Original subtitles

NARRATOR: Tonight on "Unsolved Mysteries"--

ROBERT STACK: A woman is listed among the hundreds

of missing following the terrorist attack

on the World Trade Center.

She would be assumed dead if it weren't for one troubling fact.

She disappeared the night before the twin towers collapsed.

Best friends since child Diane Shawcroft and Jennifer Lueth

moved to a suburb of Phoenix, Arizona and immerse themselves

in the local singles scene.

Two months later, both would be dead.

Authorities now need your help in finding their killer.

A divorced mother disappears under bizarre circumstances.

Suspicion focuses on her estranged husband

who is described by some as a loving father

but by others as a sadistic psychopath.

And now he is a fugitive from justice.

A young, beautiful girl becomes lost

in the neon glitter of Reno.

She leaves behind paranoid emails,

gruesome drawings, and books on how to change your identity.

Her family prays that someone in our audience

can help Star Palumbo find her way home.

Join me for these fascinating stories.

Perhaps someone somewhere has that one vital clue

that can solve a mystery.

Perhaps that someone is watching.

Perhaps it's you.

[music playing]

Everywhere you looked, they stared back, painful reminders

of the human toll taken by the terrorist attack

on the World Trade Center.

Following September 11th, New York City

was blanketed with homemade posters of missing loved ones.

Joining the thousands of distraught family and friends

canvassing the city was Ron Lieberman.

His wife, a 31-year-old physician of Indian descent

named Sneha Philip, was last seen in the vicinity

of the World Trade Center.

But Sneha's story is drastically different

from the other hundreds of people still listed

as missing and presumed dead.

In fact, Sneha Philip disappeared

on September 10th, 14 hours before the twin towers'

catastrophic collapse.

While she may have been caught in the World

Trade Center disaster, Sneha may have

also succumbed to foul play.

Her fate remains a mystery.

I think this is a very difficult situation because

of the confusion with September 11th

that leaves every single possibility open.

I mean, in our heads right now, anything is possible.

MAN: I pronounce them--

they are husband and wife in the name of God.

ROBERT STACK: Only one year earlier,

Ron and Sneha were exchanging vows of everlasting love.

Their future happiness seemed assured.

There are certain people that you meet in your life who just

you connect with so strongly.

And right away we knew and basically inseparable

since the first day we met.

ROBERT STACK: The newlyweds shared an apartment

in Battery Park City, an exclusive neighborhood

just four blocks from the World Trade Center.

At 11:15 AM on September 10th, Ron left for his shift

as a doctor at Jacobi Hospital.

Sneha, who was also a doctor, had the next three days off.

Hang on one second. RON LIEBERMAN: I kissed her.

I told her I loved her, and I left.

Ron's leaving for work.

RON LIEBERMAN: Luckily, I left my keys at home.

So I went back.

Keys--

RON LIEBERMAN: And I got to kiss her again.

And that was the last time that I saw her.

ROBERT STACK: When Ron returned at 11:15 that night,

Sneha was not home.

But Ron felt there was no reason to be concerned.

My schedule is so crazy, so sometimes she

would feel uncomfortable staying by herself at home.

And her brother lives very close by.

And her cousin also lives very close by.

So she would sometimes go spend the night with them.

And I thought, well, maybe she just

decided to stop at her brother's house or her cousin.

ROBERT STACK: The following morning,

Ron rose early and headed to work for an 8:00 AM meeting.

He expected Sneha to call him once she woke up.

September 11th began as a perfect day.

The weather was unseasonably warm

and the sky a brilliant blue.

Like Ron, millions of New Yorkers

went about their daily routines, unaware that the entire world

teetered on the verge of disaster.

What happened?

There was an accident.

A plane hit the World Trade Center.

Oh my god.

RON LIEBERMAN: After the meeting, I came outside,

and we saw the TVs were on.

And we saw the first plane hit.

So I immediately went and called home.

Sneha, if you're there, pick up the phone.

RON LIEBERMAN: And there was just the message machine on.

I need you to call me and let me know that you're OK.

I love you.

RON LIEBERMAN: And then we learned

that a second plane hit.

And now everyone realized that this is an attack.

And then, when the buildings came down,

everyone was just-- you know, people were crying but still

trying to work.

And it was a very, very emotional time,

I think, obviously for everyone.

I called back again at about 10:00 in the morning.

Still just the message machine was on.

And then, after that, the phones went dead.

I was frightened for my wife, because I

couldn't get in touch with her.

I was sad at what had happened, devastated

by the whole situation.

You know, there's so many emotions.

Everyone is in shock.

And where's my wife?

I don't know.

ROBERT STACK: Ron Lieberman's personal nightmare

coincided with one of the worst global nightmares in history.

Imagine trying to find your wife in the chaos

and confusion following the tragedy

at the World Trade Center.

Any evidence as to what happened to Sneha Philip

was most likely buried under 1.2 million tons of rubble.

Still, Ron Lieberman prayed that Sneha was simply

lost in the turmoil enveloping New York City

and that she would soon find her way home.

Ron's hopes were based on Sneha's spending

the previous night with her brother or cousin.

But, when he finally got through to them,

both said they had not seen or heard

from Sneha in over 48 hours.

Realizing that no one had spoken to her yet,

I realized that this is a serious situation.

At that point, I decided, you know, I'm going to try

to get down to the apartment.

ROBERT STACK: All roads into lower Manhattan were closed.

Only emergency vehicles are being permitted

through the barricades.

Ron hitched a ride in an ambulance

and then made his way on foot to the apartment.

RON LIEBERMAN: The scene down there was just chaos.

There was this-- one of the most scariest sights

I've ever seen in my life.

As I start approaching my apartment building,

I started seeing trucks blown up, fire engines turned upside

down, pieces of the building, or what looked like the building,

on the ground also.

ROBERT STACK: Ron's apartment in Battery Park City

was chained shut.

Sneha!

ROBERT STACK: He soon learned from a neighbor

that Sneha was not in the building.

RON LIEBERMAN: So now, at this point,

I didn't know what to do.

With all the chaos going on, I thought, well, how am I

going to find her right now?

And I went back to my friend's place, and I spent the night.

And that was a very difficult night,

I was by myself on the couch wondering

where my wife was, frightened that something awful happened.

ROBERT STACK: The day following the attacks,

Ron filed a missing persons report with the NYPD.

RON LIEBERMAN: We knew she was missing since Monday.

And when we told the detective, they just said, OK, we'll take

your missing person's report.

But that was lumped into the World Trade Center.

You got the feeling that the police were just completely

overwhelmed, and that they had very

little time or effort to be able to put forth towards this.

ROBERT STACK: The NYPD believes that Sneha was more

than likely one of the many lost in the World

Trade Center disaster.

But Ron was convinced that she disappeared the night before.

He hired a private eye and launched

an investigation of his own.

They would uncover several disturbing questions.

But one above all others had haunted Ron from the start.

Where was Sneha on the night of September 10th?

Ron discovered that an employee at the couple's

apartment building remembered seeing Sneha that evening.

Hey Tom, I--

ROBERT STACK: At 5:15 PM, he saw her leaving alone wearing

a brown dress and sandals.

By tracing credit card receipts, Ron found evidence of Sneha

may have then going shopping at a department store

near the World Trade Center.

At 7:15 PM, shoes, lingerie, and bed linens

were purchased with Sneha's credit card.

But was it Sneha who used the card or an impostor who

had stolen it?

Excuse me--

RON LIEBERMAN: From what was purchased,

it sounded like it was her-- you know, sheets for the beds

and things like that.

So we assumed it was her without proof yet.

ROBERT STACK: Ron hoped to find that proof on the department

store's surveillance video.

RON LIEBERMAN: And for about two weeks I

sat and watched this tape for about five hours a day,

you know, frame by frame.

It's one of those stop action photos--

where I actually found my wife on the tape, shopping alone.

ROBERT STACK: After the department store,

Sneha's trailed turns completely cold.

She leaves the store, and then she just disappears.

There is not a trace of her--

nothing, not a credit card transaction,

no money taken out of her account,

no e-mails, no phone calls--

nothing.

How does that happen?

It's a complete mystery.

ROBERT STACK: Where did Sneha go after leaving

the department store?

She was carrying two large bags of merchandise.

But neither the bags nor the merchandise

were found at Sneha's apartment, suggesting that she

never made it back home.

Near the department store stood the Millenium Hotel.

Inside was a connoisseur bar and grill.

The private investigator hired by Ron

theorized that Sneha could have stopped in for a drink.

Is it possible that something happened here that ultimately

led to her disappearance?

The Millenium Hotel was closed down

after the attack, frustrating Ron

and the investigator's efforts to see if she went there.

In fact, the entire area where Sneha was last seen

lay in ruins.

As a result, any theory about what happened to her

was virtually impossible to prove.

Was Sneha a victim of random violence?

Could she have left on her own accord to start a new life?

The questions seemed endless.

Any answers were surely destroyed

along with the Twin Towers.

But then a mysterious clue emerged,

spinning the investigation into an entirely

unexpected direction.

A clerk at the department store saw the missing flyer of Sneha

and stepped forward, giving Ron and Sneha's

family renewed hope.

Then the shoe sales clerk told us that she remembers my wife

and that she'd known her as somewhat

of a regular customer--

Is that your sister?

Oh no, she's just a friend of mine.

RON LIEBERMAN: --and that she remembered her there that day

and said that she was with another person,

an Indian woman that she just said was her friend.

OK, bye-bye.

Have a good day.

You too.

RON LIEBERMAN: And then they said,

after she went to buy shoes, that they

were thinking about going to the lingerie area.

ROBERT STACK: Based on this new information,

Ron re-examined the department store's surveillance tape.

Two women are captured leaving the store together.

Could this be Sneha and her companion?

Hey, you wanna get something to eat?

ROBERT STACK: So far, all efforts

to identify the mysterious woman have failed.

We have no idea who this person is--

and that she never existed in Sneha's past.

We've gone through her phone books.

We've gone through her email.

There's no, like, phone call even made to this person

during that day.

She doesn't exist anywhere else.

I mean, it could be very possible Sneha ran into her.

It could be an old time friend.

ROBERT STACK: Is it possible that Sneha stayed

at the unidentified woman's house

on the night of September 10th?

If that was the case, then Sneha could well

have been heading home the next morning

at the approximate time of the World Trade Center attack.

If Sneha was near the World Trade Center on the morning

of September 11th, knowing the kind of person she was,

it would just be instinctual with her to try to help.

And she might have gone into the building,

or she might have helped people out.

It would have just been-- that's the kind of person she is.

She just cares about people.

ROBERT STACK: If Sneha was inside the World Trade Center,

she had no chance of surviving.

But that scenario assumes that Sneha was alive

the previous night and spent it somewhere

other than with Ron, her family, and all of her known friends.

Well she's never just spent a night out

without informing us where she is,

informing her husband where she is.

It's never happened.

Why would this night be any different?

So, I mean, I really think that something

happened to her September 10th.

It's difficult to continue.

You know, each day is a day that we suffer,

because we don't know.

You know, sometimes I think she might

just walk through the door, or she might just call.

But it just, each day, doesn't happen.

And it's really torture.

ROBERT STACK: The Cedar Creek apartments outside of Phoenix,

Arizona--

a brutal heat wave passes through the region.

After graduating from high school, Diane Shawcroft, 20,

and her best friend Jennifer Lueth, 19,

had left their homes in Colorado for the sunny suburb

of Glendale, Arizona.

Don't tell me to relax.

ROBERT STACK: They moved in with Diane's older sister Kristina.

But three young women living in a one bedroom apartment soon

led to tension.

When did you become mom?

I said no smoking.

That was my last cigarette.

Fine, maybe I'll just go then.

Maybe you should.

They said they were gonna walk to the store

to get cigarettes and a pop and that they would

be back in a little while.

They didn't take anything with them,

and they never went anywhere without their makeup.

So that's what made me think they were coming right back.

Come on.

I'll talk it out with her. We'll work it out.

No, we're not going--

ROBERT STACK: Diane and Jennifer headed for the mini mart

two blocks away.

They never returned.

For the first time in their lives,

Diane Shawcroft Jennifer Lueth were living away from home.

The girls began to explore the boundaries of their new

found freedom.

They were swept into an exhilarating

whirlwind of late nights, new friendships,

and lively parties.

But authorities now fear that Diane

and Jennifer's carefree lifestyle

may have ultimately put them in harm's way.

Diane and Jenny were very, very close.

They were probably closer than most sisters.

Jenny was a little more flirtatious.

Diane was a littler quieter and more shy,

but she's the one that basically took care of both of them

I believe.

Hi.

Hey, are you guys having fun?

They were pretty open to just about anybody.

They liked to hang out, and they liked to have lots of friends.

But they liked to go, go, go.

They wanted to be doing something all the time.

And they didn't care if it was 3:00 in the morning

or 3:00 in the afternoon.

ROBERT STACK: On the day they disappeared,

Diane and Jennifer were seen at a mini mart

at approximately 7:00 PM.

- Hey, girls. - Hey.

How are we doing?

Good.

ROBERT STACK: According to the cashier,

the girls bought cigarettes and soda.

But instead of going home, they lingered outside the store.

Two hours passed.

The girls were still in front of the mini mart

when the cashier saw a man pull up in a blue truck.

They conversed for quite a while.

They got into the truck, and then the truck drove off.

And that's the last time that anyone that we know of

has seen them alive.

I believe she knew this person,

because she would never ever get into a vehicle with strangers.

She just wouldn't do it.

She wasn't the kind that would hitchhike

or do anything like that.

She was very careful and very cautious.

ROBERT STACK: Three months later,

two men were hunting in a remote desert

100 miles north of Phoenix.

As they traversed a steep incline,

they came across a gruesome site.

Diane Lynne Shawcroft lay on top of Jennifer Sue Lueth.

Both had been murdered.

Even in death, Diane seemed to be protecting her best friend.

Because the investigation is ongoing,

police are withholding the cause of death.

But the location of the girls' bodies

offered several clues as to who the killer or killers might be.

The area is extremely isolated, 16 miles from the nearest

highway, and accessible only by pickup

truck or four wheel drive.

We feel that this person has probably been in this area,

or frequented this area, or certainly

was aware of this area in some way

by their own four wheel driving, or hunting,

or at least some personal knowledge of the area.

ROBERT STACK: The deepness of the ravine also raised

another troubling possibility.

TED SYMONDS: They were both fairly decent sized girls,

so you would have had to have handled each one of those.

So either we had a very strong person,

or we had more than one person, possibly, that were involved

in taking these bodies out.

Jennifer was a strong girl, and she was

a scrapper if she needed to be.

It wouldn't be easy for one person

to overpower Jennifer alone.

But with two of them, it's just sort of inconceivable to me

that one person was able to do that to two girls.

ROBERT STACK: The police investigation

centered on finding the mysterious man

in the blue truck.

Believing that both girls knew this man,

police delved into their personal lives.

Out in Phoenix, Diane and Jennifer

had attended numerous parties and nightclubs.

They had a lifestyle with a lot of males involved in it.

There were a lot of male friends, male relationships.

They were involved in so many people's lives.

They were involved in many strangers' lives

to the point-- it could have been somebody they'd just met.

Where are you from?

We're from Colorado.

From this really small town where it's like 0 degrees

right now--

We're so happy to be here.

DEBRA LUETH: I think both Jenny and Diane were

very naive and very innocent.

I think, like most 19-year-olds, they think they're invincible

and can just conquer the world.

That reminds me-- my friend's having

a little pool party tonight.

There's gonna be kegs, lots of people.

You guys should come down. - Really?

Yeah.

And I think whoever got involved with them

knew that, could read them like a book,

and took advantage of them.

ROBERT STACK: There was one final, strange twist

to this case.

The families erected a shrine where the bodies were found.

Pictures of both girls were placed at the foot

of two wood crosses.

Police decided to occasionally survey the site,

hoping for a morbid visit from the killer.

No one ever showed up, at least while authorities

were at the scene.

On September 29th, 2000, detectives

discovered that both photos of the girls

had been removed from their frames.

Only police and the victims' family

knew the precise location where the girls'

bodies had been found.

Nothing else seemed to be disturbed,

and it definitely raised questions

as to who would want the pictures, who would go

to that much effort to go back in,

as far as it is, get the pictures, and take them.

Hard to even imagine who it'd be, or why they would do it,

unless it's the perpetrator.

ROBERT STACK: Had the killer returned for a macabre souvenir

of his brutal act?

Police can only speculate.

No evidence that might identify the murderer

has ever been found.

The search for Diane and Jennifer's killer or killers

continues.

Authorities would especially like

to question the man who was the last person seen

with the girls.

He may be driving a blue pickup truck.

[knocking]

Hello!

ROBERT STACK: Two friends of 44-year-old Brenda Bowen

arrive at her rural Alabama home after she

fails to show up for a prayer meeting earlier that morning.

Sweetie?

Brenda!

ROBERT STACK: But Brenda is nowhere to be found.

Hello, anybody home?

ROBERT STACK: Within hours, the Shelby County Sheriff's Office

responds to the scene.

Brenda's clothes were laid out on her bed

as if to dress after she got through with her shower.

On her dresser was her jewelry.

Everything was laid out real nice and neat.

Also, they saw her curling iron was in the

on position in the bathroom.

But there was no other signs that Brenda was there at all.

ROBERT STACK: Brenda Bowen lived a life most of us would envy.

She was blessed with two healthy teenage children,

a thriving real estate business, and a sprawling home

in the beautiful Alabama countryside.

Her friends and family could find no reason

why she would suddenly vanish.

When Brenda went missing, it was devastating to us.

I stayed at home.

I thought she might call, you know.

But, in my heart, I knew that something had happened

to Brenda, something bad.

ROBERT STACK: The only source of friction in Brenda's life

was her ex-husband, Jerry Lee Bowen.

Two years earlier, Brenda's long lasting marriage to Jerry

had abruptly fallen apart.

They were together for about 18 or 19 years.

And they'd worked good together.

But Jerry-- Jerry got out and found a girlfriend.

And he asked her for a divorce.

Jerry, you've agreed to give Brenda

complete and unencumbered use of the house

until your daughter turns 19.

Brenda, you will give Jerry use of the guest house

in the back as his--

ROBERT STACK: With the help of a divorce attorney, Jerry

and Brenda separated on good terms

and even agreed to a very unusual living arrangement.

Jerry would reside in the guest house

behind the main residence.

He also gave Brenda the bulk of the couple's assets.

Jerry live quietly in the shadow of his ex-wife

until he ran into financial difficulties.

Brenda, I'm asking for your help here.

I don't know, Jerry.

You're asking me to live a lie.

It's only a business arrangement!

And he told her that he was in financial trouble,

and they had to get back together.

He had to have some relief.

Brenda's answer was--

I'd have to think about that, Jerry.

So you're not gonna help me?

I don't know, Jerry.

Can't we talk about this in the morning?

Jerry-- Jerry, we can talk about it in the morning.

I'm gonna take you back to court.

ROBERT STACK: Four days later, Brenda Bowen vanished.

Anything you find, I wanted bagged.

I want it filed.

ROBERT STACK: Police began their investigation

at the Bowen home.

Jerry Bowen was fully cooperative

and even offered his own theory on what happened to Brenda.

As I started to leave, Jerry says, well Don, what do

you think happened to Brenda?

Well let's just hope she's on a beach somewhere down

in Florida tanning her buns.

You're wrong.

She's dead.

I said, well, if she's dead, where

do you think we could find her?

And Jerry looked at me.

He says, you could find her in the water somewhere.

We got a call about an abandoned vehicle.

ROBERT STACK: That same night, Brenda's car

was found stuck in the mud 43 miles from her home.

We found personal items belonging to Brenda there.

We found her purse.

We found a cell phone.

There was checkbooks there.

So that told us that this was not a robbery, that perhaps

the car was left the way it was just as a decoy,

that Brenda would not be found there.

This here's the Bowens' boy.

ROBERT STACK: Brenda's own son raised an even more troubling

question about the car.

I was wondering what the position

that the driver's seat was in.

All the way back, right?

Yeah, it was all the way back.

Well, my mom-- she's only five two.

ROBERT STACK: With the car seat completely pushed back,

Brenda's feet could not have reached the pedals.

But the strangest question of all

came out of Jerry Bowen's own mouth

when he unexpectedly appeared at the crime scene.

Is that the car that belongs to the woman who's missing?

Now this was his ex-wife's car.

He knew whose car that was.

And it turned out later to be a question that we felt

was very important to pinning down just who was

responsible for Brenda's death.

ROBERT STACK: Jerry was taken to the Shelby County Sheriff's

Office for an interview where his behavior

continued to raise red flags.

He was not of any help to us whatsoever.

He showed no concern for her well-being.

And during the process of the interview,

he actually went to sleep.

ROBERT STACK: But Jerry's friends and family adamantly

claim that he was in a state of shock

and overcome with worry for his former wife.

Jerry was very concerned about her.

But he was also upset that the police thought it might be him.

He said often that he was innocent.

So there was no way he was going to be pinned with a murder.

They stripped him down.

They checked him for any cuts, or bruises,

or bites, or anything.

They didn't find a scratch on him anywhere.

But they got in his face and told him we

know you did something to her.

Whatever happened to her, we know you did it.

And we will prove it.

And they had tunnel vision from that night on.

There is zero doubt in my mind that Jerry Bowen

killed my daughter Brenda--

no doubt.

ROBERT STACK: But there was no evidence

linking Jerry Bowen to his wife's disappearance,

and he was released.

Several months later, three fishermen

saw something floating in the murky

waters of the Coosa River.

It was the body of Brenda Bowen bound and tied inside a sheet.

The advanced state of decomposition

made it impossible for the coroner to determine

the cause of death.

When Brenda Bowen's body surfaced,

she was, for lack of a better way of saying it,

packaged in a certain manner.

We got the call late this afternoon.

These three fishermen found the body.

RANDALL I. HILLMAN: Around her body was

a green top sheet off of a bed.

Around that was a length of nylon rope.

OFFICER: I want to secure the area all the way up to the road

before the forensic boys get here.

ROBERT STACK: The sheet was positively identified as coming

from the Bowen home, and there were several curious aspects

about the rope.

It was tied with two specific knots, a bowline and a slip.

And the ends had been deliberately burnt.

The son asked to look at the rope that

was around his mother's body.

And he looked at it and tears filled his eyes.

He said, I've seen that same combination of knots

from Jerry Bowen dozens of times.

He said, I've never seen anybody else do it.

In addition to that, every time Jerry Bowen cut

a piece of nylon rope, he would take a cigarette lighter

and burn the ends of it.

The knots, the car seat, the burned ends of the rope--

it all starts pointing back to Jerry Bowen.

Jerry Bowen was arrested and tried for the murder

of his wife Brenda.

The case against him was almost entirely circumstantial

except for one crucial element.

Jerry could not account for his whereabouts prior to 9:30

on the morning of Brenda's disappearance.

The jury took only six hours to decide his fate--

guilty.

But the bizarre story of Jerry Bowen

did not end with his conviction.

While awaiting sentencing, Bowen was released on bond.

The day of the hearing, Jerry's sister received a blunt letter.

It read-- this may be a dumb move on my part, sis.

But I don't feel I should serve time

for a crime I didn't commit.

Therefore, I am running.

When Jerry was convicted, my thoughts was it's payday.

When Jerry fled, I felt like payday evaporated.

And it did.

ROBERT STACK: The FBI descended on Jerry's home

looking for any clues as to his whereabouts.

But no one was prepared for what was found on Jerry's computer--

thousands of violent and sadistic pornographic images.

Jerry is very polite, respectful to others.

But when he's back in his own secret place,

within his own residence, the bizarreness of his behavior

starts to emerge when he's visiting websites of women

being abused, tied up, shackled, and tortured,

as well as a fascination for pregnant women that are naked.

ROBERT STACK: No other evidence was recovered

from Jerry's home that would lead detectives

to the convicted killer.

He has now evaded capture for over a year.

Well he's still on the loose.

And we can't have closure until he's found

and come back to the Sheriff's department where he belongs.

I hope they bring him in chains.

[music playing]

ROBERT STACK: In the early morning hours of April 26,

2000, a young woman is spotted wandering

in a restricted area of the Reno-Tahoe

International Airport.

She appears disoriented and frightened.

An airport police officer is called.

He finds the woman cowering near a truck.

Are you OK?

ROBERT STACK: The woman identifies

herself as Star Palumbo.

She then claims she's trying to find her younger sister who was

running loose on the tarmac.

OK, we searched the grounds for your sister

with the description that you gave us,

and she's nowhere to be found.

ROBERT STACK: The airport police officer

felt there was a possibility that Star's story was not true.

But he also believed that Star had no criminal intent

for being out on the runway.

He had no idea why she was out there.

She could give no logical explanation.

But, instead of arresting her, he decided to release her.

ROBERT STACK: Star Palumbo is dropped off near a hotel

and disappears into the kaleidoscope

of blinding neon lights.

The next day, an illegally parked car

is discovered at the airport.

And, when I ran a license check on it to put it

on the impound sheet, the registered owner

came back to Star Palumbo.

As I was going through the vehicle during the impound,

I found it appeared to be loaded with all

her personal possessions.

ROBERT STACK: Also in the car were

Star's cell phone and purse, including $600 in cash.

And Star had left behind other items

that caused even more concern.

Copies of three emails sent to the White House

indicated that Star felt the government

was trying to murder her.

A morbid drawing depicted a woman who looked

like Star bound and gagged.

And finally, there were two books

on how to change your identity.

Star never showed up to claim her car.

She has now been missing for over a year.

There are two very likely possibilities.

The first is that she is suffering

from some type of either organically caused

or drug induced psychosis, and is a sick woman,

and doesn't know who or where she is.

And the second possibility, sadly,

is that she's been the victim of a serious crime

and has either been murdered or is

in a position where she can't contact her friends and family.

The mystery of what happened to Star

Palumbo began long before the 25-year-old woman vanished.

Star was once a vivacious brunette

full of hope and promise.

But authorities believe that she tragically

drifted into a nether world of drugs and desperation,

placing her life in imminent danger.

Her family is convinced that Star is alive

and, with your help, will one day come home.

Star lived a very happy childhood,

and she was very dependable.

And she's a very trusting person.

She was a very happy person, sociable person.

And she really, I guess, trusted people too much.

ROBERT STACK: One year prior to her disappearance,

Star left her home in Tucson, Arizona,

and moved to Reno, Nevada.

She lived there with her grandmother.

It was in Reno, investigators believe, that Star's life

began to careen off course.

Interviews with Star's friends there

reveal a portrait of a troubled woman who had lost her way.

In this particular case, Star seems

to have fallen in with a very bad crowd

and had been involved in a more increasing degree of drug use,

and specifically with methamphetamine

at a level that could only be disastrous.

ROBERT STACK: According to her friends, in the weeks leading

up to her disappearance, Star's drug

habit cost more than she could make

as a cashier at a pawn shop.

Police believe it is possible that the increasingly

distraught woman began to look for other ways to make money.

DET.

DAVID JENKINS: There is an indication that Star had

been dabbling in prostitution.

In her phone books, there was reference to a number of men.

We really don't have a good feeling

for the extent of the relationships

with a number of those men.

However, certainly prostitution is a high risk occupation

and one of the factors that causes

us concern about what has befallen

Star in her disappearance.

ROBERT STACK: While in Reno, Star

continued to call her mother on a weekly basis

and seemed in good spirits.

But on the day she disappeared, Star

made a final phone call that took on an ominous and paranoid

tone.

She would only talk to us for a little bit.

She said that she felt somebody was following her.

And when she talked on the phone,

she thought maybe the phones were tapped

and somebody was listening.

And she mentioned how something was going on,

and she was afraid for her life.

And she wouldn't discuss it any more than that.

ROBERT STACK: According to her mother,

Star expressed a desire to turn her life around.

She then talked about flying home to Tucson

and starting over.

I love you.

OK, bye.

ROBERT STACK: Gail Palumbo has not heard from her daughter

since.

Following Star's disappearance, her parents

mounted a massive effort to locate their daughter.

Thousands of flyers were distributed,

and Star's picture was posted throughout the state of Nevada.

It appears that those efforts have paid off.

Linda Fields, owner of a Silver Dollar Casino in Elko, Nevada,

claims to have seen Star there a full eight months

after her disappearance.

Honey?

Honey, are you all right?

Miss Fields described seeing a young woman who, in her mind,

she was very certain was Star Palumbo,

who had come into the bar one evening,

had looked frightened, was alone,

and that the young woman had volunteered

to her that her name was Star, and that she was being chased

or was trying to escape from a pimp.

ROBERT STACK: Linda Fields says that Star

became extremely agitated when a man peered

through the bar's window.

A short time after that, Star left the bar

with another young woman.

If the woman was Star, then where did

she go after leaving the bar?

Maybe there really was somebody after her.

Could she have used the books found in her car to change

her identity and escape?

It is this scenario that Star's family clings to.

I'd like to say, Star, that your mom and dad really love

you and, no matter what you've done,

or anything, that we wish you'd contact

us to see if we could help you.

Join me next time for another fascinating edition

of "Unsolved Mysteries."

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