Original subtitles

ANNOUNCER: Tonight on "Unsolved Mysteries."

ROBERT STACK: It is one of nature's

most powerful and awe-inspiring forces.

No one knows where or when it will strike.

But if it does, the Olesen clan of Illinois

is sure to take notice.

For nearly a century, family members

have had close encounters with one lightning bolt

after another.

When a young film student from California is killed in Mexico,

the investigation becomes shrouded

in sorrow and foreign intrigue.

What was Patrick Kelly doing in Tijuana?

Who was pursuing him?

And who was driving his car in the days after he died?

Is our destiny written in the stars?

Can astrology predict whether we will be good or evil?

In a fascinating special report, a leading astrologer

reveals that serial murderers like Jeffrey Dahmer,

the Night Stalker, and Son of Sam

might have been born to kill.

And from the current case file, a special report on modern-day

vampires.

To some, it is just innocent diversion.

To others, it's a dangerous descent into an altered reality

and in one case may have led to more.

Join me.

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

unsolved mysteries.

[theme music]

It is a force of nature so mysterious, so powerful,

it's been called the Finger of God.

Where or who it may strike cannot be predicted.

For one family in Illinois, every thunderstorm

holds a potential for disaster.

Even death.

I think the lightning likes us.

But once in a while, if we get a bolt

that strikes real, real close, then

you start thinking about it.

Since I've told, you know, coworkers and friends,

they tend to kid me a lot.

And nobody wants to give me a ride

home when it's raining out.

They call me Lightning Boy and things like that.

I think it will strike me again

and that someday it's going to get me and kill me.

[inaudible chatter]

ROBERT STACK: Meet the Olesen family.

Their ancestors, John and Jencena Olesen,

came to America from Denmark in 1893.

From them, subsequent generations have

inherited a deadly legacy--

a bizarre kinship with lightning.

MAN: Was there anybody else, early on?

ROBERT STACK: Over the last four generations,

at least 10 members of the Olesen family

have had close encounters with lightning--

terrifyingly close.

Two of them have died.

The first person that was killed by lightning

with Christ Olesen.

And he died in 1899.

ROBERT STACK: It was a stormy day in May.

Dr. Christ is here.

Come in, Christ.

Come in.

ROBERT STACK: Christ Olesen, the third child of John

and Jencena, was 23 years old.

That afternoon, he went to visit his future bride

and her father.

I hear you're having trouble on the farm.

Oh, yeah.

The north fence shifted.

Mud.

Hi.

Hello.

[gasping]

Christ!

Daughter, what's wrong?

ROBERT STACK: Christ Olesen died instantly.

The lightning never touched the others.

Christ's family mourned him, unaware that his death

was only the beginning.

22 years later, Christ's older brother

Ole braved a late summer storm to feed his livestock.

At the barn door, lightning struck him dead.

It was then the Olesen family began

to wonder if death by lightning was

a destiny they all might share.

Christine Olesen, Christ's and Ole's sister,

lived her life with that conviction.

By the spring of 1941, she was an old woman.

But as her grandson Bill vividly recalls,

she was still terrified of lightning.

BILL: I came out for a summer, a summer visit.

And we had a day that was very cloudy outside,

and it was dark early.

And so she put me to bed.

And I was laying there probably a half hour.

And I could hear thunder in the background, lightning

start, bolts of it coming down.

Oh!

Billy.

Billy, get up.

Billy, get up.

Come.

Billy, quickly.

We've got to go outside.

But why?

Well, because we've got to get away from the lightning.

We'll go out to the old car.

BILL: [inaudible] got out the bedroom door.

And as a bolt of lightning hit, it blew a hole in the wall.

It went across the metal ceiling.

And the ceiling lit up like a neon sign.

Well, I think after that we didn't stop too long.

We just tore out the back door and ran out to the car.

ROBERT STACK: Bill and his grandmother

passed the rest of the night huddled safely in the car.

But the specter of lightning would

continue to haunt the descendants

of John and Jencena Olesen.

20 years later, when Bill Thompson

was grown and had a family, he had

his second brush with death.

BILL: A ball of lightning shot in through the window,

hit the toaster, blew the toaster off the table,

went over and missed the little girl in the highchair--

just went by her, this ball.

Hit the phone on the wall and knocked the phone off the wall

and went out through the phone area.

But nobody got hurt.

But the toaster was gone, and the telephone was gone.

And everybody was very frightened.

ROBERT STACK: During a summer storm five years later,

lightning again reached out to the Olesens.

This time, it was Bill's first cousin Connie.

That day, her sister Karen had come to pick her up after work.

Connie's encounter would be with a kind of lightning that seemed

to emanate from the ground.

It looked like it was going to be a thunderstorm.

And there was a different kind of feeling

about the atmosphere.

It felt like it was full of electrical charges,

and it was like an eerie kind of feeling.

Connie!

CONNIE OLESEN: Every single joint

in my body violently jerked.

And then I fell to the ground.

Connie!

I don't remember anything after that because I

was knocked unconscious.

ROBERT STACK: Connie's boss came to her aid

and helped her to Karen's car.

What happened?

ROBERT STACK: To everyone's complete astonishment,

Connie was essentially unharmed.

CONNIE OLESEN: When I came to in the car,

my body had a tingling sensation.

My arms and my chest area were numb.

When my sister told me that I was struck by lightning,

I was just really surprised.

I had absolutely no idea that that's what happened.

But then I thought, well, that's what lightning feels like.

Lightning has always kind of been a little--

a little strange to me.

It's something that has always kind of scared me.

And I'm sure some of it is due to that occurrence

that happened when I was young.

ROBERT STACK: Bradley Hampel is fourth generation Olesen.

The year he turned 15, he visited his grandmother's farm

in Burlington, Illinois.

At the time, Bradley knew nothing

about the Olesen history.

BRADLEY HAMPEL: The light was so bright that I

couldn't see for a second.

Finally, when it kind of shook off

and I realized what had happened, you know,

lightning hit somewhere.

And there was probably a 10-inch diameter charred circle

on the door that was smoking.

Since that time, I have been very scared of lighting.

It wasn't necessarily a life-changing experience.

I didn't turn good or anything because of it.

But it was something that--

it was probably the first time in my life

that realization is, wow, you could have just been killed.

Do you have "being struck by lightning" next to your name?

No, I don't.

I probably should add that.

We should put a little lightning bolt on each person

who was struck by lightning.

ROBERT STACK: What is the link between this family

and lightning?

Could it possibly be something unique in their genetic makeup?

DR. MARTIN A. UMAN: I've never heard

of another family where two family members

had been killed by lightning.

Whether the whole Olesen family has a genetic predisposition

to be struck by lightning I think

is a question that I would answer no,

because from a scientific point of view,

the lightning starts in the cloud,

has no idea what's going on in the ground,

just works its way down randomly, and then hits

what's under, wherever it gets to.

CONNIE OLESEN: I believe that there's an organic reason why

lightning strikes my family.

Connie!

CONNIE OLESEN: And I also feel that what you fear most

is what you attract.

And many members of my family fear lightning.

And therefore they attract lightning to them.

Everybody squeeze together, so we can

get a good family picture here.

ROBERT STACK: Given the family history,

two fatalities, and countless near-misses,

such fears are understandable.

At family gatherings, the Olesens can't

help but wonder, "who's next?" - One more.

Let's say lightning this time, for the occasion.

ALL: Lightning.

ROBERT STACK: Next, when a young college student is killed

in Mexico, his grieving mother and a determined private

investigator embark on a desperate search for answers.

And later, a revealing look at the bizarre world

of modern-day vampires and the games they play.

This is the Avenida Internacional,

a cold, concrete stretch of highway

that runs along the border that separates Tijuana,

Mexico, from the United States.

Every year, dozens of people are killed here

as they dash through heavy traffic attempting

to enter the US illegally.

On May 5, 1996, local rescue crews

responded to that kind of accident scene

that has become tragically commonplace.

A pedestrian had been struck and critically injured.

He carried no ID and was classified as [spanish],,

or unknown.

After this photograph ran in a local newspaper,

the man was incorrectly identified as Luis Rodriguez.

He died six days after the accident

without regaining consciousness.

Another 15 days would pass before it became known

that the dead man was in reality Patrick Kelly, a film

student at the University of Southern

California in Los Angeles.

During those 15 days, Patrick's mother Terry had launched

a desperate search to find him.

In the process, she had uncovered a series

of disturbing clues which have convinced her

that there was much more to Patrick's death

than just a traffic accident.

Terri Kelly Of Alberta, Canada, is

a management consultant who adopted Patrick

when he was 18 months old.

Patrick had been born into the Blood Indian tribe

and immediately placed in foster care.

As a young child, he learned to love writing and storytelling.

As a teenager, he began to dream about making movies.

In 1993, Patrick took a major step towards that goal.

He was accepted into the prestigious film school

at the University of Southern California.

TERRI KELLY: He loved the education he was getting.

He was very enthusiastic about his classes

and about what they were learning.

And from the very first day of school,

they had to start writing.

And that just-- it's like the school

was geared towards who he was.

How many times have you seen this film?

Well, eight or nine times.

Eight or nine times?

And you're still not sick of it?

ROBERT STACK: Friday night, May 3, 1996,

found Patrick celebrating the end of the semester

with a close friend, Michael Park.

After months of painstaking effort, Patrick had just turned

in his year-end project--

a full length motion picture script.

Not in "Taxi Driver."

MICHAEL PARK: He was really upbeat.

He was just really anxious to get on with his senior year

and then hopefully get out in Hollywood.

We watched the video for about 45 minutes, about 3:45.

And I remember the time because I had to get up

pretty early the next morning.

So I said, you know, I better leave and hit the sack.

So it was about 3:45.

I gotta go.

MICHAEL PARK: He didn't really mention anything

at all about the weekend.

He was just really tired.

He said he was gonna rest.

I remember him saying he was going to rest.

He said, I'll see you tomorrow.

And that was the last I saw him.

TERRI KELLY: One of the things we agreed on when he first went

away to school was that we would always call

each other on Sunday evening.

In three years, he'd never missed the call.

He didn't call that Sunday night,

and I called him and tried all evening to get hold of him.

So I knew right away that we had a problem.

ROBERT STACK: The following Tuesday, Terri asked Michael

Park to go to Patrick's room.

To Michael, it looked as if Patrick had

just stepped out for a moment.

Though Patrick's passport was missing,

his wallet was on the desk.

His bags and clothes in the closet.

Only the answering machine offered a clue.

JULIA (ON MACHINE): Hello, Patrick.

This is Julia with Founders National Bank.

Please give us a call.

Thank you.

ROBERT STACK: Terri Kelly immediately phoned the bank.

There had been several ATM transactions

over that weekend in Mexico and that had overdrew his account.

So that was the first clue we had as to what direction

he had been headed.

ROBERT STACK: That direction was due south.

At 10:23 Saturday morning, Patrick made a $60 withdrawal

at a 7-Eleven in San Clemente, California,

63 miles from Los Angeles.

At 6:08 PM, another $135 was withdrawn at a bank ATM

in the Tijuana tourist area.

The next day, three more withdrawals

at a bank ATM in downtown Tijuana

bled Patrick's account dry.

Private detective Doug Roth was hired by Terri Kelly

to track down Patrick.

Roth began at the 7-Eleven in San Clemente.

The surveillance tape from Saturday morning May 4th

showed Patrick entering the store.

Roth continued south.

Before crossing into Mexico, he decided to check the parking

lots along the border, where many tourists leave their cars

before entering Tijuana.

Roth hit pay dirt right away.

It's a Honda Civic, maroon.

Uh, this car is [inaudible].

- You have this car? - Yes, sir.

You have this car here?

Mm-hmm.

It's in the back.

ROBERT STACK: Patrick's car was parked along the back fence.

It was caked with mud.

There was damage to the front-right bumper.

And the rear license plate was loose.

Other clues suggested that someone other than Patrick

had last driven the car.

The driver's seat was much closer to the steering wheel

than would be consistent with someone

who is 6 foot 1 inches tall.

The radio was turned to a Spanish-American radio station,

which was, as we understand it, inconsistent with Patrick's

listening habits.

We also had found a partially smoked cigarette

in the ashtray of the car.

Patrick was not a smoker and, as we understand it,

did not allow smoking in his car.

Have you asked about pictures you could show around Tijuana?

ROBERT STACK: Doug Roth provided photos of Patrick

to the parking attendant.

The lot manager then passed them along to his girlfriend

who lived in Tijuana.

She had called the Red Cross in Mexico.

She had called the local jails.

And there was no result. Finally, she

went down to the morgue house with the pictures.

And then she found there was somebody there who looks just

like the picture and was a good possibility

it might have been him.

ROBERT STACK: After Doug Roth made

a tentative identification, Patrick's mother

Terri immediately traveled to the morgue in Tijuana

to view the body, which was scheduled to be

buried in an unmarked grave.

It was a very tough thing.

They don't let you in the same room with them.

You have to view them through glass.

And at a considerable distance for those circumstances.

But I knew it was him.

My initial reaction upon viewing the body

was that he had been beaten severely.

This is based principally on my observation

of wounds about the face and upper body, chest area.

ROBERT STACK: But the Mexican authorities

had attributed those injuries to the traffic accident.

This is a current official account of how Patrick died.

At approximately 1:00 AM on May 5,

a motorcyclist was heading east along the Avenida

Internacional when two pedestrians suddenly

darted out in front of him.

[tires squealing]

It is still unclear exactly how Patrick was mis-identified

as Luis Rodriguez.

But the confusion apparently began as soon as paramedics

arrived on the scene.

The rescue workers described the pedestrian as being 5 foot

5, 27 years old, obese, wearing I believe it was a blue

T-shirt and white tennis shoes.

My son was 200 pounds, 6 foot 1, wearing a tan T-shirt--

at least earlier that day--

and black Van Top-Sider shoes.

[spanish]

ROBERT STACK: The clothes Patrick was wearing

were destroyed at the hospital.

The Mexican authorities believe the garbled description

was an honest mistake.

LUIS MATEO COVARRUBIAS: When you're

working on a person that's dying on you, the people work fast.

And they do a report.

Maybe they did it too fast.

And they didn't see the exact height.

He was lying down, so it could have been difficult.

But that question could be answered by the paramedics

that looked at the scene.

ROBERT STACK: The confusion extends beyond the question

of Patrick's identity.

Mexican authorities concluded that all of his injuries

resulted from the accident.

However, an autopsy commissioned by Terri Kelly

and performed in the United States concluded, quote,

"Findings do not support an interpretation

that death was due to a motor vehicle accident."

Despite the irregularities, the reports

all now agree that Patrick Kelly lay

critically injured in a hospital room at 2:00 AM on May 5th.

But some 13 hours later, at around 5:00 PM,

Patrick's ATM card was used to make three withdrawals.

DOUG ROTH: The evidence clearly indicates that transactions had

occurred after he was comatose in Mexico with his ATM card,

that that ATM card had been used with a PIN number which he

would not have reasonably given up

or had any need to have written down anywhere.

LUIS MATEO COVARRUBIAS: Maybe he came down

with somebody of his confidence that he

can confide in this person his PIN numbers or his documents

or whatever.

Maybe his friend took money because they didn't know

the city or because they needed money

to move or get back to the States

and report that he was missing.

We really don't know.

ROBERT STACK: One more perplexing

mystery involves Patrick's car.

According to the parking lot records,

somebody paid the $60 fee and drove

the car off the lot on May 15, four days after Patrick died.

The next day, the car was returned to

the exact same parking space.

Doug Roth believes it all adds up

to one inescapable conclusion.

Patrick Kelly was running for his life

when he was hit by the motorcycle.

DOUG ROTH: I believe Patrick went to Mexico

with another individual.

And I believe that by 5 o'clock in the afternoon,

they had met with some unsavory characters

and had probably been taken against their will hostage,

had been beaten, that their PIN number had been gained,

and likely while they were held nearby that place where

the accident occurred, they made a break

for it and during the course of that

may have recklessly ran across the street

into the oncoming traffic.

One of them was struck.

One of them was not.

One of them made it away.

ROBERT STACK: Finding the answers

has proven almost impossible.

Because Patrick died in Tijuana, the United States and Canada

have no jurisdiction to investigate,

leaving Terri Kelly to sort out the contradictions

and discrepancies on her own, all

the while knowing that her only son is gone forever.

The hardest part of all of this, of course,

has been going home without him.

The most frustrating and unforgivable

part is that nobody will help.

No official agency assigned to such jurisdiction

will help us find out what happened and will help us

get justice for what happened.

ROBERT STACK: Coming up, participants defend

vampire games as innocent fun.

Others fear the line between fantasy and reality

is easily blurred.

When we return, Dahmer, Berkowitz, Ramirez--

notorious killers all.

Noted astrologer Carolyn Reynolds

believes their thirst for murder was preordained

at birth by a unique configuration

of the planets and the stars.

Jeffrey Dahmer.

He lured at least 11 young men to his apartment in Milwaukee.

He drugged, strangled, and dismembered each of them

in a real-life chamber of horrors.

Richard Ramirez, the Night Stalker.

He invaded homes in the Los Angeles area.

He murdered at least 16 people, most of them women.

David Berkowitz, Son of Sam.

He turned New York City into his personal hunting ground,

randomly shooting 13 people, leaving six of them dead.

What force has compelled these notorious killers?

Genetics, the environment?

Or are these men linked by influences far more mysterious?

Astrologers might say that they were born to kill,

their destiny written in the stars.

CAROLYN REYNOLDS: Astrology is like a roadmap

where the planets were positioned at the exact moment

you were born.

Astrology is the science of celestial bodies

in relationship to an infant, and then it

progresses through their life.

ROBERT STACK: For most of us, astrology

is little more than a playful diversion,

to be enjoyed but not taken seriously.

But perhaps there is something more to this so-called science.

Those who studied astrology are convinced that you can foretell

the course of a person's life by reading

his or her astrological chart.

But can a chart also predict whether someone

can be good or evil?

We asked Carolyn Reynolds and two other astrologers

to study the charts of roughly 20 subjects.

Incredibly the charts that made the most startling impression

were those of four notorious serial killers--

Richard Ramirez, David Berkowitz, Edmund Kemper,

and Jeffrey Dahmer.

To understand astrology, you must understand

an astrological chart.

The chart divides the sky into 12 houses, each

representing a facet of life.

For example, parents and home is the fourth house.

Death is the eighth.

Each house contains a portion of the 360 degrees

that make up a circle.

According to astrologists, where the stars

and planets fall in these houses has specific meaning.

When Carolyn Reynolds sat down to study

the astrological charts, she was given virtually

no identifying information beyond date,

time, and place of birth.

Amazingly, of the 19 charts analyzed,

Carolyn zeroed in on Dahmer, Ramirez, Berkowitz, and Kemper

as probable serial killers.

If you look at charts, there's a certain beauty

in harmony, where they flow.

And theirs were jumbled and knotted.

And all their planets were just bumping up against each other,

causing friction and trouble.

ROBERT STACK: In each case, without knowing which chart

belonged to which subject, Carolyn

was able to talk about specific details relating

to the killers' crimes--

details that proved to be remarkably accurate.

For instance, in 1988 Richard Ramirez pled guilty to murder

and reportedly bragged to a fellow inmate,

quote, "I've killed 20 people.

I love all that blood."

CAROLYN REYNOLDS: This was the most obvious killer.

He has in the third house the sun

and the moon in the sign of Pisces.

He had five out of seven of the worst

degrees that you could have.

And one of them was the degree of the devil.

Hail Satan.

ROBERT STACK: During his trial, Richard Ramirez

openly professed to worshiping Satan

and proudly displayed a pentagram,

the sign of the devil, on the palm of his left hand.

Then there's David Berkowitz, Son of Sam.

When he was arrested, he claimed that he was instructed

to kill by a neighbor's dog and had no control

over his own actions.

Without knowing that she was reading Berkowitz's chart,

Carolyn Reynolds came to the same conclusion.

CAROLYN REYNOLDS: I don't think he

had much of a choice in this.

He was born with the planets that gave you

a potential in the lineup for multiple personality

or split personality.

And it's in the house of death.

ROBERT STACK: When Carolyn Reynolds read the chart that

turned out to be Jeffrey Dahmer's, she

found the subject to be, quote, "destructive,

heartless, and cruel."

Carolyn concluded that if he wasn't so evil,

he would be a murder victim himself.

And that's exactly what Jeffrey Dahmer became.

In 1994, he was beaten to death in prison.

I was also involved in killing coeds, because my mother was--

ROBERT STACK: This interview with mass-murderer Edmund

Kemper was conducted in 1984.

Kemper's chart was perhaps the most revealing of all,

notably in the fourth house, which

represents parents and home.

Again, Carolyn did not know whose chart she was analyzing.

CAROLYN REYNOLDS: There's a lot of activity at home.

And it's all unusual and not good.

Automatically I'm thinking something's not right here

about what he's doing at home.

And there were some other problems with him.

The position of the moon is pretty much

working against that house.

ROBERT STACK: In astrology, the moon is a symbol for mother.

In the early 1970s, Edmund Kemper murdered eight women--

six coeds, his mother's best friend, and his mother.

Criminal psychologist Candice Skrapec

is familiar with Kemper's case.

CANDICE SKRAPEC: It's clear that there

was a very tumultuous relationship

between Ed and his mother.

From a young child, he had fantasized killing her.

The six young women that he chose, consciously he says,

were women that represented women whom his mother had said

he was not good enough for.

ROBERT STACK: Dr. Skrapec has interviewed

a dozen serial killers.

She believes that they are products

of both their environment and biology,

including their genetic makeup.

CAROLYN REYNOLDS: That is, like a Mars to a Saturn,

or a Mercury to a Saturn--

ROBERT STACK: While Dr. Skrapec does not adhere to astrology,

she does find Carolyn Reynolds' observations intriguing.

We brought the two of them together to compare notes.

It's interesting.

There are certain concepts that certainly I'm relating

to in this particular case.

CANDICE SKRAPEC: I'm most interested in trying

to come to a better understanding of why

it is serial murderers do what they do.

Psychologically, of course, and as a psychologist,

that's probably my bias.

I hope you can understand where I'm coming from.

Oh, I do.

CANDICE SKRAPEC: The truth is, I honestly don't know if there's

any value to astrology.

I don't dismiss it.

I don't discount it as a valid factor in human behavior.

I just really cannot say one way or the other.

ROBERT STACK: Are certain people destined to kill

the moment they are born?

Or is it possible to reverse what Carolyn Reynolds believes

is written in the stars?

CAROLYN REYNOLDS: The stars incline.

They do not impel.

I think love, for example, transcends everything.

I think if a person had a real strong, nurturing, loving

mother and father relationships around them

that it might help them not to act in the negative fashion.

It's a roadmap.

And like any other roadmap, sometimes

you take a different route.

I think it's a lot like that.

Astrology has been labeled a pseudoscience

because it relies so heavily on personal interpretation.

Skeptics among us may dismiss it altogether.

But before you do, you should realize that many famous people

have consulted the stars at critical moments

in their lives, among them, presidents

Ronald Reagan and George Bush, psychologist Carl Jung.

And during World War II, British Prime Minister Winston

Churchill reportedly consulted his astrologer before planning

battle strategy.

When we return, a 14-year-old girl

lured away from her home, five teenagers arrested

for a brutal double murder.

The common thread, vampire fantasy

games that authorities say can turn frighteningly real.

They are dark.

They are dangerous.

They are sexy.

From Transylvania to Hollywood, vampires

have been popular characters in movies, literature, and legend

for generations.

Today, fans of the undead are giving ancient myths fresh life

all across the country.

Wannabes play out fantasies in bizarre vampire nightclubs.

On the internet, vampire chat rooms attract

thousands of hits every day.

And players of various games, such as "Vampire:

The Masquerade," gather regularly

to act out their dark dramas.

He had a slight case of dying.

ROBERT STACK: You are watching a game in progress.

In this scene, the man seated is a willing victim.

I think the game really affords people an opportunity

to confront the dark side of human nature, which is so

much a part of all of us, and face it rather honestly,

and do it in an entertaining way,

do it in a safe environment.

For the vast majority of players,

the many different vampire games are harmless fun.

But for some participants, the craze may have a sinister side.

Sometimes a game can go wrong.

Fantasy can bleed into a brutal reality.

Tonight, we'll look at three such cases.

Are they isolated events?

Or are they part of a disturbing new trend?

This 14-year-old girl disappeared one week

before Christmas in 1996.

Police suspect that Ceara O'Connell of Rochester, New

York, may have been lured from her home

by a man she met via the internet

on a website for vampires.

I believe she's being held against her will.

I believe he's not letting her call.

I don't know if she's even aware of what's going on.

ROBERT STACK: Authorities believe Ceara O'Connell is

with this man, 22-year-old Brooker Maltais,

a senior airman in the US Air Force,

who has now been listed as a deserter.

Maltais and several friends allegedly

ran their own vampire chat room on the internet,

a Black Rose Nightclub.

Ceara started playing the game and somehow met some people

that we're playing the game, and started

shooting off into a separate chat room,

talking to this man one on one.

We know now, from reading his emails to her, that he figured

out how to talk to her, how to get inside her mind,

how to basically control it.

Generally speaking, we're looking at kids who are usually

intelligent children and want to belong,

want to be a part of something, want to participate.

And so this comes along and reaches out to them and says,

there are no rules.

It's exciting.

It's different.

Mom and Dad won't like it very much.

That's another element that sometimes is a draw.

And once they get involved in it,

sometimes it becomes more than just a game to these children.

ROBERT STACK: Children like that are

perfect targets for men like 27-year-old John

Christopher Bush.

Police in Virginia Beach, Virginia,

say that Bush convinced local junior high

and high school students that he was a powerful vampire.

John Christopher Bush offered them

a family, a family unit, a place to belong, things to do.

He gave them tasks.

He gave them responsibility.

All, of course, at a high price.

ROBERT STACK: That price was a loss of innocence.

Bush used the hook of vampirism to seduce teenage girls.

They didn't really know what they

were consenting to until sometimes it was too late.

And they got involved in this.

And then, of course, the embarrassment factor

takes over and the fear.

And, you know, Mr. Bush went to great lengths

to cultivate that fear.

He talked to them about a blood hunt.

Blood hunt is an activity in the vampire game.

Except he would explain it to them not as a game but as,

I will take you out into the woods, you'll be cut loose,

and we will hunt you.

We will hunt you down.

ROBERT STACK: John Christopher Bush

was found guilty on 30 counts, including

rape, unlawful carnal knowledge, and crimes against nature.

He was sentenced to 26 years in prison.

Two months after Bush's conviction,

another so-called vampire family grabbed the headlines.

Five teenagers from the small town of Murray, Kentucky,

were arrested for a shocking double murder.

One of them was Heather Wendorf.

Her parents were the victims.

The alleged vampire leader was 16-year-old Rod Ferrell.

JIM MAHANES: The city police detective

said that he would cut his arm and let

others suck his blood as, sort of, some kind of ritualistic--

they call it being embraced, embraced into the family.

JAMES YOHE: The whole bloodletting

thing was appealing to him.

And bloodletting is nothing more than letting

somebody else feed off of you.

We never promoted it.

And once I found out, I was quite shocked

that he was involved in that.

ROBERT STACK: Ferrell and his clan

reportedly like to play vampire at various places around town.

One favorite hangout was an abandoned building

they called The Vampire Hotel.

Another was a local graveyard where these pictures

of Rod Ferrell were taken.

Some claim Ferrell didn't see vampirism

as a game but as a birthright.

JIM MAHANES: He told the sheriff's department

he thought he was immortal.

He told the sheriffs that he didn't think whatever happened

to him wouldn't hurt him in the long run, more or less,

in not so many words.

He feels he's invincible.

He honestly believes he's a vampire.

ROBERT STACK: Is vampire make-believe

inherently evil and dangerous?

Probably not.

Does it create an atmosphere where

aberrant behavior is promoted?

There's no way to know.

But for the family of Ceara O'Connor,

the philosophical debate about vampire games

is of little consequence.

They just want Ceara to come home.

[music playing]

ROBERT STACK: On our next "Unsolved Mysteries,"

this photograph of rap music star Tupac Shakur

was taken on the Las Vegas Strip just minutes before Shakur was

cut down in a hail of gunfire.

Even though dozens of people watched the tragic drama

unfold, authorities have yet to establish a motive

or identify the killer.

Can a perfectly normal person suddenly burst into flame

without apparent cause?

Mainstream science says no.

But some researchers claim the evidence suggests otherwise.

Don't miss our special report on the most bizarre phenomenon

spontaneous human combustion.

Join me next time for another intriguing edition

of "Unsolved Mysteries."

[theme music]