Discovery's Travel Channel (DStv 179 / Cell C black 255) has a new series, Mission Declassified, in which the award-winning journalist Christof Putzel discovers new evidence to explore history's unsolved mysteries.
The 9-episode series doesn't yet have a broadcast date for the Travel Channel in South Africa/Africa, but in it, Christof Putzel reveals new information from an unsolved case that takes him on a surprising and circuitous adventure into the past.
For almost 20 years, award-winning investigative reporter Christof Putzel has travelled the world uncovering some of the most hard-hitting stories of our time.
He has exposed neo-Nazi attacks against immigrants in Russia, illegal American weapons sales to Mexican drug cartels, the tobacco industry's exploitation of children in Asia and children used to mine gold in deadly labour camps in the Congo.
In Mission Declassified he uses the same tools to explore history's most legendary and notorious mysteries. By decoding recently declassified documents, Christof Putzel discovers new, or simply missed, clues and connections that could finally unlock decades-long mysteries surrounding legendary cold cases.
"I'm thrilled to have the opportunity in this series to show our audience how investigations work and why so many of history's biggest headlines remain a mystery," says Christof Putzel. "While it can be a frustrating, sometimes daunting, adventure with no guarantee of success, it can also unveil new knowledge and that will bring us closer to the truth."
"For a seasoned investigator, new information is the lifeblood of any quest," says Jane Latman, general manager, Travel Channel.
"We're excited to go on this fascinating journey with Christof every week, and we know whatever he uncovers will help separate fact from fiction."
Episodes will include "Escape from Alcatraz" and starts in San Francisco, where in 1962, three prisoners escaped from Alcatraz. Officially, they died in the surrounding waters. But FBI files say otherwise. Christof Putzel braves those same waters, hunts down inside information and goes on a manhunt across two continents to track down the whereabouts of the missing men.
In "The Hunt for DB Cooper" Christof Putzel jumps from a plane and digs up rare FBI files in pursuit of shocking new leads that take him from the Pacific Northwest to Las Vegas and Utah in his quest to find the real identity of hijacker DB Cooper.
In "The Lindbergh Kidnapping" Christof Putzel investigates "The Crime of the Century," the kidnapping and killing of aviator Charles Lindbergh's baby in 1932. Putzel's grandfather broke that story and followed it until the execution of the convicted kidnapper, Bruno Richard Hauptmann. Now, using his grandfather's notes and declassified FBI files, he tracks surprising new leads to Germany and the Nazi Party.
Mission Declassified is produced for Travel Channel by Karga Seven Pictures, a Red Arrow Studios company with Kelly McPherson, Emre Sahin, Sarah Wetherbee, Jason Wolf and Chris Bray as executive producers.
"For a seasoned investigator, new information is the lifeblood of any quest," says Jane Latman, general manager, Travel Channel.
"We're excited to go on this fascinating journey with Christof every week, and we know whatever he uncovers will help separate fact from fiction."
Episodes will include "Escape from Alcatraz" and starts in San Francisco, where in 1962, three prisoners escaped from Alcatraz. Officially, they died in the surrounding waters. But FBI files say otherwise. Christof Putzel braves those same waters, hunts down inside information and goes on a manhunt across two continents to track down the whereabouts of the missing men.
In "The Hunt for DB Cooper" Christof Putzel jumps from a plane and digs up rare FBI files in pursuit of shocking new leads that take him from the Pacific Northwest to Las Vegas and Utah in his quest to find the real identity of hijacker DB Cooper.
In "The Lindbergh Kidnapping" Christof Putzel investigates "The Crime of the Century," the kidnapping and killing of aviator Charles Lindbergh's baby in 1932. Putzel's grandfather broke that story and followed it until the execution of the convicted kidnapper, Bruno Richard Hauptmann. Now, using his grandfather's notes and declassified FBI files, he tracks surprising new leads to Germany and the Nazi Party.
Mission Declassified is produced for Travel Channel by Karga Seven Pictures, a Red Arrow Studios company with Kelly McPherson, Emre Sahin, Sarah Wetherbee, Jason Wolf and Chris Bray as executive producers.
