All language subtitles for Unsolved.Mysteries.S07E12.AMZN.WEB-DL.DDP2.0.H.264-BTW_track3_[eng]

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.

[theme music]

NARRATOR: To millions
of devout Catholics,

he was known as Padre Pio.

When he was 31,
this humble priest

was said to have had an
extraordinary vision of Jesus

Christ, which many believe
left him blessed with the power

to heal the sick.

Tonight, you will meet two
people who are convinced

that they were
cured by miracles,

miracles they attribute to
God through the intercession

of Padre Pio.

In a remote campground
area, an off-road enthusiast

had a surreal encounter with
a beautiful blonde woman

and three angry strangers.

Little did he know that
this curious episode

would later make him a key
witness in a murder mystery.

During World War II, the Lazarus
family of Baltimore, Maryland,

was told that their eldest son,
Sylvan, had died in a plane

crash in North Africa.

However, three
months later, they

identified him in
this photograph

of captured American airmen.

Today, his relatives are still
determined to find out what

happened to Sylvan Lazarus.

Join me for these intriguing
and fascinating cases

on tonight's edition of
"Unsolved Mysteries."

NARRATOR: In 1987,
Pope John Paul II

traveled to the Italian
city of San Giovanni Rotondo

to pay homage at the
tomb of one of the most

renowned and controversial
figures in the history

of the Catholic church.

To millions of devout
followers around the world,

he was known as Padre Pio.

He had been born
Francesco Forgione

in 1887, the son of farmers.

You are about to hear the
uplifting stories of two people

who believe their lives were
saved by the miraculous powers

of Padre Pio.

This is Paul Walsh of
Ridley Park, Pennsylvania.

In 1983, during his senior
year in high school,

Paul was so badly injured
in an automobile accident,

the doctors gave him almost
no hope of surviving.

Today, Paul attends college
and has recovered completely.

When Vera Marie Calandra
was two years old,

her parents were told she
only had a few weeks to live.

26 years later, Vera
Marie is perfectly healthy

and has no traces of the
illness that almost killed her.

Vera Marie Calandra
and Paul Walsh

believe they are alive today
because they were each blessed

by a miracle, miracles
they attribute

to God through the
intercession of Padre Pio.

How did this unassuming
priest become known

worldwide as a great healer?

The remarkable saga of
Padre Pio begins in 1903

when he decided to
enter the priesthood

and dedicate his life to God.

NARRATOR: Seven years
later in 1910, Padre Pio

was ordained at the age of 23.

Even then, his
extraordinary righteousness

and piety distinguished
him from the other priests

in the friary.

But no one anticipated the
remarkable events that took

place on September 20, 1918.

That morning, Padre
Pio was deep in prayer

when he experienced
what is known

in the faith as an
ecstasy, a profound vision

that many believe
left tangible evidence

that Padre Pio had been
touched by the hand of God.

BERNARD RUFFIN (VOICEOVER):
When the ecstasy was ended,

he had noticed that
his hands, and feet,

and side were bleeding.

[speaking italian]

And he had to drag
himself to his cell.

And there, he
cleaned his wounds,

and he began to
sing hymns of praise

to God because of the vision.

NARRATOR: These are
photographs of the wounds

on Padre Pio's hands.

Along with those on
his feet and side,

they are said to generally
correspond to the wounds

suffered by Jesus on the cross.

They are commonly
referred to as a stigmata.

From the start, some church
officials doubted the validity

of Padre Pio's claim.

They suspected
that the wounds had

been self-inflicted and called
in doctors to examine them.

One of the doctors decided
to conduct an experiment.

BERNARD RUFFIN (VOICEOVER):
He directed that the friars

bandage the wounds and
seal them for eight days

so that nobody could open the
bandage without being detected.

And he felt that
after eight days,

you would see the beginning
of healing in the wounds.

And after eight days, the
wounds were undressed,

and they were still the
way they were before.

There was no sign of healing.

NARRATOR: As word spread about
Padre Pio's divine revelation,

pilgrims began flocking
to San Giovanni Rotondo,

anxious to be
blessed by Padre Pio

and bear witness to the
miracle of the stigmata.

BERNARD RUFFIN (VOICEOVER):
You had almost like a carnival

atmosphere there at
San Giovanni Rotondo.

People were hawking
pictures of Padre Pio.

They were dipping pieces
of cloth in chicken blood

or rabbit blood, and
selling them as bandages

soaked with the blood
of Padre Pio's stigmata.

That became a problem
for the superiors.

NARRATOR: The church
took drastic action.

Padre Pio was sentenced to
a sort of internal exile,

forbidden to venture
into public or conduct

any of his priestly duties.

The exile lasted three years.

Ultimately, the
Vatican relented,

and Padre Pio was restored
to his former position

with one exception--

he was prohibited from showing
the stigmata in public.

By his own choice, Padre Pio
wore gloves to hide the wounds.

As the years passed, and
Padre Pio's fame blossomed,

he developed an
international reputation

as a man of miracles.

The faithful turned
to him in droves,

seeking divine intervention
for their earthly afflictions.

Among them were Vera
and Harry Calandra

of Bartel, Pennsylvania.

Their fifth child,
Vera Marie, had

been born in 1966 with
congenital defects of

the kidneys and urinary tract.

Two years and four operations
later, a doctor delivered

the worst possible news.

Want my advice?

Take your daughter home.

Make her comfortable.

What are you saying?

You want us to just
give up on Vera Marie?

There comes a time--

He came back to us immediately
and said, she's in recovery,

and we did remove
her urinary bladder.

I thought I would pass out.

I said, but how will she
live without a bladder?

He said, she's
not going to live.

NARRATOR: Vera Marie was
fitted with a catheter,

but her condition
continued to deteriorate.

Her parents sought
comfort in the church.

Mrs. Calandra sent a telegram
to Padre Pio, then 80 years old,

asking for his blessings.

A few weeks later,
she says she received

a sign that her
prayers had been heard.

I was sitting in the
living room of my home

with Vera Marie
sitting on the floor.

And suddenly, I
experienced a most unusual

fragrance of fresh
roses, something I

never experienced before.

I had no flowers in my
home, yet all around my head

was an overwhelming,
powerful fragrance of roses.

And then suddenly,
Padre Pio spoke to me.

He said, I want you to bring
your little girl to me here

in Italy, but do not delay.

Come immediately.

NARRATOR: On September 1, 1968,
with her ailing daughter, Vera

Marie, and a newborn
infant in tow,

Vera Calandra arrived in Italy
and made her way to the church

at San Giovanni Rotondo.

Exuse me.

Father, I need to see Padre Pio.

Padre Pio is very
weak and is sick.

Oh please, I need
to see him right now.

What is the reason?

What makes you special?

Because my daughter is dying.

He told me to come.

I need to see him, please.

Please.

All right.

VERA CALANDRA (VOICEOVER):
I call it a visit.

Actually, it was
a fleeting moment.

He was in a wheelchair.

We burned the sacristy.

He was brought forth
in his wheelchair.

We knelt before him
as we were told to do.

He touched my sick daughter
on the top of the head,

and he didn't even look at me.

I was crushed,
because I thought,

here is an expensive trip,
came a great distance,

my daughter could die,
and I have not the chance

to speak with him
and explain to him

the problems that we
have at this time,

and how we're asking
him to help us.

NARRATOR: The next
day, Vera returned

and was granted a rare, private
audience with Padre Pio.

VERA CALANDRA (VOICEOVER): There
he was, right in front of me

in the wheelchair.

And he put out his hand and
touched by sick daughter

on the top of the head.

I spoke to him through my heart.

Please, God, make a
miracle so that all

the people will believe.

NARRATOR: Two weeks
later, back in America,

it began to appear that a
miracle had indeed occurred.

Any change in her condition?

Is there anything
we can hope for?

This may have no
significance whatsoever,

but we found what appears to be
the remains of a bladder here.

I hit the ceiling
and said, but, Doctor,

you removed her bladder
before we left on our trip.

And he said, well, it's there.

I don't know what it is,
but we'll leave it alone.

I was very, very
happy because I figured,

well, something did happen.

And the doctor says,
whatever you're doing,

continue to do it.

Padre Pio has affected my
life in many different ways.

He's brought me closer to God.

He's made me survive when
I should have been dead.

And in a lot of ways,
he's always there

for me and my whole family.

NARRATOR: On September
23, 1968, just weeks

after he blessed Vera Marie,
Padre Pio people passed away.

Curiously, after half
a century, the stigmata

were said to have completely
healed during the final days

of his life.

That same year, to honor
their own personal miracle,

the Calandra family
established the National Center

for Padre Pio.

The center has
worked with thousands

who claimed to have
been healed by Padre

Pio's miraculous powers, even
in the years after his death.

One of the most dramatic
cases is that of Paul Walsh.

In December of 1983, Paul
was rushed to the hospital

after a serious car accident.

He had crashed his skull and
broken every bone in his face.

Paul's mother, Betty,
remembers vividly.

Mrs. Walsh.

Where are they taking him?

Surgery.

How long is that
going to take?

We have to prep him.

BETTY WALSH (VOICEOVER):
There really

wasn't anything I could do.

And I think that there is a
shock in a case like that,

where you are in
a daze, that you

can't believe it's happening.

All they really said that night
was "massive facial and head

injuries."

And the outlook was not good.

I frankly had
basically written

him off as possibly even living,
let alone living normally.

And my prognosis for
Paul's normal survival

was practically zero.

NARRATOR: Eventually,
Paul developed

hydrocephalus and
spinal meningitis,

and lapsed into a deep coma.

BETTY WALSH (VOICEOVER):
At this time,

Paul was totally unconscious,
burning up with fever.

The sweat was just
pouring off him.

A woman at church gave
me a prayer to Padre Pio.

When I came to the
Padre Pio prayer,

I started to say the prayer.

Paul's hand came
up from his side.

Very shakily, he reached
toward his forehead.

I was shocked.

I could not believe it.

His hand didn't make his
forehead all the way,

but he had made the
sign of the cross.

NARRATOR: With
renewed hope, Betty

contacted the Padre Pio Center.

Harry Calandra agreed to
visit Paul in his hospital.

There's been some improvement.

Good.

Let us pray.

NARRATOR: Harry began
reciting a prayer to Padre Pio

and covered Paul's
head with a glove

that had actually
been worn by Padre Pio

to conceal the stigmata.

And grant us the
grace we ask of you.

BETTY WALSH (VOICEOVER): It was,
to me, as if an electric shock

went through Paul.

I knew something happened.

It was like a sudden
jolt. He shook.

It only lasted for a second,
but he opened his eyes,

and he looked at me
with such clear eyes

as he had not done
for a long time.

But I knew something had
happened, even though it

didn't seem outwardly.

We left.

He was still comatose.

We left the room.

The next day, I waited
purposely till in the afternoon,

but I knew something
would be different.

You're a good kid.

Paul.

PAUL WALSH: Hi, Mom.

Hey, [inaudible].

How you doing, buddy?

This is our miracle.

What are you doing?

I'm just drawing.

Where have you been?

- Have the doctors been here?
- No.

A nurse just gave
me this to draw.

I couldn't believe it.

One of the nurses came
running in through the room.

She was so excited.

She said, he's, been
talking all day.

I asked him, one neurosurgery
assistant who, the day before,

had shown me all the dead
brain cells on the CAT scan,

what could have happened?

I said, you know
this was a miracle.

And he said, yes, I know.

Other patients I have had that
had the same extent of injuries

that Paul had are either
still in rehabilitation homes

or are dead.

I have, frankly, not
any scientific basis

for explaining why he survived.

When I did come
out of the coma,

I was wondering what everybody
was making such fuss over me

for.

I guess at the beginning, before
I was told what happened to me,

I didn't understand
what the big deal was.

NARRATOR: For
Betty Walsh, it was

clear that Padre Pio was
responsible for Paul's

sudden improvement.

Two weeks later, Paul told
his doctor an odd story

that seemed to confirm it.

He described having a visitor
whom he thought was his uncle,

but he stated that his uncle
was dressed up in a brown robe.

And I just thought this might
be some kind of hallucination.

NARRATOR: But was
it hallucination?

Not only Paul, but
also his roommate,

reported seeing the
mysterious visitor.

Uncle Charlie?

NARRATOR: Paul continued to
believe the man was his uncle

until his mother showed him a
folded leaflet that featured

a photograph of Padre Pio.

And I brought the picture
in and said to Paul,

is this who visited
you on Easter Sunday?

And I said, yes, it was.

That is Uncle Charlie, right?

And she folded the
paper down and showed me

that it was Padre Pio.

And at the time, I was--

I was laughing, that how
could it be Padre Pio?

Padre Pio is dead.

After they had told me what
had happened and all that,

I believe it was Padre Pio.

There was a man who lived
in the 20th century who

did the same thing
as the apostles did,

whose ministry confirms the
truth of the New Testament.

If you asked him,
he would say that he

didn't believe in miracles.

He would say that he
didn't work miracles.

Because everything is a miracle.

Everything is the work of God.

[music playing]

NARRATOR: Next, a strange
encounter in the forest

may have been a
prelude to murder.

The Angeles National
Forest, nearly 700,000 acres

of wilderness
recreation area just

30 minutes outside Los Angeles.

For city dwellers,
the Angeles Forest

is a perfect weekend
getaway with plenty of space

to be alone.

On Saturday, February 29, 1992,
a dedicated off-road enthusiast

named Jeff was exploring
a campground area

when his curiosity led
him into a mystery.

I'd been back in
there before, and it

was the first time
I noticed this one

little road off of the side.

And I was proceeding, got
maybe 100 yards back if that,

and I saw somebody had
set up a camp there.

As I pulled up,
directly in front of me,

there was an old panel van.

To the left of that was a tent.

To the left of the tent,
there was a very attractive

girl sitting there by herself.

Her hair was done up.

It was curly and long.

She appeared to have makeup on.

She's looking down, and she
very slowly raised her head,

and we had eye contact.

What you looking at, man?

What's your problem, man?

Yeah, man, what's
your problem?

NARRATOR: Jeff's side
trip had suddenly

taken a frightening turn.

What's your problem, man?

Get outta here!

Get!
Leave!

Leave!

Get outta here!

I never thought about
calling the police,

nor did I think
that these guys were

really dangerous to anybody.

I thought they were being
protective of their camp.

NARRATOR: March 3, 1993,
just over a year later.

The Los Angeles
County coroner was

called to investigate
a possible murder

site in the Angeles Forest.

A partial set of
skeletal remains

had been found
approximately 50 yards

from the spot where Jeff had
seen the young blonde woman.

When the coroner
checked dental records

of missing persons in the Los
Angeles area, he found a match.

The remains were
identified as those

of 20-year-old
Kimberly Pandelios, who

had disappeared a year before.

It was a tragic end to
a promising young life.

Kimberly and her
parents had immigrated

from Cuba when she was eight.

They settled in Pennsylvania,
where at the age of 19,

Kimberly married.

In 1991, she and her husband,
along with their infant son,

moved to Northridge, California.

Kimberly started
taking business courses

and worked part-time as a model.

Kimberly was a
beautiful human being.

She was loved by
everybody in the family.

And she was so sweet, so kind.

The very end of
her life, I don't

want even to think about it.

NARRATOR: After the
remains were identified,

Kimberly's story was covered
extensively on the local news.

By coincidence, Jeff,
the off-road enthusiast,

was watching.

TV was on, and I said,
that's the girl, that's

the girl I saw sitting there.

In my mind, there is no
doubt that the girl on TV

was the same I saw in
the camp, same girl.

NARRATOR: Jeff immediately
contacted the Los Angeles

County Sheriff's
Department and accompanied

two deputies to the spot
where he had seen Kimberly.

But far too much
time had passed.

There was not a single clue
to the strange disappearance

and death of Kimberly Pandelios.

It was close to where
that rock right there is.

How would Kimberly come
to be in that remote area

of the Angeles National Forest?

Who were the three men
Jeff had seen with her?

Even though the
coroner could not

determine the exact cause
of Kimberly's death,

law enforcement
now had no choice.

What had begun a year
earlier as a missing persons

case had become a probable
murder investigation.

NARRATOR: February
28, 1992, the day

before Jeff saw Kimberly in
the makeshift camp, a burned

out car was found near the
Monte Cristo Campground section

of the Angeles National Forest.

You can see where they
torched it from the side.

JOHN LAURIE
(VOICEOVER): The fire

was started in the
passenger compartment

on the passenger side
of the front seat.

We were able to determine
that the front seat was pulled

forward in a position
that would be as

if she drove to that location.

NARRATOR: Investigators
found the charred

remains of a spiral notebook
in the car but little else.

They ran a DMV
check on the plates

but could not reach
Kimberly's husband.

By the time they
did locate him, he

had reported Kimberly missing.

But a search of the area
turned up no further clues.

Three weeks later,
however, a second notebook,

this one Kimberley's day
runner was found under a bridge

two miles away from the car.

The two hikers who stumbled on
it turned it into authorities,

but the day runner yielded
neither fingerprints nor other

clues.

Rita, did you talk to
Kimberly on Thursday?

NARRATOR: Apparently,
a third notebook

is still unaccounted for.

The day after Kimberly
was reported missing,

her son's babysitter
told investigators

that a man named Paul had
telephoned for Kimberly the day

she disappeared.

Do you know Paul?

No, but this Paul called about
2 o'clock in the afternoon.

He said he had an
appointment with Kimberly,

and he wanted to confirm it.

Did he leave a
phone number with you?

No.

What happened after that?

Well, this Paul called
again about 7:00 PM.

Kimberly still wasn't home.

He said she had
left her appointment

book when she met with him.

The notebook that
Paul has is probably

the most valuable notebook.

That might have her appointments
or contacts for later that day.

There is a possibility
that Kimberly went up

into the mountains
to meet someone,

and that appointment
might be in her book.

NARRATOR: Kimberly had told her
husband that she was scheduled

to do an outdoor photoshoot.

Authorities believe
she responded to an ad

in a local newspaper.

JOHN LAURIE
(VOICEOVER): A theory

is that she drove to
that location by herself

and met someone to
do an outdoor shoot.

And that once she
was there, she was

taken off the road
back into the area

that she was ultimately found.

Hi, I'm Kimberly.

Ready for a little walk?

Come on, let's go.

No!

[scream]

Come on!

[screaming]

Come on!

I think she was there for
at least a day and a half,

from Thursday late
afternoon, all day

Friday, and at least
through noon on Saturday.

NARRATOR: It was just
past noon on Saturday

when Jeff happened upon
the makeshift campsite.

JEFF (VOICEOVER): In retrospect,
she might have been drugged,

but we just have no idea.

If she would have cried out, if
she would have said something,

if she would have given me an
indication she was in trouble,

of course, I would have done
something, but I didn't know.

It just gets to me that I
didn't do something right

then and there to help her.

This person basically
died because

of my inaction or my ignorance.

You can't bring the girl back.

But I would like justice
to be done, of course.

[music playing]

NARRATOR: When we return,
a rare behind the scenes

look at the unsung heroes of
law enforcement-- coroner's

investigators.

This is a story about
the unheralded heroes

of law enforcement.

When an accident or homicide
victim goes unidentified,

it falls to investigators
from the coroner's office

to find out who the
John and Jane Does are,

and how they died.

More often than not,
these investigators

are successful, solving
unsolvable cases

through a combination
of medical expertise,

ingenuity, and compassion.

NARRATOR: October 5, 1983,
Seal Beach, California.

At dawn, two lifeguards
discover the body

of a young boy floating in
a channel near the ocean.

The body was so badly
decomposed that it

made identification impossible.

Coroner's investigator
Joe Luckey

was dispatched to the scene.

He found no evidence
of foul play.

In fact, an autopsy
would later determine

that the cause of death
was accidental drowning.

But who the boy was and
where he had come from

posed a baffling mystery.

It looked like
one of those cases

that might never be solved.

It takes a while, sometimes,
to get over the fact

that you can't
identify these people.

You tend to think
about your own families

and know that
there's somebody out

there who's missing
a relative, somebody,

but we don't know who.

NARRATOR: Joe Luckey
was used to long odds,

and this case would
challenge all of his skills.

Joe sent a
description of the boy

to every law enforcement
agency in the immediate area.

Only one possible
match turned up--

a boy who had disappeared
from Fullerton, California.

But Fullerton was 16 miles from
where the body was discovered.

The boy is missing
here in Fullerton.

NARRATOR: Joe Luckey met
with the boy's parents.

They told him that their son had
vanished shortly after leaving

for a neighborhood park.

JOE LUCKEY (VOICEOVER):
I went over to the park,

and I found that there was
a flood control channel

right adjacent to the park.

I also discovered that because
of the rainfall the day

of his missing, that the flood
control district had opened

the local dam, which
was above that area,

and allowed the overflow to
come through that channel,

raising it approximately
six feet higher than normal.

NARRATOR: The mystery
had been solved.

Tragically, the young boy had
fallen into the flood channel

and been swept 16
miles to the ocean.

Blood samples
would later provide

a positive identification.

A coroner is probably a good
mixture of being a surgeon,

a detective, and an attorney.

Every day is a challenge.

It's new.

It's a little bit of
detective work all the time.

NARRATOR: Cullen Ellingburgh
has worked on literally

thousands of cases.

Some take months of painstaking
research and legwork.

Others are solved
solely on the basis

of one small piece of evidence.

That was the case with
an unidentified murder

victim in 1985.

CULLEN ELLINGBURGH (VOICEOVER):
Checking his clothing items

for possibly a name inside,
we came upon a buckle that

was unique and had the
name of a company that

manufactures drill bits
in Alaska for oil wells

on this buckle.

Yes, the phone number for the
Anchorage Drill Bit Company.

CULLEN ELLINGBURGH
(VOICEOVER): We

were able to call this
company, determined

that the buckle, in
fact, was an award given

to the employee
of the year, only

given out for about five years.

And with that information,
we were able to identify

the deceased individual.

NARRATOR: But some cases
remain unsolved, even

after years of investigation.

One in particular
has haunted Cullen

Ellingburgh since May 18, 1987.

That morning, the body of
a woman in her early 20s

was found at the
base of a steep cliff

in Dana Point, California.
- What have you got?

Got a girl apparently
fell off the cliff.

Any ID on her?

Got a unit up top, but we
don't have much more than that.

NARRATOR: The woman had
apparently plunged to her death

sometime during the night.

CULLEN ELLINGBURGH (VOICEOVER):
We weren't sure at that point

if it was an accident,
or intentional,

or if she had been pushed.

I went to the top of
the cliff, and there, I

found a small purse, a half
consumed soda, and a map

of Southern California.

NARRATOR: Oddly, the purse
had no other contents.

But the map held a
clue which would lead

Cullen to the person
who may have last

seen the young woman alive.

CULLEN ELLINGBURGH
(VOICEOVER): There

was a phone number on the map.

The phone number was
that of a cab company.

And the cab company
was contacted,

and they indicated they had a
fare picked up from the area

and dropped off at the area of
the Dana Point Cliffs at about

3:00 or 4:00 that morning.

NARRATOR: When Cullen
interviewed the cab driver,

he described a woman who fit
the Dana Point Jane Doe to a T.

You the lady called for a cab?

Yeah.

Can you take me to Ross
Towers in Laguna Beach?

Sure no problem.

Can you tell me how
much that's gonna be?

That'll be 20 bucks.

I only have 18.

[sigh]

Can you take me as
far as that'll go?

DRIVER: Yeah, sure,
get in the back.

CULLEN ELLINGBURGH
(VOICEOVER): The only thing

the taxi driver said
was that she had very

little to say other than that.

She was very quiet, and
he didn't notice anything

really unusual about her.

The meter says
18 bucks, ma'am.

That's the best I can do.

Thank you.

Good night.

Goodbye.

NARRATOR: The next morning,
the young woman's body

would be found at the
base of the cliff.

She was 5 feet 8 inches
tall and weighed 127 pounds.

She had light brown
hair, brown eyes,

and was wearing what appeared
to be secondhand clothing.

At the time of
her death in 1987,

she would have been
approximately 20 years old.

This is the first
Jane Doe that I've had

that I was unable to identify.

And I've continued to
work this case to today,

and occasionally, a
new lead will come in,

and I'll follow up.

But I'll, to this date,
have been unsuccessful.

There isn't a week that
I don't go by the Point

without thinking
about this lady.

I want to identify her,
and find out who she is,

and who she belongs to.

NARRATOR: Despite the
sophisticated missing persons

computer systems
available today,

thousands of John and Jane
Does across the country

remain unidentified.

Here are three of them.

This is a composite drawing of
a young woman who, in 1990, was

struck by a car and killed
along the Pacific Coast Highway

in Huntington Beach, California.

She was in her early 20s, 5
feet 4 inches tall, and weighed

approximately 125 pounds.

She had dark brown hair, brown
eyes, and severe acne scars.

Among the objects found
in the woman's possession

were a hotel key and a
ring made of human hair.

In 1976, a young
couple was found

shot to death on a
remote road in Sumter

County, South Carolina.

Because of their
similar facial features

and matching olive skin,
authorities believe

they were brother and sister.

The man was approximately
20 years old, 6 feet tall,

and weight around 150 pounds.

He had had extensive
dental work which

included bridges and crowns.

He was wearing an
expensive Bulova

Accutron watch and
a ring inscribed

with the initials JPF.

The woman appeared to
be in her late teens.

She was 5 feet 5 inches tall,
approximately 100 pounds,

with two distinct moles on
the left side of her face.

She was wearing three handmade
Mexican or Indian style rings.

Next, a family's 50 year
search for a young airman

lost during World War II.

In 1943, at the height
of World War II,

an American B-24 bomber
on a non-combat mission

went down over North Africa.

The entire crew was lost.

Among the victims
were these three men--

Sylvan Lazarus, Carl
Cobb, and Bernard Brady.

For some 50 years,
they have been

the focus of a perplexing
unsolved mystery.

Three months after the
crash, a Baltimore newspaper

ran this photograph of
four American prisoners

of war being interrogated
by a German officer.

Inexplicably, three
of the prisoners

were positively identified
by their families

as Lazarus, Cobb, and Brady.

Perhaps someone watching can
help the families of these men

finally put their sons to rest.

NARRATOR: Christmas
of 1943 was a time

of sorrow for the Lazarus
family of Baltimore, Maryland.

On December 14th, they
learned that their eldest

son, Sylvan, an American
airman, was missing in action.

Three weeks later, the family's
worst nightmare came true.

Dad?

It's your brother.

He's dead.

NARRATOR: Sylvan's
brother Arnold

was 17 years old at the time.

We were devastated,
absolutely devastated.

I mean, my brother
was such a great guy.

He was loved by everybody, very,
very outgoing, family oriented.

And to lose somebody
like that is devastating.

There's no other
word I could use.

NARRATOR: According
to government records,

on December 8, 1943,
Sylvan and 13 other men

boarded a B-24 Liberator bomber
on the eastern coast of Africa.

The plane was bound for
Casablanca, Morocco, when

it reportedly crashed
in the Atlas Mountains

near the city of Taroudant.

Military officials
reported that Sylvan

Lazarus and the
other victims were

later buried in a mass grave.

Three months passed, the
Lazarus family tried to cope

with the loss of Sylvan.

They never received any of
his personal effects, not even

his dog tags.

Then on March 17, 1944, the
mysterious photograph appeared

in "The Baltimore Mirror."

Anna.

Anna!

NARRATOR: The family's
grief turned first

to confusion, then to hope.

Oh, my, Samuel.

What does it say?

Says, "Prisoners of Germany,
captured after their planes

were shot down over
the Third Reich

during recent obliteration
bombing raids."

We were shocked.

There was no question about
it that one of the airmen

was definitely my brother.

His eyes, his posture, the
way he stood at a certain way.

It was definitely
him, definitely.

NARRATOR: Was it possible that
Sylvan Lazarus had survived?

If so, it made no
sense for him to be

interrogated by a Nazi
officer in North Africa.

The Germans had been
driven from the area

more than seven months
before the crash.

Sylvan's father was
convinced that there

was much more to the story.

He obtained the names
of the 13 other crewmen

killed in the accident and
sent each of their families

a copy of the photograph.

Incredibly, Bernard
Brady of New York

and Carl Cobb of Cynthiana,
Kentucky, were identified.

My father wanted more
answers, and he wrote back

and forth to the government.

My father even contacted the Red
Cross, trying to get answers.

But it was all in vain.

Anything?

No, nothing.

JERRY LAZARUS (VOICEOVER):
They were first

told that the crewmen
were all buried

in a common grave at the
Casablanca European Cemetery.

Later on, they were told
that the men, their remains,

were dug up and reburied
in [inaudible] Cemetery

in, I believe, Algeria.

There was never any explanation
given, to my knowledge,

as to why the
government did this.

I am not really sure whether
the government or the military

knows exactly what happened.

I have my own theories.

Unfortunately, I
don't have proof.

SOLDIER: [shouting in german]

NARRATOR: The Lazarus family
now believes that Sylvan's plane

may have been shot down
during a secret mission

behind German lines in
Europe, not in Africa.

They also believe that
some of the crewmen

managed to parachute
to safety, only to be

taken prisoner by the Nazis.

[speaking german]

NARRATOR: Sylvan
and the others were

most likely photographed
while being interrogated

about their mission.

The Lazaruses fear that
Sylvan may have been singled

out because of his religion.

[speaking german]

My theory is great possibility
that the Germans found

out that my brother was Jewish.

And I believe that they
violated the Geneva Convention.

By rights, he should have
been put into a POW camp.

But I don't believe
that that happened.

I believe that he was put into
a concentration camp instead.

See, Dad, this is
from the War Department,

the Adjutant General's Office,
dated January 24, 1944.

NARRATOR: Although it has been
50 years since Sylvan Lazarus

was last seen alive, his
family continues to search

for clues to his fate.

In 1990, under the Freedom
of Information Act,

the Lazaruses obtained
the original crew list

from the National Archives.

JERRY LAZARUS (VOICEOVER):
There were 14 names,

and my Uncle Sylvan,
Carl Cobb, and Bernard

Brady were among those names.

And next to those three
names were check marks,

and the numbers 1, 2, and 3.

And I've never
gotten an explanation

as to what those check
marks or numbers meant.

I feel very, very
sad about one thing--

that my parents
went to their graves

without knowing exactly
what happened to my brother.

Having seen the photograph,
we cannot help but wonder

what really happened to him.

Couldn't have been
killed in the crash.

So what happened to him?

That's what we want to find out.

[music playing]

Do our minds possess
untapped psychic powers?

Can we move objects
without touching them?

Can we communicate
clairvoyantly with the dead?

Do premonitions come true?

Join me two weeks from
tonight as we explore

these intriguing questions
on a special "Unsolved

Mysteries" report, mysteries
of the psychic mind.

[theme music]