Original subtitles

ANNOUNCER: This program is about unsolved mysteries.

Whenever possible, the actual family members

and police officials have participated

in recreating the events.

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

ROBERT STACK: He fights crime by performing autopsies,

and his legendary skills have led some to call him

a modern day Sherlock Holmes.

He is forensic pathologist Dr. Cyril Wecht.

And tonight, we'll accompany Dr. Wecht

as he investigates the mysterious

and controversial death of a young college student.

You will also meet three very unusual investigators--

genealogists, who claim that while researching

their family trees they were guided

by an unexplained psychic force.

It may seem unbelievable, but all three

are convinced that the spirits of their ancestors

reached out to them from beyond the grave.

Join me.

Perhaps you may be able to help solve a mystery.

[theme music]

This poor little girl died as a result

of being overcome by the flames and carbon monoxide.

And that's what killed her.

There is no evidence whatsoever to indicate that she

had been cut on her throat.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): He has been

called a real life Quincy and a modern day Sherlock Holmes.

But by any name, Dr. Cyril Wecht is

undeniably one of the country's top forensic pathologists.

In court, it is Wecht's testimony

that often tips the balance.

To solve a murder and have that case defined

and to prove that something was not a murder when somebody is

thought to have committed a murder,

the intellectual challenge is fantastic.

The gratification comes from helping

people in a very real sense.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): In 1993,

Seth Floyd was found hanging by the neck in his jail cell.

The authorities called it suicide.

Dr. Wecht proved it was murder.

Louis DiNicola spent five years in prison for a triple murder.

Dr. Wecht proved the deaths were accidental,

and DiNicola went home a free man.

Eight-year-old Tanya Palmer accidentally

drowned in her own bathtub.

At least, that's what her mother's boyfriend told police.

Dr. Wecht helped prove that, in fact, the boyfriend

had murdered Tanya Palmer.

In law enforcement circles, Cyril Wecht has

become something of a legend.

But one case continues to haunt him--

the mysterious death of a 20-year-old college student

near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Perhaps tonight, you can provide the clue

that helps Dr. Wecht finally solve

this controversial mystery.

It was on a Wednesday evening, the 21st of October, 1987,

that authorities found the body of Jack Davis Jr. Davis

was sprawled at the bottom of a 20 step stairwell

on the campus of Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

Jack had last been seen the previous Friday night.

He attended a party with some of his fraternity brothers,

then made the rounds at a few local bars.

Jack's body was autopsied by a local pathologist.

A toxicology report, a routine check

for unnatural substances in the body,

was completed at a lab out of state.

The autopsy and test results were forwarded to county

coroner, Thomas Streams.

He ruled that Jack's death was accidental.

The body was not in disarray from a fight.

There was no signs of defensive wounds as a struggle.

There were no drag marks.

There was just nothing remarkable about the body.

The scenario was that Mr. Davis wandered down

into the stairwell in an intoxicated state,

perhaps to urinate, collapsed in an unconscious state,

vomited, inhaled the vomitus into his lungs,

which therefore then subsequently caused his death.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The official report

concluded that Jack Davis died at about 2:00 AM Saturday

morning, several hours after he disappeared.

His body apparently lay in the stairwell for nearly five days.

I couldn't believe or comprehend that he

could have died that way.

And I was told that that was a common occurrence.

I found that hard to believe.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Jack's mother, father,

and stepmother took him home to Penn hills, Pennsylvania

and laid him to rest.

Even as Jack's family grieved, their doubts

about the official findings began to grow.

But for more than two years, they

pushed aside their concerns.

Then a local reporter began to publicly

question the coroner's ruling.

Finally, Jack's family turned to Dr. Wecht.

Thanks for coming down.

I'm sorry to meet you under these circumstances.

Before I got into the medical aspects of the case,

I was just puzzled as a matter of common sense.

How could a body have been lying outside on a college campus

in the early fall for five or more days unseen, unnoticed

by anybody?

The other thing that puzzled me was, I thought,

"gee, why would a young man in the early hours of the morning

walk 15 steps down a landing and then five steps to urinate?"

I remember when I went to college,

and I remember what the young men will do if they have

to urinate, especially if they are inebriated

and it's the wee hours of the morning and nobody is around.

Not too many people have that kind of discretion

and personal sensitivity.

So you see, that did not fit either.

We've managed to get a copy of the toxicology report,

and we need you to look at this and tell us--

- You have that with you? - Yes, I do.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Almost immediately,

Dr. Wecht found glaring discrepancies in the report.

Although by all accounts Jack Davis had been drinking heavily

on the night he supposedly died, absolutely no alcohol

was found in his blood.

There was no doubt that he had been drinking.

Nobody challenged that.

In order for him to have wound up with no alcohol in his blood

at the time of his death, he would

have had to have been alive for about 30 hours, the fact

then that there was no alcohol in his blood

indicates to me that he did not die at that time

when they theorized he had fallen down the steps.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Dr. Wecht

found other evidence that argued against a Saturday morning

death.

Jack Davis was clean shaven Friday

night when he was last seen, but when Jack's body was found,

there was heavy beard stubble on his face.

There was one final discrepancy--

the autopsy slides of Jack's lungs.

They provided stunning evidence that the presumed cause

of death, choking on regurgitated food,

was nothing short of impossible.

If you're going to list that as a cause of death,

you've got to find food particles deep down

inside the small terminal air passageways,

and that wasn't present.

The other thing about the autopsy that really stood out

for me and made me quiver with excitement

was the fact that the head had not been examined.

The pathologist who did the autopsy

had not opened up the cranial vault.

The pathologist who performed the first autopsy went

as far as he felt he had to go to find

a conclusive cause of death.

And when he opened Jack Davis's chest

and examined the internal organs, he noticed--

apparently noticed the aspiration of stomach contents

in the lungs, and therefore he felt

that was an independent and conclusive cause of death,

and did not open the skull.

At that time, we all agreed as a family and with Dr. Wecht

that the body needed to be exhumed.

It was the only way we could find

out the true cause of death.

Look, Joe.

Look at this [inaudible] hemorrhage.

When I opened up the skull, I found three fractures.

Three areas of skull fracture with significant bleeding

overlying the brain.

It's just a blood clot.

It's a pooling of blood.

And that was the cause of death.

Which had never been appreciated because the head hadn't been

examined in the first autopsy.

And now we know the cause of death.

It was then and is today, of course, unequivocal.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Slides and lab work can

only tell part of the story.

With a university official, Dr. Wecht visited the stairwell

where Jack's body was found.

Some students saw him first then and reported him?

I realized that that body could not have accidentally fallen

or been thrown from high up.

Because he would have had eggshell depressed type

fractures.

Similarly, it did not appear that he had stumbled down

the steps, because there was no pattern of abrasions

and bruises, contusions.

And so that did not fit.

I wonder, Mr. Montgomery, if we could possibly

get into the building and see from that second floor, or even

the third or fourth floors, whether one can look out,

and then if one did, whether you would

be able to look down here.

Right down into the stairwell.

You can see very clearly.

And if you should look down, you certainly can see directly

there, an average height.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Approximately 200 students

were in rooms overlooking the stairwell during the

says Jack supposedly lay below.

However, not one person reported seeing the body.

There was one final problem with the official scenario--

the weather.

During the two days before Jack's body was found,

heavy rain fell on the campus.

Jack's clothes were not wet.

We had a real problem in explaining how Jack could have

been lying there for all those days

in rainwater with dry clothes.

Well, how can that be?

I would say it is more likely that Jack Davis died elsewhere,

or was injured elsewhere, or was dying elsewhere,

and then was placed at the bottom of those steps.

I base this upon the known facts.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Dr. Wecht's critical findings

convinced authorities to reopen the case in October of 1990.

Really nothing new came of it.

And at that point, the investigation was closed again.

Personally, I still go along with the fact

that he fell from up above.

And Dr. Wecht's comments about the eggshelling effect,

I'm not too sure that he couldn't have

hit the side of the wall to begin with

and broken the fall somewhat.

And I've seen very strange things with drunks anyway,

so nothing would be unbelievable to me.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Some critics

of the official findings believe Jack's death was no accident.

Reporter Marlene Brennan theorizes

that Jack may have been caught up in a feud

between two rival fraternities.

Some students report that there were up to five fights

that night, and it could be possible that he was involved

in one of them, and he was injured,

and someone didn't know what to do with him,

so they kept him somewhere, thinking

that he might get better or whatever, and he didn't.

And then they moved him into the stairwell.

I believe somebody out there does know something,

and I'm hoping that perhaps with continuing inquiries

by the family and friends, perhaps

through the presentation of this show

and so on, who knows, that somebody may step forward.

Had he lived, Jack Davis would have graduated

with 2,700 other students in the class of 1989

at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

Cyril Wecht is convinced that among them is at least

one person who knows what really happened to Jack Davis

Jr. Perhaps the time has finally come

to set the record straight.

Next, a remarkable tale of psychic communication

from beyond the grave.

[theme music]

You're about to meet three very unusual investigators--

genealogists who spent years digging

through dusty old books and papers,

trying to piece together their family histories.

It may sound dry, but these three

claim that in the course of their research

they were guided by mysterious forces.

Perhaps the spirits of their ancestors, long dead and long

forgotten.

On a rainy afternoon in 1948, curiosity

got the best of an 8-year-old boy named Hank Jones.

His basement held a most tempting

mystery, an old steamer trunk filled with unknown relics.

I opened the lid, and inside was just a treasure trove

of material on our family.

Old photographs, old letters, documents, old wills and deeds.

I never knew any of my grandparents

except my mother's mother.

And in a sense, by seeing their pictures,

by reading their diaries, by looking at their letters,

they came alive to me.

They became the grandparents I never knew.

And I don't know what it was, but it lit a spark

inside me at the age of eight.

And ever since that time, I've been climbing the family tree,

trying to find out as much as I could about my ancestry.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): On that chilly day when he first

peered into the old trunk, Hank had

no idea he had just set the course

for the rest of his life.

Today, some 46 years later, Hank Jones

is the author of a book "Psychic Roots,"

and one of the country's leading genealogists.

Devoted to piecing together long lost family trees,

tracing his own family has proved one of the most

difficult challenges.

Hank is descended from a hardy band of German immigrants

known as Palatines.

The Palatines were one of the biggest immigrations

we ever had to the new world.

And this one little branch of mine

started out for the new world, but they ended up in Ireland

in 1709 rather than coming down to New York

with all the rest of them.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Although his own ancestors had

gone to Ireland, Hank found himself intrigued

by a man named Johann Dietrich Schneider, who belonged

to a group of 847 other Palatine families who

had journeyed to New York.

I don't know why, but I felt this almost obsession

to find out more about them.

So I hired a lady named Carla Middlestead Kubichek to go

village to village for me, looking for all

these families in Germany.

But we had to start somewhere, and I didn't know where

to really tell her to start.

And so just off the top of my head, I said,

Carla, I don't care.

I have no vested interest in any of them,

but I've always been interested in a man named

Dietrich Schneider, who came in this group

to New York from Germany.

Go look for him first.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): In a remarkable turn of events,

Hank later learned that he had picked the one

person out of the entire migration

who was actually related to him.

I don't know how to explain that,

but it was just the beginning of a bunch

of strange coincidences, strange occurrences that

started happening to me as I was studying

these Palatine Germans.

I was starting to dream about them, for instance.

At first, the dreams were more about visions

of the Palatines' lifestyle.

I used to dream about them coming to America,

and I could see the ships.

I could see them landing, things like that.

And then I started dreaming about particular home villages

of certain immigrants I was looking

for but I hadn't found yet.

So I decided to write down some of the places

where the dreams suggested I look.

And lo and behold, we found about five to seven

of those families exactly where the dreams said

they would be located overseas.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Could the spirits of Hank's ancestors

have somehow reached through the mists of time

to lead him to places he would never

have thought to investigate?

Hank became convinced that was precisely the case.

He sent out letters to other genealogists

to see if anyone else had had a similar experience.

I got 200 responses, and practically every response

started with "I know what you mean,"

or "yes, yes, you've struck a familiar chord."

And then they would relate these unbelievable experiences that

had happened to them when they were doing their genealogies

over the years.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): One of the most intriguing responses

came from Dr. David Faux, a forensic psychologist

in Ontario, Canada.

In studying his bloodlines, David

became fascinated by his great-great-grandfather,

Charles Faux.

David learned that Charles had been a sergeant

in the British army in the mid-1800s,

during the great colonial campaigns

in India and Pakistan.

Despite uncovering a wealth of written information,

David had no idea of what his great-great-grandfather might

have looked like until he began to have

a strange recurring vision.

First of all, I pictured him.

I pictured him in his military uniform,

his red coat, the buttons, and perhaps medals.

And then the picture over time started

to include his wife and his child,

who would be my great-grandfather.

And I thought, well, this is very strange,

because the probability of such a picture existing

is so remote, so infinitesimal you might

as well say zero probability.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): In 1987, David and a friend

traveled to England in search of additional information

about David's ancestors.

I wanna go look at those figurines.

Right, I'll see you outside in half an hour.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Towards

the end of the trip, they stopped at the Norwich

Castle, a popular museum and art gallery

in Charles Faux's hometown.

I just wandered from room to room in the castle,

aimlessly, I thought.

And just as I was entering the doorway to one room,

I noticed ahead of me was a very,

very large portrait that just stood

out, almost three dimensional.

I was awestruck.

It was like the little hairs on the nape of my neck

were just standing up.

I had pictured an item somewhat similar to this or very similar

to this, and there, there it was, right before my eyes.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Incredibly, David

says the painting was the same family portrait

in his recurring vision.

The painting was completed by one Frederick

Sandys in the year 1860.

And my great-grandfather, being born in 1857,

would have been three in 1860.

The woman in the picture was very much

younger than the older soldier.

And I knew that Sergeant Charles Faux's

wife was 13 years his junior.

And the old gentleman was a sergeant.

There were three stripes on his right arm.

And most curiously and interestingly, he had three

ribbons on his left breast.

And I realized that my own ancestor probably

did win a number of medals when he was overseas,

but at that point, I didn't know which ones.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): When David returned home,

he immediately began searching for confirmation

that the man in the portrait was indeed his ancestor.

David learned that the medals in the painting

had been awarded for the Sutlej Campaign, the Punjab Campaign,

and for long service and good conduct.

Those same three medals had been awarded

to David's great-great-grandfather,

Sergeant Charles Faux.

It's almost as if my head became fuzzy at that time,

because I thought this is quite incredible.

I had an image, the image in mind,

that was translated into something there,

something three dimensional.

And again, to have the fantasy and reality

emerge in this way I find most exceedingly curious.

The best thing about it is that you have a feeling

that your ancestors care about you,

that they really want to be found.

It's a sense of reuniting.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Carol Montrose of New Albany,

Ohio would certainly agree.

While researching her family tree,

Carol became particularly intrigued

with a woman named Katherine Ruddy

Stegmeier, who she believed might be her great-great-aunt.

Great But Carol was unable to find

the date of Katherine's death or her final resting place.

Gino, hurry.

Look.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Then, in the fall of 1988, Carol

and her son were searching through cemeteries

in Northwestern Ohio when they came upon a hot air balloon

in flight.

Can we follow it?

Sure.

It's going over that way.

So all of a sudden, there was a road on my right.

And I turned, and we're following the balloon

at this point, and it came down so low that it actually

clipped the top of the trees.

And all of a sudden, I saw this church with a cemetery

across the street, and the balloon appeared to be landing

in the back behind the church.

Gino, look.

I think it's gonna land over by that church.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): But instead of landing,

the balloon took flight again.

Carol now believes that the spirit of her great-great-aunt

had guided her to follow the balloon to this remote church

150 miles from her home.

I'll be right back.

I thought that it wouldn't hurt to check the cemetery,

even though I had never really considered any of the family

having been buried there.

Almost near the front row was this Frederick

Stegmeier, a child of Kate.

And I was ecstatic.

I mean, I knew that I was in--

at least in the right area.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Carol ventured

farther into the cemetery.

There on the back row was the grave she had been looking for.

So amazing, so strange.

I can't say for sure Kate was trying to help me,

but I sure feel like she was.

I believe it's very possible that the spirits

of our ancestors, in some way, are

directing us in our searches.

They want to be found.

They want to be found.

And they may give us little subtle clues

along the way of how to do it.

They may somehow open some doors for us as we do our genealogy.

I'm very open to that.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Did mysterious psychic forces

somehow lead Hank, David, and Carol to their ancestors?

Or is it all just a coincidence?

Whatever the case, if you happen to be studying your family tree

and you get that odd feeling to visit one more library,

or open one last book, or even follow a hot air balloon, take

heed.

Perhaps you are being guided by the spirit

of one of your ancestors.

When we return, a young woman has disappeared

and may be hitchhiking around the country, lost and alone.

OK, take it out.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): August 10th, 1993.

Just east of Mendocino, California,

in a remote corner of redwood forest, an incongruous sight.

A shiny red car has been found stuck in the mud.

The car radio has been ripped out.

There are minute traces of blood on the dashboard

in the front seat, along with shredded identification papers.

A few torn up photographs are scattered nearby.

The scene appears to bear all the earmarks of foul play,

but in this case, nothing is as it appears.

The shredded IDs were traced to 22-year-old Kristi Krebs,

an aspiring chef who worked at two different restaurants

in Fort Bragg, California, seven miles from the spot

where her car was found.

Kristi lived with her parents and two younger brothers

in Fort Bragg.

And for Kristi's parents, the entire scenario

had an eerily familiar ring.

Kristi Krebs graduated from high school in 1989,

and went to work full time in a local restaurant.

She was cheerful and upbeat and worked tirelessly,

but she also developed an unrealistic obsession

about a married man she worked with.

On April 30th, 1990, Kristi became

unnaturally euphoric, fantasizing

an imaginary wedding.

She drove aimlessly for hours and lost

her way on a country road.

The car she was driving became hopelessly stuck in the mud.

I have to get out of here!

I have to get out of here!

[inaudible] Oh no!

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): When Kristi's car was found,

it looked like this.

The interior had been totally destroyed by flames.

The fire was an almost unheard of freak

occurrence which apparently triggered in Kristi

a traumatic mental breakdown.

The morning after the incident, railroad workers

were alarmed by the sight of a dazed and disoriented

young woman wandering along the tracks.

One of the workmen recognized Kristi

and telephoned her mother and father,

who immediately picked her up.

Initially, we thought things were OK.

But as we were driving back into town,

the behavior we were getting from her

was very bizarre, chanting and patting her

and doing very weird things.

And I just looked at my wife and said, we're not going home.

We're going to the hospital.

I remember in the examining room she was still

acting very, very strange.

And for the first week to 10 days at least,

she was really incoherent.

[chuckling]

We wondered if she was ever going to be the same again.

At first, they thought that she might have been on drugs,

but they were able to test her and see that there

were no drugs in her system.

Hi, kiddo.

Hi, Kristi.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Over the next few months,

Kristi was in and out of the hospital four different times.

Eventually, she was diagnosed as having

experienced a psychotic trauma-related break.

Why are you doing that?

- My car, my keys-- - Your car's OK.

It's all right, Kristi.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Kristi's parents

feared the worst.

But after therapy and drug treatment,

Kristi made rapid progress.

She was released from the hospital for good

some six months after the car fire.

An occupational therapist had recommended that Kristi

work, but only part time.

And good luck to all of you.

Thanks.

I think it was suggested she work

20 hours a week to start with.

And she did incredibly well, and she was very proud of herself,

and she got herself a second job at a local fast food

restaurant.

Both jobs were calling her in more and more.

And there were often days when she would work

five or six hours at each job.

And that would get her anywhere from a 10 to a 12 hour day.

Plus, in between the two jobs, she

was often going to the health club

and exercising and trying to keep her weight down.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Three years went by.

Kristi's parents became very concerned about her manic pace,

yet Kristi insisted she was OK, right up

to the night she disappeared.

- Here you go. - Great.

Thank you.

The manager of the pizza parlor

indicated that she was extremely hyper, was

extremely happy, much, much happier than she

had been in a long time.

And at one point, the manager of the pizza parlor

had asked her why she was so happy,

which was somewhat unusual.

And Kristi apparently responded that it's not what you think

and went on about her work.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): That night,

August 9th, 1993, Kristi left work still in high spirits.

She said she was going straight home,

but she was next seen in the parking

lot of a nearby public beach, where

a ranger spoke to her about 15 minutes before closing time.

Is everything OK?

Yeah, I just came from work to relax here, if that's OK.

Yeah, that's fine.

I just wanted to make sure you knew

this wasn't an overnight lot.

Yeah.

Is it OK if I stay here for a while?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The ranger

was the last person to see Kristi before she disappeared.

Thanks.

He said that she seemed fairly normal.

She then went from there back, apparently

back through Fort Bragg, traveling south,

and headed toward the town of Mendocino.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): At some point,

Kristi turned onto a small country road,

and then veered onto a dirt road.

She ended up here, just seven miles from the spot where

the car fire had occurred, once again deep in the redwoods,

once again stuck in the mud.

I think that she probably had flashbacks to 1990.

It was like reliving that nightmare.

And all of that, I think, just overloaded all the circuits.

[sobbing]

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Kristi's father

believes that his daughter suffered

another psychotic break, perhaps even wandering into a creek

as she tried desperately to deal with a bizarre repetition

of her earlier trauma.

In my mind, the last thing she did,

she went through her wallet, and in total frustration,

whether she's looking at pictures of family and friends,

she ripped them all up.

She ripped them up and scattered them around.

Whether she was destroying her past

and trying to get away from it, I really don't know.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The next morning, a full scale

search was launched, but no trace of Kristi Krebs

could be found.

Over the next few months, however,

several sightings were reported from Texas

to Salt Lake City, Utah.

One sighting in California seemed extremely promising.

On June 30th, 1994, an off duty highway worker

named Mike Case stopped to pick up a hitchhiker

near Visalia, California.

300 miles south of the spot where

Kristi's car was abandoned.

It seemed to me that she didn't have it all there.

At first, I thought possibly she was on some type of drugs.

But talking with her a little bit at the beginning,

I knew that possibly she was in a world of her own.

What happened to your wrist there?

I did happen to notice that on her wrist

there were two slash marks on her wrist.

And I asked her directly, well, what happened there?

And she said, I had a breakdown.

I had a boyfriend.

He wasn't very nice.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Over the course of 90 minutes,

the girl talked about several things which would later

ring true to Kristi's parents--

a boyfriend who seemed fictional, a desire

to visit San Jose, where she once

had relatives, and especially her love of the ocean.

In fact, Mike Case dropped her off

at an intersection near Hanford, California,

where she could easily hitchhike to the beach.

A week later, Mike Case read an article in a truckers magazine

about Kristi Krebs' disappearance.

He contacted Kristi's parents, and they

immediately sent photographs.

I went through several of the pictures,

and my personal feeling, that was the girl

I picked up on the freeway.

I'm positive that is her.

I'm positive.

And I can say that now.

I can say it's positive.

I believe that Kristi is out there somewhere,

and that she's alive.

Because Kristi is a survivor.

She has a lot of strength.

She's very friendly.

I believe that she would not be a loner, that she would hook up

with someone, and that she would make

sure that she got through this.

And I really believe that she has that ability.

We want her back home, because we know that with our help

she can once again recover from whatever it

is that she is going through.

And we really hope somebody out there knows where she

is and can help her get home.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): When we return,

the discovery of a hidden birth certificate

prompts a man to search for his long lost brother.

[theme music]

Mom and dad's secret papers.

As children, most of us knew that our parents kept

a treasure trove of mysterious and forbidden items tucked

away in a special box, or just out

of reach in a bureau drawer.

For a man named Walter Thomas, this

was just such a box, the object of decades of curiosity.

Just a few days after his father's death in 1993,

Walter finally peeked inside and stumbled on

a surprising unsolved mystery.

It is a ritual that has been repeated by sons and daughters

through the ages.

Walter gathered the family together

and opened his father's stash of private papers.

There's a driver's license from 1933.

Amazing.

Certificate of birth registration for who?

John-- Philip John Thomas?

Who the heck's Philip John Thomas?

When we came across his birth certificate, it was the most--

it was unreal.

I couldn't-- I can't think of a word to put into it.

It was unreal.

I can't believe this.

Daddy never kept anything from me.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): It was an extraordinary revelation,

one that took Walter back to his childhood in the 1940s.

Growing up, he had never heard so much

as a whisper about a younger brother named Philip.

All right, is that what you call cleaning up the leaves,

huh?

Johnny, come here.

Come here.

Give your mama a big kiss.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The Thomas family made their home

in Westerly, Rhode Island.

Dad worked in a textile mill.

Mom looked after Walter, his younger sister,

and younger twin brothers.

What's the matter?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Grandma was a frequent visitor.

WALTER (VOICEOVER): We didn't have much, but in those days,

you didn't expect much.

You just did what you had to do just to get by.

I think he's hungry.

You wanna try your bottle?

WALTER (VOICEOVER): Mom was the sweetest woman

you ever did meet.

She had a heart of gold.

Her laughter lit up the room.

She was like a queen to us, you know?

She was perfect.

In every which way, she was perfect,

until her sickness came in.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The sickness had been a dark cloud

over the Thomas family.

Walters says his mother, Adele, suffered strange mental lapses.

Without warning, she would wander away

from home, trudging aimlessly through the neighborhood

and beyond.

On many occasions, Walter and his father

would spend hours looking for her.

When's mom gonna get over this?

WALTER (VOICEOVER): I used to ask dad that question.

Dad, is mom ever gonna get better from this?

Is mom ever gonna stop this?

His answer was, sonny--

he said it's in God's hands.

I don't know.

Sometimes, she was happy to see us,

and sometimes she didn't even know us.

Mom!

Adele.

It's me, Walter.

You all right?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): On several occasions,

Adele's condition deteriorated so much

that Walter Sr. had no choice but to admit

his wife to a hospital.

The children were not allowed inside.

And mom used to come to the window,

and she hollered down at us, you know?

We love you!

Oh, honey, I love you too.

WALTER: When are you coming home?

I'll be home soon.

I promise you, sweetheart, I will!

Blow mom a kiss.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): With Adele confined to the hospital

and Walter working long hours at the mill,

grandma looked after the children.

Not everyone approved of the arrangement.

Is your name Walter?

Yes, sir.

Walter, would you ask your two brothers and sister to come

out here with you, please?

Grandma?

Yes?

Hello, Mrs. Thomas.

This is the Thomas household.

We are from the Department of Social services,

and we're here to take Walter Jr, Sarah, Richard, and David

to the agency with us.

Inside, Walter.

This home is unfit for these children to continue living in.

Unfit?

WALTER (VOICEOVER): My grandmother told them.

She said, this Thomas family is a Thomas family.

It's gonna stay a Thomas family together.

I love these children!

You get off my property!

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The social service agents

were apparently convinced.

Get off my property now!

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): They never again

bothered the Thomas family.

In May of 1947, Adele recovered and spent

several months at home with her husband and children.

But another bout of mental illness

set her back to the hospital with an added complication.

Adele was pregnant with the couple's fifth child.

Phillip John Thomas was born in April of 1948.

Given the circumstances, Walter felt he had no choice.

Reluctantly, he and Adele gave their child up for adoption.

Now decades later, Walter resolved to find his brother,

but he quickly discovered that every official record

was sealed.

His story was picked up by a local newspaper.

Then a television station sent a reporter to interview Walter.

REPORTER: Walter Thomas Jr. Was 13 years old when his mother--

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The broadcast

would lead to a completely unexpected discovery.

A woman named Phyllis Monroe, who lived just 35

miles from Walter, telephoned with the stunning news

that she had known Phillip as a child.

Three days later, Walter and Phyllis met.

Phyllis, is that you?

Hi.

You're Phyllis?

You have to be Walter.

You look just like Philip.

Hi, honey.

Oh my god.

I can't describe what it felt like to meet her at the time,

because so many things in my mind that I wanted to ask her.

And when she'd seen me, you know,

she looked at me, she started to cry.

She started to cry.

Oh my god.

When I see you, she says, I see Philip, she says.

He looked exactly like Philip to me, and that's all I needed.

I didn't need no paperwork, because that

was proof enough to me that that was Philip's brother.

Phyllis, I found the teddy bear.

Maybe Philip wants to play with that.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): As a child,

Phyllis had grown up in a foster home

under the care of a woman Mary Thankful Tefft.

One of Phyllis's foster brothers was none other

than Phillip John Thomas.

She vividly recalls the few years they spent together.

PHYLLIS (VOICEOVER): When Philip came to the house

for the first time, he was just a darling.

Just the cutest little boy.

He had brown eyes and brown hair.

And to me, he was like a brother.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Even the best of foster homes

are temporary arrangements.

And it was almost certain that Phillip and Phyllis

would one day be separated.

Parting came suddenly in July of 1953.

Philip had been adopted.

PHYLLIS (VOICEOVER): Philip was part of my life

when he was a little boy there.

And I know that part of my life went when he went.

Because I was so attached to him.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Phyllis

was able to share with Walter a tangible link

to his long lost brother--

this photograph of Philip at about three years of age.

To find Philip will close the Thomas family together.

It's something that I have to do for my father.

My father left me that there.

He told me to find him.

And not in words, but he left it there for me to go after him.

He knew I would.

I'm willing to bet, knowing my father,

that he took that paper out many times,

and touched it, and held it, and prayed on it,

and hoped that Philip would have been

forgiven enough so that he could forgive dad for what he did.

Join me next Friday for another intriguing edition

of "Unsolved Mysteries."

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