All language subtitles for Unsolved.Mysteries.S02E15.480p.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-PLAYREADY_track3_[und]

[music playing]

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.

ROBERT STACK: Today near
England's ancient monolith

at Stonehenge, an
extraordinary phenomenon

is occurring that
defies all explanation.

Bizarre, perfectly
formed circles

are appearing over night
in scores of wheat fields

across the country.

Experts have no idea how
they have been formed,

only that they seem to have
no human or natural origin.

Who or what is responsible
for their creation?

In a small town in
Colorado, two friends

vanished without a trace under
the same bizarre circumstances.

And oddly, these same events
were foretold in a novel one

was writing about the other.

On a North Carolina
highway, four men

were stalked and
driven off the road

in a savage high speed chase.

What could have been the
motive for this vicious hit

and run killing?

Also tonight, the
heartwarming story

of a reunion between a young
woman and the loving family

that she was separated
from 13 years ago.

On the very night
of our broadcast,

Sharon Stevens found her
long lost foster parents.

Stonehenge, the great megalithic
monument in southern England.

Stonehenge is only one of
hundreds of such monuments

scattered throughout Britain.

For centuries, these puzzling
formations have baffled

scientists and laymen alike.

But recently scientists
have identified

another phenomenon
that may relate

to the mysterious
British monuments--

wheat circles.

This photograph was taken
recently in England.

It shows circles in wheat
fields, seems simple enough.

But in fact, they are
not simple at all.

No one knows how these
enigmatic circles got there.

Folded gently from unbroken
stocks of wheat and corn,

they may just represent one of
the most intriguing, unsolved

mysteries of the century.

Nearly 95% of the circles occur
within 30 miles of Stonehenge.

And all the rest are near
other stone monuments

similar to Stonehenge.

Are the circles
caused by something we

can explain, like whirlwinds?

Or are they caused by
something we cannot

even begin to understand?

Charity Down, a farm two hours'
drive from London, England.

In the early morning
hours of June 15, 1988,

37 year old farmer
Chris Wood slowly

drove a tractor through
one of his wheat fields.

Just after sunrise, he
saw something in the field

that he had never seen before.

He couldn't explain it.

A huge circle had
appeared in the wheat.

It's really pretty
amazing how the actual crop

was laying on the ground.

And it was so--

so perfect really.

The circle Chris Wood
found that morning

has never been explained.

During the last 12 years,
more than 750 large, perfectly

symmetrical circles,
some of them

as big as 100 yards
in diameter, have

formed overnight in
seemingly random fields

of wheat, corn and other crops.

The question no
one can answer is,

how did the circles get there?

The first circle I found
was in 1985, August 3,

at about 7 o'clock
in the evening.

It was the last sort
of flight of the night.

And we were flying around,
and as the aircraft

banked around to the right,
I looked into the wingtip.

And there below me was this
beautiful quintuplet set,

a large circle with four
smaller ones around.

It I marveled at this site.

And I questioned myself,
what on earth did that?

We were out harvesting.

It was the last day of harvest.

We went out there with the
combines in the morning

to our last field.

And we come across this circle.

It was no real damage as such.

The corn was flattened down.

It was just odd, strange.

Well, I've been here
since October 1957.

And the first circles we saw
were, I would say, '72, '73.

And that was a small circle,
about four yards across.

And then we saw another
one the following year

about the same size.

And as the years
have gone on, we've

seen them 12 yards across
with the small ones

either side of them.

They vary in diameter.

The smallest we've had
would be about five meters.

The largest would be,
I suppose, 15, perhaps.

They have a neat, perfect
pattern, from a center

where it's flattened.

The edges are very distinct.

The most wonderful
thing about it

is when you actually
go out the night

before to look for a cycle.

And there's nothing there.

It's just a lovely
field of growing corn.

And then the following
morning, when

you get up early in the morning
and the first light of day,

and suddenly there
is the circle.

You just can't believe it.

ROBERT STACK: The
circles are never cut.

They are pressed
down in a swirling

pattern that runs both
clockwise and counterclockwise.

The crop is not damaged.

It continues to grow and
can be harvested normally.

Strangely, no unusual
footprints or tire

tracks leading up to the
circles have ever been found.

Some circles occur with a
smaller satellite circle.

Others appear in groups
of three or four.

Intricate symmetrical
patterns like this one

have five small circles
arranged around the larger

one in a cross pattern.

Other circles is surrounded
by concentric rings.

Most amazing of
all are the circles

with both satellites and rings.

COLIN ANDREWS: We've got a
flare here, a radial flare here.

And of course, by
moving the axis,

you've got the opposite
coming in from the other end.

That's right.

And that seems to
be the heart of all

these spirals where there's--

ROBERT STACK: Pat Delgado,
an electromechanical design

engineer, has written a
book about the circles

along with Colin Andrews.

The two men have spent over a
decade studying the phenomenon.

PAT DELGADO: Ah, now
it's beginning to show.

The number of circles are
increasing dramatically.

We were receiving reports
in the order of two or three

a year in the late '70s, 10, 11,
12, 15 or so in the early '80s.

Then last year, we saw a
dramatic increase, 98 circles

in five months of last summer.

This year we have now got
in southern England 274

formations.

And we have fields in which
we don't have five or six

but 28 of these circles
have appeared in a period

of four or five weeks.

They occur in all
weather conditions.

We have found no correlation
in meteorological data at all

to connect them
with any particular

meteorological weather
condition or weather phenomenon.

We have invited many
professional scientists

of various disciplines to
help us in this investigation.

And quite rightly so, they
start off with considering

that it could be a hoax.

One of the scientists,
respected astronomer Dr.

Archibald Roy of Glasgow
University in Scotland,

began studying the
circles in 1980.

ARCHIBALD ROY: No
one really knows why

these circles are appearing.

And I think that the interesting
thing is that no one theory

so far seems to fit the bill.

There are quite
a number of them.

There is the frankly
unacceptable one

of circles being formed
by hundreds of hedgehogs

all marching around in circles.

Another one is that
they are the foot

pad marks of flying saucers.

Another is that they are due to
the downdrafts of helicopters,

or that they are
caused by whirlwinds,

or that they are
hoaxes by human beings.

There are so many of them.

I think that it's very
reasonable for a person

to say, look, these are hoaxes.

Because they look so artificial.

But I don't think
that the hoax theory

can be held very strongly.

Because there are so
many of these circles.

Now in eight or nine years,
I've logged about 700, 250

this year, this summer alone.

The amount of time
that would have

to be spent by a very big team
of people making those circles

is getting quite enormous.

I simply don't see
the hoax theory

as a very strong contender.

ROBERT STACK: As part of
a televised experiment,

British military personnel
attempted to create

an artificial crop circle.

PAT DELGADO: In
all instances where

something mechanical is
used to flatten the crop,

you will damage it.

And we can walk into
a circle and very,

very quickly determine
whether it's hoaxed,

that is, mechanically made, or
it is a naturally created one.

When we examine a naturally made
circle, the portion of plant

that just comes
out of the ground,

must be softened, bent over,
and then hardened up again.

So not only is a mystery
in the circle itself,

but what is it that is
softening the plant,

bending it over and
then hardening up again?

This is a real mystery.

ROBERT STACK: If the
circles are not a hoax,

what is creating them?

Several theories have been
put forward and discarded.

There is no evidence of a fungus
or other natural organic cause.

Aerial infrared
photography has shown

that there are no underground
formations, neither sinkholes

nor rock nor foundations
of ancient buildings

that might create the patterns.

Some scientists have theorized
that whirlwind vortexes

might create the circles.

But other scientists
as well as farmers

believe that whirlwinds
could not create such deep,

punched out shapes.

Regardless of what
causes a circle,

they all seem to form overnight.

Their appearance is often
linked after the fact

to sightings of bright
lights in the night sky.

One such sighting occurred
on July 6th, 1985,

when Pat and Jack Collins
were driving through a stretch

of farm land near Stonehenge.

JACK COLLINS: We'd been
out for the evening.

And on our way back,
about 11 o'clock at

night, we saw this circle
with lights all the way

around the edge.

He said, god, look at that.

I said, good gracious.

I said, whatever can it be?

And so we said it
couldn't be, you know,

a flying saucer or any thing.

Because well, not knowing
what one would look like.

But I mean, that
was our feeling's

that it could have been one.

ROBERT STACK: Colin Andrews
believes that the colored

lights Jack and Pat
saw in the night sky

were related to two different
sets of crop circles.

The same night as they saw
this extraordinary clustering

of lights over that
site, a quintuplet set

appeared in a field
just a few miles

to the east of New Alresford.

And the same kind
of formation was

found just a few days
later in a very remote spot

south of Andover.

And the alignment
of those two sites

took us directly over
the top of the Collins'

particular sighting.

Having said that
we haven't actually

seen one of these this year.

In an attempt to find out how,
in fact, a crop circle does

form, 50 British scientists
convened last summer

for a surveillance operation.

We have been
told so many times

that all these
circles are hoaxes.

And so all we had to do was
to find one circle created

in circumstances where
no human beings were

around to disprove that theory.

And so we set up a watch
with electronic equipment,

video cameras, light
intensification

and so on for eight
days and nights

on a field where circles
had appeared most years

out of the past eight or nine.

And we hoped that a
circle would appear

under those circumstances.

It didn't.

And the fascinating thing to me
is that during the eight days

of the watch on
that field, not only

did no circle appear
in that field,

but as far as we know no
circles appeared elsewhere

in the South of England.

Although 91 had appeared
before the watch was set up.

And since the watch has been
set up, something like 150

have appeared.

I think it's almost
certain that whatever

it is creating the circles
was aware of the watch.

And that means that
there must be some sort

of intelligence at work.

And of course, then you
say, well, what is it?

And I haven't the faintest idea.

COLIN ANDREWS: That's
a terrible noise just

as you stand in the center.

You getting a noise there?

Very, very bad, indeed.
COLIN ANDREWS: Yeah.

ROBERT STACK: Although
no crop circles formed,

the project did produce
one significant finding.

COLIN ANDREWS: And they were
coming and going as you move.

Well, what happened was
that Pat and myself were being

interviewed in the largest
circle we'd ever seen, when

the soundman detected an
electronic warbling noise which

came onto the sound equipment.

PAT DELGADO: I know what it is.
I could feel it.

It's like all around
the edge there.

COLIN ANDREWS: And Pat, who had
stood just off of the center

of the formation
inside the circle,

could actually
physically feel an energy

field right alongside it.

PAT DELGADO: I can hear
it, and I can feel it, too.

COLIN ANDREWS: When he stepped
into that energy field,

the noise picked right up.

And when Pat stepped out of
the barrier, it diminished.

PAT DELGADO: Just a little bit.

It's over here.

It was very extraordinary.

It is very significant.

We do now have a noise
component associated

with this extraordinary
phenomenon.

ROBERT STACK: Logic seems
to yield no explanation

for the crop circles.

Is it possible that Stonehenge
and the other concentric ring

monuments scattered
across Britain

are related to an ancient
appearance of the circles?

PAT DELGADO: A
lot of the circles

appear in the vicinity of the
great megalithic monuments

of southern England.

Now if these circles have been
appearing for let's say, 5,000

years, then they would
have been appearing

in the wheat fields
and cornfields

of the megalithic farmers.

What would they
have made of them?

Would they have said, these
are signs from the gods?

Perhaps we should
build monuments

which mimic these circles?

And so they would build
things like Stonehenge.

It's an intriguing possibility.

And so we badly need to
know if these circles

have been appearing earlier
than let's say, 10 years ago.

ROBERT STACK: So
far 700 circles have

appeared here in a
triangle with Stonehenge

roughly in the center.

None of these circles is more
than 30 miles from Stonehenge

itself, and all of
the British circles

appear somewhere near
a stone ring monument.

There has to date been
no photographic evidence

of circles occurring
outside Britain.

But experts speculate
that there might be crop

circles in other countries.

We would ask any
farmer, any landowner,

any member of the public,
military or otherwise,

in America, to report sightings
of these extraordinary ground

markings back to us.

It is most important.

It is most, significant.

There's got to be an
intelligently manipulated

inexplicable energy used here.

And we don't know the
first thing about it.

But it's there.

I haven't the faintest idea
what is causing these circles.

I find them a most intriguing
and entertaining mystery.

If we don't know
something, then it

means that our model of
reality, our model of the world

is inadequate.

And so, as a scientist, I feel
that they should be studied.

In elucidating what
is causing them,

we must learn something, if
only about the psychology

of human beings, for example.

Since we originally
broadcast this story,

over 500 new circles
have been discovered.

Not only in English wheat
fields, but in crop fields

in several other countries,
including the United States.

In some cases, the
formations have

grown more elaborate in design.

One of the most interesting
of the new formations

was found last May in Wiltshire
County in central England.

For the first time,
the mysterious circles

were accompanied by large,
deeply furrowed rectangles,

creating a symmetrical design.

COLIN ANDREWS: We're told
by the British Museum

that pictogram is the term
that we should be using

and that was the
first pictogram ever.

ROBERT STACK: Last June, an
even more elaborate formation

appeared overnight
in a field, which

witnesses say was completely
untouched the day before.

What we were looking at
here was three pictograms

giving us the largest
formation ever

seen anywhere in the world.

Due to the sheer size
and elaborate design

of this formation,
Andrews is convinced

that it is not man made.

COLIN ANDREWS: We were looking
at a marking which was about

one eighth of a mile long.

Now if you consider that,
under controlled conditions,

it takes a team of 12
people to create something

like 100 foot diameter circle--

a straight forward,
simple circle,

takes something like six hours
for them to construct this--

we were looking at a huge team
of people working that night

in the hours of
darkness, which are only

seven hours at this
time of the year

in a location which can be seen
from vantage points all around.

We had gamekeepers covering
that area on four farms.

Nobody saw anything.

ROBERT STACK: In an attempt
to capture the creation

of a circle on
film, a surveillance

project known as
Operation Blackbird

was organized this past July.

For three weeks, scientists
and other experts

monitored one of the
most active locations.

Amazingly, four circles did
form while cameras were rolling.

Although two of the formations
were dismissed as hoaxes,

the other two appear
to be legitimate.

COLIN ANDREWS: We had
two genuine circles

appeared in front of the
monitoring equipment.

And the footage secured
during those events

are now being enhanced
and are being analyzed.

ROBERT STACK: This footage
will not be released

until the analysis is complete.

Botanists recently studied
the cellular structure

of plant samples removed
from inside the circles

with plant samples found
outside the formations.

When scientists
compared the samples,

they were amazed
at the difference.

Samples taken from
outside the circles

had cloudy crystals
in an erratic pattern.

Plant samples taken from
inside the formations

had distinctively clearer
crystals and a much

more deliberate pattern.

I think the
discrepancies are caused

by some supernatural force
which has been applied

to that particular
part of the ground

which produces these patterns.

COLIN ANDREWS: We
have here a structure

of a plant which has changed.

Human feet cannot do that.

The downwash from a
helicopter cannot do that.

And nor can a
stationary whirlwind.

So we're looking here at major
clues in the last few months

of this year.

ROBERT STACK: Perhaps the
most amazing development

in this case is the discovery
of these mysterious circles

outside of England.

We're picking up
increases in the states,

in Australia in
particular, even one or two

more in the Arctic Circle.

It's most important now that
researchers around the world

group, regroup and
coordinate our approach

to this extraordinary,
but very exciting mystery.

Often an unexplained
phenomenon,

simply dismissed as a hoax
or the product of someone's

overactive imagination.

But in the case of
these crop circles,

there is irrefutable
physical evidence

which suggests that some
intelligence is at work.

But who and why remains
an unsolved mystery.

In a moment, the
story of a high speed

chase that left one man dead
and three others badly injured.

This accident was no accident.

During the Christmas
season of 1988,

four men were
driven off the road

in a hit and run incident
that occurred near Greensboro,

North Carolina.

One young man was dead,
another maimed for life.

Could this shocking incident
have been motivated by racism?

The victims were black and
the assailant was white.

No matter what the
motive, police want

to find the man responsible.

It all began in the quiet
afternoon of December 23, 1988.

The time was 2:00 PM in
a suburban neighborhood

in Greensboro.

19-year-old Ken
Dungee was picked up

by three of his friends en
route to do some last minute

Christmas shopping.

The four young men planned
on driving the hour

and a half trip to Raleigh
on the I-40 highway.

Behind the wheel of his
father's Plymouth Duster

was 17-year-old Lavern Allen.

Lavern had just
received a scholarship

to the Air Force Academy,
fulfilling a lifelong dream.

You got that $15 you owe me?

ROBERT STACK: Ken
Dungee was a drafting

and engineering student bound
for college in the fall.

17-year-old Kenneth Newkirk
was in the back seat

Kenneth had recently received a
scholarship to a local college.

Kenneth's cousin,
17-year-old Darius Bannerman

was a high school
basketball star.

On their way to
the shopping mall,

the four passed a card
driven by Grady Alexander.

GRADY ALEXANDER:
When they went by me,

they were doing about 60, 65.

They were carrying on like
kids do, high school kids.

They were just-- a lot
of movement in the car.

I looked over, and one of the
boys saw me looking at him,

and he grinned and waved,
and the car kept on going.

After that, another car
came up to me very fast.

As he got by me, I happened to
look down at the license plate.

And I said a redneck
from Georgia,

because his hair
looked like it was

dirty and greasy and stringy.

And he was probably
doing 75 or 80.

ROBERT STACK: Grady
noticed that there were

two people in this Monte Carlo.

KENNETH NEWKIRK:
I'll give you that.

That's right.

KENNETH NEWKIRK: You
usually look good.

That's right.

ROBERT STACK: A
few moments later,

the occupants of the Plymouth
noticed the blue car closing

in at a high rate of speed.

KEN DUNGEE: Close, man.

That's really close.

What's-- can you speed up, man?

Can you speed up?

What's this dude doing?

LAVERN ALLEN: When I looked
in the rearview mirror,

I saw a car.

And he was so close to me, I
could not see his front bumper.

That's how close he was.

At first I just thought
it was somebody just

tailgating, just riding close.

Man, he's too close.

He is too close.

ROBERT STACK: Weary from
basketball practice,

Darius was napping
in the front seat.

DARIUS BANNERMAN:
I was sleeping,

and everyone in there was
talking about this guy

is following us, you know.

And at first, I didn't
think anything of it.

But the guy was extremely
close, to the point where it

was like right on our bumper.

[car crashing]

KEN DUNGEE: Hey, man,
what's the-- hey, speed up!

Let him go!

Let him get over!

He bumped us, and
it didn't seem as

though this was all happening.

It just seemed--
it was like horror.

Traffic was moving
fast, and we speeded

up to get away from that guy.

[interposing voices]

LAVERN ALLEN: Why is somebody
riding us that close?

DARIUS BANNERMAN: The man
driving the Monte Carlo,

he had a look like we had done
something personal to him.

It was just a real, just
crazy like look, like man.

It just looked like
he wanted to hurt us.

[yelling]

[tires screeching]

[car crashing]

ROBERT STACK: A
few minutes later,

at 3:30, police and paramedics
arrived at the accident site.

They found a horrific scene.

Lavern Allen was trapped in
the car for half an hour.

After being airlifted
to a trauma center,

his leg was amputated
at the thigh.

Ken Newkirk had suffered
a fractured skull

and a broken leg.

PARAMEDIC: Tell me your name.

What's your name?

Darius?

ROBERT STACK: Darius
Bannerman had a broken wrist

and facial injuries.

PARAMEDIC: Tell me
your last name, Darius.

Can you tell me your last name?

ROBERT STACK: Ken Dungee was
pronounced dead at the scene.

WITNESS: We were
coming down this way,

and they came over there,
and they hit that man--

ROBERT STACK: Beth Velliquette
was the first reporter

on the scene.

She spoke with witnesses
who described the assault.

Both of the eyewitnesses
said that after the black car

went off the road,
the Monte Carlo

did pull over to the side.

Come on, let's go.

Come on!

BETH VELLIQUETTE: A man and a
woman got out just for a moment

and looked back.

And then they just got back
in the car and drove off.

I believe he said they sped off.

Just not to get
help or anything,

he felt that they
had left to get away.

WITNESS 1: I swear he laughed
when he got in the car

and left.

Swear he did.

Georgia plates.

Georgia plates.

WITNESS 2: Real
greasy blond hair.

WITNESS 1: Ugly dude.

ROBERT STACK: Because
of a lack of evidence,

the police were reluctant to
treat the incident as a crime.

Although the victims believed
that it was a murder.

Well, when I think
about the accident,

it's a lot of
different feelings.

It's mainly anger because
it shouldn't have happened.

And it's frustration because the
guy that was driving the Monte

Carlo has not been found.

"Unsolved Mysteries"
commissioned

this composite of the suspect.

The driver of the Monte Carlo
appeared to be in his late 20s

with a mustache and
brown stringy hair.

He was traveling with a woman
in her mid 20s with blond hair.

The wanted vehicle is described
as a light blue Monte Carlo

with Georgia license plates.

I know how it happened.

I know when it happened.

But I don't know
why it happened.

Until I understand that,
it will never be to rest.

ROBERT STACK: In a moment,
a heartwarming update,

a family reunion.

For Sharon Stevens,
childhood was a vicious cycle

of loneliness and abuse.

Her mother died when Sharon
was just three months old.

And Sharon continually suffered
severe beatings at the hands

of her alcoholic father.

In 1959, Sharon was taken
away from her father

and later sent to live
with foster parents

Bill and Cynthia Zelynski.

You've had a big
day, and I know it's--

ROBERT STACK: At
the Zelynski's home,

Sharon experienced love and
kindness for the first time.

SHARON STEVENS: They
really knew how to parent.

And they went all
out to make me happy.

I felt very special, for
one of the first times

in my whole life.

So I started to change in
the right, respectful way.

They taught me respect.

They taught me how to respect
other people and myself.

And they brought my self-esteem
up, because I had a very

low self-esteem about myself.

ROBERT STACK: But just one
year after she arrived,

Sharon's happy life with the
Zelynskis came to an end.

A court ordered that she
be returned to her father.

Sharon never lived with
the Zelynskis again.

But she will never
forget how their love

and understanding inspired her.

CYNTHIA ZELYNSKI:
Will you remember us?

BILL ZELYNSKI:
Sweetheart, we love you.

You can come back.

SHARON STEVENS: I know if
it hadn't been for them,

I probably would have
been a child abuser,

a drug addict, a prostitute.

I feel I would have
turned out very

bad if it hadn't been for them.

BILL ZELYNSKI: We
think a lot of you.

SHARON STEVENS: I would like to
be reunited with the Zelynski

to tell them how much I
appreciate what they've

done for me in the past.

And it's a dream,
a hope, a fantasy,

whatever you want to call it.

But I've got to
find these people,

and I've got to say thank you.

For 13 years, Sharon
tried to find the Zelynskis

but was unable to locate them.

And just minutes
after her story aired,

Sharon's search came to an end.

Bill and Cynthia Zelynski
were watching our broadcast

and called our telecenter.

We immediately put Sharon in
contact with Bill and Cynthia,

and they made arrangements
for a reunion.

On November 25, Sharon
arrived at the Zelynski home

in Laguna Niguel,
California, and met

Bill and Cynthia for the
first time in almost 30 years.

SHARON STEVENS: Hi!

CYNTHIA ZELYNSKI: Sharon!

SHARON STEVENS: Hi.

CYNTHIA ZELYNSKI: Oh, Sharon.

ROBERT STACK: Bill and
Cynthia, who are now retired,

were shocked when they
saw Sharon's story.

BILL ZELYNSKI: Nice to see you.

SHARON STEVENS: Wonderful.

BILL ZELYNSKI: When you see
your own life, part of your life

history unfolding on
national television,

your mind goes blank.

You don't hear anything
else that's going on.

But your mind goes
back to 30 years ago.

And all the memories
that it brings back.

SHARON STEVENS: I
was very optimistic

that someone out
there, their friends,

relatives, neighbors,
someone, if not their self,

would see it.

And I was very surprised that
they themselves called in.

And I just got goosebumps
when I found out.

And I still get goosebumps.

OK, everybody smile,
and give me a pretty pose.

ROBERT STACK: For Sharon, the
reunion with the Zelynskis

was a long-awaited
chance to say thank

you for the
inspiration and courage

they gave her as a young girl.

BILL ZELYNSKI: Making a
difference in somebody's life

is nice.

That's the only
way to describe it.

You feel like there was a
reason for what happened.

At the time you don't know
it, but now you realize there

was a reason for what happened.

SHARON STEVENS: It's the
only dream that I've ever

had is to find the Zelynskis.

And it feels great.

It's like a dream come true.

ROBERT STACK: In a
moment, the bizarre case

of a writer whose
last novel may have

foretold his own disappearance.

In the heart of the steep,
majestic Colorado Rockies

lies the tiny village of
Silver Plume, population 130.

On September 7, 1987, Tom
Young closed up his bookshop

on Silver Plume's Main Street,
and along with his dog Gus,

disappeared.

Nine months later, a newcomer
to Silver Plume, Keith Reinhard,

opened an antique
shop at exactly

the same Main Street location.

On August 7, 1988,
Keith Reinhard

closed up his shop for the day.

Less than two hours later,
Keith Reinhard also disappeared.

Not only had Tom Young
and Keith Reinhard rented

the exact same space
to run their shops,

there were also other
startling coincidences.

Both men were in their late
40s, going through a sort

of midlife crisis.

Both firmly established an
alibi before they disappeared.

And one of them was writing
a novel about the other.

Could these two mysterious
disappearances, less than a

year apart, be connected?

For 23 years, Keith Reinhard
worked as a sports reporter

for a suburban
Chicago newspaper.

In 1988, Keith Reinhard
grew long hair and a beard.

In June, he began a three month
sabbatical in Silver Plume.

Keith's goals were to get in
shape by mountain climbing,

to overcome his fear of heights,
and to begin writing a novel.

Keith's old friend Ted Parker
ran a cafe in Silver Plume.

During his sabbatical,
Keith wanted

to try running an antique shop
geared towards summer tourists.

If it was successful, he
hoped that he and his wife

could relocate
there permanently.

Hey, Keith!

You turkey.

I was wondering when
you would show up.

Hey, old buddy, how you been?

TED PARKER: Aw, man,
it's good to see you.

KEITH REINHARD: Oh,
you're looking great.

TED PARKER: Keith Reinhard and
I grew up across the street

from each other.

And we'd known each
other about 40 years.

And I would say that
our relationship was

similar to that of brothers.

KEITH REINHARD:
And look at this--

a heater for the
cold nights up here.

We're going to need it.
We're going to need it.

TED PARKER: Keith was
apprehensive and excited, both,

about turning 50.

He was here to finish out the
last of his 40s in the way

that he'd dreamed of.

He felt that very soon he
would be starting to get old.

He felt he was still
young, but he didn't have

much time for being young left.

TED PARKER: Oh, you got
a lot of stuff, man.

KEITH REINHARD: Oh, I know,Ted.

I've got another
business out there.

That's why I brought all this--

SVEN REINHARD: He didn't want
to be sitting in a rocking chair

10 years, 20 years from now,
saying I should have done this.

I should have done that.

He wanted to do some things
that he could do before he

was too old to do them.

KEITH REINHARD: Look
at these shots, man.

These are the ones that
I took when I was--

ROBERT STACK: Nine months
earlier, Keith's antique shop

had been a bookstore.

The proprietor was Tom Young.

Tom had been renting
the space for nearly

a year when he and his dog
Gus mysteriously disappeared.

Tom Young had told people he was
going on a European vacation,

so three weeks went by before
anyone suspected that Tom's

absence was suspicious.

CAFE PATRON: Yeah, but
he wouldn't be in Europe

after a year, would he?

I think somebody kidnapped him--

ROBERT STACK: Keith
Reinhard became

obsessed by the
unexplained disappearance.

CAFE PATRON: --murdered
him, and dumped him down one

of these mine shafts up here.

You think so?
CAFE PATRON: Yeah.

ROBERT STACK: He began
talking to everyone in Silver

Plume who had known Tom.

People do it every day.

KEITH REINHARD: Yeah,
but was a nice guy.

ROBERT STACK: Keith decided
to base the novel he was

planning to write on Tom Young.

When he began the
novel, Keith created

a character named Guy
Gypsum, who was a composite

of himself and Tom Young.

Sometimes it seemed hard for
Keith to tell the difference.

TIFFANY REINHARD:
With the disappearance

of Tom Young, my father,
he was very, very into it.

He was talking about
it all the time.

Writers like to live the
story they're writing about

and get a feel of it
so it's easier for them

to write about it.

Maybe my father--
it's always possible--

wanted to feel what
it's like to disappear,

so he could write about it.

HUNTER 1: Hey, Vick,
come on down here.

I found something.

HUNTER 2: Yeah, what do you got?

ROBERT STACK: On
July 31st, 1988,

10 months after Tom
Young had disappeared,

two hunters on Republican
Mountain, just 1 and 1/2

miles outside
Silver Plume, found

the remains of Tom and his dog.

Each had died from a
bullet wound to the head.

DAVE DAUENHAUER:
They were up there

exploring some territory
for the bow hunting

season, which was coming up.

And they found his remains.

Also found at the
scene was a revolver.

In subsequent
investigation, we found out

that Tom had purchased
a gun approximately

four days before he was last
known to be in Silver Plume.

The Tom Young case
is closed, and it

has been ruled a suicide,
both by the coroner's office

and by the Clear Creek
County Sheriff's Department.

ROBERT STACK: One week
after Tom's body was found,

Keith Reinhard walked
through Silver Plume

in the middle of the
afternoon, telling everyone

he saw that he was going
to climb to the top

of nearby Pendleton mountain.

Most did not take him seriously.

They knew he had
a fear of heights

and disliked climbing alone.

Hey, Keith, how you doing?

ROBERT STACK: At 4:00 PM, Keith
went to Ted Parker's cafe.

Oh, busy, busy.

Well, Parker, old buddy.
How's it going?

Hey, Keith.
What's happening?

TED PARKER: The day Keith
disappeared, he was in the cafe

and told me that he
was going to make

it to the top of the mountain.

KEITH REINHARD: I'm going
all the way to the top.

I'm going to do it.

If I don't come back,
call on the rescue.

And he said that
in jest, I felt.

I have this picture of him,
pointing to the mountain,

and saying goodbye.

That was the last
time I saw him.

ROBERT STACK: Keith Reinhard
was last sighted walking

toward Pendleton Mountain.

It was 4:30 in the
afternoon, much too

late to begin a
difficult hike that

would normally take six hours.

Keith had no jacket,
only a flannel shirt.

He carried absolutely
no supplies.

That night, Keith
Reinhard did not return.

The next day helicopters
were called out

to search Pendleton Mountain.

SEARCHERS: Keith!

Keith!

ROBERT STACK: On the
ground, more than 125 men

and a dozen trained dogs
combed the difficult terrain

for seven days.

CHARLEY SHIMANSKI:
The Reinhard search

was like looking for
the proverbial needle

in a haystack.

This haystack is 3,000 vertical
feet of 60-degree slope.

This was about as difficult
a search terrain as we cover.

We were at a real disadvantage
because Keith went

into the mountains
wearing no more

than blue jeans and a flannel
shirt and tennis shoes.

He had no backpack.

He had no equipment.

A typical subject of a search
will leave lots of clues for us

to trace.

Keith didn't leave many clues.

He didn't have many with
him to leave behind.

ROBERT STACK: In 30
years of operation,

the Colorado Alpine Rescue teams
have found every single person

they searched for.

Yet they could find no
trace of Keith Reinhard.

Friends found a
newspaper next to Keith's

computer, the headline--

Tom Young's body found.

Still in the computer
were these words, part

of Keith's unfinished novel.

TED PARKER: "Guy Gypsum
changed into some hiking boots

and donned a heavy
flannel shirt.

He understood Tom now
and his motivation.

Guy closed the door,
then walked off

towards the lush, shadowless,
Colorado forest above."

ROBERT STACK: Could
these words imply

that Keith Reinhard,
like Tom Young,

had decided to
take his own life?

I don't think Keith would
have considered suicide

as a solution to anything.

He was a very optimistic,
upbeat person.

His advice to me was always
positive mental attitude.

So with that type of
personality, the way

I knew him to be,
I do not think he

would have committed suicide.

ROBERT STACK: Another theory
suggests that neither Tom Young

or Keith Reinhard committed
suicide, but instead

were victims of foul play.

First, ballistics
could never prove

that the bullet killing Tom
Young came from his own gun.

Second, both men rented
exactly the same space

to run their shops.

They might both have come
across information someone

did not want them to have.

I think there's
foul play involved.

I do.

I definitely think
something's going on.

He stumbled upon something.

They didn't know
what happened to Tom

until they found his body.

They didn't know that he
disappeared in the mountains.

Same with my father, he's
disappeared mysteriously.

They have no idea
what happened to him.

ROBERT STACK: A final theory
is that Keith Reinhard

planned his own disappearance.

I don't think that he
would have left at 4:00

in the afternoon for
a long distance hike

with a far destination in mind.

At that time of
the day, he would

have gone for a
walk up the mountain

as far as he felt comfortable,
and then turn around and come

back down the mountain.

What I find to be odd is that
he did not take either one

of his cameras with him.

And he was in the habit of
usually carrying a camera,

especially in that scenery.

CHARLEY SHIMANSKI:
The little things

that bother me are
the facts that he was

possibly at a midlife crisis.

He was at that particular moment
in time somewhat frustrated

that he couldn't make it off his
antique shop in Silver Plume.

And he told so darn many people
that he was going for a hike.

And why somebody would go around
town trying to make this point

with so many people, that
he was going for a hike

to the south of town,
to the north of town,

wherever, I'm going for
a hike up the mountain.

Why he made that
point, I'm not sure.

That doesn't set right.

Apparently he had vertigo,
some fear of heights.

And now suddenly
this man is talking

about climbing to the top of
a mountain all by himself.

That isn't consistent.

This is one week after Tom
Young's remains were found.

He knows now, as everybody
in Silver Plume knew,

that Tom Young laid out
a bit of a false trail.

And I just have to wonder
in the back of my mind

if Keith did the same.

I don't think that Keith
would be the type of person

to walk away from
his whole entire life

and leave it behind him.

He loved the people in his life.

He loved keeping
in touch with them.

And I don't think he could
have left them all behind him.

I would like to hope
he's still alive,

and that whatever reasons he
may have had for disappearing,

we could work that out.

I'd like to think that he
would still be alive somewhere.

But realistically,
I'm not sure I

have to also be prepared for
the eventuality that he's not.

ROBERT STACK: Keith
Reinhard turned 51

on September 10, 1989.

He is six feet two inches
tall and weighs 210 pounds.

Keith Reinhard wears
glasses only for reading

and has blue eyes.

Tonight we have seen four
stories without endings,

four stories in
which ordinary people

have been thrust into the
center of an unsolved mystery.

Perhaps someone
tonight can help them.

Perhaps they were watching.

Perhaps it's you.

[music playing]