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this program is about unsolved mysteries
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whenever possible the actual family
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members and police officials have
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participated in recreating the events
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what you are about to see is not a news
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broadcast the breathtaking beauty of
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Canada's Yukon Territory has captivated
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travelers for generations but when
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Phillip Fraser Anchorage Alaska picked
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up a lone hitchhiker the wilderness
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became the Gateway to a nightmare
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in 1994 men were cast adrift on a
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fishing boat sunk off the coast of
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Georgia after an incredible four-day
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ordeal one of them was rescued as for
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the other three a series of strange
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phone calls suggest that they are being
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held against their will in a foreign
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country when he was 20 Mac McDonald fell
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madly in love with a girl next door a
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year later Mac met his child for the
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first and last time now that child could
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inherit max estate estimated at more
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than a million dollars
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freewheeling Las Vegas was a perfect
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locale for max Carson a fast-talking
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self-styled film producer in reality
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Carson was a hustler and ex-cop named
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William John wood he is now wanted for
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rape join me for these intriguing new
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stories perhaps you may be able to help
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solve the mystery
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[Music]
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[Applause]
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[Applause]
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[Music]
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[Music]
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eleska America's last frontier highway 1
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is this lifeline a thin asphalt ribbon
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which cuts through Canada's Yukon
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Territory to connect Alaska to the
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continental United States on June 14th
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1988 25 year-old Phillip Fraser the son
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of two physicians left his home in
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Anchorage to enroll in a pre-med course
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at Evergreen college in Washington State
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Phillip had packed up everything he
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owned for the trip including two
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handguns
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on June 17th after losing two days to
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car trouble
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Phil across the border into Canada Irie
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coming from Alaska
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well I swear he headed Washington I'm
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gonna go to school down there then yeah
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anything on board any goods that you
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purchased that you're bringing across
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just my books and things like that for
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school
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a beaver creek Phillip was entering into
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Canada from Alaska HR Yukon Territory
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and Philip did declare that easy have
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two firearms of his own and at that
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point our accountant accustoms people
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seized the firearms from him as it is
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illegal for Americans to enter Canada
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with any kind of a firearm after a one
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hour delay Phillip Fraser was on his way
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his guns became the property of the
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Canadian government the next day 600
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miles south of the border checkpoint a
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hitchhiker was dropped off at the forty
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mile flat cafe owned by gay frontage gay
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under daughter Tina were on duty
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individual that dropped them off didn't
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come into the cafe just dropped him off
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and left and just looking at him through
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the window there was something wrong he
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didn't there's something wrong with him
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you know and the parents wasn't
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comfortable and I said to Tina
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we've got a winner here there's
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something wrong with this guy I remember
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saying to mommy
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you know maybe he escaped from a mental
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institution because he was so strange
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I think we're good yeah you didn't stick
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around
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yeah I think I better at best not leave
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you I wouldn't leave her alone in the
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building with him as there was nobody
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else there at the time just and so I
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said to Tina well you go ahead and take
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care of him then I'll just hang around
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as I pass the side window I seen a small
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black car pull up right to the side at
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the cafe and the young man in the car
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didn't turn didn't get out of the car
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but proceeded to act like he was
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searching his car like he had misplaced
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something that he needed a during this
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times when another vehicle pulled up to
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the service station you know to me
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there's cars pumps do you want a certain
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gas and I'll just stay in here okay sure
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Tina frontage went to the parking lot to
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pump gas for another customer she and
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Philip Frazier exchanged hellos
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[Music]
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yeah
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Jay and Tina were relieved when the
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hitch-hiker finished his meal they
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remember that he paid his bill and
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Canadian money
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I watched the attacker go out and
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approach Fraser right
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the car sat for a few minutes and then
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he pulled ahead like he had second
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thoughts
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the hitch-hiker just ran beside him and
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pulled the door open and the young man
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in the car proceeded to let him enter
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[Music]
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the strange thing was as they left the
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yard Tina made some remark about he's
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going to live to regret this day he
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picked this man up it was like a sixth
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sense that this man was capable of
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anything
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[Music]
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eight hours later and 200 miles south of
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the 40 mile flat cafe Eddie and Pauline
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Olson of cat Wonga Canada pulled over to
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help a stranded motorist
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oh wow am I glad to see you guys
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hey I think my car ran out of gas I
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don't know what happens if I stop to the
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last gas stop but it just quit I'm on my
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way to college and I've got all my stuff
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in the back of the car you could tell he
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was nervous but I thought that well you
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know he was just scared of being out
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here this late at night didn't want you
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know to stay out here because it's kind
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of a remote area and at that point I
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just said well I'll tow you home and
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we'll figure it out in the morning now
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you can sleep down here
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we've had quite a few people stay down
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here and they have a pretty good now
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this'll be great I really appreciate
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everything you guys have done for me you
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can just pick out whichever coat you
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want there there's some blankets right
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there okay have a good sleep and we'll
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see you in the morning all right thanks
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sleep good
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he slept downstairs in our basement and
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I have about 1215 guns on a gun case
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down there and where he slept the guns
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were just right right beside him there I
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slept great thanks oh sit down have a
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coffee oh thank you
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the next morning the young man told the
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Olsons that his parents were both
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doctors in Anchorage and that he was on
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his way to college in the States to
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study medicine and I really I got
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talking to him about his car and he told
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me that if I was interested he would
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sell it to me and I said well I was
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interested because all he wanted was a
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plane ticket to Seattle but I said the
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only way I would buy it as if he waited
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till Monday and we went through customs
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and he said that would be too late for
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him I can't wait till Monday I need to
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be in Seattle on Monday I really can't
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wait I really need to get going
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something I can do for your hospitality
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anything the Olsons were surprised when
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the young man pulled out two wallets and
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began to behave secretively
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he gave the Olsens $20 in American money
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then left to fix his car thank you
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within an hour the young man was back on
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the road headed south the car trouble
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had turned out to be nothing more than a
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broken fan belt 12 hours later the
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charred ruins of Phillip Frazier's car
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were found at a car wash and Prince
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George British Columbia 300 miles from
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the Olsens home the condition of the car
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after it was burned was almost totally
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gutted out on the inside due to the the
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fire and fire damage to the outside as
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well nothing was found in the car of any
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significance in fact none the Phillip
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Fraser's belongings have ever been found
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the parents were contacted in Alaska and
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there was a great deal of investigation
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done at that point as Phillip was
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considered a missing person and
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potentially a homicide victim I was sure
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that you know that there had been foul
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play but I kept hoping thinking of all
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sorts of alternatives like maybe he
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decided he wanted to ditch his car and
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be in his own and I knew you know
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intellectually I knew that was wrong
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because he really loved his car
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six weeks later a body was discovered in
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a gravel turnaround area 70 miles from
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the Olsons home
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at the time of the discovery of the body
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it was already well known about the
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incident of the car burning in the
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carwash and Prince George and almost
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immediately investigators were looking
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at the remains being that of a philip
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fraser in order to do a positive
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identification we require dental records
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from Alaska which we obtained very
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quickly and were able to make that
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identification
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I think she's any parent who loses a kid
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feels like he's lost part of himself I
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think that's tough why don't things you
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definitely feel you feel like you aren't
00:12:05
intact yourself
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I just extra difficult just grab it in
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words you feel like your life and your
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family has been truncated cut off
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I felt angry bitter
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I wondered what sort of a person what
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kind of a person would wouldn't destroy
00:12:35
someone who was so idealistic and so
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full of life what really happened along
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that lonely stretch of highway one the
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Royal Canadian Mounted Police theorized
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that the mystery hitchhiker learned
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everything he could about Phillip
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Frazier and then killed him
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they believe the hitchhiker 'soul
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Phillips identity stole his possessions
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and finally attempted to destroy the car
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in my mind he most definitely is a
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dangerous person he's taken one life he
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has the capability of taking more as to
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whether he's done this type of thing
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before I couldn't say that but we know
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he's taken one life and I would consider
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him very dangerous these are composite
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drawings of the hitchhiker based on the
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descriptions of Gaye and Tina frock
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llege and Eddie and Pauline Olsen he is
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Caucasian about 5 feet 9 inches tall and
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weighs approximately 225 pounds he has a
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flabby belly which overhangs his belt
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and is between 20 and 25 years old he
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has brown hair and brown eyes
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the authorities believe at the
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hitch-hiker is familiar with the Toronto
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area and the Seattle Washington area
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he may be masquerading as Phillip Ennis
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Frazier among the items never recovered
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were Phillip Frazier's birth certificate
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visa passport and checkbook next three
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fishermen are lost at sea but some leave
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they survived and are being held against
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their will
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[Music]
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the vast oceans of the world have
00:14:30
captivated humankind since the dawn of
00:14:32
civilization the young especially seem
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drawn by the promise of adventure and
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romance but they're also a thousand
00:14:39
hidden dangers
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sometimes a sea can be an unforgiving
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mistress in 1990 alone 865 people drown
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in American coastal waters April 12th
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1990 which 'land Hill Georgia just south
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of Savannah for commercial fishermen
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prepared to embark on a seven-day
00:15:02
expedition in the Atlantic the captain
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is 23 year-old Billy Johnny Smith the
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crew includes his brother Nathan his
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nephew Keith Wilkes and a friend
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Franklin Brent Lee
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in the late afternoon they set off in
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the Kacey Nicole a snapper boat owned by
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Billy Johnny Smith's employer the boat
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had recently been returned to service
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after five weeks in drydock for
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maintenance but we were headed out
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probably approximately close to 90 miles
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offshore I guess it was somewhere around
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3:30 4:00 in the morning that next
00:15:49
morning it was still dark I had got up
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and was operating the boat and the boat
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just seemed to be sluggish you know like
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he wanted to bust through the waves kind
00:16:02
of like a submarine or something didn't
00:16:04
want to ride over the ways
00:16:14
so I told my brother he was laying in
00:16:18
the bunk I woke him up I said Billy Joe
00:16:20
I said all son I said something wrong
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with the boat wait a minute what's they
00:16:28
all course I'm losing 1015 degrees
00:16:30
man I tried it manually and it keeps
00:16:32
going off and then I tried oh we got to
00:16:40
noticing around the boat was riding
00:16:42
pretty deep in the water we're two foot
00:16:44
down did you check the engine it sounds
00:16:45
like sputtering hey did you get that
00:16:56
pump yet couple times then we started
00:17:00
working on our palms time to get our
00:17:02
pump to work to pump the boat our guests
00:17:08
are [ __ ] just water out here right now
00:17:09
the other crew members stepped down in
00:17:11
the bow and when we turn on the light we
00:17:14
notice they would water about a foot
00:17:16
deep down in the bumps where they were
00:17:18
at
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and we got in a line and started passing
00:17:25
the buckets no time to build a boat out
00:17:27
in the mean time we took the life raft
00:17:30
out it was a two-man life forever
00:17:32
we've been hollered Mayday on the radio
00:17:34
we had been ado only at working here
00:17:40
never did get anywhere with that the
00:17:43
engine finally stole all power and the
00:17:50
Casey Nicole was lost the radio was
00:17:52
useless the four men abandon ship
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laughs Ralph was counted Rodney had a
00:18:01
hole in the side of it up on the top we
00:18:04
don't know for sure if the anchor
00:18:06
snagged it and tore this hole in it or
00:18:09
if the thing was just rotting eventually
00:18:13
wore in it we don't really know what
00:18:14
happened there but we do know that it
00:18:16
had a hole in it about the size of a
00:18:18
quarter by sunrise the life raft was
00:18:23
sinking fast
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then salvation came floating by the
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hatch cover from the Casey Nicole
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the four men tethered the raft to the
00:18:45
hatch cover and clambered aboard it was
00:18:47
then that Nathan Nesmith spotted the
00:18:50
Hall of the KC nickeled in the distance
00:18:52
looked like it was maybe three or four
00:18:55
miles from us I said I don't know what
00:18:57
kind of chance we've got but at least
00:18:59
maybe one of us can make it to the boat
00:19:01
and get some kind of help
00:19:03
well that's what I struck out to do and
00:19:08
they start hollering oh no you come back
00:19:10
you stay with us we can't separate off
00:19:13
we separate up we're gonna be split up
00:19:15
Nina tell them what go wrong
00:19:26
I just kept swimming he kept swimming I
00:19:28
swam from about nine o'clock that
00:19:31
morning and just before dark
00:19:34
that afternoon I got to where I thought
00:19:37
was what the boat was and I got to
00:19:39
looking around and I seen the stern of
00:19:41
the boat sticking up at a distance
00:19:43
probably another hundred yards or so to
00:19:46
the right of it so I just kept swimming
00:19:49
I don't swam so I thought there wasn't a
00:19:52
more swimming in me and I drink so much
00:19:56
saltwater trying to swim in it and I was
00:19:59
just real weak as darkness fell Nathan
00:20:04
lost sight of his companions he spent a
00:20:06
long harrowing night clinging to the
00:20:08
hollow that Kacey Nicole the next
00:20:14
morning a freighter passed within three
00:20:16
miles of Nathan this ship here looked
00:20:20
like it made about four stops maybe five
00:20:22
stops and each time it would stop or
00:20:25
circle I could see a fogger smoke ball
00:20:28
out of it and it was in the direction
00:20:30
that my other mates had went so I
00:20:35
figured that maybe it had stopped to
00:20:37
pick them up the freighter continued his
00:20:41
odd maneuvers for nearly three hours
00:20:43
then disappeared for two and a half days
00:20:47
Nathan Nesmith drifted and prayed that
00:20:49
the Kacey Nicole would stay afloat all
00:20:52
seemed lost until a large wooden
00:20:54
styrofoam bait box ripped loose from the
00:20:57
boats deck and popped to the surface
00:21:00
I couldn't tell what it was for a minute
00:21:02
because I was scared and there were
00:21:04
things like that I swam over to it where
00:21:08
I could get a better view of it like I
00:21:10
say I was pretty weak I couldn't have
00:21:12
done about starved down I was hungry and
00:21:14
thirsty and really weak and I got to the
00:21:19
front of it and blessed God the whole
00:21:20
front was out I mean it was just like
00:21:22
just like a boat to me I mean it a
00:21:25
little like just something that I needed
00:21:27
at the moment
00:21:28
[Music]
00:21:43
it was really hard I mean I was getting
00:21:45
real sunburned my skin was turning real
00:21:49
real red and I was very close to dead I
00:21:51
mean actually I was to the stage of
00:21:54
death but I knew I couldn't give up
00:21:56
because I had two kids and wife at home
00:21:58
and I remember saying God please let me
00:22:01
go home to my wife and kids and be able
00:22:03
to raise my kids you know don't let me
00:22:05
die this Oh in this ocean
00:22:08
[Music]
00:22:12
at 10 a.m. on April 15th 1990 Nathan
00:22:15
Nesmith was finally rescued 20 miles off
00:22:18
the coast of Georgia he had been adrift
00:22:20
without food or water for four days
00:22:25
[Music]
00:22:30
Nathan Nesmith companions were never
00:22:32
found
00:22:33
a large-scale search mounted by the
00:22:35
Coast Guard yielded no trace of the life
00:22:37
raft or the hatch cover but Nathan and
00:22:40
his family never gave up hope that the
00:22:41
three men might somehow have survived it
00:22:44
seemed a futile hope until a strange
00:22:46
telephone call was made of the home of
00:22:48
Nathan's sister Anita
00:22:53
it was October 5th 1990 six months after
00:22:57
the KC Nicole had sunk Anita's mother
00:23:00
law answered the telephone the caller a
00:23:13
man spoke in Spanish and seemed unable
00:23:16
to understand English I can't stand a
00:23:19
word you saying
00:23:20
did you speak English no this person
00:23:23
would keep saying is repeating our phone
00:23:25
number and saying our name and that's
00:23:28
all then it was just like a cutoff it
00:23:31
wasn't anything after that and you know
00:23:34
we just kept saying hello hello and it
00:23:36
was just cut off static cut off that
00:23:39
same day an unusual call also came into
00:23:42
the home of Doug Tyson owner of the
00:23:44
ill-fated Casey Nicole hello
00:23:48
once again the caller was a man the only
00:23:51
English words he said were the Tyson's
00:23:53
name and telephone number that was
00:23:55
strange
00:23:56
what do you mean they were speaking in
00:23:59
Spanish in Spanish we didn't say
00:24:02
anything about the call when we got it
00:24:04
six weeks later after that about six
00:24:07
weeks we were down visiting with the
00:24:08
Nesmith family and they started telling
00:24:11
us about their call and after they got
00:24:14
through I said how long ago was this ask
00:24:17
them they thought back a minute they
00:24:19
said about six weeks I looked at my wife
00:24:22
she looked at me and she said nodded her
00:24:25
head she said about the same time a I
00:24:26
said yeah
00:24:28
over the next year five more calls came
00:24:31
in three to Anita and two to the Tyson's
00:24:35
finally on March 6 1991 the caller spoke
00:24:39
a single sentence in English I said just
00:24:48
very simple words not I'm bringing you
00:24:51
at home I'm bringing him home just said
00:24:53
I'm bringing him home that was after
00:24:59
only a moment the connection was broken
00:25:01
there have been no calls since the nice
00:25:04
miss and the Tyson's are convinced that
00:25:06
the three missing men were taken aboard
00:25:08
the passing freighter and perhaps
00:25:10
transported to a foreign country against
00:25:13
their will I think there's some we're
00:25:16
being held I really do and I think that
00:25:18
whoever called us is putting herself on
00:25:20
the line because my brother or my nephew
00:25:25
wore our friend one of the three has
00:25:28
made a friend a very dear friend because
00:25:33
this person that's doing this it's
00:25:37
probably putting himself on the line to
00:25:39
do it you know in my mind people are
00:25:42
lost at sea they're never found I
00:25:44
realized that but there's no explanation
00:25:46
for where the debris went and then the
00:25:49
fact that Nathan's seen his ship stopped
00:25:50
the first day you add all those together
00:25:53
with the phone calls and I think it adds
00:25:57
up to tremendous amount of hope in my
00:26:00
heart yes I feel like they're alive I
00:26:03
mean you know I think they had a lot I
00:26:07
know they had a lot better chance of
00:26:09
surviving than I did I don't think that
00:26:12
I would have ever made it not knowing
00:26:14
that they couldn't make it
00:26:15
[Music]
00:26:18
what really happened to the lost crewmen
00:26:21
of the Casey Nicole the Coast Guard
00:26:23
search was the largest ever conducted in
00:26:26
the area of the Atlantic Ocean where
00:26:27
they disappeared officially Billy Joe
00:26:32
Nesmith Keith Wilkes and Franklin
00:26:35
Bradley are presumed dead unofficially
00:26:38
there seems reasonable hope that they
00:26:40
may still be alive when we return one
00:26:46
man's poignant search for his long-lost
00:26:48
child who stands to inherit more than a
00:26:51
million dollars
00:26:55
[Music]
00:27:09
beautiful baby for most parents seeing
00:27:15
their baby for the very first time as a
00:27:17
moment of unrestrained joy but for this
00:27:20
young father it was a moment of
00:27:22
confusion and panic that drove him away
00:27:25
from the girl he loved and the child he
00:27:27
has not seen since four decades later
00:27:37
the young man is 63 years old
00:27:40
WB Mac MacDonald is now a wealthy
00:27:43
businessman with a sizable estate yet he
00:27:47
is very much alone Mac has never been
00:27:49
married no one from his immediate family
00:27:52
is still alive for 30 years Mac McDonald
00:27:59
has been searching for his child but has
00:28:01
found only frustration those last years
00:28:04
of the one thing his money cannot buy
00:28:06
Mac's story begins in 1948 in Pomona
00:28:09
California when he fell madly perhaps
00:28:12
tragically in love with a girl next door
00:28:14
her name was Mary Helen Carr
00:28:17
she was just 16 years old
00:28:20
[Music]
00:28:26
the first time that I noticed my
00:28:29
neighbor she was in a swing on her front
00:28:32
porch she was in a pair of white slacks
00:28:37
and a light colored blouse and very
00:28:41
pleasing to look at while she was there
00:28:45
on the swing there was definite
00:28:48
attraction both ways however I guess I
00:28:53
was a little shy at that time that I
00:28:56
didn't speak to her at that time it was
00:28:58
it was several months before I finally
00:29:01
began to speak to her nice break yeah
00:29:05
like to keep it clean Helen nice to meet
00:29:10
you I've seen here before my bike
00:29:17
I'd like to go for ride sometime yeah my
00:29:20
mother would forbid me to ride that
00:29:22
especially with you is her mother always
00:29:25
here
00:29:29
the romance progressed slowly and
00:29:32
discreetly Mary Helen's mother was
00:29:34
distrustful of max intentions still the
00:29:38
two young lovers saw each other at every
00:29:39
available opportunity until the
00:29:43
inevitable day came but Mary Helen's
00:29:45
mother had caught them together we were
00:29:51
planning on a future together
00:29:53
and here were these tremendous stomach
00:29:58
blocks being thrown out into the path
00:30:03
Mac felt he had no choice but to pack
00:30:05
his bags and lead his destination the
00:30:09
oil fields of Texas sorry I was very
00:30:13
much in love with her my whole life was
00:30:18
revolving around her at that time but
00:30:21
with the disturbance that I was causing
00:30:24
her at home I thought well I'll get away
00:30:26
a while and maybe I'll solve some of
00:30:28
these problems we can be sure that that
00:30:31
what we were feeling for each other it's
00:30:34
gonna last the rest of our lives
00:30:38
[Music]
00:30:40
we would both agree to just from the
00:30:41
best thing to do but it didn't didn't
00:30:44
make it any easier went directly to
00:30:49
Houston the only time I stopped on that
00:30:51
trip was just for gas because there's I
00:30:53
was it seemed like I left part of me and
00:30:56
Pomona and it didn't get any easier the
00:31:00
more miles I got away from her
00:31:03
three weeks later Mac had established
00:31:06
himself in Houston he had no idea that
00:31:09
Mary Helen had run away from home to
00:31:11
join him Mary Ellen called me from the
00:31:14
bus station there in Houston and she
00:31:17
says I'm here for good and I told her
00:31:22
I'll be right there
00:31:25
yeah a tour thy tour the streets up
00:31:28
getting down to the bus station it was a
00:31:30
very happy reunion here we are the next
00:31:35
day Mac and Mary Helen posing as husband
00:31:38
and wife found an apartment and began
00:31:40
planning for the rest of their lives
00:31:43
their troubles seemed far behind them
00:31:47
yeah congratulations thank you well it's
00:31:51
right here let me show you it was
00:31:55
happiness itself it was the ultimate
00:31:58
dream
00:32:00
the feeling is she she gave you she was
00:32:03
beautiful to look at she was beautiful
00:32:05
to talk to and she gave you the
00:32:07
incentive to tear the world one month
00:32:17
later
00:32:17
Mac and Mary Helen's world would
00:32:19
collapse again
00:32:25
Wow just a minute a friend tip Mack off
00:32:30
that the police are on their way to the
00:32:31
apartment hello Mary Helen's mother had
00:32:34
made good on her threats the authorities
00:32:37
carried warrants charging Mac with
00:32:39
statutory rape and illegally living with
00:32:41
a minor right now Mac made his escape
00:32:57
with no time to spare
00:33:02
[Music]
00:33:09
I left Texas and it was in the afternoon
00:33:11
seem like afternoon is when all these
00:33:14
departures took place and I didn't stop
00:33:17
till I was out of the state of Texas
00:33:23
I was devastated again they jerked her
00:33:26
back to California
00:33:30
and I had no way of contacting her again
00:33:35
a year passed Mac returned to California
00:33:44
to take a new job one evening he and a
00:33:48
friend stopped off at a drive-in in Long
00:33:50
Beach Mary
00:33:57
almost fell out of the car the waitress
00:34:00
the car help that came to wait on us
00:34:02
Mary Ellen E Los Angeles is a big city
00:34:07
was a big city then and the
00:34:09
possibilities of driving into our
00:34:12
restaurant and having her the waitress
00:34:14
was like hitting a keno ticket here in
00:34:17
Reno well listen I can't really talk to
00:34:20
you but I get off work at 9:00 you want
00:34:23
to come by my apartment yeah
00:34:27
here's my address great
00:34:32
you can see our baby
00:34:36
I have a baby it's now almost had heart
00:34:43
failure when it took my breath away cuz
00:34:46
I had no idea she was pregnant there was
00:34:48
that possibility though so I told her
00:34:52
I'll be right over with this baby in her
00:35:12
arms where the police department is
00:35:17
probably on premises honey you know this
00:35:21
is just a matter of time that I'm gonna
00:35:23
be shackled and in jail over this I was
00:35:28
so distraught when her mother opened the
00:35:31
door then I looked the fact that she was
00:35:35
about half-civilized the first time
00:35:37
she'd ever spoke to me civilly I was in
00:35:41
such a traumatic state of fear the
00:35:44
benefit of being able to hold hold your
00:35:46
baby for the first time I missed that
00:35:49
because all I could think of ease of the
00:35:51
law is in the bedroom or they're on the
00:35:54
way
00:35:56
Mac was terrified that Mary Helen's
00:35:59
mother still had a warrant out for his
00:36:01
arrest in California statutory rape was
00:36:05
punishable by up to 30 years in prison
00:36:09
Mac McDonald stayed for less than five
00:36:11
minutes
00:36:12
he never even learned if the baby was a
00:36:15
boy or a girl
00:36:17
I feel that made the greatest mistake of
00:36:20
my life
00:36:20
by not staying there and writing it out
00:36:25
I don't think there was there's probably
00:36:29
probably well it'd been 40 years that's
00:36:33
what it cost me I feel that the
00:36:39
youngster is entitled to my estate I'm
00:36:43
not entitled to be its father probably
00:36:47
but I would want to I'd want that
00:36:50
youngster to know that even with the
00:36:52
mistakes that I love them and I wanted
00:36:56
to have the best
00:37:00
the night of our broadcast Mac McDonald
00:37:03
learned that he had a daughter named
00:37:04
sherry the long-awaited news came from a
00:37:07
viewer in Dallas Texas Mary Helen car
00:37:09
Sherry's mother unlike many of the
00:37:12
reunions we have featured the end of
00:37:14
this search of oak decidedly mixed
00:37:16
emotions from Mac from Mary Helen
00:37:19
especially for their daughter sherry
00:37:20
who'd been raised by loving and caring
00:37:22
stepfather
00:37:24
I'm 43 years old and pretty well said in
00:37:28
my life and everything and and I didn't
00:37:30
know what to think you know I'm very
00:37:32
happily married and have two great kids
00:37:34
and you know we just have a normal
00:37:37
American family and and this is quite a
00:37:40
shock to everyone
00:37:43
one week after our broadcast Mac
00:37:46
McDonald arrived at Sherry's home in
00:37:48
Denver Colorado for Mack the reunion
00:37:51
would bring a bittersweet and at times
00:37:53
unsettling reconciliation with the past
00:37:57
[Music]
00:38:01
come on
00:38:04
[Music]
00:38:10
it's hard to describe the feeling that I
00:38:14
had for my daughter when I opened the
00:38:16
door and she was there and I was able to
00:38:19
hold her I just tried to come to the
00:38:30
realization that it really was my father
00:38:32
standing there and I just Missy
00:38:36
does he look like me is he act like me
00:38:38
you know I have all these things I need
00:38:40
to learn about him I don't know what to
00:38:42
say at this point in my life to find
00:38:46
that there is someone who is my father
00:38:47
and who wants to establish a
00:38:49
relationship with me it's just
00:38:51
emotionally very traumatic apparently he
00:38:54
wants to be part of her life and if
00:39:00
that's the case it's okay
00:39:02
I hope since he's gone to this much
00:39:05
effort to find her that he doesn't bring
00:39:07
any song the fact that I didn't stay in
00:39:12
fight the battle it's most unfortunate I
00:39:16
don't believe I would do it that way
00:39:18
again
00:39:19
however yesterday unfortunately can't be
00:39:24
redone I'd like to
00:39:32
no matter how you look at it he left my
00:39:34
mother with a with a tiny baby you know
00:39:37
and I have to deal with that I have to
00:39:40
deal with the fact that I have a father
00:39:42
who loves for me who has raised me who's
00:39:44
cared for me that I believe there's
00:39:48
enough room in this family for everyone
00:39:50
and I sincerely mean that next an ex-cop
00:39:58
masquerading as a movie producer who's
00:40:00
wanted on charges of rape every year
00:40:14
more than 20 million tourists descend
00:40:16
upon Las Vegas Nevada the gambling
00:40:18
capital of the world
00:40:20
most come for only one reason to spend
00:40:23
and win money it's no wonder that Vegas
00:40:27
is also a mecca for every kind of
00:40:30
hustler and con artist imaginable in May
00:40:38
of 1988 a self-styled Star Maker named
00:40:41
axel Carson arrived in Las Vegas Carson
00:40:45
was a smooth talker who dabbled in
00:40:47
anything that might make money
00:40:50
Carson owned and operated a sports
00:40:52
betting business a fledgling film
00:40:54
company and a modeling agency
00:40:58
but max Carson was a man with a dark
00:41:00
past he was an ex cop gone bad whose
00:41:03
real name was William John Wood in 1972
00:41:07
would resign from the Toledo Ohio police
00:41:09
force while under investigation for
00:41:11
misconduct between 1977 and 1985 would
00:41:16
serve time for a number of offenses from
00:41:19
passing bad checks to impersonating a
00:41:21
federal officer to assault with intent
00:41:23
to rape
00:41:28
in 1986 William John wood moved to Las
00:41:32
Vegas and became max Carson right there
00:41:37
max was absolutely obsessed with
00:41:39
good-looking women okay he would
00:41:42
especially with actresses models any
00:41:45
good-looking women use the movie
00:41:47
industry or use his clout as quote
00:41:51
unquote a movie producer to be could get
00:41:56
them whatever they wanted in November of
00:42:04
1989 Carson began holding auditions for
00:42:07
an upcoming film one striking 19 year
00:42:10
old model caught his eye we will call
00:42:13
her Tiffany I went in I talked to him
00:42:22
and he told me a little bit about him
00:42:26
what the movie was about and what I
00:42:28
would be doing he had started talking
00:42:36
about money and I felt strange that he
00:42:39
would offer a large amount of money to
00:42:40
someone in my position that's never
00:42:42
really had any acting before so I talked
00:42:45
to a couple agents and they'd all heard
00:42:47
of him they had done their homework on
00:42:50
him and found that there was nothing
00:42:52
wrong with him Tiffany had several other
00:42:59
meetings with Carson but the movie never
00:43:01
got off the ground
00:43:02
max Carson's Empire was on the verge of
00:43:05
collapse
00:43:07
we have employees that haven't been paid
00:43:09
just relax
00:43:11
have faith we've been through so much
00:43:13
together by January of 1990 max Carsten
00:43:17
would shut down his offices yet he would
00:43:19
maintain the illusion that he was still
00:43:21
in full operation in February he called
00:43:27
Tiffany and hired her as a last-minute
00:43:29
replacement model for a photoshoot
00:43:34
Carsten arranged to meet her later that
00:43:36
day at a restaurant on the strip I bet
00:43:45
him in front of the coffee shop and he
00:43:48
said that we needed to go to the motel
00:43:53
there where they had set up a dressing
00:43:55
room for me this suit should be probably
00:44:04
about two hours you'd be done in those
00:44:06
vessels are just fine I started to feel
00:44:09
a little uncomfortable just because
00:44:11
there was no one around Tiffany why
00:44:13
don't you just go over there and fill
00:44:14
out those forms and I'll make a call so
00:44:16
I left the door open with my bag sitting
00:44:19
in between the room and the door so that
00:44:21
it would make it a little bit difficult
00:44:23
to get the door shut this is max Carson
00:44:27
listen I'm expecting somebody in very
00:44:29
shortly and supposedly he was calling
00:44:33
the makeup artist and the photographer
00:44:36
or taking let them know that we're here
00:44:37
and waiting yes okay well I appreciate
00:44:40
that thank you very much and about that
00:44:43
time he had asked me if I would give him
00:44:45
a hug
00:44:47
and I knew that I was in trouble max I
00:44:51
don't feel very comfortable um what do
00:44:56
you mean you don't feel very comfortable
00:44:56
let's just forget about the whole thing
00:44:58
yes you're not going anywhere
00:45:02
don't make a sound do what I say and I
00:45:05
won't hurt you I thought at that point
00:45:12
that I was gonna die I thought I was
00:45:16
gonna be extremely lucky if I walked out
00:45:18
I tried very hard to cooperate hoping
00:45:24
that that would keep him from becoming
00:45:26
more violent I mean this this was scary
00:45:33
later that day Tiffany called the police
00:45:36
even though Carsten had threatened that
00:45:37
he would accuse her of prostitution if
00:45:39
she told anyone
00:45:41
max Carson was charged with kidnapping
00:45:43
sexual assault and battery but by then
00:45:47
he had disappeared two months later and
00:45:51
3,000 miles away
00:45:53
max Carson surfaced in Cocoa Beach
00:45:55
Florida once again he tried to work a
00:45:58
scam on a beautiful woman hi I hope I
00:46:02
didn't keep you waiting Carson no the
00:46:11
woman had arranged to meet in the lobby
00:46:13
of a Cocoa Beach hotel Carson wanted to
00:46:16
continue their conversation in a private
00:46:18
room upstairs he had convinced the woman
00:46:20
to accept money for sex
00:46:25
under arrest so was it taken max Carson
00:46:31
had walked into a clever trap
00:46:32
the woman was wearing a concealed wire
00:46:35
as part of a sting operation
00:46:37
Carson pleaded guilty to solicitation of
00:46:39
prostitution at the time police in
00:46:43
Florida had no idea that he was wanted
00:46:45
in Las Vegas this guy downtown
00:46:47
two days later max Carson was released
00:46:50
from jail and disappeared once again
00:46:52
only then did police finally discover
00:46:56
his true identity William John wood was
00:47:01
last seen in Reno Nevada in March of
00:47:03
1991 still using the name max Carson he
00:47:07
tried to run one of his scams on a model
00:47:08
he had known in Las Vegas when she
00:47:10
confronted him with his past he
00:47:12
disappeared authorities believe he may
00:47:15
be operating anywhere in the country
00:47:16
though he seems to prefer Florida Nevada
00:47:19
or Southern California they're certain
00:47:21
that he is still masquerading as a film
00:47:23
producer or talent agent
00:47:37
[Music]
00:47:46
join me next time for another edition on
00:47:49
Saugus
00:47:50
[Music]
00:48:17
[Applause]
00:48:20
[Music]
00:48:31
you
