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.

[theme music]

NARRATOR: In 1983, two beautiful, young women

on holiday from Sweden were murdered while hitchhiking

in California.

The case gathered dust until 1991

when an anonymous phone call sparked a renewed

search for the unknown killer.

As a young boy, Joe Soll was teased by schoolmates

because he had been adopted.

As an adult, Joe would learn the painful truth about his past.

He had been bought and sold by a notorious baby broker.

In 1974, a successful businessman

named Gary Simmons disappeared on the same day

he paid $30,000 for a prize horse.

No one had any idea where he had gone

until Gary Simmons' skeleton was found hidden in a cave almost

20 years later.

Also tonight, a fascinating update

on a story about legendary aviator

Amelia Earhart who disappeared in 1937.

Recently, an aviation archaeologist

made headlines while claiming he had

solved the mystery of Amelia Earhart's last flight.

Others say he is just plain wrong.

Join me, for every mystery, there

is someone who knows the truth.

Perhaps, it's you.

[theme music]

[phone ringing]

Good afternoon, Consulate of Sweden.

MAN (ON PHONE): I have some information.

Excuse me?

NARRATOR: On September 26, 1991, a bizarre, anonymous phone

call came into the Swedish Consulate

in San Diego, California.

MAN (ON PHONE): It's about two hitchhikers.

Two hitchhikers?

MAN (ON PHONE): Yes, two Swedish girls.

NARRATOR: The caller went on to describe a double murder.

MAN (ON PHONE): I think he was Canadian.

NARRATOR: Incredibly, a double murder that had taken place

a full eight years earlier, this was

a first solid lead since 1983.

It all began on July 24th of that year behind a gas station

in the city of Commerce, a Los Angeles suburb.

SGT. BRUCE CORRELL: A station attendant went to dump trash.

He looked inside the dumpster and saw a couple of backpacks.

Checking further, he found clothing, diaries.

There were rolls of film, passports, wallets,

many of the things that you would expect tourists

to have collected in a several-month tour

of the United States.

NARRATOR: The items in the dumpster

belonged to two Swedish nationals, Marie Lilienburg,

23, and Maria Wahien, 25.

They had failed to show up for their return flight

to Sweden that day.

The fathers of both women came to California

hoping to find their daughters by means

of widespread media attention.

We're extremely worried.

I'll tell you that. They have never--

NARRATOR: During the next three weeks,

more than 50 sightings of Maria Wahien and Marie Lilienburg

were reported.

All were checked out, but none of them could be confirmed.

That's not the nature of my daughter, absolutely.

I'll tell you that.

She is the one who will stick to every promise made.

That's her nature.

Hey, hang on.

What is that?

I don't know.

Let's go find out.

NARRATOR: Then on August 18th, 1983, in Santa Barbara County,

California, a missing persons case

became a murder investigation.

SGT. BRUCE CORRELL: Two deer hunters

noticed a skeletonized arm.

Probably a coyote had pulled one of the arms off and drug it

out into the open.

Checking further, they found other remains

hidden under brush there.

Those remains were positively identified as being Marie

Lilienburg and Maria Wahien.

NARRATOR: An autopsy showed that both women

had been stabbed to death as well as sexually assaulted.

Sheriff's detectives learned that the two young women had

met in January of 1983 at a Resort

Hotel in Vail, Colorado, where they

both worked as chambermaids.

[speaking swedish]

NARRATOR: When the ski season ended,

they decided to hitchhike around California--

We're going to California.

NARRATOR: --before heading back home to Sweden.

Oh, great.

MARIE LILIENBURG: Hi, how are you?

DRIVER: How you doing? MARIE LILIENBURG: Fine.

DRIVER: Where you going?

MARIE LILIENBURG: We're just touring.

We just want to see the coast. DRIVER: Well, hop in.

Let's go.

SGT. BRUCE CORRELL: Marie Lilienburg and Maria Wahien

thought that it was safe to hitchhike.

They had been cautioned by Swedish friends

and by Americans that it was not safe to hitchhike.

But they felt that they would be able to size

up persons giving them a ride.

They would be able to sense whether this was

a dangerous situation or not.

Maria Wahien carried a small knife with her,

and she felt that she would be able to defend

herself in any type of a situation

where she was threatened.

Young Swedes come to the United States

from a culture which is entirely homogeneous and middle class.

There are only 8 million people in Sweden.

It is a more open and, if you will, a more trusting

environment.

They, therefore, tend to come to the United States

and remain as trusting as they were in Sweden.

So sometimes they do run into trouble.

DRIVER: How you girls doing? MARIA WAHIEN: Fine, how are you?

MARIE LILIENBURG: Are you going to San Francisco?

DRIVER: I can take you about half way there.

Is that cool?

Great.

NARRATOR: When the gas station attendant found the knapsacks

in the dumpster, he also found a travel diary and two

rolls of undeveloped film.

Working from these photographs, as well as a diary,

investigators established the women's itinerary

and contacted several truck drivers who had

given Marie and Maria rides.

MARIE LILIENBURG: Hi.

MARK HANSON: Where you girls going?

MARIE LILIENBURG: We're going to--

NARRATOR: Mark Hanson a trucker from San Diego, California,

remembered them well. - --if that'll help ya.

OK, thanks.

MARK HANSON: Hop in.

MARK HANSON (VOICEOVER): A lot of truck drivers out there

have daughters, and if they do see girls out hitchhiking,

they try to take care of them.

Talked about that they shouldn't be hitchhiking, I, maybe being

too much of a big brother and a little bit

of a lecturer on the way up about that it wasn't safe.

It wasn't like being in Europe, that women didn't hitchhike

in the United States anymore.

And they didn't seem terribly concerned, that they felt they

would be safe being together.

NARRATOR: Hanson drove the women from San Diego to Compton,

just south of Los Angeles-- MARK HANSON: Hey, how ya doing?

NARRATOR: --where he arranged another ride

for them at a truck stop. TRUCK DRIVER: Seattle.

MARK HANSON: Hey, could you use some company?

TRUCK DRIVER: Yeah. I can give them a ride.

- Great. - Oh, great.

MARK HANSON: There you go.

MARIA WAHIEN: You, too.

NARRATOR: The second truck driver

dropped the women off in Oakland, just across the bay

from San Francisco. MARK HANSON: Take care.

MARIE LILIENBURG: Bye. Thank you.

MARK HANSON: You're welcome.

NARRATOR: Maria Wahien and Marie Lilienburg

were last seen in Redwood City, California,

on July 22nd, 1983, heading back to Los Angeles

so they could catch their flight to Sweden two days later.

On the very day they were scheduled to depart,

their backpacks and personal effects

were found in the city of Commerce.

Four weeks later, the hunters discovered their bodies

near Santa Barbara.

For eight years, the investigation

into the murders of Marie Lilienburg and Maria Wahien

remained at a standstill.

Two hitchhikers?

MAN (ON PHONE): Yes, two Swedish girls.

NARRATOR: The anonymous phone call came

into the Swedish Consulate. - He was Canadian?

MAN (ON PHONE): Yes, he was skinny.

And his hair--

JOHN NORTON: He said that he knew a fellow whom he had seen

on a regular basis who was from Canada who would

come down every winter in his van to go through San Diego

to Mexico.

He said that, on one occasion in 1983,

the man had come through and mentioned

that he had met two Swedish girls who had tried to con him.

The caller also described the van.

He said he drove a white van with a green canoe on the top,

and that this was very recognizable,

and a number of people knew him.

DRIVER: You girls need a lift?

Yes.

MARIA WAHIEN: We are going to Los Angeles.

MARIE LILIENBURG: Los Angeles Airport.

JOHN NORTON: He gave a description of the man.

He said he was over 6 feet, a slight

build, 175 pounds, thinning, red hair, long,

pointed nose, protruding, watery eyes.

I don't believe that the call was a hoax.

You'll have to squeeze in here.

There's not a lot of room.

My regret is that the caller was

unwilling to identify himself.

If he would step forward, even now, and call us again, even

anonymously, to provide further information,

it might be very helpful.

It's not only frustrating that we have not

been able to find the persons responsible for these slayings

but also considering the probability that there may be

other slayings across the country

that this killer is responsible for, as well.

I think the moral of the story is

quite simple, that it is just very,

very dangerous to hitchhike.

And, in the case of women hitchhiking,

it could very easily turn up in this type of a situation.

[theme music]

NARRATOR: When we return, an aviation expert

believes he has solved the mystery of Amelia

Earhart's final flight.

Others disagree.

[theme music]

One of the most popular stories we have featured

is a fascinating mystery of legendary aviator,

Amelia Earhart.

Recently, she once again made front page news.

Life magazine even carried an exclusive six-page spread

after aviation archaeologist, Richard Gillespie,

announced to the world that he had

finally solved the mystery of Amelia Earhart's final flight.

Six decades ago, Amelia Earhart captured the heart and spirit

of an entire generation.

Part All-American girl, part daredevil, she was

a perfect hero for her time.

[airplane motor]

On May 20, 1937, Amelia and her navigator, Fred Noonan,

began a daring attempt to circumnavigate

the world in this twin engine Lockheed 10 Electra.

They never returned.

On July 2nd, they disappeared on route to tiny Holland

Island in the South Pacific.

A massive search turned up no trace of Amelia,

Fred, or their airplane.

They were officially declared lost at sea.

But, as the years passed, rumors surfaced that Amelia Earhart

and Fred Noonan ended up on the island of Saipan,

2,500 miles from Howland Island.

At the time of Earhart and Noonan's disappearance,

Saipan was occupied by the Japanese army.

In 1944, American forces liberated the island.

Among the soldiers stationed on Saipan

was this man, Thomas Devine.

--on the island

NARRATOR: Devine claims he overheard a conversation

between two Marines outside a guarded aircraft hangar

at a remote location on the island.

We got Amelia Earhart's plain in that hangar.

NARRATOR: The Marines were severely

reprimanded by an official wearing civilian clothes.

You've come about that damn close to compromising

the project right now.

I'm telling you, I want you to sit down, do your jobs,

and shut up.

Do you understand?

NARRATOR: Devine claims that later

that same day he actually saw Amelia Earhart's plane

fly overhead.

That night, he saw the Lockheed 10 Electra

again engulfed in flames.

THOMAS DEVINE: I saw that plane, personally,

on three occasions that day.

The last time, the plane was in flames.

[non-english speech]

NARRATOR: This woman, Niva Blaas,

has lived on Saipan her entire life.

[dong]

She claims that Earhart and Noonan were captured

by the Japanese as spies and that she actually witnessed

Amelia Earhart's execution.

[speaking japanese]

[gunfire]

NARRATOR: Were Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan taken prisoner

and executed on the Island of Saipan,

or did their plane, in fact, go down

in the vast and unforgiving waters of the South Pacific?

In 1989, the tiny uninhabited island of Nikumaroro

became the focal point of a new and intriguing theory.

Nikumaroro is located 420 miles from Howland Island,

Earhart's intended destination.

RICHARD GILLESPIE: Watch the ground.

NARRATOR: Aviation archaeologist,

Richard Gillespie, headed an expedition

to search for evidence that Earhart and Noonan had

been marooned on Nikumaroro.

The expedition turned up this aluminum aircraft part

which, at the time, Gillespie believed may

have come from Earhart's plane.

RICHARD GILLESPIE: This box doesn't constitute proof.

What it does is constitute sufficient evidence

to merit a return to Nikumaroro to find

and photograph the ultimate proof, the airplane itself.

In October of 1991, Richard Gillespie

mounted a second expedition to Nikumaroro.

Searchers found several intriguing artifacts,

which Gillespie claims are indisputable proof that Amelia

Earhart and Fred Noonan died on the island

while awaiting rescue.

NARRATOR: On March 16, 1992, Gillespie

presented his findings at a press conference

in Washington, D.C.

Before you, are artifacts, which along with the recently

discovered historical documents, conclusively

solve the disappearance of Amelia Earhart.

NARRATOR: Among the items on display,

were these tattered remnants of a shoe,

allegedly worn by Amelia Earhart,

and this weathered piece of aluminum.

According to Gillespie, it came from the fuselage of Earhart's

Lockheed 10 Electra.

The rivet pattern is the same, four parallel rows

of number three rivets--

NARRATOR: If Richard Gillespie is correct,

then the final chapter of Amelia Earhart's story can be written.

However, Gillespie's conclusions have been

disputed by several experts.

--radio direction findings--

ELGEN M. LONG: It was quite exciting

that a new piece of evidence had been uncovered

because there hasn't been much on Amelia

Earhart in the last few years.

NARRATOR: Elgin Long, noted historian an Earhart

biographer, was asked by Gillespie

to study detailed measurements and photographs

of the aluminum section.

Long assembled a panel of experts to compare

the evidence with an airplane fuselage

identical to Amelia Earhart's.

ELGEN M. LONG: When we received the data,

we made a template that was the exact same size

and had all the rivet holes in it, just like the fragment

that was found on Nikumaroro.

We put this template up to the bottom of the airplane,

and we compared the rivet lines with the rivets

on the actual airplane.

ELGEN M. LONG: You notice that there's

no real fasteners along here.

They didn't match at all.

There was rivet holes where there shouldn't be any rivets.

And there weren't rivet holes where there should be rivets.

What do you think?

No way.

NARRATOR: The panel compared the template to nearly

every section of the airplane.

No match could be found.

There's no way that piece could

have come from a Lockheed 10 or Amelia Earhart's airplane.

NARRATOR: Richard Gillespie attributes discrepancies

in the rivet patterns to repairs which

were made on Earhart's plane during her first attempt

to fly around the world.

The repair had to be exactly per the engineering orders.

NARRATOR: Panel consultant and former Lockheed

engineer, Ed Warner, disagrees.

He argues that all repairs made on Earhart's plane

were done to strict factory specifications.

EDWARD WARNER: Well, at first, I was

kind of happy that the controversy was over

but then very disappointed.

Now I've come to the conclusion that it

can't be part of her airplane.

According to Richard Gillespie,

the National Transportation and Safety Board

has concluded that the aluminum is

consistent with materials used to build Lockheed 10 Electras.

However, they could not confirm that it came

from Amelia Earhart's plane.

So for now, at least, Amelia Earhart's disappearance

remains and unsolved mystery.

[theme music]

On a previous broadcast, we brought you the chilling story

of a woman named Georgia Tann.

For more than 20 years, Tann used her well-known Tennessee

orphanage as a front for a highly-illegal black market

baby ring.

CHILD: Yahoo!

NARRATOR: Thanks to our viewers, nearly 200 of the children

placed for adoption by Georgia Tann

have been reunited with their birth families.

Such happy endings are certainly gratifying,

but the appalling fact remains that Georgia Tann was

not the only one of her kind.

Another notorious baby broker was Bessie Bernard who bought

and sold thousands of children.

One of them would learn of his adoption in a very painful way.

His story begins almost 50 years ago in Nyack, New York.

In 1944, Joe Soll was in his first months of kindergarten.

What'd you do that for?

'Cause you're an adopted kid.

I'm what?

An adopted kid.

JOE SOLL: I didn't know what that

meant, except I knew it was bad because of the way

they said it.

And I ran home crying and asked my mother what that meant.

And was I, in fact, adopted, still not

knowing what the word meant.

And she said, yes--

Your real parents--

they were killed in a car crash.

But you're safe, and now we're your real parents.

And we love you so much.

NARRATOR: Joe had been adopted as an infant in 1939

by Florence and Charles Soll.

Charles was a successful attorney

who died unexpectedly in 1960.

It was not until 20 years later, that Joe learned his birth

parents had not died in a car accident

after all, a fact which his mother reluctantly confirmed.

JOE SOLL: She said that my father handled the whole thing,

and she really didn't want to know.

And not only that, he didn't want to tell her.

He told her that he had fixed it so

that nobody could ever find out anything,

which is very scary for me.

Here's your father's old files.

You can use our library if you'd like.

Thanks a lot.

NARRATOR: After extensive maneuvering,

Joe gained access to his father's records.

Filled with anticipation, he began

the search for his origins.

JOE SOLL: I found that there was a file that he had left

with all the letters that he had written looking for a baby

and information on me.

And the information was that my name was Robert Wilson when

I was born, that my birthday was November 3rd, 1939,

and that my mother's name was Ruth Haverman.

And there were the adoption decree.

I had never seen any of this.

It just washed me with all sorts of emotion.

Excuse me?

Yes?

Is this 677 Lexington Avenue.

JOE SOLL: I know that my birth mother was

supposed to have lived at 677 Lexington Avenue

here in New York City.

Does the name Ruth Haverman mean anything to you?

No.

No one.

JOE SOLL: But there was never a Haverman

at 677 Lexington Avenue.

Not here.

I know that there was a family named Haversack that

lived at 677 Lexington Avenue.

And that building apparently was an unwed mother's home.

NARRATOR: Disheartened, Joe went back to the old files.

He discovered that his father had

corresponded regularly with an adoption

agent named Bessie Bernard.

In the New York City archives, Joe

found out more about Bessie Bernard

than he had ever bargained for.

JOE SOLL: As I searched to try and find out who Bessie Bernard

was, I came across articles in The New York Times

from 1949 when she was arrested for baby selling

and realized that I was a black market

baby, that I was sold, which my mother confirmed,

that I was bought.

And that was painful.

I felt like a piece of property.

It's a strange feeling to know that somebody

paid money for you.

That ad you put in the Miami Herald, it was great.

NARRATOR: Bessie Bernard lived with her father in Manhattan.

She used newspaper ads to round up

infants for her thriving east coast baby brokerage.

MR. BERNARD: --that last batch of babies.

Dad, I didn't pay too much.

We're making lots of dough.

It's good.

NARRATOR: Bessie Bernard charged each adoptive couple up

to $2,000, a huge sum at that time.

--ready for tomorrow.

JOE SOLL: She averaged 20 a month.

She brought them in from Florida,

from Hartford, Connecticut, Boston.

Anywhere she could get babies, she advertised.

And she brought them in, had the births registered in New York,

changed names.

It was vicious what she did.

[knock on door]

NARRATOR: By 1949, the Manhattan District Attorney

was onto Bessie Bernard.

Mr. Bernard? MR. BERNARD: Yeah?

I'm Detective O'Brien.

This is--

NARRATOR: On October 8th of that year,

two police officers armed with a search warrant

showed up at her apartment.

--warrant, sir.

Would you please stand over there?

BESSIE BERNARD: Hey, what's going on here?

Are you Ms. Bernard? BESSIE BERNARD: Yeah.

Who wants to know?

Stand over there with your father, please, ma'am.

NARRATOR: When the detective started

to rummage through Bessie Bernard's purse,

she went berserk. - Dad, hold onto this.

Hey. Hey, you!

Get out--

DETECTIVE O'BRIEN: Would you get back

over there with your father?

I want you out of my house!

- Get over there with him. - Get out!

Did you hear me? - What are you doing?

I said get out!

NARRATOR: Some believe that the little black book Bessie

Bernard threw to her father contained the names of clients

and other vital information.

Get out--

DeLuca!

Come here.

NARRATOR: Bessie's father escaped, and the book

was never recovered.

DETECTIVE O'BRIEN: Hold it!

Calm down.

JUDGE: Will the defendant please step forward?

NARRATOR: On June 30, 1950, Bessie Bernard

was found guilty of illegally placing children for adoption.

JUDGE: At this time, is there anything

you wish to say on your behalf?

No.

I hereby sentence you to one year

in the women's penitentiary.

NARRATOR: Bessie Bernard never spent a day in jail.

She paid a $2,500 fine to avoid serving her one year sentence.

Bessie Bernard died in 1989, taking her secrets with her.

JOE SOLL: What makes me angry and fills me

with pain is that because Bessie Bernard always changed things--

birth dates, and birth names, and birth mothers'

names and places of birth--

that me and so many other people can't find their family.

And I need to find my family.

When I was looking through the adoption

file in my father's office, and I saw all the letters

that he had written to adoption agencies, and orphanages,

or relief organizations, and I finally

understand how much they wanted a child,

and why they did what they did.

But it's impossible to think for me

and many other adopted people about ever leaving

the world when you don't know how you

got here in the first place.

And my mother could be alive.

I could have a brother, a sister,

or cousins, aunts, uncles.

I need to know.

I need to know who my family is.

Joe Soll thinks his mother's name was either Ruth

Haverman or Ruth Haversack.

She may have had a friend named Lucy Bent.

Joe's father is listed as Robert Wilson, an engineer who worked

in Hartford, Connecticut.

Joe Soll believes he was born in Manhattan on November 3, 1939,

or one week earlier in Florida.

[theme music]

NARRATOR: Next, an unexpected discovery

prompts a murder investigation.

[theme music]

In November of 1991, Unsolved Mysteries

received a very unusual letter from a man

named Tyrone Rollins who wanted us to look into a case.

Rollins that unwittingly sparked a murder investigation

after experiencing a number of strange premonitions, which

he simply could not explain.

I'm sure I'll catch you.

I don't get off till 7:00.

You take care.

NARRATOR: In 1985, Tyrone Rollins

was hired as a school bus driver in Independence, Missouri.

Right from the start, he had an eerie feeling

about the rocky outcroppings behind the bus yard.

TYRONE ROLLINS: Every time I walked past them hills,

I'd get the same feeling.

I'd be sitting up in the front of my bus,

and I'd feel like somebody watching me from behind.

And I'd look back there, and there

wouldn't be nobody on the bus.

For a while there, I just thought I was going crazy.

There's a strong feeling like something pulling inside me

wanting me to do something, and I just couldn't

figure out what it was.

NARRATOR: Finally, on October 16, 1991,

Tyrone was overcome by the urge to investigate.

On the north side of the hill, he discovered a hidden cave.

TYRONE ROLLINS: When that strong feeling was back again.

I knew I had to go in there for some reason.

It was like an amazing adrenaline rush,

just the feeling of being in there.

I didn't know if it was from not knowing what was in there.

When I shined my flashlight towards the rocks,

you could see little tiny specks that looked like crystals.

So I started examining the rocks.

And it was just then that I happened to glance over,

and I seen a pair of boots.

It was just a shock.

I just couldn't believe what I was seeing.

NARRATOR: Dental records would later confirm that the remains

are those of Gary Simmons, a businessman from Overland

Park, Kansas, 25 miles away.

An autopsy revealed that he had been murdered,

shot once in the head.

Tyrone Rollins' startling discovery was about to become

a nightmare for the police.

They were confronted with a killing that had

taken place 17 years earlier.

Gary Simmons had mysteriously vanished in 1974.

And, at this point, investigation

seemed almost futile.

Yet, the police had no choice.

After all, someone had gotten away with murder

for nearly two decades.

[horse neighing]

In the 1970s, Gary Simmons owned and operated

a lucrative chain of gas stations

in the Kansas City area.

This must be Charisma.

NARRATOR: His passionate avocation was horse trading.

Yeah.

Beautiful horse.

JERRY SIMMONS: Gary had always worked hard.

And I believe he got involved in horses

in order to have a form of relaxation

and a means of doing something that was fun with his family.

And it was a hobby that he had probably

been involved in only two or three years

prior to his disappearance.

- What do you say, Gary? - Hey, buddy.

How you doing? - Good.

How you been? - Good.

Just got back from a show down at Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Man, I saw some of the most beautiful horses

I've seen in a long time. - Is that right?

You bet.

Anything I might be interested in?

NARRATOR: On October 14, 1974, a day before he disappeared,

Gary Simmons learned of a prize horse for sale.

[horse neighing]

You know Tom Dixon?

Tom Dixon, yeah.

Isn't he a member of the Appaloosa Association?

Right, right.

He had one of the most beautiful purebred Appaloosa

I've seen in a long time, raised him from a colt.

How much is he asking for him?

I'm not so sure he wants to sell him.

He's asking $30,000 for him.

$30,000?

Whew!

That must be some kind of horse.

Oh, man--

NARRATOR: The next morning, an agent

acting for the horse's owner showed

up at Gary Simmons' office.

Hi.

Can I help you? - Yeah.

I'm here to see Mr. Simmons.

- Do you have an appointment? - Uh, yeah.

We talked earlier on the phone. - Uh-huh.

And your name, please?

Tom Dixon.

M-hm.

NARRATOR: It was the beginning of an intricate transaction,

which lasted all day long and which police are

still trying to piece together.

Excuse me, Gary, there's a Tom Dixon here to see you.

GARY SIMMONS: Oh, sure.

- Hi, Gary. - Hi.

Tom Dixon.

NARRATOR: At 10:15 AM, Gary Simmons

left his office with Dixon.

TOM DIXON: About 20 minutes.

GARY SIMMONS: OK.

Uh, I'll follow you. TOM DIXON: Sure.

NARRATOR: Simmons told his secretary

that he would return shortly, but he

did not say where he was going.

[phone ringing]

15 Minutes later, Gary Simmons telephoned his secretary

and instructed her to make out a $30,000 check to Tom Dixon.

OK, 30,000.

Hi.

Can I help you with something?

Yeah, I'm here to pick--

NARRATOR: 11:00 AM, Dixon picked up the check.

--Gary earlier. - Uh, yeah.

Didn't he call?

Uh, yes, he did.

And I've drawn up the check, but you're going to have

to get Gary's signature on it.

NARRATOR: Dixon then took the check to Gary Simmons

for his signature, but no one knows

where the meeting took place.

At 11:30 AM, Gary Simmons was spotted at a truck stop

10 miles from his office.

COOK: Your hamburger and cheeseburger are ready.

DET.

VICTOR ZINN: The owner saw Gary Simmons

walking back and forth between the counter and the window.

He remembers that Gary Simmons was alone,

and there did not seem to be anybody with him

or waiting with him.

NARRATOR: It was the last time anyone

ever saw Gary Simmons alive.

Just before noon, Dixon showed up at Simmons' bank.

DET.

VICTOR ZINN: Gary Simmons had called the president

of the bank and had informed him that Tom Dixon was

on his way to cash the check.

The bank president recognized Gary Simmons' voice,

and he did not recognize anything unusual in his voice

to raise his suspicions either.

$9,900, $10,000.

$30,000 Total, Mr. Dixon.

Don't you think you'd like to open up

a checking or savings account?

A lot of--

NARRATOR: Dixon took delivery of the money in $100 bills.

I need it to pay off some debts.

Thank you.

BANKER: Thank you.

[horn honking]

NARRATOR: Around five hours later,

Dixon showed up at a salvage yard, 11 miles from the bank.

He was driving Gary Simmons' Lincoln Continental.

I waited for you this morning.

You never showed.

Well, I got busy.

Where'd you get that Lincoln?

Uh, it's--it's not my car.

It's something I need to get rid of.

I was wondering if you could use your machine

to sort of crush it for me.

Yeah.

I can make it flat for ya.

But if you want to get rid of it,

you're going to have to melt it.

[ahem]

Feds have been keeping a real close eye on the furnace.

You got any, uh, better ideas?

Yeah.

Put a brick on the accelerator and drive it

in the Missouri River.

Hey, thanks for the advice.

I'll catch you later.

All right.

NARRATOR: The next day, one of Tom Dixon's friends

dropped him off at a truck stop near Kansas City.

Dixon said he was planning to hop a cross-country rig.

It was the last time anyone ever saw Tom Dixon.

Six months went by.

Then on April 25, 1975, Gary Simmons' Lincoln Continental

was pulled out of the Missouri River

less than six miles from the salvage yard where Dixon

had tried to get rid of it.

DET.

VICTOR ZINN: All you had was two grown men that had disappeared.

And that happens every day in America.

It was unknown whether they had disappeared

and not wanted to be found, or if foul play

had indeed occurred.

Upon finding Gary Simmons' body, it became

a homicide investigation.

We had an actual crime.

A finger of guilt appeared to point squarely at Tom Dixon.

Police theorize that Simmons had been the victim

of a bogus horse deal.

Dixon acting either alone or with a partner,

took Simmons' money and killed him that, in fact, there may

never have been a horse at all.

But then during the filming of this story,

a new witness came forward.

ROY HILTON: Oh, Gary knew a horse.

That's for sure.

He knew what a good horse was and--

NARRATOR: Roy Hilton is a local rancher who says

he knew both Simmons and Dixon.

--he didn't like and didn't care about and--

NARRATOR: On the day that Gary Simmons disappeared,

Roy Hilton claims he heard Simmons making calls

to his office and to the bank from the Whispering

Downs Horse Ranch.

Yeah, $30,000.

NARRATOR: He also states that Simmons showed

him the horse he was buying.

--the signature.

Just have it ready for him, OK?

ROY HILTON: This murder didn't come down over a $30,000

horse deal.

It had to come down on some black market gas.

I'm almost positive of that because Gary

Simmons was having problem getting fuel for his stations.

NARRATOR: Roy Hilton's testimony adds another layer of confusion

to an already complex case.

In the year prior to his death, Gary Simmons

was struggling to save his chain of gas stations

in the face of the 1973 Arab oil embargo.

JERRY SIMMONS: Gary was affected drastically by the embargo.

He closed the bulk of his stations

because of the fact of lack of gasoline.

After Gary disappeared, there was numerous rumors

that Gary might have been involved

in black market gasoline.

What Gary was involved in was buying gasoline on the spot

market, and a lot of people labeled spot market gasoline

because it was beyond government controls

as black market gasoline.

But it was one in the same.

It was a perfectly legal transaction

to buy gasoline on the spot market

that most oil companies did sell.

NARRATOR: Who murdered Garry Simmons and why?

There may be only one man who can answer both

of those questions, Tom Dixon.

A warrant has been issued for Dixon's arrest

on charges of auto theft.

When he disappeared in 1974, he was 42 years old.

This photograph has been aged to show how Tom

Dixon might look today at 60.

He is 5 feet 8 inches tall with brown or graying

hair and green eyes.

He may be working as a house painter or general contractor.

[theme music]

On a previous broadcast, we featured the story

of Jackie Dragon who was adopted by a California couple

when she was just an infant.

When Jackie was 12, she came across her adoption papers

and learned the names of her birth parents.

JACKIE DRAGON: It was a big thing.

It was a turning point.

It was something that I knew from that point on that

someday I would find those people in that paper,

and that I had to, that they were real.

NARRATOR: In July of 1990, after nine years of searching,

Jackie finally tracked down her biological mother, Marge Rider.

Hi.

May I speak with Marge Rider, please?

Speaking.

NARRATOR: Marge was living in Winchester, Illinois.

The phone call from Jackie was totally unexpected.

Does February 16, 1964 mean anything to you?

MARGE RIDER: I was already sitting down,

and I felt like I had just fallen into a chair

because it was--

I've never had a shock like that before.

Well, do you have time to talk right now?

NARRATOR: During the course of the conversation,

Jackie was surprised to learn that she had three

sisters whom she had never met.

Only the youngest, Tracy, was raised by Marge.

JACKIE DRAGON: It was very exciting.

I couldn't believe it. It was like, there's more?

You're kidding.

There's something more that I didn't know?

NARRATOR: During a poignant reunion with Marge,

Jackie learned that her two other sisters,

Laura May and Dawn Marie, had also been placed for adoption.

Wow.

You can definitely tell it's family.

JACKIE DRAGON: I would love the opportunity to find my sisters.

I like to think that somewhere, wherever they are,

that they know that they're adopted,

and that they wonder where they came from.

They were mine. I did love them.

I do love them.

And it would be nice to make the family complete again.

NARRATOR: Thanks to our viewers, Jackie Dragon

and Marge Rider's dream of reuniting their family

finally came true.

And they were contacted by Laura May and Dawn Marie.

Dawn Marie, whose adoptive name is Susan,

owns her own business in Santa Barbara, California.

Laura May, Marge's oldest daughter,

is now married and lives in Mississippi.

Three months after our broadcast,

Laura May arrived at her sister Jackie's home

in Glendale, California.

Marge and her youngest daughter, Tracy,

had flown in from Illinois for this very special reunion.

We've talked so much on the phone.

This is Tracy.

Hi.

I'm your sister, Tracy.

LAURA MAY: Meeting them was really nerve-wracking

because it's like I wasn't quite sure what to expect

and what they would expect of me.

You're short.

You're tall.

[laughing]

And then, after I got here, it just all seemed to flow.

It was very natural.

[indistinct chatter]

MARGE RIDER: The last time I remember seeing Laura,

she was in a high chair.

And now here she is all grown up,

and I'm still looking for this little girl.

And it's kind of hard.

Hi, Susan.

Oh, it's good to meet you.

NARRATOR: A short time later, the circle

was finally completed with the arrival of Marge's

other daughter, Susan.

OK, hug.

You look great.

SUSAN: I grew up knowing that I was adopted,

but I didn't know anything about who my real parents were.

And it's nice to know who your family is,

and what your background is, and learn more about them.

I think when I first started feeling really comfortable

was when we went out and took some Polaroids.

And it was a really neat feeling to have

a picture right in front of me and see

all of us standing together.

Get closer.

JACKIE DRAGON: It's a very once in a lifetime

kind of a thing to find a sister that you've never met.

Everybody smile.

MARGE RIDER: Each one is totally individual.

They're all strong, I've found out.

And they've done good with their lives.

I'm proud of all four of them.

[theme music]

Wholesale medical supply distributor wanted.

Investment of $18,000 minimum required

for necessary inventory.

During the past year, this advertisement

was placed in over 90 newspapers all across America by a company

called Fidelity National Medical Supply, Incorporated.

The ad seemed to offer the perfect opportunity

for enterprising individuals who had always dreamed

of owning their own business.

Fidelity National was based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

They extended an open invitation to potential investors

to visit the company headquarters.

One person who took advantage of the offer

was a man whom we will call Robert Jones.

He has asked that we not reveal his true identity.

ROBERT JONES: --doing something.

NARRATOR: On January 24, 1992, Robert Jones

was driven to the company offices

in a limousine provided by Fidelity National.

Jones who had arrived in town the day

before wanted to see the operation firsthand

before making an investment.

ROBERT JONES: I checked with the Better Business Bureau

in Oklahoma City.

There was no complaints there.

I had them checked out with a national credit firm,

and all their resources checked out the same with this firm.

I was satisfied that they were legitimate.

[phone ringing]

And over on our globe map, you'll

see that all of our suppliers are from overseas.

We've got London--

NARRATOR: Fidelity National was certainly impressive.

Orders were pouring in.

Workers were busily taking inventory

and answering a constant stream of phone calls.

Robert, this is our [inaudible] room.

I can't take you into the warehouse

because it's a bonded warehouse.

You know, we have pharmaceuticals.

You know how it is.

For security, sure.

What you see here--

NARRATOR: The warehouse was equally impressive.

Thousands of boxes were stacked behind locked doors

awaiting delivery to distributors.

MANAGER: You can see by the packing labels

here that all these will be ready--

ROBERT JONES: Their financials indicated

that they had $2.8 million or so of inventory

in various locations.

More comes in next weekend.

NARRATOR: Jones took the plunge and purchased a distributorship

for $54,000, his life savings.

He was just one of more than 300 people

who had made investments totaling $1.2 million.

But, as the money flooded in, the Criminal

Investigation Division of the IRS

became increasingly suspicious.

On February 17, 1992, agents from the FBI, the IRS,

and the Oklahoma City Police made a surprise raid

at Fidelity National's headquarters.

OFFICIAL: I can tell by you lifting five or six boxes

at one time, there's nothing in any of the boxes

that you can tell?

No, sir.

BOB RICKS: When they went into the boxes,

they found that they were completely empty.

We found no evidence that Fidelity had in any way

purchased, ordered, received, or shipped

during the entire course of their business life

any medical supplies.

The inventory which we found when we executed

search warrants at their warehouse

would fit on the side of my desk.

OFFICIAL: They're empty.

NARRATOR: Investigators painstakingly

checked every single box in the warehouse.

Every single box was empty.

And the masterminds of the operation

had long since disappeared.

BOB RICKS: These are not amateurs.

These people have obviously done this in the past.

They knew what they were doing.

They did it very quickly.

They knew how to get in.

They knew how to get out.

They knew how to setup the accounts without putting

fingerprints on the accounts.

We believe the leader of this operation

was a gentleman named Richard Condia.

[theme music]

Join me next time.

Perhaps you may be able to help solve a mystery.

[theme music]