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[Music] Our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents. If you feel at
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any time you need support, please contact your local crisis center. For suggested phone numbers, for
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confidential support, and for a more detailed list of content warnings, please see the show notes for this
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episode on your app or on our website. [Music] On the morning of Sunday, August 22,
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1982, a white two seat Cessna C150 aircraft with red trims departed from Vancouver, Canada. At the controls was
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19-year-old Yarislaf Ambrosi, Yaric for short, and better known to friends and family simply as Jerry.
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Beside him in the passenger seat sat his high school sweetheart, 18-year-old Diane Babcock.
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After flying over the rugged forested mountain ranges east of the city, the Cessna landed at the regional airport in
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Pentictton, an inland city between Okanagan and Scaha Lakes. From the airport lobby, an upbeat Diane
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phoned her family to let them know that she and Jerry had arrived safely. The weather was nice, and they planned
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to visit Scar's lakefront for a swim before returning to Vancouver later that afternoon.
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Jerry and Diane returned to the Cessna at around 4:30 p.m. Before taking off again, Jerry filed a detailed flight
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plan with Pentictton Air Traffic Control, outlining their route home. The couple planned to head west over the
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small town of Princeton, then north toward the community of Spasm. From there, they would cross Harrison
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Lake and the nearby resort village of Harrison Hot Springs before continuing to Pit Meadows at the eastern edge of
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metropolitan Vancouver and finally land in the city itself. The journey spanned roughly 200 m and
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would take about 2 and 1/2 hours. The skies above Pentictton were clear just before 6:00 p.m. when Jerry
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received clearance for takeoff. With Diane beside him, he taxied onto runway 34, climbed steadily into the
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air, and banked left toward Vancouver. The Cessna reached cruising altitude, and stayed on course for 10 minutes
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until it soared out of range of Pentictton's air traffic control radar. [Music] The following afternoon of Monday,
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August 23, 1982, Pentictton police received reports of a missing Cessna C150 that was overdue on its flight to
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Vancouver. Two teenagers from Vancouver's Lower Mainland were on board. The pilot Jerry
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Ambrose and his passenger Diane Babcock. The couple had departed Pentictton the previous evening without incident, but
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hadn't been seen or heard from since. Jerry's car was still parked at Vancouver airport, where the Cessna was
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conspicuously absent. The trip had been intended as a one-day adventure for Jerry and Diane, a last
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fling of sorts before school resumed in the autumn. Jerry was planning to study geographics
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at university while Diane had enrolled in a psychiatric nursing program at the British Columbia Institute of
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Technology. She was volunteering at a children's hospital in the meantime. The Ambrosia and Babcock families had
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mixed feelings about the flight. Dian's father was particularly uneasy about the
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idea. On the morning of the trip, he warned her to be careful. However, Diane and
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Jerry had both been excited, expressing no apprehension at all. Jerry even turned down his mother's
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request to attend church that morning, explaining it would cut into his time with Diane and delay their return until
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after nightfall. The start of their journey home had been relatively smooth. Pentictton lies
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between two long lakes nestled on a narrow valley floor. After takeoff, the Cessna ascended over
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the city, gliding above the surrounding lakes, vineyards, and orchards that stretched across the open rolling hills.
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The scenery was as easy to navigate as it was picturesque. Beyond the valley, though, the landscape
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quickly became far more treacherous. Approaching Princeton, the rolling hills gave way to forested ridges and sharp
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eroded cliffs. The terrain tightened further at spasm with the jagged peaks and sheer rock
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faces plunging towards the roaring Fraser River. Cedar, hemlock, and fur trees covered
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the slopes while moss and ferns created a damp, darker atmosphere inside the deep cut gorge.
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Further west, Harrison Lake stretched out like a fjord. Its deep blue waters framed by more steep forested mountains.
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At its southern tip lay the small resort town of Harrison Hot Springs, the only sign of civilization in the otherwise
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vast wilderness. Beyond the mountains, the land flattened into Fraser Valley, where Patchwork
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Farmland spread across the plane. From there, the eastern suburbs gave way to Vancouver itself with its sprawling
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grid of streets and neighborhoods stretching out to the straight of Georgia. Although conditions were ideal when the
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Cessna took off, it hadn't been spotted over any settlements along its intended route, which immediately raised
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concerns. Its last confirmed sighting came from the air traffic controller at Pentictton
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who oversaw its departure, but troubling reports were emerging elsewhere. The first way point on Jerry's flight
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plan was Princeton, west of Scara Lake. Yet, multiple witnesses on the ground reported seeing the Cessna veering south
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towards a narrow, windy valley. This was significant because the area was in a nofly zone.
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The Cessna allegedly passed over the Dominion Radio Aastrophysical Observatory, which was equipped with
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monitoring devices that detected aircrafts entering its airspace. Early that evening, a disturbance
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resembling a small airplane was recorded in the zone, but it quickly vanished without a trace.
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Jerry hadn't radioed any flight service stations, nor did he broadcast a Mayday call, the International Aviation Signal
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for a life-threatening emergency. The only plausible explanation for the Cessna's sudden disappearance seemed to
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be that it had run into trouble, leaving Jerry and Diane with no chance or ability to call for help.
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While piloting an aircraft was an unusual hobby for a teenager, Jerry held a private pilot's license with about 18
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months of flying experience, including a solo flight. He was working towards earning his commercial license with
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ambitions to fly for an airline. One day, every Monday night, Jerry attended flight school at Vancouver airport,
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studying everything from aircraft mechanics to emergency landings. He was well acquainted with the Cessna
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C150, a simple, compact, and reliable training aircraft. Its high wing design provided excellent
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visibility below and to the sides, while its fixed tricycle landing gear made ground handling straightforward.
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Jerry's instructor described him as an average pilot who had not been night or mountain checked, meaning he hadn't
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received specialized training to fly at night or safely navigate mountainous terrain.
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Even so, he had previously flown to Pentictton, completed another cross-country trip, and earned a top
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score for flight planning. His instructor believed Jerry was fully capable of completing the Pentictton
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roundtrip, though acknowledged that a young pilot could easily veer off course by misreading their compass.
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The Cessna wasn't equipped with a fixed emergency locator transmitter or ELT, making immediate efforts to locate it
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challenging. In the event of a crash, this distress beacon automatically transmits a signal
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to help rescuers find the aircraft, even if no one survives. Because the Cessna was primarily used
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for training and typically remained within a 25m radius of Vancouver, regulations didn't require it to have an
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ALT. Portable ones were available, but Jerry and Diane hadn't taken one on their
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flight. Consequently, rescuers had to meticulously comb both the couple's flight path and the surrounding terrain
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in case the aircraft had traveled off course. Armed forces aircraft searched from the
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skies between Pentictton and Vancouver, supported by volunteer private and commercial planes.
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Meanwhile, military and provincial emergency program personnel tked the traversible areas below.
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The search had to be conducted three times over with negative results before it could be called off. A process that
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could take 3 to 4 weeks depending on equipment availability and weather conditions.
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The situation was undeniably grim. A controlled emergency landing was nearly impossible in the mountains, gorgees,
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and forests. A hard crash into trees, cliffs, or water was unlikely to spare the Cessna's
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occupants who had only seat belts for protection. Even in summer, the high mountain
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elevations were cold, damp, and unpredictable. Anyone who did survive the impact would
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still face hypothermia, exposure, or dehydration within hours or days. Landing in one of the few open valleys
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offered the only realistic chance of survival. Yet, the Cessna wasn't spotted in any of them.
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A water landing on a lake might have been survivable if the plane hadn't sunk quickly, but the glacial water would
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have brought on hypothermia within minutes. Survival also heavily depended on a timely rescue, and the wilderness was
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vast. Even with the dozens of aircraft searching, the wreckage could remain hidden in the dense terrain for days,
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weeks, or longer. Without a distress signal or radio contact, the odds of being discovered in
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time were slim. Searchers deployed an electrical parabolic microphone, a device previously used to locate missing
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children and other lost individuals. If the Cessna had crashed and anyone remained alive on board, the microphone
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could amplify even the faintest sounds of life. It was used to detect irregular noises throughout the search zone, but
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produced no worthwhile results. By Monday, August 30, the search had been underway for a week, covering more
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than 13,000 square miles. No clues and no traces of the Cessna. Jerry Ambrosi or Diane Babcock had been
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found that morning at 10:00. Vancouver teenager Tomsh Palowski received an unexpected phone call.
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Better known as Tom, he was Jerry Ambrose's longtime best friend. Both had immigrated to Canada from
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Poland and their family standing within the local Polish community had brought them together.
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Their close bond combined with their names led to people playfully comparing them to the famous cartoon cat and mouse
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duo Tom and Jerry. Tom was also close friends with the Diane Babcock and the trio formed a
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tight-knit group that spent most of their time together. On Monday, August 30, Tom's home phone
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rang with a collect call from someone who had given the operator the name Lewis Gomez.
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Although Tom didn't know anyone by that name, he accepted the call and was stunned to hear a familiar voice.
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It was Jerry. Tom couldn't believe it was really him. After all, Jerry and Diane had now been
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missing for a week. The voice sounded strange, but after hearing a few words, Tom was certain it
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was his friend on the other line. The pair normally spoke English, but Jerry switched to their native Polish
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during the call, making him difficult to understand. Tom missed much of what he said and had
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to ask him to repeat himself. When Jerry mentioned being in New York City, Tom was baffled.
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Flying straight east from Vancouver to New York is roughly 2 and a half thousand miles.
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The journey would require days of careful route planning, numerous fuel stops, perfect weather, and a high level
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of expertise. The idea that Jerry could have pulled it off seemed absurd. When Tom asked how he had gotten to New
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York, Jerry changed his story. He now claimed that he didn't know his exact location, only that it was a very small
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town. As for why he hadn't returned home, Jerry explained that there had been an
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accident. He described the Cessna crashing into a lake and flipping over with Diane
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trapped by her seat belt inside. He tried to rescue her, but water rushed into the cabin and rapidly sank the
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plane. Helpless, Jerry swam to shore as Diane went down with the Cessna. Although Tom wasn't sure what to make of
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the story, Jerry sounded genuinely distraught and possibly in shock. Tom tried to reassure him by insisting
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there was nothing he could have done for Diane, but this only seemed to irritate
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Jerry. He insisted that he loved Diane and accused Tom of not understanding. Everything is finished. Jerry said
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he was unwilling to return home, certain his parents would soon forget him. However, when the conversation turned to
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Dian's parents, his voice grew more upset. While Tom was still on the phone, Jerry's father, Ted Deu Shambrozik,
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walked through the door. Coincidentally, he had just retrieved Jerry's abandoned car from the airport
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with Tom's father and brought it to the Palowski residence. After realizing who Tom was talking to,
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Tedush took over and immediately asked his son what had happened. Initially silent, Jerry eventually spoke
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up and admitted that he felt like a murderer because Diane was dead. Today urged him to come home. When Jerry
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resisted, his father promised to find him a lawyer. After speaking with his father for 3
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minutes, Jerry appeared receptive to the idea of returning. But when Tom picked up the phone again,
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Jerry accused him of betrayal, believing Tom had deliberately involved to Deosush
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in the call. Tom denied this, insisting it had been unplanned and reassuring Jerry that they
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were still best friends, but Jerry was now withdrawn and no longer wanted to talk. He promised to
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call back later, said bye, and ended the 15-minute call. [Music] At this stage, nothing had been found in
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or around any bodies of water between Pentictton and Vancouver to support Jerry's account. And despite sounding
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cooperative with his father, he didn't return home. Though, he did keep his other promise.
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The next day at around 5:00 p.m., Jerry called Tom Palowski again, and the pair had another long conversation.
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Jerry was just as frantic and difficult to understand as before, but this time he managed to convey a few crucial
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details. Despite previously claiming to be in New York City, Jerry clarified he was
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actually in Whitefish, a resort town in the Rocky Mountains of Northwest Montana.
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While much closer than New York, Whitefish was still nearly 500 m east of Vancouver.
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It was reachable in the Cessna, but would be pushing the aircraft's fuel limits.
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Whatever the case, Jerry's whereabouts implied he had traveled east from Pentictton rather than west as
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originally planned. Surprisingly, he wanted Tom to contact the police to tell them where to search
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for the downed Cessna. He didn't know its exact location, but said it was in Little Bitterroot Lake, a
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small mountain lake outside the town of Marian, less than an hour southwest of Whitefish.
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Tom kept his word and relayed the information to the authorities who were in utter disbelief.
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The notion that the missing teenagers had flown nearly 4 hours to Montana attempted a perilous water landing that
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killed Diane and that Jerry was now phoning a friend to confess it all sounded absurd.
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To prove he was telling the truth about the calls, Tom submitted to a polygraph test and passed.
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Although Jerry's first call couldn't be traced, records revealed that someone using the name Lewis Gomez had been
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systematically attempting to reach individuals with the surname Pelowski in the days following August 22 before
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eventually connecting with Tom. The second call was traced to a telephone booth at a bus depot in New
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York City, not Whitefish as Jerry had claimed. Why he was in New York remained a
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mystery. He had no friends or relatives in the city. His only connection was through
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Tom, whose mother lived there. However, she had a different surname and her details were not listed in the telephone
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book, making it unlikely that Jerry could locate her. Following Tom Pilowsk's tip off,
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authorities descended on Little Bitterroot Lake. Nestled in a remote valley, the lake
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stretches roughly 1 mile long and a/4 mile wide. Its edges are fringed with rocky
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outcrops, dense undergrowth, and occasional wetlands, while its clear waters mirror the steep forested slopes
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that rise around it. A few cabins are scattered among the trees, most of which serve as seasonal
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or vacation homes rather than permanent residences. Although investigators remained
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skeptical of Jerry's story, inquiries with Montana authorities revealed some unusual information.
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They'd just recently begun investigating an oily sheen on the surface of Little Bitterroot Lake.
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There had also been reports of a strange man seen wandering along the shoreline.
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John Taylor lived north of the lake. At around 11:00 the morning after the August 22 flight, John noticed that an
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old shag rug was missing from his front porch along with a brand new hammock he'd left folded on an outdoor table.
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After speaking with his wife, the couple concluded that the items had been taken.
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While searching the area for the missing items, John encountered a young man. He was wearing a dark hat and white
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shorts with no shirt. It was odd attire for the depths of the cold forest where the weak August sunlight barely filtered
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through the trees. Weirder still, he was soaking wet and carrying a duffel bag. The young man told John that he was just
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passing through, which struck Jon as peculiar given that he lived on a dead end road in the remote wilderness.
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The young man politely asked if he could build a fire in a neighbor's fire pit. John said it wasn't a good idea and
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suggested he use a pit on a vacant lot about 900 ft away. The stranger thanked him and went on his way.
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A short time later, John passed the lot and saw the young man standing beside the fire he had lit.
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A total of six people reported seeing the young man around Little Bitterroot Lake in the week following August 22.
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He was spotted sitting alone on cabin porches and repeated the line that he was just passing through.
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When asked by inquisitive teens about some cuts visible on his legs, he claimed a bear had chased him over a
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hill. When these witnesses were shown a photograph of Jerry Ambrose, they confirmed to varying degrees that he was
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the person they'd encountered. However, some noted a discrepancy. The man they saw had no mustache,
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whereas Jerry did in the photo. At no time was a young woman seen with him. Because the local community kept their
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surroundings pristine, investigators quickly noticed a few out ofplace items. One was a green plastic garbage bag
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sealed with black tape, but torn open at the side. They also found the clear plastic cover of a disposable razor.
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Among the remnants of the stranger's campfire were the charred remains of a radio microphone cord and a gust lock
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used to keep a parked plane from moving in the wind. Both items were from a Cessna C150.
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Local reports from the night of August 22 varied. Some residents heard nothing unusual
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while others recalled a loud noise like metal or tin falling rapidly. According to Jerry Ambrose, the answer
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to the mystery lay at the bottom of a little bitter lake. The task ahead was arduous. Chilly,
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blustery weather made entering the choppy water a challenge. The lake was fed primarily by snow malt
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from the surrounding ridges, making it freezing cold. Its bottom was also extremely rugged,
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resembling a mountain range, with the deepest point reaching 260 ft. A layer of silt blanketed the lakes's
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floor ranging from 2 to 16 ft thick. Based on the probable flight path from Canada, the Cessna likely approached a
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little bitter lake from the north and went down somewhere in the south. Authorities spent a week scaring the
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southern half of the lake, but found no trace of the aircraft. A local sheriff told the media they
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would search until we feel we have done the best we can to search the whole lake.
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Still, the possibility that Jerry had deliberately misled them lingered. After all, he'd lied to Tom regarding
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his whereabouts, suggesting he was trying to throw authorities off his trail. If Jerry's account was true, he might
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have been so shaken by the crash and Diane's death that he wasn't thinking clearly or acting rationally.
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But investigators couldn't dismiss the possibility that the Cessna had never crashed at all.
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While Dian's loved ones clung to hope that she was still alive, others skeptical of Jerry's story wondered
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whether the little Bitterroot Lake lead was a calculated diversion to obscure the truth of what really happened to the
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pair. As the investigation deepened, more peculiar clues and theories emerged. A witness at Vancouver airport recalled
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seeing Jerry and Diane at the fuel station before takeoff. They were studying a map and were
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overheard mentioning a destination possibly starting with K or C and ending in the letter A, which didn't align with
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anywhere listed on their flight plan. Right before takeoff, Jerry hurried back to his car to collect a duffel bag,
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joking to the witness as he passed by. I can't forget this. It's very important.
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He and Diane were also observed reorganizing items from the plane into bags, leading investigators to speculate
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whether they had been transporting something unusual, possibly even smuggling. Another theory came from classmates and
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friends of the couple. Jerry and Diane had been going steady for about 15 months and were by all accounts happy
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together, though discreet about their romance. However, their parents weren't as
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thrilled by the pairing. The Ambrosix had hoped Jerry would date a Polish girl, while the Babcocks rarely
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engaged with the Jerry at all. They appeared in denial about the relationship, insisting the pair were
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just close friends and objecting to how late Jerry sometimes brought Diane home.
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The couple were compared to Romeo and Juliet, the timeless tragedy of young lovers doomed by their disapproving
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families. This fueled speculation that Jerry and Diane had fled Vancouver to be together,
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free from parental expectations. [Music] Perhaps Jerry had concocted a scheme to
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convince the world Diane had perished, hoping the search would be called off. Dian's father strongly rejected this
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theory, telling the media that the teens had no reason to alope. He insisted that
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if they had truly wanted to be together, they would have been able to do so with
00:28:57
support in Vancouver. Some remained unconvinced by his assertions, wondering if his diplomatic
00:29:05
words were merely a desperate attempt to persuade Diane to return home. If Jerry and Diane had truly run away
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for good, they'd left behind no clear evidence of it. Jerry had rented the Cessna for just one day. He and Diane
00:29:24
had packed lightly, only taking a change of clothes, swimwear, and lunch. While everyday essentials such as their
00:29:31
toothbrushes remained at home, they carried only small amounts of cash with no savings, credit cards, or other
00:29:40
financial means to support an extended absence. They had never expressed any desire to
00:29:46
run away together to anybody else and were making plans for a future in Vancouver.
00:29:54
Yet, rumors surfaced that Jerry had recently tried to sell his car and some personal belongings,
00:30:01
and a review of Diane's finances suggested she had close to $1600 in her possession, which she hadn't disclosed
00:30:09
to anyone. Even though she had this money, she hadn't paid for her school books or
00:30:15
tuition. So, what was she saving it for? By Monday, September 13, the search of Little Bitterroot Lake had entered its
00:30:25
13th fruitless day. That same day, Tom Powski received another collect call from Lewis Gomez.
00:30:35
[Music] As expected, Jerry Ambrosic was on the other line. Roughly 90% of the call was in English
00:30:50
with the Jerry speaking Polish the rest of the time. "Hi, how are you doing?" he began.
00:30:58
Tom immediately asked why he hadn't returned yet, to which Jerry replied, "I told you I'm not coming back."
00:31:07
"Did they find the plane?" Jerry asked. "No, not yet," Tom responded, adding. I told them where it was. They can't find
00:31:18
it. Jerry insisted it was in Little Bitterroot Lake, saying, "Looking from the lake, I guess it's well south,
00:31:28
southeast, or close to the south part of the lake or something, but it's pretty well right in the middle."
00:31:37
He was confident that if authorities sent in divers, they would find it. Tom explained they had been searching
00:31:45
the southern area for several days with no success. You're kidding, Jerry replied. I'm
00:31:52
serious, Tom assured him. When Tom mentioned Diane, Jerry remarked, "Well, she's dead. If they
00:32:02
find the plane, she'll be inside." Throughout the call, Jerry opened up more about what had allegedly happened
00:32:11
on Sunday, August 22. He admitted that he and Diane had been planning to leave Vancouver and had
00:32:19
spent months secretly planning their escape. After considering several options, they
00:32:26
decided to use a plane as it would get them over the US border more easily. They could then travel further and be
00:32:34
harder to trace. They had no intention of returning to Canada, going so far as to provide a
00:32:41
fake flight route home to avoid suspicion and give the impression that they must have crashed somewhere along
00:32:47
the way. They'd hoped that after a week of searching, everyone would assume they
00:32:53
were dead and give up looking for them. They planned to take the Cessna as far as its fuel would allow, then put it
00:33:02
down on a lake before continuing their escape on foot. Jerry's flight instructor had once
00:33:09
explained that in the event of an emergency water landing, a plane could float for 10 to 30 minutes.
00:33:17
This would provide the couple enough time to gather their belongings, disembark, and reach the shore in an
00:33:23
inflatable twoman raft, leaving the Cessna to sink and vanish. Once on land, Jerry and Diane intended
00:33:32
to hitchhike to New York City, reasoning that its size would allow them to blend
00:33:37
in unnoticed. Once they had gathered enough supplies, they would proceed to their ultimate
00:33:43
goal of relocating somewhere remote to live off the land. Using topographical maps, they'd
00:33:51
calculated the maximum distance they could cover from Pantictton and identified large bodies of water within
00:33:58
range. Timing was everything. If they left too early, much of the journey would be in
00:34:05
daylight, increasing the risk of detection. too late and the darkness would make it
00:34:11
nearly impossible to safely navigate through the mountains or pick out landmarks below.
00:34:18
They settled on Flathead Lake in Montana, far enough away to give them a substantial head start and so far off
00:34:26
course that no one would suspect they could have ended up there. Although they understood the risks of a
00:34:34
water landing and had no opportunity to practice it, they spent countless hours discussing every detail, including their
00:34:42
exit strategy. Jerry used his flight training to practice aerial maneuvers and emergency
00:34:48
recoveries such as stalls, spirals, and engine failures. To prevent their families from
00:34:55
suspecting that their trip would last longer than expected, they deliberately left behind many essentials.
00:35:03
Each packed only a small bag of items to get them through their first few days on
00:35:07
the run, including a razor, hair dye, and a hair perming kit to walter their appearances.
00:35:15
After touching down in Pentictton, the couple wandered over to a grassy patch near the runway and spread out their
00:35:21
spare clothes as a makeshift picnic rug. For the next several hours, they ate lunch, watched aircraft come and go, and
00:35:30
studied their navigation maps while going over their plan one last time. Back at the Cessna, they sealed their
00:35:39
travel bags in garbage bags and changed into their swimwear in preparation for the lake crossing.
00:35:50
Once in the air and out of range of Pentictton's air traffic control radar, Jerry and Diane followed their secret
00:35:57
route south, navigating with the Cessna flight instruments to remain below US border radar and away from checkpoints
00:36:04
and observation towers. However, as they approached Flathead Lake on the night of Sunday, August 22,
00:36:13
the numerous lights from nearby residences deterred them, and they quickly switched to a more remote
00:36:19
location. They settled on Little Bitterroot Lake, which was 25 mi closer and secluded
00:36:27
enough to avoid detection. It was also small enough that swimming to shore would be feasible if necessary.
00:36:37
No one nearby would have heard the plane approach as Jerry killed the engine during the final descent.
00:36:44
He planned to stall the plane and glide it gently onto the water's surface, but the Cessna was now low on fuel, and the
00:36:52
pitch black night severely limited visibility. As Jerry descended from the north, he
00:36:59
realized his timing was off and feared he was coming in too close to the southern shore.
00:37:06
He unfastened his seat belt, trusting that his tight grip on the controls would keep him in place, and attempted
00:37:12
to slow the plane by dragging the tail along the water, a technique he'd learned in flight school.
00:37:19
But he miscalculated. The Cessna's wheels hit the water first, which felt like hitting a brick rock and
00:37:27
caused the aircraft to immediately flip over, propelling Jerry through the plastic windshield.
00:37:34
The next thing he remembered was tasting blood as he desperately tried to orientate himself in the dark, freezing
00:37:41
water. He had sustained injuries, including a bleeding nose, cuts on his legs, and a
00:37:48
suspected broken rib. Meanwhile, Diane called out for help. Jerry shouted to her, asking if she was
00:37:57
okay. Yaric, she replied, "I can't get my belt off. He then realized she was trapped inside
00:38:07
the Cessna strapped into her seat. The seat belt consisted of a harness across her chest and a strap across her
00:38:15
waist secured by a buckle she couldn't release. Jerry himself wasn't even sure how to
00:38:22
unlock the mechanism. And despite having been told the plane would float on water for up to 30
00:38:28
minutes, it began sinking within seconds. Likely concuss, disoriented, and blinded
00:38:36
by the dark, Jerry struggled to find his bearings. He crawled over the aircraft towards the
00:38:43
passenger door. But just as he managed to open the door, water rushed into the Cessna's cabin as if a dam had burst.
00:38:52
It surged around Jerry's head, filling his mouth and blinding him. Frantically, he reached inside for
00:39:00
Diane, but couldn't feel her. He suddenly realized the impact had flipped the plane, reversing the pilot and
00:39:08
passenger sides. Diane was suspended upside down on the other side of the cabin.
00:39:16
Within 20 seconds, the Cessna sank beneath the surface of the lake, taking Diane with it.
00:39:24
Referring to the botched landing as the stupid thing, Jerry admitted on the phone to his friend Tom Powski that it
00:39:32
was mostly his fault. Yet, he also criticized the Diane, adding, "Her big fault is she couldn't
00:39:41
even take the seat belt off." Jerry noted how there was so much emphasis on the importance of seat
00:39:49
belts, yet the one time he didn't wear his and Diane did it saved his life and killed her.
00:39:58
Crazy, isn't it? He told Tom. "Real ironic." After watching the Cessna vanish, Jerry
00:40:09
treaded water in a circle for what felt like an eternity, hoping Diane would eventually resurface.
00:40:16
She never did. Once the adrenaline wore off, Jerry realized he was numb with cold.
00:40:24
Remarkably, the garbage bag containing his duff of belongings floated out of the Cessna.
00:40:31
He used it to stay afloat as he swam the mile to shore. Sitting alone in the woods, freezing and
00:40:39
in shock, he felt as though he was stranded in the middle of a desert with no compass or water.
00:40:46
He visited a nearby cabin, stole a rug and hammock to keep warm, then spent the rest of the night curled up and
00:40:54
struggling to sleep. The next morning, Jerry encountered a local man who advised him to light a
00:41:02
fire at a nearby pit. He used it to incinerate most of the evidence of his and Diane's plan that
00:41:09
had been in his duffel bag, including their navigational maps and items removed from the Cessna's glove
00:41:16
compartment. He also burned his ID, having decided to continue with the original plan as
00:41:23
intended, even without Diane. His bag contained a few items to kickstart his journey, including cash
00:41:32
he'd saved up. some spare clothes, a few cans of food, and a razor he used to shave off his mustache.
00:41:41
Despite his desire to leave everything behind, he couldn't abandon Diane at the bottom of the lake.
00:41:48
He therefore kept one map showing the Cessna's location, and after wandering aimlessly through the forest for several
00:41:55
days, he began his journey to New York. Once in the city, he used a phone booth to call various Palowski listings in the
00:42:04
phone book until he finally reached Tom. After sharing details of the incident and Diane's whereabouts, Jerry left in
00:42:14
New York and traveled nearly 1,400 m southwest. Along the way, a man who had given him a
00:42:22
ride stole his bag, leaving him with virtually nothing. He eventually arrived in Dallas, Texas,
00:42:29
destitute and homeless, but soon met someone who offered him a place to stay. Jerry told Tom that while he wanted
00:42:39
Diane to be found, he had no intention of ever returning to Vancouver. He was certain that once police found
00:42:47
the Cessna with Diane's body inside, he would be charged with murder despite being innocent.
00:42:54
I didn't do anything. He said, I told you it's not like I killed her. They know the plane crashed and she died.
00:43:03
They can see that there are no wounds on her or anything showing I killed her. It was an accident.
00:43:14
But it doesn't make sense that you're running, Tom counted, implying that if it truly was an accident, Jerry had
00:43:22
nothing to fear. Jerry remained determined to start a new life, saying, "I think I'll like it this way. I don't
00:43:32
know why, but it seems kind of, I guess, adventurous or something. You know, I was always a freak for that."
00:43:41
He even expressed a desire to write a book, telling Tom, "I'll bring it back to you in 20 years, okay? You can read
00:43:50
it, the whole story, detail by detail. Although Jerry sometimes sounded indifferent about what had happened to
00:43:59
Diane, he also expressed sadness about her loss and being by himself. It's like half of you dying, he
00:44:08
confided. He admitted to feeling remorse over her death and blamed himself as he had
00:44:15
encouraged her to wear her seat belt. When Tom mentioned that Diane's parents still hoped she was alive, Jerry
00:44:24
replied, "So do I." Though he couldn't imagine facing them again. Even though he didn't believe he had
00:44:33
done anything wrong, he knew he would feel guilty if he returned home. To Tom, it seemed as though Jerry was
00:44:42
still in a state of shock. He even admitted to trying to erase the incident from his subconscious memory as a way to
00:44:49
cope. Tom continued to urge Jerry to turn himself in. The police were working overtime and it
00:44:58
was only a matter of time before they tracked him down. The case was even making the news, prompting Jerry to
00:45:06
exclaim, "Hey, I'll be famous." Tom pressed on, saying, "They'll find you. They will sooner or later."
00:45:19
Jerry replied, "Sooner or later, Tom." before jokingly suggesting he'd bet money that they wouldn't.
00:45:28
Tom appealed to Jerry by describing the toll the situation was taking on his mother. She had stopped working and
00:45:35
eating and her health was deteriorating. Jerry was sympathetic but resolute. When Tom warned that his family would
00:45:45
never stop searching for him, Jerry replied confidently and they'll never find me.
00:45:54
During the final minutes of the call, Jerry assured Tom that once the Cessna was found, the truth would come to light
00:46:01
and he would be vindicated. "Okay, well, I'll see you later then," he concluded.
00:46:09
"Yeah," Tom replied. The pair exchanged goodbyes and wished each other well in Polish before ending
00:46:18
their nearly 1 and 1/2our conversation. Unbeknownst to Jerry, the police had put
00:46:28
a tap on Tom's phone and recorded their entire conversation. They wondered if Diane's death truly was
00:46:36
an accident, why would Jerry be so adamant about staying away? If his goal was to go into a
00:46:43
self-imposed exile and begin a new life, then his action seemed contradictory. Surely, the longer the case dragged on,
00:46:52
the more attention it would attract, therefore reducing his chances of remaining undetected.
00:47:00
Meanwhile, the search at Little Bitterroot Lake continued. Echo sounders, devices used to detect
00:47:08
objects underwater, had uncovered something in the depths towards the southern end.
00:47:14
Searchers placed six buoys around the location, but divers were unable to locate anything during two separate
00:47:22
dives. A salvage expert experienced in recovering underwater objects was called to the site.
00:47:30
He brought in sophisticated electronic sonar which created a detailed image of the water over a wide area including
00:47:38
objects on or near the bottom. The sonar equipment detected an object about 250 ft below.
00:47:48
The search crew dragged an anchor across the spot and hauled it back up. It came back stre with red and white
00:47:56
paint the colors of the missing Cessna. A remotec controlled submersible camera was then lowered into the water,
00:48:06
transmitting a live feed to a monitor on a pontoon boat above. The camera's propellers stirred up the
00:48:13
thick silt, clouding visibility and resulting in no further breakthroughs. The camera was redeployed the following
00:48:23
day of Thursday, September 16, 3 days after Jerry Ambrosik's third call. This time, the unmistakable outline of
00:48:33
the missing Cessna came into view, resting intact on the lake bed. Apart from the pilot's side door being
00:48:42
open and some damage to the tail fin, the aircraft looked almost undisturbed, positioned upright as if it had simply
00:48:50
been parked there. The camera soon revealed the body of 19-year-old Diane Babcock inside the
00:48:57
Cessna's cabin, perfectly preserved due to the cool temperatures of the water. Salvage crews raised the aircraft and
00:49:07
just as Jerry had described, Diane was strapped into the passenger seat. Her long hair was caught in the closed
00:49:15
passenger door. Her shoulder harness hung loose, but her lap belt remained fastened, twisted with
00:49:22
the buckle reversed, holding her securely in place. An autopsy determined that Diane had
00:49:30
sustained a bruised forehead, a broken collarbone, and a neck fracture likely caused by the shoulder strap during
00:49:37
impact, though her cause of death was drowning. The autopsy also revealed that in the
00:49:44
days before the flight, Diane had undergone an abortion. This came as a surprise as she had not
00:49:51
mentioned it to her family. Also recovered from the Cessna was an inflatable raft, tools, survival gear,
00:50:01
sleeping bags, and a backpack in a green garbage bag that contained the few belongings Diane had packed for the
00:50:07
trip, including a change of clothes, some food, and a roll of toilet paper. Among these items were a bottle of hair
00:50:16
dye, and a hair perming kit. They lent credence to Jerry's account that the pair had planned to disguise
00:50:23
themselves and start a new life together. Speculation had run rife that the Cessna
00:50:33
might have been carrying illicit drugs or other incriminating items, suggesting an alternative explanation for the
00:50:39
incident. However, no such evidence was found. US Federal Aviation inspectors thoroughly examined the aircraft and
00:50:49
discovered no signs of mechanical failure or any other factor that could explain the crash.
00:50:56
They ultimately concluded that the Cessna had gone down as the result of a botched landing attempt, just as Jerry
00:51:02
had described. The aircraft was not designed for water landings, and it appeared that Jerry had
00:51:10
misjudged both his altitude and angle of descent. Even expert pilots attempting night
00:51:17
landings on smooth, reflective water found the task extremely challenging. Not everyone was convinced it was an
00:51:26
accident. Diane's family couldn't reconcile that their intelligent and compassionate
00:51:32
daughter would choose to run away. Diane was preparing to go to school the next day. Her mother pointed out
00:51:41
the Babcocks made public appeals for Jerry's return, believing he's the only one who really knows what happened.
00:51:50
They wondered why he was still running if he had nothing to hide. He had volunteered information about
00:51:57
Diane's whereabouts, details that might never have surfaced had he remained silent.
00:52:03
Doing so placed him at the center of a police investigation, but that hadn't deterred him. This made for a puzzling
00:52:12
contradiction. Another pressing question remained. What motive could Jerry have had to harm
00:52:20
Diane? There were no reports of any conflicts between the couple. There was no life
00:52:26
insurance policy or inheritance involved. No shared finances, property in dispute, or children to fight over.
00:52:35
And was it really plausible that a 19-year-old could or would plan such an elaborate crime months in advance?
00:52:44
Using an airplane as a murder weapon was a unique idea, but it was fraught with uncontrollable variables that would make
00:52:51
predicting and executing such a scheme nearly impossible. Then there was the fact that Jerry had
00:52:59
invited Tom Powski on the Pentictton trip, a detail the two referenced during their recorded phone call.
00:53:07
Why would Jerry consider bringing another person along if he intended to kill Diane?
00:53:15
Whatever the case, many felt that if Jerry had any compassion, he would return to Vancouver and face the music.
00:53:27
Authorities were divided in their assessments of the case. Canadian officials accepted Jerry's account and
00:53:34
although they initially pursued him for the theft of the Cessna, they ultimately
00:53:38
dropped the matter. In contrast, American authorities remained highly suspicious and weren't
00:53:45
willing to let the case go. Firstly, his account appeared far from a tale of starcrossed lovers fleeing
00:53:54
disapproving parents. On the recorded call to Tom Pelowski, Jerry admitted, "It's not that we wanted to run away
00:54:03
from home. We just wanted to get away." He vented that he had suffered for the past 18 years, claiming his parents
00:54:12
yelled at him daily, constantly badgered him to get a job and criticized everything he did. They never spoke
00:54:20
openly and affectionately like a normal family, leaving many things unsaid. [Music]
00:54:26
Jerry emphasized that his desire to leave was entirely his own and had little to do with Diane or their
00:54:34
relationship. According to Jerry, she had tagged along because she was in love with him or
00:54:40
something like that. She had told him she couldn't live without him. And in his words, all this
00:54:48
[ __ ] like that. To Jerry's critics, it sounded like his primary motivation was to escape his
00:54:55
home life, not to alope with Diane. In his account, she came across as the devoted, almost desperate partner who
00:55:04
was deeply in love with him, while he seemed far less invested in their relationship.
00:55:12
Critics also questioned why Diane had struggled to release her seat belt, which functioned no differently to a
00:55:18
standard car seat belt. The buckle wasn't jammed, and there was no evidence of any malfunction.
00:55:26
Dian's fingers were carefully examined for bruises, cuts, or broken nails, signs that she had desperately tried to
00:55:33
free herself, but none were found. Speaking about the case for Dinesine's program at the bottom of the lake,
00:55:42
Detective Pat Walsh said, "Imagine being in a craft that's sinking and you're holding your breath and you're
00:55:50
scrambling. You know the belt stuck. You can't get that belt free. I'd probably break my fingers if nothing
00:55:58
else by straining, pulling just on the belt fruitlessly until you have to give it up."
00:56:05
There was none of that. In Walsh's view, Jerry could have rescued Diane if he intended to. He also
00:56:14
doubted Jerry's claim that his belongings had conveniently floated free from the sinking plane, suggesting
00:56:21
instead that Jerry retrieved the bag himself while ignoring Dian's please for help.
00:56:28
Then his first act upon reaching the shore was to burn evidence, hinting at a cover up.
00:56:36
American police believed that Jerry deliberately allowed Diane to die. They issued a warrant for his arrest,
00:56:44
intending to charge him with negligent homicide. The last call Jerry made to his friend
00:56:53
Tom Pilowski was traced to a phone booth outside a grocery store in Dallas, Texas, exactly where Jerry claimed to
00:57:01
be. Beyond that, the lead went cold. Although the search for him began with urgency, it lost momentum within weeks.
00:57:13
Jerry neither contacted Tom again nor reached out to anyone else. With no further clues in Dallas,
00:57:22
investigators began to suspect he had fled the city, possibly to Mexico. Then in late 1982,
00:57:32
4 months after the ill- fated flight, Jerry's parents received a Christmas card from him postmarked Dallas
00:57:39
confirming he'd remained in the city. The card depicted a cat outside in the snow peering into a cozy home with a lit
00:57:49
fireplace and Christmas stockings hanging across the mantle. Inside, a handwritten message in Polish
00:57:57
read, "Family, in the first place, I wanted to wish everyone a merry Christmas and a
00:58:04
happy new year. Everything is well with me. I'm healthy and I'm sure I'll somehow make it on my
00:58:12
own. After sending the card, Jerry went silent again. As time passed, media coverage dwindled,
00:58:24
reduced to occasional mentions on anniversaries of the incident or sporadic televised features seeking
00:58:30
information from the public. American authorities sometimes received potential tips from Interpol with possible
00:58:38
sightings of Jerry reported around the globe. However, none proved credible. The Babcocks called the detectives who
00:58:48
were handling their daughter's case every week for years, seeking updates that never came.
00:58:55
The mystery persisted through the 1990s and into the 2000s with speculation swirling over the question, what ever
00:59:04
happened to Jerry Ambrosic? As original case detectives retired and the investigation slipped down the list
00:59:12
of priorities, a Montana police spokesperson assured the press, "Nobody's given up on it. It's just that
00:59:21
we haven't had a break. In 2006, 24 years after Diane Babcock's death, 33-year-old divorce Gina Johnson
00:59:36
decided to try online dating. She joined the website Yahoo Personals, where she sought a man who could be her
00:59:44
best friend and lover in one package, someone with whom she felt chemistry on every level.
00:59:51
I'm looking for something real and lasting, her profile read. Not a fling or a one night stand.
01:00:00
For Gina, nothing was more important than honesty. Her ex-husband had cheated on her, and
01:00:07
men she'd subsequently met online had lied about their relationship history, marital status, career, or lifestyle,
01:00:15
which only served to make her wearier. On her dating profile, she clearly outlined her values.
01:00:23
Do you understand the importance of mutual trust, respect, and teamwork in a relationship?
01:00:30
If the answer is yes, I'd be interested in hearing from you. Soon, the profile of a 34year-old fellow
01:00:39
Texan named Michael Smith caught Gina's eye. He wrote about being fortunate in his
01:00:46
career and grateful for the friends who made his days enjoyable. Yet, he felt that something was still missing.
01:00:54
Like Gina, Michael wanted a lasting relationship, someone to share his life with and possibly have children with.
01:01:02
His profile read, "To be honest, I guess I'm still a little old-fashioned when it
01:01:08
comes to relationships and believe that you marry once, you marry for life, and marry for love. I also believe that
01:01:17
there are people that you come across in your life that are very special, but there are very few of them that you can
01:01:24
call soulmates. I want to meet that someone special to share things with, spend more time with,
01:01:31
and eventually grow old with. Michael intrigued Gina. He seemed intelligent, attractive, and shared many
01:01:40
of her interests. Most importantly, Michael had written the words Gina needed to see.
01:01:48
I am honest and don't cheat or play games. I would like to meet someone that has the same philosophy.
01:01:58
On the night of Wednesday, March 1, 2006, Gina reached out to Michael through email. To her surprise, he
01:02:06
replied immediately. Encouraged, she responded with her phone number, inviting him to call the next
01:02:13
morning. Michael did just that, and their first conversation flowed effortlessly.
01:02:21
Gina did most of the talking, but the call stretched on for 2 hours and still left both eager for more.
01:02:29
From that point on, the pair spoke daily for hours at a time. By the end of the week, they agreed to
01:02:37
meet in person for dinner. Any lingering doubts evaporated as soon as they met face to face. Both were
01:02:46
exactly who they appeared to be online. In fact, Michael pulled up in a sleek 2003 Dodge Viper, a sports car that cost
01:02:56
$80,000 at the time. He broke the ice with a smile and the question, "Are you disappointed?"
01:03:06
Gina beamed and replied, "No." When she asked the same, he looked her up and down, grinned, and said, "No,
01:03:17
definitely not." [Music] Their first date was going well when Gina suddenly noticed something
01:03:27
peculiar. As a failure analysis technician for a major semiconductor company, she was
01:03:34
trained to spot small inconsistencies and examine them further. Her eyes landed on a ring on Michael's
01:03:42
finger. It was a class ring from the University of Texas awarded when he completed a
01:03:49
bachelor's in aerospace engineering. Although Michael's online dating profile suggested he and Gina were only a year
01:03:57
apart in age, the year inscribed on his ring indicated he had graduated college the same year she'd finished high
01:04:05
school. "Wow," she remarked. You must be really intelligent. Michael smiled broadly, then quickly
01:04:14
changed the subject. Gina didn't press the matter further, but the strange observation lingered in
01:04:22
her mind. Over the following month, the two grew closer and shared personal stories with
01:04:29
one another. Michael confided to Gina that he had only ever been in love once with a girl
01:04:36
he had known in his teens. He said she'd died tragically in a plane accident, and
01:04:42
he was left heartbroken. [Music] Despite this, he worked hard to build a successful life, channeling his interest
01:04:50
in computers into a highly successful software company. His upscale home in the city of Plano boasted a massive
01:04:59
theater system, multiple big screen televisions, a California king bed, a swimming pool, and a hot tub.
01:05:07
Alongside his Dodge Viper, he had a prized 1996 Pontiac Firebird Formula and a 1981 Chevrolet Corvette.
01:05:17
He traveled the world and owned two additional lakefront properties. Michael was currently working on a
01:05:25
project for Honda Formula 1 which supplied engines to various auto racing teams.
01:05:31
He had an upcoming business trip to Japan and Gina excitedly agreed to accompany him.
01:05:39
To Gina, Michael was a considerate, calm, and patient man who respected her boundaries and genuinely enjoyed her
01:05:47
company. However, when they first became physically intimate, Gina noticed something else odd.
01:05:55
Certain features of Michael's body suggested he was older than 34. Later, when he remarked that he looked
01:06:03
good for his age, Gina replied honestly. He was initially displeased, but as the
01:06:11
conversation continued, he reluctantly acknowledged, "Well, actually, I am older."
01:06:20
Gina was furious. She had made it clear to Michael from the beginning how much she valued honesty.
01:06:28
Demanding the truth, she asked, "How old are you really?" He admitted he was actually 43 and that
01:06:37
he hadn't found the right moment to tell her sooner. While Gina felt some empathy for
01:06:43
Michael, she remained guarded. Later, Michael opened up more about his high school sweetheart, explaining she
01:06:52
hadn't died in just any plane accident. It had been a flight where he was the pilot.
01:07:00
He shared how they had been deeply in love and concocted a daring plan to alope by plane.
01:07:07
Tearary eyed, he described how the plane sank in a lake with his girlfriend trapped inside.
01:07:14
When he mentioned arriving in Texas and obtaining a new ID, Gina asked, "Is Michael Smith even your real name?"
01:07:24
He hung his head, shook it, and then confessed that his real name was Yaric Ambrosic
01:07:31
before clarifying that he went by Jerry. That night, Gina typed Jerry Ambrose's name into Google.
01:07:44
The first result was a newspaper article from Montana's Daily Interlake headlined, "Pilot holds answers in the
01:07:52
woman's death. The story read, "A Canadian, Jerry Ambrosi, was 19 when his brief and unexpected trajectory
01:08:03
through Montana set off a nationwide manhunt and a quest for answers about what happened here." On August 22, 1982,
01:08:12
Ambrosic piloted a Cessna 150 from Pentictton with his girlfriend Diane Babcock, 18, in the passenger seat. They
01:08:21
somehow veered into Montana on their way to Vancouver. The plane and Babcock wound up at the
01:08:29
bottom of Little Bitterroot Lake. Ambrosic has evaded law enforcement's questions ever since.
01:08:39
Gina Johnson became even more unnerved upon reading that Jerry was wanted for negligent homicide.
01:08:46
She felt compelled to confront him, but based on the story he'd told her about the incident, she wasn't entirely sure
01:08:54
of his guilt. And admittedly, she still wanted to accompany him on the all expenses paid trip to Japan.
01:09:03
Gina knew she had to address the matter before they left. She called Jerry and told him what she'd discovered.
01:09:11
He calmly asserted his innocence without defensiveness and spoke wisfully about wanting to return to Vancouver, reunite
01:09:19
with his family, and live openly without hiding his true identity. Gina suggested that if he was truly
01:09:27
innocent, he should turn himself in. She promised her support, but explained she
01:09:33
couldn't stay with him while he continued living a lie. Jerry replied that he simply wasn't
01:09:41
ready. In the leadup to the Japan trip, Gina wrestled with conflicting feelings.
01:09:48
The trip itself was ultimately marred by the growing tension, and by the time Gina and Michael returned to the US,
01:09:56
their relationship was effectively over. Gina couldn't make peace with his deception, and they parted ways.
01:10:06
Months passed, yet not a day went by without Gina thinking of Jerry Ambrosik. If he was truly innocent, why was he so
01:10:16
hesitant to turn himself in? Gina researched Diane and the Babcock family, discovering that Dian's mother
01:10:25
had died in a car accident in 1999 while on her way to visit her daughter's grave, a trip she'd made faithfully with
01:10:32
her husband every year. Diane's father was still alive, awaiting closure and accountability.
01:10:42
Tormented, Gina agonized over whether to contact the authorities or let Jerry remain a free man.
01:10:51
In the end, she picked up the phone and made the call. August 22, 2006 marked the 24th
01:11:02
anniversary of Diane Babcock's death. A little over a week later on Wednesday, August 30, the front doorbell rang at
01:11:11
Jerry Ambrose's home in Plano, Texas. He opened the door to find a man dressed in plain street clothes and holding
01:11:20
papers, who asked him, "Are you Michael Smith?" Yeah, Jerry responded. Just then, a second man appeared, aiming
01:11:30
a gun at Jerry. The two men quickly ushered him inside, cuffed his hands behind his back, and seated him on a
01:11:38
dining room chair. "What is your real name?" one demanded. Disorientated, Jerry had no idea what
01:11:47
was happening until he caught a glimpse of the papers in the man's hands and saw
01:11:51
Yaraslav Brozik printed in bold at the top. Realizing the men were police, Jerry
01:11:59
remained calm but largely silent. He was swiftly taken to the city jail where he was questioned again.
01:12:07
When asked for his name, Jerry replied, "Michael Smith." He was pressed about who Yarislaf
01:12:15
Ambrose was and his country of citizenship. After a brief pause, Jerry answered,
01:12:23
"Canada." Unwilling to respond further without consulting a lawyer, he was taken into
01:12:30
custody. Jerry's capture both surprised and thrilled investigators as it brought an
01:12:37
end to a decadesl long international manhunt. When they checked their database, they
01:12:44
realized that Jerry had two encounters with police after 1982, having been arrested twice for burglary during his
01:12:52
early years on the run. At the time of these arrests, he was known as Michael Smith. Because he had
01:13:00
no prior police record under the name Jerry Ambrose, there was nothing to connect the two identities.
01:13:08
The story of how Jerry became Michael began shortly after he arrived in Texas. He'd wandered through a cemetery and
01:13:16
found the grave of a boy named Michael Smith who had died in infancy. This meant his financial and medical
01:13:24
records would be blank. The name was also common and their birth dates were less than a year apart, making the
01:13:33
identity easier to assume. That same day, Jerry obtained Michael's birth certificate from a records office
01:13:41
with no questions asked and used it to secure a social security number, a driver's license, and a job.
01:13:49
From that point on, he was on paper an American citizen. With a fabricated backstory, he enrolled
01:13:58
in university, built a career, and established a new life. Following his arrest, Jerry spoke with
01:14:06
his parents for the first time in 20 years over the prison phone. The conversation was surprisingly calm,
01:14:14
as if nothing had happened. His parents picked up right where they had left off,
01:14:20
updating him on everything he had missed. They shared that they had prayed for him
01:14:26
every day and never moved from their home so he could always find them if he returned.
01:14:33
Overwhelmed, Jerry broke down in tears. Jerry maintained the same account he had
01:14:43
given in 1982 that he never intended for Diane to die. They were simply two naive
01:14:50
kids who fell in love, aloped, and suffered a tragic accident that claimed her life.
01:14:57
He hoped that his exemplary conduct in the US afterwards would persuade the federal government to drop all charges.
01:15:05
His case was supported by 25 character references, including one from his old best friend, Tom Palowski.
01:15:14
Yet, the US government was unmoved, adding counts of criminal mischief and criminal endangerment, as well as
01:15:21
negligent homicide. Jerry was prepared to fight the accusations, but just before trial, he
01:15:29
accepted a plea deal. He pleaded guilty to criminal mischief and criminal endangerment in exchange for the
01:15:36
negligent homicide charge being dismissed. He received two concurrent 10-year sentences, all suspended, meaning he
01:15:46
served no prison time for Diane Babcock's death. He did however spend 4 and a half months
01:15:53
in federal custody for passport fraud. He was also awarded to pay approximately $345,000
01:16:01
in restitution and fines, including court costs, damages to the owner of the Cessna and $5,000 to Diane's family to
01:16:10
help cover funeral expenses. After completing his short sentence, Jerry was deported to Vancouver, where
01:16:18
Canadian authorities maintained their long-standing view that Diane's death was accidental and declined to lay
01:16:25
further charges. To this day, the circumstances surrounding Diane Babcock's death remain
01:16:33
a matter of debate and interpretation. Without Diane to share her side of the story, any conclusions drawn about the
01:16:42
case remain purely speculative. Some see the case as Jerry Ambrosic intended, a Romeo and Julietesque love
01:16:51
story with a tragic ending. He has since self-published a book titled A Tear in My Life: The Brutal
01:16:59
Truth. He also created a companion website ambrosik.com with extensive information, evidence,
01:17:07
and documentation about the case. In his words, his goal was to demystify the case and set the record straight by
01:17:17
correcting misinformation. In Jerry's explanation, he clarifies that conflict with his parents
01:17:25
influenced his decision to leave, but it was nothing more than typical teenage angst.
01:17:31
He confirms that he invited his friend Tom Pelowski on the Pentictton trip, hoping to include him in their escape
01:17:38
before ultimately deciding it was too risky to involve a third person. Jerry also knew that Diane had an
01:17:46
abortion days before the flight. She had chosen to end the pregnancy with his support and remained fully committed
01:17:54
to their plan. Jerry claims that his dismissive remarks about Diane during the recorded call
01:18:02
with Tom were cherrypicked. At other points in the call, he expressed his love for her and his
01:18:09
devastation over her death. Finally, Jerry believes Gina Johnson turned him in out of personal spite and
01:18:18
felt American investigators were similarly biased, citing multiple instances where their reporting directly
01:18:25
contradicted the evidence. Jerry has described his relationship with Diane as the kind of youthful
01:18:33
passion that left no room for reflection or consequences. He claimed their fatal plan began in
01:18:40
1981, inspired by the films Tarzan, The Ape Man, and Apocalypse Now. The untouched golden beaches, blue
01:18:50
lagoons, and vibrant rainforests depicted in these movies captured their imagination.
01:18:56
They shared a wild idea to survive in the jungle where they would build a treehouse as their home and live off
01:19:03
whatever they caught or killed. As they continued to discuss their imagined utopia, it gradually became a
01:19:11
realistic ambition. Part of the allure was the desire to disappear without a trace.
01:19:19
They didn't want to be searched for. They simply wanted to be forgotten. Eventually, they devised a plan
01:19:27
involving landing a plane on a lake with the hopes of reaching South America to live out their dream together.
01:19:35
Speaking exclusively to Deline in his first media interview after his release, Jerry admitted their plan was nuts, but
01:19:44
added, "It didn't seem nuts at the time." For Jerry, witnessing Diane's death was
01:19:52
horrifying. He told Dineine, "20 seconds before, we were the two happiest people in the world, and my
01:20:02
life was just torn to pieces in that moment." When asked why he didn't try harder to
01:20:09
save Diane or essentially sacrifice himself as some claimed they would in that situation, Jerry replied,
01:20:17
"It's easy to say that when you're sitting on the couch with a cup of coffee, but not so easy when you have 15
01:20:24
or 20 seconds, the plane is sinking in front of you and you can't open the door. By the time you do, the plane is
01:20:32
almost completely underwater. People don't visualize it this way or how quickly it happens.
01:20:44
The only way Jerry could justify his actions after the crash was to attribute them to shock that caused him to lose
01:20:52
his mind. Quote, "That only thing that made sense was my instinct to carry on. We had a goal and I was determined to
01:21:03
execute it. if I fulfilled our plan, somehow it felt like I would not let Diane down.
01:21:11
As for the part where his duffel bag allegedly floated out of the Cessna with his belongings and cash, Jerry described
01:21:19
it as simply random luck. He referred to the moment when his former girlfriend Gina Johnson turned
01:21:26
him into the police as a blessing in disguise, saying, "As crazy as it sounds, after 24 years
01:21:35
of living as Michael Smith, I finally got my family back again." He maintains that Diane was a fully
01:21:44
receptive, consenting, and involved participant in the plan to leave Vancouver, which is why he never
01:21:50
accepted the negligent homicide charge. While taking full responsibility for having screwed up the airplane's
01:21:58
landing, he argued both he and Diane were equally responsible for the events that led to the tragedy.
01:22:05
He told a dine, "We did something stupid. This was not my idea. This was not just me. And
01:22:15
that's not negligent homicide. That's two kids in love who did something stupid.
01:22:22
That's what it comes down to. For those unwilling to accept Jerry's version of events, Diane Babcock's death
01:22:31
is a crime story, possibly one of abduction and murder. This belief is still held by US
01:22:39
authorities as well as the Babcock family who pushed for Jerry to face prison. They believe Jerry is hiding deep, dark
01:22:48
secrets and view him as a sociopath, pointing to the lavish life he built as evidence that he was not a grieving man
01:22:56
mourning the love of his life. Lingering questions remain, such as how Dian's hair came to be trapped in the
01:23:05
Cessna's passenger side door if Jerry claimed he had mistakenly opened the pilot side.
01:23:13
Detective Pat Walsh told Dine, "I think he took advantage of an opportunity and let her go down or just
01:23:22
didn't try. He saved himself and not her." One of the two things happened. I don't know how you can explain it any
01:23:32
other way. Jerry's lawyer offers a different perspective. The only thing they can prove beyond
01:23:42
reasonable doubt is that he left, that he ran away. He did make the wrong decision, but it
01:23:49
was an understandable decision, a forgivable decision. Jerry told Dine that he found the
01:23:58
Babcock's attitude towards him appalling and their assertions against him slanderous.
01:24:06
Nevertheless, he offered both them and his family an apology, which he read aloud in court.
01:24:14
I now know the hurt and the pain that I have caused my family and the Babcock family with my foolish ideas that
01:24:22
resulted in the loss of Diane Babcock. There is no apology sufficient enough to erase the pain and suffering of all
01:24:30
those involved. But I would also like to say that the one and most important reason I could
01:24:38
not come forward earlier is because of the pain and sorrow in my own heart due to the loss of Diane, whom I still
01:24:45
cherish and hold dear to this day. I am hopeful that someday the Babcock family will be able to find peace.
01:24:55
I am very sorry for all I did and did not do in their eyes. I ask God to help us all and that he may
01:25:04
someday allow them to forgive me. During his interview with the Jerry Ambrosi, Deline host Keith Morrison
01:25:15
remarked, "This is one of those kinds of cases where really you're the only person on the planet who knows the
01:25:23
truth." After a moment of silent nodding, Jerry calmly replied, "True [Music] [Music]