What is the status of the real The Watcher case now?
Netflix's latest thriller series The Watcher was released last week and fans are already obsessed with the spine tingling story of a family who are being watched by a mysterious figure called 'The Watcher'.
The seven part series tells the story of the Brannock family, who move into their dream home in Westfield, New Jersey. Shortly after moving in however, they receive a letter from someone called 'The Watcher' who warns them they have been charged with watching the family home and protecting the house from its second coming. As the series progresses more letters are sent and a series of creepy incidents occur. Spooked, they hire a private investigator Theodora (played by Noma Dumezweni) to help them discover the mystery of The Watcher's identity.
The most spooky part of this whole series is that it's actually based on the real life story of the Broaddus family. In 2014, the Broadduses bought their dream home in Westfield, New Jersey and received a similar letter from The Watcher whilst doing renovations on their property. Just like in the show the Broadduses hired a private investigator as well as working with the police to try and solve the mystery of The Watcher.
So was the real Watcher's identity ever uncovered? And what is the status of the real Watcher case now? This is everything you need to know.
What happened to the Broaddus family?
In 2014 the Broaddus family bought their dream home 657 Boulevard in Westfield, New Jersey. During the renovation for the property the family received their first letter from The Watcher, who said they were tasked with watching the house and protecting it ahead of its second coming.
The Watcher also suggested they had been in the house previously when they wrote: "The 1960s were a good time for 657 Boulevard when I ran from room to room imagining the life with the rich occupants there."
The family received a second letter a few weeks later which listed their children in birth order and had written their names correctly. The Watcher also identified the cars the family was driving. They received a third letter which said they knew the family were not planning on moving into the house. All the letters were written in rough handwriting with the sign-off from The Watcher written in a different cursive font.
The family soon put the house on the market and five years later in 2019 it sold for $400,000 less than they had originally purchased it for.
What is the status of the real Watcher case now?
Upon receiving the first letter in 2014 Derek and Maria Broaddus went to the police. They began investigations but according to The Cut, refused to work with Derek and Maria's private investigators.
After months of investigations and potential suspects brought in and then let go, the case was eventually handed over to the Union County Prosecutor’s Office, which began the investigation from scratch. After The Cut published their article in 2018 about the Watcher case, the prosecutor's office tried one more thing.
A forensic investigation revealed DNA on one of the under flaps of the envelope and DNA testing revealed it was a woman who had licked the envelope shut. Following this the prosecutor's office canvassed the Westfield neighbourhood and asked the community for voluntarily DNA samples.
A month later, whilst the neighbours were co-operative, none of them had been a DNA match.
Derek and Maria then suggested forensic genealogy which involves using DNA people have uploaded to ancestry databases, in order to solve crimes by finding people through their relatives.
The prosecutor's office refused to go through with this plan, even though Derek had found a company who would be willing to conduct the test, as they had not used the technology before and couldn't justify using it for the Broaddus case.
Two years ago the Broaddus family asked the prosecutor's office to close the case and give them the letters and DNA evidence, so they could give it to the forensic genealogy company themselves.
However, the prosecutor's office refused. According to The Cut the only way the case can be solved is via a confession or a DNA match.
The Broadduses have said their offer to the prosecutor's office still stands. The identity of the Watcher remains unsolved.
The Watcher is available on Netflix now.
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