"
This long-running Fox series was successful in finding many fugitives wanted by the FBI, including Ricky Allen Bright, Steven Ray Stout, Robert Lee Jones and more, according to CBS News.
Fox
"Curb Your Enthusiasm"
This Larry David HBO series unknowingly captured the key to freeing Juan Catalan, a man who was on death row for a murder he did not commit. "Curb" had been filming at Dodger Stadium on the day of the murder, providing evidence that Catalan was watching the game with his 6-year-old daughter and could not have been at the crime scene. Catalan and David both later appeared in the 2017 Netflix documentary "Long Shot."
Netflix
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These shows have lead to both arrests and exonerations
The debut of Netflix's "Unsolved Mysteries" reboot earlier this month has set off a clamoring for cold cases to be reopened and brought to justice. In that spirit, we've compiled a list of TV shows that have actually solved crimes, exonerated people, and found answers to the unknown, from "The Jinx" miniseries that lead to the arrest of Robert Durst, to "Extinct or Alive," which found a living animal thought to have died out over 100 years ago.