Netflix's Unbelievable: these are the real life detectives behind the characters in the show
Netflix's Unbelievable has only been out for a little over a week, but it's already had a big impact. Telling the true story of a young woman, Marie Adler, who was disbelieved (and later charged herself )after reporting her rape, the show has struck a chord with many about how victims of sexual violence are treated.
In the series, detectives Grace Rasmussen and Karen Duvall ultimately get to the bottom of things with a thorough investigation, ultimately leading to Marc O'Leary pleading guilty to 28 counts of rape and associated crimes. The female detectives' much needed dedication to solving the case comes after two male officers - neither with any great experience of investigating sexual assault crimes - dismiss Marie's claims due to the "unusual" way she reacted to having been raped.
Grace Rasmussen and Karen Duvall are fictional characters created for Unbelievable, which is an adaptation of the 2015 Pulitzer-winning ProPublica and Marshall Project article, An Unbelievable Story of Rape. But the female characters' storylines are based on the actions of real life policewomen Detective Stacy Galbraith and Sergeant Edna Hendershot. Here's everything you need to know about the real women behind the characters, and where they are now:
Sergeant Edna Hendershot
(Grace Rasmussen)
Toni Collette plays Detective Grace Rasmussen in the Netflix series, but her character is based on real life police officer Edna Hendershot. Hendershot was a detective in Westminster, Colorado, and had reportedly investigated more than 100 rape cases by the time she was contacted by Detective Stacy Galbraith about the suspected serial rapist.
Both Hendershot and Galbraith were interviewed for a CBS 48 Hours special in 2017, where Edna Hendershot confirmed she had stayed in touch with Marc O'Leary's victims.
While Hendershot was a police Detective during the Marie Adler case, she told Oxygen.com that she was promoted to Sergeant for the Westminster Police the following year, in 2013. In 2017 she became patrol commander in the patrol division. Hendershot's new job means she doesn’t work on sexual assault cases anymore, but instead has "the opportunity to mentor new officers and impress upon them the 'right' way to do things," she said.
Detective Stacy Galbraith
(Karen Duvall)
Merritt Wever plays Detective Karen Duvall in Unbelievable, based on the real Detective Stacy Galbraith. It was Stacy who first entertained the idea that the rapist in the case she was investigating might, in fact, be responsible for a number of sexual assaults after she and her husband (also a police officer) discussed cases one night.
Following her tireless work identifying Marc O'Leary as the perpetrator of so many sexual assaults, Stacy Galbraith was awarded 'Officer of the Year' by the Colorado Association of Chiefs of Police in 2012.
Speaking to CNN in 2018, it was clear she had taken a lot from Marie Adler's ordeal. "Just listen to the victims, men, women, children...It's our duty to listen to them and investigate," Galbraith said. She is now a major crimes agent at the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
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