All language subtitles for Unsolved.Mysteries.S01E09.480p.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-PLAYREADY_track3_[und]

ANNOUNCER: This program is
about unsolved mysteries.

Whenever possible, the
actual family members

and police officials
have participated

in recreating the events.

What you are about to see
is not a news broadcast.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
17-year-old Kurt Sova

disappeared after
an impromptu party.

Five days later, Kurt's body
was found, but no cause of death

could be determined.

No one knows how or why he died.

Last May, two boys found a rock
carved with mysterious symbols.

Suddenly, a phenomenal
run of good luck began.

They believe rock
has special powers.

In New Mexico, a Catholic
priest was lured to an isolated

truckstop and abducted.

In Montana, another priest
mysteriously vanished.

Authorities fear a priest
killer may be on the loose.

1949, Chongqing, China.

As communist revolution of Mao
Tse Tung sweeps the country,

an American GI named Melvin
Ellis is shipped back

to the States, forced to leave
behind his girlfriend and

their five-year-old son, John.

More than two decades
later, the boy

is a grown man, one of thousands
of refugees fleeing Vietnam

during the fall of Saigon.

Today, John Ellis is
an American citizen,

with a good job
and a new family,

but the painful memories
of Vietnam are still fresh.

Like his father before him, John
Ellis left behind a young son

when he came to
the United States.

Join me, perhaps you
could help reunite

a family torn apart by war.

[theme music]

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): On
October 28, 1981, in Newburgh

Heights, Ohio, a
suburb of Cleveland,

three young boys made
a gruesome discovery.

Wow.

Is it a dummy?

I don't know.

I don't think so.

I think it's real.

Let's get out of here.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): The body

the young boys found seemed
to have been deliberately

placed where it lay.

Apart from some minor
scratches and bruises,

there was no sign of injury.

One tennis shoe was in a
pile of rocks 12 feet away.

The other shoe was missing.

Several hours later, the body
was positively identified

as 17-year-old Kurt Sova.

An autopsy revealed that
Kurt had died 24 to 36 hours

before his body
was found, but he

had been missing for five days.

I would like to know where
Kurt was these five days.

I would like to know how he
died, what caused his death.

I'm sure somebody knows,
because somebody put him there.

Somebody either was with him
when he died or somebody came

upon him after he died, and
evidently panicked and put him

down there.

They didn't want to be with him.

Ken and Dorothy Sova
called "Unsolved Mysteries"

in a final effort to find
answers of the questions that

plague them.

Where was Kurt during the
five days it was missing?

Did he die in the vacant lot,
or was his body placed there?

And is it really
possible for a perfectly

healthy 17-year-old boy to die
without any apparent cause?

The sudden unexpected death of
a teenager is always tragic,

but for Ken and Dorothy
Sova, the tragedy

is compounded by the mysterious
circumstances surrounding

Kurt's disappearance and death.

Kurt Sova lived with his parents
in this quiet blue collar

neighborhood on the
outskirts of Cleveland.

He was the youngest of Ken
and Dorothy Sova's four sons,

and the closest to his parents.

DOROTHY SOVA: He never had any
trouble with the neighbors.

I never had any trouble
with him in school.

I never had any trouble
with him with the police.

That's why I can't
understand what happened.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): Kurt left

home for the last time
on Friday, October 23,

late in the afternoon.

One block from his house, Kurt
met up with a friend of his.

How you doing?

ACTOR AS KURT SOVA:
Hey, what's up?

- Nothing much, how 'bout you?
- All right.

Hey, party tonight.
- Yeah, where?

Sue's house.
Let's hit it.

Tonight?

- Yeah, why not?
- I was--

It's a Friday.

I was planning on going
to the haunted house.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Kurt Sova never returned home.

DOROTHY SOVA: It was not like
him to be gone overnight.

It was not like him to
stay out after 10, 10:30,

11 o'clock, the
latest, and that was

only when we knew where he was.

This night he just
never came home.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
By Saturday morning,

Kurt's parents were worried.

Dorothy began calling
Kurt's friends

while Ken scoured the area.

KEN SOVA: We searched all the
neighborhoods, all the places

that we figured Kurt would be.

And as that day went by, looking
for him, nobody turned Kurt up.

And I started getting
really worried.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
On Sunday, the Sovas

registered Kurt as
a missing person

with the Cleveland police.

Meanwhile, Dorothy
papered the neighborhood

with missing flyers.

DOROTHY SOVA: We searched the
ravines, searched the school

yards, I even went
so far as to search

dumpsters looking for him.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
On Sunday afternoon,

Dorothy turned up a lead.

Kurt's friends told her
that he had been at a party

Friday night at
Newburgh Heights,

less than two miles from
where the Sovas live.

Dorothy went to the
duplex where she

had heard the party was held.

Yeah?

Are you Susan?

No, Susan isn't
here right now.

DOROTHY SOVA: When I went there,
the girl who had the party

was not there.

It was another girl.

She claimed she was babysitting,
and that the other girl

was working.

Do you know
anything about a party

that was here last Friday?

No.

Could you possibly have Susan
call me when she gets home?

Sure.

Tell her it's real important.

Let me give you my
name and phone number.

All right.

Please have her call me.

Yeah, all right.
OK.

Thank you.

All right.

DOROTHY SOVA: When the girl
returned home that had rented

that apartment, she called
me, and she said she never saw

my son and she had no party.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Despite what the woman named

Susan told Dorothy Sova,
a pizza delivery man

stated that indeed
there had been a party

at the duplex on Friday night.

Dorothy contacted Susan
again, and this time she

admitted Kurt had been there.

More than a dozen people
had dropped by, some of them

older than Kurt.

Most of them people
he'd never met before.

Susan told Dorothy that Kurt
had been drinking very heavily.

Those who knew him
say that Kurt was not

much of a drinker,
and his slight build

added to his low
tolerance for alcohol.

[low talking and laughing]

DOROTHY SOVA: I was shocked
to hear Kurt was drinking.

I never knew him to drink.

I'm sure if everyone
else was drinking,

he probably was
drinking at that party.

I never knew him or his
normal friends to drink,

but these were not his normal
friends he was with this night.

They were all a whole
new group of people.

The fella that Kurt
went to the party with

told us that Kurt
had become ill.

He took him outside
for some air,

and because it was
a chilly night,

he said he went upstairs
to get Kurt's jacket

and he left him
hanging on the fence.

He said he went up to get
his jacket and came back down

and Kurt was gone.

Kurt?

DOROTHY SOVA: That's when I
think I became hysterical.

I thought my god,
something happened to him.

At that party or in
between the party and home.

Only, I didn't, in
my wildest dreams,

expect him to turn up dead.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
On Wednesday, October 28,

five days after he left
home, Kurt Sova's body

was found in a ravine
on Harvard Street.

He was found just 500
yards from the duplex where

he had last been seen alive.

We have a young male,
probably about 16 or 17--

ROBERT CARRAS: It's our belief
that his body was dumped out

there, and whoever the person
or persons were knew the area,

and they knew that
people go back there

and ride dirt bikes and
kids play back there.

So they knew that eventually,
within a certain amount of

time, that he would be found.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): The police

combed the area for clues.

They found Kurt's left
shoe wedged in some rocks

less than 12 feet
away from his body.

They were never able to
locate his right shoe.

Photo 29.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): Kurt's body

was taken to the Cuyahoga
County coroner's office

for an autopsy.

The coroner determined that
Kurt had died 24 to 36 hours

before his body was
found, which meant

that he had been alive
for at least three days

after he left the party.

What the coroner
could not determine,

however, was the
exact cause of death.

On the basis of the things
that we saw and, equally

important, the things that we
did not see, what was absent,

we felt that Kurt Sova had
died from instantaneous

physiologic death.

And the manner of death,
in this particular case,

was signed out as
probable accidental.

Because we eliminated
everything else.

He hadn't been
beaten in any way,

he hadn't been
traumatized in any way,

he hadn't been-- he didn't have
enough alcohol to end his life.

He had no preexisting
natural disease,

and as Sherlock Holmes
said, you eliminate

all other possibilities and
that which remains is the truth.

This was a diagnosis
by exclusion.

DOROTHY SOVA: I didn't
believe that they

couldn't tell me how Kurt died.

Which is immaterial
to me what they

put on that piece of paper,
for my peace of mind,

I want to know what
happened to my boy.

But I'm not really
sure I want to know

who put them in that ravine.

I couldn't do that to
somebody's animal, let alone

a human being.

I just want to know
what happened to my boy.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): After
the initial shock of Kurt's

death had abated, Dorothy
Sova began to piece together

a series of strange events that
had occurred during the five

days when her son was missing.

On Monday, three days
after Kurt disappeared, one

of his friends, David
Trisnick, claims

he saw Kurt and
another boy walking

along a busy street less than
a mile from the Sova home.

I was on my way
to a job interview,

it was on a Monday morning,
and I spotted Kurt.

And he was with somebody
I didn't recognize.

And I pulled over to
offer Kurt a ride.

At this point, a van pulled up
and Kurt yelled out, Franco.

They both ran over to the
van and they got in the van.

I didn't know Kurt was missing.

If I would have
knew he was missing,

there would probably have been
something I could have done.

I could have followed the van,
I could have did something,

you know, but I didn't know.

And two days later
he was found dead.

That was the last
time I seen him.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Also on Monday, a stranger who

had been seen hanging around
the Sova's neighborhood

noticed Kurt's missing
poster in the window

of a local record store.

There you go.
Thank you.

OK.
See you later.

All right, bye-bye.

Can I help you with something.

See that picture
that boy over there?

Yeah, what about it?

You might as
well take it down.

They're gonna find
him dead in two days.

Nobody's going to
know why he died.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
The manager was skeptical.

However, she soon
had a reason to take

the strangers seriously.

STORE MANAGER: The next
day before the record

shop had a opened, he
left flowers and a note.

And the note said, roses
are red, the sky is blue.

They found him dead, and
they'll find you, too.

Police questioned
him, and they said

he was a crazy from Detroit,
and I didn't see him after that.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Because Kurt was only missing

at this point, the
police released

the young man from Detroit.

Later, when Kurt was found
dead, the man had disappeared.

Then on Wednesday, the very
day Kurt's body would be found,

Dorothy Sova received an early
morning phone call from Susan,

the young woman who
lived in the duplex

where Kurt had been
drinking on Friday night.

DOROTHY SOVA: I got a phone
call at 3:30 in the morning,

and she told me that someone
was sleeping in her basement,

and perhaps it was Kurt.

And I thought why are you
calling me now after lying

to me so many times?

I didn't know whether to
believe her or not believe her.

My wife told me that the
girl called about 3 o'clock

in the morning, and told her
that she thinks that Kurt

was sleeping in the basement.

I proceeded to go over
to the house there,

and I went down to the basement.

And I thought maybe he
was sick or he was hurt,

and I figured if I got
down there and found him,

then maybe I can do
something for him.

There I found a cot, that
it looked like somebody

had slept in there.

But after searching
the whole basement

I didn't find anybody in there.

I have no idea if
it was Kurt or not.

All I know is somebody did
sleep in that cot that night,

and when I got there,
they were gone.

I think Kurt was there.

I think he was already
dead in that cot,

but I think they
panicked and got

rid of his body in that ravine.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Whether or not Kurt had died

in the basement, Dorothy and Ken
Sova are positive of one thing.

24 hours before
his body was found,

Kurt was not in the ravine.

Ken Sova had searched
there and found nothing.

KEN SOVA: I knew it was in there
the day that I was searching.

They must have dumped
it off that evening.

I looked around and I'm sure
that if Kurt was down there,

I would have noticed that bright
yellow t-shirt that he had

on against any of the terrain.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Finally, three months

after Kurt's death, Dorothy had
reason to be suspicious again.

The death of a boy
Kurt used to know,

Eugene Kvet, seemed to have an
eerie resemblance to Kurt's.

Eugene was found in another
ravine on Harvard Street,

2 and 1/2 miles from
the place Kurt's

body had been discovered.

Both boys had been missing
for some time preceding

their deaths, and
Eugene Kvet's right shoe

was also never found.

The mysterious
death of Kurt Sova

leaves a trail of disturbing
questions in it's wake.

How exactly did Kurt die?

Where had he been for the
five days after he left home?

Had Kurt slept in the
basement of the duplex?

Was there any connection
between Kurt's death

and the death of Eugene Kvet?

Seven years later,
Dorothy and Ken Sova

are still searching for answers.

KEN SOVA: We still don't
know anymore than the day

we went out looking for him.

But I believe that
somebody out there knows

exactly what happened
to Kurt and they're

just being quiet about it.

I don't think I it will
come to peace with myself

until I find my answers.

And if I don't find out
through this program,

I'll keep on searching.

I'll search to the
day I'm buried myself.

I will never give up,
because I don't believe

that a normal,
healthy boy just walks

away and disappears
for five days

and then ends up
dead in a ravine.

I know somebody knows
what happened to him.

[jet roaring]

[explosion]

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
April 1975, South Vietnam.

As Saigon fell to
the North Vietnamese,

thousands of refugees
fought to leave the country.

To John Nellis the son
of a Vietnamese woman

and an American soldier,
this exodus was a nightmare.

Under the cloak of darkness,
John and his wife-to-be,

Vivianne, jumped into the back
of a truck for the first step

in a journey that was to take
them to the United States.

[yelling]

They narrowly avoided
being shot by angry South

Vietnamese troops.

JOHN NELLIS: I was
real terrified cause

I was thinking will we make it?

We thought we got a chance
to get out of country,

but we don't know exactly
where we're going.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
John and Vivianne were lucky,

they managed to escape.

But today the turmoil in
John's life continues.

The history of 20th century
Asia has been marked

by violent war and revolution.

42-Year-old John
Nellis's life has been

torn apart by these conflicts.

When John was still a
child, his American father

was swept from his
life by the bloody rise

of China's Mao Tse Tung.

And in 1973, as the United
States was withdrawing

from Vietnam, John's
infant son disappeared

in the chaos that marked
the ending of another war.

Today this new American
citizen needs your help

to finally close
this tragic circle

by reuniting with a
son he wants to know

and the father he never knew.

John's father's name
was Melvin Nellis.

He was an American
serviceman John's mother

met during a mid-1940s
in Chongqing, China.

Chongqing was to
become a focal point

for the revolutions
sweeping China,

as the nationalist
regime of Chiang Kai-Shek

was swept from power by the
Communist army of Mao Tse Tung.

Melvin Nellis was
stationed in Chongqing,

and there he met, lived with,
and loved John's mother.

OK, it's ready.

Here you go, it's dinnertime.

Are you hungry?

Yeah.

OK, great.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
When John was five years old,

his father was shipped
back to the States.

Still wish you
could come with me.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): As
his father and mother were not

legally married,
she could not follow

him to the United States.

Melvin Nellis
promised to write, but

eventually the letters stopped.

John never heard from
his father again.

JOHN NELLIS: My mother did
not let me go with my father,

because I am the
only child she has.

And also in the Asian
culture, the boy is

the foundation of the family.

My mother also wanted me
to be around with her just

in case I can support
her when she grew old.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
In 1952, John and his mother

moved to her homeland
South Vietnam.

At this time, the Vietnam
War was gathering momentum.

John's mother made a marginal
living selling produce, but was

still able to save just
enough money to send

her son to private schools.

There he was able to
learn English and receive

a Western education.

JOHN NELLIS: My mother, she did
make a lot of sacrifice for me.

She has to spend at least
two-thirds of her income

to send me to that school.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): In 1957,

John's mother took her son
to the United States embassy

in Saigon.

- This is my son, John.
- Hello, John.

- Hi.
- How are you?

I'm John Quinn.

Won't you have a seat?

What can I do for you?

I would like to register
my son for immigration

to go to the United States.

JOHN NELLIS: After my mother
lost contact with my father,

she has financial hardship.

So she was thinking of send
me to the United States,

because she was afraid that
she could not take care of me.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
At the embassy,

she was able to
secure a registration

document that proved that
John's father was an American.

This document was to be
vital in his later emigration

to the United States.

As the war in Vietnam escalated,
John's personal life also

went through dramatic changes.

He met a woman and
fathered her child.

Then in 1971, she left
him and took John's son.

In 1973, she married
an American Marine,

and John believed that the
couple had taken the boy

with them to the United States.

JOHN NELLIS: First of all, I
feel upset because I lost--

I lost a son, but I feel
happy, because he can

go to United States,
has a proper education,

have a better life.

So he doesn't end
up like myself.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
In April of 1975,

John and his new
girlfriend, Vivianne,

were on one of the last
planes leaving Saigon.

JOHN NELLIS: I was taking a last
look down through the door when

the plane up high, and I see
all the light of the city.

And I this is just good bye,
and I say, well, finally, I make

a trip to the United States.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Later, after John had settled

in America, he was to
learn that his boy had been

left behind in the
chaos and carnage

that had overtaken Vietnam.

After John and Vivanne's daring
escape, they were married.

They currently lived
in an affluent suburb

in Orange County,
California, where John works

as an electronics technician.

In 1986, the couple
became citizens

and they have a three-year-old
daughter, Vienna.

Despite John's new
found happiness,

his life is full of loose ends.

He has lost both his
father and his son,

and longs to be
reconciled with both.

JOHN NELLIS: If my father and
my son watching me right now,

I would like to tell them
how much I miss them,

and I love them.

And I would like to
reunite and see them again.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
John's father, Melvin Nellis,

served in China
in the late 1940s.

His last letters to his Asian
family were mailed from Ohio.

Melvin Nellis would today be
between 60 and 70 years old.

Thanks to our
broadcast, John Nellis

learned that his
father is now retired

and living in Tokyo, Japan.

Incredibly, just
three weeks later,

John's search for his son
Daniel also came to an end

when they were reunited
after more than 17 years.

WOMAN: Oh, he's coming!

This is him!

JOHN NELLIS: That's him.

That's him, right there.

For so many years I miss him,
I think of him all the time.

And I'm so happy to see him.

This is a real dream come true.

It's a miracle.

[non-english speech]

INTERPRETER: When
I saw my dad, I

was so excited and very happy.

When I looked into his
eyes and saw his family,

I found happiness.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Daniel's first day

in America was overwhelming.

Not only did he reunite
with his father,

he also met his stepmother and
half sister for the first time.

JOHN NELLIS: Now he's with
me, I'm going to do my best

and I'll give him a
good chance in life

and a better future for him and
make up for what he has lost.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): In
a moment, the story of two

priests connected by a
violent and unexplained fate.

Someone may have a
vendetta against clergy,

and that someone
is still at large.

[monks chanting]

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
When there are ordained,

Catholic priests vow to
become servants of God

and servants of their community.

Their door is always
open to those in need,

but their faith can
place them in jeopardy.

A priest's willingness
to help, no matter

who, no matter when,
no matter where, can

even threatened his own life.

Father Reynaldo Rivera
of Santa Fe, New Mexico,

has been murdered, and Father
John Kerrigan of Ronan, Montana

has mysteriously disappeared.

Authorities fear these two
cases, 1,000 miles and two

years apart, may be connected.

It is even possible
there's a serial killer

at large, who is exclusively
murdering Catholic priests.

ACTOR AS PATRICK GERARD:
St. Francis Cathedral

Father Gerard speaking.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): On
the evening of August 7, 1982,

a call for help was
telephoned to the rectory

of St. Francis Cathedral
in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

I have impaired vision,
I cannot drive at night.

But could you call
back in a few minutes?

I'm sure another Father--

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Father Patrick Gerard

couldn't leave the rectory, and
asked the caller to telephone

again in 15 minutes.

Thank you very much,
and God bless you.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Exactly 15 minutes later,

the telephone rang again.

This time Father Reynaldo
Rivera took the call.

This is Father Reynaldo.

CALLER: Hello, Father?

I need the help of a priest.

My grandfather is dying.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
The caller was insistent.

He wanted a priest
to come immediately

to administer the last rites.

Are you familiar with the rest
stop just south of Santa Fe?

ACTOR AS REYNALDO RIVERA
(ON PHONE): Yes, yes I am.

Well, how long will it
take you to get there?

I can be there in 20 minutes?

Then I'll see you there.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): The man

said his name was Michael
Carmello, and that he was

telephoning from a rest
stop near Waldo, New Mexico,

20 miles away.

Goodbye, Father.

GILBERT ULIBARRI:
Father Rivera left

that evening to meet someone
at the rest area in Santa Fe.

This was on a Thursday evening.

He was reported missing Thursday
night, didn't show up Friday.

There was a broadcast made
that Father Rivera was missing.

Obviously, we had a location.

At least we knew it was
Waldo, somewhere in that area,

because the priest
remembered Waldo, New Mexico.

We had hundreds of volunteers,
hundreds of citizens

volunteer their time to
come out to the Waldo area,

and we searched on horseback.

They had four wheel drives.

You had hundreds of
people walking the area,

combing all the hills
and the desert for him.

Probably 90% of the people
in Santa Fe knew who he was,

or he had some impact in their
lives at one time or another.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Two
days after the search began,

Father Rivera's body was
found on a deserted road

three miles from the rest stop.

At Father Rivera's funeral, the
entire city mourned, devastated

by his brutal murder.

CORINNE MARTINEZ: From
Saturday until his burial,

the city was just awe stricken.

Whether you were Lutheran,
Catholic, Protestant, Jew,

we were just all
one at that time.

ANTONIO VALDEZ: The
very fact that he

went out there on
this call was an act

of charity, an act of love.

I think because he showed
this love for people,

the people just responded.

And so when he
died, I think there

was that sadness in their heart
for somebody that they loved.

ELIZABETH ABEYTA: Everybody
loved Father Reynaldo.

I'm sure he's happy
where he is now.

I will miss him.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): The night

of the murder, a
man calling himself

Carmello was waiting for
Father Rivera at the rest

stop in a blue pickup truck.

Lieutenant Ulibarri
has developed

a theory of what happened next.

GILBERT ULIBARRI:
The killers were

probably there waiting for him.

When he arrived at the rest
area, they singled him out.

- Father?
- Yes.

- Are you the priest they sent?
- Yes, I am.

I'm Father Reyanldo.

Why don't you come with us.

GILBERT ULIBARRI: There's
no way one individual could

have handled Father Rivera.

He would given them a hard time.

So there had to be at
least two people involved,

and we know they had a gun,
obviously, because he was shot.

So I'm sure they controlled
him with that weapon,

but there had to be two
people involved to subdue him.

Because he was a very
strong individual.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): Ulibarri

believes the killers took Father
Rivera to a remote desert area.

Go.

Go, outside!

Get him out, get him out!

[gunshot]

GILBERT ULIBARRI: He was not
killed where he was found.

They drove to a location,
threw him on the ground,

and they left.

The could have hid him
anywhere in that Waldo area,

and there's several
places in Waldo

where you can kind of hide a
body and you'll never find it.

So obviously, they
wanted him to be found.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
After the crime,

the killers returned
to the rest stop

to remove Father Rivera's car.

GILBERT ULIBARRI: His vehicle
was found in a rest area just

east of Grants, New
Mexico, which is

about two hours from Santa Fe.

There was no physical
evidence found in the vehicle.

We didn't find any
fingerprints, there

was no blood stains, nothing
to indicate that someone

had even driven the car.

It had been wiped clean.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The
Santa Fe police had few clues,

and after a nationwide
check they found no suspects

named Michael Carmello.

GILBERT ULIBARRI:
As far as motive,

Father Rivera was
not the target.

A Catholic priest was a
target, for whatever reason.

Robbery was not a motive,
because there was nothing taken

from the priest other
than his last rites kit,

and that's a possibility
for a souvenir.

Apparently, the killer would
like to relive the experience.

Every time he looks at it, he
remembers killing a priest.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Two years later,

on August 8, 1984
in Ronan, Montana,

another priest
mysteriously disappeared.

Father John Kerrigan
was new to the Sacred

Heart Catholic Church in Ronan.

He had only been there four
days before he, too, vanished.

At 11:00 PM on the night he
disappeared, Father Kerrigan

went to a bakery across
the street from the church

to chat with his
new parishioners.

- Welcome to Ronan.
- Thank you.

Nice to have you here.

Oh, it's my pleasure.

Good.

Expect to see everybody
here in church tomorrow.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
After a few minutes,

he was returning home go to bed.

The next day, at a turnout
along the highway that circles

nearby Flathead Lake, a local
fruit peddler discovered

a pile of bloody clothes.

Blood all over this shirt.

BRUCE PHILLIPS: After we
realized that they were Father

Kerrigan's, we did a
search of that area

around the cherry stand,
on the hill behind it.

A bloody coat hanger was
found close to the clothing.

We concluded that the coat
hanger could have been

used either tie someone up.

Could have been used
to strangle someone,

we believe Father Kerrigan.

Or also could have
been used as a gag.

Just no real way of
determining exactly

what the use was,
but it definitely

is connected to the clothing.

And it wasn't just a
hanger laying there,

it had been deformed
and definitely used

for some purpose.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): A week
later, Father Kerrigan's car

was found abandoned five miles
from the area where his clothes

had been discovered.

BRUCE PHILLIPS: We
know that car sat there

where we found it
for approximately a

week before it came
to our attention.

We did a thorough
search of that area,

and we found the keys
lying in the tall grass.

There was blood on the front
seat and the right door panel,

on the right floorboard.

Wonder if we got a
body in the trunk, here.

BRUCE PHILLIPS: He found a
shovel in the trunk with blood

on it.

We found a pillow in the
trunk with blood on it.

There was also blood
splattered inside the trunk.

The police were
surprised to find $1,200

and Father Kerrigan's wallet.

The money was not hidden, it
was just normally as it would

have been kept in a wallet.

None of that was
disturbed, so we

don't feel that
robbery was a motive

for this particular crime.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): When
Lieutenant Ulibarri learned

of Father Kerrigan's
disappearance,

he flew to Ronan to
investigate the similarities

between the two cases.

Right here in this area,
stacked up with weeds--

GILBERT ULIBARRI: In both
cases, the killer wanted people

to know I killed a priest,
and here is the evidence

to show I killed him.

I still strongly
believe that whoever

killed Father Rivera was
involved with Father Kerrigan.

There are other similarities
between the two cases.

Both victims' cars were driven
away from the crime scene.

A deformed metal coathanger was
found near Father Kerrigan's

clothes, and there is
evidence a coat hanger was

used in Father Rivera's murder.

In both cases, robbery
was not a motive,

and perhaps most
significantly, both priests

belong to the select
order of Franciscans.

If there's other law
enforcement agencies that

had a Catholic priest
killed with some

of the similarities we
have just discussed here,

we'd like to hear from them.

Possibly we have
a serial killer,

going killing Catholic priests.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Next, the story of a family

transformed by incredible luck.

It all began with a boulder
carved with mysterious symbols.

Could a rock have the power
to change people's fortunes?

Our next story is part
Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn,

and part fairy tale.

What it all boils down to his
this; two boys in the state

of Washington find a large rock
covered with strange symbols

deep in the forest.

Then a phenomenal run
of good luck begins.

Is it coincidence
or something more?

You be the judge.

On Saturday May 14, 1988, deep
in an isolated stretch of woods

near the Canadian border,
13-year-old Jamie Parr

led his friend Trevor
Johnson along the meandering

path of Tumwater Creek.

Jamie had found a
special rock here,

and decided to show
it to his best friend.

We're here.

Cool!

ACTOR AS JAMIE PARR:
See, didn't I tell you?

ACTOR AS TREVOR JOHNSON: Wow.

That's neat.

Looks like people came
and drew it with a stick

eons and years ago.

ACTOR AS JAMIE
PARR: Yeah, I know.

One that I'm kind
of wondering about

is that man in the corner.

Could be a man or something.

It's like a stamp almost.

ACTOR AS TREVOR JOHNSON: Maybe
the Martians came and did it.

It's really near.

It's got all of the
aspects of nature.

ACTOR AS JAMIE PARR: The only
way that somebody could ever

do that is if it was clay
or they had some space

age tool or something.

ACTOR AS TREVOR JOHNSON:
Why don't we go tell my dad?

ACTOR AS JAMIE PARR:
Yeah, let's go.

I felt just an immediate need
to go down and see this rock.

His excitement was contagious
and really piqued my interest.

And I turned, and there
was this beautiful rock

with these markings on them.

I'd never seen
anything quite like it.

I got a very immediate
feeling that this rock

had something to say.

It really had
something very positive

to say about life to me,
and being so challenged,

I got a great boost out of it.

When I first saw the rock,
I had the most eerie feeling.

It was a good feeling,
a very positive one,

but it just-- you can't
say the words that the rock

makes you feel like.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
From that day on,

Steve and Pattie
Johnson's lives would take

a dramatic turn for the better.

And they would attribute
it to the rock.

For years, the
Johnson family had

been struggling financially.

To help pay the bills, Pattie
took a job as a receptionist.

Even so, they found
themselves in debt.

PATTIE JOHNSON: Things were
just looking really sad.

We were in a small apartment,
monies were not good.

Patti and I were both working.

I was working as a prison
correctional officer.

I wasn't happy
with the position,

the pay wasn't
sufficient for us to be

able to even meet
some of our bills,

to be quite honest about it.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): To improve

their financial
situation, the Johnsons

planned to open a small, 100
square foot shop in a newly

constructed local mall.

Pattie quit her job so
she could run the shop,

but the plan backfired
when construction

ran behind schedule.

Instead of improving, their
financial situation worsened.

On May 16, 48 hours
after Steve Johnson

saw the rock for the
first time, his luck

began to change dramatically.

Sure, Dennis.

We're gonna be right down.

Honey, that was Dennis Logan,
he'd like to know if we

come down to the Landing Mall.

OK.

STEVE JOHNSON: Out of the
blue, the ownership of the mall

approaches us with, listen,
we'd like you to open

up the 1,000 square foot shop.

OK, this is the space
I had in mind for you.

STEVE JOHNSON: I was very
up front with him that we

had no money to do that.

And it wasn't a
blinking in an eye,

and the gentleman
says, well, we'll take

care of getting your inventory.

I really didn't overcome
the shock at that time.

I couldn't even ask an
intelligent question,

as I remember to the guy as to
how they were going to do this.

We were both flabbergasted.

We just couldn't believe
that there are people

out there that want to help.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Three
weeks later in early June,

Steve and Pattie's
dress shop opened

and was a resounding success.

Other business
opportunities began

to spring up unexpectedly.

Three days after the
dress shop opened,

Steve was offered a job
as manager of the mall's

only movie theater.

The mall ownership was
so impressed with Steve

that in less than a month,
they let him buy the theater

outright for a very low price.

Three months and one day
after he saw the rock,

Steve opened a candy store,
his third successful business

venture in the mall.

The Johnsons are convinced
that their good fortune

was related to the magical
powers of the rock.

Last September, archaeologist
Rick McLure examined the rock

and determined that
the petroglyphs were

not carved by American Indians.

McLure feels that the symbols
were made in this century

and have no religious
significance or magical powers.

The Johnsons' run of good
luck continues unabated.

Three months ago, they were
offered a five bedroom house

for four years,
rent free, in return

for making minor home repairs.

For the Johnsons, it
was a dream come true.

STEVE JOHNSON: Looking back at
all the wonderful things that

have happened, we're spending
more time with our family,

good, quality time.

Our income has grown to a
point that we're actually

being able to start to pay
back people that have helped us

over the years, and
those type of things

bring a lot of pleasure to us.

I don't know if
it's superstition

or not, or if it's
good luck, but it just

seems like since that's
happened, things have changed

and things have
come about for us.

Is the Johnson family's
streak of good fortune

related to the rock and
its cryptic symbols?

Most of us would probably
call it a coincidence.

But who knows?

Sometimes the line
between coincidence

and something more mystical
is an unsolved mystery.

Join me next week
for another edition

of "Unsolved Mysteries."