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this program is about unsolved mysteries
00:00:07
whenever possible the actual family
00:00:09
members and police officials have
00:00:10
participated in recreating the events
00:00:12
what you are about to see is not a news
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broadcast Kansas City Missouri it
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started as a small fire at a
00:00:24
construction site and suddenly it
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exploded with unrestrained fury
00:00:28
instantly killing six firefighters later
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investigators discovered that the blaze
00:00:33
had been deliberately set meaning the
00:00:35
deaths were in reality cold-blooded
00:00:37
murders imagine the eerie feeling of
00:00:41
stepping off a train and coming
00:00:43
face-to-face with a total stranger who
00:00:45
looks exactly like you in effect you're
00:00:48
mirror image that is precisely what
00:00:50
happened to a soldier named Ken Palmer
00:00:52
during World War two
00:00:54
some fifty years later he's still
00:00:56
searching for his exact W but a small
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plane loaded with marijuana crashed in
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the Virginia countryside it blew the lid
00:01:05
off one of the East Coast's biggest drug
00:01:07
lines authorities began to close in on
00:01:10
the mastermind a charismatic pilot named
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Wallace Thrasher only to hear he had
00:01:15
apparently died in Central America but
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reports of the drug lords death may have
00:01:19
been a clever hoax officials now believe
00:01:22
that Wallace Thrasher got away scot-free
00:01:27
join me for another fascinating edition
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unsolved mysteries
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[Music]
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[Applause]
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[Music]
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[Music]
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tonight a woman named Pam Paige is
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missing for more than four years that
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family's endured the agony of not
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knowing what happened to her
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in 1977 Pam and her husband Rob left
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Arkansas and eventually moved to a
00:02:38
suburb of Phoenix Arizona or the opened
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a video rental business despite one
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shaky period 1987 Pam and Rob seemed
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happy
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in fact on July 7th 1989 Pam went back
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to Arkansas for a family reunion and
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told everyone that things were great two
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weeks later however on July 22nd 1989
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Rob Page said he noticed that his wife
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was behaving strangely during the middle
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of the night on the early morning hours
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of Saturday mr. Page a-walkin discovered
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that his wife was not in bed
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he went downstairs and discovered her on
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the sofa she was going through her
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family photographs and she was crying
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she told him that her back was bothering
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her and that she didn't feel well and
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mr. Page said that he encouraged her to
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go see a doctor in the morning and he
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returned back to bed
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mr. Page said he got up at 7 or 8
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o'clock in the morning I went downstairs
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and found his wife is sorting through
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her clothing it's almost 8 o'clock are
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you gonna go down to the shop I really
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don't feel very good well you only to
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open up for you would you yeah sure be
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good okay I got the keys Thanks right he
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did leave the home stated he had trouble
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starting his vehicle because he has an
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ignition switch problem worked on this
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truck for a little bit God has started
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and went open went up and opened up the
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video store Rob Page said that 8 hours
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later he came home to an empty house and
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a letter from Pam Rob by the time you
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read this I'll be a long way from her I
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have thought this thing out and have
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been planning this for several months
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the letter stated that Pam had left town
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with a woman named Sarah Rob Page
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claimed he was embarrassed because he
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thought his wife had left him for a
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woman he did not call Arkansas to tell
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Pam's family four days later however
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Pam's oldest sister Trina did call Ryan
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I was calling to see how Pam was doing
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she's gone what do you mean she's gone I
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came home on Saturday and and she left
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me a letter
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it seemed out of character to me for her
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not to let anyone know the course she
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was where she was at but I didn't think
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about that at first I just had one thing
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old man was getting my word to somebody
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that she was missing by the time you
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read this I will be a long way from here
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one by one the members of Pam's family
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called Ronnie and listened as he read
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the letter to each and every one
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something seemed odd Rob told him the
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police had taken a report but Pam's
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father wanted to see the letter anyway
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yes Rob defects at door consolidating
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back home would make me happy
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it won't when I receive that faxed
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letter I knew that something was bad
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wrong for one thing I looked at the
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signature I had birthday cards and
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letters and so on from Pam and the
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signature wasn't her statement dear
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finally Pam's sister Jimmy called the
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police at Arizona but they had never
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heard of the case the family was stunned
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I knew from that second that she was
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dead it scared me because I didn't know
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if we would find her body work we would
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know what happened to her but I knew she
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was dead
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I was sure that
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she wouldn't leave under no
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circumstances she would have let mama
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know they were too close
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[Music]
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robbed a stool detectives that on the
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day of Pam's disappearance he left home
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around 8:00 a.m. later he went to
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several auto parts stores looking
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without success for an ignition switch
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for his truck in the parking lot of one
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store the truck finally gave out
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Rob said he called home got no answer
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and assumed Pam had gone to the video
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shop after all he phoned for a taxi to
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take him home I need a taxi Rob said he
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never went into the house
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only the garage he got a part for his
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truck hopped on his bike and went back
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to the store
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well the truck finally started he drove
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home and found the letter the letter
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stated that Pam had taken all their
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money $60,000 in cash out of the safe at
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the video store
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Rob page said he was straight to the
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store and indeed the cash was gone the
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letter also said that Pam had left the
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couple's Corvette at a Winchell's donut
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shop
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Rob Page claimed he drove to every
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Winchell's in the area until finally the
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next day he located the Corvette soon
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however police began to question the
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details of Rob's story none of the
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employees at the last Auto Parts Store
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remembered Rob or anyone asking about an
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ignition switch
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in addition Rob pages said his truck
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which was very distinctive was parked at
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the store for nearly four hours that
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afternoon
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none of the employees ever recall seeing
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that truck being out from the store or
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anyone ever working on it and one
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particular employee stated if that truck
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had been out in front of his business he
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would have known it the police also
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found it curious that the donut shop or
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pallet allegedly parked the Corvette the
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shop which had taken robbed page several
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hours to locate was right across the
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street from the auto parts store however
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police did verify Rob's claim that a cab
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took him home from that location on July
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22nd 1989 next investigators turned
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their attention to the letter and the
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traveling companion named Sarah Rob said
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he had never met Sarah but had heard Pam
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talk about her mr. Page felt that his
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wife had met Sarah at the video store
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from checking with the video store the
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customers by the name of Sarah we were
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not able to find a woman by that name
00:09:25
the new mrs. page finally three weeks
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after Pam Page disappeared the Arizona
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State Crime Lab verified that the
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signature on the letter was almost
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certainly not Pam's
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mr. Page refused to believe me and was
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adamant that his wife had in fact signed
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the letter
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after continuing a question mr. Paige
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about the signature on the letter he
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admitted to me that he in fact did sign
00:09:52
that letter rub Paige now became a
00:09:55
suspect and suddenly he began to tell a
00:09:58
very different story mr. Paige stated at
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the Thursday preceding his wife's
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disappearance that while he was on the
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family's home computer he discovered a
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letter that he claims his wife had
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authored in which in essence as she was
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going to be leaving him mr. Paige stated
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he confronted his wife about that letter
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I wrote this a long time ago oh then you
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weren't planning to leave me huh no I
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wasn't I wrote this when I was upset
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well then you're not gonna take our
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money and run off why'd you have to blow
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everything out of proportion let's talk
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about this when you've cooled down on
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Saturday he went to the video store open
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it up and stayed at the store until
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about noon and then he returned home to
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check on his wife Rob now told police
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that when he came home from the video
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store
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he found the house and disarray Rob said
00:11:03
that all of Pam's clothes except the
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items she had set aside for Goodwill or
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gone all the family pictures of one of
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their dogs a dachshund named rerun were
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missing
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Pam's credit cards and house keys were
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on the kitchen table but Rob City
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couldn't find her driver's license Rob
00:11:22
page said he went downstairs that had
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four innocuous sentences to the letter
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in the computer printed it out but
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signed Pam's name then Rob drove the
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Corvette to Winchell's went to the pay
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phone across the street called a taxi
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[Music]
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mr. Page stated that he fabricated some
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of the things he did and acted out some
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of the things that he did because no one
00:11:48
would ever believe him that his wife had
00:11:50
in fact left him had he not done this
00:11:53
due to Mister pages inconsistent
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statements throughout this investigation
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and as well as the suspicious
00:12:01
circumstances surrounding the
00:12:03
disappearance of his wife he was offered
00:12:05
a polygraph examination on several
00:12:07
occasions to eliminate him as a suspect
00:12:12
and his wife's disappearance and he
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declined to take a polygraph on each
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occasion that it was offered despite the
00:12:21
suspicions about Rob page there was no
00:12:23
evidence that he had done anything wrong
00:12:25
except change his story no charges were
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filed and the investigation sputtered to
00:12:31
a halt this is a picture of your sister
00:12:35
frustrated Pam's sister Jimmy rice
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decided to visit Carol pate a psychic in
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Little Rock Arkansas was worked with the
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police there for ten years carol had
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never been to arizona and knew nothing
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about the pages she had only a
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photograph of Pam to go thank you I just
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handed her a picture she put her hand on
00:12:58
it and started describing Pam's front
00:13:00
room and you know unless you've ever
00:13:03
been there she didn't know if Pam lived
00:13:05
in a trailer apartment or whatever but
00:13:07
to describe the downstairs and how you
00:13:10
go up the stairs and the balcony and
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going into a bedroom you know she was
00:13:14
you knew she was actually seeing all
00:13:16
this I saw her with a man and what
00:13:21
appeared to be her house and she was
00:13:23
arguing with him
00:13:25
the argument goes up the stairs she's
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going up the stairs she's going down the
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hallway he knocks her to the floor he's
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trying to strangle her he grabs the
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pillow and all of a sudden she's quiet
00:13:44
then a female comes she assists him on
00:13:49
placing her in the trunk
00:13:54
now I'm seeing them pull out of the
00:13:57
garage and they're driving
00:14:02
the name Coolidge comes into my mind and
00:14:07
two for one then I'm seeing a factory
00:14:14
and it's gray in color it appears to be
00:14:21
to my left and there's a railroad track
00:14:25
parallel and then crossing over the
00:14:29
railroad track onto a small road then he
00:14:35
pulls over on the side of the road and
00:14:38
removes the body and begins to dig
00:14:44
when he apparently it is deep enough he
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places her in the grave and then drives
00:14:53
away Jana Thorson an Arizona newspaper
00:15:01
reporter covering the case was in touch
00:15:03
with Pam's family in Arkansas she
00:15:06
decided to check out Carole pace three
00:15:08
strongest clues the factory the numbers
00:15:11
two for one and the name Coolidge
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[Music]
00:15:16
incredibly Thorson did find a gray
00:15:19
factory building near railroad tracks
00:15:20
right in Peoria Arizona nearby was a
00:15:26
sign with the numbers to four one one of
00:15:31
the routes between the page home and a
00:15:33
friend's house passed both of these
00:15:35
sites and ended at a street named
00:15:37
Coolidge there is no way of knowing if
00:15:42
Carroll pates information means anything
00:15:44
until we know whether Pam Paige met with
00:15:46
foul play her chose to disappear from
00:15:49
the beginning Rob pages maintained that
00:15:51
he believes his wife is alive and led
00:15:54
her to one saw mysteries he declined our
00:15:56
request for an interview but said that
00:15:58
if we air this story he hoped Pam would
00:16:01
be found
00:16:04
Pam Paige would today be 36 years old
00:16:07
she has red hair and his five feet eight
00:16:10
inches tall
00:16:12
[Music]
00:16:35
it was just after Thanksgiving 1988
00:16:39
firemen raced to extinguish two small
00:16:41
blazes burning at the edge of the city
00:16:43
it was a most routine of calls then in
00:16:47
the blink of an eye one of the fires
00:16:49
exploded with unprecedented fury
00:17:09
he could have retired several years ago
00:17:12
but he loved it so much that yesterday
00:17:16
he wasn't even supposed to have been
00:17:19
working he was feeling it for somebody
00:17:21
else I'd rather have him go this way
00:17:24
then Atlanta coma or be sick because
00:17:27
that would never be Jim killed it he
00:17:31
didn't want to fly an airplane because
00:17:32
he didn't want to risk his life on an
00:17:34
airplane and I said but you risk your
00:17:36
life every day being a fireman and he
00:17:38
said well he can he's in control he's at
00:17:41
the fire department
00:17:44
Michael Alden Robert Makonnen
00:17:51
James Kiehl vet Nina Jean heard Thomas
00:17:58
fry Gerald Halloran
00:18:03
[Music]
00:18:04
they are among Kansas City's best six
00:18:09
firefighters of more than 100 years of
00:18:11
service between them all have been
00:18:13
married all had children underlying the
00:18:17
tragedy is the ugly fact if the fires
00:18:19
had been deliberately set an arson means
00:18:22
that the deaths are nothing less than
00:18:23
cold-blooded murders in spite of a
00:18:26
massive investigation no charges have
00:18:28
been filed no convictions won today the
00:18:32
case remains Kansas City's most
00:18:33
notorious unsolved crime the first
00:18:40
minutes gave no hint of what was to come
00:18:42
at about 340 a.m. on November 29th 1988
00:18:46
two security guards at a highway
00:18:48
construction site discovered a pickup
00:18:50
truck in flames 71 Highway southbound
00:18:55
like some five hundred yards away
00:18:58
the second blaze crack code around a
00:19:00
storage tread look there's some
00:19:02
explosives there that are birdied you're
00:19:04
the fire okay we'll get somebody stored
00:19:06
the dispatch went to station 41 pumper
00:19:11
41 is a pickup truck
00:19:13
captain Jim Calvin's on fireman Robert
00:19:15
Makonnen and Mike Holden we're out the
00:19:18
door in just over 90 seconds
00:19:29
number 41 these ports and informations
00:19:32
are calling
00:19:33
explosives stored in that construction
00:19:35
site to pick up truck maybe in the
00:19:37
construction site as pumper 41 whip
00:19:42
through town
00:19:42
Jim kill veterans wife Cecilia heard the
00:19:45
dispatch over the police scanner she
00:19:47
kept at work I just didn't think
00:19:52
anything about it at the time because
00:19:54
you're just going to a regular track far
00:19:56
down on the highway I just have some
00:20:00
teenagers truck neighbors said they
00:20:02
caught it on fire for insurance
00:20:13
we're the ones a cult are you the
00:20:17
captain totally involved we'll be using
00:20:20
one from the onset arson seem probable
00:20:31
given two fires that were apparently
00:20:33
started simultaneously the highway
00:20:39
construction site a frequent target of
00:20:41
vandals lay some 10 miles from downtown
00:20:43
Kansas City
00:20:44
the burning trailer was located here
00:20:47
perched on a hillside roughly 500 yards
00:20:50
of the Northwest across a highway was
00:20:52
the pickup truck kill vetnet his crew
00:21:00
soon had the truck blaze under control
00:21:02
however fire still burned unchecked
00:21:04
through the trailer
00:21:07
within minutes captain Gerald Halloran
00:21:10
along with fireman Thomas Frey and Jean
00:21:12
herd arrived from station 30
00:21:18
hey gene how you doing Jim there we go
00:21:21
well Jared looks like we've got a pickup
00:21:23
down here that we've pretty well got
00:21:25
under control why don't you go up on top
00:21:27
of the hill to handle that Halloran and
00:21:29
his men headed up the hill to work the
00:21:30
trailer fire pumper 41 stayed behind to
00:21:34
wrap up the first blaze
00:21:41
- captain Halloran a check of the area
00:21:44
suggested that the explosives have been
00:21:45
properly stored and clearly marked metal
00:21:48
sheds known as bunkers just the fact
00:21:52
that the bunker was there and thank
00:21:53
there was two bunkers there led that
00:21:55
captain to believe that's what the
00:21:57
explosives was in this trailer was just
00:21:59
a regular normal construction trailer
00:22:01
with tools and equipment in it and
00:22:03
therefore there was no danger that the
00:22:05
he was gonna put that fire out and
00:22:07
they'd be down for the night roughly
00:22:11
eight minutes later captain kill Benton
00:22:13
and his crew joined the others at the
00:22:15
trailer
00:22:20
back up in here fall away they aired the
00:22:25
battalion she pulled into the
00:22:26
construction site he was a quarter-mile
00:22:29
from the flames just minutes from one of
00:22:32
the worst tragedies in Kansas City
00:22:34
history we're the security guard we're
00:22:39
the ones that to report the fire uh-huh
00:22:41
tell me a bit about it we just got on
00:22:43
the scene well my truck was on fire and
00:22:45
they came in took care of that and I
00:22:46
think the firefighters went over to the
00:22:47
site across the street in this there
00:22:49
down around the trailers down there we
00:22:51
understand there's some explosives there
00:22:53
and a bunker yeah and we think that
00:22:56
there's some in the trailers over there
00:22:58
as well the trailers that are on fire
00:23:06
[Music]
00:23:20
it was just the loudest noise I'd ever
00:23:24
heard it just kind of went through you
00:23:26
it was just so loud I can't describe it
00:23:30
I'm serious it was just incredible and
00:23:32
we live about twelve miles away from
00:23:35
where the explosion was knocked me out
00:23:40
of bed and I got a happened look to the
00:23:43
east and I saw a big big ball of fire
00:23:46
and I said it myself home Jarrell's
00:23:50
gonna have to go to that because that's
00:23:51
just district I just knew he had to go I
00:23:55
knew he'd be there
00:23:59
[Music]
00:24:05
we pulled up in here get us off that
00:24:07
salmon and at least a couple three more
00:24:10
companies 15 companies of Kansas City
00:24:16
firefighters rushed to aid their
00:24:18
comrades the safety considerations
00:24:20
forces them to wait frustrated on the
00:24:23
sidelines they feared that there were
00:24:26
more explosives up there on the hill and
00:24:29
it was still dark from the sounds of the
00:24:31
explosion they were pretty sure that
00:24:33
nobody had survived and so we made the
00:24:36
decision that we were gonna wait until
00:24:38
daylight because we didn't want to go up
00:24:39
there and stumble around on more
00:24:41
explosives and get more people injured
00:24:43
and killed 40 minutes after the initial
00:24:52
blast a second explosion did indeed rip
00:24:55
through the site
00:24:57
[Music]
00:25:07
[Music]
00:25:11
3441 answer pumper 3-0 pumper 4-1 please
00:25:16
answer
00:25:17
I knew something to happen
00:25:20
why couldn't get to his regular crane
00:25:22
back into the radio I said everything
00:25:26
will be okay I just sort of blocked it
00:25:29
out of my mind
00:25:30
then she come through there about five
00:25:33
after six come through the door he says
00:25:37
they're gone but legally they cannot
00:25:41
pronounce I'm gone until the coroner
00:25:45
gets here I said no way there's still
00:25:48
life you know their God his captain came
00:25:52
to the door and when he came in and I
00:25:57
said don't tell me it isn't true and I
00:26:02
just started crying
00:26:07
daylight revealed a stark landscape in
00:26:12
the dismal aftermath agents from the
00:26:14
Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms
00:26:16
joined Kansas City police to sift the
00:26:19
wreckage for clues it was evident that
00:26:24
nobody could have survived that it was
00:26:26
just totally devastated it's just I
00:26:30
don't think any of the group that went
00:26:32
up there was expecting what we found I
00:26:36
don't think anybody had any idea that it
00:26:38
was that bad I've been in Vietnam and
00:26:41
seen b-52 strikes what the aftermath of
00:26:44
those were these craters were much
00:26:46
larger than two thousand-pound bombs
00:26:49
leaves and as we found the firefighters
00:26:56
we came to the last one he was laying
00:26:59
there and his radio was still on and he
00:27:02
could hear the voice of the dispatcher
00:27:05
still coming out over the radio calling
00:27:07
and it just kind of shattered the
00:27:09
stillness of it it's just a very surreal
00:27:11
looking scene
00:27:14
[Music]
00:27:16
a public outcry erupted following the
00:27:19
revelation that arson had led to the
00:27:21
firefighters deaths angry residents
00:27:24
inundated the police department with
00:27:26
literally hundreds of leads the tips
00:27:30
have ranged anywhere from someone out
00:27:32
trying to steal someone out just for fun
00:27:35
someone out just because they like to
00:27:37
set fires wanting to see what would
00:27:39
happen but as time wore on these leads
00:27:43
soon wore out
00:27:46
meanwhile federal agents pursued the
00:27:49
investigation from a different angle the
00:27:52
highway project had long been the focus
00:27:54
of a bitter labor dispute we know that
00:27:58
there was labor unrest and it primarily
00:28:00
dealt with Union versus non-union
00:28:03
companies we learned that there were a
00:28:06
number of violent acts directed at
00:28:09
non-union companies they were putting
00:28:11
acid into company equipment they were
00:28:14
putting a dirt into the diesel lines and
00:28:16
there were a number of incidents where
00:28:19
fire was used to destroy equipment and
00:28:23
then if you take away the tragedy of
00:28:24
that night of the six firefighters dying
00:28:28
we can look at some of these previous
00:28:30
incidents being very similar to what
00:28:32
happened at night he had equipment
00:28:34
damaged and then in this instance he had
00:28:36
a security guards truck set on fire also
00:28:42
the untimely deaths of the six firemen
00:28:45
reverberated across the entire country
00:28:48
firefighters from every state join in
00:28:50
memorial services at Kansas City's
00:28:52
Arrowhead Stadium to this day surviving
00:28:55
family members have been the focus of
00:28:57
unflagging community support we were all
00:29:02
very proud of our husbands and we are
00:29:04
proud of the people in Kansas City
00:29:05
because they gave us such a support
00:29:08
everyone was back of us and we weren't
00:29:13
alone I guess I feel like if I knew who
00:29:19
did it we'd know why they did it and I
00:29:22
don't think they were trying to kill six
00:29:25
firemen but somebody was trying to do
00:29:28
something to somebody and six men are
00:29:32
gone and that's hard to deal with today
00:29:35
I think about this case tomorrow I'll
00:29:38
think about this case and I'll think
00:29:39
about it until it's resolved
00:29:42
[Music]
00:29:50
[Music]
00:29:58
[Music]
00:30:11
[Music]
00:30:22
[Music]
00:30:30
[Music]
00:30:33
when we return the case of the enigmatic
00:30:36
Wallace thresher debonair country
00:30:39
gentlemen an alleged drug lord on
00:30:53
October 17th 1984 Virginia State
00:30:56
Troopers converged on an eerie scene a
00:31:00
small airplane that crashed in a remote
00:31:02
mountain wilderness
00:31:10
still strapped in the cockpit was a body
00:31:13
charred beyond recognition but it was a
00:31:17
plane's cargo that riveted the attention
00:31:19
of police in smoldering heap strewn over
00:31:22
the crash site was 1,200 pounds of
00:31:24
high-grade marijuana street value more
00:31:27
than 1 million dollars for the
00:31:31
authorities the crash was something of a
00:31:33
godsend eventually they would connect
00:31:36
both the plane and the dead pilot to
00:31:38
Wallace Thrasher a bland County Virginia
00:31:40
one of the most successful and most
00:31:42
flagrant drug runners in the eastern
00:31:44
United States back in high school when
00:31:49
he belonged to the Key Club in the Latin
00:31:51
club Wallace Thrasher hardly seemed the
00:31:53
type to end up peddling drugs he played
00:31:56
on the football team and earned the
00:31:57
nickname squirrel
00:31:58
for his ability to outrun trouble but
00:32:03
somewhere along the way Wallace Thrasher
00:32:05
went wrong today is whereabouts of the
00:32:08
subject of unending speculation former
00:32:11
associates and sister died in Central
00:32:13
America but authorities suspect that the
00:32:16
squirrel is once again on the run
00:32:22
from the late 70s to the early 80s
00:32:25
thrashes operation flew tons of
00:32:27
marijuana and cocaine into the western
00:32:29
region of virginia distributors then
00:32:33
smuggled the drugs north to Chicago
00:32:35
Detroit and other big cities and
00:32:40
Thrasher often piloted the planes
00:32:42
himself and many of his neighbors seem
00:32:45
to regard him as a kind of local hero
00:32:47
[Music]
00:32:50
here in western Virginia for probably
00:32:53
200 years kind of the swashbuckling
00:32:55
pirate and Buccaneer type people out
00:32:57
here were the local moonshiners and to
00:33:00
some extent dope pilots are the
00:33:02
modern-day moonshiners it takes the same
00:33:04
kind of talents to to smuggle dope in by
00:33:07
air as it does to run a load of
00:33:08
moonshine no he was type person he
00:33:11
wasn't afraid to let everybody know what
00:33:13
he was doing basically ever buy the head
00:33:15
contact with him at the airport
00:33:16
and in the areas where he was doing his
00:33:18
drug business he was transporting drugs
00:33:24
the rewards of Waldo's thrashes life of
00:33:27
crime were on display for everyone to
00:33:29
see he and his wife on a 10-acre Country
00:33:34
Estate and surrounded themselves with
00:33:36
luxury Wally Thrasher was a very
00:33:43
charming fellow very generous to his
00:33:46
associates and the people who lived
00:33:47
around him he spent money very freely so
00:33:50
they're a great many people will tell
00:33:52
you kind things about him
00:33:55
for nearly a decade Wallace Thrasher
00:33:58
managed to stay two steps ahead of the
00:34:00
law until that fateful night when one of
00:34:03
his pilot's land an airplane full of
00:34:04
marijuana into a mountainside
00:34:07
[Music]
00:34:11
it would take two weeks of painstaking
00:34:13
investigation to turn up undeniable
00:34:15
proof that Thrasher owned the plane
00:34:19
detectives were planning to move in
00:34:21
until this article appeared in the local
00:34:23
paper
00:34:24
Wallace Thrasher was dead
00:34:31
may help you gentlemen well we're soon
00:34:33
after Virginia Authority has tried to
00:34:36
speak directly with Thrashers wife no
00:34:38
I'm afraid now it's not a good time
00:34:40
well we read that Wallace Thrasher died
00:34:42
but that's correct exactly how did he
00:34:45
die in a plane crash he was a pilot and
00:34:47
where did he die in Jamaica when does
00:34:50
this happen November 5th and gentlemen
00:34:52
I'm sorry I have to go goodbye thank you
00:34:55
the investigators departed unimpressed
00:34:58
later mrs. Thrasher produced this death
00:35:01
certificate as proof of her husband's
00:35:03
fatal crash in Jamaica still suspicious
00:35:07
police sought to verify the information
00:35:11
the investigation revealed that the
00:35:14
death certificate was fraudulent and
00:35:16
there was no evidence from any witnesses
00:35:20
or anyone in Jamaica that knew of any
00:35:24
such crash the disclosures convinced
00:35:29
authorities that Wallace Thrasher was
00:35:31
still alive and as a result they filed
00:35:33
charges against him but with thrashers
00:35:38
whereabouts unknown
00:35:39
his wife was again questioned by the
00:35:41
authorities eventually she agreed to
00:35:44
tell investigators what she knew
00:35:49
she began with a night of the crash and
00:35:52
confirmed that there had been a second
00:35:54
pilot on board the aircraft although
00:35:59
severely injured the pilot was able to
00:36:02
drag himself to a payphone
00:36:04
Thrasher picked him up at the very
00:36:07
moment police were racing to the crash
00:36:09
sale
00:36:14
what happens when crows almost
00:36:20
immediately
00:36:21
Wallace Thrasher began to assess the
00:36:23
damage to his operation this is too low
00:36:29
pressure was well aware that the plane
00:36:32
could be traced back to him that it was
00:36:34
just a matter of time before the
00:36:35
authorities would be knocking at his
00:36:37
door
00:36:41
later Thrasher spared of the injured
00:36:44
pilot to an out-of-state hospital and
00:36:46
dropped from sight himself
00:36:48
[Music]
00:36:51
mrs. Thrasher what ought to tell police
00:36:53
that about two weeks after the crash
00:36:56
her husband stuffed a quarter of a
00:36:57
million dollars in cash into a travel
00:36:59
bag and departed for the Central
00:37:01
American country of Belize Thrasher had
00:37:06
said that he planned to buy a load of
00:37:07
marijuana and returned to the United
00:37:09
States the son believe flasher never
00:37:13
intended to come home that the 250,000
00:37:16
dollars was a down payment on a new life
00:37:25
about a week later mrs. Thrasher
00:37:28
received a call from two of their
00:37:29
Confederates down in Police advising her
00:37:32
that mr. Thrasher had been killed on
00:37:33
takeoff in a in a massive crash the fire
00:37:38
had been so intense that literally the
00:37:40
plane was burned down to the outline of
00:37:41
a plane on the ground and that there
00:37:43
would be very little for for them to
00:37:45
send back in no reason for her to come
00:37:46
down mrs. Thrasher contacted her
00:37:50
attorney would be basic problem how to
00:37:53
handle her husband's estate how would
00:37:55
she inherit things how would she spend
00:37:56
money take money from accounts and so
00:37:59
forth
00:38:01
in the end Thrasher's wife admitted she
00:38:04
bought the fake death certificate and
00:38:06
concocted the tale of a Jamaican plane
00:38:08
crash she had feared that her property
00:38:10
would be confiscated if authorities
00:38:12
learned her husband was on a drug run
00:38:14
when he died but even the crashing
00:38:19
beliefs started to seem like a
00:38:20
fabrication after one of Wallis
00:38:22
Thrasher's former associates showed up
00:38:25
in May of 1986 what'd you find well I
00:38:31
went to Belize to the spot where the
00:38:32
plane went down and apparently the fire
00:38:35
was really bad so the guys just bulldoze
00:38:38
whatever was left into a hole and the
00:38:41
fire was so bad there wasn't much I did
00:38:44
get some proof though I got that from
00:38:54
one of the guys that I was there when he
00:38:56
crashed the ring was in perfect
00:38:58
condition
00:38:59
the inscription as sharp as the date had
00:39:02
been engraved for detectives that was
00:39:05
part of the problem mr. facher did vies
00:39:08
me it was definitely while he thrashers
00:39:10
wedding ring we find it kind of tough to
00:39:12
believe that a an aircraft could go in
00:39:16
with that amount of fuel caused that
00:39:18
amount of destruction to the point where
00:39:19
literally the the substructure of the
00:39:21
plane was melted and the pin and the
00:39:24
ring itself would still be in that kind
00:39:26
of condition
00:39:33
a decade has passed since Wallace
00:39:35
Thrasher left for beliefs with a change
00:39:37
of clothes and a quarter of a million
00:39:39
dollars did he perish in a fiery crash
00:39:42
in the jungles of Central America or did
00:39:45
the squirrel once again - to freedom I
00:39:49
think that at the time that mr. Thrasher
00:39:52
disappeared he was facing a lot of
00:39:54
different problems and it may have been
00:39:56
an opportunity for him to as they say
00:39:57
exit stage left we know that he was
00:40:04
having problems within his own
00:40:05
organization he knew that if he got
00:40:07
caught this time wouldn't be a matter of
00:40:09
eighteen months at a country club it
00:40:11
would be some serious prison time so I
00:40:13
think it was an excellent time for him
00:40:15
to make that decision if he was gonna
00:40:16
make it this photograph shows Wallace
00:40:22
Thrasher at about the age of 36
00:40:24
he has graying hair and athletic build
00:40:27
and stands five feet ten inches tall
00:40:30
[Music]
00:40:34
next the amazing encounter of two
00:40:36
look-alikes identical strangers who may
00:40:39
in fact be long-lost blood relatives
00:40:42
[Music]
00:40:49
what are the odds is somewhere in the
00:40:52
world is another person who looks
00:40:53
exactly like you
00:40:55
100 million one and fifty million the
00:40:59
chances of actually standing nose to
00:41:00
nose with your double seem beyond
00:41:02
calculation and yet around fifty years
00:41:07
ago that is precisely what happened to a
00:41:09
young soldier named Ken Palmer tonight
00:41:11
with your help he hopes to beat the odds
00:41:14
again
00:41:16
[Music]
00:41:21
in December of 1943 Ken Palmer was a
00:41:25
newly commissioned second lieutenant in
00:41:26
the Army Air Corps on his way from Texas
00:41:29
to Wisconsin during a momentary stop to
00:41:32
change trains in Cincinnati Ohio Ken had
00:41:35
the most remarkable encounter of his
00:41:37
life can sense that someone was staring
00:41:41
at him a quick glance told him why
00:41:45
[Music]
00:41:46
incredibly improbably
00:41:48
Ken Palmer had found his exact double I
00:41:54
was amazed and both of us saw it and
00:41:58
both of us reacted so much to it
00:42:00
[Music]
00:42:04
both of us set down our bags and and
00:42:06
stared and until I got a hold of myself
00:42:12
and extended my hand he didn't move he
00:42:16
was just frozen looking at himself in a
00:42:23
different uniform I'm Ken Palmer my name
00:42:30
is my first thought of course was that
00:42:34
he's closely related look my father is
00:42:38
from Brownsville Minnesota just across
00:42:40
from lacrosse Wisconsin do you know
00:42:41
Brownsville we began to exchange our
00:42:49
fathers names or grandfather's names
00:42:51
where we lived things of this nature and
00:42:56
that didn't get it my grandfather's from
00:42:58
Brownsville surprisingly the two men
00:43:01
could not fight a single relative and in
00:43:03
common but when Ken began to recount an
00:43:05
old family legend he was stunned by the
00:43:08
stranger's response my family often
00:43:11
talks of this lost treasure in India -
00:43:15
Palmer brothers were at a party in the
00:43:17
court of st. James they they cut the the
00:43:20
cue off a court official yeah that's
00:43:22
right they had to flee England I mean
00:43:24
that's the store not alone did he know
00:43:26
about it he added details that I checked
00:43:29
out with dad later and they were
00:43:31
accurate things that I didn't know so it
00:43:36
was a it was perfectly obvious that we
00:43:40
were related and yet we couldn't
00:43:43
understand how we could be this is my
00:43:48
train I've got to go do you have a pen
00:43:53
yeah yeah you write down your name and
00:43:55
address when I get back home I'm gonna
00:43:58
contact
00:44:03
it's good it's good - I will I took his
00:44:08
name and address stuffed it in my pocket
00:44:11
I'll write it bye-bye I picked up my
00:44:17
luggage and scooted off for my train if
00:44:24
I'd had the sense that God gave geese I
00:44:27
would have stopped right then and we
00:44:32
would have spent some time together
00:44:36
when I got on the train and settled I
00:44:40
reached in my pocket to get that slip of
00:44:43
paper it wasn't there
00:44:50
it all fell apart at that moment I I was
00:44:54
devastated
00:44:57
ken Palmer never saw his double again
00:44:59
and all attempts to find the man have
00:45:02
been unsuccessful
00:45:07
these pictures of Ken Palmer were taken
00:45:09
in the 1940s the man he met at the train
00:45:14
station so long ago was virtually
00:45:16
identical like Ken his last name was
00:45:21
Palmer his first name may have been
00:45:23
Robert or James ken believes a man lived
00:45:28
in the eastern United States possibly
00:45:30
New Jersey at the time
00:45:34
Ken's double was either a technical or
00:45:36
staff sergeant in the Army Air Corps I
00:45:40
would like very much to find him and/or
00:45:44
part of his family dog gonnit how many
00:45:50
times are you going to walk across the
00:45:52
station and see that double out of all
00:45:57
of the people in the United States out
00:46:00
of everybody that that could happen that
00:46:05
split-second timing when in this great
00:46:08
crowd in all these people we walk in to
00:46:11
one another and we set down our bags and
00:46:14
stare at one another magical moment
00:46:18
[Music]
00:46:25
you
00:46:29
join me next Friday perhaps you hold the
00:46:33
key perhaps you may be able to help
00:46:36
solve a mystery
00:46:37
[Music]
00:47:05
[Applause]
00:47:09
[Music]
