What Should I Watch If I Am Bored? 5 Missing Person Mysteries

By: Shane Lambert
Original time of publication: August 22nd, 2026

If you are bored and wondering what should I watch, a missing person mystery might be exactly what you are looking for. These stories combine real-life disappearances, unanswered questions, strange clues, and investigations that can leave you thinking about what happened long after the video ends.

Admittedly, this kind of material for entertainment purposes is a little bit on the dark side. It can be for people who like the feeling of being scared a little, or it can just be for someone who enjoys trying to solve an unsolved mystery.

So, what should I watch if I am bored that is free? If you are looking for something more interesting than endlessly scrolling through streaming services, these are five recommendations for videos that were available online in August 2026. Each one explores a different missing person case, from a disappearance on an Austrian glacier to a Canadian case investigated by the fifth estate.

AI-Generated image. ChatGPT.

1. Duncan MacPherson’s Disappearance

A Missing Snowboarder Who Was Found 14 Years Later

Duncan MacPherson’s disappearance is a fascinating choice if you are asking what should I watch when I am bored and want a real-life mystery that gets stranger the more you learn. In August 1989, 23-year-old Canadian professional hockey player Duncan MacPherson disappeared while snowboarding in Austria. His car was eventually found at a ski resort, but despite searches, there was no sign of him. Fourteen years later, his body was unexpectedly discovered as the glacier retreated. The case raises questions about what happened to MacPherson and why his body remained undiscovered for so long.

Watch Duncan MacPherson’s Disappearance on YouTube.

2. Paula Jean Welden’s Disappearance

The College Student Who Vanished on a Vermont Hiking Trail

Paula Jean Welden’s disappearance is one of the most enduring missing-person mysteries in American history. If you are looking for what to watch when bored and prefer a mystery where the central question has never been answered, this case is a compelling choice. On December 1, 1946, 18-year-old Bennington College student Paula Jean Welden left campus for a hike on Vermont’s Long Trail and was never seen again. Despite an extensive search involving hundreds of people, no confirmed trace of Welden was ever found. Her disappearance also exposed serious problems with the local investigation and helped contribute to the creation of the Vermont State Police. More than seven decades later, what happened to Paula Jean Welden remains unknown.

Watch Paula Jean Welden’s Disappearance on YouTube.

3. Finding Emma Fillipoff

A Canadian Disappearance That Remains Unsolved

Finding Emma Fillipoff is a compelling answer to the question what should I watch if I am bored when you want a Canadian missing-person mystery with plenty of unanswered questions. In 2012, 26-year-old Emma Fillipoff disappeared from the streets of Victoria, British Columbia, and has never been found. The fifth estate documentary follows her mother’s determined search for answers and examines surveillance footage recorded just hours before Emma vanished, interviews with police, friends and family, and thousands of pages of Emma’s diaries, poems and messages. The program also brought in a team of experts, including a homicide investigator, forensic psychologist and criminologist, to examine the evidence and possible explanations for her disappearance. This is a video from early in the investigation, but sometimes the original content is worth looking at, particularly when you want to understand how a case was viewed before years of additional investigation.

Watch Finding Emma Fillipoff from CBC’s the fifth estate on YouTube.

4. Finding Kelsie

A Young Woman’s Disappearance Investigated by 20/20

Finding Kelsie is a gripping option if you are searching for things to watch when bored and want a true-crime story built around an unresolved disappearance. Kelsie Schelling was a young woman who disappeared in 2013, leaving behind no body, murder weapon, or crime scene. The 20/20 episode follows her mother’s determined campaign to uncover what happened to her daughter and examines the evidence surrounding the disappearance. With an unresolved case, a desperate search for answers, and plenty of unanswered questions, it is the kind of true-crime story that can quickly pull you in.

Watch Finding Kelsie on ABC.

5. The Mysterious Disappearance of Lars Mittank

The Wildcard: A Disappearance Caught on Airport Security Cameras

The Mysterious Disappearance of Lars Mittank is the wildcard recommendation for anyone wondering what should I watch when they are bored and want something genuinely strange. In July 2014, 28-year-old German tourist Lars Mittank disappeared near Varna Airport in Bulgaria after becoming increasingly convinced that people were following him. After visiting an airport doctor, Mittank suddenly ran out of the building, leaving behind his luggage, phone, wallet and passport. Security cameras captured him sprinting away from the airport, climbing a fence and disappearing into a nearby area of fields and woodland. Despite searches and reported sightings over the years, Mittank has never been found, and the case remains unsolved. If you are tired of asking what to watch when bored and want something that will genuinely make you wonder what happened, this is an unusual place to start.

Watch The Mysterious Disappearance of Lars Mittank on YouTube.

Duncan MacPherson: Missing Person Case Caught in the Crossfire of Business

By: Shane Lambert
Original time of writing: February 3rd, 2025

Duncan MacPherson was a former Canadian hockey player who died at the age of 23 in the Austrian Alps. His missing person case has been covered extensively in media, including at The Infographics Show and by the Canadian television show The Fifth Estate. His case is relevant to missing person investigations because it highlights how the details of a missing person's disappearance -- and even a death -- could be covered up by the for-profit sector.

Furthermore, as MacPherson was a former professional hockey player, he was not part of the marginalized sectors of society. If his death can be swept under the rug, then it could happen to anybody.

Duncan MacPherson. A former missing person, found after
14 years.

Unreturned Snowboard: A Key Clue in the Duncan MacPherson Disappearance

On August 9th, 1989, MacPherson was snowboarding for the first time in Austria. He disappeared on the slopes and there were two big clues regarding his disappearance that should have been obvious close to August 9th, 1989.

MacPherson, on his last day alive, had a short-term rented snowboard, one that he would never return. The fact that it was not returned should have been a flag that something was amiss.

A missed appointment of some sort is very common when it comes to missing persons. A different example is missing work or missing a flight. But missing the return time for a piece of rental equipment is, in my opinion, something that could be called a missed appointment, and this should have drawn at least a little bit of attention.

Furthermore, his vehicle sat unattended and unmoving near the slopes that he snowboarded on -- for weeks after he was last heard from. If his unreturned snowboard had raised some questions as to his whereabouts, then any astute investigator would also have found his unmoving vehicle and perhaps raised awareness about the chance that he was in danger accordingly. In fact, "Car found person missing" is an extremely common tag on this blog.

While snowboarding on August 9th, 1989, MacPherson had some kind of accident on the ski hill. His parents realized that something was wrong after they hadn't heard from their son for some time. Accordingly, they led the efforts to find their missing son, not really knowing if he was alive or dead.

However, they did not receive much help from any police services. Their own investigation led them to a ski resort area in the Alps near the Stubai Glacier Resort. Furthermore, the company that he rented the snowboard from claimed that the snowboard had been returned, which suggested that he left the ski hill in good health. This turned out to not be true.

Fourteen years later, MacPherson's body was found on the skiing slopes. Forensic experts concluded that he and the snowboard had been mangled by a machine, presumably the one that groomed the slopes.

AI-generated image. Dramatization meant to help the reader picture the circumstances.

Furthermore, some have concluded that, after this event, he was also placed in a shallow snow-covered grave -- in a deliberate act to hide the body. When this 'grave' melted in 2003, it led to the discovery of his body, which included shattered limbs -- and a shattered snowboard. MacPherson may be an example of a missing person who was found due to global warming's effects.

Duncan MacPherson's Disappearance and the Ski Resort Cover-Up Theory

As the case was presented at both The Infographics Show and The Fifth Estate, there was a motive to downplay MacPherson's disappearance. The ski resort was a big part of the local economy, and any negative publicity could hurt revenue for any business associated with the ski hill. I think it's this possibility that is a big point to take away from this case. But I think it would be wrong to conclude that the whole town sought to cover up MacPherson's disappearance because his parents did find locals who provided key clues regarding his case.

Could an Earlier Search Have Found Duncan MacPherson?

What would have happened if the snowboard shop raised awareness as soon as the snowboard went unreturned, or even a couple of hours afterward? It's not clear if this would have saved MacPherson's life or not.

I think late-returned equipment in the rental industry is normal enough that it's not inherently alarming immediately. If someone is given 24-hour leeway to return something before raising alarms, then in MacPherson's case it's possible he would have died anyway. However, there was no need for him to stay missing for so long and for his family to suffer the mental anguish of uncertainty. For this reason, his case is a shame and an example of profits being ahead of human suffering.

Documentaries About the Duncan MacPherson Case

Between The Infographics Show's and The Fifth Estate's presentation, I would recommend the latter. It's embedded below, while this link exits to the former's coverage of this case.