Original subtitles

NARRATOR: This program is about unsolved mysteries.

Whenever possible, the actual family members

and police officials have participated

in recreating the events.

What you are about to see is not a news broadcast.

[music playing]

Tonight, we'll examine four new mysteries.

Each one has been recreated in detail, wherever possible using

the actual participants in the hope

that someone watching may know the truth.

Join me.

You may be able to help solve a mystery.

[music playing]

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): February 19, 1982.

A quiet residential community in the small city

of Woonsocket, Rhode Island.

On this day six years ago, this peaceful New England town

of 46,000 was stunned by the most

savage murder in its history.

At approximately 3:30 PM, Doug Heath

returned from work to his apartment on Providence Street.

As he walked through the door, he

found his neighbor's three-year-old child locked

out of her mother's apartment.

DOUG HEATH (VOICEOVER): When I saw

Nicole standing on the stairs, I knew immediately

something was wrong.

Where's mommy?

DOUG HEATH (VOICEOVER): I asked her where her mother was,

and she told me that she was downstairs, lying down.

I tried the door into the first floor

apartment, their apartment.

It was locked.

I know something was wrong right there.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Doug went down to the laundry room

to check on her mother, Susan Laferte.

DOUG HEATH (VOICEOVER): I saw a body

leaned up against the dryer.

In the same instant, I turned to my left

and I saw Sue lying face down in a puddle of blood.

It hit me right then and there that the murder, or something

really bad had happened.

[police sirens]

DOUG CONNELL: When rescue arrived at the scene along

with the first officers, they found that two women had been

brutally assaulted in a basement area

of the Province Street home.

And for all intents and purposes had been left for dead.

One woman expired at the scene, and the other one was in very,

very critical condition.

Rescue stabilized her the best that they could

and transported her from the scene to the hospital emergency

room.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The two

victims both lived in the apartment building

on Providence Street.

22-Year-old Doreen Picard was pronounced dead at the scene.

The other woman, 27-year-old Susan Laferte,

was barely alive.

She was immediately rushed to the hospital.

Susan was in surgery for 2 and 1/2 hours.

While she clung to life, her husband Ernie

waited and prayed.

ERNIE LAFERTE: The way they described it,

she was hanging by a thread.

Her injuries were so severe that it was touch and go at a time.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Miraculously, Susan survived.

But she remained in a deep coma.

Fearful for her safety, the police

guarded her room around the clock.

DOUG CONNELL (VOICEOVER): It was obvious to us

that the perpetrator, in his mind,

had left both girls for dead.

We immediately became worried that he would realize

that there was a witness to the attack,

and that he would come back and try to eliminate

that witness by killing her.

We were hopeful that when she came out of the coma,

she would be able to tell us who it was that had done this.

30 days later, Susan finally emerged from her coma.

But she had no memory of her attack or her attacker.

She developed total amnesia about what

happened during the brutal assault in the basement.

She had also sustained injuries that have

left her physically disabled.

Susan's amnesia sent the investigation

of the seemingly motiveless crime back to square one.

SUSAN LAFERTE: Everyone expected me to wake up and tell them

who attacked me and killed Doreen.

I don't know who attacked us.

I have no idea.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Even now, Susan's family

is concerned for her safety, and she has requested that she

not be identified on camera.

When I woke up out of the coma,

I would be able to tell them.

It's five years later and I'm no closer at this period of time

than I was five years ago.

I don't know what he looked like, or anything else

about him.

I have no memory whatsoever of the attack.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Six years later, the police are

still searching for a motive.

Susan Laferte was a housewife with two young children

and was an active member of her neighborhood watch.

Doreen Picard was studying for a career

in childhood development.

She lived upstairs in the apartment building

that the Lafertes owned.

Ironically, she was packing to move to a new building

on the very day of the attack.

Like Susan, Doreen's parents desperately

want to find an answer as to who killed their daughter.

We go to bed thinking about her,

and we wake up thinking about her.

You know, we have to keep pushing and knocking on doors

because I feel like there's somebody out there that has

a missing piece to that puzzle.

I have no recollection whatsoever

of basically from New Year's Eve to the 19th of February.

The 19th totally is a blackout.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): On February 19,

the day of the attack, Susan had lunch

with her sister, Carol Rivet.

[doorbell]

I'll get that.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): At 1:30,

two friends came to the door.

SUSAN LAFERTE: Hi.

(MALE VOICE): How you doing?

My sister came back from the doorway

and stuck her head in the parlor, and said, Carol,

I'm going downstairs.

I'll be right back.

She came back upstairs, and I could hear her talking

to somebody in the doorway.

So I got up to go see who she was talking to.

[interposing voices]

I knew one of the guys, but the other guy, I didn't know.

And she introduced me to him.

And this is the guy that's getting me--

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The two men

then went to the basement to look at some puppies

that Susan was selling.

Susan talked to the men for five minutes, and they left.

10 minutes later, at 1:45, Carol went home.

That was the last time anyone saw Susan before the attack.

No one can be sure what happened that day between 1:45 and 3:20,

when Doug Heath discovered Susan and Doreen's bodies.

How are you making out?

All right.

DOUG CONNELL: I have to admit that I was

shocked by the initial scene.

The brutality of the assault. It was not just a murder.

It was not just an assault. It was a frenzied attack.

It was an overkill.

OK, 15 minutes?

OK.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Only one person apart from Susan

saw the killer.

Nicole, Susan's three-year-old daughter, was in the apartment

that afternoon.

Her grandmother, Florence Laferte,

tried to coax the details of the attacker's identity

out of Nicole's memory.

FLORENCE LAFERTE: As I came in the house and Nicole was there.

And from the very beginning, she told me that she let him in.

She thought that was her mother's friend.

Hi.

FLORENCE LAFERTE: She saw the man.

She says he was probably a little bigger than her father.

He had a mustache.

She even told me that he wore a cap with the visor

towards the back.

He had sneakers, and he also had jeans.

When she heard her mother crying, she went downstairs

and as she was going down, he was coming up.

He had a rag in his back pocket.

It was red and white, she called it polka dots.

And then she was locked out in the hallway

while the man escaped through the front.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The killer

left his murder weapon, a pipe, in the house as he left.

It was not found for four days.

DOUG CONNELL (VOICEOVER): After the assault,

Nicole was questioned extensively

by the police department.

As much as the police would like to have a person who definitely

saw the perpetrator that day, her story has changed too much

to be of real value to us.

The stress and confusion that she was under at that point

in time really made it very difficult to get

a real solid, sure story.

It's a complex case because of the different factors involved.

First, we have two victims.

And those victims all bring their individual traits

with them.

They have their own friends, they were

involved in different things.

There was also two newspaper ads that had been running.

One was for puppies for sale, and the other

was for an apartment for rent.

The perpetrator might have responded to one of the ads,

was a friend of either one of the victims, or their family,

or was just a total stranger.

[phone ringing]

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Since the murder,

Doreen's family has conducted their own informal

investigation, which they believe has led to a series

of anonymous phone calls.

Hello?

RON PICARD: A few months after Doreen was killed I received

a phone call about 2:00 a.m.

He said that I should be concerned

with my family and my children, and not

pursue the matter so hard.

And that for openers, they might burn my garage down.

My repair shop.

Every time we pursue the matter, we get phone calls.

Obviously, we're putting somebody uneasy.

We're keeping somebody off guard.

You know, it's like a nightmare.

Because I'm watching over my shoulder all the time.

And I'm very fearful for Susan because maybe someday,

this person's going to realize that hey,

maybe she can remember.

I still hope every morning when

I get up that maybe today, something will snap

and it will come back.

But it's been five years, and it's still not-- I'm no closer

now than I was five years ago.

I'm hurt.

I don't look over my shoulder when I do things,

but I've always got this back thought.

Is he still there?

[music playing]

Next, a story of a man who makes his living by getting

married over and over.

He is known as the Heart Attacker.

And so far, he has fleeced his many wives

of over a million dollars.

[music playing]

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): New York City, 1981.

Louis Carlucci arrived in the suburb of Forest Hills,

carrying nothing but a garment bag with his one good suit

in it.

In this affluent community, he was a stranger.

A man without a past.

He found work as a short order cook in a diner,

but no one knew where he came from.

Good evening!

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): In September 1981,

Louis Carlucci met a 41-year-old woman, whom we will call

Barbara, in a neighborhood bar.

Speak now, or forever hold your peace.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Seven weeks later, he married her.

Me What Barbara didn't know is that Louis

Carlucci is a con man.

He makes his living by stealing women's hearts,

and then their money.

Carlucci is suspected of marrying at least

nine different wives, and fathering over 30

children around the country.

He is said to have swindled his victims out

of more than $1 million.

Louis Carlucci is known as Con Juan, or the Heart Attacker.

When you try to explain to someone what happened,

they look at you and say, well how

could you get taken like that?

And then you find out there are 500 other people that

were taken the same way, who were supposed

to be as brilliant or smart--

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Barbara

was the only one of Carlucci's victims who would talk to us.

She asked that she not be identified on camera,

and at one time she feared reprisals from Carlucci.

But the fact that he's still roaming someplace

in the United States and getting away with this

is a terrible thought.

Barbara's telling her story tonight

because she wants to warn other women about Louis Carlucci.

The police are convinced that Carlucci is perpetrating

the same con game on some unsuspecting woman

at this very moment.

Tonight, we'll see exactly how Carlucci

perpetrated his schemes, which police call marriage swindles.

Carlucci usually finds his victims in restaurants

and friendship clubs.

Excuse me, hi.

BARBARA (VOICEOVER): I was out with a friend,

and we were sitting and having a drink, and he sent over drinks.

And got to talking.

And that's how we first met.

And I know for a fact that I've

never seen you here before.

First impression, when I first saw him?

No style, no class.

However, he was warm, very friendly.

He had a good sense of humor.

So I started dating him.

I thought, well, he was a pretty nice guy.

He told me he grew up in the Bronx, that he traveled a lot.

That he was in the restaurant business.

And he wanted to settle down, and that he

could give me everything that anybody could really want.

And I said, OK.

The guy is pretty nice, I like him, I liked his company.

And I thought, well, why not?

By the power vested in me by the state of New York,

I now pronounce you man and wife.

You may now kiss the bride.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): After a whirlwind courtship lasting

only seven weeks, Barbara married

Louis Carlucci in a small ceremony

at the bar where they'd first met.

Immediately after the wedding, their relationship

began to deteriorate.

[interposing voices]

BARBARA (VOICEOVER): He kind of jumped on me for talking

to other people at the wedding.

And he got very angry about the idea,

possibly, that we even got married.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): After the honeymoon,

they moved into an unfinished apartment in New York

where they lived out of suitcases.

Carlucci would not let Barbara out of his sight,

and paid for their living expenses

with Barbara's credit cards.

BARBARA (VOICEOVER): The change in his attitude

and his personality shocked me, because there were

times when he was real nice.

And then all of a sudden, he'd flip

and it would be like black and white.

Jekyll and Hyde, I don't know how you want to put it.

And then I get scared.

I really got scared.

Because I realized [inaudible] I didn't have what he

thought I had, which was money.

The man was very physical.

If you ever pull that again--

BARBARA (VOICEOVER): I couldn't turn my head.

He'd pull my hair.

If I looked the wrong way, I'd get smacked.

Of course, I couldn't talk to anyone at all.

And if we were in a restaurant, I couldn't even order anything

from the waitress because he felt

like I was looking at the person to signal, or whatever.

- Can I get you some dessert? - No, thank you.

Just the check.

Ma'am?

Just the check.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Carlucci continued

to put the bite on Barbara.

He used her credit cards up to their limit,

emptied her bank account.

And when they went out together, he always used Barbara's money.

Carlucci bled Barbara dry.

I was just held captive-- let's put it that way--

for about six months.

Did Never let me out of his sight.

Not one time.

I couldn't go to the bathroom without him being there.

So I had no way of trying to contact anyone,

or telling anyone about anything.

BARBARA (VOICEOVER): He caught me with the razor.

I was going to cut my wrists because that was

the only way I could get out.

He knew that I was going to die, whether I did it myself,

or I would just waste away and die.

So his reaction was, well, I may as well let you

go because you're going to die.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): On May 31, 1982, almost six months

after their wedding, Louis Carlucci left Barbara, having

squandered all of her savings.

A total of $20,000.

Encouraged by her friends, Barbara

filed charges with the police.

KEN KLEINLEIN: When Barbara first came to us

and gave us information about Carlucci,

we started our investigation and began to talking

to quite a few people.

To speak to these women was an eye opener for me.

Carlucci doesn't just leave physical and financial wreckage

behind him.

It's kind of a psychological scarring that you see.

And how long was it between the time you were--

KEN KLEINLEIN (VOICEOVER): They feel embarrassed and ashamed,

and they don't want their relatives and friends

and coworkers to know about it.

I would like to see this man get caught.

He doesn't belong out in society.

And whether he will hurt anybody very physically, I don't know.

But he definitely has to be taken off the streets.

KEN KLEINLEIN (VOICEOVER): He travels all over.

We've had him in California, Las Vegas, New Orleans, Florida,

New Jersey, New York State.

He moves around quite a bit.

He's wanted for bigamy, grand larceny, and fraud.

I'd be very surprised if at this moment,

Carlucci was not with a woman.

I'm sure he's been dealing with maybe 10 or 15 women a year,

at the very least, because he's not

going to stop what he's doing.

This is the way he makes his living.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Louis Carlucci

has a dubious distinction of being captured

twice, thanks to viewers' tips.

After we first broadcast Carlucci's story,

he was arrested in Nashville, Tennessee.

He was extradited back to New York

and later released on $1,000 bail, pending trial.

Once again, Carlucci disappeared.

And once again, after we featured

him on a second broadcast, a viewer's tip led to his arrest.

This time in Los Angeles.

In a moment, the story of a quiet church-going housewife

who is accused of helping a convicted murderer

escape from prison.

[music playing]

[church singing]

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): In 1986, Diane Brodbeck,

a 43-year-old housewife, lived in the small Pennsylvania

town of Wellsville.

She was a devout Christian and had

been active in her local church for almost 20 years.

On April 5, 1986, Diane Brodbeck disappeared.

A month later, Dianne's abandoned car

was found in a motel parking lot 30 minutes from her home.

In the trunk, the police found Diane's overnight bag.

The same day Diane vanished, Jon Yount, a long-term inmate

at a local prison escaped.

Yount was serving a life sentence for the brutal murder

of an 18-year-old school girl.

At the exact time that he escaped,

Diane Brodbeck was seen just one half mile from the prison,

driving along the same country road where Jon Yount vanished.

I don't know if Diane's alive.

I hope she's alive.

I really do.

I believe, personally, that she is alive.

And I think she is with Jon.

Neither Jon Yount or Diane Brodbeck have

been seen for almost two years.

The authorities believe Diane may have been Yount's

accomplice, and her family is mystified

as to why this apparently respectable and happily married

woman should have vanished without a word.

Was Diana kidnapped by a desperate prisoner?

Or was she a willing accomplice who helped a convicted murderer

escape?

I know my daughter.

She would not deliberately help a convicted

murderer escape from prison.

My daughter would not do this.

Yes, I think that my wife probably did help Jon Yount get

out of jail, under pressure.

For what reason, I don't know.

It's hard to say.

She could have been threatened by Jon Yount.

I don't know what happened.

I really don't.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Diane Brodbeck and her husband

Chester had two daughters, and had

just celebrated their silver wedding anniversary.

Diane led a busy life.

She had worked as a bank manager, avidly pursued

an interest in psychology, and as one

of her many community activities,

wrote letters to prisoners who had no family or friends.

In 1966, Jon Yount was a popular math teacher at the high school

in Dubois, Pennsylvania.

On April 28, 1966, Yount offered a ride

to Pamela Sue Rimer, one of his pupils,

as she was walking home from school.

- Need a ride? - No, no, really.

That's OK.

I only live right up the road, right up there.

Well, hop in. I'll give you a ride.

- No, that's OK. - No, no, I insist.

Hop in.

OK, all right.

Thank you.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Later that afternoon,

Pamela's school books were discovered

beside the country road.

In the nearby woods, searchers found her body.

I think I see something over there!

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): She had

been beaten with a wrench, raped,

and her throat had been cut.

The next day, Jon Yount confessed to the murder

of Pamela Sue Rimer.

He was convicted of first degree murder

and sentenced to life in prison.

16 years later, Jon began writing to Diane Brodbeck.

JON YOUNT (VOICEOVER): Hi, my precious lady.

I wanted you to be close to me so much today.

I hope my enjoyment and adoration of you

is an incentive to be the best you can.

You are a classy lady.

I miss you and love you.

Jon.

FAYE SNIDER: Diane met Jon through a friend of hers

who had been visiting Jon.

And she was no longer able to do it.

And Diane had been corresponding with prisoners in other states,

and she thought this would be like a continuation of what she

had been doing, and it would be a very

fulfilling thing for her to do.

She was just always thinking of other people.

She really was a people person.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): After 20 years behind bars,

Jon Yount had become a model prisoner.

He played organ for the choir, mastered computer programming,

and taught in the prison school.

JOSEPH MAZURKIEWICZ (VOICEOVER): Around here, it was

very easy for him to be liked.

And he had a real good manner about him,

in terms of getting involved with people.

OK, class.

If you would open your books to page

69, the bottom of the page.

JOSEPH MAZURKIEWICZ: Jon is a strong willed person,

and very persuasive.

I believe that he could probably persuade

almost anybody, given the right opportunity,

and given the right time.

He has a lot of skill in being able to manipulate people.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Diane began visiting Yount

at the local jail, and continued to see him even

when he was transferred to Rockview Prison

over two hours away.

WALTER REGEL: Diane came to see Jon Yount every week.

She never missed.

It was regular.

It was just week after week.

She was his girlfriend, definitely.

It was not a casual visit like a brother and sister visiting.

When they started her visit, they would embrace and kiss,

and the same when they left.

Which is really all that's permitted during the visit.

I'm fine.

I'm always fine when I see you.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Diane Brodbeck

fell in love with Jon Yount.

FAYE SNIDER: I had no idea that they

were romantically involved.

It appeared to me that they were simply very good friends.

She never confided in me if they were romantically involved.

CHESTER BRODBECK: Diane talked about Jon Yount.

I know she was writing him, I know she visited him.

But that's about all.

It was just a little bit, as far as I knew.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Jon Yount tried repeatedly

to appeal his conviction.

Finally, the United States Supreme Court denied

Yount's request for a retrial.

In February, 1985, Jon Yount wrote Diane again.

JON YOUNT (VOICEOVER): Be my valentine, love.

Forever.

You are my heart.

I hope more than anything that this is the last Valentine

Day that we will spend apart.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): On April 5, 1986,

Jon Yount escaped.

Yount's excellent behavior had earned

him the right to work unsupervised

outside the prison fence.

JOSEPH MAZURKIEWICZ (VOICEOVER): On the morning of the escape,

Jon was to go out and cut some hay.

Well all you have to do is take this hay

wagon down to the garden barn, and I'll

be back in a little bit.

JOSEPH MAZURKIEWICZ (VOICEOVER): He was told specifically

by the supervisor what he was supposed to do,

took the other men to their particular areas,

and then made his rounds.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): That was the last time

Jon Yount was ever seen.

I was on the way up over Richel Hill there,

headed for the bowling alley.

And I seen this car come down, and I just

casually looked over, and I thought,

that girl looks familiar.

Looks like Jon Yount's girlfriend.

So I thought to myself, what is she doing on this road?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): That was the last time

Diane Brodbeck was ever seen.

Mister Brodbeck?

Yes sir.

I'm Sergeant Dugger from the Pennsylvania State Police.

This is Trooper Robert Scutta.

Yes sir.

I'd like to talk to you about Jon Yount and your wife.

Are you familiar with Jon Yount?

CHESTER BRODBECK: When the troopers came to my door

on Sunday, wanting to know where my wife was,

saying that Yount had been broken out

of prison by someone, and they were thinking it was her,

as far as I was concerned, they were completely wrong.

She had nothing to do with it.

I thought that she had gone to Williamsburg, Virginia.

And I believed that until Monday or Tuesday

when she did not return.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The police

discovered that Diane had a secret bank account,

and had withdrawn $7,500 in the weeks

just before she disappeared.

We discovered that she also placed a car into a use storage

facility, and that car was placed in there within two

weeks prior to the escape.

And we discovered that there was telephone

contact with Jon Yount between she and he at the prison.

The night before the escape, there was a 14 minute

conversation which occurred.

At that point in time, we decided

to file charges against her in assisting Jon Yount.

I do not believe that Diane deliberately helped a convicted

murderer escape from prison.

She was a very moral person, and you

just did not do certain things.

She had a very strong code of ethics.

And certainly, helping a prisoner escape

was not among them.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): A month

after the escape, Diane's car was found abandoned at a motel

just 20 miles from her home.

A bag was found in the trunk, containing

Diane's personal items.

Jewelry, cosmetics, and over a dozen pairs of underwear.

There is a theory that Jon used Diane

as an instrument of his escape.

He discovers that he's not going to get

out of the prison system.

He has a woman on the outside who can do things for him.

She does them, he then kills her.

He departs from the scene.

He would be gone, free and clear.

The other theory is that she really loved him,

and he really loved her.

That theory is one that I hold.

I believe she is with him.

Well, my wife has run off with another man.

For sure, I do not like it, that's for sure.

You know?

We were married for 25 years, and I thought

they were fairly good years.

And as I told many people, she didn't leave just me.

She left the whole family.

I don't think she's alive.

Because I think if she is, she would

contact somebody in the family.

I will never even think that she is dead I know she's alive.

I think of nothing else but my missing daughter.

And I want her back.

Jon Yount murdered a high school girl at one time.

He flew off the handle at that time and could do it again.

I think she should fear for her life.

I think at some point in time, Jon can kill again.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Update.

John Yount and Diane Brodbeck have been captured.

Two of our viewers in Boise, Idaho

recognized Brodbeck as a former coworker, Kathy Kerman.

When they showed the picture, it was Kathy's face.

Obviously.

And once they said she was a bank manager

and was from Massachusetts, and they

said that Jon's background was in computers,

it was a dead giveaway.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The Humphreys called the FBI,

and after a month long investigation,

the fugitive couple was arrested at their home.

He seemed a little surprised for a minute,

and then he put his hands up in the area.

He didn't look around or anything, really.

I think he had his eyes on the guy with the gun.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Next, the mystery of $21 million

in gold and silver buried somewhere in Virginia.

It has eluded treasure hunters for over a century.

[music playing]

(MALE VOICE): I have deposited in the County of Bedford 5,100

pounds of silver and 2,921 pounds of gold, securely

packed in iron pots with iron covers.

No difficulty will be had in finding it.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): In 1821, Thomas J. Beale

wrote of an enormous fortune he buried in the hills

of Bedford County, Virginia.

According to legend, $21 million in gold, silver, and jewels.

For over 100 years, treasure hunters

have been combing the countryside looking

for Beale's buried hoard.

No one has found it.

The amount of gold and silver that was supposed to have been

deposited, and it was two deposits,

gave me an idea that you'd have to have two wagons or more

to bury it.

These pots-- iron pots-- with silver and gold in them.

In coins.

And I'm excited about getting down to where it's at.

Well, somebody will get lucky.

Somebody will get lucky and find it by mistake,

or they'll find it because they've really searched it out

and know what to do with it.

One way or the other, I think it'll be found.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The legend

of Beale's fortune begins in the early 1880s in New Mexico.

Thomas Beale and a team of 30 miners

dug up gold and silver worth over $21 million

in today's prices.

They brought the treasure to Virginia where Beale buried it.

He left written instructions to the location of his fortune,

in the form of three secret codes, or ciphers.

Then he went back to New Mexico and disappeared.

In 1869, a wealthy Virginian solved

one of the three ciphers using the Declaration of Independence

as the key.

He numbered the first letter of every word

in the Declaration of Independence.

Then for each number in the cipher,

he substituted the corresponding letter.

Decoded, the message read--

(MALE VOICE): I have deposited in the County of Bedford

in an excavation or vault six feet

below the surface of the ground, 5,100 pounds of silver

and 2,921--

ROBERT STACK: Beale then describes

the treasure in detail.

For over 100 years, the other two

ciphers have remained unsolved.

One lists Thomas Beale's associates and heirs.

And this one pinpoints the exact location of the treasure.

Whoever decodes it may find Beale's fortunes,

stored in a secret vault roughly the size of two Rolls Royce's.

In this next mystery, we'll join several treasure

hunters, some of whom say they have broken the cipher.

They are convinced that sooner or later,

someone will strike it rich.

Two brothers, Eddie and Joe Toney,

and their father-in-law Earl Boggs,

have spent nine years searching for the treasure.

They say they have broken the cipher,

and that the message tells of five geographical points where

167 years ago, Thomas Beale left the clues which one by one

would lead to his fortune.

The Toney brothers are currently looking

for the fifth and final point, which is the clue that

will lead them to the vault.

EDDIE TONEY: We only have one more point to go,

and we've verified, each place we

found something that he left.

And degrees and the footage and paces came out exactly.

If we can't find this fifth point after finding four,

there's something bad wrong.

I'm confident that we'll find it.

[beeping]

We got something!

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The Toney brothers

believe this 19th century carriage rod is

the fifth clue in their search.

They think that it was purposefully

buried by Beale, pointing in the direction of his secret vault.

EDDIE TONEY: We know what the last degree is to go.

I'm a little shaky right now on account of it

because I know there's not enough time today to go do it.

Well, when the metal detector went off, I got excited.

And it's hard to explain how excited you do get.

And you imagine the gold down in there behind them rocks.

And my heart felt like it come up in my throat.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Meanwhile,

miles away in a completely different section of Bedford

County, Wilbur Swift from Garden Grove,

California is also searching.

He believes that he too has broken the cipher,

and has spent the last year and $20,000 trying

to find the Beale treasure.

WILBER SWIFT: I'm a computer programmer, to start with.

So in my own personal computer, I decided

to try to decipher this.

In about eight months time, I was able to break the code.

And it told me about a specific type of rock

that I was looking for.

And I happened to locate that specific type of rock,

and there it is, right there.

It has a face on it, and it has a head on it.

This is what the deciphered code told me to look for.

And then I said, OK.

The treasure has to be underneath it,

because it said that's where it was supposed to be.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Wilbur hired

a local contractor, Ken Dooley, to help

him excavate under the rock.

KEN DOOLEY: I have lived in Bedford County all of my life.

And over the past 25 years, I have dug for this treasure

up here for about 20, 25 people.

Most of them knew exactly where it was,

and when talking to them, they would

be so uptight they just couldn't hardly breathe, really.

And when you start digging for them,

they were always just two feet away from it.

I don't care how deep in the ground

you went, still, it was two feet deep that what you dug.

WILBER SWIFT: The target was premeasured at 26 feet,

and we're down right now at about 24 feet.

So we don't have too much further to go.

Now that we've found the rock-- and we've

done some extensive testing, by the way--

and we're sure that we're getting

the treasure out of there.

I've been a native here for 50 years.

Born and raised here.

They have searched and searched, and I haven't seen anybody

come up with anything yet.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Bedford County's

local residents have seen diggers come and diggers go,

empty handed.

They're not convinced there really is a treasure.

It may be here.

I may be sitting on it.

I've got some land in Thaxton over there.

It may be on my spread.

I don't know.

I hope it is.

I say, I think it's an outside possibility it might be

a treasure somewhere yet, but I don't

think I believe enough in it to go up and start digging.

Dig

They think they can break that code, maybe they can.

I hope them good luck.

But personally, I just don't believe it's here.

How are we doing, Carl?

Oh, we are doing very well.

I'm down to the 19th line.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Could the Beale ciphers be a hoax?

A computer pioneer, Dr. Carl Hammer,

has spent 30 years studying Beale's

numbers to determine if there truly is a coded message.

As part of his investigation, he attempted

to recreate the conditions under which Beale wrote

the cipher in his computer lab.

CARL HAMMER: My aim was to find out whether the ciphers are

real or whether they're a hoax.

Hoax means these are random numbers.

They're doodles.

And so I started to analyze those numbers.

And I discovered that there were some very

distinguishable patterns.

And they were, in fact, not random numbers.

They were not doodles.

But they contained information.

We don't know what the information is,

but there are legitimate set of cryptographic numbers.

And that is all that is known to this date.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Even though he has lost his job

and is now living in a nearby motel room,

Wilbur Swift is still digging at the bottom

of his 25 foot shaft.

So far, he has found nothing.

WILBER SWIFT: My life is back in California,

and some of the neighbors say, hey, where's Wilbur?

And I don't think any of them take it serious.

Well, he who laughs last laughs best.

And I believe that one of the days,

I might get the last laugh.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The Toney brothers believe

they will have the last laugh.

They still haven't found the treasure,

but they do believe they have located the final clue.

While we were filming, they had to return home

after running out of money.

But they will be back.

EDDIE TONEY: The facts that we've got,

I know it's not a hoax.

I'm convinced that it's not.

It's been there 160 some years, supposedly,

and it's going to be there until it's found.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): In spite of all the computer

programs, historical research, digging, and searching,

Thomas Beale's secret vault, if it exists, remains intact.

The residents of Bedford County

played host to treasure seekers for nearly a century,

and have asked us to remind everyone

that unauthorized digging is against the law.

[music playing]

Tonight, we've examined four mysteries.

And at the heart of each is a secret.

A secret kept hidden by amnesia, by a con game,

by a prison escape, and by a code.

Perhaps someone, somewhere, can unlock these secrets.

Perhaps that someone is watching.

Perhaps it's you.

[music playing]