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]

ROBERT STACK: This is Lourdes, France.

For Catholics it is a revered spot

where many believe a profound miracle occurred in 1858.

Ever since, religious pilgrims have come here

to pray and to bathe in the natural spring

waters which are said to have divine curative powers.

Tonight we journey to France to meet two remarkable women who

say they came to Lourdes gravely ill

and left miraculously cured.

1915, Murfreesboro, Arkansas.

Seven-year-old Ruby Bradford felt

lucky when she and her family survived a killer tornado.

But soon after the storm, Ruby's mother died during child

and Ruby's new baby sister was put up for adoption.

It's been some 80 years.

But Ruby believes someone watching tonight

can help find her long-lost sister.

In northern California, it started as a chilling game

of cat and mouse, and with each mile

the stakes escalated until finally the game turned deadly.

Authorities need your help to catch a freeway stalker.

Tonight these intriguing mysteries.

Plus an update in which our viewers helped

bring down the mastermind of an international drug

smuggling operation.

[theme music]

This is Lourdes, France--

for many a sacred spot exalted in the world's

spiritual geography.

Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims

flock to Lourdes each year.

Recently, Unsolved Mysteries traveled to Lourdes as well

to bring you a story that began nearly a century and a half

ago with a girl named Bernadette.

Bernadette Soubirous was the oldest child

of a poverty stricken mother.

Her family lived in Lourdes, then an obscure French village

at the foot of the Pyrenees Mountains

just 30 miles from the border of Spain.

On February 11, 1858, Bernadette claimed

that in a grotto just outside town

she encountered a beautiful vision--

a woman dressed in blue and white.

At the woman's command, Bernadette began to dig

and unearthed a spring.

Many believe that Bernadette's vision was a Blessed Virgin

and the spring offered a promise of divine healing.

JOHN LOCHRAN: Nobody is obliged to believe in Lourdes.

But I think when you really look and examine all the facts, all

the words, all the gestures that surround all these events took

place in 1858, I think is very difficult, really,

not to be moved by it in some way.

ROBERT STACK: In 1933, the Vatican declared

Bernadette Soubirous a saint.

A basilica was erected over the grotto

where she had found the spring.

Through the years, Lourdes has developed

a reputation for healing both the spirit and the body.

[singing]

Today pilgrims wait patiently-- sometimes for hours--

to immerse themselves in the waters

from Bernadette hoping for a miracle.

To date, the Roman Catholic Church has documented

65 miracles at Lourdes.

One of those cured, Jeanne Fretel.

JEANNE FRETEL: The senior people went.

They met me.

The Lord did marvelous things for me.

[speaking french]

INTERPRETER: I am not here to tell you to believe.

I am here to tell you what happened to me.

And believe me, it is a strange adventure.

ROBERT STACK: Jeanne Fretel's saga began in the city of Reims

in northern France.

In 1937, when she was 23 and working as a nurse,

Jeanne was stricken with a gruesome illness

mysterious in origin.

Her abdomen grew rock hard and was excruciatingly painful

to the touch.

blood oozed from her nose, her mouth, and her intestines.

JEANNE FRETEL: [speaking french]

INTERPRETER: It was a terrible illness.

It was a constant trial when the doctor says,

there is nothing I can do for you.

You just have to wait patiently for death.

ROBERT STACK: In 11 years, Jeanne underwent 13 operations.

Nothing helped.

Eventually Jeanne was diagnosed with tubercular

peritonitis for which there was no known cure.

On four different occasions her priest administered last rites.

Finally, two of Jeanne's friends insisted

on taking her to Lourdes.

So sure was her doctor that Jeanne's death was imminent,

he advised her friends to take a coffin with them.

[church hymns]

By the time Jeanne arrived at Lourdes,

she had been virtually comatose for three months.

Her bandages had to be changed 20 times a day.

Doctors there felt hopeless about her condition,

so Jeanne was immediately taken to mass at the Basilica.

One of the priests who served mass that day,

Father Albert Roques, remembers vividly.

ALBERT ROQUES: [speaking french]

INTERPRETER: When I approached Jeanne,

I asked myself, would she be able to take oral communion

or would she vomit the host?

[speaking french]

ALBERT ROQUES: Father Roques tried

to force a tiny piece of the wafer between Jeanne's lips.

Finally one of Jeanne's friends assisted.

ALBERT ROQUES: [speaking french]

INTERPRETER: I closed her mouth myself,

and she instantly opened her eyes.

And she looked at me and asked, where am I?

ALBERT ROQUES: [speaking french]

INTERPRETER: I repeat, instantly the moment I pushed her chin up

and her lips met, she opened her eyes.

At that moment, she came out of the coma

she had been in during July, August, September, and October.

ROBERT STACK: Jeanne was moved into the Grotto itself.

There, under the watchful gaze of a statue, which stands

on the very spot where Bernadette Soubirous saw

the Blessed Virgin, Jeanne says something

extraordinary happened.

JEANNE FRETEL: [speaking french]

INTERPRETER: I had the feeling that somebody was taking

me under the arms to sit me up.

And I turned around to see who it was that helped me

and thank them.

I had that feeling again.

This time, the two invisible hands were taking my two hands

and putting them on my stomach.

I was instantly and permanently cured.

[church bells ringing]

JEANNE FRETEL: [speaking french]

INTERPRETER: The Lord says, ask and you shall receive.

But I never ask.

I received without asking.

Believe me it is such a feeling when it

falls onto you, just like that.

My god, poor girl, what happened?

What an adventure.

ROBERT STACK: Soon Jeanne could stand

for the first time in years.

She was taken to bathe in the water from Bernadette's spring.

The next day, a group of doctors gathered

at Lourdes to examine Jeanne.

Virtually every symptom of Jeanne's illness

had disappeared.

The doctors released Jeanne on November 1, 1948.

She returned to her own city and her own doctor--

the same doctor who just three weeks earlier had

ordered that a coffin go with her on the train to Lourdes.

A professed atheist, the doctor was dumbfounded.

JEANNE FRETEL: [speaking french]

INTERPRETER: And it was then, he took me in his arms,

big tears rolling down his cheeks,

and he said, I do not believe in miracles.

Yet I have to believe because you

should be in your grave today.

ROBERT STACK: After more than 11 years of nearly unbearable pain

and suffering, Jeanne Fretel was finally

able to resume a normal life.

She became well-known as a dedicated, tireless nurse.

In 1950, Jeanne took vows to become a Benedictine nun.

No traces of her illness returned.

The church referred Jeanne's case to the National Medical

Committee of Paris, made up of both believers

and nonbelievers.

A very rigorous comparison was made

between her medical status--

which was well-documented before the illness--

and her medical status after the illness.

The Medical Bureau's findings were then

to say, in our eyes, this-- according to science--

is just inexplicable.

They then passed on these findings to the Church.

ROBERT STACK: That same year, the archdiocese officially

declared Jeanne Fretel's cure a miracle.

Today, at the age of 80, Jeanne continues to live the miracle,

devoting herself to physically-challenged

young people who make the pilgrimage to Lourdes.

JEANNE FRETEL: [speaking french]

INTERPRETER: If you believe in it, good for you.

If you do not believe in it, too bad.

It is true.

I tell about my healing 50--

100 times a day.

It matters not.

Everything is for the Lord, without a doubt.

I accept everything with joy.

ROBERT STACK: In 1975, Lorraine Echevarria and her family

moved to Phillipsburg, New Jersey.

Lorraine was a freshman in high school, active, and popular.

But that November, when she was 14,

Lorraine was stricken with a mysterious illness.

DOCTOR: And out.

Good, now exhale.

ROBERT STACK: Lorraine's doctor was stumped.

She could barely hold her head up.

Her eyes rolled involuntarily.

She couldn't keep food down.

Lorraine was hospitalized for tests.

But over and over again, her parents

hopes were dashed by the lack of a diagnosis.

Did You get the results back yet?

Yes.

And?

They were negative.

But we're going to do another test this afternoon.

What kind of test?

DOCTOR: It's called an electroencephalogram.

LORRAINE ECHEVARRIA: It was very frightening,

every day went to the hospital and you saw this child

and you saw her getting weaker and sicker.

And there was no answers.

They couldn't give her medication because they

didn't know what to give her.

Steadily, you could see the color in her eyes leaving.

You could see her colors changing.

You could see the weakness getting worse.

And there's nothing you can do.

ROBERT STACK: It's just another test.

Maybe this one will give us the answer.

ROBERT STACK: When all else failed,

a psychiatrist examined Lorraine.

He, too, was at a loss for answers.

Finally, Lorraine's parents talked

to a friend, who reminded them about the baths at Lourdes.

On March 15, 1976, Lorraine made the pilgrimage

to Lourdes accompanied by her parents and grandmother.

According to Lorraine's parents, her kidneys had begun to fail.

And the rigors of the trip left her weaker than ever.

LORRAINE ECHEVARRIA: She kept saying, please mommy.

[speaking french]

Do you speak English?

I felt I was doing something to this child

and I should have stayed in the States.

What was I doing here in a strange country?

I couldn't speak the language.

And she's so deathly sick.

OK, she can rest here.

ROBERT STACK: Louise Barrett, an American volunteer,

was asked to stay with the Echevarrias.

She suggested that Lorraine's family

take some time alone while Lorraine

waited to visit the baths.

Why don't you go for a walk or take a rest or something?

- No. - No, no, no, we couldn't.

No need to worry.

She'll be fine now. - She'll be fine here.

It's OK. - A walk will do you good.

Will you come?

LOUISE BARRETT: This family absolutely needed some help.

And what I did-- kind of as a reaction-- was

to try to be as calm as I could to allow the parents

to have some time to be away.

Just so that everyone would have a breathing space

because they seemed to be a family that

was just in absolute crisis when they arrived.

I think at that point, death looked like a welcome relief

to me.

I would have accepted it.

And I guess, I felt it was very near.

I'll be right here, OK?

ROBERT STACK: Lorraine began to drift in and out of sleep.

She says she had a dream, a vision,

which made her feel that everything would be all right.

The Lord is my shepherd.

I shall not want.

In burden pastures, he gives me repose.

LORRAINE ECHEVARRIA: Within seconds the next thing

I knew, I was standing next to my body.

And I was walking with a beautiful woman.

I never saw her face.

I don't know who it was.

I just remember, we were walking about four

or five feet above the ground.

I remember her saying to me, you must go back now.

And I said, I don't want to go back.

That body is dying.

And she said, yes, you must go back to prove to others

He still exists today.

And I remember putting my head down.

And then I was back in the room and I was back in my body.

And I opened up my eyes and my mom was standing over me.

And we proceeded to get ready to go

down to the baths at that time.

ROBERT STACK: Lorraine was so ill

that a complete immersion in the waters

seemed out of the question.

Even though church officials at Lourdes say it never happens,

Lorraine's best recollection is that the attendants

poured water over her head.

Lorraine's mother kept vigil, reading a prayer to Our Lady

of Lourdes, the Virgin Mary.

LORRAINE ECHEVARRIA: I tried to do everything I could

while she was sick.

I did the fasting, prayers, and everything.

Saint Bernadette, pray for us.

LORRAINE ECHEVARRIA: I could actually physically feel

a release within myself, in my chest area,

that I didn't even know the tightness

existed until that moment.

When she was through with the bath and came out,

she looked exactly the same.

There was no change.

I did not expect that she would be healed or cured.

I expected that, perhaps, her family

would receive some consolation.

That perhaps they would receive strength

to make it through whatever they had to go through.

ROBERT STACK: That evening, Lorraine's grandmother

spent the night in Lorraine's room,

hoping against hope that her granddaughter's

condition would improve.

LORRAINE ECHEVARRIA: I never stirred, I never moved.

And I was asleep before you knew it.

And then it was about five hours later,

I woke up, 11 o'clock at night.

And I was starving, absolutely hungry.

I didn't have any pain.

I just felt like--

I felt terrific.

I could fly if I needed to.

I got up out of bed and looked at myself in the mirror,

and I was me again.

I was whole.

I was 100%.

I just-- God, it was all I could do for them to contain me.

LORRAINE ECHEVARRIA: Her eyes, they were beautiful.

The color was in the face.

She had rosy cheeks.

And she was so energetic and full of life.

You knew that she was touched.

You stood there and you were witnessing what God just did.

I remember, I'm sitting at the window, it's about 1--

2 o'clock in the morning, listening to the church.

[inaudible] they are chiming every hour.

And just feeling so glad to be alive and to be healthy

and everything was just great.

I was just--

I couldn't believe I was that blessed.

We don't doubt her sincerity.

But in the case of Lorraine Echevarria,

she never underwent any medical investigation

after the healing.

And so there would always remain--

in the minds of the doctors and of the church--

a certain kind of doubt.

We appreciate that Lorraine believes that she

has truly been touched by God.

But we can give to her situation the same qualification that we

give to Jeanne Fretel in recognizing the case of Jeanne

Fretel as, indeed, a miracle.

I believe that I was healed at Lourdes

and that it is a miracle.

And there is--

I believe with every ounce within me.

Lourdes is a part of me now.

It is my life.

And there is no doubt whatsoever that I was touched

and that I was healed.

[singing]

ROBERT STACK: What are we to make of these two stories--

of these two women and the thousands of other people

who believe that divine grace touched their lives at Lourdes?

Perhaps one answer can be found in the song of Bernadette.

For those who believe in God, no explanation is necessary.

For those who do not believe in God,

no explanation is possible.

[theme music]

ROBERT STACK: Recently, we profiled the case of Brian

Brophil His neighbors in Vermont considered

him one of the most likable, least

threatening people around.

Brian Brophil charmed everyone, that

is, everyone who didn't know he was the mastermind

of a major drug smuggling ring.

Brophil had moved to West Glover, Vermont in 1986.

Folks there knew him as a good-natured

city slicker who didn't seem to have a clue about country life.

Even so, Brophil tastes in horses

ran to rare, expensive breeds.

He spent thousands boarding his horses

with a neighbor, Peggy Dupont.

He needs a blanket on.

He paid in cash for his board.

And my husband immediately said, oh, he's a drug dealer.

And I said, he's not a drug dealer.

You're out of your mind.

He's a nice person.

[police sirens]

ROBERT STACK: Incredibly, Peggy Dupont's husband

was right on target.

Four years after moving to Vermont,

Brian Brophil's secret life exploded

into view when authorities paid a surprise visit to his farm.

Inside the barn was a crop of 2000 marijuana plants.

It was the biggest bust in Vermont history.

Authorities estimated that Brophil's sophisticated pot

plantation grossed up to a quarter of a million dollars

a month.

But the marijuana farm was only a small part

of an international drug smuggling operation.

Brophil dropped from sight immediately after the raid

and stayed hidden for more than three years

until Unsolved Mysteries came along.

Now could you describe him for me, please?

ROBERT STACK: On the night Brophil's story aired,

our phone center switchboard lit up with calls from Paso

Robles in central California.

Alert viewers there recognized Brian Brophil

as one of their neighbors.

Local authorities immediately moved in to make an arrest.

But Brophil had vanished again.

Our understanding is that Brian watched the show.

The show aired at 8 o'clock and Brian was gone at 8:15.

He had left all his personal belongings behind.

And was just gone.

ROBERT STACK: In Paso Robles, Brophil

went by the name Brian Jenkins.

He found work as a handyman at local horse ranches

and became an accepted member of the community.

Brophil never once drew the attention of police.

He was living comfortably with no fears.

We weren't even close to him.

He could have wrote a textbook on how to hide.

He was that good.

ROBERT STACK: But Brian Brophil wasn't good enough.

After he fled Paso Robles, viewer tips

helped authorities track the fugitive south of Carlsbad,

near San Diego, where he was arrested on December 19, 1993.

Three weeks later, Brian Brophil was extradited to Vermont.

If convicted on all charges, he faces a prison term of 20 years

to life.

[theme music]

It begins with an innocent evening out.

Suddenly you become aware that someone is watching you.

He is following your car.

Every move you make, he makes.

You are being stalked.

Only later, do you learn that it was your license plate that

apparently triggered the stalker and led to a deadly encounter.

April 29, 1991.

A few friends got together for drinks in the suburb

of San Jose, California.

One of the men in the group was Dick Hansen,

a former college football star who is rebounding

from a tough divorce.

That night, Dick had come to the bar

with a friend who we'll call Jean.

JEAN: He was in a very good mood.

Very good.

I mean it was like--

he almost got, like, a new lease on life.

I don't know how else to describe it.

But he was very--

he was very happy with where he was.

He was very happy with what was going on in his life.

And where he was headed.

ROBERT STACK: At 1:00 AM, Dick and Jean

left the bar together in Jean's car with Dick driving.

Around 1:30, they arrived at a restaurant in San Jose

where Dick had left his pickup truck after dinner.

JEAN: There were no cars at all.

And I thought-- I remarked to Dick.

I said, this is funny.

Yours is the only car left on the street.

So you want to come over for a little while?

I don't know.

You want to get things started again?

JEAN: So we were sitting there talking.

And this car pulls up behind us.

And I looked.

And I thought, I really didn't think

it was too strange because there was a mailbox on the sidewalk

there.

I think he's trying to get to the mailbox.

Does he have enough room?

I mean, we should probably pull forward.

No, no problem.

He's got plenty of room.

JEAN: The man just sat there. He didn't do anything.

And I kept-- I was kind of half turned in his seat

so I could look at Dick.

And I could see him out of the corner of my eye.

I wonder what he's doing.

He's just sitting there.

He's not doing anything.

Do you think he's a cop?

Not in that old thing.

ROBERT STACK: Despite Jean's misgivings,

she and Dick felt there was no reason to worry about the man

parked behind them.

Because Jean was unfamiliar with the route home,

Dick suggested she follow him.

JEAN: At that point in time, I didn't say anything

and Dick didn't say anything.

Of course, we didn't know what was going

to happen Well he pulled out.

I pulled out.

The guy behind us pulled out.

We went up to the stoplight, turned left.

Dick turned left.

I turned left.

The guy turned left.

We go up two blocks and turned left again.

And he did the same thing.

Well by this time, it's making me uncomfortable.

So I moved to the middle.

He moved to the middle lane.

So I moved back.

And he moved back.

I only did it once.

But that was enough to tell me that this man

was definitely following us.

ROBERT STACK: At the next traffic light,

Dick signaled for Jean to follow him onto the freeway.

The man stayed close behind.

A strange encounter was about to escalate.

For more than ten miles, the man played

a risky game of cat and mouse with Jean,

shadowing her every move.

JEAN: Dick was on the inside lane.

I was on the outside.

And somehow, we got the guy.

And he was between us, but behind us.

And I thought, all right, you rascal, I'm going to get you.

So I slammed on my brakes.

I'll be darned if he didn't slam on his brakes too.

It was almost like he was reading my mind.

[suspenseful music playing]

That guy, he's following me.

We should go to the police.

I can't hear you.

Take the next exit.

JEAN: I almost missed the turn.

But he followed.

This man was still behind me.

So I followed Dick down the ramp.

We made a right-hand turn.

Dick just pulled over to the side of the road.

I pulled up behind Dick.

And I don't know why in my mind, I

just knew this guy would just go right on by

and wave or something.

He pulled right up behind us.

And I'm not sure who was in more shock, Dick or I.

Do you know the guy?

I've never seen him before.

Get back in the car.

JEAN: So he walked back to the man.

And kind of leaned down.

And he said, what are you--

he either said, what are you doing or what do you want?

I couldn't quite hear what he said.

And the guy said something to him.

And Dick goes, what?

And then the guy said something else to him

and then proceeded to point to the back of my car.

At that point in time, Dick just stepped back, stood up.

And raised his arm and said, get the blankety-blank out of here.

So I jumped back in my car.

And I looked in my rear view mirror and I hear pop, pop.

[gunshots]

And we just stared at each other.

It must have been for-- oh, I'd say at least five

to 10 seconds of just staring at him.

I got back out of the car and ran back to where Dirk was.

And his eyes were, like, half-closed.

Somebody help!

JEAN: And I tried to find a pulse on his neck

and it didn't look like he was breathing.

So I started giving him mouth to mouth.

ROBERT STACK: For 15 agonizing minutes,

Jean tried to resuscitate Dick.

Police and paramedics, alerted by a passing motorist,

would arrive too late.

Dick Hansen had been shot twice--

once in the chest and once on the neck.

He never regained consciousness and was pronounced dead

at the hospital.

He left behind two daughters, aged 11 and 13.

LES RICHARDS: As far as we know, Dick Hansen

did not know his assailant.

What makes this particular case extremely difficult

is when you deal with homicide, most homicides

boil down to common denominators of sex, money, or drugs

and network out from there.

We have not been able to put this particular homicide

in any of those categories so that we can develop a motive.

ROBERT STACK: However, police have

come up with one possible theory about this case.

Jean was a San Francisco football

fan and her personalized license plate read, 49R HUGS.

The killer had gestured towards her license plate

while he was talking to Dick.

LES RICHARDS: Dick Hansen's physical stature

was that of a football player so we were looking

into the theory of a disgruntled fan

as being one of the responsibles.

The suspect is white, possibly Hispanic or Mediterranean,

in his late 30s or early 40s.

He was tan and wore eyeglasses with large black frames.

The suspect's vehicle resembled a 1970 Pontiac GTO Lemans

two door coupe with a dull, faded,

light gray or blue paint job.

[theme music]

ROBERT STACK: When we return, a devastating tornado

leaves a path of destruction and separates a family.

Perhaps you can help reunite them.

[theme music]

You're about to meet a spry, 86-year-old woman

named Ruby McDaniel.

Ruby is the matriarch of her clan,

at the annual McDaniel reunion, she

is surrounded by five children, 15 grandchildren,

and 21 great-grandchildren.

But more than 75 years have passed

since Ruby saw one very special member of our family,

her younger sister Vernice.

Perhaps tonight, one of our viewers

can help end their long separation.

The year was 1950, a blustery autumn

day in Murfreesboro, Arkansas.

Mack Bradford and his wife, Ruth, owned a small farm

on the edge of town.

They had two children, Ruby and Buster,

and a third was on the way.

Ruth was six months pregnant.

Look how long Ruth's hair is getting.

Looks real pretty, honey.

Thank you, Papa.

[thunder strikes]

Get the children up.

What is it?

There's a tornado coming right at us.

Ruby, Buster!

ROBERT STACK: The horrifying moments

that followed remain etched in Ruby's

memory nearly 80 years later.

RUBY MCDANIEL: It was dark and the air

was just rolling, like a train or something coming.

I was scared.

I didn't know what was going to happen next.

Well Papa put everybody down.

And then he laid down and wrapped his arms

around this post, the garden post.

[wind whirring]

[thunder strikes]

That's what I guess saved us because if we

would have stayed in the house, we would probably got killed.

ROBERT STACK: That day, a killer tornado ripped

through central Arkansas.

10 were killed and 45 were injured.

Property damage was recorded that would

equal more than 4 million dollars in today's economy.

At the Bradford farm, a garden post

was just about the only thing left standing.

Even though the house would be rebuilt,

the family would soon suffer another tragic loss.

During the tornado, Ruth Bradford

was severely injured when she was struck by a wooden beam.

A few months later, while still recuperating,

Ruth came down with yellow fever and went into premature labor.

[baby cooing]

[inaudible], a little girl.

A little girl.

Yeah.

Oh, Doc.

She's beautiful.

DOCTOR: She is beautiful.

How's Ruth?

Resting.

Resting.

She's going to be all right, isn't she, Doc?

It's hard to say.

I've got to be honest with you, Mack,

she may not make it through the night.

ROBERT STACK: On the very evening

that Ruth Bradford gave life to her baby,

she lost her fight with yellow fever.

Her husband, Mack, was now faced with an impossible dilemma,

raising two young children and a newborn on his own.

[baby crying]

The next day, Ruby-- who was just 7 and 1/2-- watched

in confusion as a man and a woman came to the house

and took her baby sister away.

Papa, why are we coming in here?

I just wanted someplace quiet.

ROBERT STACK: Later, Mack led Ruby

and Buster down to the cellar and tried

to explain what had happened.

It was the one place Mack knew they could be alone.

Now, you all don't have your mom anymore.

RUBY MCDANIEL: I do remember him crying.

And he tried to explain to us about it, you know.

When's the baby coming back?

You know, we couldn't take care of her,

so she's going to go live with some nice folks in town.

But even though she's not with us, we can still love her.

RUBY MCDANIEL: And he thought he was doing

the very best he could do.

And I think he did.

I don't want you two to worry about that.

JEAN: And that's the only time I can

remember my Papa ever crying.

And he really did boo-hoo a lot.

ROBERT STACK: The baby was adopted by a Mr.

And Mrs. Loxton who also lived in Murfreesboro.

Mr. Loxton was an attorney, his wife, a registered nurse.

They named the little girl Vernicie.

Three years later, in 1918, Mack took

Ruby and Buster on a surprise trip to the Loxton home.

Ruby, see that little girl in the window there?

That's your little sister.

And Papa told us, now you all wave at her.

Says, you better wave at her.

And we did and she waved back.

And that thrilled us very much and it did him too.

And we thought she was so pretty.

ROBERT STACK: The fleeting encounter was as close

as Ruby ever got to Vernicie It was the last time

she ever saw her baby sister.

A short time later, Mack received

this photograph of a three-year-old Vernicie

in the mail.

When Vernice was six, the Loxtons

moved away from Murfreesboro.

Mack never heard from them again.

Eventually Mack Bradford remarried

and fathered 12 more children.

In 1984, Mack passed away at the age of 92.

In his memory, Ruby has vowed that she

will one day find her sister.

Oh, it would be so great if I could

see her because you know I don't have too many more years here.

And I sure would love to see her.

Let her see all them brothers and sister she's got.

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ROBERT STACK: Coming up next week,

a special segment on the fascinating mysteries

of animals.

We'll focus on two ordinary, but lost, household pets who

have made incredible journeys over hundreds of miles

to find their way home.

Do animals have a kind of psychic radar

that defies scientific explanation?

It is widely known that military programs,

such as the development of a stealth bomber,

are highly classified.

Now some believe that the same programs are being used

to unravel the secrets of UFOs.

Join me next time for these fascinating stories

and more on Unsolved Mysteries.

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