Original subtitles

NARRATOR: 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.

[music playing]

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): In Rome, New York two

intruders bound and gagged Esther Gryzeic,

ransacked her house, and shot her husband point blank.

Just recently, a police informant

revealed that Stanley Gryzeic may have died because he

was a man who knew too much.

The FBI is searching for an electronics whiz kid who

allegedly used his talents to break

into classified government computer networks,

obtain military secrets, and wiretap private.

An innocuous case of computer hacking or a breach

of national security?

Also tonight, a poignant update a story

about a 7-year-old girl who made a solemn vow to her sick friend

21 years ago.

Thanks to our viewers, Niki Crowder

has finally fulfilled her promise

and we filmed their joyous reunion.

Join me for another edition of Unsolved Mysteries.

[music playing]

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Rome, New York, 240 miles northwest

of Manhattan.

This is the kind of small town that finds its way

into Norman Rockwell paintings.

It is a working class community where everybody

knows everything about everyone else,

or at least it seemed that way.

Bob, how are you?

Stanley, so nice to see you.

Haven't seen you in so long.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): In 1957 to 1976,

Stanley Gryzeic and his family owned

a small liquor store and gas station in the heart of town.

Stanley was in charge of the liquor store.

His brother Peter ran the gas station along

with a third brother Bernard.

Stanley and his wife Esther lived right next door

to the family business.

Their life seemed happy and secure until the night

of November 6th, 1976.

SHARON MIGLIACCIO (VOICEOVER): Dad had just gone upstairs

to run Mom's bathwater.

Mom went through the house doing her nightly check.

She did a nightly ritual where she would go and check

all the windows and doors and make sure everything

was locked.

My mother was deaf, and she wore a hearing aid.

With the hearing aid, she could hear very well.

And she had just finished in the kitchen

when she heard a loud noise.

[thump]

And as she turned around, the back door just flew open.

[scream]

This is a robbery!

[grunting, screaming]

Two men came into the house.

They both had ski masks.

One was short and stocky and one was tall and thinner.

I think my father probably heard the initial noise of the screen

door being broken and heard my mother scream,

and then came down the stairs.

[music playing]

As he turned to go into the dining room,

I think he startled the perpetrator.

[grunting]

Hey, give me that!

SHARON MIGLIACCIO (VOICEOVER): The shorter, stockier man

was already at my mother's throat and was choking her

and, in the process, knocked her hearing aid out of her ear.

And she said she just played dead.

She just wouldn't move.

She just laid there.

She tried to hold her breath so they thought she died.

[music playing]

SHARON MIGLIACCIO (VOICEOVER): While she was laying

on the floor, she said they laid this pearl

handled gun next to my face.

She says, I could see it.

I opened my eyes just a little tiny bit and I could see.

[music playing]

They spent a good hour in the house

just ransacking it totally.

They took all the stuff out of the desk,

threw everything on the floors.

The pillows they ripped.

Mom's knitting and her yarn, they threw all over.

I mean, they obviously were looking for something,

but what they were looking for, I have no idea.

[music playing]

She said, I just waited there until I could feel no more

vibrations in the house.

She figures that that is when they left.

[crying]

Somehow, she managed to get her hands untied from her feet

and her feet untied.

Her hands were still tied behind her back,

but she did manage to go into the dining room

and find my dad laying on the floor dead.

Oh, God!

[police scanner]

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The shock

of her husband's murder was too much for Esther Gryzeic.

She herself died within two years.

SHARON MIGLIACCIO (VOICEOVER): My mother, you could say,

died that night.

She just existed for the next 20 months.

Her and my father had one of those rare marriages where they

were extremely close, and without dad, I mean,

her life was gone.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): From the beginning,

a cloud of suspicion loomed over the investigation

of Stanley Gryzeic's murder.

The night of the killing, police barred the family

from entering the home.

After thoroughly searching the ransacked house,

investigators determined that the only things

missing were two bottles of beer from the refrigerator.

But it appeared to investigators

as if the ransacking was to look for an item, possibly,

or a piece of paper that Mr. Gryzeic

may have had hidden somewhere.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The next day,

the family was finally permitted to enter the home.

Stanley's son made a disturbing discovery, which, curiously,

the police had overlooked.

My brother-in-law and myself were in the house, and we were

trying to straighten things up.

I was in the dining room where my father had been killed,

and the rug was kind of messed up from the table being pushed,

so we got down on our hands and knees

and tried to straighten the rug out.

Hey, come here.

Look at this.

MARTIN GRYZIEC (VOICEOVER): While I was doing that,

I happened to notice a shell casing on the rug.

I mean, it wasn't embedded in the rug or anything.

It was lying right out on the rug.

Well, it's a shell casing.

Don't touch it.

I'm sure that if anybody had done

a thorough job of scouring the floor,

they would have found it.

We picked it up with a pencil, put it in a plastic bag,

and called up the Rome police department.

One detective came over and I showed him where I found it

on the floor, and he looked at it, yeah,

that's a shell casing, all right.

And he proceeded to put it in his pock

and said, let's not mention this to anyone for the time being.

And who was I to argue?

There's a wound here in the lateral aspect

of the left chest.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The official autopsy report

stated that Stanley Gryzeic been killed by a single stab

wound to the heart.

--extremities are symmetrical.

SHARON MIGLIACCIO (VOICEOVER): I couldn't believe the police

kept insisting that it was a knife that killed my father,

and my mother repeatedly told them

it was a pearl handled gun.

It was a small gun.

She told me they laid it right down next to my face.

She says, I could see.

It was not a knife, and they kept insisting it was a knife.

While we knew that was totally false

that my father had been killed by a stab wound,

we had found a shell casing.

We explained to the police that there was no guns in the house.

The only way that shell could have got here

was that it was fired in this house.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Stanley

Gryzeic's body was exhumed and a second autopsy performed.

It revealed that Stanley was killed by a .25 caliber

bullet fired through his chest.

There never had been a stab wound.

Was the entire incident involving the bullet simply

a series of unfortunate mistakes,

or could someone have been trying to protect

the killer's identity?

Stanley Gryzeic's children believe that someone wanted

it to appear that their father had been killed with a knife,

but who?

And why?

It seemed that these questions would remain forever

unanswered until last year.

In March of 1989, an acknowledged drug dealer

came to the police with a startling story.

He claimed to know the identity of Stanley Gryzeic's killer,

although he did not know the motive.

In 1976, the informant was working at a bar in Rome.

He claimed that a man associated with the bar

made him a strange proposition just a few days before Stanley

Gryzeic was killed.

I was tending bar one night, and a person

approached me and wanted me to pull a burglary.

He knew that I owed him money, and he offered me to get even.

So, we drove around for a little bit, and he pulled in an alley

here, and he goes, I want you to break into Stan's house.

MAN: You owe me a lot of money.

You owe me a lot of money.

The guy's got a lot of money in that house.

I want you to go rip him off.

Why Stanley?

MAN: That's my business.

INFORMANT (VOICEOVER): I told him I go,

well, I'm not a burglar.

I go, I'm out here selling coke, but I'm just not a burglar.

I'm not going to go breaking in to anybody's house.

And so he was disturbed with me, and he goes,

all right, I'll take you back to the bar.

As you can see As you can see here,

this is the service station that's adjacent to the house.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Based on this new information,

the case was reactivated and a new team

of investigators assigned.

MAN: --behind here comes out to the side.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): They contacted

Amy Scott, Stanley Gryzeic's neighbor

at the time of the murder.

On November 6, 1976, Amy Scott said she

was in the house watching TV.

And at the conclusion of one of the programs,

her dog had become restless and she let him out to run

around a little bit outside.

[dog barking]

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Amy told investigators

that shortly after 11:00 PM, she saw

a man walking through the alley toward Stanley Gryzeic's home.

I let my dog stay out maybe a half an hour to 45 minutes,

and then I open the door.

I went on my porch to call my dog back in.

Sam!

Then I looked up and I saw this guy coming

through the same pathway that I noticed

before, only this time he was headed toward a white car.

He got in the car, and then I noticed there

was another man in the car.

And he proceeded down the street very fast.

[tires squealing]

You idiots!

What do think you're doing?

And I yelled at him because he just came within inches

of hitting my dog.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): A few days after the murder,

Amy saw the men in the Lincoln again.

AMY SCOTT (VOICEOVER): It was around 5 o'clock,

and I was headed to the bank.

As I drove in, there was two cars ahead of me

and I was waiting, and I just happened

to look through my rear view mirror,

and I saw this white car.

And suddenly I realized this was the same man,

the same car, that I had seen earlier at the murder scene.

I got really nervous, so I started my car

and I speeded down the street.

[music playing]

I was really afraid.

I just drove like crazy until I got to the police station

and I jumped out of the car.

[music playing]

And I ran up the steps, where I met a policeman,

and I told him what was happening.

We got in his car and we drove around a couple of blocks

up and down, but we never saw him again.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Amy led the investigators to Patsy

Peck, a local bookstore owner.

Patsy told him that on the day before Gryzeic's murder,

she had met the same two men at her store.

[interposing voices]

She also said they were driving a white Lincoln Continental.

Hey guys, how are you doing?

Good.

- Good to see you again. - Thanks.

How are you? - Good.

What are you doing down here anyway?

PATSY PECK (VOICEOVER): There was

the tall, dark man who had on a trench coat

and it had a nylon pile collar.

The other man was shorter and sandy haired,

and they'd been out of town for a while,

and hadn't seen my husband in quite a long while.

- See you later. - OK, good seeing you again.

PATSY PECK: Thanks.

Then they started reminiscing a little about when they

were here before and all that.

All right.

You know where we live, we're still in the same place.

PATSY PECK (VOICEOVER): And they told him

they'd see again before they left, and they left.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Investigators

asked Patsy why she had not come forward with this information

before.

Surprisingly, she said she had talked with one

of the original detectives.

--store on November the 4th.

JOHN KEYS (VOICEOVER): We do know that the investigators

talked to Patsy and Amy, but we looked in our files

and found that there wasn't anything put

down on documentation form as to their interview with Patsy

Peck.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Investigators Saunders and Keys

learned that shortly after Stanley Gryzeic's murder,

the same two men were spotted at a local bar.

We located a man that was in the bar about two or three

nights after the murder.

Everything all right?

Yep.

Just what you wanted.

ROBERT SAUNDERS (VOICEOVER): He told us that a couple of men

had come into the bar matching the descriptions that

were published in the paper.

They met with another man in the back

of the bar who handed them a large sum of money,

and they turned and left.

He was kind of curious, so he said, wasn't that so-and-so?

And the individual who had given him the money

said, yes, that was.

And he said, well, why did you give

him that large amount of money?

And he said they done a job for me

and now they had to leave town.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Authorities

began searching for a connection between Stanley Gryzeic's

murder and the bar where the informant had worked

and the two men had been seen.

They discovered that the bar's liquor

license had been held by Peter Gryzeic,

Stanley's older brother.

Then Stanley's children related a puzzling incident

that had occurred eight months before the murder.

Peter Gryzeic was gravely ill and Stanley went to visit him.

Close the door, will you?

Close the door.

Close the door?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): No one knows

what was said behind that closed door,

but the two brothers, who had always been close,

never spoke again.

Peter died four months later, and Stanley's behavior

seemed to change.

PATRICIA COUSIN (VOICEOVER): I had a three-day weekend

with my dad.

He seemed in a good mood, but he seemed a little distant.

When he hugged me goodbye, he said a very strange thing.

I don't know when I'll ever see you again.

And that was the last time I saw him again.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The bar in question had its liquor

license revoked in 1982.

The reason?

On-site gambling and the illegal sale of controlled substances.

Today, the bar remains closed.

PATRICIA COUSIN (VOICEOVER): I think

he knew that there was a great deal of drug

activity happening in that bar.

Gambling, it happens almost everywhere.

I think people learn to adjust to that.

But the drug situation, I know that my father

would never be able to condone or have his name linked to it.

[music playing]

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Why was Stanley Gryzeic murdered?

Had he learned something from his dying brother

that put his own life at risk?

If my father knew something, he

did not share that information with my mother, my brother,

my sister, or I. It was just something

that he kept to himself.

And that was why being honest as he was the cause of his death.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Why did Stanley's assailants

ransack his home, remain in the house for 45 minutes

to an hour, and then leave, apparently taking only two

beers from the refrigerator?

And finally, is there a connection

between the bar, Peter Gryzeic, and Stanley's death?

Although crucial evidence in the case

has mysteriously disappeared, investigators

believe that it may take but one vital clue

to piece together the bizarre puzzle

of Stanley Gryzeic's murder.

These are composite drawings of the two men seen driving

that white Lincoln Continental.

Authorities are asking anyone with information regarding

these men to come forward.

[music playing]

WOMAN: Oh!

Traveled all over the country.

WOMAN: Well, how about--

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): On a previous broadcast,

we profiled a con man who allegedly

seduces lonely middle-aged women with promises

of wealth and romance, then skips town with her money.

Police have dubbed him the sweetheart swindler.

[music playing]

In August of 1989, a woman who asked that we call her Sarah

met a man named Jerry Gable.

Sarah quickly succumbed to Jerry's hypnotic charms.

He told her that he was a successful traveling jewelry

salesman, and that she was just the type of a woman he

wanted to share his life with.

In less than two days, Jerry asked Sarah to be his wife.

He was a type of a man that took control.

This was something that I liked.

I like someone to kind of take over, take charge.

And it was really nice to think that I maybe

would be able to relax, to travel,

to have all these nice things, and I wouldn't have to work.

To me this was very appealing.

[music playing]

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): A few days

later, Jerry asked Sarah to deposit an out-of-state

and to withdraw $3,000 in cash for him.

At the time, Sarah had no idea that the check was stolen.

That afternoon, Jerry Gable disappeared.

Sarah never saw him or her $3,000 again.

I was angry.

Truly, I was angry.

It's a very devastating feeling.

I'd like to see him pay for it.

[music playing]

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Update.

The sweetheart swindler has been captured.

On March 28th, 1991, police in Kenosha, Wisconsin

arrested a man calling himself Robert Cook

after he allegedly romanced a woman and then swindled her out

of $10,000.

At the time of Cook's arrest, police

recovered a dozen false identification

cards all issued in different aliases from various states.

They also found blank checks apparently

stolen from previous victims.

[music playing]

When we return, the intriguing saga of a young computer

wizard who may be using his skills

to obtain classified government information.

[music playing]

Inside the labyrinth of the telephone

company's huge computer system, one feels

a sense of insignificance.

It seems impossible that any single person

could jam up these sophisticated works, yet think of it.

All the interactive computers across the country

are linked by telephone lines.

Both private citizens and classified government

operations can be vulnerable to a computer genius run amok.

[music playing]

Kevin Poulsen grew up in the Los Angeles

suburb of North Hollywood.

His mother died when he was still young.

One of Kevin's friends describes him

as very bright with great potential,

but always painfully shy.

[music playing]

Kevin Poulsen received his first computer on the 16th birthday.

Like most devoted hackers, he adopted a colorful pseudonym.

Kevin Poulsen became Dark Dante.

[music playing]

Eventually, he discovered a telephone

number for ARPANET, a computer network funded by the Pentagon.

It links university and think tank computers across

the country by telephone lines.

For Dark Dante, ARPANET was a tantalizing challenge.

After connecting his modem with the ARPANET telephone number,

Kevin realized he was hooked up to military research

at the University of California Berkeley.

[music playing]

He needed a password that would allow

him access to sensitive documents

in the Berkeley computer.

He guessed several passwords with no luck.

[music playing]

Then he tried the university's initials, UCB.

Kevin was inside ARPANET.

[music playing]

SEAN RANDOL (VOICEOVER): He liked the idea of having power.

That was Kevin's thing.

He wanted to have power over other people,

over the people that he saw as being beneath him.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Dark Dante's activities

were soon detected by UCB, when Kevin slipped and, on one

occasion only, used his real name instead of Dark Dante

he was trapped.

Blissfully unaware, Kevin continued his hacking

activities, giving authorities even

more ammunition against him.

Dan, would you just put that in my car, please.

Well, you're taking my computer?

Yes, Kevin.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): On the morning

of September 22nd, 1983, the Los Angeles DA

confiscated Kevin's computer. - I don't understand why.

Look, Kevin.

You and your buddy have committed a crime here.

You're only 17.

We're going to try to keep you out of this,

but your buddy's going to jail.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Because of his age,

he was not officially charged, only warned that his computer

activities were illegal.

Your buddy is going to jail.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The warning

apparently fell on deaf ears.

It's not like we were stealing or anything.

No, it's exactly like you were stealing.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): During the next year,

Kevin took a high school equivalency exam

and moved out of his parents' house to northern California.

[music playing]

But Dark Dante had not died with Kevin's move.

He had simply changed locations.

In his off hours, Kevin Poulsen continued

to cruise the electronic highways,

cloaked with a pseudonym.

This time, he never gave his real name or his location.

[music playing]

On February 9th, 1988, the owners of a storage facility

in northern California made a routine stop

at a locker of which the rent had not been paid.

MAN: There we go.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Standard

procedure in such cases is to confiscate

the material in the locker.

Whoa!

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): But the contents of this locker

was something the men had never seen before.

It appeared to be stolen telephone company equipment.

The owners notify the authorities.

MAN: He's no scumbag.

MAN 2: He's not stupid.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Telephone company investigator

Jon von Brauch, along with the local police,

arrived immediately. - Jon von Brauch.

Hi, Jon. How are you?

All right.

JON VON BRAUCH (VOICEOVER): We found by a storage locker that

contained pieces of electronic equipment, pay phones, computer

print outs, including the print out

of the non-published number of the Soviet

Embassy in San Francisco.

That's not the type of equipment or material

that one would buy at a swap meet or find in a dumpster.

It was quite obviously stolen property.

Whose locker is this?

Some guy by the name of John Anderson.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The name John Anderson was a fake.

But several items in the locker bore the name Kevin Poulsen.

It appeared as if Dark Dante had been caught again.

Authorities apprehended Kevin, who agreed to a consent

search of his apartment.

They were astonished to find that Kevin

had a complete wiretapping facility in a spare bedroom.

What are you doing with all this stuff, Kevin?

I don't know, I just have it.

I just kind of get it. It's neat.

JON VON BRAUCH (VOICEOVER): The equipment in the switch room

allowed to Mr. Poulsen not only to enter computer databases,

ours and others, but it also gave him the ability to monitor

telephone conversations without the parties to the conversation

being aware that they were being monitored.

How about the test set over there with the lettering on it?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Connected to Kevin's computer

was an unauthorized test set which could be used to tap

into private phone lines.

I don't know.

I got that from a buddy of mine.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Only the telephone company,

and through them, legally authorized

law enforcement officers, are allowed to use test sets.

[music playing]

Incredibly, the authorities found photographs Kevin Poulsen

had taken of himself breaking into a telephone

switching trailer, then using the equipment inside.

Kevin's ego provided the phone company with the evidence they

needed to bring in the FBI.

WILLIAM E. SMITH (VOICEOVER): We determined

that the acts that Poulsen was involved in had escalated.

We found evidence that Poulsen had penetrated the United

States government computer, and had transferred

the passwords of that computer, via electronic mail,

to other individuals.

[music playing]

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Investigators

found that over the last year, someone matching

Kevin Poulsen's description had illegally

entered several northern California telephone

facilities using a false ID.

[dog barking]

We discovered that Mr. Poulsen,

and we documented at least three cases, where he had

actually entered the buildings.

Hi.

Can I help you?

Yeah.

I'm from the Menlo Park office.

I'm here to check out the ESS.

The ESS equipment is up on the second floor.

[typing]

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Once inside the building,

the intruder found telephone numbers

he could use to get inside the phone

company's computer system.

He also stole manuals, switching equipment,

and a test set like the one found

in Kevin Poulsen's apartment.

[music playing]

Kevin Poulsen had allegedly infiltrated

US military computer transmissions obtaining

classified army information.

Authorities believe he also obtained classified information

about the FBI investigation of overthrowing Philippine

President Ferdinand Marcos.

In addition, he may have wiretapped and tape

recorded phone conversations of his friend Sean Randol.

The test set found in Kevin's apartment and his possession

of the unlisted Soviet number led

the FBI to believe that Kevin Poulsen

might be engaging in espionage.

[music playing]

WILLIAM E. SMITH (VOICEOVER): Through the investigation,

we learned that Poulsen had a secret clearance.

Because of this, his penetration of the United States Army

government computer, his obtaining

of a non-published number of the Soviet consulate,

gave us grave concern as to how far Poulsen was

going with these criminal acts.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): On October 19th, 1989,

a two-year investigation resulted

in a 19-count indictment against Kevin

Poulsen and two fellow hackers.

They were charged with conspiracy, computer fraud,

wiretapping, embezzlement, and theft

of public property and records.

The two other men were arrested and now await trial,

but Kevin Poulsen has fled.

The FBI is making him out to be a dangerous person

because he has the knowledge to do things

that he is not supposed to do.

And he does things that are illegal.

But as far as hurting people goes,

Kevin is the kind of person who would rather know how to do

things than actually do them.

[music playing]

WILLIAM E. SMITH (VOICEOVER): We feel

that Poulsen probably started out as he hacker,

because of curiosity.

But as the years wore on, his curiosity became unsatisfied.

He crossed the line from mere curiosity

to that in of intentionally committing

criminal acts to further this quest for power.

That gives us concern.

Law enforcement government, or even private citizens

out there, Poulsen certainly has a potential to be a danger

to any one of these three.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Kevin Poulsen

is 25 years old and 5 feet 8 inches tall with a slim build.

He has used the surnames Drake, Locke,

and Cooper, as well as the aliases Walter

Kovacs and John Anderson.

The FBI has information that Poulsen

may be living in the Los Angeles area

and driving all white late 70s van.

He's an expert in the computer operating

system called Unix and maybe working in a related field.

[music playing]

One can only speculate about what motivated Kevin Poulsen.

Those that knew him before he fled

agree that he's an unusually talented and bright

young man, possibly a genius.

But now he is a wanted man facing up

to 37 years in prison.

[music playing]

Update.

Shortly after our broadcast, the FBI

received information that Kevin Poulsen was living

near Los Angeles, California.

LAWRENCE G. LAWLER (VOICEOVER): Our San Francisco office

advised us that Poulsen had some acquaintances in the Los

Angeles area, and we went out and interviewed

those acquaintances and one of them

advised us that he had been seen in the not too

distant past at Hughes Market.

We then went out and interviewed all

the employees at Hughes Market and displayed his photograph.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Three weeks later, Poulsen

returned to the supermarket.

BRIAN BRIDGES (VOICEOVER): I walked past Kevin

and it dawned on me that's the person in the photo.

And adrenaline was pumping in me.

I felt really nervous and I didn't

want to let any suspicion on to Kevin that we were on to him.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Brian immediately notified the FBI.

However, Poulsen was able to leave the store

before agents could respond.

[music playing]

The FBI informed me that Kevin Poulsen had been seen

at the Van Nuys Hughes Market at about

10 or 10:30 in the evening.

I decided to surveil the market, thinking

Kevin may show up again.

At about 10 minutes to midnight, Kevin Poulsen

arrived, drove up, and parked immediately

in front of the market.

[music playing]

Once Kevin was in the store, I took a position

near the front door and asked the security guard

to go find Brian Bridges, the evening manager,

and bring him to my location so I could tell him that Kevin

Poulsen was in the store.

[beeping]

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Believing

that Poulsen would again elude capture, two store

clerks made a daring move.

Security!

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): A security guard escorted Poulsen

to a storeroom where he was held until FBI agents arrived

and placed him under arrest.

[music playing]

LAWRENCE G. LAWLER (VOICEOVER): During the search

of Mr. Poulsen, we found some handcuff

keys in his eyeglass case.

During the time that he was in custody,

he claimed that his contact lenses were drying out

and he had asked for his eyeglass cases

to be sent to him.

So, I'm assuming he was looking for the handcuff keys.

[music playing]

The friendships you make as children often

fade with the passage of time, enduring

all only pleasant memories.

But for the woman in our next story,

a friendship with a young girl who was battling cancer

has survived the years and become a lifelong search.

Tonight, she asks for your help in finding

her special childhood friend and fulfilling a promise she

made more than 20 years ago.

Good morning.

Good Good morning!

We're here to admit our daughter, LaHarriet Wade.

NURSE: Hi, LaHarriet, how are you?

Fine.

NURSE: I've been expecting you.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): When she was seven years old,

LaHarriet Wade was admitted to Children's Hospital

of Los Angeles, California.

She was scheduled to undergo surgery

to remove several large tumors from her throat.

Although extremely painful, LaHarriet's condition

was not life threatening.

LAHARRIET "NIKI" WADE (VOICEOVER):

I was a little nervous about being left in there alone,

because it's all new to me.

I had gone back before for tests,

but I wasn't actually placed in there before,

and this time I'd be in there and my parents

wouldn't be there.

Ooh, Mommy, look at those.

LAHARRIET'S MOTHER: Those are nice.

You want me to get you some? - Yes.

NURSE: OK, LaHarriet.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): LaHarriet

shared a room with eight-year-old Charita Lynn

Harding.

NURSE: --in a moment to help you--

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Charita had been diagnosed

with a rare form of cancer, and she too was

scheduled to undergo surgery.

I like your flowers.

CHARITA LYNN HARDING: Thank you.

I have dolls too.

Would you like to play with one?

LAHARRIET "NIKI" WADE: Yes.

CHARITA LYNN HARDING: Here, you can play with Lovely.

LAHARRIET "NIKI" WADE (VOICEOVER):

I looked up to Charita, because one, she was older.

She's about a year older than I. And she was there first,

so she kind of initiated me of being

in a new place, new atmosphere.

This part would be blue right here.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): In the days that followed,

a warm and caring friendship blossomed.

LaHarriet and Charita spent their days

playing games and pulling pranks on the hospital staff.

[music playing]

Hey, let's have a race.

[music playing]

LAHARRIET "NIKI" WADE (VOICEOVER):

We were in our own little world.

There was no adults around to come in and tell us what to do.

[music playing]

I'll get you later!

LAHARRIET "NIKI" WADE (VOICEOVER):

We created a closeness.

So, she was kind of like a sister.

We had gotten that relationship.

There was a bond there because we mattered to one another.

We looked out for what went on, and we had something in common,

and that was our illnesses itself.

INTERCOM: Visiting hours are now over.

All visitors please leave.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): As the time for Charita's operation

neared, she was forced to endure a nightly routine

of painful pre-surgical treatments.

INTERCOM: Dr. Thomas, line three.

Dr. Thomas.

LAHARRIET "NIKI" WADE (VOICEOVER):

I would watch when they would come in for the testing.

She wouldn't really scream out, but you'd hear a little shrill

or something like that.

When I look over, she would turn away like, this

is not happening to me.

I would be angry with the doctors

because I was like, why are you hurting her?

But through it all, she was tough.

And actually she was a lot stronger than I.

And her problem, really, as I got older and understood more,

was worse than mine.

[music playing]

My baby.

Hi!

[music playing]

MAN: Hold on. OK.

Up.

WOMAN: Lift.

MAN: OK.

Check her pulse.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): 10:00 PM, the night

of Charita's operation.

After several hours of surgery, Charita

was returned to the room.

[music playing]

LAHARRIET "NIKI" WADE (VOICEOVER):

I was afraid, really afraid.

Does that hurt, sweetheart?

LAHARRIET "NIKI" WADE (VOICEOVER):

I felt them taking her away did something to her

that changed her altogether.

Mommy, is this going to happen to me?

No, honey.

This isn't going to happen to you.

She has a different type of operation

than you're going to have.

And then when she grows up, she's not going

to be able to have any babies.

LAHARRIET "NIKI" WADE (VOICEOVER):

So that's when my mother explained to me that Charita

had had a very, very delicate surgery

and that she wouldn't be able to have kids.

And I remember feeling like, oh, that was just

the worst thing in the world.

[crying]

Everybody, Charita's parents, the doctors,

they all went out in the hall to talk.

And Charita, she was lying in her bed, just lying there,

and she had tears in her eyes.

So it made me feel real sad that I couldn't help her.

Don't worry.

Are you feeling all right?

I'm sorry you're feeling so bad.

Does it hurt?

[music playing]

I said, you don't have to cry.

I said, because, if I ever have a baby, I said,

you can share it with me and we can both be its mommy.

I said, I'll even name it Charita after you.

[music playing]

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Five weeks after LaHarriet Wade

and Charita Harding first met, the day

came for them to say goodbye.

LaHarriet's operation was a success and she was sent home,

but Charita had to remain in the hospital for further treatment.

Let me take a picture of you.

LAHARRIET "NIKI" WADE (VOICEOVER): When we left,

we took pictures.

And I remember not wanting to say goodbye to her.

I felt like I was losing a sister.

I hope I see you soon.

Bye, you too.

LAHARRIET "NIKI" WADE (VOICEOVER):

The two girls agreed to continue their friendship by phone,

but two months later LaHarriet's family moved to New Mexico

and the young friends soon lost touch.

Bye!

Yes, may I speak to Charita Harding?

MAN: In 1975, the family returned to Los Angeles.

LaHarriet called every Harding listed in the phone book

but was unable to locate Charita.

[music playing]

Seven years ago, LaHarriet married and is now

known as Niki Crowder.

Today she is a mother of a healthy

three-year-old daughter, whom she plans to baptize Charita.

It is Niki's hope for Charita Lynn

Harding to become godmother to Niki's little girl.

LAHARRIET "NIKI" WADE (VOICEOVER):

I want my daughter to know Charita because she's a very

special person in my life, and bringing those two together

would be perfect for me.

[music playing]

Do you want to learn how to make--

LAHARRIET "NIKI" WADE (VOICEOVER):

I think of Charita all the time.

I've never ever stopped really ever thinking about Charita.

Even though she's not around, she's still a best friend

in the sense of the memories.

I think when you hold onto a memory, it can't be altered,

so she's still a best friend.

Charita gave me a lot, and she never

took anything back from me, and that's what a real friend is.

If I have a baby, we can share it.

And I promise, I promise, I'll name her after you.

LAHARRIET "NIKI" WADE (VOICEOVER): If I saw Charita,

I'd tell her that I didn't forget the promise.

That's what I'd tell her.

I didn't forget the promise.

[music playing]

And I promise, I promise, I'll name her after you.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): A few minutes

after Niki's story aired, we learned

that Charita Lynn Harding was alive and well and living

in Oklahoma.

We immediately contacted Niki with the good news.

[music playing]

Just 10 days after our broadcast and more than 21 years

after they said goodbye, Charita Lynn Harding and Niki Crowder

were finally reunited at Nikki's home in Los Angeles.

[music playing]

Oh.

My God.

I can't believe.

It's been a long time.

20 years.

I'm so glad to see you.

I'm so glad you're alive.

I don't think Niki has changed that much.

She was always a caring, giving person.

Seems like she's still the same.

She would have to be to try to find me after all these years

be so persistent about it.

[music playing]

Father, in the name of Jesus, watch up over this child.

Protect here all of the days of her life.

Keep her from harm.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): On October 20th, 1990,

Niki Crowder was finally able to fulfill her promise.

A child is a gift you can't buy.

It's the most perfect gift in the world,

and it comes from God.

And nobody should be deprived of that, whether they have it

naturally, or can share it with somebody.

That's something that I want to share with Charita,

because of all the joy and strength she gave me,

I can give her back something that she missed.

Lord, bless them even as godparents.

Cause your spirit to rest upon them.

CHARITA LYNN HARDING (VOICEOVER): Being a godmother

is special to me because I don't have any kids,

it's given me a child of my own that I can share.

I'm just honored, and so I'll try

to live up to it as best I can.

I'm very happy.

Very happy that I found Charita.

And now I can go on, and I can go on on a positive note

because she's alive.

I'd just like to say thanks to everybody.

[music playing]

PRIEST: I christen thee Charita Kennedy Crowder.

[music playing]

For every mystery, there is someone

somewhere who knows the truth.

Join me next week for another edition of Unsolved Mysteries.

[music playing]