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this program is about unsolved mysteries
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whenever possible the actual family
00:00:09
members and police officials have
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participated in recreating the events
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what you were about to see is not a news
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broadcast
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Lewis cows barreto Brasil is no ordinary
00:00:23
artist he works at a frenzied pace often
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completing drawings and paintings in
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less than five minutes
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incredibly Gus Prado claims that his
00:00:32
every move is guided by the spirits of
00:00:34
long dead artists creating new works
00:00:36
from beyond the grave does Louis gasps
00:00:39
Prado possess stunning psychic powers
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tonight you can judge for yourself
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for nearly three years
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tarah Breckenridge was a waitress in
00:00:49
some of Houston's most fashionable adult
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night clubs then one evening in 1992 she
00:00:54
left work and mysteriously vanished
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Tara's family believes she was a victim
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of foul play and that her boyfriend
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knows more than he is admitting
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December 1944 the second world war still
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raged across Europe but for a brief
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moment peace reigned in one tiny corner
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of Belton on Christmas Eve three
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American GIs and four Nazi soldiers put
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down their guns to share an unlikely
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holiday dinner now the young boy who
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helped make friends out of bitter
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enemies needs your help to find the men
00:01:28
and gave him an unforgettable Christmas
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to his fellow parishioners in Virginia
00:01:34
Beach Virginia Carlos Garcia was an
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honest about Christian known suspected
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that Garcia was in fact a devious con
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artist who would eventually scam his
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church and the people in his community
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out of more than two million dollars
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joined with these intriguing cases
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perhaps you may be able to help solve a
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mystery
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[Music]
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[Applause]
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[Music]
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[Music]
00:02:53
are those who love art it is tempting to
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wish that the great masters could return
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two pages one more glorious canvas
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utterly impossible of course
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unless you believe in the extraordinary
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claims of a man named Louis gasparotto
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[Music]
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as he whips color across the page gasp
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reto seems a man possessed
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indeed if gasp rattles astounding
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assertions are true as every gesture is
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directed by the spirits of long-dead
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masteries we'll continue to create new
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works from beyond the grave
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[Music]
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van Gogh Monet run while all gone now
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for more than half a century but believe
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it or not Lois gasps barreto says that
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these paintings are nothing less than
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their recent work channeled through him
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his gasps Prado a gifted psychic as he
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claims for a flamboyant showman as
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common sense would dictate we invite you
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to see for yourself
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Louis gasps parental grew up in Sowell
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power brazil's largest city the culture
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here is laced with mysticism but many
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considers psychic experiences part of
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everyday life
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the gasparotto family is no exception
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Louise's mother zibeon has written 13
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books work she says were all channeled
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from the spirit world
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Louis was just a boy when he first began
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to believe that he too possessed psychic
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abilities
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at the age of 13 Louis was overwhelmed
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by stress sleeplessness and trouble at
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school
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z-bo thought he needed counseling and
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took him to see Madame Louise one of the
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city's best known clairvoyance
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[Music]
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I was embarrassed because it was the
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first time there and but I start to
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filled all that my body shaking inside
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and all that energy
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and something was holding my throat and
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I tried to control myself and that gets
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worse so I I had to let it go
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gasparotto recalls feeling pain and
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tingling in his arms Tamara Maurice it
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was a sign he would be able to channel
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writing much like his mother but quite
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unexpected Lewis began to draw
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gasp areto had found his calling
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[Music]
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gasps brutal says that over the past
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three decades he has channeled more than
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20,000 paintings by some 50 artists
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his claims go largely unchallenged in
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Brazil gasp rattles reputation has begun
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to spread around the world
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in January of 1995 we asked to film one
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of his channeling sessions ourselves
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when you invited me for a a presentation
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I asked them if they want to if they
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wanna come because I cannot do myself so
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if they say yes I just know accept
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invitation
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our invitation was apparently accepted
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and we filmed Gasper arrow in New York
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City
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gasps peretta works with such intensity
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an assistant holds down the work
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the sensation of coming in involving me
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you know involving my arms and I just
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let it go and yeah I'm goes by that
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force drop me he's not coming from the
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inside comes from outside
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during the frenetic session gasparotto
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competed six drawings and three
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paintings most in less than five minutes
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he moved easily between different
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artistic styles
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[Music]
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I try not to control anything I try not
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to put my thoughts or my ideas but you
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see people think that
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if you are unconscious is going to be
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somebody else coming through you or
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taking your body that's impossible
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nobody takes your body you know it's
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just a energetical influence through you
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so I just learned to be passive
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[Music]
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during the 45 minutes we were filming
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gasparotto says he channel works by
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seven artists among the greatest of all
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time
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an impressive accomplishment but is it
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proof that the great masters are hard at
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work in the afterlife perhaps some
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comparisons are in order a
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painting by Pierre Auguste Renoir
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completed in 1877 Oh
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goosed Renoir 1995 as channel through
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Louis gasps barreto in roughly five
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minutes
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Claude Monet 1880
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Claude Monet through gasparotto
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[Music]
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Vincent van Gogh 1890
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van goes through gasparotto
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art experts in the United States are
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hardly convinced
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the notion that any one of these artists
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take a van Gogh for example a man of
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extraordinary intensity and seriousness
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of purpose to think that he would want
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to come back after his death and produce
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third fourth fifth rate imitations of
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what he successfully did during his life
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seems to me incredible gasparotto
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certainly seems to be possessed by some
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force I mean perhaps it's the force of
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his own subconscious playing back images
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that he's seen in our history books or
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perhaps he's really receiving these
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images from the afterlife I mean I
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certainly can't say the painters are
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coming through me because they want to
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they want to show that there is life
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after death and they want us to think
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about eternity
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they want to help with evolution of our
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conceptions of life they want us to see
00:09:54
life in a different way
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[Music]
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is Lewis gasparotto a window to the
00:10:01
metaphysical side of art can it possibly
00:10:04
be any substance to his stunning claim a
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matter what you may believe even a
00:10:10
skeptic has to admit that Lewis gasps
00:10:13
barreto puts on a great show
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[Music]
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next a search for a beautiful young
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waitress who mysteriously vanished at
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1992
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[Music]
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the men's club in Houston Texas is an
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upscale adult night spandau
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clientele is mostly male the
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entertainment topics for many of us it
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is tempting to make assumptions about
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the type of women who dance and work
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here
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but don't be deceived consider the case
00:10:57
of Tara Breckinridge waited tables at
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the men's club from 1989 to 1992
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Tara grew up in Del Rio Texas population
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34,000 she was a third of five children
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an upstanding devoutly religious family
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Tarr was a very caring type person a
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very loving type person very nurturing
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type person she was always very upbeat
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very cheerful just a real
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wonderful daughter to have
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shortly after graduating from high
00:11:34
school in 1987 Tara set off for Houston
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to pursue a career in photography but in
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the air' financial reality forced to
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take up waitressing ultimately landed
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her at the men's club
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taro wasn't the type of person you would
00:11:51
think would work in a place like that it
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was more just for the money you know she
00:11:56
was going to school and stuff so it made
00:11:58
her the money that she was comfortable
00:12:00
with and she was happy with that
00:12:05
antara Breckinridge arrived in Houston
00:12:08
she was no different than thousands of
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small-town girls with big-city dreams
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but for Tyra the dream may have ended in
00:12:14
a horrible nightmare in 1992 she
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vanished without a trace the police and
00:12:20
her Paris fear the worst they believed
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that Tara was murdered and high on the
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list of possible suspects as Tara's
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boyfriend at the time a young man named
00:12:30
Dwayne Hecker
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they met in 1989 two years after Tara
00:12:37
arrived in Houston even though Tara had
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never danced at the men's club Wayne was
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less than thrilled about her job
00:12:45
she was working before I met her in
00:12:47
those kind of places and and she loved
00:12:50
the money and she loved the atmosphere
00:12:51
and I guess that's just something he
00:12:52
want to grow out of and I'm not going to
00:12:54
tell her where to work you know Wayne
00:12:56
was not happy about Tara working at a
00:12:59
topless club but he you know accepted it
00:13:02
because it was paying the bills and so
00:13:05
Tara you know worked at night and you
00:13:08
know Wayne wasn't working at the time so
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he didn't have much of a choice
00:13:14
despite wings misgivings a young couple
00:13:16
soon moved in together at first they
00:13:19
seemed happy but as time passed the
00:13:21
relationship became more and more
00:13:23
contentious
00:13:26
tar and Wayne's relationship was kind of
00:13:29
rocky to say the least
00:13:31
she was always talking about moving out
00:13:35
or thinking about moving out and we
00:13:38
would discuss it at times and she would
00:13:40
say she needed to talk it over with him
00:13:42
and and
00:13:44
occasionally we talked about her doing
00:13:46
it without talking and over first
00:13:49
in July of 1992 Tara made a visit to her
00:13:53
parents home in Del Rio Tara's mother
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says she felt that something was not
00:13:58
quite right I
00:14:00
think maybe her problems were a lot
00:14:02
bigger than we would have guessed and we
00:14:05
had no way of really knowing because she
00:14:07
didn't talk to us about it and we didn't
00:14:09
know to ask at the time
00:14:12
two weeks later of August 3rd 1992 Tara
00:14:16
was back in Houston working at the men's
00:14:18
club it was a slow night and management
00:14:21
decided to send two waitresses home
00:14:23
early
00:14:24
anybody wanna go you went to 91 more any
00:14:28
volunteers
00:14:32
everyone was surprised when Tara
00:14:35
volunteered to leave it was strangely
00:14:37
out of character
00:14:39
it'd be a little unusual for Tarr to ask
00:14:42
to the home she wasn't always interested
00:14:44
in leaving she was there till 2 o'clock
00:14:46
to see if she you know till closing time
00:14:48
thank as much money as she could
00:14:51
tarah changer to street clothes and at
00:14:53
12:29 a.m. she punched out for the night
00:15:00
taro when she left walked past the
00:15:03
doorman without saying you know goodbye
00:15:05
or without responding to his goodbyes
00:15:07
and that would have been unusual
00:15:11
security guard indicated that he carried
00:15:14
her tote bag that she had when she left
00:15:17
the club he physically took it from her
00:15:19
and carried it as he escort her to her
00:15:20
vehicle
00:15:22
he watched her get in the vehicle he
00:15:24
told her be safe as she drove home and
00:15:27
then saw that she exited the parking lot
00:15:31
we asked him if anybody followed her or
00:15:34
free or if he saw anybody follow her and
00:15:36
he said he did not
00:15:38
at the very moment Tara was leaving the
00:15:41
men's club her boyfriend Wayne Hector
00:15:43
says he was in a pool hall 15 minutes
00:15:46
away Wayne had phone Tara earlier that
00:15:49
evening but never spoke to him
00:15:52
and I didn't really think anything at
00:15:55
that time and they told me that she was
00:15:57
on the floor
00:15:59
I'm probably getting home and around
00:16:01
5:00 and I expected to see Tara either
00:16:05
laying on the sofa or in bed and she
00:16:08
wasn't there so at that point I mean I
00:16:11
would do like anybody else would and was
00:16:14
in love with someone or I
00:16:17
went to find her
00:16:22
indeed it would be Wade we found Tara's
00:16:24
car at 7:00 a.m. abandoned by the sight
00:16:27
of a busy freeway
00:16:30
when I saw the car the first thing comes
00:16:33
to my mind is is
00:16:35
what's it doing there I
00:16:38
apparently she drove the car there the
00:16:42
car alarm wasn't even on the flashers
00:16:45
weren't even on that and really
00:16:46
surprised me
00:16:48
Tara's car was lungs and a can of mace
00:16:51
was inside as she always carried her
00:16:54
mace on her and when I saw the mace in
00:16:56
the car I thought it was a mace in a car
00:16:58
and why aren't the flashers on and why
00:17:01
isn't the car we did have car alarm
00:17:02
while wasn't engaged
00:17:04
the police fear that Tara had met with
00:17:06
foul play before long suspicion began to
00:17:10
set her on Wayne
00:17:11
investigators were especially curious
00:17:13
about his activity the night Tara
00:17:15
disappeared
00:17:18
we have employees of the club that
00:17:20
indicated that he left the club
00:17:22
approximately midnight 12:30 and was
00:17:25
next seen approximately 1:45 in the
00:17:28
morning
00:17:28
[Music]
00:17:31
the pool hall is located here 15 minutes
00:17:34
from the men's club Tara's car was filed
00:17:38
here just three miles from the club
00:17:40
Wayne's alleged absence from the pool
00:17:42
zone was a full hour and 45 minutes
00:17:46
well there's certain
00:17:49
actions and reactions that we've got
00:17:51
from Wayne that that cast suspicion upon
00:17:54
himself
00:17:55
obviously we don't have any evidence to
00:17:58
support a belief that he may or may not
00:18:00
be involved in this but he certainly has
00:18:02
not been eliminated as a suspect either
00:18:05
later we put the question directly to
00:18:08
Wayne Hecker
00:18:15
to tell you the truth I don't I don't
00:18:19
know an explanation anybody but the Lord
00:18:21
and the Lord has given me
00:18:23
you know
00:18:25
he's I'm waiting I'm waiting here's some
00:18:28
minutes from him I I can't I can't
00:18:31
answer anybody because there's not an
00:18:32
answer that I have only he has it and
00:18:35
and until there is an answer I don't
00:18:38
think anybody will be satisfied and and
00:18:41
I might be pinpointer for the rest of my
00:18:43
life and I mean there's nothing I can do
00:18:45
about that there's a lot of people that
00:18:46
have said things made a lot of progress
00:18:48
were statements and and
00:18:51
that's
00:18:53
okay and I can't help them
00:18:57
with no concrete evidence of foul play
00:19:00
Tara Breckinridge was officially listed
00:19:02
as missing then the police obtained a
00:19:04
series of love notes that indicated
00:19:06
there had been another man in Tara's
00:19:08
life one note said please don't be
00:19:12
scared do what your heart tells you I'm
00:19:14
very excited that you'll marry me but
00:19:17
another one said the more you hold out
00:19:20
the longer you jeopardize what I feel
00:19:22
for you
00:19:24
according to people at the club Tara's
00:19:27
admirer was a frequent visitor but often
00:19:30
lavished her with $100 tips he
00:19:32
apparently had intimate knowledge of her
00:19:34
difficulties with Wayne but the note
00:19:37
seemed to indicate that in the end Tara
00:19:39
rejected the man's advances there was
00:19:42
nothing threatening in those notes we
00:19:45
interviewed the individual our opinion
00:19:48
at this point it's he was just an
00:19:50
individual that had an attraction toward
00:19:52
Tarr and nothing more
00:19:54
but if Tara's admirer was not a suspect
00:19:57
who was once again a shadow of doubt was
00:20:00
cast upon Wayne Hecker
00:20:03
Wayne did know about the guy but
00:20:06
and I do honestly think there was some
00:20:09
jealousy but I don't think that you know
00:20:11
it would cause him to do anything stupid
00:20:16
I'm in charge with the crime no matter
00:20:18
at all I didn't commit a crime so how
00:20:22
can I be charged with one
00:20:23
simple as that I
00:20:28
love the woman to death she's the best
00:20:30
thing that ever happened to me
00:20:32
she's great girl yeah I do I love her I
00:20:36
love her with all my heart and and I'd
00:20:39
hoped the whole world hears that
00:20:44
tarah Breckinridge would today be 26
00:20:46
years old she's 5 feet 5 inches tall
00:20:49
weighs 120 pounds her car was found a
00:20:53
ban in the 1200 block of the West Loop
00:20:55
north in Houston Texas on the morning of
00:20:58
August 4th 1992
00:21:05
next a remarkable story of an unlikely
00:21:07
friendship between bitter enemies three
00:21:10
American GIs and four German soldiers
00:21:15
[Music]
00:21:23
the story you're about to see is one of
00:21:26
the most remarkable tales to ever come
00:21:28
out of the Second World War
00:21:30
remarkable for the fact that it involves
00:21:32
no fighting and no bloodshed
00:21:34
in 1973 Reader's Digest magazine
00:21:37
published the account and in 1985 it was
00:21:41
a focal point of a speech given by
00:21:43
President Ronald Reagan tonight we need
00:21:46
your help to find three unknown American
00:21:48
GIs and write the closing chapter of
00:21:51
this amazing saga
00:21:57
December 1944 the battered German army
00:22:02
lost his last great offensive while an
00:22:04
85 mile front at Belgium's Ardenne
00:22:06
forest the infamous battle of the boat
00:22:10
nearly sixteen thousand American
00:22:13
soldiers would lose their lives another
00:22:15
sixty thousand would be wounded or
00:22:17
captured it was a costliest battle the
00:22:21
United States would wage in any war
00:22:26
[Music]
00:22:30
within earshot of the fighting on the
00:22:32
edge of the Ardenne forest stood a small
00:22:34
isolated cabin there Fritz pink a 12
00:22:38
year old German boy lived with his
00:22:40
mother Elizabeth
00:22:43
Prince's father who Burt had moved his
00:22:45
family to the cabin for safekeeping
00:22:47
but life in the forest was difficult
00:22:50
Herbert served as a civilian baker for
00:22:53
the German army 20 miles away Fritz and
00:22:55
his mother struggle to put food on the
00:22:57
table
00:22:59
my father thought like everybody else
00:23:02
that the war would be and it would be
00:23:04
over by Christmas
00:23:05
but it was not to be
00:23:08
and our stay in this Shack
00:23:12
was longer than we anticipated
00:23:18
Christmas Eve 1944 a ride with an air of
00:23:21
sadness and uncertainty who Bert has
00:23:24
still not returned and his family was
00:23:27
resigned to the fact that they would be
00:23:28
spending the holiday without him
00:23:30
[Music]
00:23:41
Fritz's mother tried to make the evening
00:23:43
as festive as possible she scraped
00:23:46
together a Christmas meal of a few
00:23:47
potatoes and a scrawny rooster
00:23:50
[Music]
00:23:58
my mother blew out the candle and
00:24:03
went to the door and I went with her she
00:24:07
opened the door and there were these
00:24:10
soldiers
00:24:11
[Music]
00:24:13
yeah
00:24:17
you speak English
00:24:19
no
00:24:22
we're Americans they'd like to talk to
00:24:26
us but my mother didn't speak English my
00:24:30
friends been shot
00:24:32
can we come aside for a while please my
00:24:35
mother just looked and she looked at the
00:24:37
guy sitting in the snow
00:24:40
thank you until finally my mother after
00:24:43
it seems to be like an eternity to me
00:24:47
she asked him to come in
00:24:53
Fritz's mother knew full well that
00:24:55
harboring the enemy was punishable by
00:24:57
death but she was more than willing to
00:25:00
take the risk
00:25:01
the injured soldier had been shot in the
00:25:04
leg had lost a great deal of blood
00:25:06
Elizabeth did her best to make him
00:25:09
comfortable
00:25:13
she speaks French
00:25:15
[Music]
00:25:18
we we said separator what army Oh oui
00:25:23
madame he said they lost the unit and
00:25:27
we're wondering for the advance for the
00:25:30
past two days and two nights she be so
00:25:33
Cindy Pont - she's gonna change his
00:25:35
balance fritzsche hoid up we divide us -
00:25:39
my mother was all motherhood she worried
00:25:43
for them and she worried for the wounded
00:25:46
men
00:25:47
and she did everything she could
00:25:51
they were very dice like big boys from
00:25:54
the neighbors you know
00:25:56
how you doing kid nice boy Fritz's
00:26:00
mother made the American GIs feel right
00:26:03
at home
00:26:05
the men began to relax an anticipation
00:26:08
of an unexpected Christmas dinner
00:26:15
we thought automatically this must be
00:26:18
more Americans
00:26:21
and I went to the door and opened the
00:26:24
door
00:26:25
and there were four German soldiers I
00:26:30
was petrified with fear
00:26:34
he
00:26:36
said we have lost our units and we would
00:26:40
like to warm up a little bit
00:26:42
a sense you know only be allowed to warm
00:26:46
up but you get a nice dinner
00:26:49
if you accept our guess
00:26:57
I know
00:26:59
so many do this y'all
00:27:02
and my mother say this is Christmas
00:27:05
night and there will be no shooting
00:27:07
around here
00:27:09
put your arms in the wooden shed and
00:27:13
then we can bounce I have a nice nice
00:27:16
Christmas
00:27:19
to posses are we keep up an orphan - up
00:27:22
and come find support
00:27:24
me fight my mother had turned to the
00:27:27
Americans who by then had noticed at
00:27:29
some German sir cameras and had turned
00:27:32
to seconds also
00:27:36
just got a man
00:27:46
[Music]
00:27:50
my mother said to me get more potatoes
00:27:53
and more water we had more mouths to
00:27:56
feed
00:27:59
[Music]
00:28:02
for about a minute or two maybe three
00:28:06
there was a tension
00:28:11
but then it was warm it smelled good in
00:28:15
either way that was a
00:28:18
sense of hospitality
00:28:19
speak English yes a little
00:28:25
York already
00:28:27
he's wounded yeah
00:28:30
he got around an entirely one of the
00:28:33
German soldiers
00:28:34
went over to the American they were
00:28:37
wounded and asked the Americans in
00:28:40
English what was wrong with him
00:28:44
so what do you think he's lucky it's
00:28:49
lost a lot of blood but the cold has
00:28:51
prevented the wound from getting
00:28:52
infected he should recover provided get
00:28:55
some rest nourishment okay good here's
00:28:58
some first aid kit and he applied that
00:29:01
Lessing to the wound and the whole
00:29:04
evening he would every now and then go
00:29:06
and look after him
00:29:10
that night hostilities ceased in at
00:29:13
least one corner of the forest as
00:29:15
American and German soldiers sat down
00:29:17
together to honor the Christmas spirit
00:29:22
my mother said
00:29:28
it was totally gonna pay off it was
00:29:31
something spontaneously
00:29:34
and she said that that's all thank the
00:29:39
Lord for being together tonight peaceful
00:29:43
in this terrible war and let's enjoy
00:29:46
dinner the little things that we have
00:29:49
and its promise to be friendly to each
00:29:53
other
00:29:54
forever if possible let's also pay for
00:29:57
an end of this terrible war so that we
00:30:00
all can go home very soon
00:30:03
ever at a time
00:30:06
by the time the power Chi
00:30:12
by the time they were all kind
00:30:16
not perfectly but the tears were holy
00:30:19
you know even the German surgeons I was
00:30:22
very surprised and then we ate and it
00:30:27
years disappears but from then on there
00:30:30
was a feeling of friendship that
00:30:33
permeated the whole group
00:30:36
it was wonderful and every [ __ ]
00:30:41
[Music]
00:30:43
after dinner the soldiers drifted
00:30:45
outside one by one
00:30:47
Elisabeth and Fritz soon joined
00:30:51
as they gazed heaven each gave thanks in
00:30:55
his own way
00:30:58
that night the men would sleep side by
00:31:01
side under the same roof the differences
00:31:04
of war and temporarily set aside
00:31:08
they were so peaceful you never think
00:31:11
that they are two different kind of
00:31:14
soldiers that
00:31:15
one day before they would have shot each
00:31:18
other
00:31:22
Fritz remembers that the spirit of
00:31:25
brotherhood continued the next morning
00:31:26
the German soldiers helped construct a
00:31:29
makeshift stretcher for the injured gr
00:31:32
and then gave the Americans directions
00:31:34
back to their life
00:31:40
that same day Fritz and his mother left
00:31:43
with the Germans and were soon reunited
00:31:45
with Fritz his father
00:31:46
five months later the war would end
00:31:51
in the early 1960s Fritz Lincoln
00:31:54
immigrated to the United States today he
00:31:57
is an American citizen living in Hawaii
00:31:59
like his father before him Fritz owns
00:32:02
and operates a bakery
00:32:04
[Music]
00:32:06
but their special night in 1940 faith
00:32:09
remains a defining moment of fritz his
00:32:11
life he now hopes to find the American
00:32:14
GIs who helped him learn the true
00:32:16
meaning of Christmas
00:32:19
it showed me what my mother could do and
00:32:22
it showed me what what one single human
00:32:24
being can do to avoid bloodshed and to
00:32:27
bring peace and it also showed me at a
00:32:30
very early age that were all alike
00:32:34
even though no matter what uniform we
00:32:37
wear
00:32:37
we have the same choice the same source
00:32:41
the same problems and it was a very
00:32:44
significant experience I never forgot it
00:32:49
[Music]
00:33:15
on a previous broadcast we told you
00:33:18
earlier Donna chat backs a young couple
00:33:20
intent on building their dream house on
00:33:23
this breathtaking site 200 miles north
00:33:25
of Denver Colorado
00:33:30
in April of 1991 Earl and Donna hired a
00:33:34
builder they knew his mark Mitchell
00:33:36
whose specialty was log cabin homes
00:33:41
a
00:33:43
contract was drawn up and reviewed by
00:33:45
the chart backs in their attorney Earl
00:33:48
and Donna gave Mitchell $25,000 as a
00:33:50
deposit their entire life savings then
00:33:53
they waited for their dream house to
00:33:55
take shape but
00:33:58
weeks stretched into months and no
00:34:00
structure ever rose on Earl and Donna's
00:34:03
property every time they questioned
00:34:05
Mitchell he had an excuse and told them
00:34:07
not to worry
00:34:10
the final blow came six months later
00:34:13
when the chat VAX banker turned up
00:34:15
disturbing information about mark
00:34:17
Mitchell
00:34:19
it has nothing to do with you two the
00:34:22
problem is with the Builder fears this
00:34:25
man is in some serious trouble he has
00:34:27
been taking deposit money just as he did
00:34:29
yours and then has not started
00:34:31
construction on the homes a matter of
00:34:34
fact mark Mitchell is not even his real
00:34:37
name it's Wade Mitchell Parker at that
00:34:40
point I felt nauseous
00:34:44
suddenly just was sick feeling as though
00:34:48
we were going to lose all the money that
00:34:51
we had given to mark Mitchell
00:34:57
Wade Mitchell Parker alias mark Mitchell
00:34:59
left town soon after he allegedly
00:35:02
disappeared with more than 1 million
00:35:04
dollars stockpiled from at least 30
00:35:06
other fraud victims Parker avoided
00:35:09
arrest for nearly three years until just
00:35:11
after the most recent broadcast of this
00:35:13
story
00:35:14
[Music]
00:35:16
on August 11th 1990 for Wade Mitchell
00:35:20
Parker was arrested in Cobb County
00:35:21
Georgia's some 1,300 miles from Colorado
00:35:24
there Parker was using two new aliases
00:35:28
Ronald Anderson and Larry Wiegert but
00:35:30
information developed from our program
00:35:32
helped reveal his true identity
00:35:35
[Music]
00:35:37
on September 26 1994 played Mitchell
00:35:41
Parker was arraigned in Colorado on
00:35:43
fraud and theft charges our cameras are
00:35:46
not allowed inside the courtroom however
00:35:48
Earl and Donna chat bags made sure they
00:35:50
were on hand to see justice done
00:35:53
if he'd have been an honest man we'd be
00:35:57
living in our home right now and raising
00:36:00
our children I think that anybody who
00:36:04
has been ripped off this way could take
00:36:07
heart from this you know knowing that
00:36:09
with enough perseverance they may get
00:36:12
their guy
00:36:15
certainly gave me a lot of a lot of
00:36:19
heart when I was beginning to lose hope
00:36:22
[Music]
00:36:37
these days the church seems like one of
00:36:40
the few places where you can expect to
00:36:42
be safe from the harsh realities of the
00:36:44
outside world
00:36:45
certainly is the last place you'd expect
00:36:47
to find a con artist at work but for a
00:36:51
devious swindler named Carlos Garcia the
00:36:54
hallowed sanctuary provided the perfect
00:36:56
setup
00:37:01
the Holy Family Church in Virginia Beach
00:37:04
Virginia serves a small tight-knit
00:37:06
Hispanic community parishioners are
00:37:08
honest and hard-working but by no means
00:37:11
athlete
00:37:12
in 1985 the church welcomed a new member
00:37:16
Carlos Garcia was a friendly middle-aged
00:37:19
businessman who soon managed to
00:37:21
ingratiate himself in the community
00:37:24
what really struck me about him when he
00:37:26
first came to us was how honest he
00:37:29
seemed to be and how concerned he seemed
00:37:32
to be for the people of our community
00:37:35
for the Hispanic people especially with
00:37:38
the Mexicans he was extremely close to
00:37:41
the Mexican community and he earned
00:37:43
their trust
00:37:45
immediately just like here in mine
00:37:48
let me just say how excited I am we've
00:37:51
had a great year by 1988 Carlos had been
00:37:54
elected president and treasurer of the
00:37:56
local Pastoral Council which oversaw the
00:37:58
church budget and expenditures it was an
00:38:01
important prestigious position no one
00:38:04
yet suspected that Garcia was in reality
00:38:07
a brazen thief would end up stealing two
00:38:10
million dollars from his church and his
00:38:12
fellow parishioners
00:38:16
- there was um for many people almost an
00:38:21
immediate trust that this is somebody
00:38:24
who has come to this country who has
00:38:26
become successful and now I was helping
00:38:29
other people
00:38:31
unfortunately we found out the trust
00:38:34
that had been put in Carlos had been
00:38:36
betrayed and in just in many ways
00:38:44
Garcia used his position in the church
00:38:46
to attract clients to a seemingly
00:38:48
legitimate tax preparation business over
00:38:51
several years Donna siano and airman are
00:38:54
on hope if Carlos more than $13,000 to
00:38:56
turn over to the IRS the IRS never got a
00:39:00
penny
00:39:01
when almost no sabemos
00:39:04
we didn't know how the system worked
00:39:07
here for paying taxes and all that
00:39:10
as we come from Mexico we didn't know a
00:39:13
thing
00:39:14
he helped us arrange our citizenship our
00:39:17
immigration cards and he always helped
00:39:20
us with everything it is the embryonal
00:39:22
side you that went all so but I saw what
00:39:23
was going on more jointly so that's why
00:39:26
we trusted him so much and that's why we
00:39:29
trusted him with our taxes
00:39:31
he takes advantage of the fact that a
00:39:34
great many of the individuals he comes
00:39:35
in contact with her unfamiliar with
00:39:37
federal income tax laws they trust him
00:39:39
to guide them through what really must
00:39:42
appear amazed
00:39:43
unfortunately they don't realize that he
00:39:45
has no intention of taking him anywhere
00:39:46
but to the cleaners so to speak
00:39:48
but Garcia's tax preparation scam was
00:39:52
just the tip of the iceberg he obtained
00:39:54
privileged and confidential information
00:39:56
from hundreds of community members he
00:39:59
then used that knowledge to order credit
00:40:01
cards and the names of his fellow
00:40:02
churchgoers and their deceased relatives
00:40:07
he would use the information that he
00:40:09
obtained about other people to build
00:40:11
resumes obtain credit cards establish
00:40:14
bank accounts and with his credit cards
00:40:17
he even assumed the identities of
00:40:19
females and he would charge things on
00:40:22
these credit cards and nobody would ever
00:40:24
question the fact that he was signing
00:40:26
what would appear to be a female name
00:40:28
simply because it was Hispanic and he
00:40:31
would explain to him that sometimes a
00:40:33
name that she would assume would be
00:40:34
female was not because it was a Hispanic
00:40:36
name and he got away with it
00:40:38
her most con men that would have been
00:40:41
enough the countess Garcia was also
00:40:44
something of a ladies man one woman who
00:40:46
we will call ana dated Carlos for six
00:40:49
years and never got the slightest
00:40:51
inkling that he was up to no good
00:40:55
[Music]
00:40:58
when Carlos learned that Ana's mother
00:41:00
had a large sum of money to invest he
00:41:03
encouraged her to put the funds in a CD
00:41:06
he had told her that the interest rate
00:41:09
would be better and his credit union and
00:41:13
he had already picked up the signature
00:41:14
cards and everything and brought those
00:41:16
with him so she filled out the
00:41:19
application and signature card and he
00:41:22
took the money he put it in the credit
00:41:24
unions
00:41:29
unbeknownst to Ana and her mother carlos
00:41:31
co-signed the signature card before long
00:41:34
he had emptied the account took a tune
00:41:37
of twenty five thousand dollars
00:41:40
it hurts you know it hurts that you know
00:41:43
that all of these years you thought that
00:41:45
someone cared about you and really they
00:41:47
were just using you
00:41:51
for eight years Carlos Garcia operated
00:41:55
at will
00:41:56
finally one of his class became
00:41:58
suspicious and contacted the IRS
00:42:00
inspection office
00:42:02
the taxpayer alleged that she had given
00:42:05
Carlos cash monies for three consecutive
00:42:09
years for Carlos to apply and send to
00:42:12
the Internal Revenue Service
00:42:14
she subsequently learned that Carlos
00:42:16
that IRS did not have any record of
00:42:20
her falling or any payments made to the
00:42:23
Internal Revenue Service
00:42:24
in 1993 the client made a phone call to
00:42:27
Carlos to discuss her situation Carlos
00:42:30
had no idea that IRS inspectors were
00:42:33
listening in Carlos I'm calling because
00:42:36
I've received some letters from the IRS
00:42:38
and they say that they haven't received
00:42:42
two payments from me and you know I paid
00:42:46
you in cash and I don't have any record
00:42:48
of it obviously there's been a terrible
00:42:50
mistake I will call them on Monday
00:42:52
morning and straighten this whole
00:42:53
situation out so you do have the record
00:42:56
then you can't prove to them that I gave
00:42:58
you the payment in cash yes I've got
00:43:01
those records I know you paid me I've
00:43:02
got thing right here I will take care of
00:43:05
it you understand okay then I'll wait to
00:43:09
hear from you thank you goddess by
00:43:16
Carlos Garcia was arrested a few days
00:43:18
later he soon posted bail within a week
00:43:22
Garcia slipped out of Virginia Beach and
00:43:24
vanished
00:43:26
when investigators searched through
00:43:28
Garcia's records and documents they
00:43:30
discovered his true identity
00:43:32
Fernando is a Pico
00:43:34
zap eco a native of Argentina is a
00:43:37
career con artist whose life of crime
00:43:39
spans more than four decades and
00:43:41
includes at least 17 aliases authorities
00:43:45
say that Zappa Co has built hundreds of
00:43:47
victims up and down the East Coast out
00:43:49
of millions of dollars
00:43:52
probably even greater than the loss of
00:43:54
funds from our Hispanic community has
00:43:58
been the loss of trust and
00:44:00
the real betrayal that people have felt
00:44:03
of someone whom they loved and respected
00:44:06
and truly looked up to as a leader of
00:44:09
our community and now they find that
00:44:12
they've been betrayed by him
00:44:15
cloud almost dos windows I mean you
00:44:17
don't know I hope our dreams came
00:44:19
crashing down and now we can't trust
00:44:22
anyone anymore
00:44:24
we're afraid something like this will
00:44:26
happen again Arizona Villa Glacia
00:44:30
because he was a man who belonged to the
00:44:31
church it was impossible to conceive
00:44:35
that he would steal in the church and
00:44:39
yet that's what he did I
00:44:41
still have time when he's hard for me to
00:44:45
accept this I
00:44:46
still have times when I feel like cry
00:44:49
when I feel depressed because I trusted
00:44:53
him I
00:44:54
believed in him
00:44:57
he took money from people there were
00:45:00
simple people again people that trusted
00:45:03
him and these people will never be the
00:45:06
same again we are we the whole community
00:45:08
will never be the same again
00:45:11
[Music]
00:45:28
[Music]
00:45:36
join me next Friday for another
00:45:38
intriguing edition unsolved mysteries
00:45:45
[Music]
00:46:21
you
