Original subtitles

ANNOUNCER: Tonight, on "Unsolved Mysteries--"

ROBERT STACK: On a sunny afternoon and Boonville,

Missouri, Janice Owen and her eight-year-old

daughter, Alyssa, made their way home

within an hour of one another.

What happened next stunned the small community,

left even the most seasoned cops shaking

their heads in disbelief.

Tina Cremer was getting a fresh start with a new boyfriend.

But she was concerned because her ex-husband had

allegedly been stalking her.

Then on the night of August 10th, Tina and her boyfriend

were murdered.

Had Tina's fears been realized?

Could this have been a case of love gone wrong?

Where is 15-year-old Trisha Autry?

At her Utah home, she spent many evenings at her computer.

Then she suddenly disappeared.

Did Trisha run away to meet someone

she met over the internet, or was

she abducted against her will?

Join me for these stories of heartbreak and intrigue

on "Unsolved Mysteries."

[theme music]

I'll see you tomorrow.

ROBERT STACK: It had been a routine Monday

at Riverdale Care Center in Boonville, Missouri,

population 8,200.

43-year-old nurse's aide, Janice Owen, a widow

and hard-working mother of two, finished her shift

at the usual time then headed for home just half

a block away.

The time was 2:15 PM.

About an hour later, Janice's 8-year-old daughter, Alyssa

was on her way home.

A sweet kid with a sunny disposition, Alyssa

got along well with everyone.

She was riding alone that Monday.

Her older brother had been dropped off

earlier at the babysitter's.

She's a cute, little smiling girl.

I just noticed her when she got off the bus

and walked in front of my bus to get on her property.

I watched her angle toward the front door of this president,

and then I was on my way.

ROBERT STACK: Later that afternoon, Janice's mother

stopped by to say hello.

Janice?

FRANCES FRIEDRICH: I tried the door, and it was unlocked.

Janice?

Hello?

She didn't answer me, so I walked on through the house.

And she wasn't anywhere to be found in there.

ROBERT STACK: Alyssa's coat was on the couch,

her backpack on the floor.

But Frances found no sign of her daughter or granddaughter.

It was now 5:00 PM.

FRANCES FRIEDRICH: So I wrote a note that I'd been there.

And I thought it was funny that night she didn't call me.

But there was nothing messed up or anything

that would have given me any idea anything was wrong.

ROBERT STACK: 5:45 PM, a neighbor returning home

from work says she saw some unusual activity

outside Janice's home.

AMY PULLIAM: There was people standing outside her duplex.

There was cars parked on the street that usually--

I mean, I just never noticed before.

There was a woman on the porch, and there was a younger guy.

He was wearing the red baseball cap.

They were both facing the street,

and they both stared at me as I drove by.

I kind of thought something was odd about the situation.

ROBERT STACK: 15 minutes later, Amy noticed more strange

activity outside Janice's home.

AMY PULLIAM: There was a white four-door car

in front of her house but on the wrong side of the street.

And I saw a different guy facing me looking down

towards my end of the street.

My intuition was telling me something

there was something wrong.

And I didn't know if it was a domestic dispute

or what it was, but the thought that severe harm

would truly happen to anybody, that never crossed my mind.

Janice Owen and her daughter Alyssa had simply disappeared.

And what happened between 3:15 PM and 6:00 PM

that Monday afternoon at the Owen home

would become the topic of much speculation.

Police departments from two rural counties

soon found themselves handcuffed by a puzzling

case, a first of its kind in this area in 20 years.

Even big city detectives, called to assist in the case,

could make no sense of the evidence.

The next day, Tuesday, 8:45 AM.

On the outskirts of Fayette, Missouri,

just 12 miles north of Boonville,

three employees from a local saw mill

spotted something on the side of the road.

Whoa. Whoa.

Whoa. Whoa.

Stop.

Stop. Stop.

Back up, back up.

Oh, stop.

Stop. Stop.

Stop.

ROBERT STACK: At first glance, they

thought it was a mannequin.

It turned out to be the lifeless body of a young child.

Minutes later, the Howard County Sheriff arrived on the scene.

There was no signs of any trauma or anything,

so we called the coroner, and he arrived and could

determine that she'd probably been at least

dead six to eight hours.

Lieutenant Welliver, Sheriff Polson, Howard

County Sheriffs Department.

ROBERT STACK: With no reports of any missing children locally,

Sheriff Polson contacted Boonville police

in neighboring Cooper County.

Yeah, I'll check it, and I'll call you back

as soon as I know anything.

OK.

ROBERT STACK: Detective Bob Welliver

made calls to several schools and soon had an answer.

Little Alyssa Owen had been absent that day.

It turned out to be her body found on the side of the road.

Tuesday, 12:15 PM, Detective Welliver

drove over to see Alyssa's mother

and deliver the terrible news.

[knocking]

No answer.

Suspicious, he went inside.

Hello?

Anybody home?

Mrs. Owen?

ROBERT STACK: No sign of Janice Owen.

I didn't see anything out of the ordinary that would give me

any suspicions that there was a struggle,

no signs of any blood, no signs of any trauma or everything.

We did not see anything out of the ordinary at the house.

ROBERT STACK: Wednesday, Detective Welliver

got a call from the coroner.

The autopsy revealed Alyssa had died of suffocation.

Her mother was not only missing, she

had become the prime suspect in a murder case.

But what possible motive could she have?

Friends say Janice adored her daughter.

As the investigation continued, more perplexing questions

surfaced about the events of Monday afternoon.

Was the woman Amy Pulliam saw on the porch Janice Owen?

Amy wasn't sure.

She really didn't know her very well.

And who were the two men, one wearing

a red baseball cap, the other standing by the white car?

She didn't know them at all.

But Amy was sure of that time, 5:45 PM,

some 45 minutes after Janice's mother

told detectives she stopped by the house and found it empty.

Alyssa?

Excuse me sir, Lieutenant Welliver,

Boonville Police Department.

ROBERT STACK: Detectives began canvassing

the area for more clues.

Another neighbor reported seeing an older model

dark-colored pickup truck parked near Janice's home Monday

afternoon.

Then an employee with a waste disposal company came forward.

He described seeing a similar pickup truck Tuesday

morning on the same road Alyssa was found,

just minutes before the sawmill workers discovered her body.

As it went by, it went slow.

When I looked at him, he looked at me so I waved,

and he didn't turn his head away or waver or nothing, just

stared and just kept right on going.

And they guy was wearing a red ball cap.

ROBERT STACK: Jeff Stacy never got

to look into the bed of the pickup truck,

but he thinks he knows what was there, the body of Alyssa Owen.

Jeff was certain that she was not

lying on the side of the road when

he drove by minutes earlier.

[inaudible] they had to have done it after 8:30

because obviously they're not--

there's no way, the spot she was laying, that I

would have missed seeing her.

ROBERT STACK: Was the man behind the wheel the same one

reportedly seen at Janice's home on Monday?

And was a dark green pickup truck parked near her home

that afternoon, the same one spotted near the crime scene

Tuesday morning?

Detectives searched for answers but came up empty.

Over the next month, they chased hundreds of other leads,

dead ends at every turn, and still no sign of Janice Owen.

Then on March 27, 2002, six weeks of Alyssa's death,

tragedy struck again.

Janice's body was discovered in a creek bed

some 12 miles from where her daughter had been found.

She'd been in the water quite a while,

but there were no really serious signs of trauma

that we could tell.

Everything she had on from work were still there, her rings

and necklaces and earrings, and even her eyeglasses

were still on her head.

ROBERT STACK: The coroner later determined

that mother and daughter had died within hours of one

another and in the same manner.

Janice Owen and Alyssa Owen had both been suffocated to death.

More questions-- why was Alyssa's body

left in plain sight on a well-traveled road,

but her mother's body was apparently

dumped in a remote creek bed some 12 miles away?

And who could negotiate the maze of back roads

that criss-cross Howard County?

Police have plenty of theories but still no suspects.

It's possible to get from either location

to the other location if you know the route.

It probably has to be somebody local.

I just don't believe a stranger could find those two locations

separately and just leave.

What worries me now is they're still out there.

Who knows that they won't try it to somebody else?

And I don't want that happening to anybody.

I would love to say I have it or that I have any clue.

I am a law enforcement officer.

I am a detective.

My job is to leave the options open

until I can prove the facts.

And quite frankly, I don't know.

ROBERT STACK: Update-- shortly after we completed the story,

there was a major development in the case.

Police have arrested 25-year-old Angela M.

Mize and her 18-year-old husband, Eric D. Mize.

Each is charged with two counts of first degree murder.

The couple live in the Boonville area,

and detectives believe they were the man and woman seen lurking

outside the home of Janice Owen the day

she and Alyssa disappeared.

Tina Cremer and Robert Miller met

on the job at a Lawton, Oklahoma hospital

where they both worked.

They had only recently begun dating.

The couple planned to spend a relaxing evening

at Robert's apartment.

While he prepared dinner, Tina took a hot shower to unwind

after a long day at work.

They were not aware they were being watched.

Robert's habit of leaving his front door unlocked

would prove tragic.

[gunfire]

TINA CREMER: Rob?

[gasp]

[gunfire]

[crashing]

ROBERT STACK: 25-year-old Tina Cremer and 26-year-old Robert

Miller never had a chance.

Just five days before her murder,

Tina Cremer's divorce had become final.

Tina and David Kemp have been married for five years.

According to Tina, David began stalking her shortly

after they were separated.

Could their apparently turbulent relationship have anything

to do with a double murder?

Investigators turned to those who

knew the victims for answers.

Tina loved the nursing field.

She love helping people, anybody she could help.

She did so much volunteer work for people that we didn't even

know about till after the fact.

ROBERT STACK: According to some, Tina's life with David Kemp

was apparently not very fulfilling.

LADONNA CREMER: I don't believe they had a marriage.

I don't believe they had a relationship.

I know he had hit her.

I know that he was mentally abusive.

She had no self-esteem left till after she left him.

ROBERT STACK: Tina's new boyfriend, Robert Miller,

was apparently providing a refreshing change

from her controlling ex-husband.

LADONNA CREMER: Rob was very affectionate, very loving.

He brought a lot of love and laughter into her life.

She had a lot of confidence.

Her self-esteem had just exploded

after she had left David.

This was a very beautiful woman.

This lady was really, really good for him and very

supportive, made him happy.

If this would have never happened,

they would have been perfect for each other.

ROBERT STACK: The bodies of Tina Cremer and Robert Miller

were discovered when they failed to show

up for work at the hospital.

Rob's best friend, police officer Troy Morris,

responded to the scene.

TROY MORRIS: I made entry.

I saw Rob's body lying there on the floor.

I was too emotional to continue on.

I was still wanting to preserve the crime

scene for our detectives.

I backed out of the residence and chose

not to go any further.

After exiting the residence, I did what police

officers aren't supposed to do.

I broke down.

I can't describe that feeling.

I can't describe it.

It was about 11:30 last night.

ROBERT STACK: Tina's family learned what

happened from a news report.

My husband and I, which is her brother, was watching TV.

The TV didn't say any names, but it showed the apartment.

And we just knew that it was them.

ROBERT STACK: Investigators processed the crime scene,

and news of the murders began to spread.

Many in Tina Cremer's circle had their suspicions

who may have been responsible for the cold-blooded murderers.

And that suspect would soon come to the attention of the police.

The first thing that led investigators

to seeking the whereabouts of David Kemp

was the fact that he had motive.

He had made threats to kill himself

and to kill Christina when they split up.

Robert said on several occasions

that David Kemp would come up to Comanche County Memorial

Hospital and leave notes on Tina's car stating, "if I can't

have you, then nobody can."

LADONNA CREMER: She stated to me a few days before the murders

that it was the calm before the storm

because of threats and letters.

Rob knew that Tina feared David.

And we would state to them, y'all be careful.

Watch out for him.

Lock your doors.

ROBERT STACK: When detectives attempted

to locate David Kemp for questioning,

they discovered he had suddenly left town the day

after the murders without telling

anyone where he was headed.

David Kemp was now considered a possible suspect.

They speculated that when he received the divorce decree

officially dissolving his marriage to Tina,

it may have upset him.

But would it have been enough to trigger the murders?

[gunfire]

Although police had no physical evidence

to connect David Lee Kemp to the killings,

they located a man who claims he sold Kemp a 45-caliber handgun.

This person still had in his possession

some of the shell casings that he had fired

previously through that gun.

He provided the shell casings to us,

and we were submitted them for forensic examination.

Those shell casings that were known

to be fired through that gun matched

identically to the shell casings that we

found in the crime scene.

ROBERT STACK: Conclusive proof that David Kemp's

gun was the murder weapon.

An all-out manhunt was launched to track down David Lee Kemp.

But where was he?

Investigators had exhausted all leads.

Then, almost two weeks after the murders,

a lucky break arrived from California.

JOHN WHITTINGTON: We were notified by California Highway

Patrol that they had spotted David

Kemp's vehicle on a highway just outside of Bishop, California.

1-Charlie-1, requesting warrants

on Oklahoma license plate--

ROBERT STACK: Kemp's 1998 Dodge Ram

pickup truck had broken down.

JOHN WHITTINGTON: The police indicated that there

was no one around the vehicle.

We faxed him a photograph of David Kemp

and advised them of what he was wanted for.

ROBERT STACK: Then a man fitting Kemp's description was spotted

walking along the same highway.

Within a few minutes they called his back

and stated that they had tried to approach Mr. Kemp,

but that he had fled on foot.

[sirens]

ROBERT STACK: California authorities cornered David

Kemp in an auto wrecking yard.

The suspected killer was trapped.

David Lee Kemp, this is the Police Department.

Step out so we can see you.

DAVID KEMP: I'm not going to jail, no way!

Put the gun down, David.

JOHN WHITTINGTON: He began to wave the gun about

and indicated that he wanted to kill himself.

We're going to try and help you.

David, what can I do for you? Let us know.

We got to know.

That he made few demands, but the one demand that he did make

was that he talk to his mother on the telephone.

Someone get this guy a cell phone.

ROBERT STACK: The request was accommodated.

DAVID KEMP: I'm sorry, Mom.

I can't do this.

ROBERT STACK: Then, as Kemp said his goodbyes,

he was momentarily distracted.

Police sharpshooters, armed with non-lethal projectiles,

saw their opportunity.

[gunfire]

David Lee Kemp was taken into custody.

The standoff was safely over.

When David Kemp was taken into custody in Bishop,

California, he did have a 45-caliber pistol with him.

Subsequent examination indicated that that

was indeed the same gun that was used in homicide.

ROBERT STACK: Once extradited back to Oklahoma,

David Kemp was assigned to the Comanche County Jail, where he

would await trial for the murders of Tina

Cremer and Robert Miller.

When David was caught and brought back to the jail,

we were very happy.

We rested at night easier.

We were glad he was back so that justice could be served.

[alarm ringing]

ROBERT STACK: Six months later, nine inmates at the Comanche

County Jail, including David Kemp, overpowered a guard

and forced their way to freedom.

Eight of the escapees were quickly recaptured.

The ninth, David Lee Kemp, was last seen heading toward Texas.

When David escaped, we were angry, very angry, empty,

feelings of it being so unfair.

It was like hearing my brother getting

murdered for the first time.

I went to the jail, and I stood there and waited.

I even went into the search parties.

I wanted to make sure that I was going to do everything

I could for Rob to make sure this man, David Lee Kemp,

was caught.

Personally I don't know how David can live from one day

to the next.

He's a coward for what he's done.

ROBERT STACK: Three months after the escape,

authorities missed an opportunity to take

David Kemp back into custody.

The night manager of a Las Vegas motel

checked to see why a guest hadn't paid his rent.

[knocking]

Manager.

[knocking] Hello?

Hello?

Manager, sir.

[knocking] Hello?

ROBERT STACK: The manager found the guest sitting in the bath

tub, covered with blood, holding a knife to his own stomach

in what appeared to be a bizarre suicide

attempt that had failed.

The man was taken to a psychiatric hospital

where his wounds were determined to be nothing

more than superficial cuts.

The troubled man received treatment

and checked himself out.

Hospital authorities had no idea that the man

was wanted for double murder.

The mystery man was David Lee Kemp.

Kemp was last seen at a service station

on the outskirts of Las Vegas.

He was getting into the passenger

seat of a black Firebird.

It's just a never-ending nightmare.

I want satisfaction for my brother, Rob.

And that'll be the only way he can rest in peace.

Without that, he's going to be troubled, a troubled soul.

Our wounds have not even gotten to heal because David's

never been tried.

And our wounds won't heal till David

faces the consequences of what he's done,

till justice is served.

ROBERT STACK: June 24, 2000, Hyrum, Utah,

JoAnn Autry awakens at dawn.

Her daughter Trisha, usually a late sleeper,

is not in her bedroom.

Trish?

ROBERT STACK: A search of the entire house failed to turn

up any sign of the teenager.

Is Trish there by any chance?

ROBERT STACK: As JoAnn's concern becomes outright panic,

she frantically calls her daughter's friends.

Trisha's sisters scour the neighborhood.

When none of us found her, then I

became really frightened.

All of a sudden, there was this deep fear,

deep knot of fear in my stomach because it

wasn't like Trisha to do this.

And I knew that there was something gravely wrong.

The sudden and mysterious disappearance of 15-year-old

Trisha Autry left her family devastated and the police

struggling for clues.

In many ways, Trisha's a typical teenage girl,

energetic, insecure, and eager to be liked.

It was this last desire that may have led Trisha

on a dangerous search for romance,

a journey that possibly landed her in the clutches

of an internet predator.

Like many teenagers seeking acceptance,

Trisha found adolescence a painful experience.

JOANN AUTRY: She was a kid that was ostracized in school.

The children made fun of her.

She didn't have what she really wanted,

and that was a really close friend, someone that she could

confide all of her adolescent dreams

in and be able to share those things with.

So she was a pretty sad child from that standpoint,

is that she just needed that one special friend.

So Mrs. Autry, has there been any fighting?

No, there hasn't been.

ROBERT STACK: Police immediately zeroed

in on Trisha's state of mind as an explanation

for her disappearance.

We thought it was a typical runaway juvenile case

that we usually get from teenagers about that age, that

just take off.

They've got problems at home, with friends,

depression-type-of things, and they just

leave for a couple of days.

Did you make the bed?

No, I found it like that this morning.

ROBERT STACK: There was only one problem

with a runaway scenario.

Trisha left behind virtually everything she might

need while away from home.

There literally was nothing taken except the clothes

on her back, and so we became convinced that she went simply

to meet someone for a few minutes,

with the idea that she'd be coming back.

ROBERT STACK: Trisha often hid from her unhappiness

by creating elaborate stories, sometimes

attaining secret liaisons with much older men.

Two weeks before her disappearance,

the teenager told her family she had started a new story.

Every night she'd type furiously, often staying up

until the early morning hours.

On the night she vanished, Trisha

was again at the computer.

I'm going to bed.

Goodnight.

See you tomorrow.

ROBERT STACK: Her sister Breanne went to bed at 2:00 AM.

No one in Trisha's family ever saw her again.

For Trisha to disappear was totally out

of character for her.

And what I was hoping was to find in the story

that she was writing some clue as to what she was thinking of,

what her frame of mind was.

And that's why I went immediately

there to begin looking.

ROBERT STACK: When JoAnn turned on the computer,

there was no story, only a few pages of scattered thoughts.

What then had Trisha Autry been doing on the computer

for all those countless hours?

Computer expert John W. Georgi examined the system

and made several disturbing discoveries.

Unbeknownst to her mother, Trisha

had three separate email accounts

and spent an enormous amount of time in chat rooms.

Even more alarming was what occurred

at 3:00 AM on the night Trisha Autry disappeared.

Everything that possibly could be found and who she talked to

or what she'd been doing on the computer in the recent frame

of time was deleted.

I figured Trish was taught how to delete these files

because she did not, from what I was told by her mother,

have the experience to know where these files were stored.

And I took this as a very bad sign

that obviously somebody was trying to cover their tracks.

ROBERT STACK: But who could this mystery person have been?

Trisha gave no hints to her friends or family

that she had met somebody online.

Neighbors, however, noticed suspicious activity

near the Autry home on several occasions.

About two weeks before she disappeared,

one of our neighbors had seen her get out

of a red car on the corner and what he thought

was some suspicious behaviors, the way she was walking back

to the house from the corner, as if she didn't want to be seen.

So that was our first report of a red car.

[crickets]

According to another neighbor, a red car

appeared again at 4:00 AM on the morning Trisha disappeared.

The headlights from a car coming

up the street kind of struck the bedroom window,

got my interest.

So I was looking out the window, and I

saw and economy-type red car.

[crickets]

Young man got out the car, and he was nervous.

First thing that popped in my mind, oh,

somebody's sneaking out of the house.

And after a few minutes, a lady was coming down the street,

and they walked to the car together

and went on their merry way.

I believe that she could be seduced

into thinking she found someone who

needed her and could love her.

I think she was bait, good bait, for a predator.

ROBERT STACK: Two hours after Trisha

was seen getting into the red car, Glenda Tripp,

a local convenience store employee,

witnessed a strange incident.

Are you all right, honey?

Yeah, I'm OK.

Thanks.

And she seemed really apprehensive and nervous,

and she never acted like she was wanting to buy anything,

but she kept kind of stretching her little head

and looking out the window like she was looking for someone

or watching for someone.

I've seen her in and about the neighborhood, so I knew Trisha.

I have no doubt in my mind that it was Trisha.

ROBERT STACK: After spending 20 minutes in the store

and making no purchases, Trisha vanished.

Over the next two months, the police and the Autrys

posted "missing" posters in the surrounding communities.

A man in Bountiful, Utah, saw one of the flyers

and immediately contacted the authorities.

What Jerry Startup witnessed would

cast an entirely new and unsettling light on the case.

I had gone into the supermarket

to do some shopping.

I saw coming through the door this young lady followed

by another lady and a gentleman lagging behind a little bit

to the right of them.

ROBERT STACK: The man matched the description

of the individual who was seen picking

up Trisha from her home.

Both he and the woman never let the girl out of their sight

and constantly berated her in hushed tones.

I looked a little bit closer and saw

that her eyes were partially closed

and her face was a little puffy.

And I thought, my goodness, this young lady's

perhaps been beaten or abused.

I thought she was drugged.

She had the appearance of being drugged.

Was it Trisha?

Yes.

How confident am I that that was her?

100%.

I knew-- I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that was her.

That was her.

My feeling right now is she's probably being kept from coming

back, either by force or by somebody keeping her sedated

or on drugs or something, that wants to keep her.

But I think this is an abduction-type-of situation.

I don't think it's a typical runaway.

For me, as a mother, the greatest thing

is this is a tiny person that I loved and nurtured

and worried about.

And I can no longer protect her.

I don't know where she is.

When I drive through town and I see things that we would have

been sharing together or activities

come up that we commonly did together as a family,

and she's not there, and there's no--

I mean, sometimes it just, the grief just washes over you

and it takes your breath away.

Since we filmed the story of Trisha Autry's disappearance,

investigators from the Sheriff's department in Logan, Utah

have made a tragic discovery.

Trisha's case is no longer classified

as that of a missing person.

Sadly, it is now a homicide, and a suspect is in custody.

Six months after Trisha's disappearance,

Cache County sheriff's deputies became suspicious

about the activities of Cody Lynn Nielsen, a maintenance man

working for a wildlife research facility in Millville, Utah,

eight miles from the home of Trisha Autry.

Near the time of Trisha's disappearance,

Nielsen had been observed using a backhoe on facility property

to dig deep trenches and refill them for no apparent reason.

We contacted a cadaver dog team out of Duchesne County

here in Utah, and we brought the dogs up to the site.

And they were real interested, and they

hit, what they call hit, on this one area

right here that we knew that our suspect had been digging.

And the dogs hit on this several times.

About seven different dogs head on this.

ROBERT STACK: Sheriff's department investigators

began to dig with their own backhoe

at the location suggested by the dogs.

DAVID BENNETT: When we got to about 10 feet,

we found a human jaw bone, which later was determined

to be Trisha Autry's it was just nothing short of a miracle

that we found that piece of evidence in that big of a hole.

ROBERT STACK: In other trenches, sheriff's deputies

found more of Trisha's remains and clothing, some of which

had been burned.

For Trisha's mother, the news of the discovery

brought great pain but also a sense of relief.

Primarily because of our faith,

we know where she is now, where before we wondered.

We would lie awake together at night

and worry about whether she was in the cold

or whether someone was hurting her.

It's probably been very agonizing

but also very validating because we

knew that she did not run away.

ROBERT STACK: Grace Hospital, Richmond, Virginia,

on February 9, 1965, a shadowy figure holding a tiny infant

slipped silently down the hall.

The child had been diagnosed with congenital glaucoma,

a rare condition present at birth that leads to complete

blindness unless surgery is performed

within the first few months of life.

The woman who said her name was Mary Carson

gave the child's name as Kim, her age 2 and 1/2 months.

I heard the baby whimper.

Here, let me hold her.

ROBERT STACK: Nurse supervisor Billie

Updike held the little girl while Mary

completed admission papers.

November 26, 1964.

ROBERT STACK: However, Billie was

stunned by what she heard next.

We talked for a minute.

And then she said, I've got to go now.

I'll be back tomorrow.

I have some older children at home.

ROBERT STACK: Mary told Billie she

had two older children at home that couldn't be left alone.

She said she would return first thing in the morning.

She'll have the very best of care.

She seemed very calm.

She didn't display an emotion at all.

And I would have been crying and heartbroken

if I'd had to leave my baby.

ROBERT STACK: Perhaps it affected

Mary far more than she let on, but Billie would never know.

When she returned to work the next day,

she was shocked to learn that Mary had failed to show

up for her baby's operation.

Number disconnected?

I'll notify administration.

ROBERT STACK: Without her, doctors

could not perform the surgery.

Desperate, hospital administrator Douglas Pace

attempted to track Mary down himself.

I went out to the address looking for the mother,

and I found a vacant lot.

All the houses had been demolished,

and the block was completely vacant.

And I was stunned shocked.

And it made me feel kind of sad that I

realized then we had a baby on our hands without a parent.

ROBERT STACK: With time running out,

Douglas Pace convinced the judge to issue a court order allowing

doctors to perform the surgery.

The operation was considered a success,

but Kim's eyesight would never be normal.

An article in the February 11, 1965

edition of the "Richmond Times" generated

an outpouring of sympathy, donations,

and adoption inquiries.

But the coverage failed to turn up one solid clue as

to who had abandoned baby Kim.

A police investigation also led nowhere.

18 months, numerous operations, and several foster homes

later, another report in the "Times"

caught the eye of local residents,

Richard and Sandra Butler.

Sandra's husband, Richard, was especially taken

by the heart-wrenching story.

This is going to be my baby.

This is what he said, end of discussion.

I he thinks we're going do this, I'll go along with him.

We made our mind up from the start.

We wanted her.

We got her.

ROBERT STACK: Sandra and Richard opened

their home and their hearts to the toddler

they named Kimberly Dawn.

Kim was treated exactly like the Butler's two

biological children, but her poor eyesight

made life a constant struggle.

I do remember being very angry, being very

frustrated about not being able to go and do a lot of things

that other children could do, which

was hard because, on one hand, they wanted

me to grow up very normal.

But yet, I couldn't do all the normal things.

ROBERT STACK: Despite her disability,

Kim graduated from high school, attended college,

and went to work as a teacher.

In 1989, she married Michael Smith, a deputy sheriff.

Over the years, Kim showed little interest

in learning about her birth parents,

until she became a parent herself.

Once I became a mom and had two children

and could tell you to this day, every moment about the day they

were born, the time, how much they weighed,

their birth dates, I started thinking, I don't know

any of those things about me.

ROBERT STACK: But it was more than curiosity

that led Kim to search for her identity.

As a baby, her son, Tyler, had suffered from repeated bouts

of respiratory infections.

Doctors feared the cause was genetic.

That was kind of like the straw that broke the camel's

back after going to several doctors

and being able to tell anything they

needed to know about Mike's side of the family.

That was kind of what made me decide that it was

time for me to start a search.

If I could just find those answers to all those questions

I have, and most importantly find

the medical history for my children and I,

that's what I'm in search of.

That's what I hope to gain.

ROBERT STACK: Kim is understandably concerned

for the health of her children.

Yet she harbors no anger against her birth mother.

We always were led to believe that she left me because maybe

she couldn't afford the medical treatment I would need,

having congenital glaucoma.

I can't be angry at her about that.

She could have not taken me to the hospital.

She could have not registered me for the surgery,

therefore I might not have any sight today.

ROBERT STACK: Kimberly Smith was dropped

off at a Richmond, Virginia hospital on February 9, 1965.

With every mystery, a single critical clue

may be the key to a solution.

Perhaps you hold that key.

Join us on the next edition of "Unsolved Mysteries."