Unsolved Mysteries volume 3 recap guide: Episodes 1-9 explained

Unsolved Mysteries season 3, episode 7, “Body in the Bay”

Patrick “Pat” Mullins took his boat out on the water in Bradenton, Florida, on January 27, 2013. He never returned. His boat was found unmanned, with Pat nowhere in sight. Unsolved Mysteries episode “Body in the Bay” recounts the events leading up to his disappearance and the tragic discovery made several weeks later.

A fishing boat captain discovered Pat’s body floating in the Manatee River near Emerson Point, quite a ways off from he started on the Braden River. According to his family, Pat’s trusty motorboat wasn’t made for open water, and it was rare for Pat to leave the rivers near his house.

Pat’s body was found tied to a 25-pound anchor, a rope tied around his torso and lower half. Upon further inspection, police discovered that he had died from a shotgun blast to the head. The police initially ruled his death a suicide.

In the episode, we hear from several sources why suicide seems unlikely. A forensic expert and her colleague took a boat out to the same spot where Pat was found and attempted to recreate the circumstances leading to Pat’s death.

The way Pat would have had to tie himself to the anchor and perch on the edge of the boat while balancing the shotgun to kill himself seemed unlikely, not to mention that there was no trace evidence found on the boat. No blood. No gunpowder. Nothing.

While suicide cannot be ruled out, Pat’s family has criticized law enforcement for mishandling the case. Pat’s wife believes he was murdered, and some theories suggest Pat might have witnessed something illegal on the river, perhaps drug-running, and been murdered for it.

His family also confirms that Pat never owned a shotgun and had no interest in guns in general.

Did Damon Crestwood have anything to do with Pat’s death?

Damon Crestwood was a good friend of Pat’s brother and someone the police interviewed multiple times. After Pat’s death, he became increasingly depressed and withdrawn, demonstrating erratic behavior.

What’s more, Pat’s family noticed he had a tough time each year near the anniversary of Pat’s death. There was even one incident when Pat’s son saw Damon tie a rope to his dog and then tie that rope to himself. The knots he used and the tying method were identical to how the nautical rope was tied to Pat’s body.

Damon never explained his strange behavior. Furthermore, Damon owned a boat with a red stripe on it. Red paint markings were found on Pat’s boat after his disappearance.

The police wanted to sample the paint on Damon’s boat, but he declined. Damon denied knowing anything about what happened to Pat and eventually stopped talking to the cops altogether.

Four and a half years after Pat’s death, on April 5, 2017, Damon died at 48 from what appeared to be a meth overdose. After he died, Damon’s daughter gave the police permission to test a paint chip from his boat against the markings found on Pat’s boat, but the results were inconclusive. His boat could not be eliminated as a possible source of the paint smears on Pat’s. That said, the red paint used is of a common variety, so again, the results, sadly, do not amount to much.