Original subtitles

ANNOUNCER: Tonight on "Unsolved Mysteries."

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Oak Grove, Kentucky,

had a dirty little secret--

a house of ill repute which allegedly

operated with the full knowledge and protection of the police.

Then two prostitutes were murdered,

and a brewing scandal boiled over.

24 years old, blonde, pretty, an Olympic hopeful,

and missing for 18 months.

Could her husband have masterminded

Amy Bechtel's disappearance?

Mississippi River, 1947.

Mary Greene piloted the river boat Delta Queen for two years

before she passed away.

Some crew members are convinced that she never left her post.

When she was only 14, Margie Hamilton

was forced to marry a man four times her age.

Then forced to give up their first born for adoption.

Perhaps you can help create a mother and a son reunion.

For every mystery, there is someone

somewhere who knows the truth.

Perhaps it's you.

Join me for another edition of "Unsolved Mysteries."

[theme music]

A brutal double murder, allegations

of police corruption, a house of ill repute,

and a madam who refuses to keep quiet--

it has all the elements.

It's a kind of case guaranteed to rip a small town apart.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): September 20, 1994, 3:00

AM, it was called the New Life Massage Parlor,

but everyone in Oak Grove, Kentucky,

knew the girls were prostitutes.

This night, customers were scarce.

Gloria, I'm gonna go ahead and take Sarah home.

And then Mary and I are gonna grab some drinks.

You wanna go with us?

No, no thanks.

WOMAN: Are you sure?

Uh, yeah. I think I'll just--

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): 22-year-old Candy

Belt was a single mother, working

to support two young children.

18-year-old Gloria Ross had been married less than a year

and had a six-week-old daughter.

Two young women, perhaps a bit desperate,

just trying to pay the bills.

Within the hour, both of them would be dead,

shot execution style, their throat slashed.

I felt some responsibility for their deaths, at least--

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Tammy Papler ran

the New Life Massage Parlor.

It's like I'm--

I'm like their mom, and I'm responsible,

and I'm supposed to see this through.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Almost three years went by,

and the case remained unsolved.

Then Tammy Papler went public with stunning accusations

about the police department, accusations

that have been widely disputed.

I don't think the murders were ever meant to be solved.

They thought if it got solved, it

would be a really big embarrassment

to have two police officers arrested

for killing two prostitutes.

Bring somebody the proof and the evidence needed

for indictments or convictions, I will assist any agency

in their apprehension.

Until then, I'm not going to point fingers at anybody.

Hi.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Tammy Papler opened the New

Life Massage Parlor in 1992.

Like the tiny town of Oak Grove, its main business

was serving the soldiers at the army's Fort Campbell

a half mile down the road.

According to Tammy Papler, the police

didn't shut her down because they

stood to benefit in a big way.

She says New Life Massage Parlor became

city hall's golden goose.

TAMMY PAPLER (VOICEOVER): The police department

would pick out specific things for us to buy,

and they would order them.

I know there were lights for just about every car, shoes,

uniforms, canine T-shirts, Christmas

parties, Christmas bonuses.

They get basically what they want.

Those little seven or eight police officers and the mayor

run the whole town.

- Hi, Ed. - Hi, Tammy.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Papler says one Oak Grove police

officer took excessive advantage,

a patrolman named Ed Carter.

Carter has denied the accusations

you're about to hear.

So what can we do for you today, Ed?

Oh, well, I was just in the neighborhood, and--

Ed Carter would ask a lot more than the other officers would.

He wanted services, and it was like, well,

I know what's going on.

I'm a police officer.

Who are they gonna believe, you or me?

He had the gun.

I didn't.

Someone ask me for money, and they have a gun,

I'm gonna give it, especially one that I know

can put me in jail, and that's exactly

how everything got started.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): According

to Tammy Papler, once Carter got started, he didn't stop.

He insisted that she contract with him

for janitorial services, services

that he reportedly intended his own wife to perform.

Papler claims Carter soon became a fixture at New Life.

When she went on vacation, Papler

says Ed Carter virtually took control of the massage parlor.

Ed, what are you doing?

ED CARTER: Hold up, just making sure--

Put down my money, Ed.

Calm down.

TAMMY PAPLER: What's going on?

Hey, I'm just taking care of the business.

How long has he been here for?

Ever since you've been gone.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): It was like he was the madam.

I wasn't the madam anymore.

It was actually like he was.

He was the one who was in charge of the parlor.

He was running it.

TAMMY PAPLER: Ed, put down my money.

Look, I've helped you from day one.

Ed, how much money of mine have you taken?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): I was furious with him.

I didn't want him around my business anymore.

I didn't want him around the girls.

I informed the girls, you keep the door locked.

If he comes in, you just shake your head no.

Don't allow him to come inside this business.

Get outta here!

I told him, don't ever come around here again.

You stay away.

And I made sure, we had had a meeting, and I informed each

and every one of them this, you do not

allow him around here anymore.

It's the end of it.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): A few weeks later, the murders.

Oak Grove police were on the scene minutes

after the bodies were discovered.

Please, I only want to see uniformed officers

in this building.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): By the time

Major Billy Gloyd of the Christian County Sheriff's

Department was called in to assist,

the crime scene had been severely compromised.

I want to see only uniformed officers in here.

Sir, outside now.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The Oak Grove officer in charge

was Detective Leslie Duncan.

According to Tammy Papler, he was well known to her.

Duncan was also Ed Carter's former roommate.

I feel like Ed Carter killed them, I honestly do.

I feel like he is the one who actually pulled the trigger.

Mr. Carter's never run.

He's never fled the area.

He's never left the area.

Whenever he was questioned, he always cooperated.

And I find it troubling that after three years,

that they are no closer to making an arrest of anybody,

much less Mr. Carter.

Three years is a long time.

Memories fade.

Evidence disappears.

And the only thing that's the same here

is these bare, unsupported allegations that

are being made by the Paplers.

And I just question the motive.

I question their interest in this thing.

Good evening, ladies.

Slow night, huh?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): According to the Sheriff's

Department, Ed Carter freely admitted

he stopped by the massage parlor that night,

but claimed he went home to his wife at 3:00 AM,

before the murders occurred.

Carter and his wife have since gone through a divorce.

She disputes her ex-husband's alleged account.

He came in a few minutes after 4:00.

I made it a habit of looking up at the clock when he came in.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The two women were

shot with a small caliber gun.

The police say Ed Carter told them he owned no such weapon.

Again, his ex-wife disagrees.

Ed did own a small caliber gun.

He kept it under the mattress for my protection.

It was not there that night.

I had not seen it from the Christmas before the shootings.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Ed Carter

voluntarily took a polygraph exam

a few weeks after the murders.

I can't tell you whether or not he

passed or failed his polygraph.

The only thing I can tell you is that he did resign

from the police department and that he did secure an attorney

after the polygraph.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Soon after, Ed Carter moved

to another part of Kentucky.

A year later, Leslie Duncan also voluntarily resigned.

Despite Tammy Papler's efforts, the murder investigation

languished.

Finally, claiming she was fed up,

Tammy decided to make a public stink.

State your name, please.

Tammy Papler.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): She chose a city council

meeting on July 15, 1997.

There were two girls killed in the massage parlor.

TAMMY PAPLER (VOICEOVER): I feel like they don't think

these lives were important, that these girls

were as important as if--

I don't know, maybe if there was a deputy's

daughter or a mayor's daughter.

But I just feel like they felt they didn't

have to investigate it because no one's

gonna ask any questions.

They're are just two dead prostitutes,

and no one's gonna care about it.

I have returned--

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): But at least one person at city hall

did care--

the one person who said she could verify

some aspects of Papler's story.

Enter city councilwoman Patty Belew, once known as Harley,

one of Tammy's girls.

I announced everybody that her allegations

of police corruption and things of that nature were true.

I've known about them, about them coming in the parlor,

and the reason I know about that is

because I used to work there.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Patty Belew

had worked at the New Life Massage Parlor for two years.

She claims she knew Ed Carter and some of his friends.

I always felt that the police officers were involved.

They were there all the time.

They knew the routine.

They knew everything.

They knew the ins and the outs about the place.

And there's so many things that just

kept pointing towards them.

Ed Carter did not commit these murders.

Yes, Ed Carter did work at this facility as a janitor,

but Ed Carter did not commit these murders.

He wants to have this matter, as far as he's concerned,

brought to closure.

He wants to see the final chapter written,

where it can be stated without a doubt

that Ed Carter had absolutely nothing

to do with the murders that occurred

in the city of Oak Grove.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Two young women dead,

two families destroyed, and a killer walking free.

The controversy makes it all too easy to forget.

I hope that justice will be served.

I hope that they charge the police officers.

I hope they clean up the corruption.

And I hope they start the town all anew.

Because that's the only way that it can honestly be

cleaned up and brought.

But most of all, I want Gloria and Candy to know that we

fought for them, and that we're gonna see justice

is served for them.

[music playing]

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Coming up, in Wyoming, a marathon

runner mysteriously disappears.

Could her husband have been involved?

Late afternoon, late summer, a runner moves easily

along the mountain switchbacks, high above the small town

of Lander, Wyoming.

Her stride is strong, smooth, that of a dedicated athlete,

an Olympic hopeful.

Her name is Amy Wroe Bechtel.

She's 24 years old.

On this day, she runs into the tall trees at the Shoshone

National Forest and disappears.

Hi, Amy.

Hey.

Sam and I are going to Dubois.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Earlier

that same day, it was a typical day for Amy

and her husband, Steve. - Sweetie.

STEVE BECHTEL: Yeah?

I'm gonna have the phone turned on in the new place

today. STEVE BECHTEL: OK.

AMY BECHTEL: Bye. - Bye.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Steve was going rock

climbing with a friend, and Amy was

going to teach a fitness class.

Amy and Steve Bechtel had been married

for a little more than a year.

Both were competitive athletes--

running for Amy, climbing for Steve.

They moved to Lander because its rugged terrain made

it a perfect training ground.

Amy was always really fond of saying, let's retire now,

and then we'll work when we're old.

Yeah, we have some debts, and we have to work some odd jobs

and things like that, but basically, every day, we

live the way we want to.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Amy and Steve had recently

bought a home of their own.

They planned to move in over the next few days.

The night before Amy disappeared,

I went over with Steve and Amy to see their new house

and to help them move a load of stuff over there.

And Amy showed me where she was gonna have her sewing room

and where Steve was gonna have his gym.

And they were just really excited about the house.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Amy had a long list

of errands that day--

call the phone company, get the gas turned on,

buy home insurance.

Once those tasks were done, she turned to something fun--

planning a route for a 10K mountain run.

Hey, man, what'd you find?

Hey, Todd.

I found a nice friction climb.

TODD: How tough?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): When Steve

returned from his all-day climbing trip,

Amy wasn't home yet.

I couldn't do it today.

He was talking casually, and he asked about Amy.

And that's-- I said, I don't know.

She's out somewhere.

She's OK.

No problem.

Hey, guys.

Hey, Steve.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Early evening,

Steve stopped by the neighbors.

Todd and his wife, Amy, were making dinner.

Amy Bechtel still wasn't home.

TODD SKINNER: I think he was getting more

and more worried at this time.

She usually leaves a note.

I'm sure she'll be back soon.

TODD SKINNER: He wasn't panicking by any means,

because it was still light, and she could

have been out doing something.

It was not an unordinary day for Amy.

So we didn't think it was unusual that she was gone.

But when we got back from the movie, I was really worried.

Amy's not back yet.

She's not back?

No.

I haven't heard anything from her.

I called the police. They're out looking for her.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Todd and Amy

searched roads where Amy Bechtel most likely went running.

Steve stayed behind, hoping his wife would call.

Todd and I had been driving on the Loop Road for about an hour

or so, and right around 1 o'clock,

we glimpsed Amy's car pulled off the side of the road.

Look, Todd, there it is. - OK.

That's her car.

We saw her car there, and it was like, we were relieved.

Like, oh, man.

We thought we'd found her.

So I walked up completely expecting

for her to be in the car.

She is not in there.

Like it had run out of gas, or not

been able to start it, or a dead battery,

or who knows what the heck.

I'll go call the sheriff.

Amy!

At that point, it was relief, and concern because her car's

still up there, and it's after midnight,

and she's probably cold and maybe has a twisted ankle.

Amy!

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): But Amy

was nowhere to be found, not in a few minutes,

not even a few hours.

Amy!

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): By morning, the search for Amy

had expanded dramatically.

Soon, dozens of volunteers were scouring the mountains.

Eventually, more than 500 people covered a 20-mile radius.

Not a single clue was found.

We should have found Amy Bechtel

if she were a runner up there and nothing else

entered the picture.

Could she still be there?

Yes.

But given the circumstances, the lack of clues,

I don't think she is.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): After eight days,

the massive search was called off.

Where was Amy Bechtel?

Her sunglasses, car keys, and to-do list

were on the seat of her car, apparently

just as she had left them.

Only her wallet was missing.

If she wasn't injured or something

terrible happened to her, had she

been kidnapped, even murdered?

Sheriff's investigators soon tested

a theory some found shocking.

- Steve, you know what this is? - No.

This is evidence that ties you directly

to Amy's disappearance.

Wh-- what?

I can't believe this is happening.

I was pretty blown away.

And I turned to Dave, I was like,

Dave, what's going on here?

This is not cool.

He was floored, basically.

He slumped down in the chair.

We have some serious questions about you

and your wife's relationship.

The best thing you can do right now is cooperate.

The guy says, look, if you take a polygraph test,

we'll get this cleared up right now.

And I was like, wait a minute, if you guys are accusing me

of something I didn't do, I'm gonna want

to talk to legal counsel here.

I wouldn't let any client take a lie detector test.

They're completely inaccurate.

They come in about one third of the time as a false positive,

and it would be a terrible injustice to Steve

if he fell within that one third false positive,

and it was used wrongly against him.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): So Steve Bechtel did

not take a lie detector test.

Deputies, armed with a warrant, searched his home.

Among the items they confiscated were a series of journals Steve

had been keeping since high school,

journals investigators found potentially incriminating.

We've obtained many pages of writings, journals, if you

will, of Steve Bechtel's.

Those are somewhat disturbing.

There are song lyrics in there, and there

are writings about power and death,

some about killing people.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Sheriff's

investigators asked Amy's family and friends to read excerpts.

Do you see that?

I was floored.

At that point, my wife and I, we both-- you know,

there are some things that we've seen in the past

that maybe somebody should be aware of.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): There was one night, for instance,

when Nels Wroe and his wife had Amy and Steve over for dinner.

NELS WROE: How did you get that bruise?

It's nothing.

It's just a bruise.

NELS WROE: Just a bruise?

Just a bruise.

You know, Steve can get a little rough sometimes.

Amy just laughed it off, would not look me in the eye.

And I said, that is not a normal reaction, particularly for Amy.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Deputies also found

a camper who claimed that on the day Amy disappeared,

she had seen a blue pickup driving

fast on the mountain roads near where Amy's car was found.

A man was at the wheel.

A blonde woman in the passenger seat.

The next day, the campers saw the same truck

at the search site.

Based on that information, we showed her pictures

of Steve Bechtel's truck, and she concluded that that was

the same truck she had seen.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Evidence seemed to be

mounting against Steve Bechtel.

But was that evidence accurate?

Statistically, he did it.

And don't misunderstand me, I'm not saying he did.

The first person we have to eliminate in a case

where there may be a foul play involved in one's disappearance

is the person closest to that person.

Hi, honey.

Hey.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Sheriff's investigators

believe there were vital gaps in Steve's activities

that day, time when he could have harmed Amy.

He was with people all that afternoon

and evening, so I don't have any question about that.

He just didn't have the time.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): But what

about the camper who said she saw what

might have been Steve's truck?

According to phone records, Steve

made a call from his house at 4:43 that afternoon.

Johnny, hey, it's Steve.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): That's about the same time

the camper saw what she alleged was his truck

on the mountain road--

a 45-minute drive from the Bechtel home.

I don't see how Steve ever had the time to get up to where

Amy's car was and back.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): And what about motive?

Investigators believe Steve's journals

show a desire for power and control

that may have led to murder.

Steve and Amy's friend, Todd Skinner, strongly disagrees.

He thinks Steve is innocent.

A psychologist can read anything into any writing

that you can ever wish to put in there.

And to me, I've never seen more innocuous

writing taken out of context more heavily to a worse result.

Go!

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): This year, runners

competed in the Run for Amy in her hometown

of Douglas, Wyoming.

Amy's family and friends were there to honor her memory,

but they still want answers.

They want Steve to take a polygraph test.

I don't feel like me going in and getting attacked

is going to solve any problems.

I feel like I went, and I tried to work with Dave,

and it didn't work out.

And things need to get solved a different way now.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Did Steve Bechtel murder his wife?

Steve and his family believe a stranger could have kidnapped,

or a motorist could have accidentally struck

Amy, and in a panic, disposed of her body.

Next, meet a young man and woman whose lives have been changed

forever by a riverboat captain who

some call the matchmaker ghost.

The Delta Queen, a national treasure,

was built in the 1820s.

During World War II, she transported

wounded soldiers to hospitals.

Then the vessel was refurbished to carry vacationers.

She is one of the last living monuments

of the romantic era when steamboats

plied the Mississippi.

But there is another side to the Delta

Queen, a rather scary side.

[thunderclap]

It was a stormy December night in New Orleans.

The Delta Queen rested impatiently for repairs.

Her first mate, a single man named Mike Williams,

was the only person on board.

I was quite exhausted and was sleeping a very deep,

solid sleep, when I was awakened by a sound,

as if someone had said, psst, next to my ear.

I was quite startled because I couldn't understand how someone

could have gotten in my room and out so quickly

without me hearing the door open and close.

[slam]

There was a very loud slamming of a door back

in the after cabin lounge area, and I had personally

made sure that every one of those doors

was locked before I had retired.

There was not supposed to be anyone on the vessel.

I proceeded down several doors until I arrived at Cabin 109,

and it swung open in my hand.

I was a little frightened and intimidated.

I took a flashlight and looked in the room.

There was no one there.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Mike had heard stories

that the steamboat was haunted.

He had always brushed them off.

But how could a door that was locked suddenly slam shut?

That's what drew him to Cabin 109.

That moment for the skeptical Mike Williams

was clearly frightening.

Indeed, it would be the first incident in a chain of events

that would change him forever.

Two women would soon come into his life.

One was a coworker on the Delta Queen.

The other was also a worker on the ship,

but had died 40 years earlier.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Mary Greene

had been one of a handful of women

to ever pilot a steamboat.

She was in charge of the Delta Queen

from the time it was purchased in 1947.

Mary was 79.

She oversaw a lot of the day-to-day operations--

financial, even navigating the boat, managing deckhands,

painting the paddlewheel, supervising food preparations,

and everything.

She really doted on this boat.

She loved it.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Sadly, after only two years of

piloting the boat, Mary died.

Where?

Where else?

Cabin 109, the same cabin that was mysteriously

unlocked that night.

Much of what Mary Greene did when she was

alive Mike Williams does now.

But Mike had no idea that Mary's unearthly connection to him

would transform his life in a very surprising way.

Another night on the Delta Queen, this one in June 1985.

[phone ringing]

Hello?

An attractive young woman named

Myra Fruge a new Delta Queen employee, was working late.

MYRA FRUGE: I received a call from an elderly lady

in a cabin.

And she stated that she was cold,

and she was very uncomfortable, and could I

please send someone.

At this particular evening, Mike Williams was the mate.

And I called up there, and he answered,

and I told him the situation.

[knock on door]

Hello?

It's the mate.

Does someone need help?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Myra had sent him to Cabin 109.

MIKE WILLIAMS (VOICEOVER): The beds were made,

little mints on the pillows.

The room was obviously unoccupied that cruise.

MYRA FRUGE (VOICEOVER): It was around this time

that I had this feeling that somebody was

behind me, or looking at me, and certainly, through the window,

I saw this little, round, benevolent face.

But something was eerie about it.

I thought, well, perhaps that's the lady who needs assistance.

So I walked out of the purser's office to see if I could catch

up with her and talk to her.

And she wasn't there.

There was no one outside on the decks.

I was a little shook up, but I went

back into the purser's office.

[knock on door]

Yeah, come in.

Miss Fruge?

I just came from Room 109, there's nobody there.

You're sure it was 109?

Absolutely.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): No passenger

was registered for Cabin 109.

Mike held his tongue about who had once occupied the room.

But Myra told him about her odd experience.

She was so upset by it that Mike offered

to walk her back to her cabin.

Wait.

That's the woman I saw.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The woman in the portrait

was Mary Greene.

It was very, very scary at first.

Surprising too because I just saw her on the deck.

But for me, it was kind of exhilarating.

I began to suspect that someone was trying to introduce me

to this young lady.

Myra and I became very close.

We just clicked.

Each one of us had something that the other needed.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Captain Mary in life had become

Matchmaker Mary in death.

Mike and Myra fell in love and got married.

We stayed together, a newlywed couple, in a tiny cabin

on board the vessel.

And that is where our beautiful daughter,

Heather, was conceived.

I certainly believe and am very

thankful for that nice spirit in our life, Mary Greene,

who brought us together.

I believe sincerely that so long

as I care for this vessel in some way,

that the Captain Mary Greene's spirit will protect our family

and guide us, as she has.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Myra and Mike

are living happily ever after.

Mary, meanwhile, lives happily in the hereafter,

watching over them and the Delta Queen.

[music playing]

[tires squealing]

[honking]

America's highways are becoming a war zone.

Forget to signal when you switch lanes

or dare to play the radio too loud,

and you could find yourself under attack.

It's a modern madness--

road rage.

People have been upset on the highway

as long as there've been highways.

The problem today is we got more crowdedness,

we got more cars and less room.

And we're a little impatient today than we were in the past.

The smallest thing can get us going.

You're in my way.

I'm trying to get to my destination.

I feel frustrated.

And frustration leads to aggression.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): February 5, 1997.

It started as a minor fender bender hardly worth reporting.

Geez, I don't freaking believe this.

I was in my own lane, doing the speed limit.

You apparently hit me.

What are you telling me?

Hey, just settle down.

First, you run me off the highway, and now you

pull this self-righteous crap?

You piece of garbage.

Hey, you haven't got the right to talk to me like that.

Let me see your license.

Yeah, you wanna see my license?

Yes, I--

[gunshot]

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): 47-year-old Richard Aderson had

been shot once in the chest.

What you're about to hear is his desperate plea for help.

[phone ringing]

DISPATCHER: State police, 911.

I couldn't believe that he had been shot.

You live in an area that you think is safe.

We came from New York City.

We moved north.

I couldn't believe that something

like that could happen here.

When I heard the 911 tape, I had an overwhelming sense

of Richard's pain and his fear.

I think his fear was for his family and his children.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Richard Aderson, beloved family

man, respected educator, died less than an hour

after making his futile call to 911.

The incident occurred during a rush hour accident

on eastbound I-84 in Fishkill, New York,

about two miles past the Newburgh-Beacon Toll Plaza.

Evidence indicates Richard Aderson was

sideswiped by the other driver, and both men

pulled over to the shoulder.

I have never come across another crime

that parallels this one.

We're speaking here about a minor property damage

automobile accident that escalates

into an argument and results in the death

of one of the individuals.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Though no one

saw the accident or the shooting,

there were witnesses to the argument.

The gunman was middle-aged, balding, and wore glasses.

Richard Aderson added another detail--

his assailant had a beard.

The gunman drove a green 1997 Jeep Cherokee

with New Hampshire plates.

Though the shooting occurred in Fishkill, New York,

state troopers are naturally tracing all such vehicles

registered in New Hampshire.

In the meantime, Richard Aderson's family and friends

mourn his passing, still unable to understand why.

I don't think we are dealing with it.

I don't think that you can deal with this.

My youngest son this morning told me when I came here,

how long are you going to be?

You have to be really careful in the car.

Something could happen to you.

Those are the fears that he has, because I'm

his only parent that's left.

My two older daughters can't even speak about this.

It's unfathomable to have to experience this.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Next, two families search

for their long-lost children.

Perhaps your help can lead to a reunion like this.

In this next segment, we hope you'll be able to reunite

two more families.

Both lost loved ones many years ago.

Their most cherished hope is to find

them before it is too late.

PRIEST: I take thee as my wedded husband.

I take thee as my wedded husband.

PRIEST: To have and to hold.

To have and to hold.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Imagine you

are a young girl, barely 14.

Your mother is dying.

In desperation, she begs you to marry a man

she hopes will care for you.

A man more than four times your age.

You may kiss the bride.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): That's exactly

what happened to Margie Elizabeth Hamilton

in May of 1932.

Over the years, she told the story

to her daughter many times, the pain as vivid as

if it had happened yesterday.

My mother didn't really want to marry because she was

a child, and she wasn't happy about it,

and she told her mother that she didn't want to marry him.

But my grandmother was afraid that there

wouldn't be anyone to take care of her,

and she would be left alone.

By the authority vested in me--

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Margie's new husband

was James Austin Baker, a lumber yard

worker in Atlanta, Georgia.

Within a year or so of their marriage,

Margie gave birth to a son, Benjamin Austin Baker.

"Benny" for short.

To her, he was a doll, he was her doll.

And she just was really, really happy with him because she's

a very loving mother.

[humming]

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Her husband, however,

was not pleased.

He already had three grown children

from a previous marriage.

He didn't want more.

When Benny was 18 months old, he became ill, so ill

that Margie had to leave him in the hospital for three days.

When she returned, her baby was gone.

She was hysterical and trying to find out where

to go to try to get him back.

And no one would give her any information.

How can that be?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Behind her back,

her husband had given Benny up for adoption.

How can my husband do this to me?

He's my son.

Please!

[sobbing]

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): There was nothing she could do.

Benny was gone.

And I said to her, Mama, why did you stay

with him after he did this?

And she said, he always promised me

that he would sign the papers so that I could get Benny back,

and that's the reason that I stayed with him.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Three years later, Margie gave

birth to a daughter, Naomi.

Three years after that, her second daughter, Lois.

He tried the same thing to get rid of us

too, my sister and myself.

And we were in California at the time,

and the laws were different, and that was

in the '40s, so he couldn't.

And by that time, my mother had learned to read and write,

so they didn't take us away from her.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): In 1944, James Baker died.

Finally, Margie was free to search for Benny.

[knock on door]

But when she went back to the orphanage in Atlanta,

she was given only a photo, taken when Benny

was about seven years old.

They told her the records were sealed, to forget

she had ever had a son.

LOIS LANE (VOICEOVER): She gave up at that point.

She just figured that she would never see him again.

But she-- her main thing was she always

wanted him to know that she didn't give him away, that he

was literally stolen from her.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Lois knows there may not

be much time left for a reunion, but she clings to the hope

that she can give her mother, now

80, one last, precious gift.

It would be so wonderful to be able to say, Mama, here's

Benny.

Here's your son.

Mama, here's your son.

Hopefully, Lois will get a chance to say those words.

Another family is also eager to have that opportunity,

and their search is equally heart-wrenching, this time,

for two sons.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): January 23, 1950.

Twin boys, Jerry and Terry, were born to the Robinson family

in upstate New York.

They were the youngest of six children,

welcomed and well-loved.

But Terry had health problems, and their father

was out of work.

Times were very hard.

Gail Robinson, the oldest child, still remembers how they

struggled to make ends meet.

I don't think there was enough to go around for all

of us, that's for certain.

And so I think that's when it became apparent they

had to do something.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The twins

were just eight months old.

Gail was six.

Honey, I know this is gonna be hard for you to understand,

but the babies are gonna go away today.

They're gonna go live with another family.

And Terry, he's gonna see the doctor.

The doctor's gonna make him all better.

And we'll get to see him again one day, I promise.

OK?

MAN: And I spoke to the doctor--

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): A local minister said he would

find the twins a good home.

He also promised that the boys would be kept together

and would be given college educations.

And at the age of 18, they would be

told about their birth parents.

I promise I'll see you again.

It's time.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): After that day,

the Robinsons never heard another word

about their twin boys.

They never knew if the conditions had been kept,

if they had ever been told that their birth family still

mourned their loss.

[door closing]

Nine years later, Gail's father became fatally ill.

I promise, I'll find the twins.

[sobbing]

My mother is now 76 years of age.

That really would be something that

would give her some peace of mind

if she knew what happened to them.

That's the twin brothers' page.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Over the years,

the Robinsons tried their best, but all these

turned out to be dead ends.

They have now built a website that

features photos of the twins as babies and their siblings

at various ages.

Both boys may bear a strong resemblance to their brothers,

Alan and Ron.

Part of the genetic history that runs in our family

is that my father and his three sisters

all died of colon cancer, and colon cancer

is very high rated in males.

And my brother and I have to take care of ourselves

and be checked up for that.

And we feel very strongly that our brothers

should know that as well.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Jerry and Terry Robinson

would now be 48 years old.

They were adopted in upstate New York in 1950.

Terry may have had operations on his ears and feet.

Update.

Within minutes of our broadcast, a viewer

contacted our phone center to tell us

that Benjamin Austin Baker once lived as a foster child

in his home.

With this information, Lois Baker Lane

was able to locate her long-lost brother in Everett, Washington.

We will bring you the emotional reunion

of Benny Baker with his long-lost mother and sister

on a future program.

[music playing]

Join me next time.

Perhaps you may be able to help solve a mystery.

[theme music]