The first episode of Netflix’s Unsolved Mysteries covers the tragic and perplexing 2006 death of Rey Rivera. It explores several strange circumstances surrounding his death, including the mysterious lack of damage to Rivera’s cell phone and glasses and his growing interest in freemasonry at the time. The episode also digs into the happenings at Stansberry & Associates, Rivera's friend Frank Porter Stansberry's financial firm at which he worked.
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Rey Rivera and his wife Allison originally moved to Baltimore so that Rey could accept a job writing newsletters at Rey’s longtime friend Porter Stansberry’s financial publishing company. The Netflix episode explains that Stansberry had wanted Rey to come join the company for a while, so when Rey’s filmmaking dreams stalled, he decided to oblige his friend for a year or two and relocate for the role. Stansberry & Associates Investment Research, which is now just known as Stansberry Research, provides financial research and investment advice to its paid subscribers. At the time of Rivera’s death, he was no longer writing newsletters but instead producing videos for Stansberry. The last call Rivera received before his disappearance was tracked to the switchboard of Stansberry & Associates, though who it was from remains a mystery.
In 2002, before Rivera joined the company, Stansberry & Associates came under fire for selling fraudulent advice to investors, and was sued by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Stansberry was found guilty of security fraud in 2007 and fined $1.5 million.
The Netflix documentary claims that Porter Stansberry refused to speak to or cooperate with investigators or media following Rey Rivera’s disappearance and death, and gag ordered his company’s employees from doing so as well. On July 3, a spokesperson for the company disputed claims made in the Netflix episode, denying that Stansberry’s employees had ever been barred from speaking about Rivera's case. “There was no gag order or direction given to employees to not speak to the press, law enforcement or any other party," a spokesperson for Stansberry Research told the Baltimore Sun last week.
According to the report, Stansberry also offered a $1000 reward for information when Rivera first went missing. Stansberry told the newspaper that Rivera was "a happy guy. He and his wife had just booked a trip to go to New Mexico in a few weeks. This is not a man that wanted to leave. I’ve got to find my friend. I can’t imagine my life without him. He’s my best friend.”
Stansberry is well-known as a controversial figure in the financial world. In 2010, he went viral when he posted a video to YouTube titled “The End of America,” in which he foretells the imminent end of the United States and its monetary system for an hour and 23 minutes. The video begins with an all-caps warning: "The following presentation is controversial and may be offensive to some audiences. Viewer discretion is advised." It concludes with a plug for a free trial for a Stansberry Research subscription, with Stansberry's voiceover explaining that he “knows in his heart it will be one of the best financial decisions you ever make.”
Today, Stansberry Research is still churning out financial advice. The company also produces a podcast entitled “Stansberry Investment Hour.” Frank Porter Stansberry himself has kept largely private in the years since Rivera’s passing, and did not partake in Netflix's exploration of his friend's untimely death.
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