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: In November of 1991,

an exuberant high school dance in Santa Clara California

was marred by unexpected tragedy when

a 15-year-old boy was struck down long before his time.

He would die within an hour, the victim

of a baffling, unknown illness.

The death of Frank Santos Jr. was the latest blow

for his family, which has been tormented by an incurable heart

disease for more than 30 years.

Perhaps someone watching tonight can

finally provide a clue that will help this courageous family.

Join me for another edition of "Unsolved Mysteries."

[theme music]

December 31, 1960.

The American territory of Guam, 3,000 miles west

of the Hawaiian Islands.

Shortly after midnight, Donatila Santos

and her 34-year-old husband Francisco are sound asleep.

DONATILA LEONARDO: Now, about 1:30 that morning,

he starts snoring, and he never snored in his life.

You know, ever since we were married,

I never experienced any snore.

So I start waking him up, because that's very unusual.

He won't wake up.

[shouting]

I started crying and he still wouldn't wake up.

I lift him up, you know, halfway,

and I let him lean against me.

But then all of a sudden, he took his last breath,

and that was it.

He was gone.

ROBERT STACK: Francisco's death was initially attributed

to a stroke, but was later determined to be

the result of heart failure.

Donatila was left to raise seven young children by herself.

For Donatila Santos, the death of her husband

was only the beginning.

In the past decade, five more family members

have fallen to a mysterious, undiagnosable disease.

Today, Donatila lives in Yuba City, California.

She hopes that by presenting her story,

someone will be able to help identify

this deadly affliction which has plagued the Santos

family for three generations.

By 1970, Donatila had remarried and moved

with her children and new husband to northern California.

Then, in April of 1981, the Santos family experienced

another sudden tragedy.

27-Year-old Doris, the youngest daughter,

was found unconscious in her bedroom.

STEVE SANTOS: She was half on, half off the bed, you know.

Normally, Doris keeps herself all covered up.

So I tried to wake her up, you know, to scoot in,

cover herself up.

She wouldn't-- you know, she didn't respond.

So I ran over and I called my mom.

He starts knocking on my door and says, mom.

Wake up, because something's wrong.

Doris don't wanna wake up.

Immediately, I jump out of bed, went into her bedroom,

and I start waking her up, and she won't wake up.

I told my son, Steve.

I said call the paramedic and the priest immediately.

ROBERT STACK: Doctors determined that Doris had died

of acute congestive heart failure resulting

from the ventricles' inability to pump sufficient amounts

of blood to the body.

Doctors drew no parallels between Doris' death

and the condition that killed her father.

Within two years of Doris' death,

23-year-old Ronnie, the baby of the family,

began experiencing chest pains.

At the time, he was engaged to his high school

sweetheart, Dana.

Ronnie was found to have a virus of the heart

muscle, which could be controlled by medication.

I was scared, but I thought, well,

he's under a good doctor's care, and things will be fine.

I didn't-- it was not related to what had happened to Doris,

because it was a virus of the heart muscle, and hers

was congestive heart failure.

And as far as I knew, his father died of a stroke.

So they obviously weren't related in my mind.

ROBERT STACK: By the following September,

Ronnie and Dana had married.

Under a doctor's supervision, Ronnie

was able to live a normal, active life, which included

weekly games of softball.

DANA NOVOTNY: It was a Monday, and I was sitting out

and talking to a friend, and they

had played a half of an inning.

They had been out in the field, and they came in.

There hadn't been much action.

He hadn't been running around or anything.

He'd just kind of been fielding a few balls.

Then he came in and he was standing by the backstop,

talking to a few friends, leaning on a bat.

Ronnie!

MAN: Let me go call help.

DANA NOVOTNY: He was groaning, and moaning,

and I couldn't figure out what was wrong with him.

And I was just standing there screaming.

All I could do was scream and point.

I had no idea what was happening.

Ronnie!

Ronnie!

ROBERT STACK: Ronnie Santos never regained consciousness.

He was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital.

The cause of death, cardiomyopathy,

an irregular heartbeat, probably the result

of a viral infection.

I still can't believe at 24, he was gone.

It's such a shock to think that.

That's just too young.

Too many things to live for.

ROBERT STACK: A year later, the Santos family was forced

to face yet another funeral.

This time, the victim was the eldest son,

33-year-old Frank, who collapsed while sitting

at home watching television.

ANNETTE SOARES: His mother and I were out running errands,

and we received a phone call.

And I just remember she got off the phone and she said--

she was in a panic state, and she said we've got to go.

We've got to go.

Something's wrong.

Something happened to Frank.

DONATILA LEONARDO: Hail Mary, full of grace.

ANNETTE SOARES: We were driving back to my house,

and his mother was on the passenger side

and she was praying, and I saw the shadows from the lights

of the paramedics truck.

And then it hit me, and I knew.

I knew something was wrong.

I ran into the house and I stopped right at the dining

room looking into the family room,

and I saw the paramedics working on my husband, and I knew.

I knew he was gone.

I was just in a great shock.

I couldn't believe my other son is leaving.

I-- I told myself, he cannot leave.

He's my oldest son, and he cannot.

He's not supposed to die.

But he was gone.

ROBERT STACK: Tragically, Francisco Santos and three

of his children had died of heart disease

before reaching the age of 35.

Physicians searched for answers and soon discovered

that heart disorders had plagued Francisco's side of the family

for a number of generations.

GEORGE F. VAN HARE: I think that what's

most mysterious about the family is the fact that none

of the family members who died were thought

to have abnormal hearts prior to dying, and most of them

have had post-mortem examinations

and there were no serious problems found

at post-mortem examination.

ROBERT STACK: Frank's death was also

attributed to cardiomyopathy, but doctors

were unable to identify the specific disease

that would soon claim two more members of the Santos family.

In August of 1987, another brother, 30-year-old Ralph,

fell asleep on the sofa and never woke up.

His death was also attributed to a viral infection of the heart.

He left behind a wife and two young sons.

Then, in November of 1991, 15-year-old Frank Santos Jr.

was struck down at a high school dance.

The mysterious malady had skipped to the next generation.

Frank's mother was called to the gym she had

now lost a husband and a son.

ANNETTE SOARES: I walked in and I knew.

Right when I saw him laying there still

and the paramedics were administering CPR, I knew.

I knew he was gone.

Today, the pain lingers in our heart over the loss of Frank.

ROBERT STACK: Frank Santos Jr. was buried

next to his uncle Ronnie.

Nearby are the graves of his father,

his Aunt Doris, and his uncle Ralph.

The funeral was a time for Steve Santos,

the family's only surviving son, to reflect

on his own uncertain future.

STEVE SANTOS: I was thinking, I might be next, you know.

Or is my sister going to be next?

Or, you know, one of us.

I'm very certain that this is a problem that

is in the genetic code, and we have just not

been smart enough to figure out exactly what this problem is.

It's not like we've seen 100 or 150 families like this

with the exact same findings that we

can look very, very carefully.

This is a very unusual situation.

DONATILA LEONARDO: Despite the years of pain and hardship,

and despite the loss of 6 loved ones,

the Santos family has remained remarkably resilient,

drawing from each other the strength

and hope that modern medicine has been unable to provide.

STEVE SANTOS: It just brought us that much closer to each other.

Now I have a three-month-old daughter.

You know, I fear for them just like I

fear for myself and my sisters.

You know, now that it's hit their generation,

I fear it very much.

Every day, I think about my children and grandchildren.

What's going to happen?

And I'm hoping and praying that they won't die.

I just hope that this is going to stop.

It's enough already.

[music playing]

ROBERT STACK: Next, controversy surrounds a fatal car fire.

Was it an accident or murder?

[music playing]

On October 25, 1987 in the small town of New Rockford, North

Dakota, an angry confrontation erupted between Kathy Bonderson

and her husband over their teenage son who had

gone out without permission.

KATHY: What am I supposed to do about missing a night at work?

ROBERT: You're the one that grounded

him in the first place.

Somebody has to set some limits for the boy,

and obviously, it's not gonna be you.

ROBERT STACK: It was after 2:00 AM.

Kathy's husband had already conducted a cursory search

and had given up.

He'll be home when he's ready.

This is ridiculous.

It's 2:30 in the morning and we don't know where our son is.

Fine.

You go look for him, then. - OK.

I will.

Yeah, well, I hope you have a heck of a lot better luck

than I did.

ROBERT STACK: Kathy, a dedicated employee

at a local convalescent home, had

never missed a shift at work.

Yet, this night, she was so concerned about her son

that she called in sick.

Around 2:30 AM, the boy was on his way home

with his girlfriend when he saw his mother's

car heading out of town.

That was my mom's car.

Jeez, I hope she didn't see me.

ROBERT STACK: Another vehicle was

following close behind Kathy's.

Her son assumed that his mother was driving her car,

but in fact, he was unable to clearly see

the driver in either vehicle.

[siren wailing]

An hour later, a car was reported burning out of control

on a lonely country road, just a few yards

west of a railroad crossing.

FIREFIGHTER: Hold the line.

Hold the line now.

Make sure the pressure's way up.

FIREFIGHTER: The pressure's up!

FIREFIGHTER: Clear on the hood.

Somebody get the hood.

FIREFIGHTER: I got it, I got it.

ROBERT STACK: The heat was intense.

So intense that 15 long minutes passed

before firefighters could get close enough to look inside.

FIREFIGHTER: No one on this side.

Burns, check the other side.

ROBERT STACK: A body was in a seated position

on the floorboard of the passenger side of the vehicle.

FIREFIGHTER: There's a body in here.

ROBERT STACK: The victim was later identified

as 35-year-old Kathy Bonderson.

Daybreak.

Finally, the car had cooled down enough

to remove Kathy's charred body.

At the time, Edward Allmaras was the Sheriff of Eddy County.

E.J. ALLMARAS: As I remember it, the firewall

was completely burned.

The steering column, the dash, the front seat.

The only thing was left was the steel.

Uh, listen.

I-- I'd like to have you have the boys flush it out,

so if there's any fragments left from the body--

The fire had to start up front someplace.

There could have been a short, a wire pinched,

something, because that car was doing some bending also when

it went across those tracks.

ROBERT STACK: Kathy's car was found here.

Sheriff Allmaras believed that as Kathy approached

the railroad crossing, she inexplicably swerved

to the right and lost control when she careened

over the exposed tracks.

The car made a abrupt turn, as if it was trying

to avoid something, then straightened

out and went across the tracks.

There was marks on the tracks, which

showed us that the car very definitely

went over the tracks.

Not the crossing, but the tracks.

ROBERT STACK: Allmaras believed that a high speed impact

with the raised tracks not only caused the car to burst

into flames, but also threw Kathy to the passenger

side of the car.

Sheriff Allmaras felt that he had an open and shut case.

Kathy Bonderson was no doubt the victim of a tragic accident.

Yet, oddly, her car keys are found virtually undamaged

on the floorboard of the vehicle,

even though the car's interior had melted.

Within two days, a theory emerged

which would pit Sheriff Allmaras against an investigator

from the North Dakota State Highway Patrol.

Four years later, the two lawmen still disagree,

and the question remains.

Did Kathy Bonderson die in an accident, or was she murdered?

The day after the fire, Captain William Byram

of the highway patrol visited the scene

to file a standard report.

WILLIAM BYRAM: It was an unusual case.

It didn't seem to have the same characteristics

that a normal accident would have.

Granted, I arrived 24 hours later,

but I could not distinguish any marks where

her car had left the roadway.

ROBERT STACK: Byram found no tire

tracks to indicate that an out-of-control car had

veered off the road.

Further, the tall grass in the area seemed undisturbed.

He noticed the same marks on the railroad

tracks which Sheriff Allmaras had discovered.

Byram, however, believes they were not made by Kathy's car.

WILLIAM BYRAM: The marks I found were a reddish color.

We talked with the firemen, and the hoses

that were used that night were a red rubber hose,

and they had been in and around that area, drug the hoses

over the tracks.

Felt that what I was looking at was something that

had been put there by them.

Dam

ROBERT STACK: The next day, Byram

and the state Fire Marshal examined Kathy Bonderson's car.

WILLIAM BYRAM: I see that it's totally burned,

but I see absolutely no damage, structural wise,

from impact, which is normal to find

in this type of an accident.

But I couldn't find any.

Found none.

Zero.

The fuel line looks OK, and the fuel filter

still has the paint on it.

ROBERT STACK: Surprisingly, the fuel tank still held

12 and 1/2 gallons of gasoline.

WILLIAM BYRAM: The fuel line from the tank itself

to the carburetor was intact.

No cracks, no dents, no damage whatsoever.

Doesn't appear that we had any impact on any rail.

ROBERT STACK: Based on the evidence,

the Fire Marshal came to his own disturbing conclusion.

CURT FOGEL: It appeared the fire started

in several different areas, which would not be normally

found in an accidental fire.

There's no question in my mind this fire was not an accident.

This fire was intentionally set.

ROBERT STACK: Three weeks later, Captain Byram

requested that Kathy Bonderson's body be exhumed for an autopsy.

Sheriff Allmaras objected.

Byram threatened to obtain a court order.

Allmaras backed down.

You know, it ticked me off when

I was forced into signing the petition to exhume the body.

You know.

And then after we got the full wrap up from the doctor

in Minnesota, the one who performed the autopsy,

he couldn't come up with any cause of death.

One of the very important facts from the autopsy

proved that Kathy Bonderson was dead before the fire started.

ROBERT STACK: According to the pathologist's findings,

there was no carbon monoxide in Kathy's lungs,

suggesting that she was not alive

when the fire was ignited.

I asked him, you know, if she could

have been killed from a blow on the head, and he says yes.

Well, if you're ever in a bouncing car,

you know where your head is going to hit.

ROBERT STACK: Tests conducted on fragments of Kathy's clothing

and the vehicle's carpeting revealed

that each contained traces of gasoline,

supporting the possibility of arson.

Further, several days after the incident, an empty gasoline jug

was found just 300 yards from where the car was burned.

Still, Sheriff Allmaras would not change his findings.

There's been no proof offered.

Nothing in my investigation brought up

anything that even would give you

an inkling that this might be a homicide

rather than a car accident.

Nothing.

There are too many other facts leading me to believe

that it was not an accident.

And I have to work with facts.

ROBERT STACK: Captain Byram was convinced that someone murdered

Kathy Bonderson and set her car on fire to make it

look like an accident.

If so, who killed her and why?

[music playing]

[beeping]

Attention all units, 211 in progress.

705 Sonoma.

705 Sonoma.

ROBERT STACK: 8:51 PM, November 13, 1991.

A chilling call came into the Vallejo, California police.

ROBERT STACK: Patrol cars immediately rolled

to the scene of what they believed

was a robbery in progress at the Loomis armored car company.

[alarm ringing]

As police made their approach, they

saw that the security door of the main building

was partially open.

A bag of money lay near the entrance.

The officers moved cautiously, fearful that somewhere,

gunmen might still be lurking.

[alarm ringing]

Inside, police discovered that this was

far more than a simple robbery.

Just beyond the door, a security guard lay dead.

His hands had been bound with rope,

and he'd been shot through the head.

In another part of the building, police found two other guards.

One was dead, the other mortally wounded.

Like the first victim, they had each been

bound and shot in the head.

The guards were identified as 49-year-old Martin McCumber,

29-year-old Dennis Jacobson, and 25-year-old Alphonso Lontayo.

McCumber left behind a wife and children.

Lontayo was engaged to be married in six months.

This one will forever stick in my mind

as being a very brutal and senseless

killing of three innocent people who

were trying to make a living.

And the way they were killed, and just the brutality

of the incident will be something

that will stick in my mind for a pretty long time.

ROBERT STACK: The brutality of this crime

was not its only hallmark.

Police were surprised to find that the killers had

left behind an abundance of physical evidence.

All of that evidence has been used in our recreations.

Watch closely.

Perhaps someone in the audience will be able to help

identify the killers.

Immediately after police units had secured the crime scene,

detectives were called in.

RONALD BECKER: We looked inside numerous duffel bags

that had been left behind.

Inside these duffel bags, we found a pair of shoes,

we found some tools, and some lighter fluid.

The lighter fluid itself is still

somewhat of a mystery to us.

Try as we might, we have not been

able to conceive of the purpose of bringing that lighter

fluid to the facility.

ROBERT STACK: A price had been hand written

on the lighter fluid container.

So far, no match for the writing has been found.

The shoes were a brand called Honors, sold exclusively

at Target chain stores.

Detectives were surprised to find that the murder

weapon had been left behind.

RONALD BECKER: This revolver is an eight-inch blue steel Colt

Trooper.

We were able to determine that that weapon had been reported

as previously lost or stolen in the Los Angeles

area in approximately 1969.

ROBERT STACK: By the next morning,

the FBI had been called in.

At every turn, more evidence was discovered.

Inside the compound, investigators

found an orange duffel bag stuffed with hundreds

of thousands of dollars.

Nearby, they found the bolt cutters

which had been used to break in through the wire fence.

BOB SAMPAYAN: As we traveled along the fence line of Loomis,

we located a pair of gloves that were

maybe 15 to 20 feet from that cut hole in the fence.

Beyond that, we began locating ski masks, gloves, camouflage

or fatigue-type clothing.

We found another one of those large bags.

Inside that bag was an abundance of currency.

It, too, appeared to have been abandoned.

ROBERT STACK: In a park across the street,

investigators found a pair of gloves, a ski mask,

and an AK-47 assault rifle.

RONALD BECKER: Nearby where this AK-47 was found,

we found an impression in the ground.

This impression leads us to believe that the responsible

laid in that area for some time following the crime,

hoping that the police would leave

and he could finish his escape.

ROBERT STACK: Judging from the evidence,

the authorities theorize that there were four robbers.

Hair samples found on the ski masks

indicated that at least one of them was white and one black.

Eye witnesses would later confirm this.

OK.

How you doing, sir?

Good.

ROBERT STACK: Exactly one week to the hour after the murders,

authorities set up a roadblock near the armored car

facility hoping to find people who

travelled the area regularly.

They learned that a white male was

seen running north from the building at around 9:00 PM

on November 13.

A black male was seen around the same time running

north on a different street.

Working backwards, authorities began

to piece together what happened on the night of the murders.

At approximately 8:00 PM, four heavily armed

men dressed in combat fatigues approached the Loomis building.

One security guard was on duty inside.

40 minutes later, two other guards arrived, transporting

a significant amount of cash.

They made radio contact with a guard

inside the building who was stationed in a lookout

booth called the turret room.

RONALD BECKER: Several Loomis trucks were parked

on the inside of the fence.

This would have provided the responsibles with easy cover

so as not to be seen by the guard inside the turret room.

Once the truck arrived and the gate began to open,

it would have been possible for the murderers

to enter the facility, coming in underneath the opening gate

quickly before the guards had a chance to respond.

All right.

Up against the wall.

Move your hands up behind your head.

Hands behind your head.

Come on.

RONALD BECKER: They could have held the guards as hostages,

ordering the guard to exit the turret room, which he may

have done, thinking that that would

save the lives of his friends.

OK, don't shoot.

I'm coming out.

Once all three of these guards were overpowered,

they were then bound.

Once the guards were bound, that allowed

the responsibles to focus their attention on the truck.

Get down!

There was no reason to kill them

other than if, for some reason, they could

possibly identify the robbers.

That would be the only reason that they

would have to be killed.

Now, this leads to a great deal of speculation

whether one or more of the employees

who were killed actually knew one of the robbers.

[gunshots]

[alarm ringing]

When a gun shot was fired, they activated

an interior alarm which caused them to panic and flee.

[gunshot]

[alarm ringing]

They filled the bags so full of money

that they could not carry them.

They were not aware of how heavy money actually is.

ROBERT STACK: Despite the blaring alarm,

the killers fled and got away scot-free.

The stark irony is that they also got

away with absolutely no money.

RONALD BECKER: These three victims of this crime

were more than just guards.

They had wives, children, girlfriends, fathers, and

mothers that they left behind.

These people's lives, their survivors,

have been permanently impacted.

Nothing can be ever done to undo what's

been done to those people, and probably the closest

we can ever come to rectifying the impact on their life

is to help solve this crime.

[music playing]

Next, a woman is stricken with a rare form of amnesia

and loses 16 years of her memory.

[music playing]

Imagine what it would be like to awake one day from a deep sleep

and discover that your most precious memories

are gone forever.

That's exactly what happened to a 39-year-old housewife

from Dundalk, Maryland.

She's been stricken with amnesia.

A medical mystery which has confounded

science for centuries.

She is not searching for a lost loved one.

No crime has been committed.

What she has lost is every single memory

from a 16-year period.

The mystery of Sarah DiGennaro is a mystery of the mind.

I just want to cash that, please.

Sure.

ROBERT STACK: It began on Friday the 13th,

August 1976, when Sarah stopped by her local bank.

Sarah had a long history of debilitating migraine

headaches, but this day, the pain was beyond anything she

had ever experienced before.

TELLER: Ma'am?

SARAH DIGENNARO: The pain was so bad.

If my head had exploded, you know,

if dynamite had gone off in the left side of my head,

it would have probably felt the same way.

There was so much pain-- - Ma'am.

Are you all right?

SARAH DIGENNARO: That the only I could do was leave there.

TELLER: Mrs. DiGennaro?

ROBERT STACK: The attack left Sarah

confused and disoriented, unable to see out of her left eye.

Somehow she managed to make her way home.

Honey?

Honey, what's wrong?

ROBERT STACK: Three hours later, Sarah's husband, Paul,

found his wife sprawled across the bed.

[mumbling]

Honey, wake up.

ROBERT STACK: She was partially paralyzed

and babbling incoherently.

Honey.

Honey, talk to me.

SARAH DIGENNARO: I tried to tell him, you know,

that I was down at the bank and my--

it felt like my head exploded, and I-- but I

couldn't-- couldn't say it.

ROBERT STACK: A blood vessel had burst in Sarah's brain.

Doctors recommended an extremely delicate and risky operation.

The alternative was bleak.

Sarah would likely be incapacitated

for the rest of her life.

DOCTOR: Bringing the pressure down.

DOCTOR: OK, the clip is on.

ROBERT STACK: Surgeons use a relatively new and experimental

procedure called micro surgery to repair the broken blood

vessel in Sarah's brain. - All right.

We've got the first aneurysm clipped.

It looks like there's another aneurysm here, though,

that we--

ROBERT STACK: Then they discover that her condition was

worse than they had imagined.

There was a second ruptured vessel which had

failed to show up on x-rays.

Sarah was on the operating table for 9 and 1/2 grueling hours

as doctors struggled to save her life.

NURSE: Hello, Sarah.

How are you doing?

Listen, the doctor says we can remove some of those stitches

now that are in your head.

ROBERT STACK: During the first few days of recovery,

Sarah knew something was not quite right

and became frightened.

She noticed that in just three days,

Paul's 1960s crew cut had grown out,

and he appeared to have put on weight.

Sarah's daughter Kelly sensed immediately

that her mother had changed.

What Kelly did not know was that her mother

did not even recognize her.

KERRY DERRICK: I can remember the day that my father

took me to the hospital.

It was after my mother was out of intensive care,

and she was in her private room, and it

also happened to be the day that she

was getting her stitches out.

So as the nurse was removing the stitches from her head,

I was to one side of her, and I kept watching her.

And she would be looking over at me just out of the corner

of her eye, and not really saying

anything to me at all the whole time that I was there.

Almost wondering who I was.

ROBERT STACK: 16 Years of Sarah's memory had been erased.

In her mind, she was only 23 years old

and had three youngsters waiting for her at home,

not four teenage children.

WILLIAM BENEDICT: Most people who

have an aneurysm that ruptures do experience some memory loss,

but the memory loss tends to be around the event itself,

not a prolonged period of time that is lost.

In Mrs. DiGennaro's case, 16 years,

time when children were being born and were growing.

To be deprived of that is really unusual.

ROBERT STACK: 2 and 1/2 weeks after surgery, Sarah

was released from the hospital.

OK, honey.

We're home.

ROBERT STACK: The neighborhood seemed oddly out of kilter.

What had once been a dirt road was now a paved street.

Where there were once empty lots, new houses stood.

You OK?

Who's here?

Kids.

Kids are here.

ROBERT STACK: Doctors had warned Sarah

that, following the surgery, she might

feel slightly disoriented.

Hi, mom.

ROBERT STACK: But no one had prepared her

for what she found.

Right over here.

SARAH DIGENNARO: There was nothing in the house

like it was before.

Everything was just different.

But I figured that if I just kept quiet, eventually,

I'd have things figured out.

Do Eloise and Bob still live in Tulsa?

ROBERT STACK: Two days after returning from the hospital,

Sarah began to understand the full magnitude of her problem.

And it is 1960, isn't it?

No.

It's It's 1976, mom.

PAUL DIGENNARO: You're kidding us, right?

Yeah, I'm just fooling you guys.

I knew that.

ROBERT STACK: Terrified by her inexplicable memory loss,

Sarah made a conscious decision that no one must know.

Not her family, not her friends, not even her doctors.

Whenever she was alone, Sarah sifted

through family photographs, searching

for clues about her past.

She became obsessed with discovering who she was

and where she had come from.

SARAH DIGENNARO: I didn't have all the knowledge

that I had before.

I would try to get back everything that I--

that was lost in my brain.

ROBERT STACK: Sarah found herself mystified by the most

ordinary household appliances.

When Sarah was 23, few families had automatic dishwashers.

Microwave ovens had not yet been invented.

Personal computers were unheard of.

Even the family car seemed like something out of the space age.

SARAH DIGENNARO: I'd never seen anything like that in my life.

I mean, here was this big, streamline car.

It was unbelievable.

The magazines they used to give pictures of cars of the future.

That's what the Pontiac Grand Prix looked like.

ROBERT STACK: Sarah internalized her fears

and tried to go about life as if nothing had happened.

Yet everything had changed.

Sarah's taste in music, fashion, and dance

was that of a 23-year-old.

Not a woman approaching middle age.

KERRY DERRICK: I can remember coming home from school

or coming home from work, and the stereo

would just be blasting.

And the first thing I would do would

be to come in the back door and just

turn the stereo down, because it would just drive me crazy.

It's been a real role reversal at some points,

you know, and just the music that she listens to.

You know, it's music of my generation,

and it's a bit much for me at times.

ROBERT STACK: For nearly four years,

Sarah managed to keep up her charade.

Finally, in November of 1979, Sarah discovered

that she was not alone.

Kelly.

Kelly, come here and sit down.

ROBERT STACK: An article in the local newspaper

gave her the courage to reveal her secret to her family.

I just read an article about people who have aneurysms.

Right.

And for years now, I thought there

was something wrong with me.

KERRY DERRICK: Everything was out, and she, you know,

was willing to admit that she did not know

who we were or know who I was.

Sometimes, I wish that she could remember me

as when I was younger and I was growing up,

because I think I did get some characteristics from her,

such as being athletic.

But I think she would have really

enjoyed remembering of me.

WILLIAM BENEDICT: We always hope that we can learn

from the experiences of our patients, and by that process,

continue to grow intellectually.

But from time to time, an event will occur that remains

inexplicable, a mystery.

Now, that's a big difference.

ROBERT STACK: Today, with the help of her family,

Sarah's trying to reconstruct the year she

thought she had lost forever.

SARAH DIGENNARO: I didn't know as much as I did at one time

and wasn't able to do the things I could do before.

Nothing was going to get me down.

I was going to relearn everything.

You know, handicapped people are-- everybody goes, aw.

Isn't that a shame?

They weren't going to do that to me.

Despite tremendous advances in the field of medicine,

scientists tell us that we understand even less than 5%

of how our memory functions.

Sarah DiGennaro is still adjusting to life

with 16 years of missing time.

Though she carries on bravely, her doctors

do not foresee the day that Sarah

will recover her lost memories.

On our next "Unsolved Mysteries,"

three suspicious deaths, all investigated

as possible suicides, haunt a freelance journalist

who now believes he has been targeted for murder because he

may know too much about possibly illegal, multimillion

dollar gold transactions.

On June 26, 1990, in Rochester, New York,

one of the largest armored car robberies

in United States history went off without a hitch.

The total haul, over $10 million in untraceable bills.

Join me next time.

Perhaps you may be able to help solve a mystery.

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