All language subtitles for Unsolved.Mysteries.S04E01.480p.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-PLAYREADY_track3_[und]

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: Tonight,
the season premiere

of "Unsolved Mysteries."

December 26, 1980, a US
Air Force security patrol

told of seeing a
mysterious, unearthly visit

near their airbase in England.

During the next two
nights, a rash of sightings

astounded even the most
skeptical military men.

For years, these
sightings were cloaked

in secrecy, until tonight.

For the first time,
former Air Force personnel

go on camera to tell
of a close encounter

with what they
believe were UFOs.

Shane Stewart and Sally
McNelty of San Angelo,

Texas were typical teenagers,
until they became involved

with a bizarre underground
cult. On July 4, 1988,

Shane and Sally
mysteriously disappeared.

Four months later, their
bodies were finally discovered.

Both had been murdered.

When Carla Downing was
16, she lost her mother

in an automobile accident.

25 years later, after
her father passed away,

Carla would discover a
surprising secret hidden

in her tangled family history.

The woman she knew as her mother
was not her mother after all.

Join me for these
fascinating new stories

on the season premiere
of "Unsolved Mysteries."

[theme music]

The 81st Tactical Fighter Wing
of the United States Air Force

operates out of
southeast England.

In a unique
arrangement, the Wing

is housed on twin bases,
Woodbridge and Bentwaters.

The two air bases
border a three mile

expanse of farmland and woods
known as Rendlesham Forest.

In 1980, Rendlesham
was a site of one

of the most extraordinary
and least publicized

events in modern
military history.

Around 2:00 AM on December
26, Airman First Class John

Burroughs and his partner,
both assigned to Woodbridge

Base Security, were
on routine patrol

along the base perimeter.

Hey, what the hell's
that, over there?

ACTOR AS JOHN BURROUGHS: Geez.

I don't know.
What the hell is that?

I don't know, I've never
seen anything like it before.

ACTOR AS JOHN BURROUGHS: It's
out in the middle of the woods.

Come on, let's go back to the
guard station, call the Sarge.

See what he wants to do.

All right.

JOHN BURROUGHS:
There was definitely

something out in the woods.

It seemed like, to me,
like a massive light show.

I'm thinking, who would
come out in the middle

of the woods outside
an Air Force base

to make a Christmas display?

I was nervous, he was nervous,
we didn't know what to expect,

and we decided at
that point in time

we better get back
and let somebody

know what's going on in
case something did happen.

ROBERT STACK: Burroughs
notified his immediate superior

from a nearby sentry post.

ACTOR AS JOHN
BURROUGHS: Yeah, we

got some kind of weird activity
in the woods, off the base.

Hey, John.

ACTOR AS JOHN BURROUGHS: Yeah,
sure, I can see them from here.

It's still going on.

Yeah, look, it's some kind
of weird lights in the trees.

I don't know, they're
moving all up and down.

ROBERT STACK: Almost
simultaneously,

another security patrol arrived.

They verified the presence
of the off lights.

All right, hold on.

He wants three men
to do down off base.

You coming with us?

Nope.

All right, look.

We'll say in radio contact.

We're going off base,
leave your weapons.

ROBERT STACK: Burroughs and
the second security team

were sent off base
to investigate.

They were ordered to
leave their weapons

behind, because they were moving
out of American jurisdiction.

JOHN BURROUGHS:
We were intrigued,

but we were also very nervous.

We didn't know what
we were getting into.

We started in on foot
towards the lights.

At the same time, we could hear
the animals were very upset.

We could hear a lot of ruckus.

At that point, we got
a radio transmission.

They'd just gotten contact
from Heathrow Tower in London

that an object had been
seen over our base,

and it had disappeared on radar.

SECURITY GUY 1: Is that is?

ACTOR AS JOHN
BURROUGHS: I can't tell.

JOHN BURROUGHS: All of a
sudden in the clearing,

there was an object.

It had a bank of
blue lights on it,

and it was sitting
there, like, strobing.

It was unbelievable.

We all hit the ground, and
it went up into the trees.

When it was happening,
everything seemed to go slower.

We seem to be like a--

I wouldn't say a
time warp, but like,

everything appeared to
be happen slower to us,

and everything felt different.

But when it was all--
when it disappeared,

it was like everything
was normal again.

The perception of
the ground, the air,

the sky, the stars, the whole
nine yards were different.

SECURITY GUY 2 : Where's it go?

ROBERT STACK: For
more than two hours,

the three men played an
eerie game of cat and mouse

with the mysterious craft.

It appeared almost
to toy with them.

JOHN BURROUGHS: It was off
the ground in the horizon,

above the trees.

And it always stayed out in
the distance, in the horizon.

It sometimes appeared
to get close,

and we were going to
get close to it again.

And then we never did.

The events of
that December night

set in motion a chain reaction
that would eventually result

in the best documented
sighting of a UFO

in American military history.

The United States Air Force
has no official comment

on the entire incident, but
tonight the military personnel

who actually witnessed
the events will appear

on camera for the first time.

Just five hours
after the sighting,

John Burroughs reported
to his shift commander.

COMMANDER: At ease.

Spit it out, what did you see?

Well, sir, after we received
permission to continue

into the woods, we, um--

SECURITY GUY 1: We
saw some lights, sir.

Red ones and some white ones.

And, well, sir, they um.

Flew up into the trees.

JOHN BURROUGHS:
He basically said,

gentlemen, you saw something.

The Heathrow tower confirms
that you saw something, and now

let's go out into
the area and see

if we can find any physical
proof of what happened.

I was hoping when I got
out there that basically I

would see nothing.

There would be no tell
tale evidence that possibly

something happened.

That would make it easier for
me, because if there's nothing

proving that something
happened to me,

you can just kind
of check it off.

But when you get out there and
you find damage to the trees,

depressions in the ground
and stuff, that makes

it even more unexplainable.

We came up through the woods
to this point right about here.

I see.

We saw it hovering--

ROBERT STACK: Later that same
day, Burroughs rendezvoused

with a British police officer.

Together, they explored
the site where Burroughs

had seen a strange object.

We were watching
for about 20 minutes.

See this?

ROBERT STACK: Indeed, there
were circular impressions

in the earth directly below
the spot where the craft

had appeared to hover.

ACTOR AS JOHN BURROUGHS:
What could have made that?

JOHN BURROUGHS: It
was more of a mystery.

Because when I first saw
it, I didn't perceive it

as something sitting on the
ground with a tripod-- like,

a tripod type thing.

Now, all of a sudden
there's physical proof

showing that something
sat down in that area.

3.4 meters.

ROBERT STACK: The
British police officer

dismissed the
circles as the marks

of burrowing forest animals.

Nevertheless, he
did order his men

to measure the distance
between the circles.

3.4 here, too.

ROBERT STACK: Surprisingly,
the three circles were exactly

the same distance
apart and formed

a perfect equilateral triangle.

3.4 as well.

ROBERT STACK: Early the next
morning, Colonel Charles Halt,

Deputy Base Commander,
arrived at Woodbridge

Security Headquarters.

Rumor of the UFO sighting
had spread like wildfire.

[snickering]

What's going on?

Colonel, you're not going
to believe this, but--

Burroughs and Peniston were
running around the woods

last night chasing after UFOs.

[laugh]

UFOs, what are
you talking about?

Listen, I thought
they were yanking me,

but the guy saw something.

They thought an aircraft went
down, so they went and looked.

There were these lights
in the woods, and--

Why isn't that in the blotter?

The Lieutenant didn't
want me to put that in, sir.

Is anybody sure it wasn't
an aircraft that went down?

No, sir.

Then put it in a blotter

Yes, sir.

COL. CHARLES HALT: I
was very skeptical.

I found what had allegedly
taken place hard to believe,

and I was really going to
debunk it, quite frankly.

And as events unfolded, I became
more and more concerned that

there may be something to this.

I kept telling
myself that there had

to be some type of an
explanation for it,

but I certainly couldn't find
one, and even to this day

I can't explain what happened.

Straight back, straight back.

ROBERT STACK: That
evening, unusual lights

were spotted once again.

In response, the base
commander ordered

large mobile
floodlights, devices

commonly known as light-alls
to be set up in the woods.

Good!

All right, moving out!

ROBERT STACK: At
9:30 PM, Colonel Halt

received word that
the light-alls were

inexplicably malfunctioning.

I don't know, sir, craziest
damn things I've ever seen.

Animals in a forest
are acting weird.

Starlight scopes going
bad, radios ain't working,

light-alls ain't coming up.

Let's get out there
and see what we got.

All right, sir.

This is Colonel Halt
to command, we're going

out to Rendlesham Forest--

During the next six
hours, Colonel Charles Hart

will be swept up in an
unbelievable series of events

which would prove to be one of
the most elaborate encounters

of the UFO ever documented.

When we return, the details
of Colonel Halt's odyssey.

In 1980, just after
Christmas, strange lights

appeared in a forest near
two American air bases

in southeast England.

Security at both bases
sprang into action.

Large portable
floodlights, like this one,

commonly known as light-alls
are positioned in the woods.

Security police hope to
catch another glimpse

of a glowing object
sighted two nights earlier.

But the light-alls
mysteriously malfunctioned.

Base security was immediately
ordered to dispatch

a second set of light-alls.

Simultaneously,
Colonel Charles Halt,

Deputy Commander of
both bases, put together

a special investigative team.

I called the on
duty or standby

a man of disaster preparedness
and had him get his camera.

He was a professional
photographer,

and calibrate several RADIAC
instruments to take along.

We were going to go debunk this.

ROBERT STACK: By the
time Colonel Halt

arrived at the site, the
second set of light-alls

was also malfunctioning.

What's going on, sergeant?

Colonel, we're having
a little problem.

COL. CHARLES HALT:
Some of the vehicles

weren't working properly,
and radio transmissions

were limited at best.

OK.

Lieutenant, where'd
you see that light?

It's right through there, sir.

ROBERT STACK: Armed
with a Geiger counter,

a starlight scope to enhance
night vision, and a tape

recorder to record
his first impressions,

Colonel Halt led his
team into the woods.

Let's go.

Follow me, sir.

ROBERT STACK: What
you are about to see

is based on verbatim transcripts
of the tape made that night.

We're in the
center of a triangle.

SGT. ROBERT BALL It didn't take
us long to find what I believe

was a landing site of some sort.

The trees had had
branches broken off--

ROBERT STACK: One of the
members of Colonel Halt's team

was Sergeant Robert Ball

--as we looked up, and we had
high powered flashlights with

us, and we could see
branches, up to an inch,

two inches in
diameter, which had

either been knocked completely
off or had been bent downward.

And it was clean up to
the top of the trees.

We looked at the area
through the starlight scope,

and it did, I'll have to
admit, have a dull glow

that I couldn't explain.

Over here.

COL. CHARLES HALT: So we got
the RADIAC instruments out,

and we're taking readings.

Four clicks, Colonel.

COL. CHARLES HALT: And
while we were doing this,

the police lieutenant
said look, over there.

POLICE LIEUTENANT: Colonel!

Sir?

COL. CHARLES HALT: A strange
glowing object that appeared

to be 100, 200 meters away.

I couldn't explain it.

Lights out, everybody.

COL. CHARLES HALT: It was
avoiding the pine trees,

zigzagging around them.

It kind of winked at us.

Strangest thing
I've ever seen, sir.

Strange.

Looks like an eye,
winking at you.

COL. CHARLES HALT: It
approached us and one time.

We just stood there in awe.

Watched probably for a minute
or two, maybe a little more.

ROBERT STACK: Finally, the
object began to move away.

Colonel Halt and
his men followed.

COL. CHARLES HALT: As we were
pursuing this glowing object

through the woods, we
noticed a farmhouse

directly in front of us.

We've got a reading of two on
the counter, that's much higher

than background radiation.

COL. CHARLES HALT:
The farmhouse appeared

to be glowing very brightly,
as though it were on fire.

You reckon there's
somebody in there, sir?

I don't know, Lieutenant.

COL. CHARLES HALT: The
object then broke into five

white objects, and disappeared.

Let's go.

It was a very strange
feeling in the air.

It made your hair bristle, sort
of like static electricity.

You just had a very
unusual feeling.

And I don't think it
was all psychological,

I think there was something
physiological about it.

There was-- there
was something to it.

I don't know what it was.

We ventured on toward
the coast, trying

to decide what to do next.

SGT. ROBERT BALL: We
looked to the north,

and about 30 degrees
off the horizon

there were three
objects in the sky.

They started moving,
rapidly about,

in sharp, angular
movements, as though they

were exercising some type of
formation or search pattern.

I'm not really sure what it was.

We now have multiple sightings
of up to three objects,

of a similar--

COL. CHARLES HALT: I think
there was some type of guiding

force behind these objects.

Whether it was trying
to communicate,

whether it was
trying to warn us,

or whether it was trying to do
something to us, I don't know.

To me, it looked
like a grid search.

They were boxing off an area
and looking for something.

And that was the thought
that hit me right away,

and that stayed with
me over the years.

It looked like a search pattern.

ROBERT STACK: Colonel
Halt's initial skepticism

eroded with each passing minute
and each bizarre sighting.

There's definitely
something up there.

Hey, we've got an object.

COL. CHARLES HALT: We
could very clearly see it,

it sort of danced
about the sky, and it

sent down beams of light.

I noticed other
beams of light coming

down from the same
object, following

different places on the base.

My boss, standing in his front
yard at Woodbridge, and he

could see the beams
of light falling down.

And the people in the
weapons storage area

and several other places on the
base also reported the lights.

I woke up about 3:30,
4:00 in the morning,

and for whatever reason, I felt
like maybe something happening,

and I don't know why,
I just woke up and felt

like something that came back.

Don't ask me why, it
just was a gut feeling.

So I went ahead and got up
and went up to the base.

All of a sudden, a couple of
like, blue, transparent type

lights appeared in the sky.

They were all of a sudden in
the horizon, and one of them

broke towards us.

The only time the light-alls
were working, as far as

came on and off, when I saw
them were when the light passed,

and I have no idea what caused
the light-alls to come on

and off other than the fact that
the blue light, as it passed,

the light-alls came on.

ROBERT STACK: At virtually the
same moment, 300 yards away,

Colonel Halt's investigation
was about to culminate

in a remarkable close encounter.

Hey, here.
Here.

COL. CHARLES HALT: The
object was coming at us

at a very high rate of speed.

One of these beams of light
fell very, very close to us,

sort of a pencil beam of light.

Down from the object to
the ground near our feet.

This is unreal.

ROBERT STACK: The extraordinary
visitor never returned.

Let's go.

COL. CHARLES HALT: I drafted
a memo, sent a copy to London,

and it was swallowed up.

It became very quiet.

ROBERT STACK: This is a
copy of Colonel Halt's memo.

It was submitted to British
military authorities

who never acted on it.

The United States Air
Force did not acknowledge

that the episode had occurred.

Then in 1983, a
private citizen invoked

the Freedom of Information Act
and Halt's memo was released.

Nevertheless, many
remain unconvinced.

Spacecraft from another
world, although not impossible,

is extraordinary.

ROBERT STACK: James
McGaha is an astronomer

and noted UFO skeptic,
who was director

of two private observatories.

And the burden of proof for
any event that is extraordinary

is upon those making the claim,
not upon those who look at it

from a skeptical perspective.

Where is the evidence?

Show me the evidence, and that's
what science is all about.

On the first night, the night
of 26 December 1980, at about 3

o'clock that morning,
a bright fireball,

which is a very
bright meteor, came

into the Earth's atmosphere.

And this is unquestionably
what the John

Burroughs saw that night.

I've seen meteor
showers come down before.

You know, it wasn't a
meteor falling on the sky,

and it went up, not down.

Meteors fall from the sky, they
don't go back up into the sky.

A meteor is not going to
go up, go back and forth,

and maintain position in the
sky for a long period of time.

A meteor's not going to
send beams of light down.

I think both of
them are being honest

as to what their
perceptions are,

but human perception is
very, very easily fooled,

and I think when they went
out there to the woods,

everybody was out there
inspecting to see the UFO.

With that preconceived notion,
the way you view things

can be greatly influenced.

There's definitely
something up there.

ROBERT STACK: McGaha believes
that the glowing red light

Colonel Halt saw
that night was simply

reflections from the revolving
beam of a nearby lighthouse.

--moving away from
us, moving fast.

COL. CHARLES HALT: There are
too many unrelated things.

If it were just
a reflection, how

does one explain two
different sightings in two

different places in the sky?

How does one explain the object
moving through the forest?

How does one explain the
sighting in the forest

by the three airmen?

There are just too many things.

I have a lot of
unresolved questions

I'm not sure I'll
ever have answered.

I've had people suggest all
sorts of things, everything

from I've seen the
second coming of Christ

to the devil's after us.

I can't explain
it, I really can't.

I know it was beyond
the realm of anything

the we experience
in ordinary life.

According to Colonel Halt,
two other unconfirmed sightings

have been reported in the
vicinity of Woodbridge airbase.

The first in January of 1981,
the second, nine months later.

In the initial
sightings of 1980,

at least 15 men, all of
them US Air Force personnel,

witnessed the strange lights
and objects firsthand.

The Air Force continues to
have no official comment

on the entire series of events.

Next, the murder of two
teenage sweethearts.

Some say they were the
victims of a bizarre cult.

MARSHALL W. STEWART: Shane was
a very lively, energetic kid.

To me, he was like
Beaver Cleaver.

The all-around
boy, always having

fun, always making sure
that everybody else had fun.

He had a lot of
dreams, a lot of goals,

and he was a very lovable kid.

When Shane and Sally met,
it was just like two people

clicked on.

There was a bond there that
was almost inseparable.

It was like the two kids
were made for each other.

PAT WADE: Sally loved people.

She would do
anything for friend.

Sally tried hard
to please people,

she wanted people to like her.

She wanted people to
respond to her and love her

ROBERT STACK: Shane
Stewart and Sally McNelty

grew up around
San Angelo, Texas,

a peaceful, bucolic
ranching community.

But like so many
other small towns,

there was more to San
Angelo than meets the eye.

Independence Day,
1988 was a reunion

of sorts for Shane and Sally.

Each had recently
returned to town,

and it was their first
date more than four months.

It was also the last time
they would ever be seen.

The next morning, a ranger
discovered Shane's car

abandoned near OC Fisher Lake.

Fast food wrappers lay
strewn across the front seat,

the keys were on the dashboard.

Shane and Sally were
nowhere to be found.

LT. LOUIS A. HARGRAVES: Marshall
Stewart felt his son would not

leave his car unlocked
with the keys in it

and just merely walk off.

However, there were no
signs of a struggle,

and so consequently
we looked at it from--

at first, from the
standpoint of two kids

ran off and got married.

Knowing how much
he loved that car

and that he wouldn't
leave it, I was

very, very concerned that
something tragic had happened.

ROBERT STACK: Four months
later, two skeletons

were found near
Twin Buttes Lake,

17 miles from where
Shane's car was abandoned.

Marshall Stewart was
monitoring his police scanner

and immediately
rushed to the scene.

MARSHALL W. STEWART: I
got out of the pickup

and walked over to the area.

Gut feeling as a parent, I
knew they had found Shane.

- Hi, I'm Marshal.
- Hello.

Howdy.
- Morning.

How you doing.

Y'all find Shane's body?

Yeah,

We sure did, and it's--

pretty gruesome in there.

I want to see.

Well, we just want to
let you know that there's

not a whole lot left.
- I want to see him.

OK.

It was-- it was Shane.

Dressed exactly like he'd
left the house that night,

and I knelt down beside him and
told him that I had found him,

and we would take him home.

ROBERT STACK: The
forces of nature

had washed away
all forensic clues,

but detectives were able to
determine that both victims had

been killed by shotgun blasts.

The discovery of Shane
and Sally's bodies

was a culmination of
a four month search

which had introduced
their parents

to a strange and
frightening subculture.

Marshall Stewart and Pat Wade
discovered that their children

were engaged in activities
which many believed were linked

to a satanic cult.
In Sally's case,

it appeared to be part
of a desperate search

for acceptance in the wake of a
painful and troubled childhood.

PAT WADE: I married and had
Sally when I was very young.

So Sally and I spent a lot of
our time growing up together.

We were like sisters
when she was small,

and as Sally became
a teenager, she

became more and more
rebellious, and I had

less and less role in her life.

HELEN J. WILLIAMS: I
don't think I ever heard

or call her mother "mother."

It was always "Pat."

She was real resentful
towards the fact

that her dad wasn't around
and she blamed it on Pat a lot

when we were kids.

ROBERT STACK: Sally began
sneaking out late at night,

and on one occasion, Pat
stayed up to confront her.

Sally

Pat!

Where have you been?

You scared me.

Scared you?

I've been waiting
here all night.

I just went out for a walk.

Sally, you snuck
through the window.

So what?

So I've been
worried about you.

Look, you don't know
anything about this, OK?

So just leave me alone.

PAT WADE: It was the only
explanation she would give me,

so I called one
friend of Sally's.

The boy's mother
answered the phone,

and she told me that the kids
were mixed up in Satan worship,

and she said that a group of
kids had been at her house

one night and said they
had a demon in a bottle.

Sally really got
to point to where

she thought nobody loves me.

These people come along
and they say OK, we'll

give you that love, we'll
give you that companionship

that you need.

You just come with us
and do what we ask.

ROBERT STACK: Sally began to
attend ritualistic parties

on a regular basis.

One evening, she invited
Helen to join her.

It's Ouija time.

Turn out the lights.

I'm going to do
this, you want to?

No thanks.

I need some hands
on the Oracle.

In the name of our
Father, the great Satan,

we humbly bow to you
now and turn over

our will to your great wisdom.

Spirit of the Oracle, we call
on you tonight to guide us.

Sally?

HELEN J. WILLIAMS: Sally
went into a trance--

Sally, are you all right?

HELEN J. WILLIAMS: --and
it really scared me.

What?

I'm leaving.

OK.

Half of me said
Sally's pulling

a stunt, just ignore it.

And half of me said well, maybe
it's their kind of having fun.

ROBERT STACK: In
the fall of 1987,

Sally began dating
Shane Stewart.

She introduced him
to her new friends.

According to Shane's
father, his behavior

began to change as well.

Come on, boy, come on,
what's wrong with you?

MARSHALL W. STEWART: Shane
started getting into fights.

Come on!

MARSHALL W. STEWART:
One day, Shane's

getting the better of this guy.

His two friends
jumped in, and then he

was thrown into the river.

So I told him, I said, you
should have learned the lesson.

One, not to fight, and two,
be aware of where you are

and what you're
doing, because people

can always gang up on you.

ROBERT STACK: In March
of 1988, Sally called

Sheriff's deputy Larry Counts.

She and Shane had
grown disillusioned

when some members of
the cult began engaging

in criminal activities.

DPTY.

LARRY COUNTS: She
and her boyfriend,

Shane, were members
of this group

and they were trying
to get away from it.

She said there was a
lot of drugs involved,

there was a lot of group sex.

She also expressed that she had
a weapon that had been given

to her by another
member of the cult,

and when he gave
it to her he told

her and Shane that the gun had
been used in a murder robbery.

ROBERT STACK: Two months
earlier, Shane and Sally

had moved in together.

They agreed to meet with Deputy
Counts in their apartment

to hand over the gun.

Shane, he's here.

ACTOR AS SHANE STEWART: OK.

He's trying to find the gun.

OK.
DPTY.

LARRY COUNTS: During this
meeting when I first met them,

face to face, you
really think that they

were making this stuff up.

But they seemed sincere.

This is the gun that guy
gave us that I told you about.

OK.

Does he have any other weapon?

Yeah, he's got a whole
toolbox full of guns.

I mean, it's scary, because
you know these guys are crazy.

DPTY.

LARRY COUNTS: After
they gave me this weapon

and we did some
checking on it, it

turned out to be a stolen gun.

Then their story became a
little bit more credible.

He's not going to find
out about this, is he?

I can't promise you anything,
but I will do my best.

Well, I appreciate it.

DPTY.

LARRY COUNTS: They did express
fears that they might be hurt,

she and her boyfriend
might be in some danger,

because it's a very
secretive type group,

and they knew the ins,
they knew the secrets,

and when they broke
away they realized

that they were in some danger.

ROBERT STACK: Six
weeks later, Shane

and Sally moved out of their
apartment and left town,

separately.

But by early summer, both
returned to San Angelo.

HELEN J. WILLIAMS (ON
PHONE): Sally, what's wrong?

I've got a problem.

What kind of problem?

I think they're going
to try to kill me.

ROBERT STACK: Two weeks
prior to her disappearance,

Sally made a desperate
telephone call to Helen.

HELEN J. WILLIAMS:
And I said, nobody's

going to come and shoot
you, I said what did you do?

She said, well, I
really can't tell you.

I gotta go.

All right.

Bye.

HELEN J. WILLIAMS: She just
tended to exaggerate things,

so I really didn't
think much of it.

And I really didn't
think to call Pat

and say, Pat,
Sally's in trouble,

there's something wrong.

I mean, I didn't think
anything about it.

Shane, it's for you.

MARSHALL W. STEWART:
On July the 3rd,

around noon, I
received a phone call.

And there was a man on the
phone asking for Shane.

And as I walked away, I
heard Shane mention money.

I'll have the money
for your tomorrow.

Just lighten up, will you?

Goodbye.

MARSHALL W. STEWART: And so
when Shane come out of the room,

I ask him, I said,
is there a problem?

He says no.

I told him if there was
a problem, I was his dad,

and I could help him handle it.

He says no, he said
everything's fine.

He said I've taken care of it.

Thanks, dad.

On July the 4th, Shane told
me that he was going to go

out and watch the fireworks.

So I gave Shane
a hug, I told him

that I loved him,
take care of himself,

and don't get in a bind.

And he said no problem.

He said he'd see me
later, and left the house.

That was the last
time I saw him alive.

ROBERT STACK: Police have
reconstructed the events which

preceded the disappearance.

At 9:00 PM, Shane and Sally
watched the annual fireworks

display at Lake Nasworthy.

Four hours later, a
fisherman, anchored off shore,

spotted them at OC Fisher
Lake six miles away.

He could see the young
couple standing by a car,

then he saw a pickup
truck approach.

No.

I said get in the truck.

No, we're not going
to come with you!

Shut up.

Hey listen, I said we're
not into that anymore, OK,

so just leave us alone!

RANDALL LITTLEFIELD: I
heard them talking about--

said they don't want to be
with them people no more.

I listened a little bit more,
and they continued on again.

And then I got to thinking,
well, it's just bunch of kids

out there, drinking, partying.

And I turned my boat
around and I left.

ROBERT STACK: It was the last
time anyone saw Shane Stewart

and Sally McNelty alive.

Marshall Stewart
refused to believe

that the children had run away.

For four months, he
scoured the lake area

and began questioning
people whom he believed

might know something about
his son's disappearance.

One of the youths
he talked to was

allegedly involved in the cult.

Hi, I'm Shane's dad,
do you remember me?

Mr. Stewart.

MARSHALL W. STEWART: Shane
told me if he and this friend

ever got together, there
was going to be bad trouble.

He said we're enemies,
we hate each other.

If there's ever a
confrontation, he said, there's

really going to be a fight.

What's wrong with your face?

It looks like you've
been in a fight.

It's just a cut.

I ain't been in no fight.

OK.

Good luck.

MARSHALL W. STEWART: And I
walked away from the door,

convinced he had
confronted Shane somewhere,

and there had been
a fight, and he just

wasn't telling me the truth.

I felt like Shane and
Sally had gone to the lake,

and were probably sitting
out there on the table,

listening to music, and been
approached by probably some

of their friends or enemies.

LT. LOUIS A. HARGRAVES:
We don't have any suspects

from the standpoint
of something that we

could bring to the grand jury.

We have investigated it with the
people that have been referred

to us by as having been
in the cult activity,

and consequently
they are suspects

until we solve the murder.

Most of my life, I was fearful
of dying and leaving Sally

before she was grown.

And then for the
tables to be turned,

and for Sally did
leave me, this is

the worst nightmare that
any parent can have,

and it never goes away.

MARSHALL W. STEWART:
There's no words

to describe what you feel when
you find your child murdered.

Nothing that you
can do to console

them during their last hours.

These people need to be caught
and brought in and punished

for what they've done, and to
prevent something like this

from happening again.

I'd like to sit
through the trial

and make sure that
justice has been served.

ROBERT STACK: When Sally's
body was discovered,

a fortune from a Chinese
cookie was found in her pocket.

It read you'll always be
surrounded by friends.

Authorities believe Shane
Stewart and Sally McNelty were

murdered by their friends
as a direct result

of their cult activities.

Police are convinced that there
were witnesses to the crime who

were afraid to come forward.

If you have any
information, please

contact the Tom Green
County Sheriff's

Department in San Angelo, Texas.

When we return, a
woman needs your help

to find her real mother,
whom she has met only once.

Imagine growing up as an
outsider in your own home,

feeling somehow separate
from your family.

This is how a young
woman named Carla

Downing felt her entire life.

Carla's feelings
of alienation were

compounded by the tragic
death of her mother

when Carla was just 16.

In June of 1965, shortly
after her mother's death,

Carla and her
younger brother went

to live with her grandparents
in Alexandria, Virginia.

Carla's father was in the
Army and stationed overseas.

CARLA DOWNING: Shortly
after my mother's funeral,

a woman came to my grandmother's
house, where I was living.

You know, at that
time, I was 16.

I had a little bit of
money in my pocket,

my grandmother was
going to turn me loose

that day to go do some shopping.

I'm going to give you $20.

I want you to get
me a quart of milk,

and you can use the
rest for drinks,

or anything else you want.
- Thank you.

- You're welcome.
- Carla?

Oh, Carla, this is Mary.

Mary was it a friend of
your mom's in high school.

Hi.

You look very familiar.

I saw you when you
were just little baby.

CARLA DOWNING: And I do
remember thinking, gosh,

this woman needs to sit down.

You know, she just looked
kind of shook up or something,

and you know, I just
kind of assumed that it

was over my mother's death.

In looking back, you know, I
can remember what she wore,

where she sat, what I was doing
at the time, what I had on.

You know, just-- it
did come back to me,

and I really wished
I would have paid

more attention at that moment.

ROBERT STACK: Carla was
born in December 1948.

Her father, Chester Libby,
was an Army Sergeant.

Her mother, Mildred,
a secretary.

In 1951, Carla's
brother Ronnie was born.

But within a few short
years, Carla began to feel

that she somehow didn't fit in.

CARLA DOWNING: The whole
time I was growing up,

I always knew that--

you know, there was just
something not right.

Mainly because of the difference
between my brother and I.

He had blue eyes and blond
hair, and it was curly.

And you know, I had straight,
dark hair, dark eyes,

olive complexion.

You know, it was just
obvious to me, even,

that we just weren't alike.

ROBERT STACK: Carla kept
her troubling suspicions

to herself.

After the death of her
mother, Carla's father moved

back to the US and remarried.

Carla graduated from high
school, married, and had a son.

But even as a grown woman,
Carla never stopped feeling

out of place in her own family.

In 1990, Carla's father died,
and she traveled to Addington,

Virginia for his funeral.

Oh-- wait, wait a minute.

Bob, would you take that please?
- I sure will.

Honey, I've got something
in the trunk of the car

I've want you to have.

OK.

Now, Carla, this
belonged to your dad

and he wanted you to have it.

All his military papers are
in here, and a few more.

CARLA DOWNING: When
I got the briefcase,

I just wanted to go over each
and every paper, you know,

and remember all of
the different places

that we lived together,
and that sort of thing.

And in the back of my
mind, I knew there was

something I was looking for.

I just knew there was
something in there.

ROBERT STACK: That night,
when she was finally alone,

Carla began to sift
through the contents

of her father's briefcase.

Two documents in particular
caught her attention.

The first, dated
November 1945, listed

Carla's father as married.

The second document,
filed in November 1948,

listed him as divorced.

Carla was shocked to find that
her father had been married

before he met her mother, had
been divorced just one month

prior to Carla's own birth.

The discrepancy between
the two documents

heightened all of Carla's
suspicions from childhood.

Well, that's good.

Listen, the reason I'm calling--

do you know anything about
daddy being married before?

ROBERT STACK: Two
days later, Carla

called her Uncle Norman, her
father's only living brother.

She asked him to
tell her the truth,

and a surprising
saga began to emerge.

--shows him being married
with two dependents.

CARLA DOWNING:
Norman made me feel

really good, because I got
my initial straight answer

from him.

Somebody finally said, no,
you aren't his daughter.

You were already there
when he met your mother.

So at that point, I
felt a sense of relief,

because at least
I knew something.

I had a direction.

Hello?

RONNIE DOWNING (ON PHONE):
Hi, Carla, this is Ronnie.

How you doing, honey?

ROBERT STACK: An hour later,
Carla's brother Ronnie called

with more unsettling news.

--were married once before?

ACTOR AS CARLA
DOWNING (ON PHONE):

Oh, I knew that dad was
married before, you know,

because of the papers and
what Uncle Norman told me.

RONNIE DOWNING (ON PHONE):
Well, I found out from Uncle Ed

that mom was married also.

Well, then that
would mean I was

probably her daughter by a
previous marriage then, right?

RONNIE DOWNING (ON PHONE):
Well, here's the thing.

I noticed something peculiar
on my birth certificate

a couple of years ago, and I
looked at it again last night.

And it states the
number of children

born to mom before
me, if any, and it

lists this figure as none.

CARLA DOWNING: If his birth
certificate is correct,

that means that he and I
are not brother and sister.

So, now I have a father who
wasn't my father, a brother who

isn't my brother, and I'm
not real sure about my mother

at this point.

ROBERT STACK: Carla Downing's
tangled family history

finally began to unravel.

Carla learned from her uncles
that her mother Mildred

had suffered a series
of miscarriages

during her first marriage.

In 1948, Mildred met a
recent immigrant named Mary

who was pregnant and unmarried.

In that time and place,
Mary knew that she would

be unable to keep her baby.

According to Mildred's
brothers, the two women

concocted a scheme to switch
ID cards in the hospital.

What's her name?

Her name is Mildred Graham.

OK.

She doesn't speak any English.

ROBERT STACK: In
doing so, Mildred

would be listed on
the birth certificate

as the child's mother.

ED NORRIS: From the
very beginning, even

as a kid, because I was about
12 when I think this occurred,

I always had the feeling that
that Carla really should know.

I don't know why I felt
that way, even at that age,

but I almost had a
sense that someday it

was going to come out.

She's a beautiful.

Beautiful.

May I hold her?

CARLA DOWNING: It's my thinking
that this must have really

been hard on Mary,
because, you know,

if that time she felt
like she could not have

a child for whatever reason--

I mean, she was concerned enough
that she went to this extreme

with my mother to see that
I was in a good family.

I just have this
need to find Mary.

I want to be in the same
room with someone I resemble.

I want my mother.

I want somebody that I've been
looking for for a long time.

On the night of our broadcast,
Carla Downing's prayers

are finally answered.

Her natural mother,
Mary Maxwell,

was still very much
alive and very anxious

to see her daughter.

Carla was also overjoyed to
discover she had half sisters.

Eight days later, Carla traveled
from her home in Tennessee

to Maryland, where
she was finally

reunited with her mother.

MARY MAXWELL: You know I see
her come, I knew it was her.

I couldn't believe it.

And all I could say
was, Carla, oh Carla!

And I ran out the
door, and she ran--

almost fell out
the car, I think.

And-- we couldn't do nothing
else but hold each other

and cry.

[laughing]

CARLA DOWNING: When I saw
her for the first time,

I just can't describe
that feeling.

It's home at last.

I can breathe again.

It's just the happiest moment
in my whole life, you know.

Just the happiest
moment in my whole life.

This is your grandfather
and your grandmother,

and this is your
grandfather and grandmother

when they got married.

MARY MAXWELL: It's
like a miracle.

I couldn't believe it.

I couldn't believe
it for the longest--

I says this not happening to us.

It only happens to other
people that they find somebody

they're looking for, not us.

But yet it happened to us.

When I found out that my mom
was alive and healthy and OK,

that was just the best
news in the world.

That-- the extra bonus was I
have two sisters and a nephew.

So it's a happy ending.

It's a fairy tale come true.

ROBERT STACK: On our next
"Unsolved Mysteries," history

records that 26-year-old John
Wilkes Booth, the assassin

of President
Abraham Lincoln, was

killed by union troops in 1865.

Now some historians claim
that Booth actually managed

to escape and flee to freedom.

While researching this story,
we were surprised to discover

that even the "Encyclopedia
Britannica" is not sure of what

happened to John Wilkes Booth.

Join me for this fascinating
and controversial journey

into the past, next time
on "Unsolved Mysteries."

[theme music]