Netflix’s new docuseries Unsolved Mysteries has sparked many complex conversations and theories. Viewers are desperate to solve the mysteries which have been left, as it says on the tin, unsolved. The first episode of the Netflix series “Mystery on the Rooftop” follows the 2006 case of Rey Rivera.
Rey was a 32 year old newly wed was last seen alive on May 16th 2006. He had moved to Baltimore with this wife Alison to work as a financial writer for his friend Porter Stansberry.
His body was found in an abandoned room in the second-story annex of the Belvedere Hotel in Baltimore days after his appearance.
The police ruled the death as suicide but as seen in the show, things are not as black and white as they may seem.
So what really happened in the case of Rey Rivera? Was his death suicide after all, or was there an ulterior motive?
Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash
What do we know about Rey’s death?
On the day of May 16th 2006, Rey left in a hurry from his house one day and never returned. His wife’s friend, who was staying in the house at the time, said Rey received a phone call and ran out in a panic.
The phone call was traced back to his works switchboard, however police could not trace it further than that, so the exact person he was talking to or what they said remains unknown.
Rey was missing for over a week before his body was found in an abandoned room at the Belvadere Hotel in Baltimore. A hole was found in the roof of the annex, leading police to believe he jumped to his death from the main hotel roof. However, Rey’s family and many Unsolved Mysteries viewers do not believe this was the case.
The medical examiner of Rey’s body also reported the death as ‘undetermined’. They told Allison that the injuries to Rey’s shins did not add up to the fall.
After Rey’s body was found, Allison found a note taped to the back of Rey’s computer. Although the FBI confirmed that the note had ‘no suicidal intent’ the content was very strange.
But what was in the note and what did it mean? Many viewers have been speculating…
What did the note say?
The note contained a lot of mismatched words and phrases. Rey’s wife said in Netflix series Unsolved Mysteries that this was very common for Rey. He had many notepads with many different things written in. He would just write his thoughts down as they came, it would make sense to him but not outsiders reading the notes.
In the letter, Rey names people who had died, including actor Christopher Reeve and filmmaker Stanley Kubrick. It also contained a long list of people in Rivera’s life. However, on Netflix Unsolved Mysteries Allison said Rey left many significant people out of this list.
What did it actually mean? The note has a lot significance in the case. Although it wasn’t deemed to be a suicide note, could it reveal the reason behind Rey’s death? What theories do viewers have on the note?
It was linked to ‘The Game’
Since watching the show, fans have said that the note may have been linked to David Fletcher’s film ‘The Game.’ A theory posted on Reddit, points a connection between the note and the fall.
The 1997 film, starring Micheal Douglas, is a story of a wealthy investment banker who participates in a scheme which blurs his concept of reality. The film ends with the man jumping from a roof into a glass ceiling, which is eerily similar to Rey’s story.
However, his wife Allison doesn’t see any significance in linking the two. Whilst speaking to Entertainment Weekly, show’s co-creator Terry Dunn Meurer said she spoke to Allison about the note:
“I spoke to Allison Rivera about that – she’s spent a lot of time with that note, as did the FBI, just going through the note trying to figure out if there were any clues or anything else in there. She doesn’t place any significance on the movie The Game.”
Photo by Hannah Olinger on Unsplash
It was linked to The Freemasons
Another key theme that was pointed out about the note was the link to the Freemason’s. When Allison found the note, she typed the opening line into google which came up links to the Freemason’s.
“Brothers and Sisters, Right now, around the world volcanoes are erupting. What an awesome sight. Whom virtue unites death will not separate.”
In the documentary, Allison said Rey was interested in how cults work. It has now also been said that Rey made a purchase of a Freemason’s book just weeks before his death.
Another theory is that the letter is written in code. However, others say it may just be from a screenplay he was writing as he was a freelance videographer on the side.
But, if Rey’s death wasn’t suicide, then what really happened?
What are the theories of Rey’s death?
So we know about the note, but what about Rey’s actual death? The case has definitely got viewers talking and there are many different theories about what happened that night.
On the surface, it was made to look like he jumped however the evidence against this has many people sceptical. But how else could he have died? Here are the main theories:
It had something to do with work
This is a theory that many people believe. It was said on Netflix series Unsolved Mysteries that Rey had lost many people money after writing a report about stocks which weren’t rebounding, at his former company, which was affiliated with Stansberry’s. This meant many people lost money after taking his advice.
We know his last call was from work, plus his house alarm also went off 2 times in the week before his death, making people believe that someone was after him.
Before Rey started working for Stansberry’s company, it was said the company was already under investigation for for “disseminating false stock information and defrauding public investors through a financial newsletter.” However, Stansberry denied any wrongdoing.
There is also evidence that leads to many people believing Rey’s suicide was staged. For example, Rivera’s phone and glasses were found on the roof, next to the hole in full working order. Not even a scratch. Furthermore, the security camera’s around the roof were not in working order.
Employees at Stansberry’s company were given ‘gag’ orders which legally prevented them from talking to the police. Porter also declined to be interviewed for the Unsolved Mysteries episode which raised many alarm bells for viewers.
He was dropped from a helicopter
A newly released clip that didn’t make it on to the show shows that Rey may have been dropped from a helicopter. There was no real evidence that he was on top of the hotel. No CCTV footage or witnesses. Plus, the hole was in a position on the roof which was almost ‘impossible’ for Rey to have landed if he jumped from the hotel roof.
Gary Shivers, who previously worked at the Belvedere Hotel, agreed with this theory, saying: “That’s the only possible thing I can think of.”
However, Police Investigators say this theory lacks credibility as people would have heard a helicopter roaming around, and there was a harbour just minutes away from the roof which Rey’s body would have been thrown in if this was the case.
Photo by Isaac Benhesed on Unsplash
Of course, there is also the theory the police went with, highlighted in Netflix Unsolved Mysteries, that Rey jumped from the roof of the Belvedere Hotel to take his own life. However, his family say there was no reason to believe he wanted to commit suicide from his recent behaviour and actions.
Since the series has aired, there has been no official update on the case. Anyone who has any information about Rey’s death should visit unsolved.com.
Unsolved Mysteries Volume 1 is streaming now on Netflix.
