According to online sleuths, the subject of an Unsolved Mysteries episode died while acting out a scene from David Fincher’s 1997 film The Game. The Netflix reboot kicked off in July 2020 with an opening episode about Rey Rivera, a 32-year-old Baltimore man who presumably leaped to his death in May 2006. A new theory suggests that he was somehow replicating the aforementioned movie that was listed in an alleged suicide note.
Marcus A. Clarke directed “Mystery on the Rooftop,” an Unsolved Mysteries reboot episode that provides clarity about the focal victim’s fate. Eight days after Rivera went missing in May 2006, his body was found at Baltimore’s Belvedere Hotel. The victim had apparently fallen through a roof, and police ultimately ruled Rivera’s death as suicide. Unsolved Mysteries reveals that Rivera’s wife, Allison, believes that her husband was murdered — and she may be correct, as there’s little evidence to support the theory that he purposefully took his own life. Allison Rivera was also privately informed by a medical examiner that Rey’s shin breaks weren’t consistent with a suicide. She states that “I think [Ray] turned over some rock he shouldn’t have turned over,” with the implication being that he had damning information about his employer Stansberry and Associates, owned by his long-time friend Porter Stansberry.
The Game theory isn’t necessarily random, as Rey Rivera left a cryptic note before his death that lists several of his favorite movies, including Fincher’s 1997 thriller. The movie’s storyline centers on wealthy Los Angeles businessman Nicholas van Orton (Michael Douglas), who is given a unique birthday present by his younger brother Conrad (Sean Penn). Nicholas is invited to meet with Consumer Recreation Services, a company that teases some type of “game” but doesn’t explain the specifics. Without spoiling the final act, The Game culminates with a paranoid Nicholas leaping from a building, only to discover that he’s the subject of an intricate plot. Unsolved Mysteries shows that Rey Rivera included The Game in his alleged suicide note, along with other Fincher films such as Se7en and Fight Club, among others.
There’s no direct evidence to support the theory that Rey Rivera’s note indicates that he was somehow trying to re-enact The Game. In fact, Unsolved Mysteries executive producer Terry Dunn Meurer recently dismissed the theory after speaking with Allison Rivera, stating “[Allison] doesn’t place any significance on the movie The Game. Rey liked a lot of different types of movies. He was just a guy who was interested in everything” [via EW]. However, the fact remains that Rey Rivera wasn’t just a man who happened to like movies, but was rather an experienced writer who was apparently hired by Stansberry and Associates to spin a narrative that would benefit the company. In other words, Rey Rivera was familiar with the art of storytelling.
Based on the Unsolved Mysteries episode “Mystery on the Rooftop,” along with the available evidence, Rey Rivera was indeed most likely murdered. Allison Rivera has reason to believe that Porter Stansberry is somehow culpable, evidenced by the fact that his employees received a gag order and weren’t legally allowed to discuss Rey Rivera’s bizarre death. Still, that’s just speculation, and there’s little information to suggest that Rey Rivera consciously chose to leap from a Baltimore building with the belief that he would somehow survive. Then again, Unsolved Mysteries does reveal that Rey Rivera’s note includes wording that is consistent with freemasonry, which makes the case even more perplexing and complicated.
