Original subtitles

[music playing]

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ANNOUNCER: Tonight on "Unsolved Mysteries."

ROBERT STACK: Meet three incredible animals

whose courage meant the difference

between life and death.

What fantastic psychic powers transformed

these ordinary house pets into extraordinary heroes?

And from the realm of the unexplained,

a young boy describes, in vividly accurate detail,

the death of a Civil War soldier.

A mother is stunned by her two-year-old daughter's

chilling account of a freak accident and a watery grave.

Are these remarkable stories proof

that reincarnation is real?

From the current case file, a beautiful young business woman,

an intimate rendezvous, a shocking plunge

from a hotel balcony.

The police must decide--

was it an accident or murder?

Glendeen Butterfield and her niece Kelli Ann Ayres

were as close as any mother and daughter.

But some 20 years ago, circumstances

forced them apart.

Our viewers could help bring them back together again.

It is a twisted and deadly scheme--

booby-trapped packages cleverly disguised as promotional gifts

and delivered through the mail, courtesy of a madman.

Join me for these intriguing cases.

Perhaps you may be able to solve one of tonight's

unsolved mysteries.

[theme music]

[music playing]

Children-- we think of them as innocents,

raw clay to be molded, blank slates

eager for life's lessons--

lessons taught by family, friends, and teachers.

But some people believe children can also be strongly influenced

by more other worldly forces.

Experiences glean not just from other people,

but from other lifetimes.

Reincarnation is a theme that runs through all

the cultures of the world.

There is no proof, unless you believe the accounts of those

who have no reason to lie--

those who possess specific knowledge and insights they

are far too young to have.

Consider first the case of five-year-old Chase Bowman.

[music playing]

It was a 4th of July, 1988.

Chase's mother says he became inexplicably

terrified by the fireworks.

Not only terrified, he was hysterical.

He was crying and screaming.

And I had to take him home, and I thought that that was very

unusual because he had never responded

to fireworks that way before.

ROBERT STACK: Over the next few months,

Chase's fear of explosive noises intensified, becoming a phobia.

All right, Chase, I wanna try something.

Close your eyes and relax.

ROBERT STACK: For help, Carol Bowman turned to a friend

who was a hypnotherapist.

And breathe out slowly.

Now, I want you to think of a sound that frightens you.

ROBERT STACK: The hypnotherapist had barely

begun when Chase suddenly seemed transported

to another place and time--

a battlefield during the American Civil War.

[explosions]

CHASE BOWMAN: There's lots of smoke.

There's a war going on.

I'm a black soldier.

I'm behind a rock with a big gun and a sword at the end.

[explosions]

Well, I was shocked.

He started curling up in my lap as if he were afraid,

and I could feel him trembling as he

described what it was like with gunfire all around him.

And what it was like to be crouching behind a rock--

I could feel him crouching in my lap.

[screaming]

ROBERT STACK: In his mind's eye, Chase's past life unreeled--

a kaleidoscopic rush of images.

In the heat of battle he was struck by a bullet,

his wrist shattered.

The comrades dragged him to a crude field hospital.

The wound was bandaged.

Then he was sent back to the front to man a cannon.

[explosions]

[horse whinnying]

CAROL BOWMAN: Chase said he saw himself

walking back into battle.

[gun firing]

And he was killed behind the cannon.

He died very suddenly.

[explosions]

I was amazed because it sounded so true

and so real and so plausible.

But I could feel that it was true, I just knew it.

There's a war going on.

And I'm walking down [inaudible] valley.

At that point in Chase's life, when he was five,

I knew what he watched on television because we

carefully regulated .

It he watched "Sesame Street" and "Mr. Rogers," period.

And I never had read books to him about the Civil War.

As far as I could tell, there was no way

he could have known that.

ROBERT STACK: Chase later drew these rough sketches

of the field hospital and the cannon.

Civil War buffs have found the details amazingly accurate.

In my opinion, it's rather remarkable

that the child having not had any sort of background

or experience in viewing scenes from the Civil War,

his placement of the horse and the wagon

and the artillery piece is pretty

consistent with the mode of transportation of cannon

during the Civil War.

It was a wow experience.

You know I knew that something extraordinary had happened.

And what made it even more extraordinary

was that immediately after this regression, within a few days

a severe eczema--

a chronic eczema that he had on his right wrist,

where he said he had been hit by a bullet--

completely cleared up. - Come on!

[explosions]

And not only that, as the months went by,

I saw that Chase's phobia of loud noises

completely disappeared, too.

ROBERT STACK: Carol Bowman as a professional writer.

She was so intrigued by her son's experience,

she started researching a book on children's past lives.

As it turned out, material was abundant.

At the time, Lia was a little over two.

She's about two and a half years old.

And we were driving near our home, it was wintertime,

she's about two and a half.

She was in the backseat in her car seat, where she always was.

And we were driving down a hill. and the sun was shining,

and all of a sudden I hear this little voice

in the backseat pipes up and she goes, Mommy!

This is just like where I died.

What?

TIIU LUTTER: I was a little shocked.

You know, I'm thinking what is she talking about?

I was a little horrified that she's even thinking about death

at that age, you know.

And it shook me enough that I pulled off the road.

Sweetie, what did you just say?

I was driving in the car and fell off the bridge

and I was in the water.

Where was Mommy?

You weren't with me that time.

There was a feeling that came over

me of this was really important, that this is big news,

like the basement is on fire.

You know, kind of something that you really

want to pay attention to, and that it was

a different moment from any conversation that we had had

previously.

Well, who drove the car?

I was big.

I could reach the pedals.

I was driving.

But I didn't have a seat belt on.

TIIU LUTTER: She said that, basically, she

fell off the bridge and she fell into the water.

And she said, I fell out of the car.

I could feel the rocks on my head

and I could look up and see the bubbles going up.

And she's said, I could see the light on the shiny bridge.

And that's where I died.

I don't think she could have possibly made it up.

If it had been another child, I might

have been much more skeptical.

But I was home full-time with her

at that point and very controlling about what she saw

and what she read.

She didn't watch any television, she

didn't really go to any movies, she wasn't exposed--

She could not have possibly had a frame of reference

for this experience.

What stands out for me is the fact that small children who've

not been contaminated with adult ideas or concepts

are telling us that something of us does survive death.

My son Blake taught me a very spiritual lesson,

that we have lived before and will probably live again.

And I've got no doubt that this is what happened.

BLAKE: Mommy!

Blake, what's the matter?

Are you OK?

My ear hurts, it really hurts.

Oh, let me see.

ROBERT STACK: Colleen Hawkins' son

Blake was only three years old when he startled his mother

with a horrifying story.

What truck Who hit you with a truck?

A man.

A man hit you with a truck?

Is someone outside?

Were you outside?

No, not now, before.

A man hit me with a big truck.

He drove over me.

And I died.

COLLEEN HAWKINS: Blake.

But I thought that I would trick him, in a way,

to see if he had his facts right.

And so I said, oh, this happened on TV, right?

And he said, no, it happened in the street.

He was getting irritated with me at this point

because he knew his facts and he felt I should

know what happened, also.

We don't give kids nearly as much credit for being--

ROBERT STACK: Some experts believe

there is a perfectly rational explanation

for all of these episodes.

--some very creative kids out there.

And all kids fantasize to a certain degree,

and so, the chances that they'll come up with something

startling and unusual in that kind of a rich fantasy live

is very high.

I got hit by a truck.

BARRY L. BEYERSTEIN: And when you look at it that way,

these cases fall apart.

That there are lots of prosaic explanations for how they could

possibly know this information without it necessarily

coming from a past life.

ROBERT STACK: However, the parents of the children

involved are convinced those experiences are not

only real, but also beneficial.

WOMAN: I believe that remembering past lives can

be very healing for the child.

It can help them leave the past behind

and move on into present reality.

And I think it can be marvelously

healing for the adults, too.

It can give them new insights into who their child is

as a soul and will give them a completely different

perspective on life and death.

ROBERT STACK: A well-known physician once

said, all the honest truth telling there is in the world

is done by children.

Carol Bowman has now collected dozens of case histories

of children's past lives.

Examples she believes are well beyond the scope

of any child's imagination.

So, if you're not listening to the stories your kids tell you,

perhaps you should be.

Coming up, a romantic interlude takes

a stunning twist when a young woman falls to her death

from a hotel balcony.

But first, dramatic rescues by extraordinary

four-legged heroes.

Some experts believe they were inspired

by a mysterious psychic forces.

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When we think of heroes, some names come readily to mind--

Paul Revere, Florence Nightingale,

Martin Luther King--

people whose courage served to inspire us all.

But few of us are familiar with such extraordinary figures

as Boo, Oscar, and Ringo.

Each is a household pet, each is responsible for saving a life.

Just how they did it and what is truly an unsolved mystery.

[bird chirping]

[music playing]

We begin along the Yuba River, 80 miles north

of Sacramento, California.

It was a perfect setting for Lillian McDermott

to exercise her Newfoundland, Boo.

Though already 110 pounds, Boo was just 14 months old,

still a puppy.

LILLIAN MCDERMOTT: It was the summer,

and the Yuba was very inviting.

And so I thought it was a great opportunity for a Newfoundland

to play in the water and be in Newfoundland heaven

chasing sticks and having fun.

ROBERT STACK: Unbeknownst to Lilly, a dangerous situation

was developing a half mile upstream.

An amateur prospector named Link Hill had just

finished dredging the river for gold

and gone back out to fetch a gas can.

Minutes later, when Link came into view,

Boo suddenly lost interest in the game.

LILLIAN MCDERMOTT: I leaned down to see what it was

he was looking at and I saw what I thought was a log

rolling in the white water.

It's all right, Boo, it's all right.

It was not all right, he wouldn't stop.

I looked again and here an arm came up out of the white water,

holding a small gas can.

ROBERT STACK: Lillian was at a loss,

but Boo seemed to know exactly what needed to be done.

LILLIAN MCDERMOTT: And he looked at me,

steady, courageous, strong--

all those pretty words that said to me, you need to let me go.

So I did.

Go, Boo.

LILLIAN MCDERMOTT: The minute I said the words,

he shot into the water.

ROBERT STACK: Boo swam straight into a strong current,

driven by unknown forces to reach the helpless stranger

more than 75 feet away.

[water rushing]

Boo grabbed onto Link's arm, then

mustering all of his strength, he

hauled the man back to shore.

That a boy!

C'mon! Bring him.

[coughing]

Good dog.

ROBERT STACK: As it turned out, Link Hill

was a fortunate man, indeed.

Hill is a deaf-mute, unable to speak or hear.

If not for Boo's heroic actions, he would surely have drowned.

[heavy breathing]

[coughing]

How can we explain Boo's selfless act of courage?

Instinct, devotion, or a true desire to save another life?

Incredibly, some experts believe Boo's response may have been

triggered by psychic abilities.

What that animal felt was that man's fear.

And he realized that was not log.

You know, 'cause he could feel the emotion

coming from that man.

And the emotion of that man calling

out in his mind for help.

[dog whining] [dog barking]

That's all that dog needed.

He's a Newfoundland--

ROBERT STACK: Animal behaviorist Suzanne

Hetts has a different opinion.

--bred since their development for a number of tasks,

one of which is to perform water rescues.

We don't have to make assumptions that he knew

that the person was in danger.

It's something that's innate, or some people use the term

instinctive, that animals do because

of their genetic heritage.

ROBERT STACK: But can genetics explain

the case of Oscar, a 3-year-old Chesapeake Bay Retriever?

Ever since he was seven weeks old,

Oscar has been a constant companion, truly a best friend,

to his owner Chris Eschenberg.

I was very conscious about socializing him properly.

And he was exposed to a huge breadth

of people, from very young children to very old people.

He learned early on that people were good

and he just loves to be around people.

And in fact, that's one of the things

that's most surprising about what actually happened.

ROBERT STACK: It happened on a hot July evening in 1995

as Chris returned home.

The house was quiet, odd because Oscar usually

kicked off up noisy welcome.

Something was wrong, very wrong.

[leaves rustling]

[gun cocking]

CHRIS: Take it easy, take it easy.

What do you want?

OK, OK, it's OK, it's OK. Just take it easy, please.

Please.

Go, go, go, go.

CHRIS ESCHENBERG: At that point, I started to think about Oscar.

I was worried that I was gonna open the door,

Oscar was going to try to greet this guy like all of my friends

to walk into the house, and this guy was just

going to react by shooting him.

But Oscar was nowhere to be seen.

He had plans of his own.

[dog growling]

[dog snarling]

[dog barking] MAN: Help!

Help!

Finally, this guy was able to get his arm free.

And in that action of freeing the arm, he hit me here.

And I was a little disoriented for a moment.

And by the time I regained my composure, he was gone.

I could hear him getting out of the gate.

Oscar, you all right?

[dog whines]

Come here, pal.

NARRATOR: Oscar was drenched in blood.

Fortunately, it was not the blood of the courageous canine,

but that of the would-be robber.

You're fine, pal!

This has merely reaffirmed to me

the fact that I have a very dynamic, live,

interesting, intelligent creature

that I'm sharing my life with.

And who, in this respect, probably saved my life

or may very well have done that.

First off, it's almost sure that Oscar

was aware of the intruder before Chris got home.

He heard him, he smelled him.

And whether it was territorial behavior

or protective behavior, or a combination of both,

it's impossible to say.

But he definitely took the initiative,

took the offense because of all these cues that were telling

him, "this is not normal.

Something isn't right."

NARRATOR: Boo and Oscar personify the notion

of man's best friend.

However, dogs aren't the only animals

capable of protecting their owners from impending danger.

Ray and Carol Steiner, of Bowling Green, Ohio,

owe their lives to their three-year-old red tabby cat,

Ringo.

During the summer of 1995, the Steiners were home-bound.

Ray was recovering from surgery and Carol was incapacitated

by a foot ailment.

But inexplicably, both had been suffering

from memory loss, high blood pressure, and chronic fatigue.

CAROL STEINER: What I was noticing

the most was terrible headaches, dizziness,

I was sleeping all the time.

NARRATOR: One morning in August, Carol

noticed that Ringo was acting strangely.

CAROL STEINER: Ringo had come in already from his early morning

prowling.

And we were all settled down and all of a sudden,

he wanted out again.

[cat meows]

I open the door, he won't go out.

So I said, "OK kitty" and closed the door.

NARRATOR: No sooner did Carol get settled down,

and Ringo was at it again.

So Carol opened the door again.

CAROL STEINER: Go on out.

And he turns up at me and gives a really high meow.

And it was obvious I was to come out.

So I walked out with him.

NARRATOR: Ringo led Carol around to the side of the house.

CAROL STEINER: All of a sudden, he started

digging in our landscaping.

What is it, kitty?

And then he opened up his mouth and curled his lips

up as if something had a terrible smell.

[cat meows]

Oh!

NARRATOR: That smell was lethal methane gas.

Carol immediately called the gas company.

Within minutes, the service technician arrived.

I smell gas.

RAY STEINER: He put a tool in the ground

and a siren went off.

Wow.

This is way above normal.

This is very, very unusual.

He told us, we're at explosive levels.

I've got to turn your gas off right now

or you're going to blow.

NARRATOR: Incredibly, the Steiners

had a large split in their gas pipe

at the very spot where Ringo had been digging.

As a result, potentially deadly amounts of gas

had been seeping into the house for months.

Not only might a random spark had set off an explosion,

but the Steiners were in danger of being asphyxiated.

We looked at each other, then we looked at the cat.

And I said, my gosh, Ray.

Ringo saved our lives.

CAROL STEINER: No one thought about the cat

until everything settled.

And my gosh, here's the hero, just lying there being a cat.

NARRATOR: What mysterious forces compel

these animals to take action when there

is no one else to step forward?

Is it instinct, or perhaps some unexplained psychic ability?

We may never know.

But to their owners, it hardly matters.

They are just thankful to be living

under the same roof with a courageous, albeit four-legged,

hero.

That's a good boy.

NARRATOR: When we return, a vicious booby trap disguised

as a mail order cookbook claims a life of a teacher

in Brooklyn, New York.

And later, police in Los Angeles search

for clues in the mysterious death of a young businesswoman.

It was May 7, 1982, the Friday before Mother's Day.

Joan Kipp, a high school guidance

counselor in Brooklyn, New York, had just gotten off work.

Joan and her husband had plans to leave the city

and spend the weekend with their family.

Hi, honey.

Are we all set?

Hi, baby.

Yeah, we're ready to fly.

I'll I have to do is get a couple more things

and we're out of here.

Wonderful.

A postman left you a package.

I wonder who it's from.

I don't know.

NARRATOR: The package seemed innocent in every way.

It contained a cookbook from a major mail order house.

Joan assumed it with a Mother's Day gift.

Oh, it is a cookbook!

Oh, how terrific.

[gunshots]

Oh!

Honey, what happened?

NARRATOR: Joan Kipp had been struck in the chest

by two .22 caliber bullets.

She was rushed to a nearby hospital,

but died that evening.

No one knows who killed Joan Kipp, or why.

Her murder was unbelievably bizarre--

shot to death by a booby trapped cookbook.

Unfortunately, more than a decade

would pass before police realized it

was not an isolated incident.

In October of 1993, a retired New York City sanitation

worker and his wife--

two people with absolutely no connection to Joan Kipp--

were on vacation in Pennsylvania.

[indistinct chatter]

NARRATOR: When their children came to visit,

they brought the couple's mail. - Thank you, Lisa.

Looks like some sort of charitable organization.

Well--

I thought we weren't going to send checks

to charity organizations.

I have my favorites and I always send a check.

Come on.

NARRATOR: The package contained what appeared to be a gift,

a commemorative medallion.

[gunshots] - Oh!

What happened?

Oh, oh Lisa!

NARRATOR: In this instance, three people were

shot but no one was killed.

Get Lisa out of here.

Get Lisa out of here.

Bring them into the house. Quick.

NARRATOR: Since then, there have been three more attacks,

bringing the total to five.

The victims shared only two things in common.

Each lived in the New York City area,

and each had apparently been targeted by the same assassin.

He is a creature of deadly habit.

His deliveries are disguised to look legitimate.

Each package contains a lethal homemade

weapon that fires three bullets in different directions.

The New York City press has seized upon the details

and given the criminal a somewhat misleading

nickname, the Zip Gun Bomber.

GREGORY RHATIGAN: Zip guns was a weapon

of choice for the gangs in New York

in the late 50s, early 60s.

They're not bombs, they don't consist of any dynamite

or anything of that nature.

What they basically are, are crudely-made guns.

The devices are constructed in a way to be attractive.

This type of criminal certainly goes to a lot of effort.

He definitely is putting it together

in a way that guarantees that the receiver

is going to open that package.

Yeah, because I'm going to start

getting ready in a few minutes.

NARRATOR: June 27, 1995.

Stephanie Gaffney of Queens, New York

was eight months pregnant, eagerly looking forward

to the birth of her daughter.

I got my senior pictures.

Girl, I know they look awful.

STEPHANIE GAFFNEY: I was talking on the

and I was sorting through the mail.

I came across the package.

And I looked in the package and it was

from a health insurance plan.

It looked legitimate.

I opened up the box and inside of it was a book,

and the book also looked legitimate.

I mean, it looked like there were real pages and everything.

[gunshots]

My baby. My baby.

I thought it was real.

NARRATOR: Stephanie had been struck

by shrapnel from three bullets.

Her unborn child had not been hit,

but was in severe distress.

Within hours, doctors induced labor and Stephanie

gave birth to a healthy baby girl.

Stephanie is convinced the only reason she

and her child survived was because Stephanie

was holding the book at a slight angle when she opened it.

There's no doubt about it that I'm very lucky.

I know for a fact that if it happened any other way,

I would not be sitting here.

My daughter would not be here.

So I thank God every day for that.

NARRATOR: The attack on Stephanie Gaffney

was as mystifying as those which preceded it.

The authorities have no concrete theories.

And at this point, they don't even

know if the victims were selected at random

or targeted for some specific, unknown reason.

STEPHANIE GAFFNEY: I believe that it is random.

I believe that, you know, it was just one of those things

that just happened.

It could have been someone else.

It just happened to be me.

NARRATOR: In June of 1996, it just

happened to be a retired real estate

agent in Brooklyn, New York.

He narrowly escaped injury when he opened

a parcel from a local charity.

GREGORY RHATIGAN: The public should never

open up a package when they don't know

who sent the package to them.

People should remember that one of the easiest things to do

is to call the return address on a package.

Number one, to see if it's a legitimate return address.

And number two, to ask--

if someone does answer the phone-- what did you send me?

NARRATOR: Next, a young woman falls to her death

from a hotel balcony.

Did a passionate rendezvous go tragically wrong?

NARRATOR: November 21, 1996.

Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies

use a dummy fashioned out of fire hose

to perform a macabre experiment.

Nine days earlier, a woman had fallen from this hotel balcony,

plummeting to her death 10 stories below.

Was it an accident?

Did she commit suicide?

Or was she murdered?

The victim was Sandra Orellana.

She turned 27 years old on November 12th, the same day

she arrived in California on a business trip with this man--

her boss, 33-year-old Robert Salazar.

The two worked for Skillmaster, a national employment agency

based in Houston, Texas.

Sandra was a workers compensation claim specialist,

engaged to be married.

Robert Salazar was the general manager of operations.

He has a wife and two children.

MICHAEL SYDOW: Sandra had worked at Skillmaster

for about a year and a half.

She'd been promoted very rapidly to the manager of the safety

and health division.

NARRATOR: Attorney Michael Sydow represents

Sandra Orellano's family.

MICHAEL SYDOW: Her work was highly enough regarded

that Salazar ostensibly took her to Los Angeles

to interview for a high level position with a company

that Skillmaster had just acquired in California.

NARRATOR: On the morning of November 12th,

Sandra and Salazar checked into adjacent rooms

on the eighth floor of the Sheraton

Hotel in the City of Industry, just outside Los Angeles.

At 6:30 the next morning, another hotel guest

spotted Sandra's body sprawled on the ground below.

Police immediately questioned Robert Salazar.

He reportedly told them that he had escorted Sandra to her room

around midnight.

He stayed for only a moment.

When he left, Sandra was alive and well.

LT. RAYMOND PEAVY: When Mr. Salazar first told that story,

it was a believable story.

It was only after we--

the homicide detectives-- began looking inside the room

and determined that his underwear was in the room,

that we did not believe him.

NARRATOR: The police questioned Salazar again.

They say he proceeded to tell a very different story.

LT. RAYMOND PEAVY: He said that he had, in fact,

gone into the room with Sandra.

And that they had engaged in sex.

And that, at one point, they were on the balcony.

Sandra had positioned herself on the railing of the balcony

in such a way that she threw one of her legs

over the top of the balcony and lost her balance

and had fallen.

NARRATOR: Sandra's family is outraged

by Salazar's allegation.

MICHAEL SYDOW: The family believes that Sandra would

never have engaged in any consensual relationship

with Robert Salazar.

First, she was very devoted to her fiance.

Secondly, she didn't believe in romantic relationships at work.

We talked to the folks that work

with Sandra and Mr. Salazar.

And they were very, very shocked that Sandra and Salazar would

have anything to do with each other

in a sexual or romantic way.

NARRATOR: Salazar contends he and Sandra

had not been romantically involved until that evening.

Several witnesses confirmed with the couple

was seen in the hotel bar, drinking,

holding hands, and kissing.

After that, Salazar told police they went up

to Sandra's eighth floor room.

A short time later, Sandra fell off the balcony.

Salazar told no one about the alleged accident--

simply went back to his room.

The next morning, he waited in the hotel lobby

as though expecting Sandra.

He even left a message on her room's voicemail,

asking where she was.

Lieutenant Peavy used the dummy to test

Salazar's account of how and where Sandra

Orellana went over the railing.

LT. RAYMOND PEAVY: The dummy landed a number of feet

from where Sandra actually landed--

close to 15 feet at one dropping and another time,

I believe it was 12 feet.

So it was never even close to where she actually landed.

And we tried it several times.

And we actually ended up trying to make

it land where she landed.

And we had to basically throw the dummy in that direction

to make it land there.

NARRATOR: Another perplexing point, the balcony railing

is 44 inches tall.

Sandra Orellana was 5 feet 2--

only 18 inches taller than the railing.

LT. RAYMOND PEAVY: I don't believe

that it's possible that she could

have fallen off the balcony.

I think that something else caused

her to fall off the balcony that Mr.

Salazar has not yet revealed.

We want to get to the truth so that we can

explain away all the questions.

Whether we ever will or not remains to be seen.

NARRATOR: When we return, a poignant tale of lost love.

Perhaps you can help reunite Glendeen

Butterfield and her niece.

NARRATOR: Raising a child means a never-ending series

of hard choices.

It's difficult enough for a parent.

It can sometimes be even tougher when

you've been entrusted with a child that is not your own.

Glendeen Butterfield knows that all too well.

For more than two decades, she's been

haunted by a decision she made about her brother's daughter.

Bob!

NARRATOR: It was the fall of 1969.

Glendeen first glimpse of her niece, Kelli Ann,

was the result of a hard-fought battle.

She's so beautiful.

NARRATOR: Glendeen's brother, Bob Ayers, was in the army

and was being shipped to Germany.

He and Kelli Ann's mother had separated,

and neither could care for Kelli Ann.

The army planned to put the baby in an orphanage,

but Aunt Glendeen wouldn't hear of it.

She went up the chain of command,

straight to the Office of the President.

About two days later, the base commander at Fort Campbell,

Kentucky called me and said that anybody

who would go to that length to keep a kid out of an orphanage,

that the army would give my brother grant

and leave to bring her to me.

NARRATOR: Once Bob Ayers gave Kelli Ann to Glendeen,

he abandoned all interest in the child.

Glendeen was on her own.

GLENDEEN BUTTERFIELD: I didn't hear from him for a long time--

I mean a real long time.

And it was probably-- maybe-- three years.

We'll say three years.

And he just kind of like disappeared, you know?

NARRATOR: Kelli Ann spent those years

happily growing up with Glendeen and her two daughters

in central California.

SONJA REMALEY: We just thought of her as a little sister,

because we got her-- she was a baby, she was real tiny,

so she was no different than my sister, Vicky.

Except for more fun.

She liked her horse, she liked riding horses.

She liked-- she just did everything

that anybody's normal kid--

I mean, no different than them, except they

were a little older.

You know?

I mean, she just--

happy, go lucky.

NARRATOR: In 1974, Bob Ayers suddenly

showed up out of the blue.

He moved into Glendeen's apartment

but still displayed little interest in being a father.

That apparently changed when a woman

nicknamed Kitty set up housekeeping

in the same building.

Less than a week later, Bob made two astonishing decisions.

First, he moved in with Kitty.

Second, without saying a word to Glendeen,

he took Kelli Ann with him.

You like these new toys Daddy got you?

Yeah.

You like staying in the apartment, don't you?

Huh?

What we love having you here.

GLENDEEN BUTTERFIELD: They moved her out after Bob only knowing

this woman for a day or two.

And I just went into hysterics over it.

I mean, you know, this is my kid.

Kelli!

Please, Bob!

Is Kelli in there?

NARRATOR: With the help of the police,

Glendeen got Kelli Ann back.

But the battle over the child was just beginning.

Within a few months, Glendeen says Kelli Ann changed.

She had become an unhappy, bewildered little girl.

You're much too sad for Christmas.

I just don't understand.

Kitty wants me to call her mommy and Uncle Bob

wants me to call him Daddy.

NARRATOR: The situation became worse when

Bob sued Glendeen for custody.

I've heard arguments from both sides,

and I've just had a nice long chat

with Kelli Ann in my chamber.

She is a very bright, intelligent child.

She really wants to stay with Glendeen.

She's very happy where she is.

So, I find for the respondent.

GLENDEEN BUTTERFIELD: I don't think I've ever been so happy.

JUDGE: --allow visitation rights.

GLENDEEN BUTTERFIELD: The judge said that Kitty and Bob

could have visitation rights.

JUDGE: --six months we will review the situation.

GLENDEEN BUTTERFIELD: They would see her

when they weren't supposed to.

They would talk to her, tell her things.

It just kept her in a world of little confusion.

You know?

I mean, you think of a little girl-- five years old,

or 4 and 1/2, five years old-- in that state of confusion.

NARRATOR: To minimize the conflict,

Glendeen moved to a small town in Nevada.

Bob's visits with Kelli Ann were now limited to twice a year.

But for Glendeen, even though it was too much.

GLENDEEN BUTTERFIELD: The first time they took her

and brought her back, she got--

she was so depressed and just withdrawn, and it was horrible.

She doesn't even know what it's like to have a father!

No, but she knows what it's like to have a mother,

and have sisters, and have a whole life.

Yeah, but you are not the mom!

Yeah. but this is what she knows.

And I am her real father.

You know that!

You are not taking her!

Yes, I am!

GLENDEEN BUTTERFIELD: It got to the point that I was

so concerned about her mental well-being-- you know, for when

she got older and everything--

that I decided I needed to keep her away

from my brother, Bob and Kitty.

You want to start a war?

You just started one.

Let's go, Kitty.

NARRATOR: Much as she wanted to keep Kelli Ann,

Glendeen felt it was impossible.

She could think of only one alternative, Kelli

Ann's birth mother, Marion.

Marion was in the Air Force.

She had remarried and had two sons.

Glendeen believed she could provide the stable environment

Kelli Ann needed.

JUDGE: So because of that, you want to give

up custody to this lady?

No, it's not that I want to.

But I think it would be best for Kelli Ann.

NARRATOR: The judge agreed to the plan.

Soon after, Glendeen kissed Kelli Ann goodbye

and left her with her new family.

I'm going to miss you so much.

I love you.

I don't want you to go.

I don't want to go.

I don't want to be without out.

But listen, I'll be calling you really soon, OK?

OK.

GLENDEEN BUTTERFIELD: I couldn't believe I lost my child.

I mean, this was my child.

And I couldn't believe that I lost her--

that I didn't have her anymore.

Well your sisters and I sure miss you.

The last time Glendeen spoke to Kelli Ann

was at Christmastime in 1976.

GLENDEEN BUTTERFIELD: She told me she missed me

and she loved me.

And I told her I loved her.

And you know, it was, like, kind of not

a real long conversation.

But just, you know, I felt wonderful when I talked to her.

ON THE PHONE: Can you give Coco a kiss?

I'll sure do that.

NARRATOR: The next time Glendeen called, however,

the line was disconnected.

Since that moment, all of her efforts to track Kelli Ann

have failed.

By 1983, Glendeen and her brother,

Bob, had patched up their differences.

From then, until Bob died in a farm accident in 1994,

their sole focus was finding Kelli Ann.

GLENDEEN BUTTERFIELD: There hasn't been one day went

by since I gave her up that I haven't

thought about her a dozen times and wondered, is she OK?

Does she need anything?

Is she happy?

Did I do the right thing?

Did I do the wrong thing?

I just wish I knew.

NARRATOR: On our next Unsolved Mysteries, when

a popular exotic dancer is found murdered,

police are left with only one solid clue--

the voice of an anonymous caller who reported the crime.

Join me next time for another edition of Unsolved Mysteries.