1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:07,000 This program is about unsolved mysteries. 2 00:00:07,000 --> 00:00:10,000 Whenever possible, the actual family members and police 3 00:00:10,000 --> 00:00:13,000 officials have participated in recreating the events. 4 00:00:13,000 --> 00:00:16,000 What you are about to see is not a news broadcast. 5 00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:25,000 In 1949, Annie Curry lost custody of her two young boys in a 6 00:00:25,000 --> 00:00:28,000 bitter divorce case and vanished from their lives. 7 00:00:28,000 --> 00:00:31,000 Her son Jim has never forgotten his mother, even though he 8 00:00:31,000 --> 00:00:35,000 hasn't seen her for more than 40 years. 9 00:00:35,000 --> 00:00:38,000 Recently, two inmates escaped from an Oklahoma jail and embarked 10 00:00:38,000 --> 00:00:41,000 on a vicious murder spree in which four people have lost 11 00:00:41,000 --> 00:00:43,000 their lives. 12 00:00:43,000 --> 00:00:46,000 These dangerous fugitives must be captured before they kill 13 00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:48,000 again. 14 00:00:48,000 --> 00:00:51,000 And scoss in her sprawling mansion, Ellen McClung Berry was 15 00:00:51,000 --> 00:00:55,000 a classic southern lady, imperious, well-bred and proud. 16 00:00:55,000 --> 00:01:00,000 In 1978, an elegant, mysterious visitor, Charm Mrs. Berry, 17 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:03,000 moved into her estate, became her most trusted confidant, 18 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:07,000 and robbed her blind. 19 00:01:07,000 --> 00:01:11,000 Join me for another edition of Unsolved Mysteries. 20 00:01:41,000 --> 00:01:43,000 Hey, Santa! 21 00:01:43,000 --> 00:01:45,000 Hey! 22 00:01:45,000 --> 00:01:48,000 Yeah, yeah, see, clear winged ones. 23 00:01:48,000 --> 00:01:50,000 Hey, Santa! 24 00:01:50,000 --> 00:01:52,000 Hey! 25 00:01:52,000 --> 00:01:55,000 Yeah, yeah, see, clear winged ones. 26 00:01:55,000 --> 00:01:59,000 On September 19, 1991, two-time convicted killer, 27 00:01:59,000 --> 00:02:02,000 Michael St. Clair, orchestrated a daring escape from 28 00:02:02,000 --> 00:02:05,000 Bryan County Jail in Durant, Oklahoma. 29 00:02:05,000 --> 00:02:08,000 The two-time convicted killer, Michael St. Clair, 30 00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:11,000 was arrested in a car crash in the city of San Diego, 31 00:02:11,000 --> 00:02:13,000 in the city of San Diego. 32 00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:15,000 Michael St. Clair orchestrated a daring escape from 33 00:02:15,000 --> 00:02:18,000 Bryan County Jail in Durant, Oklahoma. 34 00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:20,000 What's the matter? 35 00:02:20,000 --> 00:02:22,000 Shut up. 36 00:02:22,000 --> 00:02:23,000 Get your heart out of here. 37 00:02:23,000 --> 00:02:26,000 Get the ground up and call the police. 38 00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:28,000 St. Clair released fellow inmate Dennis Reese. 39 00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:31,000 He was a waiting trial for robbery and murder. 40 00:02:39,000 --> 00:02:42,000 That night, Michael St. Clair and Dennis Reese 41 00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:45,000 ignited a murderous crime spree that is stretched 42 00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:48,000 across eight states and left at least four dead in its wake. 43 00:02:52,000 --> 00:02:54,000 Authorities urgently need your help to capture 44 00:02:54,000 --> 00:02:56,000 Michael St. Clair and Dennis Reese. 45 00:02:56,000 --> 00:02:59,000 With each passing day, the odds increase that another 46 00:02:59,000 --> 00:03:02,000 innocent person will fall victim to their brutal rampage. 47 00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:04,000 Please watch carefully. 48 00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:07,000 You may help save someone's life. 49 00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:11,000 Less than three months ago, Michael St. Clair was convicted 50 00:03:11,000 --> 00:03:14,000 on two counts of first-degree murder and was sentenced 51 00:03:14,000 --> 00:03:18,000 to three consecutive life prison terms. 52 00:03:18,000 --> 00:03:21,000 Michael St. Clair has been involved with various 53 00:03:21,000 --> 00:03:24,000 drug trafficking organizations in southern Oklahoma 54 00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:26,000 as well as northern Texas. 55 00:03:26,000 --> 00:03:29,000 His uncle was moving in on his drug operations 56 00:03:29,000 --> 00:03:32,000 and he felt that his profits were being threatened, 57 00:03:32,000 --> 00:03:35,000 so he contracted out to have his uncle killed. 58 00:03:35,000 --> 00:03:40,000 After his uncle was killed, he then assassinated 59 00:03:40,000 --> 00:03:43,000 the hit man. 60 00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:46,000 Two days after the fugitives escaped, 61 00:03:46,000 --> 00:03:48,000 newspaper reporter Tom Mullins received a chilling 62 00:03:48,000 --> 00:03:51,000 phone call from Michael St. Clair. 63 00:03:51,000 --> 00:03:53,000 Just a minute, man, let me get my tape recorder hooked up. 64 00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:56,000 For almost 20 months now, I've been covering Michael St. Clair. 65 00:03:56,000 --> 00:03:59,000 I've gotten to know him fairly well and I've always tried 66 00:03:59,000 --> 00:04:03,000 to give his side of the story in all fairness. 67 00:04:03,000 --> 00:04:07,000 When he got out, I was the obvious choice for him 68 00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:10,000 to get his message out, that message being that 69 00:04:10,000 --> 00:04:15,000 he wouldn't be taken alive and that when the time came, 70 00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:18,000 if any law enforcement came around his court 71 00:04:18,000 --> 00:04:21,000 was anyone wearing a badge or a kill. 72 00:04:21,000 --> 00:04:24,000 Three weeks later, near Elizabeth Town, Kentucky, 73 00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:27,000 a state trooper pulled over a pickup truck 74 00:04:27,000 --> 00:04:31,000 which was seen fleeing from a burning vehicle. 75 00:04:31,000 --> 00:04:34,000 As the pickup truck came to a halt, 76 00:04:34,000 --> 00:04:37,000 the man on the passenger side, who we now believe was St. Clair, 77 00:04:37,000 --> 00:04:43,000 instantly got out of the truck. 78 00:04:43,000 --> 00:04:50,000 The man fired at the trooper's car two times. 79 00:04:50,000 --> 00:04:54,000 The trooper fortunately was not injured at all. 80 00:04:54,000 --> 00:04:57,000 Within just a matter of minutes, the maroon truck 81 00:04:57,000 --> 00:05:01,000 was actually found disabled and abandoned along the interstate. 82 00:05:01,000 --> 00:05:03,000 Apparently, it had crossed the interstate 83 00:05:03,000 --> 00:05:07,000 and in doing so had blown both front tires. 84 00:05:07,000 --> 00:05:10,000 The truck belonged to 56-year-old Francis Brady, 85 00:05:10,000 --> 00:05:14,000 a retired distillery worker and father of three. 86 00:05:14,000 --> 00:05:16,000 Brady had disappeared 12 hours earlier 87 00:05:16,000 --> 00:05:21,000 after cashing a check at a convenience store. 88 00:05:21,000 --> 00:05:24,000 Brady's body was found approximately 12 miles north 89 00:05:24,000 --> 00:05:27,000 of Elizabeth Town, Kentucky. 90 00:05:27,000 --> 00:05:29,000 He had been shot execution style. 91 00:05:29,000 --> 00:05:34,000 He had been handcuffed and had been shot in the head. 92 00:05:34,000 --> 00:05:37,000 What is remarkable about this type of execution 93 00:05:37,000 --> 00:05:41,000 is that it's almost identical to the way St. Clair's uncle, 94 00:05:41,000 --> 00:05:45,000 Ronnie St. Clair, had been executed a few years before. 95 00:05:45,000 --> 00:05:48,000 The other truck the St. Clair and Reese had set fire to 96 00:05:48,000 --> 00:05:54,000 was registered to a Denver, Colorado paramedic named Tim Keeling. 97 00:05:54,000 --> 00:05:57,000 Like Francis Brady, Keeling also vanished 98 00:05:57,000 --> 00:06:01,000 after patronizing a convenience store. 99 00:06:01,000 --> 00:06:03,000 His body was found in a roadside ditch 100 00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:08,000 outside of Clayton, New Mexico. 101 00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:11,000 Five days after firing on the state trooper, 102 00:06:11,000 --> 00:06:13,000 Michael St. Clair and Dennis Reese 103 00:06:13,000 --> 00:06:18,000 apparently struck again this time in Tennessee. 104 00:06:18,000 --> 00:06:20,000 Two men matching their descriptions 105 00:06:20,000 --> 00:06:23,000 robbed a video store in Myland, Tennessee. 106 00:06:23,000 --> 00:06:25,000 They brutally executed the clerk, 107 00:06:25,000 --> 00:06:29,000 a 20-year-old mother of two. 108 00:06:29,000 --> 00:06:31,000 30 minutes later, the same two men 109 00:06:31,000 --> 00:06:34,000 robbed another video store just eight miles away. 110 00:06:34,000 --> 00:06:41,000 Again, the young female clerk was gunned down in cold blood. 111 00:06:41,000 --> 00:06:46,000 Individuals who would kill for $150 or $200 112 00:06:46,000 --> 00:06:49,000 are extremely desperate individuals. 113 00:06:49,000 --> 00:06:53,000 It indicates that they do not have any type of support apparatus 114 00:06:53,000 --> 00:06:57,000 going for them, so these are people who are constantly moving. 115 00:06:57,000 --> 00:07:00,000 They're very concerned about staying in one location 116 00:07:00,000 --> 00:07:02,000 for any period of time. 117 00:07:02,000 --> 00:07:04,000 They're very paranoid, they're very dangerous, 118 00:07:04,000 --> 00:07:08,000 and will take any actions to prevent their apprehension. 119 00:07:08,000 --> 00:07:11,000 These individuals seem to be leaving no witnesses 120 00:07:11,000 --> 00:07:13,000 in their crimes that they're committing, 121 00:07:13,000 --> 00:07:15,000 and so the public needs to be very much aware of that, 122 00:07:15,000 --> 00:07:18,000 and if they see them, absolutely do not approach them 123 00:07:18,000 --> 00:07:21,000 because they are extremely violent. 124 00:07:21,000 --> 00:07:44,000 Music 125 00:07:44,000 --> 00:07:48,000 Next, a gothic tale of murder, betrayal and greed, 126 00:07:48,000 --> 00:07:52,000 set against the fading background of the Old South. 127 00:07:52,000 --> 00:08:03,000 Music 128 00:08:03,000 --> 00:08:06,000 The state of Tennessee, like much of the American South, 129 00:08:06,000 --> 00:08:09,000 is dotted with majestic antebellum estates. 130 00:08:09,000 --> 00:08:12,000 A type of aristocracy still thrives here, 131 00:08:12,000 --> 00:08:16,000 and Ellen McClung Berry is typical of that upper-crust group. 132 00:08:16,000 --> 00:08:19,000 By 1978, when she was 85 years old, 133 00:08:19,000 --> 00:08:23,000 Mrs. Berry lived in solitary splendor on a mountain top 134 00:08:23,000 --> 00:08:25,000 outside the city of Knoxville, 135 00:08:25,000 --> 00:08:28,000 which had been founded by her great-great-grandfather. 136 00:08:28,000 --> 00:08:30,000 They did a gorgeous morning. 137 00:08:30,000 --> 00:08:32,000 Oh, yes, it's very beautiful. 138 00:08:32,000 --> 00:08:35,000 You ready for your teens, Mrs. Berry? 139 00:08:35,000 --> 00:08:37,000 I think she would have been considered 140 00:08:37,000 --> 00:08:39,000 definitely one of the local grand-doms of the old school, 141 00:08:39,000 --> 00:08:42,000 and probably there were not many. 142 00:08:42,000 --> 00:08:44,000 That means that you can live on the mountain like she did 143 00:08:44,000 --> 00:08:47,000 and have everybody come to you, like Muhammad. 144 00:08:47,000 --> 00:08:50,000 It's just that simple. 145 00:08:50,000 --> 00:08:53,000 Music 146 00:08:53,000 --> 00:08:57,000 One of the people who came to the mountain back in 1978 147 00:08:57,000 --> 00:09:00,000 was Dan Tondevald, a vaguely mysterious man 148 00:09:00,000 --> 00:09:02,000 who claimed to be from Denmark. 149 00:09:02,000 --> 00:09:04,000 For more than 15 years, 150 00:09:04,000 --> 00:09:06,000 he had corresponded with Mrs. Berry, 151 00:09:06,000 --> 00:09:09,000 but the true nature of their relationship was unclear. 152 00:09:09,000 --> 00:09:13,000 Sometimes Mrs. Berry said Tondevald was her godson. 153 00:09:13,000 --> 00:09:16,000 Sometimes that he was a friend of her late son Hugh. 154 00:09:16,000 --> 00:09:18,000 And how is your health? 155 00:09:18,000 --> 00:09:20,000 Well, my health is great, Dan. 156 00:09:20,000 --> 00:09:21,000 Are you sure? 157 00:09:21,000 --> 00:09:23,000 I'm sure. A little drained emotionally, 158 00:09:23,000 --> 00:09:24,000 but otherwise I'm fine. 159 00:09:24,000 --> 00:09:26,000 You look wonderful, really. 160 00:09:26,000 --> 00:09:29,000 I had the strangest gut feeling that this kid was bad news, 161 00:09:29,000 --> 00:09:32,000 but he was making Ellen happy. 162 00:09:32,000 --> 00:09:34,000 She was happy that he was there, 163 00:09:34,000 --> 00:09:38,000 and if he was, in fact, a friend of her late son Hugh, 164 00:09:38,000 --> 00:09:42,000 for lots of reasons, I was happy that she was happy, 165 00:09:42,000 --> 00:09:46,000 and at least somebody was on the mountain with her at night 166 00:09:46,000 --> 00:09:49,000 in case she fell or got sick and could get help. 167 00:09:52,000 --> 00:09:55,000 He was taking the place of her son. 168 00:09:55,000 --> 00:09:58,000 He looked like her son, apparently. 169 00:09:58,000 --> 00:10:00,000 And I know that was the attraction. 170 00:10:00,000 --> 00:10:03,000 Mrs. Berry's attraction to Dan 171 00:10:03,000 --> 00:10:06,000 is that he was playing that role. 172 00:10:08,000 --> 00:10:10,000 Mrs. Berry's only child, Hugh, 173 00:10:10,000 --> 00:10:13,000 had left a dark stain on the family tree. 174 00:10:13,000 --> 00:10:16,000 In 1951, at the age of 18, 175 00:10:16,000 --> 00:10:19,000 Hugh Berry flew into a rage over his inheritance, 176 00:10:19,000 --> 00:10:23,000 turned a shotgun on his grandmother, and killed her. 177 00:10:26,000 --> 00:10:30,000 A judge ruled Hugh Berry mentally incompetent to stand trial. 178 00:10:30,000 --> 00:10:32,000 Rumor had it that Hugh was lobotomized 179 00:10:32,000 --> 00:10:34,000 and sent to live in Mexico. 180 00:10:34,000 --> 00:10:36,000 In New Year's Eve, 1963, 181 00:10:36,000 --> 00:10:39,000 Mr. and Mrs. Berry received word that Hugh had died of pneumonia. 182 00:10:39,000 --> 00:10:43,000 Later, Mrs. Berry hinted that he had in fact committed suicide. 183 00:10:43,000 --> 00:10:45,000 According to his friends, 184 00:10:45,000 --> 00:10:48,000 Hugh's body was never returned to the United States. 185 00:10:48,000 --> 00:10:51,000 When her husband died in February of 1978, 186 00:10:51,000 --> 00:10:54,000 Ellen Berry was left all alone. 187 00:10:59,000 --> 00:11:01,000 Almost too conveniently, 188 00:11:01,000 --> 00:11:03,000 the mysterious stranger from Denmark 189 00:11:03,000 --> 00:11:06,000 stepped in to fill the void in Mrs. Berry's life. 190 00:11:06,000 --> 00:11:08,000 Dan Tandovald moved into her guest house 191 00:11:08,000 --> 00:11:10,000 and quickly took over the day-to-day operation 192 00:11:10,000 --> 00:11:13,000 of her estate, Berrymount. 193 00:11:13,000 --> 00:11:17,000 Before long, he had made himself indispensable to Mrs. Berry. 194 00:11:17,000 --> 00:11:20,000 Not only was Tandoval running Berrymount, 195 00:11:20,000 --> 00:11:22,000 he was running her. 196 00:11:22,000 --> 00:11:24,000 I have some checks for you to sign if you don't mind. 197 00:11:24,000 --> 00:11:28,000 Sure, and I'm so glad you're taking care of this for me. 198 00:11:28,000 --> 00:11:31,000 I didn't know this place was in such disrepair. 199 00:11:31,000 --> 00:11:34,000 Mrs. Berry signed anything Tandovald put in front of her. 200 00:11:34,000 --> 00:11:37,000 She also began to cater to his predilection 201 00:11:37,000 --> 00:11:40,000 for expensive show horses. 202 00:11:40,000 --> 00:11:45,000 By 1983, Dan Tandovald owned a stable 203 00:11:45,000 --> 00:11:49,000 of seven Tennessee walkers financed by Mrs. Berry. 204 00:11:49,000 --> 00:11:51,000 He named all the horses Berrymount, 205 00:11:51,000 --> 00:11:55,000 adding only the numbers 1 through 7 to individualize them. 206 00:11:55,000 --> 00:11:57,000 Mrs. Berry seemed delighted to finance 207 00:11:57,000 --> 00:12:01,000 what was fast becoming a million-dollar hobby. 208 00:12:02,000 --> 00:12:05,000 Mrs. Berry's words to me was, 209 00:12:05,000 --> 00:12:10,000 Mr. Tandovald's hobby did not make a dent in my fortune. 210 00:12:10,000 --> 00:12:13,000 That was a hobby I wanted him to have. 211 00:12:13,000 --> 00:12:15,000 Yes, I would like to go ahead and close the deal 212 00:12:15,000 --> 00:12:17,000 in that stallion for $20,000. 213 00:12:17,000 --> 00:12:21,000 It was as if Dan Tandovald had cast a spell over Mrs. Berry. 214 00:12:21,000 --> 00:12:26,000 In April of 1982, she granted him power of attorney. 215 00:12:26,000 --> 00:12:29,000 She was a willing pigeon, so to speak. 216 00:12:29,000 --> 00:12:32,000 Other people, I think, have tried to tell her 217 00:12:32,000 --> 00:12:35,000 that there was something wrong, 218 00:12:35,000 --> 00:12:38,000 that he just didn't make sense, 219 00:12:38,000 --> 00:12:40,000 possibly was a con artist. 220 00:12:40,000 --> 00:12:41,000 I don't know. 221 00:12:41,000 --> 00:12:43,000 And she ignored it. 222 00:12:43,000 --> 00:12:47,000 In 1984, Tandovald talked Mrs. Berry 223 00:12:47,000 --> 00:12:50,000 into taking a winter vacation in Charleston, South Carolina. 224 00:12:50,000 --> 00:12:54,000 Before they left, he composed a classified ad for a chauffeur 225 00:12:54,000 --> 00:12:56,000 requesting men who were single 226 00:12:56,000 --> 00:12:59,000 and asking that applicants submit a photograph. 227 00:12:59,000 --> 00:13:04,000 Secretly, Tandovald placed the ad in the Charleston papers. 228 00:13:06,000 --> 00:13:09,000 At the end of their four months in Charleston, 229 00:13:09,000 --> 00:13:12,000 Mrs. Berry and Tandovald made plans to return home. 230 00:13:12,000 --> 00:13:15,000 She and her hired companion would fly to Tennessee. 231 00:13:15,000 --> 00:13:19,000 Tandovald would drive the Mercedes back to Berrymount. 232 00:13:19,000 --> 00:13:22,000 Susanian, I thought we left lights on when we left. 233 00:13:22,000 --> 00:13:23,000 Mrs. Berry, we did. 234 00:13:23,000 --> 00:13:26,000 Mrs. Berry and her companion arrived at Berrymount 235 00:13:26,000 --> 00:13:28,000 on March 31, 1985. 236 00:13:28,000 --> 00:13:31,000 There was no sign of the Mercedes or of Dan Tandovald. 237 00:13:31,000 --> 00:13:32,000 Susanian! 238 00:13:34,000 --> 00:13:35,000 Yes, Mrs. Berry? 239 00:13:35,000 --> 00:13:36,000 The phone's dead, do you? 240 00:13:36,000 --> 00:13:40,000 The telephone at Berrymount, as well as all the utilities, 241 00:13:40,000 --> 00:13:42,000 had been inexplicably cut off. 242 00:13:44,000 --> 00:13:47,000 The bank is going to foreclose on the house. 243 00:13:47,000 --> 00:13:49,000 Your checking accounts and saving accounts 244 00:13:49,000 --> 00:13:51,000 are completely depleted. 245 00:13:51,000 --> 00:13:54,000 Mrs. Berry was virtually bankrupt. 246 00:13:54,000 --> 00:13:57,000 Tandovald had even borrowed money against Berrymount 247 00:13:57,000 --> 00:13:59,000 to the tune of $85,000. 248 00:13:59,000 --> 00:14:01,000 For the first time in her life, 249 00:14:01,000 --> 00:14:03,000 Mrs. Berry had a mortgage to pay. 250 00:14:03,000 --> 00:14:07,000 For the first time in her life, she had no way to pay it. 251 00:14:07,000 --> 00:14:09,000 Her money was gone. 252 00:14:09,000 --> 00:14:11,000 Her checking account was empty. 253 00:14:11,000 --> 00:14:14,000 He just gutted her. 254 00:14:14,000 --> 00:14:18,000 Took away her wealth and her pride and everything. 255 00:14:21,000 --> 00:14:25,000 Meanwhile, Dan Tandovald turned up 100 miles south of Charleston 256 00:14:25,000 --> 00:14:29,000 at an exclusive resort on Fripp Island, South Carolina. 257 00:14:29,000 --> 00:14:31,000 Unaware that his secret was out, 258 00:14:31,000 --> 00:14:34,000 Tandovald continued to live in high style. 259 00:14:34,000 --> 00:14:35,000 Mr. Tandovald. 260 00:14:35,000 --> 00:14:36,000 How do you do? 261 00:14:36,000 --> 00:14:37,000 Fine, sir, and you? 262 00:14:37,000 --> 00:14:38,000 Fine, thank you. 263 00:14:38,000 --> 00:14:40,000 I would like to speak to you about possibly upgrading 264 00:14:40,000 --> 00:14:42,000 my accommodations to something more suitable. 265 00:14:42,000 --> 00:14:44,000 Tandovald had been running up massive bills 266 00:14:44,000 --> 00:14:46,000 on Mrs. Berry's credit cards, 267 00:14:46,000 --> 00:14:48,000 but now that jig was up, 268 00:14:48,000 --> 00:14:50,000 all the cards were over their limit. 269 00:14:50,000 --> 00:14:52,000 If it was substantial, 270 00:14:52,000 --> 00:14:54,000 I'm going to have to request some sort of payment. 271 00:14:54,000 --> 00:14:56,000 Let me go back to my villa. 272 00:14:56,000 --> 00:14:58,000 I shall get you a check and pay you immediately. 273 00:14:58,000 --> 00:14:59,000 I'll be right back. 274 00:14:59,000 --> 00:15:01,000 Yes, thank you, Mr. Tandovald. 275 00:15:01,000 --> 00:15:03,000 Dan Tandovald never returned. 276 00:15:03,000 --> 00:15:06,000 The next day, a hastily scrawl suicide note 277 00:15:06,000 --> 00:15:10,000 and a last will in testament were found in his suite. 278 00:15:10,000 --> 00:15:14,000 Two weeks later, 279 00:15:14,000 --> 00:15:17,000 in a swampy, deserted area of Fripp Island, 280 00:15:17,000 --> 00:15:19,000 a man's body was found. 281 00:15:19,000 --> 00:15:24,000 He had apparently shot himself in the left temple. 282 00:15:24,000 --> 00:15:26,000 An antique gun was a few inches away. 283 00:15:26,000 --> 00:15:28,000 It belonged to Ellen Berry. 284 00:15:28,000 --> 00:15:32,000 A dog also shot through the head lay nearby. 285 00:15:32,000 --> 00:15:35,000 The dead man carried no identification, 286 00:15:35,000 --> 00:15:38,000 but he did carry Ellen Berry's credit cards. 287 00:15:38,000 --> 00:15:41,000 What we need to do is have the security guard last. 288 00:15:41,000 --> 00:15:44,000 The body was partially decomposed. 289 00:15:44,000 --> 00:15:47,000 Nevertheless, the coroner brought in a resort security guard 290 00:15:47,000 --> 00:15:49,000 to identify him. 291 00:15:49,000 --> 00:15:52,000 It's going to be difficult because he's been dead for a while. 292 00:15:52,000 --> 00:15:55,000 According to what the security guard said, 293 00:15:55,000 --> 00:15:58,000 he is the person who came to Fripp Island 294 00:15:58,000 --> 00:16:00,000 and said, I am Dan Tandovald. 295 00:16:00,000 --> 00:16:01,000 It looks like him. 296 00:16:01,000 --> 00:16:03,000 And the best I can tell, sir, that's Mr. Tandovald. 297 00:16:03,000 --> 00:16:05,000 Possibly may be considered more circumstantial 298 00:16:05,000 --> 00:16:07,000 than anything else. 299 00:16:07,000 --> 00:16:10,000 Investigation revealed that he allegedly did not have 300 00:16:10,000 --> 00:16:15,000 a social security card nor a driver's license 301 00:16:15,000 --> 00:16:19,000 and had supposedly never had either of these. 302 00:16:21,000 --> 00:16:23,000 The body was immediately cremated 303 00:16:23,000 --> 00:16:26,000 as Tandovald had requested in his handwritten will. 304 00:16:26,000 --> 00:16:28,000 His death was ruled a suicide, 305 00:16:28,000 --> 00:16:31,000 but not everyone believed the man found in the swamp 306 00:16:31,000 --> 00:16:34,000 was Dan Tandovald. 307 00:16:34,000 --> 00:16:36,000 I'm not sure he's dead. 308 00:16:36,000 --> 00:16:39,000 Nobody that knew him identified him. 309 00:16:39,000 --> 00:16:41,000 You know, the coroner found him, 310 00:16:41,000 --> 00:16:44,000 the police officer kind of secured the guard to deal. 311 00:16:44,000 --> 00:16:46,000 That's him, and he hadn't seen him, 312 00:16:46,000 --> 00:16:49,000 but just driving by in a little security shack. 313 00:16:49,000 --> 00:16:51,000 Well, you can't negate the possibility 314 00:16:51,000 --> 00:16:53,000 that he didn't indeed kill himself. 315 00:16:53,000 --> 00:16:55,000 That's possible. 316 00:16:55,000 --> 00:16:57,000 I just don't believe it. 317 00:16:57,000 --> 00:16:59,000 It doesn't make sense to me that somebody who went 318 00:16:59,000 --> 00:17:02,000 through all that trouble to get all that money 319 00:17:02,000 --> 00:17:04,000 and to be as nefarious about the whole thing 320 00:17:04,000 --> 00:17:06,000 from beginning to end as he was, 321 00:17:06,000 --> 00:17:09,000 was out to kill himself. 322 00:17:09,000 --> 00:17:11,000 A month after the cremation, 323 00:17:11,000 --> 00:17:13,000 Pete Ballard found a copy of Tandovald's 324 00:17:13,000 --> 00:17:18,000 classified ad for a chauffer in the Barrymont Guest Cottage. 325 00:17:18,000 --> 00:17:22,000 Now, I would find it ridiculous that he would need to 326 00:17:22,000 --> 00:17:25,000 put an ad in the Charleston paper 327 00:17:25,000 --> 00:17:28,000 for a chauffer for Barrymont. 328 00:17:28,000 --> 00:17:32,000 You can get them in the area, I'm sure, just as easily. 329 00:17:32,000 --> 00:17:36,000 And I suddenly realized that maybe he was looking for a look-alike. 330 00:17:36,000 --> 00:17:39,000 Absolutely gorgeous place. I think you'd enjoy it. 331 00:17:39,000 --> 00:17:42,000 Ballard is convinced that Tandovald remained in South Carolina 332 00:17:42,000 --> 00:17:46,000 not to hire a chauffer, but to find a victim. 333 00:17:46,000 --> 00:17:48,000 Come on, doesn't have to trust you. 334 00:17:48,000 --> 00:17:51,000 The look-alike, I feel, would have been the person 335 00:17:51,000 --> 00:17:55,000 he ultimately killed, and then he just sort of scooted off 336 00:17:55,000 --> 00:17:59,000 to wherever he had planned to go. 337 00:17:59,000 --> 00:18:02,000 It was never reported that he was ever seen in the company 338 00:18:02,000 --> 00:18:04,000 of anybody, male or female. 339 00:18:04,000 --> 00:18:08,000 So there's no reason for me to believe 340 00:18:08,000 --> 00:18:11,000 that it was anybody but Dan Tandovald. 341 00:18:11,000 --> 00:18:14,000 I'm not going to say that that's not a possibility, 342 00:18:14,000 --> 00:18:18,000 but I certainly do not believe it to be one. 343 00:18:18,000 --> 00:18:21,000 The authorities remain convinced that Dan Tandovald 344 00:18:21,000 --> 00:18:24,000 had committed suicide, yet a shadow of doubt lingered, 345 00:18:24,000 --> 00:18:28,000 giving rise to a piece about rages gossip. 346 00:18:28,000 --> 00:18:33,000 The idea is that Dan Tandovald is, in fact, 347 00:18:33,000 --> 00:18:37,000 Mr. and Mrs. Barry's son, who was supposed to have died in 348 00:18:37,000 --> 00:18:42,000 Mexico, a very easy way to bring somebody back 349 00:18:42,000 --> 00:18:45,000 under an assumed name to get off the hook 350 00:18:45,000 --> 00:18:49,000 after having shot and killed his grandmother. 351 00:18:52,000 --> 00:18:55,000 Adding fuel to the rumor that Tandovald and Huberi 352 00:18:55,000 --> 00:18:58,000 were the same person was a complete lack of any official 353 00:18:58,000 --> 00:19:00,000 record of Dan Tandovald. 354 00:19:00,000 --> 00:19:04,000 But finally, Tandovald's resume was found among his letters 355 00:19:04,000 --> 00:19:07,000 to Mrs. Barry, which had been stored away. 356 00:19:07,000 --> 00:19:11,000 The resume listed his hometown as Las Vegas, Nevada. 357 00:19:11,000 --> 00:19:13,000 Mr. Tandovald, please. 358 00:19:13,000 --> 00:19:15,000 An unsolved mysteries researcher turned up this 359 00:19:15,000 --> 00:19:19,000 1951 yearbook from Las Vegas High School. 360 00:19:19,000 --> 00:19:22,000 Dan Tandovald was a member of the senior class, 361 00:19:22,000 --> 00:19:25,000 a not surprisingly president of the Thespian Club. 362 00:19:25,000 --> 00:19:28,000 Many people in Knoxville considered Tandovald's 363 00:19:28,000 --> 00:19:31,000 Danish accent an affectation. 364 00:19:31,000 --> 00:19:34,000 Perhaps it was simply bad acting. 365 00:19:34,000 --> 00:19:37,000 In any case, the rumor that Dan Tandovald and Huberi 366 00:19:37,000 --> 00:19:42,000 are the same person has finally been put to rest. 367 00:19:42,000 --> 00:19:46,000 I think he was her son's replacement. 368 00:19:46,000 --> 00:19:52,000 And here is this lovely little old lady left. 369 00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:54,000 Left without any money. 370 00:19:54,000 --> 00:19:56,000 I mean, she is poor. 371 00:19:56,000 --> 00:20:01,000 But also left without any love. 372 00:20:01,000 --> 00:20:04,000 I mean, what does she have at this point? 373 00:20:04,000 --> 00:20:06,000 Nothing. 374 00:20:06,000 --> 00:20:09,000 Today, Ellen McClung-Barry is 97 years old 375 00:20:09,000 --> 00:20:12,000 and has lost much of her ability to communicate. 376 00:20:12,000 --> 00:20:14,000 She lives in an apartment financed by the interest 377 00:20:14,000 --> 00:20:18,000 on an endowment she made to the University of Tennessee. 378 00:20:18,000 --> 00:20:21,000 No one knows exactly how much money Mrs. Barry lost 379 00:20:21,000 --> 00:20:25,000 to Dan Tandovald, but estimates run into the millions. 380 00:20:25,000 --> 00:20:28,000 Authorities believe he transferred Mrs. Barry's funds 381 00:20:28,000 --> 00:20:32,000 to European accounts, possibly in France or Denmark. 382 00:20:32,000 --> 00:20:49,000 Music 383 00:20:49,000 --> 00:20:52,000 On a recent broadcast, we feature the compelling story 384 00:20:52,000 --> 00:20:55,000 of John Nellis, a man whose life has been torn apart 385 00:20:55,000 --> 00:20:57,000 by two wars. 386 00:20:57,000 --> 00:21:01,000 During one conflict, John lost his father, an American GI. 387 00:21:01,000 --> 00:21:04,000 In the other, he lost his son. 388 00:21:04,000 --> 00:21:07,000 Still wish he could come with me. 389 00:21:07,000 --> 00:21:10,000 When John was five years old, his father, Melvin Nellis, 390 00:21:10,000 --> 00:21:12,000 was ordered back to the United States 391 00:21:12,000 --> 00:21:15,000 from his duty in war-ravelling China. 392 00:21:15,000 --> 00:21:17,000 Because his parents weren't legally married, 393 00:21:17,000 --> 00:21:19,000 John and his mother of Vietnamese national 394 00:21:19,000 --> 00:21:21,000 were forced to stay behind. 395 00:21:21,000 --> 00:21:24,000 John never saw his father again. 396 00:21:27,000 --> 00:21:30,000 27 years later, John was among the last group of people 397 00:21:30,000 --> 00:21:34,000 to flee South Vietnam after the U.S. withdrew its troops. 398 00:21:34,000 --> 00:21:38,000 Tragically, amid the confusion and chaos, 399 00:21:38,000 --> 00:21:42,000 John's five-year-old son Daniel was left behind. 400 00:21:42,000 --> 00:21:47,000 If my father and my son watching me right now, 401 00:21:47,000 --> 00:21:51,000 I would like to tell them how much I miss them 402 00:21:51,000 --> 00:21:55,000 and I love them. 403 00:21:55,000 --> 00:22:00,000 And I'd like to reunite and see them again. 404 00:22:03,000 --> 00:22:05,000 Thanks to our broadcast, John Nellis learned 405 00:22:05,000 --> 00:22:09,000 that his father's now retired and living in Tokyo, Japan. 406 00:22:09,000 --> 00:22:11,000 Incredibly, just three weeks later, 407 00:22:11,000 --> 00:22:14,000 John's search for his son Daniel also came to an end 408 00:22:14,000 --> 00:22:18,000 when they were reunited after more than 17 years. 409 00:22:35,000 --> 00:22:38,000 For so many years, I miss him. 410 00:22:38,000 --> 00:22:41,000 I think of him all the time and I'm so happy to see him. 411 00:22:41,000 --> 00:22:44,000 This is a real dream come true. 412 00:22:47,000 --> 00:22:49,000 It's a miracle. 413 00:22:51,000 --> 00:22:54,000 When I saw my dad, I was so excited and very happy. 414 00:22:57,000 --> 00:22:59,000 When I looked into his eyes and saw his family, 415 00:22:59,000 --> 00:23:01,000 I found happiness. 416 00:23:03,000 --> 00:23:06,000 Daniel's first day in America was overwhelming. 417 00:23:06,000 --> 00:23:08,000 Not only did he reunite with his father, 418 00:23:08,000 --> 00:23:12,000 he also met his stepmother and half-sister for the first time. 419 00:23:14,000 --> 00:23:16,000 Now he's with me. 420 00:23:16,000 --> 00:23:18,000 I want to do my best, 421 00:23:18,000 --> 00:23:22,000 give him a good chance in life and a better future for him 422 00:23:22,000 --> 00:23:26,000 and make up for what he has lost. 423 00:23:38,000 --> 00:23:42,000 March 1949, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. 424 00:23:42,000 --> 00:23:44,000 Annie Currie, an English war bride, 425 00:23:44,000 --> 00:23:48,000 says goodbye to her husband, Donald, and her two little boys. 426 00:23:54,000 --> 00:23:56,000 After only five years of marriage, 427 00:23:56,000 --> 00:23:59,000 Annie and Donald had to leave for the US. 428 00:23:59,000 --> 00:24:01,000 After five years of marriage, 429 00:24:01,000 --> 00:24:03,000 they were married. 430 00:24:03,000 --> 00:24:05,000 They were married for five years. 431 00:24:05,000 --> 00:24:07,000 After only five years of marriage, 432 00:24:07,000 --> 00:24:09,000 Annie and Donald had divorced. 433 00:24:09,000 --> 00:24:12,000 He has received custody of both sons, 434 00:24:12,000 --> 00:24:15,000 Darrell, three years old, and Jim, five. 435 00:24:16,000 --> 00:24:19,000 They haven't seen their mother for more than 40 years. 436 00:24:22,000 --> 00:24:26,000 I was never given the sense that I could say how much I missed her, 437 00:24:26,000 --> 00:24:29,000 that I could ask questions about where's my mom. 438 00:24:29,000 --> 00:24:32,000 She's a big question mark, and I would like to hear her voice. 439 00:24:32,000 --> 00:24:35,000 I would like to hear what she has to say about her life. 440 00:24:35,000 --> 00:24:38,000 I'd like her to know me. 441 00:24:38,000 --> 00:24:40,000 In most ways, Jim Currie is no different 442 00:24:40,000 --> 00:24:43,000 from anybody else searching for a lost parent. 443 00:24:43,000 --> 00:24:46,000 But there is one odd twist in his story. 444 00:24:47,000 --> 00:24:51,000 Jim has spent most of his life looking for other people's parents. 445 00:24:51,000 --> 00:24:53,000 Jim Currie is senior investigator 446 00:24:53,000 --> 00:24:55,000 for a California Public Defender's Office, 447 00:24:55,000 --> 00:24:59,000 an advocate for defendants who may be facing the death sentence. 448 00:25:02,000 --> 00:25:06,000 I've had adopted defendants before and had to find their mothers. 449 00:25:06,000 --> 00:25:09,000 And I've been very successful in doing that. 450 00:25:10,000 --> 00:25:17,000 It just is very ironic to me that I can find so much about these people's history. 451 00:25:17,000 --> 00:25:21,000 And I can't complete my own. It's very frustrating. 452 00:25:21,000 --> 00:25:26,000 Jim's parents met in 1943 during the darkest days of World War II. 453 00:25:26,000 --> 00:25:31,000 Donald Currie was 23, a Canadian sergeant serving in England. 454 00:25:31,000 --> 00:25:35,000 Annie Fry was a 19-year-old country girl from Wales. 455 00:25:35,000 --> 00:25:39,000 The two fell in love and were married that same year. 456 00:25:42,000 --> 00:25:45,000 My mother was described to me as a woman, 457 00:25:45,000 --> 00:25:48,000 a woman who was not a woman, 458 00:25:48,000 --> 00:25:51,000 but a woman who was not a woman. 459 00:25:51,000 --> 00:25:55,000 My mother was described to me as being an outgoing, 460 00:25:55,000 --> 00:25:59,000 socially oriented, kind of upbeat person with a lot of vitality. 461 00:25:59,000 --> 00:26:01,000 She was a young girl, really. 462 00:26:03,000 --> 00:26:07,000 In 1944, London was still being bombed by the Nazis. 463 00:26:07,000 --> 00:26:12,000 Annie was pregnant when the impact of one of the bombs knocked her to the ground. 464 00:26:12,000 --> 00:26:14,000 She miscarried. 465 00:26:14,000 --> 00:26:18,000 She was born again, and Donald sent her to live with his parents in Vancouver. 466 00:26:18,000 --> 00:26:22,000 On December 20, 1944, Jim was born. 467 00:26:22,000 --> 00:26:24,000 Go to sleep. 468 00:26:24,000 --> 00:26:29,000 Annie's delight was tempered by the absence of Donald, still stationed in England. 469 00:26:30,000 --> 00:26:32,000 I'm sleepy, getting tired. 470 00:26:34,000 --> 00:26:39,000 She's in a foreign country. She doesn't know anybody except for my dad's immediate family. 471 00:26:39,000 --> 00:26:44,000 She makes the best adjustment she can, but it's a lonely kind of existence for her. 472 00:26:44,000 --> 00:26:49,000 And I think fraught with a lot of fear, you know, that whether or not my dad was going to make it home. 473 00:26:49,000 --> 00:26:51,000 Go to sleep. 474 00:26:51,000 --> 00:26:53,000 Good night. 475 00:27:01,000 --> 00:27:05,000 In June of 1945, Annie's prayers were answered. 476 00:27:05,000 --> 00:27:13,000 The war in Europe was finally over, and after more than a year of separation from his wife, Donald Curry was home. 477 00:27:22,000 --> 00:27:24,000 Annie! 478 00:27:24,000 --> 00:27:26,000 Oh! 479 00:27:32,000 --> 00:27:37,000 Donald, this is Jimmy. That's your son. 480 00:27:37,000 --> 00:27:39,000 Jimmy, this is Daddy. 481 00:27:39,000 --> 00:27:46,000 Donald was overjoyed to meet his son for the first time, but the happiness of his homecoming was short-lived. 482 00:27:46,000 --> 00:27:48,000 Always can be, Daddy. 483 00:27:48,000 --> 00:27:50,000 The war had changed him forever. 484 00:27:50,000 --> 00:27:55,000 It was a very traumatic experience for my father. 485 00:27:55,000 --> 00:27:58,000 He thought war was wrong. 486 00:27:58,000 --> 00:28:11,000 He told me once that you'll never know how much it can change you when you see your closest friends blown into a thousand pieces in front of your eyes, and you can do nothing about it. 487 00:28:11,000 --> 00:28:18,000 I think he lost a lot of faith. He closed down emotionally to protect himself. 488 00:28:19,000 --> 00:28:27,000 In 1945, a second son, Darrell, was born, and Donald Curry found a position as a customs official. 489 00:28:27,000 --> 00:28:31,000 His job took him out of the house every night. 490 00:28:31,000 --> 00:28:37,000 Annie was left alone and began spending time with one of her neighbors, a much older married man. 491 00:28:38,000 --> 00:28:44,000 Soon the relationship turned into a full-fledged affair. 492 00:28:44,000 --> 00:28:50,000 A relative broke the news to Donald, and he sued Annie for divorce and for custody of the boys. 493 00:28:50,000 --> 00:28:58,000 I believe the petitioner, Mr. Curry, implicitly. He's a clean, wholesome individual with a fine war record. 494 00:28:58,000 --> 00:29:05,000 I hear by granted decree in his favor against Anne Allen Curry, and the custody of his two children. 495 00:29:08,000 --> 00:29:17,000 My understanding of the judgment against my mother was that my dad was to have sole custody of both children, and she was to have no visitation rights. 496 00:29:17,000 --> 00:29:22,000 It would be up to my father whether or not she would be allowed to see the children. 497 00:29:23,000 --> 00:29:31,000 Mr. Curry, you must realize that there is more good than evil in this girl. So do not burn your bridges. 498 00:29:31,000 --> 00:29:35,000 She has been a clean and decent girl until she met the correspondent. 499 00:29:35,000 --> 00:29:41,000 The judge's decree doesn't indicate hostility toward her. It indicates that even there may be something worth salvaging, 500 00:29:41,000 --> 00:29:45,000 that she was under the blanishments of an older, more sophisticated man. 501 00:29:45,000 --> 00:29:54,000 In spite of all the negatives I've heard, and on the surface of being a very nasty divorce, there was still something that came through for the judge. 502 00:29:54,000 --> 00:29:56,000 This was basically a good person. 503 00:29:56,000 --> 00:29:58,000 Well, you think you need to long, Johns? 504 00:29:58,000 --> 00:29:59,000 Yeah. 505 00:29:59,000 --> 00:30:00,000 All right. 506 00:30:01,000 --> 00:30:06,000 Donald Curry elected to send his younger son, Darrell, to live with a couple he knew in Vancouver. 507 00:30:06,000 --> 00:30:08,000 And don't talk back to your father. 508 00:30:08,000 --> 00:30:11,000 Annie, powerless, tried to put on a brave face. 509 00:30:12,000 --> 00:30:14,000 Do you want your favorite shirt? 510 00:30:14,000 --> 00:30:16,000 Yes, I think so. 511 00:30:17,000 --> 00:30:22,000 And Darrell, I want you to know, just because I'm not there doesn't mean I don't love you. 512 00:30:29,000 --> 00:30:33,000 Just after the divorce was final, Donald Curry broke his family apart. 513 00:30:35,000 --> 00:30:40,000 Darrell would eventually be adopted. Jim would see his mother one final time. 514 00:30:45,000 --> 00:30:51,000 Several months after the divorce, Donald Curry decided to move to Los Angeles with Jim. 515 00:30:51,000 --> 00:30:56,000 Just before the departure, Donald let Annie tell Jim goodbye. 516 00:30:56,000 --> 00:30:58,000 He needs his mother. 517 00:30:58,000 --> 00:31:00,000 I don't think so. 518 00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:02,000 He needs his brother. 519 00:31:03,000 --> 00:31:05,000 He needs me. 520 00:31:05,000 --> 00:31:06,000 Look at him. 521 00:31:06,000 --> 00:31:08,000 I don't have to. 522 00:31:08,000 --> 00:31:10,000 I know what he feels. 523 00:31:10,000 --> 00:31:14,000 Despite Annie's pleas, Donald remained unmoved. 524 00:31:16,000 --> 00:31:22,000 There was a sense in me at the time that it was the last time I would see her. 525 00:31:23,000 --> 00:31:26,000 I don't remember any hugging. 526 00:31:26,000 --> 00:31:29,000 I don't remember any arguing. 527 00:31:29,000 --> 00:31:31,000 But I do remember it being sad. 528 00:31:32,000 --> 00:31:37,000 I remember my feeling sad and confused. 529 00:31:38,000 --> 00:31:46,000 And sort of like just not very powerful in this situation. 530 00:31:46,000 --> 00:31:49,000 Whatever was happening was out of my control. 531 00:31:53,000 --> 00:31:56,000 In Los Angeles, Donald Curry married twice. 532 00:31:56,000 --> 00:31:59,000 Both stepmothers were kind to Jim. 533 00:31:59,000 --> 00:32:02,000 Still, he yearned for the mother he barely remembered. 534 00:32:03,000 --> 00:32:10,000 My dad was always very reticent to talk about his early life and my mother in particular. 535 00:32:10,000 --> 00:32:17,000 Anything that would lead my dad to believe that I wanted to find her was very upsetting to him. 536 00:32:19,000 --> 00:32:22,000 Donald Curry died in 1989. 537 00:32:22,000 --> 00:32:27,000 After his father's death, Jim Curry began to search for his mother in earnest. 538 00:32:28,000 --> 00:32:32,000 Although Jim is unearthed, no new clues to Annie Curry's whereabouts. 539 00:32:32,000 --> 00:32:34,000 He has found his brother. 540 00:32:34,000 --> 00:32:37,000 Darrell is married and still living in Vancouver. 541 00:32:37,000 --> 00:32:39,000 He and Jim have been reunited. 542 00:32:39,000 --> 00:32:43,000 But Darrell's loyalty is to his adoptive mother and father. 543 00:32:43,000 --> 00:32:46,000 He has no memory of Annie or Donald. 544 00:32:50,000 --> 00:32:56,000 Despite Darrell's reaction, Jim is more committed than ever to finding his mother. 545 00:32:58,000 --> 00:33:01,000 There's an unconditional love that a mother has for her son, 546 00:33:01,000 --> 00:33:04,000 and I feel that that was pulled away from me. 547 00:33:05,000 --> 00:33:10,000 I don't think I'd have to say a word to her for hours if I met her. 548 00:33:10,000 --> 00:33:12,000 I don't think I'd have to say anything. 549 00:33:15,000 --> 00:33:20,000 Annie Ellen Curry married again in 1951, but that marriage too ended in divorce. 550 00:33:20,000 --> 00:33:26,000 She may be using the last name from her second marriage, McDonald, or her maiden name, Fry. 551 00:33:26,000 --> 00:33:30,000 Jim believes she could be living in the United States, Canada, or England. 552 00:33:46,000 --> 00:33:50,000 The 1930s, the Great Depression, 553 00:33:50,000 --> 00:33:56,000 bread lines, hobos, and shatty towns were an all too visible part of the American landscape. 554 00:33:56,000 --> 00:34:02,000 Millions lost their jobs, their homes, their savings, and finally their pride. 555 00:34:03,000 --> 00:34:09,000 Many times a destitute relied upon strangers to help them in their time of need. 556 00:34:11,000 --> 00:34:15,000 One such stranger was an ordinary farmer named Charlie Best. 557 00:34:16,000 --> 00:34:20,000 Charlie lived with his wife Alba and three children, Zella May, Carl and Verlin, 558 00:34:20,000 --> 00:34:23,000 in the rolling hills of eastern Tennessee. 559 00:34:25,000 --> 00:34:30,000 They managed to stave off the hardships of the Depression by growing watermelons and tobacco. 560 00:34:34,000 --> 00:34:38,000 As darkness fell on a warm spring evening in 1939, 561 00:34:38,000 --> 00:34:42,000 an unknown traveler and two young girls sought refuge at Charlie's farmhouse. 562 00:34:46,000 --> 00:34:47,000 Evening. 563 00:34:48,000 --> 00:34:49,000 There's Tom Underwood. 564 00:34:50,000 --> 00:34:51,000 Charlie Best. 565 00:34:51,000 --> 00:34:52,000 Jocelyn Bullard. 566 00:34:52,000 --> 00:34:53,000 Lucky. 567 00:34:53,000 --> 00:34:57,000 Charlie's daughter, Zella May, then a teenager, remembers that evening vividly. 568 00:34:57,000 --> 00:35:02,000 Well actually I was trying to find a place where the girls could pass the night under a roof for a change. 569 00:35:03,000 --> 00:35:10,000 He just come up to the porch and asked Daddy if he would give the two little girls a bed to sleep in. 570 00:35:10,000 --> 00:35:12,000 And said he would sleep in the barn. 571 00:35:13,000 --> 00:35:18,000 And Daddy told him though that he could stay in, you know, house too. 572 00:35:19,000 --> 00:35:20,000 Where's home? 573 00:35:21,000 --> 00:35:22,000 To be honest with you, we don't have one. 574 00:35:22,000 --> 00:35:23,000 We've been on the move for so long. 575 00:35:23,000 --> 00:35:25,000 But we come down from Knoxville. 576 00:35:25,000 --> 00:35:29,000 Tom Underwood was a man who had fallen upon hard times. 577 00:35:30,000 --> 00:35:35,000 His daughters Madeline, nine and eight of seven, had traveled the back roads of them for months 578 00:35:35,000 --> 00:35:37,000 as he searched in vain for work. 579 00:35:38,000 --> 00:35:40,000 Their mother had died years before. 580 00:35:48,000 --> 00:35:51,000 They spent the night and I cooked breakfast for them. 581 00:35:52,000 --> 00:35:56,000 And well, up in the morning I probably sat in my radar call. 582 00:35:57,000 --> 00:35:59,000 He left to walk them with the little girls again. 583 00:36:00,000 --> 00:36:01,000 All right. 584 00:36:02,000 --> 00:36:03,000 What are you folks heading? 585 00:36:03,000 --> 00:36:05,000 Well, I got Kim Folk just north of here. 586 00:36:05,000 --> 00:36:07,000 I think we'll head in that direction for a while. 587 00:36:07,000 --> 00:36:08,000 All right. 588 00:36:08,000 --> 00:36:09,000 You take care. 589 00:36:09,000 --> 00:36:13,000 Tom told Charlie that he was taking the two girls to live with friends in another part of Tennessee 590 00:36:13,000 --> 00:36:16,000 while he continued his search for a job. 591 00:36:18,000 --> 00:36:20,000 I wish they could have stayed with us. 592 00:36:20,000 --> 00:36:22,000 That'd be all right. 593 00:36:23,000 --> 00:36:27,000 Right as they left, I said, Daddy, why didn't we just keep those little girls? 594 00:36:28,000 --> 00:36:30,000 I just didn't figure I would ever see them anymore. 595 00:36:30,000 --> 00:36:31,000 I'm sorry. 596 00:36:34,000 --> 00:36:38,000 But a few days later, Tom and the girls passed through the area again. 597 00:36:39,000 --> 00:36:43,000 By pure coincidence, Selame best happened upon them. 598 00:36:44,000 --> 00:36:46,000 Hey, that man was at my house the other day. 599 00:36:48,000 --> 00:36:49,000 Hold on a second, I'll be back. 600 00:36:50,000 --> 00:36:52,000 Hey, Mr. Underwood. 601 00:36:52,000 --> 00:36:53,000 Hey, Mr. Underwood. 602 00:36:54,000 --> 00:36:55,000 Where are you going? 603 00:36:56,000 --> 00:36:59,000 Well, my Kim Folk couldn't take care of the girls, so we're going to Knoxville. 604 00:36:59,000 --> 00:37:03,000 Well, I talked to my pa last night, and he said that you all could come stay with us. 605 00:37:03,000 --> 00:37:05,000 Oh, can we, Dad, please? 606 00:37:05,000 --> 00:37:07,000 I don't know, Selame. I don't think that's a good idea. 607 00:37:08,000 --> 00:37:10,000 Why don't you at least come talk to him? 608 00:37:10,000 --> 00:37:11,000 Please? 609 00:37:14,000 --> 00:37:15,000 All right, let's try it. 610 00:37:16,000 --> 00:37:22,000 Tom would later agree to leave the girls in Charlie's care until he could get back on his feet again. 611 00:37:23,000 --> 00:37:32,000 Times were hard, and it was hard for us to survive, but he was willing to take them and give them a home and give them what we had to eat. 612 00:37:32,000 --> 00:37:35,000 It might not have been everything, but we never did go hungry. 613 00:37:37,000 --> 00:37:40,000 Madeleine and Ada were immediately accepted as part of the family. 614 00:37:41,000 --> 00:37:43,000 Charlie treated them as if they were his own children. 615 00:37:45,000 --> 00:37:49,000 The two girls shared in everything with Selame, Berlin and Carl. 616 00:37:52,000 --> 00:37:54,000 We went to school together, we went to church together. 617 00:37:54,000 --> 00:37:57,000 We worked in the fields. They went to the fields with us. 618 00:37:57,000 --> 00:38:04,000 And we had mules, and we had cows, and we'd have shuck corn and feed them twice a day full of husk. 619 00:38:04,000 --> 00:38:07,000 They'd shuck off and put their little troughs to feed them. 620 00:38:08,000 --> 00:38:12,000 They worked as hard as me and Berlin did, you know, they'd shuck corn just like we did. 621 00:38:14,000 --> 00:38:16,000 Thank you for your interviews, name? 622 00:38:16,000 --> 00:38:17,000 Amen. 623 00:38:18,000 --> 00:38:23,000 They just didn't seem like no strangers. It's like I'd always knew them. 624 00:38:24,000 --> 00:38:27,000 I always wanted a sister, and I knew I never would have one. 625 00:38:27,000 --> 00:38:28,000 Thanks, sir. 626 00:38:28,000 --> 00:38:31,000 So they took the place of a sister. 627 00:38:33,000 --> 00:38:34,000 Hey, Mama. 628 00:38:34,000 --> 00:38:35,000 Sugar. 629 00:38:35,000 --> 00:38:39,000 Madeleine became especially close to her surrogate mother, Charlie's wife, Alva. 630 00:38:39,000 --> 00:38:44,000 Alva suffered from a rare nerve disorder, which left her unable to care for herself. 631 00:38:44,000 --> 00:38:45,000 Yes, my dad. 632 00:38:45,000 --> 00:38:46,000 Oh, Christ. 633 00:38:51,000 --> 00:38:57,000 I think daddy was as happy as the girls was, and I think the girls was as happy as daddy was. 634 00:38:58,000 --> 00:39:03,000 They would skip and hop, you know, and he'd hold their hands, and they would just happy. 635 00:39:05,000 --> 00:39:10,000 You know, there was never nothing said about, you know, them being a stranger or anything like that. 636 00:39:10,000 --> 00:39:15,000 They just sort of liked one of us, and we really enjoyed, you know, them being with us. 637 00:39:17,000 --> 00:39:21,000 Zellame remembers that Tom Underwood visited his girls at least twice. 638 00:39:22,000 --> 00:39:26,000 Then, after Madeleine and Ada had been with the best for 26 months, 639 00:39:27,000 --> 00:39:30,000 Tom returned to the farmhouse for the final time. 640 00:39:31,000 --> 00:39:32,000 Yeah. 641 00:39:33,000 --> 00:39:34,000 Mr. Underwood. 642 00:39:34,000 --> 00:39:36,000 Zellame, I come for the children. 643 00:39:36,000 --> 00:39:41,000 None of those things are any. I just didn't watch that on the lawn. Could you wait till dad gets home? 644 00:39:41,000 --> 00:39:45,000 I really can't tell them. Maybe it's coming on nightfall, and I need to be on the road for dark. 645 00:39:45,000 --> 00:39:48,000 If you'll just pack some things for me and let me see the girls. 646 00:39:49,000 --> 00:39:58,000 Ada said that his health was bad, and that he had married, and he wanted the children to be with the children. 647 00:39:58,000 --> 00:40:00,000 Zellame, I want to go. 648 00:40:01,000 --> 00:40:03,000 Sorry, I'm a bit too happy. 649 00:40:03,000 --> 00:40:04,000 Why? 650 00:40:04,000 --> 00:40:06,000 The girls got everything? 651 00:40:06,000 --> 00:40:07,000 Zellame. 652 00:40:07,000 --> 00:40:08,000 Okay. 653 00:40:08,000 --> 00:40:11,000 Well, Charlie, did you say bye? 654 00:40:11,000 --> 00:40:13,000 I'm totally doubt we're going to be the failed ones. 655 00:40:13,000 --> 00:40:15,000 How's it? Get your swat? 656 00:40:15,000 --> 00:40:16,000 Let's go. 657 00:40:17,000 --> 00:40:19,000 Ada, come on! 658 00:40:20,000 --> 00:40:25,000 I think the reason he wouldn't wait till daddy come in, he was afraid that daddy would buck on him. 659 00:40:25,000 --> 00:40:29,000 That daddy might say, hey, you're not going to take the children, you pay me some money. 660 00:40:29,000 --> 00:40:33,000 Now, that's just what I thought. Now, well, that's true. I don't know. That's the way I felt. 661 00:40:35,000 --> 00:40:37,000 Dear Mr. and Mrs. Best. 662 00:40:37,000 --> 00:40:41,000 Three months later, Charlie received a curious letter from Madeline and Ada. 663 00:40:41,000 --> 00:40:42,000 Where daddy left us. 664 00:40:42,000 --> 00:40:45,000 Their father had placed them in an orphanage in Nashville. 665 00:40:45,000 --> 00:40:47,000 I think I left my... 666 00:40:47,000 --> 00:40:51,000 Charlie immediately contacted the orphanage and asked if he could adopt the girls. 667 00:40:51,000 --> 00:40:53,000 We love you, Madeline and Ada. 668 00:40:53,000 --> 00:40:59,000 But by the time the letter arrived, Tom Underwood had once again retrieved his children. 669 00:40:59,000 --> 00:41:03,000 It was the last time the best family heard from Madeline and Ada. 670 00:41:05,000 --> 00:41:14,000 Today, more than 50 years later, Charlie and Zelame still live within 10 miles of the old farmhouse. 671 00:41:15,000 --> 00:41:17,000 Zelame is 66. 672 00:41:18,000 --> 00:41:20,000 Charlie is 91 years old. 673 00:41:22,000 --> 00:41:24,000 How are you, daddy? 674 00:41:26,000 --> 00:41:28,000 I said, how are you? 675 00:41:28,000 --> 00:41:31,000 Why didn't you meet and tell me you were all right? How are you? 676 00:41:31,000 --> 00:41:35,000 Well, if daddy could see her again, it would make him cry. 677 00:41:35,000 --> 00:41:38,000 And of course, I know he'd tell her that he loved her. He called some of the little girls. 678 00:41:38,000 --> 00:41:41,000 Now, he don't call them. He don't look at them as being women. 679 00:41:41,000 --> 00:41:43,000 He called some of the little girls. 680 00:41:43,000 --> 00:41:47,000 This time of the day, he said, have you heard any more about the little girls? 681 00:41:48,000 --> 00:41:52,000 And I said, no, daddy, but they're coming. They're coming. 682 00:41:53,000 --> 00:41:58,000 The night the story aired, Ada Underwood, now 59 years old, 683 00:41:58,000 --> 00:42:01,000 was watching our broadcast at her home in Indiana. 684 00:42:01,000 --> 00:42:05,000 Ada was shocked to see herself and her older sister Madeline profiled. 685 00:42:05,000 --> 00:42:08,000 Sadly, Madeline passed away several years ago. 686 00:42:08,000 --> 00:42:14,000 But for Ada, Charlie and Zelame story stir distant childhood memories. 687 00:42:15,000 --> 00:42:21,000 Ten days after our broadcast, Ada Underwood traveled to Madisonville, Tennessee 688 00:42:21,000 --> 00:42:27,000 for a very special reunion with Charlie Best and his two children, Zelame and Carl. 689 00:42:30,000 --> 00:42:34,000 Well, I was anxious to see her. It was exciting to know she was coming. 690 00:42:34,000 --> 00:42:37,000 Where do you feel like, you see her? 691 00:42:37,000 --> 00:42:39,000 No, what oldie? 692 00:42:39,000 --> 00:42:41,000 When you got to come. 693 00:42:42,000 --> 00:42:45,000 It is. It's the day I have been waiting for. 694 00:42:45,000 --> 00:42:49,000 Really for 50 more years. 695 00:42:49,000 --> 00:42:52,000 How was your father? 696 00:42:52,000 --> 00:42:55,000 Well, getting that kind of old. 697 00:42:55,000 --> 00:42:59,000 I was very excited when I heard that they were looking for me 698 00:42:59,000 --> 00:43:03,000 because somebody cared enough about me to hump over me that long. 699 00:43:07,000 --> 00:43:10,000 Although only eight years old when she last saw Charlie, 700 00:43:10,000 --> 00:43:15,000 Ada never forgot the warmth and kindness he and his family brought into her life. 701 00:43:18,000 --> 00:43:21,000 Well, this year is eight of that, as you remember. 702 00:43:21,000 --> 00:43:26,000 Charlie had to be very good to my sister and I for him to take us in 703 00:43:26,000 --> 00:43:30,000 and take care of us when we had nobody else to take care of us. 704 00:43:30,000 --> 00:43:34,000 So I think he had to be a really great man. 705 00:43:35,000 --> 00:43:36,000 You're pretty. 706 00:43:36,000 --> 00:43:37,000 Thank you. 707 00:43:37,000 --> 00:43:39,000 You're pretty. 708 00:43:40,000 --> 00:43:46,000 It just meant a lot to daddy and I feel that in his own mind, 709 00:43:46,000 --> 00:43:49,000 a dream has come true. 710 00:44:00,000 --> 00:44:05,000 Sadly, eight weeks after we filmed this update, Charlie best passed away. 711 00:44:05,000 --> 00:44:08,000 According to his family, the reunion with Ada 712 00:44:08,000 --> 00:44:11,000 brought Charlie great comfort in his final days. 713 00:44:20,000 --> 00:44:25,000 Join me next time for an all new edition of Unsolved Mysteries.