All language subtitles for Unsolved.Mysteries.S11E08.AMZN.WEB-DL.DD+2.0.H.264_track3_[eng]

MAN: Tonight on
"Unsolved Mysteries."

ROBERT STACK: Shawn
and Jodie Bordeaux

had been married two years.

They had great jobs at a
Casino on the Kickapoo Indian

Reservation in
Kansas and Jody was

expecting their first child.

Tragically, their
dream life would

be dealt a devastating blow.

Who wanted to kill
Jodie Bordeaux?

For hundreds of
working class families,

a school that offered affordable
music lessons for their kids

seemed too good to be true.

It was.

One owner loved the
limelight, the other

was a comedian who mysteriously
changed identities.

Allegedly, both were
ruthless con artists.

Over the course of a decade,
at least four young girls

vanished under
similar circumstances

from towns in the San
Francisco Bay Area.

Many suspect the cases
are somehow connected.

One day, Gilbert Ortiz was
a happily married family man

and the next
fighting for survival

After His wife
allegedly poisoned him

and ran away with their son.

We'll bring you an
update on Ortiz's

heart-wrenching journey.

Join me for these
intriguing stories and more

you may be able to
help solve a mystery.

[theme music playing]

A dark November night
in Powhattan, Kansas.

A small farm house on the
edge of the Kickapoo Indian

Reservation.

Jodie Bordeaux and
her husband Shawn

have lived here for over a year.

For weeks they have been
receiving disturbing

anonymous phone calls.

Hello?

ROBERT STACK: But on this
night, they were just calls.

Jodie was sure someone
was in their yard.

One night she had heard
noises outside of the house

and I tried to convince
her that it was probably

a raccoon or a
coyote or something

and that she really didn't
have nothing to be afraid of.

ROBERT STACK: But
Shawn was wrong.

The danger Jodie
perceived was very real

and would ultimately
lead to her murder.

Shawn and Jodie worked
at the Golden Eagle.

It was the first Indian-owned
casino in the area.

It held great potential
for the Kickapoo Tribe,

with an annual revenue stream
in the millions and job

opportunities for the
local tribes people.

Shawn, who is part
Lakota Indian,

and Jodie were part of
the management team hired

to run the casino,
although the Kickapoo

Tribal Council retained the
final word in all decisions.

Shawn and Jodie were also
trying to start a family.

After several miscarriages,
Jodie sought out a fertility

expert and within a few
months, the couple's dream

had come true.

Jodie was pregnant
with a baby girl.

She was absolutely
ecstatic over this pregnancy

and her happiness was
something that spilled over

into her friends and
her acquaintances

and everybody just
pretty much felt

happy for her and with her.

ROBERT STACK: Everything
seemed to be going Jodie's way.

Soon, her take
charge personality

got her promoted
to staff supervisor

of the slot machine department.

Jodie she was a
little fireball.

She put a lot of energy, a
lot of effort into everything

she did.

So to see her in the
Casino, you would think

she was running most things.

And even that perception
in and of itself,

is kind of a little bit--

it can draw jealousy and envy
from some of the people who

may be in the same
position, saying, how

does she get all the attention?

ROBERT STACK: Jodie believed
that some of the staff

were resentful of
her new position.

Morning.

Heard your grandmother died.

ROBERT STACK: For instance, one
employee, a slot technician,

accused her of fabricating
excuses to get extra time off.

Our busiest weekend?

Good time to have to
go out to a funeral.

There's some competitiveness
when it comes to these jobs.

And having two people
coming from other--

one from another tribe
and one from no tribe

at all and going
into high positions

in the casino I'm sure
rubbed a lot of people

on the Kickapoo
Reservation the wrong way.

ROBERT STACK: To
complicate things,

as a department supervisor,
Jodie's position

required her to oversee
job performance.

According to Shawn, Jodie often
had to report the slot tech's

bad attitude and tardiness.

He kept coming back with
more problems for her.

And eventually, you know, she
had to take a little bit more

of a hard line on him and start
writing him up and holding him

to the letter of the
law as our policies

and procedures mandated.

We are here to talk
about some reports we have

about you being late for work.

ROBERT STACK: When
things didn't improve,

the employee was brought
before the casino

management board for review.

I don't even know why
some of those reports

were even written.

It's like everybody else
gets away with everything.

ROBERT STACK: He was reprimanded
and put on probation.

I'm the one who
gets in trouble.

ROBERT STACK: But the problems
persisted and the slot

tech was eventually fired.

It was just weeks later when
Shawn believes out of vengeance

the slot tech brought a
grievance against Jodie

directly to the tribal council.

Yeah.

Look, there's a
meeting this afternoon.

You need to attend.

ROBERT STACK: The
complaint ultimately

led to Jodie losing her job.

Due to the great cost--

ROBERT STACK: So Jodie
spent the next month

petitioning to get it back.

She hoped the tribal
council would reconsider.

Can you think of
anything else I can add?

Jodie was hoping that she
would be rehired at the Golden

Eagle and that was a discussion
that her and I had participated

in and there was a possibility
that she would have come back

to work at the Golden Eagle.

[phone ringing]

ROBERT STACK: When
the news spread

that Jodie might
return to the casino,

the anonymous phone calls began.

Hello?

Hello?

Never in my
wildest dreams did I

think they had anything
to do with having

to worry for our lives.

I had no idea that we
were being threatened.

ROBERT STACK: Late
on November 21,

Shawn and Jodie were spending
a quiet night at home.

Did you find a car seat?

Yeah--

ROBERT STACK: When
a strange noise

startled a Bordeaux's dog, Shawn
followed him to the back porch.

[barking]

The next thing I hear
is a popping noise kind

of over and behind my head.

And then it was like somebody
let a 20 pack of firecrackers.

Jodie got to the bedroom and
she turned to see if I was OK

and one bullet went
into the bedroom.

Jodie?

Jodie?

And that one bullet
struck her in the head.

ROBERT STACK: Shawn could
see that Jodie was dead.

He quickly dialed 911 hoping
to save his unborn baby.

And as I pick up the phone
and I look up at the wall,

I notice that it's
riddled with bullets.

Jodie didn't suffer in
that she died instantly.

But my baby suffered.

You know, here's my
little baby in there

and she's relying on mom
and next thing you know,

there's no mom and
she dies a slow death.

That really hurts.

So I think when I
kissed her, I think

it was her calling me in
a spiritual way as to say,

I have to go now.

And that was goodbye.

That night, Shawn lost
both Jodie and the baby.

And despite an
exhaustive investigation,

four years later, no one has
been charged with the murder.

The Bordeaux's home
was so isolated there

were no witnesses,
no weapon was found.

Today, a killer is
still on the loose.

Kevin Hill is a county
attorney assigned

to the Bordeaux murder.

He has been working with
local and state authorities

on the investigation.

We've gone from a point
where just about everyone was

a possible suspect to a
point where we're focusing

on an individual or group
of individuals that may

have been responsible for this.

These individuals were not
strangers to Jodie Bordeaux,

the individuals
knew her and they

would have had an axe to grind
with her due to employment

issues.

ROBERT STACK: But there
are a few key roadblocks

to capturing anyone involved.

I believe that part of
the problem is just that

there's not a lot of
trust with Indian people

and non-Indian law enforcement.

And that's probably
part of the problem

with the inquisition and
any other investigations

that are taking place.

There's been serious
question about retribution

of anybody coming forward.

If there are members
of the Kickapoo Tribe

that have any information
that would help us solve this,

they have a responsibility to
their fellow tribal members,

to their fellow community
members to come forward.

This is an unsolved
crime here on our lands.

Let's do something about it.

I go through each day
thinking of my family,

thinking of what could be,
thinking of my little girl.

And so the most difficult
thing is just watching

my life go by without a family.

ROBERT STACK: Since the
murder, Shawn has left Kansas.

But he still holds out
hope that someday there

will be justice for Jodie.

Despite Shawn's belief that
a casino employee was somehow

involved in his wife's murder,
authorities at this time

have not released the
list of official suspects.

They seek your help in
providing new information

necessary for an
arrest in this case.

In a mostly working class
Hispanic neighborhood

in North Hollywood, California,
something extraordinary

was going on.

One, two, three.

[playing music]

ROBERT STACK: A new
music school head opened

and hundreds of parents eagerly
signed up their children

for low cost lessons.

Very good.

Now let's go--

ROBERT STACK: The school was
owned by Mario Yunis and Omar

Arroyo who hired
veteran instructors

to teach students a lost art
of playing the accordion.

I knew they had
hold of something big

and I knew it was going
to be a lot of money.

I just knew it.

And I wanted it to work.

Give John a round of applause.

ROBERT STACK: Mario Yunis and
Omar Arroyo were an odd couple.

Yunis was a studio musician
fluent in several languages.

Arroyo, an aspiring salsa
singer and used car salesman.

However, there was nothing
unusual about their carefully

crafted sales pitch.

Their enthusiasm hit
all the right notes.

Wow, that was excellent.

I'm very, very proud of you
and I think it's time for you

to move up to the next level.

Wow, that sounds
great, sweetie.

Wonderful.

They said that my daughter
had won a scholarship to learn

piano accordion in Oregon.

I thought, oh, great, you know?

This is the perfect
opportunity for my daughter

to get some lessons.

What I need for you to do
is to choose one of those.

I'm going to recommend
that [inaudible]

take the Mercedes package--

ROBERT STACK: Mario Yunis
acted as the front man.

Charming and
persuasive, he often

met with parents
while his partner

worked behind the scenes.

Well, the Mercedes
package is $2,500

and the Toyota
package is $1,800.

Oh, I see.

I think I'll take
the Toyota package.

The package was that it was
the accordion that you were

buying, but they
were going to teach

three different instruments
by the end of the three years.

Making $32 increments
every month, if that's OK.

And part of it would
be also taking them

on field trips like Disneyland.

ROBERT STACK: However, the ink
was barely dry on the contract

when everything fell apart.

Early one morning,
Martha Gallardo

dropped off [inaudible]
for her weekly lesson.

It was a day mother and
daughter would never forget.

- Mom, they're closed.
- What do you mean?

You sure?

Yeah.

She said, nobody's there.

They're gone.

And at first, I thought, oh,
don't be silly, you know?

But then it just hit me and
I said, oh my God, fraud.

That's the first thing
that came into my mind

because I knew I had
given them my credit card.

ROBERT STACK:
According to police,

Martha's instincts
were right, she

had been targeted for fraud.

Reportedly Arroyo and Yunis
even duped their own employees,

lying about the
credit card scheme

and paying them
with bogus checks.

I got tired of
getting bad checks.

I don't know how many bad
checks I got from how many

different banks.

And they said, well, we've
got another class for you.

I said, I've got to be paid.

And they said, well, after you
do this class, we'll pay you.

ROBERT STACK: John Calwell
taught the class but he

says he never saw the money.

And when Martha Gallardo
received her credit card bill,

she found a single charge
for the entire cost

of the accordion,
more than $1,800.

Allegedly, it was a cheap
import worth about $300.

However, many other
unsuspecting families,

unaware of law
designed to protect

consumers from
credit card fraud,

were reportedly hit much harder.

The parents were
mad, they were angry,

they were hurt because they
felt like, OK, wait a minute,

we have no money and
what are we going to do?

These people, their credit cards
were up to $10,000, $20,000.

One particular guy was $39,000.

According to
police, Omar Arroyo

and Mario Yunis had swindled the
money through identity theft.

By using personal information
lifted from music school

applications, Arroyo
and Yunis were

able to open
fraudulent credit card

accounts, some with
substantial lines of credit.

In just over a year,
authorities say

there take was an incredible
$1.5 million dollars.

But these alleged con men
also had another trick

up their sleeves, one that was
surprise and shock everyone.

We want some answers.

You're all going
to have to leave.

ROBERT STACK: The
alleged scheme began

to unravel when Martha
Gallardo and some

of the other parents
found out the music school

had reopened in a new location.

We want to speak to the owner.

I don't know what
you're talking about.

I am--

ROBERT STACK: A confrontation
with the school's director,

who police believe was also
a pawn of Arroyo and Yunis,

quickly became
heated, especially

when a TV reporter showed up.

Oh, I will not
speak on camera.

[inaudible] get
out of my premises.

[shouting]

You will all have
to leave right now.

I'm calling the police.

ROBERT STACK: Moments
later, officers

arrived on the scene
unaware that the school was

allegedly a front for fraud.

Are you the owner
of the building?

No, I'm the manager. these
people are trespassing.

- They're thieves.
- OK, all right.

ROBERT STACK: The irate
parents were immediately

escorted from the building and
told to take their grievances

to civil court.

However, many families chose
to file criminal complaints,

including Martha
and her husband.

Do you have a copy of
the contract with you?

Yes, we do.

I have seen some
really unique cases

but I've never
handled a case as this

where it has so many victims.

We have over, I could
say, 200 victims

and it involves a
large amount of monies.

Have you seen any two
males that might have looked

like the owners of the place?

ROBERT STACK: Detective Baello
quickly discovered that the two

alleged swindlers ran a
number of music schools

under a variety of aliases.

And cash is OK, yes?

Yeah.

ROBERT STACK: Meanwhile,
according to police,

Omar Arroyo and Mario Yunis
went on separate spending sprees

with some of the stolen cash.

Arroyo reportedly spent
more than $100,000

to cut a Salsa CD under
the name Luis Omar.

Yunis had also
crafted a new identity

but he was playing a
very different tune.

Oh, well, I am
his twin sister.

She's from Israel.

No kidding.

ROBERT STACK: Arroyo's real
estate agent did a double take.

And with good reason,
Mario Yunis had undergone

much more than a makeover.

He was now a she using
the name Delia Leon.

Liz, want to go
take a look at it?

Yeah, please, feel free.

Take a look, it's great.

Mario Yunis had undergone
a sex change operation up

in San Francisco and
paid for this operation

with one of the kids'
parents' credit cards.

Charges amounted
to over $33,000.

ROBERT STACK: And that was
only a portion of the cost.

The rest was also
reportedly charged

to various credit cards.

Then, according to police,
Omar Arroyo and Delia Leon

became lovers.

The couple lived like royalty,
renting a luxurious home

in LA's Woodland Hills.

To give the impression
they were a family,

Arroyo brought his two
daughters from a former marriage

over from Puerto Rico.

--never happened.

You have them fill
out an application.

OK.

ROBERT STACK: However,
life in Shangri-La

soon hit a sour note when a new
office assistant, reportedly

besieged by complaints
from angry parents,

decided to go to the police.

So where are you working?

I'm working at
Kid's Music Kingdom

and that's in Mission Hills.

It was a break
detective Baello needed.

But with only
aliases to go on, he

would need to conduct
a stake out to nail

the alleged con artists.

JUAN BAELLO: We
conducted a surveillance

in order to try to identify the
true identity of our suspects.

We were able to come up
with their true names.

ROBERT STACK: Detective Baello
then followed the suspects

to their upscale neighborhood.

A few days later, armed
with a search warrant,

police raided the home.

LAPD, police warrant.

Let me see your hands up.

ROBERT STACK:
Reportedly, Delia Leon

attempted to escape
through the back yard

but was quickly apprehended.

What are you doing?

I didn't do anything.

Ow.

What are you doing?

ROBERT STACK: She
denied any involvement

in the credit card scam.

ROBERT STACK: I was
just a consultant.

Watch you head please, ma'am.

ROBERT STACK: Police weren't
so lucky with her alleged

partner in crime.

Omar Arroyo had left town
just hours before the raid.

I was surprised
at not finding Omar.

And I later learned that
he had left to Puerto

Rico the night before.

Omar was in the process of
doing promotions on his CD.

Thanks to some parents
who refused to be victims,

skillful police work
by detective Baello,

Delia Leon, a.k.a.

Mario Yunis, was in custody
and the music schools

were closed down.

Fortunately, Martha
Gallardo was able to clear

the excessive charges
from her credit card

but many families
paid a heavy price.

On a previous broadcast,
we presented the puzzling

case of Sandra Orellana.

She plummeted 10
stories to her death

from this hotel balcony
in Southern California.

Investigators were uncertain
if it was an accident, suicide,

or murder.

Sandra had come to
California on a business trip

with her boss Robert Salazar.

They checked into adjacent
rooms on the eighth floor.

The next morning,
Sandra's body was found

sprawled on the ground below.

Police interviewed
Robert Salazar.

He said he had escorted Sandra
to her room around midnight.

He left her alive and well.

But suspicions arose when
detectives found articles

of his clothing in her room.

When questioned again, he
offered a very different story.

He said that he had, in fact,
gone into the room with Sandra

and that they had engaged
in sex and that at one point

they were on the balcony.

Sandra had positioned herself
on the railing of the balcony

in such a way that she
threw one of her legs

over the top of the balcony
and lost her balance

and had fallen.

ROBERT STACK: Sandra's
family was outraged

by Salazar's allegations.

They asserted she
would never have

consensual sex with him, that
she was devoted to her fiance.

Police used a dummy
to test Salazar's

account of what happened.

We tried it several times
and we actually ended up

trying to make it land
where she landed and we had

to basically throw the
dummy in that direction

to make it land there.

ROBERT STACK: Despite the
suspicions of the police,

Robert Salazar was not charged
with any crime until now.

On March 2, 2001, nearly five
years after Sandra's death,

Robert Salazar was
arrested for her murder.

On May 30 he appeared
at a preliminary hearing

in West Covina, California.

--another large item.

Your honor, I'm going to
ask that this be marked--

ROBERT STACK: Investigators
said a reevaluation of evidence

as well as DNA tests led
to the district attorney

finally charging Salazar.

One Friday afternoon, Kim
Swartz was preparing dinner

when her seven year
old daughter Amber

asked permission to play
in front of their Pinole,

California, home.

Oh but our friends are going
to be here in five minutes.

Please.

KIM SWARTZ: Amber
asked if she could

use the jump rope in the hall
closet and jump rope outside.

So I walked with her over to the
closet and opened up the door

and she grabbed the jump rope.

Thank you mommy, I love you.

And on her way out
the door, she just

stopped and turned and
said, I love you, mommy,

and out the door she went.

ROBERT STACK: Amber
planned to jump

rope until Kim's friend
Debbie and her daughter

Marissa came by.

[doorbell]

Hello, how are you two?

Come in.

They walked in the
door and, you know,

Marissa instantly asks where
Amber was and I she said she

was outside jumping rope.

And so both of them
at that point said,

we didn't see her out there.

So I said, well, maybe she
was over in a vacant lot.

She's out there.

Go get her.

KIM SWARTZ: So Marissa
quickly ran right back

outside looking for Amber.

I'm glad it's Friday.

- Oh, me too.
- Yeah.

KIM SWARTZ: She came
running back inside saying

she didn't see her.

So at that point,
I went outside.

I started hollering
Amber's name.

Amber.

Amber.

And she wasn't there.

So I called the only two
people that I thought

that Amber may have
wandered off to

and I got an answering machines.

So obviously they weren't there.

Amber.

Amber.

Amber, where are you?

Amber.

I couldn't find you Amber.

I was afraid and I didn't
want anything to be wrong.

I wanted her to be home.

ROBERT STACK: Kim
Swartz would never

see her only daughter again.

The disappearance of Amber was
the second devastating tragedy

Kim Swartz was forced to endure.

Her husband Bernie, a
Pinole police officer,

was killed in the
line of duty when

Kim was pregnant with Amber.

This latest tragedy would
transform the widowed mother

of three into an activist.

Following hours of searching,
investigators concluded

Amber Swartz had been abducted.

The morning after
she disappeared,

a pair of pink
socks was discovered

in a park a short distance
from Amber's home.

When the park had been
searched the previous night,

the socks were not there.

To come back the next
morning and find these socks

in a place that had
already been searched,

certainly sent up
a lot of red flags.

They were just like the socks
that Amber had on her feet.

I could say that.

That's because I had helped
Amber put her new shoes on

that we had just bought.

We knew fairly quickly
that this was going

beyond our resources and
we reached out to the FBI

and to the neighboring agencies
and pulled in other resources

so that we could conduct
a proper investigation.

Mrs. Swartz, I just
have a few more questions

that I'd like to ask you, OK?

OK.

ROBERT STACK: When FBI
agents visited her home,

Kim was struck by the
unusual questions they asked.

Have you been
to Social Security

in the last two or three days?

No.

KIM SWARTZ: Questions
like had I or Amber

received anything in
the mail from someone

that we didn't know?

Had Amber come home with
anything she couldn't really

explain who it came from to me?

Had I received phone calls
from anyone I didn't know?

Just really bizarre questions.

But the way they were
being asked kind of

led me to believe they
were so specific that they

had to be about somebody.

ROBERT STACK: In
the days following

Amber's disappearance, many
strangers offered to help.

But three days after
her daughter vanished,

Kim was visited by a man
she will never forget.

His name was Tim Bindner.

My name is Timothy.

I'm with the search for
Amber, for your dear Amber.

KIM SWARTZ: He was--

it looked like he'd
been up all night,

Basically, was
saying how he wanted

to be the wanted to save
her, he wanted to be the one

to bring her home to me.

I've been searching
in a lot of places

that I think some
of the authorities

might not be searching
for because I know kids,

I love kids.

ROBERT STACK: Bindner's van
also caught Kim's attention.

KIM SWARTZ: It almost like a
van that he painted himself.

He's got these plates
that say love you,

he's got posters on
the outside of the van.

So I want you to know, I
want to be the one to find her.

ROBERT STACK: According
to Kim, Bindner

became extremely emotional
as he talked about Amber.

I want to be the one to save
her and bring her back to you.

Did you see Amber
Swartz on June 3?

No.

ROBERT STACK: Tim
Bindner was questioned

extensively by the FBI following
Amber Swartz's abduction.

According to authorities,
the results of his pantograph

were inconclusive.

Did you speak to
Amber Swartz on June 3?

No.

Tim Bindner is
a very bright man.

He's a very intelligent man.

He's a Berkeley grad, right up--

ROBERT STACK: John Philpin is a
trained forensic psychologist.

He spent more than 1,000
hours interviewing Tim Bindner

for his book "Stalemate."

There are law
enforcement agencies

which consider him a suspect.

There's also the perception
shared by a number of people

that Tim has done
absolutely nothing wrong

and that he is a
misunderstood good Samaritan.

ROBERT STACK: Tim Bindner's
attorney, John Burris,

maintains that
Bindner's actions should

not be viewed with suspicion.

Point of fact is he
is trying to be helpful.

He does that voluntarily.

It is a sense that
has that he has

an obligation and a
duty to go out and try

to find missing children.

ROBERT STACK: According
to John Philpin,

Tim Bindner seemed to
have a particular interest

in the grave of a girl
named Angela Bugay.

Five-year-old Angela disappeared
four and 1/2 years before Amber

and was later found sexually
assaulted and strangled.

The FBI placed Tim Bindner
under surveillance.

His alleged habit
of visiting Angela

Bugay's grave site
up to 90 times a year

had caught their attention.

To have been to this little
girl's grave, this little girl

that he never knew, I just
can't imagine anybody going

to somebody's grave that many
times in that period of time,

unless there's something else
going on in that person's mind.

ROBERT STACK: According
to John Burris,

the fact that Bindner
visits grave sites

should not cast
suspicion on his client.

For him, it has a special
kind of significance

that is personal to
him but certainly

not an indication that he's
put anybody in that graveyard.

ROBERT STACK: 11 days
after Amber vanished,

a bloodhound from the
Contra Costa County

Sheriff's Department tracked her
scent to Angela's grave site.

Police say the
dog also picked up

Amber's scent in Bindner's van.

However, California
courts are often

leery about the reliability
of bloodhound evidence.

Sadly, five months after
Amber's disappearance,

the East Bay Area was
shocked by the abduction

of another young girl,
nine-year-old Michaela Garect

outside a Hayward market.

As Michaela went to
retrieve her scooter,

a man forced her into his car.

Michaela.

ROBERT STACK: By now, parents
in the surrounding communities

were living in fear.

Then two months later
in nearby Dublin,

13-year-old Ilene
Misheloff disappeared.

Despite the fact
that some suspicion

had been directed at him, Tim
Bindner help search for Ilene.

A few years later, a mother
in the town of Fairfield

informed the police
that her daughter

had begun receiving mail
from a man they didn't know.

One young girl was
getting letters from Tim.

Oddly enough, these letters
were written backwards

and had to be held up
to a mirror to read,

which I'm sure would set any
parent on edge, you know?

To have your kid all of a sudden
get this really weird letter.

I'm going to go play with
my friends down the street.

ROBERT STACK: Just a
few blocks from where

the letter was received,
another young girl disappeared.

Four-year-old Nikki Campbell
was playing in her driveway.

Nikki lived on Salisbury
Drive in Fairfield.

She had been out playing with
her brother in the afternoon.

When mom came home from
work asked, where's Nikki?

Well, she's out playing.

They couldn't find her.

ROBERT STACK: Four days
after Nikki's disappearance,

her scent, like Amber
Swartz's before her,

was allegedly tracked by
bloodhounds to Angela Bugay's

grave, the gray that
Tim Bindner reportedly

visited so regularly.

You put all of these
coincidences together,

you see them pile up-- the
dogs, the cemetery, the various

scents in the various places--

and you really
have to question--

which is what I believe
law enforcement was doing

and I think it's
their role to do it--

you really have to question,
is this a coincidence

or is there something to it?

If there was something more
to it, then you would think,

after all this time,
there would have

been some more evidence
that was more definitive

and there hasn't been any.

ROBERT STACK: Following the
Nikki Campbell disappearance,

the Fairfield Police Department
searched Tim Bindner's home

and found nothing.

Believing that his reputation
had been unfairly tarnished

by the Fairfield Police
Department's handling

of the Nikki Campbell
investigation,

tim Bindner brought
a defamation lawsuit

against the city of Fairfield.

The city settled out
of court for $90,000.

Citing the advice
of his attorney,

Tim Bindner turned down a
request for an interview.

Although he has been
questioned by police,

it's important to note that
Bindner has not been charged

with any crime relating to the
disappearances of these girls

and he has consistently
claimed he is innocent.

Kim Swartz refuses to give up.

Even though Amber would
today be in her 20s,

Kim will not rest
until she finds out

what happened to her daughter.

Within weeks of
Amber's disappearance,

Kim Swartz created
the Amber Foundation

for Missing Children.

The foundation's goals continue
to be educating parents on ways

to prevent child
abductions so that

what happened to Kim Swartz
may never happen to them.

On a previous broadcast,
we brought you

the story of Gilbert
Ortiz who was looking

for his young son, Jonathan.

Authorities suspected that
Gilbert's wife had taken

Jonathan after she
had been accused

of committing a heinous crime.

After eight years,
Gilbert and his son

have finally been reunited.

After serving in the
military, Gilbert Ortiz

moved with his wife and child
to Redwood City, California.

Though they were happy at
first, Gilbert and Elizabeth

fought frequently over money.

When Gilbert received
a promotion at work,

he thought that his future
suddenly seemed brighter.

But within a week, Gilbert
Ortiz was at a hospital

suffering from cardiac arrest,
kidney failure, and pneumonia

and fighting for his life.

Doctors worked feverishly
to determine what had caused

him to become so violently ill.

After lapsing in and out of
consciousness for two weeks,

Gilbert told police he thought
he might have been poisoned.

I lift weights and all
but I could never get big

and that's the kind
of guy she likes.

ROBERT STACK: Gilbert said
Elizabeth met him in the store

parking lot to give him
a special bodybuilding

drink which had
already been mixed

in a plastic sports bag bottle.

It looked like a real
shake, like a chocolate shake.

And then when I tried it,
it sort of burned my throat

and then my throat was
really, really burning

and I was all shaky.

And then I felt
like getting sick.

ROBERT STACK: Paramedics
came and rushed

Gilbert to the hospital.

Elizabeth Ortiz met them
in the emergency room.

Doctors hopped that
she could provide

an explanation for Gilbert's
sudden mystery illness.

Have you ever
seen that bottle?

No, never.

We needed to know where
that sports bottle came from.

If it was something that was
purchased from a fast food

store and it was
really a bad mixture

that really made him
sick or whether it

was a deliberate mix.

This is Sequioa Hospital.

I have a poisoning to report.

I need to speak to an officer.

ROBERT STACK: After it had been
determined that the shake had

been tainted with a
common insecticide,

police obtained a
search warrant to see

if they could trace it or the
plastic bottle to Elizabeth.

But when they arrived at
the Ortiz to apartment,

they discovered that
Elizabeth Ortiz had

vanished, along with Jonathan.

And then that's when
it hit me, she did it.

And when they told me, I
said, where's the baby?

He's gone.

That's the main part
that really got me.

ROBERT STACK: With the
evidence they gathered, police

were able to make a case
against Elizabeth Fuentes Ortiz,

accusing her of attempted murder
with special circumstances

for torture.

After following thousands of
tips with possible sightings

of Elizabeth Ortiz,
Sergeant Katherine Anderson

finally received a phone
call from an FBI agent.

Basically, March 14 of
2000 I received a phone call

from the FBI telling me
that they had Elizabeth

Ortiz in custody in Mexico.

When Elizabeth was arrested
in Mexico, she was by herself.

The FBI gave me their word
that they would continue

to look for the little
boy in Mexico in the area

that they had
arrested Elizabeth in.

ROBERT STACK: Elizabeth
Ortiz was brought

to Redwood City for trial.

But where was Jonathan?

Assuming that Elizabeth
would want to see her son,

Anderson had an
age-progressed composite

created and posted at the jail.

Then Sergeant Anderson
received the second phone

call she had been hoping for.

I received a phone call from a
deputy telling me that they had

a little boy at the
jail and the little boy

was a dead ringer for the
composite picture that we had.

ROBERT STACK: Jonathan had
been brought to the jail

by a relative.

According to the police, the
boy had been living in Mexico

during the time he was missing.

The following day,
Gilbert finally

was able to see the son he had
never stopped thinking about.

He was two years old
when he disappeared

when I got him back, he was 10.

As soon as I saw him, he
just came and hugged me.

That's all it took.

One big hug.

I cannot explain
what that feels like.

It's just too much of
an emotion, I guess.

ROBERT STACK:
Gilbert and Jonathan

have begun the long process
of healing and getting to know

one another as father and son.

The hardest part
of this experience

was losing a little boy
that I really loved.

Not what she did, not what I
went through, just losing him.

Join me for more
intriguing true tales

on the next
"Unsolved Mysteries."