Original subtitles

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ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Tonight

on "Unsolved Mysteries," an intriguing new story.

In 1988, an undercover San Francisco vice cop,

Lester Garnier, was found shot to death

inside his late model Corvette.

Eyewitnesses saw two unidentified women with Garnier

within moments of his death.

Police are still investigating what connection these women

had to Garnier and his murder.

In Phoenix, Arizona a 58-year-old businessman

named Angelo Desideri vanished from his home.

400 miles away, his car was found ablaze.

No trace of Angelo Desideri has ever been found.

In 1934 Bill Purinton was forcibly

separated from his five brothers and sisters

by well-meaning social workers.

50 years later Bill is still searching

for his lost sister, Jackie.

In Las Vegas, 16-year-old Kathy Hobbs disappeared.

Three months later, police received

an anonymous call from a man who may have seen her abduction.

They need to find this missing witness.

Tonight's cases feature ordinary people

thrust into a vortex of mystery, heartbreak, and intrigue.

Each one is searching for that vital clue

to end a story that so far has no ending.

Perhaps you can help.

Join me.

You may be able to help solve a mystery.

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ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): July 11, 1988.

It was a quiet morning in Walnut Creek, California,

an affluent suburb of San Francisco.

A groundskeeper noticed a Corvette sitting in a shopping

center parking lot.

His attention was drawn by the car's driver,

apparently napping behind the wheel.

The man was not asleep.

He was dead.

DET.

JERRY WHITING: The cause of death

was determined to be two bullet wounds.

This was an extremely cold-blooded, deliberate

killing.

The sort of person that would do something like this

is extremely dangerous.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The victim

was identified as Lester Garnier, an undercover vice

cop with the San Francisco Police Department,

who lived in nearby Concord.

After the revelation that Lester was an undercover cop,

the investigation took on a new dimension.

For this reason, the search for Lester's killer

was undertaken by both the Walnut Creek and San

Francisco Police Departments.

DET.

JERRY WHITING: There was very little evidence

left at the crime scene that would give us much help

in identifying the criminal.

We do have a few fingerprints that have not been identified.

But we've been unable to find any motive at all

for the killing of Les Garnier.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Lester Garner's death touched off

a firestorm of controversy when the case became enmeshed

in a local political scandal.

But through all of this, Lester Garnier's killer

remains at large.

To those who know him best, Lester Garnier

was a walking contradiction.

To his parents, he was a devoted son who lived with them

in the home that he provided.

To his friends, Lester was a man who lived

and loved in the fast lane.

But to his partners in the police force,

Lester Garnier was first and foremost a dedicated cop who

went the distance for his job.

Somewhere between the lines of these contradictions

may lie the reason why Lester Garnier was murdered.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): If you wanted to find Lester Garnier

off-duty, the chances are he would be behind the wheel

of his prized 1984 Corvette.

Lester enjoyed the good life, but he

was not blind to the responsibilities

of being a good son.

JEAN GARNIER: Lester was a wonderful son.

He always was there for us.

He gave us security, knowing that if anything happens,

he's always there for us.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): But there was

another side to Lester Garnier.

Off-duty he enjoyed a reputation as a ladies man.

Hi, that's a beautiful car.

Oh, thanks.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): According to friends,

this reputation was well-deserved.

Lester used his charm on the job, as well.

His beat was the Mission District,

once a quiet residential neighborhood,

today a low-income area frequented by prostitutes.

Lester had worked vice for four and a half years,

and was at home on the mean streets of the Mission,

where he would often dupe prostitutes

by posing as a customer.

DET.

GEORGE R. WILLIS: We found that he had made numerous arrests

for prostitution.

We certainly examined that aspect of his life,

and we weren't able to find any connection with our case.

We interviewed several of the prostitutes

that Lester had arrested, and found that many of them

spoke highly of him, even though he had arrested them.

He wanted to do a good job.

And the type of job that he had, he

had to make sure he made all the right moves.

He enjoyed his job to a certain degree.

It was a challenge for him every day.

Different people, different situations all the time.

Those were the streets that we grew up in.

And he felt that he wanted to make the city a better place.

And by being police officer, he was doing that.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): One of Lester's final assignments

would throw the murder investigation into turmoil.

In the fall of 1988, Roger Boas, a local mayoral candidate,

plead guilty to charges of having

sex with underage prostitutes.

Lester had been on stakeout duty at one

of the houses in this prostitution ring,

just prior to his death.

The local media attempted to tie the two events together.

In addition, there were rumors that some San

Francisco police may have been involved in Lester's death.

But so far these rumors are uncorroborated.

DET.

JERRY WHITING: We did address those issues,

and did a very thorough investigation,

but we found no connection at all between Lester Garnier's

death and the Roger Boas case.

Or any other matter, for that matter.

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ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): July 10, 1988,

approximately 12 hours before his body would be discovered,

Lester left his Concord home to meet friends in San Francisco.

Less than 20 minutes later, Lester called from his car

phone and canceled the evening.

He gave no explanation.

Yeah, Steve, this is Lester.

Listen, I'm not going to be able to make it to the movies

tonight. No.

DET.

JERRY WHITING: During this conversation

he canceled the meeting with his friends,

saying it was getting late.

After that, we don't know what happened to him

until his vehicle showed up in the parking lot,

shortly before 11:30 PM.

That time period is very critical.

As a portion of our investigation,

naturally, we searched for witnesses.

And we discovered that there was a carpet

layer working in one of the stores late that evening.

As he went out to his truck, he heard what sounded,

to him, like firecrackers.

It was around the 4th of July so he discounted

those sounds as firecrackers.

Shortly after, he looked up and saw two women

walking across the parking lot.

The women entered two different vehicles and left.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The workman

described one of the women as being in her late 20s, about

5 feet 6 inches tall, and said that she

weighed about 110 pounds.

The other was described as being in her mid 30s,

and tall with a slender build.

DET.

JERRY WHITING: We also located one witness who was actually

driving through the lot.

As he drove past the Corvette he saw a woman open the passenger

door and exit the vehicle.

He saw her walk around the vehicle

and appear to look in the driver's side of the Corvette.

It's possible that these were just two separate sightings,

not associated with each other.

However, it's also possible that they are somehow related.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Under hypnosis, the second witness

helped police to create a composite drawing of the woman.

Her appearance was similar to the other eyewitness

description. DET.

JERRY WHITING: When we showed this to the carpet layer,

he felt that this sketch closely resembled

the shorter of the two women that he saw

walking across the parking lot.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Who was the blonde woman

seen with Lester that night?

Could a casual pick-up have turned into something deadly?

Or was Lester killed as a result of his undercover life?

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ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Next, the story of schoolgirl Kathy

Hobbs, who vanished on her way back

from a Las Vegas supermarket.

An anonymous tipster may have seen her abductors.

Now he, too, has disappeared.

Someone out there is walking the streets killing kids.

And he killed my daughter.

And before they can kill someone else's daughter,

I want them caught.

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ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): On a recent broadcast

we examined the case of a Florida widow, whom we called

Mrs. K. She claims that she was romanced,

and then swindled, by a man named Arthur Frankford.

After a four week whirlwind romance,

Arthur Frankford convinced Mrs. K to let him move in with her.

MRS. K: Never once was I suspicious of any move

that he made, as far as to question his character,

who he was, and he was-- that he was a liar and a thief.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): On July 29, 1988, while Mrs. K was

at work, Arthur Frankford disappeared after allegedly

stealing jewelry worth over $4,000,

as well as many personal items belonging

to Mrs. K's late husband.

Arthur Frankford is wanted by Florida police

for burglary, grand theft auto, and check forging.

Authorities believe that he may have victimized over 40 women

by stealing their hearts, and then taking their cash.

Update.

Within minutes of our broadcast, two viewers

called our 800 number to report that they

recognized Arthur Frankford.

DET.

J. DAVID HOYT: The individual said, I

know where Arthur Frankford is.

I'm his ex-brother-in-law.

My name's Floyd Meadows.

I asked him if he had ever seen this Arthur Frankford do magic.

He said yes he did, and he does it very well.

This is one of the keys that I never

released to the press, or any other media,

that Arthur Frankford does magic.

We received another call, about 20 minutes later,

from a white female, says Arthur Frankford lives next door to me

in Whitley, Kentucky.

This was the confirmation call that I was looking for.

At that time, I knew we had our man.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Two hours later, Frankford

was arrested at his home in Kentucky,

by the McCreary County Sheriff and Kentucky State Troopers.

He was living under the assumed name James Ferguson

with his new wife of two months.

During a search of Frankford's house,

police uncovered several identification and credit

cards with different aliases.

They also found a handgun that may have

been stolen from Mrs. K's home.

DET.

J. DAVID HOYT: We got other calls

from women that said, yes, I've been married to this man.

I've divorced him.

He's left me holding the bag.

And what I need is for the people

that have been victimized by Arthur Frankford

to come forward.

It's time for the public to stand up and say,

hey, we've had enough of Arthur Frankford.

This man has preyed on the public long enough.

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ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Las Vegas,

a glamorous capitol of slot machines, blackjack,

and high stakes gambling.

An adult amusement park.

But just one mile off the strip, there's

another side of Las Vegas, the real world

that tourists never see.

An ordinary part of suburban America.

On the evening of July 23, 1987, 16-year-old Kathy Hobbs

was reading a romance novel in her bedroom.

At 11:00 PM she decided to walk to the local supermarket

to buy another book, just one and half blocks away.

VIVIAN HOBBS: She came out to me,

and she said, mom, I'm going down to the store

and buy a book.

And she said, give me a kiss before I go.

And I said, why, I'll be up when you get back.

And she says, well, she says, I probably'll

stop and talk to the kids, so you might

be in bed when I get back.

So I gave her a kiss, and that was the last I saw of her.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Kathy had walked to the store late

at night many times.

Usually her friends were gathered at the apartment

complex swimming pool, chatting and gossiping,

so Kathy's mother wasn't concerned for her safety.

VIVIAN HOBBS: One of the kids would walk

down to the store with her.

There was no one at the swimming pool that night.

So instead of coming home, she decided to go on to the store

by herself.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Assuming

that Kathy would be with her friends, Vivian went to sleep.

At 3:00 AM she awoke from a strange dream, that at the time

seemed innocent, but would later come back to haunt her.

VIVIAN HOBBS: I woke up out of a sound sleep.

I felt like I had been hit on the head.

And all of a sudden I got a very peaceful feeling,

and it was, well, it's over now.

And I fell back to sleep.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The next morning Vivian discovered

that Kathy's bedroom was empty.

She still had not come home.

LT. KYLE.

L. EDWARDS: Within the first day we

had tracked down friends, relatives,

and done a very extensive media campaign on the television

with Katherine's picture all day long.

At the end of the second day we were

pretty much convinced that Katherine

was probably abducted.

Kathy's disappearance was a culmination of years of worry

for her family, for as a child, Kathy

had eerie premonitions that she would die at an early age.

She was an isolated, introverted girl.

When Kathy was eight, she began telling her friends she would

not live to the age of 16.

VIVIAN HOBBS: She did not have a happy childhood.

Her father and I went through a divorce

when she was eight years old.

She and her father were extremely close.

When she was in the seventh grade,

a very good friend of hers died of a heart disease.

That affected Kathy very much.

And that's one of the main reasons we moved to Las Vegas,

was to give Kathy another chance to get

away from that atmosphere, and the environment

that she grew up in.

[scream]

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): At first

it seemed that the move to Las Vegas

had been the right decision.

Even though Kathy remained withdrawn,

she did blossom, and made some new friends.

However, as her 16th birthday drew closer,

Kathy's old fears of dying returned.

VIVIAN HOBBS: About two months before her 16th birthday,

she got very teary eyed one night and told,

me, mom, I don't want to get any older.

I want to be a little girl.

And I told her, I said, Kathy, we all have to grow up.

And, you know, it's not the easiest thing in the world

to do, but we all do it.

She told me, I'm not going to.

She didn't think she'd make her 16th birthday.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Just before her 16th birthday,

Kathy became despondent again.

She spent all her time in her room

and would not leave the house.

On the morning of her birthday, though,

Kathy was surprised and relieved to find she was still alive.

And she came out of her bedroom.

And she said, mom, I did it, I did it, I made it.

And I said, what.

And she said, I made 16.

I didn't think I'd live to be 16.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Now Kathy

had a new enthusiasm for life, and began

making plans for her future.

She began to go out again, wanted

to continue her education, and started to wear makeup.

She planned to train as a hairstylist,

and open her own beauty shop called Kat's Cuts.

Uh, she was ecstatic.

She came out, and she goes, I made it, mom, I made it.

I'm 16.

I did it.

I'm alive.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): After Kathy vanished,

the authorities assumed that she had been abducted,

and issued photos to the entire police department.

The local media were encouraged to publicize Kathy's

disappearance, and volunteer organizations were mobilized

to search for the missing girl.

Eventually one crucial clue surfaced.

A clerk remembered seeing Kathy in the supermarket the night

she vanished.

Store receipts confirm that someone

did purchase a paperback novel at 11:17 that night.

Apparently Kathy had made it to the store

on Desert Inn Road and Maryland Parkway,

but she never made it home.

LT. KYLE.

L. EDWARDS: It was late at night,

but Las Vegas, as you well know, is a 24 hour town.

And people are coming and going to work

constantly in this town.

And this intersection is a large intersection, widely traveled.

And the store is a 24-hour major store.

And to have people coming and going from the store,

and nobody seeing anything, was very, very surprising.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Nine days

after Kathy vanished, hiker Rick Pacult was searching

for unusual rock crystals out in the desert, near Lake Mead,

about an hour from Las Vegas.

RICHARD F. PACULT: Was walking back to the car,

and was probably 150 feet, 200 feet from the road,

and was stopped by a very strong odor.

Decided to see where it was coming from, or what it was.

And that's when I found Katherine's body.

It was the most horrible thing I'd ever seen in my life.

I had to sit down and gather my thoughts,

and make sure that what I was looking at was real.

When I realized that I was that it was a human body,

I went back to the car, back to Callville Bay Ranger Station,

and got the Rangers, and brought them back out to the site.

LT. KYLE.

L. EDWARDS: Within probably 20 minutes of our arrival,

we knew it was Katherine.

There was no doubt in our own minds

that it was going to be Katherine.

And it does get very quiet.

And you can't help but look at it, and see your own children,

and say, for the grace of God, there goes one of mine.

Your immediate feeling, at the time,

is to want to run home, grab your daughter by the arm,

and bring her to the scene and say, this is why I say,

no, you can't go out late at night.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Investigators

found tire imprints at the scene,

showing where a vehicle had pulled

in, turned around, and left.

They also found two rocks spattered

with blood near Kathy's body.

Tests established that the stains

matched Kathy's blood type.

The coroner concluded that Kathy Hobbs had died from repeated

blows to the head.

She was 16 years, three months, and three days

old when she was killed.

So she made it to 16.

But not much after that.

But she was right, you know.

She did have this premonition that she wasn't

going to live to be an adult.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): After Kathy's death,

letters were found in her room, addressed

to each member of the family.

The letters were dated one month before Kathy's 16th birthday.

Dear mother, in event of my death,

you shall get this letter.

I hope you live happily, and I don't want you or any one

else to dwell on my death.

I love you all very dearly.

You were good to me, and nobody else could

have been a better mother.

Keep me alive in your heart, and don't ever forget me.

Love always, Kathy.

And she was a very good friend, as well as being my daughter.

The most direct route to where she was found

would be straight down Desert Inn, to--

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): On October 24,

exactly three months after Kathy vanished,

an answering machine at the Las Vegas Police Department

recorded a startling call from a man who may have been

a witness to Kathy's abduction.

MAN: --grabbed this girl in front of the, uh, store

on Desert Inn and Maryland.

This is a few months ago.

I've been out of town for a few months.

And I wrote this down, because she was screaming,

and they pulled her in the car.

She was a very young girl wearing

a white jacket and pink pants.

And the guy's name, he hollered to him, push her in the car,

his name was Robbie.

LT. KYLE.

L. EDWARDS: The theory that we have

is that she was abducted between the store and her apartment,

by one or more suspects.

We think she was driven to lake that night.

I believe that she was abducted and killed that evening.

[tires squealing]

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The caller reported the license

plate number of a car he saw a girl being forced into,

but he did not leave his name or phone number.

The police checked the license number,

and discovered it did not exist.

The crucial tip came over a year ago,

and despite repeated appeals, the witness

still hasn't called back.

LT. KYLE.

L. EDWARDS: And we need to find out if he

possesses any more information.

And if he doesn't wish to give a name, that's fine,

but we do need to talk to him.

Someone out there is walking the streets, killing kids.

And they killed my daughter.

And before they can kill someone else's daughter,

I want them caught.

[music playing]

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): When he was eight years old,

Bill Purinton was separated from his five brothers and sisters.

Today Bill is 62, and has found all but one of his siblings.

Now he wants to find his lost sister, Jackie.

[music playing]

Last December we brought you a story

that began over 40 years ago, in war-torn Eastern Europe.

In 1945, as Hitler's Third Reich crumbled,

refugees choked the highways and rural roads.

Carl Dentai and his family fled their home

in Budapest, Hungary, across the border into Austria.

As winter fell and the weather turned bitter cold,

the Dentais were forced to live in a box car.

Life was particularly hard for Carl's five-year-old daughter,

Brigitta.

A few days before Christmas all that

changed, when an American soldier, known only as Phillip,

asked the Dentais if he could take Brigitta

to a Christmas party given for the refugee

children by the Americans.

Yes.

Yes?

Yes, yes, Christmas, yes.

- She'll have fun. - Thank you.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Though over 40 years have passed

since that night, Brigitta remembers it

as if it were yesterday.

Phillip made me feel very, very special.

Aside of making me feel safe and happy,

he made me feel like a big girl.

I felt like a princess.

It's like someone opened a magic door.

I felt like I was in a dream.

I never wanted the dream to end.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Over the next few months,

a deep and caring friendship grew

between Philip and the Dentais.

Then one day Philip came to the camp with bad news.

His unit had been recalled back to the United States.

He would be leaving immediately.

He gave Carl a photograph to remember him by.

Though the Dentais never saw Philip again,

they will never forget the warmth

and kindness he brought their family on that Christmas day,

so long ago.

CARL DENTAI: He brought a big change in our life.

A little happiness.

You know, gave us back a lot of confidence of the human race.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): After 11 years

of struggle and hardship, the Dentais

finally made it to America.

For 30 years, Carl and Brigitta searched for Philip.

Their only clue was the photograph

he left them 43 years ago.

Within an hour of our broadcast,

Mrs. Pauline Doftie, of Augusta, Maine,

called our 800 number to say that the man

named Phillip in our story was her cousin, Philip Pelletier.

He's a retired postal worker, who lives in Hammond, Indiana.

We immediately called Carl and Brigitta Dentai,

and helped to arrange a reunion.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): On Wednesday, December 28, 1988,

Carl and Brigitta's 30 year search for Philip

came to an emotional end.

[knocking]

[door opening]

- Brigitta? - Yeah.

Phillip?

- Oh, yes. - Oh.

Hi.

Oh, I can't believe it.

Hi.

Hi.

Brigitta, this is my wife.

Good to see you.

- I feel like I know you. - Hi.

- Oh, my God. - Nice to see you.

Well, it's really pretty hard to tell you just

how I feel after so many years.

And trying to recollect everything

that we went through together, you know, it's very hard.

It's very exciting.

It's almost unbelievable.

Oh, my gosh.

It's nice to see you.

CARL DENTAI: It's something like a Christmas miracle.

Because when he left, I was thinking,

well, would I ever see him again.

And here we go, after 43 years, we're back together again.

That's just like a dream came true.

Hard to believe it.

Sometimes I had the feeling I'm gonna wake up.

Because you were five, right, at the time?

At the Christmas party?

Right.

The minute that I saw him, I could

see the warmth, and the happy look on his face, smiling.

Like we really never had lost touch, in a way.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Carl, Brigitta, and Philip

spent the afternoon looking through photographs

that brought back memories of that special time they

spent together.

CARL DENTAI: We're gonna stay in touch.

We're gonna try to visit each other as much as possible.

We're gonna renew the friendship, what we had before.

You know, it's a friendship forever.

[music playing]

[music playing]

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Bill Purinton,

a 62-year-old retired New Hampshire businessman,

was separated from his family in 1934,

when he was eight years old.

Back then, his last name was Harrington,

and his family was struggling to survive the depression.

Bill was one of six children who stayed

at home while his parents were away, working.

On August 3, 1934, the Harrington children

were preparing a birthday party for Bill

and his little sister Jackie.

The children were unaware that four of them

would soon be torn from their family.

In the space of a few moments, all of their lives

would change forever.

The Harrington family lived in the small upstate town

of Hartwick, New York.

Their neighbors felt that the four youngest children

were being neglected.

They reported the Harringtons to the Society for the Prevention

of Cruelty to Children.

The Society took action on the very day of Bill

and Jackie's birthday celebration.

The social workers arrived when both parents were out working.

Despite their parents' absence, the Harrington

children's modest birthday celebration

was already in progress.

(SINGING) Happy birthday dear Bill and Jackie.

Happy birthday to you.

Blow the candles out.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): As soon as the party was finished,

the social workers took the four youngest children away.

Bill, at eight years of age, was the oldest of the four.

BILL PURINTON: I didn't know who they were.

And they told me that I was gonna take a trip.

And I was excited.

I was gonna go on a train.

I was gonna go in a car.

And I was gonna see things that I hadn't seen before.

And it was exciting, until I realized

that I wasn't going home.

Then I became angry.

I was upset.

And that's when I realized that I was

not gonna see my family again.

[music playing]

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Bill and his three younger siblings

were put up for adoption.

They went to four different families

in the state of New York.

They would not see one another again for nearly 50 years.

In 1948, when Bill was 22, and just out of the Army,

he began the search for his lost brothers and sisters.

He made no headway at all until 1976,

when he wrote to the records clerk in Hartwick, New York.

Just as a clerk was replying to Bill's letter,

a chance visitor dropped by.

Oh, I know her.

I know his mother.

She moved out in San Fransisco.

She's living right near her daughter.

Do you have an address for her?

I do at home.

Do you want it? - Oh, that would be great.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Bill immediately wrote to the San

Francisco address, and received a cautious reply

from Wanda, his older sister.

BILL PURINTON: Wanda just said, I'm Wanda Harrington.

And if you want any information about the family, just call me.

And she gave me a phone number.

And I called her.

And she answered the phone.

And I said, hi, Wanda?

And she said, yes, are you Ed, or are you Bill?

And I said, I'm Bill.

And she started to cry.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): By 1976,

Bill had tracked down all of his brothers and sisters,

except two.

Jackie, the sister who had shared his birthday,

and Ed, his baby brother.

BILL PURINTON: The feeling of knowing that you have a brother

or a sister, somewhere, that you can't locate,

is the driving force.

It just makes you want to keep on looking.

You don't give up.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): In 1980, Bill's search

got another unexpected boost.

Helen Steinman, of New York Children's Aid Society

found a phone number for Ed.

This is Bill.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): On Christmas Eve,

Bill spoke to his brother Ed for the first time in 47 years.

You sound just like what I thought you would.

ED ORVIS: When I got the call from my brother,

I just couldn't believe that it actually happened.

And it's just been a great experience to have,

all of a sudden with one phone call I have 42 new relatives.

And being at Christmastime, that was the greatest

Christmas gift I could get.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Finally, two months ago,

the Harrington family reunited.

The first time all five of them had been together

for more than 50 years.

[music playing]

Ed's wife played photographer, and the brothers

and sisters posed for their first family picture

since 1933.

The Harrington children treasure their reborn family,

but their joy is tempered.

Their sister Jackie remains missing.

When we find Jackie it will be a completed circle.

Everything will be in its place.

Everybody will be where they belong.

I've been looking for my sister for the last 40 years,

and I intend to find her.

And I'm not gonna stop until I do.

[music playing]

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): One Sunday afternoon

in Phoenix, Arizona, a businessman

named Angelo Desideri prepared a solitary lunch.

Before he could sit down to enjoy it, he vanished.

30 hours later, and 400 miles away, his burned out car

was discovered.

No other trace of Angelo Desideri has ever been found.

[music playing]

On the afternoon of June the 5th,

1988, a prosperous businessman named Angelo Desideri

vanished from his Phoenix home.

Nobody knows why, or to where he disappeared.

His friends and family believe he met with foul play.

Some investigators think Angelo wanted to disappear.

There is no conclusive evidence either way, only questions.

PRIEST: The body of Christ.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): 57-Year-old

Angelo Desideri was a devout Catholic who had once

studied for the priesthood.

He lived a quiet, routine existence with his parents

in a Phoenix suburb.

STAN EGGLESTON: Angelo was a very ordered, neat individual.

Very, very meticulous, and very, very neat individual.

A perfectionist.

In its true sense of the word, a perfectionist.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Angelo built a small fortune out

of hard work.

He had several close friends, but never married.

Angelo loved the finer things in life,

and he supported this affluent lifestyle by owning a shopping

center and an import store.

On the morning of Monday, June 6, a neighboring shop owner

discovered an Angelo's store was closed, and no one was inside.

One of Angelo's friends drove out to his home

to see if anything was wrong.

STAN EGGLESTON: After seeing certain things that disturbed

me, like an alarm that was not on,

and other things of that nature, I went next door

and made the decision to phone 911

and bring out a police officer so we could enter the house.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Inside,

Angelo was nowhere to be found.

The house was undisturbed.

Apparently he had been interrupted

while preparing lunch.

On the kitchen table Angelo had laid out piles of bills,

as if preparing to pay them.

In the living room two new pairs of pants

were found near a shopping bag.

A receipt inside the bag showed Angelo

had bought the pants at 12:47 the previous afternoon.

When my brother disappeared on that Sunday afternoon,

he left the house with absolutely nothing.

He didn't take a toothbrush, a pair of slippers, nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

The only thing that we discovered that was missing

was his attache case, some jewelry,

and money was missing from the home.

But as far as any other personal items,

everything was left behind.

If we could find out why he left in that hurry,

it might give us a clue as to where Angelo is.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): In the garage

investigators discovered a telling clue.

Angelo's car cover lay crumbled on the floor.

Angelo was compulsively neat, and always folded

the cover after removing it.

A neighbor fueled police suspicion

when he said he had seen Angelo's Cadillac's speed

off the Sunday he disappeared.

LEW DEAN: It was very difficult to see.

Of course, I couldn't see any facial characteristics.

And it just appeared to be a person taller than Angelo.

It wasn't like Angelo to pull out without acknowledging me.

He'd returned from out of town just a few days before.

I'd given him his mail, and we spoke

briefly, Friday night, which was prior to-- this

was on a Sunday.

And it just-- all kinds of questions.

You wonder why.

There is a missing link, and I wish I knew what it was.

And I'm sure a lot of other people do, too.

[siren]

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): At 6:32 on Monday evening,

only 30 hours after Angelo disappeared, but 400 miles

from Phoenix, a 1985 Cadillac was found ablaze

in a San Diego parking lot.

An accelerant had been used to set the fire.

Investigators traced the owner.

It was registered to Angelo Desideri.

When San Diego authorities examined the car,

there were no personal belongings inside.

They found no signs of forcible entry.

INVESTIGATOR GUY HARSHBARGER: The ignition

was untampered with.

There were no signs or indications

of any hot wiring of any type.

The vehicle was very, very meticulously cleaned.

No bugs.

No dirt anywhere on the front of the vehicle, as if it

had just come from a long journey from another state.

Washing the car and then burning it is something that is

a first for me, in my career.

I cannot conceive that he would burn the car.

It just seems incredible that this is possible of my brother.

He's just-- it just doesn't seem possible to me.

I just can't-- I can't comprehend something like this.

We looked in the trunk and found absolutely nothing

in that trunk that would have been

there, other than the jack.

No carpet, no padding, no spare tire.

We processed that vehicle. There were no fibers.

There were no hairs.

There was nothing in that trunk, or anything

that we could discover that had been in that trunk.

Basically, this tells us that there could have been something

in the vehicle that was transported in the vehicle,

and when it was taken out they took the carpet and the padding

and wrapped it all in one unit, and took

everything out of the vehicle, including the spare tire.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Phoenix

police retraced the drive to San Diego,

stopping at gas stations along the way.

Nobody matching Angelo's description had been seen.

And none of his credit cards had been used.

In San Diego, car washes were checked on the slim chance

that someone would remember having seen Angelo.

No one had.

But authorities did find two witnesses who had seen the car

minutes before it was torched.

One saw a man resembling Angelo in front of the Cadillac.

At the same time, a woman passing by also saw the man.

However, neither witness could conclusively

identify him as Angelo.

DET.

TIM AHUMADA: We can narrow that down to about five minutes

prior to the fire.

The results of our case rest on who that person was.

It could possibly close our case if it was

Angelo standing by that car.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): In the disappearance

of Angelo Desideri there are still

many perplexing questions.

Why would Angelo leave his home in such a hurry

without a visible struggle?

Who was it standing next to Angelo's car in San Diego?

And why was it set on fire?

And perhaps most importantly, what was the motive

for his disappearance?

There was no way, knowing this man like I did, that I can even

remotely tie him into any illegal activity

with any underworld, or anything criminal.

Any being involved, anything of this nature, that

would cause him to have to possibly leave or disappear,

no way at all.

DET.

TIM AHUMADA: There's another life,

or there's another dimension to Angelo

that we've never been able to find.

We have a gentleman who would go out of his way for people.

Someone who was devoted to his family.

And yet we have this whole case.

And all the pieces, they just don't fit.

There's a piece missing somewhere.

And I think that if I could ever find that piece,

I'd find Angelo.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): For over eight months,

investigators and friends were baffled as to the motive

for Angelo's disappearance.

[music playing]

Update.

On March 16, Phoenix police charged a local resident,

Joe Calo with conspiracy to commit

armed robbery and burglary on Angelo Desideri.

They learned that Calo was a friend and business associative

of Angelo, and had detailed information

concerning his disappearance.

Joe Calo told us that all the information he had

was told to him by James Majors.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): James Majors had worked

with Calo, in construction.

He is currently in a California jail,

facing several counts of murder.

DET.

TIM AHUMADA: During the interview of Joe Calo,

he stated that Majors went to the house, got into the house

by ringing the doorbell and asking for a glass of water.

Then took Angelo, at gunpoint, and robbed the house.

He was taken out of the house, at that time, by Majors,

and driven out into the desert.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Calo claims

that somewhere between Phoenix and San Diego Majors murdered

Angelo, and then placed the body in the trunk of the Cadillac,

and continued on towards San Diego.

The following morning, Majors goes to a hardware store--

we're not sure where, we believe it's in some small town

between here and California-- where he

purchased a pick and a shovel.

Have a nice day.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Calo claims

that after buying the tools, Majors told him

that he had driven down a desert back road to an area

adjacent to a rundown house.

He then buried Angelo near a large tree.

According to Calo, Majors did a real unique thing.

And that is, as he's leaving the grave site,

he stopped and gave the shovel and the pick

to the poor people that lived in that shack.

And then he exited onto the highway,

and drove into California.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Joe Calo

also told investigators that Majors had a storage locker.

Police searched the locker and recovered

property belonging to Angelo.

These items were traced back to the Desideri home.

[music playing]

[music playing]

Join me next time.

Perhaps you hold the key.

Perhaps you can help solve a mystery.

[music playing]