1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,000 The End 2 00:00:04,000 --> 00:00:08,000 Tonight on Unsolved Mysteries 3 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:11,000 Married only three months, 4 00:00:11,000 --> 00:00:14,000 Yishal Witherall died in this tragic fall. 5 00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:16,000 Her husband said it was an accident. 6 00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:19,000 Her family believed she was murdered. 7 00:00:19,000 --> 00:00:24,000 It was a whirlwind romance with a bitter ironic twist. 8 00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:27,000 The groom was a convicted killer serving life in prison 9 00:00:28,000 --> 00:00:31,000 until he convinced his new wife to help him escape. 10 00:00:31,000 --> 00:00:33,000 Now her children would like to find her 11 00:00:33,000 --> 00:00:35,000 and the police say she is free to come home 12 00:00:35,000 --> 00:00:38,000 without fear of punishment. 13 00:00:38,000 --> 00:00:41,000 Party time in Tijuana, 14 00:00:41,000 --> 00:00:44,000 but for this college student the revelry proved fatal. 15 00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:47,000 Was Jason Artis hit by a car 16 00:00:47,000 --> 00:00:50,000 or did he anger the Tijuana police? 17 00:00:50,000 --> 00:00:54,000 Carl McWilliams is friendly and personal. 18 00:00:54,000 --> 00:00:58,000 He is also a fugitive on the run from statutory rape charges. 19 00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:01,000 Police need your help. 20 00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:04,000 Experience a world of mystery, heartbreak and intrigue. 21 00:01:04,000 --> 00:01:08,000 Join me for Unsolved Mysteries. 22 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:29,000 Unolved Mysteries 23 00:01:29,000 --> 00:01:34,000 Unolved Mysteries 24 00:01:34,000 --> 00:01:39,000 Unolved Mysteries 25 00:01:39,000 --> 00:01:44,000 Unolved Mysteries 26 00:01:44,000 --> 00:01:49,000 Unolved Mysteries 27 00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:53,000 Unolved Mysteries 28 00:01:55,000 --> 00:01:59,000 A cold winter night in a small town near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 29 00:01:59,000 --> 00:02:02,000 the broken body of Michelle Witherall 30 00:02:02,000 --> 00:02:06,000 lay sprawled on the asphalt outside her apartment. 31 00:02:06,000 --> 00:02:10,000 Michelle was just 24 years old, a newlywed. 32 00:02:10,000 --> 00:02:12,000 She and her husband Jeremy have been living in Pittsburgh 33 00:02:12,000 --> 00:02:14,000 since their marriage three months earlier. 34 00:02:14,000 --> 00:02:16,000 They had moved from their home in Denver 35 00:02:16,000 --> 00:02:18,000 expecting to build a new life. 36 00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:21,000 Now Michelle was in critical condition, 37 00:02:21,000 --> 00:02:24,000 bleeding heavily from severe head injuries. 38 00:02:24,000 --> 00:02:26,000 Tell me what happened up there. 39 00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:28,000 I don't know what happened to me. 40 00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:31,000 Jeremy Witherall told police Michelle had fallen 41 00:02:31,000 --> 00:02:34,000 from their balcony three flights up. 42 00:02:34,000 --> 00:02:36,000 He said he had been playing solitaire 43 00:02:36,000 --> 00:02:38,000 in the living room of their apartment. 44 00:02:38,000 --> 00:02:41,000 When he heard a sound, he stepped outside, 45 00:02:41,000 --> 00:02:43,000 looked over the railing, 46 00:02:43,000 --> 00:02:46,000 and saw his wife's body on the ground below. 47 00:02:47,000 --> 00:02:50,000 Paramedics rushed Michelle to the trauma unit 48 00:02:50,000 --> 00:02:52,000 at a Pittsburgh hospital. 49 00:02:52,000 --> 00:02:57,000 It was December 20, 1992, just five days before Christmas. 50 00:02:57,000 --> 00:03:00,000 Within hours, Michelle's parents claimed 51 00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:03,000 Jeremy's mother called them with the awful news 52 00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:06,000 and a second version of his story. 53 00:03:06,000 --> 00:03:11,000 She told me that there had been a terrible accident 54 00:03:11,000 --> 00:03:15,000 and that Michelle had been in a very bad condition. 55 00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:19,000 Michelle had been out on the balcony at their apartment 56 00:03:19,000 --> 00:03:22,000 and that she had been putting up Christmas lights 57 00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:27,000 and that the balcony had collapsed, causing her to fall. 58 00:03:31,000 --> 00:03:33,000 Michelle and Jeremy Witherall had planned 59 00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:36,000 to go home to Denver for the holidays. 60 00:03:36,000 --> 00:03:38,000 We're looking for Michelle Witherall. 61 00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:41,000 Instead, Michelle's family flew to Pittsburgh 62 00:03:41,000 --> 00:03:43,000 on the first flight out. 63 00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:45,000 The left side of Michelle's head was fractured 64 00:03:45,000 --> 00:03:47,000 and she was in a coma. 65 00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:50,000 In addition, her jaw was broken, 66 00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:53,000 but strangely, her nose and teeth were unharmed 67 00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:55,000 by the three-story fall. 68 00:03:55,000 --> 00:03:57,000 I think stronger. 69 00:03:57,000 --> 00:03:59,000 At that very moment, I think questions were beginning 70 00:03:59,000 --> 00:04:02,000 to come into our thoughts. 71 00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:05,000 How did she get her eye busted open 72 00:04:05,000 --> 00:04:09,000 and her jaw broken with no damage in between? 73 00:04:09,000 --> 00:04:11,000 How do you want her to sit down? 74 00:04:11,000 --> 00:04:14,000 Those who believe Michelle knew they were with her 75 00:04:14,000 --> 00:04:17,000 and tried her best to let them know. 76 00:04:20,000 --> 00:04:23,000 She was squeezing my hand. 77 00:04:23,000 --> 00:04:27,000 We really think that her squeezing Ebb's hand, 78 00:04:27,000 --> 00:04:30,000 she was telling us goodbye. 79 00:04:34,000 --> 00:04:37,000 And then the doctor walked in from the back and said that, 80 00:04:37,000 --> 00:04:39,000 I'm sorry, but you're going to have to leave. 81 00:04:39,000 --> 00:04:42,000 Michelle has died. 82 00:04:42,000 --> 00:04:45,000 It would seem only two people in the world 83 00:04:45,000 --> 00:04:47,000 knew how Michelle had been injured. 84 00:04:47,000 --> 00:04:50,000 One of them was now gone. 85 00:04:50,000 --> 00:04:53,000 Michelle's parents claim that moments later, 86 00:04:53,000 --> 00:04:56,000 Jeremy Witherall came up with another version, 87 00:04:56,000 --> 00:04:59,000 a third version of how she fell. 88 00:04:59,000 --> 00:05:01,000 What happened, Jeremy? 89 00:05:03,000 --> 00:05:05,000 We just got home from dinner 90 00:05:05,000 --> 00:05:07,000 and I was playing a game of Solitaire. 91 00:05:07,000 --> 00:05:10,000 And Michelle and I, we weren't even talking. 92 00:05:10,000 --> 00:05:13,000 And then she went out to the balcony for something 93 00:05:13,000 --> 00:05:17,000 and when I looked up, there she was, she was hanging. 94 00:05:17,000 --> 00:05:20,000 And I should have got her. 95 00:05:20,000 --> 00:05:22,000 She was just barely hanging there. 96 00:05:22,000 --> 00:05:24,000 I could have got her. 97 00:05:24,000 --> 00:05:27,000 Jeremy Witherall declined to be interviewed. 98 00:05:27,000 --> 00:05:31,000 However, he claims he gave just one version of Michelle's fall, 99 00:05:31,000 --> 00:05:34,000 that he only discovered she had fallen 100 00:05:34,000 --> 00:05:37,000 when he saw her body on the ground below. 101 00:05:37,000 --> 00:05:40,000 The melamas still insist they were given 102 00:05:40,000 --> 00:05:43,000 three different stories. 103 00:05:43,000 --> 00:05:46,000 Three stories or one, who is right? 104 00:05:46,000 --> 00:05:48,000 According to detectives, 105 00:05:48,000 --> 00:05:51,000 the Witheralls were having trouble in their marriage. 106 00:05:51,000 --> 00:05:54,000 They say Jeremy admitted arguing with Michelle that evening 107 00:05:54,000 --> 00:05:56,000 while driving back from a restaurant, 108 00:05:56,000 --> 00:05:59,000 an argument that continued at home. 109 00:05:59,000 --> 00:06:01,000 What do you mean? I don't have to listen to you. 110 00:06:01,000 --> 00:06:04,000 Neighbors say Michelle and Jeremy have been fighting frequently. 111 00:06:04,000 --> 00:06:07,000 Fight so loud, one neighbor complained repeatedly 112 00:06:07,000 --> 00:06:10,000 to the building manager. 113 00:06:10,000 --> 00:06:12,000 Violence is what she called it, 114 00:06:12,000 --> 00:06:15,000 physically throwing each other around the apartment. 115 00:06:15,000 --> 00:06:20,000 And somewhere in the area of one to three weeks before Michelle's death, 116 00:06:20,000 --> 00:06:23,000 she came into my office and said, 117 00:06:23,000 --> 00:06:25,000 in no uncertain terms, she said, 118 00:06:25,000 --> 00:06:27,000 someone's going to get killed up there. 119 00:06:27,000 --> 00:06:29,000 And she was very frightened, she was scared. 120 00:06:30,000 --> 00:06:33,000 The melamas became more and more suspicious. 121 00:06:33,000 --> 00:06:36,000 They began questioning the police investigation. 122 00:06:36,000 --> 00:06:38,000 That's the whole story. 123 00:06:38,000 --> 00:06:40,000 When the detectives would start out by saying, 124 00:06:40,000 --> 00:06:43,000 well, Jeremy says, our thought was, 125 00:06:43,000 --> 00:06:46,000 well, you guys are homicide detectives. 126 00:06:46,000 --> 00:06:49,000 You were called into this evidently for a reason. 127 00:06:49,000 --> 00:06:52,000 Now, if all you're telling us is what Jeremy says, 128 00:06:52,000 --> 00:06:55,000 what's the point? 129 00:06:55,000 --> 00:06:59,000 If this man is a suspect in a homicide, 130 00:06:59,000 --> 00:07:04,000 and by his own admission, he said he was the only one there, 131 00:07:04,000 --> 00:07:07,000 then why would you take his word? 132 00:07:09,000 --> 00:07:13,000 The melamas found troubling inconsistencies in Jeremy's account. 133 00:07:13,000 --> 00:07:16,000 One, Michelle's wrists were broken, 134 00:07:16,000 --> 00:07:19,000 but her palms were completely unscratched. 135 00:07:19,000 --> 00:07:22,000 If she fractured her wrist trying to break her fall, 136 00:07:22,000 --> 00:07:24,000 her palms should have been cut. 137 00:07:24,000 --> 00:07:27,000 Two, one of Michelle's shoes was discovered 138 00:07:27,000 --> 00:07:32,000 26 feet from her body, the other shoe was never found. 139 00:07:32,000 --> 00:07:36,000 And finally, Jeremy Witheral took the time 140 00:07:36,000 --> 00:07:39,000 to double lock his apartment before allegedly racing 141 00:07:39,000 --> 00:07:41,000 to his wife's side. 142 00:07:41,000 --> 00:07:48,000 Unscayed palms, a missing shoe, a locked door, 143 00:07:48,000 --> 00:07:51,000 the melamas wondered why. 144 00:07:52,000 --> 00:07:56,000 According to the police, Jeremy Witheral took not one, 145 00:07:56,000 --> 00:07:58,000 but two polygraph tests. 146 00:07:58,000 --> 00:08:00,000 They say he passed both. 147 00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:03,000 The Allegheny County Coroner officially labeled 148 00:08:03,000 --> 00:08:06,000 the cause of Michelle's death as undetermined, 149 00:08:06,000 --> 00:08:09,000 homicide, accident, or suicide. 150 00:08:09,000 --> 00:08:13,000 The melamas insist it couldn't have been suicide. 151 00:08:13,000 --> 00:08:17,000 Michelle had a high regard for life. 152 00:08:17,000 --> 00:08:19,000 Michelle was a happy person. 153 00:08:19,000 --> 00:08:22,000 Michelle had so many goals in life, 154 00:08:22,000 --> 00:08:24,000 and when she had made the statement to me 155 00:08:24,000 --> 00:08:27,000 about separating from Jeremy, 156 00:08:27,000 --> 00:08:31,000 she had dealt with the situations in her marriage 157 00:08:31,000 --> 00:08:33,000 that she was not pleased with. 158 00:08:33,000 --> 00:08:36,000 And she had also made her plan 159 00:08:36,000 --> 00:08:39,000 on how to remedy those situations, 160 00:08:39,000 --> 00:08:41,000 and that was to separate and ask 161 00:08:41,000 --> 00:08:44,000 that Jeremy get professional help. 162 00:08:44,000 --> 00:08:48,000 The melamas also believed the accident theory was unlikely. 163 00:08:48,000 --> 00:08:51,000 The balcony was 48 inches, 164 00:08:51,000 --> 00:08:53,000 chest high for Michelle. 165 00:08:53,000 --> 00:08:58,000 The wall was too high for anybody to lose their balance. 166 00:08:58,000 --> 00:09:01,000 It wasn't a poorly constructed balcony. 167 00:09:01,000 --> 00:09:03,000 It was very adequate in height 168 00:09:03,000 --> 00:09:06,000 to prevent something like that from happening. 169 00:09:06,000 --> 00:09:09,000 Michelle's parents sent her medical records 170 00:09:09,000 --> 00:09:12,000 to three board-certified forensic pathologists. 171 00:09:12,000 --> 00:09:16,000 Their unanimous verdict, Michelle was murdered, 172 00:09:16,000 --> 00:09:19,000 but possibly not by a fall. 173 00:09:19,000 --> 00:09:22,000 According to forensic experts, 174 00:09:22,000 --> 00:09:24,000 if Michelle had fallen three stories, 175 00:09:24,000 --> 00:09:28,000 she should have had injuries on both sides of her brain. 176 00:09:28,000 --> 00:09:31,000 The head injuries that Michelle, 177 00:09:31,000 --> 00:09:35,000 whether all demonstrated at autopsy, were quite extensive, 178 00:09:35,000 --> 00:09:38,000 but these were all left-sided. 179 00:09:38,000 --> 00:09:41,000 These injuries are what we call COO, 180 00:09:41,000 --> 00:09:45,000 direct impact injuries, as from a blow. 181 00:09:46,000 --> 00:09:50,000 Wex says Michelle's other injuries also indicated an assault. 182 00:09:50,000 --> 00:09:53,000 In addition, what wasn't harmed is significant. 183 00:09:53,000 --> 00:09:55,000 Her pelvis was unbroken, 184 00:09:55,000 --> 00:09:58,000 and her internal organs were undamaged. 185 00:09:58,000 --> 00:10:01,000 That is extremely inconsistent, 186 00:10:01,000 --> 00:10:06,000 very atypical of the kinds of injuries 187 00:10:06,000 --> 00:10:09,000 that we would find in a fall. 188 00:10:10,000 --> 00:10:12,000 Another red flag. 189 00:10:12,000 --> 00:10:15,000 Michelle's body was allegedly found 190 00:10:15,000 --> 00:10:18,000 more than nine feet from the building. 191 00:10:18,000 --> 00:10:22,000 If I had to pick one single physical factor in this case 192 00:10:22,000 --> 00:10:25,000 that leads me to the conclusion 193 00:10:25,000 --> 00:10:28,000 that it was not an accidental fall or a suicidal fall, 194 00:10:28,000 --> 00:10:33,000 it would be that somebody can dive in a suicidal attempt 195 00:10:33,000 --> 00:10:36,000 and leap several feet away from the building, 196 00:10:36,000 --> 00:10:40,000 or you can be thrown and wind up several feet from the building. 197 00:10:40,000 --> 00:10:44,000 You do not accidentally fall and wind up nine feet. 198 00:10:44,000 --> 00:10:46,000 The body doesn't bounce. 199 00:10:46,000 --> 00:10:50,000 Finally, the Allegheny County Coroner's office 200 00:10:50,000 --> 00:10:53,000 opened the first official inquiry into the case. 201 00:10:54,000 --> 00:10:57,000 The verdict was quick and clear. 202 00:10:58,000 --> 00:11:03,000 We will amend the original from undetermined to homicidal. 203 00:11:04,000 --> 00:11:08,000 We're thankful for the outcome of the hearing today. 204 00:11:08,000 --> 00:11:11,000 The coroner's rooting didn't specify how Michelle died, 205 00:11:11,000 --> 00:11:14,000 but her parents feel certain they know. 206 00:11:15,000 --> 00:11:17,000 Don't you raise your voice for me! 207 00:11:17,000 --> 00:11:20,000 Don't you talk to me like that! If you keep that, I'm leaving you! 208 00:11:20,000 --> 00:11:24,000 I think that night she made the mistake of telling Jeremy 209 00:11:24,000 --> 00:11:26,000 she was going to leave him. 210 00:11:26,000 --> 00:11:29,000 We think she ran from the apartment, 211 00:11:29,000 --> 00:11:31,000 fleeing for her life at that point, 212 00:11:31,000 --> 00:11:34,000 and the assault, you know, 213 00:11:34,000 --> 00:11:38,000 she was then found and assaulted outside of the apartment. 214 00:11:40,000 --> 00:11:44,000 The Melamas believe the balcony story was a quickly improvised cover-up, 215 00:11:44,000 --> 00:11:48,000 a safe way for Jeremy Witherell to explain Michelle's injuries. 216 00:11:49,000 --> 00:11:53,000 While no one on Jeremy's side was willing to be interviewed, 217 00:11:53,000 --> 00:11:56,000 they emphasized that despite the Melamas' suspicions, 218 00:11:56,000 --> 00:12:00,000 Jeremy did pass a police polygraph twice. 219 00:12:00,000 --> 00:12:05,000 We told Jeremy from the day Michelle died that we want to find out 220 00:12:05,000 --> 00:12:08,000 and we plan to find out everything there is to find out 221 00:12:08,000 --> 00:12:10,000 about what happened to Michelle, 222 00:12:10,000 --> 00:12:14,000 and we will pursue justice in this case, 223 00:12:14,000 --> 00:12:17,000 no matter where it takes us. 224 00:12:30,000 --> 00:12:34,000 Next, he was a convicted murderer. 225 00:12:34,000 --> 00:12:36,000 She was a lonely widow. 226 00:12:36,000 --> 00:12:39,000 Together they staged a daring prison break. 227 00:12:54,000 --> 00:12:57,000 All right, make a wish and blow those candles out. 228 00:13:01,000 --> 00:13:05,000 Sherri Nickerson's 15th birthday was hardly a joyous event. 229 00:13:05,000 --> 00:13:07,000 She was living with her uncle's family, 230 00:13:07,000 --> 00:13:09,000 and though they did their best, 231 00:13:09,000 --> 00:13:12,000 it was impossible to pretend anyone was happy. 232 00:13:12,000 --> 00:13:15,000 I was numb. I didn't feel anything. 233 00:13:15,000 --> 00:13:19,000 I wasn't happy. It was the worst birthday of my life. 234 00:13:19,000 --> 00:13:21,000 Small wonder. 235 00:13:21,000 --> 00:13:24,000 Sherri's party included a number of uninvited guests. 236 00:13:24,000 --> 00:13:28,000 Oklahoma State Troopers stationed inside the house and out. 237 00:13:28,000 --> 00:13:32,000 They were there because of a crime involving Sherri's mother, 238 00:13:32,000 --> 00:13:35,000 a crime committed nine days earlier. 239 00:13:35,000 --> 00:13:37,000 Let's go, let's go! 240 00:13:37,000 --> 00:13:41,000 Two lifers had escaped from a nearby Oklahoma prison. 241 00:13:41,000 --> 00:13:44,000 Sherri's mother, Donna Moses Brown, 242 00:13:44,000 --> 00:13:47,000 had driven the getaway car. 243 00:13:47,000 --> 00:13:51,000 Sherri's mom has been on the run ever since. 244 00:13:51,000 --> 00:13:53,000 However, she has never been charged with any crime 245 00:13:53,000 --> 00:13:57,000 because both her family and the authorities view her as a victim. 246 00:13:57,000 --> 00:14:01,000 A lonely widow, so desperate for love that she could be manipulated 247 00:14:01,000 --> 00:14:05,000 by a convicted killer named Michael Wayne Brown. 248 00:14:05,000 --> 00:14:07,000 Hi. Hi. 249 00:14:07,000 --> 00:14:09,000 I'm Michael. 250 00:14:09,000 --> 00:14:11,000 I know. I'm Donna. 251 00:14:11,000 --> 00:14:15,000 Ironically, it was a good D that introduced Donna to Brown's world. 252 00:14:15,000 --> 00:14:18,000 Her church group started writing letters to convicts 253 00:14:18,000 --> 00:14:20,000 to help them find spiritual comfort. 254 00:14:20,000 --> 00:14:23,000 But these pen pals quickly became more. 255 00:14:23,000 --> 00:14:25,000 You know, I don't know if I could make it in this place 256 00:14:25,000 --> 00:14:27,000 but it wasn't for those letters that I get from you. 257 00:14:27,000 --> 00:14:29,000 Well, you know, whatever we can do to help. 258 00:14:29,000 --> 00:14:32,000 No, you do. I mean, you do so much. 259 00:14:32,000 --> 00:14:34,000 You're always so supportive. 260 00:14:34,000 --> 00:14:38,000 Oh, yeah. You know, you write real sweet letters, too. 261 00:14:38,000 --> 00:14:42,000 I cannot get over how beautiful you are. 262 00:14:42,000 --> 00:14:44,000 Oh, she was lonely. 263 00:14:44,000 --> 00:14:47,000 She hadn't had anybody for a very long time. 264 00:14:47,000 --> 00:14:49,000 And she needed that companionship, you know, 265 00:14:49,000 --> 00:14:52,000 someone, you know, to talk to her about things 266 00:14:52,000 --> 00:14:54,000 and show her love and affection. 267 00:14:54,000 --> 00:14:56,000 And that's what she got from him. 268 00:14:56,000 --> 00:14:59,000 How you doing? 269 00:14:59,000 --> 00:15:02,000 I'm okay. It's hard. 270 00:15:02,000 --> 00:15:04,000 He spoke with her. 271 00:15:04,000 --> 00:15:07,000 And I think that that's pretty much all that mattered. 272 00:15:07,000 --> 00:15:09,000 He wrote her. 273 00:15:09,000 --> 00:15:11,000 It was somebody new in her life. 274 00:15:11,000 --> 00:15:16,000 And I think that it probably could have been anybody to him. 275 00:15:16,000 --> 00:15:21,000 But she was the victim that fell into the line of fire, I guess. 276 00:15:21,000 --> 00:15:23,000 Look what I brought you. 277 00:15:23,000 --> 00:15:26,000 Oh, wow. These are great. 278 00:15:26,000 --> 00:15:29,000 Michael and Brown, like Law of the Minute, 279 00:15:29,000 --> 00:15:31,000 are incarcerated for long periods of time. 280 00:15:31,000 --> 00:15:35,000 They really don't have any concern for other people's rights or lives. 281 00:15:35,000 --> 00:15:40,000 They've got all the time in the world to scam, to scheme on people. 282 00:15:40,000 --> 00:15:42,000 And they get quite good at it. 283 00:15:42,000 --> 00:15:45,000 They can sell you a chainsaw in the desert. 284 00:15:45,000 --> 00:15:49,000 She wrote them every day. She talked to them on the phone every day. 285 00:15:49,000 --> 00:15:52,000 It kind of started and went full force. 286 00:15:52,000 --> 00:15:55,000 There was no slowing down. 287 00:15:55,000 --> 00:15:58,000 I think Donna Brown was under the misconception that Michael Wayne Brown 288 00:15:58,000 --> 00:16:01,000 was just a misunderstood young man 289 00:16:01,000 --> 00:16:05,000 who, through unfortunate circumstances, was doing time. 290 00:16:05,000 --> 00:16:09,000 But Michael Wayne Brown was hardly misunderstood. 291 00:16:09,000 --> 00:16:11,000 Everyone but Donna knew what he was. 292 00:16:11,000 --> 00:16:14,000 And what he was was a cold-blooded killer. 293 00:16:14,000 --> 00:16:19,000 Nine years earlier, when Brown was only 18, 294 00:16:19,000 --> 00:16:22,000 he and another teenager, Dennis Woodward, 295 00:16:22,000 --> 00:16:26,000 burglarized an insurance office in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. 296 00:16:26,000 --> 00:16:38,000 What are you doing here? Huh? What are you doing here? Shut up! 297 00:16:38,000 --> 00:16:41,000 Insurance investigator Richard Sullivan 298 00:16:41,000 --> 00:16:45,000 picked the wrong time to stop by for a file. 299 00:16:45,000 --> 00:16:50,000 Turn around. Turn around and face the wall. 300 00:16:50,000 --> 00:16:53,000 Give me the gun. Turn around! 301 00:16:57,000 --> 00:17:01,000 Brown was very, very hyper after that offense. 302 00:17:01,000 --> 00:17:04,000 He said, I killed him. I killed him, almost bragging about it. 303 00:17:04,000 --> 00:17:06,000 He looks over at Woodward and he said, 304 00:17:06,000 --> 00:17:09,000 if I had one more bullet, I would have shot his eyes out. 305 00:17:09,000 --> 00:17:14,000 Thereafter, they went off to have breakfast at a local restaurant. 306 00:17:17,000 --> 00:17:19,000 While Brown was eating his bacon and eggs, 307 00:17:19,000 --> 00:17:23,000 41-year-old Richard Sullivan bled to death on his office floor. 308 00:17:23,000 --> 00:17:26,000 He left behind a wife and a young daughter. 309 00:17:26,000 --> 00:17:31,000 Michael Wayne Brown was put on death row for murdering Richard Sullivan. 310 00:17:31,000 --> 00:17:35,000 However, that sentence was later commuted to life without parole. 311 00:17:35,000 --> 00:17:38,000 By the time Brown met Donna Moses in 1984, 312 00:17:38,000 --> 00:17:42,000 he had spent nine years in prison. 313 00:17:42,000 --> 00:17:45,000 Meanwhile, Donna had served a different kind of time. 314 00:17:45,000 --> 00:17:48,000 She had been married twice and widowed twice. 315 00:17:48,000 --> 00:17:51,000 Both husbands had been murdered. 316 00:17:51,000 --> 00:17:55,000 Raising two children on her own was a constant struggle. 317 00:17:55,000 --> 00:17:59,000 Perhaps it was just another ironic twist in Donna's hard luck life 318 00:17:59,000 --> 00:18:04,000 that she now found herself in love with a murderer ten years her junior. 319 00:18:04,000 --> 00:18:07,000 It was consuming her too much. 320 00:18:07,000 --> 00:18:10,000 You know, she didn't have time for anything else but him. 321 00:18:10,000 --> 00:18:13,000 I mean, she could visit him every weekend, 322 00:18:13,000 --> 00:18:17,000 and it was like the whole week was preparing to see him. 323 00:18:17,000 --> 00:18:19,000 This is your copy? 324 00:18:19,000 --> 00:18:22,000 There she is. 325 00:18:22,000 --> 00:18:24,000 Hi. 326 00:18:24,000 --> 00:18:26,000 Less than three months after Brown first met Donna, 327 00:18:26,000 --> 00:18:29,000 he performed a brief transformation 328 00:18:29,000 --> 00:18:32,000 from shackled prisoner to eager bridegroom. 329 00:18:32,000 --> 00:18:34,000 Yes, sir. 330 00:18:34,000 --> 00:18:37,000 Do you, Michael Wayne Brown, take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife? 331 00:18:37,000 --> 00:18:40,000 To love her and to cherish her? As long as you both might live? 332 00:18:40,000 --> 00:18:42,000 I do. 333 00:18:42,000 --> 00:18:44,000 Do you, Donna Moses, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband 334 00:18:44,000 --> 00:18:46,000 to love and to cherish him from this day forward? 335 00:18:46,000 --> 00:18:48,000 As long as you both shall live? 336 00:18:48,000 --> 00:18:50,000 I do. 337 00:18:53,000 --> 00:18:55,000 I love you. 338 00:18:55,000 --> 00:18:57,000 I love you. 339 00:18:57,000 --> 00:19:00,000 Moments after the ceremony, the honeymoon was over. 340 00:19:00,000 --> 00:19:04,000 Brown, back in shackles and prison orange, was returned to his cell. 341 00:19:08,000 --> 00:19:11,000 Donna sent her children to stay with relatives and followed Brown 342 00:19:11,000 --> 00:19:13,000 as he was transferred from prison to prison, 343 00:19:13,000 --> 00:19:16,000 sometimes living out of her car. 344 00:19:16,000 --> 00:19:19,000 Between visiting days, she wrote letters. 345 00:19:19,000 --> 00:19:22,000 Michael Wayne Brown became Donna's whole world. 346 00:19:23,000 --> 00:19:26,000 In November of 1984, Brown was transferred to a minimum security prison. 347 00:19:26,000 --> 00:19:28,000 It was a perfect opportunity, 348 00:19:28,000 --> 00:19:30,000 and Brown wasted little time. 349 00:19:30,000 --> 00:19:32,000 Less than three weeks later, 350 00:19:32,000 --> 00:19:34,000 Michael Wayne Brown and another inmate 351 00:19:34,000 --> 00:19:36,000 jumped a four-foot fence and raced for freedom. 352 00:19:36,000 --> 00:19:38,000 By the time guards discovered them missing, it was too late. 353 00:19:38,000 --> 00:19:40,000 Let's go, let's go! 354 00:19:40,000 --> 00:19:43,000 Police have remained a stepper to behind Brown ever since. 355 00:19:43,000 --> 00:19:46,000 A few days after the escape, they tracked him to Paris, Texas, 356 00:19:46,000 --> 00:19:48,000 but missed him by a matter of minutes. 357 00:19:48,000 --> 00:19:52,000 Since then, Brown has known to have lived in Kentucky, New Jersey, 358 00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:54,000 Texas and Virginia. 359 00:19:57,000 --> 00:20:00,000 In the morning, the police found a man in a car. 360 00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:03,000 He was a man who had been in the car for three weeks. 361 00:20:03,000 --> 00:20:05,000 He was in a car for three weeks. 362 00:20:05,000 --> 00:20:07,000 He was in a car for three weeks. 363 00:20:07,000 --> 00:20:09,000 He was in Virginia. 364 00:20:12,000 --> 00:20:15,000 For three years, Donna's family had no word from her. 365 00:20:15,000 --> 00:20:17,000 No idea if she was alive or dead. 366 00:20:17,000 --> 00:20:22,000 Finally in 1987, Donna Brown made an unexpected call to her daughter. 367 00:20:24,000 --> 00:20:25,000 Hello. 368 00:20:25,000 --> 00:20:26,000 Hi, Sherry. 369 00:20:26,000 --> 00:20:27,000 Yeah. 370 00:20:27,000 --> 00:20:28,000 Hi, it's me, Mom. 371 00:20:28,000 --> 00:20:29,000 Mom? 372 00:20:29,000 --> 00:20:31,000 Are you okay? 373 00:20:31,000 --> 00:20:33,000 Yeah, I'm okay. 374 00:20:33,000 --> 00:20:35,000 I'm out of Oklahoma, but I want to come home. 375 00:20:35,000 --> 00:20:37,000 I broke up, but I had to go to the hospital. 376 00:20:37,000 --> 00:20:39,000 You know, it was just kind of a quick thing, and that's all. 377 00:20:39,000 --> 00:20:41,000 She told me she loved me, and that was it. 378 00:20:43,000 --> 00:20:47,000 Though Donna had said she wanted to come home, she never did. 379 00:20:47,000 --> 00:20:49,000 Four years went by. 380 00:20:49,000 --> 00:20:52,000 Donna called again, asking if she had grandchildren. 381 00:20:52,000 --> 00:20:54,000 At that time, she didn't. 382 00:20:54,000 --> 00:20:57,000 Thank you, Mommy. 383 00:20:57,000 --> 00:20:58,000 Thank you, Mommy. 384 00:20:58,000 --> 00:21:01,000 Since then, however, Donna's children, Sherry and David, 385 00:21:01,000 --> 00:21:03,000 have each had a son. 386 00:21:03,000 --> 00:21:06,000 Both would like nothing more than to introduce the boys 387 00:21:06,000 --> 00:21:09,000 to their long-lost grandmother. 388 00:21:09,000 --> 00:21:12,000 I'm afraid that she's afraid that we don't want her back. 389 00:21:16,000 --> 00:21:20,000 I'm afraid that my mom feels like that she did something really bad, 390 00:21:20,000 --> 00:21:23,000 and that she can't face us anymore. 391 00:21:23,000 --> 00:21:25,000 How are we going to act to her? 392 00:21:25,000 --> 00:21:29,000 And what I say to her is, it's okay. 393 00:21:29,000 --> 00:21:32,000 There is nothing to stop Donna Brown from rejoining her family, 394 00:21:32,000 --> 00:21:34,000 except Donna Brown. 395 00:21:34,000 --> 00:21:36,000 She can come home at any time. 396 00:21:36,000 --> 00:21:41,000 There's no arrest warrant either issued by the state of Oklahoma 397 00:21:41,000 --> 00:21:44,000 or by the federal government for her. 398 00:21:44,000 --> 00:21:48,000 She's not wanted on any charges, and in fact, we would encourage her. 399 00:21:48,000 --> 00:21:51,000 If she's no longer with Brown, or if, in fact, she is with Brown, 400 00:21:51,000 --> 00:21:54,000 to immediately contact the authorities. 401 00:22:30,000 --> 00:22:34,000 Coming up, a college student clashed with Tijuana police. 402 00:22:34,000 --> 00:22:37,000 His family believes the police retaliated. 403 00:22:42,000 --> 00:22:44,000 Tijuana. 404 00:22:44,000 --> 00:22:47,000 It's been one of Mexico's most popular border towns for decades, 405 00:22:47,000 --> 00:22:49,000 especially for college students. 406 00:22:49,000 --> 00:22:52,000 Hundreds hit nightclubs every weekend, 407 00:22:52,000 --> 00:22:54,000 hunting big fun at bargain rates. 408 00:22:54,000 --> 00:22:57,000 But a good time doesn't always come cheap. 409 00:22:57,000 --> 00:23:00,000 It can cost you your life. 410 00:23:02,000 --> 00:23:04,000 1.30 a.m., Tijuana time. 411 00:23:04,000 --> 00:23:07,000 Stephen Tomlas was looking for his brother Jason 412 00:23:07,000 --> 00:23:10,000 in the crowds parting on Avenida Revolution. 413 00:23:10,000 --> 00:23:14,000 They'd become separated while heading back to their car. 414 00:23:15,000 --> 00:23:17,000 I looked to the right of me. 415 00:23:17,000 --> 00:23:19,000 I turned around and my brother wasn't there. 416 00:23:19,000 --> 00:23:21,000 I mean, it was like that. 417 00:23:23,000 --> 00:23:26,000 An hour and a half after Jason disappeared, 418 00:23:26,000 --> 00:23:30,000 a Tijuana police officer discovered his battered body 419 00:23:30,000 --> 00:23:32,000 in the road. 420 00:23:32,000 --> 00:23:37,000 Jason was drinking, and he was loud and obnoxious, 421 00:23:37,000 --> 00:23:40,000 and maybe out of control. 422 00:23:40,000 --> 00:23:45,000 That night, I believe that Jason was murdered 423 00:23:45,000 --> 00:23:48,000 by the Tijuana police. 424 00:23:48,000 --> 00:23:50,000 20-year-old Jason Otters had moved from Virginia 425 00:23:50,000 --> 00:23:53,000 to Los Angeles one year earlier to go to college. 426 00:23:53,000 --> 00:23:55,000 A week before his death, he brought his younger brother 427 00:23:55,000 --> 00:23:57,000 Stephen out for a visit. 428 00:23:57,000 --> 00:24:01,000 They spent a week touring the top tourist spots in Los Angeles. 429 00:24:01,000 --> 00:24:04,000 Then Jason decided he couldn't let Stephen go back home 430 00:24:04,000 --> 00:24:07,000 without showing him a good time south of the border. 431 00:24:10,000 --> 00:24:13,000 Saturday night, August 1, 1998, 432 00:24:13,000 --> 00:24:16,000 Tijuana's main drag, Avenida Revolution, 433 00:24:16,000 --> 00:24:18,000 was packed with party people. 434 00:24:18,000 --> 00:24:21,000 The feel of fiesta was part of the draw, 435 00:24:21,000 --> 00:24:24,000 but for many, the loose drinking laws 436 00:24:24,000 --> 00:24:26,000 were the biggest attraction. 437 00:24:27,000 --> 00:24:31,000 That night, Jason, Steve, and their friend Michael Justin 438 00:24:31,000 --> 00:24:33,000 started bar hopping about nine, 439 00:24:33,000 --> 00:24:36,000 mostly hitting places that offered all you could drink 440 00:24:36,000 --> 00:24:38,000 for less than $5. 441 00:24:38,000 --> 00:24:40,000 Jason was usually friendly and easygoing, 442 00:24:40,000 --> 00:24:43,000 but he had a reputation as a rowdy drinker. 443 00:24:43,000 --> 00:24:45,000 By the time he ran into a tequila man 444 00:24:45,000 --> 00:24:47,000 where he was already a little drunk, 445 00:24:47,000 --> 00:24:51,000 he didn't realize a tequila cost extra, $6 a shot. 446 00:24:55,000 --> 00:24:57,000 Now you owe me $12. 447 00:24:57,000 --> 00:24:59,000 $12? You please! 448 00:24:59,000 --> 00:25:01,000 Jason didn't want to give up the money, 449 00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:03,000 so I had to say, Jason, give him the money. 450 00:25:03,000 --> 00:25:05,000 Just give him the money and let's get out of here. 451 00:25:05,000 --> 00:25:07,000 You know what I'm saying? This ain't the spot we need to be at. 452 00:25:10,000 --> 00:25:13,000 Jason and Stephen left Michael at the bar 453 00:25:13,000 --> 00:25:15,000 and went back out on the strip. 454 00:25:15,000 --> 00:25:18,000 My strategy was to hurry up and find the car 455 00:25:18,000 --> 00:25:20,000 so we can go sit down. We're kind of drunk, 456 00:25:20,000 --> 00:25:22,000 you know what I'm saying? Walk around Tijuana. 457 00:25:24,000 --> 00:25:26,000 Walkin' down the street. 458 00:25:26,000 --> 00:25:28,000 And that's when my brother accidentally bumped into a female officer. 459 00:25:33,000 --> 00:25:37,000 According to Stephen, another Tijuana police officer 460 00:25:37,000 --> 00:25:39,000 had tried to shake them down earlier that evening, 461 00:25:39,000 --> 00:25:41,000 demanding cash or jewelry. 462 00:25:41,000 --> 00:25:43,000 Jason was still angry. 463 00:25:43,000 --> 00:25:45,000 We're American citizens. We're just trying to get home. 464 00:25:45,000 --> 00:25:47,000 Tell the wind got the money! 465 00:25:47,000 --> 00:25:49,000 We have no money, okay? I swear. 466 00:25:49,000 --> 00:25:51,000 We have no money on it. 467 00:25:51,000 --> 00:25:54,000 I was kind of frustrated at my brother 468 00:25:54,000 --> 00:25:56,000 for the simple fact of being that drunk. 469 00:25:56,000 --> 00:25:59,000 My feelings were just, I'm ready to go home. 470 00:25:59,000 --> 00:26:01,000 I'm ready to get back to Van Nuys. 471 00:26:01,000 --> 00:26:03,000 Jason, man, you acting crazy, man. This ain't our country. 472 00:26:03,000 --> 00:26:05,000 You almost just got out of here. 473 00:26:05,000 --> 00:26:07,000 I told him, walk behind me. 474 00:26:07,000 --> 00:26:09,000 Come on, let's hurry up and try to find his car. 475 00:26:09,000 --> 00:26:11,000 Who likes to go check for the car? So just keep moving, alright? 476 00:26:11,000 --> 00:26:13,000 Yeah, alright. I'll keep moving, okay? 477 00:26:13,000 --> 00:26:15,000 You just go on and find the car. 478 00:26:15,000 --> 00:26:18,000 He's like three or four yards behind me at first. 479 00:26:18,000 --> 00:26:21,000 That's when I walked up some more to another block. 480 00:26:21,000 --> 00:26:24,000 So I walked up, I looked to the right, 481 00:26:24,000 --> 00:26:26,000 and I looked behind me and my brother wasn't there. 482 00:26:26,000 --> 00:26:30,000 My first reaction was probably that he's sitting down on a curb somewhere, 483 00:26:30,000 --> 00:26:33,000 or sitting up against a building or anything like that, 484 00:26:33,000 --> 00:26:36,000 you know what I'm saying? Because we were kind of intoxicated. 485 00:26:37,000 --> 00:26:40,000 Soon after Steven lost sight of Jason, 486 00:26:40,000 --> 00:26:44,000 Michael Justin claims he spotted him in the back of a police car. 487 00:26:44,000 --> 00:26:46,000 I looked and I said, 488 00:26:46,000 --> 00:26:49,000 what is he doing in the back of a police car? 489 00:26:49,000 --> 00:26:51,000 There were the last people I saw Jason with. 490 00:26:51,000 --> 00:26:55,000 I saw Jason with my own eyes in the back of a police car, 491 00:26:55,000 --> 00:26:57,000 like I know my hand. 492 00:26:59,000 --> 00:27:02,000 Michael and Steven never saw Jason again. 493 00:27:02,000 --> 00:27:04,000 Two days later, the American consulate 494 00:27:04,000 --> 00:27:06,000 said word that Jason was dead. 495 00:27:06,000 --> 00:27:08,000 His aunt, Tina Martin Smith, 496 00:27:08,000 --> 00:27:11,000 went to Tijuana to identify the body. 497 00:27:12,000 --> 00:27:15,000 I remember thinking this is not Jason there. 498 00:27:15,000 --> 00:27:18,000 Jason is somewhere in a jail in Tijuana, 499 00:27:18,000 --> 00:27:21,000 and someone has robbed him, 500 00:27:21,000 --> 00:27:23,000 and they've taken his ID, 501 00:27:23,000 --> 00:27:26,000 and this person is in the morgue. 502 00:27:28,000 --> 00:27:31,000 And I looked down, and it was Jason. 503 00:27:32,000 --> 00:27:34,000 It was Jason. 504 00:27:36,000 --> 00:27:39,000 Tijuana authorities told Jason's family 505 00:27:39,000 --> 00:27:43,000 he must have gotten lost trying to make his way back to the border. 506 00:27:50,000 --> 00:27:54,000 The authorities called it a tragic hit and run accident, 507 00:27:54,000 --> 00:27:57,000 but there were a number of unanswered questions. 508 00:27:57,000 --> 00:28:00,000 I believe that it had something to do with the police. 509 00:28:00,000 --> 00:28:02,000 I feel that for a fact. 510 00:28:02,000 --> 00:28:05,000 After Michael told me that he's seen my brother 511 00:28:05,000 --> 00:28:07,000 in the back of a police car, 512 00:28:07,000 --> 00:28:10,000 he said, well, we'll see what happens. 513 00:28:10,000 --> 00:28:13,000 Tijuana police deny the allegation. 514 00:28:13,000 --> 00:28:16,000 They say they never had Jason Ardus in custody. 515 00:28:18,000 --> 00:28:21,000 We checked, a double check, 516 00:28:21,000 --> 00:28:24,000 almost a whole month of August, 517 00:28:24,000 --> 00:28:28,000 and there is no detention with that name. 518 00:28:28,000 --> 00:28:33,000 Sometimes it happens that they miswrite the name in our computer, 519 00:28:33,000 --> 00:28:36,000 but we don't have to run it with the three names. 520 00:28:36,000 --> 00:28:38,000 We found nothing. 521 00:28:39,000 --> 00:28:42,000 Jason's family got a copy of the autopsy report 522 00:28:42,000 --> 00:28:44,000 through the American Consulate, 523 00:28:44,000 --> 00:28:47,000 and had it translated into English. 524 00:28:47,000 --> 00:28:49,000 Nothing was adding up. 525 00:28:49,000 --> 00:28:53,000 First of all, they stated that Jason was hit by a car, 526 00:28:53,000 --> 00:28:56,000 and we had these conflicting things. 527 00:28:57,000 --> 00:29:02,000 We had the photos of him with no injuries to his lower extremities, 528 00:29:02,000 --> 00:29:07,000 with these unexplained five-inch marks 529 00:29:07,000 --> 00:29:11,000 all over his body and chest area and in his face. 530 00:29:13,000 --> 00:29:15,000 At the request of Unsolved Mysteries, 531 00:29:15,000 --> 00:29:19,000 three forensic pathologists reviewed the autopsy report. 532 00:29:20,000 --> 00:29:25,000 One said Jason's death did indeed appear to be the result of a simple hit-and-run. 533 00:29:25,000 --> 00:29:30,000 Two others, however, agreed that the inconsistencies were puzzling. 534 00:29:31,000 --> 00:29:35,000 I would be very skeptical of one of the autopsy findings 535 00:29:35,000 --> 00:29:38,000 and the assertion that this was simply a hit-and-run accident. 536 00:29:38,000 --> 00:29:43,000 One has to apply a high degree of skepticism to the entire autopsy, in my view. 537 00:29:44,000 --> 00:29:49,000 For instance, the Tijuana Corner claimed the car had hit Jason and the chest 538 00:29:49,000 --> 00:29:51,000 hard enough to rupture his heart. 539 00:29:52,000 --> 00:29:57,000 In order for a blunt blow to get through the sternum and rupture the heart, 540 00:29:57,000 --> 00:29:59,000 Jason would have to virtually crush the chest. 541 00:29:59,000 --> 00:30:04,000 And it's quite evident from the autopsy that that chest is not badly mashed. 542 00:30:04,000 --> 00:30:07,000 There are no bruises on it, there are no big hematomas. 543 00:30:07,000 --> 00:30:09,000 So that becomes incredible. 544 00:30:09,000 --> 00:30:12,000 The autopsy report becomes incredible. 545 00:30:12,000 --> 00:30:16,000 Another point, Jason's injuries included head wounds 546 00:30:16,000 --> 00:30:19,000 that might easily have been the result of a beating. 547 00:30:20,000 --> 00:30:24,000 Certainly the lesions around the head and the skull, which were severe, 548 00:30:24,000 --> 00:30:27,000 certainly consistent with the butt of a rifle or any other 549 00:30:27,000 --> 00:30:33,000 sharp or even blunt object that could be used on an individual. 550 00:30:33,000 --> 00:30:36,000 I believe that he was beaten. 551 00:30:37,000 --> 00:30:41,000 And after he was beaten, perhaps in an attempt to destroy the evidence 552 00:30:41,000 --> 00:30:45,000 that they perhaps ran over and or drug him. 553 00:30:45,000 --> 00:30:51,000 And I believe that when he was run over, that he was already dead. 554 00:30:52,000 --> 00:30:57,000 Though Tijuana authorities say the case is still under investigation, 555 00:30:57,000 --> 00:31:01,000 they also believe Jason's family may be overreacting. 556 00:31:02,000 --> 00:31:07,000 We have had responses from the families in conflict with the saying 557 00:31:07,000 --> 00:31:11,000 of the autopsy and the statement from our department. 558 00:31:12,000 --> 00:31:17,000 Even in some times where there are witnesses of an accident 559 00:31:17,000 --> 00:31:20,000 and there is a driver responsible for the accident, 560 00:31:20,000 --> 00:31:26,000 there have been some families stating that they are not accepting 561 00:31:26,000 --> 00:31:28,000 that it was an accident. 562 00:31:28,000 --> 00:31:31,000 Maybe he should have gone to jail for the night, but he didn't. 563 00:31:31,000 --> 00:31:36,000 Nobody. Nobody deserves to die that way. 564 00:31:38,000 --> 00:31:42,000 Next, Tara Roy was losing her battle with cancer 565 00:31:42,000 --> 00:31:48,000 until she touched the headstone of a little girl who died over three decades earlier. 566 00:31:54,000 --> 00:31:56,000 Lourdes France, 567 00:31:58,000 --> 00:32:00,000 Fatima, Portugal 568 00:32:02,000 --> 00:32:05,000 and Medjugorje in the former Yugoslavia. 569 00:32:06,000 --> 00:32:09,000 Every year they come by the millions, 570 00:32:09,000 --> 00:32:12,000 the dying, the disabled, the sick at heart. 571 00:32:15,000 --> 00:32:18,000 They come in the hope of being miraculously healed, 572 00:32:18,000 --> 00:32:20,000 in the hope of being touched by God. 573 00:32:22,000 --> 00:32:26,000 Now many are making a pilgrimage to a new mecca for miracles. 574 00:32:27,000 --> 00:32:30,000 The tomb of a young girl buried in a small graveyard 575 00:32:30,000 --> 00:32:33,000 in a tiny town in rural Louisiana. 576 00:32:34,000 --> 00:32:36,000 Her name was Charlene Richard. 577 00:32:37,000 --> 00:32:41,000 Many people say that even from the grave, she has the power to heal. 578 00:32:42,000 --> 00:32:44,000 One of those was Nicole Price. 579 00:32:45,000 --> 00:32:49,000 When Nicole was two years old, she was diagnosed with a lethal cancer. 580 00:32:50,000 --> 00:32:53,000 She was expected to die within months, perhaps less. 581 00:32:54,000 --> 00:32:56,000 She and her family prayed for Charlene's help. 582 00:32:57,000 --> 00:32:59,000 They believed that thanks to Charlene Richard, 583 00:33:00,000 --> 00:33:03,000 Nicole lived not just a few months, but nine more years. 584 00:33:04,000 --> 00:33:07,000 I feel that Charlene's intervention in Nicole's life 585 00:33:08,000 --> 00:33:11,000 gave us the nine extra years we had with her. 586 00:33:12,000 --> 00:33:15,000 I feel somehow God reached out through Charlene and touched Nicole. 587 00:33:19,000 --> 00:33:22,000 Donald Ledger also believes in Charlene's healing power. 588 00:33:23,000 --> 00:33:27,000 In 1979, Donald, a sergeant in the United States Army, 589 00:33:28,000 --> 00:33:30,000 had an accidental fall that injured his feet, 590 00:33:30,000 --> 00:33:32,000 shattering both heels. 591 00:33:33,000 --> 00:33:35,000 Doctors doubted he would ever walk again. 592 00:33:36,000 --> 00:33:38,000 Donald started praying to Charlene. 593 00:33:39,000 --> 00:33:42,000 To everyone's surprise, he didn't just walk, he even started running. 594 00:33:46,000 --> 00:33:51,000 Without the intercession of Charlene, I feel that I would not be able to walk. 595 00:33:52,000 --> 00:33:54,000 I truly believe this. 596 00:33:55,000 --> 00:33:57,000 I believe in miracles. I do. 597 00:34:00,000 --> 00:34:02,000 But who was Charlene Richard? 598 00:34:04,000 --> 00:34:05,000 It was 1959. 599 00:34:06,000 --> 00:34:09,000 Charlene had leukemia and was suffering great pain. 600 00:34:10,000 --> 00:34:13,000 Yet when Father Brennan found the courage to tell her she was dying, 601 00:34:14,000 --> 00:34:16,000 it was she who comforted him. 602 00:34:17,000 --> 00:34:21,000 Father Brennan, when I see the Blessed Mother, 603 00:34:22,000 --> 00:34:24,000 I'll tell her that you said hello. 604 00:34:25,000 --> 00:34:30,000 During her last days, Charlene thought often of others. 605 00:34:31,000 --> 00:34:36,000 She believed in the Catholic idea that one person's suffering can save another. 606 00:34:37,000 --> 00:34:41,000 Though she was dying, she selflessly offered her pain as redemption 607 00:34:42,000 --> 00:34:44,000 for other patients in the hospital. 608 00:34:45,000 --> 00:34:49,000 When the sickness came and the pain came, 609 00:34:49,000 --> 00:34:54,000 she grew in crisis. She became great. 610 00:34:56,000 --> 00:34:59,000 Charlene prayed for others every day for two weeks, 611 00:35:00,000 --> 00:35:02,000 even as her own time was running out. 612 00:35:03,000 --> 00:35:07,000 I will be gone tomorrow. I want to say goodbye. 613 00:35:10,000 --> 00:35:12,000 I will be praying for you. 614 00:35:12,000 --> 00:35:15,000 The next day, Charlene died. 615 00:35:17,000 --> 00:35:23,000 I felt a presence in that room of the Divine. 616 00:35:25,000 --> 00:35:31,000 There was a aura of peace in that room. 617 00:35:32,000 --> 00:35:36,000 Charlene's death deeply touched her small community. 618 00:35:37,000 --> 00:35:41,000 Over the years, her life was a little bit more than just a dream. 619 00:35:42,000 --> 00:35:45,000 Her words spread over courage and saintly ways. 620 00:35:46,000 --> 00:35:50,000 People started praying to her, asking her to intercede for them with God. 621 00:35:51,000 --> 00:35:54,000 Now thousands gather each year for a memorial mass. 622 00:35:55,000 --> 00:36:00,000 More and more say they've experienced Charlene's power to heal firsthand. 623 00:36:02,000 --> 00:36:07,000 In 1994, 21-year-old Tara Roy developed colon cancer. 624 00:36:08,000 --> 00:36:14,000 She was diagnosed with a Duke's Class C Stage 3 carcinoma. 625 00:36:15,000 --> 00:36:18,000 And I've done enough research and reading about it 626 00:36:19,000 --> 00:36:21,000 to where I know that you don't come back from those. 627 00:36:22,000 --> 00:36:25,000 Tara started heavy doses of chemotherapy. 628 00:36:26,000 --> 00:36:28,000 Despite its debilitating side effects, 629 00:36:29,000 --> 00:36:31,000 she was determined not to give in to the disease. 630 00:36:32,000 --> 00:36:34,000 I didn't want this to interfere with my life, 631 00:36:34,000 --> 00:36:39,000 but I didn't want it to totally take over and dictate what I would do and how I would do it. 632 00:36:40,000 --> 00:36:44,000 I just wanted to be a college student and go to class and do my job. 633 00:36:46,000 --> 00:36:49,000 But Tara's determination wasn't enough to make her better. 634 00:36:50,000 --> 00:36:51,000 Every day she felt worse. 635 00:36:52,000 --> 00:36:55,000 She soon felt she needed more than medicine. 636 00:36:57,000 --> 00:37:01,000 Tara and her parents started making frequent trips to Charlene's grave. 637 00:37:01,000 --> 00:37:07,000 On their last trip, however, Tara was so sick they thought she might die within weeks. 638 00:37:08,000 --> 00:37:11,000 With accumulative chemotherapy kicking in real strong, 639 00:37:12,000 --> 00:37:14,000 we almost turned around and came home. 640 00:37:15,000 --> 00:37:16,000 I didn't want to go. I felt terrible. 641 00:37:17,000 --> 00:37:19,000 It was probably one of those days that I just didn't want to do anything. 642 00:37:20,000 --> 00:37:21,000 Laying in bed was a challenge. 643 00:37:22,000 --> 00:37:23,000 Deep down I wanted to go to the grave that day. 644 00:37:24,000 --> 00:37:26,000 I just didn't physically feel up to it at all. 645 00:37:27,000 --> 00:37:31,000 Tara knelt by Charlene's grave as usual. 646 00:37:32,000 --> 00:37:36,000 Then some impulse inspired her to do something she had never done before. 647 00:37:38,000 --> 00:37:42,000 With her fingers, she traced the letters of Charlene's name. 648 00:37:47,000 --> 00:37:53,000 And in about 20 seconds, she turned around and she was transformed. 649 00:37:53,000 --> 00:37:57,000 And when I saw her, I was stunned. 650 00:37:58,000 --> 00:38:01,000 I felt like a lot had been lifted right then. 651 00:38:02,000 --> 00:38:05,000 Just like a weight off my shoulder was lifted right then. 652 00:38:06,000 --> 00:38:07,000 Pop, I'm going to be okay. 653 00:38:08,000 --> 00:38:12,000 I just felt that I definitely would be healthy again and I would beat this. 654 00:38:14,000 --> 00:38:18,000 Tara did beat it, both the cancer and the effects of the chemotherapy. 655 00:38:18,000 --> 00:38:22,000 She is now back to being a healthy and happy young woman. 656 00:38:23,000 --> 00:38:28,000 She finished college, went on to get a master's degree in social work and is engaged to be married. 657 00:38:30,000 --> 00:38:31,000 I saw the hand of God. 658 00:38:32,000 --> 00:38:34,000 I saw what I needed to see that day. 659 00:38:35,000 --> 00:38:37,000 We saw a miracle, no doubt. 660 00:38:38,000 --> 00:38:43,000 Does a spirit of Charlene Richard reach out from her grave to help those who send her their prayers? 661 00:38:44,000 --> 00:38:46,000 Skeptics aren't convinced. 662 00:38:47,000 --> 00:38:53,000 Yet for the thousands who visit Charlene's grave, the answer isn't unwavering, yes. 663 00:38:55,000 --> 00:39:01,000 Next, help authorities catch Carl McWilliams, wanted by state college police for child molestation. 664 00:39:08,000 --> 00:39:15,000 Recently, authorities in Pennsylvania contacted us with a request to profile a fugitive considered to be very manipulative and dangerous. 665 00:39:16,000 --> 00:39:21,000 Please watch closely. You may be able to help put this individual behind bars. 666 00:39:24,000 --> 00:39:25,000 State College, Pennsylvania. 667 00:39:26,000 --> 00:39:32,000 A young mother struggling to raise her three young children alone met Carl McWilliams in the fall of 1992. 668 00:39:33,000 --> 00:39:38,000 He lived only a few doors away and they were both students at Pennsylvania State University. 669 00:39:40,000 --> 00:39:45,000 The two became friends and eventually Carl McWilliams became like family. 670 00:39:46,000 --> 00:39:52,000 For the sake of her children, their mother, who we will call Sarah, asked that we not reveal her identity. 671 00:39:54,000 --> 00:40:00,000 Carl was a very personable man. He was friendly. He got along beautifully with my children. They adored him. 672 00:40:02,000 --> 00:40:07,000 He was to me like the perfect father figure for my children. 673 00:40:08,000 --> 00:40:17,000 The fact was, Carl McWilliams was a convicted child molester. He had spent six years in prison for molesting his eight-year-old daughter. 674 00:40:18,000 --> 00:40:24,000 One day, Sarah came home from work early to find Carl McWilliams had become her worst nightmare. 675 00:40:25,000 --> 00:40:28,000 He was allegedly locked in a bedroom with her young daughter. 676 00:40:29,000 --> 00:40:34,000 He opened the door and he was as pale as a ghost and he had broken out into a real cold sweat. 677 00:40:35,000 --> 00:40:42,000 And even till this day, it's something so vile that I could never even put a hand on it. 678 00:40:43,000 --> 00:40:47,000 I couldn't imagine someone doing that to a five-year-old child. 679 00:40:50,000 --> 00:40:58,000 Sarah and her children moved away from the area and for seven years she anguished about whether to report the incident to police. 680 00:40:59,000 --> 00:41:06,000 I felt that if I exposed them to the police and agencies that it would be worse for the girls. 681 00:41:07,000 --> 00:41:12,000 And I felt it was better for me as their mother to try to handle it. 682 00:41:14,000 --> 00:41:18,000 Finally, Sarah realized the police needed to know about McWilliams' behavior. 683 00:41:20,000 --> 00:41:27,000 Authorities found Carl McWilliams living with another woman and her children just two miles from the neighborhood Sarah and her children were living in. 684 00:41:28,000 --> 00:41:29,000 The woman had fled. 685 00:41:32,000 --> 00:41:39,000 Carl McWilliams was ordered to leave the house and relocated to a nearby motel while police investigated the allegations against him. 686 00:41:40,000 --> 00:41:49,000 He stayed there one night and checked out the next morning and that's the last indication of any specific location that we knew he possibly could have been. 687 00:41:50,000 --> 00:41:58,000 Carl McWilliams has been charged with rape, statutory rape, aggravated indecent assault and indecent assault. 688 00:41:59,000 --> 00:42:04,000 He is most likely working in the logging industry in the United States or Canada. 689 00:42:05,000 --> 00:42:14,000 Carl has on occasion changed his appearance. He's changed his hairstyle. He's changed his glasses style or maybe lost a little weight, gained a little weight. 690 00:42:15,000 --> 00:42:24,000 It wouldn't surprise me right now if he is somewhere living with another woman who has little girls because that's what he does. 691 00:42:25,000 --> 00:42:35,000 I think it's important that he is caught so that he doesn't have the opportunity to do this to other children. No one has that right to violate a child like that. 692 00:42:44,000 --> 00:42:49,000 The next fascinating edition of Unsolved Mysteries. 693 00:43:14,000 --> 00:43:19,000 The next edition of Unsolved Mysteries. 694 00:43:44,000 --> 00:43:49,000 The next edition of Unsolved Mysteries.