All language subtitles for Unsolved.Mysteries.S01E16.480p.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-PLAYREADY_track3_[und]

[music playing]

[music playing]

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.

[music playing]

[music playing]

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.

[music playing]

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?

[music playing]

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.

[music playing]

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.

[music playing]

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]