Netflix's reboot of Unsolved Mysteries shares the case of Rey Rivera, which has had viewers on the edge of their seats with very confusing details and unanswered questions. Netflix's Unsolved Mysteries season 1 episode 1 shows a 32-year-old aspiring screenwriter, Rivera, who mysteriously vanished on May 16, 2006, right after he received an urgent call. His body was found days later in a closed conference room at the Belvedere Hotel in Baltimore, showing every indication that he probably jumped from the roof.
The real circumstances of his death, however, remain hazy. A note found near the body of Rivera has got many people thinking. It contained such strange elements, apart from cryptic references to the Freemasons, that it appears to be giving rise to a lot of conjecture about the state of his mind. Although at first glance and examination, his death was thought to be suicide, it was finally exempted from classification due to lack of evidence to prove this once and for all, apart from all those odd details that have been unraveled in this case.
The story of Rivera has thus not failed to continue holding the attention of investigators and cyber detectives alike in a renewed attempt to unravel the mystery of this sad incident.
Has the Rey Rivera case been solved on Netflix's Unsolved Mysteries?
No, the case of Rey Rivera has remained unsolved despite all the investigational and public interest, especially in light of the information that was presented in the Unsolved Mysteries feature film released by Netflix.
Rey Rivera's body mysteriously disappeared on May 16, 2006, right after he attended a cryptic phone call. The investigation department heavily analyzed Ray Rivera's death connection with the phone call. On May 24, 2006, his body was found in one of the meeting rooms of the Baltimore-based Belvedere Hotel, and the authorities concluded that his death was a suicide.
But significant questions remain as to the nature surrounding his death. In the autopsy, Rivera's death was classified "undetermined," on other conflicting evidence as to the nature of his injuries. Forensic experts speculated that the nature of his injuries did not match the characteristics of a fall. This led some to question whether he was murdered.
Additionally, he reportedly left behind cryptic notes and computer printouts that have fueled theories about his potentially staged suicide – or even worse, a psychotic break. His case is still open, and no answer has definitively answered what happened to Rey Rivera.
What happened to Rey Rivera's wife on Unsolved Mysteries?
Following the tragic death of Rey Rivera, his wife, Allison, sought to the bottom of his mysterious loss. While the investigation vigorously began on, May 16, 2006, after Rey's disappearance, Allison was not to sit idle, she began her hunt to find the answers.
She has always been very vocal in her doubts about the suicide ruling because Rey's actions leading up to the disappearance were atypical and very disturbing. Allison has also interviewed for media deliberations, like in the case of the Netflix documentary Unsolved Mysteries. She has been vocal about her personal beliefs in Netflix's Unsolved Mysteries and her questions regarding Rey's suicide claim.
What she hopes for is that new facts will surface sooner or later, and all of it will speak more about what happened to her husband. Time has passed, but Allison has never stopped calling for deeper investigation, all for the sake of Rey, and, for herself, she longs for closure for themselves and their families.
Where is Rey Rivera from Unsolved Mysteries?
Rey Rivera was born in Madrid, Spain, but he grew up mostly in Southern California and Florida. His family moved to the United States when he was very young, and he went on to graduate from the University of the Pacific in 1995. Before his untimely death, Rivera lived in Baltimore, Maryland, with his wife, Allison.
The couple had relocated there from California in 2004 when Rey took a job offer from his friend Porter Stansberry at Stansberry & Associates Investment Research. Rey worked as a writer and videographer, penning financial newsletters from Baltimore and coaching water polo at Johns Hopkins University.
Though Rivera had a job, he wanted to be a screenwriter, and so he did that concurrently with working. By the time his life had taken him to Baltimore, there was a feeling of stability and promise that made his vanishing act, and subsequent death, all the more jarring for those who knew him.
What was the cause of the death of Rey Rivera from Unsolved Mysteries?
Though the official cause of death for Rey Rivera is listed as "undetermined," as mentioned, the Baltimore Police Department had initially ruled it out as probable suicide.
They said that his injuries were of a nature that indicated a high-level fall, approximately 177 feet, which inevitably fueled speculation that he may have jumped from the top of the hotel. However, the conditions under which he died are highly controversial.
One of the crucial pieces of evidence is a note found back in his house. The note was full of seemingly nonsensical pieces of ideas that jumped from topics, such as Hollywood and Freemasonry, to a possible mental breakdown. The note was eventually given to the FBI for analysis. The FBI then noted that it did not point to any suicidal intention but rather toward a serious psychological disorder.
While all of this evidence was found, the case remains open, leaving many questions about Rivera's tragic end.