All language subtitles for Unsolved.Mysteries.S08E09.AMZN.WEB-DL.DDP2.0.H.264-BTW_track3_[eng]

ANNOUNCER: Tonight, on
"Unsolved Mysteries."

ROBERT STACK: She was sensuous,
charismatic, and talented.

One of the bright lights of
Seattle's rock music scene.

Everyone said Mia Zapata
was destined for greatness.

Then, in July 1993, Mia
took a lonely stroll

through the dark
streets of Seattle

and crossed paths with a
vicious, unknown killer.

Tonight, we're in
Seattle, Washington

to investigate the tragic case
of this ill-fated young singer.

Join me for a dramatic
profile of life and death

of rock star Mia Zapata, as well
as these intriguing mysteries.

Thomas David Dixon is the very
definition of career criminal.

When he's not in prison, he's
doing what he does best--

robbing banks and brazenly
taunting the authorities.

Michelle Arkin was
just a teenager

when a late night
confrontation confirmed

what she had long suspected.

Her mother and father were
not her biological parents.

Now, Michelle needs your help to
find the family she never knew.

Meet Philip Pauli.

If you think he looks like
an average eight-year old,

think again.

Philip's favorite subjects are
geometry and cellular biology.

He prefers museums and
archaeological digs

to playgrounds and ball fields.

Philip, you see,
is a genius whose

extraordinary abilities make
for a fascinating mystery

of the mind.

Stay with us for these
fascinating stories and our

special report on Mia Zapata.

Perhaps you may be able
to help solve a mystery.

[theme music]

WOMAN (ON POLICE RADIO):
Dispatch to unit four.

Dispatch to unit four.

Eight miles south, Route 15.

Investigate abandoned vehicle.

ROBERT STACK: For a Sheriff's
deputy in Florence County,

South Carolina, it
was a routine call

until he uncovered the getaway
car from a recent string

of bank robberies.

[interposing voices]

Polaroids left in the car
showed off a formidable arsenal.

A rambling message filled seven
pages of a small notebook.

It was signed "Tom Dixon."

TOM DIXON (VOICEOVER): I know
the feds are closing in on me,

but they need an
informant, so I need

to really watch who I trust.

I will not go back to
prison under no conditions,

ever, for any length of time.

ROBERT STACK: It is hardly
surprising that Thomas Dixon

vowed never to be taken alive.

During the last 22 years,
he had been out of prison

a scad eighteen months.

When he wasn't doing hard
time, Dixon was robbing banks.

The FBI pegged him
for at least twelve,

and there were probably more.

In 1984, after a 10-year
stretch in prison,

Dixon and a series
of accomplices

terrorized banks
across North Carolina.

Dixon's partners
may have changed,

but his MO never varied.

DODGE FREDERICK:
Dixon was what we

would call a takeover robber.

In law enforcement jargon,
it means that they control

everything inside the bank.

Which means, when he came into a
bank, usually he or his partner

would hold somebody at bay with
a weapon, make announcements.

[gasps]

This is a robbery.

You all put your hands
where I can see them.

This is a hold up.

Just stay cool.

Move it!

Nobody's gonna get hurt.

Move it along.
Move it!

You two, in the office.

Out here, now!
- Move!

Move!

Come on, move!
- All right.

Now, hand it down.
- Move it!

You sit in that chair,
lady, right there.

Mister, you just take
a seat right here,

and put your hands
where I can see them.

TELLER: I dropped the keys.
- Get up!

Get up!

Kick the keys to
where I can see them.

Do it, now!

Come on, move it.

Just keep moving.

Move it!

Don't mess with me.

Don't mess with me!
[gunshot]

[scream]

Don't mess with me!

The money.

Just get the money.

[keys rattling]

ROBERT STACK: After a
string of seven robberies,

Dixon went underground.

He holed up with a
girlfriend in a remote cabin

in North Carolina.

Federal agents got wind of
the hideout and moved in,

but they weren't taking any
chances with Thomas Dixon.

Go.

[leaves rustling]

We were able to gather
enough information about Dixon

to know that he had
certain patterns

that might play in our favor in
trying to make an apprehension.

[crunching]

But we knew that
he was a jogger.

Dixon has always been
in excellent shape.

He takes good care of himself.

Freeze!

Dixon, you're under arrest!

On the ground!
On the ground!

Hands behind your back.

What are you guys doing?

Let me go!

Hands up!
Hands up!

Let me see them.

Hands up!

When the SWAT team went in to
make the search of the cabin,

in addition to his
female companion,

there were several
long-barreled guns,

seven handguns of
various size and caliber,

25 sticks of dynamite.

And we were absolutely shocked
at the amount of weaponry

he had inside the apartment.

TOM DIXON: What is this, huh?

[grunting]

He's got a weapon.

ROBERT STACK: Thomas
Dixon was on his way

to another decade behind bars.

When Dixon was paroled
around Christmas of 1994,

he picked up right
where he had left off.

But now, Dixon
always worked alone.

Good morning.

I'll be right with you.

That's all right.

This is a hold up.

I got a police scanner, so
don't do anything funny.

Just be cool, and put
the money in the bag.

RONALD HEWETT: He doesn't
come in as a flashy guy.

He comes in prepared.

He's methodical.

He thinks about things
before he does them.

ROBERT STACK: During
the summer of 1995,

Dixon showed up on one
bank surveillance tape

after another.

Five robberies in a
seven-week period.

Have you FBI ever
heard of Thomas Dixon?

MAN (ON PHONE): No.

Should we?

The man is one
bad-ass bank robber.

Tomorrow he's gonna rob
a bank in North Carolina.

ROBERT STACK: During the
summer robbery spree,

Dixon began to taunt
the FBI with advance

notice of his bank jobs.

MAN (ON PHONE): Hello?

ROBERT STACK: In one call,
Dixon targeted a bank

in Matthews, North Carolina.

Instead, he turned up in
Columbia, South Carolina,

eighty miles away.

Just put it in the bag.

Who's that in the back?

That's the manager.

You be cool.

ROBERT STACK: Dixon's last known
heist was September 11, 1995.

You all have a nice day.

You can turn on that
alarm now, if you like.

Excuse me.

ROBERT STACK: FBI agents
see Dickson's flippant

self-confidence as a mask
for an unstable personality

coming apart at the seams.

Investigators now believe
that Dixon deliberately

left the photos, notebook, and
getaway car for them to find.

Three weeks after Dixon's last
robbery, they got the message.

A deliberate taunt from a
criminal ego running wild.

TOM DIXON (VOICEOVER): Now
I need a really good score

so I can go underground
for a few months

and get myself back together.

I got myself a bulletproof vest.

[camera clicks]

So maybe it'll saved my ass long
enough to drop a couple of them

before I die.

[camera clicks]

Yes.

You keep looking and
I'll keep working.

We'll meet up someday, and we'll
see if it's you, or is it me.

DODGE FREDERICK: I don't think
there's any question that Dixon

has become a walking time bomb.

Dixon was alerting us to the
fact that he is heavily armed

and he has every
intention of using

those arms in a confrontation
with law enforcement.

[update music]

ROBERT STACK: Next--

When a young woman is found dead
floating in the Chesapeake Bay,

two old boyfriends
emerge as suspects.

[theme music]

[waves lapping]

Maryland's Natural Resource
Police routinely monitor

the state's coastal areas
tracking down poachers

and enforcing game regulations.

But on the 30th of August,
1993, an NRP patrol

pulled the body of an
attractive brunette

from the Chesapeake Bay.

Do we have an ID on the
boater that found her?

No.

ROBERT STACK: The woman who was
identified as Nancy Manni, one

of the few female members of the
Seafarers International Union.

Nancy had made a career sailing
the world as a ship's steward.

But now, at the age of
33, Nancy was dead--

drowned and possibly murdered.

Who could have
killed Nancy Manni?

The investigation quickly
narrowed in on an ex-boyfriend

named Billy Mesmer,
a self-styled poet

whose dark rhymes hinted
at a dangerous obsession.

It looked like a
rock-solid theory

until rumors seemed to implicate
another boyfriend and some

of his associates in
the Seafarers Union.

And overshadowing all was
a second murder victim--

a young woman identical to
Nancy in almost every way.

When was the last
time you saw Nancy?

Wednesday.

ROBERT STACK: Billy Mesmer
was questioned two days

after Nancy's body was found.

Poems Billy had written
to Nancy while they

were lovers aroused suspicion.

Perhaps most notable
were these lines--

"Excited breath
escapes his lips,

but he waits without the light.

No one will ever hear your
screams, as the predator

begins to bite."

The poem was signed
"Sweet dreams.

Billy."

The title-- "Night Stalker."

I have had experts look
at it trying to analyze it,

and they have concurred that
he did have an obsession

with Nancy at this time.

Yeah.

I can understand
where they would come

up with the word "obsessive."

Nancy was the love of my life.

I'm a poet.

I wrote her poetry
constantly, which

is a very obsessive thing.

It's full of
feelings and emotion.

ROBERT STACK: During
the seventeen months

of their relationship,
Billy had written

Nancy more than 200 poems.

Many were sent to her at
seaports around the world.

Nancy had sailed to
Brazil, Greece, Iceland,

and often worked
the giant freighters

that ferried natural gas
from Indonesia to Japan.

JAYNE MERRITT: She
often said she liked

to play with the boys' toys.

She liked to drive the forklifts
and do that kind of work.

She was very feminine.

She was very attractive and fun.

She had a lot of boyfriends,
but she hadn't really

found a person that she
was destined to spend

the rest of her life with.

She left you for someone else.

I don't understand why you
keep accusing me of things.

I really felt that
the investigation was

going in the wrong direction.

Obviously, they were crawling
all over me with a microscope,

and I was terribly frustrated
that the person who actually

did this was going to get away.

She came by and--

ROBERT STACK: Billy Mesmer
had a plausible alibi.

He also had a suggestion
for the police.

Take a look at certain
members of the Seafarers

International Union.

At the time of her death,
Nancy had been studying at this

union-run training center--

The Harry Lundeberg
School of Seamanship

in Piney Point, Maryland.

She was dating a
union member who

was connected to the school.

Billy says that Nancy
came to his apartment

a few days before her death.

Yep.

Hey, Nancy.

Come on in.

Hi, Billy.

Hey, are you OK?

BILLY MESMER: Nancy
had a very, very bad

falling out with her boyfriend.

He had told her that if she
didn't do things as he wanted,

he would make things
very difficult

for her within the union.

She simply said,
"If you do this,

then I will expose
you for what you are."

ROBERT STACK: According
to Billy Mesmer,

the secret Nancy
threatened to reveal

may have had something
to do with illegal drugs.

It's been rumored for
years that certain members

of the union and of the
school down at Piney Point

have been involved in
international drug trafficking.

Not only that, but possible
disappearances within the union

and within the local community.

I've had several people
come clandestinely to me

to report that they suspected
illegal activity at the school

was the cause of Nancy's death.

Again, it's been
unsubstantiated and they

fear for their lives or
their jobs, which is why

they don't want to be known.

After her death, I had
received some telephone calls

from friends of hers that were
also union members who had told

us that they felt that her
death was not accidental,

and that it was possibly
linked with the union

and with the school.

ROBERT STACK: For
Nancy's sister, Linda,

the unsettling rumors
seemed even more

credible when she received
Nancy's personal effects

from the school.

LINDA MANNI: In going
through Nancy's things,

I had noticed that
a lot of things

were missing, particularly
pictures of her union

boyfriend and his family.

And I know that she wouldn't
have thrown them away.

She would have kept those.

ROBERT STACK: There was more.

Nancy's camera was empty
and its internal mechanism

jammed as though
someone had forcibly

ripped out a roll of film.

I feel that someone had
tampered with her camera,

and so that led me
to be more suspicious

that someone in the school had
obviously entered her room.

ROBERT STACK: There were
also suspicions about Nancy's

final work assignment.

Before entering
the school, Nancy

sailed on the SS
Mayaguez, a ship which

employed many union members.

She died in August.

In June I got this
letter from her when she

was working on the SS Mayaguez.

One paragraph says, "Things
are so bad on this ship

that I'm getting
death threats now."

And I let that go,
and I regret it

every day, that I didn't demand
to know who exactly said that

and why.

And what exactly was said.

ROBERT STACK: One
more disturbing

question hangs over this case.

Is there a link
between Nancy's death

and the 1988 murder
of a young woman

named Elizabeth Greenburg?

Elizabeth and Nancy had the
same hair color, same eye color,

were nearly identical
in height and weight.

Like Nancy, Elizabeth was
a ship's steward, a member

of the Seafarers Union.

Elizabeth worked the same
Indonesia-to-Japan trade route

that Nancy sailed
a few years later.

Both women were
attending the union's

training school when they died.

Although Elizabeth was
killed by a blow to the head,

she too was found floating
in the Chesapeake Bay.

That's eerie when
you look at both cases.

The similarities in their
life and their lifestyles.

As yet, we haven't found
a common denominator

between the two as far as
boyfriends or close friends,

but somewhere along the line,
there's got to be a thread.

I fear that Nancy's
death is gonna be

simply written off as unsolved.

And even though
everyone in the county

knows that something wrong,
unlawful, cloak and dagger

is going on, they're
terrified to talk about it.

With the information
that has been given to me

on an anonymous basis
over the past two years

since Nancy's
death, I'm beginning

to fear for my own life.

[update music]

[eerie music]

[theme music]

It's been said that
the human brain is one

of the last great frontiers.

Despite years of research,
we have only a few hints

about why some people
become Einsteins

and others Forrest Gump.

The source of genius
remains secret,

a true unsolved mystery.

This is Philip Pauli
of Denver, Colorado.

He may look like an
average eight-year-old,

but Philip is quite
literally one in ten million.

Philip's abilities are
practically immeasurable.

Philip is a genius.

In fact, Philip is so smart
that he is too smart for school.

If you need any
help, let me know.

OK?
- Thanks.

You're welcome.

ROBERT STACK: These days, his
mother teaches him at home

because even programs
for gifted students

couldn't keep up with
Philip's insatiable

demand for knowledge.

Well, I'm studying algebra
and geometry and the Middle

Ages and cellular biology.

And in the Middle Ages, I'm
working on the castle defenses.

How do I explain Phil's gifts?

That, to me, is a mystery,
to be perfectly honest.

I mean, it's not that Philip--

Philip's dad or I
are dumb, but we do--

neither of us have
the IQs to match Phil.

So it-- it, to me, it was a
gift to have a son like Philip.

ROBERT STACK: From
the very beginning,

it was clear that Philip
was brighter and more alert

than most babies.

At six months, he
started to talk

and had enough manual
dexterity to remove

the bolts from his crib.

At nine months, Philip
displayed a highly

mature emotional sensibility.

During an experiment,
he was asked

to spank a doll three times to
show he understood counting.

Philip refused to
strike the doll.

Finally, when the examiner
thought he couldn't understand

what was going on, he
patted the doll three times

and then held it and
hugged it and protected it

from the examiner and tried
to soothe the doll's feelings.

This is not something his
mother taught him to do,

because any mother
would have a hard time

trying to teach something
like that to a nine-month-old.

ROBERT STACK: And
eighteen months,

Philip could already read.

For his second birthday,
he asked for a violin.

Within days, he was
playing simple tunes

he had composed himself.

Philip was light years
ahead of his peers.

One particular time we took
him to church and we put him

in at the two-year-old level.

And we picked him up.

And after school, the
first thing he says to me

is, "Mom, they don't talk."

He was two, and
he didn't realize

that other kids his own age
weren't doing those kind of--

the same kind of skills.

ROBERT STACK: At three,
Philip was studying astronomy.

He had little use for Mickey
Mouse or Winnie the Pooh.

His hero was
Astronaut Buzz Aldrin.

Hey, Mom, let's go over here.

There's more stuff.

OK.

ROBERT STACK: By the
time Philip was four,

the Denver Museum
of Natural History

was his favorite playground.

One day he even spotted a
mistake in a museum mural

that had gone unnoticed by
the curators for thirty years.

What's the matter, hon?

The helmets are wrong.

What's wrong with them?

Those are French helmets
and these are Conquistadors.

How do you know that?

ROBERT STACK:
Incredibly, Philip had

been able to detect
the subtle differences

between a medieval
French helmet and that

of a Spanish Conquistador.

On another visit to the
museum in that same year,

Philip asked the
curator why a dinosaur

skeleton was missing several
vertebra in his tail section.

Good morning.

And the curator
explained at the time

that the dinosaur was
too large for the area

that they had designated for
it, but with the new exhibit

they were going
to get it correct

and not to worry about it.

But he was flabbergasted.

He said, "You're the only
person that's noticed."

ROBERT STACK: Research indicates
that along with heightened

mental abilities, child geniuses
often show a hypersensitivity

to humanitarian issues.

He carries the weight
of the world on him.

He's worried about the economy
within the United States

and the government
structure, as well as

what's going on around the
world and how what we do

affects other nations.

There's times that he gets so
consumed with these worries

that he'll stop eating, he
bites his nails, he loses sleep.

I mean, these are things
that we have to talk about,

what he can actually do on a
personal level to help mankind.

It makes me feel sad
that America does not value

education, and
America is becoming

more like a Roman Empire
than the great nation it was.

And here's a few reasons.

Because, like, one is that
we're doing gladiators,

like in our movies, and
we're going to have a worse

fate than the Roman Empire.

I just know it.

ROBERT STACK: So where would
you expect a child like Philip

to play?

A baseball diamond?

Not on your life.

Try an archaeological dig.

I think [inaudible].

OK.

There you go.

I think Philip working
at the site here has fun.

He knows it's important.

He understands the value
of what he's doing.

It's intellectually stimulating,
but he's digging in the dirt.

ROBERT STACK: Philip has a
lifetime of enthusiasm for each

of his favorite subjects.

So much so that
when we asked him

what he wants to be
when he grows up,

he had a tough time
picking just one job.

A paleontologist,
an archaeologist,

a conservationist, and
hopefully I'll be the commander

to the mission to Mars.

And the chief curator
of the Denver Museum

of Natural History.

And, if all of the
other jobs fail,

I would really want
to be a great composer

on the line of Baroque.

Baroque classical and romantic
eras in the music stage.

ROBERT STACK: And
the list goes on.

Write, "Artifact Number 23."

Artifact--

ROBERT STACK: But
what makes a genius?

Is it nature or nurture?

Scientists truly don't know.

But one of the
wilder explanations

is that geniuses possess
knowledge and skills

acquired in other lifetimes.

He told me one
time that he had--

heaven had opened and
he could look down

and he chose me as
his mom because I

would be the right one for him.

It's clear to me that many,
many gifted children come

in knowing more then
it would be explainable

by scientific standards.

Where they get that
knowledge from, I don't know.

But I would not discount
any possibility, including

reincarnation, that there
is something evolutionarily

different about them, that the
brain structure is different,

or the function of the
brain is different,

or that they are visiting us
from more evolved cultures.

Anything is possible.

Push me.

Push you [inaudible].

ROBERT STACK:
Philip doesn't have

much time left for childhood.

In two years, he'll
be old enough to take

the college entrance exams.

He plans to enroll at
the University of Denver.

After that, the sky's the limit.

Do I think the
Philip's a genius?

I think that the definition
that society gives,

the IQ test says yes.

I think whether he
will be a genius

or not will be if
he uses and utilizes

the intellect and the abilities
that he has to help mankind.

Then, I think he
would be a genius.

So what are we
gonna go see today?

Well, Hall of Life, the
Science of Sports, and--

ROBERT STACK: People
used to believe genius

was the rarest of gifts,
but children like Philip

can crop up anywhere.

The danger is that the
talents of these special kids

often go unrecognized.

Experts tell us
that even children

with learning disabilities
may be hidden geniuses.

If your child seems smarter
or more talented than average,

he or she should be tested.

Who knows.

You may be nurturing
the next Einstein.

When we return, an
unexpected death

splits a young family apart.

Perhaps someone watching can
bring them together again.

ROBERT STACK: Michelle
Arkin was 16 when she almost

discovered the family secret.

Her mother Laverne had
to improvise in order

to preserve it a while longer.

How'd it go?

I didn't get the job.

The personnel officer said that
my birth certificate was phony.

Phony?

What do you mean?

He said that it
had been amended.

Oh, that's baloney.

I don't know what
they're talking about.

There is nothing wrong with
your birth certificate.

MICHELLE ARKIN: They just
said that my birth certificate

wasn't legal, that they had
things on there that shouldn't

be, and I was very shocked.

I mean, as far as I knew,
that was my birth certificate.

That was what I grew up with.
That was correct.

Get a job at
another store, OK?

OK.

Cheer up.

ROBERT STACK: Laverne Neal had
dreaded this moment for years.

Michelle was not her
biological child.

To tell, or not to tell?

And if you tell, when?

Like thousands of
couples who adopt,

Laverne Neal and
her husband Wilburn

confronted these
difficult questions.

There are no right
or wrong answers.

However, parents who decide
against revealing the facts

will almost certainly face
years of fancy footwork

to keep their secret secret.

Laverne and Wilburn
Neal will always

remember the day in
September of 1965

when they first set
eyes on Michelle.

The Neals had been
married for four years.

They were eager
to start a family,

but had been unsuccessful.

Hi, Wilburn.

Hi, Raleigh.

Nice to see you, Laverne.

Come in.

ROBERT STACK: Out of
the blue, their friends

Raleigh and Juanita Gore
had offered the Neals

a chance to adopt a baby girl.

Oh, she's beautiful.

ROBERT STACK: The child's
mother, a friend of the Gores,

was unable to care for
the infant herself.

She had entrusted
Raleigh and Juanita

with finding a loving home.

She's gorgeous.

WILBURN NEAL: I loved
her, right off--

I didn't hesitate.

I didn't have no doubts.

We just looked at each
other and said, what do

we know about raising a baby?

And neither one of us did.

And so she said,
we can learn fast.

ROBERT STACK: For
Wilburn and Laverne,

Michelle was a dream come true.

Two weeks went by.

Then Patricia Bonner,
Michelle's birth mother, called.

She wanted to see her baby.

LAVERNE NEAL: I knew that
Pat was Michelle's mother.

And if she wanted to keep
her, even though it'd

break my heart,
I knew, you know,

I'd have no choice
but to let her.

ROBERT STACK: Patricia Bonner
had been widowed while she

was pregnant with Michelle.

She already had three young
children to raise by herself,

so she had reluctantly given
up Michelle for adoption.

Pat, are you sure
you want to do this?

Well, I just don't
know what else to do.

It'd be different if
Johnny was still here,

but I can't afford to put
shoes on my three children now.

I can barely feed them.

How am I going to keep her?

Well, maybe things
will get better and--

I know you and
Wilburn will give her

a good home and care for her.

Can I just hold her
one more time, please?

Of course.

LAVERNE NEAL: I knew that
lady had to be hurting bad.

And I hurt for her,
because I knew.

I could feel how
she was hurting.

There's a couple
of other things, Pat.

We'd like to draw up some papers
to make the adoption legal.

That'll be no problem.

ROBERT STACK: But when the
Neals returned two weeks later,

Patricia Bonner and
her children were gone.

Would you go inside
and get the bag, please?

LAVERNE NEAL: The
apartment was empty.

She had moved, and she
left no forwarding address.

Nobody knew where she went.

ROBERT STACK: The absence
of formal adoption papers

didn't prevent Michelle from
enjoying a typical childhood.

By the age of five, she had
a brother named Steven--

the Neals' biological child.

Michelle's background
was never discussed.

WILBURN NEAL: Me and Laverne,
we talked about it many a times.

Should we go ahead and tell her?

We figured Michelle would
feel like she was left

out, she wouldn't
be equal to Steven,

if she's not belonged to us.

And we just decided
it would be better

to wait till she was older.

ROBERT STACK: The
family secret was safe--

for a while.

When Michelle began
school, the Neals had

to submit a birth certificate.

With the help of a
relative in Kentucky,

they obtained this one listing
themselves as Michelle's

biological parents.

By the time Michelle
entered high school,

the family secret
had started to fray.

Michelle began to
ask her parents

if she had been adopted.

The answer was always no.

I don't know what
he's talking about.

There's nothing wrong with
your birth certificate.

LAVERNE NEAL: I felt very bad,
because I never did like to say

anything that wasn't true.

And here I was doing
just the opposite of what

I was teaching my children.

And it really bothered.

It hurt me quite bad.

ROBERT STACK: Finally, the
burden became too heavy

for Michelle's parents.

Michelle, come
in here, please.

ROBERT STACK: Finally,
they were ready to talk .

We have to talk.

I know, I'm late.

I'm sorry.
It won't happen again.

No, it's not about
that, Michelle.

Sit down, please.

WILBURN NEAL: She said, I've
heard from too many sources

that I was adopted.

And she said, you got
to tell me the truth.

And so I told her
the truth about it.

You see, you are
sort of adopted.

What do you mean,
"sort of adopted"?

You remember
Raleigh and Juanita?

You remember us
talking about them?

MICHELLE ARKIN: I felt
that they had betrayed me,

only because they've
always told me

the truth when I've asked it.

Mom, is this true?

MICHELLE ARKIN: It was
always, bottom line, this

is the way it is.

And I just felt that
they lied to me.

That's why I was so upset.

We didn't want to hurt you.

We wanted to do what was right.

So you just let me live
my entire life as a lie?

Michelle--

Don't touch me!

I moved out two weeks
later, I got an apartment

with my girlfriend, which--

my girlfriend, they
could not stand,

so maybe that was
a little bit more

of a rebellious act on my part.

But I mean, eventually,
I came around.

I came back to Mom and Dad.

ROBERT STACK: Today, Michelle
is herself a parent--

the mother of a boy and a girl.

With her parents'
blessing, Michelle

has begun to search for her
birth mother and the three

siblings she has never met.

Hi.

Is there a Patricia
Leslie Bonner there?

No?

How about a Vincent?

Can I just hold her
one more time, please?

Of course.

MICHELLE ARKIN: I can understand
what she did back then.

I would just feel better
just knowing where I

came from, about my relatives--

you know, just simple
basic questions any person

would have.

ROBERT STACK: In a moment,
we'll come back to Seattle

to investigate the
tragic murder of rock

and roll singer Mia Zapata.

Since 1991, the hottest
spot in rock and roll

has been Seattle, Washington.

Nirvana, Pearl Jam,
and Alice in Chains

all came out of the
local music scene.

Many people thought the
next breakthrough band would

be that Gits, a punk
rock group founded

by Mia Zapata, a
charismatic 27-year-old

with a tragic destiny.

[MUSIC - THE GITS, "SECOND
SKIN"]

MATT DRESDNER: I went
through many shows

where afterwards, people didn't
even know I was up on stage,

because their eyes were
so transfixed on Mia.

[MUSIC - THE GITS, "SECOND
SKIN"]

ANDY KESSLER: She was someone
who had something to say.

And she was a very, very
compassionate and big-hearted

person, and she brought
that into the band.

ROBERT STACK: But
on July 7, 1993,

the good times were
abruptly snuffed out.

Around 2:00 AM, Mia Zapata
left a friend's apartment.

An hour later,
her body was found

two miles away,
reportedly laying face up

in an almost Christlike pose.

Mia had been beaten
and strangled.

Mia Zapata's death
sent shockwaves

through the tight-knit music
community here in Seattle.

Why had this
promising and popular

young singer been killed?

Was it an obsessed
fan, a jealous enemy,

or a complete stranger?

In an eerie
coincidence, Mia alluded

to her own violent death in one
of the last songs she recorded.

The haunting lyrics spoke
of someone slashing her

and hinted that that someone
might never be found.

You might say Mia Zapata
was born to be a star.

She grew up in Louisville,
Kentucky, the daughter

of two television executives.

After high school, Mia went
on to Antioch College in Ohio.

There, she met the other
three members of the Gits.

After five years together, the
Gits were attracting interest

from major record companies.

Their first full-scale
US tour was in the works,

and Mia had a new look.

For the little girl
from Louisville,

it was like a dream come true.

RICHARD ZAPATA: I don't
think I can ever remember

my daughter looking so
satisfied, so content,

so at ease with herself.

It was all coming together.

ROBERT STACK: July 6th, 1993.

The evening began at one
of Mia's favorite bars.

She met friends there about 10.

Mia was in town only briefly.

She and the Gits had been
on the road for three weeks,

and the tour was starting
in a matter of days.

When Mia left the
Comet Tavern, she

walked a block
east up Pike Street

to a local rehearsal studio.

She then visited a friend
who lived in an apartment

three floors up in
the same building.

About 2:00 AM, Mia left,
telling her friends.

she planned to take a cab home.

I'm going to
just go get a cab.

LEIGH HEARON: She could have
gone anywhere from there.

She could have gone
out the front entrance,

gone down to the corner, and
hailed a cab, as she told

her friend she was going to do.

Hey, Mia!

Oh, hi.

Hey, where you going?

ROBERT STACK: Because Mia
didn't have a driver's license,

she took taxis often and knew
many of the local cabbies.

You don't need any money.

Come on, hop in.

ROBERT STACK: This led police
and private investigator Leigh

Hearon to one of
their first scenarios.

Perhaps Mia was murdered
by a cab driver.

LEIGH HEARON: Mia did
not have difficulty

expressing her opinion.

And sometimes, this
got her into trouble,

and other people liked it.

She could have said
something to a cab driver

that she knew that just made
that person angry that night.

ROBERT STACK: Significantly, no
cabbie reported picking Mia up

that night.

About the same time
the bars were closing

and some of her friends are
hailing cabs of their own,

no one saw Mia.

Scenario number two.

LEIGH HEARON: She
also could have gone

into the opposite direction.

A friend had asked her
to spend the night.

She lived about
five blocks away.

She could have gone down
11th, past a reservoir,

and something could
have occurred there.

[screaming]

ROBERT STACK: In fact,
something did occur.

Whether it had anything to
do with Mia Zapata's death

remains a mystery.

LEIGH HEARON: One
of the early clues

that the police received
was from a man who

had heard a scream, a
terrifying scream, that night.

He was so distraught by
it that he actually rushed

to see what was going on.

But he saw nothing.

He lived, however, very close
to the reservoir on 11th

where Mia could have gone if she
had gone to visit her friend.

ROBERT STACK:
Scenario number three.

Perhaps Mia never
left the building

where she was last seen.

The next day, one of Mia's
friends stopped by the studio

there and discovered
a Gits demo tape

and Mia's personal microphone.

LEIGH HEARON: This is something
that she would have been

carrying on her at all times.

We don't know whether she left
it there after the practice

that night, or whether she
went back to the studio

after visiting her friend,
something happened there,

and this was simply left.

ROBERT STACK: Mia's body
was found about two miles

from the studio, and about
three miles from the street

where the man heard screams.

Despite a thorough
search of the area,

police found little
forensic evidence.

TOM PIKE: This
particular investigation

has been difficult, because
we're faced with a situation

where we don't know where
the actual crime scene was

where the murder took place.

We obviously only know
where we found Mia at, which

we don't believe is the same.

MIA ZAPATA:
(SINGING) Had a dream

last night that I was dead.

ROBERT STACK: Without a
crime scene or witnesses,

leads quickly faded.

However, the pain of
Mia's death did not.

STEVE MORIARTY: People
really were mad.

They were angered.

They were hurt.

They were shocked.

They were pissed off.

And people wanted
justice, and people wanted

to know what had happened.

ROBERT STACK: As a police
investigation stalled,

the remaining Gits decided they
needed a private investigator

and hired Leigh Hearon.

To raise the necessary funds,
they staged benefit concerts.

The response was overwhelming.

Seattle's best musicians took up
the cause, including Nirvana--

in one of Kurt Cobain's final
performances-- and rocker

Joan Jett.

In their first
collaboration, Jett

performed Mia's
songs with the Gits

for a special benefit recording.

JOAN JETT: I want more
than anything for them

to be able to find out what
happened so there can be

some resolution for
everybody, because everyone's

been working real hard trying to
find this person who did this.

ROBERT STACK: Who killed
Mia Zapata, and why?

The police believe it
was a random murder.

Investigator Leigh Hearon
believes otherwise.

She is convinced that
Mia knew her killer--

and that the killer may
not have acted alone.

LEIGH HEARON: I think
it's entirely likely

that a second
person was involved

in transporting Mia's body,
if not in the actual homicide.

I base this on the fact that
his body was found with her arms

out and her legs crossed,
as if two people had been

carrying her and laid her down.

Also, she had been beaten
in the course of her attack,

but her face was not touched.

And I believe that this is more
the modus operandi of somebody

who knows a person and does
not want to attack their face

but attacks their body.

MIA ZAPATA: (SINGING) With the
passion of life I have left,

I'm going to use it
to sacrifice myself.

STEVE MORIARTY: I just
remembered the look

on her face of content
and of accomplishment

that last day we finished the
tour and how happy she was

and how she was smiling.

She smiled at me with a look of
real sense of accomplishment,

and like we had a future.

ROBERT STACK: The surviving Gits
have gone on with their music,

forming a new band, the
Dancing French Liberals of '48.

It is, they believe, what
Mia would have wanted.

But it will never be the same.

MATT DRESDNER: Playing music
without Mia is very difficult.

The chemistry that
we shared as a band--

having that gone forever is a
hard reality to face every day.

[MUSIC - THE GITS,
"BOB (COUSIN O.)"]

MATT DRESDNER: I remember her
as a best friend and a sister--

one of the warmest, most caring
I've ever met in my life.

Join me next Friday for
another intriguing edition

of "Unsolved Mysteries."

[theme music]