1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,680 This program is about unsolved mysteries. 2 00:00:03,680 --> 00:00:06,280 Whenever possible, the actual family members and police 3 00:00:06,280 --> 00:00:09,280 officials have participated in recreating the events. 4 00:00:09,280 --> 00:00:12,280 What you are about to see is not a news broadcast. 5 00:00:16,880 --> 00:00:20,680 Tonight on Unsolved Mysteries, in honor of Veterans Day, 6 00:00:20,680 --> 00:00:25,760 the compelling saga of America's last POW. 7 00:00:26,160 --> 00:00:30,760 April 20, 1965, American involvement in Southeast Asia 8 00:00:30,760 --> 00:00:32,400 was on the rise. 9 00:00:32,400 --> 00:00:34,920 Colonel Charles Shelton, an Air Force pilot 10 00:00:34,920 --> 00:00:38,360 stationed in Okinawa, said goodbye to his wife and children 11 00:00:38,360 --> 00:00:40,600 for the last time. 12 00:00:40,600 --> 00:00:43,760 Nine days later, Shelton was shot down and captured 13 00:00:43,760 --> 00:00:47,400 while on a top secret reconnaissance flight over Laos. 14 00:00:47,400 --> 00:00:50,360 For the next 25 years, Shelton's wife, Mary, 15 00:00:50,360 --> 00:00:53,760 and waged a valiant crusade to prevent the death of her husband 16 00:00:53,760 --> 00:00:59,040 was still alive, long after the war in Vietnam was over. 17 00:00:59,040 --> 00:01:02,640 In 1991, a young woman was driven to a remote area 18 00:01:02,640 --> 00:01:04,280 in Florida and brutally murdered 19 00:01:04,280 --> 00:01:07,840 by two men who thought they had committed the perfect crime. 20 00:01:07,840 --> 00:01:11,120 What they didn't know was that another man hiding nearby 21 00:01:11,120 --> 00:01:13,480 had seen everything. 22 00:01:13,480 --> 00:01:16,480 Also tonight, another edition of Special Alert. 23 00:01:16,480 --> 00:01:19,520 Authorities need your help to capture a convicted killer who 24 00:01:19,520 --> 00:01:21,120 recently escaped from prison. 25 00:01:21,120 --> 00:01:25,160 Join me, and perhaps you may be able to help solve a mystery. 26 00:02:21,120 --> 00:02:26,400 On a chilly morning in October of 1990, 27 00:02:26,400 --> 00:02:29,160 the family of Air Force pilot Charles E. Shelton 28 00:02:29,160 --> 00:02:31,160 was joined by friends and dignitaries 29 00:02:31,160 --> 00:02:36,360 at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, DC. 30 00:02:36,360 --> 00:02:40,440 They were gathered to mourn the death of an American hero, 31 00:02:40,440 --> 00:02:44,240 but it was not Colonel Shelton who was laid to rest that day. 32 00:02:44,240 --> 00:02:46,240 It was his wife, Marion. 33 00:02:51,320 --> 00:02:54,880 Marion Shelton spent the last 25 years of her life fighting 34 00:02:54,880 --> 00:02:58,800 what may be the final battle of the Vietnam War, a battle 35 00:02:58,800 --> 00:03:01,960 for the truth about her husband, and more than 2,000 36 00:03:01,960 --> 00:03:04,760 other American servicemen missing and unaccounted 37 00:03:04,760 --> 00:03:08,000 for since the war's end. 38 00:03:08,000 --> 00:03:11,920 Colonel Charles Shelton was shot down in the spring of 1965, 39 00:03:11,920 --> 00:03:15,560 long before Vietnam had become a household word. 40 00:03:15,560 --> 00:03:19,200 Today, Colonel Shelton has earned a unique but tragic honor. 41 00:03:19,200 --> 00:03:21,960 He is the only missing serviceman still officially 42 00:03:21,960 --> 00:03:25,720 listed as a prisoner of war. 43 00:03:25,720 --> 00:03:27,680 Representatives of the armed services 44 00:03:27,680 --> 00:03:30,760 declined to participate in this broadcast. 45 00:03:30,760 --> 00:03:33,280 Though more than a quarter century has passed, 46 00:03:33,280 --> 00:03:35,520 the story of Colonel Shelton is still 47 00:03:35,520 --> 00:03:40,000 a subject of intense controversy. 48 00:03:40,000 --> 00:03:42,040 According to Charles Shelton's family, 49 00:03:42,040 --> 00:03:44,400 precious little diplomatic or military effort 50 00:03:44,400 --> 00:03:46,280 was ever expended by the US government 51 00:03:46,320 --> 00:03:49,840 to actually find Colonel Shelton and bring him home. 52 00:03:49,840 --> 00:03:51,880 Some believe that his prisoner of war status 53 00:03:51,880 --> 00:03:54,840 is simply a concession to POW activists 54 00:03:54,840 --> 00:03:58,560 and a commemoration of his legendary resistance as a captive. 55 00:03:58,560 --> 00:04:01,520 But strong evidence suggests that Colonel Shelton 56 00:04:01,520 --> 00:04:04,600 and perhaps other servicemen missing in Southeast Asia 57 00:04:04,600 --> 00:04:06,560 may still be alive. 58 00:04:06,560 --> 00:04:09,920 To Shelton's family, the possibility seems very real 59 00:04:09,920 --> 00:04:13,200 that one day they will celebrate the return of America's 60 00:04:13,200 --> 00:04:14,040 last POW. 61 00:04:17,040 --> 00:04:19,320 Charles Shelton and Marion Volman were high school 62 00:04:19,320 --> 00:04:20,560 sweethearts. 63 00:04:20,560 --> 00:04:23,280 They married in 1951, and their family quickly 64 00:04:23,280 --> 00:04:25,600 grew to include five children. 65 00:04:25,600 --> 00:04:28,160 But Charles and Marion always acted as though they 66 00:04:28,160 --> 00:04:30,800 were still on their honeymoon. 67 00:04:30,800 --> 00:04:31,800 Is everybody ready? 68 00:04:37,480 --> 00:04:38,760 Now look at the camera. 69 00:04:38,760 --> 00:04:40,800 My father and my mother's relationship, 70 00:04:40,800 --> 00:04:44,040 they were very much in love with each other. 71 00:04:44,040 --> 00:04:46,040 They were each other's first loves. 72 00:04:46,040 --> 00:04:48,520 Charles. 73 00:04:48,520 --> 00:04:52,560 Even after 10 years of marriage, it was just real intense. 74 00:04:52,560 --> 00:04:57,560 And he often said that he, that she was his first love 75 00:04:57,560 --> 00:05:01,280 and only love and last love. 76 00:05:01,280 --> 00:05:03,880 Charles joined the Air Force in 1954 77 00:05:03,880 --> 00:05:06,800 and moved rapidly through the ranks. 78 00:05:06,800 --> 00:05:09,400 At the time, American involvement in Vietnam 79 00:05:09,400 --> 00:05:11,920 was quietly and steadily on the rise. 80 00:05:11,920 --> 00:05:15,760 Charles Shelton was swept up in the tide. 81 00:05:15,760 --> 00:05:18,760 In 1962, Shelton was sent to Saigon 82 00:05:18,760 --> 00:05:21,080 to train Vietnamese pilots. 83 00:05:21,080 --> 00:05:24,200 Three years later, he began flying top secret photo 84 00:05:24,200 --> 00:05:27,240 reconnaissance flights over Laos. 85 00:05:27,240 --> 00:05:30,840 In 1965, dad was definitely at the peak of his career. 86 00:05:30,840 --> 00:05:33,720 He was just about finished with his tour of duty 87 00:05:33,720 --> 00:05:36,240 in the secret part of the War in Indochina. 88 00:05:36,240 --> 00:05:40,640 He had been, at that time, the senior tactical reconnaissance 89 00:05:40,680 --> 00:05:46,240 United States Air Force pilot involved in the War in Laos. 90 00:05:46,240 --> 00:05:48,680 Laos borders Vietnam on the west. 91 00:05:48,680 --> 00:05:50,800 Although officially neutral during the war, 92 00:05:50,800 --> 00:05:54,920 Laosian territory was used by North Vietnam as a staging area. 93 00:05:54,920 --> 00:05:58,360 The United States bomb targets there frequently and covertly. 94 00:06:01,200 --> 00:06:03,440 Now you kids go wait in the car for your mother. 95 00:06:03,440 --> 00:06:05,160 OK. 96 00:06:05,160 --> 00:06:07,880 Colonel Shelton was stationed in Okinawa, Japan, 97 00:06:07,880 --> 00:06:10,560 where his wife and children joined him. 98 00:06:11,480 --> 00:06:13,800 But he was often gone for weeks at a time, 99 00:06:13,800 --> 00:06:15,600 and enduring the pain of separation 100 00:06:15,600 --> 00:06:20,040 became a familiar duty for Marion and Charles. 101 00:06:20,040 --> 00:06:21,000 Bye. 102 00:06:21,000 --> 00:06:21,800 Bye. 103 00:06:26,760 --> 00:06:28,840 I'll wait right here till you get back. 104 00:06:28,840 --> 00:06:31,760 Better. 105 00:06:31,760 --> 00:06:35,120 On April 20, 1965, they had no idea 106 00:06:35,120 --> 00:06:37,440 they were saying goodbye for the last time. 107 00:06:38,160 --> 00:06:44,320 Dad's 33rd birthday, April 29, 1965, 108 00:06:44,320 --> 00:06:46,520 although he wasn't home, the family decided 109 00:06:46,520 --> 00:06:48,920 to celebrate the birthday anyway. 110 00:06:48,920 --> 00:06:52,800 On that day, mom invited some friends of hers 111 00:06:52,800 --> 00:06:56,600 and their children, other officer, wives, and their families 112 00:06:56,600 --> 00:07:01,160 over to the home to celebrate his birthday. 113 00:07:01,160 --> 00:07:04,080 Hi, Dad. 114 00:07:04,080 --> 00:07:05,080 Marion? 115 00:07:05,080 --> 00:07:07,080 I thought you were flying today. 116 00:07:07,080 --> 00:07:08,080 Am I? 117 00:07:11,560 --> 00:07:14,560 Marion, I need to talk to you. 118 00:07:14,560 --> 00:07:15,560 What is it? 119 00:07:19,000 --> 00:07:22,000 Marion, uh, I'm sorry. 120 00:07:22,000 --> 00:07:23,000 I'm sorry. 121 00:07:23,000 --> 00:07:24,000 I'm sorry. 122 00:07:24,000 --> 00:07:25,000 I'm sorry. 123 00:07:25,000 --> 00:07:26,000 I'm sorry. 124 00:07:26,000 --> 00:07:27,000 I'm sorry. 125 00:07:27,000 --> 00:07:28,000 I'm sorry. 126 00:07:28,000 --> 00:07:29,000 I'm sorry. 127 00:07:29,000 --> 00:07:30,000 I'm sorry. 128 00:07:30,440 --> 00:07:35,440 Charles' plane was shot down a couple hours ago. 129 00:07:35,440 --> 00:07:36,840 He's all right. 130 00:07:36,840 --> 00:07:39,560 They've been in radio contact with him. 131 00:07:39,560 --> 00:07:41,000 There's a search and rescue mission underway, 132 00:07:41,000 --> 00:07:42,360 even as we speak. 133 00:07:42,360 --> 00:07:44,640 Where is he? 134 00:07:44,640 --> 00:07:47,880 He went into the area called the Plain of Jars 135 00:07:47,880 --> 00:07:50,920 in northern Laos, near the Path at Laos headquarters 136 00:07:50,920 --> 00:07:52,680 in Samnouay. 137 00:07:52,680 --> 00:07:53,920 This is Grasshopper 32. 138 00:07:53,920 --> 00:07:55,800 Come in, Whiskey Angel. 139 00:07:55,800 --> 00:08:00,040 American planes made visual and radio contact with Shelton. 140 00:08:00,040 --> 00:08:02,600 But before rescue helicopters could reach him, 141 00:08:02,600 --> 00:08:07,040 a sudden change in the weather sealed his fate. 142 00:08:07,040 --> 00:08:09,640 There was a low cloud coverage, which 143 00:08:09,640 --> 00:08:13,120 made it impossible for anybody to get in really close 144 00:08:13,120 --> 00:08:16,120 and maneuver without a tremendous amount of danger. 145 00:08:16,120 --> 00:08:18,560 So Dad was left sitting on that hill for three days 146 00:08:18,560 --> 00:08:22,400 waiting, and nobody ever came. 147 00:08:22,400 --> 00:08:26,320 There was just no organized rescue in those days. 148 00:08:26,320 --> 00:08:27,480 That was 1965. 149 00:08:27,480 --> 00:08:28,080 He was shot down. 150 00:08:28,080 --> 00:08:32,800 If he was shot down in 1968, at the place he was shot down at, 151 00:08:32,800 --> 00:08:38,120 I think he'd been out of there in an hour and a half. 152 00:08:38,120 --> 00:08:40,360 For three days, Shelton eluded capture 153 00:08:40,360 --> 00:08:42,880 by the Path at Laos, the communist forces 154 00:08:42,880 --> 00:08:44,000 operating in the area. 155 00:08:45,000 --> 00:08:49,000 A platoon of Path at Laos surrounded Dad. 156 00:08:49,000 --> 00:08:51,920 One of the Path at Laos present actually 157 00:08:51,920 --> 00:08:56,040 was an informer for our government and reported the story. 158 00:08:56,040 --> 00:08:58,120 He said that they apprehended him, 159 00:08:58,120 --> 00:09:02,720 and the story ends that particular intelligence report 160 00:09:02,720 --> 00:09:06,720 saying that Dad's body went limp, forcing his captors 161 00:09:06,720 --> 00:09:08,320 to have to carry him. 162 00:09:08,320 --> 00:09:10,320 Charles Shelton's defiant resistance 163 00:09:10,320 --> 00:09:13,120 would become legendary among American servicemen 164 00:09:13,120 --> 00:09:17,080 and even win the grudging respect of his captors. 165 00:09:17,080 --> 00:09:21,320 He was tough, and he was tenacious, and he just didn't let go. 166 00:09:21,320 --> 00:09:23,720 I think that if anyone could survive over there, 167 00:09:23,720 --> 00:09:25,320 it'd be Charlie Shelton. 168 00:09:25,320 --> 00:09:26,320 No doubt in my mind. 169 00:09:39,320 --> 00:09:41,720 Marion Shelton was officially informed 170 00:09:41,720 --> 00:09:44,320 that her husband was a prisoner of war. 171 00:09:44,320 --> 00:09:47,320 His personal effects, returned by Air Force officials, 172 00:09:47,320 --> 00:09:50,320 were a somber reminder of his predicament. 173 00:09:50,320 --> 00:09:54,320 But they also raised deeply troubling questions. 174 00:09:54,320 --> 00:09:58,320 Inside the Foot Locker, Marion found her husband's dog tags 175 00:09:58,320 --> 00:10:01,320 in his military ID, which are normally carried 176 00:10:01,320 --> 00:10:05,320 by Air Force personnel at all times. 177 00:10:06,320 --> 00:10:09,320 Marion also found her husband's camera. 178 00:10:09,320 --> 00:10:13,320 When developed, the role of film inside included this picture 179 00:10:13,320 --> 00:10:16,320 shot just before Shelton's ill-fated flight. 180 00:10:16,320 --> 00:10:19,320 He was wearing what is known as a sanitized uniform, 181 00:10:19,320 --> 00:10:22,320 devoid of any official insignia. 182 00:10:22,320 --> 00:10:24,320 Many years passed before the Shelton family 183 00:10:24,320 --> 00:10:28,320 would fully understand its tragic implications. 184 00:10:28,320 --> 00:10:31,320 If you were captured in Laos, you were never going to come out. 185 00:10:31,320 --> 00:10:33,320 The war in Laos was that sensitive 186 00:10:33,320 --> 00:10:36,320 that the government was not going to bother 187 00:10:36,320 --> 00:10:38,320 with politicizing our presence there 188 00:10:38,320 --> 00:10:42,320 by looking for the return of POWs or hostages. 189 00:10:42,320 --> 00:10:44,320 And to this date, I don't believe our government 190 00:10:44,320 --> 00:10:49,320 has ever admitted to having troops present in Laos officially, 191 00:10:49,320 --> 00:10:53,320 and we've never negotiated for the men in Laos officially. 192 00:10:57,320 --> 00:10:59,320 Three months after Charles was shot down, 193 00:10:59,320 --> 00:11:02,320 Marion and the children returned to Kentucky. 194 00:11:02,320 --> 00:11:05,320 Lee and Honey, don't drag those on the ground. 195 00:11:05,320 --> 00:11:08,320 While the war in Vietnam dragged on for eight more years, 196 00:11:08,320 --> 00:11:11,320 rumors and unofficial accounts of Charles Shelton 197 00:11:11,320 --> 00:11:13,320 filtered through the military grapevine 198 00:11:13,320 --> 00:11:15,320 and back to the United States. 199 00:11:17,320 --> 00:11:21,320 From time to time, pilots would come through from Indochina 200 00:11:21,320 --> 00:11:23,320 and they would come with some news 201 00:11:23,320 --> 00:11:26,320 by word of mouth about Dad's situation. 202 00:11:26,320 --> 00:11:30,320 They'd come through, tell Mom that Dad was sick or healthy. 203 00:11:30,320 --> 00:11:33,320 If he'd been wounded or if he'd escaped again 204 00:11:33,320 --> 00:11:35,320 or this type of thing. 205 00:11:35,320 --> 00:11:40,320 Mama kept a lot of that information away from us 206 00:11:40,320 --> 00:11:44,320 because, again, she was afraid that that would hurt us. 207 00:11:44,320 --> 00:11:46,320 And I didn't want to hear it. 208 00:11:46,320 --> 00:11:48,320 I loved my father. 209 00:11:48,320 --> 00:11:50,320 I loved him very much. 210 00:11:50,320 --> 00:11:52,320 And when Mama started telling me stories 211 00:11:52,320 --> 00:11:54,320 about what had happened to Dad, 212 00:11:54,320 --> 00:11:59,320 I heard about him being kept in a shallow grave 213 00:11:59,320 --> 00:12:01,320 with bars over it. 214 00:12:01,320 --> 00:12:04,320 And they poked him, trying to keep him awake. 215 00:12:04,320 --> 00:12:09,320 I couldn't stand to hear about stuff about torture. 216 00:12:14,320 --> 00:12:18,320 I have asked for this radio and television time tonight 217 00:12:18,320 --> 00:12:21,320 for the purpose of announcing that we today 218 00:12:21,320 --> 00:12:25,320 have concluded an agreement to end the war 219 00:12:25,320 --> 00:12:27,320 and bring peace with honor in Vietnam. 220 00:12:27,320 --> 00:12:30,320 Finally on January 27, 1973, 221 00:12:30,320 --> 00:12:33,320 President Richard Nixon appeared on national television 222 00:12:33,320 --> 00:12:37,320 with a message that Americans had been so desperate to hear. 223 00:12:51,320 --> 00:12:53,320 The family was told that all POWs 224 00:12:53,320 --> 00:12:56,320 would be included on one of two lists. 225 00:12:56,320 --> 00:13:01,320 Those who were coming home and those who were perished in captivity. 226 00:13:01,320 --> 00:13:05,320 Those lists were scheduled to be turned over to our government 227 00:13:05,320 --> 00:13:07,320 and we understood that the Defense Department 228 00:13:07,320 --> 00:13:10,320 would be calling the families all day long, 229 00:13:10,320 --> 00:13:14,320 letting them know whether or not their husband 230 00:13:14,320 --> 00:13:17,320 or father's name was on which list. 231 00:13:19,320 --> 00:13:23,320 Finally, the phone rang way late into the night. 232 00:13:27,320 --> 00:13:29,320 Hello? 233 00:13:29,320 --> 00:13:31,320 Yes, I am. 234 00:13:39,320 --> 00:13:41,320 I see. 235 00:13:45,320 --> 00:13:47,320 Thank you. 236 00:13:56,320 --> 00:14:00,320 She began to cry and of course I knew at that point 237 00:14:00,320 --> 00:14:03,320 dad's name wasn't on the list. 238 00:14:03,320 --> 00:14:05,320 We naturally concluded that therefore, 239 00:14:05,320 --> 00:14:09,320 you know, we would be told soon just how he died in captivity 240 00:14:09,320 --> 00:14:13,320 and his body returned and that was the end of the story. 241 00:14:13,320 --> 00:14:17,320 And I think we all felt, although a sense of loss at the time, 242 00:14:17,320 --> 00:14:21,320 there was also an even greater sense of relief 243 00:14:21,320 --> 00:14:24,320 that the waiting was over. 244 00:14:27,320 --> 00:14:34,320 January, 1973, Operation Homecoming. 245 00:14:34,320 --> 00:14:38,320 For most Americans, the return of 591 POWs 246 00:14:38,320 --> 00:14:42,320 seemed to signal at last the end of the war. 247 00:14:46,320 --> 00:14:49,320 Soon after, in April of 1973, 248 00:14:49,320 --> 00:14:52,320 the Pentagon issued a statement that stunned the families 249 00:14:52,320 --> 00:14:55,320 of those servicemen still missing in Southeast Asia. 250 00:14:55,320 --> 00:15:01,320 There was no indication that American POWs were alive anywhere. 251 00:15:01,320 --> 00:15:05,320 Mom realized, I think, more and more that if dad would ever come home 252 00:15:05,320 --> 00:15:07,320 or if any of the prisoners would come home, 253 00:15:07,320 --> 00:15:10,320 that it really depended on the efforts of the families. 254 00:15:10,320 --> 00:15:13,320 And she seemed convinced to that early on, you know, 255 00:15:13,320 --> 00:15:16,320 so much so that she ventured into Southeast Asia. 256 00:15:20,320 --> 00:15:24,320 August, 1973, only a few months after the end of the Vietnam War, 257 00:15:24,320 --> 00:15:28,320 Marion left the safety of Kentucky and traveled halfway around the world. 258 00:15:28,320 --> 00:15:31,320 Accompanied by reporter Leah Larkin, 259 00:15:31,320 --> 00:15:35,320 she visited the jungles in Laos that had claimed her husband. 260 00:15:35,320 --> 00:15:39,320 Marion's Piedmont guide was an American operative 261 00:15:39,320 --> 00:15:42,320 fluent in local dialects. 262 00:15:42,320 --> 00:15:45,320 We met with villagers where he was supposed to have been or was, 263 00:15:45,320 --> 00:15:49,320 held alive in a cave. There were sightings of him in the cave. 264 00:15:49,320 --> 00:15:52,320 And some of the villagers had actually visited some of these caves 265 00:15:52,320 --> 00:15:54,320 and had seen prisoners. 266 00:15:57,320 --> 00:16:00,320 She'd hoped that she would get some positive proof 267 00:16:00,320 --> 00:16:02,320 that her husband was still alive. 268 00:16:02,320 --> 00:16:04,320 She got a little bit of a shock. 269 00:16:04,320 --> 00:16:06,320 She was very excited. 270 00:16:06,320 --> 00:16:08,320 She was very excited. 271 00:16:08,320 --> 00:16:10,320 She was very excited. 272 00:16:10,320 --> 00:16:12,320 She was very excited. 273 00:16:12,320 --> 00:16:15,320 She was very excited to know that her husband was still alive. 274 00:16:15,320 --> 00:16:17,320 She got no positive proof. 275 00:16:17,320 --> 00:16:19,320 She says you've never seen him. 276 00:16:19,320 --> 00:16:22,320 People said, yes. There must be men alive. 277 00:16:22,320 --> 00:16:25,320 But nothing really. No concrete evidence. 278 00:16:25,320 --> 00:16:27,320 One day she convinced herself he must be dead. 279 00:16:27,320 --> 00:16:30,320 One day she convinced herself he must be dead. 280 00:16:30,320 --> 00:16:32,320 There's no way he could still be alive. 281 00:16:32,320 --> 00:16:35,320 Then the next day, something would happen to give her a glimmer of hope. 282 00:16:35,320 --> 00:16:38,320 It was this constant going back from one to the other. 283 00:16:38,320 --> 00:16:40,320 He's dead. No, he's not dead. 284 00:16:40,320 --> 00:16:42,480 I think, I mean, that's a torment that's 285 00:16:42,480 --> 00:16:44,400 very difficult to live with. 286 00:16:44,400 --> 00:16:46,640 And it's obviously a torment that plagued her the rest of her 287 00:16:46,640 --> 00:16:48,920 life. 288 00:16:48,920 --> 00:16:52,960 Marion Shelton returned home empty-handed and disheartened. 289 00:16:52,960 --> 00:16:55,880 But two years later, events in Southeast Asia 290 00:16:55,880 --> 00:16:59,320 provided a windfall of new information and new hope. 291 00:17:01,920 --> 00:17:07,120 On April 29, 1975, Saigon fell to communist forces. 292 00:17:07,120 --> 00:17:10,000 It was 10 years to the day after Charles Shelton 293 00:17:10,000 --> 00:17:13,080 was shot down. 294 00:17:13,080 --> 00:17:15,360 Thousands of refugees fled Vietnam, 295 00:17:15,360 --> 00:17:18,360 crowded into vessels that were barely seaworthy. 296 00:17:18,360 --> 00:17:20,440 These so-called boat people brought stories 297 00:17:20,440 --> 00:17:23,120 about American servicemen that sent shock waves 298 00:17:23,120 --> 00:17:26,760 with the POW and MIA movement. 299 00:17:26,760 --> 00:17:30,960 They came out all over Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, 300 00:17:30,960 --> 00:17:33,000 the Philippines, Thailand. 301 00:17:33,000 --> 00:17:36,880 And hundreds and then thousands told 302 00:17:36,880 --> 00:17:40,320 of seeing American pilots, American prisoners, still 303 00:17:40,320 --> 00:17:44,520 in chains, gaunt, starving, begging for food, in prison, 304 00:17:44,520 --> 00:17:48,400 in captivity, on work gangs. 305 00:17:48,400 --> 00:17:55,280 This is how we knew for sure that our men were left behind. 306 00:17:55,280 --> 00:17:58,000 This propaganda film, Shot in North Vietnam, 307 00:17:58,000 --> 00:18:02,200 shows American POWs held during the war. 308 00:18:02,200 --> 00:18:05,920 According to the refugees, many were still alive two years 309 00:18:05,960 --> 00:18:08,800 after the war had ended. 310 00:18:08,800 --> 00:18:11,560 For reasons that remain the subject of controversy, 311 00:18:11,560 --> 00:18:14,640 the US government withheld the refugees' accounts 312 00:18:14,640 --> 00:18:17,480 in classified files. 313 00:18:17,480 --> 00:18:21,520 The stories are overwhelming in their specificity, 314 00:18:21,520 --> 00:18:24,760 in their clarity, and in their numbers. 315 00:18:24,760 --> 00:18:27,680 But if you mark it secret and you keep it locked up 316 00:18:27,680 --> 00:18:31,880 in the safes, behind locked doors, behind guarded doors, 317 00:18:31,880 --> 00:18:34,640 then we don't know it's there. 318 00:18:34,680 --> 00:18:37,360 Eventually, through the Freedom of Information Act, 319 00:18:37,360 --> 00:18:39,920 Marion obtained hundreds of classified documents 320 00:18:39,920 --> 00:18:41,880 pertaining to her husband. 321 00:18:41,880 --> 00:18:45,320 Credible sources, many of them CIA operatives, 322 00:18:45,320 --> 00:18:50,800 reported that Charles was alive even as late as 1983, 18 years 323 00:18:50,800 --> 00:18:53,880 after he parachuted into Laos. 324 00:18:53,880 --> 00:18:56,840 There were so many documents that said 325 00:18:56,840 --> 00:18:59,720 Colonel Shelton and other men were alive. 326 00:18:59,720 --> 00:19:01,520 It was apparent that there was just 327 00:19:01,520 --> 00:19:03,720 such a gigantic amount of evidence. 328 00:19:03,720 --> 00:19:06,480 There are reports in his file that he was shot in the legs 329 00:19:06,480 --> 00:19:08,720 because they were so tired of him escaping, 330 00:19:08,720 --> 00:19:10,240 and more reports that he just kept 331 00:19:10,240 --> 00:19:13,520 trying to escape afterwards. 332 00:19:13,520 --> 00:19:16,480 A particular report that was picked up off of the radio 333 00:19:16,480 --> 00:19:20,360 between Pathet Laos headquarters and Hanoi 334 00:19:20,360 --> 00:19:23,800 indicated that in 1968, the Pathet Laos turned 335 00:19:23,800 --> 00:19:26,160 out over to the North Vietnamese, 336 00:19:26,160 --> 00:19:27,720 and they decided to interrogate him. 337 00:19:28,720 --> 00:19:29,720 Charles Shelton. 338 00:19:41,720 --> 00:19:43,720 I have heard about you. 339 00:19:58,720 --> 00:20:13,720 When the North Vietnamese returned with more personnel 340 00:20:13,720 --> 00:20:16,720 to apprehend and control Dad, they found 341 00:20:16,720 --> 00:20:19,920 that he had already killed the other guards that were present 342 00:20:19,920 --> 00:20:21,560 during the interrogation. 343 00:20:21,560 --> 00:20:24,200 The report finished with the recommendation 344 00:20:24,200 --> 00:20:27,040 that this prisoner be moved north, 345 00:20:27,040 --> 00:20:29,920 whether that meant to China or Vietnam. 346 00:20:29,920 --> 00:20:36,200 We can't be sure, but it commented that he was incorrigible. 347 00:20:36,200 --> 00:20:38,640 The more Marion dug through official records, 348 00:20:38,640 --> 00:20:41,800 the more she believed her husband was still alive. 349 00:20:41,800 --> 00:20:43,840 These often vivid accounts became 350 00:20:43,840 --> 00:20:46,480 her ammunition for a bureaucratic showdown 351 00:20:46,480 --> 00:20:50,280 on October 7, 1980. 352 00:20:50,280 --> 00:20:52,800 Prior to hearings in San Antonio, Texas, 353 00:20:52,800 --> 00:20:57,080 793 Air Force servicemen already had their classification 354 00:20:57,080 --> 00:20:59,840 changed to presumed dead. 355 00:20:59,840 --> 00:21:02,320 Marion was determined to convince the government 356 00:21:02,320 --> 00:21:04,440 that her husband was still alive. 357 00:21:11,520 --> 00:21:14,920 When I was in Vietnam in Laos in 1973, 358 00:21:14,920 --> 00:21:18,800 I met with a delegation of the North Vietnamese. 359 00:21:18,800 --> 00:21:21,920 I was seeking any information I could find regarding 360 00:21:21,920 --> 00:21:24,920 the fate of my husband. 361 00:21:24,920 --> 00:21:28,560 When I asked specifically about my husband, 362 00:21:28,560 --> 00:21:31,760 I was told by the North Vietnamese, 363 00:21:31,760 --> 00:21:35,320 why are you asking us when your own government says 364 00:21:35,320 --> 00:21:38,680 they are all dead? 365 00:21:38,680 --> 00:21:42,520 I am terribly disappointed that our government has made it 366 00:21:42,520 --> 00:21:47,240 so easy for them to evade an accounting. 367 00:21:47,240 --> 00:21:48,560 I feel that presuming people were here. 368 00:21:48,560 --> 00:21:50,960 When they set up and decided to hold these status review 369 00:21:50,960 --> 00:21:54,880 hearings, I don't think they had any idea about burden 370 00:21:54,880 --> 00:21:57,360 and proof as a legal concept. 371 00:21:57,360 --> 00:22:00,360 What they were going to do was make the service 372 00:22:00,360 --> 00:22:03,640 members' family come in and prove he was still alive. 373 00:22:03,640 --> 00:22:07,280 When the only information about whether he was really alive 374 00:22:07,280 --> 00:22:09,160 was in the hands of the government, 375 00:22:09,160 --> 00:22:11,920 that seemed quite unfair. 376 00:22:11,920 --> 00:22:14,440 Did he have a mustache? 377 00:22:14,440 --> 00:22:17,360 We argued that instead it should be the service's duty 378 00:22:17,360 --> 00:22:20,840 to prove that he should be changed to kill in action. 379 00:22:20,840 --> 00:22:24,080 In other words, what evidence do they have that he was dead? 380 00:22:24,080 --> 00:22:25,920 They do have evidence he was alive. 381 00:22:25,920 --> 00:22:28,880 Now what evidence do they have to change that? 382 00:22:28,880 --> 00:22:33,760 The board finds that by a preponderance of the evidence, 383 00:22:33,760 --> 00:22:41,360 Colonel Charles E. Shelton can reasonably be presumed dead. 384 00:22:41,360 --> 00:22:45,520 These findings were reached by a majority decision of the board. 385 00:22:46,040 --> 00:22:50,400 Four years later, Secretary of the Air Force, Vernon Orr, 386 00:22:50,400 --> 00:22:53,720 refused to accept the board's recommendation. 387 00:22:53,720 --> 00:22:57,160 In 1984, he upheld Charles Shelton's status 388 00:22:57,160 --> 00:23:01,400 as a prisoner of war, making him the only one of more than 2,000 389 00:23:01,400 --> 00:23:06,160 missing servicemen not listed as presumed dead. 390 00:23:06,160 --> 00:23:08,600 Do you think your husband's alive? 391 00:23:08,600 --> 00:23:12,880 I think he very well can be and probably is. 392 00:23:13,240 --> 00:23:16,000 It was a weary Marion Shelton who took to the airwaves 393 00:23:16,000 --> 00:23:17,480 in the late 1980s. 394 00:23:17,480 --> 00:23:20,200 Before national audiences had numbered in the millions, 395 00:23:20,200 --> 00:23:22,600 she continued to press for a vigorous follow-up 396 00:23:22,600 --> 00:23:25,600 to the reports of surviving POWs. 397 00:23:25,600 --> 00:23:28,640 They know there's prisoners over there. 398 00:23:28,640 --> 00:23:31,840 And I think they know that my husband's over there. 399 00:23:31,840 --> 00:23:36,000 My mom was so busy doing a lot of the POW things 400 00:23:36,000 --> 00:23:39,760 and going all over the country and speaking and on television. 401 00:23:39,800 --> 00:23:42,640 And she didn't know how to cope with it. 402 00:23:42,640 --> 00:23:48,040 And when she would come home, she would drink in private and sleep. 403 00:23:48,040 --> 00:23:49,920 She couldn't take it any longer. 404 00:23:49,920 --> 00:23:53,000 She knew that Colonel Shelton was alive. 405 00:23:53,000 --> 00:23:55,320 She knew many other men were alive. 406 00:23:55,320 --> 00:23:58,560 And she could not stand to hear the US government continually 407 00:23:58,560 --> 00:24:00,160 lie about it. 408 00:24:00,160 --> 00:24:02,640 Slowly, her heart started to break 409 00:24:02,640 --> 00:24:07,120 that the United States government, what my dad fought for, 410 00:24:07,120 --> 00:24:10,640 the United States government, what my dad fought for 411 00:24:10,640 --> 00:24:14,600 was not going to bring him home or was not trying hard enough. 412 00:24:14,600 --> 00:24:18,880 So it devastated her. 413 00:24:18,880 --> 00:24:25,560 Her American dream that we were all supposed to have was broken. 414 00:24:28,200 --> 00:24:31,680 Despair finally overwhelmed Marion Shelton. 415 00:24:31,680 --> 00:24:34,520 On several occasions in 1987 and 88, 416 00:24:34,520 --> 00:24:38,640 she was hospitalized for alcohol abuse. 417 00:24:38,640 --> 00:24:41,720 Marion's 25-year struggle for her husband's freedom 418 00:24:41,720 --> 00:24:45,640 finally came to an end on October 4, 1990. 419 00:24:45,640 --> 00:24:47,760 Her body was discovered by friends 420 00:24:47,760 --> 00:24:49,840 on the patio of her home. 421 00:24:49,840 --> 00:24:54,280 Marion Shelton had shot herself in the head. 422 00:24:54,280 --> 00:24:57,200 Marion Shelton was the POW movement. 423 00:24:57,200 --> 00:25:00,200 She's done more, did more while she was alive 424 00:25:00,200 --> 00:25:03,720 than just about any other person to try to bring those men home. 425 00:25:05,520 --> 00:25:10,240 Charles was my childhood sweetheart, 426 00:25:10,240 --> 00:25:13,360 my best friend, my protector. 427 00:25:17,040 --> 00:25:19,600 I prepared myself as did my husband for him 428 00:25:19,600 --> 00:25:23,400 to be wounded, captured, or killed. 429 00:25:26,200 --> 00:25:27,760 But we were never prepared for him 430 00:25:27,760 --> 00:25:29,560 to be abandoned by his own country. 431 00:25:29,560 --> 00:25:32,560 I do know that there are men still there, 432 00:25:32,560 --> 00:25:35,560 and I'm pretty sure my dad's one of them. 433 00:25:35,560 --> 00:25:37,560 And even if he died 10 years ago, 434 00:25:37,560 --> 00:25:39,560 I blame our government for not bringing him home 435 00:25:39,560 --> 00:25:41,560 and leaving him behind. 436 00:25:41,560 --> 00:25:45,560 To those people who would listen to our story 437 00:25:45,560 --> 00:25:48,560 and just conclude that we're living in a kind of fantasy land, 438 00:25:48,560 --> 00:25:51,560 I would remind them that two years ago, 439 00:25:51,560 --> 00:25:53,560 the government of the Soviet Union 440 00:25:53,560 --> 00:25:57,560 repatriated to Japan 70 prisoners of war 441 00:25:57,560 --> 00:26:01,560 taken from Japan in World War II. 442 00:26:01,560 --> 00:26:05,560 And that the French were still being released by the Vietnamese 443 00:26:05,560 --> 00:26:08,560 as late as the 70s and early 80s, 444 00:26:08,560 --> 00:26:11,560 who were captured at Diem Vinh Phu in 1954. 445 00:26:11,560 --> 00:26:15,560 So it's not unusual for, as we see, 446 00:26:15,560 --> 00:26:18,560 communist governments keeping citizens 447 00:26:18,560 --> 00:26:21,560 as long as they want to. 448 00:26:21,560 --> 00:26:23,560 And sometimes prisoners can live, 449 00:26:23,560 --> 00:26:26,560 obviously, for a long time. 450 00:26:27,560 --> 00:26:31,560 But they're still alive for decades in captivity. 451 00:26:58,560 --> 00:27:02,560 Albuquerque, New Mexico, August 18, 1984. 452 00:27:02,560 --> 00:27:05,560 I'm in the hit! 453 00:27:05,560 --> 00:27:08,560 10.25 p.m. 454 00:27:08,560 --> 00:27:10,560 Gunshot! 455 00:27:15,560 --> 00:27:17,560 Where you hit? 456 00:27:17,560 --> 00:27:18,560 Twice. 457 00:27:18,560 --> 00:27:19,560 We're in the hit. 458 00:27:19,560 --> 00:27:20,560 3.32. 459 00:27:20,560 --> 00:27:21,560 3.32. 460 00:27:21,560 --> 00:27:22,560 10.83. 461 00:27:22,560 --> 00:27:23,560 We got shots fired. 462 00:27:23,560 --> 00:27:25,560 Start 43.55. 463 00:27:28,560 --> 00:27:30,560 10.28 p.m. 464 00:27:30,560 --> 00:27:33,560 Police units respond to that most urgent and personal 465 00:27:33,560 --> 00:27:35,560 of emergency calls. 466 00:27:35,560 --> 00:27:38,560 Officer is down. 467 00:27:38,560 --> 00:27:40,560 I knew I was losing a lot of blood. 468 00:27:40,560 --> 00:27:41,560 I was worried about that. 469 00:27:41,560 --> 00:27:43,560 And it was getting hard to breathe 470 00:27:43,560 --> 00:27:47,560 because of the wound in my side in my left lung area. 471 00:27:47,560 --> 00:27:50,560 But I had an attitude that I was not going to die, 472 00:27:50,560 --> 00:27:53,560 that I was going to make it through it. 473 00:27:53,560 --> 00:27:56,560 And I think that helped a lot. 474 00:27:57,560 --> 00:27:58,560 How is he? 475 00:27:58,560 --> 00:27:59,560 Pretty good. 476 00:27:59,560 --> 00:28:00,560 He's doing all right. 477 00:28:00,560 --> 00:28:01,560 Got two hits here. 478 00:28:01,560 --> 00:28:02,560 And I went in the arm right here. 479 00:28:02,560 --> 00:28:04,560 Vic Webb had been on the Albuquerque police 480 00:28:04,560 --> 00:28:06,560 force for five years. 481 00:28:06,560 --> 00:28:08,560 And this incident was the first time he had ever 482 00:28:08,560 --> 00:28:10,560 fired his gun on duty. 483 00:28:10,560 --> 00:28:12,560 What happened? 484 00:28:12,560 --> 00:28:15,560 During the shootout, Webb was struck twice. 485 00:28:15,560 --> 00:28:18,560 Without the rapid response of his fellow officers, 486 00:28:18,560 --> 00:28:20,560 he would almost certainly have died. 487 00:28:20,560 --> 00:28:21,560 Hang in there. 488 00:28:21,560 --> 00:28:22,560 Hang in there. 489 00:28:22,560 --> 00:28:27,560 At any moment on any patrol, police officers 490 00:28:27,560 --> 00:28:30,560 must expect the unexpected. 491 00:28:30,560 --> 00:28:33,560 The night he was nearly killed, Vic Webb and another officer 492 00:28:33,560 --> 00:28:35,560 entered a local pool hall with an arrest warrant 493 00:28:35,560 --> 00:28:38,560 for a female suspect in a fraud case. 494 00:28:38,560 --> 00:28:41,560 Instead, they found themselves face to face 495 00:28:41,560 --> 00:28:43,560 with a trigger-happy ex-con. 496 00:28:47,560 --> 00:28:50,560 The evening began when Officer Rick Foley sat down 497 00:28:50,560 --> 00:28:53,560 at the police crime computer. 498 00:28:53,560 --> 00:28:56,560 He discovered an outstanding arrest warrant for a woman 499 00:28:56,560 --> 00:28:58,560 he wanted to question on another case. 500 00:28:58,560 --> 00:29:00,560 Could you look on an outstanding bench warm, please? 501 00:29:00,560 --> 00:29:03,560 An informant told Foley that the suspect 502 00:29:03,560 --> 00:29:06,560 frequented Albuquerque Tavern called Gary's game room. 503 00:29:11,560 --> 00:29:14,560 Foley and Vic Webb arrived at around 10 p.m. 504 00:29:14,560 --> 00:29:15,560 Another bench warm? 505 00:29:15,560 --> 00:29:16,560 Yeah. 506 00:29:16,560 --> 00:29:18,560 So you were seeing several places around the area here? 507 00:29:18,560 --> 00:29:21,560 Although they were not ordinarily partners, 508 00:29:21,560 --> 00:29:24,560 Webb had volunteered to assist in serving the warrant. 509 00:29:26,560 --> 00:29:28,560 When we walked in, we noticed some people 510 00:29:28,560 --> 00:29:32,560 sitting at a bar off to the left and a couple of people 511 00:29:32,560 --> 00:29:33,560 playing pool. 512 00:29:33,560 --> 00:29:34,560 You guys need some help with something? 513 00:29:34,560 --> 00:29:36,560 Just looking. 514 00:29:36,560 --> 00:29:39,560 Towards the back of the room, there was a dark hallway, 515 00:29:39,560 --> 00:29:42,560 so we decided to move back towards the back and take a look. 516 00:29:49,560 --> 00:29:51,560 Give me your guns. 517 00:29:51,560 --> 00:29:53,560 Give me your guns. 518 00:29:53,560 --> 00:29:56,560 Give me now! 519 00:29:57,560 --> 00:30:01,560 This was a situation where we were caught absolutely cold, 520 00:30:01,560 --> 00:30:04,560 and here was a guy pointing a gun at us demanding our weapons. 521 00:30:04,560 --> 00:30:08,560 I'd been out of the academy for approximately a year and a half, 522 00:30:08,560 --> 00:30:12,560 two years, fairly new on the department, 523 00:30:12,560 --> 00:30:17,560 and my first thoughts were I couldn't believe this was happening to me. 524 00:30:18,560 --> 00:30:22,560 I snapped back into reality and knew that if, in fact, 525 00:30:22,560 --> 00:30:25,560 he was going to shoot me or kill me, 526 00:30:25,560 --> 00:30:28,560 I didn't want it to be inside the game room. 527 00:30:33,560 --> 00:30:35,560 His first round hit me in the side, 528 00:30:35,560 --> 00:30:39,560 and I was wearing a bulletproof vest at the time, 529 00:30:39,560 --> 00:30:42,560 but this round went in between the two panels on my side 530 00:30:42,560 --> 00:30:44,560 and entered the room. 531 00:30:44,560 --> 00:30:47,560 Although the first shot had broken two ribs, 532 00:30:47,560 --> 00:30:51,560 Officer Webb managed to pull his own weapon and return fire. 533 00:30:54,560 --> 00:30:57,560 We were probably about three feet apart at this time, 534 00:30:57,560 --> 00:31:00,560 but he was on one side of the wall and I was on the other side. 535 00:31:02,560 --> 00:31:05,560 I had fired five to six rounds by this time, 536 00:31:05,560 --> 00:31:08,560 and he was continuing to fire back through the sheet rock. 537 00:31:08,560 --> 00:31:10,560 A bullet ripped through Webb's right arm, 538 00:31:10,560 --> 00:31:13,560 severing an artery and destroying nerves. 539 00:31:13,560 --> 00:31:16,560 His shooting hand was rendered useless. 540 00:31:18,560 --> 00:31:21,560 Webb made his way to the exit and struggled to his feet. 541 00:31:21,560 --> 00:31:26,560 Only later did authorities realize that the suspect had picked up Webb's gun 542 00:31:26,560 --> 00:31:28,560 and used it to make his escape. 543 00:31:28,560 --> 00:31:30,560 He was shot in the head, 544 00:31:30,560 --> 00:31:32,560 and he was shot in the head, 545 00:31:32,560 --> 00:31:34,560 and he was shot in the head, 546 00:31:34,560 --> 00:31:36,560 and he was shot in the head, 547 00:31:36,560 --> 00:31:38,560 and he was shot in the head. 548 00:31:42,560 --> 00:31:45,560 The alleged assailant was subsequently identified as Lyle Moody, 549 00:31:45,560 --> 00:31:50,560 a paroled armed robber with a criminal record stretching back 17 years. 550 00:31:54,560 --> 00:31:58,560 The great irony in this case is that the fraud suspect Webb and Foley were 551 00:31:58,560 --> 00:32:01,560 initially seeking, had been arrested 18 months before, 552 00:32:01,560 --> 00:32:05,560 but her name had never been removed from the police computer. 553 00:32:07,560 --> 00:32:10,560 Since the night of the shootout, 554 00:32:10,560 --> 00:32:14,560 Lyle Moody has been spotted in Las Lunes, New Mexico, 555 00:32:14,560 --> 00:32:17,560 Oxnard, California, and Montabello, Colorado, 556 00:32:17,560 --> 00:32:20,560 where he was last seen in March of 1985. 557 00:32:26,560 --> 00:32:30,560 I would hope that the police officers who run across him the next time 558 00:32:30,560 --> 00:32:35,560 know who he is and know how dedicated he is to not going back to prison. 559 00:32:37,560 --> 00:32:43,560 My fear is that he's going to be cornered by some other officers 560 00:32:43,560 --> 00:32:45,560 who may not know who he is, 561 00:32:45,560 --> 00:32:48,560 and more police officers are going to get hurt. 562 00:33:06,560 --> 00:33:11,560 Recently, we were contacted by the FBI with an urgent request. 563 00:33:11,560 --> 00:33:15,560 They hoped that our viewers might assist in locating a convicted murderer 564 00:33:15,560 --> 00:33:19,560 who had just escaped from the state penitentiary in Bismarck, North Dakota. 565 00:33:19,560 --> 00:33:21,560 Please watch closely. 566 00:33:21,560 --> 00:33:24,560 Perhaps you will recognize Richard Lee McNair. 567 00:33:24,560 --> 00:33:26,560 Do you want to go to the police station? 568 00:33:26,560 --> 00:33:28,560 No, I'm not going to the police station. 569 00:33:28,560 --> 00:33:30,560 I'm going to the police station. 570 00:33:30,560 --> 00:33:32,560 I'm going to the police station. 571 00:33:32,560 --> 00:33:35,560 Perhaps you will recognize Richard Lee McNair. 572 00:33:35,560 --> 00:33:38,560 Do you want to live here for the rest of your life? 573 00:33:38,560 --> 00:33:41,560 The rest of your life, man. 574 00:33:41,560 --> 00:33:44,560 There's no Burger King's, no Dairy Queen's, no McDonald's. 575 00:33:44,560 --> 00:33:46,560 This is it. 576 00:33:46,560 --> 00:33:48,560 This is all there is. 577 00:33:49,560 --> 00:33:53,560 While in prison, Richard McNair eagerly assisted authorities 578 00:33:53,560 --> 00:33:57,560 in presenting crime prevention programs to local teenagers. 579 00:33:57,560 --> 00:34:01,560 Richard McNair was really a model prisoner here at the state pen. 580 00:34:01,560 --> 00:34:06,560 He was the editor of the inmate newspaper, very polite to staff, 581 00:34:06,560 --> 00:34:09,560 and most people seemed to like him. 582 00:34:09,560 --> 00:34:14,560 Behind his facade of cooperation, McNair was dedicated to breaking out of prison. 583 00:34:14,560 --> 00:34:20,560 His first attempt in April of 1991 was a failure, but McNair persisted. 584 00:34:20,560 --> 00:34:25,560 On the evening of October 9, 1992, McNair and two other inmates 585 00:34:25,560 --> 00:34:30,560 finally discovered a weak link in the prison's security. 586 00:34:30,560 --> 00:34:34,560 Mr. McNair and the other two individuals who escaped with him at the time 587 00:34:34,560 --> 00:34:37,560 were in an education room. 588 00:34:37,560 --> 00:34:41,560 They worked their way through the air vent coming into that room 589 00:34:41,560 --> 00:34:46,560 and crawled up into a mechanical space where the vents for the institution are. 590 00:34:46,560 --> 00:34:51,560 They then entered a second vent, which leads to the roof area of the institution. 591 00:34:53,560 --> 00:34:56,560 The three inmates made their way over a series of rooftops 592 00:34:56,560 --> 00:34:59,560 and through several coils of razor wire. 593 00:34:59,560 --> 00:35:04,560 Finally after dropping 15 feet to the ground, they were out of the prison. 594 00:35:04,560 --> 00:35:08,560 As soon as they hit the second roof, they were heard by the officer 595 00:35:08,560 --> 00:35:10,560 who immediately reported it to the captain. 596 00:35:10,560 --> 00:35:14,560 Our captain ran out of the institution as the three individuals 597 00:35:14,560 --> 00:35:18,560 were running about 50 feet in front of her to the south of the penitentiary. 598 00:35:18,560 --> 00:35:20,560 She then radioed for help. 599 00:35:22,560 --> 00:35:25,560 Within 48 hours, two of the convicts were recaptured. 600 00:35:25,560 --> 00:35:29,560 However, Richard McNair is still on the run. 601 00:35:31,560 --> 00:35:36,560 Authorities believe McNair may have stolen a light blue 1990 Chevrolet pickup truck like this one, 602 00:35:36,560 --> 00:35:41,560 missing from H.A. Thompson and son's plumbing company, two miles west of the prison. 603 00:35:42,560 --> 00:35:46,560 McNair may be headed to Oklahoma where his family lives 604 00:35:46,560 --> 00:35:49,560 or to Washington State where he has a girlfriend. 605 00:35:49,560 --> 00:35:54,560 We consider McNair extremely dangerous, very volatile, very violent. 606 00:35:54,560 --> 00:35:59,560 The original crime he was charged with in November of 1987 was a shooting death. 607 00:35:59,560 --> 00:36:02,560 He said he will not come back, he will not be taken. 608 00:36:02,560 --> 00:36:04,560 McNair is extremely dangerous. 609 00:36:15,560 --> 00:36:20,560 Next, a mysterious witness reports a brutal murder in Florida. 610 00:36:25,560 --> 00:36:32,560 For the police, nothing is more frustrating than a case where they are virtually positive 611 00:36:32,560 --> 00:36:36,560 they know who committed a murder but have no way of proving it. 612 00:36:36,560 --> 00:36:39,560 Florida authorities are caught in just such a dilemma. 613 00:36:39,560 --> 00:36:43,560 Their only hope of closing the case is to locate an unknown eyewitness, 614 00:36:43,560 --> 00:36:48,560 a man who called the Miami Police Department on May 1, 1991. 615 00:36:49,560 --> 00:36:53,560 Then we were police on fire. 616 00:36:53,560 --> 00:36:58,560 The caller told a police operator that he had witnessed a horrible crime 617 00:36:58,560 --> 00:37:01,560 in Bel Glade, 80 miles north of Miami. 618 00:37:01,560 --> 00:37:05,560 I am a citizen who saw a person when they killed him. 619 00:37:05,560 --> 00:37:06,560 Yes. 620 00:37:06,560 --> 00:37:08,560 In Bel Glade. 621 00:37:08,560 --> 00:37:11,560 I picked up the number of the case. 622 00:37:11,560 --> 00:37:13,560 Where did they kill him? 623 00:37:13,560 --> 00:37:15,560 The operator could not fully understand the caller, 624 00:37:16,560 --> 00:37:19,560 so she connected him to Detective Bert Blanco. 625 00:37:19,560 --> 00:37:25,560 In a rushed, nervous voice, the caller began to describe a grisly scene 626 00:37:25,560 --> 00:37:28,560 which he had witnessed several days earlier. 627 00:37:28,560 --> 00:37:32,560 He said he was hunting illegally in a sugar cane field 628 00:37:32,560 --> 00:37:35,560 when he heard a vehicle in the distance. 629 00:37:38,560 --> 00:37:42,560 The man stated that as he ran to hide, a blue Ford Bronco pulled up nearby. 630 00:37:43,560 --> 00:37:45,560 A man and a woman got out. 631 00:37:45,560 --> 00:37:47,560 She called him Ricardito, 632 00:37:47,560 --> 00:37:52,560 which you are about to hear is a translation of the eyewitness's phone call to the police. 633 00:37:55,560 --> 00:37:58,560 They started to argue, the girl and him. 634 00:38:01,560 --> 00:38:03,560 It appeared to be a drug problem. 635 00:38:04,560 --> 00:38:07,560 He was telling her to give him the money. 636 00:38:07,560 --> 00:38:10,560 She told him she cannot give him the money yet. 637 00:38:12,560 --> 00:38:14,560 There were two of them. 638 00:38:14,560 --> 00:38:16,560 The young man appeared to be Cuban, 639 00:38:16,560 --> 00:38:19,560 and the other Mexican, by the way, he spoke. 640 00:38:19,560 --> 00:38:23,560 She was shouting, Ricardito, don't kill me Ricardito. 641 00:38:29,560 --> 00:38:32,560 After he killed her, he dragged her away. 642 00:38:32,560 --> 00:38:36,560 So I got down on my knees because I thought if this person sees me, 643 00:38:36,560 --> 00:38:38,560 they're going to kill me too. 644 00:38:38,560 --> 00:38:40,560 Then the Bronco pulled away. 645 00:38:40,560 --> 00:38:43,560 I saw a seven and a two on the license plate. 646 00:38:43,560 --> 00:38:46,560 Then I left because I was scared. 647 00:38:46,560 --> 00:38:48,560 But later I thought it's a crime. 648 00:38:51,560 --> 00:38:55,560 The mysterious caller had said that the sugar cane field was behind a building 649 00:38:55,560 --> 00:38:57,560 shaped like an ice cream cone. 650 00:38:57,560 --> 00:39:02,560 Detective Frank Mayo, the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Department and Belle Glade 651 00:39:02,560 --> 00:39:04,560 was assigned to investigate. 652 00:39:05,560 --> 00:39:11,560 I left the station and went down to the area of the twisty tree. 653 00:39:11,560 --> 00:39:15,560 And once I was there, I looked around and I saw a set of tree lines 654 00:39:15,560 --> 00:39:18,560 about a mile south of the twisty tree. 655 00:39:18,560 --> 00:39:21,560 So I decided to drive to that area and start searching the tree line. 656 00:39:24,560 --> 00:39:27,560 As I was passing along the tree line in my vehicle, 657 00:39:27,560 --> 00:39:33,560 I saw like a small brown object over in the tall grass area. 658 00:39:33,560 --> 00:39:38,560 Not knowing that that time what it was, I stopped the car and I got out 659 00:39:38,560 --> 00:39:40,560 and I walked over to the bushes. 660 00:39:40,560 --> 00:39:45,560 And after I got there, I realized it was the body of a female at that time. 661 00:39:45,560 --> 00:39:49,560 But the body was in a state at which at that time I couldn't determine 662 00:39:49,560 --> 00:39:51,560 which race it was. 663 00:39:51,560 --> 00:39:54,560 Detective Mayo notified headquarters. 664 00:39:54,560 --> 00:39:59,560 A team of homicide investigators was immediately dispatched to the scene. 665 00:39:59,560 --> 00:40:01,560 It was a very heinous crime. 666 00:40:01,560 --> 00:40:03,560 It was very violent. 667 00:40:03,560 --> 00:40:07,560 I believe that the suspect had a lot of disregard for human life. 668 00:40:07,560 --> 00:40:09,560 A lot of disregard. 669 00:40:09,560 --> 00:40:13,560 She had been laying there for approximately a week, maybe a few days longer. 670 00:40:13,560 --> 00:40:18,560 She had passed the decomposition stage and she had started to get into mummification. 671 00:40:18,560 --> 00:40:25,560 How we identified her was her right thumbprint was the only print left. 672 00:40:25,560 --> 00:40:29,560 The majority of her fingers had already turned to skeleton. 673 00:40:29,560 --> 00:40:33,560 And with that right thumbprint, we were able to make identification 674 00:40:33,560 --> 00:40:37,560 and prove that she was in fact Rebecca Young. 675 00:40:37,560 --> 00:40:41,560 Rebecca Young was a 21-year-old resident of Bel Glade. 676 00:40:41,560 --> 00:40:45,560 In a terrible irony, Rebecca's mother had also been murdered. 677 00:40:45,560 --> 00:40:51,560 Rebecca was 12 years old at the time and went to live with her aunt Lucille. 678 00:40:51,560 --> 00:40:54,560 We had a very close relationship. 679 00:40:54,560 --> 00:40:56,560 We was friends. 680 00:40:56,560 --> 00:40:57,560 We were sisters. 681 00:40:57,560 --> 00:40:59,560 We was mother and daughter. 682 00:40:59,560 --> 00:41:01,560 We was grandparents too, you know. 683 00:41:01,560 --> 00:41:04,560 And this is the way I raised her and her brother. 684 00:41:04,560 --> 00:41:08,560 Rebecca was a very quiet, shy girl. 685 00:41:08,560 --> 00:41:14,560 And she was the type, she would do anything she possibly could for anybody. 686 00:41:14,560 --> 00:41:21,560 She was the type of child I would give anything to have over again. 687 00:41:21,560 --> 00:41:26,560 Police began to dig into Rebecca Young's background looking for a murder suspect. 688 00:41:26,560 --> 00:41:34,560 They soon discovered that after high school, Rebecca had become involved with a man known to be a petty criminal. 689 00:41:34,560 --> 00:41:44,560 She had gotten hooked up with a person locally who had gotten her into a different type of life than she was accustomed to. 690 00:41:44,560 --> 00:41:52,560 He started introducing her to the drug scene and prostitution and things of this nature. 691 00:41:52,560 --> 00:42:02,560 He had beat her up on more than one occasion and had intimidated her and threatened her into this type of lifestyle. 692 00:42:02,560 --> 00:42:06,560 While police have determined that the man is not a suspect in Rebecca's murder, 693 00:42:06,560 --> 00:42:12,560 they do believe that his petty thievery may have led to her death. 694 00:42:12,560 --> 00:42:18,560 This person may have robbed the client without Rebecca's knowledge that he was going to do this. 695 00:42:18,560 --> 00:42:25,560 Rebecca may have suffered the consequences as a result of his actions. 696 00:42:25,560 --> 00:42:34,560 On May 14, 1991, three weeks after Rebecca Young's murder, the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Department detained a possible suspect. 697 00:42:34,560 --> 00:42:40,560 He was a local man who had reportedly told the prostitute that he killed a black woman. 698 00:42:40,560 --> 00:42:44,560 When the man was pulled over, police suspected that he was drunk. 699 00:42:44,560 --> 00:42:47,560 I'm clean, man. I'm clean, man. 700 00:42:47,560 --> 00:42:49,560 Would you stop me? 701 00:42:49,560 --> 00:42:51,560 I know what you guys want. 702 00:42:51,560 --> 00:42:53,560 Come on, give me a break. 703 00:42:53,560 --> 00:42:55,560 I'm doing this. 704 00:42:55,560 --> 00:42:57,560 Don't move. 705 00:42:57,560 --> 00:43:02,560 Before I could interview him, he told me that I wanted to talk to him about a murder. 706 00:43:02,560 --> 00:43:06,560 When I told him I wanted to talk to him about the prostitution, he would have been out with it. 707 00:43:06,560 --> 00:43:09,560 He said I don't want to talk to you. I want an attorney. 708 00:43:09,560 --> 00:43:11,560 All right, so you're 15 years old. 709 00:43:11,560 --> 00:43:17,560 At that point we didn't have any further evidence that he was involved in this. I had to release him. 710 00:43:17,560 --> 00:43:26,560 Even though the suspect would eventually be released, police feels certain that he was involved in Rebecca Young's murder. 711 00:43:26,560 --> 00:43:34,560 They are now engaged in an all-out search for the elusive eyewitness who would originally telephone them to report the crime. 712 00:43:34,560 --> 00:43:37,680 the man, except that his first name is Antonio. 713 00:43:37,680 --> 00:43:39,320 He said he called from a pay phone 714 00:43:39,320 --> 00:43:42,760 because he did not have a telephone at home. 715 00:43:42,760 --> 00:43:45,000 Judging from Antonio's accent, police 716 00:43:45,000 --> 00:43:48,360 believe he was born in Cuba. 717 00:43:48,360 --> 00:43:50,960 This is a portion of the actual tape recording 718 00:43:50,960 --> 00:43:52,640 of Antonio's telephone call. 719 00:44:04,560 --> 00:44:15,480 Police in Florida, as well as a friends and family 720 00:44:15,480 --> 00:44:19,880 of Rebecca Young, want to urge Antonio to come forward. 721 00:44:19,880 --> 00:44:22,960 It should be emphasized that he is not wanted for any crime. 722 00:44:35,040 --> 00:44:37,600 On our next Unsolved Mysteries, you'll 723 00:44:37,600 --> 00:44:40,520 meet George Anderson, whose apparent psychic abilities 724 00:44:40,520 --> 00:44:43,400 have amazed believers and baffled skeptics. 725 00:44:43,400 --> 00:44:45,080 He says he can help grieving families 726 00:44:45,080 --> 00:44:47,160 by communicating with their lost loved ones 727 00:44:47,160 --> 00:44:48,920 from beyond the grave. 728 00:44:48,920 --> 00:44:52,360 It sounds unbelievable, but you can judge for yourself 729 00:44:52,360 --> 00:44:57,240 as we take you to an actual session with this intriguing man. 730 00:44:57,240 --> 00:45:01,400 Join me next time for another edition of Unsolved Mysteries.