Original subtitles

ROBERT STACK: Recently, strange unexplained lights

have been spotted and photographed in the night sky.

Some aviation researchers believe these amateur videos

contain evidence that the Air Force

has developed a new generation of sophisticated aircraft.

But the Air Force says they are not ours.

In Ohio, Dave Bocks vanished while working the night shift

at a plant that processed high grade

uranium for nuclear weapons.

Several days later, unidentifiable human remains

were found in one of the plant furnaces.

Dave Bocks' family believes he was murdered, to prevent him

from blowing the whistle on safety

violations and illegal radioactive dumping.

And a fascinating look at one of the mysteries

of the animal world.

We will follow two ordinary house pets, a cat and a dog,

who became lost and then traveled

more than 100 miles through unknown terrain

to somehow find their owners.

Join me for these intriguing new stories and more,

on another edition of Unsolved Mysteries.

MUSIC - "UNSOLVED MYSTERIES THEME"

Remember the old Lassie films?

Where the loyal, resourceful collie would miraculously

make her way across mountains and through forests

to find her way home?

Well, it might not be as implausible as you think.

We've heard of a number of animals--

common household pets-- who somehow traveled

incredible distances guided by their own mysterious radar

to be reunited with their owners.

There is no scientific explanation

for this remarkable phenomenon.

It is truly one of nature's most baffling mysteries

Sue Anderson of Baltimore, Maryland

has been an animal lover for as long as she can remember.

In the spring of 1992, Sue packed

her belongings for a cross country move

to Modesto, California.

The last thing she loaded up in the van

were her most valued possessions--

her five beloved cats.

SUE ANDERSON: I had Puss, and Cinderella, and Wolly

Booger, and Nova, and Stardust.

They're like children to me in a way.

And I feel when I take on the responsibility of a pet,

then that responsibility is mine until the pet dies.

ROBERT STACK: Sue caravaned with her brother,

who was also moving west.

The two of them, along with the five cats,

set off in tandem for California.

For Sue's feline family, who were all house cats,

it was the first time they had been further

from home than the local vet.

Sue felt a special affinity for Nova, a black shorthair.

SUE ANDERSON: I got Nova about four years ago.

She was left outside of my apartment.

She was cold, and frightened, and hungry,

and knew that she was being deserted.

She just kind of clung to me and got very attached to me,

and ever since then it's been a very, very close relationship.

SUE ANDERSON: Near the end of the trip,

Sue says Nova began acting strangely.

SUE ANDERSON: She would climb up on the seat behind me,

and she would talk in my ear.

She would get up on the dash and I would have to pull her down

so that I could see around her.

She would sit in my lap and get very affectionate,

want to be petted.

Animals that have left, that I've had that have run away,

or got separated from me in past,

always acted extremely affectionate, just like they

were saying one final farewell.

ROBERT STACK: After 10 days on the road, Sue and her brother

finally made it to California.

Hi.

How you doing?

I'm so beat.

ROBERT STACK: Exhausted, they pulled into a rest stop south

of Bakersfield, 200 miles from Modesto,

their final destination.

They planned to sleep until daybreak before pushing on.

Where's Nova?

Oh no.

SUE ANDERSON: I felt devastated.

She was in a strange place, had never been here before.

And it scared me, I was worried about her survival.

ROBERT STACK: Sue's premonition about Nova

had apparently come true.

She and her brother searched for an hour, but in the end,

Sue had to leave Nova behind.

SUE ANDERSON: I was very, very anxious about her, very,

very frightened for her, and very

upset about the whole incident.

ROBERT STACK: During the next few weeks,

Sue started a job in San Jose, and made new friends.

But Nova was never far from her thoughts.

A sympathetic coworker gave Sue a picture

of a black cat as a memento.

Every day when she got to work, Sue

would take a few minutes to gaze at the picture,

and pray that Nova would somehow find her.

SUE ANDERSON: People would stop by,

they would always stop and say, oh get real.

She's never going to come back.

You're just dreaming.

I said, well, maybe one day she will.

So I kept it up there the entire time I was working there.

ROBERT STACK: A full year passed.

Then on July 16, 1993, Sue came across two

stray cats outside of work.

Come here. Come here.

ROBERT STACK: To Sue's amazement,

and against all odds, Nova had journeyed

some 250 miles through completely foreign territory,

to find her way to Sue.

SUE ANDERSON: She had a mole inside her ear.

She had five or six distinguishing white hairs

on her chest, and she let me look at her claws,

and I could identify her claws.

All these things were adding up that this was indeed my cat.

ROBERT STACK: How can we explain Nova's incredible journey?

Noted animal behaviorist Miriam Yarden

theorizes that owners and their pets

can form a bond strong enough to develop

a kind of mental telepathy.

MIRIAM YARDEN: She told me that she spent 10 to 12

hours at her place of work.

And by thinking of the cat, and seeing her own surroundings,

subconsciously she was sending the visual images to the cat.

Come to this area, come to this place, this is where I am.

Can I prove it?

No.

Anyone can disprove it?

Probably not.

We don't know.

That's half the fun in this particular case,

that we can theorize.

I like to think that there's enough of a bonding,

that if you really believe in your capacity to love,

and let that love be a kind of a guiding light,

that they will use that love to get back to us when they

want to, and that that's a sort of communication

in its own way.

ROBERT STACK: Mother's Day weekend, 1992.

John and Susan Riesgraf of Deluth, Minnesota

and their three children arrived at a cabin

on the edge of Bear Head Lake State Park,

100 miles from their home.

The Riesgrafs had brought along their dogs--

Lady, a collie, and Wolfka, a Belgian shepherd.

SUSAN RIESGRAF: It was springtime.

Ice was coming off the lake, green leaves

were starting to butt out, and it was just

a good time to take a break.

And we were real excited to be there, and go for hikes

and take the dogs out.

ROBERT STACK: The Riesgrafs had been to the cabin

on several occasions and felt perfectly comfortable letting

the dogs out on their own.

Normally, Lady and Wolfka returned within an hour.

Lady. Come on Lady.

ROBERT STACK: But this time was different.

Wolfka.

Wolfka!

SUSAN RIESGRAF: We called for them to come in,

and they didn't show.

And we thought, well they're maybe

chasing a rabbit or something.

And we called continually through the morning,

and they didn't show up, and so we were concerned.

And we were looking for them out on the trails,

calling for them, and we thought they would show up,

and they didn't.

ROBERT STACK: The next day, a forest

fire erupted just a few miles southwest

of the Riesgrafs' cabin.

The flames were headed in their direction.

They had to evacuate immediately.

Leaving without the dogs was especially

difficult for 7-year-old Hannah, who had literally

grown up with Lady and Wolfka.

HANNAH RIESGRAF: I was scared, because I

didn't know where they'd go, and wish we could have stayed.

When my mom told me that we were leaving outside and I wish

we didn't have to leave.

ROBERT STACK: The fire was devastating.

It burned out of control for three days,

and consumed more than 9,000 acres of timberland.

From their home in Duluth, 100 miles away,

the Riesgrafs could do little more than wait,

and hope for the best.

JOHN RIESGRAF: We had called Susan's father,

and I had asked him to go back to the cabin a few times,

because I thought they would come back to the cabin.

And I thought that would be our best hope, but--

and he had done that, and had not seen anything.

Okay honey, what do you want to pray for tonight?

ROBERT STACK: Hannah, however, refused

to give in to the unthinkable.

Especially in the case of Lady, her favorite.

Please help Lady find her way home.

Please protect her and keep her safe.

Please bring her home very soon, amen.

HANNAH RIESGRAF: Every night in my bed I would pray, because I

knew that the Lord, if it was his will,

that she would come home.

And I felt that she would.

ROBERT STACK: Almost two weeks after Lady disappeared,

a hungry, bedraggled collie wandered up to a house

on the outskirts of Duluth.

Incredibly, Hannah's prayers had been answered.

Where'd you come from?

Hello.

Well, let me see, have you got a collar?

Oh, I got it honey.

Hello?

Yes, this is the Riesgraf family.

What?

Wait, you found Lady?

They found Lady?

SUSAN RIESGRAF: Out of the blue, some folks

that were about 15 miles from our house

called and said, your dog is in our yard.

And I said, what.

And they said, your dog's a collie, her name is Lady,

is this the telephone number?

And I said, yes.

And I said, do you realize this dog has traveled

a long way to get to your yard?

ROBERT STACK: Finally, after 13 days apart,

Lady was reunited with her family.

HANNAH RIESGRAF: I felt really happy that she was back.

And that she would be with our family again.

I was happy.

ROBERT STACK: Lady's amazing adventure

made headlines in Duluth.

Before long, several people contacted the Riesgrafs,

and they learned just how far Lady had traveled

to make her way back home.

A few days after Lady's disappearance,

a railroad worker spotted a collie 30 miles from the cabin.

The dog was following a set of tracks leading east.

What's a dog like that doing out here?

ROBERT STACK: The eyewitness said

that when he tried to approach the dog,

she avoided him and remained steadfast on her course.

About a week later, another eyewitness

spotted a collie near an old logging trail,

approximately 15 miles from Duluth.

Lady's incredible journey had begun here at the cabin.

The Riesgrafs now believe that as the fire spread,

she may have traveled east into the Superior National Forest.

She then swung south towards the city of Isabella.

Over the next few days, Lady was spotted by the railroad worker,

and later along the old logging trail.

Eventually, Lady ended up on the outskirts of Duluth.

Altogether, she had traveled more than 150 miles.

The Riesgrafs have no doubt that Lady would have made her way

to their house if she had not been

taken in by the kindly couple.

SUSAN RIESGRAF: She's found her home and she's there to stay.

Since this long walk home, she stays home.

It's like she realized who-- this is my family,

and we just appreciate her a whole lot more.

ROBERT STACK: Unfortunately, the Riesgrafs

still do not know what happened to their other dog Wolfka.

They can only hope that he is safe, perhaps

adopted by a caring stranger.

Why Lady was successful in her journey, and Wolfka was not,

is one of life's mysteries.

Perhaps, just perhaps, Lady's success

can be attributed to the powerful force

she had guiding her.

The love of the small child.

When we return-- strange lights in the night sky.

UFOs, or secret aircraft developed by our military?

At one time or another, we have all looked up

at the night sky and seen something

which we just cannot explain.

Recently there's been a rash of such sightings.

Unidentifiable lights and objects that seem to move

like nothing known to man.

Some say they are UFOs.

Others speculate that they are a new generation

of sophisticated military aircraft.

This video was shot by a camera crew hired

by Aviation Week magazine.

Eyewitnesses say it shows a pencil thin aircraft,

trailing balls of golden light.

Some believe it is evidence of an exotic new propulsion

system.

In this footage, a conventional airplane-- seen here--

was being filmed, when a mysterious object suddenly

appeared.

The object traveled at a high rate of speed

and exhibited pinpoint maneuverability.

In this haunting image, several eyewitnesses

observed an unusual light source, possibly an aircraft,

hovering over the Nevada desert.

And here, an unknown wedge shaped

object, which made no noise, flies over Roswell, New Mexico.

The footage was shot by a man named Steven

Douglass of Amarillo, Texas.

STEVEN DOUGLASS: People have been

sighting and witnessing aircraft that can

do fantastic, amazing things.

I mean, high speed, stop on a dime,

turn like a ballet dancer, or move incredibly slow.

The mystery behind this is, there seems

to be some aircraft that have some fantastic

flying abilities, that seem to be a quantum leap over anything

that's previously known.

ROBERT STACK: Steven Douglass spends

much of his time trying to unravel the mystery

of these unidentified aircraft.

Douglass is an aviation enthusiast

and journalist, who publishes a newsletter called Intercepts.

Douglass believes that the mysterious lights are, in fact,

experimental military jets, which are being kept

under wraps just as the legendary stealth fighter was

for nearly a decade.

Until it was publicly unveiled in 1988,

the Air Force, for national security reasons,

would not confirm rumors that the stealth was being tested.

Recently there has been similar speculation

about a new spy plane, reputed to travel

at speeds exceeding mach 6.

In 1992, Stephen Douglass obtained

what he believes as evidence that the plane

may actually exist.

STEVEN DOUGLASS: It was probably about 11:00 AM,

and the house began to rattle.

Let me call you back, this house just really shook.

I'm going to go find out what it is,

and I'll give you a call back.

It was more of a vibration that was felt, and not heard.

So I went outside, and there was this aircraft flying by,

over the house incredibly fast.

I've seen a lot of aircraft crisscross the skies around

here, but this thing, I couldn't believe how fast it was moving.

And behind it, it left a contrail that was unique.

What they call a donuts on a rope contrail.

ROBERT STACK: Steven Douglass took this photograph

of the contrail.

Some aviation researchers believe

it might have been made by what is known as a pulse detonation

wave engine, an experimental technology allegedly

used in the spy plane.

The Air Force was unable to identify

the source of the contrail in the photograph.

Which raises an intriguing question--

if it is not one of our planes, whose is it?

A year later, Douglass had another unusual sighting.

He and his father-in-law Elwood were in Roswell, New Mexico

to videotape military airplanes that were

participating in mock wargames.

Shortly after a group of B-1 bombers took off,

an unidentified aircraft entered the area.

Can you tell what that is?

Elwood noticed an aircraft coming

towards us from the southwest.

Soon as I started shooting tape, the battery light in the camera

told me that the batteries were about exhausted.

I got possibly seven to 10 seconds before the batteries

quit in the camera.

We couldn't hear any sound at all.

This aircraft made no sound at all.

It was just super quiet.

It looked like a flying triangle,

and immediately I knew it must've been TR-3A Black Manta.

ROBERT STACK: The TR-3A Black Manta

is another high tech aircraft that

is widely rumored to exist.

The Manta is thought to be a reconnaissance plane,

which operates in tandem with a stealth fighter.

But in a statement issued to Unsolved Mysteries,

the Air Force said of the Manta, quote,

"It has no basis in reality."

When the Air Force analyzed Douglass's footage,

they believe the aircraft might be a Navy EA-6B Prowler.

However, the Navy could not identify

the plane, citing the poor quality of the videotape.

A computer enhancement of a frame from the videotape

appears to show a triangular shaped wedge.

Douglass claims the object was virtually silent,

and moved slower than conventional military aircraft.

But if the aircraft does not belong to the Air Force,

and can not be identified by the Navy,

the same question remains.

Whose is it?

One of the intriguing aspects of this story

is that the airport where Douglass shot his footage

is in the same area where one of the most

controversial UFO episodes took place, more than 40 years ago.

In 1947, army investigators from Roswell Air Base

went public with the shocking news

that a flying saucer had crashed on a ranch in rural New Mexico.

A few days later, the army reversed itself

and claimed that what had actually been found

was a downed weather balloon.

Nevertheless, many people are convinced that the army did

recover the wreckage of a craft from somewhere

other than Earth.

And that now, even more incredibly, the military

has somehow managed to glean the secrets of the UFO

to achieve a breakthrough in aviation technology.

STEVEN DOUGLASS: These aircraft are

doing things which a lot of physicists

have generally said are not possible.

Their maneuvers, their-- the way they fly, how fast they are.

And The real mystery is how they made the leap.

There are some that speculate that maybe this technology was

gleaned from alien technology, that somehow

either we have recovered, or it has been here for a while.

UFO technology to power the next generation

of military aircraft?

At best, it is difficult to accept.

Steven Douglass believes the planes he has seen

were developed by our military using conventional technology.

Yet the military says such aircraft do not exist.

Is there another explanation?

If the Pentagon has the answer, they are not saying.

And perhaps, just perhaps, it is better that way.

On a prior broadcast, we explored

one of the great mysteries of religion--

the Shroud of Turin.

According to the Bible, after Jesus was crucified

he was wrapped in a linen shroud.

More than 1,000 years later, a 3 and 1/2 by 14 foot linen cloth

mysteriously turned up in France.

It showed the faint image of a man's body, front and back.

Ever since, believers have hailed this cloth

as a marvelous relic.

They claim that Christ was buried in the shroud,

and that his image was miraculously

imprinted on the cloth at the moment of Resurrection.

ALBERT DREISBACH: When I first began

to study the Shroud of Turin, I was convinced it was a crock,

and that it would take me probably less than two hours

to put away this pious fraud.

After all, anyone with an IQ of 100 or over

knows that all relics, by definition, are frauds.

But I must admit, here I am, some 17 years later.

I who came to scoff, have stayed to pray.

My own personal belief is that the shroud

is probably authentic.

ROBERT STACK: Skeptics regard the shroud

as a masterful painting, the work of an unknown Renaissance

artist.

However, those who believe the shroud was painted

are hard pressed to explain two distinct attributes.

First, the total absence of brushstrokes.

Also, when the shroud's image is analyzed by computer,

it projects a remarkable three dimensional picture,

almost like a sculpture.

Virtually no other work of art has this characteristic.

When all was said and done, it seemed like the shroud

would remain a tantalizing mystery, a source

of endless speculation.

It was certainly the last story we ever expected to update.

But for every mystery, there is someone,

somewhere, who never gives up trying to find a solution.

Dr. Emily Craig, a forensic anthropologist

and medical Illustrator, claims that she

has figured out the secret.

Using dry paint pigments ground into a fine powder,

Dr. Craig has created an image on cloth

that she believes replicates the distinct qualities

of the shroud.

It is an ancient technique, known as dust drawing.

EMILY CRAIG: I think it goes back to cave paintings.

It goes back thousands of years.

They've used carbon dust, and ochers,

and different natural occurring pigments for centuries.

ROBERT STACK: Working first on paper,

Dr. Craig applies the dust more heavily for the raised

features of the face--

the forehead, nose, lips, and chin.

The lower areas receive less pigment.

EMILY CRAIG: Once it's done to my satisfaction,

I want to take a piece of linen, you lay the linen down.

And then taking a wooden spoon or any flat, flexible object,

which is going to rub the entire image,

and make a direct transfer.

ROBERT STACK: The image, now on linen,

satisfies one of the shroud's main attributes.

There are no brush strokes.

Dr. Randy Bresee, a textile scientist,

is Dr. Craig's partner.

He put the dust drawing to its most important test--

the same computer analysis that revealed the shroud's

hidden 3D properties.

The tests show that Doctor Craig's

method can produce the singular 3D attribute of the shroud.

RANDY BRESEE: What we have accomplished, I believe,

is that we have demonstrated that a miracle

is not required to produce the image on the Shroud of Turin.

And it can be drawn on there in a simple, straightforward

manner.

ROBERT STACK: For half a millennium,

the image on the Shroud of Turin has challenged

believers and skeptics alike.

Have its secrets finally been revealed?

Emily Craig and Randy Bresee believe

that they have discovered how the shroud was created.

However, not everyone in the art world

or the religious community is convinced.

Perhaps the mystery of the shroud

will, and should, remain forever unsolved.

The small community of Fernald, Ohio

lies in the midst of farm country,

20 miles from Cincinnatti.

For many years, the town's main employer was this factory.

The feed materials production center, also known as NLO.

The casual observer would never guess

that NLO was, in fact, owned by the Department of Energy.

From 1953 to 1989, it was one of the few plants in the United

States which processed high grade uranium

for use in nuclear weapons.

HARRY EASTERLING: When I was hired in there,

they said that it was a low level radiation plant,

and that you didn't have anything to worry about,

there was nothing back there that would bother you, and just

go on about your business.

Not to tell anybody what you were doing,

and everything would be fine.

ROBERT STACK: However, conditions in the factory

were anything but fine.

In the fall of 1984, NLO was rocked

by a scandal of major proportions

when an accident allowed a massive dose of radioactive

smoke to escape into the atmosphere.

An investigation later revealed that over the years,

NLO had released more than 200 tons

of radioactive dust particles into the air

and local water sources.

Some said that NLO was, in essence,

the third largest nuclear waste dump in the country.

D.C. COLE: The effect that it has on the environment

is one thing.

We have an environmental disaster,

but I think if you did a survey around the Fernald community,

you will find very few people who trust the government now.

ROBERT STACK: For the people of Fernald,

the disastrous accident followed on the heels

of another disturbing controversy involving NLO.

A few months earlier, in June of 1984,

an employee named Dave Bocks had disappeared while on the job.

Though his body was never found, some of his personal effects

were, and Bocks was presumed dead.

After the accident, the case of Dave Bocks

took on a sinister new dimension.

Dave Bocks worked at NLO for three years,

and all evidence indicates that he

died a horrible, gruesome death inside the factory.

The official ruling was that no foul play was involved,

but representatives from the Department of Energy

and the current Hamilton County Sheriff's administration

have refused to speak with us.

Dave Bocks' friends and family are convinced that he was

murdered, and they will not rest until they learn how he died,

and who was responsible.

David Bocks grew up in Staten Island, New York.

In 1981, he was hired at NLO as a pipe fitter,

and quickly earned the trust and respect of his coworkers.

Bocks was a father of two sons and a daughter.

In 1979 he divorced, yet he remained devoted to his ex-wife

and children.

CASEY DRAKE: He was great, he would do anything for us.

Kind as can be, loved his children, did his job.

He was just a very kind person.

ROBERT STACK: Sunday, June 18th, 1884

began like any other evening for Dave Bocks.

He worked the graveyard shift at NLO.

At 11 PM, Bocks met his ride share

partner Harry Easterling in a local restaurant parking lot.

HARRY EASTERLING: Dave got into my truck, we left,

had a little conversation on the way to work.

He had talked about vacation with his kids

and bought a new lunchbox for work.

And everything seemed to be normal.

ROBERT STACK: Dave Bocks' primary responsibilities at NLO

were to inspect and maintain equipment in all of the plants

throughout the factory.

This included making sure that the safety pumps and dust

collectors used in the uranium processing

were in proper working order.

HARRY EASTERLING: Dave was a fairly quiet guy,

but if you worked on a job and say it was high radiation

level, Dave would tell you, say, that particular dust

collector is fairly radioactive, so watch yourself.

Or that pump has a certain kind of acid

in it, so be careful when you work on it.

But he would try to help you out as much as he could,

because he'd been there longer than I had.

ROBERT STACK: Only the maintenance

crew and security personnel were on duty

during the graveyard shift.

The production lines were shut down.

At midnight, Bocks reported to the maintenance room

for his work assignment.

Bocks.

Yeah.

Need you to look at the pump in building eight.

Which pump?

SUPERVISOR: Herb knows which one, see him.

All right.

HARRY EASTERLING: It was sort of just like any other night.

He would open his tool box, leave his keys in his lock,

and lay the lock and the keys in the top of the toolbox.

Dave went to one area, and I worked on a job

in another plant.

ROBERT STACK: At around 4 AM, Bocks and a supervisor

were seen in a parked pickup truck by an NLO employee.

The witness spoke to Unsolved Mysteries on the phone,

but declined to appear on camera.

The witness said that Bocks appeared

to be having a serious discussion with a supervisor,

but he could not determine what they were talking about.

Oddly, the windows of the truck were

rolled up, despite the fact that it was a hot, humid night.

An hour later, at 5 AM, the same witness ran into Bocks

on the factory grounds.

Hey Dave, need help with that?

No, just putting my tools away.

All right.

ROBERT STACK: The witness was struck by the fact

that Bocks was walking towards plant four, not plant eight

where he had been assigned.

It was the last time Dave Bocks was seen alive.

Later that morning, his friend and fellow employee

Harry Easterling became suspicious

about Dave's absence.

Approximately 7 o'clock that morning

we had a safety meeting in a conference room in plant four.

We showed up for the meeting, but Dave wasn't there.

Walked back over to the maintenance building,

put my tools away, and noticed that Dave's tool

box was still open.

So I thought, well, he's probably working overtime.

So I went in and made a few phone calls,

but I couldn't locate him.

So I went back out and told the security guard at the desk

that Dave hadn't come out, I was going home,

and I would meet him the next night at the restaurant.

ROBERT STACK: At around 7:30 that morning,

a furnace operator in plant six notified his supervisor

that the casings in his oven were covered

with a strange sticky residue.

Hey, Larry.

ROBERT STACK: The worker also detected an unusual odor.

Yeah, what's up?

I'm into something strange in here.

There's all kind of big firm crust all over the saw.

Crust?

Yeah, I dipped a couple of ingots in,

they've got a slick film all over them.

That's OK, just go on ahead and keep dipping.

Larry.

Yeah, what?

Listen man, I don't want to be the one that starts a problem,

but there's something in there.

Kind of looked like a leg.

A leg?

Take a look.

ROBERT STACK: The supervisor apparently found nothing wrong

and told the furnace operator to go back to work.

At 11:00 that night, Harry Easterling

arrived at the restaurant to meet Dave Bocks as usual.

He had not heard about what happened in plant six.

It was Dave's turn to drive, and his car was already there.

HARRY EASTERLING: Wasn't anything out of the ordinary,

because he would pull his car in and go get something

to eat, and then come back to the car,

or get something to take for lunch.

And I leaned up against Dave's car,

and I noticed that the fender was still cold.

So I reached over, touched the hood,

and the hood was still cold.

ROBERT STACK: Harry began to suspect

that something was wrong.

When he arrived at the factory, he reported Dave Bocks missing,

and had a security guard pry open Bocks' locker.

Are these the clothes he was wearing?

That's what he was wearing.

GUARD: And you haven't seen him since you left?

No.

On Sunday night, he was missing.

We were informed of the fact on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, my mother tried to contact the plant

to find out more information.

They told her they couldn't give her any information,

they didn't know anything.

And that was that.

ROBERT STACK: But inside the plant,

an investigation was confirming the worst.

It was learned that at 5:15 on the morning of Dave Bocks'

disappearance, the temperature in the furnace in plant six,

which was kept at a constant 1300 degree temperature,

had momentarily dipped 28 degrees,

suggesting that something foreign had

been dumped in to it.

A worker had also found what appeared to be a piece of bone

on the lip of the furnace.

The Hamilton County Sheriff's Department was called in,

and the furnace was shut down.

Investigators had to wait three days for the molten liquid

inside the furnace to cool.

Then employees sifted through the waste material,

searching for some kind of evidence.

VICTOR CARRELLI: Those keys belonged to the victim's car.

They also belonged to three padlocks of his.

One key, we believed, went into his residence,

but we couldn't prove that because it was bent

and in not very good shape.

ROBERT STACK: The conclusion was inescapable.

Dave Bocks was almost certainly dead.

But the news left Harry Easterling dumbfounded.

He claims that Dave's keys were still in his toolbox at 7:30

AM, more than two hours after the gauge in plant six

registered the temperature drop.

HARRY EASTERLING: When I left the plant

to go over to the maintenance shop, his keys were in the box.

When I left there to go home, they were still in the box.

I went home, when I came back that night,

his keys were still in the top of his toolbox.

The supervisor closed his box, put the lock on his toolbox,

and took his keys out of the lock.

And from there on, I do not know what happened to the keys.

ROBERT STACK: In addition to the keys,

investigators uncovered a steel toe

from a boot, part of what they thought was an eyeglass frame,

fragments of what they believed was Dave Bocks' walkie-talkie,

and a piece of stainless steel wire

that was looped together in three oddly connecting circles.

Also recovered were several pieces of human bone.

The official police investigation

was unable to determine conclusively

how Dave Bocks died.

However, suicide was a distinct possibility.

Bocks had a history of psychological problems,

and around the time of his divorce,

he had apparently tried to take his own life.

I know my father did not commit suicide.

There was no reason for him to commit suicide.

He had purchased groceries for the week, he was planning

a vacation with me and my younger brother

for the following summer to Florida,

he paid all of his bills for the month.

There was no reason for him to commit suicide.

From everything I know about the circumstances

of what occurred back then, I would have to say that he was

probably lowered into the furnace,

that he was probably murdered.

I can't think of any other way that it could have happened,

I don't believe that it could have been suicide,

or that it could've been an accident.

D.C. COLE: On the night that Dave Bocks died,

he had been working in plant eight.

Plant eight had released four times more

radioactive contaminants into the environment

than any other plant at the plant site.

Why he was killed--

I think he knew something.

And I think it had to deal with plant eight.

I think it had to deal with the releases, the threat

to the public health and the environment.

And it's possible he was a whistleblower,

or was going to be a whistleblower.

I believe that they could have either shot him,

or they could have hit him with something,

knocked him unconscious.

Took the body back to plant six, where the furnace is.

Question I have is whether or not

Dave Bocks was alive at the time that they

threw him into that furnace.

I would hate to think that he was conscious.

I can't imagine a more horrible death than that.

We never developed any information

indicating foul play.

We had that in the back of our minds,

but no one ever gave us any indication or reason

to believe that foul play may have occurred.

There are probably people out there that know what happened,

and there may not be people that know what happened either.

Because, if they knew, I doubt that anybody would tell you.

You know, may be fear of their life.

CASEY DRAKE: I still have days where

I can't believe he's gone.

I am very angry.

I mean, we loved him.

He loved us, and there was no reason for this to happen.

We just want somebody to please come forward

and tell us any information, anything at all.

ROBERT STACK: There's a final bitter footnote

to the death of Dave Bocks.

Nine years after the fact, his family is still

waiting to lay him to rest.

In 1989, NLO was shut down, and Bocks' remains--

a few bone fragments--

are presently in a sealed drum on the closed plant site.

Too toxic to be buried in the ground.

Join me next time for another intriguing edition

of Unsolved Mysteries.

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