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.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): December, 1988.

An 82-foot-freighter named the "Freedom" sets sail for Haiti

with seven crewmen, a dashing young German captain,

and beautiful 23-year-old journalist Lisa Bishop.

A few days later, "Freedom" vanished without a trace.

24-year-old Adam Hecht struggled with the paradox

of his own affluent lifestyle and the poverty

he saw in the back alleys of Beverly Hills.

In 1989, he befriended a homeless person

and even invited him to share his apartment.

Now Adam Hecht is missing.

In the final days of World War II,

a fortune in gold and precious jewels

was allegedly smuggled out of the infamous concentration camp

at Dachau.

Today there is compelling evidence

that this buried treasure still lies beneath a mountain

lake in Austria.

Also tonight, the case of a former mental patient

who disappeared after her boyfriend was murdered.

Maria Armstrong is now in custody,

thanks to an anonymous tip received

after a recent broadcast of the story.

Join me.

You may be able to help solve a mystery.

[theme music]

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The popular conception

of the Caribbean it that it is a playground

for tourists and paradise for those

lucky enough to live there.

In actuality, the gulf between have and have-nots is dramatic.

Nowhere are these contrasts more evident

than in Haiti, where the average income is less than $300

per person per year.

Today the Caribbean is crisscrossed

by dilapidated freighters overloaded

with miscellaneous and often stolen goods heading

to this impoverished island.

Smugglers also abound in the area.

Guns, narcotics, and stolen merchandise

are continually being transported to and from Miami.

January, 1989.

Falcon jets from the United States Coast

conducted a search for an 82-foot tramp

freighter named the "Freedon."

En route to Haiti, the steamer had been reported

missing at sea the week before.

Despite the Coast Guard's search,

the ship had apparently vanished without a trace.

Onboard the "Freedon," a derelict cargo ship of Bahamian

registry, were seven Haitian members, a handsome young sea

captain, and an attractive 23-year-old American journalism

student named Lisa Bishop.

On the morning of her departure, Lisa had called

her parents to say goodbye.

I could feel something was wrong.

Mother's intuition, I guess you could call it.

Lisa was to call me when she arrived

and that call neighbor came.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Known by her friends

for her social conscience, Lisa wanted to write an article that

would dramatize the contrast between the wealth of America

and the economic devastation of Haiti.

To Lisa, her voyage on the "Freedon"

was the chance of a lifetime, even though it meant leaving

her boyfriend of three years.

We had a long discussion the night

before she left that she had to make her own decisions in life,

that I couldn't follow her and take care of her

wherever she went.

Somewhere in the Caribbean Sea between Miami and Haiti,

Lisa Bishop and eight other people simply vanished.

Explanations ranged from pirates to smugglers,

even to an encounter with the so-called Bermuda Triangle.

This voyage into the unknown began with a chance encounter

with a dashing sea captain.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Atlanta, Georgia.

At a nightclub owned by her boyfriend, Paul Cornwell,

Lisa met a 28-year-old German national

named Florian Meyer-Bourch.

Florian was a modern day gypsy, a brilliant mechanic who

had briefly settled in Miami.

Florian had sailed throughout the Caribbean

and was a fixture of the European expatriate community.

Though Florian was outwardly charismatic and charming,

Lisa's parents felt appearances were deceiving.

When I first saw Florian's photograph,

just by looking at him I didn't think

that he was the type of person that Lisa

would have anything to do with.

Florian, from what I've learned about him, is a drifter

and he sponges off of people, freeloads.

Lisa, Christmas in the Caribbean-- think about it.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): A year after their first meeting,

Florian told Lisa of an upcoming voyage from Miami to Haiti.

Aware of her journalistic ambitions,

he invited her to accompany him.

Lisa, it's right at your fingertips.

Sounds wonderful.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Lisa bishop and Paul Cornwell

had had a stormy three-year relationship.

Paul was upset when Lisa told him that she planned

to sail to Haiti with Florian.

I didn't trust him with Lisa.

Of course I was concerned about Florian being a young guy.

And she tried to tell me there was nothing to worry about,

there was nothing romantic.

I tried to discourage her, as her parents tried

to discourage her from going because they

were concerned about it.

I expressed my feelings about it, that I didn't want

her to go away or anything.

And Lisa was a very headstrong girl when she made

up her mind to do something.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): On the morning of December 17, 1988,

the weather was cold, the water choppy.

Florian considered delaying the departure.

If we don't go now, I'm not going to be able to go at all.

I might as well just turn around and go home.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Minutes before they left,

Lisa spoke to her parents for what would be the last time.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): She said, don't worry, Daddy, said,

everything will be all right.

The last words I had with her was I

was still asking her not to go.

And then she talked to her mother.

I never talked to her again after that.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Tugboats

eased the "Freedon" through the Miami River

as it headed towards open sea.

What Lisa thought would be the adventure of a lifetime

was just the beginning.

But to those caught in the wake of the "Freedon's"

disappearance, it was the beginning of a nightmare.

The "Freedon's" planned route would take the ship 600 miles

past the coast of Cuba to Gonaives, a small port

on the western coast of Haiti.

Despite the fact that there were no storms

and no distress calls, the "Freedon"

apparently never arrived.

When Lisa didn't call him Christmas day,

her family became alarmed.

The relatives of the people onboard kept calling

us asking us for information.

We kept in touch with the port authorities

in the various ports in the mid-Caribbean area

and likewise down in Haiti.

We sent several Search and Rescue flights

by Falcon jet aircraft in the most commonly traveled area

of the [inaudible] Channel, which

is the area between the United States and Haiti.

Still, it was unsuccessful.

We even sent a telegram to the Cuban border

guards to ask them if they had any information on that vessel.

However, they had no information either.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Despite their sweep

of the Caribbean, the Coast Guard found

no trace of the "Freedon."

But Lisa's friends and family refused to give up the search.

Mrs. Bishop and I were the only people looking.

We felt we were the only people looking.

I mean, there were no governmental agencies

that would look at all.

We came to Miami hoping to maybe get

some answers from some of Florian's friends

or just find anything we could.

We we're desperate.

And we contacted the "New Times" and they sent a reporter out

by the name of David Nichol.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Miami, April 1989.

When an underwater salvager named Bob Nyberg read the "New

Times" article on the "Freedon," he

realized that he had seen the ship two weeks after it had

allegedly disappeared in a completely different

part of the Caribbean.

I remembered that while I was working

in Grand Cayman in January of that year,

there had been a boat came in.

We were working underwater directly in the harbor area

where the ships pulled up and tied up.

When I heard the ship coming in we came up and as I was coming

out of the water, we looked back and noticed the name was

"Freedon," F-R-E-E-D-O-N. And I made a statement to my friend

that those guys need their freedom,

they can't even spell the word.

They were there for some time that afternoon.

The next morning, the boat was gone.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Nyberg saw the "Freedon"

in Georgetown Harbor on Grand Cayman Island,

over 500 miles from Haiti.

Where it went after his sighting is unknown.

The fact that the ship was spotted, I feel like it did not

go down, that it brought me hope that Lisa was alive

and had to be held against her will in order for her

not to contact us.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): In May of 1989,

Paul Cornwell and Bob Nyberg went to Grand Cayman.

There they hoped to find more information

on the fate of the "Freedon."

We're looking for a German captain--

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): After canvassing the port,

they found a number of witnesses who claimed to have seen

Florian around the same time that Nyberg

had spotted the "Freedon."

Yeah, sure.

I've seen him around here.

What about this girl?

No.

Honestly, I can't recall seeing her.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Thought nobody

could remember having seen Lisa, an important clue did surface.

Apparently, Florian was not alone

during his mysterious sojourn on Grand Cayman.

Yeah.

He come with another fellow, short fellow with black hair.

He was with another guy.

Yeah.

PAUL CORNWELL: I couldn't help feeling that out he was right

around the corner, that I was going

to run across him at any minute in one of these bars

personally.

And so I was very apprehensive, very

agitated, ready for anything.

And it just made me look harder.

Hi, Paul.

How are you doing? - Good.

How are you doing? - OK.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Paul returned to Atlanta

and questioned a woman who had been storing

Florian's personal belongings.

In this one bag there's some letters

and pictures that I thought you might want to look through.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): There he

found a picture of the man seen with Florian in Grand Cayman.

The woman gave his name as Filipe.

Paul would later find out that Filipe

had chartered the "Freedon."

PAUL CORNWELL: The girl told me at that time that she had had

a personal relationship with this guy, Felipe,

and that he mentioned that he was involved

in a large-scale smuggling thing, which really got me

going thinking it was a smuggling thing

and that something had gone wrong

and that they had gotten involved in something

too deep that Lisa didn't know about

and that she couldn't handle.

I've heard they say that gunrunners or dope dealers that

hijacked it killed everybody on board

and used the ship one time to make a run or something.

I've heard about how the weather can change in a heartbeat

out there and a ship can go under.

And they claim that nothing will ever be found.

I've heard all the stories and all the rumors.

It's just a gnawing hurt that you have

that you don't know how she is, where she is or what.

But you've always got hope.

Well, the heartache will never go away.

Perhaps someone out in the audience

might be able to tell us the whereabouts of Florian

and that would be the key to finding Lisa

or what has happened to Lisa.

I feel that if Florian is out there,

eventually I'll find how to and I'll locate him.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Authorities

believe that Florian Meyer-Bourch is

the key to the mystery of the "Freedon."

He is 30 years old, six feet, two,

with blonde hair and blue eyes.

Known for his mechanical ability,

Bourch may be working in a related area.

Today Lisa bishop would be 25 years old.

She's five feet, two inches in height with blonde hair

and brown eyes.

Rumors persist that the "Freedon" dawn

with a telltale bent mast continues to roam the Caribbean

under a different name.

These are the only known picture of how the boat looked

before its disappearance.

Last November, we examined the case

of 25-year-old Maria Armstrong.

In 1984, Maria was diagnosed as suffering

from paranoid schizophrenia, a physical disease of the brain.

In June of 1988, Maria moved from her home in New Jersey

to Mesa, Arizona to live with her childhood

sweetheart, 29-year-old Robert "Ron" Argenti.

Argenti was aware of Maria's condition,

but felt that he could somehow help

her to overcome her illness.

We were concerned because we did hear that she

was in a mental institution and we knew

she was on drugs back east.

So we were kind of concerned about it.

But they were holding hands, kissing.

They were like a couple.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): For the first few weeks,

Maria seemed happy at Mesa.

She seemed to blossom under Ron's loving attention.

But Maria soon began behaving erratically

and she turned violent towards Ron.

Maria, calm down.

Leave me alone!

They told me about you. - OK.

All right.

I would talked to Ron on the fence

and I would tell him, send her home.

I don't want to do that, I want to help her, he would say.

I said, but you can't help.

Her it's obvious you can't help her.

She needs more than you to help her.

She needs psychiatric care.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): On November 14,

Ron Argenti's body was discovered in his living room.

He had been bludgeoned to death with a sledgehammer

while he slept on the couch.

Four days later, Maria Armstrong was seen hitchhiking 260

miles north of Mesa, Arizona.

This was the last reported sighting Maria Armstrong--

until our broadcast.

Maria Armstrong has been captured.

Shortly after this story aired, the FBI

received a call from one of our viewers

with information regarding Armstrong's whereabouts.

We received a telephone call from an unidentified caller

that Maria Armstrong had been living in the Memphis,

Tennessee area and that she was going to be at the airport

on August 3 of this year.

The FBI subsequently went to the airport

and were able to identify her and they

did place her under arrest.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Armstrong

had changed her appearance by dyeing her hair blonde.

Two weeks later, she was returned

to Arizona to face a charge of first degree murder.

Beverly Hills, California.

With an average yearly income of $75,000 per household,

this is one of the nation's wealthiest communities.

Its streets, stores, and sidewalks

are filled with glamorous people living their lives in luxury.

But there is another side to Beverly Hills.

As with so much of the nation, there is a growing population

of homeless who pass through and even

live on its affluent streets.

In the winter of 1989, at least one

of these homeless individuals found an unlikely benefactor

in 24-year-old Adam Hecht.

The son of an Academy Award-winning producer, Adam

was born into Beverly Hills luxury.

He spent his childhood in an insulated world

bordered by movie stars, mansions, and privilege.

After graduating from Beverly Hills High,

Adam earned his living giving tennis lessons.

All who knew him remembered a bright, independent,

and friendly young man.

All that began to change on the morning of January 10, 1989,

when Adam and his brother, Harold,

went to breakfast at a local delicatessen.

I couldn't believe it.

5-4, Gibson hit the homer.

Yeah.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): In front of the restaurant,

they encountered a street person apparently blind in one eye.

Double the orange juice.

Thanks.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): A few minutes

later, Adam left the table and went back outside.

Excuse me.

HAROLD HECHT: Adam said, excuse me.

He went outside and started this person.

And I could see through the blinds

and I couldn't understand it.

I was quite surprised.

I didn't understand what was his reason for going out there.

What was all that about?

HAROLD HECHT: Adam came back in, started talking.

I mentioned it briefly.

I said, what are you doing out there?

He said, nothing.

So we went on, had our breakfast.

When we finished, we left.

I went to my car.

Listen, I've got a 10 o'clock at Mulholland,

but I'll catch up with you later.

I'm going make a quick call, all right?

All right. Bye.

HAROLD HECHT: And just before I get in my car, I looked back

and he was talking to this person.

I was very surprised.

That was the first time we met what we know now is Tony.

There are things that you can't see.

Yeah.

Well, I feel like I should help you.

Within a few weeks of their first meeting,

Adam invited Tony to move into his apartment.

Through his new friend, Adam was exposed

to a lifestyle that was as far away from his experience

as night from day.

It seemed to strike a chord in Adam,

for according to his brother Harold,

he had become disillusioned with his pampered life.

His family fears that what started out

as a gesture of a good Samaritan may have

escalated into a nightmare.

Today, Adam Hecht is missing.

Tony, this is where my mom lives.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Soon after Tony moved in,

Adam brought his new roommate to his mother's house for dinner.

She was surprised that her son would shelter a street person.

I thought, my goodness, that's strange.

But knowing Adam, the way he is, I couldn't

understand it until I met Tony.

I really understood it.

I thought, oh my goodness.

It's so nice that he wants to help him.

Oh, what a surprise.

Who's this?

Mom, this is Tony.

Tony, this is my mother.

OK.

Pleased to need you.

Well, won't you come in?

MARTINE HECHT: When I saw Tony and how he talked

and my god, the smell--

it was unbelievable.

And wow, it was scary.

It was really scary.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): During the meal,

Tony began to wave his hands over his food

as if he were blessing it.

Adam, what's going on with him?

Mom, that's just the way Tony is.

It's hard to understand right at first,

but once you get to know him from the inside out,

he's really a fantastic guy.

Adam was very much wanting to talk about Tony

and they seemed to have a good relationship.

Adam seemed to understand Tony.

And I was led to believe that Tony was really

being very kind to Adam as far as helping him

grow up as a person, mature.

That's what he said to me, he's helping me mature as a person.

Adam, at the beginning he was an elite, preppy businessman--

drove a gray car, taught tennis.

And then he met Tony and I mean, it

just all changed and he became a mystical person and I just--

I didn't know him anymore.

Part of me was torn, because I felt

for what he was trying to do.

I mean, it was a very noble thing.

Hey, man.

How's it going?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): With Tony by his side,

Adam began to visit Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles

and often stayed out on the streets at night.

HAROLD HECHT: I know that when Adam sets his mind

to something, he really goes wholeheartedly

into any type of project.

Hey, Tony.

I got some food and stuff in the back of my car.

Maybe help me pass it out?

OK.

Cool, let's go.

HAROLD HECHT: His involvement with street people

increased him when he met Tony.

I think he started to understand their problems.

Let's get some food.

I'll make sure you guys get some.

All these things you have, Adam, it's not what counts.

What counts is society.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Tony and Adam

would also share in strange mystical rites

of Tony's devising.

In one of these rituals, Adam burned his hand severely.

You have to embrace the things that are inside of you.

All I know is that I saw it, I said, my god, Adam.

What happened to you?

He said, oh, I was testing a test of endurance.

He said, Tony told me we were experimenting to see

how it would make me stronger.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): June 10, 1989.

Harold had not heard from his brother for several days.

Concerned, he went to Adam's apartment.

Adam?

Oh, gosh.

Tony, is Adam here?

HAROLD HECHT: My brother was not there, his car was not there.

Have you seen him?

HAROLD HECHT: And I tried to get in.

I said, where is Adam?

I said, where's he gone?

And in his strange, strange way, he did not have the expression

or seem to really know.

I'm really worried.

Will you let me in?

Let me in!

It's really hot in here.

Let me in the door.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): A few days later, Adam's mother

also went to his apartment.

Adam?

MARTINE HECHT: As I'm walking back down the corridor,

he's following to me and he says, give us a kiss.

Give us a kiss.

MARTINE HECHT: He started to put his arms around me

and I was-- oh, it was the most scary thing.

What's wrong?

Are you afraid of me?

I just want to know where my son is-- where my son is.

Where is he?

I'm your son.

That's it.

I'm out of here.

I'm your son.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): On the advice

of a private investigator, the family

contacted the Beverly Hills Police,

filed a missing persons report, and began

to arrange for Tony's eviction.

Right up the stairs.

Why don't you stay right there for a second.

OK.

What I need you guys to do is go around the back

and watch for the second story.

We're looking at a big guy.

Just make sure he doesn't go around.

OK, partner.

I'm talking top of the stairs.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): On July 9,

the family, accompanied by the investigator,

stood by as Tony was forcibly evicted from Adam's apartment.

Come on out here.

Come on out here.

Keep your hands up behind your head.

- This is my friend's house. - Come on.

You know the routine. Come on.

Keep your hands down.

I want you to walk down to the bottom of the stairs.

You understand? - Yeah.

All right. Let's go.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): During the eviction,

Tony made no effort to avoid police.

Local detectives interviewed Tony and came to the conclusion

that he had not been involved in Adam's disappearance.

Tony claimed to have no knowledge of his whereabouts.

I can't to this day understand why they didn't interrogate him

more because he obviously knows much

more than what [inaudible].

I would love to have some sodium pentothal

or whatever they do and just trying to get a truth serum

and have him talk because I couldn't get

two sentences out of this man.

He was just so strange.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): One month

after Adam's disappearance, his car was found abandoned

on a Beverly Hills side street.

On the windshield were several parking tickets.

Inside, the keys were still in the ignition

and police found Adam's wallet, credit cards,

and $600 in cash and checks.

No other trace of him was found.

We wish we knew specifically what happened to Adam Hecht.

Apparently, he in the past occasionally

had gone away for a few days at a time but always had returned.

And whether he did this time and just decided not to return,

we don't know.

He had a very solid business, very active

with a number of different people on a number

of different levels.

For him just to disappear does not fit his character.

While there are some suspicious circumstances as

far as finding the car and finding his property

in the car, normally you'd take that with you

if you were going to leave, we have no real evidence

of any foul play or any criminal involvement

so we're not handling it as a crime,

strictly as a missing person case.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Does Tony

know more about Adam's disappearance

than he was telling?

Did someone from Adam's brief time on the street

decide to violently reappear, or did Adam

reject his former life of luxury and just lose

himself among the homeless?

We all want him back.

He wants so much for our family to understand his thoughts.

And what I would like him to know

is that it's very hard for someone like my mother

to listen to what he had to say and take it in because everyone

has limits to their understanding

and his was so vast, his spiritual knowledge,

that it was difficult for us to take it in.

What can I say?

I just love him and I just want him to come home.

I miss him with all my heart.

It's not a complete family without him.

And I would try to understand whatever he was thinking

and I would not be mad at him in any way.

I just want him to just come home

because he's truly loved by all of us and many other people,

too.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Adam Arthur

Hecht is five feet, 11 inches in height and weighs 160 pounds.

His eyes are hazel and his hair is black.

Today he would be 25 years old and maybe wearing a beard.

Adam also may still have a burn scar on his right hand.

Next, story of stolen Nazi treasure

allegedly buried in Austria near the end of World War II.

Today it could be worth over $50 million.

April, 1945, the final days of the Nazi empire.

Despite desperate measures taken by the defenders,

combined Allied forces closed in on the last pockets

of German resistance.

The end of the war in Europe was near.

As the Allies advanced into Germany,

they discovered treasures plundered

from the Nazis' former conquest carefully hidden

away in caves and vaults.

In the months following, the Germans surrender,

billions of dollars in riches were uncovered, including

these gold bars found in an abandoned

salt mine by US soldiers.

While the bulk of these stolen treasures was recovered,

billions of dollars still remain unaccounted for.

There was, of course, more shocking

evidence of Nazi barbarism--

Buchenwald, [inaudible], Dachau--

names that would come to symbolize

man's inhumanity to man.

And through the gates of Dachau, one multimillion dollar

Nazi treasure allegedly passed.

Tonight we will investigate the story of this treasure as

told to us by Dr. Edward Greger.

He is convinced it was buried on the shores

of a small Austrian lake in the spring of 1945,

where it remains today.

He'll uncover dramatic evidence that supports Dr. Greger's

story, a story first told by an Austrian physician

named Wilhelm Gross.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): After the war,

Dr. Gross had treated imprisoned Nazi war criminals.

An SS officer who had been condemned to death

told Gross of the location of the buried treasure.

In 1952, Dr. Gross shared the story

with Edward Greger, who is then a US Army

officer stationed in Austria.

It started at the concentration camp

at Dachau, gold and treasure that was accumulated

from the prisoners that had brought in there

who were executed and cremated.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The concentration camp of Dachau

has been preserved as a memorial.

This recreation was filmed there.

EDWARD GREGER (VOICEOVER: According to Dr. Gross,

the commandant of Dachau and three other suspects

loaded the treasure into four boxes

which were probably ammunition boxes, according to the size.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): These boxes

were filled with jewelry, rare stamps, and gold bars,

some that were processed from the gold fillings

of concentration camp victims.

Today their contents would be worth at least $50 million.

Dr. Gross' informant claimed to be one of four SS officers

who conspired to smuggle this treasure out of Dachau.

Their route allegedly took them from the outskirts of Munich

into Austria, through the Arlberg Pass

toward the small town of Brand.

Near Brand was a pristine mountain

lake called the Lunersee.

This lake, located on the Swiss border,

was their ultimate destination.

Allied armies had not yet reached

this isolated region and the men believed

their loot would be safe there.

After burying the treasure, the men planned to escape

across the Swiss border.

After several days, the men finally

arrived at the Lunersee.

The only structure in the area was a small hut.

Dr. Gross stated that the officers buried the treasure

exactly halfway between this hut and a brook across the lake.

[speaking german]

They then said their farewells and went their separate ways,

planning one day to return.

EDWARD GREGER (VOICEOVER: Three of them left

and headed into Switzerland.

The fourth person went back down into the valley

to return to his family.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): According to Dr. Gross,

this fourth officer was captured and while awaiting execution

revealed his secret.

The officer's three companions were never seen again.

Greger believed Dr. Gross's story

and agreed to help search for the treasure,

but before they could mount an extradition,

Dr. Gross mysteriously disappeared.

In 1956, a dam was constructed on the Lunersee

and submerged the treasure's alleged location

under 75 feet of water.

34 years passed.

In the summer of 1990, enough water

had been let out of the dam to return

the lake to its original depth.

This, coupled with a severe drought that brought the water

level to an all-time low.

Get your pick out of the way there and I'll go in there

and look.

It's not getting any stronger as we're going down deeper.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Armed with information culled

from Dr. Gross' personal papers, Edward Greger

finally went to the Lunersee.

It's already off a meter, though, so it's

as strong as it can be.

I think it's something in the rocks.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Greger and an associate pinpointed

the treasure's location by using coordinates from a map

given him by Dr. Gross.

But despite a thorough search, he was

unable to find the treasure.

Where is the Lunersee treasure?

Had the other three Nazi officers dug it up?

Edward Gregor feels this is unlikely.

By the time it would have been safe to return,

the treasure would have been submerged.

Or could Dr. Gross' story be just that, a story?

Documents brought to light in a 1946 war crimes trial

indicate that such a treasure did exist.

I had discovered some evidence in the archives, specifically

an interrogation statement from a gentleman

by the name of Joseph Jarolin.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Joseph Jarolin

was tried, convicted, and executed

for atrocities committed while he

was a subcommandant of Dachau.

According to his testimony and statements from four

other sources, the head commandant of Dachau

had been involved in a conspiracy

to smuggle a treasure from inside the camp.

This officer's name was Frederic Viter.

ROBERT V. KESTING: One witness said

that he saw Viter have the trucks

loaded, being loaded with valuables

out of the cash storage areas.

According to some other testimony,

Viter was seen leaving the camp in those vehicles.

Later on, he was also seen by other SS personnel

heading towards the Swiss border.

Also, Jarolin testified that other camp personnel had

assisted in burying this treasure

and that approximately $5 million in gold Reichsmarks

was taken in valuables.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Joseph Jarolin went to his grave

never revealing any more about the treasure.

Edward Greger believes that Jarolin was one of the four men

who buried the Lunersee treasure and perhaps he was Dr.

Gross' mysterious informant.

Today, if it exists, this multimillion dollar treasure

is underwater, and Edward Greger will return again

when the water level is lower.

He believes that if found, the proceeds of the Lunersee

treasure should be used to provide medical care

for needy individuals, a fitting use for wealth stolen

under such grim circumstances.

Next, the story of a bold prison break

and two unlikely lovers, an escaped conflict

and his female guard.

I'd like for her to come home and tell me why she did it

and to turn herself in because I don't want her to get hurt.

I do love her.

It's just I'm confused right now.

You have just heard the plea of Leslie Beeman a daughter

in anguish over the disappearance

of her mother, Kay.

Is Kay Beeman a victim or a criminal?

Leslie holds out hope that Kay is innocent, but no matter

what, she wants her mother to come home.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Kay Beeman was divorced

and her son and daughter were nearly grown.

For 10 years, she had worked as a matron and corrections

officer at the Allegheny County Detention Center

for Men and Women in Cumberland, Maryland.

August 29, 1990, just seven weeks ago.

Kay Beeman was on duty in the prison control center

with another female officer, Michele Puderbaugh.

Michele, I'll take this room.

Are you sure?

Yeah.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): At 2:12 AM,

Kay left the control center to conduct a routine check

of the cell block.

All inmates were behind bars except one

low security prisoner who was working in an adjacent room.

Everything seemed normal, but within minutes,

the calm of an uneventful night shift

would be dramatically turned upside-down.

Come on, lady. Come on.

What are you doing here?

I said come on!

Do you know how serious this is?

Do you know how serious I am?

I ain't got time to listen to this.

Lawrence is coming down with Beeman and he's got a weapon.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The escaped inmate was Edgar Kerns,

a maximum security prisoner.

If any one of you two try anything,

someone's getting hurt.

MICHELE PUDERBAUGH: I didn't know

what they were going to do.

I saw the bathroom door was standing ajar,

so I just darted out and ran.

At first I felt relief that I was at least for the moment

safe.

But then I was thinking, my god, what are you going to do here?

And they have Kay.

What are they going to do to her?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): It appeared

that Kay Beeman had been taken hostage by James

Barnes, Edgar Kerns' cellmate.

MICHELE PUDERBAUGH: I heard the buttons click and the controls,

and so on I thought, well, they're gone.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Two days later, Kay Beeman

telephoned her daughter, Leslie.

It was about a quarter after five in the morning

and she called collect.

And she told me she was all right

and that she loved me and she missed

me and not to worry about her, that she was all right.

And she told me, she goes, I went with them.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Three days after the breakout,

James Barnes was apprehended.

He told authorities that Kay Beeman's

car was used in the getaway.

He also claimed that Kay Beeman had helped plan the escape

because she was in love with Edgar Kerns.

Edgar Kerns had been convicted of theft and forgery

in West Virginia.

He was awaiting sentencing in Maryland

for passing bad checks.

James Barnes said that Kay Beeman

and Edgar Kerns had been romantically

involved for three months.

At the prison, the two had long, soulful conversations.

CRAIG ROBERTSON: Mr. Barnes told us

that she would spend sometimes half an hour,

40 minutes in the maximum security

area just talking to Kerns.

So there definitely was a relationship there.

Sleeping, as usual.

I guess you maybe fall in love with somebody

and you do some strange things.

But Kay's pretty well lost about everything

that she ever had over this one incident.

Once there was almost certainty in my mind

of what had happened, I just--

I felt so betrayed.

I felt-- I just couldn't believe she could do that.

I want to know why she did it and I'd like to have her home

so she can explain it to me.

She hurt me and I don't know how to feel about it or about her.

It just hurts a lot.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Sandra Kay

Beeman is 46 years old and five feet, three inches tall.

She weighs 170 pounds.

She has experience as a beautician

and may have changed her hairstyle and color.

Edgar Eugene Kerns is 30 years old and five feet,

nine inches tall.

He weighs 200 pounds.

His hair color and style may have been altered by Kay.

On his right forearm he has a tattoo of a panther and heart

tattoos on both biceps.

Update-- just six hours after our broadcast,

Sandra Kay Beeman and Edgar Kerns were captured in Canada.

On September 10, 12 days after the escape,

Beeman and Kerns checked into the Beach Motor Motel

in Hamilton, Canada.

They registered as husband and wife under the assumed names

Fred and Sandy Smith.

I was watching TV and all of a sudden, this lady's picture

come on.

So I called my wife in, she was out in the kitchen ironing,

and I said, do you recognize this lady?

And she said, yes.

She's the lady that's living in room 12.

And by this time, the gentleman come on.

And I said, uh-oh, he also lives in there.

So I reached over immediately and picked up the phone

and called the police.

When we got to the Beach Motor Hotel,

the information from the Mitchells was to the effect

that they hadn't left the room and it

wasn't their policy to leave the room during the evening.

We were convinced they were still inside the room.

The officers of the Emergency Response Unit,

which is equivalent to a SWAT team, forced the door open.

The room was found to be vacated.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): A witness later told authorities

that he had seen the fugitive couple getting into a taxi cab

earlier that evening.

We were able to determine the name of the cab

and a check with the cab company revealed the driver.

I picked them up the beach strip just up from the motel.

And I asked them where they were going

and they said the Red Rose Motel.

When we got to the motel where the cab driver said

he had taken them, one of our officers

was able to determine from the office register

at that location that they had, in fact, booked in

and that Kerns, in fact, used his right name.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): A few minutes later, the Emergency

Response Unit moved in.

MIKE HOLK: Three or four officers

from the Emergency Response Unit approached

the front door of the motel.

It was at that point that someone

from the inside of the room looked out through the drapes.

The officers then forced open the door, entered the room.

Kerns, he was forced to the floor of the motel room

and held in a position of safety.

The female in the room was in the bed

and her hands were handcuffed above her head

to the headboard.

At that point, both persons were then arrested.

Kerns was removed by my partner and myself

and transported to Central Station.

He wanted to know how we had learned of his whereabouts.

We asked him if he had ever seen the program before.

He said, yes he had.

We told him that he was on it tonight and he was astounded.

Join us next week for another edition

of "Unsolved Mysteries."

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