Summary
A deeply personal account of an unsolved crime gives the viewer a personal stake in the ongoing investigation.
This recap of Unsolved Mysteries season 3, episode 3, “Body in Bags”, contains spoilers.
In stark contrast to Unsolved Mysteries season 3, episode 2, which used expert testimony to add credence to the story of a UFO sighting, “Body in Bags” – a heavy-handed title if ever there was one – takes a deeply personal approach to recounting a still-unsolved and entirely terrestrial crime.
Unsolved Mysteries season 3, episode 3 recap
That crime is the murder and dismemberment of David Carter, a 39-year-old father, plant worker, and clothing entrepreneur, presumably by his girlfriend Tamera Williams, who remains a fugitive from justice. By all accounts, David was a stand-up dude. He was a hard worker and a devoted father. Everyone seemed to like him – indeed, the motive behind his murder was likely that his killer liked him altogether too much.
Almost all of “Body in Bags” is revealed from various members of David’s family, including his father Elton, and his sister Tasia, as well as his son, DJ. The accounts are deeply moving, at least in part because of how thoroughly unnecessary and brutal the crime was. Suspecting David of being about to break up with her, Tamera, who David met in high school and had been dating for six months, allegedly shot him in the head, chopped him into three pieces, and then dumped his remains along I-75 in various bits of luggage purposely bought for the task. There’s a sense of extreme bunny boiler calculation to this that is almost unbelievable.
Almost as soon as Tamera realized she was a serious suspect, she fled Michigan and has only been glimpsed since on security cameras moving in and out of hotels as far apart as Ann Arbor and New York. We learn this from a U.S. Marshall who is one of the only people from outside of David’s immediate family featured in the episode. Most of the runtime is devoted to establishing who David was a person while also explaining how suspicions began to mount around Tamera’s obsessive behavior.
One of the most shocking developments reveals how close DJ presumably came to being killed while almost stumbling onto his father’s remains, presumably before his assailant was able to stuff his legs into a sleeping bag, his head into a rucksack, and his upper body into a suitcase. A medical examiner later characterizes this obviously insane act as likely a matter of logistics, it not being particularly easy to clandestinely shift around the body of a 6’4 190lb man. Either way, though, it takes a certain type of person to segment a body using only a kitchen knife.
I must admit I was totally sold on this episode’s depth of feeling. David’s family seem like lovely people, and by all accounts, he, too, was a great guy, so it’s easy to imagine oneself with a personal stake in the investigation, especially given that Tamera remains a fugitive from justice and there is currently a cash reward for information about her whereabouts. You can visit unsolved.com to contribute info or submit tips to the U.S. Marshals either by email ([email protected]) or phone (313-234-5600).
You can stream Unsolved Mysteries season 3, episode 3, “Body in Bags”, exclusively on Netflix.
