All language subtitles for Unsolved.Mysteries.S10E09.AMZN.WEB-DL.DD+2.0.H.264-AJP69_track3_[eng]

ANNOUNCER: Tonight, on
"Unsolved Mysteries."

ROBERT STACK: Jessica
was 15, a cheerleader,

and in some ways,
much too naive.

She should never have accepted
the ride that led to this--

fleeing for her life
in a lonely cemetery.

Recently, a series of
spectacular sightings

had the entire state of Arizona
buzzing about UFOs and visitors

from beyond.

The military said the strange
lights were just flares,

but eyewitnesses say
it just isn't so.

It was supposed to be a
night to relax and have fun.

Then a young Marine
found himself surrounded

by gangbangers with no way out.

Perhaps one of our
viewers can help

track down the man who shattered
Joffre Ramos' life and dreams.

The bizarre case
of Rachel Timmerman

began when she accused
a man known to some

as a town bully of raping her.

Then Rachel and her
young daughter Shannon

abruptly disappeared, as
did three other people.

The common link-- this man,
the same man who allegedly

raped Rachel Timmerman.

Also, a poignant night where a
reunion is a result of a phone

call from one of our viewers.

Join me.

Perhaps you may be able
to help solve a mystery.

[theme music]

Madison County, Ohio,
March 16th, 1991.

A teenager runs for her life.

She has to outrun
her assailants.

She scrambles over a fence
and lands in a cemetery.

A few hours earlier, her
clothes were torn off.

She was raped in a
car and held hostage.

Somehow she escaped.

Now, she hides
behind tombstones.

She tries to get out of the
graveyard, but in the pitch

black smashes into a fence post.

The men catch up.

They strike her face
with a blunt object,

and they leave her to die.

Her name was Jessica Lyn Keen.

She was only 15 years old.

Later, investigators
are able to pinpoint

Jessica's final
movements based on clues

in and around the crime scene.

Mud on the fence.

A sock that belonged to her.

An impression of her
knee in the ground.

But they didn't have
a clue about why

anyone would want to kill her.

The gruesome murder
of Jessica Lyn Keen

has baffled local and
state detectives for years.

Jessica had been a popular
cheerleader, honor student,

a talented performer,
and a young woman

with goals and dreams.

REBECCA KEEN: Jessica
idealistically

would have loved to have
been a singer, an actress.

I guess realistically,
Jessica was--

loved animals, and going--

wanting to go to college
to be a zoologist.

She was always laughing,
always smiling, always singing,

always fun to be around.

Hey, Susy!
Hey, Jen.

- Hey Jan.
- How you two doing?

- What's up?
- Ah, not much.

Shawn is supposed to meet
me here in a little bit.

ROBERT STACK: That
year, Jessica's life

began to have its ups and downs.

It had to do with
being a teenager.

It had to do with rebellion.

It had to do with
meeting her first love,

the 18-year-old Shawn Thompson.

Hey, Shawn!

ROBERT STACK: It wasn't an
issue for Jessica or her mother

that Shawn was a different race,
but it did bother her mother

that Shawn had had minor
brushes with the law

and that he was a
high school dropout.

REBECCA KEEN: I had forbid
her to see Shawn and said,

you can't see him until
your grades come up.

And I was concerned.

We discussed her-- you know,
as far as her going to college,

she knew she'd have to keep
a good grade average in order

to get a scholarship, and
her grades started dropping

and she had skipped
school a couple of times

to be with Shawn.

Jessica wanted to
get away from her mom.

She thought about
running away, but she

didn't actually know
where to go and she

didn't want to be a runaway.

And of course,
she's threatening me,

and I don't want to
live with you anymore.

But I knew I had
to do something.

ROBERT STACK: Arguments must
between Jessica and Rebecca

escalated into a fury.

They desperately needed
a cooling off period.

Mother and daughter mutually
decided that Jessica should

spend two weeks at a
local live-in counseling

center for teenagers.

OK, I've got some
questions I want to ask too.

Hi, Shawn, what are you up to?

ROBERT STACK: On Friday,
March 15th, the day before

she was to move back home and
just hours before she died,

Jessica spoke to Shawn.

GREGG COSTAS: Jessica
and Shawn end up

getting into an
argument that day

on the telephone, at
which point they broke up.

Numerous people
witnessed this telephone

call and said that Jessica
was very visibly upset.

[slams phone]

ROBERT STACK: Later,
Jessica told her friend

that she was going to the mall.

She was last seen at a bus stop
near the center at 6:00 PM.

Authorities suspect that
Jessica was abducted.

- --bus?
- Yeah.

Come on, hop in,
we'll give you a ride.

No, it's OK.

GREGG COSTAS: There is a chance
that maybe it was somebody

who Jessica kind of knew.

Maybe wasn't really
good friends with,

but familiar enough
with them to trust them

enough to get into the car,

Thanks, guys.

GREGG COSTAS: --not knowing
what would ultimately . happen.

ROBERT STACK: Jessica's body
was found 42 hours later,

20 miles from the bus stop.

It was noon on Sunday.

Investigators surmise that
after Jessica was abducted,

she was held captive
for at least six hours.

Based on a semen
sample, they believe

she was raped two to
four hours before she

escaped from the car.

This is the road here that
Jessica ran down after she was

able to get out of the vehicle.

I don't think she had
any idea at the time

that she was actually climbing
into a cemetery to hide,

But that was-- at
that point, that

was her only means
for getting away

from whoever was chasing her.

This is the area where they--

the crime scene investigators
found one of Jessica's socks.

She obviously lost it
while she was running.

ROBERT STACK: The sock that
was found matched the one that

remained on Jessica's foot.

GREGG COSTAS: We do know that
she hid behind this headstone.

That was based on
the crime scene

investigators found her knee
print in the soft ground

behind the headstone.

[quiet sobbing] [praying]

We are pretty certain
that Jessica saw the light

on from a farm house, and
that's when she turned

to run for when she
collided with a fence post

in the back of the cemetery.

When she got back there, because
it's so dark out here at night,

she was not able to
see the fence back here

and collided with
this fence post.

Once she collided with the fence
post, she knocked herself down,

and at that point,
her assailants

were able to catch up with her.

This is the spot where
she was ultimately killed.

I've never been so passionate
about anything that I've

ever worked on in my life.

The thought of this
young girl, 15 years old,

who had such a bright future
being murdered in such

a horrible, horrible
fashion, you cannot help

but want to do everything
humanly possible

to find out who did this.

ROBERT STACK: Sheriffs
in Madison County

turned their attention
to Jessica's boyfriend,

but Shawn Thompson
wasn't in Columbus.

He had left for Florida
with some friends.

STEPHAN SALTSMAN: They were--

on the return to Ohio,
Shawn was questioned,

the friends that had gone
with him were also questioned.

And through the
questioning, the examination

of physical evidence, we--
we had all but eliminated

the boyfriend and the friends.

ROBERT STACK: DNA evidence
from the semen sample

did not match Shawn
or the others.

The group was cleared
of any wrongdoing.

But an entire week
had been lost.

A trail of the actual killer
or killers had grown cold.

Jessica's death never
stops haunting her mother.

What they-- they did to her,
the fear that Jessica felt--

she would do
anything to get away.

And I can feel her heartbeat
running through the cemetery.

I can feel the deep breathing
she was probably doing when she

went up behind the tombstone.

I can hear her praying.

I realized that that was the
worst thing that I believe

anyone could go through.

I pray to God to this-- that
when she hit that fence,

it knocked her out.

I'm not revengeful.

God has the only right
to take someone's life.

But if someone does something
and usually gets away with it,

they'll do it again.

I know, but this is one of
the last chances we'll really

have to find out who did this.

ROBERT STACK: Next, when a
peculiar V formation of light

appears over Phoenix,
many claim the Air

National Guard is the cause.

But those who actually see
it feel very differently.

Roswell, New Mexico, 1947.

A mysterious explosion.

Unidentified debris
found in a remote pasture

sparks a UFO frenzy.

Official explanation-- a
downed weather balloon.

Bentwaters Air Force
Base, England, 1980.

Multiple sightings of
strange lights and aircraft.

Official explanation--
a meteor shower.

Hudson Valley, New
York, 1983 to 1989.

Mysterious V-shaped
formations seen

by hundreds of local residents.

Official explanation--
an elaborate hoax.

For UFO buffs, it's
always the same story--

an unprecedented event followed
by an official brushoff.

Now some say it has happened
again in Phoenix, Arizona.

MICHAEL KRYZSTON: All right,
you tell me what it is.

ROBERT STACK: March
13th, 1997, 10:00 PM.

MICHAEL KRYZSTON:
Oh, what do we got?

ROBERT STACK: A
man named Michael

Kryzston shot this videotape.

MICHAEL KRYZSTON:
Take a look at this.

And before I know it, an entire
display of lights comes on.

I got a little
excited at that time.

I called my wife, it
took her about a minute

to get over there, and it
was really quite unusual.

ROBERT STACK: Michael
Kryzston wasn't alone.

This videotape was shot around
the same time 15 miles away.

BYSTANDER 1: Look at them!

Look-it, there's three
of them all together.

BYSTANDER 2: I got the
third one copied over here.

There's one behind the chimney!

ROBERT STACK: In fact,
the bizarre lights

were seen by thousands of
Arizona residents that night.

REPORTER: An unexplainable
series of strange bright lights

seen over the skies of
Arizona gets a lot of people

are wondering what
the heck they saw.

ROBERT STACK: Not surprisingly,
an official explanation

soon emerged from
Captain Drew Sullins

of the Air National Guard.

DREW SULLINS: The 104th Fighter
Squadron of the Maryland Air

National Guard's 175th
Wing was conducting

a night training
exercise in the vicinity

of the mysterious lights.

And what they were doing was
dropping night illumination

flares over the north tactical
range of Luke Air Force Base,

and a lot of people
seemed to think

that those flares
could in fact have

been the, quote-unquote,
mysterious lights.

ROBERT STACK: Flares.

It seemed perfectly plausible
and was widely accepted.

However, there was
one little problem

with the military explanation.

They said they'd only dropped
flares between 9:00 and 10:00

PM, but the most impressive
sightings occurred earlier

between 8:00 and 9:00 PM.

Taken together, these highly
credible eyewitness accounts

seem to indicate that there
was something other than flares

in the Arizona sky that night.

Was it an extraordinary
UFO event?

Judge for yourself.

8:10 PM.

Nearly an hour
before the military

will begin dropping flares.

Ross Nickle and his
family were on Highway 89,

just outside Chino Valley,
90 miles north of Phoenix.

Hey, Dad, do you see
that light over there?

Where?

Over the horizon.

Oh yeah.

Looks like an airplane.

And I looked out the window
and I saw some lights

in a very small pattern.

And what they really
looked like at that point

was some-- just dim
stars, several of them

in a very tight pattern.

Wow.

Let me out, I gotta see--

Hold-- hold it, let me--
let me look at this first.

They were white like stars when
they were coming towards us.

And at that point,
they changed colors

and went from light to red.

They were just
overhead at that point,

and they were in my estimation
not very high off the ground,

I'm guessing 1,000 feet.

And there was
absolutely no sound--

during the whole time from
the start to the finish,

there was absolutely no sound.

What is it?

I have no idea.

There was definitely
five of them.

It's moving again.

They were basically on a
flight pattern of some kind

that was fairly uniform.

ROBERT STACK: 10 minutes
later, 8:30 PM, 90 miles south,

a commercial airline
pilot and his wife

were driving home after dinner.

For professional
reasons, a pilot

agreed to tell his story only
if his identity was concealed.

They look like fighters.

That's a show formation.

Yeah, I've been flying
for 29 years, now,

and I'm not used to
looking up in the sky

and not being able to
figure out what I'm seeing.

I looked at it then and tried
to make it into an airliner.

I realized again, god,
it's going to slow,

and, oh, by the way,
there's no noise at all.

Definitely not fighters.

And then the next
thing that struck

me is that, yeah, and why
would his landing lights

be pointed straight down?

Because the lights appeared
to be about five lights

arrayed in this V formation
with landing lights

pointed straight down.

It's not making a sound.

ROBERT STACK: Ross
Nickle and his family

had seen the lights here.

The pilot and his
wife saw them here.

Whatever it was seemed to be
on a definite southerly course.

14 miles southeast of
the pilot sighting,

Ozma Linderman and
her boyfriend had

their own peculiar encounter.

Keep in mind, the military
would not begin dropping

flares for another half hour.

What is that?

Looks like it's going to crash.

BOYFRIEND: Wait.

OZMA LINDERMAN: It was
very clear in my mind

that it was one solid craft.

The lights were traveling
too perfectly spaced apart.

And that there
was a void clearly

between the lights
that blacked out

the stars when it came down.

Look at that.

Wow.

Where's it going?

I don't know.

The whole thing just slowed--

I don't know, maybe to a stop
or it hovered for a second,

and then what looked like
one solid red oval object,

it just turned red
and shot straight

up and disappeared-- gone.

Completely gone.

You know, I tried everything
I could to explain them away,

and I said, well, it
looks to me like a flock

of geese flying down from
Iowa with flashlights

in their mouth.

ROBERT STACK: 8:45 PM, still
15 minutes before the military

would begin dropping flares.

Trucker Gary Morris
saw the lights

approximately 10 minutes
after, and 80 miles south

of Ozma Linderman.

Hey Jimmy, you see those
lights over to the east?

And they didn't look
like floodlights,

they didn't really
look like spotlights,

there was something
different about them

that I had never seen before.

ROBERT STACK: Between
8:00 and 9:00 PM,

the Phoenix lights had
traveled over 300 miles

and been seen by
hundreds of witnesses.

Gary Morris' encounter
came near the end

of the first wave of sightings.

Looks to me like
a flock of geese.

ROBERT STACK: An hour passed.

Then at 10:00 PM,
Michael Kryzston

shot the videotape that
would set off local hysteria

and provide the basis for
the official explanation.

MICHAEL KRYZSTON:
What do we got here?

DREW SULLINS: If you
lived in Phoenix,

these flares, some of them were
dropped at 14 and 15,000 feet.

They burn very bright, they
burn for five to six minutes,

they they're suspended
by a parachute,

and it's a large flare.

You would be able to see
those flares I would imagine

for 150, maybe even 200 miles.

ROBERT STACK: The military says
that flares like these, dropped

at night, would look like this.

Again, judge for yourself.

I'm certain that
the lights that I saw

were not aerial flares
as used by the military.

I've seen them from the ground,
I've seen them from the air,

and these weren't flares.

And probably the major
reason that these were almost

certainly not flares
dropped by the military

was there they're dangerous.

So they would never
ever be dropped

over a population center.

We saw them travel over
a distance of probably

70 to 80 miles over
about 12 to 13 minutes.

And then-- no flares
that I know can do that.

The Ross Nickle sighting
is very interesting,

because it involves--

ROBERT STACK: Veteran
UFO investigator

Richard Motzer has been
on the Phoenix case

since the beginning.

Surprisingly, Motzer sides with
the military up to a point.

He agrees that the 10:00
event was indeed flares,

however, he has no
explanation for the earlier

wave of sightings.

RICHARD MOTZER: The descriptions
of the witnesses simply

leave you shaking your
head, because they will

tell you that this is
no military vehicle

that they have ever seen.

And so right now, we
can't make a determination

on what actually happened
at 8:30 on that night

of March the 13th.

ROBERT STACK: Will the
mystery of the Phoenix lights

ever be solved?

For the military,
the case is closed,

but for hundreds
of eyewitnesses,

the question remains--

did the Phoenix lights come
from somewhere beyond the stars?

MICHAEL KRYZSTON:
We've got learn

except certain things in life.

We've been sending radio signals
out in space for over 50 years,

now, trying to locate
intelligent life.

So why would it be
hard for us to think

that at some point
in time, somebody

finally answered the call?

ROBERT STACK: When we return,
it was just a party, a chance

to let off a little steam.

But from for Marine
corporal Joffre Ramos,

it became a terrifying
descent into hell.

A gangbanger.

[gunshots] A flurry of gunshots.

A man left for dead.

But not a rival gang
member, an innocent victim.

He is 20-year-old Joffre Ramos.

Handsome, good
natured, a dedicated

Marine who had recently made
the rank of Lance Corporal.

September 21st, 1996,
Canoga Park, California.

It was supposed to
be an innocent fun.

Joffre and some fellow Marines
have been invited to a party.

--more of that, come on!

Hey, guys!

You made it.
- Hi.

Hi.

Who'd you bring?

Just some old buddies of mine.

This is Joffre.

ROBERT STACK: The clean
cut Marines mingled easily

with a diverse mix
of party goers, which

according to one of
Joffre's friends,

included some gangbangers.

There you go.

ANDREW COLLAZOS:
I want a rosebud.

They didn't say nothing
to us, you know.

Didn't pay no mind
to us, you know,

didn't start no trouble with us.

We just-- we did our thing
and they did theirs, you know?

ROBERT STACK: Then,
without warning,

What do you think
you're doing with Pablo?

Hey, he came up to me.

You wish.

He's not that desperate.

He is if he's
with you, trapita.

[slap]

ANDREW COLLAZOS: And then that's
when the whole fight broke out.

Just everybody was fighting.

[shrieks]

ROBERT STACK: For Joffre
and his fellow Marines,

it was time to go.

This was a party,
not a war zone.

As they reached the jeep,
Joffre remembered he had left

his wallet in the backyard.

His friends inadvertently
drove off without him.

They could not have
guessed the Joffre was

heading straight into battle.

On the street,
destroying a Marine

was considered a
badge of courage.

Yo, Marine!

What's up, man?

GANGBANGER 2:
Let's get him, man.

Come on down.

We gonna get him, homes.

Nothing.

Let's take this
fool out, homes.

GANGBANGER 2: Let's go!

Come on, take off--

ROBERT STACK: The alleged
ringleader of the group

was a reputed gang member
named Luis Quezada.

What's up, you know
how to kill, Marine?

Huh?

We can show you.

Take about five
minutes, homes.

Mess him up real bad, man.

Put his ass in check.

GANGBANGER 2: We can
take him down, homes.

You want some?

Huh?

Potential big time macho Marine?

Nah.

What's up with that
punk-ass hair, fool?

You going down, man!

ROBERT STACK: Joffre
sized up the odds.

There was only one way out.

Hey!

Let's get him!

GANGBANGER 2: Get
him, get him, get him!

Come on!
LUIE QUEZADA: Hurry up!

Get him!
GANGBANGER 2: Come on, come on!

Get him!

LUIE QUEZADA: Get down!

[punching]

ROBERT STACK: Joffre
Ramos never had a chance.

He was hit repeatedly.

Pummeled over and over.

[grunting]

The vicious attack lasted
less than five minutes.

The Marine ain't
so tough, huh?

ROBERT STACK: It was long enough
for Joffre's friends to return.

They went inside
to look for him.

They coming back.

ROBERT STACK: Luie
Quezada, meanwhile,

apparently assumed an
approaching car was filled

with Marines and took aim.

[gunshots]

BRUCE L. OAKLEY: By the grace
of God, there was nobody hit.

And we very much could have
had five additional people

laying out there dead.

I believe a neighbor
or somebody was yelling,

there's a dead
kid in the street.

So then we ran over there.
- Grab his arm-- ready?

Roll him over-- ready?

One-- there we go.

ANDREW COLLAZOS: You could
say it was like a nightmare.

Oh God-- Ramos?

Ramos!

I don't know, the
way he looked--

bloody, his face was swollen.

And he was just--

he looked like, you know--

he was breathing, but he
looked like he was just dead,

you know?

This guy needs help, man!

He's bleeding!

ROBERT STACK: In the
midst of the commotion,

the police mistakenly
arrested the Marines.

We're Marines, man!

We didn't--

BRUCE L. OAKLEY: Our initial
belief, because of the injuries

that Joffre incurred
in the beating

was that he was going to die.

And even though he
hadn't died yet,

we were handling it
as if he had died.

Because it was that serious.

FRANCES PEREZ: It
was awful just to see

him laying there like that.

I remember looking
through this glass wall

that they had in the room, and
I could see him laying there.

And he looked like a monster.

His head was bandaged and had
tubes coming out of his head.

His eye was-- it was swollen.

It was-- and his face,
oh, his whole face

was swollen, his nose, his lip.

And I thought he
was going to die.

ROBERT STACK: The right
side of Joffre's brain

had been smashed to the
left side of his skull.

He underwent emergency
brain surgery

and spent three weeks in a coma.

Doctors doubted
he would make it.

JOFFRE RAMOS: I was
unconscious for a long time.

And when I came up, I--

I didn't know anything.

Now, some things are coming,
but some are still gone.

Though Though Jeffrey suffered
some permanent brain damage,

it is remarkable that he is even
alive, much less functioning.

He spent eight months
learning like an infant, all

that it takes to walk and talk.

FRANCES PEREZ: I
think, as I said,

it's very unfair that Joffre has
to go through life facing all

of these challenges that he
has now while Luie Quezada is

out there having a
good time and doesn't

even have any idea of what
he's done to Joffre or any of--

or any of us.

ROBERT STACK: Joffre had high
hopes of making the military

a career, but instead had to
accept an honorable discharge

from the Marines.

Now, every labored
step Joffre takes

is proof-positive that he's
undoing the damage inflicted

upon him that terrible night.

JOFFRE RAMOS: I'll think
about this till I turn--

till I-- until I get
old and being that I--

I forget.

I never remember what I've--

never answered why,
why would they do that?

And why-- why would they just--

the number ques-- the
number one question is why?

Why would they--
why'd they do that?

ROBERT STACK: Next, a young
woman is found murdered,

but her baby daughter
is still missing.

Have you seen Shannon Timmerman?

August 7th, 1996, Cedar
Springs, Michigan.

18-year-old Rachel
Timmerman left

a party with 43-year-old Marvin
Gabrion and two other men.

I want you out of the car.

ROBERT STACK:
Though some consider

Gabrion the town bully, he was
friendly with Rachel's family.

He was well aware that life
had dealt Rachel a rough hand.

She came from a broken home and
had given birth to a daughter

when she was just 17.

Still nothing could have
prepared Rachel for what

she said happened that night.

Out of the car.

Ain't no way, man.

I'm not getting out here.

It's the middle of nowhere--

Get out of the car!

Do it!
Do it!

Get!

No, not you!
- What?

MARVIN GABRION: No!

Guys?

Guys!

Gabrion!

-

ROBERT STACK: Rachel later told
police that Gabrion beat her.

Then he raped her.

Not once, but three times.

RACHEL TIMMERMAN: [screams]

ROBERT STACK: After a
six month investigation,

Marvin Gabrion was
arrested, then released

on bail two weeks later.

That rape was so brutal.

And it took a long
time at the hospital,

and the scarring I don't
think would've ever went away.

It got to where she didn't
really hardly trust anybody

unless she already knew
them, because she didn't

know who could hurt her again.

ROBERT STACK: The accusations of
rape divided the tiny community

of Cedar Springs.

But in the months
that followed, Rachel

began to turn her life around.

She had a daughter to
raise, 18-month-old Shannon.

TIM TIMMERMAN: Rachel got
herself a job at a restaurant.

She had fun working with some
of the other young kids there.

I got the sense that Rachel
wanted to do something

with her life, that she
saw opportunities out there

that she wanted to pursue.

VELDA TIMMERMAN: The baby is
really what changed it all.

Her focus was on
the baby almost 99%.

It was just all for the good.

She knew she was
a beautiful lady

and-- and she started
wearing makeup

every day after that rape
to try to make herself feel

pretty, because there
were mean things

said that really hurt her.

So everything was really--

it was like a miracle.

ROBERT STACK: But as a date for
Gabrion's preliminary hearing

came closer, Rachel's family
says she began to worry

about having to testify.

TIM TIMMERMAN: She
had told me that he'd

threatened her numerous times.

She was a little
scared to go to trial,

but I had talked
to her about it.

I told her, it's OK, honey,
I'll go with you, I'll help you,

and we'll do it.
- No!

No!

VELDA TIMMERMAN: It
was actually horrible.

She would have
reoccurring nightmares.

She was totally convinced
that this man would kill her.

ROBERT STACK: Then two days
before the rape hearing,

--out of here.

- Where are you going?
- Oh, just out.

With some guy.

You don't know him.

OK, you're taking
Shannon with you?

Yeah, actually.

He asked me to
bring her with me.

TIM TIMMERMAN: She
came out to see me

and told me that she had a
dinner date with some boy.

She was going to take Shannon
with her and have dinner,

she'd be home in a few hours.

ROBERT STACK: A
few hours passed.

Rachel and Shannon
did not come home.

The next morning, still no word.

Later that day, less than 24
hours after Rachel disappeared,

her father received a letter.

TIM TIMMERMAN: This
letter was from Rachel,

and basically said that
she was going on vacation.

And we didn't know
what to make of it.

We were worried that it was
kind of a goofy thing to do,

that it just didn't make sense.

Here you just got a
job at the restaurant,

you're earning money, why would
you need to go on a vacation

now?

June 5th we had a
pretrial hearing scheduled

for Marvin Gabrion
on the rape charge

against Rachel Timmerman.

And on that date,
Rachel failed to show

up for that pretrial hearing.

ROBERT STACK: Authorities say
rape cases without witnesses

are extremely
difficult to prosecute.

The charges against Marvin
Gabrion were dropped.

11 days passed.

Prosecutor Chrystal Roach
became more and more anxious.

There was still no sign
of Rachel or baby Shannon.

Then Roach received a
letter, signed by Rachel,

and sent from Little
Rock, Arkansas,

more than 1,500 miles away.

RACHEL TIMMERMAN:
Dear, Chrystal Roach,

Marvin Gabrion did not rape me.

When he wouldn't have
intercourse with me,

I decided to teach him a lesson.

A short time later,
we made up, and I

can't bear the thought of trying
to lock up an innocent man.

Thank you, Rachel Timmerman.

I didn't believe it.

It didn't make sense to me.

And-- and I got angry.

Because she was very serious
about pressing these charges.

I was concerned that
something had happened to her.

ROBERT STACK: That same day,
yet another letter arrived

at the home of Rachel's father.

It, too, was postmarked,
Little Rock, Arkansas.

RACHEL TIMMERMAN: Dear,
Dad, Shannon is doing great.

She misses you guys,
but she's adjusting

to life out here really well.

I don't know for sure yet,

TIM TIMMERMAN: The letter that
I'd received was reassuring.

It said she was OK, her
and Shannon were fine,

they had a method of earning
money, they were getting by OK,

and that they would be
in touch with me later.

ROBERT STACK: More
than two weeks

went by without another word
from Rachel and baby Shannon.

Then on the morning of
July 5th, the still waters

of Oxford Lake
outside Cedar Springs

were disturbed by a
gruesome discovery--

the decomposed body
of a young woman.

It was Rachel Timmerman.

She had been wrapped in
chains and with cement blocks

padlocked to the
chains, and duct tape

around the eyes and mouth,
and then placed into the lake.

CURT SCHRAM: The
autopsy revealed

that Rachel Timmerman did
die as a result of drowning.

That she had been placed
in the lake alive.

ROBERT STACK: Police
believe Rachel probably died

shortly after she disappeared.

But what happened to Shannon?

Fearing that the little
girl had met the same fate

as her mother,
authorities called

in an underwater diving
team to search Oxford Lake.

But the search came up empty.

18-month-old Shannon
could not be found.

Authorities developed a theory--

whoever killed Rachel forced
her to write the letters almost

immediately after
she was kidnapped,

then mailed them after
throwing her into the lake.

One suspect immediately
came to mind--

the man who stood
accused of raping Rachel;

the man Rachel was to
testify against just two days

before she disappeared; the
man named Marvin Gabrion.

Take a look over
here and see--

CURT SCHRAM: We
decided to go over

to Mr. Gabrion's residence.

Mr. Gabrion was not
there, but cinder blocks

were noticed that appeared to
be the same as what was found

with Rachel Timmerman
when her body

was recovered from Oxford Lake.

ROBERT STACK: Authorities
now had evidence that

was potentially
crucial to their case,

but they did not
have Marvin Gabrion.

He had fled Cedar Springs.

And strangely, Gabrion
wasn't the only one

who couldn't be found.

It seems to be, anybody
that knows Marvin, has

any information that
could be damaging to Marv

comes up as a missing person.

ROBERT STACK: Missing
person number one--

Wayne Davis.

Davis had been in
the car the night

Rachel was allegedly raped.

He had agreed to
testify against Gabrion.

Davis was last seen
just days after Gabrion

was released from jail.

Missing person number two--

John Weeks.

Weeks was an acquaintance
of Gabrion's,

who had asked
Rachel out on a date

a few weeks prior to her death.

His name came up when we
were attempting to identify

the individual that might have
picked Rachel up on June 3rd

from the Timmerman residence.

In our efforts to
locate him, we've

come up against a stone
wall and found out that he

also was a missing person.

No one has seen
or heard from him

since about the second or
third week of June, 1997.

ROBERT STACK: Curiously, that
was around the same time Rachel

and Shannon disappeared.

The FBI was called in.

They learned that Gabrion
had been using an alias--

Robert Allen.

Missing person number three--

to no one's
surprise, authorities

discovered that the real Robert
Allen had disappeared in 1995.

October 1997, upstate New York.

A major break in the case.

FBI agents arrested Gabrion.

He had been cashing
social security

checks payable to Robert Allen.

Days later, Gabrion appeared
at an identity hearing

in New York.

Initially he denied
he was Marvin Gabrion.

He has yet to be charged
for any crimes he might

have committed in Michigan.

And he hasn't said
a word concerning

the fate of baby Shannon.

TIM TIMMERMAN: The hardest
part is just not knowing

where your granddaughter is.

It's a-- it's a hole in your
heart that needs to be filled.

We know she's out
there somewhere.

We just want to know where
she is, we want her back.

ROBERT STACK: Shannon Timmerman.

Wayne Davis.

John Weeks.

Robert Allen.

All missing.

All with a common link--

Marvin Gabrion.

Coincidence?

Authorities believe
it is highly unlikely.

PRIEST: I will take thee
as my wedded husband.

MARGIE ELIZABETH HAMILTON: I
take thee as my wedded husband.

ROBERT STACK: On a
previous broadcast,

we brought you the
heartbreaking story

of Margie Elizabeth Hamilton.

In the spring of 1932,
economic hardship

forced 14-year-old
Margie to marry a man

nearly 50 years her senior.

You may kiss the bride.

ROBERT STACK: The loveless union
unexpectedly brought Margie

a measure of joy when
she gave birth to a baby

boy, Benjamin Austin Baker.

But her husband James did
not share Margie's happiness.

MARGIE ELIZABETH
HAMILTON: How can that be?

Please!

ROBERT STACK: Behind
her back, James

put the child up for adoption.

Even though 63
years have passed,

Margie has never forgotten the
son who was taken from her.

Her daughter Lois
hopes that time

will not run out before Margie's
last wish can come true.

LOIS BAKER LANE: It would be
so wonderful to be able to say,

Mama, here's Benny.

Here's your son.

ROBERT STACK: Within
minutes of our broadcast,

two viewers contacted
our phone center

to tell us that Benjamin
Austin Baker once

lived as a foster
child in their home.

The information he provided
was enough for Lois Baker Lane

to locate her long lost
brother in Everton, Washington.

Benjamin Baker entered
the foster care system

at 18 months old
and grew up just

outside of Atlanta, Georgia.

He later became a salesman,
married, and started a family.

Sadly, Benny has
spent his entire life

believing that his real mother
had cruelly abandoned him.

Recently, Benny boarded a
plane for Colorado Springs

to find out the truth.

Hello, there.

Hello, there.

ROBERT STACK: After six decades
of separation, mother and son

finally embrace, their
shared anguish evaporating

in an outpouring of love.

It's been a long time.

Uh, yeah.

[laughter]

LOIS BAKER LANE: I wanted this
day to happen for my mama.

And I can't even put it
into words how I feel.

I just am-- you know, I am
just so happy that we finally

found him.

There.

It's flowers!

BENJAMIN BAKER: I had
given up a long time

ago that I'd ever see them.

So it feels great.

It's, uh, you know,
it's something I never

imagined would ever happen.
- The last one--

Oh.

--I got was this one.

It was-- day was taken, so--

Yeah.

MARGIE ELIZABETH
HAMILTON: I tried

so many years to find him.

And I prayed a lot
that it would happen.

I'm just glad that I got to see
him and he's well and happy.

And that we can be together
before my time comes.

ROBERT STACK: For every
mystery, there is someone

somewhere who knows the truth.

Perhaps it's you.

Join me next time for
"Unsolved Mysteries."

[theme music]