All language subtitles for Unsolved.Mysteries.S08E06.AMZN.WEB-DL.DDP2.0.H.264-BTW_track3_[eng]

[music playing]

Tonight on Unsolved Mysteries.

Just before Christmas 1955, a
newborn baby girl was abandoned

in a New York City subway car.

40 years later, Jean
Martin still dreams

of finding her birth mother.

Perhaps someone watching will
make her dream come true.

If you think sea
monsters are nothing more

than fanciful legend,
you've probably never

visited Canada's Cadboro Bay.

You've probably never heard
the incredible eyewitness

accounts of a
mysterious creature

known as Cadborosaurus.

In North Carolina, a night
of drinking and joyriding

suddenly turns vicious
and a young mother

is thrown to her death.

Also a rare glimpse
into the mind

of a criminal, Franklin
Floyd is serving

52 years for kidnapping.

But his victim,
7-year-old Michael Hughes,

was never found.

Incredibly Floyd claims
the kidnapped boy

is alive and well, but
refuses to say where he is.

Stay with us, perhaps
you hold the key.

Perhaps your call can help
solve one of tonight's Unsolved

Mysteries.

[theme music playing]

For centuries, the stories
have fascinated us.

In Scotland it's the
Loch Ness monster,

in New York's Lake
Champlain is Champ,

there's also Ogopogo at Lake
Okanagan in British Columbia,

Canada, and finally
in nearby Cadboro

Bay is a legendary Caddy.

The thing I notice most
about it was its eyes.

They were big and they
were serpent like.

The odor from it
was just incredible.

It permeated, it made
you want to vomit.

It went down and a hump came
up, and then it went down,

and another one came up, and
it was like it was moving.

They call it Cadborosaurus,
Caddy for short,

the sea monster of Cadboro Bay.

Many people believe
this is the carcass

of just such a creature.

Computer enhancement gives
us an idea of what it might

have looked like when alive.

Like the biblical Jonah, it
came from the belly of a whale.

In 1937, there was a
whaling station in the north

part of British Columbia.

And one of the whale
boats harpooned

this big sperm whale
about six hours

run from the whaling station.

Towed it back, and the flensers
got to it fairly quickly.

Flensers are the workers
who butcher the whales

once they are brought to shore.

Amazingly a sperm whale has
three enormous stomachs.

Inside one of them the flensers
made an astonishing find.

Instead of ringing out a big
ten foot shark or a giant squid

or a rag fish or
something like that,

they came across this
incredible snake like thing.

None of them had ever
seen before in years

of whaling and flensing.

They knew it was
something different.

The whalers took this
photograph that very day.

James Wakelen, then a
24-year-old blacksmith's

assistant, is the only
witness still alive who saw

the creature with his own eyes.

I don't know.

I got no idea what it is.

I haven't got a clue.

Never seen anything like it.

And I guess somebody
thought oh, that's

a queer looking affair there.

We better get the manager
or go and see about it.

And he got it brought down,
and he took the pictures.

Laid out, the creature
measured some 12 feet long.

It had a head shaped
like a horse or a camel

and a thin, snake-like body
approximately 16 inches

in circumference.

Enormous detail is visible,
especially in the tail region,

which shows us that it has
a pair of hind flippers

that were webbed
together with the tail

to form this whale
like fluke, which

undoubtedly provided the main
driving force for this animal.

The whalers sent
part of the specimen

to the Provincial Museum in
Victoria, British Columbia.

There the museum
director Francis Kermode

dismissed it as a fetus of a
baleen whale and tossed it out.

Even to untrained eyes
a baleen whale fetus

bears little resemblance
to the carcass examined

by the museum director.

If he just stopped and
thought would these men

send down a baleen whale?

They dissected hundreds of
these things out of dead whale

uteruses every week.

They knew what a
fetal baleen whale,

so that was really
not complimentary

to these professional whalers.

If the whalers weren't wrong,
maybe the creature was a fake.

One of the most famous photos
of the Loch Ness monster

eventually proved to be a hoax.

Skeptics claim the Cadborosaurus
photo is no different.

But that hardly explains all
the people in the 60 years

since who insist they've seen
a Caddy like sea monster.

In 1968, William Haglund was
sailing in a remote cove.

As evening fell, he and his
sons netted what he now believes

was a baby Cadborosaurus.

It look like at the
little garter snake,

but it was a little bit
more husky than that.

But it wasn't much longer
about 16 inches long,

maybe the thickness
of my thumb, but it

had little shoulders with little
flippers on its shoulders,

and a bit of a neck not much,
but and a head on it with two

great brown eyes looking at us.

Haglund sketched
the animal in detail.

He decided to take the oddity
to the nearest biology station,

but he was at least
a day's sail away.

Through the
evening, I could hear

this little thing making
quite a fuss in the bucket

that we'd put it into.

But when I shine the
light down at him,

he'd just opened his
mouth and hissed at me.

And you could see that he
was quite terrified and quite

put out with all of this.

I felt that maybe if we tried
to held him over another night

that he might perish.

I'd just did a great
deal of soul searching

and decided to put it back
in the water and leave it be.

It was another
opportunity lost.

For the second time
what was thought to be

a Caddy was thrown
back in the bay.

In consultation with
a paleontologist

we applied computer
animation techniques

to one of the original
Cadborosaurus photographs.

The skeletal structure is
similar to that of a snake.

A Caddy seven meters
long would probably

have at least 360 vertebra
that would give the creature

enough flexibility to form the
signature hoops so frequently

mentioned by eyewitnesses.

Unlike a snake, which can
only wiggle from side to side,

a Cadborosaurus could
propel hisself forward

with his tail fluke and steer
with his forefin something

like a sea lion.

If this is truly an accurate
depiction of a Caddy,

imagine seeing one in the wild.

That's what a pilot
spotted while flying a sea

plane over Cadboro
Bay, two college boys

saw just 20 yards from
shore, and a homemaker

surprised the sea monster
right on the beach.

I was walking my dog,
Lady, and as we were coming

down the path to
the beach, she was

struggling to get away from me.

She just didn't want
to go to the beach.

Come on, Lady.

Finally I pulled her and
pulled her and she got closer.

And as I turned to look down,
I saw this face looking at me.

And it was shaped
like a horse face,

and there were eyes
that were like a snake.

And as I looked at
it, it looked at me,

and then it dropped its
head below the cliff.

It sort of took my breath
away when I saw it.

And I just was thinking
to myself did I really

see what I thought I saw?

You know, what is it?

I heard a sound
and thought it was

probably a whale or something.

Looked out, didn't see much.

And heard it again and
saw like a strange head

out of the water about
50, 60 feet away.

It had the definite snout with
a big large head, really rocky

looking, really
greeny-black color, almost

like a garbage bag color.

It was a very
odd looking thing.

It was hoop like creature.

It had two vertical hoops.

As we were on
approach and landing

we could see that it was moving
very quickly through the water.

I would estimate to be
about 40 miles per hour.

And we could actually see
through the two hoops.

We could see what was on
the other side of the hoops,

so it was very strange.

It was the most
unique thing I've ever

seen in the waters around here.

I've seen lots of
different things,

but I've never seen
something like that.

It's our view that the
animal does exist, because

of the total mass of evidence.

If these people who act
independently over a century

time and 3,000 miles of
coastline were in collusion

it would be the biggest con
game in the history of science.

There is no way that happened.

These people are totally
unknown to each other.

Skeptics abound, outnumbered
perhaps only by believers.

Doubters claim Caddy
eyewitnesses are mistaken what

they really saw were
humpback whales,

elephants seals, basking sharks,
or perhaps a herd of sea lions.

Hopefully the next person
to get hold of a Caddy

will manage to resist the urge
to dump it back in the bay.

Perhaps then this mystery
will finally be solved.

We'll be back in a moment
with an urgent appeal

from the authorities
in North Carolina.

They need your help to track
down an accused killer.

[theme music]

Most teenagers would
do anything to avoid

being with their parents.

But to 17-year-old
April Hart nothing

would be more
precious than spending

a few moments with
her mother savagely

murdered when April was six.

APRIL HART: I just
wante [inaudible]

so that she will be there
beside me, to play with me.

And I'll have her there,
knowing she's there were me,

and not gone like she is now.

ROBERT STACK:
April's mother Sherry

was last seen alive on
a January night in 1984.

The 24-year-old divorcee
was supposed to meet a date

outside a local restaurant.

Sherry Hart did not come
home that night or the next.

Police located several friends
who had seen her that evening.

However, they found no
evidence of foul play,

no explanation for Sherry's
sudden disappearance.

For months afterwards,
April heard

rumors that her mother had run
off to Florida with a lover.

APRIL HART: I just
thought she hated

me and didn't want to come
back because she had me.

And she didn't feel that
she was responsible for me.

And I just didn't think
she loved me anymore.

There!

What do you got, Don?

Female.

She's-- she's been here a while.

Yeah.

She's pretty well decomposed.

ROBERT STACK: The truth
was worse, far worse.

11 months after Sherry vanished,
an unrelated investigation led

police down a 2000 foot cliff.

Locals call it the
jumping off place.

It was there that
authorities found

the body of Sherry Lyall Hart.

Investigators immediately
reopened the case.

Sherry?

Hi, guys.

How you doing?

Well, I was supposed to have
a date about a half hour ago,

but--

ROBERT STACK: They located a
witness who has seen Sherry

on the night she
vanished with two

high school friends, Jeffrey
Burgess and Richard Bare.

Where were you going?

Nowhere in particular,
just out cruising around.

Cruising around.

ROBERT STACK:
Police interrogated

Bare and Burgess separately.

Richard Bare's brother had
once dated Sherry Hart.

What time would
that have been?

9.

9 o'clock.

Are you sure about that?

No.
I'm not sure.

It could have been 9:05.

It could have been 8:55.

I don't-- I don't
keep a watch on me

and check in every minute, OK?

We have witnesses that
saw you together after 9:00.

And Burgess gave us a
different time as well.

So are you sure
it was 9 o'clock?

Look.
Look.

Let me tell you something.

It was dark.

It was cold.

We dropped her off by her car.

I don't know what time it was.

But the stores were open?

They were open.

OK.

ROBERT STACK: Richard Bare
volunteered little information,

so detectives pushed
forward with other leads.

We interviewed a
great deal of people.

Many people.

And as a result of
those interviews,

we feel that we have developed
a scenario as to what

occurred that evening.

[inaudible] you guys,
I don't know what for.

So where's this place
we're going, anyway?

I figured we'd
go cruising first.

Uh, a couple buddies
of mine are down there.

Meet up with them, and then
maybe go to the Twilight club

afterwards.

Sounds good.

At some point in
time, this riding around

led them to an area,
possibly in the vicinity

of a nightclub or a party.

And during this riding
around, Sherry Hart

asked to make a rest stop.

ROBERT STACK: Authorities allege
that Sherry and the two men

pulled off the highway
about one quarter of a mile

from the jumping off place.

You know what, Jeff?

What's that?

I think the woods
are a dangerous place

for a little girl.

I think you might be right.

[laughs]

Whoa, whoa, whoa.

Sherry, Sherry.

I thought I said take your time.
- Come on.

Let's go to the car.
- Shh.

Shh.
- No.

Stop.
- Give me a kiss.

No, Richard.

Stop it!

Richard, stop!

Leave me alone!

Don't!

Richard, stop!

[inaudible]

Stop it!

Stop it now!

[sobbing]

Help me!

Jeff, please help me!

ROBERT STACK: That
night, Richard Bare was

apparently carrying a handgun.

What are you doing?

Shut up and stay in
the car, all right?

[crying] You're hurting me.

Sh!

[sobbing]

No!

No!

No!

Stop it, Richard, please.

You're hurting me!

Bye.

[screams]

Turn to your left.

ROBERT STACK: Richard
Bare and Jeffrey Burgess

were charged with the
murder of Sherry Hart.

Turn to your right.

ROBERT STACK: Conviction
could have led

straight to the gas chamber.

However, four months
after his arrest,

Richard Bare managed to
escape from the county jail.

Jeffrey Burgess was
released on bail

pending his friend's recapture.

More than 10 years later,
the trial has yet to begin.

We let those people down.

We let the victim down.

And we'd certainly like to have
an opportunity to get him back,

to let them know
that we want to see--

we want to see justice done.

This is probably
as brutal a crime

as you will ever encounter
because of the horror,

the fear, the fright
that the victim

had to feel for several
minutes before she

went over that cliff.

Because she would
have, in my opinion,

known enough to
know where she was.

BETTY LYALL: She was
an outgoing person.

She liked people.

She liked to have fun.

She was a mother that loved
her daughter very much.

She thought more of April
than anybody or anything.

APRIL HART: It won't
never get behind me.

I can't take looking
at her grave,

knowing she's down there.

I want her to be here with me,
so I can just give her a hug

and just have her
in my life again.

Recently we profiled a
pair of cunning criminals,

two women who, in
some circles, had

achieved near folk hero status.

The police knew them as a
real life Thelma and Louise.

If you passed them
on the road, you

would think they were just
best friends out for a joyride.

But over a three month
period in early 1995,

Rose Turford and
Carolyn Stevens stole

more than a quarter of a million
dollars from at least 10 men.

Their MO was
simple, yet devious.

Rose and Carolyn lured
their victims to hotel rooms

with the promise of
an adventurous date.

Rose and Carolyn
from the onset

wanted to be the real
life Thelma and Louise.

They wanted to experience that
thrill and the spontaneity.

And only thing is,
I don't believe

they ever considered
what they were

going to do to their families.

ROBERT STACK: In March of 1995,
Rose and Carolyn were finally

arrested in Houston, Texas.

Their families put up
almost everything they owned

to post the $500,000 bail.

The Thelma and Louise
bandits were released,

and promptly disappeared.

As it turned out, our
broadcast was a catalyst

for a full-scale
media blitz aimed

at tracking down the two women.

Here's Keely Shaye
Smith with the details.

Well, the story of the
Thelma and Louise bandits

appeared everywhere--

newspapers, magazines,
and on television--

but it was a t-shirt
just like this one which

led to their capture
in Toronto, Canada,

less than five months
after they had vanished.

The gentleman who gave
us the tip saw the pictures

in the "Maclean's"
magazine of me

holding the t-shirt
up and called

the number on the t-shirt.

KEELY SHAYE SMITH: The
tipster knew the whereabouts

of Rose Turford.

She was working at a
telemarketing firm in Toronto.

Within 24 hours, both of the
fugitives were in custody.

Probably the weirdest
thing in this whole chase

was watching those two
smile going to jail.

Looking at all the time
that they're looking at,

they smiled for the cameras.

KEELY SHAYE SMITH:
Turford and Stevens

were extradited to
Texas and are currently

being held here at the Harris
County Jail in Houston.

I think that anyone who does
a series of aggravated robberies

are nothing more than criminals.

They're not anything special.

They're not anything to admire.

They're not anything to emulate.

They're just robbers.

ROBERT STACK: Next,
a provocative case

study of a criminal mind.

Meet kidnapper of
Franklin Delano Floyd.

And later, a poignant
tale of a baby girl

abandoned on a subway.

As a grown woman, she dreams
of a Christmas reunion

with her birth mother.

This is Michael Hughes.

He is seven years old
and has been missing

for more than 14 months.

In 1994, Michael was
living with foster parents

when he was abducted by a man
who claims to be his father.

You're acting like I walked
up to the McDonald's and took

a strange boy and
walked off with him.

And that's where you're wrong.

ROBERT STACK: This is
Franklin Delano Floyd.

In fact, he is not the
father of Michael Hughes.

Today, Floyd is serving
a 52 year prison sentence

for kidnapping Michael.

Floyd insists the boy
is alive and safe,

but he refuses to tell
anyone where Michael is

or who is sheltering him.

The case of Franklin
Floyd and Michael Hughes

is one of the most bizarre
we've ever profiled,

a twisted tale of
deception and deceit

that truly defies
rational thinking.

We now joined Kevin Ogle from
our NBC affiliate KFOR-TV

in Oklahoma City.

This is Indian Meridian
Elementary School

just outside of Oklahoma City.

On September 12, 1994,
Franklin Delano Floyd

walked into the office
of principal James Davis.

Floyd said he was the father
of six-year-old Michael Hughes.

And then Floyd
said he had a gun.

He came in.

He was acting rather
nervous, and he said,

what I'm doing is
very difficult.

He said, I think
I should tell you,

I've got a gun in my pocket.

At that time, he was he
was sitting right here.

He reached in his pocket, and
he pulled the gun partway out

of his pocket, enough that
I could see the handle

in the palm of his hand.

And then he put it
back in his pocket.

He said, I'm ready to die.

If you don't help me,
you won't live, either.

ROBERT STACK: Principal Davis
led Floyd down this hallway

to Michael's classroom.

Floyd then forced both of
them into Davis's pickup truck

and ordered Davis to drive
out into the country.

Then when we got down here
a ways, he told me to stop.

And he had me get out of the
truck and go into the woods.

He left Michael in
the truck, and he

followed me into the woods.

He said to sit down by
that tree and put your arm

between those two trees.

So I couldn't sit, so
I just did like this

and put my hands behind me.

And he handcuffed my
hands behind me like this.

ROBERT STACK: Five hours later,
Principal Davis was rescued.

For the next two months, there
was no sign of either Franklin

Floyd or Michael Hughes.

Police swore out a
warrant for kidnapping.

Finally, Floyd is arrested
in Louisville, Kentucky,

but Michael was
nowhere to be found.

The authorities began to
probe into Floyd's background.

They discovered
a past remarkable

for his demented behavior.

In 1975, Floyd, then 32, had
turned up in Oklahoma City,

going by the name
Trenton B. Davis.

With him was a young girl.

Floyd claimed she was
his daughter, Suzanne.

Over the next decade,
Suzanne and Floyd

moved from town to town,
using a variety of aliases.

In 1988, Suzanne, then 17,
gave birth to a son, Michael.

Incredibly, Floyd claimed
to be the boy's father.

Even more incredibly,
he then turned

around and married the woman
he'd claimed was his daughter.

Then in 1990, when
Michael was 2,

Suzanne was killed
in a mysterious

hit-and-run accident.

The prime suspect, though
he was never charged,

was none other than
Franklin Floyd.

Floyd vanished, but
only after he had

left Michael with foster care.

Michael's foster parents
remember him as a child

with many difficulties.

He was not up to
grade for his age.

He wasn't-- he
didn't have muscle

control like he should have.

He did not talk at all.

He was very hysterical.

So he just wasn't-- he was--

I want to say malnutrition,
but that ain't the right word.

No.

He was delayed so severely that
he was in an infant stim class.

And he tested out
at nine months.

When he was two?

When he was two.

ROBERT STACK: Six months
after abandoning Michael,

Franklin Floyd was arrested
on a parole violation.

At that time, a routine
blood test delivered

a stunning revelation.

Floyd was not Michael Hughes'
biological father after all.

I want to plead for
the return of my son,

who I love with all my heart.

I have never harmed my
son, and the case has

been reversed by the supreme--

ROBERT STACK: When
Floyd got out of jail,

he requested that custody of
Michael be returned to him.

--rectify the injustice--

ROBERT STACK: His
request was denied.

Six months later, Floyd
would abduct Michael Hughes

from his first grade classroom.

Michael has not been seen since.

We would like to have some
information from the public

indicating that this
child had either--

has been seen out there,
is out there somewhere,

or they may know
something about him being

assaulted or possibly murdered.

That's what our interest is.

Well, you know
what people say.

The reason you won't
tell where he is.

- Because they think he's dead.
- That's right.

Well, they just have
no evidence of that.

Michael is not dead.

Why won't you
tell us where he is?

It's none of your damn
business where he's at.

You don't have a right to
love him, care for him,

and cherish him,
because he ain't yours.

ROBERT STACK: From the start,
the case of young Michael

Hughes had been marked by
disturbing unexpected twists,

and now there is one more.

Only recently,
the police learned

that Michael's mother,
Suzanne, was not Franklin

Floyd's biological daughter.

In fact, she may also have
been kidnapped by Floyd.

How did she come into
your life as a little girl?

I very bluntly say that
she was abandoned to me,

and I raised her.

If I actually told you
and you believed me,

or I could prove it you,
you know what you'd do?

You'd try to pin a medal
on me for taking her.

Where'd she come from?

You really would.

I can't tell you that.

I wish I could.

But I'm going-- I'm going
to tell you right now,

I did her a favor.

That's one of the
biggest mysteries

that we have in this case.

As to who this girl is, we
have absolutely no idea.

We know that she is not
the biological daughter

of Mr. Floyd.

And we feel that there's
a very good possibility

that this young girl may have
been abducted or kidnapped

when she was probably
three or four years of age.

And we would like to find
out her true identity.

We don't know that.

ROBERT STACK: In a
moment, two armed robbers

hit a small town post office
and terrorize the postmaster.

Epes, Alabama, with a
population of just 300,

is the very definition
of off the beaten path.

The local post office is
much like the town itself--

small, quiet, and
friendly, a most

unlikely target for robbery.

October 30, 1987, began
like any other day

for Opal Johnson, the
postmaster in Epes.

OPAL JOHNSON: Everyone
that came into office

was people that I knew, almost,
except for hunting season.

And then there were strangers
came into the post office

quite often.

So that's why I did not
really notice this guy when

he came to the window,
because I thought

he was someone there hunting.

ROBERT STACK: At
around 11:00 AM,

two strangers, one white and
one black, came in for stamps.

Uh, one stamp,
or the whole book?

This is a robbery!

Whatever it is, go
ahead and take it!

Go ahead!
- Get in the back!

Get in the back!
Move it!

Move it!
Move it!

After the black male
jumped on the counter,

he immediately began
to give orders.

- You the post master?
- Yes.

Where's the safe at?

OPAL JOHNSON: He
seemed to be real

familiar with the operation
of the postal service.

The black male gave
all the orders.

He would-- he told the
white male everything to do,

and he did it.

Get over there.
Get over there.

All right.

I am.

Stay put and nobody gets hurt.

Check her purse!
Check her purse!

Nothing.
There's nothing.

There's nothing.

You took it all.

You best not be lying.

[inaudible].

Do whatever he says,
whatever he says.

OPAL JOHNSON: I never took
money to work with me.

I had $1.38.

Is this all there is?

That's all!

I don't have much money on me.

That's all there is.
- Kill her.

- No!
- Gotta be calm!

Be calmer.

Kill her!

And the white man says,
man, let's don't do that.

He says-- said she did
everything we told her to.

He says, OK.

We'll take her with us.

ROBERT STACK: The thieves
made off with about $700

in cash and stamps.

One of the men forced
Opal into her car

and followed the other
out into the country.

It would turn out to be
just a 10 minute ride.

For Opal, the most frightening
10 minutes of her life.

OPAL JOHNSON: When the
white boy got into the car,

he put his gun across
his lap with his finger

still on the trigger, and it
was poking me in the side.

And he was extremely nervous.

What are you doing?

You're gonna shoot me.

Don't do anything stupid
and it'll be all right.

ROBERT STACK: Finally,
the tiny convoy

pulled into a remote clearing
near [inaudible] Lake,

three miles from town.

Whatever you do,
don't make him mad.

I can't control him
when he's mad, OK?

Open the trunk.
Open the trunk.

- Get out of the car.
- What--

Get out of the car.

What are you doing?

What are you going to do to me?

No, I don't want to!

No!

What are you doing?

Get in the trunk.

Get in the trunk now!

OPAL JOHNSON: He said,
give me your rings.

I like those rings.

And as I was taking my
rings off, I looked at him,

and his eyes looked as
if he hated the world.

They were just piercing,
and he was just angry.

It's like he was angry
with everyone in the world.

I was sure that they
were going to kill me.

Man, let's go.

We need to dump the car.

OPAL JOHNSON: And I
just thought, well,

they'll drive my car
off into the lake.

- She's seen our faces.
- Who cares?

We got a gun.

There's people coming.

Let's go!

OPAL JOHNSON: They got in
their car, and they left.

And when I could not
hear it any more,

I began to feel around in the
corner to see if I could go

into the car from the backseat.

And it's metal across there.

No possible way.

So then I found a tire tool.

And I took the tire tool, and
I began to work on that lock.

And when I broke the lock
enough, the trunk popped up.

And I come out of
that trunk running.

ROBERT STACK:
Within an hour, Opal

had provided police with
a detailed description

of the two men.

The first suspect could
now be in his late 20s.

He was 5 feet, 5
inches tall and weighed

approximately 130 pounds.

He had brown hair and
green eyes and was

probably not from the South.

The second suspect was about
six feet tall and slender.

He would now be in his late 30s.

He had long, heavy sideburns,
greasy hair, and dark eyes.

Authorities believe he may have
had family in the Epes area

and that he may have previously
worked in the mail service.

When we return.

40 years ago, a baby
girl was abandoned

on a subway in New York City.

Can you help turn
a Christmas mystery

into a Christmas miracle?

40 years ago, the
approach of Christmas

brought no joy to a lonely young
woman in Brooklyn, New York.

On the afternoon of
December 11, 1955,

she boarded a subway
train, rode four stops,

and exited without a word.

For reasons unknown, she
left behind a tiny baby girl.

By the next day, the
infant was something

of a celebrity, dubbed Miss
Subways by the local press.

Despite the publicity, no
one ever claimed the baby,

and a year later,
she was adopted.

Christmas means different
things to different people.

For Jeanne Martin of
Long Island, New York,

the holiday season is a
time of reflection and hope.

Jeanne you see, is Miss Subways,
and the mysterious woman on

the train was her birth mother.

Perhaps tonight,
someone watching

can help Jeanne Christmas
dream of a reunion come true.

Jeanne grew up in a
happy, loving home.

From an early age, she
knew she had been adopted.

But through the years, Jeanne's
questions about her past

fell on deaf ears,
almost as if her parents

were protecting her.

Michael, no.

No.

Oh, Michael.

Get out of here.

You go keep your
eye on the grill.

ROBERT STACK: As her
own children grew,

Jeanne became more
and more curious.

[inaudible].

We're almost ready.

ROBERT STACK: Finally,
in July of 1992,

Jeanne once again pressed
her mother for answers.

You know, Ma, this
may not be the best

time to bring this up again.

Oh, no, Jeanne.

But I really feel I need
to, for the kids' sake.

For medical reasons.

You're gonna hate me.

No.

You're gonna hate me.

Now, Ma, I'd never hate you.

I love you.

Jeanne, you were abandoned.

Abandoned?

On a subway.

JEANNE MARTIN: I was shocked at
her reaction, which threw me.

It was basically the--

driving home that day, it
was a total identity crisis,

because nothing belonged to me.

There was no name.

There was a name on
the adoption papers,

which I thought to be my birth
name, but that wasn't mine.

I had no birth date.

My religion wasn't mine.

There was nothing.

Just nothing.

ROBERT STACK: Once she got
over the initial shock,

Jeanne began a search.

At the local library, she spent
hours in front of the microfilm

viewer, sifting through
newspapers from 1955,

the year of her birth.

JEANNE MARTIN: I was
letting the microfilm roll

and I saw the top of
the policeman's hat,

and it said Miss Subways,
and I saw this baby.

And I was devastated.

Oh, my god!

JEANNE MARTIN: I just felt like
all the blood had just drained

out of my face and my fingers.

I went numb.

That was me!

JEANNE MARTIN: I was nauseous.

I felt faint.

It was incredible.
- --copy of that?

Yes.

Yes.

Oh, yes, I want a copy of it.

ROBERT STACK: The newspaper
account gave Jeanne

a tantalizing glimpse
into her unknown past,

a past which began when a lonely
young woman entered the subway

station at Coney Island.

She walked slowly and carried
an old, battered suitcase.

The woman took a seat off
to herself in the lead car.

Several passengers
recalled that the woman

opened her suitcase,
shielding it from view,

and took something out.

She exited the train at the
Van Sicklen Street station.

Seconds later--

[baby crying]

Watch this.

ROBERT STACK: It was Jeanne,
no more than five days old

and wrapped in a blanket,
with a full bottle

of milk tucked inside.

Somebody left this
baby on the train!

Hey, tell the motorman
not to leave the station.

So the baby was just
left on the train.

Imagine that.
I can't believe it.

Jeez, I hope she's all right.

You go up there.

One right here, one in there.

The passengers were
able to provide police

with a vague description
of the young mother,

but no one had any
idea who she was

or why she had
abandoned her baby.

Extra, extra!

Get your papers here!

ROBERT STACK: The next day,
the saga of Miss Subways

was splashed across
the front pages.

This photograph of baby
Jeanne was seen by thousands.

But Jeanne's mother
never came forward.

Now some 40 years
later, Jeanne Martin

is convinced that her birth
mother had her best interests

at heart, choosing to
leave her in a place

where she was certain
to be quickly found

and turned over to
the authorities.

JEANNE MARTIN: My feelings
are desperate people

do desperate things.

I need information.

I need somebody who
remembers something,

somebody who
remembers a neighbor,

maybe even someone who was on
the train who saw her or maybe

even recognized
her but at the time

was afraid to come forward.

I'm ready to meet her.

Anytime, anywhere.

From all of us at "Unsolved
Mysteries" to all of you,

our best wishes for a safe
and joyous holiday season.

May peace be with you, and may
all your mysteries be solved.

[music playing]