A TV show鈥檚 theme song used to freak me out when I was a kid.
There, I said it.聽 I finally admit to it as a full-blown adult.
What TV show, you ask?
That would be 鈥楿nsolved Mysteries鈥�, the long-running true crime series that explored cases of wanted criminals, terrifying murders, missing persons, and the strange and bizarre wonders of the world.
The show was hosted by the late Robert Stack, a man with one of the most distinctive voices in Hollywood history; the kind that could make a reading of the phone book sound foreboding, chilling, and yes, mysterious.
As a kid, I remember the show airing on Friday nights on CFQC, or 鈥渃hannel 8鈥� on our rabbit-eared TV in the Ruttle household.聽 Yes, I鈥檓 old enough to be from the generation that still used rabbit ears to get a TV signal 鈥� no cable TV in our house until about 1997, and satellite TV was another few years down the road.
My family and I sat around and watched the show every week, or perhaps it was a case of my brothers and I were not going to watch the show unless Mom and Dad were in the living room.聽 Yeah, now that I think about it, I鈥檓 pretty sure we weren鈥檛 going to watch it unless Jack and Lynda were present.聽 Hey, what can I say, when you鈥檙e that young you have a view of the world where your growing mind is wearing the proverbial rose-colored glasses, so to be exposed to a world where people are killing each other and getting away with it, or people have been kidnapped and missing for years, or there are creatures like Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster out there, it can be jarring and scary to a kid from a very small town.
But while the theme song was unnerving and the stories sometimes a little frightening, 鈥楿nsolved Mysteries鈥� became a staple of my childhood, and those Friday nights spent around a TV screen with my family are memories I鈥檒l have forever.聽 To this day, if I hear that theme song, the hairs on my arm come close to standing on end.
You can imagine my jubilance when I discovered that the entire series is available for viewing on a free streaming application, which I promptly downloaded a few weeks ago.聽 I鈥檓 already a few seasons in, with many more to go.聽 Thank you, Tubi TV!
Not only that, but streaming giant Netflix announced a while back that they鈥檝e decided to move forward on a revival of 鈥楿nsolved Mysteries鈥�, resurrecting the show and presenting new mysteries to entertain viewers and, hopefully, terrify them at the same time.
With that in mind, it got me thinking while I was out on a drive the other day about what kind of mysteries there are in our own backyard here in Saskatchewan.聽 What about the strange, weird, bizarre and outright scary cases that have gone unsolved right here?
If the new Netflix version of the show is looking for material, I鈥檇 say this province has more than its fair share, including one that hits a little close to home in the regional area.
Sheree Fertuck was a 51-year old mother of three and grandmother of one who鈥檇 just had lunch with her family at their farmhouse east of Kenaston on December 7, 2015.聽 She was seen leaving the farm in her semi truck, heading out to haul a load of gravel.
She hasn鈥檛 been seen since.
Sheree鈥檚 truck was found the next day, abandoned at the nearby gravel pit.聽 Inside the truck were Sheree鈥檚 coat, keys, and cell phone.
Exhaustive and comprehensive searches were carried out, with dedicated volunteers combing the Kenaston and surrounding area seemingly inside and out.聽 Candlelight vigils were held, a community came together to comfort Fertuck鈥檚 family, but ultimately there was one undying question that was on the forefront of everyone鈥檚 minds 鈥� just what the heck happened to this woman, who seemed to disappear into thin air in the vast and open Saskatchewan landscape?
To date, there have been no concrete leads on what happened to Sheree.聽 A few months after her disappearance, the police said they were calling the case a homicide investigation, reaching the conclusion after lengthy searches and analysis of the evidence.聽 As well, there had been no banking or cell phone activity in her name, nor has anyone tried to use her passport.
Police believed that Sheree鈥檚 estranged husband Gregory Fertuck had murdered her, but the man鈥檚 lawyer protested his innocence.聽 To date, no formal charges or arrests have been made.
It鈥檚 been almost three and a half years since a blue-collar, truck-driving mother of three went missing, and I can only imagine the frustration and sheer heartbreak that is 小蓝视频 suffered by Sheree鈥檚 family to this day.
It鈥檚 also the exact kind of mystery that a show like 鈥楿nsolved Mysteries鈥� could really put a giant spotlight on.聽 In its heyday, the show and its dedicated viewers were responsible for bringing a massive number of criminals to justice and helping to bring some form of closure to bizarre, open-ended cases that have more questions than answers, such as the case of Sheree Fertuck.
Who knows?聽 Maybe this case or a similar one will find its way to the producers, and as Robert Stack used to say, 鈥淧erhaps you can help solve a mystery.鈥�
For this week, that鈥檚 been the Ruttle Report.
