All language subtitles for Unsolved.Mysteries.S08E04.AMZN.WEB-DL.DDP2.0.H.264-BTW_track3_[eng]

ROBERT STACK: Tonight
on Unsolved Mysteries--

Socorro, New Mexico, 1964.

It began as a routine
police pursuit--

just a wild teenager
tooling through town--

and ended with one of the
most remarkable UFO episodes

in history--

a close encounter still
impossible to ignore.

Welcome to Valley
Hill, Kentucky--

where thousands of people
from these teenage girls

to skeptical adults
say they have

witnessed miraculous visions--

a case of mass hallucination?

Or is Valley Hill
truly touched by God?

In Dallas, Texas, an attorney
named David Merrifield

schedules a prebreakfast meeting
with a mysterious new client.

An hour later, two women
make a horrifying discovery.

Who murdered David Merrifield?

And you'll see how your
calls reunited a family

with the guardian
angels who rescued them

after a terrifying accident.

Join me.

Perhaps you may be able
to help solve a mystery.

[theme music]

April 24th, 1964-- the
little town of Socorro,

New Mexico was quiet.

Police officer Lonnie
Zamora was not surprised.

During the five years
he'd been on the force,

Socorro had almost
always been quiet.

When Lonnie spotted a local
teenager speeding through town,

he figured writing them
up might be the biggest

excitement of the day.

[screeching tires]

[police sirens]

The chase proceeded
to the edge of town

and beyond, out into the desert.

Lonnie Zamora had no warning.

He was about to leave
his safe, secure world

and enter the realm
of the unexplained.

[mysterious sound]

[police sirens]

Roswell, Gulf Breeze, Area 51--

to anyone with even a passing
knowledge of UFO history,

these names instantly
conjure images

of bizarre lights, spaceships,
and strange visitors

from another world.

On that day in
1964, Lonnie Zamora

had no idea that Socorro
was about to become

another landmark--

a location of what some believe
is one of the most significant

UFO sightings ever made.

Lonnie had no idea
what was waiting

for him just down the road.

Socorro to Socorro.

LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENT:
Socorro, go ahead.

LONNIE ZAMORA: When
going up half way or so,

I could see a white
object to my left there.

I thought it was
a turned over car.

When I got up on top of
the [inaudible] there,

I looked down, and I'd
seen this big, white object

on the ground.

[mysterious sound]

I thought I could see something
around the craft there.

I could see some figures--

looked like they were
walking around the craft.

Socorro to Socorro.

ROBERT STACK:
According to Lonnie,

he saw red markings on
the hull, a vertical arrow

with a horizontal
line beneath it,

and a crescent
shaped line above it.

Lonnie made several attempts
to contact police headquarters.

He was never able to break
through the heavy static.

After he heard two
metallic sounds

like doors clanging
shut, he realized

the small figures had vanished.

LONNIE ZAMORA: I saw this flame
come out from underneath it,

and I ran back behind the
car, and it went up to 20,

30 feet up in the air.

It just stayed
there for a while,

and then finally just took
off slowly to the west.

Dios mio.

At first, after I got to my
senses, I said, did I see it

or didn't I?

What happened?

And that's it.

ROBERT STACK: Lonnie
radioed to an old friend,

Sergeant Sam Chavez of the
New Mexico State Police.

He told Sam to come
fast and to come alone.

[speaking spanish] Are you OK?

What happened out here?

I saw it.

I saw it, amigo.
I-I saw it.

What did you see?

SAM CHAVEZ: I could tell
that Lonnie was excited

and probably scared.

Tell me what happened
from the start.

I lost my glasses.

There they are.

I'll get them for you, OK?

Relax.

Take a deep breath.

SAM CHAVEZ: Lonnie Zamora--

he's a very dependable,
honest type of person.

He's not one to create,
or make stories,

or build things up to make it
exciting or anything like that.

He's a very well-liked
type of a person.

I saw two of them.

Two of them what?

People!

Little ones.

They were in uh,
in uniforms, white.

- Let's go take a look, huh?
- No, no, no.

I'm not going down there.
- Come on, come on.

You don't have to be
afraid of anything.

Come on.
Lonnie.

"LONNIE ZAMORA": I know, I know.
I'll be right behind you.

"SAM CHAVEZ": All right.

Come on.

Let's go.

What the hell is this?

SAM CHAVEZ: We found some
indentations on the ground

where this thing had landed.

And the marks into
the ground were

nine inches deep, eight inches
long, and nine inches wide.

That's where the
blast took off.

It blasted right over the car.

SAM CHAVEZ: I started
looking for tracks--

human tracks, but the
only thing I found

was impressions on the ground.

They were made by
a perfect circle,

but I found no human
tracks-- no shoe prints.

ROBERT STACK: Within 90
minutes, US army officials

at nearby White
Sands Missile Range

sent Captain Richard T.
Holder to investigate.

This is the first time
Holder has ever talked

publicly about what he saw.

Well, my first impression
was that it was something from

the range that needed
possible help--

you know, first aid, attention,
or, at best, security.

The more I got into
it, the less convinced

I was that that was the case.

ROBERT STACK: Holder also
noticed the unusual impressions

left in the sand.

On the edge of the
landing area, he

found a bush burned to a crisp
on only one side, as though

seared by a blowtorch.

Gentlemen, this
area is now officially

designated sensitive.

This entire area is
needs to be cornered.

MAN: Yes, sir.

OFFICER: Folks, if you'd
just head right on back.

Officers, if you'd please
take charge of these folks.

Let's bring in and secure this
gentleman with the camera,

please.
OFFICER: Yes, sir.

ROBERT STACK: State trooper
Ted Jordan was taking pictures.

His camera and film were
confiscated on the spot.

TED JORDAN: I do
recall that they

told me that they
would develop them

and send me copies of them.

It never occurred.

And when I asked later
about it, they told me

that the film was no good.

It had been ruined by radiation.

OFFICER: Gentlemen,
what we're looking

for is anything metallic.

The metallic could be shiny,
could be dulled object,

we'll do a magnetic scan later.

RICHARD HOLDER: We looked around
to try to find out if we could

see any evidence of
anything that would

make us think it was a hoax.

We found nothing.

Everything we saw seemed
to support the story

that Officer Zamora recounted.

My impression of talking to
him was that he was mystified.

He wanted an explanation.

Nothing that I heard of later
gave me the slightest hint

that he did this
as a hoax or cooked

it up for fame or fortune.

ROBERT STACK:
Whatever Lonnie saw,

he apparently was
not the only one.

Just a few minutes after
Lonnie drove into the arroyo,

a motorist who has
never been identified

pulled into a gas station on
the north side of Soccoro.

OK, I guess.

I tell you, your aircrafts
sure fly low around here.

How's that?

We were south of
town headed north,

something flew right
across the hood of the car

doing about 150 miles an hour.

It almost hit our car.

White, oval-shaped objects.

Scared us to death.

ROBERT STACK: Jimmy
Grinder was only 13,

but he remembers the
incident vividly.

Did you folks call the police?

No, there was a cop who
looked like he was chasing it,

going the same
way the craft was,

headed west--with his lights
on, his siren and everything.

JIM GRINDER: I believe
Lonnie saw something--

same as the tourists saw--

something that they have never
seen or encountered before.

It did not meet a
helicopter-type scenario,

definitely wasn't an
airplane-type scenario.

And so you ruled those
two things out in 1964.

What do you have?

It definitely wasn't
a weather balloon.

ROBERT STACK: By
the next morning,

newspapers and wire services
all over the country

had picked up the story.

Around Socorro,
rumors ran rampant--

wild stories of flying saucers
and funny little people.

Everyone wanted details.

LONNIE ZAMORA: They
stopped me all over town

and wanted to know this,
wanted to know that.

And then I got phone calls
from all over the world.

I was getting disgusted with it.

ROBERT STACK: The
Air Force followed up

the Army investigation
with its own team.

After a cursory once
over, the Air Force agreed

that Lonnie saw something.

They insisted, however,
that it must have been

a secret military test device.

Are you getting anything?

Of course not.

JEROME CLARK: They
never were able to find

any such evidence
that any such thing

was being tested at the time.

And in fact, even today,
not an iota of evidence

has emerged to
support that claim.

Nonetheless, the Air
Force line on the case

is that this is a
credible witness.

He clearly saw some kind of
structured, flying vehicle,

and that it must have been
something that we built, even

if we can't find it anywhere.

ROBERT STACK: While the
military investigated,

the UFO fever
continued unabated.

Since the 1950s,
the Air Force had

been criticized by Congress for
his handling of UFO reports.

The Socorro sighting threatened
to add more pressure.

Finally, Air Force officials
summoned Dr. J. Allen

Hynek, a respected astronomer.

Dr. Hynek was a most
prestigious consultant

on Project Blue Book,
the official Air Force

study of the UFO phenomenon.

Dr. Hynek went to Socorro.

He talked to Lonnie,
studied the landing site,

and examined the photographs.

He found the physical
evidence extremely compelling,

but the most persuasive argument
for a genuine UFO sighting

was Lonnie Zamora himself.

158.5.

OK.

OK, Lonnie, now these
depressions, you said,

were actually from
the outriggers.

They held up the craft.

JEROME CLARK: Dr.
Hynek was enormously

impressed by Lonnie Zamora.

He thought there was virtually
no possibility of a hoax.

And on May 20, he wrote
a private memorandum

which he kept in his files
and which I discovered years

after his death in which
he expressed huge disdain

for the Blue Book
handling of the report,

and he said that it was
clear that the story the Blue

Book had cooked up about
this possibly being

some kind of
experimental aircraft

was a story that even Blue
Book knew to be untrue,

but which was invented
to keep Congress

from harassing the Air Force.

ROBERT STACK: Today,
some 30 years later,

the question remains,
how do we explain

what Lonnie Zamora's saw?

No matter what others
believe, Lonnie

has no doubt that
what he witnessed

was not of this earth.

LONNIE ZAMORA: I still say that
it was something not from here.

If I could find out
what it actually was,

OK, I'm satisfied.

I just didn't want to
go through it again.

If they want to
believe me, good.

If they don't want to believe
me, that's all right, too.

RICHARD HOLDER: I believe Lonnie
Zamora was a good policeman

and an honest man who reported,
as he thought proper, something

well beyond his experience.

Was it something terrestrial?

Extraterrestrial?

I have no idea.

ROBERT STACK: Coming
up, a grateful family

is reunited with the
unknown good Samaritans

who saved their lives.

Recently, your phone
calls brought about one

of our most unusual and
gratifying reunions ever.

The people involved
were not related,

had never been
formally introduced,

and in fact only learned
each other's names

on the night of our broadcast.

It began in December, 1983.

The Dover family
of Atlanta, Georgia

was traveling to
Mexico to celebrate

the holidays with relatives.

On the second day out, just
after crossing the border,

the weather suddenly changed,
and the Dovers found themselves

caught in a freak snowstorm.

VANCE DOVER: We were trying
to be extremely cautious

because the road conditions
were really getting pretty bad,

and my father had just told me
to even be extremely careful,

and just moments
after he had told me

that, I suddenly lost control.

ROBERT STACK: Tragically, all
four people in the other car

were killed; but
miraculously, the six

members of the Dover party were
still alive, if only barely.

By some incredible
stroke of fortune,

an American couple, one
of whom was a doctor,

happened upon the crash scene.

Thanks largely to their
efforts, the Dovers

were pulled from the
wreckage and received

urgent medical care.

Linda Dover credits the two
good Samaritans with saving

the lives of her entire family.

OK, how you doing?

Hang on there.

LINDA DOVER: I feel
like it is was miracle.

Many times there's an
accident, and we just trapped

by an accident, and they
could have done that that day,

but they didn't.

They stopped.

And through their stopping, they
saved the lives of our family,

and we just want
to say thank you.

On the night we
aired the story,

the Dovers waited
nervously back in Georgia

to hear whether the
case would be solved.

Let's go to Keely
Shaye Smith for more.

Bob, one of our viewers in
Houston, Texas saw the story

and realized that she
heard that very same

story from her
friends Dr. Nancy Neff

Hannan and her husband John.

Later that night, the Hannans
called us here at our phone

center and provided agents
with a detailed description

of the rescue.

It was clear from the start
that the Hannans were in fact

the Dover's guardian angels.

Later that evening, the
Hannans spoke to Vance Dover,

who immediately passed
on the exciting news

to the rest of his family.

Vance said, well,
we found them.

That was it.

We found them.

They've called.

And so it's like you could
hear a pin drop on the floor.

After 11 years, we
found that these angels

were real human beings.

Nice to meet you.

I'm Nancy.

KEELY SHAYE SMITH:
A few weeks later,

some 30 members of the
Dover family gathered

to meet the Hannans
and compare memories

of that fateful Christmas Eve.

JOHN HANNAN: There was a
lady in the front seat,

which had turned sideways.

So I had to lift her up
because the front seat

had broken off its pedestal.

I sort of supported that--

kind of wedged myself
in there-- supported

that with my shoulders
and tried to get him--

get David out.

I remember the pain of
somebody pulling me out.

Because I guess that's maybe
where I woke up or whatever.

And my leg hurt really bad.

I guess, as a physician, that
was one of the most helpless

feelings I've ever had.

I mean, to have the knowledge
and everything but not

the tools to do
anything-- it was

just really frustrating to me.

To us, you were like
an angel from God,

both of you-- that you were
right there at the time.

And had you not been
there, the whole family

could have possibly died,
and you were so instrumental.

And so we just wanted
to say thank you.

KEELY SHAYE SMITH:
For the Dovers,

the gathering was a
chance to finally close

this dramatic chapter
of their lives.

Thanks, Keely.

Every Christmas from now
on when the Dovers make

their annual
pilgrimage to Mexico,

they plan to stop
in Houston to visit

with their new
lifelong friends--

their guardian
angels, the Hannons.

When we return, incredible
claims of miraculous

visions on a
Hillside in Kentucky.

Hundreds of pilgrims believe.

Do you?

In the past, Unsolved Mysteries
has taken you around the world

to visit sacred
locales, said to have

been graced with miraculous
visions of the Virgin Mary--

Lourdes, France; Fatima,
Portugal; Medjugorje

in what is now Bosnia.

Tonight, we feature what may
be another such holy spot

much closer to home.

Twice a month on
the 2nd and 23rd,

people flock to a small
Hillside in Kentucky

where visions of the Blessed
Mother have been reported.

We asked newscaster
Jackie Hays from our NBC

affiliate WAVE TV in Louisville
to investigate this phenomenon.

JACKIE HAYS: This
is Springfield,

Kentucky, Route
55, about an hour's

drive southwest of Louisville.

A sign proudly proclaims that
the site is now dedicated

to "Our Lady of Valley Hill."

During the past year, thousands
of people from teenagers

to senior citizens have
crossed this creek bed

and headed up Valley Hill.

Some of them have
come here hoping

to be healed of
serious illnesses,

and others have sought
spiritual healing.

All of them have come here
hoping to witness a miracle.

To date, no fewer
than 1,000 people

claim to have had visions--

from random bursts of color
to showers of golden flakes,

the visions first
appeared to this woman,

Iona Wright who owns the land
on which valley hill is located.

I've been seeing these
visions for years and years--

long time.

Just the same as if I
was looking at a movie.

JACKIE HAYS: On the day
we filmed at Valley Hill,

I was one of 300 visitors.

I saw nothing unusual;
however, at least a third

of those present, 100 people,
claimed that they indeed

had visions inspired by God.

Oh, look!

Look up in the clouds.

It looks like blood.

Oh my God, it's going deeper.

It looks like blood.

Up there.

BOY: I mean, look how
bright the sun is.

BOY: I can't see it.

I can't tell if
it's Jesus or Mary.

WOMAN: You can see
that in the sun?

Uh-huh, in the sun.

See, there's like a
little rosary right there.

CHILD: And then there's
the gateway to heaven.

There is gold on the
old man down there.

The man looking
up at the sun--

his whole face is gold.

But you don't see it, do you?

JACKIE HAYS: Now had you
been looking at the sun?

No.

Because we thought that
might be what was causing it.

I said, you know, when
you look at the sun

long enough, it plays
tricks on your eyes,

but what we saw is
away from the sun.

Now, I would never
look at the sun.

It started just pulsating,
turning colors, and everything.

Then after a while,
we'd see colors around--

different colors--
primarily red,

and they would kind of move.

JACKIE HAYS: Many
of the eyewitnesses

say that the visions have
had a profound effect

upon their lives, perhaps the
most dramatic episode involved

a Sunday school
teacher and eight

young girls who came to Valley
Hill on April 6th, 1995.

The first girl to
notice something unusual

was Mandy Mattingly.

I said look, ya'll,
the sun, it's moving--

it had like a disk
around it, like rings.

We looked at the
sun, there's like three

rings around the sun.

It's like shaking and spinning.

It's like the outer
part would change colors

and, the inner would change.

It was just different
colors at times.

I was like, freaking out.

I was like, oh my
gosh, what's happening?

Why is this happening to is?

I turned around to
take a picture of the sun

because the girls
said, look at the sun.

The sun is pulsating.

And I took my Polaroid
and took pictures.

JACKIE HAYS: Did you
see the sun pulsating?

Oh yes.
Yes.

I saw it, too.

And then when I turned around,
well, everybody was saying,

oh, look at her gold.

Look at the gold on you.

Look at here.

I was like, oh my gosh!

Look at me!

There was like sparks
of gold all over me.

And then she snapped a picture,
and I was like-- like that.

And then I looked
at the picture,

and there was like angels
on each side of me--

like angels' wings.

She took another
picture of the sun.

It came out, it
was like real dark,

and then it was like eyes--
you could see eyes of Jesus

and had like this
little crown above him.

And then the side was like Mary.

JACKIE HAYS: According
to the girls,

the Virgin Mary appears on
the left, wearing a veil.

They believe that the blurred
image on the right is Jesus.

Another Polaroid was
perhaps more unusual.

And one of them had a
tombstone it looked like,

and it had my
cousin's name on it--

Kate Ballard-- she
died when she was born,

and we haven't found
any explanation for it,

but I think it was her name.

They were hugging each other.

They were hugging me.
There were tears.

They were crying.

To see that experience,
I knew that these girls

were deeply affected.

It was a profound experience.

I think they
were most amazed--

JACKIE HAYS: We asked paranormal
investigator Joe Nickell

to comment on the photographs.

These angel wings or flame
effects are due to light

leakage into the cartridge.

When you put the
cartridge into the camera,

if your thumb cracks it
open just a little bit,

it lets light leak in.

Now what about this picture?

We don't have angel wings,
but we have some shape

of a form at the bottom.

The girls say they see
the Virgin Mary and Jesus.

It's possible to see faces
and pictures in the clouds.

It's a well-known phenomenon.

The human mind wants
to make pictures

out of random
patterns, and so we

can see pictures all the time.

What would have cased this?

Well, again, this cartridge
has been mishandled.

And this part of the film,
you can actually see,

is not in focus.

You can see it's blurred.

Tell me about this.

last picture.

There seemed to be words here.

A couple of the
girls were saying

it rang a bell-- that
there was a family

member's name in that picture
and maybe this was a sign.

What do you see in this one?

Right, when we
put a film pack in,

and it automatically
whirls and ejects

this card, which is meant
to keep the light away

from the picture.

And when I turned
it over, I really

had to laugh, because
here is the chart

with the wording on it--

only it's backwards.

And so the light
has gone in there

and bounced off
of that white card

and left a reverse
imprint as a sort of--

technically, a double exposure.

JACKIE HAYS:
Rational explanations

may satisfy some people, but not
the mothers of two of the girls

who came to Valley Hill
to see for themselves.

I was skeptical at first.

I thought maybe this did happen;
but I was kind of scared.

And then about that time, I
started looking at the tree

with the words that shows
how to say the rosary.

JACKIE HAYS: Which tree?

Where is that?

It's right over in
behind the grotto.

JACKIE HAYS: OK.

And I looked behind
there, and then I

started seeing the spots.

They kept flickering--
like, they were

flickering on that one place.

I yelled out at Therese.

Therese, my god, you've
got gold all over you.

It was like gold dust just--

you'd see it on her feet, and it
was like-- it was just going up

her body, and then just
leaving and there would come

more up her body and leave.

Had you been looking at
the sun for a long time?

ROSE HAMILTON: No, I never
even looked at the sun.

I thought, if you look
at the sun long enough,

it could do something
to your eyes.

JACKIE HAYS: So you did
not look at the sun?

I did not look at the sun.
JACKIE HAYS: But you saw--

I saw the gold spots.

JACKIE HAYS: How does
that make you feel-- when

others are really seeing it?

Does that sort of confirm to you
all that what you saw was real?

ADOLESCENTS: Yes.

It was real.

FEMALE: We know it was real.

Yeah, we know it was real.

JACKIE HAYS: Whether or
not anybody else sees it?

ADOLESCENTS: Yes.

We've seen it, and
that's all that counts.

JACKIE HAYS: Is Valley
Hill a sacred spot

destined to join Lourdes
and Fatima as a holy shrine?

Only time will tell.

But for now, there is no denying
that this remote Kentucky

hillside has become
a house of worship--

a church in the woods
for the faithful.

[soft singing]

Are the miraculous
visions in Kentucky real?

Those who've experienced
the sightings

are convinced of
their authenticity.

However, it is interesting to
note that the local Catholic

Church has declined to recognize
Valley Hill as anything

out of the ordinary.

The rest of us will have
to decide for ourselves.

Next, when a loving
family is split apart,

a young girl embarks
on a 20-year search.

For orphaned or
abandoned children,

foster homes are often
the temporary salvation.

Sometimes unfortunately,
they turn out

to be impersonal
places that only

a bureaucrat could call home.

To the four children
in our next story,

however, a foster home
became the first chance

to be part of a real family.

Hi, hello!

Hi, I'm Mark.

Hello, Mark.

How are you?

ROBERT STACK: In December
1968, Dorothy and Robert Reis

of Napa, California welcomed two
five-year-olds into their home

as foster children.

Oh, you're so beautiful.

ROBERT STACK: Mark
and Tammy Gardner

were fraternal twins who'd
been severely abused--

emotionally and physically.

Both were
developmentally disabled.

Tammy had trouble walking
and talking normally.

Debbie?
Honey?

ROBERT STACK: For the Reis's
five-year-old daughter,

Deborah, none of that mattered.

She had a new
brother and sister.

This is Tammy.

I like your doll.

DEBORAH REIS HAMILTON:
When they came to us,

I remembered feeling wonderful
that there was someone my age.

I can finally have someone
that I can relate to.

There were people-- two
little people like me,

and I thought it was fabulous.

You will find, Tammy and
Mark, that mom makes the best

fried chicken you've ever had.

DEBORAH REIS HAMILTON: Tammy
was very, very scared--

had a very frightful look.

And Mark was the total opposite.

In fact, he spoke for
Tammy every time my parents

would ask her a question.

She would like some.

Now Tammy, if you want
some butter for your corn,

you're going to
have to ask for it.

So would you like some
butter for your corn?

Is that the best you can do?

All right, then.

ROBERT STACK: In the supportive
atmosphere of the Reis home,

Tammy and Mark began to heal.

A year later, the
family grew to include

two more foster children--
six-year-old Kelly Clay

and his four-year-old
sister Terry.

Before long, it seemed
as if none of them

had ever known another home.

There's was a kinship
far beyond blood.

Debbie, right here!

Debbie!

DEBORAH REIS HAMILTON:
We were our best friends.

Most of the time, it was the
five of us kids swimming,

or the five of us
kids picking apples,

or the five of us kids
getting into trouble.

ROBERT STACK:
Because of the abuse

Tammy and Mark had
experienced, they were placed

in special education classes.

That made them a frequent
target for cruel teasing.

As the oldest, Deborah
was a natural leader.

You pushed my little sister?!

Yeah!

ROBERT STACK: At school, she
often confronted the bullies

who tormented Mark and Tammy.

Maybe you like being pushed!

I don't like it at all!

And I don't like you
pushing my little sister!

DEBORAH REIS HAMILTON: Tammy,
I think thrived on the fact

that she had brothers and
sisters that would really

stick up for her no matter what,
accepted her for who she was.

She's so stupid!

"ROBERT REIS": Kids, could
you come in for a second?

CHILD: One minute.

"ROBERT REIS": We just need
to talk for a couple minutes.

ROBERT STACK: By 1974,
the Reis clan had

been together for six years.

Dorothy and Robert planned to
adopt all four foster children.

Then, the Reises got
into a nasty dispute

with the adoption agency.

As a result, the children
would have to leave.

To ease the blow, Robert
Reis blamed the bad news

on his heart condition.

"ROBERT REIS": --that your
mom would be all alone.

And so the folks from
Child Protective Services

are going to--

are going to have to--

to split us up.

Where are we going to go?

"ROBERT REIS": Th-
they will probably put

you with another foster family.

We're a family, and we
have to stay together.

"ROBERT REIS": That's
right, sweetheart--

DEBORAH REIS HAMILTON: I just
figured they'd never leave.

They were my brothers
and sisters forever.

Are we ever going
to see you again?

DEBORAH REIS HAMILTON: A
few weeks later, the reality

hit when they weren't around.

There was a big empty
house, and there wasn't

Mark and Kelly talking and
my mom saying, quiet, boys,

go to sleep.

And there wasn't me yakking
with Tammy and Terry.

And it was just silence.

ROBERT STACK: A
year passed, Deborah

didn't see her foster
sisters or brothers at all.

She began to think she
would never see them again.

Then out of the blue, Mark
surprised Deborah at the stable

where she boarded her horse.

Mark.

DEBORAH REIS
HAMILTON: Seeing him--

we were overwhelmed
with each other.

We cried.

But what he had to
tell me hurt terribly.

Our foster parents--
they hit us-- a lot.

ROBERT STACK: A shaken Mark made
some disturbing allegations.

I think it's her more than me.

DEBORAH REIS HAMILTON: My mother
and father did try to find out

what was going on, but they
ran into people who told them,

never mind.

It's none of your business.

They're not your children.

ROBERT STACK: That
day in 1975 was

the last time Deborah saw Mark.

Bye, Mark.

ROBERT STACK: Ever
since, her heart

has ached for the loss of
Mark, Tammy, Kelly, and Terry.

DEBORAH REIS HAMILTON:
I felt like someone

came in the middle of the night
and stole them out of my room--

my four best friends,
they stole out of my room.

And I don't know what
happened to them.

ROBERT STACK: As soon
as she was old enough,

Deborah started searching.

20 years went by, but
she never gave up.

Finally, just last September,
she walked into the open arms

of Terry and Kelly Clay.

Reunited at last.

But Deborah's quest is not over.

Unfortunately, she
has yet to find

any trace of Tammy or Mark.

When we return, in Dallas, a
respected attorney is gunned

down in his office building.

Dalls, Texas, Thursday,
February 9th, 1995.

At 7:00 AM, Attorney
Clint Blackmon

arrived at his office building.

He bypassed a
notoriously slow elevator

and took the stairs
to the third floor.

At 7:30 AM, Juanita
Lackey arrived.

Roxanne Ledermann, a secretary,
let Juanita into the building.

I'm sorry I had
to get you down.

That's OK.

- You're here early.
- I know.

I've got a lot of work to do.

Oh, thanks a lot.

Don't worry about it.

ROBERT STACK: Roxanne and
Juanita were about to receive

the shock of their lives.

--presentation.

Oh, that's right,
I forgot about that.

Are you ready?

Well, yeah.

I think so.

"ROXANNE LEDERMANN": Good.

Oh my God.

[panicked hysteria]

CLINT C. BLACKMAN III: I heard a
lot of screaming and hollering.

It was Roxanne and Juanita.

Juanita said that
she thought there

was a man in the elevator,
but all they'd really seen

was legs and weren't
really sure what was there.

So I told her, OK, I will
go down and check this out.

Oh my God.

It's David.

It's David Merrifield.

WOMAN: Oh no, it couldn't be!

ROBERT STACK: David Merrifield
was one of Clint Blackman's

colleagues in the
law firm of Smith,

Merrifield, and Richards.

He had been shot in
the back of the head--

execution style.

He left behind two
children and a new bride

of only three months.

The murder of David Merrifield
is a kind of bizarre case

that every cop dreads.

There was no obvious motive.

The 42-year-old attorney
specialized in real estate law.

Over the years, he had built
a profitable but prosaic

practice.

His clients were not at
all the criminal type.

David Merrifield seemed
to be the last person

anyone would want to murder.

Ladies, what time
did you get to work?

ROBERT STACK: The most
likely scenario was robbery,

but Dallas police
quickly ruled that out.

- No.
- No.

SGT. JERRY W. KING:
Mr. Merrifield's wallet

was recovered a few miles
from the crime location.

And in the wallet was still
a small amount of money

and all of his credit cards.

So I believe had
robbery been a motive,

that stuff would not
have been recovered.

ROBERT STACK: Police next
turned their attention

to David Merrifield
himself, piecing together

the details of his last hours.

The day before he was murdered,
David received four phone calls

from a mysterious
stranger who identified

himself as Sam Jones.

May I ask what
this is regarding?

He's on the other
line right now.

Can take a message?

JENNIFER WANAMAKER: He
asked if he could hold on.

He told me his
name was Sam Jones,

but he wouldn't tell
me who he was with

or what it was concerning.

And so I took that to be kind
of a solicitation-type call,

because that's usually
what solicitors would say.

Hi, David.

I have a Mr. Sam Jones
on the other line.

He's very insistent he wants
to talk to you right now.

All right, put him through.

This is David.

Hi, Mr. Jones.

JENNIFER WANAMAKER: David
spoke to him for, I guess,

a little under 10 minutes.

I went up and kind
of joked with Dave

and I said, well, what's
he trying to sell you?

And David says, well, he's not
trying to sell me anything yet.

He says, he says he wants
to do something for me.

David Merrifield,
we discovered

during the investigation,
had a notepad on his desk,

which had a calendar on it.

And on February the 9th,
he had a marking there

for a name and an appointment.

He had a 6:30 AM with Sam Jones.

Due to the common
nature of the name,

it's my guess it's
possibly a fictitious name.

ROBERT STACK: Police also
keyed in on the unusual hours

set for the appointment.

By all accounts, David
would never have suggested

such an early meeting.

I had known David and
worked with him for years

and know David's habit--

and that was, he never
liked to get to work early.

In fact, to see him at work
before 9:00 was just unusual.

He was not an early riser.

He usually liked to work later.

For him to make a meeting
that early in the morning--

I mean, he would
do it for someone

if someone really needed it.

I've since heard that
apparently the guys

told him he was
leaving on a flight

and absolutely had to see him.

David would do it
in a case like that

if it was something he
felt was really important.

But otherwise, it was not like
David to be anywhere at 6:30

in the morning except asleep.

ROBERT STACK: Police
theorize that the killer

insisted on an early meeting
in order to get David alone.

Pleasure to finally meet you.

Let's come on up to the office.

Was your flight OK?

That's good.

Get a cup of coffee, and
we'll go over the papers.

SGT. JERRY W. KING:
We think that Mr.

Merrifield entered the
elevator with another person.

Whoever Sam Jones is, it's
obvious from our investigation,

lured him to this
location to do exactly

what he did-- to take his life
on the elevator that morning.

[gunshot]

No one ever heard from this
man again-- this Sam Jones.

We all kind of felt like
if the man had really

come to try to
meet David, then he

would have probably found him--

would have called
later to say, I

wasn't able to get
in the building,

and Mr. Merrifield
never showed up.

I mean, this man
just disappeared.

What we need in this case
is an independent witness

to come forward.

If that person has heard any
person boasting about being

involved in this
crime, if that person

happened to be at this
location or near this location

on the morning of
the crime, and might

have seen suspicious activity,
that's the type of information

we need.

We need to know
who Sam Jones is.

I think the thing that's
most disturbing to me

is the loss of David Merrifield.

He was a very fine attorney,
and everyone here liked him

and enjoyed working with him.

So that's probably the
most upsetting thing.

It's also very upsetting that
there is a criminal out there

who knows he's out there--

he or she-- and knows that
they committed this crime

and has not been
brought to justice.

Join me next time for
another fascinating edition

of Unsolved Mysteries.

[CLOSING INSTRUMENTAL THEME
THROUGH CREDITS]