All language subtitles for Unsolved.Mysteries.S12E01.Episode.449.AMZN.WEB-DL.DD+2.0.H.264-AJP69_track3_[eng]

ANNOUNCER: Tonight on
"Unsolved Mysteries"--

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Responding to a routine call,

Lufkin, Texas firefighters
made a gruesome discovery.

The partially burned
body of a young woman

was tied to her own bed.

Authorities now need your
help to find the murder

of 26-year-old Megan Curl.

It was a brazen
crime spree committed

by an unlikely suspect that left
three dead bodies on its wake.

In 1970, 18-year-old
Margo Freshwater

was convicted of murder,
but she escaped custody.

She has evaded authorities
for more than three decades

and tonight, a shocking
new development.

An apparent growing
causes suspicion

when the supposed
victim turns out to be

a man awaiting trial for rape.

Authorities need your help
to determine if Strider

Styarfyre is dead or alive.

A man and a woman inexplicably
vanish in America's heartland.

A massive search for the pair
has failed to turn up anything,

except for a single
bizarre clue.

Growing up, Virginia
Burns never knew

that her father had a hidden
secret, a previous marriage

and another daughter.

Now Virginia and her sister
are finally together,

thanks to you, our viewers.

Join me for these stories
of intrigue and deception,

the prime ingredients
of "Unsolved Mysteries."

[theme music playing]

4:00 AM, Lufkin, Texas.

Awakened by the smell of
smoke, an apartment resident

investigates.

Flames are raging out of control
in a unit on the second floor.

The man immediately calls 911.

[sirens]

The Lufkin Fire Department
arrives within minutes.

With hoses drawn,
the firefighters

waste no time racing to the
apparent source of the blaze.

Apartment 616 is
locked, requiring

a forced entry to be made.

The fire is confined to the
bedroom of the small apartment.

As firefighters
extinguish the blaze,

a chilling sight is revealed.

Tied to the posts of the bed
is the charred body of a woman.

Homicide investigators
are immediately called in.

She had been suffocated
with a plastic bag

and her throat had been cut
very deeply, two different cuts,

one on each side.

And then the bed
had been set afire.

This crime was absolutely
the meanest thing I've ever

seen one person do to another.

Dental records would identify
the victim as apartment

resident Megan Curl.

The 26-year-old woman who
worked at a local chicken

processing plant and had been a
Lufkin resident for five years.

Investigators continue to
face a perplexing question,

who could commit
such grisly acts

on this well-liked young woman?

Megan Curl was born
into a military family.

Younger brothers Josh
and Shawn soon followed.

In first grade,
Megan was diagnosed

with mild retardation,
requiring that she attend

special education classes.

Her life was
never really easy.

She wasn't always accepted.

People would make fun
of her, put her down,

and she'd always come back
with a kind word for them.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
When Megan was in high school,

her family settled in Lufkin,
175 miles southeast of Dallas.

Megan would marry at 18
and move to Arkansas,

but According to Sherry McClung,
that marriage was abusive.

When they separated,
Megan returned to Lufkin

and insisted on getting
her own apartment.

Because Megan was so
trusting and was so outgoing,

she tended to be an easy
target for some of these men.

Men who are accustomed to
looking for women who could be

easy prey absolutely could tell
that Megan wanted to please,

that Megan wanted
somebody to care for her,

and that she was lonely.

And I think that that is
part of what happened here.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Megan's mother's

suspicions may be on the mark.

Earlier on the
night of her murder,

Megan Curl went to the Electric
Cowboy, a local nightclub.

DAVID YOUNG: She
was seen talking

with a man at the
Electric Cowboy club,

and that man did buy
her one or two drinks.

She talked with him off and on
through the night at the club.

She wasn't with him
the entire night.

No one at the club
knew who this man

was and no one
reported ever seeing

him there before or since.

Megan loved to dance and
sometimes her dancing

was a little bit
provocative, particularly

for that area of Texas.

She was asked to leave the club.

She went to another club
called the Sport Shack

just a little ways down the road
from the Electric Cowboy club.

She talked to some people
there and caught a ride

with an employee of
the Sport Shack home.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Megan arrived

home just after 1:30 AM.

A close friend who lived in
the same apartment complex

was waiting up from Megan to
hear the details of her night

out.

Hey.

Can I come up there?

Yeah.

The manager came right up
to me on the dance floor

and told me that I had to leave.

Well, what That that for?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Megan's friend

requested that we alter her
voice and protect her identity.

MEGAN'S FRIEND: When we were
standing out there talking,

then all of a sudden, there
was this guy in this car

and he was speaking really fast
and he just did a dead stop.

He's driving crazy.

He's going to kill somebody.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
But instead of getting out,

the driver remained in the car.

MEGAN'S FRIEND: Then
I says, well, why

is the guy just sitting there?
- Hey, you know what?

I think that maybe my
friend from the club.

- Really?
- Yeah.

I think I'm going
to go say hi to him.

Are you sure?

Yeah.

Well, you be careful.

OK.

OK.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
As Megan's friend watched,

Megan approached the driver.

She seemed to recognize him.

They began to talk.

I went back into the
apartment to get me something

to eat because I'm hungry.

And then when I walked
back out the next time,

she was sitting inside the car.

And with each little thing,
I was getting more worried,

what she was doing.

And then I went back in
again and I came back out.

The car was still there, but
neither one of them was there.

They were gone.

And I was like, oh, Lord.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Megan's friend

was so concerned she
went up to Megan's

apartment to check on her.

[knocking on door]

Hey.

Oh, hey.

- Are you all right?
- Yeah.

- Are you sure?
- Mm-hm.

MEGAN'S FRIEND: She said, hi.

She says, I was right.

It was my friend from the club.

And I looked down to him
and he just nodded his head

slowly and didn't say a word.

And I didn't speak
to him at all either.

And I says, well, are
you sure you're OK?

And she says, yes, I'm fine.

Yes.

OK.

Call me tomorrow.

OK, I will.

Bye.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
That would be the last time

she would see Megan alive.

When Megan Curl's
body was found,

there was a remnant
of a nightgown on her.

Most of it had burned off.

In interviewing
men from her past,

we learned that
her normal sleeping

attire would be
something along the lines

of shorts and a t-shirt.

But if she were going to
be romantically involved,

she would sometimes wear
a negligee or a nightgown.

We feel like because of that,
possibly she knew this person

and was preparing for an
intimate evening with them.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
The very thought

that Megan was killed by
someone she trusted compounds

Sherry McClung's grief.

SHERY MCCLUNG: I
believe that Megan

knew who the murderer was
because she got in the car

with this person.

Megan would have gotten
in the car with a person

that she knew.

There was not a
forced entry so this

was someone that she
bought into the apartment

and that she had trusted.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Investigators

questioned men with whom
Megan Curl was known

to have had relationships.

However, each man was able to
account for his whereabouts

on the night of the murder.

This sketch is based on Megan's
friend's description of the man

she saw with Megan
in her apartment.

He is a prime suspect in
the murder of Megan Curl.

The man is white
in his mid twenties

early thirties, with blonde
hair and a light mustache.

He wears gold-rimmed glasses.

Investigators would also
like to find this man.

He was seen with
Megan by the bartender

at the Electric Cowboy club
on the night she was murdered.

He is described as
having a dark complexion

and possibly being Hispanic.

This man is not
viewed as a suspect.

Investigators simply want
to question him about what

he may have seen on that night.

The year was 1970.

Margo Freshwater, a
blonde, wide-eyed teenager

from Columbus,
Ohio, found herself

in an unlikely place, Tennessee
State Prison for Women.

The one-time babysitter
had just been convicted

of first degree murder,
but Margo would not

remain incarcerated for long.

[door alarm sounding]

On October 4th, Margo
and another inmate

made an audacious escape.

While being escorted by
a single unarmed guard,

Margo and her accomplice
made a run for the fence.

TOMMY LEWIS: The guard
had to make a decision

whether to stay with the
main group or chase them.

All the guard could do was
try to summon some help

and have somebody go after them.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Margo Freshwater

has not been seen since.

Margo Freshwater has managed to
elude capture for more than 30

years, longer than any other
woman wanted by the Tennessee

Bureau of Investigation.

Police reason that
she has blended back

into the fabric
of everyday life,

but Margo Freshwater
is a convicted killer.

With your help, authorities hope
to finally return her to jail.

How did Margo
Freshwater, a young woman

with no criminal background,
end up a murderer?

The story begins in the
office of Glenn Nash,

a hard-drinking lawyer
whose grip on sanity

was beginning to slip.

Nash was being investigated
by the Memphis Bar Association

for legal misconduct.

He had come to the
deluded conclusion

that agents from the Bar
were conspiring against him.

TOMMY LEWIS: Glenn Nash
was an intelligent person,

but somewhere along the line his
drinking and mental situation

apparently deteriorated and
he just took a left-hand turn.

Mr. Nash.

Glenn Nash.

Margo Freshwater.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): Margo had

come seeking Nash's
help in getting

her boyfriend out of jail.

Who then took advantage of
whom is open for debate.

Well, I'm here
because of my boyfriend.

He's in jail right
now for armed robbery.

Margo was a young, attractive
blonde, very good figure,

and Margo had the distinct
ability to turn a man's

head when she would walk by.

And I just drove down
from Ohio to help him out.

I believe Margo
was seduced by Nash.

She didn't have any
life experience,

especially with any kind
of situation like this.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Margo had no money to pay Nash.

She couldn't even afford
a place to stay in town.

Although broke
himself, Nash agreed

to take the case pro bono.

He also put Margo up at
a local boarding house.

The married 41-year-old
and the 18-year-old

then began a torrid affair.

But Nash was increasingly
consumed by paranoid delusions

that agents from the
Memphis Bar were after him.

One evening, he told
Margo's landlady

they were going bowling.

Instead, a three-state
crime spree ensued.

All the money in the
register right now.

Right now!
Go.

Come on.

TOMMY LEWIS: I believe
that Glenn Nash

had lost touch with reality.

Come on.
Get the money.

Come on.

TOMMY LEWIS: I really think he
was fantasizing that he could

go in and rob somebody
and there wouldn't

be any consequence to it.
- Come on.

Come around.
Come around.

Let's go.
Come around.

You, keep an eye.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): Nash ordered

Margo to stay up
front while he took

the cashier to the back room.

A customer came into the store
and later told investigators

that Margo waited on him.

Meanwhile, Nash
remained out of sight,

accusing the cashier of being
an agent of the Memphis Bar.

[gunshot]

I seriously doubt Margo
knew that any of this

was coming until it got started.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
The cashier, Hillman Robbins,

was tied up with rope and
shot five times in the head.

A 22 and 38 were both
used in the murder.

He left behind a wife
and two children.

Witnesses saw two people
matching Margo and Nash's

description fleeing
the liquor store

and hopping into a
white Ford Fairlane.

12 days later,
eyewitnesses described

an almost identical scene at
a Florida convenience store.

Let's go.

[gunshots]

A couple exited the building
and sped off in a Ford Fairlane.

Inside the store was the
body of Ester [inaudible]..

She had been shot in the neck.

Police at first did
not connect the murders

until they found Nash's
car abandoned on a highway.

In the trunk, they
found rope and bullet

casings that matched
what was used

in the Hillman Robbins murder.

The car was traced to Glenn
Nash and an APB was issued.

But the couple's murderous
rampage was not over.

A cab driver, CC
Syrett, was shot

to death shortly after
picking up Glenn and Margo.

The police staked out all
the nearby bus stations,

and their efforts soon paid off.

Glenn Nash, Margo Freshwater,
you're under arrest.

What for?

Boys.

TOMMY LEWIS: When
they arrested them,

they were transported to
the Hernando, Mississippi,

to the DeSoto County Jail, where
they were charged in connection

with CC Syrett's murder.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Glenn Nash was declared insane,

ruled incompetent
to stand trial,

and incarcerated at
a mental hospital.

Margo stood trial for
the murder of CC Syrett.

She testified that she
was held prisoner by Nash

and forced to participate in the
crimes under threat of death.

Investigators
disagree over Margo's

culpability in the crime spree.

I don't know if I can do this.

You will do this.

Margo Freshwater,
in my opinion,

was in a psychological
condition where

she wouldn't attempt escape from
Nash for fear of being killed.

I don't think that Freshwater
was a victim in any way.

She had opportunity after
opportunity to leave

and not commit these crimes.

But I think she enjoyed it.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The
jury could not decide either

and failed to reach
a verdict twice.

Three years later,
Margo was tried

for the murder of the first
victim, Hillman Robbins.

She was found
guilty and sentenced

to 99 years in state prison.

18 months later, Margo and
another inmate, Faye Fairchild,

scaled a barbed wire
fence, hitched a ride,

and disappeared.

TOMMY LEWIS: Once Faye
and Margo had escaped,

they went from there
to Baltimore, Maryland.

Faye Fairchild was arrested
in Chicago some time later.

The last time Margo
Freshwater was seen

was on a street corner
in Baltimore, Maryland,

where she said her goodbyes to
Faye and Faye's niece and left.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): After that,

Margo Freshwater seems
to have disappeared

off the face of the Earth.

I would say that she has
changed her life around.

She is probably living
as a mother or maybe even

a grandmother at this time.

Margo committed a
crime and she needs

to spend her time in prison
and serve that sentence.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): Update--

Margo Freshwater
has been caught.

Police found her in Columbus,
Ohio living under the alias

Tanya McCotter, a
married mother of three.

She was taken into custody
outside an athletic club

by agents for the Ohio
Bureau of Investigation.

At the time, Freshwater was
with her husband, youngest son,

and grandchild,
none of whom were

aware of her criminal past.

She said nothing and was
surprisingly emotionless.

She then wanted to say goodbye
to her son and husband,

and we allowed her to do that.

She first gave her
son a hug and was

clearly whispering in
his ear and he started

sobbing quite noticeably.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Freshwater was re-incarcerated

the same Tennessee prison she
escaped from 32 years earlier.

Washington's Snake River.

How much longer
before we get in?

I don't know.
Just a few minutes.

We've just got to go
around here and over.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): After
a late summer fishing trip,

Strider Styarfyre and
another man headed for home.

Man, is it cold.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
As dusk approached,

concerns were raised about
getting back before dark.

As the boat sped
across the water,

Strider reached for a
beer from an ice chest.

The boat's driver
herd his dog yelp,

and when he looked
around, Strider was gone--

never to be seen again.

Strider?

Strider?

The apparent accidental
drowning of Strider Styarfyre

has been in question ever since.

Investigators quickly learned
that Styarfyre had a murky past

and may have had
reason to disappear.

10 days after he supposedly
slipped and fell overboard,

Strider Styarfyre
was due to stand

trial in Roseburg, Oregon.

One thing was certain, this
charming and charismatic man

was not who he appeared to be.

Strider Styarfyre first surfaced
in Oregon in the mid-1980s.

Within two weeks, the
enigmatic Styarfyre

had met a local woman.

They fell in love and
were soon married.

By the early 1990s,
the Styarfyres

had a son and daughter
and had settled

into a seemingly idyllic
life in Roseburg, Oregon.

The teenage daughter
of a dear family friend

was a frequent guest
of the Starfighters.

The girl visited so often that
she became a second daughter

to Strider and his wife and a
beloved sister to their kids.

Whoever spent any
time with Strider

eventually would
fall under the spell

of his incredible charisma.

Me and Tim were in
this fox hole, all right.

And we're pinned
down, we can't get up.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
He often told romantic tales

revolving around his
supposed exploits

serving with special forces in
Vietnam, spying for the CIA,

or fighting alongside the
Irish Republican Army.

And I crawled on my belly,
dragging him, draggin him.

When he told us about being
this savior, this crusader

to help the little man, to pull
the poor guy up by his boots

and give the underdog his day,
you tended to believe him.

He wove his stories very well.

So the reason why we're
called the clan of Styarfyre

is because--

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): But there

was one particular story even
more fantastic than the others.

--be the prince of the
house of [inaudible] Star.

No, no.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Strider Styarfyre claimed

he was the last surviving
member of a Scottish clan

called the House of Ellen Star,
and he apparently had proof.

I'll show you.

Here we have the document.

This is real?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Strider possessed a letter

on embossed parchment stationery
claiming him the sole heir

to the clan's fortune.

As the young friend grew up,
she continued to spend time

with her Styarfyres,
and Strider always

made himself available to her.

He was a father figure when
she had no father figure.

She had no qualms of believing
and feeling safe with him

because he had always been safe.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
But according to the then

14-year-old girl, those
feelings of trust and security

were stolen from her one
night in the Styarfire home.

Out of the blue, he started
to profess his love to me,

telling me he'd been in
love with me for years.

That was a really
terrifying moment.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
After making his advance,

Strider Styarfyre, a
married father of two,

allegedly seduced and
then had sexual relations

with the minor.

For more than a year, the
traumatized 14-year-old

would keep secret what had
allegedly happened that night.

But Strider Styarfyre's
carefully crafted persona

had already begun to crumble.

According to his
wife, her suspicions

that he was being
unfaithful to her

were confirmed
the day he brought

home an unexpected guest, his
new internet business partner.

I had been getting
a little bit of rumor

that there was more than just
business going on between them.

And when they came home,
it was exceedingly obvious

that they were being intimate.

Who the hell is that?

Are you out of your mind?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Strider apparently stunned

his wife by proposing
that she welcome

this woman into their
home as his second wife.

This was the last
straw, and within weeks

she filed for divorce.

But it was not until after
the divorce was final

that Strider's now
former wife would

apparently learn the true
depth of his lies and deceit.

After Strider did
that to me, my life

really spiraled out of control.

I couldn't make any friends
at school so I quit going.

I did a lot of drugs.

I decided that I couldn't
deal with it anymore.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
She wrote a note

saying she was running
away with her boyfriend

and she finally
revealed the dark secret

she said she'd been keeping.

[phone ringing]

Hello?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Strider's ex-wife

then received a disturbing
call from the teenage girl's

stepfather.

He said she left a
note and in the note,

she states that
Strider molested her.

And I was torn between
disbelief and belief.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The
15-year-old girl returned home

safely the following day,
but Strider's former wife

was sickened by what
he had allegedly done.

I was just overwhelmed with
everything that had happened.

I'd just been
through a whole time

during the divorce of finding
out that he wasn't who he said

he was, that the
last 11 years really

had nothing to do with reality.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Strider Styarfyre

was formally indicted
on felony rape

and sexual assault charges.

Authorities would learn
from this 15-year-old

that there may have been
more secrets to uncover

in the Styarfyre home.

When going over her case, she
brought up another girl's name

that she was aware was
living there at the house

during that time she was.

And that's when victim number
two was brought up in this.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Years earlier, victim number

two, as she became
known, had become

close to the Styarfyre
family and often

babysat their children.

This alleged victim
was just a ninth grader

at the time she was first
seduced by Strider Styarfyre.

I'm going to go back and I'm
going to regain my kingdom.

Really?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
She told authorities

he had charmed her
with fantastic tales

of his Scottish
inheritance and promises

to make her his princess.

Anything you want.

Because you're the
princess, you get

anything in the entire kingdom.

Even horses?

Yeah.

It's like he made
the fairy tale.

And Strider really
created a fantasy world

for a lot of people.

And for me, it was
the fantasy that

was sort of where
I really wanted

to be in life, not where I was.

It obviously wasn't just
some isolated incident.

I had to come forward
not only to give validity

to the other girl's
claims, but also just

to try and prevent this from
happening to somebody else.

DEAN PERSKE: These
were classic cases.

Strider, he's in his forties,
obviously a mature adult,

been around quite a while.

These young girls haven't.

He's learned to find
these young girls that

are in an emotional
time in their life

and he zeroed right
in on them and was

able to manipulate them
and do just what he's

obviously probably done before.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Strider Styarfyre

was arrested and released
on his own recognizance

while awaiting trial.

Then just 10 days before
the trial was due to begin,

Styarfyre vanished.

We have a lot of people
come up missing or drowned

in the Snake River, but in
my 13 years' experience,

I've never had one like this.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The
suspicions that investigators

were quickly aroused.

Did Strider Styarfire stage
his own disappearance?

Police found it strange
that the boat was dry

and didn't appear
to have been used

that day and all the
fishing gear on board

was clean and
neatly stowed away.

Inside Styarfyre's pickup
truck, investigators

were surprised to
find a fishing license

in the name of Daniel
Chafe, which was determined

to be Styarfyre's legal name.

They learned Strider Styarfyre
was only an alias, one of two

he was known to use.

Some knew him by the
name of Curtis Jacoby.

Further investigation determined
the Strider Styarfyre had never

served in Vietnam, worked
with the Central Intelligence

Agency, or fought with the IRA.

DEAN PERSKE: I'm
sure Mr. Styarfyre is

alive and well at this point.

I don't believe Mr. Styarfyre
was ever on that boat,

I don't believe he was
ever on that river.

I believe he's hoping
that at some point,

hopefully all this
will just go away

and he can lead on
with a happy life.

Strider Styarfyre
is wanted on 13

felony charges
related to the rape

and sexual abuse of minors.

Authorities fear he may be
committing similar crimes.

Last summer, Bill
Rundle and Traci Kenley

set out for a leisurely drive
along the remote country

lanes of the Nebraska farmland.

The pair had big
plans to meet Traci's

boyfriend later that evening.

Bill and Traci had met
six months earlier,

and by all accounts their
relationship was platonic.

Traci, a health care specialist
who worked with the elderly,

and Bill, a forklift
operator, got together

at around 4:30 PM on August 17.

They drove off into
the afternoon sun

and vanished into thin air.

[knocking on door]

Hey, Bill.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The
following day, Bill Rundle

failed to show up for work.

I was concerned.

He would have not just not shown
up for work, absolutely not.

And he would have called.

One way or the other, he
would have let somebody

know that he wasn't
going to be there.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Traci
Kenley lived with her boyfriend

of seven years, Doug Wolfe.

She was also a
no-show at her job.

Wake up, Doug.

We're looking for Traci.

Have you seen her?

I knew she was pretty serious
because Traci, if she wasn't

going to go to work,
the first thing she'd do

would be to call into work and
let them know that she was sick

or whatever.

The first thing
I did was hop up,

put my clothes on, head out
the door, and start looking.

I didn't know what to think.

I didn't know what
to think at all.

It's not something
that's supposed to happen

in Hastings, Nebraska.

Residents of the tightly-knit
rural community all new Bill

Rundle and Traci Kenley and
cannot imagine how the two

could have simply disappeared.

Nearly a year has passed
and the leads in the case

are non-existent, except
for one solitary clue.

Bill Rundle's hat
mysteriously surfaced one week

after he and Traci
were last seen

in an area that had already
been thoroughly searched.

On the day Bill
and Traci vanished,

there was little to
foreshadow the bizarre events

about to unfold.

That afternoon, the
two paid a visit

to Traci's parents'
house, 38 miles southeast

of Hastings, Nebraska.

Hey.

Hi, you guys.

Hi, Mom.

So this is Bill.

Finally I get to meet you.

This is my mom, Sharon.

We had never met
Bill before this,

so we don't know
anything about him.

But it's like her
dad said, any friend

of Traci's is a friend of ours.

What do you do, Bill?

SHARON KENLEY: We never
talked about where

they were going when they left
or what they were going to do.

I guess we felt that
she'd make it home safe.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): But
Traci Kenley didn't go home.

Instead, she called her
boyfriend, Doug, at 11:00 PM

and made tentative plans to meet
him at a local bar at 12:30 AM.

I'm just leaving my
parents' house with Bill.

What are you going
to do after work?

Traci and Bill were
never heard from again.

By examining cell phone records
and transmission signals,

police were able to
pinpoint Traci's location

at the time of the
call, a junction

in the road 16 miles
east of Hastings.

The Clay and Adams County
Sheriff's Departments

organized a search
of that intersection

and the surrounding area.

Authorities worried
that Bill may

have crashed his car into
a towering cornfields

that blanket the region.

A 30 square mile area was
painstakingly gone over,

but no sign of Bill, Traci,
or the Jeep turned up.

A A lot of dedicated individuals
came out and searched

for two solid days.

Some areas were searched
two and three times.

I believe in a
30-mile circumference,

we've done a very
thorough job of searching.

Not finding anything with
as many searches as we've had,

you would think
you'd find something.

There's just nothing-- nothing.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Police
began to consider whether Bill

and Traci left voluntarily.

AMY WARNER: At the time
that he disappeared,

Bill was really lonely.

From what I know
of Traci, she was

a really gentle, sweet person.

And I think that Bill was
probably really attracted

to that as a friend
and that at that point

he did need a friend.

And I think maybe they
needed each other.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Could Bill and Traci

have been having an affair
kept completely secret

from both their families and
Traci's longtime boyfriend

and could they have decided
to run away together

to start a new life
away from the small town

scrutiny of Hastings?

DOUG WOLFE: Traci's a
very responsible person.

There's no way
that she would run

away from her responsibilities.

She was very close to her
parents, she was close to me.

I mean, if she didn't want
to call me if she ran off

or something, the first
people she would call

would be her parents.
- They didn't run away.

I feel that in my heart
because neither one of them

took their toothbrush,
neither one

took any change of clothing.

There's been no evidence
as far as their credit cards,

ATMs, phones have
ever been powered up

from the day they disappeared.

No evidence has led
us in that direction

that they're still out there.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Then one full week

after Bill and
Traci went missing,

a baffling piece of
evidence suddenly appeared.

It was found at the same
intersection where Traci made

the final phone call
to her boyfriend,

an area that had already
been searched several times.

We had a farmer come to
us who had recovered a hat,

and the hat was sent into
the lab just in case.

Through lab analysis,
it was found

that the hat was Bill Rundle's.

The hat was laying
right down here.

JEFF FRANKLIN: We do
not believe that Bill

was wearing the hat when
Bill and Traci disappeared.

Anything else around
it that you noticed?

No.
Just the hat laying there.

JEFF FRANKLIN: There had been
three inches of rain in two

nights after they
had disappeared

and the hat was clean
and did not appear

to be out in the weather.

Plus, most of our search teams
went directly by that area

and we believe our search
teams would have seen

it if it would have been there.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): Police are

now convinced that the hat was
planted, but by whom and why?

Bill and Traci knew that
they didn't have to meet

Doug for at least an hour.

It would have been very normal
for Bill to find a place

to pull over and maybe pulled
into a shaded area, possibly,

and just opened up a
few beers and talked.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Is it possible

that Bill and
Traci inadvertently

put themselves in the
path of a roaming killer?

JEFF FRANKLIN:
Nebraska is an area

where you travel through to
get from the east or the west.

There is always a possibility
of somebody coming

through the area that may have
been a more severe criminal

than we're normally used to.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): But who

could have murdered two
young healthy people,

disposed of their bodies
and car without leaving

any trace of a crime?

And why would a
killer then plant

Bill's hat one week later?

Friends and relatives
cling to the hope

that Bill and Traci
are out there somewhere

and will somehow
turn up unharmed.

Until that day, the
search continues.

I'll never stop looking.

We need some kind of clue.

We have no clue.

There has been nothing.

It's just like they
just disappeared.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): They are

snapshots from another
place and another time.

A proud young father cradles
his newborn daughter.

Virginia Burns always thought
they were photos of her.

After Virginia's father died,
her mother revealed the truth--

the little girl in the
pictures was, in fact,

Virginia's half-sister.

Her name was Susan.

Come here, Sweetie.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
As a young man,

Virginia's father had
been previously married.

Daddy's gonna miss you.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
But circumstances

and a longstanding dispute
with his mother-in-law

had forced him to leave his wife
and his baby daughter, Susan.

I'm sorry, Joe.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
In later years,

his attempts to locate
them met with failure.

VIRGINIA BURNS: My
mother admitted that she

didn't tell me to protect me.

She had no way of knowing
where my sister was,

and why tell me if there
was no way I could meet her?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Looking back,

Virginia suddenly
understood the poignance

of one memorable incident
from her childhood.

For her sixth birthday,
Virginia's parents gave her

the doll of her dreams.

So what do you think of
your new doll, sweetie?

I love her.

She's beautiful.

Well, what's her name?

I don't know.

What do you think
I should call her?

VIRGINIA BURNS: He says, why
don't you call her sweet Sue?

And I did, not realizing that
that was the name of my sister.

She needs to know she has
a father who loved her.

And secondly, I have
a sister out there

and I'm more than
ready to be a sister.

When we aired this
story last spring,

we had high hopes that
sweet Sue would be found.

We weren't disappointed.

Bethina Susan King
lived in Oklahoma City,

only a short flight
from Virginia's home

near Denver, Colorado.

The two women spoke on
the telephone that night

and sensed an instant bond.

When they met, that
bond was confirmed.

I watched each person as
they got off the airplane

and I just--

none of them, I knew
that they weren't her.

But when she came
walking out those doors,

I knew her instantly.

I just knew, that's my sister.

SUSAN KING: I was
really nervous.

I didn't know what to expect.

So when I walked through,
there was Ginny and her husband

and Ginny was holding
this huge sign that says,

"Desperately seeking Susan."

And I had planned on just
walking by to see if she would

recognize me, but I couldn't.

I got to her and
dropped my suitcase

and we hugged and cried and
kissed and hugged some more

and had a crowd looking
at us and just fell

in love with her instantly.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Since the reunion,

Virginia and Susan have
been thrilled to discover

how much they have in common.

I can make my bouquets and
say they're Ginny flowers.

Yeah.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
They like the same food,

the same clothes, enjoy the
same hobbies, even talk alike.

We finish sentences for each
other, we have the same things.

My husband has just--

he sits here and
shakes his head.

He says, they are so much alike.

My daddy.

I feel like that if our dad was
here right now that from what

Ginny has told me about him,
he would be tickled to death

to have both of us together.

I would love to give
him a hug, to tell him

that I'd searched for him since
I was 21, thought about him

since I was 12.

I think he would
be happy for us.

He'd probably think,
oh, Lord, the world's

not safe now with two of them.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): The doll

that has stood in for
Susan for so many years now

has special meaning for both
women, a tangible reminder

of their father's love.

And that was my Suzy.

I knew it was a gift
from our dad to her,

but I also felt like at that
moment that it was mine, too.

Mm-hm.
It's ours, definitely.

It's all right.

It's all right.

I love you.

I love you, too.

For every mystery
there is someone,

somewhere who has the answer.

Join me again for
"Unsolved Mysteries."

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