All language subtitles for Unsolved.Mysteries.S08E20.AMZN.WEB-DL.DDP2.0.H.264-BTW_track3_[eng]

[music playing]

NARRATOR: Tonight on
"Unsolved Mysteries."

ROBERT STACK: A 14-year-old
girl awakens hog

tied in her own bedroom
with her entire home

viciously ransacked.

She tells police she has no
memory of an attack or even

of her own identity.

What happened to Sarah Powell?

[music playing]

For Harvey McCloud's,
life as a cab driver

was routine and uneventful
until the day he

was hijacked by
one of his fares,

turned into a human time bomb,
and ordered to rob a bank.

[music playing]

And we'll take you to
Egypt, an ancient land

of mystery and intrigue.

For centuries, the immense
treasures of the pharaohs

lay buried in the
Valley of the Kings.

But when the tomb of King
Tut was opened in 1922,

was a deadly curse
unleashed on those

who trespassed upon his grave.

Join me for this intriguing
and compelling addition

of "Unsolved Mysteries."

[music playing]

Egypt, the cradle of
long-lost civilizations,

home to the
magnificent pyramids,

the inscrutable Great
Sphinx, giant statues

of once-powerful
pharaohs, truly,

a land of intrigue and mystery.

Buried beneath
the shifting sands

in the Valley of the Kings
lay secrets, the hidden tombs

of ancient rulers, their
bodies mummified and surrounded

by the golden treasures
meant to accompany

them to the afterlife, treasures
that have proven irresistible.

[music playing]

By the end of the 19th century,
nearly every tomb in the Valley

of the Kings had
been picked clean,

riches carried away by both
archeologists and thieves.

Nevertheless, Howard Carter,
a self-taught British

Egyptologist, was
sure there was one

more tomb, that of a
little-known pharaoh named

Tutankhamen.

He had no idea of the
discovery of King Tut's

final resting place would
unleash one of the most

sensational legends of the
20th century, the legend

of the mummy's curse.

[music playing]

By the fall of
1922, Howard Carter

had been searching
for the tomb of King

Tutankhamen for five years.

His financial backer
was George Herbert,

the Fifth Earl of Carnarvon,
an avid amateur archeologist.

Lord Carnarvon had already
spent the modern equivalent

of half a million dollars
and was about to give up.

Carter begged him to
give it one last chance.

You and the workers
are digging furiously.

ROBERT STACK: Carnarvon, a
longtime devotee of the occult,

sought the advice
of a noted psychic.

On the concourse.

You are deeply disturbed.

I see a hurricane of lightning.

And you, Lord Carnarvon,
are standing alone.

Given what I have
seen, I suggest

you make your excuses to the
public and cancel the dig.

But that's impossible.

I must--

ROBERT STACK:
Despite the warning,

the dig continued with
spectacular results.

On November 26th, 1922, Howard
Carter, Lord Carnarvon and Lady

Evelyn Herbert,
Carnarvon's daughter,

descended an excavated staircase
and stepped into history.

They came to a doorway sealed
by the priests of the dead

long before Christ was
born or Rome was built.

[hammering]

THOMAS HOVING: The first thing
is this unbelievable feeling

of smelling and feeling.

In a whoosh, out comes
this air of, what?

How many thousands
of years, right?

And then he puts up
this-- the light.

Can you see anything?

My God, marvelous!

Well, let me have a look.

Move over.

Move over.

THOMAS HOVING: Who could
possibly describe what he sees,

you know, this helter skelter,
gold, gold, gold, gold, gold.

Fantastic!

THOMAS HOVING: And one
after the other look in.

And everybody's trying.

And there's no
longer, your lordship.

And you know, let
me have a look!

I paid for this!
You know, get me in there.

And then, of course, they go in.

They went-- it was
probably bananas.

They're suddenly
in a place where

the last person had
been in there was 3,600

whatever years before, right?

And spooky things went on.

They began to feel that--

I mean, they were no
different than thieves.

ROBERT STACK: It who is the
ultimate treasure trove,

a jumble of King Tut's favorite
and most precious possessions,

the toys he had played with
as a baby, the throne he had

ruled from as a king,
the golden jars that

held his heart and lungs.

Such fine workmanship.

BOB BRIER: The Egyptians
literally believed

you could take it with you.

Since the next world
was going to be

a continuation of
this world, you

would want your possessions.

You would want a bed.

You would want your utensils.

You would want your game
board, so that you could play

your games that you enjoyed.

So the priest, upon death--

and your family would prepare.

It would be a group
activity-- would

put whatever they thought you
would need for the big journey.

ROBERT STACK: Word
of the incredible

find flew around the world.

Crowds watched in astonishment
as Howard Carter brought

each prize into the light.

Dignitaries and reporters
from dozens of countries

converged on the Valley of the
Kings, hungry for every detail.

Carter and Carnarvon
became household names,

international celebrities.

Then slowly, a shadow began
to eclipse their limelight.

It began with Howard
Carter's pet bird.

[bird chirping]

In the days after
the tomb was opened,

a cobra, the royal
symbol of the Pharaohs,

attacked and killed a bird.

To some, the meaning was clear.

The king's serpent had
struck a blow of vengeance

against the man who had
desecrated Tutankhamen's grave.

The natives said, before winter
was out, someone would die.

That someone was Lord Carnarvon.

Five months after the
opening of the tomb,

Carnarvon died of blood
poisoning in Cairo.

[dog howling]

Legend has it that, at that
very moment in England,

Carnarvon's dog howled in
anguish [thunder rumbling]

and fell dead.

In Cairo, all the
lights went out,

plunging the city
into blackness as dark

as a tomb of Tutankhamen.

Then a newspaper broke word of
a curse written in hieroglyphs

in King Tut's tomb.

"They who enter this
sacred tomb shall swift

be visited by wings of death."

BOB BRIER: They didn't
have a concept of hell.

So you didn't go to a
bad place if you die.

But if you went
out of existence,

that was the worst
thing that could happen.

And that's why the tomb was
so crucial to assure that you

wouldn't go out of existence,
that all the necessary parts

would be there, intact, ready
to go again in the next world.

And this is why we
see sometimes what you

call the curses inscriptions.

I discovered here
at Giza at tomb

where the first curse
inscription ever happened.

And listen what the man
is saying in this tomb.

If anyone will
disturb my tomb, he

will be eaten by a crocodile,
lion and the hippo.

His wife lifted the
same inscription.

And she added more--

and the scorpions and
the snakes will eat you.

ROBERT STACK: Fear of the
mummy's curse created a panic.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the
creator of "Sherlock Holmes,"

fueled the hysteria
when he stated

it was probable that
Lord Carnarvon had been

killed by a malevolent spirit.

Hundreds of tourists who had
bought Egyptian antiquities

as souvenirs rushed to ship
them back, including, in one

case, a mummy's severed arm.

The United States
Congress even debated

passing a law banning
Egyptian antiquities

from American museums.

Nevertheless, Howard
Carter continued

clearing out the tomb
of Tutankhamen, one

exquisite piece after another.

Even the Boy King's mummified
body was carried out,

his wrappings removed,
his bones laid bare.

Some say King Tut
took his revenge.

Carnarvon's death was
only the beginning.

Over the next two
decades, the mummy's curse

was blamed for more than
20 deaths, including

that of Howard Carter himself.

Most Egyptologists,
however, don't buy it.

THOMAS HOVING: This whole
curse thing is total bunkum.

Lord Carnarvon gets
this infection.

He goes to the hospital.

He dies.

All the lights go out in Cairo.

Now today, in your
modern hotels,

there's a candle
in every bathroom.

The lights go out in Cairo all
the time, sporadically, right?

And the fact that the
dog howls at the moment,

you know, distant in England
the death, give me a break.

[music playing]

ROBERT STACK: Historians scoff.

But the legend of the mummy's
curse refuses to go away.

Believe it or not,
modern science

has revealed that, in
fact, a curse may be

real, though not supernatural.

In his diary,
Howard Carter noted

that the tomb walls were covered
with an odd pink film, perhaps

a fungus.

Though the ancient Egyptians
probably didn't know it,

their sealed tombs
may have harbored

a variety of bacteria
and fungi, toxic killers

more deadly than any curse.

History records of
circumstances made

Lord Carnarvon
the perfect target

for these mysterious mycotoxins.

[music playing]

[insect buzzing]

Not long after the
tomb was opened,

Carnarvon was bitten
by a mosquito.

The bite became infected,
perhaps by the mycotoxins.

When Carnarvon nicked
himself shaving,

the infection became worse.

Carnarvon's fate was sealed.

DR. ZAHI HAWASS: This is
why I advise my assistants

in my excavations.

I tell them, do not to shave
while we are excavating.

Because if you shave,
you have an open--

your beard is ready
to take any germ.

And this is what
happened, in my opinion,

to most of the cases that's
happened during the excavations

and people said the
curse of the Pharaohs.

[music playing]

ROBERT STACK: The
treasures of Tutankhamen

had been exhibited and
studied all over the world.

To say Egypt is
to think King Tut.

If the Egyptians did, in fact,
place a curse on their tombs,

perhaps they were
wrong in doing so.

For King Tut, at
least, being discovered

may have been the greatest
possible blessing,

a guarantee of eternal life.

BOB BRIER: The
Egyptians had a phrase,

to say the name of the dead
is to make him live again.

And through the discovery of
his tomb, he is the most famous

of all pharaohs.

And everybody is
saying his name.

So in a sense, the discovery
by Carter and Carnarvon

assures Tutankhamen's
immortality

even in the Egyptian sense-- in
the ancient Egyptian sense of,

to say his name is to
make him live again.

[music playing]

ROBERT STACK: Coming up,
when her home is ransacked

by intruders, a young
girl is stricken

by a bizarre case of amnesia.

But first, a cab driver
is wired with explosives

and forced to participate
in a wild robbery scheme.

[music playing]

65-year-old Harvey McCloud has
been driving a cab in Modesto,

California for some 10 years.

He's seen just about
everything there is to see.

So last January, Harvey wasn't
the least bit surprised when

a man in a turban with
a phony-looking beard

and mustache flagged him down.

HARVEY MCCLOUD: It
just a normal fare.

He did have a turban.

But we have several
of those in Modesto,

so I never thought
anything about it.

I'm going up to Jamestown.

Hey, that's a 50-minute ride.

Oh, that'll run you $90.

I'll have to get that up front.

ROBERT STACK: The
passenger spoke

in a coarse stage whisper.

He only had about half the fare.

But he said he could pick
up the rest at his brother's

house, which was along the way.

We have to stop by my father's
place and pick up the rest.

Stop by your brother's house?

All right.

Just keep driving east.

Take a left right up here.

Lit Road?

That's right.

HARVEY MCCLOUD: He said his
brother lived on Lit Road.

So I didn't think too much about
it until he told me to stop

after a couple of blocks.

And so I stopped the
car and turned around.

And here that gun was
staring me right in the nose.

Do exactly what I tell you.

Cut the wires to the
radio transmitter

and get out that door.

HARVEY MCCLOUD: So I
just basically thought

it was-- it was a robbery.

ROBERT STACK: But this
was no ordinary robbery.

Harvey McCloud was about to be
turned into a human time bomb.

The gunman chained a black
metal box with a numeric keypad

on to Harvey's body.

He ran a wire lead
around Harvey's neck

and clipped it shut.

Then he activated the black box.

[bomb beeps]

Now you do exactly as what
i say and you'll be all right.

If you screw up at
all, you'll die.

The bomb is remote-controlled.

Told All I have to do is dial
a number on my cell phone

and you're gone.

HARVEY MCCLOUD: So
I was terrified.

Oh, my mind was going
100 miles an hour.

And I was trying
to figure out, how

am I going to get out of this?

ROBERT STACK: 10 minutes
later, Harvey was on his way

back to Modesto.

You're going to rob a bank.

I want you to listen
to me very carefully.

There's a second
bomb in this box.

I want you to take his briefcase
and the bomb into the bank.

I want you to leave the bomb
in the bank when you're done.

Do you understand me?

Yup.

[music playing]

ROBERT STACK: The gunman got
out of the cab across the street

from his intended target,
Glendale Federal Bank.

HARVEY MCCLOUD: Well,
he kept reminding

me that he could set this bomb
off by his cellular telephone.

And me, I don't know that
much about electronics.

But what you see, you
know, in the papers and TV,

you could do about anything
with electronics nowadays.

So I believed him.

I need to see
the bank manager!

Oh, I'm sorry, sir.
She's unavailable.

Please have a seat.

I need to see the
bank manager now!

It's important.
- Sir, excuse me.

Please, just have a seat.

I need to see the manager.

And it cannot wait.

I understand that, of course.

Is there a problem?

I need to see the manager.
I need the manager!

I am.

May I help you?

DENISE HUTCHINSON:
And I thought I

was dealing with
an irate customer,

because he was agitated.

I proceeded to read the letter.

And about midway through,
it-- it shocked me.

And it upset me.

Did you read this?

Look what he did to me.

I'm just a poor cab driver.

DENISE HUTCHINSON: I
looked around the lobby,

saw how busy we were, saw
how many customers were

in the bank, and saw my
staff just doing what

they're supposed to be doing.

And it was very scary
that, if I didn't

do the right thing,
that all of us

could be blown up
as a result of that.

ROBERT STACK: Denise
Hutchinson decided to comply

with the gunman's orders.

She and another
bank employee filled

the briefcase with the
exact amount of money

demanded in the letter.

10.

ROBERT STACK: The robbery
had gone according to plan,

with one exception.

Harvey performed a
quiet act of heroism.

HARVEY MCCLOUD: Now
I didn't want to see

innocent people get killed.

Well, I couldn't
do much about me.

But I could at least
take the bomb with me,

and to protect the other
people in the bank, and--

and the bank itself too.

So I walked out
the door with it.

ROBERT STACK: In
the back of the cab,

Harvey found a neatly
typed set of instructions.

First, he drove to a hardware
store 15 minutes away.

He parked the cab,
leaving behind the cash

and the car keys.

Then Harvey walked half
a mile to a payphone.

HARVEY MCCLOUD: I was
terrified, because the notes

on the instruction was
that, don't try to flag

down an office or anything.

Because we've got people
watching you all the time.

You know, every step you make,
we've got people watching you.

ROBERT STACK: The
instructions had specified

that the gunman would
phone with directions

for dismantling the bomb.

HARVEY MCCLOUD: And I waited
about five, 10 minutes.

And no call came in.

So I went over and happened
to look at the telephone.

And it said, no incoming calls.

So then I knew something was up.

So then that's when I
called my dispatcher

and told her what happened.

[sirens wailing]

ROBERT STACK: Within minutes,
the police were on the scene

and the area was
being evacuated.

Harvey McCloud sat alone
in the eye of the storm.

HARVEY MCCLOUD: And
they say I looked Calm

But I wasn't very calm inside.

I was shaking.

And my stomach was rolling.

And then I had all these
things going through my mind.

And I just wondered how
long that, uh, I was going

to be there in this old world.

[police radio chatter]

ROBERT STACK: Eventually,
a county bomb squad

arrived and released
Harvey from the device.

X-rays later
determined that it was

a fake, as was the second bomb.

There's a package back here.

Let's get this roped off.

ROBERT STACK: The robbery
had been perfectly executed.

The gunman got away undetected--

almost.

TODD IRINAGA: When the
gunman was dropped off

across the street
from the bank, there

were two witnesses that
observed a male adult

that was unusually dressed.

They thought, at
first, that since there

was a bank in close proximity
that, possibly, someone

was having a birthday
party and they

hired this person to
do some type of gig

for the inside of the bank.

And the secondary thought
that the male witness had was,

maybe this person had
just robbed a bank.

When this person
reached the van,

he took off a turban, as
well as dark sunglasses,

and a fake beard and mustache,
as well as his sweater,

which contained padding
to make this person

look 25 to 30 pounds heavier.

[music playing]

Next, a teenage girl is
found hog tied and hysterical

in her bedroom,
the apparent victim

of a horrifying home invasion.

But the police wonder,
how much is truth

and how much is fiction?

[music playing]

November 16th, 1993, a middle
class home in Clearlake,

Texas, a suburb of Houston,
approximately 9:30 AM.

[music playing]

SARAH POWELL: I remember this
little dog was licking my face.

And that's what woke me up.

I tried to move.

And I realized
that I was tied up.

I had no recollection of who
I was or why I was tied up.

I tried to remember things.

But as soon as I started
asking myself who I was

and what I was doing
there, it upset me more.

I grabbed the phone
cord with my teeth

and pulled it off the bed.

And that knocked the
phone off the hook.

[phone dings]

And then I thought,
who am I going to call?

I don't know anybody.

I don't even know where I'm at.

And then I looked down.

And I saw that there's
a redial button.

Hello?

I need some help.

ROBERT STACK: When she hit to
redial button with her tongue,

the girl reached the
local post office.

One of the employees was a
woman named Deborah Powell.

DEBORAH POWELL: They had
a child on the phone.

The child said that everything
in the room was pink

and there were teddy
bears everywhere.

And I knew, at that point,
that there-- there was no doubt

in my mind, it was Sarah.

ROBERT STACK: Sarah was
Deborah's 14-year-old daughter.

She had stayed home
sick from school.

By that time Deborah
got to her house,

police were already
on the scene.

What's going on?
Is she all right?

We don't know.

We haven't gotten
into the house yet.

[music playing]

Sarah?

DEBORAH POWELL: When
we went into the house

and I saw it was ransacked, I
knew she was in big trouble.

Sarah?

DEBORAH POWELL: I was scared.

I was frightened.

I didn't know what
I was going to find.

Sarah!
POLICE OFFICER: Ma'am.

Sarah!

[sighs]

Sarah?

Don't hurt me!

Sarah, honey, it's mommy.

It's-- what's wrong, honey?

It's mommy.

Don't hurt me.

Sarah, it's mommy.

It's mommy.
- Don't hurt me.

I don't know you.

Don't hurt me.

DEBORAH POWELL: I didn't know
what to think, what to do.

The more I tried to go
toward her and help her,

she began to panic.

Get out of the room.

I'll take care of her.

Calm her down.

Sarah, honey, I'm
going to be right here.

[crying]

It's all right, Sarah.

I'm a policeman.

Just let me get you out of this.

It'll just take a minute or two.

You know where you are?

I don't.

Where am I?

You're at home.

And you're safe now.

Can you give me a description of
the people who did this to you?

Were they friends of yours?

I don't know.

You can't remember anything?

No.

WADE L. SMALLEY:
My first impression

was, she was a teenager
that was up to something

and probably did not
want her parents to find

out what had happened that day.

[camera clicks]

[music playing]

ROBERT STACK: The police had
good reason to be suspicious.

Crime scene experts combed
every inch of the house

and found no evidence of forced
entry and no fingerprints.

Get the couch here.

ROBERT STACK: Most puzzling
of all, it was a rainy day

and there was not a single
wet or muddy footprint.

Did you get anything?

GARY GLADDEN: And we later
learned that nothing was taken.

So these sort of things make
us think that she's going to be

able to tell us what went on.

And, um, she will
know who it is.

And we'll solve this as soon as
Sarah is ready to deal with it.

What about before
you were tied up?

Do you remember anything
that happened earlier?

No.

Sarah, did you get yourself
into some trouble here?

Is that why you're afraid
to say anything to me?

I can't remember
anything that happened.

I just know that I
woke up all tied up.

SARAH POWELL: I could
tell that they thought

I was holding something back.

I was trying as hard as I could.

They were showing me
pictures and asked

me if I remembered my parents.

And, um, I couldn't
remember anything.

My first impression
was that she,

perhaps, had been threatened and
she was afraid to say anything.

We had always been very close.

And I felt assured
that, when the police

left, that this child
was going to tell

me what really happened.

ROBERT STACK: However,
even after the police left,

Sarah's story did not change.

DEBORAH POWELL: I even tried
to trick Sarah to prove

that she really could remember.

And after three days
of watching her--

a mother knows her child, her
movements, her characteristics,

everything about her.

After three days, I knew
something was wrong.

How about this,
your first portrait?

Do you remember
that green dress?

[music playing]
- No.

ROBERT STACK: Deborah
and her other daughter,

Helen, tried to jog Sarah's
memory with family photos.

That's you and me
in front of the house.

That's me and you?

Mm-hmm.
It was after church.

We had changed clothes.

And we were gardening.

DEBORAH POWELL: I
was extremely hurt

that my child didn't remember
me and didn't connect with me.

And I tried very hard not
to take it personally.

Good night, Sarah.

[music playing]

You know, honey, it's OK if
you don't feel like hugging me.

You're obviously my mother.

You have all my baby stuff.

I mean, you've got
to be my mother.

But I have no feelings for you.

It was like someone
kidnapped my child.

Her body was there.

But she was not.

Her mind was not there.

I want you to write
Sarah Powell for me.

I'll spell it for
you, S-A-R-A-H. A

ROBERT STACK: At
first, Sarah couldn't

remember how to write
her name, tie her shoes,

or even brush her teeth.

After two months,
however, she had

relearned most basic skills.

Sarah's school agreed to help
set up a home study program.

You know, if we
have any trouble

with the math, what I don't
know, Hallie can help you with.

[music playing]

Sarah, honey, what is it?

[sarah struggling]

Sarah?

[sarah moaning]

Tell me.

What is it?

[sarah moaning]

Sarah, honey, what is it?

I need some help!

Somebody help!

DEBORAH POWELL: I
was scared to death.

I didn't know what
was happening.

I thought, what in the world?

This looks like a seizure.

Go get the school nurse!

[sarah moaning]

Won't you help me hold her down?

Just hold her arm.

Tell me, what is it?

[sarah moaning]

It's OK.

It's OK.

[sarah crying]

I didn't let them in.

I didn't let them in.

DEBORAH POWELL: And the
only words out of her mouth

was, I didn't let them in.

And I remember thinking, maybe
this is the memory coming back.

But I couldn't be sure.

ROBERT STACK: In
fact, the memories had

returned in a terrifying rush.

It was 8:30 on the
morning of the attack.

Sarah had just
taken her medicine

and put her dog in
the laundry room.

SARAH POWELL: I remembered
walking up the stairs

when I heard a loud noise.

[banging]

So I started running
up the stairs.

And I heard a second loud boom.

I had rounded the corner.

And I could see
straight into my room.

That's when I saw people
trying to break in the window.

[banging]

I saw the phone
sitting on the bed.

So I just dove onto my bed
and called my mom at work.

[banging]

[dial tone]

[heart beating]

ROBERT STACK: The front door was
locked with a double dead bolt.

And Sarah couldn't
find her keys.

[banging]

Then suddenly, it was quiet.

SARAH POWELL: I started
sneaking up the stairs

and stood up slowly.

And I looked in my room.

And nobody was there.

[music playing]

[birds chirping]

[screaming]

Don't look up!

Stay right here.

Don't look up!

I promise.
I won't.

Shut up!

OK, go downstairs
and get the job done.

Someone help!

Shut up!

SARAH POWELL: He just pushed
my head down on the bed

and put a pillow on my head.

I believe he is
trying to kill me.

Now that's enough.

This ain't funny no more.

Shut up!

SARAH POWELL: I was at the
point where I just couldn't

hold my breath anymore.

So I just went limp
and pretended like I

was either passed out or dead.

[panting]

[panting]

When he realized that I
had seen them, he got mad.

You just had to get
a look, didn't you?

[crying]

What are you doing?

SARAH POWELL: And that's
the last thing I remembered.

I remembered passing out.

And that's what I remembered
in my first seizure.

And I thought that
was all at the time.

But it turned out it wasn't.

I was angry.

I was shocked.

I couldn't believe that she
had suffered such an ordeal.

And I had no idea at
that time that I hadn't

even heard the worst of it.

ROBERT STACK: Those
memories broke through

during a second flashback.

[door unlocking]

SARAH POWELL: I
remembered waking up.

And nobody was in the room
except for the smaller guy.

Why are you doing this to me?

Look, you just
got to be quiet, OK?

And I'm going to tie you up.

But you'll be all right.

[knocking]

SARAH POWELL: The bigger
guy, that's when he

walked in and saw us talking.

Oh, we're friends now?

You're not going
to get that gun.

SARAH POWELL: The bigger
guy, he had the gun.

We're such good friends now.

I'm sure you're
going to love this.

He held it to my head.

[gun clicks]

Please dont!

Shut up!

Just shut up!

Calm down!

You shut up.

I know what I'm doing.

You tie her up.

You do a good job, because
I'll be back to check on it.

SARAH POWELL: I know
that they were downstairs

ransacking the house.

Because I could hear things
falling to the floor.

I knew that there were
girls, because they

were talking to each other.

The smaller guy
unraveled the phone

cord once and plugged the phone
back in and set it on the bed.

I think he felt sorry for me.

ROBERT STACK:
Sarah was literally

in a life-threatening situation.

And then two things
happened that probably

insulted her brain.

One was that she
got hit in the head.

And the other one was
that she was suffocated.

So that the
combination of terror

and a psychological amnesia
component and then the physical

insults, I think, combined to
result in this unique amnesia

presentation.

We're all here for you.

We're all here.

And we're not going to leave.

ROBERT STACK: To date, Sarah
has had nine apparent seizures,

including this one
documented on videotape

at her grandparents' house.

With each episode, she
appeared to recover more

shards of her shattered memory.
- It's OK, Sarah.

We're all here for you.

[sarah struggling]

Can you describe
those people to me?

ROBERT STACK: The police,
however, were still skeptical.

The ones you
see on the screen.

ROBERT STACK: They put
Sarah under hypnosis to see

if her story would hold up.

There's a big
guy with muscles.

DEBORAH POWELL: She
told the same story

that she had always told.

And at that time, the hypnotist
told me, in his opinion,

she was being truthful.

[music playing]

ROBERT STACK: But the
police are still not sure.

Too many questions remain.

Who were the intruders?

Why did they ransack the
house, yet steal nothing?

Why did they leave no
evidence behind, not even

a fingerprint or a footprint?

And finally, does Sarah have
any of the crucial answers?

GARY GLADDEN: We're
not saying that,

uh, she's being untruthful.

We're saying we believe
that she believes

she's telling the truth.

But we're searching
for more facts.

We want to verify details.

And we want to see if she's
still repressing something.

I believe that I've remembered
the attack accurately.

I don't think there's
anything else to remember.

It's always possible.

But, um, I really feel
like everything is here.

And, um, I'm ready to, uh, maybe
see if I can get some answers

and find out why
this all happened.

ROBERT STACK: Over
the last three years,

Sarah has gradually recovered
the precious memories

that connect her to her family.

Once again, Sarah knows
and loves her mother,

her father and her sister.

But she will never be the same.

SARAH POWELL: I think
I'm completely recovered.

But there are
still a few things,

just like having nightmares.

I still have nightmares.

And, um, you know, there's
a few things like that.

But I think I'm--

I'm to where I can at
least handle it now.

ROBERT STACK: Based on
Sarah's description,

a police sketch artist
created a composite

of the taller male
intruder as he might appear

without the stocking mask.

As Sarah remembers,
he was Caucasian,

approximately 5 feet 10
inches tall and very muscular.

He had a tattoo of a
cobra inked in blue

on his right bicep or shoulder.

[music playing]

In a moment, the sabotage
of an Amtrak passenger train

last October evokes
haunting memories

of a similar tragedy that
occurred nearly 60 years ago.

[music playing]

October 9th, 1995, by now the
disturbing images are familiar,

the twisted wreckage of Amtrak's
Sunset Limited passenger

train strewn across
the Arizona desert.

The train had jumped the tracks
60 miles southwest of Phoenix.

Four cars plunged more
than 30 feet off a trestle

into a dry riverbed.

One person was killed.

Scores were injured.

The cause of the
tragedy, sabotage.

BRUCE J. GEBBARDT: When
we arrived at the scene,

it was apparent that someone
had tampered with the rails.

The investigation determined
that 29 spikes were removed--

purposely removed.

And not only were
the spikes removed,

but someone had pushed the
rail inside, so that the two

rails were not connected.

ROBERT STACK: The tampering
was simple but deadly.

In a typical section
of track, the rails

are connected at a joint.

With the spikes
removed, one rail

was shifted a mere 4 inches,
just enough to cause the crash.

Another piece of evidence
convinced authorities

that the saboteur or
saboteurs had a working

knowledge of railroads.

Despite the break in the
rail, the signal circuits,

electrical wires that
run through the track,

remained intact.

Consequently, the train
crew had no warning.

BRUCE J. GEBBARDT: The FBI
believes that they picked

that particular spot
in order to create

the most damage and, possibly,
the most injuries or deaths.

Uh, the train was going
about 50 miles an hour.

It's on a curve.

And it occurred right
before a trestle.

ROBERT STACK: Who derailed
the Sunset Limited?

Was it a violent
political statement

by domestic terrorists or
an isolated act of revenge

by a disgruntled
railroad employee?

Investigators soon discovered
frightening parallels

to another act of sabotage
more than a half century ago.

In 1939, 24 people
were killed and 117

injured in a suspicious train
wreck in the Nevada desert.

KEVIN BUNKER: The most
mysterious connection

between both accidents, the 1939
wreck and the Sunset Limited

wreck of last year, is
the fact that the sabotage

was done ahead of a
bridge in a desert

country of a remote location.

Um, there was definitely
care in advance,

you know, that the wires
were intact at all times.

Merely moving one
piece of metal--

in this case, one rail--

a matter of less
than 4 inches allowed

both trains to careen
off on the curve

as they crossed the river.

And the damage occurred.

ROBERT STACK: Curiously,
the 1939 crash

had been profiled in a
journal for railroad buffs

shortly before the
Amtrak accident.

The author, John Signor,
rejects the notion

that his article may have
inspired the would-be saboteur.

JOHN SIGNOR: I see
absolutely no connection.

There were-- uh, my
magazine was released only

the week of the derailment.

It was still being distributed.

I didn't even receive
mine until five days

after the derailment
in the mail.

Uh, there's been a whole
book published on it.

There's been numerous
articles on it over the years.

It's widely known.

ROBERT STACK: "The
Railroad Journal"

has a short subscriber list.

Federal authorities have
questioned many of the readers

and come up empty handed,
leaving investigators with just

one other concrete clue.

In the immediate vicinity
of the accident site,

FBI agents found four copies
of a computer-written diatribe

against the United
States government.

It was signed, Sons
of the Gestapo.

BRUCE J. GEBBARDT: We have
not been able to determine

the existence of such a group.

But we're still trying to
investigate to determine

whether or not that is a red
herring to try to throw us

off the investigation
or whether or not

that particular group exists.

ROBERT STACK: The note was
entitled, Indictment of the ATF

and the FBI, and
seemed to espouse

an extreme right-wing
view point.

It denounced the
federal sieges at Waco,

Texas and Ruby Ridge, Idaho.

It also posed the
question, who is

policing the ATF, FBI,
state troopers, county

sheriffs and local police?

But the note's
specific reference

to the shooting of a police
officer's wife, who, quote,

"knows too much about
drug kickbacks,"

may, ultimately, hold the
key to the author's identity.

BRUCE J. GEBBARDT: Based upon
that particular statement,

if we can pinpoint that
police officer or that police

department, that might give
us an investigative lead

to help us solve this
sabotage in Arizona.

People have to
feel safe when they

take public transportation.

Uh, and it's important
to solve this case,

so that we can show the
motive behind this particular

sabotage, that this
person is going

to jail as a result
of this sabotage

for an extremely long time.

And that'll send a
message to anybody

who might think about committing
sabotage in our rail system.

The one person killed in the
crash of the Sunset Limited

was a sleeping car attendant
named Mitchell Bates.

Because of his death, the
individual or individuals

responsible will be charged
with murder as well as sabotage.

[music playing]

Join me next Friday
for the dramatic season

finale of "Unsolved Mysteries."

[music playing]