Original subtitles

ANNOUNCER: Tonight on "Unsolved Mysteries--"

The search for Chandra Levy and the tragic discovery

of her body has riveted a nation,

but she was not the first government intern to disappear.

15 months earlier, Joyce Chiang vanished

from the same neighborhood in Washington, DC.

Some believe that the similarities in their cases

may be far more than a coincidence.

Could a serial killer be on the loose in our nation's capitol?

A rape victim turns her own personal tragedy

into an amazing ability to sketch criminals

from eyewitness accounts.

Police hope that her drawings will

lead to the capture of these two men wanted for kidnapping.

An escaped convict on a self-proclaimed mission

from God stalks abortion clinics across the country.

Authorities fear he will kill before they can

return him safely to custody.

Through a bizarre set of events, Diana and Deborah Cordova

were separated from their mother, Patti, when they

were three and five years old.

40 years later, Patti is still searching for them.

Could you be the link to reuniting this family?

Join me for these intriguing stories

and more on another edition of "Unsolved Mysteries."

[theme music playing]

The entire country was saddened by

the heartbreaking disappearance and death of Capitol

Hill intern Chandra Levy.

As pictures and home videos of the vivacious brunette

flooded into our homes, the sense of tragedy only deepened.

When news reports are romantically linked Chandra

to California Representative Gary Condit,

he immediately came under suspicion.

But the congressman was ruled out as a suspect.

13 months after Chandra vanished,

police were summoned to a remote section of Rock Creek Park

four miles from her apartment.

A hiker's dog uncovered a human skull

halfway down a heavily wooded incline, far away

from the commonly used paths.

Police found additional bones, a jogger's bra, and cassette

player in the dense foliage.

Dental records confirmed that the agonizing search

for Chandra Levy was over.

The manner of death has been ruled a homicide,

but the cause of death could not be

determined from the skeleton.

What exactly happened to Chandra remains a mystery.

Few people know that another one-time Washington, DC,

intern, Joyce Chiang mysteriously disappeared

two years before Chandra.

Although there was no romantic scandal and no national media

coverage, the eerie similarities between the two cases

are striking.

The two women lived in the same neighborhood

and had worked for the same government agency.

They also shared numerous physical characteristics.

A contentious debate has erupted over

whether there is a connection between Joyce and Chandra.

AMY CALL: When Chandra Levy disappeared,

it certainly brought back our memories

and we wondered if there was a connection.

That question remains open and the question of Joyce's

disappearance remains open.

To those who ask whether or not there was a relationship

between the missing person Chandra Levy

and the missing person Joyce Chiang,

I will tell you totally unrelated.

TIMOTHY W. MAIER: I strongly believe

that these particular incidents involving these two women

may have been committed by the same perpetrator,

simply because there are just too many similarities

in this case to ignore.

To Joyce's family and friends, the similarities

between the Chiang and Levy cases are alarming.

Both were government interns that lived within three blocks

of each other and both were attractive, young brunette

women of petite stature.

Police dismiss these connections as mere coincidence.

They've even suggested that Joyce

may have committed suicide.

But many adamantly disagree and believe a frightening question

must be asked, is a serial killer

preying on the young female interns

of our nation's capitol?

Joyce was the only daughter in a tightly

knit Taiwanese-American family.

While in college, she served an internship for Representative

Howard Berman of California.

She had a wonderful personality.

She was just very cheerful, she'd light up a room--

that kind of a person.

She was just adorable and smart, everything

you'd want your daughter to be.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Following her internship,

Joyce took a job as a lawyer at the INS.

She lived with her brother, Roger,

in the DuPont Circle area of Washington, DC.

Chandra Levy would later move to the same neighborhood.

A favorite hangout for both a nearby Starbucks coffee shop.

It was here on the night of January 9th, 1999

that Joyce was last seen.

I don't know about you guys, but I ate way too much.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Earlier in the evening,

Joyce had met up with several friends for a movie and dinner.

ROGER CHIANG: At about 8:15, my sister was with her friend,

Kathy.

Kathy had generously offered to give her a ride home,

but Joyce asked to make one quick stop at the Starbucks

to grab a cup of tea.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Joyce told

her friend she would walk the four blocks

home from the coffee shop.

She never made it to her apartment.

When Joyce fail to return home, her brother, Roger,

called the authorities.

Hi.

I'd like to report a missing person.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Because Joyce

was a federal employee, the FBI took the lead in the case.

It's spelled C-H-I--

AMY CALL: We tried to stay positive at first,

but as time went on it was harder

and harder to stay positive.

I'd say after probably two or three days,

we were sure that at the very least, foul play was involved.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): But the FBI's initial investigation

turned up nothing.

There was no information available at that point

to indicate that there was any foul play involved in terms

of why she may have turned up missing

and there was no indication of where she may have gone.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Then spurred by local media

coverage, a couple came forward with the first clue

in the case.

Joyce disappeared on January 9th.

On January 10th, a couple was walking through Anacostia Park

and had found a billfold with Joyce's government credit card

and had turned it into the park police.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): But the credit card

remained in the lost and found for four days,

until the couple recognized Joyce's picture and news

broadcasts and contacted the FBI.

Fearing valuable time had been lost,

a 57-member search and rescue team scoured the area

where the card was found.

Other personal items belonging to Joyce soon

turned up on the banks of the Anacostia River--

her apartment keys, her video rental and grocery store card,

her gloves--

Got a jacket over here.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): --and the jacket

Joyce was last seen wearing.

There was a clean rip running down the back.

GENE SMITH: Her coat torn down the back,

her cards scattered everywhere.

We're just terrified.

We know she's dead.

You don't want to confront it, but you know something

horrible has happened to her.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Police searched the river to no avail.

Then three months later, a canoeist

was paddling more than eight miles

downstream from where Joyce's personal items were discovered.

The spring rains had forced her body to the shore.

Three months submerged in the water

had taken its toll on the corpse.

DNA tests were necessary to identify it as Joyce Chiang.

That's when all hope just dashed that Joyce was alive.

And I quickly called my mother, one of the most difficult phone

calls I've ever had to make, to tell my mother

that her daughter was dead.

And that's a moment that I'll never forget.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Even worse

for the Chiang family was the medical examiner's official

findings.

The massive decomposition made it impossible to find out

how Joyce died.

As a result, the cause of death was listed as undetermined.

Without any evidence of foul play,

investigators felt there was nothing more to be done.

Despite being unresolved, the case was closed.

From a law enforcement perspective,

there is no more investigation to conduct based

upon the medical examiner's opinion as to how

she may have perished.

For the police department to say that they cannot continue

an investigation because they can't determine the cause

of death is totally ridiculous.

It's incompetence for them to say that,

to stop investigating a case because they can't

determine the cause of death.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): It seemed

no one would ever know what really

happened to Joyce Chiang.

Then in May of 2001, Chandra Levy's disappearance

drew renewed media interest in Joyce.

To many, similarities between the two were chilling.

They both worked for congressmen at one time,

and interestingly enough, Chiang worked for Representative

Berman, whose office was basically adjacent

to Representative Condit's.

They lived within a few blocks of each other,

they both liked to frequent the Starbucks coffee shop,

had the same types of friends.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): But the police response

to questions linking Levy to Joyce Chiang

shocked Joyce's friends and family.

For the first time publicly, they suggested that Joyce

might have committed suicide.

AMY CALL: This is a woman without a history

of depression, this is a woman who worked very hard in life

and had everything to live for.

And it's just not a theory that makes sense.

And it's very frustrating because Joyce and her family

have lost so much and to lose who she is by saying she was

someone who committed suicide I think

is another injustice to her.

As you can see, there's a tear in the back

of this jacket which we haven't been able to determine

the cause of yet.

It's possible--

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): If Joyce did commit suicide,

why was her jacket ripped, why were her personal items left

on the banks of the Anacostia and how did she

get to the riverbank approximately five miles

from where she was last seen?

She didn't have a car and no public transportation

goes there and on an extremely freezing cold day

in January, committed suicide by wading into the Anacostia River

and putting her head under the water.

It's patently absurd on its face.

If you're going to commit suicide,

I guess you jump in the river thinking

that, I don't want to get my Blockbuster Video card wet.

Joyce Chiang was murdered, period.

She didn't commit suicide.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): There is

another foreboding clue that some believe disproves suicide.

Just three days after Joyce was last seen at the coffee shop,

a bizarre statement appeared on a nearby wall.

It read, "Good day, J.C. May I never miss

the thrill of being near you."

ROGER CHIANG: Just the initials, JC, which are the same initials

as my sister's name, and the content of the message,

may I never miss the thrill of being near you,

it's all just a little too weird, a little peculiar.

It's very eerie that there's this graffiti.

Perhaps the perpetrator may have written that

or somebody who knew something.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Was this a cryptic message

from Joyce's killer?

Perhaps he'd targeted her in the neighborhood

and later spotted Chandra Levy in the same area

when she arrived in town.

There is one last disturbing revelation.

There are those who believe that the serial killer has

taken not two, but three lives.

Five months before Joyce disappeared,

28-year-old Christine Mirzayan on

was raped and murdered while walking home from a barbecue.

She shared a number of startling similarities

with Joyce and Chandra.

All three women lived in the DuPont area,

all three women had dark hair, all three women

were about the same height, and they

were all here as interns at one point in their careers.

There were no similarities in those three cases, period.

I don't think any of us will ever know

what happened to Joyce Chiang.

That case is currently in a closed status.

There is no new information out there to indicate

foul play was involved.

AMY CALL: I think the bottom line is somebody

knows something and maybe they'll see this and realize

that there are still people who care and still want

to know what happened to her.

And maybe they will come forward and tell us.

We haven't completely gone on with our lives

and forgotten about Joyce.

One of the most important members of police investigation

teams is a sketch artist.

The ability to transform eyewitness descriptions

from victims into lifelike portraits of suspects

is an exceedingly rare talent.

Among the nation's top sketch artist, one in particular

stands out.

The eerily accurate drawings of Lois Gibson of Humble, Texas

have resulted in the arrest of nearly 1,000 criminals.

But Lois' story goes far beyond artistic talent.

She has overcome great personal pain with immeasurable courage.

Her loss was herself, the victim of a vicious crime.

This is really easy.

I do this with little bitty kids.

Little bitty babies?

Yeah, five-year-old.

Really?

Yeah.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Lois Gibson, a 51-year-old mother

of three, has been a police sketch

artist for the last 20 years.

Today she's going to use her astonishing skills

to help Denise Barnett.

Denise was recently a victim of a brutal sexual assault

and she needs Lois' help.

Now for the easy part.

Just relax.

To be able to look through the eyes of the victim,

I think you have to have a lot of empathy.

You have to be in their shoes.

And I've got real good at that and I empathize greatly.

She eased my mind and said it was going to be easy

and wouldn't be very long and that

she's done sketches with four- and five-year-old

little children.

It kind of shocked me to see the actual face of the guy.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Police hope

that Lois' sketch will lead to the apprehension

of Denise's assailant.

If the past is any guide, the chances are good.

Yet the drawing would not exist at all

if Lois had not turned her own nightmare

into a passionate desire for justice.

The year was 1971, and 21-year-old

Lois Gibson was living a life that seemed like a fairy tale.

The striking brunette was riding a wave of success

as a model in Los Angeles and her acting career

was starting to take off.

Is it for television or for film or what?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): But on one quiet summer

evening, a knock on the door would

herald the end of Lois' dreams.

Well, if the pay's good enough, I can go with that.

[knocking at door]

Hey, listen, can I call you back?

Someone's at my door.

OK?

All right.

Bye.

Yeah.

Who is it?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): A man pretending to be Lois' neighbor

gained entry to her home.

Who are you?

It doesn't really matter.

Wait.

Who are you?

Looks like you need a little company.

LOIS GIBSON: He immediately started choking me.

He went to my throat and just almost snapped my head off.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The assailant

sexually assaulted Lois and nearly strangled

her to death before fleeing.

The savage assault left Lois overwhelmed with shame.

I was so destroyed I couldn't even walk out of my apartment.

And the idea that I would actually tell anybody

was ridiculous.

It was absurd, it was undoable.

It was patently embarrassing.

It was the most embarrassing, humiliating, painful thing that

ever had happened to myself.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Six weeks later,

an amazing coincidence set Lois on the long road to recovery.

LOIS GIBSON: I drove up this street

that I didn't mean to drive up and then when

I got to the top of this winding hill, I looked on a balcony

and I saw the guy who attacked me.

I have no rights because you are taking them away.

LOIS GIBSON: And I started to scream

and then I realized his hands behind his back

and he was cuffed.

Look at everybody.

What are you looking at?

LOIS GIBSON: Well, I loved it.

t was like I got to see justice.

And that's when I fell in love with what police do.

You don't have nothing on me.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Lois later learned from the police

that the rapist was arrested for cocaine possession.

She could still not bring herself to tell the authorities

what the man did to her.

But what happened that morning would change the direction

of Lois' life forever.

Following her attack, Lois Gibson

moved to San Antonio, Texas, married, and had a family.

Lois continued to keep her agonizing memories to herself.

Fortunately, she found an outlet that brought

her some peace of mind, art.

Using chalk, pastels, and charcoal,

Lois began drawing portraits of her family.

On Saturday, I did 15 sketches in one day.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): But something happened

in 1980 that convinced Lois she could

no longer hide from her past.

LOIS GIBSON: And I was over visiting my girlfriend, Diane

Denton, and they came on the news talking about a dance

instructor who had been raped in front of her 11-

and 12-year-old students.

My god, that's horrible.

How could anybody do something like that?

LOIS GIBSON: I had this vicious feeling so I couldn't stand it.

And then all of a sudden, in less than a second, it hit me.

And I told her, Diane, I could draw that guy.

That would help the cops catch him.

And if they did, I knew in my mind

I didn't tell her that would make me healed.

That would heal my bad feelings from my attack.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): But Lois realized

she needed to prove to herself and the police

that she could draw someone solely

from an eyewitness description.

So her friend Diane went to a nearby gas station,

looked at the attendant, then returned

to describe the man to Lois.

And all of a sudden, I started reliving my attack

and I realized I needed to be able to do this really bad

and that it was going to kill me if I couldn't do it.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Lois fought back her fears

and drew the picture.

The two brought the sketch to the gas station

and compared it with the attendant.

It matched perfectly.

After some initial skepticism, the Houston Police Department

decided to give Lois a shot.

The results were astounding.

Her startlingly accurate drawings

have helped capture suspects in 30% of the cases she's worked,

an arrest rate unmatched by almost

all other sketch artists.

The The drawings that Lois has done in the past for us

have proven to be extremely accurate.

It is almost uncanny the resemblance

that the composite carries to the actual physical appearance

of the individuals that we have arrested.

Many times, it has been the turning point in being

able to find the individuals.

Lois' sketches are significantly

different from the ones that you traditionally see.

There is a three-dimensional depth there.

I believe that Lois has the ability

to connect somehow with the people she's working with.

It's like Lois is seeing the suspect

just the way the victim did.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Currently, Lois

is working several cases for local police

departments in Texas.

One such case involves Jason Bomer and his brother, Phillip.

The two men were recently kidnapped

from a mall in Humble, Texas.

On February 25th, Jason and Philip Bomer

were shopping for bedsheets when they

were approached by two well-dressed

African-American males.

Gentlemen, gentlemen.

Excuse us.

How are you guys doing?

PHILIP BOMER: They seemed friendly enough

so we started talking to them.

They started asking if we wanted to buy a computer.

I started thinking about it and my girlfriend

was asking me for a computer so I'll check it out,

see what's up.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): According to Phillip and Jason,

the men led them to a van in the mall's parking lot.

But instead of a cheap computer, the brothers

got a heart-stopping shock.

Get in the van.

Get in the van.

Get in the damn van right now.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): At gunpoint, Jason

was forced into the back seat of the van and Philip

into the front.

The kidnappers then headed for the freeway.

KIDNAPPER: You boys got some money?

PHILIP BOMER: We ain't got no money.

You boys got something.

PHILIP BOMER: A lot of stuff goes to your mind

when you're sitting there with a gun at you--

how you're going to get out of the situation or what.

That's basically the main thing that was my head,

how am I going to get out of this?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): As the van approached 70 miles

per hour, the brothers became convinced

they were going to die.

Both felt there was only one course of action.

Hey! Hey!

Hey! What are you doing?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The brothers

hit the freeway shoulder with devastating force.

Phillip suffered cuts and asphalt burns from head to toe.

Jason's collarbone was shattered and his leg severely fractured.

Shortly after being released from the hospital,

Jason Bomer sat down for a session with Lois Gibson.

I don't know if I'm going to be able to pick

out different eyes.

LOIS GIBSON: When I talked to Jason,

he gave me the same spiel that every single witness gives me.

Every single witness is positive they can't do the sketch.

And I said, hey, it's not your problem.

It's my problem.

You just relax.

These eyebrows here.

What's the letter number underneath?

B1-11.

LOIS GIBSON: I tell the witnesses

immediately that someone tried to kill

me for fun so I understand.

And they always like hearing that.

My attack has turned into a tool to relax my witnesses

and help them get justice.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Police are seeking these two

men in connection with the kidnapping

and attempted robbery of Jason and Philip Bomer.

Authorities are also looking for a suspect in the assault

on Denise Barnett.

Denise was allegedly lured by this man to a remote field

and raped.

He is described as Hispanic, five feet eight inches tall,

and approximately 140 pounds.

After robbing a gas station, two suspects

lead police on a high-speed chase

through the back roads of Kentucky.

[sirens]

The pursuit, which topped speeds of 120 miles per hour,

abruptly ends when the suspects decide to flee on foot.

23-year-old Jason Miller is immediately apprehended.

Hands above your head.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): But the second suspect,

Clayton Wagner, somehow manages to slip

through the police cordon.

Authorities grow increasingly alarmed when

they discover what Clayton Wagner

left behind in his truck.

In the vehicle was gas cans half filled with gasoline,

a dummy hand grenade, firearms, and a list of abortion

clinics on the east coast.

ROBERT STACK: Clayton Wagner is a small-time career criminal

who has apparently embraced the militant anti-abortion

movement, a skilled survivalist who has eluded

police on numerous occasions.

Wagner has publicly stated that he is on a mission from God

to kill abortion providers.

So far, he has not acted on his threat,

but authorities believe it's only a matter of time

before Clayton Wagner attempts murder.

BRUCE HARMENING: Clayton Wagner is

a very complex and intelligent individual.

He's a woodsman, he used to own a computer company,

he's a car thief, he's an armed robber.

And at some point in his life, Clayton Wagner became involved

in the anti-abortion movement.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): According to statements made

by Wagner, he experienced a spiritual awakening shortly

after his daughter had a miscarriage.

The family held a service for the unborn child.

Clayton Wagner has spoken to a reporter

from the "Pittsburgh Post Gazette" on numerous occasions.

Wagner said that at one point, he heard a voice.

He takes this to be the voice of God.

But he said God told him, how can you

mourn so much over this one child

when so many others are being killed?

And it all seems to start right there.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): In the ensuing months,

Wagner reportedly used his computer

skills to compile a list of abortion

clinics and their employees.

Armed with surveillance equipment, police scanners,

and firearms, Wagner claims to have stalked

over 100 clinics in 19 states.

BRUCE HARMENING: He had been out for a time

stalking abortion clinics and trying to work up

the nerve to shoot an abortion doctor

or one of their staff members.

He had people in his gun sights at least three times

and couldn't bring himself to pull the trigger.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): God's will, as Clayton perceived it,

had not been carried out.

A despondent Wagner allegedly vowed that next time,

an abortionist would die.

But then the law interceded.

A motor home Wagner was traveling in with his wife

and children broke down just inside Illinois.

DENNIS RODDY: When a license plate check was done,

it revealed that the motor home was stolen.

We had a little problem earlier with the starter,

I think.

ROGER MASSEY: When one of my state police troopers

indicated to him that he was going

to have to conduct an interview with Wagner's family--

I need to talk to your wife for a second.

Do me a favor. Just don't drag her into this.

She doesn't know anything.

ROGER MASSEY: And at that point, Wagner immediately

volunteered that the vehicle was stolen, that he was wanted,

and he did not want his family to get involved.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Wagner was

arrested and taken to the Dewitt County

Jail in Clinton, Illinois.

While in prison, he wrote letters

to the extremist anti-abortion movement looking for support.

Wagner struck up a relationship with Reverend Donald Spitz,

an independent Pentecostal minister

and founder of the anti-abortion group the Army of God.

DONALD SPITZ: Clayton informed me

that his life was totally committed to taking action

against the baby butchers.

Clayton was disappointed and dejected

because he was apprehended before he was

able to fulfill this mission.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): On December 6th, 2000,

Clayton Wagner was convicted of federal weapons

charges and vehicular theft.

During and after the trial, statements

reportedly made by Wagner were posted

on an anti-abortion web site.

CLAYTON WAGNER (VOICEOVER): It doesn't

matter to me if you're a nurse, receptionist, or a janitor.

If you work for a murderous abortionist,

I'm going to kill you.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): As it turned out,

Clayton Wagner had no intention of remaining incarcerated.

ROGER MASSEY: He happened to be put

in only one of two cells that had this inside access

door to the plumbing.

That was just by chance.

He just happened to have the luck of the draw

and end up with that cell.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Wagner allegedly picked the lock

on that access door with a comb.

Police believe a prune juice diet resulted in Wagner

losing several pounds.

He was now thin enough to squeeze

through the small opening and into the crawl

space above the cell.

From there, authorities theorized Wagner

gained access to the roof.

[train whistle]

He then jumped to an adjacent building and finally, 15 feet

to the ground.

Wagner allegedly made a beeline for nearby railroad tracks.

[train whistle]

BRUCE HARMENING: Wagner knew what time the train went by.

He made statements to other inmates

that that was going to be his ride.

And I think he planned the escape

to happen at a certain time so he could jump on that train.

[inaudible] to patrol.

Notify dispatch we've got one missing.

[alarm sounding]

ROGER MASSEY: We conducted searches of the immediate area.

We set up roadblocks at all the exit points

leaving the city of Clinton.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): But there

was no sign of Clayton Wagner until two

days after the escape.

Police received a report that a man matching

Wagner's description had stolen a vehicle

from a nearby gas station.

[tires squealing]

Although police immediately swarmed the area,

Clayton Wagner slipped away yet again.

BRUCE HARMENING: We don't know how Wagner

got through that dragnet.

Wagner has stated that God has made him invisible.

I don't think God has made him invisible,

but obviously Clayton Wagner is very good at disappearing.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Two months after his brazen escape,

authorities believe Clayton Wagner

resurfaced at a bank outside of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Surveillance video captured the robber, who

made off with $4,700 in cash.

BRUCE HARMENING: I almost couldn't believe

it when I saw the photograph.

It appeared that the person in the photograph

was posing and smiling for the camera.

And there was no doubt in my mind it was Clayton Wagner.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Wagner has

again disappeared, possibly into the backwoods of Pennsylvania.

Abortion clinics across the country are on full alert,

fearing that Clayton Wagner may finally

follow through on his threats.

Whether he shoots an abortionist dead or whether he

does not shoot an abortionist dead,

Clayton will be spending the rest of his life in prison

if he is apprehended.

So Clayton has nothing to lose at this point.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Update--

on December 5th, 2001, Clayton Wagner was captured

by US Marshals in Cincinnati.

An employee at a photocopy store recognized him

from wanted posters and notified the FBI.

Agents moved in and arrested him without incident.

Wagner pled guilty to possession of a firearm

by a felon and interstate transportation

of a stolen vehicle.

Tiny infant hospital bracelets, normally the cherished keepsake

of the birth of a new baby.

But for Patti Lemmer, they are bittersweet, a sad reminder

of the bizarre set of events that unfolded over 40 years ago

and cost Patti her two young children.

PATTI LEMMER: My daughters were beautiful,

very loving, a little ornery like their mother.

I don't know, I just love them.

They were my life.

OK?

And my life ended a long time ago.

Patti Lemmer is desperate for help

in finding her daughters taken from her decades ago.

In 1959, she was an outcast, divorced

and disowned by her family.

Sadly, Patti believes she fell prey

to people willing to do anything to save

her children from the stigma of being

raised by a single mother.

Good morning.

Hi.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Patti had no idea of the trouble

ahead when she moved to Peoria, Illinois

to be near her grandmother.

With no money and no job, Patti had to go on welfare

and rely on the only relative she

had who was willing to help.

PATTI LEMMER: My grandmother offered to babysit while I

was out looking for a job.

Love you.

Say bye-bye, Mommy.

I love you.

Tell Mommy bye-bye.

PATTI LEMMER: And I thought she treated the girls real well.

I had no idea what was going on.

Now, come.

I have a special gift for you.

PATTI LEMMER: Come to find out she wasn't treating them alike.

She was buying Diana toys, clothes, just about anything

she wanted.

And she just ignored Deborah.

Do you like it?

Good.

Good.

PATTI LEMMER: It just hurt her.

It just tore her apart.

And it was causing problems in our family.

Grammy doesn't love me.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): After weeks of neglect,

five-year-old Deborah became very upset.

Patti felt the favoritism was getting out of hand

and began to wonder about her grandmother's intentions.

She doesn't do anything with me.

PATTI LEMMER: She loved babies, and Deborah was older.

Grandmother just wanted that chubby little baby.

She wanted it for herself.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Patti had no choice but to confront

her grandmother.

If you continue to treat my daughters unequally,

I'm not going to allow you to see them again.

PATTI LEMMER: And she said, you've made some pretty

bad mistakes in your life and if it wasn't for us,

you wouldn't be here, would you?

GRANDMOTHER: You know damn good and well you need me.

And I said, that's it.

Out, now.

Forget you know us.

[knocking on door]

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): It was just a few weeks

later that Patti received a surprise

visit from a social worker.

I'd like to talk to you about your two daughters.

PATTI LEMMER: She had received a complaint that I was beating

my girls and not feeding them.

So I let her interview the girls just to prove

that there was nothing wrong.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The children

were found to be well taken care of, but when

Patti asked who made the unfounded claims,

she hit a brick wall.

PATTI LEMMER: She said, that's confidential information.

None of your business.

And she said, well, I'll tell you this,

if we get another call, we will take your children.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Decades ago,

hearsay and unsubstantiated claims of child abuse

could cause a single mother to lose her children.

ADAM PERTMAN: She lived in a culture

in which single motherhood was frowned upon.

Lots and lots of women were coerced

into placing their children by well-meaning social workers

and religious officials and parents who thought,

this is not the right thing for the child or for the mother.

[knocking on door]

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Weeks later,

the social worker returned.

PATTI LEMMER: She told me that the state

was going to take my daughters.

And I looked at her and I told her,

you'll take them over my dead body.

No one is taking my children--

no one.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Patti's impulse

was to run from the lies, and she had

an idea who was spreading them.

PATTI LEMMER: Because I'd had that big blow

up with my grandmother, I just know it was her.

And she took that secret to the grave,

but I know she turned me in.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Patti decided to leave Peoria.

She asked her girlfriend, Doris, to watch the girls while she

went to nearby Chicago to find work and a new home

for her children, Deborah and Diana.

But it wasn't long before the system caught up

with Patti and her daughters.

[phone ringing]

PATTI LEMMER: I had been up there about three days

and I got a phone call.

And it was Doris.

And she told me my children were gone.

She said two people and a sheriff came and got them.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Patti returned to Peoria

and was told her children were at Catholic Social Services.

Once there, according to Patti, she was met by the Monsignor

in charge of her case.

He quickly confronted her with a serious list

of criminal charges against her.

You beat your children, you left them alone all night

and didn't feed them, you deserted them.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): And to make matters worse,

Patti claims the only way out of the trumped up allegations

was a horrible ultimatum.

I need you to sign several documents.

If you don't sign, you will go to jail for desertion.

PATTI LEMMER: What do you do?

If you don't sign the papers, you go to jail

and your children are in an orphanage.

If you do sign the papers, they may be adopted.

I don't think anybody should have to go through that.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Patti felt she had no choice

and signed the adoption papers.

Curiously, among them were forms she was told

were her own daughters' death certificates.

ADAM PERTMAN: The issue of the death certificates

was quite bizarre.

They wanted to create a new identity for the kids--

clean, whole.

This was the model of adoption back then, as if,

so that the new parents could raise them

as if they gave birth to them.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): On January 15th, 1960,

Patti Lemmer saw her three- and five-year-old

daughters for the last time.

I love you so much.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Since her tearful goodbye

over 40 years ago, Patti has spent

countless hours and thousands of dollars searching for them.

Retired from a 17-year career with the Defense Department,

Patti dedicates most of her days to looking for clues

that might lead to her girls.

PATTI LEMMER: I promised Deborah and Diana that I'd find them

if it took the rest of my life.

And that's what I'm trying to do now.

I'm not part of their life now, but I

want them to know the truth.

I've gone through 41 years of hell

and I think I deserve to know my babies are OK.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Update--

in December of 2001, "Unsolved Mysteries"

received a phone call from a woman whose family

had adopted Deborah and Diana.

The girls have been placed in the same home

shortly after Patti last saw them.

Patti has been in telephone contact

with her youngest daughter and hopes to meet

with both women in the future.

At Patti's request, no further information

about Deborah or Diana has been released in order

to protect their privacy.

Join us for our next edition of "Unsolved Mysteries."

[theme music playing]