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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 Illinois a lonely Widow met
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a fortune teller who seemed to create
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money out of thin air Joan was a maid
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then the next two years gave the fortune
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teller $80,000 most of her June
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brand-new Cadillac then the fortune
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teller disappeared on a lonely country
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road in North Carolina a teenage girl
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was murdered by a single bullet fired
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through the trunk of her car and
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eyewitnesses now come forward and under
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hypnosis may have described Rhonda's
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unknown killer 77 year old Howard
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Drummond was an eccentric who died as he
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lived alone Howard Drummond left behind
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50 empty coffee Jones 80 pairs of white
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socks an unclaimed fortune of over
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250,000 dollars someone watching maybe
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his heir also tonight a different kind
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of mystery the world of Medicine and
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sons
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doctors had given up nearly all hope for
00:01:14
young Don Helen I accidentally shot
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himself while hunting Don lost more than
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half of his blood had no blood pressure
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and virtually no brain activity
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yet Dawn's family never lost faith never
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left his bedside incredibly Dom
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recovered modern medicine has no
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explanation but perhaps there is one a
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mirror
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[Music]
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[Applause]
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[Music]
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[Applause]
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[Music]
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during the holiday season office
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Christmas parties were a traditional way
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of easing into the festive spirit night
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of December 22nd 1981 marked the first
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company Christmas party for a 19 year
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old girl named Rhonda Hinson Rhonda had
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recently graduated from high school in
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Valdez North Carolina and was
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celebrating her first job as a clerical
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worker for a local steel company at
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midnight
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Rhonda left the party with two
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girlfriends at approximately 12:30 after
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dropping off her companions Rhonda would
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begin the ten-mile drive to her home
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where she still lived with her parents
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[Music]
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at exactly 1:00 a.m. Rhonda's mother
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awoke from a sound sleep with a strange
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premonition feeling panicky scared
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because I feel like something that
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happened Rhonda I felt like Rhonda was
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dead I feel like she had been in an
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automobile accident I got up and I had
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well I'll obviously be scanner that you
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listen to you know you accidentally all
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that stuff on it and for some other
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reason I just turned it on you know
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thought maybe you know if he'd been
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accident on here under scanner and the
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minute I turned it on it came over to
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know it'd been a homicide Rhonda's car
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was discovered on mineral springs
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mountain road just a half a mile from
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her home the driver's door was open just
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a few feet away and Rhonda was found
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dead she was lying on her back and her
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arms appeared to have been deliberately
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placed at her side
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tests showed that Rhonda Hinson had been
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killed by a single bullet fired by a
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high-powered rifle this bullet had
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passed through the trunk of her car
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through her seat and penetrated her
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heart
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the hardest thing is living everyday
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wondering who did this Rhonda was the
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most loving caring person that you've
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ever known
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Rhonda was the type daughter that
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everybody would like to have
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[Music]
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the murder of Rhonda Hinson had first
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appeared to be a random act of violence
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but as the investigation proceeded
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disturbing Clues began to surface
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suggesting that Rhonda may have been
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murdered by someone who knew her closely
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eight years of Passons Rhonda's death
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and police are still at a loss for an
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explanation or a suspect in high school
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Rhonda was a popular girl an expert
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tennis player who had many close friends
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but several weeks after her graduation
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she began to behave strangely though
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normally happy to drive along Rhonda
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began to ask her father to accompany her
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on trips into town and on one of these
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trips she made a disturbing statement
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I've got something to tell you that I'm
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afraid to I said what is wrong I said no
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matter what it's good I'm bad tell me
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what do you have and she said I'll think
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about it
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and she never did explained never did
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tell him it washe what it was you know
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she's afraid to tell me you keep your
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mind on your job okay her mother also
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recalled an uncharacteristic
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conversation shortly before Rhonda's
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death
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I said Rhonda there's never a time that
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it's alright to go with a married man
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the only thing that comes from that is
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people getting hurt I didn't ask her if
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she was asking for herself if she's
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asking for somebody else I don't know
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what she Rhonda wanted to do the things
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that pleased us in the weeks prior to
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Rhonda's murder her Paris began to
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notice that she suffered from insomnia
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Rhonda also began getting up in the
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middle of the night to take showers
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according to authorities such obsessive
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behavior is common in women who have
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been sexually abused
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the shower would wake me up she'd turn
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the shower off and answer me and say I
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just can't sleep I feel dirty I'm really
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angry at myself I should have talked to
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her I should have asked her what was
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wrong if I hadn't asked enough I
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would've gotten some answers
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[Music]
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this unusual behavior suggested to
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police that Rhonda was under some kind
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of personal pressure could this pressure
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have resulted in her murder the police
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investigation began to uncover evidence
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of someone they had been stalking run to
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the night of her death between 12:15 and
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12:30 in the morning that Rhonda Henson
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was murdered
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a witness drove under the interstate 40
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bridge on Mineral Springs Mountain Road
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she observed a blue General Motors
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Chevrolet facing in a northerly
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direction with two white males in
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vehicle the car was parked next to the
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same off-ramp that Rhonda would use to
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exit it was spotted 30 minutes before
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the fatal bullet was fired and just 200
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yards from where her body was found
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later that evening another witness
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travelling down the same Road passed a
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similar blue vehicle with a single man
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at the wheel speeding away from the
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murder side as he continued down the
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road the witness saw Rhonda's vehicle
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parked at the same spot where her body
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would be found a woman was slumped over
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the steering wheel and a man was
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standing at her car door
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the witness was unable to get a close
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look at this man and assuming the couple
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were drunk and drove on there were some
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latent prints on the driver's door
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but these latent prints have not been
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identified
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as of this date with so few clues to go
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on police put their witness under
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hypnosis and asked him to recall more
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details about the murder scene this is
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the actual audio tape from the
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hypnotized subject Chevelle this blue
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seven-day mile away
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in fact the front end has been wasted
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the same Palmer promised gray she's not
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very good
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median bail so dark brand yeah
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surprisingly the witness also recalls
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seeing a second car parked down the road
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from Rhonda's vehicle this car was a
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black or dark blue Trans Am some believe
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that car may have been driven by the
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murderer there's so many unanswered
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questions we have a a very attractive
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young girl whose life was taken and as
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far as we know her her character is
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unblemished it's just it's hard for me
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to understand why a young person like
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this would life would be taken away and
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not have an answer for it who killed
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Rhonda Hinson and why authorities a
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certain that she would never have
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stopped for a stranger but she pulled
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over by someone who knew her someone who
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then fired the fatal shot
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who was a man seen at Rhonda's car the
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murderer or a passerby who left the area
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when he discovered that Rhonda was dead
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police still have no idea we have some
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different stories but to really be able
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to substantiate these stories we don't
00:11:00
have that not information that's what
00:11:02
we're looking for those little pieces of
00:11:04
information that we can substantiate
00:11:05
what happened eight years of passed
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since that Christmas party ended in
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tragedy
00:11:15
Rhonda's mother still keeps her
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daughter's room exactly the way it was
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when Rhonda was alive I can almost
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imagine Rhonda still in there
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we have a baby doll that she had years
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and years ago we've kept that out we've
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kept some of her trophies out
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the grave marker I think says it all on
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the grave marker there the words always
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a ray of sunshine that's the best
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description that we have around it it's
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a perfect description
00:11:53
in a moment we'll see how viewers help
00:11:56
capture a Ledge Connor would infiltrate
00:11:58
at a nudist camp we'll also tell you how
00:12:01
you may be able to help the phonies
00:12:02
track down two con women posing as
00:12:05
fortune teller
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[Music]
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last September and we examine the case
00:12:22
of a Florida nudist resort whose members
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were allegedly victimized by a smooth
00:12:27
talking con man calling himself rusty in
00:12:32
February of 1988 rusty arrived at the
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sunny sands nudist resort and quickly
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ingratiate himself with many of the
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club's members
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he opened a video rental store at a
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nearby town and convinced some of Sonny
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Sands residents to invest thousands of
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dollars in his business but just seven
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months after he arrived at sunny sands
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Rusty's upstanding reputation in the
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community began to crumble when a
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neighbor's 11 year old daughter accused
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him of molesting her rusty was arrested
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for sexual battery against a child under
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12 in order to be held without bail
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however many of sunny sands residents
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believe that rusty was unjustly accused
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and convinced the judge to release him
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on $25,000 bail two days later
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rusty disappeared allegedly taking
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within more than fifty thousand dollars
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of investors money no matter what
00:13:30
happens we know we'll never get our
00:13:32
money back but right at this point the
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money is immaterial right now the big
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thing I want rusty caught what he did to
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that town police later learned that
00:13:43
Rusty's true identity was William Eugene
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Hilliard and that he was wanted in both
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Florida and Texas for fraud within
00:13:54
minutes of our broadcast several viewers
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from South Carolina called our
00:13:57
telecentre to report that they
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recognized William Eugene Hilliard
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[Music]
00:14:04
the morning after our broadcast Hilliard
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was arrested by Georgetown County
00:14:08
sheriff's deputies at a convenience
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store in Murrells Inlet South Carolina a
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small town just south of Myrtle Beach he
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is living under the assumed name Ronald
00:14:17
Edward Kent on October 20th till you two
00:14:21
his return to Florida to face charges of
00:14:23
fraud and sexual battery against a child
00:14:25
under 12 if convicted of the sexual
00:14:28
battery charge
00:14:29
Hilliard could receive the death penalty
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[Music]
00:14:50
fortunes told
00:14:52
tarot cards and tea leaves sounds
00:14:55
intriguing and many of us have wondered
00:14:58
what goes on inside a fortune tellers
00:15:00
parlor after the doors closed but let
00:15:02
the buyer beware the sad fact is as some
00:15:05
of them are more interested in fortune
00:15:07
taking and fortune telling across the
00:15:10
United States each year tens of
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thousands of victims have built out of
00:15:13
millions of dollars by fraudulent
00:15:14
fortune tellers tonight we present the
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story of two of these victims who
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embarrassed by their own naivete have
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requested anonymity
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[Music]
00:15:27
Peoria Illinois August 1987 a respected
00:15:31
educator we will call Karen had been
00:15:33
devastated mentally and physically by an
00:15:36
automobile accident friends urge her to
00:15:39
see ancora celli a fortune teller who
00:15:42
was reputed to have psychic powers last
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thought of my mind was to go see a
00:15:49
psychic but I thought well if it doesn't
00:15:52
work it doesn't work
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it's 10 bucks for half an hour or
00:15:55
whatever I got to lose I see that you've
00:15:59
had family problems lately and you've
00:16:02
been very depressed lately yes I have
00:16:08
have you considered suicide before she
00:16:11
told me yes that I had had suicidal
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thoughts and I had never told anyone so
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I was convinced that she was thinking
00:16:19
anymore and she had the answer to my
00:16:21
problem this is a curse that someone's
00:16:23
put on you and I looked at her like you
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have got to be kidding but she said it
00:16:32
so believably I have to be and she held
00:16:35
my hand and she leaned forward and said
00:16:37
we can do something about this and we
00:16:40
can overcome this together I'll help you
00:16:43
at the point she told me there was a
00:16:45
curse on me I think I would have been
00:16:48
ready to believe anything it was an
00:16:52
answer to a problem
00:16:56
[Music]
00:17:00
and told Karen that she must follow a
00:17:03
strict regimen in order to lift the
00:17:04
curse
00:17:11
I was taking ritual baths and scented
00:17:16
oils I was blessing the doors the
00:17:19
windows the cars people with holy water
00:17:23
but I couldn't let anyone know what was
00:17:26
going on each time and I saw her she
00:17:31
gave me more things to do which was
00:17:34
great I loved it I felt like I was
00:17:36
beginning to get control back of my life
00:17:38
[Music]
00:17:41
and tool Karen to come with her to a
00:17:44
nearby bridge and bring $4,000 wrapped
00:17:47
in a white handkerchief I brought the
00:17:50
money this money has taken all the evil
00:17:54
from your body she told me that it
00:17:56
really had to destroy the money because
00:17:58
Satan was of the earth and what better
00:18:01
way to control him but with his own
00:18:04
dirty money so we took the bundle of
00:18:07
money and threw it off the bridge
00:18:11
is it gone it's gone the money don't you
00:18:17
Karen now believes she was duped by
00:18:20
ancora celli
00:18:21
the daughter in a sophisticated
00:18:23
mother-daughter fortune-telling team
00:18:26
Leena Marie Wilson 53 years old his
00:18:29
Ann's mother though she sometimes
00:18:30
pretends to be her grandmother together
00:18:33
they pray mainly on vulnerable women
00:18:38
another victim of the fortune-telling
00:18:40
scam in Peoria there was a 69 year old
00:18:42
woman we will call Joan but her second
00:18:45
husband died she was left with a
00:18:47
considerable amount of money despite the
00:18:49
financial security Joan felt lost I
00:18:54
think at the time I was very vulnerable
00:18:57
because I have lost my husband two years
00:19:00
before I was lonely I was searching
00:19:05
maybe for answers in different places
00:19:09
and so it was only $10 to go and see her
00:19:13
and I thought why not find out and see
00:19:14
what she says about my future my life
00:19:16
and things in general
00:19:23
[Music]
00:19:25
when Joan visited the fortune tellers
00:19:27
they were operating under the name of
00:19:29
Kalman the first person she met was
00:19:32
ancora celli thank you it was a regular
00:19:38
house there was a small room off the
00:19:40
living room and there was an altar and
00:19:44
many holy pictures all over the wall
00:19:47
many many candles and many pictures of
00:19:51
Jesus
00:19:52
[Music]
00:19:58
[Music]
00:20:07
I can tell that you had a recent
00:20:12
spiritual crisis in your life I can also
00:20:17
tell that you have a recent death in the
00:20:20
family well yes my husband two years ago
00:20:24
okay I can also see that there's
00:20:26
something evil in your charts something
00:20:29
that I am gonna have to ask my
00:20:31
grandmother to help us with and I'm
00:20:33
gonna go ahead and get her now is it
00:20:34
right
00:20:37
[Music]
00:20:44
[Music]
00:20:49
hi my granddaughter told me you need
00:20:52
help yes and help you please um she told
00:20:56
me they were save as no scar it's bad
00:20:58
I'm doubtful of that let's see I have
00:21:04
the power to rebuild your problem take
00:21:06
this red and tie three knots three not
00:21:10
yes she told me that my life had had a
00:21:16
curse on it for over forty years that
00:21:19
was put on by a girlfriend of my first
00:21:22
husband and she actually named the
00:21:25
person that my husband went with before
00:21:28
he married me she said will you come
00:21:31
back and bring with you if a $1 $5 $10
00:21:37
and a $20 bill did you bring the money
00:21:40
with you yes this is you ask me Lena
00:21:42
Murray had also instructed Joan to bring
00:21:44
a sheet which she had tied around both
00:21:47
of their necks to multiply and restore
00:21:49
this money ripped is mine and I will
00:21:51
prove that do have the power she told me
00:21:54
to terror these bills in half and she
00:21:58
said if this money will go back together
00:22:01
and become hope then I can help you
00:22:03
otherwise I can't and then she wrapped
00:22:06
them up in the white handkerchief and
00:22:08
tied it all together our Father who art
00:22:12
in heaven
00:22:13
Lena Murray held that torn money under
00:22:16
the sheet and rubbed it over Joan's arms
00:22:18
and legs power to return the money yes
00:22:21
hopefully greater power do you believe
00:22:24
in Jesus yes I believe in Jesus do you
00:22:28
believe I have the power
00:22:29
yes I do
00:22:30
when Lina Marie unwrapped the money the
00:22:32
bills appeared magically restored and
00:22:35
indeed even multiplied to Joan it seemed
00:22:38
like a miracle down and thank God and so
00:22:45
I knelt down before they older and kept
00:22:49
saying over the Our Father they always
00:22:56
associate their special powers with God
00:22:59
or religion or the church and more
00:23:02
importantly with this particular type of
00:23:05
trick with making the money multiply is
00:23:08
to get in the victims mind that money
00:23:11
means nothing the next step is to
00:23:14
convince the victim that they are cursed
00:23:17
Lila Marie told Joan to fill a shoebox
00:23:20
with dirt and leave it in her garage for
00:23:22
three days she had a picture of water
00:23:28
and she said now we will pour this over
00:23:30
the box and see whether or not the devil
00:23:35
is in there
00:23:37
she took a stick and moved the dirt
00:23:39
around and then I saw this water turned
00:23:42
to blood she had put this fear into me
00:23:49
that all this would happen if we didn't
00:23:52
get rid of the devil in my life and here
00:23:54
it was in front of me in this box she
00:23:57
said we've got to get rid of this devil
00:23:59
it is in your life and it is all around
00:24:01
you and she said she had to have money
00:24:04
because this would give her more power
00:24:06
and the more money I could give her the
00:24:09
more power she would have to help me
00:24:12
over the next year and a half
00:24:14
Joan gave leader Marie more than 81
00:24:16
thousand dollars in cash she also gave
00:24:20
Lena Murray most of her jewelry and
00:24:22
bought her a brand-new Cadillac to take
00:24:26
the evil out of your body money we had
00:24:29
the type of personality that made you
00:24:32
feel that she was helping you and I
00:24:35
believed in her she had me so convinced
00:24:38
I believed everything she had me so
00:24:42
controlled that anything she would ask
00:24:46
me to do I would do sister I'm so glad
00:24:49
to see you crying I'm just kidding
00:24:52
finally Lena Marie had Joan hand over
00:24:54
the last of her life savings $40,000
00:24:59
she said now we have to burn this money
00:25:02
because money is evil she put it in a
00:25:06
garbage can and then I put lighter fluid
00:25:10
on it and burned it
00:25:14
she had me so convinced that all
00:25:17
material things all possessions all
00:25:19
money was evil because the curse had
00:25:24
been on me and everything that I owned
00:25:27
and possessed she had actually
00:25:29
brainwashed me the money the individual
00:25:34
thinks is going into the fire does not
00:25:37
actually go into the fire kneel down and
00:25:40
pray mine is evil and in order to purify
00:25:43
there might be a one dollar bill or a
00:25:45
hundred dollar bill
00:25:46
wrapped around play money and this is
00:25:50
what actually goes into the fire is
00:25:51
actually burnt real money never goes
00:25:53
into the fire did your service the crime
00:25:56
that they're committing is they're
00:25:58
taking valuables from people by the
00:26:01
means of deception but majority of the
00:26:04
people would just assume cut their
00:26:06
losses and not come forward they do now
00:26:08
want to suffer the embarrassment of the
00:26:11
community of their peers of their family
00:26:14
the embarrassment is a very hard thing
00:26:18
to overcome I gave her close to a
00:26:21
hundred and fifty thousand dollars in
00:26:24
money possessions in jewelry I look at
00:26:28
myself and I say how could I be so
00:26:31
stupid I'm a college educated person I'm
00:26:34
a professional
00:26:34
I've seen enough news reports I've lived
00:26:37
in the world long enough to know what
00:26:38
real crime is and that people in any
00:26:41
opportunity are very willing to steal
00:26:42
your money and I cannot believe that I
00:26:45
was a victim of this crime I feel like
00:26:48
the stupidest person on the face of the
00:26:50
earth the evil from your body has gone
00:26:52
into this money the money that was in
00:26:54
the bundle had been wrapped in a
00:26:55
handkerchief and she had be folded it
00:26:58
several times before it was ever thrown
00:27:00
into the river I never saw the actual
00:27:04
four thousand dollars I had my eyes
00:27:07
closed in prayer is it gone it's gone
00:27:11
it's gone you believe in the power I do
00:27:13
believe in every time she handled the
00:27:15
money she could have switched it what
00:27:18
confirmed that a switch probably
00:27:20
happened was that she took off
00:27:25
based on the testimony of Karen Joan and
00:27:28
16 other victims warrants were issued in
00:27:31
Illinois for the arrest of ancora celli
00:27:33
and Lena Marie Wilson but two women were
00:27:36
nowhere to be found
00:27:40
four days later police in North Kansas
00:27:43
City Missouri noticed some
00:27:45
suspicious-looking people in a motel
00:27:47
parking lot or did you see him looking
00:27:50
at us Cal all right check those play
00:27:55
they ran a license plate check and found
00:27:58
that the car belong to Lena Marine
00:28:00
Wilson's daughter and Quaritch Ellie was
00:28:02
not in a car but Tina Marie was can you
00:28:05
Lena will direct nothing
00:28:16
when police searched the car he found
00:28:20
over $250,000 worth of stolen jewelry
00:28:29
the police never found ancora celli Lena
00:28:33
Marie Wilson jumped bail
00:28:35
six days after she was apprehended
00:28:39
Leena Marie Wilson is four feet ten
00:28:41
inches tall and weighs 130 pounds she's
00:28:45
53 years old and has a dark complexion
00:28:47
brown hair and brown eyes she uses the
00:28:51
aliases of Lena Calvin Murray Marx and
00:28:53
Lena Marx and Quaritch Ellie is five
00:28:58
feet tall and weighs between 140 and 170
00:29:01
pounds she's 26 years old has a medium
00:29:05
complexion brown hair and brown eyes
00:29:08
she uses the alias as Lori Wilson Lori
00:29:11
Calvin and hand marks the police are
00:29:15
also searching for Joe marks a convicted
00:29:18
male accomplice he is 5 feet 7 inches
00:29:21
tall weighs 120 pounds he's 39 years old
00:29:25
has a dark complexion brown hair and
00:29:28
brown eyes
00:29:33
Joe marks has been captured within
00:29:35
minutes of our broadcast a Springfield
00:29:37
Missouri Police Department received a
00:29:39
call from a viewer who recognized Joel
00:29:41
Marx on November 20th the Greene County
00:29:43
Missouri sheriff's deputies arrested
00:29:45
marks at his parents home his mother was
00:29:47
operating a palm reading business four
00:29:51
days later Mark's was extradited back to
00:29:53
Illinois where he is currently serving a
00:29:55
six-year prison term a theft and
00:29:56
conspiracy
00:29:57
[Music]
00:30:16
in a moment the fascinating story of an
00:30:19
eccentric recluse lived in a tiny room
00:30:21
at a YMCA his friends were astounded and
00:30:24
he left behind an unclaimed fortune of
00:30:27
$250,000
00:30:29
[Music]
00:30:42
my next story is about one of the most
00:30:45
frugal and unusual people we have ever
00:30:47
encountered
00:30:47
he was reclusive eccentric man who spent
00:30:51
his time dreaming up the most peculiar
00:30:53
ways to conserve money when he died he
00:30:56
left the fortune valued at more than two
00:30:57
hundred and fifty thousand dollars this
00:31:00
mysterious man devoted all his time and
00:31:02
energy to saving money yet ironically
00:31:05
the fortune he amassed now sits
00:31:06
unclaimed perhaps song and our audience
00:31:09
tonight is his heir Howard Drummond
00:31:16
moved to the lansing michigan ymca in
00:31:18
1985 when he was 74 years old he rented
00:31:23
a room for just $49 a week but chose not
00:31:26
to pay an extra $5 a day for his own
00:31:28
private bathroom he always ordered the
00:31:33
same breakfast fried eggs bacon and rye
00:31:35
toast for only a dollar ninety-nine he
00:31:40
also bought two extra breakfasts packed
00:31:42
them in his ever-present gym bag and
00:31:43
took them back to his room at the YMCA
00:31:45
for lunch and dinner powers daily
00:31:49
expenditure on food was only six dollars
00:31:54
Howard was a packrat he saved money and
00:31:57
everything else in his room at the why
00:32:00
he kept 50 coffee Jews all empty he
00:32:03
collected hundreds of magazines and
00:32:04
countless rubber bands Howard on 80
00:32:08
pairs of white socks and eight identical
00:32:10
suits and hats so he could wear the
00:32:12
exact same outfit every day
00:32:14
[Music]
00:32:17
Howard lived his life according to a
00:32:19
rigid set of rules that only he fully
00:32:21
understood he seemed to have no friends
00:32:24
and only a few acquaintances I merely
00:32:28
Howard had a very regimented lifestyle
00:32:31
he would pay his rent at a certain time
00:32:33
every month the same amount every month
00:32:36
his receipt he would want stapled to a
00:32:40
certain piece of paper a certain way
00:32:42
every time it was done however there was
00:32:45
another side to Howard that I found that
00:32:47
people rarely saw he was very gentle
00:32:50
person he was very appreciative of all
00:32:53
the small things that you did for him
00:32:54
and he was very willing to say thank you
00:32:56
for everything that that you did every
00:33:00
day Harley went to the downtown Lansing
00:33:01
post office he subscribed to The Wall
00:33:04
Street Journal Forbes magazine
00:33:06
Psychology Today Foreign Affairs and
00:33:08
Soviet life
00:33:10
[Music]
00:33:12
he regularly receive envelopes from
00:33:14
banks and sent out registered letters to
00:33:16
banks Howard never failed to stop for a
00:33:19
visit with postal worker Francis done he
00:33:22
often presented her with unusual
00:33:24
shopping hoops written on the backs of
00:33:25
old envelopes how it always gave Francis
00:33:29
money to cover the items he asked and
00:33:31
she was usually able to find what he
00:33:33
needed and I need some coffee
00:33:39
I brought you some coffee and I brought
00:33:42
you some
00:33:42
[Music]
00:33:48
I also brought you some washcloths oh I
00:33:51
can use those today oh I'm feeling fine
00:33:56
yeah I all wanted to see you tomorrow
00:34:00
okay I thought he didn't have anything
00:34:03
why would anyone go around in the same
00:34:05
clothes all time he just looked really
00:34:07
poor to me I always asked him why he
00:34:10
wore that same hat all the time and he
00:34:13
said well it's not worn out yet after
00:34:19
completing his daily routine in Lansing
00:34:21
Howard returned to his room at the YMCA
00:34:23
he never allowed anyone inside he died
00:34:27
on January 28th 1989
00:34:30
[Music]
00:34:36
two days later Paul Rosenbaum a County
00:34:39
aparted attorney visited the YMCA since
00:34:43
Howard had left no will it was
00:34:44
Rosenbaum's job is subtly estate and
00:34:46
find Howard's heirs looking for clues
00:34:49
Rosenbaum spread the contents of
00:34:51
Howard's room at the why over the
00:34:53
conference table at his law office that
00:34:56
took probably two and a half weeks to
00:34:58
sort out everything he had every single
00:35:00
piece of paper from probably 25 years he
00:35:05
had a diary that was the one of the most
00:35:08
unbelievable things I have ever
00:35:10
witnessed in my life in which he kept an
00:35:12
hour-by-hour account of the headlines
00:35:16
and news stations across the whole
00:35:18
United States he had three watches that
00:35:22
wouldn't work there was thousands of
00:35:26
views shoelaces unlimited amount of
00:35:29
newspaper clippings with a lot of it had
00:35:31
to do with the royal family and Princess
00:35:33
died he was infatuated with her it was
00:35:36
unique to say the least to the best of
00:35:40
my knowledge he had a 11 separate bank
00:35:43
accounts from coast to coast with a
00:35:46
quarter of a million dollars in cash in
00:35:48
the bank accounts and that
00:35:49
quarter-million dollars is not even the
00:35:51
tip of the iceberg he has a whole lot
00:35:54
more money out there strangely the gym
00:35:57
bag how it always carried with him was
00:35:59
not
00:35:59
found in his room some say Howard kept
00:36:02
his most important papers in that bag
00:36:08
long Howard's possession Rosenbaum did
00:36:11
find a key marked number 29 the key
00:36:13
seems to open a standard lock type he
00:36:16
might find in a bus station could
00:36:18
Howard's missing gym bag be in the
00:36:19
unknown locker could the papers inside
00:36:22
lead the way to even more money
00:36:24
authorities in Michigan are still
00:36:26
searching for Howard's missing heirs we
00:36:30
have very little information about
00:36:32
Howard Thomas Drummond he was born in
00:36:34
Houston Texas in 1911 the only child of
00:36:37
impoverished parents he served in the
00:36:40
Army from 1942 to 1945 he was fired from
00:36:44
a job at a California bank for stealing
00:36:47
scotch tape then became a postal
00:36:49
employee in Pasadena he lived at YMCAs
00:36:53
of Pasadena Denver and Dayton before
00:36:55
moving to Lansing Michigan
00:36:56
he died at the age of 77 went to his
00:37:00
grave holding a secret of his 250,000
00:37:03
dollar fortune
00:37:04
[Music]
00:37:19
in a moment a mystery with a happy
00:37:22
ending
00:37:22
mystery of a life saved when all hope
00:37:25
was gone
00:37:25
[Music]
00:37:40
June 10th 1989 Don Hamilton and Donna
00:37:46
Johnson are married maple plain
00:37:47
Minnesota this happy day is in a way a
00:37:52
miracle just 20 months earlier teams of
00:38:02
specialists have been working around the
00:38:04
clock to save Don's life using a deep
00:38:08
coma some of the doctors thought Don was
00:38:11
already dead Don was not breathing did
00:38:16
not have an effective heartbeat he had
00:38:18
serious damage to body organs when he
00:38:20
arrived
00:38:20
statistically Don's likelihood of
00:38:22
surviving was very very low maybe zero
00:38:25
and that night I stood by his bedside
00:38:27
most of the night and just wiped the
00:38:29
blood because they said this probably
00:38:30
would be his last night he was cleaning
00:38:32
from his eyes nose and mouth again and
00:38:34
it was just like was the last thing I
00:38:36
could do for my son Don Hamiltons
00:38:39
recovery is a shining example of happy
00:38:41
endings do occur his story is one of
00:38:44
those unexplained events in the field of
00:38:46
science and medicine which proves that
00:38:48
medical science and simple faith can
00:38:51
turn out to be wondrous and mysterious
00:38:53
partners
00:38:59
November 8 1987 just before dawn
00:39:02
Don Hamilton and a group of friends set
00:39:04
out deer hunting 175 miles north of
00:39:07
their hometown maple plain Minnesota we
00:39:17
all got relieved and I took my ATV and
00:39:19
drove out through the field parked at
00:39:21
the edge of the woods and then walked
00:39:23
into the woods to the tree that I had
00:39:25
previously planned out that I would be
00:39:28
in and with my climbing harness and and
00:39:31
straps I got myself strapped into the
00:39:34
tree and then I pulled the gun up to me
00:39:36
and loaded it and just sort of sat back
00:39:40
relaxed on a branch and I just loosened
00:39:43
up on the gun I had a belt on my legs
00:39:47
and apparently I shifted it enough so I
00:39:49
got off the Alex and I loosen my grip it
00:39:51
slid off
00:39:52
[Music]
00:40:04
for 25 agonizing minutes
00:40:07
Don Hamel his friends searched the dark
00:40:09
woods finally they found down in the
00:40:12
tree a bullet from his own rifle had
00:40:15
severed crucial veins in his leg
00:40:17
Don seeming completely lifeless 20
00:40:26
minutes later an ambulance rushed on to
00:40:28
the nearest hospital technically he was
00:40:33
alive but he had no blood pressure at
00:40:36
all when we started to work on Don he
00:40:48
was not breathing
00:40:49
he was not moving he was comatose and
00:40:52
his heart was not pumping blood there
00:40:54
was no blood association let's go
00:41:01
continue CPR we've lost more than half
00:41:04
of his total blood volume and maybe
00:41:08
close to two-thirds or more
00:41:11
I was afraid through the whole process
00:41:13
of working on Don
00:41:14
I was afraid simply because I knew it
00:41:17
would take everything our team could do
00:41:19
to pull him through the farther along we
00:41:22
went the more afraid I became in a
00:41:24
different way I was afraid that we as a
00:41:27
team doctors nurses anesthetist
00:41:29
respiratory therapists lab personnel
00:41:31
would have saved a body but not a brain
00:41:36
one more Kelly please hold these Jim we
00:41:42
ran out of options for Don in our
00:41:44
Hospital very quickly we resuscitated
00:41:46
him our surgeon operated to repair
00:41:50
massive damage to the veins in his left
00:41:52
leg
00:41:52
we gave Don all the blood and blood
00:41:55
products we have and he needed more hold
00:41:58
and I'll cauterize will come off of them
00:42:00
off the only thing we can do is
00:42:03
transferred onto
00:42:07
donna's helicopter to the North Memorial
00:42:09
Medical Center in Minneapolis 200 miles
00:42:12
away there a team of specialists waited
00:42:15
for him they stabilized Dawn's physical
00:42:18
condition but his brain showed no sign
00:42:20
of life first thing I'm gonna do is open
00:42:23
your eye and shine a light in when I did
00:42:26
the initial evaluation on Don he failed
00:42:31
all the tests in essence he basically
00:42:33
did not have any breathing any response
00:42:37
to pain any basic deep-seated reflexes
00:42:40
that are very well protected in the
00:42:42
brain I'm sorry to tell you this but
00:42:45
your son is brain dead I can't accept
00:42:48
that dr. Novak's said that it's the same
00:42:51
as if someone has been under water for
00:42:52
an hour he said have you ever heard
00:42:54
anybody under water for an hour and and
00:42:56
this head lived and had a brain and I
00:42:58
still told him that I couldn't believe
00:42:59
it I just couldn't accept that yet she
00:43:02
had that feeling in her eye that said
00:43:04
okay I've heard your side of the story
00:43:06
well let's just see I have my own side
00:43:09
of the story we knew that our church was
00:43:16
behind for him and they were a support
00:43:19
the whole time under their help we pray
00:43:21
that you'll be the Great Physician from
00:43:23
seven o'clock in the morning till 11
00:43:25
o'clock at night you were never alone
00:43:26
there was someone with us and they even
00:43:29
had a schedule made up so that we
00:43:30
wouldn't be alone when he died
00:43:34
tragically Dawn's body began to failure
00:43:36
first his kidney stopped functioning
00:43:39
then his lungs once he even suffered a
00:43:41
cardiac arrest it's really gonna be
00:43:45
nicer get you out there again
00:43:47
nevertheless Don's family talked to him
00:43:50
said he could hear every word they said
00:43:52
they prayed and searched in vain for a
00:43:54
glimmer of response doctors offered him
00:44:00
the option of turning off Don's life
00:44:01
support systems they refuted and despite
00:44:04
the overwhelming odds never gave up they
00:44:09
kept up the hope of survival even when
00:44:13
it seemed like it would never occur and
00:44:16
lots of times when we would bring bleak
00:44:19
news they would they would accept it
00:44:22
because they had to accept it but you
00:44:24
could tell that they were going to rise
00:44:26
above that and somehow Donnie was gonna
00:44:28
make it my feeling was very positive all
00:44:31
the time I just knew that he was going
00:44:34
to be ok I just couldn't help but know
00:44:35
that after five weeks his friend Karen's
00:44:40
Peter and I went in to see him Don Karen
00:44:47
speaker is here to see you
00:44:48
[Music]
00:44:51
he nodded he do know Karen speeder don't
00:44:54
you die to me this was the breaking
00:44:57
point and I said isn't that nice of
00:45:00
Karen to come and see you and those
00:45:02
three same short nod so we knew because
00:45:05
it was answers to questions and he was
00:45:07
nodding yes three times so we knew that
00:45:10
he was hearing us by that time of course
00:45:12
we've been dealing on a day-to-day basis
00:45:14
with the family and kept giving this
00:45:17
news that was always couched with well I
00:45:20
don't think things are still going to go
00:45:22
well long range and then all of a sudden
00:45:25
to see just like a flower opening that
00:45:28
he started to get markedly better over a
00:45:31
period of just a day or two was just a
00:45:34
great feeling all the way around in four
00:45:38
weeks
00:45:38
Don Hamilton made the miraculous journey
00:45:40
from brain death to walking away from
00:45:43
the hospital on crutches within six
00:45:45
months he threw the crutches away the
00:45:47
doctors and Don's family reunited the
00:45:50
awesome feeling that they had witnessed
00:45:52
a wonderful and mysterious event
00:45:56
this was a very memorable case we love
00:46:00
being wrong in situations like this it
00:46:03
sort of balances the ledger shall we say
00:46:06
a little bit for all those other ones
00:46:08
where things don't quite go as well if
00:46:11
you believe in God
00:46:12
you'll called on Hamilton's survival a
00:46:14
miracle I happen to believe in God the
00:46:17
doctors don't know why I lived and I
00:46:21
think God had a reason why I'm supposed
00:46:22
to be here and and he pulled me through
00:46:26
20 months after his accident Don married
00:46:29
Donna Johnson everyday Donna Hamilton
00:46:32
feels all he no longer takes life's joys
00:46:35
or life itself for granted
00:46:43
[Music]
00:46:49
next week on unsolved mysteries in 1962
00:46:53
Sonny Liston was a toughest man on earth
00:46:55
the heavyweight champion of the world
00:46:57
nine years later he was dead police say
00:47:00
he killed himself his friends and family
00:47:02
say Sonny Liston was murdered also the
00:47:06
story of sharon stevens a woman whose
00:47:08
life has been haunted by the abuse she
00:47:09
suffered as a child but sharon does have
00:47:12
one happy memory a couple who briefly
00:47:14
were her foster parents and taught her
00:47:16
the true meaning of the word love I know
00:47:18
that it had meant for them I probably
00:47:22
would have been a child abuser drug
00:47:26
addict a prostitute
00:47:30
very active alcoholic I feel I would
00:47:34
have turned out very bad if it hadn't
00:47:37
been for them Sharon was to reunite with
00:47:40
his couple and thank them for literally
00:47:42
saving her life join me next week for
00:47:47
another edition of unsolved mysteries
00:47:54
[Music]
00:48:16
[Applause]
00:48:20
[Music]
