Original subtitles

[mysterious music]

Tonight, the exciting season premiere

of "Unsolved Mysteries."

Brandon Lee, handsome, charismatic,

destined to be a star, then something

went horribly wrong on a movie set in North Carolina.

Did Brandon Lee fall victim to an ancient curse

that some believe also killed his father,

Bruce Lee, 20 years earlier?

Christie Carlsen was a frightened

and confused 16-year-old when she

gave her baby up for adoption.

More than two decades later, she and the child's father

are together again, and searching

for their long lost daughter.

Have you ever had a dream that just had to be real?

Tonight, you'll meet a man whose nightmare of capture

and imprisonment during the Gulf War

was an astonishing psychic vision that came true.

In northern California, a fugitive on the loose,

a standoff, a massive search.

Have you seen Tony Castro?

Join me for our dramatic season premiere.

Perhaps you hold the key.

Perhaps you may be able to help solve a mystery.

[theme music]

Bruce and Brandon Lee, a father and son linked by legend.

Each was a rising star in the action-packed world

of martial arts films.

Some say Bruce and Brandon are also bound for eternity

by an ancient Chinese myth.

A few have called it a lethal family curse.

Supposedly, the first victim was Bruce Lee's older

brother, who died as an infant.

Later, when Bruce and his son, Brandon, met unexpected deaths,

many again divined the unstoppable hand of fate.

Be formless, shapeless, like water.

I mean you gotta put the whole hip into it, and snap it.

Ultimately, martial art means honestly expressing yourself.

ROBERT STACK: With his explosive power and fluid grace,

Bruce Lee was one-of-a-kind movie hero.

Almost single-handedly, he created an audience

for martial arts films.

In the summer of 1973, Lee was 32 years old, on the brink

of international stardom.

Then on July 20th, he took a prescription drug

for a headache and laid down for a nap.

Bruce Lee never got up.

LINDA LEE CADWELL: I was at the hospital

when they brought Bruce in.

It was just incredible.

I couldn't understand what was going on.

You know, I kept thinking, he's going to snap out of this,

you know?

But I didn't know that he was already gone

and they were trying heroic measures

to bring him back and all that.

ROBERT STACK: The unthinkable had happened.

Bruce Lee was dead.

His funeral drew more than 25,000 mourners.

After an unprecedented nine-day inquest,

the corner announced his findings.

Bruce Lee had died from a freak allergic reaction

to a pain remedy.

JOHN LITTLE: Here we have this paragon of fitness.

You know, one of the most lethal human beings with his hands

or his feet, taken out, you know, essentially

by a headache tablet.

But it happens, and it only seems all the more

unbelievable when it happens to someone

who is larger than life.

ROBERT STACK: Fevered allegations

sprang up overnight.

Lee had been murdered by a rival studio, a disgruntled business

partner, the Japanese mafia.

Others blamed Bruce Lee's death on the family curse

and the mysterious forces of Feng Shui.

Among other things, this ancient Chinese belief

mandates that a home be built in perfect harmony

with its environment.

Bruce Lee's house in Hong Kong was

said to be spiritually misaligned, a virtual guarantee

of ruinous bad luck.

JOHN LITTLE: The Chinese believe that unless this is addressed,

through either a Feng Shui expert who comes in to help you

in some way deflect whatever evil omens there are,

or if you just tear down the building

and re-erect it properly, then you're OK.

ROBERT STACK: Apparently, the previous owner of the house

had consulted a Feng Shui expert,

who placed a small mirror on the house

to deflect the evil spirits.

It remained there until July 19th, 1973,

when it was ripped away during a typhoon.

Bruce Lee died the next day.

Was it coincidence, or a family curse, one

that could reach across the generations?

At the time, Bruce's son Brandon was just eight years old.

Already, he was following in his father's footsteps.

I started training with my dad really as soon as I could walk.

I mean, my dad was a really diligent trainer,

and he always had people over to house practicing.

In fact, I remember when I was a little kid, a lot of my friends

didn't want to come over to the house,

because there were always these men

out in the backyard screaming and breaking things, you know?

ROBERT STACK: Like father, like son.

Brandon followed Bruce's path to the big screen,

as a star of martial arts films.

Brandon was 28 years old when he was

fatally shot on the set of his fifth feature, "The Crow."

An untimely death, one dogged by controversy.

Like father, like son.

It was awful.

I mean, I didn't think--

no one-- no one ever thinks that their child

is going to pre-decease them.

Especially one who is so vibrant and had

so much life, and so much future, and so much promise.

And everything was coming together for him.

And for one who had already suffered tragedies in his life,

and then this.

Brandon Lee's sudden death renewed speculation

about a family curse.

But can this tragedy really be attributed

to supernatural forces?

Tonight in an exclusive television

interview, detectives in charge of the case

set the record straight.

Nearly 50 eyewitnesses, more than a dozen ballistics

tests, this is the story pieced together by Detectives Rodney

Simmons and Brian Pettus of the Wilmington, North

Carolina Police Department.

The strange six-week journey of the bullet

destined to kill Brandon Lee.

After about five to six months,

we knew, pretty much, where the gun had gone,

where the bullets had gone, who had handled the bullets, who

had handled the guns, and at what level of responsibility

everybody was.

They were filming a pawn shop scene.

And they needed items from an actual pawn shop,

so they went to one of the local pawn shops in Wilmington.

Now, you can take any of the guitars

you want except for the two red ones and the blue one.

- OK, what about accessories? - Oh, sure.

No problem. - All right, cool.

Hey, listen, when you're done with that,

why don't you start with the guitars, OK?

ROBERT STACK: The stagehand gathered hundreds of props,

among them was a box of live .44 Magnum bullets.

The first link in the fatal chain of events

was now in place.

They dressed the set up with all

the items that they received.

They had placed the .44 rounds on a counter

that was used in the scene.

Where'd these come from?

Oh, we got those at a pawnshop earlier.

These are live.

Hey, listen up!

BRIAN PETTUS: The stunt coordinator

said when he found the live ammunition

on set that he was livid.

The bottom line rule is that you don't

have live ammunition on a set.

ROBERT STACK: The stunt coordinator locked the bullets

in the trunk of his car, where they would

remain for another two weeks.

Understanding the tragic events to come

requires some knowledge of bullets and blanks.

The business end of a bullet is a lead tip,

it sits snugly in the casing.

Packed inside is a load of gunpowder.

This small disk is an explosive charge known as a primer.

Once a trigger is pulled, hammer hits primer, primer detonates,

igniting powder, the explosive force of burning powder

shoots lead tip towards target.

Simple.

Deadly.

A blank is a bullet with a harmless disk of cardboard

instead of a lead tip.

The gunpowder load can be varied to affect the amount of flash

visible in the blank is fired.

On the set of "The Crow," preparations

were underway for a scene that required quarter load blanks.

However, none were purchased.

To save time, the live shells were brought

out to be modified into blanks.

BRIAN PETTUS: They removed the lead tip with a pair of pliers,

shook out the powder that was inside of it,

that left the cartridge and the primer.

The primer end itself they decided

it was the equivalent of a quarter load manufacture blank.

ROBERT STACK: The end result was a handful of empty casings,

each with a live primer.

RODNEY SIMMONS: And while they were making the quarter load

blanks, they realized that they needed

some dummy bullets, also.

A dummy round is basically a bullet

with no powder, no primer, just a casing and a lead tip.

No way it could be fired, that's a dummy round.

So what they did, they fired off some of the primers

from the blanks that they had made.

And took those casings, and put the lead tips

back in the casings.

But what they didn't do was check the primers

to see if they'd all been fired when

they made the dummy rounds.

So they got some mixed up.

So they made at least one dummy around

that had a primer still intact.

They needed a scene looking down the barrel of the gun.

The people that were doing the shot

was part of the second unit filming crew.

And they would pull the trigger, rotating

one cylinder at a time around, simulating someone

firing a weapon.

MAN: What was that?

ROBERT STACK: Police say that at least two people on the set

heard a popping noise.

No one realized it had been the sound of a primer firing.

No one realized that the primer had exploded with just

enough force to dislodge the lead tip from the bullet casing

and wedge it into the gun barrel.

There it would remain, undetected,

for another 14 days, awaiting its fateful meeting

with Brandon Lee.

About two weeks after the second unit filmed

the gun, the scene came up--

it was a death scene for Brandon's character.

And for this scene, the director chose to use a full load blank.

RODNEY SIMMONS: They called for the .44 Magnum,

loaded it with the full charge blanks.

At this time, the lead tip is still lodged inside the barrel.

He gives the gun to the actor.

[tense music]

MAN: All right, stand-by.

And action.

BRIAN PETTUS: That bullet being lodged

in the barrel and that full load blank, that was the equivalent

of a live .44 round.

And it was projected out of the gun and into Brandon Lee.

ROBERT STACK: North Carolina officials

concluded that the film company's biggest failures were

not having a gun expert on the set,

and taking shortcuts to save time and money.

However, the chain of negligence involved

so many people that convicting any one of them was unlikely.

No criminal charges were filed.

In the end, it seems that Brandon Lee was

truly a victim of circumstance.

Or was he, as some claim, the final casualty

of the family curse?

I think the family of Bruce Lee has been blessed,

not cursed.

And we who are still here, myself and my daughter,

Shannon, have felt very fortunate

that we were part of this family and knew

Bruce and Brandon intimately.

I think that Brandon, and I think there Bruce,

were two people who did try their best most of the time,

who wanted to produce quality work in their lives,

and who did.

They were extraordinary young people.

ROBERT STACK: Next, the mysterious case

of a missing anchorwoman.

What happened to Jodi Huisentruit?

[eerie music]

[gentle music]

Mason City, Iowa is a quintessential small town.

In fact, it was a model for the town

immortalized in the legendary Broadway show "The Music Man."

But since June of 1995, this homespun hamlet

has been in mourning.

Yellow ribbons everywhere symbolize the hope

that one of Mason City's most popular residents

will someday come home.

I'm John Shine from KIMT Television, Mason City, Iowa.

We need your help.

One of our news anchors is missing.

Her name is Jodi Huisentruit.

Jodi is 5 feet 3 inches tall and weighs 120 pounds.

She has blond hair and was last heard from around 4 AM Tuesday,

June the 27th.

In case you're counting, today marks

the sixth consecutive day of hitting 90 degrees or better--

ROBERT STACK: Jodi Huisentruit moved to Mason City

in late 1993 and quickly became an active member

of the community.

As the anchor of a morning news show,

Jodi was a local favorite, a woman with many friends

and no known enemies.

The day Jodi vanished, she was scheduled

to work her regular shift on the morning show.

When she didn't arrive on time, producer Amy Kuns

called her apartment.

Everything sounded normal, just

like I had just woken her up.

What time is it, she asked the question.

So I told her, Jo, it's about 10 to 4,

you need to come into work.

How much time is left to produce on the show?

I mean, she was obviously thinking, she was aware,

she just knew she had overslept and she had to get into work.

I didn't hear anything out of the ordinary.

Nothing.

ROBERT STACK: When Jodi didn't show up by air time,

Amy anchored the newscast, then sent the first available person

to check on Jodi.

I was halfway mad, because I had to do all of this stuff

all by myself.

Halfway worried, because I thought, jeez,

what if she's laying in her apartment bleeding,

because she fell down hit her head on the tub,

you know, things like that.

But never once did I think somebody nabbed outside

of her apartment.

Never once did that cross my mind.

The officer arriving at the scene

observed several of Jodi's personal items

strewn about the ground around her car.

A quick check was done in and around the apartment complex

for Jodi, but we were unable to find her.

Her personal items, which appear to be things that she

was bringing with her to work in preparation for that morning's

newscast, were scattered about her car and kind of trailing

off away from the vehicle.

Which, to all involved, is a good indicator

that she was taken forcibly.

ROBERT STACK: By that afternoon, the Mason City police

launched a massive search, aided by the FBI

and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.

Rescue teams scoured the countryside,

divers and police dogs covered the Winnebago

River and its banks.

But there was no trace of Jodi Huisentruit.

In fact, the only possible clue was a white Ford Econoline van,

much like this one.

It was seen in the parking lot of Jodi's apartment building

about the time she disappeared.

The most difficult aspect of this investigation to date

has really been the lack of apparent motive

for an abduction, the lack of physical evidence involved

in the crime scene, and the lack of any genuine eyewitnesses.

This is still very much an open case

and will remain open case.

We are receiving, still, four to six leads a day on the case,

and all those leads will be followed out and worked.

[melancholy music]

ROBERT STACK: It's been eight months

since the people of his quiet community

hung the yellow ribbons and put up the missing posters.

The ribbons are now tattered, the posters faded,

and Mason City is still trying to make sense of what

happened to Jodi Huisentruit.

Good thinking, way to go, Kevin.

MAN: I'm getting there slowly.

Way to keep me in check.

PATRICK MCCARTHY: We spent a lot of time and a lot of effort

talking to people who knew Jodi and spent time with Jodi.

We located nothing in her private life

that would have put her at risk at all.

No dark side to Jodi, she was as real and all-American as she

appeared to those who knew her and to her viewers.

I think there's still hope.

I really feel that we might find her yet.

There's-- you can't give up hope, that's what

gets you up in the morning.

I can't imagine life without her, because she is our joy,

she's our life.

I mean, we love her so much, she's just everything to us.

ROBERT STACK: Next, more than 20 years ago,

a teenage girl reluctantly gave her daughter up for adoption.

Can you help reunite them?

[eerie music]

"Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved

at all," or so the poets say.

Better still to have a second chance at that lost love,

and so it would be for an Iowa teenager named Christie Wismer.

In 1973, Christie was 16.

Her boyfriend, Dave Carlsen, was 18.

Their youthful romance burned briefly, but brightly.

After six months together, they broke up.

Only to discover that their love had consequences

that would last a lifetime.

Dave?

Christie.

Hi.

I need to talk to you.

Sure.

How you doing?

Not so good.

What's wrong?

I'm pregnant.

CHRISTIE WISMER (VOICEOVER): We had broke up a week before I

found out that I was pregnant.

And all I could think of was, how

is Dave going to handle this, and what about my folks,

you know?

I just thought it was the end of the world coming.

CHRISTIE'S FATHER: (SHOUTING) You've embarrassed me,

and I'm not going to stand for it.

[doorbell rings]

Come on in, Carlsen!

ROBERT STACK: Any parent would be

upset and angry to learn that their teenage daughter was

pregnant.

Christie says a confrontation with her father

came when she was four months pregnant

and just beginning to show.

I'll tell you what is going on around here.

You're sixteen and pregnant and you did it!

This isn't helping anything.

CHRISTIE WISMER (VOICEOVER): My father,

he was taking it very hard.

And told me that, you know, I'm just

an embarrassment to the family, that he

couldn't possibly love me.

What are you going to do about this?

ROBERT STACK: It seemed like the only thing to do

was put the child up for adoption.

Dave and Christie talked about getting married,

but that was out of the question.

I was forbidden to see him.

So we'd sneak, you know, and each other,

but then we kind of grew apart during the pregnancy.

Christie, you're almost done.

You're almost done.

Take a deep breath in now.

ROBERT STACK: In June of 1974, Christie Wismer

gave birth to a baby girl.

It should have been a time of joy for Christie,

a transition to life with a child and a family of her own.

Instead, the infant was to be adopted.

Giving birth was lonely labor, destined

to end in disappointment.

WOMAN: Good, Christie.

That's the way.

Good.

Pretty girl.

CHRISTIE WISMER (VOICEOVER): They

took the baby away right away.

And after they wheeled me back to my room

and put me into the bed, my mother come up and talked to me

for a little while, and she asked if I would

walk down and look at the baby.

I saw her earlier this evening and she's beautiful.

She's the one down front.

CHRISTIE WISMER (VOICEOVER): She looked so sweet laying there.

She's beautiful.

Mm-hmm.

CHRISTIE WISMER (VOICEOVER): You know, I knew that I loved her.

But I couldn't take her home.

Christie?

Bob Riley.

I brought that paper for you to sign.

ROBERT STACK: The adoption rolled forward,

overwhelming any last minute doubts

Christie might have harbored.

BOB: Sign right there on the X, OK?

Excuse me, please. BOB: Sure.

I just want you to know how proud we are--

ROBERT STACK: Before the baby was 24 hours old,

she was on her way to a new family.

I'm very tired right now, do you think this could

wait until a little bit later?

BOB: No, got to do it right now, just as we talked about.

There you go.

CHRISTIE WISMER (VOICEOVER): I knew that the adoption

was going to take place.

But it hadn't really hit me at the time, you know,

I was just--

I was pregnant.

I was in labor.

Everything was just happening so fast.

Christie Wismer never saw her daughter again.

She and Dave Carlsen went their separate ways.

They each married, had children, divorced.

In 1995, Christie returned to Iowa

for her 20-year high school reunion.

Friends told her that Dave Carlsen

had been asking about her.

Christie called him up.

I was really nervous about contacting him.

And I was really glad when I did make

the phone call though, because it seemed like we still--

you know, the feelings were still there.

And he asked if we could see each other the following night

for a date.

And we met, and things were still clicking between us.

[chuckles]

ROBERT STACK: The romance that had smoldered

for two decades re-ignited.

Christie and Dave were married on June 22, 1996.

Now they feel that their happiness

would be complete if they could locate their daughter.

DAVID CARLSEN: We're not trying to take

the place of her family.

I gave up all my rights back then,

and I would just like to make myself available for whatever

purpose she might have.

CHRISTIE WISMER (VOICEOVER): I've kept it inside for so many

years and not talked about it.

Dave?

Christie.

What are you gonna do about this?

CHRISTIE WISMER (VOICEOVER): After meeting Dave again,

it's just surfaced, and it's just

something that I've got to do.

I've got to at least attempt and try to find her.

Let her know that I didn't give her up for adoption

because I didn't want her, I gave her up

because of the circumstances.

Maybe she never will forgive me for what I've done back then,

but I would like to just be able to see her and talk to her.

[upbeat music]

ROBERT STACK: Next, an accused killer is on the run,

and the authorities need your help to track him down.

[eerie music]

[suspenseful music]

July 23rd, 1994.

A young man in a Chevy Suburban speeds

southbound along Interstate 5 in Shasta County, California.

On his tail is highway patrol officer Kevin Benson.

Southbound approaching Pollard Flat.

Washington, Tom X-Ray Sam 726.

MAN (ON RADIO): Tom X-Ray Sam 726 returns as a stolen

vehicle out of Washington.

10-4.

Requesting backup.

ROBERT STACK: Officer Benson has no idea that he is following

a very dangerous fugitive.

Tony Castro is a Mexican national with a long rap

sheet for violent offenses.

Three days earlier, he had walked into an empty house

near Sacramento, California and allegedly attacked a man who

was repairing a heating system.

He stabbed me multiple times, kicked me, and left me

on the floor, went through my pockets for the car keys,

took my car and left.

ROBERT STACK: Two days later, the burned out shell

of William Goulart's car was found in Washington state,

800 miles away.

The day before, just down the road,

72-year-old Mike Fadeff had been murdered in his farmhouse.

The prime suspect is now Tony Castro.

Mr. Fadeff was beaten badly, shot

twice, one of the worst cases our pathologist has never seen.

I just don't understand how he could do it.

How he could have beat on my uncle the way that he did,

and then to shoot him.

ROBERT STACK: Why was Mike Fadeff murdered?

Apparently, for his gun collection and his truck.

Officer Benson kept Castro in his sights for about 10 miles.

All right, got 52, 61.

Be advised he's exiting at Pollard Flat.

KEN TISCORNIA: He may have just been hoping that the patrolman

just continued on south on I-5, and he

would make his escape that way.

ROBERT STACK: But the escape route

led straight to a cul-de-sac.

Tony Castro was trapped, or so it seemed.

Get your hands up.

Got a problem, officer?

OFFICER BENSON: Keep your hands up!

Get out of the car.

Getting out, OK?

Getting out.

Keep your hands up.

What'd you pull me over for, huh?

I didn't do nothing, man. - Keep your hands up.

OK, woah, woah, sorry. They're up.

They're up.

OFFICER BENSON: Don't move!

ROBERT STACK: In the blink of an eye, Castro disappeared.

Within an hour, state and local law enforcement agents

had converged on the Sacramento River Canyon,

a wilderness area that covers thousands of acres

of rugged dense terrain.

Hey, contact Dean Simpson and Byron.

I want them back at the command center at 1300.

- I'll get right on it. - What do you got?

Not a trace, not yet.

RON RICHARDSON: The whole situation

was dealt with as an emergency in progress.

Tell me what you've got on this guy.

He's dangerous and he's smart.

There was nothing to lead us to believe

that he wouldn't commit the same acts in his attempt

to flee the area.

ROBERT STACK: 40 units were dispatched immediately.

The highway patrol put extra squad cars on the Interstate.

Trackers fanned out, up and down the Sacramento River.

SWAT teams checked the freight trains

that ran through the canyon, but there

was no sign of Tony Castro.

Because a canyon is bordered by steep terrain

to the east and west, authorities

speculated that Castro would stick to the river.

An hour later, confirmation.

Got a print over here.

That's our guy.

Better call it in, he's going northbound.

Command post, 22 24.

Let's get a hold of a lab tech ID, they've got a footprint.

Let's see if that matches up.

Ha!

We're going to get this guy.

RON RICHARDSON: There wasn't anything rational about him.

It was difficult to pinpoint what he would do next.

This guy had no feelings towards taking a human life to just get

an automobile, just to provide himself transportation,

to kill another human being.

ROBERT STACK: In the early afternoon, and a mile upstream,

a news reporter was lost along the frontage road.

[dramatic music]

Castro darted back into the woods

and apparently changed direction.

He headed south, downstream.

RON RICHARDSON: This is an extremely rugged canyon.

We could have had an army of officers out there,

and he still would have slipped by us,

just because of the natural terrain

and the concealment opportunities

he had made available to him.

Castro is a survivalist.

This man has the skills to survive in elements that

the average person wouldn't.

He was a strong individual.

He could probably go for days in the elements

without food or water and survive.

Call in the teams. We'll just pick it up tomorrow.

He's got the advantage and I don't want

to jeopardize our trackers.

ROBERT STACK: As nightfall approached,

Captain Richardson was forced to pull

the trackers out of the canyon.

He could only hope that Castro would

still be around the next day.

RON RICHARDSON: You know, our fear level kept rising,

because we hadn't had any reports

on the movement of the suspect.

We hadn't been able to confirm whether he is still in the area

or not.

And it became our concern that he

had taken refuge in somebody's home, holding them hostage

or doing them harm.

ROBERT STACK: But Tony Castro continued

to confound authorities.

As far as anyone knows, he did not bother a soul that night.

In the morning, he showed up in the small town of Lakehead,

eight miles south of where the chase had begun.

WOMAN: Excuse me.

Can I help you with something?

I'd like to buy your car, if it runs good.

Yeah, it runs.

I'd like to buy it for my wife.

You have your books, right?

Yeah, if you got the cash.

I got cash

I'll get the key.

[tense music]

It's a little wet, I hope you don't mind.

Just wait right there.

I'll be right back.

I was swimming with some friends.

ROBERT STACK: A few minutes later, Tony Castro

was on the road again, having bought

himself a new set of wheels.

He next showed his face in Orange County, California,

where he has family.

But within a few days, Castro disappeared again.

He had alluded one of the largest manhunts

in northern California history.

The authorities feel very fortunate that no one was

hurt during Castro's flight through the Sacramento River

Canyon.

But they also fear that the next time Castro is cornered,

he may lash out.

Tony Castro is 28 years old, 5 feet 7 with a muscular build.

He has two distinctive physical features,

his right index finger is cut off at the knuckle

and his upper, front teeth have gold etching at the gum line.

When we return, a man's strange dream

of capture and imprisonment apparently comes

true for one of his friends.

[eerie music]

At one time or another most of us

about a dream so intense, so vivid, that we felt

it had to be real.

Few, though, have ever discovered

the dream actually was real.

Few have had the spine-tingling experience of the man

you're about to meet.

[dramatic music]

January 1991, the onslaught by the United States

and its allies, known as Desert Storm,

burst across Iraq and Iraqi-held Kuwait.

The conflict was instantly up-linked to television sets

all over the world.

GEORGE BUSH (ON TV): I would like to see a peaceful solution

to this question.

I think Saddam Hussein should fully, without condition,

comply to the UN--

ROBERT STACK: The first night Baghdad was bombed,

Joe O'Brien of Crestline, California

watched with special interest.

One of the Kuwaiti jet pilots fighting with the Allied forces

was his longtime friend Mohammed Mubarak, nicknamed Sammy.

They had met 16 years before, when Sammy

was in the US on a training mission

and had remained close ever since.

REPORTER (ON TV): During the hours of darkness,

Baghdad was bombed by Allied warplanes.

Wait, hold on.

ROBERT STACK: Joe had no doubt Sammy would be

in the thick of the fighting.

I'm gonna have to call you back.

ROBERT STACK: But he was stunned to see his friends face

staring out at him from the TV.

[non-english speech (on tv)]

ROBERT STACK: The Iraqis had shot down Sammy's plane

and taken him prisoner.

JOE O'BRIEN (VOICEOVER): I had a feeling,

it was like my blood turned to lead.

I think my biggest concern when he was shot down

was that Saddam Hussein would make an example out of him.

Iraq's issue was with Kuwait, so we have a Kuwaiti pilot,

we will--

if they were to torture or kill him, that was my main concern.

ROBERT STACK: Joe is consumed with worry.

When he finally fell into a fitful sleep, he had a dream.

Without question, one of the most bizarre he had ever had.

JOE O'BRIEN (VOICEOVER): In my dream,

I was very much aware that I was Sammy.

I was in his cell, and I was seeing things through his eyes.

It was a fairly small cell with a high ceiling.

The floor was very cold.

I was very cold in his dream.

And I noticed the color it was almost

like a dark, flat porcelain.

It had on a maroon--

took on a maroon or a purplish color when the light was on.

When it was off, it just looked gray or black.

I remember being very uncomfortable,

but the pain I had my hands almost

overrode everything else about my captivity.

It was so painful.

My hands were on fire.

ROBERT STACK: In his dream, Joe had a surprisingly strong

feeling about what appeared to be an ordinary striped blanket.

JOE O'BRIEN (VOICEOVER): There something

about this blanket or material that I

was very happy to have it.

And I don't know what the significance was,

but I remember studying the material and the design.

And it was shortly after that when I woke up in a cold sweat.

I've never had a dream like that,

and I've never woken up like that before.

And I immediately got out of bed, it was about 6 o'clock,

and I went right in to the bathroom,

and turned on the cold water to run some water on my wrists,

which were very, very sore.

ROBERT STACK: That same morning, Joe met a friend

John Gough for breakfast.

Hey, Joe, how's it going?

Hey, how

Are you?

- I'm all right. - Big night.

Yeah, sure.

JOHN GOUGH (VOICEOVER): When he showed up,

I noticed that his hands were kind of red.

And he had a tough time picking his coffee cup up.

And he says, the darnedest thing happened to me last night,

I had this strange dream.

And, in the process of my dream, my hand started hurting.

And so, then he told me about the dream.

Your friend is a Kuwaiti pilot?

Yeah.

Yeah, I dreamed I was him in his cell.

JOHN GOUGH (VOICEOVER): Joe O'Brien is not a person

to just fabricate stories.

He's a very honest person.

And when he told me about this story,

I really did think that it was something really unusual.

Because of the fact that he explained,

in detail, about a prisoner of war.

And the pain of his hands didn't go away for five days.

Well, you know someone's captive

you're going to picture a cell.

But why the pain?

And why in my wrists?

You know, I've--

I used to be a mason, I have strong hands.

I've never had problems with my hands.

And here I can't even hold a coffee cup.

ROBERT STACK: Finally, 42 days after the war began,

Iraq surrendered.

Saddam Hussein agreed to a ceasefire

and an exchange of prisoners.

Joe, again, saw Sammy on television.

This time he was on his way to freedom.

JOE O'BRIEN: When I saw Sammy actually being released

I couldn't believe it.

I was just so happy. And I called him.

I called him right after he--

that night he was in the hospital,

and I guess he had just had walked into his room.

And I called him, and had a wonderful conversation

with him, and he was very happy.

It was a good day.

Sammy!

Joseph, my friend, how are you?

ROBERT STACK: The following Christmas

was a true celebration.

Sammy and his sister visited Joe in California for a reunion.

Oh, how are you?

Oh, you look beautiful!

ROBERT STACK: That night, Joe finally decided to tell Sammy

about his extraordinary dream.

Well, of course.

Well, I dreamed that I was you in a cell.

It was dark, black and burgundy tile with this little window

way up high--

It was cold.

ROBERT STACK: Sammy was struck dumb.

[non-english speech]

ROBERT STACK: Joe's words thrust him back, back

into the horror of captivity.

While the Iraqis were taking Sammy to a POW camp,

they kept him handcuffed so tightly that his wrists

were cut and bleeding.

SAMMY MUBARAK (VOICEOVER): The pain with the hands,

I hardly can move my wrists around.

I had the handcuffs for five long days, you know, very tight

and very hurting my wrist badly.

And then, also, he had the pain for five days, exactly.

So, very strange, you know?

I had this beige and green striped cloth, which

was really important to me.

ROBERT STACK: The detail was astonishing.

Joe was describing Sammy's blanket,

the only comfort he had.

SAMMY MUBARAK (VOICEOVER): I was very cold.

And to keep myself warm, so I usually just

have the blanket around me, and that was some kind

of-- somehow my favorite.

Because, you know, it was keeping me warm.

You've described my cell, exactly.

ROBERT STACK: Joe and Sammy compared notes for hours.

On point after point, Joe's dream matched

Sammy's experience precisely.

Even the cloth--

SAMMY MUBARAK (VOICEOVER): I was totally amazed, surprised.

I said, he matched the cell and the reality almost

I'd say 100%, you know, 100%.

The feeling, the description, the colors, how I felt,

everything.

ROBERT STACK: There is no accepted

explanation for this particular unsolved mystery.

Perhaps that was just an eerie coincidence.

Or perhaps it is proof that true friendship

cannot be bound by time, distance, or dimension.

As renowned psychiatrist and dream analyst

Carl Jung once said, "The unexpected and the incredible

belong in this world.

Only then is life whole."

For every mystery, there is someone,

somewhere, who knows the truth.

Perhaps it's you.

Join me again next Friday, and every Friday,

for "Unsolved Mysteries."

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