Dead Or Alive real or fake? Netflix docuseries explained
Missing: Dead Or Alive is the newest true crime series from Netflix but the format of its episodes has left fans asking if it’s real or fake.
Netflix has become the home of true crime stories in recent years with enthralling series such as Making A Murderer, Tiger King and the drama Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story all captivating fans.
The streaming service’s newest entry in the true crime genre is dividing fans, however, as Missing: Dead Or Alive has left viewers questioning whether the series is real or fake and scripted.
Missing: Dead Or Alive release date and premise
Missing: Dead Or Alive landed on Netflix on Wednesday, May 10, 2023.
The four-episode series follows officers from South Carolina’s Richland County as they urgently search for individuals who have gone missing in troubling circumstances.
For the most part, Missing: Dead Or Alive follows Vicki Raines, a veteran officer with more than two decades of experience working in various police departments including Major Crimes.
She now works in the Missing Persons Unit and alongside her colleagues in Richland County, is at the heart of investigations into the whereabouts of several missing people.
Is Missing: Dead Or Alive real or fake?
Missing: Dead Or Alive is indeed a real documentary series as it follows real officers as they investigate genuine missing person cases.
However, fans have been left questioning whether the series is fake or scripted due to the way it’s presented.
The docuseries is unique in that it is presented in the format of a slick TV drama or a fly-on-the-wall reality show.
Instead of interviewing officers several years after an event has taken place while viewers are shown old grainy news footage or family photographs, Missing: Dead Or Alive follows its officers in the heat of the action.
The series makes use of multiple camera angles to give viewers the most immersive experience possible as we follow Vicki and her colleagues as they navigate buildings, interview witnesses or drive between crime scenes.
What viewers seem to be finding most jarring, though, is the delivery of certain lines where the officer may have been asked to repeat what they’ve said for the camera or to tweak what they’ve said for dramatic effect. Of course, there could be some nerves about being on camera as well – they’re not trained actors after all.
The real cases explained
Throughout the series, fans follow four missing persons cases where the outcome of the investigation is agonizingly left hanging until the start of the next episode.
Episode 1 explores the case of Lorraine Garcia, who, at the age of 61, went missing in September 2021 after checking herself out of hospital and disappearing. She was eventually found alive and well and it was revealed that she purposely left home to get away from her son who had a tendency to behave in an aggressive or erratic manner following a PTSD diagnosis after serving in the military.
The second episode focuses on the disappearance of 10-year-old Amirah Watson who was kidnapped by her own mother in February 2020. Thankfully, Amirah was found six weeks later at a family member’s home in Atlanta, Georgia and her mother was arrested.
Episode 3 centers on the disappearance of David Taylor, whose pickup truck was found abandoned shortly after he had won $10,000 in the lottery. Following reports of a man running across a six-lane highway, David’s body was found in woodland nearby. A post-mortem revealed he died of hypothermia and had a very high amount of methamphetamine in his bloodstream.
And finally, the fourth episode details the case of 17-year-old Sierra Stevens who had stayed over at a friend’s house in September 2021 and by the time she returned home, her foster parents had grown concerned and called the police. Sierra, who had previously been incarcerated in a juvenile detention center, panicked and fled. She went on to stay with a friend but was eventually tracked down and returned safely to her foster parents.
Missing: Dead Or Alive is available to stream now on Netflix after releasing on Wednesday, May 10, 2023.
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