All language subtitles for Unsolved.Mysteries.S08E15.AMZN.WEB-DL.DDP2.0.H.264-BTW_track3_[eng]

[music playing]

ANNOUNCER: Tonight on
Unsolved Mysteries.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
For more than 20 years,

Mary Clamser has suffered
from the debilitating

effects of multiple sclerosis.

Then a violent summer storm
swept over Mary's house

and brought with it what can
only be called a miracle.

A powerful bolt
of lightning that

apparently released
Mary from the shackles

of a devastating disease.

July 1986.

A young marine was nearly
killed during a brutal hazing

ritual called a Code Red.

If it sounds like
a movie plot, it's

because the film, A
Few Good Men starring

Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson,
was based on the incident.

Tonight, the disturbing
untold story behind the movie.

Most people know Reggie White as
one of the most feared players

in the National Football
League, but he's

also an ordained minister.

Last January a tragic fire
ravished White's church

in Knoxville, Tennessee.

In the ruins investigators found
the unmistakable signs of arson

and the ugly taint of racism.

They call him a
taunting bank robber,

but now his flamboyant criminal
career has come to an end

thanks to one of our viewers.

Join me for these intriguing
cases and much more.

Perhaps you may be able
to help solve a mystery.

[music playing]

Almost everyone knows
about the hit movie,

A Few Good men
starring Tom Cruise,

Jack Nicholson, and Demi Moore.

But not everybody knows
that A Few Good Men

is based on an actual event.

It tells a story
of Marines on trial

for attacking a squad
member in a brutal hazing

ritual known as a Code Red.

Amazingly, that event still
has repercussions today.

Repercussions that may have
led to the mysterious death

of one of the Marines who
executed the Code Red.

[music playing]

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): David Cox

of Needham, Massachusetts
joined the Marines

straight out of high school.

Being one of the proud and the
few was all he ever wanted.

In 1986, David was stationed in
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, a Naval

base the US had refused to
give up when Fidel Castro came

to power in the 1950s.

Political tensions kept
the base on constant alert.

Trouble filtered
down to David Cox

when another platoon member,
PFC William Alvarado,

wrote to his senator
about Marine misconduct.

CHRISTOPHER VALDEZ: We didn't
actually decide to have a Code

Red for Alvarado on our own.

Our platoon commander had
given us an implied order

that if we were good
Marines something

should happen to Alvarado.

Saturday night we went
into Alvarado's room.

We blindfolded him and
gagged him and then

dragged him off of his bed.

[muffled yellng]

Dave started shaking his
head and within five minutes

he had stopped
struggling, so we knew

something was wrong with him.

Something's wrong.

He's not breathing.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): David
Cox convinced his platoon mates

to stop the hazing.

Back up.

Back up.

Stop it.

So we removed the
gag, untied him,

and he still didn't come around.

He was still unconscious.

So at that point,
we started to panic.

Everybody else
get to your rooms.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): Alvarado

was rushed to the hospital.

He recovered, but
his 10 attackers

were slapped with charges.

Relax, Cox.

Sir, yes, sir.

That's relaxing?
Come on.

Sit down.

Don Marcari was appointed
to defend David Cox.

They're going to charge
you with attempted murder.

They got a confession
from you and they

got a pretty beat up Marine.

Doesn't look too good.

Sir, I was just
following orders, sir.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
David claimed

the Code Red started
with implied orders

from his superior officers.

They're prepared to offer you
an administrative discharge.

It's less than
honorable, but there'll

be no court martial proceeding.

And you wouldn't be
looking at 20 years

if you were found guilty.

Sir, but I'm not guilty, sir.

DONALD MARCARI: I
told David that this

was a defense,
obedience to orders,

that had not been
successful at Nuremberg.

Had not been successful with
Lieutenant Calley at My Lai.

And plus, we had a Colonel
denying he ever gave an order.

So we had the additional
burden of now saying he

was following an implied order.

That was a very difficult case
to win and I told David that.

All right, Cox.

We'll do it your way.

DONALD MARCARI: He
decided he wanted

to fight it because he
believed in his heart

that he didn't do any wrong.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
David's gamble

was a qualified success.

He was convicted only
of simple assault

and sentenced to
time already served

in the brig. He then
completed his hitch,

received an honorable discharge,
and returned to civilian life

in his hometown in
the Boston area.

Jack Nicholson was so mean.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Six years later,

when A Few Good Men hit the
theaters, David felt the movie

makers had stolen his story.

Other than that,
there was a lot of parts

that didn't happen like that.

I mean, for one,
the guy didn't die.

You know that.

I saved him.

ELAINE TINSLEY: David's reaction
was that he was stunned.

Here he was, he was watching
his life in front of him

and he wasn't getting
any of the credit for it.

The anger came a little
bit later because here

was this movie company that
was making tons, millions

of money off of his story.

And if it weren't for him,
the story never would have

existed in the first place.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): David
and some of the other Marines

involved in the Code Red
filed suit against the movie

production company.

While it was pending, David
spoke out about his case

on radio talk shows.

By January of 1994, David
and his girlfriend Elaine

had set up
housekeeping together.

David was hoping a temporary
job at United Parcel

Service would become permanent.

What about the job?

Are they going to keep you?

Oh, I don't know.

I mean, I'm doing
everything I should do.

STEVE COX: Dave was very
enthusiastic about getting

on board with them.

I think it was something where
he felt that he could have

a full time steady occupation.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): David
expected to hear about the UPS

job on January 5, 1994.

Because of a back
problem, he spent

the night before on the couch.

I hope UPS calls.

Thanks.

Have a good day.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Elaine left about 8:30.

Shortly after noon,
she called home.

David didn't answer, but
there was a message for him

on the machine.

[beep]
-

JIM (ON ANSWERING MACHINE): Hi.

Message for David Cox.

This is Jim at UPS.

I've got some good news for you.

Give me a call.

Thank you.

So I was really excited.

I was like, oh cool, Dave's
going to get this job

and he's going to be so excited.

And then I called back again
at 1:00 to check messages

and that message was still
there and the UPS guy

had called again too.

David?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): At
5:30 Elaine returned home.

David?

ELAINE TINSLEY: I came to the
house that night after work.

I realized right away that
the doors to all the rooms

were open and our
rabbit, who we usually

just kept in the kitchen, was
hopping all over the place.

JIM (ON ANSWERING
MACHINE): Hi, David.

It's Jim again at UPS.
Please give me a call.

Thank you.

[music playing]

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
David's truck

was still in the driveway,
the keys in the ignition.

David had left an
uncashed paycheck

on the dashboard and
his 9 millimeter gun

in the glove box.

But David himself was gone.

I immediately had
a feeling of dread

because I know
David well enough.

David would not just disappear.

And right from the start
I was very concerned.

As the days went on
and there was nothing,

there was no news from him.

I mean, we checked his bank
account and his bank account

was--

there was no activity
on his bank account.

You start to believe
that, you know,

maybe something did
happen, but why?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
There would be no answers

until the spring thaw.

On April 2, 1994,
the body of David Cox

was discovered on the
banks of the Charles River

in Medfield, Massachusetts,
approximately

five miles from his apartment.

He was shot, according
to the ME, four times.

Once at the base of
the rear of the neck

and three times in the
left side torso area.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
David's wallet

was still in his back pocket,
cash and credit cards intact.

It seemed obvious that
robbery was not the motive

and police have since
ruled out a random attack.

They are convinced David left
his home with someone he knew.

SGT. KEVIN SHEA: It's
our belief that he

got in the car willingly.

That he knew who was
coming to pick him up.

And that he went to this area
and walked into the woods

with this person.

We really believe that David was
what we would call a scrapper.

If he knew there was some
danger loitering ahead,

he would do his best
to get out of that.

I think that if it was
somebody that was just holding

a gun on him, or
something like that,

they would do it
within the first 30

or 40 yards into the woods.

David was found almost 3/4 to
a mile walk into the woods.

[music playing]

[gunshot]

DONALD MARCARI: I don't
know why David was killed.

I personally believe
it had something

to do with the military.

He was taken out of his house
without signs of struggle.

He was wearing his Marine Corps
jacket, which he never wore.

He was found between
two hunting ranges

where gunshots would
not be unusual.

And he was murdered
execution style.

Now, there is a movie opening
tonight called A Few Good Men.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): After
the release of A Few Good Men,

David had been highly
vocal about his story

and the US activities in Cuba.

David's family believes he
may have talked too much.

To say the least, we were
trying to provoke a war.

Pretty much every day.

Because of this colonel?

Yeah.

He would never say
anything directly,

but it was certainly
implied, absolutely.

JUNE COX: After I heard
that interview on the radio,

I spoke to him and I said, I
don't like what you're doing,

I think what you're
doing is dangerous.

The colonel had implied--

JUNE COX: I think
he felt far too

free to just speak his mind.

--to his congressman
saying that--

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Police
checked out the military angle

to David's murder.

We realized
there was something

going wrong because he wasn't
fighting back after awhile.

SGT. RICK NAGLE:
There's nothing here

that shows us that the military
in any way, shape, or form

are involved with David's death.

But we're certainly open to
anything that comes our way

in regards to the military.

There's this guy there.

He's a supervisor.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
David's brother suggested

another possible scenario.

A UPS connection.

They're taking
the good packages

and taking them away
from the regular--

Stealing?

Yeah, they're stealing.

STEVE COX: A couple of months
before Dave disappeared

he had mentioned to me that
he had come upon a supervisor

and one of the drivers involved
in some type of activity,

what he believed
to be, was theft.

I interviewed a
number of people.

They were candid
with me, I felt.

Certainly, if there was
anything there with UPS,

I think, as far as
they were concerned,

paramount was David's death.

And they would have
certainly told me anything

that UPS was involved with.

At this point, the
investigation's still open.

It will remain open
until we solve it.

Again, we'll follow any leads
that come through vigorously

and remain to do that
until it is solved.

I'm angry what
happened to my son.

I'm angry that someone can
do that and get away with it.

[music playing]

My life has been
devastated by his murder.

It really has.

A death would be bad enough,
a murder is just dreadful.

At this point, police
have only one hope.

That someone saw David Cox
leave his home between 8:30

and noon on January 5, 1994.

Perhaps someone saw the
person who picked him up

or the vehicle they left in.

Coming up, for a disabled woman
a harrowing brush with death

apparently culminates
in a miraculous rebirth.

But first, NFL
superstar Reggie White

asks for your help
to find the arsonist

who burned down his church.

[music playing]

The capture of
a criminal suspect

always brings us
great satisfaction.

Tonight, another fugitive is in
custody, thanks to your calls.

Thomas Dixon is the walking
definition of career criminal.

He was paroled in May of
1984 after serving 10 years

of hard time for armed robbery.

It hadn't reformed him one bit.

This is a hold up.

Stay cool.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
During the five months following

his release from prison, Dixon
and a series of accomplices

knocked off seven banks
in North Carolina.

An FBI raid brought down
Thomas Dixon in October of 1984

and he spent another
decade behind bars.

He was paroled in 1994,
as unrepentant as ever.

This is a hold up.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): Dixon again

hit banks in the Carolinas.

Five in a seven week spree.

He showed up in one
surveillance tape after another.

Have you, FBI, ever
heard of Thomas Dixon?

No.

Should we?

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): But there

was a disturbing new
twist to Dixon's MO.

Now, he taunted the
FBI with advance

notice of his bank jobs.

When one of Dixon's getaway
cars was discovered,

federal investigators concluded
that he had deliberately

left it for them to find.

Inside were photos of
Dixon's impressive arsenal.

In a note, Dixon
threatened future robberies

and warned of a bloody showdown
if anyone tried to stop him.

SPECIAL AGT.

IN CHARGE DODGE FREDERICK: 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.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): One week

before a broadcast,
Thomas Dixon struck again,

this time in Pennsylvania.

Here's Keely with the dramatic
conclusion to the case.

Bob, thanks to
one of our viewers,

Dixons' most recent heist
will probably be his last.

After the robbery,
Dixon fled Pennsylvania

and eventually made his way
to Clarksville, Tennessee.

KEELY SHAYE SMITH (VOICEOVER):
In Clarksville, Dixon

took a room in this motel.

Pam Poteete, a
resident housekeeper,

first became wary of Dixon
when she cleaned his room.

PAM POTEETE: It's
the way he acted.

He was weird.

I mean, he stood by the
beds, in between the beds

by the luggage.

He wouldn't never sit down.

Didn't want you
to make the beds.

You know, stuff like that.

It's like he was
on guard, you know.

His luggage.

He just was, you know,
ready, watching you.

KEELY SHAYE SMITH (VOICEOVER):
When Dixon's story aired,

Pam Poteete recognized
him instantly.

Within minutes,
Pam had contacted

both the Unsolved
Mysteries phone center and

the authorities in Tennessee.

By sunrise, FBI agents had
Dixon's hideaway staked out.

SPECIAL AGT.

BRET MURRAY: We knew he
was armed and dangerous

and he vowed not
to be taken alive.

With that information,
obviously, you

want to approach the subject
with extreme caution.

But once we got him subdued,
he was very cooperative.

All he said is, you got me good.

Basically, that the way that
you guys arrested me was the way

you needed to arrest me.

And it was a lot better
that way then, quote,

to throw bullets at each other.

[music playing]

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
January 8, 1996.

Fire ravages the Inner City
Church in Knoxville, Tennessee.

At first, it seemed
an isolated tragedy,

but it would soon
become linked to what

may be a series of
vicious hate crimes

targeting black churches.

This church, however,
has a famous voice

speaking out on its behalf.

Reggie White, the most
feared defensive end

in professional football.

But the man opponents see as a
6 foot 5, 300 pound brick wall

with legs, has another career.

God sent Moses away
for about 40 years

to get him ready
to face Pharaoh.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Reggie
White is an ordained minister.

When he's not
tackling quarterbacks,

he's back in his home state
of Tennessee saving souls.

In 1993, Reggie White and two
longtime friends in Knoxville

founded the Inner
City Church by merging

two congregations into one.

Their goal, to create
a church that would

serve poor people of all races.

Their motto, together
we can make a change.

REGGIE WHITE: It's very
important and it's very vital.

I believe that our church is
doing things in our communities

that no other
churches are doing.

You know, the most segregated
hour it is in our country

is on Sunday 11 to 12 because
blacks go to black churches,

whites go to white churches.

And we wanted to
try to have a church

that everybody
would feel welcome,

no matter what the color was.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
It was a noble undertaking.

With aggressive community
outreach and self-help

programs, the church thrived.

Then disaster.

REGGIE WHITE: I
believe in my heart

that it was an attack
from the devil himself.

That there were devil
inspired people that he

used to firebomb our church.

We had a big
snow on the ground.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): David Upton

is the church's senior pastor.

When I arrived there,
it was a sickening

feeling in my stomach to see.

The things we had
fought for, the things

we had worked so
hard to establish

over the years of a
ministry, just to see it just

go up in flames.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Within
hours, agents from the FBI

and the Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco, and Firearms

began to investigate.

SPECIAL AGT.

IN CHARGE RICHARD GARNER:
An immediate visit

to this location indicated
to us that it was

a very deliberate criminal act.

The sanctuary portion
of the building

had been totally destroyed, but
there is another building that

sets on the back side of
the property that adjoins

the rear of the sanctuary.

It's a building in which there
are classrooms and offices.

As the agents went through
that portion of the structure,

they found multiple
Molotov cocktails.

They found that both
floors of this structure

had been saturated with
gasoline and kerosene.

And they found gasoline
cans and kerosene

cans scattered throughout
this portion of the building.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Agents also found

racial epithets
scrawled on the walls,

leaving little doubt that
the arson was a hate crime.

Reggie White was appalled.

That turned to outrage when
he learned that his church

had not been the first.

The only reason that you're
hearing about my church

is because of me.

But there have been
22 other churches

that's been firebombed.

That's a problem.

And this problem
needs to be rectified.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
The statistics are alarming.

The count is now at least 24
black churches hit by arson

in the past three years.

The attacks have occurred
throughout the South

in Louisiana,
Tennessee, Mississippi,

Alabama, Georgia, Virginia,
North and South Carolina.

The most recent arson fire
occurred on March 5, 1996.

SPECIAL AGT IN CHARGE VIRGIL
YOUNG: Both the FBI and the ATF

are looking to see if
there are any links.

We recognize that someone in
Kansas, for example, might say,

let's burn black churches.

And associates in Tennessee
and Alabama and Florida

might go out and
do those things,

but they might use
entirely different methods.

I don't believe it was
anyone that would be what

you would call a professional.

Based on the way the fuel was
in the building, the way the set

ups were in the
building, I think

that they just thought
if a little is good,

a whole lot's better.

And that's what they tried
to do is put enough fuel

in there to do the job.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): Three days

after the Inner City
Church fire, flyers

from two white supremacist
groups, the BFI Brotherhood

and Skinheads for White
Justice, turned up at a bank

that had ties to the church.

However, the possibility
remains that both

the flyers and the graffiti
were planted as decoys.

SPECIAL AGT.

IN CHARGE VIRGIL YOUNG: With
a deliberate act of arson,

the arsonist wants us to
look in a different direction

away from him.

So we have to consider
the possibility

that the racial graffiti
was placed there to divert

us into a different direction.

So we have to consider
the racial motivation

as a possibility, but
we also have to look

at other motivations as well.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
The Inner City

Church did not have
enough fire insurance

to cover all the damage.

But with hard work from the
parishioners and donations

from the community,
both black and white,

they hope to rebuild.

But the problem
is, because racism

has alienated itself so
that you can't touch it

when it afflicts you--

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
In the meantime,

Reggie and his fellow pastors
keep their congregation's

spirit strong with
church services held

at a local school auditorium.

That's why we shooting
each other today.

That's why we allowing drugs--

This just makes me
more determined.

And I know that the only way
that you defeat the devil

is that you have to
do it as a group.

And that's why I would say, what
I would call whites and blacks,

to come together and find
out how to work together.

Because what kills
the enemy's tactics

is if a bunch of people
of all ethnic backgrounds

start loving each other.

[music playing]

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): When
we return, for many years,

Mary Clamser struggled
with the crippling effects

of multiple sclerosis.

Though her face never
wavered, Mary certainly

didn't believe in
miracles until a freak

accident changed her life.

[music playing]

The state of Oklahoma is a
natural laboratory for studying

the world's worst weather.

Here at the National Weather
Service in Oklahoma City,

meteorologists track
an average of one

severe thunderstorm every week.

Sometimes the storms
bring tornado force winds,

sometimes softball sized hail.

Not long ago one of those
storms brought with it

a gift from the heavens.

What one woman calls
a modern day miracle.

[music playing]

August 17, 1994.

Mary Clamser never thought
of herself as a warrior.

For 23 years she fought a battle
against multiple sclerosis,

a battle she was losing fast.

Mary had no idea that this
day an extraordinary event

would erase her years of torment
and give her back her freedom.

In 1972, Mary was 19 years
old, vibrantly healthy,

and recently engaged
to marry Ron Clamser.

Six months before the wedding,
she went to the hospital

with what she thought
was a bad case of flu.

MARY CLAMSER: We didn't know
whether he had some kind

of intestinal bug or whatever.

And shortly after being
admitted to the hospital,

a lot of neurological
problems started coming up

that we weren't even aware of.

Mary?

Hi.

Hi.

How are you doing?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Mary
and Ron were certain something

was seriously wrong, but
the doctors tried to shield

them from the brutal facts.

Can you move your legs at all?

No.

Can you feel this?

I can't feel anything.

I feel pain.

MARY CLAMSER: It was extremely
frustrating not knowing

what was going on,
feeling so many

different changes in my body.

The left leg was
going out, there

were bladder complications.

So many things were going
wrong it was like I had

no control over my own body.

Like, they won't
tell me anything.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
The final diagnosis

was devastating.

Mary had multiple sclerosis.

Ron set out to learn
exactly what that meant.

It's a degenerative
nerve disease.

It affects the impulses from
the brain to the muscles.

So what stage is Mary in?

They don't know.

I mean, one good thing
is that she's young.

Ron found out
that MS could attack

Mary in waves, each episode
lasting a few weeks.

Between bouts, Mary would appear
to be disease free, sometimes

for months.

Over the years, however,
the attacks could

get worse and more frequent.

MARY CLAMSER: They
told me that I probably

would never walk again.

And if we did proceed to
go ahead and get married,

I would not be well enough
to have children, if I

could have children at all.

And Ron came in
shortly after that

and we talked and I said
to him, you deserve better.

You deserve a wife that
can walk and a wife

that can grow with you and
have children with you.

And they're telling me
I can't do any of this.

And I took off the
engagement ring

and said to him as much as I
loved him with all my heart,

the only way I could give love
back to him was to let him go.

I just gave it right back
to her, and I said, no.

I mean, I just have faith
that things will work out

and, you know, when
you get married,

you get married for
better or worse.

We're engaged to be married
for better or worse.

To me, it was the same thing.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Mary spent the months

before her wedding in
the hospital, too week

to address the
invitations herself.

Just two weeks
before the ceremony

the disease relented,
giving Mary enough strength

to walk down the aisle.

The wedding day was
only a brief respite.

The MS soon returned.

Despite her illness,
Mary refused

to give up her dream of being
not only a wife, but a mother.

Over the next 10 years,
Mary struggled through three

difficult pregnancies so she
and Ron could have a family,

two sons and a daughter.

Our children have
grown up with a mom that

was in the hospital
many times, a mom

that couldn't walk many times.

And it was incorporated
into the family life.

Because even when I was
ill, my focus always

was Ron and the children.

You know, it wasn't
something that was easy,

not that I want to
say she was a burden.

But you know, we had to
carry her to the car,

we had to take the scooter
apart and put the wheelchair in.

So it became, not a hassle,
but it was a lot of work.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
After 23 years,

the cycles of Mary's illness
had become almost routine.

A few weeks, perhaps
a few months,

of disability, then another
precious period of normalcy.

In the summer of 1992 that
cycle abruptly changed.

This attack was different
because it went past a year.

And prior to that, no attack
had gone past six months.

So we began to wonder,
when it went past a year,

how long it was going to last.

I could not leave
the bed, literally.

And I would hear the children
arguing amongst themselves.

It was your turn to do this
or that, or Ron coming home

from work very frustrated.

And I remember one night
feeling really kind of--

the only way to describe
it was, as if I had died,

but I was laying in
the back room listening

to my family fall apart.

[thunder]

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Then came August 17, 1994.

It could have been a
metaphor for Mary's

life, a beautiful
day that suddenly

turned dark and stormy.

Mary decided to take a
bath while she could.

As the tub filled,
the storm intensified.

[thunder]

MARY CLAMSER: I
would have to say,

on that particular day
was one of the worst

storms I've ever seen in the 12
years we've been in Oklahoma.

At that particular
time, the leg brace

was up against the
porcelain part of the tub.

And when I went
to turn the knob,

I saw the flash of lightning,
but I never heard the thunder.

[buzzing]

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): At least

10,000 volts of electricity had
coursed through Mary's body.

Enough force to launch her
six feet across the room.

Mom, are you all right?

Mom, wake up.

Mary was alive.

A miracle by any standard.

But there was an even
greater one to come.

Mary?

Mary, I'm Dr. Lee.

Tell me, what happened today?

MARY CLAMSER: I remember feeling
like my body was on fire, pins

and needles shooting
up and down my arms,

and being totally confused.

One second, sir.

God, my fingers are on fire.

OK, Mary.

Mary, listen to me.

Take a deep breath.

Breathe, honey.

Breathe.

All of a sudden,
I'm feeling my legs.

What's he doing?

Why?

I can feel that.

Oh, no.
She can't feel.

Yes, I can.

I can feel that.

MARY CLAMSER: And I started to
get really, I guess, agitated.

It was like, I feel
you touching me,

why do I feel you touching me?

Because you have to
remember, for 23 years

I couldn't feel my left leg,
and for two years, my right leg.

And now all of a sudden, for
no reason to my knowledge,

I feel both of them.

I mean, I was
dumbfounded and shocked.

And I didn't know what to think.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Neither did anyone else.

Medical literature
includes accounts

of lightning making blind
people see and deaf people hear.

But the doctor warned
Ron that the effects

are often temporary, usually
lasting no more than 30 days.

More often than
not, the patient can

go back to her prior condition.

This could just be a
temporary situation.

But you ran that
think up and down her.

She felt it.

MARY CLAMSER: In
the next two weeks

I was in quite a bit of pain.

I mean, I was miserable.

I didn't even get to
enjoy feeling my legs.

And every few hours
Ron would even call me

and say, I know you're
hurting, but can

you still feel your legs?

I mean, that was
the $64 question.

It was like, yes.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Incredibly, Mary could soon

do more than feel her legs.

Two weeks after being
struck by lightning,

she walked across her kitchen
without a second thought.

She didn't even realize
what she had done until she

found herself at
the refrigerator

a dozen feet from
her wheelchair.

Ron, honey.

MARY CLAMSER: I was at a part of
the kitchen that, to this day,

I can't tell you
how I got there.

What are you doing over here?

MARY CLAMSER: And
I thought, well,

I can't handle this anymore.

Because now I'm doing things I
don't even know how I did them.

You walked?

Yes.

You want to try it again?

OK.

Hold on to me, OK?

OK.

All right.

MARY CLAMSER: I took some
real robotic, toddler type

kind of walk.

And I mean, it was like
three or four steps

and went into his arms and
was like, I just did that,

didn't I?

And he's like,
yeah, mom, you did.

[laughing]

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Mary improved rapidly.

A few days later, when Ron
Sr. Arrived home from work,

Mary was waiting
with a big surprise.

She had walked out the front
door and down the sidewalk

completely under her own power.

No leg brace, no support.

[laughing]

Now, stand back.

Stand back.

Watch.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): The Clamsers

were thrilled, but not yet ready
to call the cure permanent.

MARY CLAMSER: In the beginning,
we did worry about, well,

the 30 days.

You know, what if they were
wrong and it was 60 days?

And then I started
thinking, I'm not

going to worry about
it because whatever

amount of time, that's
time I had we never

thought I would have.

It's almost like
a second honeymoon.

I mean, it is almost like
year one starts over again.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Today, almost two years later,

Mary exercises regularly and
lives a completely normal life.

RON CLAMSER: I mean,
we can dance again.

We can go out together
and walk again.

Go shopping together.

There's just so many things that
were missing that we have back.

And it's just, it's
just like a rebirth.

[music playing]

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
When we return,

a tragic accident claims
the life of a young woman.

Now, her daughter needs your
help to uncover the secrets

of her family's past.

[music playing]

Recently, we received an
unusual request from a woman

named Ladonna Alfano.

LaDonna was just a little
girl when her mother

died in a terrible accident.

35 years later, LaDonna has
no memories of her mother

and only scant details
about her mother's family.

Tonight she hopes
that will change.

December 29, 1961.

In the early
afternoon, a train left

Dallas, Texas heading west.

[train horn]

The route would take
it through the heart

of downtown Abilene, Texas.

Kids, are you ready?

Come on, David, Amani.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Around
the same time, two army wives

in Abilene, Darlene
Alfano and Pinky Johnson,

gathered up their children
for a trip into town.

Want your dolls?

[train horn]

Let's go on by McBride's also.

They're having a
sale on pot roast.

OK, good.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Around 2:00, Pinky and Darlene

were heading north
on Shelton Street

towards the center of town.

No one knows how
or why it happened,

but the car ended up right
in the middle of the tracks.

[bell ringing]

What's wrong?

Pinky, there's a train.

What's wrong?

[train horn]

I can' get it to start.

What do you mean, you
can't get it to start?

It won't start.

There's a train coming.

It won't start.

There's a train.

[train horn]

[breaks squeal]

[crashing]

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): The car

was literally torn
to shreds, its roof

sheared completely off.

The human toll was incalculable.

Two of the children
died almost immediately.

A third would die
in the hospital.

As would one of the
mothers, Darlene Alfano.

Her husband, Fred,
was by her side.

[alarm ringing]

FRED ALFANO: I was sitting
with her, talking to her

and I was holding her hand.

She took a very deep breath,
held it for a few seconds,

and very slowly let it out
and I knew she had expired.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Fred Alfano found

myself almost completely alone.

He had lost his wife
and two of his children.

His other child,
LaDonna, had survived,

but was barely hanging on.

FRED ALFANO: They
never gave me any hope

for any of them surviving.

They were all almost universally
sure that LaDonna would not

survive because of facial
damage extended all the way down

to the base of her brain.

LaDonna?

It's me, Daddy.

Hi, Daddy.

Hi.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): LaDonna

had suffered catastrophic
injuries to her face and head.

But against all the odds,
she began to recover.

See?

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): Two weeks

passed before Fred could
bring himself to tell LaDonna

about her mother and sisters.

What happened to
Rosalinda and Trisha?

They're in heaven.

In a playground.

So they can play together.

What happened to Mommy?

Mommy's an angel.

Is she really an angel, Daddy?

She sure is.

LADONNA ALFANO: When
my father told me

that my mother and my
sisters had died I thought,

oh, the angels had come
down and gotten them.

I was happy that
there were angels.

And everybody would talk
to her in the hospital.

First thing she
would tell them was

that my mommy and my sisters
are angels in heaven.

I've got three
angels watching me.

I knew she would be fine.

I felt if she had taken that
attitude, she would be fine.

LADONNA ALFANO: Well, I used
to think, why did I live?

Why was I the one that survived?

I believe that,
when I was a child,

that I lived for my father.

That my father wouldn't
have survived it.

I think her strength
gave me strength.

And my only direction
in life then

was to take care of LaDonna.

And make sure she survived
and had a normal childhood.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Over the years,

LaDonna underwent a series
of reconstructive surgeries

on her face.

But there was one
thing the operations

could not correct, the loss
of her mother, Darlene.

LADONNA ALFANO: I have no
memories of my mother at all.

I look at pictures of her and
I try to remember something

and it's like looking at a
magazine article of a woman.

I have recollections of
my twin, and my father,

and my little sister.

My father has told
me stories about us

as children with my mom
and it doesn't bring

back any memories whatsoever.

None whatsoever.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): Compounding

on Donna's heartbreak
was the fact

that her father had only met
her mother's family a few times.

Eventually, what
little contact they did

have ceased altogether.

LADONNA ALFANO: After
the accident happened,

which is probably too painful
to keep in touch with them.

And now I've just decided I
need to get in touch with them.

I'm trying to, you know, get
some connection with my past

and try to remember something
so it will fill in the holes

of missing my mother.

[music playing]

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
One of the only clues

LaDonna has is a
letter she received

from her maternal
grandfather when she was 13.

It contained a photograph of
her mother's sister, LaDonna's

aunt, Patricia Ann Hintz.

My Aunt Pat is the only
survivor of my mother

that I know of.

I think finding my Aunt Pat will
definitely fill my emptiness.

Just being able to
touch her and knowing

that she was a part of my
mother is the only thing

that I have of my mother.

And it would-- just knowing
her, and meeting her,

and hugging her, would be really
even enough for me right now.

[music playing]

Join me again this
Friday at our regular time

for an all new edition
and Unsolved Mysteries.

[music playing]