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 00:00:16,280 --> 00:00:18,880 He fights crime by performing autopsies, 6 00:00:18,880 --> 00:00:21,360 and his legendary skills have led some to call him 7 00:00:21,360 --> 00:00:23,760 a modern-day Sherlock Holmes. 8 00:00:23,760 --> 00:00:27,000 He is forensic pathologist Dr. Cyril Reis. 9 00:00:27,760 --> 00:00:31,040 He is forensic pathologist Dr. Cyril Wecht. 10 00:00:31,040 --> 00:00:32,880 And tonight, we'll accompany Dr. Wecht 11 00:00:32,880 --> 00:00:36,000 as he investigates the mysterious and controversial death 12 00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:39,040 of a young college student. 13 00:00:39,040 --> 00:00:42,200 You will also meet three very unusual investigators, 14 00:00:42,200 --> 00:00:45,320 genealogists, who claim that while researching their family 15 00:00:45,320 --> 00:00:49,360 trees, they were guided by an unexplained psychic force. 16 00:00:49,360 --> 00:00:51,760 It may seem unbelievable, but all three 17 00:00:51,760 --> 00:00:54,360 are convinced that the spirits of their ancestors 18 00:00:54,360 --> 00:00:58,400 reached out to them from beyond the grave. 19 00:00:58,400 --> 00:00:59,200 Join me. 20 00:00:59,200 --> 00:01:02,320 Perhaps you may be able to help solve a mystery. 21 00:01:55,360 --> 00:01:57,840 This poor little girl died as a result 22 00:01:57,840 --> 00:02:01,920 of being overcome by the flames and carbon monoxide. 23 00:02:01,920 --> 00:02:03,040 And that's what killed her. 24 00:02:03,040 --> 00:02:05,160 There is no evidence whatsoever to indicate 25 00:02:05,160 --> 00:02:07,160 that she had been cut on her throat. 26 00:02:07,160 --> 00:02:09,240 He has been called a real-life Quincy 27 00:02:09,240 --> 00:02:11,520 in a modern-day Sherlock Holmes. 28 00:02:11,520 --> 00:02:15,080 But by any name, Dr. Cyril Wecht is undeniably one 29 00:02:15,080 --> 00:02:17,760 of the country's top forensic pathologists. 30 00:02:17,760 --> 00:02:21,720 In court, it is Wecht's testimony that often tips the balance. 31 00:02:24,520 --> 00:02:28,640 To solve a murder and have that case defined, 32 00:02:28,640 --> 00:02:31,800 to prove that something was not a murder when somebody 33 00:02:31,800 --> 00:02:34,320 is thought to have committed a murder, 34 00:02:34,320 --> 00:02:38,800 the intellectual challenge is fantastic. 35 00:02:38,800 --> 00:02:42,360 The gratification comes from helping people 36 00:02:42,360 --> 00:02:43,400 in a very real sense. 37 00:02:45,880 --> 00:02:49,160 In 1993, Seth Floyd was found hanging by the neck 38 00:02:49,160 --> 00:02:50,480 in his jail cell. 39 00:02:50,480 --> 00:02:52,480 The authorities called it suicide. 40 00:02:52,520 --> 00:02:56,960 Dr. Wecht proved it was murder. 41 00:02:56,960 --> 00:03:01,040 Louis DeNicola spent five years in prison for a triple murder. 42 00:03:01,040 --> 00:03:03,880 Dr. Wecht proved the deaths were accidental. 43 00:03:03,880 --> 00:03:08,040 And DeNicola went home a free man. 44 00:03:08,040 --> 00:03:10,600 Eight-year-old Tanya Palmer accidentally drowned 45 00:03:10,600 --> 00:03:12,280 in her own bathtub. 46 00:03:12,280 --> 00:03:15,320 At least that's what her mother's boyfriend told police. 47 00:03:15,320 --> 00:03:18,400 Dr. Wecht helped prove that, in fact, the boyfriend 48 00:03:18,400 --> 00:03:19,920 had murdered Tanya Palmer. 49 00:03:23,480 --> 00:03:25,840 In law enforcement circles, Cyril Wecht 50 00:03:25,840 --> 00:03:28,160 has become something of a legend. 51 00:03:28,160 --> 00:03:30,800 But one case continues to haunt him. 52 00:03:30,800 --> 00:03:33,400 The mysterious death of a 20-year-old college student 53 00:03:33,400 --> 00:03:35,400 near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 54 00:03:35,400 --> 00:03:38,880 Perhaps tonight, you can provide the clue that helps Dr. Wecht 55 00:03:38,880 --> 00:03:41,200 finally solve this controversial mystery. 56 00:03:47,400 --> 00:03:51,440 It was on a Wednesday evening, the 21st of October, 1987, 57 00:03:51,480 --> 00:03:56,600 that authorities found the body of Jack Davis, Jr. 58 00:03:56,600 --> 00:03:59,720 Davis was sprawled at the bottom of a 20-step stairwell 59 00:03:59,720 --> 00:04:05,480 on the campus of Indiana University of Pennsylvania. 60 00:04:05,480 --> 00:04:08,440 Jack had last been seen the previous Friday night. 61 00:04:08,440 --> 00:04:11,400 He attended a party with some of his fraternity brothers, 62 00:04:11,400 --> 00:04:15,840 then made the rounds at a few local bars. 63 00:04:15,840 --> 00:04:19,480 Jack's body was autopsied by a local pathologist. 64 00:04:19,480 --> 00:04:21,920 A toxicology report, a routine check 65 00:04:21,920 --> 00:04:24,120 for unnatural substances in the body, 66 00:04:24,120 --> 00:04:26,760 was completed at a lamb out of state. 67 00:04:26,760 --> 00:04:29,320 The autopsy and test results were forwarded to County 68 00:04:29,320 --> 00:04:31,320 Corner Thomas Streams. 69 00:04:31,320 --> 00:04:34,920 He ruled that Jack's death was accidental. 70 00:04:34,920 --> 00:04:39,360 The body was not in disarray from a fight. 71 00:04:39,360 --> 00:04:42,320 There was no signs of defensive wounds. 72 00:04:42,320 --> 00:04:44,600 As a struggle, there were no drag marks. 73 00:04:44,600 --> 00:04:48,120 There was just nothing unremarkably about the body. 74 00:04:50,120 --> 00:04:54,640 The scenario was that Mr. Davis wandered down 75 00:04:54,640 --> 00:04:57,520 into the stairwell in a intoxicated state, 76 00:04:57,520 --> 00:05:01,960 perhaps to urinate, collapsed in an unconscious state, 77 00:05:01,960 --> 00:05:05,200 vomited and healed the vomitus into his lungs, 78 00:05:05,200 --> 00:05:07,040 which therefore then subsequently caused his death. 79 00:05:09,920 --> 00:05:12,360 The official report concluded that Jack Davis 80 00:05:12,360 --> 00:05:14,680 died at about 2 AM Saturday morning, 81 00:05:14,680 --> 00:05:17,280 several hours after he disappeared. 82 00:05:17,400 --> 00:05:22,880 His body apparently lay in the stairwell for nearly five days. 83 00:05:22,880 --> 00:05:25,320 I couldn't believe or comprehend 84 00:05:25,320 --> 00:05:27,800 that he could have died that way. 85 00:05:27,800 --> 00:05:32,760 And I was told that that was a common occurrence. 86 00:05:32,760 --> 00:05:34,120 I found it hard to believe. 87 00:05:36,720 --> 00:05:38,960 Jack's mother, father, and stepmother 88 00:05:38,960 --> 00:05:41,360 took him home to Penn Hills, Pennsylvania 89 00:05:41,360 --> 00:05:43,800 and laid him to rest. 90 00:05:43,800 --> 00:05:46,160 Even as Jack's family agreed, their doubts 91 00:05:46,160 --> 00:05:48,880 about the official findings began to grow. 92 00:05:48,880 --> 00:05:51,840 But for more than two years, they pushed aside their concerns. 93 00:05:54,800 --> 00:05:57,600 Then a local reporter began to publicly question 94 00:05:57,600 --> 00:05:59,160 the coroner's ruling. 95 00:05:59,160 --> 00:06:03,200 Finally, Jack's family turned to Dr. Wect. 96 00:06:03,200 --> 00:06:04,560 Thanks for coming down. 97 00:06:04,560 --> 00:06:07,800 I'm sorry to meet you under these circumstances. 98 00:06:07,800 --> 00:06:09,800 Before I got into the medical aspects of the case, 99 00:06:09,800 --> 00:06:12,720 I was just puzzled as a matter of common sense. 100 00:06:12,760 --> 00:06:16,200 How could a body have been lying outside on the college 101 00:06:16,200 --> 00:06:20,280 campus in the early fall for five or more days, 102 00:06:20,280 --> 00:06:24,400 unseen, unnoticed by anybody? 103 00:06:24,400 --> 00:06:27,800 The other thing that puzzled me was, 104 00:06:27,800 --> 00:06:30,400 I thought, gee, why would a young man, 105 00:06:30,400 --> 00:06:36,040 in the early hours of the morning, walk 15 steps 106 00:06:36,040 --> 00:06:40,000 and a landing and another five steps to urinate? 107 00:06:40,000 --> 00:06:42,240 I remember when I went to college. 108 00:06:42,240 --> 00:06:44,880 And I remember what young men will 109 00:06:44,880 --> 00:06:48,360 do if they have to urinate, especially if they are inebriated 110 00:06:48,360 --> 00:06:52,520 and it's the wee hours of the morning and nobody is around. 111 00:06:52,520 --> 00:06:56,480 Not too many people have that kind of discretion 112 00:06:56,480 --> 00:06:59,280 and personal sensitivity. 113 00:06:59,280 --> 00:07:02,440 So you see, that did not fit either. 114 00:07:02,440 --> 00:07:06,160 We've managed to get a copy of the toxicology report. 115 00:07:06,160 --> 00:07:09,040 And we need you to look at this and tell us. 116 00:07:09,040 --> 00:07:10,080 You have that with you? 117 00:07:10,080 --> 00:07:10,680 Yes, I do. 118 00:07:10,680 --> 00:07:13,800 Almost immediately, Dr. Wecht found glaring discrepancies 119 00:07:13,800 --> 00:07:15,240 in the report. 120 00:07:15,240 --> 00:07:17,080 Although by all accounts, Jack Davis 121 00:07:17,080 --> 00:07:20,240 had been drinking heavily on the night he supposedly died, 122 00:07:20,240 --> 00:07:25,360 absolutely no alcohol was found in his blood. 123 00:07:25,360 --> 00:07:26,880 There was no doubt that he had been drinking. 124 00:07:26,880 --> 00:07:28,880 Nobody challenged that. 125 00:07:28,880 --> 00:07:32,360 In order for him to have wound up with no alcohol in his blood 126 00:07:32,360 --> 00:07:33,920 at the time of his death, he would 127 00:07:33,920 --> 00:07:37,000 have had to have been alive for about 30 hours. 128 00:07:37,000 --> 00:07:41,280 The fact then that there was no alcohol in his blood 129 00:07:41,280 --> 00:07:47,480 indicates to me that he did not die at that time. 130 00:07:47,480 --> 00:07:51,760 You know, when they theorized, he had fallen down the steps. 131 00:07:51,760 --> 00:07:53,880 Dr. Wecht found other evidence that argued 132 00:07:53,880 --> 00:07:56,160 against a Saturday morning death. 133 00:07:56,160 --> 00:07:58,520 Jack Davis was clean shaven Friday night 134 00:07:58,520 --> 00:08:00,120 when he was last seen. 135 00:08:00,120 --> 00:08:02,280 But when Jack's body was found, there 136 00:08:02,280 --> 00:08:06,320 was heavy beard stubble on his face. 137 00:08:06,320 --> 00:08:09,440 There was one final discrepancy, the autopsy slides 138 00:08:09,440 --> 00:08:11,240 of Jack's lungs. 139 00:08:11,240 --> 00:08:13,960 They provided stunning evidence that the presumed cause 140 00:08:13,960 --> 00:08:16,680 of death choking on regurgitated food 141 00:08:16,680 --> 00:08:20,640 was nothing short of impossible. 142 00:08:20,640 --> 00:08:22,920 If you're going to list that as a cause of death, 143 00:08:22,920 --> 00:08:27,000 you've got to find food particles deep down inside 144 00:08:27,000 --> 00:08:29,720 the small terminal air passageways, 145 00:08:29,720 --> 00:08:32,320 and that wasn't present. 146 00:08:32,320 --> 00:08:35,240 The other thing about the autopsy 147 00:08:35,280 --> 00:08:43,360 that really stood out for me and made me quiver with excitement 148 00:08:43,360 --> 00:08:47,520 was the fact that the head had not been examined. 149 00:08:47,520 --> 00:08:50,680 The pathologist who did the autopsy 150 00:08:50,680 --> 00:08:54,440 had not opened up the cranial vault. 151 00:08:54,440 --> 00:08:57,480 The pathologist who performed the first autopsy 152 00:08:57,480 --> 00:09:00,240 went as far as he felt he had to go to find 153 00:09:00,240 --> 00:09:03,280 a conclusive cause of death. 154 00:09:03,280 --> 00:09:05,960 And when he opened up Jack Davis' chest 155 00:09:05,960 --> 00:09:08,160 and examined the internal organs, 156 00:09:08,160 --> 00:09:11,320 he noticed, apparently noticed, the aspiration 157 00:09:11,320 --> 00:09:13,920 of stomach contents in the lungs. 158 00:09:13,920 --> 00:09:16,360 And therefore, he felt that was an independent and conclusive 159 00:09:16,360 --> 00:09:19,880 cause of death and did not open to skull. 160 00:09:19,880 --> 00:09:24,240 At that time, we all agreed as a family and with Dr. Wacht 161 00:09:24,240 --> 00:09:28,040 that the body needed to be exhumed. 162 00:09:28,040 --> 00:09:29,240 You can see the discoloration here. 163 00:09:29,240 --> 00:09:33,120 It was the only way we would find out the true cause of death. 164 00:09:33,120 --> 00:09:36,480 Look, Joe, look at that sub-gay-o-hemorrhage. 165 00:09:36,480 --> 00:09:40,240 When I opened up the skull, I found three fractures. 166 00:09:40,240 --> 00:09:44,240 Three areas of skull fracture with significant bleeding 167 00:09:44,240 --> 00:09:45,720 overlying the brain. 168 00:09:45,720 --> 00:09:46,600 It's a blood clot. 169 00:09:46,600 --> 00:09:48,920 It's a pulling of blood. 170 00:09:48,920 --> 00:09:52,080 And that was the cause of death, which 171 00:09:52,080 --> 00:09:54,200 had never been appreciated because the head hadn't 172 00:09:54,200 --> 00:09:56,160 been examined in the first autopsy. 173 00:09:56,160 --> 00:09:58,840 And now we knew the cause of death it was then 174 00:09:58,840 --> 00:10:01,080 and is today, of course, unequivocal. 175 00:10:01,080 --> 00:10:02,080 Come in on the front street. 176 00:10:03,080 --> 00:10:06,840 Slides and lab work can only tell part of the story. 177 00:10:06,840 --> 00:10:09,200 With a university official, Dr. Wacht 178 00:10:09,200 --> 00:10:13,360 visited the stairwell where Jack's body was found. 179 00:10:13,360 --> 00:10:16,640 Was some students saw him first then and reported him 180 00:10:16,640 --> 00:10:18,240 through the campus? 181 00:10:18,240 --> 00:10:21,560 I realized that that body could not 182 00:10:21,560 --> 00:10:26,320 have accidentally fallen or been thrown from high up 183 00:10:26,320 --> 00:10:30,560 because he would have had eggshell, depressed type fractures. 184 00:10:30,560 --> 00:10:33,880 Similarly, it did not appear that he had stumbled down 185 00:10:33,880 --> 00:10:40,120 the steps because there was no pattern of abrasions 186 00:10:40,120 --> 00:10:42,320 and bruises, contusions. 187 00:10:42,320 --> 00:10:44,240 And so that did not fit. 188 00:10:44,240 --> 00:10:46,520 I wonder, Ms. Montgomery, if we could possibly 189 00:10:46,520 --> 00:10:50,080 get into the building and see from that second floor 190 00:10:50,080 --> 00:10:52,440 or even the third and fourth floors 191 00:10:52,440 --> 00:10:54,600 whether one can look out. 192 00:10:54,600 --> 00:10:57,240 And then if one did, whether you would 193 00:10:57,240 --> 00:11:00,000 be able to look down here. 194 00:11:00,520 --> 00:11:03,240 Yeah, you can see very clearly. 195 00:11:03,240 --> 00:11:06,120 And if you should look down, you certainly 196 00:11:06,120 --> 00:11:09,840 can see directly there an average height. 197 00:11:09,840 --> 00:11:12,240 Approximately 200 students were in rooms 198 00:11:12,240 --> 00:11:14,240 overlooking the stairwell during the days 199 00:11:14,240 --> 00:11:16,720 Jack supposedly lay below. 200 00:11:16,720 --> 00:11:19,720 However, not one person reported seeing the body. 201 00:11:22,480 --> 00:11:25,600 There was one final problem with the official scenario, 202 00:11:25,600 --> 00:11:26,840 the weather. 203 00:11:26,840 --> 00:11:29,800 During the two days before Jack's body was found, 204 00:11:29,840 --> 00:11:33,120 heavy rain fell on the campus. 205 00:11:33,120 --> 00:11:37,040 Jack's clothes were not wet. 206 00:11:37,040 --> 00:11:39,600 We had a real problem in explaining 207 00:11:39,600 --> 00:11:44,080 how Jack could have been lying there for all those days 208 00:11:44,080 --> 00:11:47,800 in rainwater with dry clothes. 209 00:11:47,800 --> 00:11:51,160 Well, how can that be? 210 00:11:51,160 --> 00:11:56,560 I would say it is more likely that Jack Davis died elsewhere 211 00:11:56,560 --> 00:12:00,240 or was injured elsewhere or was dying elsewhere 212 00:12:00,240 --> 00:12:02,600 and then was placed at the bottom of those steps. 213 00:12:02,600 --> 00:12:06,120 I base this upon the known facts. 214 00:12:06,120 --> 00:12:08,920 Dr. Weck's critical findings convinced authorities 215 00:12:08,920 --> 00:12:13,760 to reopen the case in October of 1990. 216 00:12:13,760 --> 00:12:16,200 Really nothing new came of it. 217 00:12:16,200 --> 00:12:21,160 And at that point, the investigation was closed again. 218 00:12:21,160 --> 00:12:23,880 Personally, I still go along with the fact 219 00:12:23,920 --> 00:12:27,160 that he fell from up above. 220 00:12:27,160 --> 00:12:31,920 Dr. Weck's comments about the egg shelling effect, 221 00:12:31,920 --> 00:12:35,360 I'm not too sure that he couldn't have hit the side of the wall 222 00:12:35,360 --> 00:12:40,440 to begin with and broken the fall somewhat. 223 00:12:40,440 --> 00:12:42,840 And I've seen very strange things with drunks anyway, 224 00:12:42,840 --> 00:12:49,960 so nothing would be unbelievable to me. 225 00:12:49,960 --> 00:12:51,920 Some critics of the official findings 226 00:12:51,920 --> 00:12:54,560 believe Jack's death was no accident. 227 00:12:54,560 --> 00:12:56,840 Reporter Marlene Brennan theorizes 228 00:12:56,840 --> 00:12:59,640 that Jack may have been caught up in a feud between two 229 00:12:59,640 --> 00:13:02,440 rival fraternities. 230 00:13:02,440 --> 00:13:05,640 Some students report that there were up to five fights 231 00:13:05,640 --> 00:13:06,760 that night. 232 00:13:06,760 --> 00:13:09,560 And it could be possible that he was involved in one of them 233 00:13:09,560 --> 00:13:10,840 and he was injured. 234 00:13:10,840 --> 00:13:14,160 And someone didn't know what to do with him, 235 00:13:14,160 --> 00:13:17,360 so they kept him somewhere thinking that he might get better 236 00:13:17,360 --> 00:13:19,280 or whatever, and he didn't. 237 00:13:19,280 --> 00:13:21,520 And then they moved him to the stairwell. 238 00:13:21,520 --> 00:13:23,720 I believe somebody out there does know something, 239 00:13:23,720 --> 00:13:28,760 and I'm hoping that perhaps with continuing inquiries 240 00:13:28,760 --> 00:13:31,760 by the family and friends, perhaps 241 00:13:31,760 --> 00:13:34,760 through the presentation of this show and so on, 242 00:13:34,760 --> 00:13:37,280 who knows that somebody may step forward. 243 00:13:40,720 --> 00:13:42,720 At eleve, Jack Davis would have graduated 244 00:13:42,720 --> 00:13:46,080 with 2,700 other students in the class of 1989 245 00:13:46,080 --> 00:13:49,440 at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. 246 00:13:49,440 --> 00:13:51,160 Cyril Wecht is convinced that among them 247 00:13:51,160 --> 00:13:53,280 is at least one person who knows what really 248 00:13:53,280 --> 00:13:56,920 happened to Jack Davis Jr. Perhaps the time has finally 249 00:13:56,920 --> 00:14:00,840 come to set the record straight. 250 00:14:00,840 --> 00:14:04,360 Next, a remarkable tale of psychic communication 251 00:14:04,360 --> 00:14:05,520 from beyond the grave. 252 00:14:14,480 --> 00:14:18,080 You're about to meet three very unusual investigators, 253 00:14:18,120 --> 00:14:21,320 genealogists who spent years digging through dusty old books 254 00:14:21,320 --> 00:14:25,280 and papers, trying to piece together their family histories. 255 00:14:25,280 --> 00:14:27,680 It may sound dry, but these three claim 256 00:14:27,680 --> 00:14:29,280 that in the course of their research, 257 00:14:29,280 --> 00:14:32,160 they were guided by mysterious forces. 258 00:14:32,160 --> 00:14:35,600 Perhaps the spirits of their ancestors, long dead 259 00:14:35,600 --> 00:14:36,520 and long forgotten. 260 00:14:36,520 --> 00:14:49,960 On a rainy afternoon in 1948, curiosity 261 00:14:49,960 --> 00:14:54,040 got the best of an eight-year-old boy named Hank Jones. 262 00:14:54,040 --> 00:14:57,040 His basement held a most tempting mystery, 263 00:14:57,040 --> 00:14:59,880 an old steamer trunk filled with unknown relics. 264 00:15:07,120 --> 00:15:10,600 I opened the lid, and inside was just a treasure trove 265 00:15:10,600 --> 00:15:12,920 of material on our family. 266 00:15:12,920 --> 00:15:17,600 Old photographs, old letters, documents, old wills and deeds. 267 00:15:20,240 --> 00:15:23,400 I never knew any of my grandparents, except my mother's 268 00:15:23,400 --> 00:15:26,240 mother, and in a sense, by seeing their pictures, 269 00:15:26,240 --> 00:15:29,160 by reading their diaries, by looking at their letters, 270 00:15:29,160 --> 00:15:30,440 they came alive to me. 271 00:15:30,440 --> 00:15:32,800 They became the grandparents I never knew. 272 00:15:32,800 --> 00:15:34,800 And I don't know what it was, but it 273 00:15:34,800 --> 00:15:36,760 lit a spark inside me at the age of eight. 274 00:15:36,760 --> 00:15:39,360 And ever since that time, I've been climbing the family tree, 275 00:15:39,360 --> 00:15:41,640 trying to find out as much as I could about my ancestry. 276 00:15:44,320 --> 00:15:47,840 On that chilly day, when he first peered into the old trunk, 277 00:15:47,840 --> 00:15:50,640 Hank had no idea he had just set the course 278 00:15:50,640 --> 00:15:53,840 for the rest of his life. 279 00:15:53,840 --> 00:15:56,760 Today, some 46 years later, Hank Jones 280 00:15:56,760 --> 00:15:58,920 is the author of a book, Psychic Roots, 281 00:15:58,960 --> 00:16:01,600 and one of the country's leading genealogists, 282 00:16:01,600 --> 00:16:06,560 devoted to piecing together long lost family trees. 283 00:16:06,560 --> 00:16:08,360 Tracing his own family has proved 284 00:16:08,360 --> 00:16:10,960 one of the most difficult challenges. 285 00:16:10,960 --> 00:16:13,960 Hank is descended from a hearty band of German immigrants 286 00:16:13,960 --> 00:16:17,120 known as Palatines. 287 00:16:17,120 --> 00:16:19,320 The Palatines were one of the biggest immigrations 288 00:16:19,320 --> 00:16:20,840 we've ever had to the New World. 289 00:16:20,840 --> 00:16:22,440 And this one little branch of mine 290 00:16:22,440 --> 00:16:24,640 started out for the New World, but they ended up in Ireland 291 00:16:24,640 --> 00:16:25,640 in 1760. 292 00:16:25,640 --> 00:16:27,720 And they ended up in the United States, 293 00:16:27,720 --> 00:16:30,160 ended up in Ireland in 1789, rather than coming onto New 294 00:16:30,160 --> 00:16:33,360 York with all the rest of them. 295 00:16:33,360 --> 00:16:36,120 Although his own ancestors had gone to Ireland, 296 00:16:36,120 --> 00:16:39,360 Hank found himself intrigued by a man named Johan Dietrich 297 00:16:39,360 --> 00:16:43,840 Schneider, who belonged to a group of 847 other Palatine 298 00:16:43,840 --> 00:16:47,560 families who had journeyed to New York. 299 00:16:47,560 --> 00:16:50,800 I don't know why, but I felt this almost obsession 300 00:16:50,800 --> 00:16:52,640 to find out more about them. 301 00:16:52,640 --> 00:16:55,400 So I hired a lady named Carla Middelsted Kubicek 302 00:16:55,400 --> 00:16:57,480 to go village to village for me, looking for all these 303 00:16:57,480 --> 00:16:58,880 families in Germany. 304 00:16:58,880 --> 00:17:00,160 But we had to start somewhere, and I 305 00:17:00,160 --> 00:17:02,160 didn't know where to really tell her to start. 306 00:17:02,160 --> 00:17:05,400 And so just off the top of my head, I said, Carla, 307 00:17:05,400 --> 00:17:06,000 I don't care. 308 00:17:06,000 --> 00:17:07,600 I have no vested interest in any of them. 309 00:17:07,600 --> 00:17:10,320 But I've always been interested in a man named Dietrich Schneider, 310 00:17:10,320 --> 00:17:12,400 who came in this group to New York from Germany. 311 00:17:12,400 --> 00:17:14,720 Go look for him first. 312 00:17:14,720 --> 00:17:17,320 In a remarkable turn of events, Hank later 313 00:17:17,320 --> 00:17:19,280 learned that he had picked the one person out 314 00:17:19,280 --> 00:17:24,840 of the entire migration who was actually related to him. 315 00:17:24,840 --> 00:17:26,360 I don't know how to explain that, 316 00:17:26,360 --> 00:17:30,160 but it was just the beginning of a bunch of strange coincidences, 317 00:17:30,160 --> 00:17:32,440 strange occurrences that started happening to me 318 00:17:32,440 --> 00:17:35,080 as I was studying these Palatine Germans. 319 00:17:35,080 --> 00:17:37,160 I was starting to dream about them, for instance. 320 00:17:40,840 --> 00:17:43,320 At first, the dreams were more about visions 321 00:17:43,320 --> 00:17:45,520 of the Palatine's lifestyle. 322 00:17:45,520 --> 00:17:47,280 I used to dream about them coming to America, 323 00:17:47,280 --> 00:17:48,200 and I could see the ships. 324 00:17:48,200 --> 00:17:50,600 I could see them landing, things like that. 325 00:17:50,600 --> 00:17:53,720 And then I started dreaming about particular home villages 326 00:17:53,720 --> 00:17:55,200 of certain immigrants I was looking for, 327 00:17:55,200 --> 00:17:56,680 but I hadn't found yet. 328 00:17:56,680 --> 00:18:00,280 So I decided to write down some of the places where the dreams 329 00:18:00,280 --> 00:18:01,840 suggested I look. 330 00:18:01,840 --> 00:18:05,680 And lo and behold, we found about five to seven of those families 331 00:18:05,680 --> 00:18:07,560 exactly where the dreams said they 332 00:18:07,560 --> 00:18:08,840 would be located overseas. 333 00:18:11,720 --> 00:18:13,920 Could the spirits of Hank's ancestors 334 00:18:13,920 --> 00:18:16,600 have somehow reached through the mists of time 335 00:18:16,600 --> 00:18:19,800 to lead him to places he would never have fought to investigate? 336 00:18:20,480 --> 00:18:23,240 Hank became convinced that was precisely the case. 337 00:18:23,240 --> 00:18:25,520 He sent out letters to other genealogists 338 00:18:25,520 --> 00:18:28,280 to see if anyone else had had a similar experience. 339 00:18:31,880 --> 00:18:35,400 Well, I got 200 responses, and practically every response 340 00:18:35,400 --> 00:18:37,960 started with, I know what you mean. 341 00:18:37,960 --> 00:18:41,760 Or yes, yes, you struck a familiar chord. 342 00:18:41,760 --> 00:18:44,640 And then they would relate these unbelievable experiences 343 00:18:44,640 --> 00:18:47,160 that had happened to them when they were doing their genealogies. 344 00:18:47,960 --> 00:18:49,360 One of the most intriguing responses 345 00:18:49,360 --> 00:18:52,800 came from Dr. David Fox, a forensic psychologist 346 00:18:52,800 --> 00:18:55,440 in Ontario, Canada. 347 00:18:55,440 --> 00:18:57,600 In studying his bloodlines, David 348 00:18:57,600 --> 00:19:00,720 became fascinated by his great-great-grandfather, 349 00:19:00,720 --> 00:19:03,000 Charles Fox. 350 00:19:03,000 --> 00:19:05,360 David learned that Charles had been a sergeant of the British 351 00:19:05,360 --> 00:19:09,200 Army in the mid-1800s during the great colonial campaigns 352 00:19:09,200 --> 00:19:12,360 in India and Pakistan. 353 00:19:12,360 --> 00:19:13,920 Despite unknown circumstances, he 354 00:19:13,960 --> 00:19:16,640 had no idea what his great-great-grandfather might 355 00:19:16,640 --> 00:19:19,280 have looked like until he began to have 356 00:19:19,280 --> 00:19:22,720 a strange, recurring vision. 357 00:19:22,720 --> 00:19:25,320 First of all, I pictured him. 358 00:19:25,320 --> 00:19:29,720 I pictured him in his military uniform, his red coat, 359 00:19:29,720 --> 00:19:32,680 the buttons, and perhaps medals. 360 00:19:32,680 --> 00:19:35,880 And then the picture, over time, started 361 00:19:35,880 --> 00:19:39,880 to include his what-is-his-name, his bloodline, 362 00:19:39,880 --> 00:19:42,840 his bloodline, his bloodline. 363 00:19:43,400 --> 00:19:48,760 His wife and his child, who would be my great-grandfather. 364 00:19:48,760 --> 00:19:51,840 And I thought, well, this is very strange, 365 00:19:51,840 --> 00:19:56,160 because the probability of such a picture existing 366 00:19:56,160 --> 00:19:59,160 is so remote, so infinitesimal, you might as well 367 00:19:59,160 --> 00:20:03,120 say zero probability. 368 00:20:03,120 --> 00:20:06,360 In 1987, David and a friend traveled to England 369 00:20:06,360 --> 00:20:08,080 in search of additional information 370 00:20:08,080 --> 00:20:10,040 about David's ancestors. 371 00:20:10,040 --> 00:20:12,120 I want to go look at those figurines. 372 00:20:12,120 --> 00:20:12,760 Right. 373 00:20:12,760 --> 00:20:14,800 I'll see you outside in half an hour. 374 00:20:14,800 --> 00:20:17,200 OK. 375 00:20:17,200 --> 00:20:20,520 Towards the end of the trip, they stopped at the Norwich Castle, 376 00:20:20,520 --> 00:20:24,400 a popular museum and art gallery in Charles Fox's hometown. 377 00:20:27,720 --> 00:20:30,360 I just wandered from room to room in the castle, 378 00:20:30,360 --> 00:20:32,600 aimlessly, I thought. 379 00:20:32,600 --> 00:20:36,040 And just as I was entering the doorway to one room, 380 00:20:36,040 --> 00:20:39,680 I noticed ahead of me was a very, very large portrait that 381 00:20:39,720 --> 00:20:42,320 just stood out almost three-dimensional. 382 00:20:42,320 --> 00:20:43,640 I was awestruck. 383 00:20:43,640 --> 00:20:45,960 It was like the little hairs on the nape of my neck 384 00:20:45,960 --> 00:20:48,960 were just standing up. 385 00:20:48,960 --> 00:20:52,000 I had pictured an item somewhat similar to this, 386 00:20:52,000 --> 00:20:53,520 or very similar to this. 387 00:20:53,520 --> 00:20:58,520 And there, there it was, right before my eyes. 388 00:20:58,520 --> 00:21:00,760 Incredibly, David says the painting 389 00:21:00,760 --> 00:21:03,400 was a same family portrait in his recurring vision. 390 00:21:06,200 --> 00:21:08,520 The painting was completed by one Frederick 391 00:21:08,520 --> 00:21:12,640 Sandys in the year 1860. 392 00:21:12,640 --> 00:21:16,400 And my great-grandfather, being born in 1857, 393 00:21:16,400 --> 00:21:18,880 would have been three in 1860. 394 00:21:18,880 --> 00:21:20,600 The woman in the picture was very much 395 00:21:20,600 --> 00:21:22,680 younger than the older soldier. 396 00:21:22,680 --> 00:21:27,200 And I knew that Sergeant Charles Fox's wife 397 00:21:27,200 --> 00:21:29,800 was 13 years his junior. 398 00:21:29,800 --> 00:21:34,040 And the old gentleman was a sergeant. 399 00:21:34,040 --> 00:21:36,800 There were three stripes on his right arm. 400 00:21:36,800 --> 00:21:39,320 And most curiously and interestingly, 401 00:21:39,320 --> 00:21:43,960 he had three ribbons on his left breast. 402 00:21:43,960 --> 00:21:46,800 And I realized that my own ancestor probably 403 00:21:46,800 --> 00:21:49,920 did win a number of medals when he was overseas. 404 00:21:49,920 --> 00:21:54,880 But at that point, I didn't know which ones. 405 00:21:54,880 --> 00:21:56,960 When David returned home, he immediately 406 00:21:56,960 --> 00:22:00,240 began searching for confirmation that the man in the portrait 407 00:22:00,240 --> 00:22:01,760 was indeed his ancestor. 408 00:22:04,440 --> 00:22:06,440 David learned that the medals in the painting 409 00:22:06,480 --> 00:22:10,720 had been awarded for the Sutledge Campaign, the Punjab Campaign, 410 00:22:10,720 --> 00:22:14,320 and for long service and good conduct. 411 00:22:14,320 --> 00:22:17,800 Those same three medals had been awarded to David's great-great 412 00:22:17,800 --> 00:22:21,800 grandfather, Sergeant Charles Fox. 413 00:22:21,800 --> 00:22:24,920 It's almost as if my head became fuzzy at that time, 414 00:22:24,920 --> 00:22:29,680 because I thought, this is quite incredible. 415 00:22:29,680 --> 00:22:32,680 I had an image, the image in mind, 416 00:22:32,680 --> 00:22:35,640 that was translated into something there, something 417 00:22:35,640 --> 00:22:37,360 three-dimensional. 418 00:22:37,360 --> 00:22:40,760 And again, to have the fantasy and reality merge in this way, 419 00:22:40,760 --> 00:22:44,000 I find most exceedingly curious. 420 00:22:44,000 --> 00:22:45,920 The best thing about it is that you 421 00:22:45,920 --> 00:22:49,040 have a feeling that your ancestors care about you, 422 00:22:49,040 --> 00:22:50,520 that they really want to be found. 423 00:22:50,520 --> 00:22:54,280 It's a sense of reuniting. 424 00:22:54,280 --> 00:22:58,240 Carol Montrose of New Albany, Ohio would certainly agree. 425 00:22:58,240 --> 00:23:00,160 While researching her family tree, 426 00:23:00,160 --> 00:23:02,040 Carol became particularly intrigued 427 00:23:02,040 --> 00:23:04,800 with a woman named Catherine Reddish Stegmeier, who 428 00:23:04,800 --> 00:23:07,680 she believed might be her great-great aunt. 429 00:23:07,680 --> 00:23:11,040 But Carol was unable to find the date of Catherine's death 430 00:23:11,040 --> 00:23:14,160 or her final resting place. 431 00:23:14,160 --> 00:23:15,760 Gino, hurry, look. 432 00:23:15,760 --> 00:23:18,800 Then in the fall of 1988, Carol and her son 433 00:23:18,800 --> 00:23:21,960 were searching through cemeteries in Northwestern Ohio 434 00:23:21,960 --> 00:23:25,040 when they came upon a hot air balloon in flight. 435 00:23:25,040 --> 00:23:26,040 Can we follow it? 436 00:23:26,040 --> 00:23:26,540 Sure. 437 00:23:29,480 --> 00:23:31,320 Let's go over that way. 438 00:23:31,320 --> 00:23:33,600 So all of a sudden, there was a road on my right, 439 00:23:33,600 --> 00:23:36,960 and I turned, and we're sort of following the balloon 440 00:23:36,960 --> 00:23:38,080 at this point. 441 00:23:38,080 --> 00:23:40,800 And it came down so low that it actually 442 00:23:40,800 --> 00:23:43,320 clipped the top of the trees. 443 00:23:43,320 --> 00:23:45,760 And all of a sudden, I saw this church 444 00:23:45,760 --> 00:23:47,760 with a cemetery across the street, 445 00:23:47,760 --> 00:23:50,160 and the balloon appeared to be landing in the back 446 00:23:50,160 --> 00:23:52,600 behind the church. 447 00:23:52,600 --> 00:23:53,120 Gino, look. 448 00:23:53,120 --> 00:23:57,160 I think it's going to land over by that church. 449 00:23:57,160 --> 00:24:00,560 But instead of landing, the balloon took flight again. 450 00:24:00,560 --> 00:24:03,440 Carol now believes that the spirit of her great-great aunt 451 00:24:03,480 --> 00:24:06,880 had guided her to follow the balloon to this remote church 452 00:24:06,880 --> 00:24:08,920 150 miles from her home. 453 00:24:14,120 --> 00:24:15,680 I'll be right back. 454 00:24:15,680 --> 00:24:18,640 I thought that it wouldn't hurt to check the cemetery, 455 00:24:18,640 --> 00:24:23,280 even though I had never really considered any of the family 456 00:24:23,280 --> 00:24:26,640 having been buried there. 457 00:24:26,640 --> 00:24:30,040 Almost at the front row was Frederick Stegmeier, 458 00:24:30,040 --> 00:24:32,120 a child of Kate. 459 00:24:32,120 --> 00:24:33,640 And I was ecstatic. 460 00:24:33,640 --> 00:24:37,200 I mean, I knew that I was in, at least, in the right area. 461 00:24:41,640 --> 00:24:44,640 Carol ventured farther into the cemetery. 462 00:24:44,640 --> 00:24:49,720 There on the back row was the grave she had been looking for. 463 00:24:49,720 --> 00:24:53,400 It was so amazing, so strange. 464 00:24:53,400 --> 00:24:55,600 I can't say for sure Kate was trying to help me, 465 00:24:55,600 --> 00:24:57,480 but I sure feel like she was. 466 00:24:58,160 --> 00:25:03,120 I believe it's very possible that the spirits of our ancestors, 467 00:25:03,120 --> 00:25:05,520 in some way, are directing us in our searches. 468 00:25:05,520 --> 00:25:07,000 They want to be found. 469 00:25:07,000 --> 00:25:08,120 They want to be found. 470 00:25:08,120 --> 00:25:09,960 And they may give us little subtle clues 471 00:25:09,960 --> 00:25:11,320 along the way of how to do it. 472 00:25:11,320 --> 00:25:14,160 They may somehow open some doors for us 473 00:25:14,160 --> 00:25:15,880 as we do our genealogy. 474 00:25:15,880 --> 00:25:17,160 I'm very open to that. 475 00:25:20,600 --> 00:25:23,760 Did mysterious psychic forces somehow lead Hank, David, 476 00:25:23,760 --> 00:25:25,720 and Carol to their ancestors' graves? 477 00:25:26,160 --> 00:25:28,800 Or is it all just a coincidence? 478 00:25:28,800 --> 00:25:32,080 Whatever the case, if you happen to be studying your family 479 00:25:32,080 --> 00:25:35,760 tree and you get that odd feeling to visit one more library 480 00:25:35,760 --> 00:25:39,640 or open one last book, or even follow a hot air balloon, 481 00:25:39,640 --> 00:25:41,120 take heed. 482 00:25:41,120 --> 00:25:43,520 Perhaps you are being guided by the spirit 483 00:25:43,520 --> 00:25:45,000 of one of your ancestors. 484 00:25:50,160 --> 00:25:53,120 When we return, a young woman has 485 00:25:53,200 --> 00:25:55,920 disappeared and may be hitchhiking around the country 486 00:25:55,920 --> 00:25:56,800 lost and alone. 487 00:26:04,480 --> 00:26:06,840 OK, take it out. 488 00:26:06,840 --> 00:26:11,640 August 10, 1993, just east of Mendocino, California, 489 00:26:11,640 --> 00:26:16,200 in a remote corner of Redwood Forest, an incongruous site. 490 00:26:16,200 --> 00:26:19,400 A shiny red car has been found stuck in the mud. 491 00:26:20,400 --> 00:26:22,400 The car radio has been ripped out. 492 00:26:22,400 --> 00:26:24,760 There are minute traces of blood on the dashboard 493 00:26:24,760 --> 00:26:29,560 in the front seat, along with shredded identification papers. 494 00:26:29,560 --> 00:26:33,240 A few torn up photographs are scattered nearby. 495 00:26:33,240 --> 00:26:36,560 The scene appears to bear all the earmarks of foul play, 496 00:26:36,560 --> 00:26:39,680 but in this case, nothing is as it appears. 497 00:26:43,360 --> 00:26:46,560 The shredded IDs were traced to 22 years ago. 498 00:26:47,520 --> 00:26:51,040 The shredded IDs were traced to 22-year-old Christy Krebs, 499 00:26:51,040 --> 00:26:53,520 an aspiring chef who worked at two different restaurants 500 00:26:53,520 --> 00:26:57,000 in Fort Bragg, California, seven miles from the spot 501 00:26:57,000 --> 00:26:59,160 where her car was found. 502 00:26:59,160 --> 00:27:01,400 Christy lived with her parents and two younger brothers 503 00:27:01,400 --> 00:27:02,960 in Fort Bragg. 504 00:27:02,960 --> 00:27:05,760 And for Christy's parents, the entire scenario 505 00:27:05,760 --> 00:27:07,440 had an eerily familiar ring. 506 00:27:11,920 --> 00:27:15,200 Christy Krebs graduated from high school in 1989 507 00:27:15,240 --> 00:27:19,880 and went to work full-time in a local restaurant. 508 00:27:19,880 --> 00:27:23,000 She was cheerful and upbeat and worked tirelessly. 509 00:27:23,000 --> 00:27:25,840 But she also developed an unrealistic obsession 510 00:27:25,840 --> 00:27:27,560 about a married man she worked with. 511 00:27:32,640 --> 00:27:35,240 On April 30, 1990, Christy became 512 00:27:35,240 --> 00:27:39,760 unnaturally euphoric, fantasizing, and imaginary wedding. 513 00:27:39,760 --> 00:27:42,920 She drove aimlessly for hours and lost her way on a country 514 00:27:42,920 --> 00:27:43,960 road. 515 00:27:43,960 --> 00:27:47,000 The car she was driving became hopelessly stuck in the mud. 516 00:28:03,360 --> 00:28:04,360 I have to get out of here. 517 00:28:10,840 --> 00:28:12,320 Why are you doing this again? 518 00:28:14,400 --> 00:28:15,360 Oh, no. 519 00:28:15,360 --> 00:28:16,340 Oh, no. 520 00:28:16,340 --> 00:28:17,320 Oh, my god. 521 00:28:17,320 --> 00:28:18,220 Oh, my god. 522 00:28:18,220 --> 00:28:18,720 Oh, my god. 523 00:28:18,720 --> 00:28:19,700 Oh, my god. 524 00:28:35,200 --> 00:28:38,840 When Christy's car was found, it looked like this. 525 00:28:38,840 --> 00:28:42,480 The interior had been totally destroyed by flames. 526 00:28:43,040 --> 00:28:46,000 The fire was an almost unheard of freak occurrence, which 527 00:28:46,000 --> 00:28:49,240 apparently triggered in Christy a traumatic mental breakdown. 528 00:28:54,000 --> 00:28:56,600 The morning after the incident, railroad workers 529 00:28:56,600 --> 00:29:00,080 were alarmed by the sight of a dazed and disoriented young woman 530 00:29:00,080 --> 00:29:02,520 wandering along the tracks. 531 00:29:02,520 --> 00:29:04,800 One of the workmen recognized Christy 532 00:29:04,800 --> 00:29:06,720 and telephoned her mother and father, 533 00:29:06,720 --> 00:29:10,320 who immediately picked her up. 534 00:29:10,320 --> 00:29:13,320 Initially, we thought things were OK. 535 00:29:13,320 --> 00:29:16,040 But as we were driving back into town, 536 00:29:16,040 --> 00:29:19,960 the behavior we were getting from her was very bizarre, 537 00:29:19,960 --> 00:29:24,920 chanting and patting her, doing very weird things. 538 00:29:24,920 --> 00:29:27,680 And I just looked at my wife and said, we're not going home. 539 00:29:27,680 --> 00:29:28,680 We're going to the hospital. 540 00:29:31,320 --> 00:29:32,720 I remember in the examining room, 541 00:29:32,720 --> 00:29:35,640 she was still acting very, very strange. 542 00:29:35,640 --> 00:29:41,080 And for the first week to 10 days, at least, 543 00:29:41,080 --> 00:29:42,560 she was really incoherent. 544 00:29:47,120 --> 00:29:51,800 We wondered if she was ever going to be the same again. 545 00:29:51,800 --> 00:29:55,280 At first, they thought that she might have been on drugs, 546 00:29:55,280 --> 00:29:58,960 but they were able to test her and see 547 00:29:58,960 --> 00:30:03,480 that there were no drugs in her system. 548 00:30:03,480 --> 00:30:04,280 Hi, kiddo. 549 00:30:04,280 --> 00:30:05,280 Hi, Christy. 550 00:30:05,320 --> 00:30:06,840 Over the next few months, Christy 551 00:30:06,840 --> 00:30:10,440 was in and out of the hospital four different times. 552 00:30:10,440 --> 00:30:13,080 Eventually, she was diagnosed as having experienced 553 00:30:13,080 --> 00:30:16,360 a psychotic trauma-related break. 554 00:30:16,360 --> 00:30:16,760 What? 555 00:30:16,760 --> 00:30:17,640 Why are you doing that? 556 00:30:17,640 --> 00:30:18,240 My car. 557 00:30:18,240 --> 00:30:19,120 My keys. 558 00:30:19,120 --> 00:30:20,040 Your car's OK. 559 00:30:20,040 --> 00:30:21,800 It's all right, Christy. 560 00:30:21,800 --> 00:30:24,160 Christy's parents feared the worst. 561 00:30:24,160 --> 00:30:25,920 But after therapy and drug treatment, 562 00:30:25,920 --> 00:30:28,080 Christy made rapid progress. 563 00:30:28,080 --> 00:30:30,080 She was released from the hospital for good 564 00:30:30,080 --> 00:30:32,760 some six months after the car fire. 565 00:30:32,760 --> 00:30:34,920 An occupational therapist had recommended 566 00:30:34,960 --> 00:30:37,160 the Christy work, but only part-time. 567 00:30:37,160 --> 00:30:38,560 And good luck to all of you. 568 00:30:38,560 --> 00:30:41,240 Stay. 569 00:30:41,240 --> 00:30:43,560 I think it was suggested she worked 20 hours a week 570 00:30:43,560 --> 00:30:44,720 to start with. 571 00:30:44,720 --> 00:30:46,840 And she did incredibly well. 572 00:30:46,840 --> 00:30:48,360 And she was very proud of herself. 573 00:30:48,360 --> 00:30:51,840 And she got herself a second job at a local fast food 574 00:30:51,840 --> 00:30:52,960 restaurant. 575 00:30:52,960 --> 00:30:55,560 Both jobs were calling her in more and more. 576 00:30:55,560 --> 00:30:58,360 And there were often days when she would work five or six 577 00:30:58,360 --> 00:31:00,240 hours at each job. 578 00:31:00,240 --> 00:31:04,120 And that would get her anywhere from a 10 to a 12-hour day, 579 00:31:04,120 --> 00:31:06,440 plus in between the two jobs, she was often 580 00:31:06,440 --> 00:31:08,280 going to the health club and exercising 581 00:31:08,280 --> 00:31:09,680 and trying to keep her weight down. 582 00:31:12,400 --> 00:31:14,360 Three years went by. 583 00:31:14,360 --> 00:31:18,320 Christy's parents became very concerned about her manic pace. 584 00:31:18,320 --> 00:31:20,800 Yet Christy insisted she was OK. 585 00:31:20,800 --> 00:31:24,240 Right up to the night, she disappeared. 586 00:31:24,240 --> 00:31:25,160 Here you go. 587 00:31:25,160 --> 00:31:25,960 Great. 588 00:31:25,960 --> 00:31:26,960 Thank you. 589 00:31:26,960 --> 00:31:29,120 The manager of the pizza parlor indicated 590 00:31:29,120 --> 00:31:33,280 that she was extremely hyper, was extremely happy, 591 00:31:33,280 --> 00:31:36,560 much, much happier than she'd been in a long time. 592 00:31:36,560 --> 00:31:38,720 And at one point, the manager of the pizza parlor 593 00:31:38,720 --> 00:31:41,880 had asked her why she was so happy, which was somewhat 594 00:31:41,880 --> 00:31:43,240 unusual. 595 00:31:43,240 --> 00:31:47,720 And Christy apparently responded that it's not what you think 596 00:31:47,720 --> 00:31:48,840 and went on about her work. 597 00:31:51,560 --> 00:31:55,280 That night, August 9, 1993, Christy left work 598 00:31:55,280 --> 00:31:57,080 still in high spirits. 599 00:31:57,080 --> 00:31:59,560 She said she was going straight home. 600 00:31:59,560 --> 00:32:01,440 But she was next seen in the parking lot 601 00:32:01,440 --> 00:32:03,400 of a nearby public beach. 602 00:32:03,400 --> 00:32:05,920 Her arranger spoke to her about 15 minutes 603 00:32:05,920 --> 00:32:07,400 before closing time. 604 00:32:07,400 --> 00:32:08,760 Is everything OK? 605 00:32:08,760 --> 00:32:12,600 Yeah, I just came for more to relax here, if that's OK. 606 00:32:12,600 --> 00:32:13,880 Yeah, that's fine. 607 00:32:13,880 --> 00:32:16,600 I just wanted to make sure you knew this wasn't an overnight 608 00:32:16,600 --> 00:32:18,080 lot. 609 00:32:18,080 --> 00:32:18,760 Yeah. 610 00:32:18,760 --> 00:32:21,840 Is it OK if I stay here for a while? 611 00:32:21,840 --> 00:32:24,440 The ranger was the last person to see Christy 612 00:32:24,440 --> 00:32:26,560 before she disappeared. 613 00:32:26,560 --> 00:32:28,040 Thanks. 614 00:32:28,040 --> 00:32:31,920 He said that she seemed fairly normal. 615 00:32:31,920 --> 00:32:34,600 She then went from there back, apparently back 616 00:32:34,600 --> 00:32:37,760 through Fort Bragg, traveling south, 617 00:32:37,760 --> 00:32:41,720 and headed toward the town of Mendocino. 618 00:32:41,720 --> 00:32:44,960 At some point, Christy turned onto a small country road 619 00:32:44,960 --> 00:32:47,520 and then veered onto a dirt road. 620 00:32:47,520 --> 00:32:50,040 She ended up here, just seven miles 621 00:32:50,040 --> 00:32:53,720 from a spot where the car fire had occurred, once again, 622 00:32:53,720 --> 00:32:57,200 deep in the redwoods, once again, stuck in the mud. 623 00:32:59,040 --> 00:33:09,200 I think that she probably had flashbacks to 1990. 624 00:33:09,200 --> 00:33:11,600 It was like reliving that nightmare. 625 00:33:11,600 --> 00:33:16,320 And all of that, I think, just overloaded all the circuits. 626 00:33:16,320 --> 00:33:18,280 Ah, ah, ah. 627 00:33:18,280 --> 00:33:19,280 Ah, ah, ah. 628 00:33:19,720 --> 00:33:21,200 Ah, ah, ah. 629 00:33:25,840 --> 00:33:28,240 Christy's father believes that his daughter suffered 630 00:33:28,240 --> 00:33:31,000 another psychotic break, perhaps even 631 00:33:31,000 --> 00:33:33,720 wandering into a creek as she tried desperately 632 00:33:33,720 --> 00:33:36,720 to deal with a bizarre repetition of her earlier trauma. 633 00:33:40,240 --> 00:33:42,040 In my mind, the last thing she did, 634 00:33:42,040 --> 00:33:44,760 she went through her wallet in total frustration, 635 00:33:44,760 --> 00:33:47,240 whether she's looking at pictures of family and friends. 636 00:33:47,240 --> 00:33:48,240 She ripped them all up. 637 00:33:48,240 --> 00:33:50,960 She whipped them up and scattered them around. 638 00:33:50,960 --> 00:33:52,400 Whether she was destroying her pass 639 00:33:52,400 --> 00:33:55,720 and trying to get away from it, I really don't know. 640 00:34:01,400 --> 00:34:04,160 The next morning, a full-scale search was launched, 641 00:34:04,160 --> 00:34:07,280 but no trace of Christy Krebs could be found. 642 00:34:07,280 --> 00:34:09,120 Over the next few months, however, 643 00:34:09,120 --> 00:34:12,680 several sightings were reported from Texas to Salt Lake City, 644 00:34:12,680 --> 00:34:14,160 Utah. 645 00:34:14,160 --> 00:34:17,160 One sighting in California seemed extremely promising. 646 00:34:18,880 --> 00:34:27,320 On June 30, 1994, an off-duty highway worker named Mike Case 647 00:34:27,320 --> 00:34:31,080 stopped to pick up a hitchhiker near Visalia, California, 648 00:34:31,080 --> 00:34:34,800 300 miles south of the spot where Christy's car was abandoned. 649 00:34:41,400 --> 00:34:44,000 It seemed to me that she didn't have it all there. 650 00:34:44,000 --> 00:34:49,200 At first, I thought possibly she was on some type of drugs. 651 00:34:49,200 --> 00:34:53,240 But talking with her a little bit at the beginning, 652 00:34:53,240 --> 00:35:01,240 I knew that possibly she was in a world of her own. 653 00:35:01,240 --> 00:35:03,320 What happened to your wrist there? 654 00:35:03,320 --> 00:35:05,880 I did happen to notice that on her wrist, 655 00:35:05,880 --> 00:35:08,920 there was two slash marks on her wrist. 656 00:35:08,920 --> 00:35:13,440 And I asked her directly, what happened there? 657 00:35:13,480 --> 00:35:14,800 And she said I had a breakdown. 658 00:35:17,600 --> 00:35:19,240 I had a boyfriend. 659 00:35:19,240 --> 00:35:21,080 It wasn't very nice. 660 00:35:21,080 --> 00:35:23,040 Over the course of 90 minutes, the girl 661 00:35:23,040 --> 00:35:25,080 talked about several things which would later 662 00:35:25,080 --> 00:35:27,400 ring true to Christy's parents. 663 00:35:27,400 --> 00:35:30,360 A boyfriend who seemed fiction, a desire 664 00:35:30,360 --> 00:35:33,440 to visit San Jose where she once had relatives, 665 00:35:33,440 --> 00:35:35,280 and especially her love of the ocean. 666 00:35:38,240 --> 00:35:39,960 In fact, Mike Case dropped her off 667 00:35:39,960 --> 00:35:42,320 at an intersection near Hanford, California, 668 00:35:42,320 --> 00:35:44,480 where she could easily hitchhike to the beach. 669 00:35:50,120 --> 00:35:53,560 A week later, Mike Case read an article in a Truckers magazine 670 00:35:53,560 --> 00:35:56,080 about Christy Krebs' disappearance. 671 00:35:56,080 --> 00:35:59,040 He contacted Christy's parents, and they immediately 672 00:35:59,040 --> 00:36:00,040 sent photographs. 673 00:36:03,040 --> 00:36:05,240 I went through several of the pictures. 674 00:36:05,240 --> 00:36:08,520 And in my personal feeling, that was the girl 675 00:36:08,520 --> 00:36:10,760 I picked up on the freeway. 676 00:36:10,760 --> 00:36:13,360 I'm positive that is her. 677 00:36:13,360 --> 00:36:14,680 I'm positive. 678 00:36:14,680 --> 00:36:15,840 And I can say that now. 679 00:36:15,840 --> 00:36:18,920 I can say it's positive. 680 00:36:18,920 --> 00:36:21,400 I believe that Christy is out there somewhere 681 00:36:21,400 --> 00:36:26,000 and that she's alive because Christy is a survivor. 682 00:36:26,000 --> 00:36:27,720 She has a lot of strength. 683 00:36:27,720 --> 00:36:29,640 She's very friendly. 684 00:36:29,640 --> 00:36:32,560 I believe that she would not be a loner, 685 00:36:32,560 --> 00:36:34,480 that she would hook up with someone, 686 00:36:34,480 --> 00:36:38,000 and that she would make sure that she got through this. 687 00:36:38,000 --> 00:36:41,240 And I really believe that she has that ability. 688 00:36:41,240 --> 00:36:44,280 We want her back home because we know that with our help, 689 00:36:44,280 --> 00:36:46,760 she can once again recover from whatever it 690 00:36:46,760 --> 00:36:48,720 is that she's going through. 691 00:36:48,720 --> 00:36:52,600 And we really hope somebody out there knows where she is 692 00:36:52,600 --> 00:36:53,880 and can help her get home. 693 00:36:53,880 --> 00:36:54,780 Here. 694 00:37:06,920 --> 00:37:09,880 When we return, the discovery of a hidden birth 695 00:37:09,880 --> 00:37:13,240 certificate prompts a man to search for his long lost brother. 696 00:37:13,240 --> 00:37:17,880 Mom and Dad's Secret Papers. 697 00:37:17,880 --> 00:37:19,840 As children, most of us knew that our parents kept 698 00:37:19,840 --> 00:37:22,400 a treasure trove of mysterious and forbidden items 699 00:37:22,400 --> 00:37:25,400 tucked away in a special box, or just out of reach 700 00:37:25,400 --> 00:37:27,080 in a bureau drawer. 701 00:37:27,080 --> 00:37:30,920 For a man named Walter Thomas, this was just such a box. 702 00:37:30,920 --> 00:37:33,880 The object of decades of curiosity. 703 00:37:33,880 --> 00:37:36,960 Just a few days after his father's death in 1999, 704 00:37:36,960 --> 00:37:39,480 the man was found in a small box. 705 00:37:39,480 --> 00:37:41,480 He was found in a small box. 706 00:37:41,480 --> 00:37:44,400 Just a few days after his father's death in 1993, 707 00:37:44,400 --> 00:37:46,840 Walter finally peeked inside and stumbled 708 00:37:46,840 --> 00:37:49,240 on a surprising unsolved mystery. 709 00:37:53,560 --> 00:37:56,440 It is a ritual that has been repeated by sons and daughters 710 00:37:56,440 --> 00:37:58,080 through the ages. 711 00:37:58,080 --> 00:38:00,000 Walter gathered the family together 712 00:38:00,000 --> 00:38:03,040 and opened his father's stash of private papers. 713 00:38:03,040 --> 00:38:08,400 It was a driver's license in 1933. 714 00:38:08,400 --> 00:38:12,080 Certificate on birth registration, for who? 715 00:38:12,080 --> 00:38:15,280 John Philip, John Thomas. 716 00:38:15,280 --> 00:38:17,920 Who the heck filtered John Thomas? 717 00:38:17,920 --> 00:38:21,720 When we came across his birth certificate, 718 00:38:21,720 --> 00:38:25,080 that was the most, it was unreal. 719 00:38:25,080 --> 00:38:27,040 I couldn't, I can't think of a word to put into it. 720 00:38:27,040 --> 00:38:28,400 It was unreal. 721 00:38:28,400 --> 00:38:29,600 I can't believe this. 722 00:38:29,600 --> 00:38:31,760 Daddy never kept anything from me. 723 00:38:31,760 --> 00:38:34,040 It was an extraordinary revelation, 724 00:38:34,040 --> 00:38:37,120 one that took Walter back to his childhood in the 1940s. 725 00:38:38,640 --> 00:38:41,160 Growing up, he had never heard so much as a whisper 726 00:38:41,160 --> 00:38:43,000 about a younger brother named Philip. 727 00:38:51,200 --> 00:38:54,440 The Thomas family made their home in West Chilly, Rhode Island. 728 00:38:54,440 --> 00:38:56,280 Dad worked in a textile mill. 729 00:38:56,280 --> 00:38:58,720 Mom looked after Walter, his younger sister, 730 00:38:58,720 --> 00:38:59,800 and younger twin brothers. 731 00:39:03,080 --> 00:39:07,040 Grandma was a frequent visitor. 732 00:39:07,080 --> 00:39:10,600 We didn't have much, but in those days, you didn't expect much. 733 00:39:10,600 --> 00:39:13,680 You just did what you had to do just to get by. 734 00:39:13,680 --> 00:39:16,360 I want to try a bottle. 735 00:39:16,360 --> 00:39:19,640 Mom was the sweetest woman you ever did meet. 736 00:39:19,640 --> 00:39:21,720 She had a heart of gold. 737 00:39:21,720 --> 00:39:25,080 Her laughter lit up the room. 738 00:39:25,080 --> 00:39:28,480 She was like a queen to us, you know? 739 00:39:28,480 --> 00:39:31,080 She was perfect in every which way she was perfect 740 00:39:31,080 --> 00:39:35,320 until her sickness came in. 741 00:39:35,320 --> 00:39:39,320 The sickness had been a dark cloud over the Thomas family. 742 00:39:39,320 --> 00:39:43,640 Walter says his mother Adele suffered strange mental lapses. 743 00:39:43,640 --> 00:39:46,200 Without warning, she would wander away from home, 744 00:39:46,200 --> 00:39:49,600 trudging aimlessly through the neighborhood and beyond. 745 00:39:49,600 --> 00:39:51,680 On many occasions, Walter and his father 746 00:39:51,680 --> 00:39:55,120 would spend hours looking for her. 747 00:39:55,120 --> 00:39:57,720 When's mom going to get over this? 748 00:39:57,720 --> 00:39:59,880 I used to ask Dad that question. 749 00:39:59,880 --> 00:40:02,640 Dad, is mom ever going to get better from this? 750 00:40:02,640 --> 00:40:04,800 Is mom ever going to stop this? 751 00:40:04,800 --> 00:40:07,440 His answer was, sonny, he said it's in God's hands. 752 00:40:07,440 --> 00:40:08,340 I don't know. 753 00:40:16,280 --> 00:40:18,240 Sometimes she was happy to see us, 754 00:40:18,240 --> 00:40:20,360 and sometimes she didn't even know us. 755 00:40:20,360 --> 00:40:21,260 Mom! 756 00:40:25,240 --> 00:40:27,240 Adele? 757 00:40:27,240 --> 00:40:29,480 It's me, Walter. 758 00:40:29,480 --> 00:40:32,240 You all right? 759 00:40:32,240 --> 00:40:34,280 On several occasions, Adele's condition 760 00:40:34,280 --> 00:40:36,920 deteriorated so much that Walter seemed 761 00:40:36,920 --> 00:40:40,440 had no choice but to admit his wife to a hospital. 762 00:40:40,440 --> 00:40:44,080 The children were not allowed inside. 763 00:40:44,080 --> 00:40:46,480 And mom used to come to the window, 764 00:40:46,480 --> 00:40:48,400 and she hollered down at us, you know? 765 00:40:48,400 --> 00:40:49,800 We love you! 766 00:40:49,800 --> 00:40:51,880 Oh, honey, I love you too! 767 00:40:51,880 --> 00:40:53,480 When are you coming home? 768 00:40:53,480 --> 00:40:55,320 I'll be home soon. 769 00:40:55,320 --> 00:40:58,000 I promise you, sweetheart, I will. 770 00:40:58,000 --> 00:40:59,240 Oh, for mama, kid. 771 00:41:00,000 --> 00:41:05,000 With Adele confined to the hospital and Walter working 772 00:41:05,000 --> 00:41:08,800 long hours at the mill, Grandma looked after the children. 773 00:41:08,800 --> 00:41:11,000 Not everyone approved of the arrangement. 774 00:41:11,000 --> 00:41:11,920 Do you name Walter? 775 00:41:11,920 --> 00:41:12,840 Yes, sir. 776 00:41:12,840 --> 00:41:14,520 Walter, would you ask your two brothers and sisters 777 00:41:14,520 --> 00:41:16,000 to come out here with you, please? 778 00:41:16,000 --> 00:41:16,900 Grandma? 779 00:41:16,900 --> 00:41:18,480 Yes? 780 00:41:18,480 --> 00:41:20,560 Hello, Mrs. Thomas. 781 00:41:20,560 --> 00:41:22,320 This is the Thomas household. 782 00:41:22,320 --> 00:41:24,120 We are from the Department of Social Services, 783 00:41:24,120 --> 00:41:27,560 and we're here to take Walter, Jr., Sarah, Richard, and David 784 00:41:27,560 --> 00:41:28,600 to the agency with us. 785 00:41:28,600 --> 00:41:30,480 Inside, Walter. 786 00:41:30,480 --> 00:41:33,480 This home is unfit for these children to continue living in. 787 00:41:33,480 --> 00:41:34,840 Unfit? 788 00:41:34,840 --> 00:41:36,760 My grandmother told them, she said, 789 00:41:36,760 --> 00:41:38,680 this Thomas family is a Thomas family. 790 00:41:38,680 --> 00:41:40,640 It's going to stay a Thomas family together. 791 00:41:40,640 --> 00:41:41,640 I love these children. 792 00:41:41,640 --> 00:41:43,440 You get off my property. 793 00:41:43,440 --> 00:41:46,000 The social service agents were apparently convinced. 794 00:41:46,000 --> 00:41:47,280 My property! 795 00:41:47,280 --> 00:41:49,640 They never again bothered the Thomas family. 796 00:41:49,640 --> 00:41:50,540 Come on. 797 00:41:55,040 --> 00:41:58,840 In May of 1947, Adele recovered and spent several months 798 00:41:58,840 --> 00:42:01,000 at home with her husband and children. 799 00:42:01,000 --> 00:42:02,680 But another bout of mental illness 800 00:42:02,680 --> 00:42:06,400 set her back to the hospital with an added complication. 801 00:42:06,400 --> 00:42:09,080 Adele was pregnant with a couple's fifth child. 802 00:42:12,000 --> 00:42:16,080 Philip John Thomas was born in April of 1948. 803 00:42:16,080 --> 00:42:19,440 Given the circumstances, Walter felt he had no choice. 804 00:42:19,440 --> 00:42:23,080 Reluctantly, he and Adele gave their child up for adoption. 805 00:42:27,320 --> 00:42:30,680 Now decades later, Walter resolved to find his brother. 806 00:42:30,680 --> 00:42:34,520 But he quickly discovered that every official record was sealed. 807 00:42:34,520 --> 00:42:37,320 His story was picked up by a local newspaper. 808 00:42:37,320 --> 00:42:40,840 Then a television station set a reporter to interview Walter. 809 00:42:40,840 --> 00:42:44,000 Walter Thomas, Jr. was 13 years old when his mother. 810 00:42:44,000 --> 00:42:47,320 The broadcast would lead to a completely unexpected discovery. 811 00:42:50,440 --> 00:42:54,840 A woman named Phyllis Monroe, who lived just 35 miles from Walter, 812 00:42:54,840 --> 00:42:57,560 telephoned with the stunning news that she had known Philip 813 00:42:57,560 --> 00:42:59,080 as a child. 814 00:42:59,080 --> 00:43:01,920 Three days later, Walter and Phyllis met. 815 00:43:01,920 --> 00:43:03,680 Phyllis, is that you? 816 00:43:03,680 --> 00:43:04,600 Hi. 817 00:43:04,600 --> 00:43:05,500 You're Phyllis? 818 00:43:05,500 --> 00:43:06,880 You have to be Walter. 819 00:43:06,880 --> 00:43:07,960 You look just like Philip. 820 00:43:07,960 --> 00:43:08,880 Hi, hi, honey. 821 00:43:08,880 --> 00:43:10,440 Oh, my gosh. 822 00:43:10,440 --> 00:43:13,840 I can't describe what it felt like to meet her at the time, 823 00:43:13,840 --> 00:43:17,400 because so many things in my mind that I wanted to ask her. 824 00:43:17,400 --> 00:43:21,880 But when she seen me, she looked at me and she started to cry. 825 00:43:21,880 --> 00:43:23,400 She started to cry, oh, my god. 826 00:43:23,400 --> 00:43:29,080 I said, when I see you, she says, I see Philip, she says. 827 00:43:29,080 --> 00:43:31,960 He looked exactly like Philip to me. 828 00:43:31,960 --> 00:43:35,360 And that's all I needed. 829 00:43:35,360 --> 00:43:39,720 I didn't need no paperwork, because that was proof enough 830 00:43:39,720 --> 00:43:42,680 to me that that was Philip's brother. 831 00:43:42,680 --> 00:43:45,680 Phyllis, I found the teddy bear. 832 00:43:45,680 --> 00:43:48,520 Maybe Philip wants to play with that. 833 00:43:48,520 --> 00:43:51,160 As a child, Phyllis had grown up in a foster home 834 00:43:51,160 --> 00:43:54,960 under the care of a woman named Mary, Thankful Teft. 835 00:43:54,960 --> 00:43:57,320 One of Phyllis' foster brothers was none other 836 00:43:57,320 --> 00:43:59,360 than Philip John Thomas. 837 00:43:59,360 --> 00:44:02,240 She vividly recalls a few years they spent together. 838 00:44:02,240 --> 00:44:04,240 Get him. 839 00:44:04,240 --> 00:44:05,840 I didn't. 840 00:44:05,840 --> 00:44:08,800 When Philip came to the house for the first time, 841 00:44:08,800 --> 00:44:13,400 he was just down, just the cutest little boy. 842 00:44:13,440 --> 00:44:16,800 He had brown eyes and brown hair. 843 00:44:16,800 --> 00:44:21,000 And to me, it was like a brother. 844 00:44:21,000 --> 00:44:24,160 Even the best of foster homes are temporary arrangements. 845 00:44:24,160 --> 00:44:26,240 And it was almost certain that Philip and Phyllis 846 00:44:26,240 --> 00:44:27,720 would one day be separated. 847 00:44:30,800 --> 00:44:35,080 Parting came suddenly in July of 1953. 848 00:44:35,080 --> 00:44:36,560 Philip had been adopted. 849 00:44:44,400 --> 00:44:49,840 Philip was part of my life when he was a little boy there. 850 00:44:49,840 --> 00:44:54,640 And I know that part of my life went when he went, 851 00:44:54,640 --> 00:44:56,480 because I was so attached to him. 852 00:45:02,480 --> 00:45:05,080 Phyllis was able to share with Walter a tangible link 853 00:45:05,080 --> 00:45:08,480 to his long lost brother, this photograph of Philip 854 00:45:08,480 --> 00:45:10,280 at about three years of age. 855 00:45:11,280 --> 00:45:17,200 To find Philip will close the Thomas family together. 856 00:45:17,200 --> 00:45:20,560 It's something that I have to do for my father. 857 00:45:20,560 --> 00:45:23,080 My father left me there. 858 00:45:23,080 --> 00:45:25,160 He told me to find him. 859 00:45:25,160 --> 00:45:29,760 And not in the words, but he left it there for me 860 00:45:29,760 --> 00:45:31,560 to go after him. 861 00:45:31,560 --> 00:45:34,160 He knew I would. 862 00:45:34,160 --> 00:45:37,960 I wanted to bet no one else would have died. 863 00:45:38,720 --> 00:45:42,360 I wanted to bet knowing my father that he took that paper 864 00:45:42,360 --> 00:45:46,040 out many times and touched it and held it and prayed on it. 865 00:45:46,040 --> 00:45:49,800 And hoped that Philip would be forgiven enough 866 00:45:49,800 --> 00:45:53,480 so that he could forgive dad for what he did. 867 00:46:07,960 --> 00:46:18,680 Join me next Friday for another intriguing edition 868 00:46:18,680 --> 00:46:19,960 of Unsolved Mysteries.