Original subtitles

[chime]

SHOW 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.

[chimes]

ROBERT STACK: Televangelist Pat Robertson's

outspoken opinions have often made

him the target of criticism.

But in 1990, Robertson was targeted for violence

delivered through the mail.

Authorities believe the bomber has struck before

and fear that he will strike again.

As a teenager, Cathy Williams suffered

years of physical and emotional abuse inflicted

by her stepfather, a policeman.

When Cathy went to the authorities,

she found herself victimized again and unjustly

committed to reform school.

In July of 1990, Beverly McGowan of Boca Raton, Florida

placed an ad for a roommate, which

was answered by a mysterious woman known only as Alice.

One week later, Beverley's mutilated body

was found in a drainage canal 100 miles away.

For every mystery, there is someone,

somewhere who knows the truth.

Perhaps that someone is watching.

Perhaps it's you.

Join me.

[theme music]

That's why this thing is so important.

They are one flesh.

God said, I hate divorce.

Televangelist Pat Robertson's daily broadcast

over CBN, the Christian Broadcasting Network,

is seen in nearly a million households nationwide.

But his outspoken stance on controversial issues

has often made him the target of a hate mail and death threats.

Of what this does to society.

Robertson's broadcasts originate

from his 693 acre headquarters in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

Each day more than 6,000 letters and parcels

pour into the CBN mail room, most of them donations

from devoted viewers.

Because of the controversy generated by Robertson's

opinions, any package which appears even mildly suspicious

is run through an x-ray machine.

[keys clanking on desk]

ROBERT STACK: On April 27, 1990, Scott Scheepers, a CBN security

guard, was called to the mail room

to check a package addressed personally to Pat Robertson.

No one else was in the area at the time.

[music playing]

When I looked at the package on the monitor of the x-ray

machine, I didn't see anything that was-- that

led me to believe that it was--

there was a problem or it was really suspicious.

[intense music]

ROBERT STACK: Scheepers remained on guard

and decided to check the contents of the package.

He was baffled by several strips of newspapers

sticking out of the box.

[spooky music]

SCOTT SCHEEPERS: I was still somewhat skeptical about it.

So I--I stepped away from the box as far as I could get

and took my left hand and extended it out

and grabbed the lid of the box.

[explosion]

I was immediately knocked to the floor.

I had severe pain in the upper part

of my left leg and my abdomen over to my right leg.

I made the determination that this was it,

you know, it's either lay here and possibly

die or get up and get help.

And so that's when I made the determination

to help myself and pick myself up off the floor

and try to get to the front of the building.

[police radio]

ROBERT STACK: Scheepers was rushed to a nearby hospital

where he underwent emergency surgery to remove the shrapnel

embedded in his leg.

[police radio]

SCOTT SCHEEPERS: I'm very fortunate.

The trauma room doctor said if I would have been holding

the package and I had the same size hole in my chest

that I have in my leg, I might not even have

made it out of the room itself.

So ah-- I consider myself very, very fortunate that it

wasn't any worse that it was.

[siren]

[music playing]

ROBERT STACK: Postal inspectors and agents

from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms

determined that the package contained a homemade pipe bomb.

They quickly linked the bomb to an earlier

attack aimed at another televangelist in Texas.

PASTOR JOHN OSTEEN: This man Jesus--

ROBERT STACK: In 1960, Pastor John Osteen founded

the Lakewood Church in Houston.

PASTOR JOHN OSTEEN: Behold the lamb of God.

ROBERT STACK: With 8,200 seats, Lakewood is one of the largest

churches in America.

Peter, who is this?

He said to Jesus, thou are the Christ,

the son of the living God.

ROBERT STACK: Like Robertson, Pastor Osteen uses television

to spread the gospel.

But unlike Robertson, he does not

ask for donations on the air.

Mark, chapter 5, Who is this, you demons?

Speak.

ROBERT STACK: The Lakewood Church

is a family run organization.

Osteen's wife Dodie serves as co-pastor.

And we're so glad you joined us here at the Oasis

ROBERT STACK: And four of the six children

are involved in church activities.

And by television.

Amen.

And everybody said Amen.

ROBERT STACK: On January 30, 1990,

three months before the CBN bombing, Osteen's daughter Lisa

arrived in her office to open the day's mail.

LISA COMES: I noticed a box.

And I picked it up.

And it was very heavy.

It was a little unusual and different.

[spooky music]

LISA COMES: I felt like it was safe to open the package.

Because I-- I open a a lot of packages

as we've never had any problems.

And this looked like an ordinary package.

It had a label addressed to my dad, type written to my dad.

And then it had a return address.

And you know you don't-- you're not really

suspicious of things like that.

[intense music]

LISA COMES: It was just a cardboard box.

And it had one piece of tape on it.

[intense music]

[explosion]

When I opened the package, I remember this great explosion.

And it shook my body.

And I--I didn't lose consciousness.

But there was a time ah--

I opened the box when I was sitting down.

And really the next thing I remember

is I was standing about five feet away from my chair.

And I was very shaken as if I had an electrical shock.

I'll never forget that feeling .

ROBERT STACK: Lisa had been the victim of a pipe

bomb wrapped in newspaper.

She suffered third degree burns and lacerations

on her right leg and abdomen.

She recovered from her injuries and just four weeks

later returned to the pulpit.

I said I'm alive and well. Thank God.

[crowd shouting amen]

Thank God.

The box that was used to--

to mail this-- this device was a box used by home--

home sales distributors for the distribution of candles.

And there was some printed material

on the outside of the box, which had

been scratched out with the word burgundy written on the box.

We found that both of these packages

were mailed from small towns near Fayetteville, North

Carolina.

Go ahead and get those two other items.

The National Center for the Analysis

of Violent Crimes researched all the evidence

and both the bombing cases.

PAT ROBERTSON: Refuses to accompany near her husband

to a--

KENNETH L. WEAVER: They said number one,

that this individual responsible for the bombings

had some type of stress or turmoil

in his life at the time of the bombings.

Secondly, they felt that anyone around or in the presence of

the bomber would have known a--

a in this person's behavior.

LISA COMES: If I could talk to the man that sent the bomb

to me, I think I would just say that I wish you would give

yourself up and receive help.

Because you know I was just an innocent victim you sent

that bomb to me you hurt me I have scars on my body

you could have killed me and it's not

right for an innocent victim for that

to happen to an innocent victim

I would like to see him caught.

I don't have any real tremendous amount of hate or animosity

for him.

Ah-- He needs help.

He's hurt several people.

And ah-- Id like to see him taken off the street, you know,

before he kills somebody el-- or kills somebody.

ROBERT STACK: These two composites depict the men

who were seen mailing the bomb.

The drawings were made three months apart by two

different police artists.

But authorities are convinced they

portray the same individual.

He is described as a neatly dressed

white male with brown hair.

He is between 28 and 35 years old,

about 5 feet 11 inches tall with average build.

He weighs between 160 and 175 pounds.

The bombs were mailed from Bladenboro and Elizabethtown,

North Carolina.

Both are small towns within 25 miles of Fayetteville.

Fortunately, there have been no other incidents

since the CBN bombing in 1990.

However, authorities fear the bomber may strike again

[music playing]

ROBERT STACK: Next, a young mother convicted of murder

wins her final appeal.

[chime]

[theme music]

Tonight a very special update.

Thanks, in part to our broadcast,

a young mother unjustly accused of murdering her child

has been freed.

July 9, 1989, St. Louis, Missouri, Patty Stallings

rushed her critically ill son to the hospital.

Ryan Stallings was three months old.

And since birth, he had suffered from chronic gastric distress.

But this day, the diagnosis was shocking.

Ryan had apparently been poisoned with ethylene glycol,

a substance found in antifreeze.

Just have to ask you a few questions if you

could come in for a moment.

Sure.

ROBERT STACK: Police were called to the hospital

to interrogate Ryan's parents.

PATTY STALLINGS: We were split up and talked to by detectives.

They were saying that they knew that that baby had

been poisoned by either me or my husband.

And I-- I was just--

I was devastated.

I was blown away.

I just could not believe that they could even think--I

mean Ryan was my world.

[talking and baby cooing]

ROBERT STACK: While the investigation was in progress,

Patty and David Stallings' contact with Ryan

was restricted to a one-hour visit each week.

During the sixth visit, Patty was left alone

with Ryan for a short time.

Four days later, Ryan would suffer another severe attack

of vomiting.

The diagnosis, again, was poisoning.

After just 72 hours, Ryan Stallings died.

[music playing]

ROBERT STACK: On September 17, 1989

Patty Stallings, who did not yet know she was pregnant again,

was charged with first degree murder and held without bail.

She was not allowed to attend her son's funeral.

[doors slamming]

ROBERT STACK: On February 27, 1990,

while Patty was in jail awaiting trial, her second son D.J.

was born.

When D.J. Was two weeks old, he began

to exhibit symptoms identical to the ones that

had plagued his brother Ryan.

This time, the ailment was diagnosed

as a rare genetic disorder, methylmalonic acidemia, or MMA.

It's symptoms are often confused with ethylene glycol poisoning.

Despite D.J.'s diagnosis, Patty Stallings

was convicted and sentenced to life in prison

for the murder of his son Ryan.

D.J. was placed in the custody of the state.

And Patty was allowed to see him only three times.

PATTY STALLINGS: I've lost one child to MMA.

My second child is stricken with MMA and may not live.

He's a year old now.

And they're still not sure how to treat him.

I lost my freedom.

I've lost everything.

On the night this story aired, calls from physicians

familiar with MMA poured into our telecenter.

Patty Stallings' new attorneys petitioned the court

to grant her another trial based on the fact

that she had previously received ineffectual counsel.

On July 30, 1991 Patty Stallings was granted a new trial

and released from prison.

PATTY STALLINGS: After the Unsolved Mysteries aired,

people were writing and calling and just wanted

to know, how can we help.

And I can't thank those people enough.

Because, I mean, through all of that,

wheels started turning and everything just start

pushing forward really fast.

Along with Ryan's remaining serum sample--

ROBERT STACK: On September 20, 1991

a press conference was held in St. Louis.

Dr. Piero Rinaldo of Yale University

revealed that independent serum tests showed Ryan's Stallings

had definitely died of MMA.

Consequently, the prosecuting attorney dropped all charges

against Patty Stallings.

Unfortunately, we can't undo the suffering

that the Stallings have endured during this entire ordeal.

And I apologize to them both personally

and for the state of Missouri.

ROBERT STACK: During the press conference,

Patty and David heard for the first time

that custody of their son D.J. Had been returned to them.

[music playing]

ROBERT STACK: In October of 1991,

just over two years after his brother's

death, D.J. Came home for the first time.

I just want to make up for the year and a half

that we didn't have him. and it's

hard to make up that much time.

But I'm doing the best I can.

Beep, beep.

PATTY STALLINGS: His condition is very scary.

But we've tackled so many hard things that, you know.

we've just kind of said, well, we'll beat this too.

And with that attitude, I know that D.J. Will do all right

and that we'll do OK.

He is a miracle child.

And we're lucky to have D.J. And we have our whole life back.

It's like we're starting over.

It's indescribably wonderful.

[theme music]

We have all met people who have made

lasting impressions upon us.

Sometimes they are total strangers

that pass through our lives without ever knowing

they have made a difference.

In the early 1960s, a young girl named

Cathy Williams lived in a horrifying world of

emotional and physical abuse.

But when all seemed lost, a man she had never met before

and has never seen since helped change her life forever.

[CHILDREN SINGING MISS MARY MACK]

ROBERT STACK: July 1961, the streets of Chicago's south side

echo with the carefree laughter of children.

But far removed from the delightful sounds of summer,

a hidden crime has been committed.

[CHILDREN SINGING MISS MARY MACK]

ROBERT STACK: One young girl has been stripped of her innocence.

The night before, 14-year-old Cathy Williams

was forced to participate in a drunken party

and then fell prey to the abusive sexual advances

of her stepfather, Clifford Starks.

CATHY WILLIAMS: I awoke in the middle of Clifford's bed

with Clifford actually laying almost on top of me.

He was naked.

I was totally naked.

I remembered his hands being all over my breasts.

Well, I knew that that was wrong.

And I didn't know what else had happened I. Couldn't remember.

And so that scared me, too.

So--and that's why I took off--

I wrote the letter.

And I thought that would be the end of it in a child's mind.

I'm thinking, well, you know this

will take care of everything. I can get out of here.

I'll be safe.

ROBERT STACK: The events of the previous evening

were the culmination of months of horror for Cathy Williams.

She felt she had no choice but to run away.

[music playing]

ROBERT STACK: But with nowhere to go,

Cathy was soon picked up off the streets by her stepfather.

She was beaten and held prisoner in a relative's

apartment locked into a small room for more than a week.

CATHY WILLIAMS: Let me out.

ROBERT STACK: Cathy Williams was trapped in a horrible

and all too familiar tragedy.

Compounding her dilemma was the fact

that her stepfather was a respected

detective in the Chicago Police Department.

In desperation, Cathy reluctantly went to the police.

[music playing and crying]

POLICE WOMAN: What is your name?

CATHY WILLIAMS: I don't know.

POLICE WOMAN: Where do you live?

ROBERT STACK: Cathy devised an elaborate scheme in which

she pretended to have amnesia.

If all went at planned, her stepfather

would never learn of her visit.

And Cathy would be sent somewhere else to live.

CATHY WILLIAMS: So we just had to put her down as a Jane Doe.

And I'm thinking, God, good.

They'll put-- take me someplace.

Because anything was better than going back to that hell

hole that I had run away from.

Are you having problems at home?

Well, if you are having problems at home,

running away is not going to solve them.

Do you have brothers and sisters?

If you have brothers and sisters and you are having problems,

they could be going through the same thing

you are going through.

So help me help you.

ROBERT STACK: Finally, Cathy decided to tell the truth

and hope for the best.

My stepfather has been molesting me.

And she said, you poor child.

She said, we'll do anything everything we can to help you.

Everybody was empathetic.

But for some reason, I felt like, this is the police.

Maybe they really could help me.

And I felt that I had two younger sisters there that they

didn't need to be there.

And the same thing could happen to them.

Because I hadn't thought about that.

ROBERT STACK: Cathy's optimism was quickly shattered.

Just as she had feared, her stepfather was notified.

DET.

CLIFFORD STARKS: Sergeant.

Detective Clifford Starks.

What brings you to the seventh?

I've come to pick up my daughter.

Your daughter?

What's she doing here?

Cathy Williams.

Get her down here.

CATHY WILLIAMS: One Clifford came down to the police station

and flipped out his badge, that was the end of me.

Cathy Williams.

She's Detective Clifford Stark's daughter.

And he's come to take her home.

CATHY WILLIAMS: He became omnipotent.

And I became a pile of nothing.

She doesn't want to go home with you.

If she doesn't want to go home with m, then lock her up.

CATHY WILLIAMS: I knew if I went home with him, I was dead meat.

Lock her up, officer. CATHY WILLIAMS: And I refused.

And upon refusal to go home with him,

I was then shackled with handcuffs

and thrown into the back of a paddy wagon

like a common criminal and taken off to the county jail.

ROBERT STACK: Cathy says that she

was labeled incorrigible according

to existing Illinois state law.

She spent one night in jail and was then remanded to a city

home for delinquent minors.

[music playing]

Maisy, I'm so scared.

I don't want to go there by myself.

ROBERT STACK: Four months later, Cathy appeared at a hearing

in juvenile court.

It's never all right for me.

ROBERT STACK: Many of her closest friends

from the neighborhood gathered prepared to testify

on her behalf.

Cathy Williams?

Would you come with me please?

I'm sorry.

This is a juvenile court proceeding

and is limited to the immediate members of the family.

You'll have to wait out here.

[all talking at once]

JUDGE: Cathy Williams?

Yes, sir, Your Honor.

JUDGE: Please take a seat.

ROBERT STACK: Cathy remembers that as the proceedings began,

it was discovered that her case file

had conveniently disappeared.

JUDGE: Counselor.

ROBERT STACK: The file contained affidavits

supporting her allegations of sexual abuse.

Once again, it seemed that Clifford

Starks had stacked the deck against his stepdaughter.

We seem to have a blank file here.

Your honor, this is Detective Sergeant Starks.

This is Cathy's father.

CATHY WILLIAMS: The judge's decision was based solely

upon the testimony of Clifford Starks that day,

that moment in the courtroom.

She stays out late at night, if she comes home at all.

She runs with a bad group of kids.

CATHY WILLIAMS: Clifford told them

that they had had all kinds of trouble with me,

and that I was quote, unquote, an incorrigible

runaway teenager, prostitute.

And, in fact, said I was into drugs.

JUDGE: Ms. Williams, please rise.

It's the order of this court that you be confined

to the Illinois State Training School For Girls at Geneva

until your 18th birthday.

CATHY WILLIAMS: My feelings were that it was end of the world.

[gavel snaps]

I was-- i--

I didn't know I could feel that kind of pain or that--

that much hurt.

Each time you think it's bad, you just think it just couldn't

get worse. but it gets worse.

And when you look over at your family and friends,

it's like, now it's-- it's proven that I'm wrong.

You know, obviously this wouldn't

have happened if I wasn't bad.

And maybe I did deserve this.

[all talking at once]

CATHY WILLIAMS: You're hurting arms.

You're hurting my arms.

ROBERT STACK: Cathy was placed in the custody

of a Cook County Deputy Sheriff to be

transported to reform school.

She had no idea that this ride would become

a remarkable turn of fortune.

Girl, we've been through this a lot, ain't we?

CATHY WILLIAMS: When they put me in the back

of that paddy wagon, I just started to boo hooing.

I just go to--

It dawned on me then, nobody knows where I'm going.

I don't know where I'm going.

You know, this is-- this has to be hell.

I didn't do anything wrong.

GIRL INMATE: She sure didn't.

Yea, I heard that story before.

GIRL INMATE: Does she look like she did anything?

ROBERT STACK: Alone and scared to death,

Cathy began to blurt out her story to the deputy.

I'm here because my stepfather was messing with me.

Your stepfather?

Yes, he was messing with me.

Messing with you how?

Touching me the way a man touches a woman.

ROBERT STACK: By the time they arrived at the reform school,

the deputy was convinced that the system

had made a terrible mistake.

Cathy was obviously being punished for being a victim.

The deputy risked his own job by offering to help.

I thought about what you said and the way

you said it makes me believe.

And I'd like to check it out for you.

Who was that you said you wanted me to call?

Ah--

I didn't know if I could believe him

and that he could help me.

I had believed everybody else.

And I still was on my way to Geneva.

So, so--but something in my heart wanted me to believe him.

And it was something kind in his eyes.

I saw in in that mirror.

And I thought maybe he would be the one

that could do something. I didn't know.

I just didn't have any idea.

John Toomey.

Nice to see you.

Won't you have a seat.

ROBERT STACK: The unknown deputy was true to his word.

How they treating you down there?

ROBERT STACK: Seven weeks later Cathy

was taken to the state building in downtown Chicago

for an interview with a social worker.

Look, Cathy, I can't make you any promises.

But we're going to try and help you.

Now, when you took that paddy wagon ride down to Geneva,

you talked to the sheriff who was driving didn't you?

You gave him some names?

I don't know what you said to him.

But whatever it was, it must have been pretty convincing.

He came over here and he talked to me, and ah--

ROBERT STACK: The deputy had contacted Cathy's friends

and put them in touch with the proper authorities.

- You talked to Mother Gordon? - Yea, I did.

ROBERT STACK: Some had even signed

affidavits corroborating Cathy's accusations

against her stepfather.

Look, from everything we've been able to find out,

it looks like you're in the wrong place.

You got a raw deal.

CATHY WILLIAMS: He says it looks to me like you were railroaded.

He said according to everything I have in front of me,

you were.

He says so I want you to go back there, keep your nose clean.

Stay out of trouble.

And we'll be back in touch.

And I thanked him but knowing that, th-- hey,

this is just another bubble.

And it was going to pop and float on off

into the sunset like the rest.

ROBERT STACK: But this time the system worked.

Two weeks later, Cathy Williams was

released from the reformatory.

Ultimately, she was declared an emancipated minor

and went to live with friends in the neighborhood.

CATHY WILLIAMS: It was just, like New Year's, you know,

counting down for the clock.

You know, it was just a very happy, happy time.

Because I was finally getting to go home with my new mother

and father and my new sisters.

So it was a joyous occasion.

[talking at once]

ROBERT STACK: Cathy Williams was fortunate.

She flourished in her new family AND

started a church group, which offers

counseling to abuse children.

But Cathy has never forgotten the unknown deputy

who lent a helping hand when no one else would.

Makes me believe what your saying.

And I'd like to--

CATHY WILLIAMS: Every girl, I guess, in the fairy

tales wants the prince on a-- on a horse or a knight in shining

armor.

And he'd be my knight in the paddy wagon.

And in I-- if I could find him, I just

want to say to him that many people reach out for help

and many are refused help.

But because of the fact that I reached out to him

and he acknowledged me and gave me the help that I needed,

he gave me my life.

He gave not only my life, my--

I have a healthy son who's here.

I've touched other people's lives in many ways .

And if it had not been for him, none of that

would have happened.

[soft music]

[theme update music]

ROBERT STACK: When we return, the bizarre disappearance

of a woman in Florida culminates in murder.

[theme music]

ROBERT STACK: On Thursday, July 19, 1990, Jane McGowan of Boca

Raton, Florida received a disturbing letter from

her 34-year-old sister Beverly.

The handwritten note had been postmarked a day earlier.

BEVERLY MCGOWAN: I've got to make

some major changes in my life.

I quit my job, sold the condo and furniture,

and I'm leaving for a while.

ROBERT STACK: The following day, Jane

and Beverly's brother Steve received

a similar letter from Beverly.

Something bothered me.

Because that's not the type of person that-- that Bev was.

She was not the kind of person, after spending all her money

to try to get that condo and try to, you know,

land a job at the bank, which she seemed to be happy with.

It was not her nature to just give ou--

give up on everything and just walk away from it.

That That evening Steve and Jane went to Beverly's condo.

Bev?

ROBERT STACK: Her car was gone.

Her phone had been disconnected.

And she had not been seen at work for two days.

Bev?

STEVE MCGOWAN: There was her nightgown

laying next to the bed.

An-- the bed wasn't made.

I mean, it just looked like, you know,

she'd gone out for the day and had every intention

of coming back that night.

ROBERT STACK: It appeared as if Beverly had, indeed, decided

just to go off and start over.

All she took with her were her two

cats, her address book, birth certificate, and passport.

[music playing]

Steve and Jane McGowan were completely baffled

by their sister's sudden decision

to walk away from her family and her life.

The day after she was last seen, Beverly sent a telegram

to her mortgage company authorizing

them to foreclose on her condo and dispose

of her personal belongings.

In several letters to family and friends,

Beverly offered no explanations.

To her brother Steve, she wrote simply,

I just want to say goodbye to you and the kids

and let you know that what I'm doing is the right thing.

[music playing]

STEVE MCGOWAN: The type of person that Bev was, she

had two different sides to her.

Her first side was her private side,

which I know she enjoyed her privacy a tremendous amount.

Her second side was the side that she

showed when she was with myself, my sister, and my--

and my family.

And I that was just a fun loving person, just somebody

that was out to enjoy themselves as much as they possibly could.

[music playing]

ROBERT STACK: In 1987, Beverly McGowan

began a promising career in the loan department

of a Fort Lauderdale bank.

Within two years, she was able to purchase a modest condo

in nearby Pompano Beach.

The week before her disappearance,

Beverly began advertising for a roommate.

CINDY SABOURIN: Bev came in one morning

and said that she had advertised for a roommate

and that this woman, Alice, was going

to be moving in in approximately,

I think, it was the following Friday.

And she just thought this woman was incredibly nice.

It was going to be great - Oh.

CINDY SABOURIN: They clicked.

That's the way she felt.

Now, as I was explaining to you,

your life path number is your birth date.

ROBERT STACK: Beverly told Cindy that Alice was English.

She drove a nice car and seemed to be

a successful career woman.

Moreover, she and Beverly shared a common interest

in the New Age Movement, especially numerology.

Your personal year number is four.

That shows that you are at a crossroads in your life.

CINDY SABOURIN: She had asked Bev for some numbers

that pertained to her life so that she

could do a chart for her.

Must make significant--

CINDY SABOURIN: And Bev gave her some numbers, not anything real

serious, not real personal.

And she did an initial chart.

And then came back and said, I need more information

at which point Bev volunteered her passport numbers, numbers

on her birth certificate.

Well, the first adjustment I see is a long trip.

ROBERT STACK: Apparently Alice told Beverly

that she would find true romance and accumulate great wealth.

ALICE: And you'll be doing a lot of travelling.

ROBERT STACK: But she did predict

a dark cloud on the horizon.

But there is a gray area that I must tell you about, Beverly.

It involves a couple, a man and a woman.

They are related.

But I don't know if they're married.

They're very close to you.

And they're going to deceive you.

They're going to hurt you.

How?

ALICE: I don't know how.

I just know they've been close to you.

And you need to be aware of it.

ROBERT STACK: Thursday, July 19th, two days after Beverly

was last seen at 5:30 p.m.

The mutilated body of a woman was

found at the edge of a drainage canal in St. Lucie County

100 miles from Pompano Beach.

[loons calling]

[policeman talking]

ROBERT STACK: The victim's head had been crudely decapitated.

Only a portion of the lower jaw and five teeth remained.

Her hands had been severed.

Her throat slit.

And part of her abdomen cut away apparently to remove a tattoo.

LT. ROBERT MILLER: We assumed that ah--

whoever committed the murder was trying to conceal her identity.

It was probably one of the most gruesome ah-- homicides

that our agency has investigated in recent years.

ROBERT STACK: The only solid clue to the victim's identity

had been overlooked by the killer.

A small tattoo of a yellow rose on her right ankle.

Beverly McGowan had just such a tattoo.

Four days later, dental records provided

positive identification.

the dead woman was Beverly Ann McGowan.

We found nothing in her background that would indicate

that she was any type--

in any type of trouble or was involved in anything illegal.

ROBERT STACK: The authorities and Beverley's family

were especially baffled by her letters.

They were all in her handwriting.

And there was no indication that she had

been coerced into sending them.

Investigators immediately searched Beverly's condo

looking for something, anything, tying

Beverly's apparent decision to leave with her murder.

They found a notepad with a list of names and phone

numbers of people who had called about the ad for a roommate.

Only the last notation did not check out.

It read, Alice, Tuesday, 6:30, no last name, no phone number.

LT. ROBERT MILLER: Alice was supposed

to be on loan to the United States

from England working for IBM in South Florida.

Upon checking with the IBM Corporation,

we learned that they had nobody on loan to south Florida

from England and that the office that Alice said she

worked for in Fort Lauderdale, that they didn't even have

an office in Fort Lauderdale.

Hi. STORE CLERK: Hi.

Hi, I'd like to get this please.

STORE CLERK: Sure.

Will it be cash or charge?

It's going to be a charge.

ROBERT STACK: Investigators soon discovered

that on the Beverly's body was found, a woman fitting Alice's

description used Beverly's Visa card to make purchases

at several shops in the area.

The day before, someone had used the card

to withdraw $300 from an automatic teller machine.

On Friday, July 20th, the day after the body was discovered,

the case took another bizarre twist.

Someone used the same credit card in North Miami

to reserve a rental car at London's Heathrow Airport.

CAR RENTAL CLERK: Hello there.

Can I help you?

Yes, I'd like to buy a car rental voucher for London

Heathrow Airport, please.

Do you have a credit card?

Yes, I do.

LT. ROBERT MILLER: The travel agent described this person

as a very masculine looking female that,

to them, appeared to be a male wearing

a cheap black Cleopatra wig.

Taxis in London these days are so expensive.

CAR RENTAL CLERK: Yes, I can imagine.

LT. ROBERT MILLER: She also described

her as having a British accent.

And a person that was--

appeared to be very familiar with the Heathrow area

in London, England.

ROBERT STACK: The man told the travel agent

that he was flying to London on British Airways, Flight

292, which was scheduled to depart on Sunday evening

at 6:30 PM.

LT. ROBERT MILLER: We checked the manifest

for that particular flight and other airlines

that were traveling to London on that particular day.

Nowhere on any of the manifests did we see the name

of Beverly Ann McGowan.

ROBERT STACK: On Monday, July 23rd,

a person wearing a cheap looking wig

and posing as Beverly McGowan did, indeed, pick

up a car at Heathrow Airport.

[intercom voices]

ROBERT STACK: Two days later, Beverley's car

was found at a motel near Miami International Airport.

It had been there for at least five days.

Investigators found only one significant clue.

Hey, Dave, take a look at this,

ROBERT STACK: Four strands of black synthetic wig hair.

DETECTIVE: We got some hair.

The mystery surrounding Beverly McGowan's death

reverberates with a single word.

Why?

It seems obvious that Beverly was a victim of a scam.

But it was a scam which only netted the perpetrators $1,000.

Why would anyone commit such a vicious murder

for so little money?

Why did they go to such lengths to conceal

the victim's identity?

And why did they choose Beverly McGowan?

[loons callings]

LT. ROBERT MILLER: The most puzzling part about it is

the lack of motive, um, the--the savage nature in which

the body was decapitated.

And the pains that they went through trying to conceal

her identity isn't that of your normal

everyday domestic killing.

I try to think about the people

that Bev worked for, ah, her friends, her relationships.

Um, What kind of person would-- would be involved with

a--with a murder like this?

Why somebody would come into-- to my sister's life

and for a measly $1,000.

Just take it.

You know, it doesn't make any sense to me.

[spooky music]

[theme music update]

[chime]

ROBERT STACK: In 1985, Sally Garrity

of San Francisco, California faced

an all too common dilemma.

She was looking to settle down but had not yet

found the man of her dreams.

Oh, excuse me.

ROBERT STACK: Then in February of that year, at a neighborhood

tavern, Sally thought she had met the perfect mate,

A young man named Sal Guardado.

I'll rack and you break.

What's you name, anyway? - Sally.

What's yours? - Sal.

Sal Guardado.

Sal, Sally, that's neat.

SHERI YSIT: She said, I think I met Mr. Right, Sheri.

So I was very happy for her TO have a goo--

meet someone that would make her happy .

And I seen that in her face that Sal had made her happy.

by just the short time that she had met him and known him.

ROBERT STACK: Sally Garrity was half Irish,

half Shoshone-Pauite Indian.

She and her sister, Sheri, were raised by their Aunt

Lydia in San Francisco.

Sally had been trained as a bookkeeper

but was making and selling Native American handicrafts

when she met Sal.

Sal worked part time in a local pizza parlor

where Sally brought her family to meet him.

- Hey, hi honey. - Hey, hi Sally.

How you doing? - You look great.

Good to see ya. Hi.

This is my sister, Sheri.

- Hi Sheri. - Nice to meet you.

- And this is my Auntie Lydia. - Hi Lydia.

How are you doing? - Sal.

SHERI YSIT: Sally was really glowing.

When she introduced me, she was so happy.

And she said, did you see his car?

Do you see him? He has a job.

And her expression and her glowing was so over--

just overpowering that she was so happy.

[music and chatting]

ROBERT STACK: The romance proceeded at a whirlwind pace.

Within a week, Sal proposed and took

out a loan for a diamond ring.

But it wasn't long before the relationship began to change.

Sal lost his job and his car.

And the couple was forced to move

in with Sally's Aunt Lydia.

It became obvious that there was another side to Sal

that had been hidden until now.

Nice.

This place is a dump.

So get a job.

Shut up.

ROBERT STACK: He grew surly and refused

to do anything but watch television and go

bowling with his friends.

Big words from a big man.

[tv voices in background]

ROBERT STACK: Three weeks later, when they visited

a Native American festival 30 miles from San Francisco,

Sally's sister Sheri got a firsthand look

at Sal's darker side.

He's in a bad mood today.

God, I can't take him.

I hate him.

Oh.

I don't want to be with him anymore and he just--

SHERI YSIT: Sally didn't seem very happy that day.

That was the first indication to me

that she wasn't happy with him.

So do you want to tell her?

Just forget about it, Sal.

It's not going to work out.

What's the matter?

What are you talking about?

Sal Doesn't want to take the train back to San Francisco.

He wants to borrow your van instead.

Oh, I'm sorry, Sal.

You can't take it.

What is the problem? We need the van.

So we'll just take it. - Sal, it's not mine.

I just borrowed it for the day.

I have to get it back. - Don't give me lie.

Where are the keys?

It's not a lie. You can't take it.

Shut up and give me the keys.

I don't want to listen to all your lying excuses.

Come on, Sal, leave her alone.

What's a few miles on the heap anyway.

SHERI YSIT: That was a big change from the pizza parlor.

She ah-- indicated to me that she wished he would leave

and that he would move out.

[horn music]

ROBERT STACK: On May 23, 1985, three months

after meeting Sally, Sal Guardado

waited for her to come home.

[horn music]

SALLY GARRITY: Thanks a lot.

ROBERT STACK: "When he noticed that a young man had

given her a ride, Sal became uncontrollable.

SALLY GARRITY: Just drop it, will you Sal?

I already told you I didn't do anything.

I know what you were doing.

I could see you in the car.

He's a friend.

He gave me a ride home.

ROBERT STACK: Sally's Aunt Lydia returned right

in the middle of the argument.

Hello?

I'm home.

Oh, I just hated him.

SAL GUARDADO: It is a big deal you slut.

LYDIA HENRY: He was very--

SAL GUARDADO: I don't know who you'll

be shacking up with next. LYDIA HENRY: Aggressive.

SAL GUARDARDO: Who was that guy?

LYDIA HENRY: He might have got jealous, yes.

SALLY GARRITY: I told you he's just a friend.

Why don't--

LYDIA HENRY But there's nothing between the man and Sally.

She just rode home with him.

Lydia, I need you to go to the store for me.

I need some smokes.

OK, Sal.

Here's some money.

I need them right away.

OK.

He never asked me to do anything for him.

He just wanted me out of the house that day.

When I think about it, that's what--

I think that's what he wanted me out.

I'm home.

Sal.

I got your cigarettes here.

ROBERT STACK: 30 Minutes later, Lydia returned.

Sally?

Sal?

[music playing]

LYDIA HENRY: I didn't see anything when I came back.

It was so quiet.

Then the TV was on so I just sat down on the day bed

and thought, well, I'd better watch the news.

Because it was coming on.

I heard the bedroom door open.

And I didn't hear nothing else.

I just kept watching the news.

[[music playing and tv voices]

LYDIA HENRY: He tried to strangle me.

I wouldn't let him.

I started fighting him.

Before I know it, I got hit on the head.

I heard the bones crushing and the ball roll over something.

You know, like you could hear that bowling ball

roll in lanes, how it sounds.

That's what I heard.

But I was out.

[music and tv voices]

Sally.

ROBERT STACK: After about 45 minutes,

Lydia regained consciousness.

Oh.

When I came to, I got up.

And I was so weak, I was just staggering around.

And then I went in the bedroom.

My niece was laying there.

I knew right away she was dead.

Oh no.

No.

And after that, I just went to my neighbor and to-- knocked

on the window and told her to call the police.

I was hurt.

OK, take it away.

ROBERT STACK: Sally Garrity had been

strangled to death, possibly with a cat

leash or telephone cord.

Lydia Henry had suffered a concussion and lacerations.

During the investigation, Sally's family

discovered that Sal Guardado was a convicted felon

with a long criminal record.

He had spent five years in prison

for arson and attempted murder.

The intended victim was a former girlfriend.

Authorities immediately began combing the San Francisco area.

They received reports that Sal might have left the country

and disappeared in Mexico.

INSPECTOR JEFF BROSCH: : We thought we'd ah--solve

this case right away.

We had the FBI involved.

We had local law enforcement involved.

Ah, we had all the tools.

And we just couldn't ah--

find out where he'd gone or where he was.

It boggles the mind to understand

how he avoided us all this time, some seven years.

[flute music]

SHERI YSIT: In the Native American beliefs, or culture,

we believe that if someone's life is taken

before they're ready, their spirit can't

rest until justice is served.

So Sally's spirit, we believe, isn't at rest until Sal will

be caught and put to justice.

ROBERT STACK: Three months after Sal Guardado disappeared,

a witness reported seeing him back in San Francisco

at a fast food restaurant.

However, authorities now believe he may be in Miami,

Mexico, Hawaii, or Puerto Rico.

Guardado was currently wanted on charges

of murder, attempted murder, and assault with a deadly weapon.

[theme chimes]

ROBERT STACK: Salvador Nunez Guardado is 5 feet 10 inches

tall and weighs 210 pounds.

He has black hair, brown eyes, and a tattoo

of a heart and arrow with the name

Rachel on his upper right arm.

He is of Mexican descent.

[theme music]

ROBERT STACK: In 1989, two Belgian national policeman

had a shocking encounter with a strange brilliantly lit object.

Since that time, thousands of ordinary citizens

have reported similar sightings.

And incredibly, the Belgian Air Force

has recorded on radar an unidentified flying object.

In 1969, Rock Creek, Ohio was terrorized

by a gang of street toughs.

When Robert Hamrick took over the police force,

he was determined to clean up the town.

Just eight months later, Hamrick died

in a mysterious car accident.

His family is convinced he was murdered.

And thanks to our viewers, a woman in Tennessee

has finally found her natural mother.

Join me for their heartwarming reunion

next time on Unsolved Mysteries.

[music playing]

[theme music]