All language subtitles for Unsolved.Mysteries.S09E13.AMZN.WEB-DL.DD+2.0.H.264-AJP69_track3_[eng]

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]