Unsolved Mysteries – Rey Rivera Mystery on the Rooftop

By starrymag | July 5, 2020

By: Sammi Turano

 

 

The episode opens with Rey Rivera’s wedding video. His wife, mom and brother discuss how the wedding was a happy time for the family and then freezes on their first moments as husband and wife.

His wife Allison says Rey’s death was considered a suicide, but she says there was more going on because he ran out of the house like he was late for something. She thinks he was killed over some information he discovered.

After the opening theme plays (where we get the chilling music and a subtle Robert Stack tribute), Allison talks about how her husband was a very handsome man who played water polo. She adds that he had a smile that lit up a room.

His brother Angel says that family was very important to Rey. They moved a lot as kids, so family was very important to him.

His mom Maria says he was a funny guy who found the funny in everything. Angel agrees he had a great sense of humor.

Allison says that Rey wanted to work in film, but wasn’t making money. He ended up meeting up with Porter, a friend from high school, for a job. In 2004 they moved from California to Baltimore for the job, making a pact to only live there for two years.

Fast forward to May 16, 2006. Allison goes on a business trip and says goodbye to Rey, not knowing it was for the last time. She called him that night but could not reach him. She was worried, so she called Claudia who was a colleague staying with them. She said that Rey got a call at 6:30PM and ran out of the house upset and in a hurry. She called the next morning to say he still had not returned.

Allison decides to come home, calling everyone she knows to find out where Rey could have gone.

Maria says that she was in Puerto Rico at the time she got the call about Rey. She had not heard from him nor did Angel, which everyone found strange. Angel says he flew in from Florida to help look for him.

Allison says she got home and found the lights on, an open can of soda, a bag of chips and Rey’s Invisaligns. However, there was no Rey.

Claudia was back in New York, but other friends came by to help.

Pretty soon it became an official missing persons case with the hospitals, cops and media notified. They tried to think of places where Rey may have gone to ask questions, but no one heard from him…and no money or cellphone records were found.

Reporter Jayne Miller, who reported on his disappearance, says this is an unusual case because there was no reason for him to disappear.

The search continues and before long they found his car in a parking lot ticketed and abandoned. They all agree that this accelerated the case and thinking it is foul play. The news archives talk about how there is no reason for him to disappear and that there was no evidence of theft in the car.

After the car was found the searches accelerated. It leads them to the Belvedere Hotel where there is a hole in the roof and flip flops. It was unusual enough to make people wonder if it was connected to the case. They call the police and the manager, which leads to finding Rey’s body hidden in a storage space. The hotel manager, Gary, said it looked like he came through the ceiling and he will never forget that moment.

The family reflects on Rey’s body being discovered. They recall how they all hugged and cried upon hearing the news.

Gary talks about his life at the Belvedere and how the incident of finding Rey was the worst memory from being on the job.

Former detective Michael Baier talks about working on the case after the body was discovered. There was decomposition, broken bones and other extensive injuries due to the fall. However, he thinks the fall was too small for him to fall through, so where did he come from.

Jayne talks about the suicide theory and how he could have jumped from the top of the roof. Detective Michael talks about the logistics of this and how it was impossible for this to have happened. Allison says she and her dad went on the roof and agrees there is no way this could have happened.

The parking garage theory is similar, but Detective Baier thinks the could have survived that. The 11th floor theory was also considered to be unfeasible due to it being on personal property and the size of the ledges.

His phone was found on the roof in working order, without any cracks or anything. His eyeglasses were also not damaged, which Detective Baier, Allison and Jayne agree it is unusual. However, there is damage to his flip flops he was wearing. Jayne questions if they were put there after the fact.

Allison says the money clip he had was never recovered.

Investigative journalist Stephen Janis wonders how no one saw anything and says he questioned people in the hotel. He says there are a lot of places not open to the public. Jayne agrees that there are places you would only know about if you knew the layout of the hotel. There is also no evidence he was even in the building.

Angel says there is no way he could have walked into the hotel and to the roof.

The story ran on the news for seventy seven days before it was determined he died by suicide. However, Jayne says there was not a lot of evidence. Angel thinks the determination was disheartening. He and Allison agree there were no indications that he would even think of suicide.

Allison finally goes to the medical examiner and says they told her they refused to close the case due to the fact that there was a lot of questionable evidence based on the hole and his injuries. The cause of death is now undetermined.

Allison goes through the house looking for evidence when she finds a note with random names and references. No one could figure out what it meant, but determined it is not a suicide note. Jayne also wonders why he was in a hurry that day.

Allison also references Claudia’s reaction to the incident of him getting the call and leaving. The call came from his employer Stansberry and Associates, but it was impossible to figure out who made said call. The company was also put on a gag order. Porter also refused to cooperate with the investigation and this show. The Riveras are all very upset and confused.

The company was in trouble over some fraudulent stock tips, which both Porter and Rey seemed to be involved in.

Allison says the day before Rey disappeared their house alarm went off, scaring Rey, which in turn freaked Allison out. She explains how at the time it was easy to get to the window and she thinks someone was trying to get into the house.

The general consensus at this point is that Rey was murdered over something at his job….but who did it and why? Was it over money? There were also many questions as to how he fell and died.  Baier also warned Allison to be careful in her own investigation, even though he was reassigned to the case. The reassignment frustrated her and led to a dead end in her getting answers from the police. Jayne cannot understand why the medical examiner didn’t close the case, but the police did.

Allison, Maria and Angel reflect on everything again and say that they hope to one day get answers on what happened. Allison admits she couldn’t even watch their wedding video for years after he died while Angel wonders what could have been.