Original subtitles

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Tonight,

on "Unsolved Mysteries."

Kristi Martin of Houston, Texas was talented,

attractive, and intelligent.

She was just 19, poised to take her place in the world.

Then a quiet evening out with friends

was shattered by a deadly confrontation.

Tonight Kristi Martin's parents

and the authorities in Houston need your help to bring

her killers to justice.

Join me for this intriguing new case as well

as these fascinating mysteries.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): A college athlete

bounds from his bed and sprints through the frigid winter

night.

A young woman dreams of being chased and crashes

through her patio door.

Both are trapped in a world science has yet to understand,

the mysterious world of sleepwalking.

On the day Lois Capozzielo was reunited with her birth

father's family, she was stunned to learn

that her search was not over.

Perhaps someone watching can help find the twin sister

Lois never knew she had.

It took years of constant fighting before Jim

and Susan Harrison finally called it quits.

Eight months later, Susan vanished.

Now her children believe Jim Harrison knows exactly

what happened to their mother.

In 1988, an arson fire killed six firefighters

in Kansas City, Missouri.

Thanks in part to our broadcast, five suspects

are now in custody.

Join me for another intriguing addition

of "Unsolved Mysteries."

[theme music playing]

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): What happens when we sleep?

The ancient Egyptians believed that dreams

are a window to the future.

But where do dreams come from?

Does a mind work differently when the body is resting?

What happens when a person is suspended

between wakefulness and sleep?

This man was filmed at a university laboratory.

He is sound asleep.

And though he is hooked up to some of the most sophisticated

monitoring devices known to science,

no one can say why he is crawling around

as though he world wide awake.

It's a world beyond dreams, the mysterious world

of sleepwalking.

They often portrayed as harmless or amusing,

sleepwalking can in reality be dangerous even deadly.

Tonight two young athletes pushed to the edge

by life-threatening sleep disorders.

First, the strange and tragic case of Jarod Allgood.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): A talented football player

during his waking hours, Jarod Allgood

was a habitual sleepwalker at night.

From the time he was a young boy,

Jarod was known to wander around the house

slamming doors and occasionally bumping into walls

but never awakening.

BECKY ALLGOOD (VOICEOVER): He was a major sleepwalker

and all of my boys are.

And that scared me, and I'd talk about it,

and I'd ask the doctors about it.

And they would just pretty much poo-poo

it like it's really nothing.

Because I had asked, quite a few times in their lives,

all of my children in their lives.

You know, is this normal?

Are they supposed to be doing this, you know?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): When Jarod went to college in Iowa,

the episodes continued.

None were serious until the early morning

hours of February 9th, 1993.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Jarod was up, his eyes wide open,

but he was not awake.

Jarod ran more than a mile barefoot on the icy pavement.

Witnesses later reported that he sprinted with the urgency

of a runner at the finish line.

MARK MAHOWALD (VOICEOVER): People who have these episodes

spontaneously like Jarod get stuck in this state

between wakefulness and sleep.

And awake enough to perform complex behaviors,

not awake enough to be aware of what we're doing

or responsible for what we're doing.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Somehow in his sleep,

Jarod had managed to exit his apartment,

weave around park cars, and turn corners as he ran.

Then in mid-stride, tragedy.

[car horn]

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Jarod Allgood died instead.

Initially authorities speculated that he had committed suicide.

Jarod's mother didn't buy it.

When Becky Allgood talked to her son's roommate,

he told her that Jarod had been having

a recurrent dream that involved a man from the nearby town

of Bertram.

BECKY ALLGOOD (VOICEOVER): Jarod said it was a crazy dream,

I'm running a race with the man from Bertram,

only the man is in a car and I'm on foot.

Running a race as hard as I can run.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Was Jarod

playing out his jumbled dream the night he died?

Some might dismiss it as mere coincidence.

Jarod was killed as he raced down state highway

30, highway that leads to Bertram.

Becky Allgood became absolutely convinced that her son

had not taken his own life.

The experts agreed.

There was not one shred of evidence

that he had depression or any other reason to commit suicide.

There was no evidence of drugs or alcohol involved.

There was absolutely no reason in the world

for him to have been out there.

And the whole circumstance was so inappropriate

that the only reasonable explanation

is that this was yet just another one

of his sleepwalking episodes.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): In the end,

authorities bowed to the evidence.

Jarod had apparently been sound asleep the moment

he got out of bed, to the moment he was killed on the highway.

Jarod Allgood became the first person in Iowa history

whose death was ascribed to sleepwalking.

When I hear stories about Jarod Allgood,

I think that possibly could have been me.

And that scares me to think that.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Like Jarod, Heidee Ruiz

is a dedicated athlete.

Her sleepwalking began in 1991.

She was attending college on a track and field scholarship

and felt a crushing pressure to perform.

[screaming]

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Heidee's sleepwalking

invariably seem rooted in a nameless, faceless terror.

HEIDEE R. RUIZ (VOICEOVER): I wasn't

running from a particular person or thing.

I was just running because I felt like it

was the end of the world.

The scariest part was not knowing what I was doing,

and the feeling that I had inside when I woke

up out of the night terror.

I just-- I can't even explain it, it was like a monster

inside me trying to get out.

I heard a blood-curdling scream, a scream at the top--

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Heidee's mother witnessed two

of the most violent episodes.

--all of the sudden, bang, two big hits where I could

hear her coming through doors.

Help me!

Heidee, Heidee.

BONNIE-KAY CALDER (VOICEOVER): I have to tell you the force

of her running through that hall,

I will never forget because of the terror of the looking--

of terror on her face was so incredible.

And for a mom to not know what to do in order for her not

to be able to hurt herself again, was a real scary thing.

Real scary.

I had the biggest episode was in my mom's house

back in August of '95.

HEIDEE R. RUIZ (VOICEOVER); Must gotten out of bed,

and took one step and bolted straight into the wall.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The impact tore open

Heidee's forehead, she gashed her wrist

as she fell to the floor.

Did you fall down, honey?

OK, let me see.

I decided I couldn't handle it anymore.

I was terrified, and I said I need to get--

go seek help.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Heidi was tested

at the world-renowned Stanford University's Sleep Clinic

in northern California.

NURSE: --a different look completely here.

I had electrodes all over my head,

I had a pulse on my finger, I mean I was hooked up.

Like I feel like I was from Mars.

Was very, very comfortable, but it was an extensive test

and they have to see what was going on.

NURSE: --start the testing process here in a moment or so.

We wanted to see if we might be able to capture

a sleepwalking episode, but that can be rare because it

might not occur every night.

But secondly, we also wanted to rule out the possibility

that it wasn't something else, such as seizure activity,

a sleep-related breathing disorder, or even leg movements

that were causing the person to awaken

and triggering off an attack.

In Heidee's case, we really didn't

see any of those triggers.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): While Dr. Kushida could find

no physiological causes for hiding sleepwalking,

he was able to pinpoint circumstances

likely to kick off an episode.

There's a lot of different triggers.

One of them is sleep deprivation,

that's known to definitely increase

the chance of sleepwalking if a person is sleep deprived.

Secondly, stress can also increase

the chance that the person might have sleepwalking.

[screams]

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Both Heidee Ruiz and Jarod

Allgood fit that pattern.

They're sleepwalking flared up under heavy emotional pressure

and lack of sleep.

Heidee has now brought her sleepwalking

under control through medication and careful stress management.

Unfortunately, a lot of sleep is still

a mystery, a big mystery in terms of a lot of the causes

of these sleep disorders.

But, you know, it's something that we're all

trying to really work hard on.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The phantasmagoric world

of sleep and dreams, once the domain of poets,

has become the target of mainstream research.

But after decades of testing, scientists can still only

ponder mysteries of the night.

It is important to note that while researchers cannot fully

explain sleepwalking, they are able

to control it in most cases.

If you or someone you know is suffering

from a serious sleep disorder, it should not be ignored.

Please consult a trained physician.

Everyone knows that you're going

to die sometime in your life.

But you expect to die on your own,

not when you're 19 years old.

I think if Kristi would have died from sickness or in a car

wreck, it would just be a lot easier to accept than the fact

that she was actually murdered.

Because it was just senseless and there was no reason for it

at all.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Kristi Martin, an honor roll student

and former high school cheerleader,

was gunned down two days before Christmas in 1995.

That Friday evening, she and a friend

named Wendy Wright double dated with two

brothers, Joe and Sal Barrera.

I got you a good present, though.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The four had known

each other in high school.

Christmas break from college was a perfect time to reconnect.

Just 15 miles, yet worlds distant from the restaurant,

members of an East Houston street gang

were cranking up their Friday night.

Hey, Flaco. What's up, homes?

What's up, Flaco?

Come on over here, man.

MICHAEL SIMPSON (VOICEOVER): On the night of the homicide

Jose Luis Rios, who's gang name is Flaco,

and Jorge Mendez were out that night riding around drinking,

looking for some kind of problems to get into.

Looking to do something wild.

Hey, Flaco, where's the party at?

MICHAEL SIMPSON (VOICEOVER): I have dealt with Flaco before.

He's told people in the past that it

was the ultimate rush, the ultimate high,

to shoot somebody.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Across town, the two

couples finished their meal.

They headed to River Terrace Park,

a popular hang out for generations.

Kristi's dad had gone there as a child.

When we were kids, we fished there, crabbed there,

we picniced there, you never had to worry about anybody

bothering you for any reason.

It was just a nice place to take your family.

That might be one of the reasons the kids went there,

they felt safe there.

Man, I'm cold. I'm going go inside.

Want to go inside? - Yeah.

Kris, do you want to go for a walk?

I'll go for a walk, yeah.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Unbeknownst

to Kristi and her friends, the park was

no longer neutral territory.

Flaco's gang liked to think it was theirs, and theirs alone.

FLACO: What's that over there, ese?

I don't know. Let's go check it out.

You want to?

Yeah.

Let's go.

Andale, andale.

Hurry let's go.

SAL BARRERA (VOICEOVER): We were just sitting there talking.

When the truck drove up, I couldn't see it because my back

was towards them.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Sal Barrera,

who still lives in Houston, asked

that we obscure his features for this interview.

I thought it was just somebody else going to park next to us,

you know, so they could, you know,

do whatever they wanted to do.

Oh great, who are these guys?

Hey, my homeboy is going to hook up with you.

- We probably need to go, OK? - No look, just ignore them.

They're probably drunk. - Can we just go?

Come, on.

Let's go.

I got it, I got it.

[gunshots]

SAL BARRERA (VOICEOVER): I crawled as fast as I

could to the front of my car.

By the time I got to the front, they had took off.

And I just see Krisit, you know, on the floor, just,

you know, laying there.

I just ran right over there towards her

and I was talking to her and yelling please don't go,

don't leave us.

Oh god, Kris, Krisiti.

JOE BARRERA (VOICEOVER): She's just there, breathing

slowly and just staring at you.

You knew she was already going to die.

I mean she had the glare in her eyes

like she's trying to look at you but looking past you, you know?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Wendy Wright and the Barrera brothers

escaped without serious injury.

However, Kristi Martin had taken a direct hit

from a semiautomatic assault rifle.

She died at the scene.

JUDY MARTIN (VOICEOVER): When Kristi didn't come home,

my concern was maybe she had a car accident.

I never dreamed in a million years

there would be something such as a drive-by shooting

because I guess I just assumed that only happened

to other people and it didn't happen to somebody

that was a good person.

And that wasn't involved in gangs in,

you know, anyway it all.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Six days after the shooting,

Jose Rios alias Flaco was formally charged

with killing Kristi Martin.

He and Jorge Mendez, who reportedly

drove the getaway truck, had previous run-ins with the law.

Mendez was also charged with murder.

Four weeks before the attack, Mendez had legally

purchased the assault rifle, allegedly

used by Flaco in the killing.

It's hard to swallow that these kids were able to get out

there and buy assault type weapons

and then to come back and just fire them at will anybody

they want.

Well the type of gun that this man bought--

I wouldn't even call him a man, this animal bought,

is sold to kill people.

[gunshots]

BRIAN MARTIN (VOICEOVER): He bragged

to some of his gang members that he was

going to kill somebody with it.

He bought this gun to kill somebody.

Just so happened it was our daughter.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Flaco has now been

linked to a second killing.

In March of 1996, an uncle of Jorge Mendez

was gunned down at an intersection.

CHUCK LEITHNER (VOICEOVER): The uncle

had told Jorge, along with Flaco,

that if they didn't turn themselves in that he would

call the police on him himself.

And within two days of that reported meeting between him,

he ends up being shot.

The information we're picking up off the street

is that Jose Luis Rios, Flaco, is also taking

credit for that homicide.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): While Flaco runs free,

Brian and Judy Martin are already

starting to dread the one year anniversary of their daughter's

funeral, Christmas Eve.

Christmas will be really hard from now on.

It just will never be the same.

So it's really a sad time.

I know Christmas should be a happy time,

but I can't imagine it being any sadder than Christmas Eve will

be this year without Kristi.

Losing your mother or a brother, I mean that's rough.

I've lost them both, my dad, both my parents have died,

my brother has died, all I have left

is my family, my immediate family.

And when you lose a child, it takes

a big hunk out of your heart.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Jose Luis Rios, also known as Flaco,

was a lean 5'7", 130.

He has numerous tattoos, two teardrops under his left eye,

a knife sticking into his skull on his right forearm,

and on his left middle finger the outline of a cross.

[music playing]

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Next, a joyous family

reunion gives rise to an intriguing unsolved mystery.

Does this woman have an identical twin sister?

Also, an act of arson leaves six firefighters dead.

Eight years later, the hunt for suspects comes to a close.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): You may

recall these dramatic scenes from a previous broadcast.

Firefighters in Kansas City, Missouri

volunteered to help us recreate an unsolved crime that left

six of their comrades dead.

On November 29th, 1988 pumpers 30 and 41

were called to a construction site, where a trailer

had been torched by arsonists.

There were explosives at the scene, but a survey of the area

suggested they had been secured in storage

sheds known as bunkers.

Just the fact that the bunker was there,

in fact there was two bunkers there, led

that captain to believe that's where the explosives was,

and this trailer with just a regular,

normal construction trailer with tools and equipment in it.

And therefore, there was no danger.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): However, when the department

supervisor arrived, he learned that there

were in fact large quantities of explosives inside the trailer.

Let's get them out of there, John.

(ON RADIO): Pumper 41 or pumper 30 answer.

Pumper 41 or pumper 30, answer.

Pumper 41 or 30.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Sunrise

confirmed what Kansas City had been dreading,

six of their firefighters were dead.

KAREN OLDHAM CABLE (VOICEOVER): I

guess I feel like if I knew who did it,

we'd know why they did it.

And I don't think they were trying to kill six firemen,

but somebody was trying to do something to somebody

and six men are gone.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): THE shocking crime

triggered the biggest manhunt in the city's history.

But after nearly eight years, those responsible

were still running free.

Then Kansas City firemen pushed aside painful memories to help

us get this story on the air.

Keely Shaye Smith has more.

Bob, the efforts of the Kansas City Fire Department

paid off in a big way.

More than 600 calls poured into our phone

center and two hotlines set up by local authorities.

The infusion of new leads led directly to the indictment

of five suspects.

KEELY SHAYE SMITH (VOICEOVER): When the long awaited news was

announced at a press conference last June,

the excitement was tempered by lingering emotions.

Even though it's very difficult for many

of us who participated in that recreation of that event.

It came at a time when many of our spirits were down,

leads that wouldn't help, and we needed a lift,

and we got a lift.

KEELY SHAYE SMITH (VOICEOVER): All five suspects are now

facing a federal arson charge.

George Frank Shepard, his brother Earl,

their nephew Brian Shepard, Frank

Sheppard's girlfriend Darlene Edwards, and Richard W. Brown.

Citing the pending trial, authorities declined

to speculate on motive.

If convicted, the suspects could spend the rest of their lives

in prison.

[music playing]

Tonight is November 8th, 1996.

And somewhere a young woman is likely

celebrating her 33rd birthday.

She has no idea that she has an entire clan of loving

relatives eager to meet her.

With your help, she may find out tonight.

Hey, she's here!

Hey, she's here!

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): July 21st,

1995, Altadena, California.

It was a day of homecoming, a day Marjorie Kim

and her long-lost granddaughter Lois

Capozzielo will never forget.

LOIS CAPOZZIELO (VOICEOVER): We all felt

just a click the minute we met.

It's hard to explain how total strangers who know nothing

about each other can just click and bond in a matter

of moments, within one hug.

It was like an answer to a prayer

that I had prayed for 32 years knowing that she was out there.

We've been anxious just as much, waiting.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): 32 years

Lois and Marjorie had waited to meet each other,

but it was hardly the end of the search.

In fact it was just the beginning of a new quest.

A quest neither had imagined possible.

Lois Capozzielo was born in November of 1963

and adopted almost immediately.

Her birth father was Marjorie Kim's son John, a policeman

who died in 1979.

Years before when John was only 17,

he learned that his high school sweetheart Judy was pregnant.

The news threw both households into turmoil.

By the time Lois was born, the families

were barely on speaking terms.

[doorbell rings]

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Marjorie

had wanted to adopt the baby, but Judy's parents

would not permit it.

Judy's sister came by on a slide to give

Marjorie word of the birth.

Oh hi, Patty.

Hi.

Come on in.

No, I can't.

I've got to get back home.

Look, I just wanted to tell you that Judy gave birth today.

Oh gosh.

A boy or girl?

Twins.

Girls.

Oh how wonderful.

But one of them died.

Oh, poor Judy.

How is she doing?

She's doing all right.

Well can I come see her?

No, I don't think that would be a good idea.

Look, I've got to get going.

Give her my best.

I will.

And thanks for coming.

Sure.

MARJORIE KIM (VOICEOVER): It was not a happy time.

And that date always stuck in my mind over the years.

She'll be two, she'll be three, she'll be four,

she'll be five, on through the years.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Those painful thoughts continued

until the day of the reunion.

The introductions were barely over

when Marjorie and Lois realized that the past still

held a perplexing mystery.

It's good to see you too, grandma.

You should have come back.

What do you mean?

Honey, you should have come back.

I'd never been to her house before,

so to have someone tell me why didn't I come back,

I was very confused.

And I said, I don't understand what you're asking me.

And she says, well you've been here before.

Yes you were honey.

About 15 years ago, huh Derek.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Lois's cousin, Derek Stain,

remembered vividly.

And I was in the front, and I was riding my bike,

and a car pulled up, and a girl got out.

There's somebody here.

Hey.

Can I help you?

I'm looking for Judy Kim.

Does she live here?

Well this is the Kim residence,

but I'm sorry there's no Judy here.

There isn't?

No.

Well do you know any Judy Kim?

I'm sorry.

Is there some way I could help you?

No.

No it's OK.

I'm sorry to bother you.

Thanks.

That girl looks so familiar.

I know her from somewhere.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): It was Derek who made the connection.

She sure looked like Uncle John.

And then it hit me.

And to myself I said dear god, let her leave.

It was Johnny's daughter and I let her leave.

She says she looked just like your father,

she looked like you, you know, I don't understand if you

haven't been here, who was it?

My twin?

But she died.

What if she didn't?

Oh god, Lois.

Oh god.

It's like a little thing in your stomach

just kind of clenches up and you're just thinking,

oh my god you know, she didn't die.

She's alive and she's walking around there somewhere,

searching just as I did.

[babies crying]

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Adoption agencies often try

to keep twins together.

Lois and the Kims now suspect someone claimed

that one twin died in order to make

it easier to place the babies.

Lois looked for a death certificate for her twin,

but despite a thorough search she found nothing.

LOIS CAPOZZIELO (VOICEOVER): I think

the lack of any of that information

proves to me that she is alive.

And that that girl who came to the door was my twin sister.

I'm looking for Judy Kim.

Does she live here?

Well this is the Kim residence--

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Incredibly, when Lois contacted

her birthmother's family, they told

them almost identical story.

The mysterious young girl had shown up at their home

at around the same time.

IS there some way I could help you?

MARJORIE KIM (VOICEOVER): I am sure in my heart

that the girl that came to my house 15, 16 years ago,

was my son John's daughter, the twin.

I would love with all my heart to see

her, to be able to see her like god

answered my prayers with Lois.

Let's sit underneath, shall we?

Alrighty.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): For Lois,

finding her father's family has been a wonderfully

rich and rewarding experience.

An experience she hopes to soon share with her twin sister.

I got a couple hot dogs.

Hot dogs will do it.

LOIS CAPOZZIELO (VOICEOVER): She has a family who loves her,

who'd like to get to know her.

You may have missed the first 30 years or so of our life,

but we have many more to get to know each other.

And I'd like to meet her and her be a part of my life.

Lois's twin sister was born at St. Anne's Maternity Hospital

in Los Angeles.

The date on the birth certificate

would be either November 8th of November 13th, 1963.

Lois's twin would have been 16 or 17 when she visited

the Kims in the late '70s.

Today she is 33 years old and would no doubt look

very much like Lois Capozzielo.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): In a moment, two brothers

search for answers in the baffling

disappearance of their mother.

You're about to meet two young men on a desperate quest

to find out what happened to their mother.

She disappeared more than two years ago.

The police are convinced that she is dead,

the victim of foul play.

And her sons are convinced that their stepfather

is the one person who may know what happened.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): August 5th, 1994.

In the late afternoon, 19-year-old Nick Owsley

arrived at his mother's house in Ruxton, Maryland.

They had planned to spend the evening together.

The door was ajar and she was nowhere to be found.

Mom?

Hey mom, you home?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Her car was gone and a set of keys

lay on the kitchen table.

Nick waited until 2:00 a.m., then went home for the night.

NICK OWSLEY: Mom?

Mom, you alright?

When I woke up that morning, I was really concerned.

Called her house and she didn't answer.

And at that moment, I realized that something

was really, really wrong.

And I felt like at that point, she

was probably dead because it was so unlike her and so out

of character.

And basically I haven't felt anything

different since that moment.

We had a memorial service, we never had a funeral.

And that kills me.

The fact that she's out there somewhere,

this wonderful amazing woman who did so much for so many people,

and we can't give her that final tribute and do what's right.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Susan Hurley

Harrison grew up in a wealthy, close-knit Massachusetts

family.

In 1967 she married one of her brother's roommates at Harvard.

Their sons, Jon and Nick, were born five years apart.

But in 1984, Susan left her husband

and became involved with a man named Jim Harrison.

Four years later, they were married.

From the start, the relationship was

reportedly marked by heavy drinking, frequent fights

and mutual abuse.

Problems with Jim Harrison attributes to Susan's

alleged manic depression.

JIM HARRISON (VOICEOVER): Susan, when she was not

manic depressive, was just a wonderful woman

and a wonderful wife.

And when the manic depressive aspect came on periodically,

that was bad she would start screaming and yelling

and she would start destroying things in or around the house.

And she would run around the house and use bad language.

It was-- it was really said and really tough.

It's-- it's another excuse that he tries to use.

Tries to take the blame from himself for what

even now, even still, even when she's not around to say,

OK maybe it was my fault.

Well, I think the first time that I recognized that there

was abuse in the relationship was

when I actually saw abuse myself when I was about 12 years old.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Susan and her ex-husband shared

custody of Nick and John.

On the night Nick claims he witnessed abuse,

John was off visiting prospective colleges.

Nick was staying with his mother and Jim Harrison.

SUSAN HURLEY HARRISON: Get away from me.

JIM HARRISON: Listen, don't tell me what to do.

This is my house, I pay for it, you don't bring

anything into this house--

NICK OWSLEY (VOICEOVER): I remember waking up around 2:00

in the morning, 1:00 or 2:00 in the morning,

and hearing voices and some screaming.

Mom?

What's going on out there?

NICK OWSLEY (VOICEOVER): And she said, Jim has been hurting me,

he won't leave me alone.

We're just having a little fight.

Jim won't leave me alone.

Are you OK?

NICK OWSLEY (VOICEOVER): And I said,

well I got to get out of here.

And so I called my brother's girlfriend at the time,

and talked with her and she said you should get out of there,

I'll come pick you up go outside, stand in the driveway,

and then I'll come get you.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Nick says that while he waited,

a battle moved outside.

Susan, you forgot these.

Why do you want to hurt my lampshade?

Open that trunk.

I don't want those ugly lampshades around.

Get away.

Open that trunk.

Leave her alone.

Are you OK?

I see my mother as a victim of domestic violence

and a victim of abuse.

And I think that she was caught up in a vicious cycle

that a lot of women who are in those same situations

are caught up in.

And that it's just very difficult for them to leave.

The only thing I've ever done is defended

myself when she attacked me.

And to some degree, that involved my simply leaving

the house for a day or so.

And other times, putting myself into the bedroom

and closing the door and just trying not to let her abuse me.

But I've never abused her, never.

Our uniformed police officers had been called to their home

on a number of occasions for a cause of domestic violence.

And when they responded to the home,

they found on occasion Susan had some injuries that

were questionable, there had been some drinking

on both parties, and it was usually

a very confused situation for the officer to determine

exactly what had happened.

[horn honks]

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Finally in January of 1994,

Susan left Jim Harrison.

She rented a house and launched her own business,

selling handcrafted lampshades.

MOLLY HURLEY MORAN (VOICEOVER): She felt very good about it.

She called me a couple of times and said,

you know, this is what you've been

talking about all these years.

And she just said what a wonderful feeling

it was to know that she could go out there

and do something on her own.

She said at the end of the day, she felt so good

having worked all day at this.

And so there was a lot-- we thought that she was finally

getting herself together.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): However, that wasn't the case.

Susan was still seeing Jim Harrison on occasion.

By all accounts, the fighting continued unabated.

I found out-- she told me that she

had seen him a couple of times.

And obviously that made me angry,

made me feel sick to my stomach.

All of a sudden I saw the slippery slope,

and I saw her sliding back into all

the things that she worked so hard to get out of

and that worried me.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Nick Owsley

shared his brother's concerns.

Nick says it in early August of 1994, he confronted his mother

and delivered an ultimatum.

I want this to end now.

It's either Jim or us.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Family members

say that the next morning, Susan decided

to leave Jim for a good.

But just two days later, Susan Harrison disappeared

and police went to speak with Jim Harrison.

He told them that Susan had visited him

on three separate occasions a previous day.

I'm Officer Knot, this is Officer Rogers.

On the third time she arrived about 7:00,

and she attacked me verbally and it was very discouraging.

And she asked for glasses of wine

and I gave her what she asked for.

And she went to sleep and woke up and she had entirely changed

and she was delightful and good and it

was very loving and wonderful.

You could decorate this room just the way you always wanted.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): According to Jim Harrison,

he and Susan drank wine and talked for about two hours.

Around 9:00 p.m., Susan took another nap.

And when she woke up, it had gone bad again.

I'm just wondering if maybe it was

a dream that she had caused her to go

bad instead of staying good.

Jim, why did you change the locks to the house?

Susan, we went through this an hour ago.

So tell me again.

I didn't change the locks in the house.

I changed the locks in the family room.

It's my house.

Did you change the locks, Jim?

Yes, it is your house.

Now just calm down.

What is that?

Problems with the power.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Jim Harrison claims as Susan's mood

turned uglier by the minute.

Susan, just calm down,

Don't tell me to calm down. I'm sick of calming down.

Calm down, will you?

Don't.

And don't walk away from me.

Good night.

Don't walk away from me.

Talk to me.

Susan, you're being bad again.

JIM HARRISON (VOICEOVER): I left the family room,

and went upstairs to my bedroom and she followed

me to the bottom of the steps.

And she stayed there and yelled at me up the steps

for a short period.

And then left.

Left the house and started her car and drove out.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Police found no flaws

in Jim Harrison's account.

Then three weeks later Susan's car, a 1992 green Saab

convertible, was discovered at National

Airport in Washington DC, some 50 miles from Baltimore.

Records show that the car entered

the parking lot around 6 a.m.

on August 6th, 1994, the day Susan disappeared.

The keys were in the ignition, the gas tank

was full, raising the possibility

that Susan had simply walked away from her life.

Well in any missing person investigation, you know,

we approach it in several pronged manner.

Could they be missing on their own accord and they

don't want to be found?

Or is there foul play?

And we haven't uncovered any information

that would lead credence to her trying to disappear

in any fashion whatsoever.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): In November of 1994,

Jim Harrison agreed to take a polygraph.

He has publicly admitted that he failed the test,

but claims the test was not administered properly.

Today Jim Harrison maintains he had nothing to do

with his wife's disappearance.

I love Susan and I really do pray to God

that she's alive and well.

And I pray to God that you all can help find her

and please do your best to help find her.

There's no indication of what we may consider

a strange or type of killer.

So we feel that what happened to Susan

was committed by someone close to her, that there had been

some type of a dispute, and someone

lost control and circumstances took a tragic twist.

I have dreams of walking down the street with her

or just running into her somewhere.

And all this time she's been gone, finally getting

a chance to be with her again.

And I know it's just a dream, I know

that there's not a chance that she's ever going to come back.

But I just I miss her so much and I at least

get to see her in these dreams and get to be with her.

But there's no doubt in my mind that she'll never, ever

be able to be with me again.

[music playing]

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): On our next "Unsolved Mysteries."

What happens when we die?

For a man named Howard Storm, a medical emergency

took him to the brink of death and on a personal journey

into the very depths of hell.

That place was more full of torment and despair

than anything you could ever imagine in this world.

There's a place where you wouldn't

want to send your worst enemy.

Join me again next time for "Unsolved Mysteries."