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This program is about unsolved mysteries. Whenever possible, the actual family members

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and police officials have participated in recreating the events. What you are about

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to see is not a news broadcast.

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In Rome, New York, two intruders bound in Gagdest or Grizzic ransacked her house and

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shot her husband point blank. Just recently, a police informant revealed a Stanley Grizzic

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may have died because he was a man who knew too much. The FBI is searching for an electronics

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whiz kid who allegedly used his talents to break into classified government computer

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networks, obtain military secrets and wiretap private phones, an innocuous case of computer

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hacking or a breach of national security.

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The house is tonight a poignant update on our story about a seven-year-old girl who

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made a solemn vow to her sick friend twenty-one years ago. Thanks to our viewers, Nikki Crowder

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has finally fulfilled her promise and we filmed their joyous reunion. Join me for another

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edition of Unsolved Mysteries.

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Rome, New York, 240 miles northwest of Manhattan. This is a kind of small town that finds its

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way into Norman Rockwell paintings. It is a working class community where everybody

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knows everything about everyone else. Or at least it seemed that way. From 1957 to 1976,

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Stanley Grizzic and his family owned a small liquor store and gas station in the heart of

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town. Stanley was in charge of the liquor store. His brother, Peter, ran the gas station

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along with the third brother, Bernard. Stanley and his wife, S, served it right next door

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to the family business. Their life seemed happy and secure until the night of November 6, 1976.

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Dad had just gone upstairs to run mom's bathwater. Mom went through the house doing her nightly

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check. She did a nightly ritual where she would go and check all the windows and doors

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and make sure everything was locked. My mother was deaf and she wore hearing aid. With hearing

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aid, she could hear very well. And she had just finished in the kitchen when she heard

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a loud noise. And as she turned around, the back door just flew open. Two men came into

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the house. They both had ski masks. One was short and stocky and one was tall and thinner.

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I think my father probably heard the initial noise of the screen door being broken and

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heard my mother scream and then came down the stairs. As he turned to go into the dining

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room, I think he startled the perpetrator. The shortest stackey of me was already at

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my mother's throat and was choking her and in the process, knocked her hearing aid out

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of her ear. And she said she just played dead. She just wouldn't move. She just laid

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there. She tried to hold her breath so they would thought she died. While she was laying

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on the floor, she said, they laid this pearl-handled gun next to my face. She says, I could see

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it. I opened my eye just a little tiny bit and I could see. They spent a good hour in

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the house, just ransacking it totally. They took all the stuff out of the desk, threw everything

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on the floor. The pillows, they ripped. Mom's knitting in her yarn, they threw all over.

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I mean, they obviously were looking for something, but what they were looking for, I have no idea.

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She said, I just waited there until I could feel no more vibrations in the house. She

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figures that that is when they left. Somehow she managed to get her hands untied from her

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feet and her feet untied. Her hands were still tied behind her back, but she did manage to

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go into the dining room and find my dad laying on the floor dead.

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The shock of her husband's murder was too much for Esther Griesig. She herself died within

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two years. My mother, you could say, died that night. She just existed for the next 20

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months. Her and my father had one of those rare marriages where they were extremely close.

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And without dad, I mean, her life was gone. From the beginning, a cloud of suspicion loomed

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over the investigation of Stanley Griesig's murder. The night of the killing, police barred

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the Griesig family from entering the home. After thoroughly searching the ransacked house,

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investigators determined that the only things missing were two bottles of beer from the

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refrigerator. It appeared to investigators as if the ransacking was to look for an item

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possibly or a piece of paper that Mr. Griesig may have had hidden somewhere. The next day,

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the family was finally permitted to enter the home. Stanley's son made a disturbing

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discovery which curiously the police had overlooked. My brother-in-law and myself were in the house

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and we were trying to straighten things up. And I was in the dining room where my father had been

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killed. And the rug was kind of messed up from the table being pushed. So we got down on our hands

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and knees and tried to straighten the rug out. Hey, can you look at this? While I was doing that,

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I happened to notice a shell casing on the rug. I mean, it wasn't embedded in the rug or anything,

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it was lying right out on the rug. Oh, it's a shell casing. Don't touch it. I'm sure that if anybody

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had done a thorough job of scouring the floor, they would have found it. They picked it up with a

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pencil, put it in a plastic bag and called up the Rome Police Department. One detective came over

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and I showed him where I found it on the floor and he looked at it. Yeah, that's a shell casing,

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all right. And I proceeded to put it in his pocket and said, let's not mention this to anyone,

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that's for the time being. And who's I'd argue?

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The official autopsy reports stated that Stanley Grizzek had been killed by a single stab wound to

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the heart. I couldn't believe the police kept insisting that it was a knife that killed my

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father and my mother repeatedly told him it was a pearl-handled gun. It was a small gun,

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she told me they laid it right down next to my face. She says, I could see it. It was not a knife

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and they kept insisting it was a knife. Well, we knew that was totally false, that my father had

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been killed by a stab wound. We had found a shell casing. We explained to the police that there

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was no guns in the house. The only way that shell could have got here was that it was fired in this

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house. Stanley Grizzek's body was exhumed in a second autopsy performed. It revealed that Stanley

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was killed by a 25 caliber bullet fired through his chest. There never had been a stab wound.

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Was the entire incident involving the bullet simply a series of unfortunate mistakes or could

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someone have been trying to protect the killer's identity? Stanley Grizzek's children believed

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that someone wanted it to appear that their father had been killed with a knife. But who and why?

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It seemed that these questions would remain forever unanswered until last year.

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In March of 1989, an acknowledged drug dealer came to the police with a startling story. He

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claimed to know the identity of Stanley Grizzek's killer, although he did not know the motive.

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In 1976, the informant was working at a bar in Rome. He claimed that a man associated with a

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bar made him a strange proposition just a few days before Stanley Grizzek was killed.

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I was tending bar one night and a person approached me and wanted me to pull a burglary. He knew

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that I owed him money and he offered me to get even. So we drove around for a little bit and he

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pulled into the alley over here and he goes, I want you to break into Stan's house. You owe me a lot of money.

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The guy's got a lot of money in that house. I want you to go rip him off. Why Stanley? That's my business.

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I told him I'm not a burglar. I'm not here to sell him coal. I'm just not a burglar. I'm not going to

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break into anybody's house. So he was disturbed with me and he goes, I'm sorry, just take you back to the bar.

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As you can see here, this is the service station that's adjacent to the house.

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Based on this new information, the case was reactivated and a new team of investigators assigned. They

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contacted Amy Scott, Stanley Grizzek's neighbor at the time of the murder. On November 6, 1976,

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Amy Scott said she was in the house watching TV and at the conclusion of one of the programs,

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her dog had become restless and she let him out to run around a little bit outside.

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Amy told investigators that shortly after 11 p.m., she saw a man walking through the alley

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towards Stanley Grizzek's home. I let my dog stay out maybe a half an hour to 45 minutes and then I

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opened the door, went on my porch to crawl my dog back in. Sam! Then I looked up and I saw this guy

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coming through the same pathway that I noticed before. Only this time he was headed toward a

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white car. He got in the car and then I noticed there was another man in the car and he proceeded

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down the street very fast. What are you doing? What do you think you're doing? And I yelled at him

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because he just came with the answers of hitting my dog. A few days after the murder, Amy saw the

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man in the Lincoln again. It was around five o'clock and I was headed to the bank. As I drove

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in, there was two cars ahead of me and I was waiting and I just happened to look through my

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rear view mirror and I saw this white car and suddenly I realized this was the same man,

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the same car that I had seen earlier at the murder scene. I got really nervous. I started my

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car up and I speeded down the street. I was really afraid. I just drove like crazy until I got to

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the police station and I jumped out of the car. And I ran up the steps where I met a policeman

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and I told him what was happening. We got in his car and we drove around a couple of blocks up

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and down but we never saw him again. Amy led the investigators to Patsy Peck, a local bookstore

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owner. Patsy told him that on the day before Griesick's murder, she had met the same two men at

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her store. She also said they were driving a white Lincoln Continental. Hey guys, how are you doing?

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Good to see you again. Thanks, how are you? Good. She's doing good. There was the tall,

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dark man who had on a trench coat and had a nylon pile collar. The other man was shorter and sandy

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haired and he had been out of town for a while. I hadn't seen my husband in quite a long while.

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Okay, good to see you again. Then they started reminiscing a little about when they were here

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before and all that. I told him they'd see him again before they left and they left.

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Investigators asked Patsy why she had not come forward with this information before. Surprisingly,

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she said she had talked with one of the original detectives. We do know that the investigators

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talked to Patsy and Amy but we looked in our files and found there wasn't anything put down on

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documentation form as to their interview with Patsy Peck. Investigators Saunders and Keyes

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learned that shortly after Stanley Griesick's murder, the same two men were spotted at a local bar.

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We located a man that was in the bar about two or three nights after the murder.

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Everything all right? Yep. What you wanted? He told us that a couple of men had come into

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the bar matching the descriptions that were published in the paper. They met with another

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man in the back of the bar who handed him a large sum of money and they turned and locked.

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He was kind of curious so he said wasn't that so-and-so and the individual who had given him

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the money said yes it was. And he said well why did you give him that large amount of money?

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And he said they'd done a job for me and now they had to leave town. Authorities began searching

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for a connection between Stanley Griesick's murder and the bar where the informant had worked

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and the two men had been seen. They discovered that the bar's liquor license had been held

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by Peter Griesick, Stanley's older brother. Then Stanley's children related a puzzling

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incident that had occurred eight months before the murder. Peter Griesick was gravely ill

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and Stanley went to visit him. Close the door. Close the door. Close the door. No one knows what

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was set behind that closed door but the two brothers who had always been close never spoke

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again. Peter died four months later and Stanley's behavior seemed to change.

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I had spent a three day weekend with my dad. He seemed in a good mood but he seemed a little

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distant. When he hugged me goodbye he said a very strange thing. I don't know when I'll

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ever see you again and that was the last time I saw him again.

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The bar in question had its liquor license revoked in 1982. The reason? On-site gambling

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and the illegal sale of controlled substances. Today the bar remains closed.

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I think he knew that there was a great deal of drug activity happening in that bar. Gambling

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happens almost everywhere. I think people learn to adjust to that. But the drug situation

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I know that my father would never be able to condone or have his name linked to it.

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Why was Stanley Griesick murdered? Had he learned something from his dying brother that

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put his own life at risk? If my father knew something he did not share

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that information with my mother or my brother or my sister or I. It was just something that

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he kept to himself and that was why being honest as he was was the cause of his death.

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Why did Stanley's assailants ransack his home, remain in the house for 45 minutes to

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an hour and then leave, apparently taking only two beers from the refrigerator? And

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finally is there a connection between the bar, Peter Griesick and Stanley's death?

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Although crucial evidence in the case has mysteriously disappeared, investigators believe

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that it may take but one vital clue to piece together the bizarre puzzle of Stanley Griesick's

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murder. These are composite drawings of the two men

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seen driving the white Lincoln Continental. Authorities are asking anyone with information

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regarding these men to come forward.

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On a previous broadcast we profiled a con man who allegedly seduces lonely middle aged women

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with promises of wealth and romance then skips town with their money. Police have dubbed

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him the sweetheart swindler. In August of 1989 a woman who asked that we call her Sarah

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met a man named Jerry Gable. Sarah quickly succumbed to Jerry's hypnotic charms. He

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told her that he was a successful traveling jewelry salesman and that she was just the

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type of woman he wanted to share his life with. In less than two days Jerry asked Sarah

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to be his wife. He was the type of a man that took control. This was something that I liked.

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I liked someone to kind of take over, take charge. You know, it was really nice to think

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that I maybe would be able to relax, to travel, to have all these nice things and I wouldn't

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have to work. To me this was very appealing. A few days later Jerry asked Sarah to deposit

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not-of-state check and withdraw $3,000 in cash for him. At the time Sarah had no idea

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that the check was stolen. That afternoon Jerry Gable disappeared. Sarah never saw him

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or her $3,000 again. I was angry. Truly I was angry. It's a very devastating feeling.

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I'd like to see him pay for it. Update. The sweetheart swindler has been captured.

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On March 28, 1991, police in Kenosha, Wisconsin arrested a man calling himself Robert Cook

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after he allegedly romanced a woman and then swindled her out of $10,000. At the time of

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Cook's arrest police recovered a dozen false identification cards all issued in different

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aliases from various states. They also found blank checks apparently stolen from previous

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victims. When we return, the intriguing saga of a young computer wizard who may be using

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his skills to obtain classified government information. Inside the labyrinth of the telephone

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company's huge computer system one feels a sense of insignificance. It seems impossible

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that any single person could jam up these sophisticated works. Yet think of it. All the interactive

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computers across the country are linked by telephone lines. Both private citizens and

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classified government operations can be vulnerable to a computer genius run amok.

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Kevin Polson grew up in the Los Angeles suburb of North Hollywood. His mother died when he

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was still young. One of Kevin's friends describes him as very bright with great potential but

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always painfully shy. Kevin Polson received his first computer on a 16th birthday. Like

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most devoted hackers he adopted a colorful pseudonym. Kevin Polson became Dark Dante.

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Eventually he discovered a telephone number for Arpanet, a computer network funded by

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the Pentagon. It links university and think tank computers across the country by telephone

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lines. For Dark Dante, Arpanet was a tantalizing challenge. He was a very hard-working man.

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After connecting his modem with the Arpanet telephone number, Kevin realized he was hooked

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up to military research at the University of California, Berkeley. He needed a password

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that would allow him access to sensitive documents in the Berkeley computer. He guessed several

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passwords with no luck. Then he tried the university's initials, UCB. Kevin was ill

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and he was inside Arpanet. He liked the idea of having power. That was Kevin's thing. He

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wanted to have power over other people, over the people that he saw as being beneath him.

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Dark Dante's activities were soon detected by UCB. When Kevin slipped and on one occasion

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he only used his real name instead of Dark Dante. He was trapped. Blissfully unaware, Kevin continued

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his hacking activities, giving authorities even more ammunition against him.

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Dan, would you just put that in my car, please?

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Well, you taking my computer?

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On the morning of September 22, 1983, the Los Angeles DA confiscated Kevin's computer.

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Look, Kevin, you and your buddy have committed a crime here. You're only 17. We're going to try to keep

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you out of this, but your buddy's going to jail.

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Because of his age, he was not officially charged, only warned that his computer activities were

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illegal. The warning apparently fell on deaf ears. During the next year, Kevin took a high

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school equivalency exam and moved out of his parents' house to Northern California.

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But Dark Dante had not died with Kevin's move, he had simply changed locations. In his off hours,

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Kevin Poulson continued to cruise the electronic highways cloaked with a pseudonym. This time,

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he never gave his real name or his location.

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On February 9, 1988, the owners of a storage facility in Northern California made a routine

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stop at a locker in which the rent had not been paid. Standard procedure in such cases is to

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confiscate the material in the locker. But the contents of this locker were something the men

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hadn't ever seen before. It appeared to be stolen telephone companies, but it was not

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seen before. It appeared to be stolen telephone company equipment. The owners notified the

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authorities. Telephone company investigator John Von Brauch, along with the local police,

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arrived immediately.

210
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John Von Brauch, come here John, how are you?

211
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We found a storage locker that contained pieces of electronic equipment, pay phones, computer

212
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printouts, including the printout of the non-published number of the Soviet Embassy, San Francisco.

213
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That's not the type of equipment or material that one would buy at a swap meter, find in a dumpster.

214
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It was quite obviously stolen property.

215
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Whose locker is this?

216
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Some guy by the name of John Anderson.

217
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The name John Anderson was a fake. But several items in the locker bore the name Kevin Poulson.

218
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It appeared as if Dark Dante had been caught again.

219
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Authorities apprehended Kevin, who agreed to a consent search of his apartment. They were

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astonished to find that Kevin had a complete wire tapping facility in a spare bedroom.

221
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What are you doing with all this stuff Kevin?

222
00:26:04,280 --> 00:26:08,280
I don't know, I was just happy to just kind of get it.

223
00:26:08,280 --> 00:26:16,280
The equipment at Switchroom allowed Mr. Poulson not only to enter computer databases ours and others,

224
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but also gave him the ability to monitor telephone conversations without the parties to the conversation

225
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being aware that they were being monitored.

226
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How about the test set over there with the lettering on it?

227
00:26:29,280 --> 00:26:36,280
Connected to Kevin's computer was an unauthorized test set which could be used to tap into private phone lines.

228
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Only the telephone company and through them legally authorized law enforcement officers are allowed to use test sets.

229
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Incredibly, the authorities found photographs Kevin Poulson had taken of himself breaking into a telephone

230
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switching trailer then using the equipment inside.

231
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Kevin's ego provided the phone company with the evidence they needed to bring in the FBI.

232
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We determined that the acts that Poulson was involved in had escalated.

233
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We found evidence that Poulson had penetrated the United States government computer and had transferred

234
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the passwords of that computer, the electronic mail, to other individuals.

235
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Investigators found that over the last year someone matching Kevin Poulson's description had illegally

236
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entered several Northern California telephone facilities using a false ID.

237
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We discovered that Mr. Poulson and we documented at least three cases where he had actually entered the buildings.

238
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Hi, can I help you?

239
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Yeah.

240
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I'm in the Park Office.

241
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I'm here to check out the ESS.

242
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The ESS equipment is up on the second floor.

243
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Once inside the building, the intruder found telephone numbers he could use to get inside the phone company's computer system.

244
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He also stole manuals, switching equipment and a test set like the one found in Kevin Poulson's apartment.

245
00:28:13,280 --> 00:28:20,280
Kevin Poulson had allegedly infiltrated U.S. military computer transmissions, obtaining classified army information.

246
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Authorities believe he also obtained classified information about the FBI investigation of

247
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overthrown Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos.

248
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In addition, he may have wire tapped and tape recorded the phone conversations of his friend, Sean Randall.

249
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The test set found in Kevin's apartment and his possession of the unlisted Soviet number led the FBI to believe that Kevin Poulson might be engaging in espionage.

250
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Through the investigation, we learned that Poulson had a secret clearance.

251
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Because of this, his penetration of the United States Army government computer, his appointment with the FBI,

252
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his penetration of the United States Army government computer, his obtaining of a non-published number the Soviet consulate gave his grave concern as to how far Poulson was going with these criminal acts.

253
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On October 19, 1989, a two-year investigation resulted in a 19-count indictment against Kevin Poulson and two fellow hackers.

254
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They were charged with conspiracy, computer fraud, wiretapping, embezzlement and theft of public property and records.

255
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The two other men were arrested and now await trial, but Kevin Poulson has fled.

256
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The FBI is making him out to be a dangerous person because he has the knowledge to do things that he is not supposed to do.

257
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And that is, he does things that are illegal.

258
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But as far as hurting people goes, Kevin is the kind of person who would rather know how to do things than actually do them.

259
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We feel that Poulson probably started out as any heck because of curiosity, but as the years wore on, his curiosity became unsatisfied.

260
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He crossed the line from mere curiosity into that of intentionally committing criminal acts to further this quest for power.

261
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That gives us concern. Law enforcement, government or even private citizens out there.

262
00:30:36,280 --> 00:30:40,280
Poulson certainly has the potential to be a danger to any one of these three.

263
00:30:41,280 --> 00:30:47,280
Kevin Poulson is 25 years old and 5 feet 8 inches tall with a slim build.

264
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He has used the surnames Drake, Locke and Cooper, as well as the aliases Walter Kovacs and John Anderson.

265
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The FBI has information that Poulson may be living in the Los Angeles area and driving a white late 70s van.

266
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He is an expert in the computer operating system called UNIX and may be working in a related field.

267
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One can only speculate about what motivated Kevin Poulson.

268
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Those who knew him before he fled agree that he is an unusually talented and bright young man, possibly a genius.

269
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But now he is a wanted man facing up to 37 years in prison.

270
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Update. Shortly after our broadcast, the FBI received information that Kevin Poulson was living near Los Angeles, California.

271
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Our San Francisco office advised us that Poulson had some acquaintances in the Los Angeles area.

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We went out and interviewed those acquaintances and one of them advised us that he had been seen in the not too distant past at Hughes Market.

273
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We then went out and interviewed all the employees at Hughes Market and displayed his photograph.

274
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Three weeks later, Poulson returned to the supermarket.

275
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I walked past Kevin and it dawned on me that that's the person in the photo.

276
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And adrenaline was pumping in me. I felt really nervous and didn't want to be led any suspicion on to Kevin.

277
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That we were on to him.

278
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Brian immediately notified the FBI. However, Poulson was able to leave the store before agents could respond.

279
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It's the FBI informed me that Kevin Poulson had been seen at the Van Ishews Market at about 10 or 10 30 in the evening.

280
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I decided to surveil the market thinking Kevin may show up again.

281
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At about 10 minutes to midnight, Kevin Poulson arrived. I drove up and parked immediately in front of the market.

282
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Once Kevin was in the store, I took a position near the front door and asked the security guard to go find Brian Bridges, the evening manager,

283
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and bring him to my location so I could tell him that Kevin Poulson was in the store.

284
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Believing that Poulson would again elude capture, two store clerks made a daring move.

285
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Security!

286
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A security guard escorted Poulson to a store room where he was held until FBI agents arrived and placed him under arrest.

287
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During the search of Mr. Poulson, we found some handcuffs in his eyeglass cases.

288
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During the time that he was in custody, he claimed that his contact lenses were drying out and he had asked for his eyeglass cases to be sent to him.

289
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So I'm assuming that he was looking for the handcuffs.

290
00:34:06,280 --> 00:34:11,280
The Friendships

291
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The friendships he make as children often fade with a passage of time, enduring only his pleasant memories.

292
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But for the woman in her next story, a friendship with a young girl who is battling cancer has survived the years and become a lifelong search.

293
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Tonight she asks for your help in finding her special childhood friend and fulfilling a promise she made more than 20 years ago.

294
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When she was seven years old, La Harriet Wade was admitted to Children's Hospital in Los Angeles, California.

295
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She was scheduled to undergo surgery to remove several large tumors from her throat.

296
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Although extremely painful, La Harriet's condition was not life-threatening.

297
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I was a little nervous about being left in there at home because it was all new to me.

298
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I had gone back and forth for a task but I wasn't actually, you know, placed in there before and this time I was being there and my parents wouldn't be there.

299
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Oh, Mommy, look at those.

300
00:35:28,280 --> 00:35:30,280
They look nice. You want me to get you some?

301
00:35:31,280 --> 00:35:32,280
Yes.

302
00:35:32,280 --> 00:35:33,280
Okay, La Harriet.

303
00:35:33,280 --> 00:35:35,280
La Harriet shared a room with eight-year-old Sherita Lynn Harding.

304
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Sherita had been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer and she too was scheduled to undergo surgery.

305
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I like your flowers.

306
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Thank you.

307
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I have dogs too.

308
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Would you like to play with one?

309
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Yes.

310
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I looked up to Sherita because once she was older, she's about a year older than I, and she was there for me.

311
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She was there first, so she kind of initiated me of being in a new place, a new atmosphere.

312
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This part would be blue right here.

313
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In the days that followed, a warm and caring friendship blossomed.

314
00:36:09,280 --> 00:36:14,280
La Harriet and Sherita spent their days playing games and pulling pranks on the hospital staff.

315
00:36:23,280 --> 00:36:24,280
We were in our own blue world.

316
00:36:24,280 --> 00:36:28,280
There was no adults around to come in and tell us what to do.

317
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We created a closeness, so she was kind of like a sister.

318
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We had gotten into that relationship.

319
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There was a bond there because we mattered to one another.

320
00:36:41,280 --> 00:36:48,280
We looked out for what went on, and we had something in common, and that was our illnesses itself.

321
00:36:49,280 --> 00:36:52,280
Visiting hours are now over. All visitors, please leave.

322
00:36:52,280 --> 00:36:58,280
As a time for Sherita's operation near, she was forced to endure a nightly routine of painful pre-surgical treatments.

323
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I would watch when they would come in for the testing.

324
00:37:05,280 --> 00:37:09,280
She wouldn't really scream out, but you'd hear a little shrill or something like that.

325
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When I look over, she would turn away and, you know, like, this is not happening to me.

326
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I would be angry with the doctors because it was, you know, it was like, why are you hurting her?

327
00:37:21,280 --> 00:37:23,280
But through it all, she was tough.

328
00:37:24,280 --> 00:37:27,280
And actually, she was a lot stronger than I.

329
00:37:27,280 --> 00:37:33,280
And her problem really, as I got older and understood more, was worse than mine.

330
00:37:41,280 --> 00:37:42,280
Hold on. Okay.

331
00:37:42,280 --> 00:37:43,280
Okay.

332
00:37:46,280 --> 00:37:49,280
10 p.m., a night of Sherita's operation.

333
00:37:49,280 --> 00:37:53,280
After several hours of surgery, Sherita was returned to the room.

334
00:37:56,280 --> 00:37:58,280
I was afraid, really afraid.

335
00:37:59,280 --> 00:38:04,280
I felt them taking her away did something to her that changed her altogether.

336
00:38:05,280 --> 00:38:08,280
Mommy, is this going to happen to me?

337
00:38:08,280 --> 00:38:10,280
No, honey, this isn't going to happen to you.

338
00:38:10,280 --> 00:38:13,280
She has a different type of operation than you're going to have.

339
00:38:14,280 --> 00:38:18,280
And when she grows up, she's not going to be able to have any babies.

340
00:38:18,280 --> 00:38:25,280
So that's when my mother explained to me that Sherita had had a very, very delicate surgery

341
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and that she wouldn't be able to have kids.

342
00:38:29,280 --> 00:38:33,280
And I remember feeling like, oh, that, you know, was just the worst thing in the world.

343
00:38:33,280 --> 00:38:38,280
Everybody, Sherita's parents, the doctors, they all went out in the hall to talk.

344
00:38:38,280 --> 00:38:44,280
And Sherita, she was lying in her bed, just lying there and she had tears in her eyes.

345
00:38:44,280 --> 00:38:48,280
So it made me feel real, it made me feel sad that I couldn't help her.

346
00:38:48,280 --> 00:38:51,280
Don't worry. Are you feeling all right?

347
00:38:52,280 --> 00:38:54,280
I'm sorry you're feeling so bad.

348
00:38:55,280 --> 00:38:56,280
Does it hurt?

349
00:38:57,280 --> 00:38:58,280
I'm sorry.

350
00:38:59,280 --> 00:39:00,280
I'm sorry.

351
00:39:01,280 --> 00:39:02,280
Does it hurt?

352
00:39:06,280 --> 00:39:08,280
I said, you don't have to cry.

353
00:39:10,280 --> 00:39:24,280
I said, because if, if I ever have a baby, I said, you can share it with me and we can both be its mommy.

354
00:39:24,280 --> 00:39:28,280
I said, I don't even name it Sherita after you.

355
00:39:30,280 --> 00:39:32,280
I said, I don't even name it Sherita after you.

356
00:39:41,280 --> 00:39:47,280
Five weeks after La Harriet Wade and Sherita Harding first met, the day came for them to say goodbye.

357
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La Harriet's operation was a success and she was sent home.

358
00:39:51,280 --> 00:39:55,280
But Sherita had to remain in the hospital for further treatment.

359
00:39:55,280 --> 00:39:57,280
Let me take a picture of you.

360
00:40:00,280 --> 00:40:07,280
When we left, we took pictures and I remember not wanting to say goodbye to her.

361
00:40:07,280 --> 00:40:09,280
I felt like I was losing a sister.

362
00:40:10,280 --> 00:40:12,280
I hope I see you soon.

363
00:40:13,280 --> 00:40:14,280
Bye YouTube.

364
00:40:14,280 --> 00:40:17,280
The two girls agreed to continue their friendship by phone.

365
00:40:17,280 --> 00:40:23,280
But two months later, La Harriet's family moved to New Mexico and the young friends soon lost touch.

366
00:40:24,280 --> 00:40:25,280
Bye.

367
00:40:26,280 --> 00:40:28,280
Yes, can I speak to Sherita Harding?

368
00:40:29,280 --> 00:40:32,280
In 1975, the Wade family returned to Los Angeles.

369
00:40:32,280 --> 00:40:33,280
Thank you.

370
00:40:33,280 --> 00:40:38,280
La Harriet called every Harding listed in the phone book that was unable to locate Sherita.

371
00:40:42,280 --> 00:40:46,280
Seven years ago, La Harriet married and is now known as Nikki Crowder.

372
00:40:46,280 --> 00:40:52,280
Today, she is a mother of a healthy three-year-old daughter whom she plans to baptize Sherita.

373
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It is Nikki's hope that Sherita will in Harding to become godmother to Nikki's little girl.

374
00:40:58,280 --> 00:41:03,280
I want my daughter to know Sherita because she's a very special person in my life

375
00:41:03,280 --> 00:41:07,280
and bringing those two together will be perfect for me.

376
00:41:10,280 --> 00:41:13,280
I think of Sherita all the time.

377
00:41:13,280 --> 00:41:16,280
I've never ever stopped really ever thinking about Sherita.

378
00:41:16,280 --> 00:41:22,280
Even though she's not around, she's still the best friend in the sense of the memories.

379
00:41:22,280 --> 00:41:27,280
I think when you hold on to a memory, it can't be altered, you know, so she's still a best friend.

380
00:41:27,280 --> 00:41:34,280
Sherita gave me a lot and she never took anything back from me and that's what a real friend is.

381
00:41:34,280 --> 00:41:38,280
If I have a baby, we can share it.

382
00:41:38,280 --> 00:41:45,280
And I promise, I promise, I'll name her after you.

383
00:41:45,280 --> 00:41:51,280
If I saw Sherita, I'd tell her that I didn't forget the promise, you know.

384
00:41:51,280 --> 00:41:54,280
That's what I tell her, I didn't forget the promise.

385
00:41:58,280 --> 00:42:03,280
I promise, I'll name her after you.

386
00:42:03,280 --> 00:42:09,280
A few minutes after Nikki's story aired, we learned that Sherita Lynn Harding was alive and well and living in Oklahoma.

387
00:42:09,280 --> 00:42:13,280
We immediately contacted Nikki with a good news.

388
00:42:16,280 --> 00:42:21,280
Just ten days after our broadcast and more than twenty-one years after they said goodbye,

389
00:42:21,280 --> 00:42:27,280
Sherita Lynn Harding and Nikki Crowder were finally reunited at Nikki's home in Los Angeles.

390
00:42:27,280 --> 00:42:29,280
Oh my God.

391
00:42:29,280 --> 00:42:31,280
I can't believe it.

392
00:42:31,280 --> 00:42:32,280
It's been a long time.

393
00:42:32,280 --> 00:42:33,280
Twenty.

394
00:42:33,280 --> 00:42:34,280
I'm so glad to see you.

395
00:42:34,280 --> 00:42:36,280
I'm so glad you're alive.

396
00:42:36,280 --> 00:42:39,280
I don't think Nikki has changed that much.

397
00:42:39,280 --> 00:42:42,280
She was always caring, giving person.

398
00:42:42,280 --> 00:42:44,280
It seems like she still is the same.

399
00:42:44,280 --> 00:42:50,280
She would have to be to try to find me in, you know, all these years and be so persistent about it.

400
00:42:52,280 --> 00:43:00,280
Father in the name of Jesus, watch over this child, protect her all of the days of her life.

401
00:43:00,280 --> 00:43:07,280
On October 20th, 1990, Nikki Crowder was finally able to fulfill her promise.

402
00:43:07,280 --> 00:43:10,280
A child is a gift you can't buy.

403
00:43:10,280 --> 00:43:16,280
It's the most perfect gift in the world and it comes from God and nobody should be deprived of that.

404
00:43:16,280 --> 00:43:27,280
Whether they have it naturally or can share it with somebody, you know, and that's something that I wanted to share with Sherita.

405
00:43:27,280 --> 00:43:34,280
Because of all the joy and strength she gave me, I could give her back something that she missed.

406
00:43:34,280 --> 00:43:37,280
Lord, bless them even as God parents.

407
00:43:37,280 --> 00:43:39,280
Cause your spirit to rest upon them.

408
00:43:39,280 --> 00:43:43,280
Being a godmother is special to me because I don't have any kids.

409
00:43:43,280 --> 00:43:51,280
And, you know, this is giving me a child of my own that I, you know, can share.

410
00:43:52,280 --> 00:43:54,280
I'm just honored.

411
00:43:54,280 --> 00:43:58,280
So I'll try to live up to it as best as I can.

412
00:43:58,280 --> 00:44:00,280
I'm very happy.

413
00:44:00,280 --> 00:44:03,280
Very happy that I've got Sherita.

414
00:44:03,280 --> 00:44:09,280
And now I can go on and I can go on on a positive note because she's a liar.

415
00:44:10,280 --> 00:44:14,280
And I just like to say thanks to everybody.

416
00:44:15,280 --> 00:44:21,280
I christened the show here, Kennedy Crowder.

417
00:44:39,280 --> 00:44:41,280
All the stories.

418
00:45:09,280 --> 00:45:11,280
Thank you.