All language subtitles for Unsolved.Mysteries.S06E21.480p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DD 2.0.x264-AJP69_track3_[eng]

[music playing]

ANNOUNCER: 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.

Recently, we were astonished
to discover that according

to one medical researcher,
50% of all Americans

who have lost a
loved one say they

have later been
visited by that loved

one from beyond the grave.

After her husband, John,
died, Patti Eggleston

insists that on several
occasions he appeared to her

and endowed her with the
strength to carry on.

In 1984, 18-year-old Paige Roark
left home for an evening out.

Six hours later, she was
killed by a drunk driver.

Incredibly, Paige's mother and
grandmother both claim they

were visited by Paige's spirit.

Hallucination, or a remarkable,
unexplained phenomenon?

When a nurse named Kathleen
Belcher began talking

to her mother about
blood types, she never

dreamed the conversation
would spring the lock

on a deeply held secret--

her mother's post
World War II romance

and the true identity of
Kathleen's biological father.

Join me for these
fascinating stories.

Perhaps you may be able
to help solve a mystery.

[theme music]

What happens beyond the
grave, when life is over?

Despite a myriad of
religious beliefs,

there seems to be one
surprising area of consensus.

According to a noted
medical researcher,

7 out of 10 widows and
widowers in the United States

report that their
spouses have come

back to visit them after death.

Hallucination, or does
the bond of matrimony

transcend the grave?

January 28, 1989, John and Patti
Eggleston, along with their two

young sons, Johnny and
Chris, were packing up

after a day of skiing.

Ahead lay a 70-mile drive to
their home in a Seattle suburb.

Everything was calm,
routine, normal.

OK, guys, as soon
as we get home,

I want you right in bed, OK?

OK.

Honey, they'll be
sound asleep before we

ever pull in the driveway.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Then, disaster.

[crashing]

The Eggleston's car
careened off this bridge

and plummeted into the
river below, a freefall

of more than 80 feet.

It was pitch dark.

The car rapidly
filled with icy water.

Patti Eggleston
was badly injured.

Yet at the moment she
might have panicked,

Patti was suffused with
an inexplicable calm.

I had this feeling
come through me

and fill me and fill every
pore, every cell of my being

with warmth and love.

It was pure love,
and it was guidance.

And that feeling gave me the
knowledge and the strength

to do what I needed to do next.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): Patti did

not at first realize
that her husband,

John, had died on impact.

But she came to believe that
it was John's spirit, even

after death, which inspired her,
gave her the strength to break

free and rescue her boys.

Johnny and Christopher were
saved by the heroic efforts

of their mother and
a brave passerby who

plunged into the river to help.

After a brief stay
in the hospital,

Patti Eggleston returned home
and struggled to be strong.

Patti says that when
things seemed bleakest,

she once again
sensed John's spirit.

At first it was at
night, in the bedroom.

I was woken up from a
sound sleep with the feeling

that John had just been there.

I could feel him.

I could smell him.

I could feel where
he was in the bed.

The only sensation I
didn't have was visual.

I did not see him.

Every other part of it
I felt and experienced.

And it was not a dream.

It was too real to be a dream.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): Eventually,

a Seattle physician,
Melvin Morse,

heard about Patti Eggleston.

Dr. Morse has documented
hundreds of after-death visits

and believes that
such visits actually

happen, that they are
not simply the product

of overactive imaginations.

I feel that the fact
that these experiences are

emotionally dynamic, that
they help to heal grief,

and that people learn from
them are a powerful piece

of circumstantial
evidence-- and I grant

that it's circumstantial--

but a powerful piece of
circumstantial evidence

that that experience
is at least as real

as any other human experience.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
For Patti, John's presence

became more and more real.

Finally, he appeared
in bodily form.

PATTI: I was sitting
in my living room

and had the lights on.

And I was sitting on the
couch, reading a book.

I just kind of glanced
up, and John was there.

I couldn't touch him,
but I could see him.

And he started
communicating to me.

And I say communicating
because he

was not talking with his lips.

SPIRIT: I think Johnny is
beginning to feel better.

I think so, too.

PATTI: But it was
a conversation.

It was a two-way conversation.

He was talking to me.

I was talking to him.

I don't know if I
can do this alone.

SPIRIT: I'm here to
tell you that you can.

There a reason you survived.

Remember to trust.

You'll always know what to do.

Thank you.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Patti says that John's visits

continued for nearly a year.

Looking back, I know it was--

he didn't come any more after
I had gotten my life together.

I was OK.

I was truly OK.

Things were still rough.

I was still hurting.

But I had gained enough
strength, personal strength,

that I could go on without him.

And he wasn't there anymore.

Despite Patti Eggleston's
obvious sincerity,

her experience could be written
off as a spouse's grief-induced

hallucination.

But widows and widowers
are not the only ones

who report after-death visits.

In fact, some studies claim that
more than 50% of the population

has experienced this phenomenon.

Many are afraid to
talk about it openly,

but the family of
18-year-old Paige Roark

agreed to share their story.

CYNTHIA ROARK:
Paige was our baby.

And we were just so
pleased to have her.

She was a fun child.

She loved people, even from
when she was a little girl.

There was a sparkle in her
eyes and in her demeanor.

Bye, mom.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): On
the afternoon of April 14, 1984,

Paige Colleen Roark
left her house

in Fall Brook, California,
for an outing with friends.

Forget something?

I love you, Mom.

I love you, too.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): Six hours

later, Paige Roark was dead.

She and one of her friends had
been killed when a drunk driver

smashed into their car.

CYNTHIA ROARK: I have never
felt so helpless and hopeless

and out of control in my life.

It was as though my
heart was crushed.

You can't see the scars on
me because they're inside.

It's almost as if I've marked
my life from the moment

I was told that she was dead.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Cynthia tried

to escape her grief by running.

It was an activity for which she
and Paige had a shared passion.

Two days after
the crash, Cynthia

left her house at 5:00 AM.

She ran for more than an hour.

Then as dawn was breaking--

CYNTHIA ROARK: I was
coming back towards home,

and there were rays of sunshine
coming down through the trees.

And they were beautiful.

I stopped.

And, you know, I looked up into
that light, and I was blinded.

It was like it was just white.

And then I heard Paige.

SPIRIT: I'm OK, Mom.

I can see through that light.

I'm with the Lord, and I'm OK.

Paige.

CYNTHIA ROARK: I remember
a feeling of joy, of peace.

I didn't expect it.

I didn't try to have it happen.

I feel that at the point
I was, I was extremely,

extremely devastated.

And it turned my whole
thinking around at that point.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Later, Cynthia

would be stunned to find out
that her mother, who lived

1,000 miles away
in Denver, had had

an even more vivid experience.

I love you, Grandma.

Paige?

Yes.

I'm OK.

You are?

Yes, and so is Momom.

DOROTHY STERLING: And she
said, I have seen Momom.

That's my mother.

SPIRIT: And I'm going
to take care of her.

I had never told
anyone I'd had this.

I thought maybe they would think
something was wrong with me.

But it was very clear to
me that I had a vision.

I love you, Grandma.

DOROTHY STERLING: And she was
just so beautiful and perfect.

And here we were,
worried about her.

And she was comforting us
all the time, comforting me.

I'm OK.

DOROTHY STERLING: And
it was just very real.

And I know it happened.

I know it in my heart.

Prior to my research, these
experiences have been thought

to simply be grief-induced
hallucinations,

passive fantasies of
the mind, struggling

to deal with a terrible loss.

The difference is
that I'm saying

that death-related visions
and post-death visitations

are real.

They're emotionally dynamic.

We can learn things from them.

They're actually an interaction
between the person who has died

and the person who
is seeing the vision.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): Dr. Barry

Beyerstein, a physiological
psychologist, disagrees.

I believe these
people are telling us

some very interesting things.

I think they're telling
us honest recollections

of what it seemed like to them.

And so I'm interested
in their experiences.

Now I don't interpret them
probably the way they do.

I think these are things that
seemed incredibly real to them,

but probably didn't exist in
reality, outside the theater

of their own minds.

I don't want to be
perceived as a nut case.

But it is important.

It's very important for people
out there to hear this story,

if it helps one person.

And I'll share this
story, and I'll

continue to share it for
whoever ever needs to hear it.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Is there any way

to explain what happened
to the families of John

Eggleston and Paige Roark?

Paige?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Can the dead return?

Or are after-death
visits simply the

echo of a strong, earthly love?

Perhaps we will never
know the answers.

Perhaps it does not matter.

As Albert Einstein once said,
"the greatest experience

we can have is the mysterious."

[theme music]

On August 3, 1957, the streets
around Saint Bonaventure's

Monastery in Detroit,
Michigan, swelled

with some 10,000 mourners.

It was one of the largest
funerals in the city's history.

The inspiration for
this massive outpouring

was not the death of a powerful
cardinal or archbishop,

but rather the passing
of a humble friar

named Father Solanus Casey.

For more than 50
years, Father Solanus

was a church
receptionist and doorman,

one of the lowest
ranking priests

in the Catholic hierarchy.

Father Solanus was a man
who really cared for people.

And when people came to him
with their worries and fears

and pains, he had
a way of simply

giving them courage to live
their life the way it was.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Those whose lives

were touched by Father
Solanus claimed that he

said at the right hand of God.

To them, Solanus was
a miracle worker.

Even today, some still turn
to Father Solanus for help

when facing a medical crisis.

DAVID WITKOP: I do believe
my prayer to Father Solanus

was answered.

It's the first time
my prayers have

really been answered like
that, in such a dramatic way.

I'm still in awe of
what had happened.

I have no other
explanation for it.

Joanne, the
mammogram was positive.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
In the fall of 1990,

David Witkop's wife Joanne
developed a lump in her breast.

I think we should
move quickly.

I'd like to set it up
as soon as possible.

We were concerned whether
this density could be a cancer.

We weren't sure what
we were dealing with.

So medically, you have
to do a biopsy to see,

is it benign or malignant?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): An
appointment with a surgeon

was scheduled immediately.

When David and Joanne
arrived at the hospital,

they happened upon
a small prayer room.

There hung a portrait
of Father Solanus Casey.

I was very desperate.

And I just prayed
to Father Solanus

that there would
be no more surgery.

And I just wanted Joanne
not to have this kind

of operation at all anymore.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Joanne was wheeled into surgery,

and David prepared for
a long, anxious wait.

David?

Joanne?

DAVID WITKOP: I looked
up, and it was Joanne

out in the hallway there.

I thought, well,
maybe they're taking

her down for surgery now.

Hello, Mr. Witkop.

Hello, Doctor.

We did another series
of x-rays on your wife.

There's no sign of a mass.

What does that mean?

Well, we took
another set of x-rays

today to locate the
mass for the surgery,

but the plates were clean.

They didn't reveal any mass.
It's over.

David prayed to God that
I wouldn't have surgery.

And his prayers were answered,
even though a half hour

before it looked hopeless.

And I believe that
Solanus and God saw

fit to have a healing that day.

Miracles aren't usually things
that I'm comfortable with.

I don't look for them.

I don't expect them.

I'm not a miracle worker.

I think Joanne believes
it was a miracle,

and that's good enough
for her in my mind.

All I know is it went
away, and she's better.

And I'm thankful for it.

Science has coined
the term spontaneous

remission to account
for sudden recoveries

like Joanne Witkop's.

But the faithful see
her case as one more

example of the marvelous healing
powers of Father Solanus Casey.

A petition to declare Father
Solanus a saint is currently

before the Vatican, a stunning
tribute to a one-time Wisconsin

farm boy named Bernard Casey.

Bernard Casey was born in 1870,
one of 16 brothers and sisters.

At the age of 21, he
was moved to dedicate

his life to the church.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): Bernard

was accepted at a seminary
in Milwaukee, Wisconsin,

where classes were taught
in German and Latin.

Bernard, who had not even
completed high school,

struggled from the start.

Bernard was ultimately
asked to withdraw.

He later enrolled in
the Capuchin Seminary

in Detroit, where he was given
the name, Father Solanus.

Here, too, he floundered
miserably in his studies.

Father Solanus was
one of these people who

had difficulty remembering
the question and answers

and theology and so on.

And as a result, he
never really passed all

the tests in his seminary days.

[speaking latin]

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): Once again,

Solanus was close to failure.

But a few of his
superiors recognized

his spiritual character
and proposed a compromise.

Solanus was ordained, but he was
barred from hearing confession,

preaching a sermon, or teaching
the doctrine, all the most

cherished duties of a priest.

This was a rather
humiliating thing,

but I think he accepted
it as God's will.

And that act of
humility then made him

more pleasing in God's sight.

And so God could work
great things through him.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
After his ordination in 1904,

Father Solanus was
sent to New York.

Father, may I have
a word with you?

Yes, what is troubling you?

It's my daughter, Father.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Day in and day

out, he would greet
the parishioners

at a church in Yonkers.

Soon, it was Father Solanus
that the people came to see.

Well, I'm afraid.

You must trust
God when you pray.

He will hear you.

Yes.

Yes.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Father Solanus served

in New York for 20 years.

By the time he was transferred
to Saint Bonaventure's

in Detroit, many
had come to regard

Solanus as a divine
healer with the power

to intercede with God.

Oh, Doctor, thank
goodness you're here.

Now where is the boy?

Right upstairs.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Perhaps the most extraordinary

cure ascribed to
Solanus came in the case

of 12-year-old Charles Rogers.

His sister, Helen, eight
years old at the time,

remembers vividly.

In 1935, we had the
polio epidemic in Detroit.

And at that time,
my brother came down

with a severe headache and
stiffness of the neck that went

down into his arms and legs.

And eventually, he
ended up with spasms.

He would shake.

His body would shake.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Dr. Ronald Aethee

was one of Detroit's
top polio specialists.

It didn't take him long
to make the diagnosis.

What can we do?

Nothing, but we must get
him to the hospital, tonight.

HELEN GLEESON: Dad wouldn't
hear of it right away.

He wanted to, you know,
see if things would change.

Father Solanus,
Father Solanus,

pardon me for interrupting you.
But--

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
One of Mr. Rogers' employees

heard about Charles's
plight and went

straight to father Solanus.

Will you please
pray for him, Father?

I know you have the
power to make him better.

Will you pray for
him, Father, please?

Don't worry.

He will be better tonight.

[bell chiming]

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Helen Gleeson

says her brother underwent
a miraculous transformation

that very night.

Dad?

Mom?

Charles?

Charles, is that you?

How are you feeling?

All right.

Let's get you back to bed.

Come on.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): Dr. Aethee

returned, skeptical
that Charles's condition

could possibly have improved.

Look at you.

Now give me your hand.

Put it up against mine.

Now push my hand back.

HELEN GLEESON: He told him to
put his hand up against his

and push, and do the
same with the other hand.

And his muscles were moving.

The paralysis seemed to leave.

His paralyzed muscles
seemed to get better.

And walk over to me.

HELEN GLEESON: And Dr.
Aethee said, Mr. Rogers,

you did more than pray.

It's a miracle.

He says, this,
indeed, is a miracle.

And medical men do
not use that term.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
According to Helen,

Charles recovered
fully within a month.

He lived to be 64 years old
and was never again troubled

by any symptom of polio.

Father Solanus Casey retired
in 1956 at the age of 85.

Until his death
the following year,

medical problems caused
him great suffering,

though he complained little.

His skin became
very red and scaly.

At times, it was very burning.

So it was very painful to him.

So at the end of his life,
his body, one of the witnesses

described it.
He was as red as a lobster.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
In 1966, Farther Solanus

was proposed as a candidate for
sainthood, a formal procedure

that often takes decades.

In 1987, 30 years after
Solanus Casey's death,

his body was exhumed
to allow church

officials to look for signs that
might validate canonization.

While his hands and his
face were somewhat darkened,

the rest of his body was
very natural looking.

And, in fact, the doctor even
pressed, and it was pliable.

But there was no sign of any
skin disease of any kind.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Usually, after 30 years,

there will be significant
decomposition.

The stunning condition of
Solanus Casey's body reported

by church officials
is said to be

characteristic of some
candidates for sainthood.

Following the
ritual examination,

the body of Father Solanus was
placed in a special sanctuary

within Saint Bonaventure's.

As he did in life,
Father Solanus

continues to draw pilgrims
and inspire believers

from around the world.

To me, a lot of times,
just myself praying to God,

I need help.

Or I might need an interpreter,
if I can put it that way.

And I think he does
help people do that.

I'm very sick, Father.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Was Father Solanus

a divinely-inspired
miracle worker

who somehow had the ear of God?

Or can his cures be explained
in more earthly terms?

In the end, like the
mystery of faith itself,

the only answer is in
the eye of the beholder.

In a moment, when a
well-regarded family's secret

is revealed, a woman embarks on
a search for her birth father.

In May of 1988 in
Plant City, Florida,

a hospital nurse named Kathleen
Belcher received an urgent call

from her mother, Miriam.

Kathleen's stepfather was
about to have major surgery

and needed several
pints of blood

from both Kathleen
and her sister.

Yes, I know.

But Bill's mostly afraid of
the blood transfusion, AIDS,

you know, things like that.

He wants us to donate blood.

Well, what's his blood type?

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): Kathleen

was only too happy to help.

I'm A positive.
I could give him some of mine.

What are you?

Are you A, too?

No, no, I'm B.

Oh, I guess maybe it
was Daddy who was A.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Kathleen never dreamed

that this conversation
with her mother

would prompt an
extraordinary revelation.

Are you sure?

Yes, I'm sure.

Your father was an O.

KATHLEEN BELCHER: And I
said, that's impossible,

because I have A positive.

And I have to have one
of your blood types.

Every person has to
have either their mother

or their father's blood type.

And obviously, I did not.

I had A. And the man that raised
me and I thought was my father

had O. And my mother has B.

My heart went down to my feet.

And I thought, you know, all
these years, and now this.

My secret will be out.

Kathleen, I don't want to
talk about this anymore, OK?

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): Miriam Terry

had inadvertently revealed
a secret she had kept hidden

for nearly 40 years, the
true identity of Kathleen's

biological father.

Miriam was thrown
back to the end

of World War II, when
she made the most

agonizing decision of her life.

Miriam's first
husband, Bud Terry,

the man Kathleen
knew as her father,

had flown dozens of
bombing missions overseas.

After the war, Bud
was a changed man.

Before he was in the service,
he was a wonderful man.

When he came out of the service,
he was completely different.

Bud could not get jobs anymore
because every job he got,

he would write bad
checks to customers

and so on and so forth to pay
his bills, his gambling debts.

And he was afraid
of even being killed

because he owed gamblers.

That's the sweep.

Yeah, OK, you got a four.

MIRIAM TERRY: Bud's
gambling was very bad.

I don't really have any idea how
much he won, how much he lost.

But he was always in debt.

Come on.

Let's go.

Here we go, all right.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): In 1945,

Miriam and Bud had a daughter,
Kathleen's older sister.

In 1948, Bud reenlisted, hoping
military discipline would

restore some order to his life.

It did not.

Bud Terry went AWOL, leaving
Miriam and their young daughter

behind.

You've been alone
a long time, darling.

And you really need to
think about going out.

Mom.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): Miriam says

Bud had been gone
for several months

when his parents began to
suggest Miriam start dating.

They even introduced her to
Chet Norris, the bartender

at their local social club
in Covington, Kentucky.

He's been looking at you.

MIRIAM TERRY: I didn't know
much about him at the time.

He was very nice looking.

He had dark eyes.

I want to introduce you to
Miriam, our daughter-in-law.

How do you do?

Hi.

MIRIAM TERRY: He had
a good personality.

He was just very nice, and he
seemed to be attracted to me.

I really didn't even feel like
a woman anymore at this time.

I felt deserted, like
I was unattractive,

like I was nothing.

So, uh, what do
you like to do?

Hmm?

For fun?

- I like to dance.
- Oh.

I-- I love to dance.

Do you dance?

- Uh, no.
- Hmm?

Well, not very well.

Oh.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
From its tentative beginnings,

Miriam and Chet's friendship
quickly blossomed.

He takes care of a few horses.

MIRIAM TERRY: I wanted a
divorce from my husband,

and I wanted to marry Chet.

And he wanted to marry me.

I have some really good news.

You do?

Yeah, I got this job.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Chet began to think

about a future with Miriam.

He quit his job at the
club and found work

as an apprentice tile center.

You got the job.

I'm so proud of you.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Six months flew by, then

reality came crashing down.

Miriam's husband, Bud
Terry, was arrested

by military authorities.

They had found him living with
another woman in Indianapolis,

all this while.

And I was so upset because I
did not want to go back to him

that I didn't care what I did.

And I felt like I--

I just lost my cool, I guess.

And I got pregnant.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): Miriam was

in a quandary, pregnant,
and in love with a man who

wasn't her husband.

Can I tell you something?

I'm not sure it's good news.

Sure, of course, what is it?

I'm pregnant.

I-- I mean, I
think I'm pregnant.

You can't be.

I don't think I can have kids.

Chet, I'm telling you.

I've been pregnant
before, remember?

I-- I feel like I am.

Well, if you are,
let's go get married.

I mean, we've been talking
about get married, anyway.

So let's do it.

Well, I have to
divorce Bud first.

That shouldn't be
a problem, should it?

Miriam soon
visited Bud in jail.

Hi, Miriam.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
She was determined

to end their marriage.

How are you?

The only reason I'm here
is because I want a divorce.

Oh, Miriam, I'm
sorry for what I did.

Bud, I've met someone else.

I love him, and he loves me.

And we want to get married.

No.

Bud, you were the one
that left Debra and me.

MIRIAM TERRY: Although my
husband had been gone all

this while and I didn't
feel I loved him anymore,

I was worried about
losing my daughter.

I'm back, and that's that.

We are not getting divorced.

Bud, I'm pregnant.

Did-- did you hear what I said?

I said that I am pregnant.

MIRIAM TERRY: He bashed his
head against the wall and cried.

And then he said, I want
you to come back anyway.

And nobody will
ever have to know.

Just come back to me.

So at this time, I felt
like I was between a rock

and a hard place.

What about the baby?

What are you going to do
about that, tell Bud it's his?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Miriam
decided that hiding the truth

was the only way out of
the emotional tangle.

She told Chet that she was
not pregnant after all.

You're not pregnant?

Jeez, Miriam.

Look, I know things are
very complicated right now.

MIRIAM TERRY: It
was terribly hard,

but I felt I had no choice.

I felt I had to do that.

It was awful.

It was really awful.

What was I supposed to do,
just take Debra and leave?

Yeah, we take Debra and leave.

Oh, be reasonable.

I can't.

You can't just sit there.

You have to do something.

I am doing something.

I'm staying here
with Debra and Bud.

MIRIAM TERRY: He was very
upset and very angry and said,

this is going to happen
again and again and again.

You'll see.

Your life is just going
to be one of misery.

I never heard anything
about him ever anymore.

It was like he dropped off
of the face of the Earth.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): Bud Terry

was released from jail after
Miriam wrote to a judge,

begging for clemency.

Kathleen was born on
February 12, 1950.

And true to his word, Bud
raised her as his own.

He never gave me
any indication that he

knew that I was not his.

There was no way that I
would ever have known.

In fact, I have
renewed respect for him

because he never let me know.

He always loved me
and loved me equal.

And we spent a lot
of time together.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Bud struggled

to make his marriage work.

But his addiction to
gambling kept the family

on the brink of bankruptcy.

In 1969, he and Miriam
finally divorced.

Miriam remarried in 1974.

But Terry committed
suicide around that time,

and Miriam assumed her
secret would be safe forever.

More than a decade would pass
before circumstance forced

her to tell Kathleen the truth.

Well, I don't know
about things like that.

MIRIAM TERRY: I would have
taken the secret to my grave.

But since it's my fault, because
of me that this happened,

I want to help her,
because I love my daughter.

Hello.

Is this the Norris residence?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
With her mother's blessings,

Kathleen Belcher has spent six
years searching for her father

using social security
records, classified ads,

and computer hot lines.

Do you know anybody, or do you
have a relative, with the name

of Chet Lee Norris?

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): Kathleen

has phoned literally hundreds
of Norris's across the country.

But today she is no closer to
seeing her father than when

she first began to look.

All I can tell you is he
was very dark complected,

dark hair, dark eyes.

KATHLEEN BELCHER: I
just hope I can find

him before he does pass away.

It would be terrible
to know that he

just passed away months ago, and
I missed my chance to know him.

It may seem that I'm calm
about the whole circumstance,

but deep down I'm not.

I think about it day and night.

I think of what it would
be like to look in his face

and see my face.

It would be nice to see where I
got my nose, which doesn't look

like anybody's, where I got my
ears, just to look at somebody

and see familiarity.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
This is the only known

photograph of Chet
Lee Norris, taken

when he was about 32 years old.

Today, he would
be in his mid-70s.

Chet said he was a Golden
Gloves boxer during the 1940s.

He may have had a
brother named John.

When we return,
authorities need your help

to track down a serial killer.

Tonight, we have a case
of the utmost urgency.

Someone is murdering young
women in the Midwest.

The authorities need your help.

Please, watch closely.

26-year-old Robin Fuldauer
of Indianapolis, Indiana,

wanted more than anything
to marry and start a family.

On April 8, 1992, Robin
was found shot to death

at the shoe store
where she worked.

23-year-old Patricia Smith and
32-year-old Patricia Magers

were both happily married.

They worked side by side at a
bridal shop in Wichita, Kansas.

Just three days after Robin
Fuldauer was murdered,

both Patricia Smith
and Patricia Magers

were shot to death in the
back storeroom of the shop.

24-year-old Nancy Kitzmiller
of Saint Charles, Missouri,

had just recently qualified
to join a government

mapmaking team and was
awaiting assignment.

Three weeks after
the Wichita murders,

Nancy Kitzmiller was shot
to death in the boot store

where she worked as a manager.

Four murders in three
different states, separated

by more than 1,200
miles, at first glance,

they seemed to be
random killings.

Yet each took place
at a shopping mall,

just off Interstate 70
or a connecting highway.

Indeed, there was a
pattern, after all.

Raytown, Missouri, another
link in the deadly chain,

a Woodson Village shopping
center near an access road

to Interstate 70,
on May 7, 1992,

37-year-old Sarah
Blessing was working alone

in a gift shop at the mall.

At 6:30 PM that day, a local
auctioneer noticed a stranger

walking into his auction house.

The stranger looked around
briefly, then walked out again.

Tim Hickman, who owned a
video store next to the gift

shop where Sarah
Blessing worked,

took notice as the man
crossed the parking lot

and passed by his store.

Minutes later, Tim
heard a loud pop

that sounded like a gunshot.

He reached his front
door just as a man was

disappearing around the corner.

Right away, it registered
with Tim Hickman

that this was the
stranger he had just seen.

A grocery clerk,
collecting shopping carts,

also noticed the stranger.

She watched as he climbed the
embankment to an Interstate

70 access road and vanished.

Meanwhile, Tim Hickman
grabbed a portable phone

and went next door
to the gift shop.

I kind of looked
in through the door,

and I didn't see anything.

And I was calling, ma'am, ma'am.

And I stepped forward
a couple more steps,

And then I saw her legs,
sticking out of the other room.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Sarah Blessing lay

lifeless in a pool of blood.

Tim Hickman immediately
called the police.

In no time, the Raytown tragedy
was connected to the earlier

shopping mall killings.

A multistate task
force was formed.

Ballistics tests confirmed that
all five women had been killed

with the same gun, most
likely a semiautomatic,

.22-caliber pistol.

That gun was also linked to
the murder of another victim,

this one a man.

On April 27, 1992,
40-year-old Michael McCown

of Terre Haute,
Indiana, had been

killed in a shopping
mall ceramics store

near Interstate 70.

There were now six victims.

The most promising
lead came from Wichita.

Police believe the killer had
chosen the bridal shop there

because he thought only a single
female clerk was in the store.

Hi.

Can I help you?

Stay calm.

What-- what do you want?

Stay calm.

Let's just walk to
the back corner.

I've got money.

Do you want money?

Anything you want.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
He was probably surprised

to find two women on duty.

- Are you the only one here?
- Yes.

- Is there anybody else here?
- No, nobody here.

- Where is your cash register?
- It's over there.

You can have whatever you want.

We're just going
to the back room.

I'm just going to tie
you up, all right?

- Please, don't hurt us.
- Calm down.

You can have the money.

Just do what he says.

That's right.

[gunfire]

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): Moments

later, a customer
arrived to pick

up a cumberbun for his tuxedo.

Hello?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
He had no idea

that Patricia Smith and Patricia
Magers had just been shot.

Anybody here?

Hey.

Hey, man.

I don't know what's going on
here, but I need to just--

Wait a minute.

I want you to come in
the back room with me.

Look, man.
I can't go in the--

What are you doing?
What are you doing?

I-- I-- just need to--

I told you to come
in the back room.

Hey, man, I can't
come in the back room.

I just want to get out of here.

I didn't see nothing.

I don't know nothing
that's going on here.

I just-- I just want to--

Shut up and get
the hell out of here

then, and don't call the cops.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Inexplicably, the killer

let the eyewitness go free.

A short time later,
he called the police.

Using his description, as
well as those of the Raytown

eyewitness, the
police artist came up

with this composite
drawing of the I-70 killer.

The suspect is between 5 feet
8 inches and 6 feet tall,

weighs around 170 pounds, and
seems to be 35 to 40 years old.

He has reddish hair
and a high forehead

and what witnesses
describe as lazy eyelids.

According to each
of the eyewitnesses,

the suspect was neatly
dressed and clear cut.

He appeared to be
almost in a trance,

as if he were thinking
of something else.

It's important
for the audience

to know that a serial
killer never stops.

They may stop for
a period of time,

but they never stop completely.

And they will always
start up again.

So we're trying to
find this person

and stop this person
before we have six more.

Now, tragically,
there are seven victims.

After we filmed this
story, the murderer

apparently struck again,
killing a young woman

in Arlington, Texas.

Although the bullet this time
did not come from the same gun,

the MO is so similar
that police are virtually

sure it's the same man.

Once again, the suspect is
between 35 and 40 years old,

5 feet 8" to 6 feet tall,
with reddish or sandy hair

and thin lips.

On our next "Unsolved
Mysteries," 30 years ago

he was America's most
notorious criminal, Albert

DeSalvo, the Boston Strangler.

He confessed to killing
13 women in the city

between 1962 and 1964.

But many doubted
DeSalvo's story.

And the night before
he had promised

to tell the whole truth,
DeSalvo was stabbed

to death in his prison cell.

Somebody found out.

Somebody didn't want
that interview happening.

And I think they have said
before, dead men tell no tales.

Today, some believe
DeSalvo was innocent

and that the real Boston
Strangler got away with murder.

Join me next time for this
controversial investigation

and more on
"Unsolved Mysteries."

[theme music]