Original subtitles

ANNOUNCER: This program is about unsolved mysteries.

Whenever possible, the actual family members

and police officials have participated

in recreating the events.

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

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): January 27, 1973,

the signing of the Paris Peace Accords

marked the end of American involvement in Vietnam.

Just one week later, an Air Force spy plane

monitoring North Vietnamese tank movements

encountered heavy ground fire, and crashed in the jungle

with all hands on board.

Today, the families of two crewmen

believe their sons did not die, and that the end of the story

has not yet been written.

Paul Stamper was an energetic, successful, young businessman.

But when his wife walked out on him,

Stamper targeted her in a vengeful campaign

of abuse and violence.

Meet Josephine White, a human chameleon,

a charming con artist, a master of the pigeon drop.

For years, she has preyed on elderly victims

to the tune of more than $1 million.

We'll also bring you the touching update of a woman

who spent more than 40 years searching

for her long lost twin sister.

Join me for another edition of "Unsolved Mysteries."

[theme music]

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): 18 years ago, families

across the country were rejoicing as their husbands

and sons began coming home from the distant jungles

of Southeast Asia.

On January 27, 1973, the Paris Peace Accords

had been formally ratified.

There would be no more American involvement in Vietnam.

But for some families, the war would never end.

While other soldiers still stationed overseas

were writing joyful letters to their wives and girlfriends

back home, Air Force Sergeant Peter Cressman

was writing to his congressman.

SGT CRESSMAN (VOICEOVER): Dear sir, on January 27th,

I read the headlines which hailed the peace with honor

agreement, only to wake the next morning

to find my situation the same as the day before,

as though nothing had changed in Southeast Asia.

Feeling that I must have missed some of the small print

of the agreement, I again read it

and found that I had not overlooked anything

that was on the printed page.

It was then that I realized that I and others in my unit

were in violation of the agreement, which I consider

to be in order from the commander-in-chief

of the armed forces of the United States.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Sergeant Peter Cressman

was the youngest of three brothers

to serve during the Vietnam conflict.

He was an electronics expert who flew top secret reconnaissance

missions.

Every day since the ceasefire, his squadron

had continued to operate as if nothing had changed.

Last night, an NKP mission picked up

some short transmissions at 4130.

SGT CRESSMAN (VOICEOVER): I went to seek advice

at the base legal office.

There I was informed of the consequences

for refusing to carry out the orders, which I consider to be

illegal as well as immoral.

These consequences instilled in me

a fear which has caused me to abandon

any thoughts of refusing to obey these illegal orders.

There any questions?

OK, good luck.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): On February 4, 1973,

one week after the ceasefire, Peter Cressman and seven

other men boarded an EC47Q surveillance

plane, codenamed Baron 52.

[radio chatter]

1510.

1510, Check. .

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The electronics

experts, Cressman among them, were situated

in the rear of the plane.

1490?

1490, check.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The flight plan called for Baron 52

to proceed from Ubon Air Force Base in Thailand

into Laos, a neutral country which

borders Vietnam and Cambodia.

The assignment was to monitor a column

of North Vietnamese tanks which were moving into Cambodia

along the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

At 11:05 PM, Baron 52 departed.

2 and 1/2 hours later, reports came in that the plane was

receiving heavy ground fire.

Five minutes later, radio transmissions ceased.

Two days later, the wreckage of Baron 52

was located in the jungle deep inside Laos.

A rescue team recovered the remains of only the copilot.

Declared missing in action were Peter Cressman

and six other men, three officers

and three electronics experts, including

21-year-old Joseph Matejov.

While Matejov's father died in 1984,

his mother vividly remembers every detail.

Two military men, an officer and a sergeant,

came to the home to inform me that Joe was missing in action,

that his plane had been shot down,

but there was a possibility that some of the men

may have bailed out of the plane.

I felt a little feeling of relief

because he was missing and not killed.

I thought there was some chance that I might see him again.

It was 18 days later that they returned

and they informed us that none of the men

had gotten out of the plane.

There was no way.

They were not wearing parachutes.

the plane went down into a spin and none of the men

could possibly get out.

So they declared them all killed in action.

They said that they did see remains in the plane,

the plane had been burned.

So we believed 'em.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Peter Cressman's mother

had also received word that her son's

status had been changed from missing

in action to killed in action.

If my government said that he had been killed, that they all

had perished in the crash, then it

had to be true, because they wouldn't go around and tell

a family that this had happened unless they had positive proof.

OK

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Several weeks

later, the Air Force forwarded Peter

craftsman's Cressman's personal belongings to his parents.

They found the letter he had written but never

mailed to his congressman.

Peter's father passed away in 1989, but he and his other sons

had always questioned the status change from missing to killed.

The letter only served to heighten their suspicions.

They were declaring him dead, but there was no body.

And we understand that bodies can

burn up or disappear in combat, but in this case,

there was just nothing.

And because of the classification of the missions,

they never had anything to back up their position.

According to this, rescue team found one body

and there were no parachutes in the plane.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): For five frustrating years,

the Cressmans wrote various Air Force officials,

seeking specific details about Peter's case .

The Air Force response remained consistent.

Based on the condition of the wreckage

and the lack of a distress call, there

was simply not enough time for the flight crew to bail out.

The official report concluded that all members

of the crew of Baron 52 were killed in the crash.

[phone ringing]

Hello?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Then, in June of 1978,

the Cressmans received a surprising phone

call from an attorney with the National MIA Organization.

He said I really don't know how to tell you people this.

You're the first family I've contacted.

But there is evidence that I've seen that indicates

that at least four of the people on your brother's aircraft

not only survived the incident but were captured

by North Vietnamese forces.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The attorney

had learned of a report by investigative journalist Jack

Anderson.

Anderson claimed that US military intelligence

intercepted a North Vietnamese communique shortly

after Baron 52 went down.

In 1973, Terrell Minarcin was an air

defense analyst for the National Security Agency.

His job was to decipher intercepted

North Vietnamese messages.

We saw a specific North Vietnamese communique

requesting transportation for captured American bandit

pilots.

We felt at the time that these messages were seen,

that based on the logistics, based

on the lack of American activity due to the ceasefire,

that the only personnel who could have been captured

were the ones from Baron 52.

There was a good probability some of the crew members

had survived.

Parachutes were missing.

So they probably parachuted out.

And we knew that they had been captured, that they were

already in the hands of the Vietnamese

and into the prison system.

My husband, a military man, a career military man, we

were certainly dedicated to serving our country.

So it was hard for us to believe.

I telephoned my husband at work, and I told him what I heard,

and he immediately said that we would have to make arrangements

to go to the Pentagon to pull Joe's file out

and to study it ourselves to see just what had really happened.

Mr. and Mrs. Matejov, I have these two files for you.

Thank you.

I'll be back in a half hour to pick 'em up.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

When we went to the Pentagon, they showed us Joe's file.

They brought us into a little room

where we could sit together and study it.

And there in the file were copies of the radio intercepts.

Much of them were blacked out.

There was very little that we could read.

But we saw enough evidence in his file

to show that the government knew all along that these four

men had been captured.

My husband didn't want to be bitter,

but it was beginning to hurt him more and more.

I would hear him at night when he thought I was asleep,

and I could hear him sometimes cry.

And he would mutter "Joe."

I'd hear him talking out loud when he thought I was asleep.

No, it never got off of his mind.

He was very much hurt by the whole issue.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The Defense Intelligence Agency

does not deny the existence of a North Vietnamese communique.

However, the DIA claims the nationality

of the captured pilots was never specified.

Consequently, they determined that the prisoners

were not the crew members of the Baron 52.

Then, in 1986, Jerry Mooney, a retired intelligence analyst,

testified before Congress that Peter cressman

and Joseph Matejov were prisoners of war, but not

in Southeast Asia.

Incredibly, he claimed they had been transported

to the Soviet Union.

Terrell Minarcin agrees that the men could have

been transported to the USSR.

Special types of prisoners, prisoners

with special knowledge, special experience,

were being rounded up throughout the various prison of war camps

throughout North Vietnam and sent

to Hanoi to be turned over to the Russians for exploitation.

From that point, they were flown from Hanoi

across to northern route, which would be Northern

Laos, Northern Burma, down into India for refueling,

and then up to Moscow.

I had information stating that they had been

flown out to the Sokol area.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): There is no concrete evidence

of that POWs were transported to Russia

during the Vietnam conflict.

However, the Soviets have recently

pledged to search through their penal system

in the unlikely event that any Americans were ever

brought into their country.

One question continues to haunt the families.

If the government had knowledge that their sons had been

captured, why had their status been

changed to killed in action?

According to Mrs. Matejov, the answer could be

found at the Paris Peace Talks.

My husband made arrangements to meet with Dr. Roger

Shields, the Assistant Secretary of Defense

at the Paris Peace Talks.

Dr. Shields told us that he was ordered to cross off

the name of these four men from the EC47Q from a list,

a government list of known live captured Americans,

and write over them "killed in action."

This plane was flying after the peace treaty was signed,

therefore it was breaking the peace treaty.

It was a covert operation.

They were flying over Laos.

And at that time, we said we were not at war with Laos.

But we were having a secret war, and there

was secret bombing going on.

But we couldn't admit to that, so the only thing they could do

was just wipe these men out as if they never existed.

And that's what they did.

So he was actually killed on paper at the Paris Peace Talks.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Roger Shields

declined to appear on camera.

In a telephone conversation with "Unsolved Mysteries,"

he stated that he was never ordered to cross off the names.

In fact, he never had the authority

to make a status change.

However, he did acknowledge that Mrs. Matejov has

every reason on earth to wonder if her son might

still be alive.

A man who puts on a uniform to serve his country

should be brought back once he serves and brought

back to his loved ones.

So I like to speak out about that.

Make sure, whatever you do that, you never let this happen

again, God forbid this should ever be another war

and other men forgotten.

We didn't expect this kind of thing from the government,

to be perfectly honest.

I mean, and I had someone asked me once, well,

do you consider yourself patriotic?

As though the information that I was telling

them about made me unpatriotic.

Well, if something goes wrong in your family,

you do what you can to straighten it out.

You admit to what the problem is.

And obviously, I don't believe they've admitted to this day

what the problem is.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The Air Force and the Defense

Intelligence Agency continue to maintain that there is

absolutely no proof that any of the men aboard Baron 52

were captured.

The official report reads, "Following

the loss of Baron 52, none of its crew was ever seen alive.

And there is no intelligence whatsoever

which would indicate that any of the crew

survived the incident of loss."

For nearly 20 years, both the Air Force and the Defense

Department have stood by the classification

of Peter Cressman and Joseph Matejov as killed in action.

However, there was one odd footnote to this story.

At the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington DC,

seven of the crewmen were lost on Baron 52,

including Cressman and Matejov, are inexplicably

listed as missing in action.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): In the summer of 1924,

sharecropper Rufus Hinkle of Greeneville, Tennessee

was forced to make an agonizing decision.

Rufus' wife died after giving birth

to twin girls, Mary and Martha.

With little money and nine other mouths to feed,

Rufus felt he had no choice but to put

the twins up for adoption.

Within a few months, Mary and Martha were

adopted by separate families.

Rufus never saw his daughters again.

He passed away in 1950.

Later on, I heard that they would not tell us where they

were at until my father died.

So shortly after he died, we started looking for the twins,

and we found Mary.

Why don't you come over here.

In September of 1955, Shorty and Mary

were reunited at her home in Bluefield, West Virginia.

Great.

You know, Shorty, it's amazing how much she looks like Dalton.

I can't believe it.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): That afternoon, Mary

received a special surprise.

Mary, I've got some news for you.

You have a twin sister named Martha.

Really?

Really.

I just can't explain how I did feel, not knowing that I had

a twin sister, a part of me.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Unfortunately, little was

known of Martha's whereabouts.

Then, in 1986, Martha's niece, Jackie Reynolds,

learned that Martha had been taken in by the Meeks family

of Johnson City, Tennessee.

I've never found any trace of the Meeks whatsoever,

so I really don't know what happened to 'em from there.

I've often wondered if it's been good,

or if Martha's life has been bad.

You wonder about them things.

Shortly after our broadcast, one of our viewers,

Sandy [inaudible] of San Bernardino,

California, contacted the Hinkle family with surprising news.

During a search for her mother's biological family,

Sandy accidentally discovered the location of Martha

Hinkle's adoptive family.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Martha lived with John and Lyda Meeks

for three years.

When the couple divorced, Martha was

taken in by the Dan Jackson family

of Johnson County, Georgia.

In 1940, she married James Thomas,

and together, they had four sons.

Sadly, Martha passed away just weeks before the Hinkle

family could contact her.

I'm glad that I found her.

We won't have to do no more searching.

But it's so sad that I couldn't meet her,

that I couldn't be with her, just to talk to her for--

just for an hour or two and tell her that I loved her.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Although she never realized

her dream of meeting her twin sister,

Mary's 35 year search was not in vain.

On July 27, 1991, Martha's four sons

met Mary and a side of the family they had never known.

That day, in a bittersweet reunion,

two families came together as one.

We were part of the family before we ever walked

up and touched the one of 'em.

It was written all over their faces

when we saw all those smiles and tender hearts.

All the little fears, big fears, the apprehensions just left.

It was all over with.

Glad to be home with our family.

[inaudible] Walmart one hour photos.

I'm proud that she left four sons, left part of her

here for me to get together and know her through her sons.

But part of me is gone that I've never found,

and I never will find.

But she'll always be in my heart.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Next, police

are searching for a convicted felon who targeted

his ex-wife for violence.

November 23, 1985, Kingfisher, Oklahoma.

Nice meeting you.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): 23 Year old Teresa

Stamper left a small town with her new boyfriend,

Chris Butler.

The quiet evening was a pleasant change

for Teresa, who had just ended a marriage which was

marked by violence and abuse.

Unbeknownst to Teresa, her estranged husband,

Paul Stamper, was parked nearby, watching

her every move through a high powered telescope.

That night would be the culmination of a reign

of terror against his ex-wife.

Paul Stamper never accepted his wife's

decision to leave him.

For six months, he stalked her night and day,

waiting for just the right moment

to unleash his vengeance.

Teresa was constantly looking over her shoulder,

never knowing where or when her ex-husband would appear.

Paul Stamper had changed.

He was no longer the man Teresa fell in love

with five years earlier.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The booming oil business

in the early 1980s had lured Paul Stamper

to Kingfisher County, Oklahoma.

Stamper set up a lucrative oil equipment operation

and hired Teresa, then an impressionable 20-year-old,

as his secretary.

Paul was a real charmer, and I worked for him,

and he took me places, and we flew a lot of places.

It was different for me.

Hey, Teresa, honey, you been outside yet this morning?

It was on my birthday.

He called me about 7:00 in the morning.

And he said, have you been outside?

And I said, no.

So I looked outside, and went out there,

and there's this '82 red Corvette.

That's what he liked to do.

He liked to spend money and buy nice things.

So what do you think?

What's this?

Well now, looks like a Corvette.

This is for me?

Nothing but the best for my little girl.

It's gorgeous.

Come on.

Let's go for a ride.

We had fun.

He was really a lot of fun.

He asked me to marry him.

And I liked him.

He was nice.

He was good to me.

And I liked living like that.

It was fun.

And then we got married.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Teresa believed she was marrying

a dynamic young businessman.

In fact, Paul Stamper was a convicted felon

with a record for theft, assault, and fraud

stretching back to 1974.

Little bit of a problem here.

Whatcha got?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): More recently

his business practices had come under investigation

in Oklahoma.

We had unconfirmed reports that he went out and destroyed

some equipment on locations so that those same people would

call him the very next day and have him come out

and repair it.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Within six months,

the marriage became a living hell for Teresa.

You mind telling me where the hell you been?

I was at the grocery store getting dinner.

You've been gone for two hours!

Now who were you with?

Nobody.

TERESA (VOICEOVER): He started watching me,

and having people follow me, and he wouldn't

let me visit my friends.

And in one moment he would be nice,

and the next moment, he would hit me.

And I just didn't know how to handle him.

Don't I get everything for you?

Don't I get you a nice place to live and buy you nice things?

And you're just running around with--

Paul, this is crazy.

I don't--

You shut up!

TERESA (VOICEOVER): He was jealous.

And you had better be here when I get back.

I mean, we could be sitting at a red light,

and I could just turn and look at someone,

and it could be a guy sitting in this car,

and he would just double his fist up

and just hit me right in the mouth.

I mean it was just-- it was unreal to the abuse

that he did to me.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Stamper

was arrested and charged with assault

and battery against his wife on no less than five occasions.

Each time, the charges against him were inexplicably dropped.

Stamper bragged to Teresa that he

was paying off the authorities.

We had heard rumors that there was payoff attempts.

Whether it's true or not, I don't know.

We looked into a couple incidents.

We could absolutely find no basis for it.

But there was a lot of talk about it.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): By the second year of the marriage,

the violence reached a frightful climax.

On the evening of January 5, 1985,

a man slipped into the Stamper's home.

Teresa was out of town, and a friend was staying over.

Thankfully, the friend survived the attack

and called the police.

The woman later identified her assailant

as Gary Trout, a local mechanic who worked for Paul Stamper.

Gary Trout informed me that Paul Stamper had contacted him,

and Paul asked of Gary to kill his wife,

and was willing to pay $5,000 upfront, and then $5,000

to finish it.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Stamper

was arrested and charged as an accessory

to the attempted murder.

But when Gary Trout's case went to court,

he refused to finger his boss.

Once again, all charges against Stamper were dropped.

Meanwhile, Teresa moved in with her parents,

yet she never felt completely safe.

Stamper threatened her repeatedly.

And on the night of September 13, 1984,

he left a violent calling card.

I had went to the window, and looked out the window,

and there he was, just revving up the engine.

And he just let me see him, and let me know that he did it,

and then he just drove off.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Teresa reported

the incident to the sheriff's department,

but again, nothing was done.

Teresa remained separated from her husband for more than a

year.

Despite continuing harassment from Stamper,

she tried to put her life back together.

Then came the night of November 23, 1985.

That evening, Teresa and her new boyfriend, Chris Butler,

had left the dinner party at approximately 11:30 PM.

TERESA (VOICEOVER): We were just driving down the highway,

and we weren't speeding or anything.

And all of a sudden, these lights come on.

Looks like we got trouble.

TERESA (VOICEOVER): We thought it was a highway patrolman.

So Chris pulls over.

It's really late and no one was driving on the highway.

Paul?

Teresa, honey, get out of the car.

Hey, man.

She's not taking orders from you anymore.

Hey, you shut up.

What are you doing with my wife, anyway, huh?

I don't that's any of your business.

Paul, put down the gun.

Get out of the car now!

Paul, what are you doing?

No, Chris!

Oh my God.

Oh my God.

What are you doing?

Open the door or I'll shoot you through the window.

Come on! - OK.

TERESA (VOICEOVER): Finally, I was so scared that I just--

I unlocked the door.

And he just grabbed me around my neck,

and just forced me out of the car.

Chris had come too, and he had yelled, don't leave me

here, Teresa, don't leave me here.

And there wasn't anything I could do.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Sheriff's

deputies and paramedics were summoned by a passing motorist.

Chris Butler was in critical condition.

The bullet had punctured his heart,

pancreas, spleen, and lung, but miraculously he survived.

Paul Stamper held a gun to his ex-wife and headed north.

Two days later, they stopped at a restaurant

just outside of Topeka, Kansas.

Can I help you?

- Two coffees. - Is that it?

That's it.

Look, I gotta go to the bathroom.

TERESA (VOICEOVER): I was walking toward the restrooms,

and I looked around my shoulder to see if he was following me.

And he wasn't.

He was just sitting there with his back toward me.

And so I just took off running.

Teresa ran to the manager's office

and pleaded with him to call the police.

Yeah, could you send an officer by here?

I got a crazy lady--

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): By the time the authorities arrived,

Paul Stamper had vanished.

Five hours later, police caught up with Paul Stamper

as he boarded a bus in Salina, Kansas.

He was returned to Kingfisher County,

and held in the county jail to await trial.

Six months later, at 3:30 AM, a man

who had been offered $10,000 by Stamper

broke into the Kingfisher County Jail.

Don't try anything.

What do you want?

Open the cell.

Don't hurt me.

Shut it.

Shut up.

No!

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Paul Stamper escaped,

and has not been seen since.

I'd consider Paul Stamper extremely dangerous,

reason being, he's desperate.

Doesn't wanna be caught.

Knows he's looking at life from prison once caught.

And a desperate person will do desperate things.

He's out there, somewhere, watching me.

He knows what I do, and I don't think he knows where I live

now, but I just don't think it's right

that he should be out there maybe

doing it to somebody else.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Update.

Just minutes after this story aired,

the FBI received information from several of our viewers

that Paul Stamper was living in Commerce City,

a suburb of Denver, Colorado.

One phone call was very specific.

It had his alias.

It had his location, his address,

his employment, that he was driving a semi truck overland.

And that brought an immediate response from the Denver FBI

so that we moved out within the hour.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Just three hours

after our broadcast, Paul Stamper was

arrested as he left his home.

The fugitive had been living in the Denver area

under the assumed name Gary Wickle

for approximately four years.

This is one of the more efficient, cost effective,

speedy apprehensions that we've ever made.

For us to not have any idea early evening

that this individual is in the Denver area,

and by 11:30, he is captured, he's off the streets,

and he's on his way to Denver City Jail, that, I think,

may be close to a record for us.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Paul Stamper

was returned to Oklahoma and is currently

being held in the Kingfisher County Jail

while awaiting trial on charges of kidnapping

and attempted murder.

If convicted, Stamper could receive life in prison.

When we return, the saga of Josephine White,

a con woman with 1,000 faces.

April 26 1989, Norwood, Massachusetts.

An elderly woman is approached by a stranger who seems nervous

and agitated.

The elderly woman is a Lithuanian immigrant,

whom we'll call Barbara.

This seemingly chance encounter would change her life.

Here.

Right by that newspaper, I found this bag.

Let me show you what I found.

I found this.

I think there's about $70,000 in there.

What do you think we should do?

I says you better go to police to find out.

Oh, she says, no.

I don't go to police.

Maybe they take money and I don't want that.

Well, let me show you this.

I also found inside this note.

And look, look.

This is all it says.

It says, "Dear brother, we've done it again

this time at the racetrack.

I've enclosed the money and sent this way

to avoid paying income tax."

And then it's signed "Jose."

Excuse me, ladies, but is-- is there something wrong?

May I be of any help to you?

Well, um.

What is it?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Barbara

is a volunteer hospital worker, retired and living

on a small pension.

She is about to fall victim to one of the oldest tricks

in the book, the pigeon drop.

The wad of money she has been shown is worthless.

The woman is a con artist, the man her accomplice.

You know, my boss is like-- he's like a tax specialist.

I mean, he's a wizard with finances.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Barbara, an immigrant

with a limited command of English, confronted

with an amount of money she has never seen before,

is a perfect target for an acknowledged master

of the pigeon drop, Josephine White.

Since 1963, White has allegedly scammed more than 100

elderly women and men, all of them

living on small, fixed incomes.

Once I pinned down the person I was looking for was Josephine

White, I was surprised to see how many different appearances

that she had.

She changes like a chameleon.

She puts on weight.

She loses weight.

She was described in a number of different fashions.

And in addition to her own appearance changing,

she'll use wigs, sunglasses, quite a bit of jewelry.

And very often, this will grab a woman's attention away

from her actual physical appearance.

Why don't we just go talk to him?

I mean, he'll know what to do.

It is a good idea.

Come on.

It's a great idea.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Josephine White

and her accomplice are about to move into phase

two of the pigeon drop.

They persuade Barbara to go with them to get

advice from Josephine's boss.

You know, I don't know how I would

have gotten him into college if I hadn't met you people.

I mean, and then my wife.

Oh God.

What's wrong with her?

Well, she's got a cancer in her stomach or something.

Oh my God.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): To lure Barbara

further into their trap, the accomplice spins out

a poignant, hard luck story, emphasizing how

desperately he needs the money.

And God, this is the luckiest day of my life.

No, this is the luckiest day of all our lives.

This is great.

Yeah, it's so nice to meet such wonderful people.

Oh, you good man and you good lady too.

Yes, so are you.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): They arrive at an office building,

where Josephine claims her boss works.

Don't worry.

It'll be fine.

Are you sure?

Yes.

I don't know.

Maybe we should tell police.

Ma'am, don't worry about it, please.

We can't take it to the police, because we'll

never get the money back.

You know, and I need the money.

My wife is dying of cancer.

The police find Jose.

The older woman actually wants to do the right thing.

Now, again, the third party is only

reinforcing the idea that this is the best thing to do.

And even though the victim may make mention of backing

out of the situation, the third party

puts the pressure on them.

Don't worry about it.

Everything's gonna be all right.

So she has emotion playing on one side,

and pressure of the money being given to her on the other side.

She's really caught in a vise.

I told you everything was gonna Be OK.

This is what he said.

We can keep the money--

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Josephine White

tells them that her boss says they can legally

keep the money, $22,000 apiece.

But she claims that a $5,000 good faith deposit for income

tax purposes is required.

Do you have a credit card on you?

Oh no, I don't use those.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Phase three of the scam now begins--

convince Barbara to put up the $5,000.

Do you have a bank book on you?

Oh no, my bank home home.

Well, we'll stop off at your house and get it, OK?

OK.

Let's get going.

These people come along, and they talk so quickly,

and they offer you all kinds of grand schemes.

And the second person is jumping in as

soon as the first person stops.

So pretty soon the victim's head is spinning.

The idea of money, the idea of what

should we do with the money.

And pretty soon she's being directed.

She's having all her thoughts channeled by these two people,

who are actually manipulating her

and manipulating her thoughts.

Remember, by the end of the day,

you'll have the $5,000 back in the bank, plus $22,0000 more.

And you're sure you want to take it all?

Oh, I sure.

I sure.

All right.

What size bills do you want that in?

100S, please.

100s.

1, 2, 3--

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The $5,000 represents nearly all

of Barbara's savings.

7, 8, 9, 10, 1,000.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Josephine White returns

to the same office building.

I'll give him this.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): She tells Barbara she will

show the $5,000 to her boss.

A few minutes later, White returns and triggers

the final phase of the pigeon drop.

You can go in and get your money now, room 204.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Barbara's instructed

to meet with the boss herself.

We'll be right here waiting for you.

BARBARA (VOICEOVER): There was nobody there.

I just look around and then I come back again to the place

where they was parked.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Barbara

finds the parking lot empty.

Josephine White, the car, the man, and Barbra's $5,000

had vanished.

The scam has taken less than two hours.

At this point, the victim is devastated.

The victim doesn't know what to do.

They didn't know whether to cry, to collapse, to walk away.

They're just lost.

Their trust has been betrayed.

So what ends up happening is, they eventually walk around

and they go over, and they mull it over in their mind.

Geez, if I tell my family, they're going to think

I'm a stupid old woman.

If I tell my son, he may put me in a nursing home.

And all these terrible thoughts go through their mind

in conjunction with the embarrassment and the problems

of losing large sums of money.

I don't understand myself how I did that.

But I trust her.

She says you'll get this 5,000 back.

And you'll get or 22 more.

I trust.

That's why I did.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Josephine White

has bilked her victims out of nearly $1 million.

Just two weeks ago, she struck again in two

different Boston suburbs.

White sometimes uses the names Judith Hunt or Judith Campbell,

and operates primarily along the East Coast and in California.

On our next "Unsolved Mysteries,"

in Florida, a bright, energetic, young mother

suffered years of abuse at the hands of her brutish husband.

When she finally walked out, he decided to take revenge.

In 1969, a lonely young boy found

friendship and understanding with the help

of Big Brothers of America.

Now he goes to find the man who turned his life around.

Join me next time.

Perhaps you may be able to help solve a mystery.

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