Original subtitles

ANNOUNCER: Tonight on Unsolved Mysteries:

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Peace, harmony, enlightenment

and 11 untimely deaths.

This is a legacy of an obscure spiritual movement.

When a respected, young English professor joined up,

his family became concerned.

Now, he's disappeared.

And they're asking for your help.

To Elizabeth Grzeszczyk, Jonathan Palmer was dashing,

sophisticated, and fearless.

Everything you'd expect a world class race car driver to be.

Elizabeth fell madly in love.

Headlong into a bizarre mystery.

In Georgia, a secluded lover's lane,

a burst of gunfire, a young couple slain.

Now, two witnesses disagree on the identity of the killer.

Once upon a time, a young boy tossed a message in a bottle

into a landlocked lake.

He never dreamed he was launching it

on an improbable around the world journey.

Also tonight, an exciting update.

See how a viewer tip brought about the capture

of an accused killer.

Join me, perhaps you might be able to help solve a mystery.

[theme music]

By now, you've--

I'm sure you've heard of my death.

And I'm sorry to have to put you through this this way.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): In this haunting message

to his family, 50-year-old Don Hoffman revealed

he had terminal cancer.

A diagnosis he said three different doctors

had confirmed.

He ran some tests and found that I had terminal,

non-operable cancer.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Just hours after making this video,

Hoffman took his own life.

An autopsy however, found absolutely no trace of cancer.

Hoffman's children have never been

able to learn the names of his three doctors

or even if they existed.

On the videotape, Don Hoffman said goodbye to five

different family members.

There was no farewell to the heir

to Hoffman's estate, his second wife Terri.

Founder of a spiritual movement known as Conscious Development

of Body, Mind, and Soul.

Today, Terri Hoffman is a woman at the center of what some

might call a circle of death.

Among the victims, Mary Levinson, drug overdose.

David and Glenda Goodman, shot to death,

probable double suicide.

Jill Bounds, bludgeoned to death.

Sandy Cleaver drove off a cliff in broad daylight.

Sandy's 14-year-old daughter, Deveraux, drowned.

11 untimely deaths.

11 people with a direct or indirect link to Terri Hoffman.

Now, some believe a 12th name should

be added to this somber list, Charles Southern Jr.,

a respected English professor.

Southern mysteriously disappeared more than seven

years ago and his family believes

it may be no coincidence that he was

a disciple of Terri Hoffman.

TERRI HOFFMAN: Call upon your master.

Visualize him.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Peace, harmony, enlightenment.

Terri Hoffman offered all this and more

to Charles Southern and the many others who joined her group,

Conscious Development.

The Lord of the fifth plain to guide you at this time.

Part of the belief system Terri

taught us was that death was really just

another state of consciousness.

Through meditation.

PETER MUTH (VOICEOVER): And it wasn't a bad thing.

It wasn't anything to fear.

That we've created for you.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Peter Muth belonged to Hoffman's sect

for more than a decade.

Your personal battles with the darker energies.

PETER MUTH (VOICEOVER): The other thing

we learned was that the dark forces out there

in the universe had a name.

They were the black lords, black overlords.

They worked for Satan.

And fight those dark lords and I.

PETER MUTH (VOICEOVER): The group

we worked with were the white brotherhood

or good benevolent characters.

There were on God's side.

Good guys.

And we worked with them to combat the dark forces.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Terri Hoffman cultivated

followers around the country.

Among those who joined the Chicago branch

of Conscious Develop was Charles Southern Jr. Southern

was assistant chairman of the English department

at a local junior college.

Joining Hoffman's group was his most

recent foray in an ongoing search for spiritual truth.

An odyssey that had taken Charles Southern as far away

from home as India and Africa.

Charles was very interested in eastern religions

and various religions.

In fact, he studied all the different religions

that he could.

And that was his curiosity.

I think it got him in trouble.

My feeling is that his interest in Terri

was he felt a power there.

And that was real to him.

The fact that this power might not necessarily

have a good will or not.

And that was sort of irrelevant to him, I guess.

I will be able to relax.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Charles

rose quickly to a position of influence in Terri

Hoffman's organization.

Teaching classes and leading meditation sessions.

At your own pace.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Eventually he was

invited to her home in Dallas.

The darkness of the Lord comes and he is bright in his evil.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): By then, Terri Hoffman

had begun to portray herself as a target of attack

by the so-called black lords.

During special meditation sessions,

Hoffman exhorted her trusted inner circle to erect quote

"a psychic shield around her."

Peter Muth says he saw Charles at one of these meetings.

It continues.

PETER MUTH: I just met him briefly.

But the reason it sticks in my mind is he came as a visitor

to one of these closed meetings at Terri's house.

Where she's having psychic surgery

to repair damage to her done by the black lords who

have been attacking her.

Now, I see the intertwining of light and dark.

PETER MUTH: I felt that if Charles or any of us who

were in that room, Terri's master bedroom,

would only be there with Terri's invitation.

And only be there because they are true

believers in the reality she is selling us.

About creation and her role in it as a godlike figure.

Shield is strong but it must be stronger.

PETER MUTH: Our inner core group that were fighting the battles

lived in a kind of constant state of fear

because we're always under attack from black mag--

magicians who supposedly could kill us,

who could drive us insane.

And as the years went by, you saw people in your group

actually start to show signs of the strain.

Shows signs of mental and emotional problems.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Charles Southern was apparently

one of those who buckled under the pressure.

CHERYLE D. SOUTHERN: We found Charles

wandering on the street carrying a newspaper

stating, "I lived for art."

We got him in the car and took him to Michael

Reese Hospital for examination.

Stating that he might be suicidal

and he also seemed to be reciting

something in a strange language over and over and over again.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): During Charles' recovery,

his mother visited every day.

So did two members of Hoffman's sect.

You're looking good.

I'm feeling much better.

Great, I'm glad to hear it.

This is my mother.

CHERYLE D. SOUTHERN: Later, I was to find out from my mother,

who stayed with my brother during the whole five days,

that whenever she was there at the hospital and they came,

she was asked to leave the room and stay out.

How are you?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Upon his release,

Charles resumed his normal activities.

He remained active in Hoffman's group,

though friends say he eventually became disillusioned

with Hoffman herself.

As 1987 drew to a close, Charles made

arrangements for a trip to India during the Christmas break.

[phone rings]

Charles talked to his family several times in the days

before his scheduled departure.

His mother believes something was very wrong.

[answering machine beeps]

INGERBORG D. SOUTHERN (ON ANSWERING MACHINE):

Hello, Charles?

This is your mother.

I was concerned.

Mother?

Yes, it's me.

No. No, I'm fine.

I'm fine.

INGERBORG D. SOUTHERN: I told him that I was disturbed.

And I felt that I should come to Chicago.

And he said, no.

He said, you don't need to come to Chicago because I'm

perfectly all right.

And I would be leaving for India in three days.

So he assured me that everything was all right.

And with that assurance, I didn't go.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): It was the last time

Mrs. Southern spoke to her son.

Two weeks passed.

We, of course, wondered why we didn't hear from him.

But he had traveled so much and so often

to so many parts of the world, I wasn't overly concerned

until he was overdue.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Charles' parents drove

the 300 miles from Cincinnati.

When they broke into their son's house,

a nagging concern for his well-being

turned to outright fear.

Charles's passport show no sign of entry stamps from India.

If he had not flown overseas, then where was Charles

during the previous two weeks?

Stashed in a drawer was a vile containing

a powerful medication similar to the lethal South

American poison, curare.

CHERYLE D. SOUTHERN: We don't know why my brother had

this vile, which was later identified

to be a ganglionic blocker, which

is a medicine used in anesthesia, which

causes total muscle paralysis.

It has to be injected, too.

Not eaten.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Precisely arranged

on a ceremonial stool from Africa,

were Charles winter dress hat and his coat.

Neatly folded, inside out.

Only later would the family learn

the tableau was a Nigerian tribal symbol of death.

But who might have left this sinister display?

And finally, there were two scribbled notes.

Barely legible but appearing to constitute

a last will and testament.

This is Charles' handwriting but it doesn't make sense.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): One said

in part, I came under a bad influence

and I was trying to fight it myself.

Terri Hoffman was mentioned twice and named executor.

There is just a lot of death and unhappiness

around this woman.

And Charles' disappearance simply fits into that pattern.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Is there a pattern?

If so, that is marked by stunning coincidence.

Over a 12 year period, two of Hoffman's four husbands,

her only son, six followers, and two people related to

or employed by a follower came to an unnatural end.

Causes of death: one murder, four fatal accidents,

and six suicides.

In over half of these deaths, Terri Hoffman had been recently

named heir or beneficiary.

Designated to receive well over a half a million dollars

in cash, plus hundreds of thousands more

in real estate, fine art, and jewelry.

Should Charles Southern be added to the list?

Or can his long absence be otherwise explained?

Perhaps another mental break and a descent into the silent world

of Chicago's homeless.

It is important to note that authorities have not directly

linked Terri Hoffman to any of the deaths

and no charges have been filed.

Our letters and calls to Hoffman inviting

her to participate in this broadcast were not answered.

As for Charles Southern, at the time he vanished,

Hoffman assured his family that she had no idea

what had happened to him.

Next, if you're young, attractive, and female,

look out for a man named Jonathan Kern.

He may be out to steal more than your heart.

[theme music]

In the high octane world of Formula One Auto Racing,

danger and destruction may lurk around any corner.

[sounds of car accident]

Those who emerge triumphant, can win fame, fortune,

and the kind of adoration usually reserved

for rock stars and royalty.

Big time racing has spawned its own special breed of criminals.

Case and point, alleged con man Jonathan Kern.

He has reportedly made a career of impersonating

a noted Formula One racer named Jonathan Palmer.

The real Jonathan Palmer was a medical doctor before he

became a world champion driver.

He is all too familiar with Jonathan Kern.

JONATHAN PALMER: He is most at home wearing Versace clothes,

eating caviar and smoked salmon, and driving

Mercedes Benz sports cars and being

escorted by gorgeous women.

And as he cannot do that through genuinely earned income,

he resorts to fraud to achieve his desired lifestyle.

Weed

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Beginning in 1989,

Kern reportedly crisscrossed Europe.

Racking up bills for designer clothes, elegant restaurants,

and five star hotels.

All in the name of Jonathan Palmer.

All unpaid.

Police say that in 1994, Kern brought

his masquerade to America.

Elizabeth Grzeszczyk met him at a hotel in Miami, Florida.

Hello.

Hi.

I'm sorry.

I don't usually do this but I couldn't help

but notice that book you're reading.

I read it myself some time ago, I loved it.

I'm wondering how you like it.

I'm Jonathan Palmer.

There's a race car driver by that name, Jonathan Palmer.

That's me.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Elizabeth,

who happened to know about car racing,

had some initial doubts.

Wasn't your hair a little blonder?

It was blonder.

Yes, you're right.

ELIZABETH GRZESZCZYK: And I asked a few more questions.

And I said, well, what did you do before you raced cars?

And he said, I was a medical doctor.

And I said, that's right.

I knew some background.

I said, who did you race for?

And he told me Tyrrell, which I knew was a British team

and I thought, wow it really is you.

Here.

Proof.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Kern's passport was a clincher.

So--

ELIZABETH GRZESZCZYK: I started having

some doubt as to whether he was Jonathan Palmer.

But it seemed easier to believe he

was Jonathan Palmer than someone impersonating Jonathan Palmer.

That never entered my mind that someone would be doing that.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Elizabeth Grzeszczyk

wasn't the only one impressed by Jonathan Kern.

A car dealer provided Kern with a $78,000

Jaguar, free of charge.

DAVID COLBY: And they dropped the keys at the desk.

And they said this is for Mr. Palmer for his use

while he's in America.

And please make sure that he gets it.

And we always believed him and that just

made us more convinced that everything was OK.

Thank you, Elizabeth.

Oh, you're too sweet.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): For Elizabeth Grzeszczyk,

Jonathan Kern was almost too good to be true.

Don't toy with me, Jonathan.

If it's a fling that you're looking for,

you're going to have to look somewhere else.

Elizabeth, I'll put my hand on my heart and promise

that if this is what we really want,

nothing will keep us apart.

Do it.

ELIZABETH GRZESZCZYK: I couldn't understand, intellectually,

why he was interested in me.

I've been to a lot of the Formula One races

and I know a lot of them have beautiful girlfriends and wives

and they're wealthy.

And I'm just a nobody.

And I said to him, why are you interested in me?

And he told me he just wanted--

And nothing will keep us apart.

ELIZABETH GRZESZCZYK (VOICEOVER):

--a steady relationship.

He didn't want the jet set life.

And he convinced me over the next few days,

that I was what he was looking for.

[speaking foreign language]

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): With Jonathan Kern, Elizabeth saw

close up, the busy life of an international star.

Or so it seemed.

[speaking foreign language] As

Want anything else for dinner?

No, thank you. I'm fine.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Indeed, everyone at the hotel,

from bellhops to the manager, has been totally

snowed by Kerns' performance.

[speaking foreign language]

DAVID COLBY: He just wove a web of intrigue around us

and managed to stay.

Have a very nice holiday at the hotel for five days

and run up a huge bill in the restaurant.

And have bottles of champagne delivered to his room.

And we always believed him.

Despite the fact that he was already having a little bit

of a problem with my front desk about how

he was going to pay his bill.

Jonathan, excuse me.

David how are you this evening?

I'm fine.

We have some business to attend to at the front desk.

JONATHAN KERN: It's all been arranged

by the office in Italy. - Well, I know.

But we still haven't received an imprint.

I will call them tonight. Immediately.

Well, if you would just take a moment.

It won't take long at all.

I'm in a bit of a rush right now.

I will call the office.

I will have them ring you in the AM.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): One week

later, Kern left the hotel.

Without paying a dime on his $3,000 bill.

Eventually Elizabeth invited Kern to stay

at her home in Connecticut.

She still believed he was Jonathan Palmer.

Still believe he had put his career

on hold to spend time with her.

Come on inside.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): But Kern's thoughts that

apparently turned to money.

Elizabeth's money. JONATHAN KERN: Beautiful area.

Thanks.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Elizabeth

says that Kern convinced her to accept a personal check.

It was drawn on an Italian bank for 11

million lira, nearly $8,000.

At the time, I was nervous about it.

And the first question out of my family and friends

when I told them, was did you give him any money?

And I said-- first I lied and I just said oh, no, no.

And then once the check cleared, I said, see, It was fine.

Yes, I did give him some money but now the check has cleared

and I have the money back.

I've got a meeting tonight.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Jonathan's stay

with Elizabeth was punctuated by frequent business trips

to Manhattan.

As usual, he went in style.

Now, in a $125,000 Mercedes, lent to him by a local dealer.

He also carried Elizabeth's ATM card,

just in case of an emergency.

[phone rings]

Sure enough, Jonathan had an emergency.

JONATHAN KERN (ON PHONE): Hi, it's Jonathan.

Hi, what's wrong?

JONATHAN KERN (ON PHONE): You're not going to believe this,

my wallet was stolen.

So what are you going to do now?

JONATHAN KERN (ON PHONE): I don't know.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Once again,

Elizabeth put her own money at Kern's disposal.

You still have my ATM card, don't you?

JONATHAN KERN (ON PHONE): Yes.

That was in my suitcase.

Well, why don't you use that, until you get home.

JONATHAN KERN (ON PHONE): Wonderful, that's a great idea.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Elizabeth never dreamed

Jonathan, would use the card like a spigot

to drain her account of cash.

I love you, bye.

ELIZABETH GRZESZCZYK: I didn't really check up on him.

I could have gone through his things but I didn't.

I just continued to try and believe in him.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): However, by the time Jonathan

returned from Manhattan, Elizabeth had

had a complete change of heart.

I don't want to do this anymore.

Beth, you have to have patience.

I have been patient, it's not working.

Beth.

Look, you could stay here for a week.

If you want to.

But I don't want to do this anymore.

Look, you'll have your money on Monday.

It is not the money.

It's us.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Jonathan Kern

cleared out the next day.

Is this Stephania--

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Elizabeth began calling

numbers from her phone bill.

Matching them with names Jonathan had mentioned.

Do you know Jonathan Palmer?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Invariably,

the answers came back the same.

You don't?

I mean, didn't he call you?

I mean I have your phone number right here.

ELIZABETH GRZESZCZYK (VOICEOVER):

And that's when I knew, this hadn't been Jonathan Palmer

that was staying with me. - All right?

Call me when you get in.

I'll try.

ELIZABETH GRZESZCZYK (VOICEOVER):

Now, I realized some of the numbers

that I called were other women.

He'd been romancing other women while he was in Manhattan.

I had been taken, he hadn't been in love with me.

He was just using me.

I just felt awful.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): There was one final insult.

Nearly a year after Elizabeth's bank cleared the check

from Jonathan Kern, the bank learned

the check was in fact not good.

They debited Elizabeth's account.

Police say that Kern swindled totals some $15,000.

Elizabeth Grzeszczyk was forced into bankruptcy.

Jonathan Philip Kern has been charged

with forgery, felony criminal and impersonation, and larceny.

Kern is 42 years old, 5'10", 180 pounds.

Though he is British, he is not Jonathan Palmer.

I think the most important thing is to be very, very

suspicious if anybody comes to you wanting something

and saying that they are Jonathan

Palmer the Formula One driver.

This, me, is Jonathan Palmer.

Jonathan Kern does not look like me.

And I will have no problem if I'm in the US

and being asked all sorts of probing questions

to make sure that anyone can be sure that it is me who is going

to a hotel or shop or whatever.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): When we return,

the murder of a young couple spawns two conflicting theories

but only one known suspect.

But first, an accused killer spent 18 months on the run

until one of our viewers spotted him.

[theme music]

January 11th, 1995.

Pasco County, Florida.

He's running!

[gunshot]

[brakes screeching]

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): It was a brazen and stunning escape.

In police lingo, an accused killer was in the wind.

Albert Leon Fletcher was a career criminal,

who'd been awaiting trial on charges

of murder, armed robbery, and aggravated assault and battery.

All of the charges stem from his activities

during a single 24-hour period.

On April 2nd 1993, Fletcher and his cousin

Douglas Porter embarked on a wild rampage

that ended in a brutal murder.

Give me your money.

Come on, give me the wallet.

Give me your wallet.

[gun shot]

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The victim

was 32-year-old Nelson Medina.

He left behind a wife and two young children.

A few hours later, police arrested Albert

Fletcher and Douglas Porter.

Porter was convicted in the case and sentenced

to life in prison.

But Fletcher escaped before it could be brought to trial

and remained at large for 18 months.

But on the night of our broadcast,

he was finally flushed from hiding.

Here's Keely Shaye Smith with the details.

Bob, it was a viewer in Delaware

who pinpointed the whereabouts of Albert Leon Fletcher.

She recognized Fletcher as one of her neighbors

and immediately contacted the police.

On April the 29th, I received a telephone call

from the authorities in Delaware.

Advising me that they had a confidential informant

and they knew the whereabouts of Albert Leon Fletcher.

At that time, I sent a bulletin to Delaware

and this was around 3 o'clock that afternoon.

At about 3:30 or 4 o'clock they had him apprehended.

KEELY SHAY SMITH (VOICEOVER): Authorities arrested Fletcher,

without incident, at the Holly Hill

Estates in Smyrna, Delaware.

He had been living there, since his escape,

using the alias Kevin Woodside.

Apparently Fletcher himself had grown tired of life on the run.

I know when Albert was talking to me,

he was glad it was all over the with.

He to come back to Pasco Country and to Po County

and face the charges.

[theme music]

GRANT HENDRICKSON: I really missed you.

MICHELLE CARTAGENA: I missed you, too.

GRANT HENDRICKSON: So how about next spring break we go

away together, just you and I?

MICHELLE CARTAGENA: OK.

[car approaching]

[gun shots]

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): It was a savage double murder as

mystifying as it was ruthless.

Grant Hendrickson and Michelle Cartagena, two

straitlaced, Dean's List students from Mercer

University in Macon, Georgia.

Killed in a fearsome barrage of semi-automatic rifle fire.

No one knew why.

I'm starving.

I am, too What do you feel like eating?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): They had been sweethearts for about

eight months when they went out for dinner and a movie

on January 2nd, 1995.

It was a beginning of a new year, full of promise.

SARA SILIVIO: Grant was the nicest guy

and he treated Michelle just like gold

and would do anything for her.

Michelle was very serious about Grant.

And she cared for him a lot.

I believe that he had, would have liked to have married her.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): As Michelle and Grant drove

to the movie theater, they were seen by a railroad foreman,

named John Ambrose.

Michelle's white Honda Accord was in the right lane

and Ambrose was next to her when a blue Honda CRX suddenly

swerved in front of them.

[tires screeching]

JOHN AMBROSE: Blue Honda came up to my left

at a high rate of speed.

And immediately cut back in front of me

and cut into the right hand lane in front of the white Honda

and then started slowing excessively.

As I passed it, the driver looked at me like, you

know, like, what's up?

And it was a light skinned, black male

and it appeared he had a white male or female

in the car with brown hair.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The blue CRX Rex continued to slow.

Forcing Michelle to drop back.

When Ambrose exited the interstate,

he lost sight of both cars.

Despite what happened on the highway,

Grant and Michelle did get to the movies.

Afterwards, they drove to a popular scenic overlook

at nearby Lake Juliette.

In an extraordinary coincidence, John Ambrose

again found himself witnessing the prelude to murder.

Now with a co-worker, Ambrose happened

to be driving near the lake when he

spotted both the white Accord and the blue CRX.

That's odd.

Looks like the car I saw earlier.

The blue Honda was sitting there beside the road

with its parking lights on.

And it dawned on me at that time that that

was the same car that I'd seen on the interstate.

Because it's just such a outstanding looking car.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Just down the road,

Ambrose saw Michelle's car.

It was heading in the direction of the parking area

at Lake Juliette.

I thought it strange that I saw these two vehicles at two

different times within a three to four

hour span that same particular night.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Two other eyewitnesses,

teenagers parked at the lake were

able to pick up the account where Ambrose left off.

They told police that the blue CRX drove into the park

around 12:30 AM.

[gun shots in distance]

What was that?

Turn the music down.

Listen.

[gunshots in distance]

There What was that?

That can't be gunshots.

Somebody's go to be playing around.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Moments

later, the CRX raced out.

Let's go check it out.

[car starting]

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The next morning investigators

faced the carnage.

More than a dozen bullet holes perforated the car.

Michelle and Greg had been killed

instantly by multiple rounds of semi-automatic rifle fire.

Grant was also shot twice in the chest and once in the head,

with a handgun.

Michelle's body had been pulled from the car

and dragged nearly 25 feet.

Her clothing had been left in disarray.

It was a very horrendous type crime.

Something that I've never seen before and in my tenure

of law enforcement.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Everything

pointed to the blue CRX.

Then yet another witness came forward

and spun the investigation in a totally new direction.

Towards two young men in a white pickup truck.

The night of the murders, Steven Boyd

was in the theater parking lot just after Grant

and Michelle left the movies.

Hey, man.

Why don't you get out of the car, huh?

Come on.

MICHELLE CARTAGENA: Why don't you calm-- calm down.

I'm perfectly calm.

What are you doing with this guy?

- Michelle, get back in the car. - You're being a jerk.

- I'm being a jerk? - Yes.

- Michelle-- - How am I being a jerk here?

Some of his cussing words were sounding stuttered.

And that made me feel like he was-- he had been drinking,

a lot.

You've been drinking, haven't you?

I've had a few So?

Please just leave us alone.

OK?

I am sick of this.

Stop it!

Get in the car, Michelle.

He was trying to make the other guy get out of the car.

Because, to me, it felt like that used to be-- you know, it

felt like someone that she used to go with or something,

you know? - Hey.

Come on, man,

His friend came and told him, said let's go it's not worth

it.

And that's what I had noticed that this guy had

a knife with a gun on the side.

Because it just glittered.

It caught my eye.

[pick-up accelerates]

Stephen, I'm going to show you 12 photographs.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Steven Boyd's information seems

solid, credible.

Police ran a photo line-up hoping for more.

They got it.

That's him right there.

SPECIAL AGENT MARC MANSFIELD: The person that Steven Boyd

had picked out of the photo lineup

was a fellow college student.

Was a friend of Michelle's.

Had a crush on Michelle at one time.

He is a very soft spoken person.

But when you introduce alcohol into a scenario

and he's been drinking, then he gets--

he has a very violent temper.

And I've seen him do some very violent

things when he's been drunk.

Well he denied that he was in the parking lot

when he was confronted with this information.

He denied being anywhere in the area.

The alibi that he had provided us, to this day,

we're still unable to eliminate him.

He is still suspicious.

Why don't you just leave us alone, OK?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Now, everything

pointed to the young man in the parking lot.

But then there was a blue CRX, clearly

implicated in the killings.

Something was missing.

SPECIAL AGENT MARC MANSFIELD: Connecting the blue Honda CRX

and the individuals at the parking lot,

we have not been able to do that yet.

That is one thing that we are-- hopes

to-- when we do find this Honda CRX, to see

if there is a connection.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): When we return,

the remarkable story of what may be one of the longest

ocean voyages on record.

20 years and 25,000 miles.

[theme music]

Most unsolved mysteries, are fashioned by human hands.

But as you're about to see, the most capable mistress of

mystery may be mother nature.

July 16th, 1978.

The Finger Lakes of upstate New York.

Nine-year-old Kevin Reeder and his mother Merle,

wiled away a lazy summer afternoon

with a little homespun whimsy.

When you find this bottle.

- I know, please drop me a line. - Perfect.

Please drop me a line.

I sent this out from Elm Beach, Ovid.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): They signed the note

with Kevin's name and address and tucked it

inside an old green, glass bottle.

MERLE CUSHMAN: OK All right, you go ahead.

Give it a good throw.

Go ahead.

Good arm!

Mom?

What, sweetie?

How far do you think it could go?

I don't know.

MERLE CUSHMAN: We thought somebody around Aurora

might find it.

Or it would go to the south end of the lake to Ithaca.

Where there's college kids and they

might be interested and see where it went.

And right to Kevin and give him a new pen pal.

After we tossed a bottle into the lake, it was probably,

or it was part of a daily, daily thought process.

Waiting for the mail, checking the mail.

The anticipation.

Until it progressively faded away until you've

forgotten entirely about it.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Kevin grew up and moved away.

First to Florida, then to Texas.

Like a bottle in a lake, he drifted a bit, trying

to find his place in the world.

Kevin had no idea he had launched

the bottle on his own journey.

A journey that would one day amaze everyone.

In 1996, after 18 years, Kevin returned to his hometown.

A letter postmarked San Diego, California was waiting for him.

It had arrived only days before.

Inside, Kevin found the last thing he ever expected.

The message he had put in the bottle

almost two decades earlier.

It was accompanied by a note from two strangers.

KEVIN REEDER (VOICEOVER): When I called my mother

the first thing that came out of my mouth was,

you're never going to believe this.

It says, "Hello, Kevin.

I found your message in a bottle, like that song.

At the beach in San Diego, California.

I thought it would be funny to write back.

Pretty cool."

Yeah, it was signed by Rose and Bruce.

And it has a P.S. "Where the heck is Ovid?"

But there's no return address or phone number.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): 18 years

and more than 3,000 miles.

The concept of how long and far the bottle had traveled

was mind boggling.

Kevin's mother pictured it as a delightful adventure.

MERLE CUSHMAN: Bobbing along on the beach here and in a gully

there.

And somebody picked it up and just threw it back in again.

Here I go again.

Maybe a little bit of--

it heard some Japanese along the way.

Or spotted a Hawaiian girl sitting on the beach.

It had to have of bogged down in different places,

with floods and things.

Reappeared and just keep on moving until somebody

finally decided to pick up some trash on the beach

and found it.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The idea of a little bottle

that could.

Floating its way around the world is very appealing.

But take away that romantic image

and we are left with an astonishing conundrum.

How could an ordinary glass bottle transport itself

across an entire continent?

From an inland Lake in upstate New York to the shores

of the Pacific Ocean.

That is really amazing.

I think it's a bit unlikely because of all the difficulties

to get there.

But that is a truly amazing.

But not impossible.

Go ahead.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Not impossible.

The dreamers motto.

Dr. Richardson is one of the world's top experts

on global water currents.

Here's how Richardson says the most well traveled bottle

in history might have maneuvered through the waterways

of the world.

First, the bottle would have floated out of the lake

through the Erie Canal.

Into the St. Lawrence Seaway.

Then out into the Atlantic Ocean, near Nova Scotia.

That's the hardest part because it's

so easy for a bottle to go ashore and be found by someone.

Once it gets into the Atlantic, it's easy for a bottle

to stay adrift for many years.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): From Nova Scotia,

Dr. Richardson speculates the bottle might have

floated south down the eastern seaboard,

then veered east toward Europe.

It cruised the west coast of Africa

until a current swung it west to South America.

Once it managed to cross the northward moving currents

at the equator, the bottle would proceed back

toward Africa, past the Cape of Good Hope,

and into the Indian Ocean.

It would then move east until it reached the South Pacific.

After the battle managed to again float across the equator.

It must have drifted north past the Philippine

Islands and Japan.

After that, the bottle would have to travel east again.

Heading down the west coast of North America until it

reached his final destination, San Diego, California.

I'm a bit skeptical.

I think it went to California in someone's

pocket or someone's suitcase.

So I don't think it actually drifted there.

Because of the-- I think if you threw

a million bottles in Lake Cayuga,

you wouldn't have one reach the Atlantic.

So that's sort of my conclusion.

It's very difficult to get out through the canals and rivers

without going to ground or being found by someone.

Wind up and give it a throw.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): To Kevin, the details

of the bottles journey don't really matter.

Good arm!

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Whether it went by land or sea

or even air, what counts is that once upon

a time he sent out a message.

And at long last he has received an answer.

KEVIN REEDER (VOICEOVER): It gave me a sense of closure.

When I got back home and to find this note.

To tap back into my childhood.

And to kind of parallel it with my life.

The bottles journey with my life's journey

and just kind of a reaffirmation that, hey,

maybe you do belong right here.

And this is just a little back-up,

a little support for you.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Bruce and Rosa

did not give their last names or a return address.

But Kevin's mother feels sure she knows at least

a little bit about them.

The had to have some kind of a sense of humor

to bother to pick it up and open it read it and then you know,

send our a note back and say, where the heck is Ovid?

I like to picture it as a couple strolling the beach

and just coming upon it.

And taking the time and energy to allow somebody

to revisit their childhood like they--

like they've allowed me to do.

And also just to thank them for it.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Admittedly,

the incredible journey of Kevin's message in a bottle

is one of our smaller mysteries but it is

also one of our most charming.

We're hoping Bruce and Rosa will contact us here

at "Unsolved Mysteries" to fill us

in on the final chapter of Kevin Reeder's magical bottle.

[theme music]

On our next "Unsolved Mysteries,"

Bobby Fuller was on his way to rock and roll style.

Then, he turned up dead in the front seat of his car doused

with gasoline.

In Florida, two primitive fertility statues

cause an uproar when one woman after another,

after another, becomes pregnant with just a simple touch.

Join me next time for more "Unsolved Mysteries."

[theme music]