Manson's Missing Victims (2008 TV Movie) User Reviews

Where the Bodies Are Buried... Maybe

[gavin6942 · 5/10 · 18 November 2015]

I spent a fair amount of time in my teen years studying Charles Manson, reading the various books on him and even digging a little into some of the unsolved crimes loosely connected to him. The history of his father, for example, is one that is not often told but should be. Anyway, this sort of story is right in my box of interests and something I feel knowledgeable about.

The short documentary has some strong points, especially the inclusion of former cult members and some archive footage. These are things not often seen. There is also plenty of science on how cadaver dogs work, which may be of interest to people who like "Forensic Files".

But the documentary ultimately fails because (and here is where the spoiler comes in) no bodies are found. If there are no bodies, that is all fine and good, but I felt like the end was very anticlimactic. This could have been an exciting new chapter but was really just a dead end.

Entertaining Special

[Michael_Elliott · 18 April 2016]

Manson's Missing Victims (2008)

*** (out of 4)

Interesting documentary has a group of researching asking how many victims Charles Manson and his goon family had that no one has discovered. We hear about the now infamous murders that the people are in prison for but we also hear about a couple other suspected murders committed by the family. We then go back to the Spahn Ranch where a search is done for more.

MANSON'S MISSING VICTIMS is an entertaining documentary that tries to uncover the mystery of how many people were actually murdered by the family. We're told that eleven are confirmed but many believe that there could possibly be more than 35. We hear from former family members, body locator experts as well as Debra Tate, the sister of Sharon who also believes there are more victims.

If you're a fan of this type of series or just fascinated by the entire Manson circus then you'll obviously want to check this out. It gives you a good look at the ranch or at least how it looked in 2008 and it also gives you a brief history of Manson and his crimes. Thankfully that segment lasts just a few minutes and we're on to new footage about the scientific dig and search for new victims.

Geraldo Rivera would be proud.

[jshale-37697 · 1/10 · 27 July 2016]

This is by far the dumbest "exhibition" I have ever seen. These morons, whom I am sure are probably intelligent and respectable individuals (or not, hard to say with the presented evidence), dig around in a desert and prove that there is sand in the desert. Lmao. I knew when they started they were searching for "al Capone's vaults" but I had to see how hard they could keep a straight face. I love that they are trying to find other bodies or evidence. Good for them. But if you can produce their failure and air it, you need a lobotomy. Lol. May God have mercy on our souls for watching, even if it was just for a good laugh to see how serious they would take this idiot's search.

Yuba County Sheriff Prevents Investigation

[writetopcat · 7/10 · 3 December 2015]

The film gives an overview of the most famous Manson family murders and reports on the confession by a family member that 35 to 40 more murders were committed by the family.

Several forensics anthropologists, along with a cadaver dog and cold case detectives found chemical signatures of decaying human remains near the site of the old Barker Ranch in Death Valley, where former Manson Family members say there are several bodies buried. Susan Atkins stated that Charles Manson told family members to bury the bodies 8 feet down. Manson was a career criminal who had by that time already spent half his life in prison and would have known that shallow graves are more easily discovered.

The Yuba County Sheriff would only allow the investigators to dig 3 and 1/2 feet down before calling a halt to the dig, claiming this was conclusive proof there were no bodies buried on the grounds. Who is he kidding? He only allowed token dig sites. He is able to say he did not refuse to allow the investigators to access the site while at the same time preventing them from investigating the dig sites.

What is it with the Yuba County sheriff? No harm is done to dirt by digging deep enough to check for old murder victims, and the dirt and small rocks are replaced in the dig sites after the search. Why is he opposed to allowing investigators the opportunity to recover the remains of murder victims?