Netflix's Unsolved Mysteries merges two of its reigning specialties: true crime [1] and reboots [2]. The 2020 makeover of the iconic TV program kicks off with a chilling cold case that's equal parts tragic and peculiar. On May 16, 2006, 32-year-old Baltimore resident Rey Rivera went missing [3] out of the blue. He had just had a new lease on life — a lovely wedding to his wife Allison and a steady job with his friend Porter Stansberry. His disappearance struck family and friends as odd.
On the day of Rivera's disappearance, his wife Allison had gone on a business trip. When she called him at night, he didn't pick up. Allison rang up Claudia, a colleague who was staying at their house. Claudia said that Rivera had left in a hurry after an evening phone conversation. The next morning, Claudia said Rivera still had not returned. Allison went home immediately.
Rivera's family searched tirelessly for him. They eventually found his car in a parking lot near the Belvedere Hotel. Eight days after he went missing, Rivera's co-workers noticed flip-flops by a small hole in the lower roof [4] of the Belvedere Hotel. In the closed meeting room impacted by the hole, investigators made a gruesome discovery: Rivera's decomposed body, which seemingly fell through the roof. Rivera had many injuries, including fractured ribs, punctured lungs, and deep lacerations. Still, the details didn't quite add up — while his sandals appeared dragged and torn, his phone and glasses were virtually intact. The police did not look further into the case, and the medical examiner did not determine his cause of death.
So, how did Rivera die? Here are three chilling theories that may explain the mysterious circumstances around his death.
Rivera Jumped to His Death
As noted in the episode, police pushed the theory that Rivera fell to his death, most likely by suicide. However, nobody saw Rivera [5] getting on the roof or falling. Rivera's family also emphasised that he exhibited no signs of mental duress at the time of his death.
In the first episode, reporters and detectives expressed doubt about Rivera falling through the roof. There were three potential jumping points at the hotel: the very top roof, the parking garage, and the 11th-floor ledge. Many were sceptical about the first two, as it would've been either too high or too far for him to land through the meeting room roof. The 11th-floor theory would only be possible if Rivera went through a room or office since none of the hallways led to the ledge. Even so, the room windows were very small and no one mentioned seeing him. Oddly, the camera on the rooftop was also disconnected, adding more mystery to the case.
Some pieces of evidence also didn't make sense: his phone and glasses were intact [6]. The forces that killed Rivera did severe damage to his body, so it struck people as odd that not a scratch could be found on those items. They looked staged, and it's possible that someone positioned Rivera's body beneath the hole as well. The medical examiner also told Rivera's wife that the way his shins were broken weren't consistent with a fall.
Rivera Was Involved in Some Elaborate Game
Allison found a folded-up note taped to her husband's computer. The note did not appear to be a suicide note. Instead, it oddly listed out random phrases, movies, celebrities, and names of loved ones. Allison knew that her husband was curious about these things, but she didn't know why they were all compiled in one document. A search of the first phrase on the note — "whom virtue unites, death will not separate" — suggested a connection with the Freemasons [7]. It's possible that Rivera, an aspiring filmmaker, left behind innocuous research notes for a movie. But it's also possible (if only slightly) that he had ties with the Masons and that the letter was written in code.
Rivera Angered Shady Dealers
Because his filmmaking career wasn't paying the bills, Rivera and his wife moved from Southern California to Baltimore. Rivera worked with his old high school water polo buddy, Porter Stansberry, who had his own financial newsletter business. Before his death, Rivera helped with Stansberry's business in several capacities as a writer and freelance videographer. Part of his early duties involved cleaning up Stansberry's name when his firm faced charges for disseminating false stock information and defrauding public investors [8]. (Stansberry's company was eventually fined $1.5 million.)
Rivera's home alarm went off two times the week of his disappearance. The night he went missing, Rivera picked up a call from work, but it was impossible to determine who rang him up because the call came from a switchboard. As the case unfolded, Stansberry put up a gag order to prevent employees from legally talking about Rivera [9]. Rivera's family believed that he was murdered for knowing too much information of some sort. His brother Angel believed that someone powerful may have lost a lot of money after one of Rivera's publications got out.