Original subtitles

VOICEOVER: This program is about unsolved mysteries.

Whenever possible, the actual family members

and police officials have participated

in recreating the events.

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

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): In California, a deadly fire

ravages a house trailer.

One 16-year-old girl dies at the scene.

Her injured twin sister succumbs four weeks later.

Then the family suffers another cruel blow

when the girl's own half-brother becomes

a chief suspect in a bizarre scenario of murder and arson.

1955 was a summer of romance for Maria

Bauer and Michael Seymour.

While working at a resort near Chicago,

they felt passionately in love.

But when Maria returned to her native Germany,

she returned alone and pregnant.

Nearly 40 years later, her son Christoph

needs your help to find his birth father Michael Seymour.

When bank executive John Grundhofer arrived at work

on November 19, 1990, he became a target

of a most bizarre kidnapping.

His abductor was overweight, oddly dressed, and clumsy,

but he wielded what appeared to be a homemade bomb,

demanded $3 million in cash.

Nearly three years, this unlikely criminal

has managed to elude authorities.

Perhaps someone watching tonight will be able to identify.

Join me for another intriguing edition

of "Unsolved Mysteries."

In 1990, the FBI was called in to investigate

one of the most bizarre kidnappings

they've ever encountered.

The perpetrator was an overweight,

middle-aged man who wore thick glasses and a floppy rain hat--

hardly the profile of a dangerous criminal.

Yet that is exactly what he was, made more dangerous by the fact

that his scheme was flawed from the outset

and bungled at nearly every step along the way.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Minneapolis,

Minnesota, November 19, 1990.

At 8:10 AM, John Grundhofer, a wealthy, hard-nosed business

executive was approaching his office.

Grundhofer was Chairman and President of First Bank System.

Appointed in 1989 with a directive to trim the fat,

he had saved the bank millions by eliminating

more than 2,000 jobs.

Grundhofer was a man used to scrutiny,

but as he arrived at work that morning,

he had no idea that his every move was being watched.

You're going to have to go with me.

What do you mean?

Just get back in the car.

There must be some mistake.

I have no business with you.

I think you do.

This is Carl and you are going with me.

What do you want?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Grundhofer kept his cool.

In fact, he was about to spring a surprise of his own.

The commotion soon drew the attention of a witness.

What are you doing?

JEFF RASMUSSON: I heard shouting and I looked over and saw

two men rolling on the ground.

It was at that point I thought there was a mugging going on,

so I started to run over there to help

whoever was being mugged.

And I got about halfway there when the gentleman had both

gotten up and started to act like they knew each other,

and so I slowed to a walk.

What's wrong?

Is somebody sick?

You need some help?

Look, you better get out of here.

At first it seemed so unreal that I almost

laughed at the gentleman, and then I realized it was real

and I was in danger.

And at that point, I was terrified

that I was going to be shot, and I then ran to the elevator.

Back up and get us out of this garage.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The gunman ordered

Grundhofer into the car.

It was 8:13 AM.

Just three minutes had passed since Grundhofer

drove into the parking garage.

JOHN GRUNDHOFER (ACTOR): Now where do you want me to drive?

GUNMAN: Just head east.

Just head towards Wisconsin.

And give me your arm.

What do want with them?

Give me your left arm and shut up.

See, to avoid any further difficulties,

I'm going to attach this dynamite to you.

That way, if you give me any other problems,

all I've got to do is push a button.

RICHARD LIND: I think his intention was to frighten Mr.

Grundhofer sufficiently enough that he would be very compliant

and do what he was told to do.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): At virtually that same morn,

a passerby in the garage found what the FBI believes

was a cheat sheet for the kidnapper,

reminding him exactly what he was going

to order Grundhofer to do.

RICHARD LIND: I believe that the kidnapper is not

really a professional criminal.

It would seem to me that if you're

going to commit that kind of a crime

that you could basically do it off the top of your head,

if you will.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): At around 8:45,

Grundhofer and the gunman were crossing

the state line into Wisconsin, 35 miles from Minneapolis.

It was clear that the abductor had done his homework.

Who takes charge when you're not around?

Maybe some vice president.

Does Scott Taylor take over?

You know Scott Taylor?

Never mind.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): At 8:57,

the kidnapper offered Grundhofer to pull

into a secluded rest area.

They were now 46 miles from Minneapolis.

RICHARD LIND: When they arrived at the wayside,

the kidnapper handed Mr. Grundhofer a note.

Mr. Grundhofer then made a phone call to his secretary who

transcribed the ransom demands.

I am a hostage of a group called Parents Against Drugs.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The demand was for $3 million

in various denominations-- $100, $500, and even $1,000 bills.

Once again, the kidnapper had tipped his hand

above his own inexperience.

$1 million in $500s and $1 million in $1,000s.

RICHARD LIND: A professional criminal would

never ask for a $1,000 bill.

You don't exactly take a $1,000 bill

and go to a convenience store, buy a cup of coffee,

and ask for change.

There aren't too many people that

carry $1,000 bills with them.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Officials

at First Bank System began preparing the $3 million

ransom.

At around that same time, a gunman was discovering that he

had made a crucial mistake.

He had lost his cheat sheet.

Have you got the note?

What note?

The note from the parking garage.

I don't know what you're talking about.

I used a note before.

I had written a few things down.

Are you sure you didn't take it?

I haven't seen this note.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The gunman became more agitated.

Shut up about it. Let's just go.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): He forced

Grundhofer to hike down a steep slope in remote, wooded area.

Got to rest a minute.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The kidnapper

was apparently so out of shape that he

struggled to make the descent.

Eventually, the two men reached a spot

where a plastic sack containing a sleeping bag had been left.

Wait. Wait a minute.

Hold up.

Wait right there.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The gunman moved quickly.

He removed the bomb.

He bound Grundhofer's hands with a nylon rope,

forced him into the sleeping bag, taped his mouth shut.

Grundhofer worked for 20 minutes to free himself.

When he realized that no one was watching, he went for help.

At 10:25, Grundhofer called his office from a nearby farmhouse.

The ransom was never paid.

The kidnapping made headlines throughout the Midwest.

10 days later, the FBI set up a hotline

and published this composite drawing.

The response was immediate.

A man named John Henderson, who bore a striking resemblance

to the composite, was identified as the kidnapper

by two different callers.

Henderson was a maintenance worker who lived 25

miles outside of Minneapolis.

He had never worked at First Bank System

and had no apparent connection to Grundhofer.

JOHN HENDERSON: I was stunned when

they started questioning me about a kidnapping

case that had just happened.

They wanted to search, and I told him go ahead.

I had nothing to hide.

And they searched my car and my garage and the house.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The FBI requested that Henderson

participate in a lineup, even though they

had found no physical evidence that

connected him to the crime.

Step forward and say the line again.

This is Carl, and you are coming with me.

DETECTIVE: Do you see the man who

kidnapped you in the lineup?

It's number three.

JOHN HENDERSON: I had no worries about the lineup,

because I know I didn't do it.

And even though he identified me, I know I didn't do it.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Despite Grundhofer's

positive identification, Jeff Rasmusson,

the eyewitness in the garage, did not pick

Henderson out of the lineup.

Nevertheless, the FBI continued to look for evidence.

A handwriting sample was taken.

It did not match the note.

However, the FBI felt that Henderson's

alibi was less than airtight.

Later, he became the target of a grand jury investigation,

but in the end no charges were filed.

JOHN HENDERSON: So far the FBI hasn't found anything.

And they won't find anything, because I didn't do it.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Next, a family

is torn apart by accusations of arson and murder.

The story you are about to see involves

a brutal double homicide, which took place several years ago.

To this day, the case remains unsolved,

and a family has been ripped apart by accusations

of arson and murder.

Time may never heal the wounds of this complex case,

but perhaps someone watching may have some small clue

that could help bring the perpetrator

or perpetrators to justice.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Willow Creek, California,

population 1,000, is situated in the heart

of the state's timber country, some 250

miles north of San Francisco.

Hans and Betty Hansen moved to this quiet community

in 1971, three years after they were married.

Hans operated a logging supply business

in a warehouse next to the couple's mobile home.

The Hansen family grew to include four children--

Donny and Becky from Betty's prior marriage

and twin girls Jill and Julie.

HANS HANSEN: Jill and Julie were good, sensible kids.

They were a little shy until you got to know them,

but they had real good sense.

They would kind of be more friendly to underdog people,

and they were real popular girls in school.

So if a new person came to school or something that

wasn't taken in so much by the other people,

they would befriend them.

BETTY HANSEN: They seemed to view people from the inside.

It didn't matter what they looked like

or how much money they had or who they were.

They were kind to everyone.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): For Betty and Hans,

life was close to perfect until the night of November 14, 1986.

At around 11:00 PM, the 16-year-old twins

were in their room preparing for bed.

Their half-brother Donny, age 21,

was visiting from the town of Fortuna, 70 miles away.

He would sleep on a couch in the family room.

At around 3:00 AM, Betty Hansen suddenly awoke.

Hans, get up.

What?

I smell smoke.

Get the kids.

Oh, no.

Jill!

Jill!

Julie!

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Today Hans and Betty's memories

are a blur of fragmented images, but that night they were struck

by several things that, even in the midst of the chaos,

didn't quite make sense.

HANS HANSEN: If I shot that fire extinguisher down the hall,

it burned right back up.

There was a strip in the middle of that hallway burning.

I remember that going through my mind that it's real odd,

that coming back in a strip like that.

And still I got no response from anybody.

I was yelling all three of their names

and then exited the house.

As I ran out the door, I kicked the gas can out of the way,

not really thinking much of it until I

got a few steps away, thinking that gas

can shouldn't have been there.

It was empty, because I felt how it was empty when I kicked it.

BETTY HANSEN: I went up the little hallway,

and the first person I saw was Donny.

And he was standing at the end of the couch

where I think he had slept that night, and he didn't see me.

And he's screaming in a horrible voice.

He's screaming get out of here real loud and running, chasing.

And so right away, I was afraid for him, what was happening,

who he was chasing out.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Betty ran

into the shop, where a number of fire extinguishers were stored.

She was met first by Donny, then by Hans.

Hans!

Betty, call the fire department!

Hurry!

HANS HANSEN: When I got to the shop, I got a ladder

and came up to Jill's room and just shoved that ladder

right through the window.

The room was totally in flames, totally engulfed in flame.

And I didn't get any response or see anybody.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Hans, Betty, and Donny

continuously returned to the warehouse

for fire extinguishers.

Did you call the fire de--

Yes, I did.

Yes.

Jill and Julie-- have you seen Jill and Julie?

- No. - Ugh.

HANS HANSEN: I remember asking Donny

as we were chasing back and forth for fire extinguishers,

did you see anybody?

And he said, no, he didn't see anything.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Fire trucks

roared to the scene within 15 minutes,

but for Hans and Betty, assuming that Jill

and Julie were still inside the trailer, it was an eternity.

Minutes later, the Hansens were both shocked and relieved

when a neighbor noticed a crumpled figure in a vacant lot

across the road.

Julie?

It's Julie Hansen.

Julie, what happened?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Julie was

nearly dead, bleeding profusely from a gaping wound

in her stomach.

I'm going to go get some help.

HANS HANSEN: I heard somebody yell from across the street,

we found one of them, or something like that.

Then the next thing, Donny came running up on the deck,

and he said, we found Julie.

Julie's out.

I got her out.

And my first question to him was, how bad is she burned?

And he didn't give me an answer.

Of course, I didn't stand around.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Hans claims

that it was only after Julie was discovered that Donny took

credit for having pulled her from the fire,

but that apparent discrepancy was quickly overshadowed

by concern for Julie.

When I saw Julie, I thought there

was no way she could live.

Her stomach was just open, blown open.

And so I ran back across the street,

and I just went from one fireman to the other,

begging him to please go in and find Jill.

Where's Jill?

And then I'd run back across the street

to see how Julie was doing, and each time I

went back across the street I was

surprised she was still alive.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Emergency personnel

rushed Julie to the hospital, believing

her stomach injury had been caused by some kind

of fire-related explosion.

But in surgery, doctors made an incredible discovery.

Julie's traumatic wound had absolutely

nothing to do with the fire.

Julie Hansen had been shot in the abdomen, virtually

at point blank range with a 12-gauge shotgun.

Well, I about fell off my chair then,

because that was the first I'd known anything

about any shooting at all.

And I still couldn't figure out why.

Who could have hated us this much to make an attack

on our house like this?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The emerging facts

seemed too shocking to be true.

Unknown and unseen, someone had apparently torched the Hansen

home and gunned down Julie.

Daylight brought still more unbearable news.

Jill's body was found in the ruins.

An autopsy would later confirm that Jill had also

been wounded by shotgun fire.

Unable to flee, she had perished in the flames.

Authorities recovered three shotgun shells

and a second five gallon gas can from the ashes, mounting

evidence of arson and murder.

Whoa.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The Hansens' warehouse

was untouched by the fire, and investigators examined

every square inch for clues.

Hey, George.

Yeah?

Over here.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Shoved behind some boxes,

they found a 12-gauge shotgun.

Ballistic tests would later prove it was a weapon used

to shoot Jill and Julie Hanson.

What do you make of that?

I don't know.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The entire Hansen property

was cordoned off and kept under round-the-clock surveillance.

Two days after the fire, in the early morning,

the officer on duty caught a prowler outside the warehouse.

Hey!

What are you doing there?

This is my dad's place.

He works here.

What's your dad's name?

Hans Hansen.

You didn't see the police there?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): It was Hans's and Betty's son, Donny.

Watch the light.

You just stand right there.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Detective George

Gatto was called to the scene.

Donny told Gatto that he had come to feed the family dog.

Caught him looking in a window.

Looking in a window.

What were you looking at, son?

I just came out to feed my dog.

COP: Tell us the truth, Donny.

GEORGE GATTO: He knew the dog had

been taken to the neighbor's.

He knew the dog was not there, and that's

when the figured that the reason he was there,

he was there to get the shotgun.

Because he didn't know we had found it yet.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The case

had taken an incredible turn.

Donny was about to become the prime suspect in the murder

of his own sister.

Investigators soon uncovered circumstantial evidence that

implicated Donny in the crime.

Three days before the fire, Donny had borrowed

the shotgun from a friend, and Donny

admitted keeping it in his car.

Unspent shells found in the car matched

those used in the attack.

Donny had purchased the ammunition

the very evening Jill and Julie were shot.

This credit card statement verified that two days

before the fire, Donny had purchased five gallons of gas

at a local station.

Witnesses confirm that the container

Donny filled was identical to one

of those found at the scene.

There was only one person who might be able to confirm

the growing suspicions--

Julie Hansen.

Approximately two weeks after the fire,

she had recovered enough to tell her parents what had happened.

I crawled out of bed over Jill.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): At first,

Julie's memories were sketchy.

She recalled being shot, but not seeing anyone.

She said she crawled over her sister

when she saw her sister was still asleep in the bed

beside her and stepped out of her bedroom door.

And bang, she saw a flash and she thought a bomb went off.

And she said she reached down and felt her belly.

It was like a bowl of jello.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): As Hans

and Betty asked more questions, Julie

had a chilling recollection.

So did you see anything else?

Did you see anybody?

I saw Donny's face in the flash.

HANS HANSEN (ACTOR): You saw your brother Donny's face?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): However,

Julie's statement contradicted what she told her doctor.

I never found out why she said that she

saw Donny in the flash.

She definitely did not tell me that.

She told me she saw nobody specifically.

When I questioned her about that situation,

I said, who did you see or did you see anything?

She said, I saw nobody--

never mentioned seeing Donny.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): On December 2, two weeks

after the fire, Donny Hansen was met by his mother and sister

at the county courthouse.

He had come involuntarily for further questioning.

Thanks for coming down.

What about the shells?

The shells, we were out trap shooting,

and I picked some more up because a storm

was on the way home.

Don't you think it's kind of funny

that you bought the shells right before the murder?

What about the gun?

Why did you try to hide the gun?

Look, I just got scared, you know.

I panicked.

Tried to hide the gun in the warehouse,

because I figured if they found the gun in my car

they were just going to assume that I did it.

I don't have a right to assume that?

I'm having trouble believing this whole story.

GEORGE GATTO: He kept saying he was innocent.

He failed a polygraph twice.

And when I interviewed him, he just kept denying everything,

and every time it was a different story with him.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The interrogation lasted two hours.

When Donny emerged, he was in handcuffs, facing trial

on charges of arson and murder.

What's going on?

He's under arrest.

On what grounds?

I can't talk to you about that right now.

George, we are trying to cooperate with you.

BETTY HANSEN: That was a pretty low point

in my life to see my son arrested

for the murder of my daughter.

It was just unbelievable.

And I kept thinking, when am I going to wake up?

When's this going to end?

I can't describe it.

There's just no words.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The nightmare was far from over.

On December 19, Julie suddenly died

in a freak medical accident.

An air bubble had entered her bloodstream

through an intravenous tube and stopped her heart.

Julie's death was another devastating blow

to her grieving parents.

It was also a crippling setback to the prosecutors.

Julie's eyewitness statements would now

be inadmissible as evidence, so she could not be cross-examined

by defense attorneys.

When we return, Donny Hansen tells his story.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): In April of 1988,

Donny Hansen went on trial for the murder

of his half-sisters Jill and Julie.

The district attorney was confident enough

to ask for the death penalty.

The defendant Donald Hansen brought the gun that was

the murder weapon to the scene.

He brought the shotgun shells that killed those two girls.

He hid the murder weapon, and he lied about all of those things.

That was strong evidence.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): However, the defense

introduced eyewitness testimony from the Hansens' neighbors

across the street.

They claimed to have seen two unidentified men

near the trailer while it was on fire.

Their sighting became the cornerstone

of a defense theory designed to show

that Donny Hanson was innocent.

There were a tremendous number of unanswered facts

and occurrences that happened that night that the prosecution

couldn't explain and which were not consistent with Donny

having been involved.

I was able to come up with at least a suggested scenario that

tied all of the unanswered, or the majority

of the unanswered, factual questions together.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The defense

contended that around 3:00 AM, two

intruders, identity and motive unknown,

approached the Hansens' trailer.

WILLIAM BRAGG: The person had found Donny's shotgun outside

and, for whatever reason, decided to bring it inside

with some shells, picked the lock,

came through the sliding glass door.

They just spread the gasoline around the living room area

at the front of the trailer, the kitchen.

They certainly didn't seem to care that people

were asleep in the trailer.

They went throughout the trailer and spread the gasoline.

At some point during the activities of the perpetrator,

Julie was awake.

And she comes down the hallway and walks

in on the perpetrator, who then, at that particular point,

apparently was to the left of Donny

as he was lying on the couch and somewhat behind him.

And he shoots her as she's coming out the hallway.

And she goes down, and that's what wakes Donny up.

Donny picks Julie up, takes her out on the front

porch, deposits her there.

You OK? You're up.

You stay there.

I'll find some help.

TERRY R FARMER: If some unnamed, unknown masked intruders

are in your house killing people and burning the place down

and you're standing right next to them that they'd shoot you,

too, wouldn't you?

They didn't.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): According to the defense

theory, at least one of the assailants

was still in the trailer after Hans, Betty, and Donny escaped.

It was only then that Jill was shot.

WILLIAM BRAGG: And the perpetrator

then exited the trailer.

That person put the gun back in the car,

threw it back in the car as he running by.

And those persons ran to their car and jumped in,

and off they went.

TERRY R FARMER: If you're going to commit a murder,

don't you bring me instruments to do that job?

Don't you bring the gun if you're

going to burn down the house?

Don't you bring the gas?

How convenient for them that both of these items

just happened to be provided by Donald Hansen.

It makes no sense.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): However, the jury

believed it did make sense, and they

found Donny Hansen not guilty.

BETTY HANSEN: When I first heard the verdict,

my initial reaction was I was really happy to think

that he didn't do it.

But when I thought back to everything,

I knew that Donny's involved, that Donny knew what happened.

And he knew what went on that night,

and he has all the answers.

This has been a real tragedy to us,

because we have lost three of our four children

out of this, two of them are dead.

And Donny's dead to me, because I

do feel he is 100% responsible for this,

whether he pulled it off 100% himself or not.

If I know who would have done this,

I would not have put my life on the line through a jury trial,

through a death penalty case, to cover up for someone that

killed my sisters that I love.

A statement like that is absolutely ludicrous.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Because of the notoriety

surrounding the trial, Donny has changed his name.

He asked that we alter his voice and obscure

his face during this exclusive interview.

You know, I realize that nothing has been done

or has been done since my acquittal to take

steps to solve this case.

I think the only way this case will ever be solved

is if someone's conscience gets to them.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Donny's account

is still the subject of debate.

Although his attorney claimed Donny

was awakened by the shotgun blast,

Donny now says he never heard the shot.

No one that was in that trailer that night

heard any blast, so I don't know how I didn't hear it.

I don't know how any of us didn't hear it as a group.

But we're all fairly consistent, and none of us heard anything.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Another nagging question

is why Donny removed the shotgun from his car

before anyone knew that his shotgun had been involved

or even that a crime had been committed.

I don't really know why I moved it, other than I didn't

want someone steal it, someone find the gun, and blame,

think I did this if it was used in the commission

of this crime.

At that time, I didn't know if it had been or not.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): A third incident was

also difficult to reconcile--

Donny's 5:00 AM visit to the warehouse and the explanation

he gave police.

DONNY HANSEN: It was one of those things,

the old story where one lie leads into another.

And they just started rolling in.

And I said, well, I was coming in to check on my dog.

Which I wasn't really checking on the dog.

I was going back to get the gun, and that's

the story that I told them.

But I think that I reacted with a vigorous amount of stupidity,

and that's what got me in trouble.

I just came out to feed my dog.

COP: Tell us the truth.

The accusations that I know what went on that night

are absolutely ludicrous, because I

had absolutely everything to lose and nothing to gain.

And the fact that they let someone

get away with what they did to Jill and Julie tears me up.

It decimates my life, I guess you could say.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The whole truth about this hideous

crime may never be known.

A jury has acquitted Donny Hansen,

but his mother and stepfather have not.

HANS HANSEN: I believe the insurance

policy was part of the motive.

The insurance was on me.

I mean, Donny came home that night to wipe our family out.

He brought the gun with him.

He had the gasoline that he had bought two nights previous,

and I believe the motive was money.

Whether he was by himself or not, I don't know.

BETTY HANSEN: You go on, but life is never the same.

And you can build a new house or buy a new car,

but you can't bring back the girls.

And all we have left is memories.

And it's really rough.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Jill and Julie

Hansen were 15 years old when these home movies were taken.

The parents have never gotten over the brutal crime

that tore their family apart.

When we return, will aging love letters

lead to a long lost father?

Perhaps, with your help.

It was the summer of 1955.

Maria Hoffman, a 20-year-old exchange student from Germany,

found work at the Hotel Moraine, an elegant lakeside resort

26 miles from Chicago.

Maria had just finished a year of study in the United States

and needed money for the passage home.

[speaking german]

I'm sorry.

I didn't see you.

Hey, wait a minute.

Are we both saying the same thing?

Yes.

You surprised me so much, I forgot my English.

I'm sorry.

I didn't mean to.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The young man introduced

himself as Michael Seymour.

Like Maria, he was in his early 20s.

Here, let me help you.

Thank you.

You're very kind.

I haven't seen you here before.

Are you new?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The chance encounter

quickly blossomed into a summer romance,

but it was a relationship Maria would

keep secret for nearly 30 years, until the spring of 1983.

In the ensuing years, Maria had returned to Germany,

married, become a mother and a grandmother.

Her oldest son Christoph was a Lieutenant

in the German Air Force.

During a weekend visit with him, Maria

made a stunning confession.

Chris, there is something I want to talk to you about.

What is it?

This is very difficult. Chris, your father

is not your real father.

What?

The man who raised you is not your real father.

Mama, are you serious?

Your real father is a man I met when

I was in the United States.

Why haven't you told me this sooner?

CHRISTOPH BAUER: When my mother first told me this,

I felt a little bit anger about her not telling me before.

I am your son.

I have a right to know.

CHRISTOPH BAUER: I made the decision right there

that I need to find him, that I need to find out what kind

of man he is, that I want to see him and make my own decision

whether I like him or not and whether I want to stay

in contact with him or not.

How did it happen?

It was the year after I was in school in America.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Over the next hour,

Christoph learned more about his biological father

and the long secret romance.

For Maria and Michael, the attraction had

been instant and all-consuming.

Together, they spent an enchanted summer.

CHRISTOPH BAUER: My mother told me that he was from Canada,

that he was a very gentle man and that she

fell in love with this man and she had an affair with him.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): But the carefree love

affair was eventually clouded by a very real concern.

Maria Hoffman was pregnant.

CHRISTOPH BAUER: She was very worried about the future,

because she was in a foreign country

with basically no fixed income.

And her friend, the man she was in love with,

obviously didn't have a very high income job either.

So they would have had to struggle a lot.

I also know that they were in love

and that she wanted to be with him.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): In October of 1955,

Maria made an agonizing decision.

She would return to Germany to have her baby

without Michael Seymour.

CHRISTOPH BAUER: They separated, not in anger.

They separated in good face and planned on getting

together again later on.

I don't know what to say, Maria.

Neither do I. It's all so confusing.

I know that I'll miss you.

CHRISTOPH BAUER: It wasn't an easy way for her,

but it was the best way because she

could go to the security of her family and had all the support

that she needed.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Maria would never

again see Michael Seymour.

Christoph was born in Germany on May 22, 1956.

The following year, Maria married

a college professor, a man Christoph would

come to know as his father.

Christoph, sit down.

There is something I have for you

I have been saving all these years.

These are letters from your father.

I hope that they will help you to understand or at least

to have more information.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): In all, there were four letters,

the last written in 1958.

Included were two snapshots of Michael Seymour.

Christoph Bauer at the age of 27 suddenly

found himself staring into the face of his birth father.

Christoph immediately followed up the few clues he had.

He wrote to the four different return addresses

on the envelopes.

He got no response.

Government agencies both in Canada and the United States

had no records of Seymour, and the Hotel Moraine

where Christoph's mother and Seymour had met

had long ago burned to the ground.

But there was one ray of hope.

A cousin of Maria's who lived in Chicago

said that Michael Seymour had periodically

phoned her after Maria returned to Germany.

Have you heard from Maria?

Do you know how she's been doing?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): To Christoph's amazement,

Michael Seymour's occasional calls had

continued for nearly 20 years.

And Chris-- how's he doing?

CHRISTOPH BAUER: When I learned that he had checked on me

and that he still was interested in me,

I felt supported in my decision to find him.

1976, this relative moved, and that

was the end of the contact.

These are letters.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): One year

after her dramatic confession, Maria Bauer died.

She was 49 years old.

The aging letters she left to Christoph

paint a bittersweet picture of youthful love.

VOICEOVER: "I feel any child of yours

would be somebody worthwhile.

I'm happy to be joined to you through it, one way or another,

even if by now or in time to come that is all

we have between us.

I also want some kind of closer relationship

with our son Christopher.

"I think he is the cutest thing I've ever seen.

I received your last letter with the two pictures of him

on the bicycle and with yourself.

I really treasure them."

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Today, Christoph Bauer is a captain

in the German Air Force.

Since 1991, he has lived with his family in the United

States, where he is training helicopter

pilots for the US Army.

Christoph and his family will be returning to Germany next year.

Perhaps Michael Seymour can be found before they leave,

so he can meet his son and three grandchildren

for the first time.

Recently, Christoph was surprised to learn

that the name Michael Seymour is an alias.

Seymour's real name is Walter Joseph Anthony Seymour.

He was born October 4, 1930, in Pembroke,

Ontario, Canada and lived in Evanston, Illinois,

until at least 1970.

On our next "Unsolved Mysteries," a harrowing tale

of three young men who escaped from an Oklahoma jail

and took to the road, armed with a truckload of weapons.

After a wild 150-mile chase, state troopers

cornered the fugitives but one of them managed to slip away.

The Mona Lisa, one of Leonardo da Vinci's greatest works.

The identity of the model is a mystery

that has intrigued and baffled historians for 500 years.

Now, an unorthodox new theory has sparked a heated debate.

Could the model have been Leonardo himself?

Join me next time for another edition

of "Unsolved Mysteries."