All language subtitles for Unsolved.Mysteries.S12E02.Episode.450.AMZN.WEB-DL.DD+2.0.H.264-AJP69_track3_[eng]

NARRATOR: Tonight, on
Unsolved Mysteries.

Come on, girl.

NARRATOR: We're all familiar
with the incredible bond

that exists between
a dog and his master.

But the world of
medicine is beginning

to recognize that that
mysterious connection can

sometimes defy
ordinary explanations.

Does man's best friend
and the ability to detect

life threatening illnesses?

When a vivacious college
freshmen without an enemy

in the world is brutally
slain, her mother

personally takes on the case
to find her daughter's killer.

Could the mother's undercover
work with the local police

department have made
her 18-year-old daughter

a target for murder?

17 human bones are found
strewn in a Kentucky stream.

Whose are they?

And how did they get There For
Forensic Anthropologist, Dr.

Emily Craig, solving
mysteries like this

has made her one
of the most well

known experts in her field.

When Deputy Clark Jackson
decided to investigate

a steamer trunk found
by the roadside,

he was taken by surprise.

He had no idea that the contents
would lead detectives five

years search for a killer.

NARRATOR:

Join me for these
intriguing stories, and more.

You may be able to
help solve a mystery.

Before dawn on a crisp
September morning,

18-year-old Bonnie Craig
began her trek to school.

Two days a week, the
University of Alaska

freshman walked 45 minutes
through the early morning

darkness to catch
the bus to campus.

Bonnie was a diligent student
who prided herself on arriving

promptly for her 7 a.m. class.

But on this day, Bonnie would
never make it to school.

Later that afternoon, another
Anchorage college student

was out shooting photographs
from a hiking trail

in a public park when she
made a grisly discovery,

the lifeless body of a young
woman floating in McHugh creek.

DAVID HANSON: Her
remains were located

at the bottom of a 33 foot
cliff in fairly shallow water.

It wasn't a place
that you would

normally hike along the stream
to get to where she was.

So that she could
have been hiking

and taken a misstep
somewhere and slipped

and fallen off of the cliff.

NARRATOR: The following
day the victim

was identified as Bonnie Craig.

The medical examiner
determined she had drowned,

but Bonnie had also
suffered severe head

injuries, possibly resulting
from a fall off a cliff.

At the time of Bonny's death,
her mother Karen Campbell

was on vacation in Florida.

She rushed home when she
learned the tragic news.

KAREN CAMPBELL:
They told me Bonnie

had died in a hiking accident
and I wouldn't believe it.

I still expected Bonnie
to be coming up to me

and apologizing and
saying, I'm sorry mom.

It wasn't me.

NARRATOR: Viewing her daughter's
body was devastating for Karen.

However, as she took a closer
look, Karen was stunned.

This is no hiking accident.

KAREN CAMPBELL: Her knuckles
were bruised and broken.

There was defensive
wounds on her body.

And I knew that she
had been attacked.

It was murder.

Troubling questions
that already

begun to surface
before Karen Campbell

had viewed her daughter's body.

What was Bonny doing
anywhere near McHugh

Creek Park on a school day?

And since she didn't
drive, how did Bonnie

get there, a
distance of 10 miles

from where she was last seen?

Even then, authorities
were slow to conclude

that Bonnie had been murdered.

And what few leads
investigators developed,

they kept to themselves.

But a frustrated Karen
found an ally in television

reporter, Maria Donnie.

So can you tell me anything
about the cause of death?

Anything like that?
- Not at this time.

MARIA DOWNEY: It was really
tough for the community

to take because
Bonnie was a well

liked, well known young lady.

Can I get an
official statement?

We talked with
Karen several days

after Bonnie's body was found.

At that time,
troopers were still

not releasing much information.

NARRATOR: One piece of
information troopers

didn't release was a
result of a sexual assault

examination, which Karen
learned of six months later.

KAREN CAMPBELL: I had originally
asked if she had been raped

and they told me no.

After fighting to get
information from them,

they were revealed to
me that, yes, Bonnie was

brutally raped and murdered.

DAVID HANSON: The results
of the autopsy show

that there was evidence
of sexual activity.

We can't confirm whether
it was a sexual assault

or whether it was
consensual sex.

Hey, can I give
you this flier?

My daughter was
recently killed--

NARRATOR: Such disputes were
typical of Karen Campbell's

relationship with police.

Her frustrations
with investigators

soon motivated her to begin
her own search for information

about Bonny's death.

KAREN CAMPBELL: Everybody
here in town put up

signs, flyers, bumper stickers.

We wanted to make sure that
until the crime was solved,

nobody was going
to forget about it.

NARRATOR: Karen
Campbell was no stranger

to investigations or criminals.

On several occasions,
she had performed

risky undercover work
as a reserve officer

with the Anchorage
police department.

Wearing a hood and mask
to conceal her identity,

Karen would nod
silently to point out

those who had sold her drugs.

KAREN CAMPBELL: I
was involved in what

I thought was minor drug buys.

I had gone out five or
six times and bought crack

for the Anchorage
police department.

Karen, you got a sec?

Sure.

NARRATOR: A few months
into her investigation

into Bonnie's
death, Karen learned

that undercover work might
have jeopardized the lives

of those closest to her.

She was approached
by an acquaintance

who claimed to have information
about Bonnie's murder.

At his request, Karen promised
to protect his identity.

According to Karen,
the man told her

that her family had apparently
been targeted on the orders

of a local drug lord, after
a sting she was involved

in resulted in the
arrest of several members

of his organization.

KAREN CAMPBELL: He told me
that her murder was ordered

by this drug lord because it
was a message to the Anchorage

police department to back off.

Bonnie was murdered the
day after the people

that identified as drug dealers
were released from jail.

NARRATOR: Despite the
precautions taken to protect

her identity during
the bus, it would not

have been difficult
for the accused

to learn who had fingered them.

Criminals always are supposed
to know who their accusers are

and so my name
appears about 10 times

in each page at the indictment.

Thanks for seeing
me, detective.

Thanks.

Have a seat.

NARRATOR: When Karen relayed
what the informant had told her

to the lead investigator
on Bonnie's murder,

she was not satisfied
with his response.

He said this was a
retribution killing

for the undercover work
I did with the Anchorage

police department.
- Wait.

Who's his source?

KAREN CAMPBELL: When I
gave him all the details,

he just kept asking
me, where are

you getting this information.

I said it was from somebody who
did not want to be identified.

This is not their MO.

You know we're
investigating this.

Are you going to help me here?

Who's your source?

I'm not going to
reveal my source to you.

I want these leads followed.

KAREN CAMPBELL: And I told them
I wouldn't reveal my source.

He told me, well
then, you're hindering

your daughter's
investigation and I'm not

going to investigate this lead.

And to this day, I don't know
what they've done and probably

will never know
what they've done as

far as investigating that lead.

DAVID HANSON: The fact that
she feels that we may not

have investigated thoroughly
enough or followed up

on her confidential
informants lead,

I don't believe to be true.

We followed up all the leads
and if she believes that we

haven't, it might
just be that we

haven't filled her in on every
single thing that we've done.

NARRATOR: Almost a full year
after Bonny's murder, the case

took an unexpected
turn when Karen

was contacted by one of
Bonnie's college instructors.

Hello?

Yes?

MARIA DOWNEY: She
really felt that there

was this one particular
student that may have

been involved in the murder.

NARRATOR: According to
Karen, the instructor

told her that her suspicions
stemmed from reading

the student's class journal
and the references he

made to the date of Bonnie's
murder, September 28th.

Karen believes certain
entries in the journal

could be significant.

KAREN CAMPBELL: His journal
was incredibly violent

filled with anger.

And there was two incidents
where he specifically

said that September
28th was going

to be a very tough day, that he
was going to be put to a test.

NARRATOR: The instructor
told Karen that on the day

Bonny was murdered the student
in question was absent.

You missed class this morning.

I'm sorry I just overslept.

KAREN CAMPBELL: There
was supposed to be

papers handed in that day.

That student brought
it to the teacher

later on in the afternoon.

You overslept the whole class?

Sorry

KAREN CAMPBELL: He was wet
like he had just gotten out

of a shower and
she said it smelled

like he had just poured a whole
bottle of Cologne on himself.

After the murder, his
journal became more peaceful.

There wasn't the anger.

yet, he knew that there was
a student but had just died,

and there was no references
to Bonnie's murder.

NARRATOR: Detectives
investigated the student,

but soon ruled him
out as a suspect.

DAVID HANSON: DNA
evidence recovered

from a body at the
scene did not match

DNA evidence collected from
the student at the college.

I immediately told them that
didn't seem right to rule him

out because of DNA, because
there could have been more

than one person. if
there was two people,

it didn't have to be his DNA.

NARRATOR: Karen did some
sleuthing over and uncovered

more disturbing information.

KAREN CAMPBELL: That particular
student did have an assault

charge against him and
he had been bailed out

of jail by a young
man who had been

involved in another murder.

MARIA DOWNEY: I found it very
surprising when I saw the bail

slip, who bailed this student,
this potential suspect,

out of jail.

The student and several
other of his friends

were involved in a
fatal shooting here

several years ago.

It doesn't sound like
the type of group

that a student who is up and up
would have been involved with.

I do believe that he
could have been the murderer

and I'll probably
never rule him out.

NARRATOR: Despite
the disagreements,

both Karen and investigators
do agree on one thing.

The key to this mystery might
rest with Bonnie's routine.

DAVID HANSON: A young lady who
was a neighbor of hers, who

was a paper delivery
type person,

saw her around 5:20
walking down her street.

Another gentleman who had
seen Bonnie a couple of days

prior in the area
of the bus stop

saw her again that morning.

And that was about the last
time that we have a confirmation

of anybody definitively
seeing Bonnie alive

was around 6:20 that morning.

NARRATOR: Could
someone have been

lying in wait for Bonnie Craig?

One neighbor reported
seeing an unknown car

idling in front of Bonnie's
home early that morning.

And an anonymous caller to
the Police Crime Stoppers line

claimed to have seen Bonnie that
morning at the bus stop talking

to two men in a vehicle.

Karen Campbell intends to do
everything she can to keep

the investigation alive.

KAREN CAMPBELL: Until
the crime is solved,

it just keeps going
through your head

that somebody else's child will
end up murdered and raped also.

So until this crime is
solved, you can't give up.

I told you before,
you had no right to take

that money out of our account.

Oh, why not?

NARRATOR: A bitter argument
erupts on the streets

of Covington, Kentucky.

Diane Washer and her husband
Jimmy are at it again.

A night of drinking has
inflamed their already

turbulent relationship.

Your name, and my name--

TODD KENNER: Diane Washer and
Jimmy Washer, that evening,

were fighting over money.

And fighting over the
fact that she had just

received a $10,000 SSI
settlement due to her bad back.

As he approached her,
they got into an argument.

She struck him with the
phone, on the pay phone.

Called 911.

And by the time Covington
police got there,

Jimmy Washer had already left.

Well, they'd offer
Diane for a ride.

She refused, and walked
on down the street.

In essence, they were the
last ones to see her alive.

NARRATOR: Diane
inexplicably disappears.

The police immediately
turn a suspicious eye

on her husband Jimmy.

Jimmy Washer was my number one
suspect, primarily because he

hadn't reported her missing.

Straightforward.

Feet on the floor
in front of you.

CHARLES VALLANDINGHAM: And
I had to asked Mr. Washer

if he would consent to taking
a polygraph in reference

to his wife.

Yes.

Did you cause the
death of Diane Washer?

No.

CHARLES VALLANDINGHAM: The
test was ruled inconclusive.

Some of what he was
answering was truthful.

Some wasn't.

There wasn't enough credibility
to his answers to totally

erase Mr. Washer as a suspect.

NARRATOR: The investigation
into Diane's disappearance

reaches a dead end.

Her case is relegated
among the many unsolved

missing person cases on file in
Kentuckys' police department's.

Three years pass, outside of
Covington, Sheriff's deputies

searching for an
illegal marijuana field

make a grisly discovery.

Looks like a skull.

NARRATOR: A partially
crushed human skull

and seven other bone
fragments are strewn

throughout the creek bed.

Whose bones are they and
how did they get there?

For the answers,
the Covington police

looked to Dr. Emily Craig.

She is one of the
foremost experts

in forensic
anthropology, the science

of identifying even the most
badly decomposed human remains.

From here it looks
like blunt force trama.

But I'm not going to say
until we get back to the lab.

I'll go ahead and
take a picture of this.

Good.

NARRATOR: When the dead hold
the key to a perplexing crime,

Dr. Craig is often called
upon to unravel the evidence.

EMILY CRAIG: I was able to
determine that the bones

hadn't been there that long.

The end of the
long bone still had

some remnants of soft tissue.

And the bones had kind
of a greasy feel, which

indicates the post-mortem
interval really

hasn't been that many years.

And my initial estimate
of the time since death

was between 12 and 36 months.

There's another one.
There's another one.

Oh, look.

There's bones all
over the place.

EMILY CRAIG: Once I got a
good grasp of the crime scene

and could see what a
complex problem we had,

we decided to set up
an additional search

and recruit anthropology
students from the area.

Let's get some more over
here on this side too.

EMILY CRAIG: We
did a line search

of the area we started where
the bones had been found

and basically worked upstream.

Yeah, that's a jaw
fragment, but it's non-human.

Come on, folks.

Good eye though.

NARRATOR: Complicating
Dr. Craig's effort

was that the search
area was where

the county dumped its roadkill.

The stream was littered with
the bones of dozens of animals.

Still the search team was
able to distinguish a total

of 17 human bones among them.

EMILY CRAIG: Once we get all
the evidence back to the lab,

then we were able to get a
better biological profile

of the victim.

The sex, she was female.

The race, she was white.

I was able to get a good
estimate of her height, just

a little over five feet tall.

And I also was able to determine
from the bones of the skull

that she had
sustained massive head

trauma at the time of death.

There was one particular
bone that was intriguing

and that was a bone
from her lower back.

This particular bone showed
a lot more arthritis,

some bony limping and changes
that were just not consistent

with the rest of the skeleton.

So I was able to offer an
opinion that this individual

suffered from back pain.

NARRATOR: From their
missing persons files,

police found a match
for the profile

Dr. Craig had assembled.

It was Diane Washer.

The Covington woman
who disappeared

three years earlier.

Her medical records
indicated that shortly

before she vanished,
she injured her back

in a traffic collision.

LISA BAYNUM: When they
called me and said

they found the remains of my
mom, I totally went into shock.

I mean, I kind of knew she
was dead by that point,

but like I said,
I carried on hope.

It did give me
some sort of relief

to know that my mother
was dead and being

able to bury her was great.

It did help a lot.

NARRATOR: Dr. Craig's finding
sparked new public awareness

of Diane's case.

As police hoped, an
informant stepped forward,

but to their surprise, he did
not finger their prime suspect,

Diane's husband Jimmy.

Instead, he's at a
local house painter,

Larry Freeman was responsible
for Diane's death.

This is Diane
Waher, right here.

NARRATOR: When police brought in
Larry Freeman for questioning,

he confessed.

He said he and Diane
had gotten drunk

together then went joyriding.

While driving he lost
control of his car and Diane

was ejected from the
passenger's door.

When the vehicle finally came
to a stop, he went back to her,

saw that her hair
was blood soaked

and realized he had
probably killed her.

It was at that point that he
took her down to an area where

he was raised, where
he felt comfortable

and threw her into the creek.

Larry Freeman was
convicted of manslaughter

and is now serving
a 20 year sentence.

The mystery is one of hundreds
Dr. Craig has helped solve.

But despite her
expertise, other cases

remain too difficult to crack.

Perhaps you can help Dr. Craig
pieced together one of the most

perplexing of her career.

NARRATOR: It began
when two teenagers

were returning from
exploring caves

in Barren County, Kentucky.

Some kind of bones.

Oh, that's a human bone.

NARRATOR: In the debris
of a roadside dump,

they discovered fragments
of a human skeleton.

The county coroner called
Dr. Craig to the scene.

OK.

Let's see what we got here.

EMILY CRAIG: At this
scene, basically all we

had when we first
started was a pair

of red jeans with the human
leg bone still inside.

OK.

Here's a fibula.

I see another arm
bone and shin bone.

Dr. Craig, I think
I found the skull.

EMILY CRAIG: Ultimately,
we were able to recover

almost the entire skeleton.

The skull is the best
indicator of race and sex.

You look at the brow ridge.

You look at the nose.

You look at the chin, the
cheeks, just the general shape.

NARRATOR: Dr. Craig's
analysis of the skull

would later determine that
the victim was a white female

in her early 40s.

And cut marks on
one of the bones

indicated she may have
been stabbed to death.

OK.

Well, let's start
collecting this.

You got a bag for me?

Sure.

The left tennis
shoe, or sneaker,

whatever you want to call it.

And that red stuff, you
know, it looks like denin.

Red jeans?

NARRATOR: Dr. Craig hoped
that the victim's clothes

would yield additional clues.

She hoped they might
match the clothes

indicated in one of the local
police's missing persons files.

EMILY CRAIG: When I got
these remains back to the lab

I was able to do a
very detailed study.

And within a very
short time, I found

a file that almost exactly
matched age, race, sex, height,

time since death, were
indicative, but absolutely

positive were the fact
that this victim was

wearing red jeans, white
tennis shoes, and a button

down blouse.

NARRATOR: The file was that of
42-year-old Nancy Daddysman.

Before she disappeared, she
had lost custody of her five

children in a bitter divorce.

Heartbroken, she had come to
Kentucky seeking a fresh start.

Nancy had vanished on a
September night two years

earlier after her
car had broken down

in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

BARNEY JONES: She was planning
on traveling at 65 north

to meet a male friend of hers in
the Indianapolis, Indiana area.

We did a lot of background
check on this individual.

We was able to
verify that it was

not possible that he would
be a suspect as far as cases

concerned.

NARRATOR: The Hillside where
Nancy's remains were found

was 30 miles from where
she was last seen.

The Barron County
authorities have no suspects,

but believe only someone
familiar with this area

of Kentucky would choose
to place her body there.

EMILY CRAIG: Identifying
the victim is the first step

in solving the crime.

We've done this first step.

Now we have to find
out who did it.

NARRATOR: Dogs have been
domesticated for thousands

of years and man continues to
rely on our canine companions

sense of smell.

Whether finding someone who's
lost, tracking a fugitive,

or sniffing out explosives,
to strengthen accuracy

of a dog's nose is legendary.

MARTY BECKER: If you were
to take a gigantic football

stadium that NFL teams play
in and fill the entire stadium

with yellow tennis balls and
had one white tennis ball,

they can smell the
one white tennis

ball in the entire stadium.

NARRATOR: Using his powerful
sense of smell, is it possible

a dog could actually diagnose
life threatening illnesses?

Do these family pets possess
hidden medical talents?

You're about to meet two
incredible dogs whose owners

offer persuasive
evidence that man's

best friend may be able to
save lives in mysterious ways.

OK.

I got your latte
working right now.

NARRATOR: Nancy Best
seemed to have it all.

In addition to being the
mother of three children,

Nancy ran a thriving
coffee business

and Garberville, California.

In fact, business
was going so well she

had recently opened a new shop.

Blueberry muffin and coffee.

NARRATOR: Despite
Nancy's hectic lifestyle,

her beloved dog Mia was
never far from her side.

She had acquired the
yellow lab as a puppy.

Stay.

NANCY BEST: A friend of mine
saw the dogs and called me

and Mia was the first
dog that ran up to me.

At the time I didn't know
if I wanted a boy or a girl

until she came up
to me and I fell

in love with her instantly.

Yes and you are
such a good dog.

NARRATOR: Nancy's mornings were
spent running the coffee house.

You helped mommy.

Oh, thank you.

NARRATOR: But about one
o'clock each afternoon,

Nancy set aside an hour
just for herself and Mia.

NANCY BEST: I would drive
home and lay on the couch

and take a nap before I'd
have to pick up my daughter

from school so I could
recharge my batteries

for the rest of the day.

NARRATOR: Then one
afternoon out of the blue,

Mia began acting strangely.

NANCY BEST: She came up and
started sniffing and licking

at my breast and because she
was eight months pregnant,

I thought maybe she
was kind of wigging out

or maybe smelled food
from the Java joint.

So I didn't pay any
attention to it.

I just went and told
her to lay down.

NARRATOR: But Mia
it was persistent.

The following evening as Nancy
was struggling to fall asleep,

Mia began tugging
at the bedcovers.

NANCY BEST: She started biting
my shirt away like a dog

bites fleas, little
tiny nipples.

I was trying to pull my
shirt away from my body.

Enough.

Enough.

NANCY BEST: I was starting
to get upset with her.

NARRATOR: Desperate for
her much needed sleep,

nancy banished Mia
to the backyard.

The following day during
Nancy's afternoon break,

Mia repeated the same behavior.

But this time, Nancy
finally received

Mia's apparent message.

NANCY BEST: Mia jumped up on
my lap while I was sitting up

and dove with her
nose into my chest

and the force of the
pressure of her nose

made me rub it because it hurt.

And when I rubbed it is
when I felt the lump.

NARRATOR: Nany she was
stunned to discover

a lump in one of her breasts.

NANCY BEST: I had had a negative
breast exam by a physician

just four months prior.

There was no cancer
in my family.

I was 39, not old enough
for a routine mammogram.

So I was thinking this
couldn't be cancer

but the lump felt very odd.

It was quite large.

NARRATOR: Medical
tests showed he

had what appeared to be a
cancerous tumor in her breast.

The subsequent lumpectomy
confirmed her worst fears.

Nancy had been stricken
with a stage two

invasive ductal carcinoma,
an aggressive form

of breast cancer.

In the midst of her
health concerns,

Nancy couldn't help
thinking about Mia's

unusual recent behavior.

NANCY BEST: I remember the days
prior where she was sniffing

and licking at the spot.

It was like she was
anxious to come in and say,

would you listen to me?

MARTY BECKER: When I first
heard about Nancy Best's case,

I talked to an oncologist at
the Mayo Clinic about that.

And one of the things that we
surmised there was that there

was a certain smell
that was being secreted,

the type of tumor that
she had in her breast

may have had a certain
kind of an odor.

You have to remember
this kind of breed of dog

is actually used for
hunting you know they

have a very sensitive nose.

NARRATOR: Nancy underwent
a partial mastectomy.

Months of chemotherapy and
radiation therapy followed.

She has been cancer
free since 2000.

The doctor believes that had
this cancer not been detected

at this time, within six months
it could have entered my lymph

nodes and I would have died.

NARRATOR: Needless to
say, the experience

has forged an even
stronger bond between Nancy

and her remarkable dog Mia.

NANCY BEST: I'm not the kind of
person that believes in flying

saucers but I do believe
that miracles happen

and things happen for
a reason and there

is a reason that I got Mia.

There was a reason she
became part of my life.

And I believe that because
of her I'm alive today

and I love her.

That's my sweet girl.

NARRATOR: If it's
possible for a dog

to sniff out an early
cancer diagnosis,

are there other
unexplainable even

more profound life saving powers
a pet can offer its master?

Darlene Werremeyer of
Spokane, Washington

believes her dog, Shadow,
is a most vital prescription

she's ever received.

He was the best medicine
that I could have ever taken.

If it was in a pill form,
he'd be a miracle drug.

NARRATOR: In 1991,
Darlene was diagnosed

with diabetes, which triggered
a series of medical setbacks.

While recovering from
subsequent open heart surgery,

Darlene suffered a stroke.

For a time she had lost
her ability to speak.

By 2001, she had
recovered her speech,

but struggled with
an awkward stutter.

When attending a family reunion
the anxiety of being in a crowd

made that start her even worse.

I was so nervous I
couldn't talk again

and this little schnauzer
named Maggie came up to me

and started licking my hand.

I started petting her.

She got in my lap.

And I noticed as long as I
sat and started petting her

I could talk so much easier.

It was phenomenal.

NARRATOR: So phenonmenal that
as soon as she returned home,

Darlene scheduled an appointment
with her neurologist.

He's like, yeah.

I know about dogs.

I know how they can help.

There's been lots
of studies done.

So he wrote a written
description for a dog.

NARRATOR: So on
doctor's orders, Darlene

adopted a schnauzer
of her own and she

became a member of her family.

Come on.

Come on, boy.

Come on, Shadow.

NARRATOR: The bond
between Darlene and Shadow

quickly grew.

And while petting
Shadow, Darlene's speech

significantly improved to
the amazement her doctor.

CAROL WYSHAM: We don't
fully understand why dogs

have such an effect on people.

But in Darlene's case, she
felt very calmed by the dog.

Perhaps, you know,
paying attention

to the animal, petting and
the sensory affects of that

could be actually
just putting her

more into a meditative trance.

NARRATOR: A short
time after adopting

Shadow, Darlene learned what
an extraordinary animal he was.

As Christmas neared,
Darlene spent

hours baking holiday cookies.

When a wave of
exhaustion hit her,

she knew she needed
to get off her feet.

Darlene quickly dozed off.

But Shadow was
alarmed by something

and would not allow
Darlene to sleep.

DARLENE WERREMEYER: He
starts pawing at me.

He wouldn't leave me alone.

I sat up in the room just spun.

NARRATOR: Uncertain
why shadow was upset,

Darlene checked the
glucose level of her blood.

It was dangerously low.

If I diabetic's blood
sugar level falls too low,

it can trigger unconsciousness
or even a coma.

Darlene's ever present
canine companion

and somehow diagnosed her
medical dilemma before Darlene

was even aware of it.

And he continues to provide
her with medical alerts

to this day.

CAROL WYSHAM: Shadow has helped
Darlene in many different ways,

not only in her safety, as
far as being able to detect

the low blood sugar.

But also it just in
her general life.

Darlene now is able to
walk without a cane.

She's able to function
and do the things that she

wants to do on a daily basis.

NARRATOR: The lives of Darlene
Werremeyer and Nancy Best

were saved by the mysterious
powers of their dog.

MARTY BECKER: The ability of
these dogs to detect a seizure,

or detect cancer, it's
probably equal parts

their incredible sense of
smell, their incredible ability

to read body language, and
then kind of what I call,

not just a sixth sense,
but a sick sense and that's

that ability to know
when something's

just not quite right
and then the ability

to draw near to help them.

We shouldn't be so amazed
that pets are able to do this.

We should be amazed
on the amount

that we don't know that
they're able to do.

NARRATOR: An off
duty park ranger

was heading out of Harper's
Ferry Historic Park

in Virginia at about 11:00 p.m.

When something caught her eye.

Near the trash bin was
a large steamer trunk.

Alone and without a
radio, she decided

to postpone investigating
until she returned

to work the next morning.

It would be hours later when
deputy Clark Jackson was making

his rounds through
the national park

that the contents of the
trunk would be revealed.

I saw the black trunk
just sitting right there,

right past the barricade.

And that's when I got out,
went underneath the barricade.

I nudged it my foot and
noticed it was very heavy.

I lifted the top of the trunk
off and it was a duffel bag.

So I unziped the
duffel bag and there

was another duffel bag in it.

And it was a fleeting moment
in the back of my mind

where I said, boy it
would be strange if there

was a body in this bag.

And I unzipped the
second duffel bag

and there was a body in
the second duffel bag.

I couldn't believe
I found a body.

This is Deputy Jackson.

I'm out at the Potomic
Wayside Overlook.

NARRATOR: Officer Jackson
immediately called for backup.

DEPUTY CLARK JACKSON: I
turned my alley lights

on and take down lights on just
to give me a little more light.

I didn't know if someone was
watching me in the woods.

It made me feel
a little bit more

comfortable having some
security with those lights.

NARRATOR: Over the
next several hours

authorities conducted a
complete search of the area.

Crime scene specialists
photographed

the site, including the
body of an elderly man

inside the trunk.

Detectives were called
in to investigate.

The quest to identify
the body began.

You were the first on the
scene to discover the truck?

Yes, sir.

NARRATOR: The trunk,
with its human remains,

was wrapped and taken
to the coroner's office.

Male caucasian, late 60's,
early 70's, found at the Potomic

Wayside Overlook.

When When he was taken to the
morgue and removed the position

he was in, his knees
were up against his chest

and he was folded into
the duffel bag, placed

into his trunk, which
is only 31 inches long

and 15, 15 and half inches high.

It's just a steamer trunk.

Well, it appears that
he's been dead about two

to three days.

And comes from a long term
care situation, it seems.

How can tell that?

Well, he was found in the
pajama tops and no bottoms.

They do that make it easier
to remove the bed pans

and take care of them.

INVESTIGATOR
OCHSMAN: He appeared

to be tremendously underweight.

Turned out he did weigh
111 pounds and was 5'7".

Very scrawny, stubble
beard, somewhat unkempt

and emaciated looking.

NARRATOR: The coroner would
soon discover large doses

of a tranquilizer
in the man's system,

and that he died
from strangulation.

Who was the elderly man
found in the steamer trunk

and who killed him?

These key questions have
mystified detectives

for more than five years

According to experts, it
is possible a man is one

of thousands of elderly victims
whose murders go undetected

and his killers go
unpunished every year.

The reason, the
offenders are relatives,

care providers, or even
their own children.

When people get to a certain
age, they are expected to die.

And those deaths do
not raise any eyebrows.

NARRATOR: The senior
population is the fastest

growing sector in the nation.

As they become infirm, they
are often cared for in nursing

facilities or by relatives.

America's top authority
on abuse of the aged

believes over 3,000 elderly
people are murdered every year.

Perhaps this is the case
with the man in the trunk.

JOSEPH SOOS: Because he was
generally unkempt and appearing

to be uncared for,
relief of burden homicide

may be applicable here.

That is someone simply got
tired of caring for the man

and decided it was
time for him to die.

The second category that
might be involved here

is murder for profit, where
someone has gained control

of him, really doesn't care
about him because obviously he

was not well cared for.

But was simply keeping
him around for a while

to make sure that they had
gained absolute control of all

of the assets,
financial assets that

could be gotten control of.

NARRATOR: Detectives
speculated as to the motive

behind leaving the trunk in
the open, near the trash can.

JOSEPH SOOS: That man was
put out near a trash dump

or where trash was thrown away.

So it might well be
that the offender

in this particular case
thought that he might,

the man in the trunk, might
simply be picked up by a trash

truck and taken to a landfill.

NARRATOR: Unlike the
victim in the trunk,

most murders of the elderly
are disguised as a death

by natural causes.

Authorities aren't as likely
to be aware of foul play

unless an autopsy is conducted.

JOSEPH SOOS: 1% or less of
elder deaths are subjected

to a post-mortem examination,
absent bullet holes, knife

wounds, garroting
obvious signs of trauma,

those cases are immediately
concluded to be natural deaths.

So there are very, very few
post-mortem examinations

conducted of the elderly.

NARRATOR: In the
case of John Doe,

detectives hoped an autopsy
would lead not only to clues

about how the victim died,
but more importantly,

to who he may be.

INVESTIGATOR
OCHSMAN: The hardest

part of this investigation has
been getting him identified.

And we're stymied.

The whole rest of
the investigation

is stymied because we
cannot get him identified.

NARRATOR: Identifying
the victim could

lead police to his
killer, so the body became

the key piece of evidence.

INVESTIGATOR OCHSMAN:
His dental records

have been entered
into the National

Crime Information computer.

His fingerprints were
taken and we have them.

The manual search by the FBI
yielded negative results.

NARRATOR: At one
point, detectives

were hopeful they could
name the man by tracking

the serial number found
on a micro valve implanted

in his heart during
a previous surgery.

INVESTIGATOR OCHSMAN: The
micro valve flexible ring

it came with three by five card
for the physicians to fill out.

The serial number
was on the card.

Once they used it, they were
supposed to send the cards

back in as a way of tracking.

NARRATOR: Unfortunately, not all
physicians returned the cards

and no match could be found.

Because detectives
efforts have been stalled,

they've asked us to
show you the only photo

available of the victim, one
taken during his autopsy.

Although difficult to
view, it is considered

by authorities to
be the best hope

for a positive identification.

This photo was taken of the
deceased in the coroner's lab.

The FBI also commissioned
this computer

enhanced picture of the victim.

Officials hope they will
spark someone's memory.

INVESTIGATOR OCHSMAN: The most
bothersome part of the case

is that someone has,
for the last five years,

got away with this so far, and
that they could do it again.

JOSEPH SOOS: The
hardest thing about this

I suppose then is
that it's really

typical of what is occurring in
too many areas of the country.

And that is that
even our elderly

have become a throw away
item in our society.

For every mystery

NARRATOR: For every
mystery there is someone

somewhere who holds the key.

Join me for the next edition
of Unsolved Mysteries.