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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 in New Mexico a frantic
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emergency call to the police gives hope
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to a desperate mother that her daughter
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kidnapped almost seven years ago is
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still alive several years ago a retired
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couple in Florida offered food and
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comfort to a poor itinerant stranger
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later in the midst of their own hard
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times the good deed was rewarded by a
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generous unknown benefactor just before
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Christmas in 1982 seven-year-old Chuckie
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McGivern stricken with a rare often
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fatal illness run in a coma Chuckie is
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visited by a mysterious boy and given
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the gift of a Christmas miracle
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join me these stories capture the spirit
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of the season on our special holiday
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edition unsolved mysteries
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[Music]
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even at Christmastime it is easy to
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doubt the possibility of miracles unless
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you believe you have experienced one the
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McGivern family of Philadelphia
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Pennsylvania never imagined that they
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would be chosen to receive such a gift
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their remarkable story began during the
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Christmas season 10 years ago on the day
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seven-year-old Chucky McGivern came home
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early from school with a case of the
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chickenpox
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three days later Chucky's brother
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frantically called his parents upstairs
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Chuckie had taken a sudden terrifying
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turn for the worse
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it lost consciousness and slipped into a
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coma he's cold
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I'm gonna call a doctor Chucky was
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immediately rushed to a nearby hospital
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his brain dangerously swollen his Paras
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waited for an hour while doctors
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stabilized his condition
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[Music]
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the doctor warned me when I went in
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there what he says when you say um he's
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gonna look like he's dead his skin was
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so hard and cold and pure white and he
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had all these he had a vault sewn into
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his head he had tubes and his kidneys
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and in his uppers nose the main thing
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was the vault that was in his head and
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this his liver everything was just
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hooked up to everything and I was
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shocked I was really shocked
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Chucky's diagnosis was grim he had
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Reye's syndrome a rare disease of the
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nervous system brain and liver that is
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virtually unique to children and often
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fatal
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I have to be honest with you
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your son is very ill but it's gonna be
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alright at this point we're not sure
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what exactly are his chances they're not
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promising
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even if he does recover in severe cases
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of Reye's syndrome there's a possibility
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of brain damage I'm sorry but I think
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it's best that you know exactly where we
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stand thank you doctor
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despite the Bleak prognosis Nancy and
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Chuck McGivern refused to give up hope
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they moved into the hospital to be
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closer to their son they were soon
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joined in the vigil by other family
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members who brought religious medals for
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comfort and healing
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Nancy's cousin Jerry gave her a
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particular unique ornament a relic from
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the robe of st. John Neumann the patron
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saint of vocations you remember when I
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was in that car crash in Italy I should
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have been dead but this was in my pocket
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and I swear it saved my life I think it
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might help Chucky to
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John lumen came to the United States
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from Bohemia in 1836 he was known as a
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simple tireless priest who ultimately
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become the fourth Bishop of Philadelphia
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in 1860 bishop lumen died almost
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immediately people began praying to him
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two favors and blessings in 1923 a young
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girl was cured of peritonitis when a
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picture of the bishop was placed on her
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abdomen before long a number of miracles
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have been attributed to Neumann in 1977
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John Neumann was canonized and declared
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the first American male saint grasping
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at anything that could offer hope
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Nancy McGivern pinned the relics to
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Chucky's pillow bride syndrome as it
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built up a pressure on the brain and
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that's why I wanted to those medals next
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to his head the medals made me feel
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stronger and gave us more hope you go
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Chucky I'll take good care of you babe
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the McGovern's had never been especially
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religious in fact they had not been to
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church in years but now they found
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themselves turning to God praying that
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the youngest son would not died
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[Music]
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I've never prayed that hard in my life
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never I mean I was praying so hard on
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the blood was sweating down my forehead
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anything goes your kid
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despite the prayers of his family and
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the efforts of his doctors Chuck his
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condition continued to deteriorate after
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a day or two like his lungs collapsed
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pneumonia set in and there was two
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nurses then they didn't know I was there
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in the room they were behind this this
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door there and they had an x-ray set up
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right in his room and when I came in I
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heard them say he's not gonna make it
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Chucky's pears could only wait and hope
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little did they know that over the next
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48 hours something truly remarkable was
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going to occur
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[Music]
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I noticed that the st. John Neumann
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metal was Tom facedown on his pillow so
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in order to turn this relic back around
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I had to unpin it take off the other
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ones and put turning the Saint John them
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Agrella around put it back onto the pin
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and put the other ones back on again in
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order for it to be face-up next time I
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came back it was face down again like
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somebody came and kept switching it is
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I'm putting it up somebody was coming in
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and putting it down and that's what it
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was just like and I thought I was going
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crazy that evening another intriguing
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mystery someone taped a picture of st.
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John Newman in Chucky's room Nancy asked
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around but no one knew where it had come
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from or who would put it there
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[Music]
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the next morning
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Chucky's father had not encounter in the
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hospital waiting room plus I love a
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clock or something like that and I was
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watching TV and wholesomeness little boy
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walks in he looks at everybody in the
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room he looks at my wife and he looked
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stares at me I'm staring at him thinking
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you know let me his parents gonna come
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in next and I'm wonder why like why is
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he by himself or you know so that he
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just looked around he looked at me again
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and he just walked out
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[Music]
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so later that day the nurse comes up
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says so you had a little incident we
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want you to get worried but a little boy
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came to visit Chucky I came to see
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Jackie
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how did you get in here I I only wanted
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to see Jackie wait wait come back here
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wait wait a second excuse me
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later that day
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Chucky received another unexpected
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visitor father Robert Ron case he had
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heard about Chucky's plight and felt
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compelled to administer what is commonly
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known as the last rites - something
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inside me was saying he needs to be
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anointed he needs to receive the
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sacrament of the sick it was an
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overwhelming feeling that I just had to
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go down and do this and I left
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immediately I went right down that day
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right at that moment to go down to
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anoint him through this holy anointing
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may the Lord in His love and mercy help
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you with the grace of the Holy Spirit
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and I do remember when I was anointing
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Chucky that I could feel that the
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something definitely was happening I
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could feel an overwhelming presence of
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the Spirit and I could feel that he in
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some way was receiving grace and
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strength from God
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[Music]
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[Music]
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less than an hour later the unimaginable
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happened
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[Music]
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Charlie
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Chucky's within hours Chucky would be
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off of life support and sitting up in
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bed to his parents
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a miracle had come to pass
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[Music]
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from being very low where you think well
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my son might die too he came through it
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it was mine I was like great I mean
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every day we were calling everybody in
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the phone that he was getting better and
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you know but he got better so fast it
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was unbelievable there you go Chucky
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Chucky began telling his parents about a
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bizarre dream he had what unconscious
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incredibly he described the same young
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boy that his father and his doctor had
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seen in the hospital presents and you
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and dad were here too
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I remember when I got up I was sort of
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confused
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because I didn't understand if that was
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all a dream or did that actually happen
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and all these Asian kids would surround
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me coming in and out give him the
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presence of all sorts but there was one
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boy particular who is a stay by my
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bedside
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this boy my dream was a my best friend
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and uh he was like the strength for me
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and at all the times when I wasn't
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feeling like in this dream when I wasn't
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maybe not feeling so good he was there
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to make sure everything was all right
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and he was I guess he was just like
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symbolized the best friend I I would
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have even outside a dream one week after
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he had lapsed into a coma and a week
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before Christmas Chuckie McGivern was
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released from the hospital the doctor
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said they never had anybody so gravely
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ill recover so fast and three months
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later we went back and they went through
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everything and he came out like he was
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never sick as what the doctor said like
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nothing ever happened to him two weeks
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after Chuckie left the hospital
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his parents took him to the shrine of
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st. John lumen in Philadelphia the real
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body of st. John Neumann when they died
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as Bishop of Philadelphia in 1860 he was
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brought to Saint Peter's Church here to
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be buried
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for many years
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[Music]
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what is the man that was my best friend
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in my dream in the hospital are you sure
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yeah sure
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the McGivern 's were started when they
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realized that the portrait was of Saint
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John lumen as a boy
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I was so taken back I then I started
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thinking it really hit me it's something
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happened here the st. John Neumann
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interceded for him in some way there was
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some kind of a connection there it's
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hard to believe I don't know why even
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now I don't know because he's he's just
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like any other person
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he's just like any other kid at his Inc
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but there must be a reason heard I don't
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know the reason why I seen son came to
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my aid I had no idea um I saw mile never
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never be able to explain but I I know
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like Saint Simon will always like be
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there for me which is always good
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you know I know always be like near my
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side
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did the McGivern family actually
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experience a Christmas miracle or were
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they the recipients of incredible good
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luck perhaps it doesn't really matter in
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the case of this unsolved mystery a
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rational explanation is hardly necessary
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[Music]
00:15:04
Sunday February 28 1988 9 p.m.
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firefighters in Odessa Texas were called
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to the scene of an untended trash fire
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in the parking lot of an abandoned bar
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within minutes they discovered that in
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reality they had been called to the
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scene of a grisly murder buried in the
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ashes was a charred body of a man who
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had been beaten and shot twice in the
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back before being set afire the victim
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was identified as 59 year old Neil
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Jennings an RV dealer from Dallas who
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dabbled in restoring classic cars as the
00:15:46
adesso police began to look into the
00:15:47
death of neil Jennings a McCobb scenario
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began to unfold and they found
00:15:52
themselves faced with one of the most
00:15:54
bizarre homicide cases had ever
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investigated the key was a man named
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Bill Roberts an enigmatic drifter who
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worked for Neil Jennings and was
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apparently the last person to see him
00:16:05
alive On February 26 1988 Neil Jennings
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and Bill Roberts stopped off at Neil's
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brothers house just outside of Dallas
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Neil this car looks great they'll help
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me restore it did a pretty good job
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eight weeks earlier
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Leland hired bill to do the finished
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details on his latest project a 1959
00:16:29
Ford Thunderbird tell me about this new
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guy you hired
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only pointing $50 a week plus we're on
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the board she her kidding
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well that keeps them off the street in
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private
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Neal let on that he was having financial
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problems in fact he could not even pay
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bill the $50 weekly salary he had
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promised him that Friday evening Neal
00:17:00
and Bill drove 300 miles across the
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barren Texas Prairie to the oil town of
00:17:04
Odessa at 8:30 p.m. they checked into a
00:17:08
motel at the edge of town that would be
00:17:11
the last time anyone ever saw Neal
00:17:13
Jennings not so bill Roberts over the
00:17:16
next 48 hours he was all over a Desa
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engaged in a number of suspicious
00:17:21
activities an hour after arriving in
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town bill Roberts showed up at the home
00:17:30
of a man named Jack wood introduced him
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to Neal a few months earlier
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hey Bill come on in Jack could not help
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noticing that bill was very nervous and
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sweating profusely
00:17:50
we just got back in town I dropped him
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off his lady friends house
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guess they having some dinner or
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something oh here you go
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thank you well you sure look like you're
00:18:01
out of breath I had to walk in this
00:18:03
little bar down the street
00:18:04
got any weed in the truck cuz one if you
00:18:06
give me a job well sure I can jack
00:18:09
agreed to jump start the pickup bill
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parked the trucks in Jack's backyard and
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went to sleep in the cab
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the next morning Jack noticed that the
00:18:19
truck bed was covered with a tarp he
00:18:23
also noticed that Bill was circling the
00:18:24
vehicle in a strange manner his eyes
00:18:26
fixed on the cargo bed 10:30 a.m.
00:18:34
Saturday bill stopped in a run-down
00:18:36
motel where he attempted to sell Neal's
00:18:39
truck for $1,200 that's a nice truck
00:18:43
bill
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$1,200 when he found no buyer bill asked
00:18:47
the residence if he could park the truck
00:18:49
in the back of the motel hidden from
00:18:52
view about six hours later at 5:00 p.m.
00:19:01
Bill Roberts returned to the motel
00:19:03
that's no wonderful y'all might have a
00:19:06
pick and a shovel I can borrow I need to
00:19:08
fix the Brooklyn water line for no lady
00:19:11
sorry about that bill I don't think we
00:19:13
have a pick or shovel around here wish I
00:19:16
could help you though that's okay
00:19:18
look I'll just see y'all a little later
00:19:20
then
00:19:25
bill then drove the truck to a
00:19:27
convenience store less than a mile away
00:19:29
a sitting on the store behind the
00:19:33
counter and bill came in and asked me if
00:19:36
he could park the truck behind because
00:19:38
he's the truck was overheating I said go
00:19:42
ahead
00:19:55
15 minutes later Saul heard two gunshots
00:19:58
in the distance
00:20:02
another 45 minutes passed and Bill was
00:20:05
back this time flashing a large wad of
00:20:11
cash later bill was seen back at the
00:20:19
motel where he again spent the night in
00:20:22
Neal's truck Saturday night he came back
00:20:26
in he said he'd done done the job he
00:20:31
acted real nervous and he acted
00:20:34
especially nervous whenever he went over
00:20:36
there to get something out of it the
00:20:38
truck that had a tarp on it the next
00:20:42
morning
00:20:43
another odd encounter I did some laundry
00:20:48
and I noticed that blood was on his
00:20:50
shirt
00:20:51
well I didn't think anything about it
00:20:52
because you know it just looked like
00:20:53
maybe Kenneth self lapped it off on my
00:20:56
shirt so I told him okay you know yeah
00:21:00
you can use the laundry a few minutes
00:21:06
later another resident noticed a small
00:21:08
amount of blood on the back bumper of
00:21:10
Neal's pickup
00:21:14
around noon bill left the motel and
00:21:18
never returned eight hours later the
00:21:23
police are on the scene of the trash
00:21:24
fire our investigation at the scene
00:21:30
showed there was two pools of blood we
00:21:36
found shotgun shell casings and wadding
00:21:39
there at the scene there was drag marks
00:21:43
leading from the parking lot over to the
00:21:48
concrete slab where Nia was was actually
00:21:52
found on fire there's no doubt in her
00:21:56
mind that the fatal shots happen in that
00:22:00
parking lot
00:22:01
[Music]
00:22:05
sheriff's deputies now believe that bill
00:22:08
Roberts shot Neal Jennings on Saturday
00:22:10
night and hid his body in a trash heap
00:22:13
for some unknown reason he waited 24
00:22:16
hours and then returned to set Neal's
00:22:19
body on fire
00:22:24
[Music]
00:22:28
Robert sopran motives a murder Neal
00:22:31
Jennings
00:22:32
so that he could steal his truck and
00:22:33
sell it the thing that makes this case
00:22:36
so strange to us is we know Neal guy
00:22:40
here Friday night and he was with Bill
00:22:43
Neal was never seen again
00:22:45
after Friday night now Saturday morning
00:22:50
we've got bill by himself in the truck
00:22:53
Saturday evening we've got salt hearing
00:22:56
the gunshots and Sunday evening is when
00:23:03
the body was actually found that due to
00:23:06
the fire the question is where was where
00:23:12
was Neal from Friday night until Sunday
00:23:17
you know when did the murder actually
00:23:19
take place
00:23:21
in the course of their investigation
00:23:23
police learned that bill Roberts was
00:23:25
actually bill Blackwell would served
00:23:28
time for larceny and theft he was wanted
00:23:30
by the Texas Department of Corrections
00:23:32
on a parole violation authorities
00:23:37
determined that Bill Blackwell left
00:23:39
Odessa within 24 hours of setting the
00:23:41
fire he then drove to Albuquerque New
00:23:44
Mexico where he sold Neil's truck in a
00:23:46
flea market he has not been seen since
00:23:51
[Music]
00:24:02
next the strange Odyssey of the little
00:24:05
girl kidnapped in 1986 Gallup New Mexico
00:24:20
140 miles west of Albuquerque lies
00:24:23
within what was for centuries the
00:24:24
territory of a Navajo Indian nation on
00:24:28
April 6 1986 this quiet community of
00:24:31
18,000 was rocked by the mysterious
00:24:34
disappearance of a nine-year-old Navajo
00:24:36
girl
00:24:36
Anthony ka dito but her mother and two
00:24:42
sisters awoke that morning they were
00:24:44
surprised to discover that Anthony was
00:24:46
not in the house we went looking for
00:24:49
around the house nothing
00:24:51
I didn't start panicking until we
00:24:55
checked with all the neighbors went to
00:24:57
every house and nobody had no sight seen
00:25:01
of her and that's when I panicked
00:25:09
penny kya DTOs neighbors found out
00:25:11
through the surrounding foothills
00:25:13
looking for Anthony the three days they
00:25:16
searched along with the police no one
00:25:18
found a trace of the little girl
00:25:20
authorities were almost certain she had
00:25:22
been kidnapped
00:25:24
the day's stretched into weeks then
00:25:27
months police could offer little to
00:25:30
bolster Penny's hopes of ever finding
00:25:31
her daughter alive finally after a year
00:25:34
had passed and all seemed lost a
00:25:36
dramatic call for help came into the
00:25:39
Gallup police station before the girl
00:25:52
could answer the call was abruptly ended
00:25:54
by an unidentified man
00:26:10
detectives played a recording of the
00:26:12
call for penny ka dito if the voice was
00:26:15
indeed her daughter's it would be an
00:26:17
agonizing glimmer of hope
00:26:24
[Music]
00:26:25
I listen to that tape over and over and
00:26:42
over and just by the way she says her
00:26:45
last name in the way she screamed sent
00:26:49
chills all over my body because a mother
00:26:53
knows and I know else her she knew that
00:26:58
was her daughter's voice on that tape
00:26:59
and she just couldn't figure out who the
00:27:02
male's voice was in the background and
00:27:04
her aunt's net was that we know aunt
00:27:07
Annette had indicated that she was in
00:27:09
Albuquerque but the call was so short
00:27:12
that it couldn't even be traced as to
00:27:14
what line it was it was coming from the
00:27:18
phone call nourished renewed hopes for
00:27:20
Anthony's safe return however four
00:27:22
torturous years passed without any
00:27:24
further clues
00:27:25
once again authorities began to fear
00:27:28
that she would never be found alive in
00:27:31
desperation the FBI finally released two
00:27:34
computer enhanced photographs showing
00:27:36
what Anthony might look like at the age
00:27:38
of fourteen four months later the
00:27:41
last-ditch effort paid off a possible
00:27:44
sighting of Antonette was reported in
00:27:46
Carson City Nevada 870 miles from Gallup
00:27:49
a waitress at a restaurant in Carson
00:27:53
City told the cousin city police about a
00:27:57
strange incident that she had witnessed
00:28:00
that particular day she waited on a
00:28:08
table at which sat a male and a female
00:28:12
rather unkempt and a small girl at the
00:28:16
age of 14 or 15 the little girl would
00:28:20
deliberately drop a utensil on the floor
00:28:23
the waitress put the utensil back on a
00:28:25
table and a little girl grabbed her
00:28:28
and squeezed it hard in the waitress
00:28:31
thought nothing of it and went about our
00:28:32
business
00:28:33
the threesome left the restaurant and
00:28:37
the waitress went and back to the table
00:28:40
and began to bust the table she lifted
00:28:42
up the plate belonging to the girl and
00:28:45
underneath was a napkin that said please
00:28:47
help me call the police by the time she
00:28:50
realized what had happened the couple
00:28:52
and the girl were gone one month after
00:28:57
the Carson City sighting detectives
00:28:59
reinter viewed Anthony's younger sister
00:29:01
Wendy who was five years old and Anthony
00:29:03
disappeared now 10 Wendy made a stunning
00:29:07
revelation
00:29:08
Wendy we went to Wendy's school with the
00:29:12
intention of just talking to her about
00:29:15
what her recollections were of that
00:29:17
particular night and then I followed her
00:29:27
[Music]
00:29:38
she goes who is that and then we say
00:29:41
Uncle Joe so she opened the door and
00:29:44
they grabbed her he started kicking I
00:29:47
suppose let me go let me go and then
00:29:49
they took her to a van and brownman did
00:29:54
you see what these guys look like no
00:29:57
Wendy why didn't you tell anybody about
00:29:59
what you saw that I strongly believe
00:30:09
that she was fearful in that people
00:30:11
would think that for a five-year-old
00:30:14
she's just making stories up you know I
00:30:18
don't believe she's making this up I
00:30:20
strongly feel that she's telling us the
00:30:22
truth with that Uncle Joe at that time
00:30:25
in 1986 was Penny's brother-in-law he
00:30:29
was married to Penny's sister we
00:30:32
recently interviewed him and he provided
00:30:36
a alibi and a witness corroborating his
00:30:39
alibi and he is not a suspect I believe
00:30:43
that the people that took aunt Annette
00:30:46
are not family members but is somebody
00:30:49
that is close to the family otherwise
00:30:52
Antonette would not have opened that
00:30:53
door had they not stated that it was her
00:30:57
Uncle Joe I strongly believe that
00:31:00
somebody had to have known who Uncle Joe
00:31:03
was and had to have known what to say to
00:31:06
get Antonette to open up that door
00:31:10
finally penny ka dito turned to her old
00:31:13
Native American heritage in the search
00:31:15
for antonette she and her other
00:31:17
daughters visited a respected Navajo
00:31:20
medicine woman skilled in performing
00:31:22
traditional tribal ceremonies unsolved
00:31:27
mysteries was allowed to film portions
00:31:29
of the Crystal ritual or as it is called
00:31:31
in Navajo des Qi it is a centuries-old
00:31:35
right with a specific purpose of
00:31:37
contacting the spirit of a missing
00:31:39
person according to the medicine woman
00:31:49
Anthony ed is still alive and may have a
00:31:51
child she is being held against her will
00:31:54
by threats of violence far from any city
00:31:56
somewhere in the southwest detectives
00:32:01
were amazed that additional information
00:32:03
provided by the medicine woman was
00:32:05
consistent with elements of their own
00:32:07
investigation going to the medicine lady
00:32:11
gives me a lot of strength and it helps
00:32:15
me to just know that she is alive I want
00:32:21
her to be safe wherever she is no matter
00:32:25
who she's with they got to have some
00:32:29
compassion not to hurt another human
00:32:31
being as small as she is and I pray that
00:32:35
God will help guide her and help guide
00:32:40
all of us to keep the strength to go on
00:32:43
to find her and bring her home safe when
00:32:49
we return a series of anonymous gifts
00:32:52
shows a Florida couple that no good deed
00:32:54
goes unrewarded
00:32:56
[Music]
00:33:04
around Christmastime even the most hard
00:33:07
boil among us seems to soften up the
00:33:10
look for the best in others to give more
00:33:12
freely of ourselves it's a time when we
00:33:14
begin to hope for little miracles this
00:33:17
is a story of a simple good deed which
00:33:19
in a charming and mysterious way
00:33:21
returned itself 500 fold the setting is
00:33:25
not the snow and ice and furred trees of
00:33:26
the north but rather the palm trees
00:33:29
balmy breezes and blue waters of Florida
00:33:34
behind its ritzy facade Florida harbors
00:33:37
a very different subculture of retired
00:33:39
couples living on Leaguer fixed incomes
00:33:44
Jean and Russell Johnson are just such a
00:33:46
couple Russell a former fire chief in
00:33:49
Wayne Michigan was forced to retire
00:33:51
after a severe heart attack now Russell
00:33:54
spends most days in his workshop
00:33:55
building custom doll houses and
00:33:58
repairing Church organs
00:34:01
Gina's a homemaker who raised four
00:34:04
children before she and Russell moved to
00:34:05
Florida
00:34:07
despite some continuing health problems
00:34:10
the Johnsons are managing to make ends
00:34:12
meet and their lies were routine and
00:34:14
uneventful until the winter of 1985
00:34:19
well this date started out about the
00:34:22
same as any other day down here it was
00:34:24
in November it was unusually warm as I
00:34:28
remember it in humid I was working out
00:34:31
in the shop it was about 10:30 in the
00:34:33
morning all of a sudden the door the
00:34:36
host came open and gene came out in
00:34:38
frightened scared
00:34:40
there's man outside one he said he was
00:34:43
some some work for something to eat
00:34:45
sorry truck yeah ok
00:34:54
they have any work that I could do to
00:34:57
get something to week I'm really hungry
00:34:59
you know I don't have any work for you
00:35:03
to do you sure won't leave here hungry
00:35:06
anything you make sandwich other thank
00:35:09
you make a sandwich
00:35:09
well usually we don't have much for
00:35:11
lunch you know but we just happened to
00:35:13
go in to town got some lunch meat and so
00:35:15
I had lots of stuff to feed him how
00:35:19
about a glass of iced tea cold
00:35:20
definitely taste real good Jim what's
00:35:24
your brilliant glass of iced tea make it
00:35:25
two glasses why every woman with him you
00:35:28
look tired
00:35:29
would you like cheerson oh yes the
00:35:31
stranger had asked for help from a
00:35:33
couple who had very little themselves
00:35:35
Russell had recently undergone
00:35:37
open-heart surgery and Gina successfully
00:35:39
battled cancer their financial resources
00:35:42
were depleted nevertheless they were
00:35:45
willing to share what they had
00:35:48
yeah well come a long way you know away
00:35:53
from thanks I'm used to and there are no
00:35:56
jobs out there and you're just talking
00:35:59
with them hitchhiking you could tell the
00:36:01
man was not a bum there's no luck being
00:36:04
picked up at all he was very articulate
00:36:07
in his speech friendly and basically a
00:36:12
gentleman he may have been down on his
00:36:18
luck but he was no bum
00:36:22
he hit quite a while I think probably he
00:36:26
had about three sandwiches to begin with
00:36:28
and then he rested a bit and had some
00:36:32
more tea he was just really too tired to
00:36:36
talk so we just sat there and kept him
00:36:39
company
00:36:43
after a period of time oh I don't know I
00:36:46
would say five minutes or so he said
00:36:49
well he says I guess I better be on my
00:36:52
way
00:36:52
thank you for just lots of luck on your
00:36:54
job just a minute
00:36:57
do you have any money first he says I
00:37:01
reached in my pocket and I had some
00:37:03
change and gene turned at that time went
00:37:06
back in the house
00:37:07
hit the hypothetical sugar balls and she
00:37:14
came up with some change and another
00:37:15
dollar bill and I imagine the man and
00:37:18
probably gave him about five dollars as
00:37:24
we gave it to him we notice his eyes
00:37:26
there was just such a sparkle of life
00:37:30
came back into them and he just reacted
00:37:34
so differently he was didn't seem to be
00:37:36
the man that he was when we first talked
00:37:38
with him thank you and there was only a
00:37:40
matter of everything within a half an
00:37:42
hour
00:37:47
god bless you boys he said that the
00:37:51
strangest feeling came over Jean and
00:37:53
honey they're just feeling such goodness
00:37:56
in love through the fact Jean and
00:38:02
Russell Johnson walked through their
00:38:03
house into the garage then out onto a
00:38:05
side porch they wanted to wave to their
00:38:08
visitor one last time he was nowhere to
00:38:13
be seen
00:38:16
we walked back through the garage nobody
00:38:20
we walked out to the street look both
00:38:23
ways walked out to the Main Street in
00:38:26
front of our house nobody the mysterious
00:38:30
stranger had vanished as quickly as he
00:38:32
appeared yet the special warmth Jean and
00:38:35
Russell Johnson felt lingered they began
00:38:40
to remark half in jest that perhaps he
00:38:42
had been visited by an angel then about
00:38:45
ten days before Christmas the Johnston's
00:38:48
received an anonymous card a check for
00:38:58
$500 I can't don't believe this $500 we
00:39:04
don't know any friends that have that
00:39:07
kind of money to give away
00:39:08
especially anonymously love your
00:39:11
Christian friends never looked at Jean
00:39:14
she was crane very opportune time news
00:39:19
we didn't have anything sure then the
00:39:24
only remark that I could make at the
00:39:27
time was has to be our angel well we've
00:39:36
had a bit of a problem perhaps we got
00:39:38
this in the mail and we think it might
00:39:40
be a practical joke when if we didn't
00:39:42
know you I don't think we even try to
00:39:43
catch
00:39:44
is it any good good as gold Russ how
00:39:49
would you like it
00:39:51
check encounter inequality right now we
00:39:55
couldn't believe it we tried to check to
00:39:58
see if there's somebody that we knew
00:40:00
that could have sent it we looked at the
00:40:02
postmarks where it was from
00:40:04
we checked handwriting's and we'd say to
00:40:07
everybody if you sent this thank you
00:40:10
but nobody nobody did the following
00:40:14
Christmas another anonymous card arrived
00:40:16
it was signed your friend it contained
00:40:19
another $500 check the next three
00:40:22
Christmases brought three more checks
00:40:24
and three more cards all mailed from the
00:40:26
Orlando area
00:40:28
Jeanne and Russell Johnson have never
00:40:30
been able to find out who their
00:40:32
benefactor is but they have a pretty
00:40:34
good idea and we've often thought back
00:40:38
we took five dollars a we didn't have
00:40:41
and gave to somebody that needs it more
00:40:44
we don't know if there's any connection
00:40:46
but in return from somewhere we've
00:40:51
gotten $500 for five years
00:40:53
gosh could it be from our angel we don't
00:40:57
know we have no identification but we
00:41:01
would like to say thank you to somebody
00:41:04
it was a gift well received did the
00:41:09
Johnsons experience a Christmas miracle
00:41:11
perhaps or perhaps they simply
00:41:15
experienced the everyday miracle of
00:41:16
kindness which is never out of season
00:41:28
from all of us at unsolved mysteries I'd
00:41:31
like to extend to you and your family
00:41:32
our best wishes for a safe happy holiday
00:41:35
join me next time perhaps you may be
00:41:38
able to help solve a mystery
00:41:42
[Music]
00:42:20
you
