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Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 4, Episode 24 - Full Episode

May 22, 2019 / 44:49

This episode covers the tragic deaths in the Santos family, a fatal car fire in North Dakota, and a woman's rare amnesia. Key topics include genetic heart disease, unsolved murders, and memory loss.

The Santos family has faced multiple tragedies due to a mysterious heart condition, claiming the lives of six family members, including 15-year-old Frank Santos Jr. in 1991. Family members discuss their fears and the lack of medical answers regarding their genetic illness.

In North Dakota, Kathy Bounder was found dead in her car after a fire, leading to conflicting theories about whether her death was an accident or murder. Investigators reveal evidence that suggests foul play, while local law enforcement remains divided on the case.

The episode also features Sara de Janeiro, who lost 16 years of her memory after a brain aneurysm. Her struggle to regain her past and adapt to her new life is highlighted, showcasing the challenges of living with amnesia.

Throughout the episode, viewers are encouraged to provide any information that could help solve these mysteries.

TL;DR

The episode discusses the Santos family's tragic heart disease, a suspicious car fire death, and a woman's struggle with amnesia.

Episode

44:49
00:00:03
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 were about to see is not a news
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broadcast in November of 1991 an
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exuberant high school dance in Santa
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Clara California was marred by
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unexpected tragedy when a 15 year old
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boy was struck down long before his time
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he would die within an hour the victim
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of a baffling unknown illness the death
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of Frank saddles juniors latest blow for
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his family which has been tormented by
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an incurable heart disease for more than
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30 years perhaps someone watching
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tonight and finally provide a clue that
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will help this courageous family join me
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for another edition unsolved mysteries
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[Music]
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[Applause]
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[Applause]
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[Music]
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December 31st 1960 the American
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territory of Guam 3,000 miles west of
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the Hawaiian Islands shortly after
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midnight Donatella Santos and a 34 year
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old husband Francisco were sound asleep
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about 1:30 that morning he starts
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snoring and he never seen or in his life
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you know ever since we were married I
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never experienced any snore so I start
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waking him up because that's very
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unusual he won't wake up he started
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crying and he still won't wake up I lift
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him up you know halfway and I let him
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lean against me but then all of a sudden
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he took his last breath and that was it
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he was gone
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Francisco's death was initially
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attributed to a stroke but was later
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determined to be the result of heart
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failure
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donnatella was left to raise seven young
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children by herself for Donatello Santos
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the death of her husband was only the
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beginning
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in the past decade five more family
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members have fallen to a mysterious
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undiagnosable disease today Donatella
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lives in Yuba City California she hopes
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it by presenting her story someone will
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be able to help identify this deadly
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affliction which has plagued the Santos
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family for three generations by 1970
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Donatella had remarried and moved with
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her children a new husband to Northern
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California then in April of 1981 the
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Santos family experienced another sudden
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tragedy 27 year old Doris the youngest
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daughter was found unconscious in her
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bedroom she was half on half off the bed
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you know and normally Doris keeps
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herself all covered up
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so I tried to wake her up you know to
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scoot in you know cover herself up and
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she wouldn't you know she didn't respond
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so I ran over and I called my mom he
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starts knocking at my door and says mom
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wake up cuz something's wrong Doris
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don't want to wake up immediately jump
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out out of bed
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went into her bedroom and I started
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waking her up and she won't wake up I
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told my son Steve I said call the
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paramedic and the priest immediately
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doctors determined that Doris had died
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of acute congestive heart failure
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resulting from the ventricles in ability
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to pump sufficient amounts of blood to
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the body
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doctors drew no parallels between
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Doris's death and the condition that
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killed her father
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within two years of Doris's death
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23-year old Ronnie the baby of the
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family began experiencing chest pains at
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the time he was engaged to his high
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school sweetheart Damian Ronnie was
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found to have a virus of the heart
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muscle which could be controlled by
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medication I was scared but I thought
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well he's under good doctor's care and
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things will be fine I'm I didn't it was
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it was not related to what had happened
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to Doris because it was a virus of the
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heart muscle hers was congestive heart
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failure and as far as I knew his father
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died of a stroke so they obviously
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weren't related in my mind by the
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following September Ronnie and Dana had
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married under a doctor's supervision
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Ronnie was able to live a normal active
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life which included weekly games of
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softball it was a Monday and I was
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sitting out and talking to a friend and
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they had played 1/2 of an inning they
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had been out in the field and they came
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in not there hadn't been much action he
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hadn't been running around or anything
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he just kind of been fielding a few
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balls he came in and he was standing by
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the backstop talking to a few friends
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leaning on a bat
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Ronna me he was groaning and moaning and
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I couldn't figure out what was wrong
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with them and I was just standing there
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screaming all I could do was scream and
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point out I had no idea what was
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happening
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Ronnie Santos never regained
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consciousness he was pronounced dead on
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arrival at the hospital the cause of
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death cardiomyopathy and irregular
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heartbeat probably the result of a viral
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infection I still can't believe at 24 he
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was gone it's it's such a shock to think
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that it's just too young
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too many things to live for a year later
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the Santos family was forced to face yet
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another funeral this time the victim was
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the eldest son 33 year old Frank who
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collapsed while sitting at home watching
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television his mother and I were were
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out running errands and we received a
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phone call and I just remember she got
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off the phone and she said she was in an
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in a panic State and she said we've got
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to go we've got to go something's wrong
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something happened to Frank
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we were driving back to my house and his
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mother was on the passenger side and she
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was praying and I saw the shadows from
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the lights of the paramedics truck and
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then it hit me and I knew I knew
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something was was wrong
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I ran into the house and I stopped right
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at if the dining room looking into the
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family room and I saw the the paramedics
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working on on my husband and and I knew
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I knew he was gone I was just in a great
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shock I can't believe my other son is
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leaving and I I thought myself he cannot
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leave he's my oldest son and he cannot
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is not supposed to die but he was gone
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tragically Francisco Santos and three of
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his children have died of heart disease
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before reaching the age of 35 physicians
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searched for answers and soon discovered
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that heart disorders at plate
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Francisco's side of the family for a
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number of generations I think that
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what's most mysterious about the family
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is the fact that none of the family
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members who died were thought to have
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abnormal hearts prior to prior to dying
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and most of them have had post-mortem
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examinations and there were no serious
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problems found at a post-mortem
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examination Frank's death was also
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attributed to cardiomyopathy but doctors
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were unable to identify the specific
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disease that would soon claim two more
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members of the Santos family in August
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of 1987 another brother 30 year old
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Ralph fell asleep on the sofa and never
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woke up
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his death was also attributed to a viral
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infection of the heart he left behind a
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wife and two young sons then in November
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of 1991 15 year-old Frank Santos jr. was
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struck down at a high school dance
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the mysterious malady had skipped to the
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next generation Frank's mother was
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called to the gym she had now lost a
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husband and the son
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I walked in and I knew right when I saw
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him laying there still and and the
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paramedics were administering CPR I knew
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I knew he was gone Frank setters jr. was
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buried next to his uncle Ronnie nearby
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are the graves of his father his aunt
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Doris and his uncle Ralph the funeral
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was a time for Steve Santos the family's
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only surviving son there to reflect on
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his own uncertain future and I was
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thinking I might be next you know or
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because my sister gonna be an expert you
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don't know one of us I'm very certain
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that this is a problem that is in the
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genetic code and we have just not been
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smart enough to figure out exactly what
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this problem is it's not like we've seen
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100 or 150 families like this with the
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exact same findings that we can that we
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can look very very carefully this is a
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very unusual situation despite the years
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of pain and hardship and despite the
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loss of six loved ones the Santos family
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has remained remarkably resilient
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drawing from each other the strength and
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hope that modern medicine has been
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unable to provide this is upon us that
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much closer to each other
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now I have a three-month-old daughter
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you know I fear for them just like I
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care for myself my sisters
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you know now that it's hit their
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generation you know I very much
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every day I think about my children and
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my grandchildren's what's gonna happen
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and I'm not praying and hoping I'm
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praying that they will die at the shop
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that this is gonna stop it's enough
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already
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[Music]
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next controversy surrounds a fatal car
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fire was it an accident
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[Music]
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on October 25th 1987 in the small town
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of New Rockford North Dakota an angry
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confrontation erupted between Cathy
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bounders and then her husband over their
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teenage son who had gone out without
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permission what am I supposed to do
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about missing a night at work you're the
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one that grounded them in the first
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place
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somebody has to set some limits for the
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boy and obviously it's not gonna be you
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it was after 2:00 a.m. Cathy's husband
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had already conducted a cursory search
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and given up you'll be home when he's
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ready
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this is ridiculous it's 2:30 in the
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morning and we don't know where our son
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is fine you go look for him there okay I
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will yeah well I hope you have a heck of
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a lot better luck than I did
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Cathy a dedicated employee at a local
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convalescent home and never missed a
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shift at work yet this night she was so
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concerned about her son that she called
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in sick around 2:30 a.m. the boy was on
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his way home with his girlfriend when he
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saw his mother's car heading out of town
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that's my mom's car she's I hope she
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didn't see me another vehicle was
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following close behind Kathy's her son
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assumed that his mother was driving her
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car but in fact he was unable to clearly
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see the driver in either vehicle
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[Music]
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and our liquor a car was reported
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burning out of control in a lonely
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country road just a few yards west of a
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railroad crossing the heat was intense
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so intense that 15 long minutes passed
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before firefighters could get close
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enough to look inside a body was in a
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seated position on the floorboard of the
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passenger side of the vehicle the victim
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was later identified as 35 year old
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Kathy bond ursin
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[Music]
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day break finally the car had cooled
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down enough to remove Cathy's charred
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body at the time Edward L Maris was the
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sheriff of Eddy County but as I remember
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it the firewall was completely burned
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the steering column the dash the front
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seat the only thing was left was the
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steel listen I I'd like to have you have
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the boys flesh it out so if there's any
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fragments left from the body the fire
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had to start up front someplace there
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could have been a shorter wire pinch
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something because that car was doing
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some bending also when I went across
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those tracks
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Kathie's car was found here
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sheriff al Maris believe that as Cathy
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approached the railroad crossing she
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inexplicably swerved to the right and
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lost control when she careened over the
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exposed tracks a car made a brooked turn
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as if it was trying to avoid something
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then straightened out went across the
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tracks there was marks on the tracks
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which showed us that the car very
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definitely went over the tracks not the
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crossing but the tracks al MERIS
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believed that a high-speed impact with
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the raised tracks not only caused the
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car to burst into flames but also
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through Cathy to the passenger side of
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the car sheriff al Morris felt that he
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had an open-and-shut case
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Cathy bombers and was no doubt the
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victim of a tragic accident yet oddly
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her car keys were found virtually
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undamaged on the floor Board of the
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vehicle even though the car's interior
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had melted within two days a theory
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emerged which would pitch sheriff al
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Maris against an investigator from the
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North Dakota State Highway Patrol four
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years later the two lawman still
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disagree and the question remains did
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Kathy bond arson died in an accident or
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was she murdered
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[Music]
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the day after the fire captain william
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Byram of the Highway Patrol visited the
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scene to file a standard report it was
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an unusual case it didn't seem to have
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the same characteristics that a normal
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accident would have granted I arrived 24
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hours later but I could not distinguish
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any marks order a car had left the
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roadway Byram found no tire tracks to
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indicate that not of control car had
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veered off the road further the tall
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grass in the area seemed undisturbed he
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noticed the same marks on the railroad
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tracks which Sheriff al Maris had
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discovered Byram however believes they
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were not made by Cathy's car the marks I
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found were a reddish color we talked
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with the firemen and the hoses that were
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used that night were a red rubber hose
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and they had been in and around that
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area drugged the hoses over the tracks
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[Music]
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felt that what I was looking at was
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something that had been put there by
00:18:19
them
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the next day by remand the State Fire
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Marshal examine Kathy bond ursins car I
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see that it's totally burned but I see
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absolutely no damage structure-wise
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from impact which is normal to find in
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this type of an accident but I couldn't
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find any found none zero paint on it
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surprisingly the fuel tank still held 12
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and a half gallons of gasoline the fuel
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line from the tank itself to the
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carburetor was intact no cracks no dents
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no no damage whatsoever doesn't appear
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that we had any impact on any rail based
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on the evidence the fire marshal came to
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his own disturbing conclusion it
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appeared the fire started in several
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different areas which would not be
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normally found in an accidental fire
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there's no question in my mind this fire
00:19:27
was not an accident this fire was
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intentionally set
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three weeks later captain Byron
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requested that Kathy bond ursins body be
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exhumed for an autopsy
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sheriff al Maris objected Byram
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threatened to obtain a court order al
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Marus back down you know it ticked me
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off when I was forced into signing the
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petition to exhume the body and then
00:20:02
after we got the full wrap-up from the
00:20:08
doctor in in Minnesota the one who
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performed the autopsy he couldn't come
00:20:17
up with any cause of death one of the
00:20:21
very important effects from the autopsy
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proved that Kathy barson was dead before
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the fire started according to the
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pathologist findings there was no carbon
00:20:37
monoxide in Kathy's lungs
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suggesting that she was not alive when
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the fire was ignited I asked him you
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know if she could have been killed from
00:20:46
a blow on the head and she says yes well
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if you ever enter bouncing car you know
00:20:52
where your head is going to hit tests
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conducted on fragments of Kathy's
00:20:59
clothing and the vehicles carpeting
00:21:00
revealed that each contained traces of
00:21:02
gasoline supporting the possibility of
00:21:04
arson further several days after the
00:21:08
incident an empty gasoline jug was found
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just three hundred yards from where the
00:21:12
car was burned
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still Sheriff fell Maris would not
00:21:16
change his findings
00:21:19
there's been no proof offered nothing in
00:21:23
my investigation brought up anything
00:21:26
that that even would give you an inkling
00:21:30
that there that this might be a homicide
00:21:32
rather than a car accident nothing there
00:21:37
are too many other facts leading me to
00:21:42
believe that it was not an accident and
00:21:48
I have to work with facts
00:21:52
[Music]
00:21:56
captain Byram is convinced that someone
00:21:59
murdered Kathy bounder s'en and set her
00:22:01
car on fire to make it look like an
00:22:03
accident if so he killed her and why
00:22:11
[Music]
00:22:26
[Music]
00:22:39
[Music]
00:22:51
8:51 p.m. November 13th 1991 a chilling
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call came in to the Palais whole
00:22:58
California police
00:22:59
[Music]
00:23:09
patrol cars immediately rolled to the
00:23:12
scene of what they believed was a
00:23:13
robbery in progress at the Loomis
00:23:15
armored car company
00:23:24
as police made their approach they saw
00:23:27
that the security door of the main
00:23:28
building was partially open a bag of
00:23:31
money lay near the entrance the officers
00:23:33
move cautiously fearful that somewhere
00:23:36
the gunmen might still be lurking
00:23:38
[Music]
00:23:48
[Music]
00:24:01
inside police discovered that this was
00:24:03
far more than a simple robbery just
00:24:06
beyond the door a security guard lay
00:24:08
dead his hands have been bound with rope
00:24:10
and he'd been shot through the head
00:24:19
in another part of the building police
00:24:21
found two other guards one was dead the
00:24:24
other mortally wounded like the first
00:24:27
victim they had each been bound and shot
00:24:29
in the head
00:24:34
the guards are identified as 49 year old
00:24:37
martin Macomber 29 year old Dennis
00:24:40
Jacobsen and 25 year old enfants Alon
00:24:44
tayo a cumber lived behind a wife and
00:24:46
children long taya was engaged to be
00:24:49
married in six months
00:24:51
this one will forever stick in my mind
00:24:54
as being a very brutal and senseless
00:24:56
killing of three innocent people who
00:24:58
were trying to make a living and the way
00:25:02
they were killed and just the brutality
00:25:04
of the incident will be something that
00:25:07
will stick in my mind for a pretty long
00:25:09
time the brutality of this crime was not
00:25:13
it's only hallmark police were surprised
00:25:17
to find the killers had left behind an
00:25:18
abundance of physical evidence all of
00:25:21
that evidence has been used in our
00:25:23
recreations watch closely
00:25:25
perhaps someone in the audience will be
00:25:27
able to help identify the killers
00:25:32
immediately after police units had
00:25:34
secured the crime scene detectives were
00:25:36
called in we looked inside numerous
00:25:41
duffel bags that had been left behind
00:25:43
inside these duffel bags we found a pair
00:25:46
of shoes we found some tools and some
00:25:50
lighter fluid the lighter fluid itself
00:25:53
has still somewhat of a mystery to us
00:25:55
try as we might we have not been able to
00:25:57
conceive of the purpose of bringing that
00:25:59
lighter fluid to the facility a price
00:26:03
had been hand written on the lighter
00:26:05
fluid container so far no match for the
00:26:08
writing has been found the shoes were a
00:26:12
brand called honours sold exclusively at
00:26:15
Target chain stores detectives were
00:26:19
surprised to find that the murder weapon
00:26:21
had been left behind this revolver is an
00:26:25
8-inch blue steel Colt trooper we were
00:26:29
able to determine that that weapon had
00:26:31
been
00:26:32
reported as previously lost or stolen in
00:26:34
the Los Angeles area in approximately
00:26:36
1969 by the next morning the FBI had
00:26:41
been called in at every turn more
00:26:44
evidence was discovered inside the
00:26:46
compound investigators found an orange
00:26:49
duffel bag stuffed with hundreds of
00:26:51
thousands of dollars
00:26:53
nearby they found the bolt cutters which
00:26:55
had been used to break in through the
00:26:57
wire fence as we traveled along the
00:27:02
fence line of Loomis we located a pair
00:27:06
of gloves that were maybe 15 to 20 feet
00:27:09
from that cut hole in the fence
00:27:11
beyond that we began locating ski masks
00:27:14
gloves camouflage or fatigue type
00:27:18
clothing we found another one of those
00:27:20
large bags inside that bag was abundance
00:27:23
of currency it too appeared to have been
00:27:25
abandoned in a park across the street
00:27:29
investigators found a pair of gloves a
00:27:31
ski mask and an ak-47 assault rifle
00:27:36
nearby with this ak-47 was found we
00:27:39
found that an impression in the ground
00:27:40
this impression leads us to believe that
00:27:43
the responsible laid in that area for
00:27:45
some time following the crime hoping
00:27:48
that the police would leave and he could
00:27:49
finish his escape judging from the
00:27:53
evidence the authorities theorized that
00:27:55
there were four robberies hair samples
00:27:57
found on the ski masks indicated that at
00:27:59
least one of them was white and one
00:28:01
black eye witnesses would later confirm
00:28:04
this
00:28:11
exactly one week to the hour after the
00:28:13
murders authorities set up a roadblock
00:28:15
near the armored car facility hoping to
00:28:18
find people who travel the area
00:28:20
regularly they learned that a white male
00:28:22
was seen running north from the building
00:28:24
at around 9:00 p.m. on November 13th a
00:28:27
black male was seen around the same time
00:28:30
running north on a different Street
00:28:38
working backwards authorities began to
00:28:41
piece together what happened on the
00:28:42
night of the murders at approximately
00:28:47
8:00 p.m. for heavily armed men dressed
00:28:50
in combat fatigues approached the Loomis
00:28:52
building one security guard was on duty
00:28:55
inside
00:29:03
forty minutes later two other guards
00:29:06
arrived transporting a significant
00:29:08
amount of cash they made radio contact
00:29:11
with a guard inside the building who was
00:29:13
stationed in a lookout booth called the
00:29:15
turret room several Loomis trucks were
00:29:20
parked on the inside the fence this
00:29:22
would have provided the responsibles
00:29:24
with easy cover so as not to be seen by
00:29:28
the guard inside the turret room
00:29:33
once the truck arrived and the gate
00:29:36
began to open it would have been
00:29:38
possible for the murderers to enter the
00:29:42
facility coming in underneath the
00:29:45
opening gate quickly before the guards
00:29:47
had a chance to respond
00:30:07
they could have helped the guards as
00:30:10
hostages ordering the guard to exit to
00:30:13
turret room which he may have done
00:30:14
thinking that that would save the lives
00:30:16
of his friends
00:30:22
once all three of these guards were
00:30:24
overpowered they were then bound once
00:30:28
the guards were bound that allowed the
00:30:30
responsibles to focus their attention on
00:30:33
the truck
00:30:39
you know
00:30:45
[Music]
00:30:47
there was no reason to kill them other
00:30:50
then if for some reason they could
00:30:54
possibly identify the the robbers that
00:30:58
would be the only reason that they would
00:31:00
have to be killed now this leads to a
00:31:02
great deal of speculation whether one or
00:31:05
more of the employees who were killed
00:31:07
actually knew one of the robbers when a
00:31:15
gunshot was fired they activated an
00:31:18
interior alarm which cost them to panic
00:31:20
and flee
00:31:31
they filled the bags so full of money
00:31:33
that they could not carry them they were
00:31:36
not aware of how heavy money actually is
00:31:39
despite the blaring alarm the killers
00:31:41
fled and got away scot free
00:31:44
the stark irony is that they also got
00:31:46
away with absolutely no money these
00:31:52
three victims of this crime were more
00:31:54
than just cards they had wives children
00:31:57
girlfriends fathers and mothers that
00:31:59
they left behind these people's lives
00:32:02
their survivors have been permanently
00:32:04
impacted nothing can be ever done to
00:32:09
undo what's been done to those people
00:32:10
and probably the closest we can ever
00:32:12
come to rectifying the impact in their
00:32:15
life is to help solve this crime
00:32:29
[Music]
00:32:45
[Music]
00:32:57
next a woman is stricken with a rare
00:33:00
form of amnesia and loses sixteen years
00:33:03
of her memory imagine what it would be
00:33:14
like to awake one day from a deep sleep
00:33:16
and discover that your most precious
00:33:19
memories are gone forever that's exactly
00:33:22
what happened to a 39 year old housewife
00:33:23
from Dundalk Maryland
00:33:25
she's been stricken with amnesia a
00:33:28
medical mystery which is confounded
00:33:30
science for centuries
00:33:31
she is not searching for a lost love no
00:33:34
crime has been committed what she has
00:33:36
lost is every single memory from a 16
00:33:39
year period the mystery of Sara de
00:33:42
Janeiro is a mystery of the mind it
00:33:53
began on Friday the 13th August 1976
00:33:56
when Sara stopped by her local bank Sara
00:34:01
had a long history of debilitating
00:34:02
migraine headaches but this day the pain
00:34:05
was beyond anything she had ever
00:34:07
experienced before the pain was so bad
00:34:14
if my head had exploded you know if
00:34:17
dynamite had gone off on the left side
00:34:19
of my head it would have probably felt
00:34:21
the same way there was so much pain the
00:34:29
attack left Sara confused and
00:34:31
disoriented unable to see out of her
00:34:33
left eye somehow she managed to make her
00:34:36
way home
00:34:41
three hours later Sara's husband Paul
00:34:43
found his wife sprawled across the bed
00:34:48
she was partially paralyzed and babbling
00:34:51
incoherently honey honey talk to me I
00:34:55
tried to tell him down at the bank and
00:34:59
my god like my head exploded and I but I
00:35:03
couldn't couldn't say it
00:35:06
a blood vessel had burst in Sarah's
00:35:08
brain doctors recommended an extremely
00:35:11
delicate and risky operation the
00:35:14
alternative was bleak Sarah would likely
00:35:16
be incapacitated for the rest of her
00:35:18
life they're bringing a pressure net
00:35:25
surgeons use a relatively new and
00:35:28
experimental procedure called micro
00:35:30
surgery to repair the broken blood
00:35:31
vessel in Sarah's brain then they
00:35:38
discovered that her condition was worse
00:35:39
than they had imagined there was a
00:35:41
second ruction vessel which had failed
00:35:43
to show up an x-rays Sarah was on the
00:35:47
operating table for a nine and a half
00:35:48
grueling hours as doctors struggled to
00:35:51
save her life
00:36:00
listen the doctor said so we can move
00:36:02
into some of those stitches now that are
00:36:04
in your head during the first few days
00:36:06
of recovery Sarah knew something was not
00:36:09
quite right and became frightened she
00:36:12
noticed that in just three days paul's
00:36:14
1960s crew-cut had grown out and he
00:36:17
appeared to have put on weight Sarah's
00:36:21
daughter Kelly sensed immediately that
00:36:22
her mother had changed but Kelly did not
00:36:25
know was that her mother did not even
00:36:27
recognize her I can remember the day
00:36:31
that my father took me to the hospital
00:36:34
it was after my mother was out of
00:36:36
intensive care and she was in her
00:36:37
private room and it also happened to be
00:36:39
the day that she was getting her
00:36:40
stitches out so as the the nurse must be
00:36:43
moving the stitches from her head I was
00:36:44
to one side of her and I kept watching
00:36:47
her and she would be looking over at me
00:36:49
just had the corner of her eye and not
00:36:51
really saying anything to me at all the
00:36:52
whole time that I was there almost
00:36:56
wondering who I was 16 years of Sarah's
00:37:01
memory had been erased in her mind she
00:37:04
was only 23 years old and had three
00:37:06
youngsters waiting for at home not four
00:37:09
teenage children most people who have a
00:37:13
an aneurysm that ruptured do experience
00:37:16
some memory loss but the memory loss
00:37:18
tends to be around the event itself not
00:37:22
a prolonged period of time that is lost
00:37:26
in mrs. de Janeiro's case sixteen years
00:37:31
a time when children were being born and
00:37:34
were growing to be deprived that is
00:37:37
really unusual two and a half weeks
00:37:42
after surgery Sarah was released from
00:37:44
the hospital the neighborhood seemed
00:37:48
oddly out of kilter what had once been a
00:37:50
dirt road was now a paved street or
00:37:53
there were once empty lots new houses
00:37:55
stood doctors had warned Sarah that
00:38:03
following the surgery she might feel
00:38:05
slightly disoriented but no one had
00:38:08
prepared her for what she found
00:38:11
right over here there was nothing in the
00:38:14
house like it was before everything was
00:38:18
just different but I figured that if I
00:38:24
just kept quiet I eventually I'd have
00:38:29
things figured out - Eloise involved
00:38:33
still live in Towson two days after
00:38:35
returning from the hospital Sarah began
00:38:37
to understand the full magnitude of her
00:38:40
problem and it is 1960 isn't it
00:38:44
no it's 1936 mom
00:38:49
you're kidding us right yeah I'm just
00:38:53
following you guys I knew that
00:38:56
terrified by her inexplicable memory
00:38:59
loss Sara made a conscious decision that
00:39:01
no one must know not her family not her
00:39:04
friends not even her doctors
00:39:11
whenever she was alone Sarah sifted
00:39:14
through family photographs searching for
00:39:16
clues about her past she became obsessed
00:39:18
with discovering who she was and where
00:39:20
she had come from I didn't have all the
00:39:24
knowledge that I had before I would try
00:39:27
to get back everything that I know that
00:39:31
was lost in my brain Sarah found herself
00:39:37
mystified by the most ordinary household
00:39:39
appliances when Sarah was 23 few
00:39:44
families at automatic dishwashers
00:39:47
microwave ovens had not yet been
00:39:49
invented personal computers were unheard
00:39:52
of even the family car seemed like
00:39:56
something out of the Space Age I had
00:40:00
never seen anything like that in my life
00:40:02
I mean he was this big streamline car it
00:40:07
was unbelievable the magazines they used
00:40:11
to give our pictures of cars of the
00:40:13
future that's what the Pontiac Grand
00:40:15
Prix looked like Sarah internalized her
00:40:20
fears and try to go about life as if
00:40:22
nothing had happened yet everything had
00:40:25
changed
00:40:26
Sarah's taste in music passion and dance
00:40:29
was out of a 23 year old not a woman
00:40:32
approaching middle age
00:40:35
I can remember coming home from school
00:40:38
or coming home from work and that stereo
00:40:40
would just be blasting and the first
00:40:41
thing I would do would be to come in the
00:40:42
back door and just turn the stereo down
00:40:44
because it would just drive me crazy it
00:40:49
has been a real role reversal at some
00:40:51
points you know and just the music that
00:40:53
she listens to you know it's music of my
00:40:54
generation and and it's a bit much for
00:40:59
me two times
00:41:01
[Music]
00:41:04
for nearly four years Sarah managed to
00:41:06
keep up her charade finally in November
00:41:10
of 1979 Sarah discovered that she was
00:41:13
not alone an article in the local
00:41:19
newspaper gave her the courage to reveal
00:41:21
her secret to her family I just read an
00:41:25
article about people who have aneurysms
00:41:27
right and for years now I thought there
00:41:32
was something wrong with me everything
00:41:34
was out and she you know was willing to
00:41:36
admit that she did not know who we were
00:41:38
or know who I was sometimes I wish that
00:41:42
she could remember me as when I was
00:41:44
younger and I was growing up because I
00:41:46
think I did get some characteristics
00:41:48
from her such as being athletic that I
00:41:49
think she would have really enjoyed
00:41:51
remembering of me we always hope that we
00:41:56
can learn from the experiences of our
00:42:00
patients and by that process continue to
00:42:04
grow intellectually but from time to
00:42:07
time an event will occur that remains
00:42:12
inexplicable a mystery today with the
00:42:17
help of her family Sarah is trying to
00:42:19
reconstruct the year she thought she had
00:42:21
lost forever I didn't know as much as I
00:42:27
did at one time and wasn't able to do
00:42:30
the things I could do before
00:42:35
nothing was going to get me damn I was
00:42:37
going to relearn everything you know
00:42:41
handicapped people are everybody goes Oh
00:42:43
instead of shame and they were going to
00:42:46
do that to me despite tremendous
00:42:51
advances in the field of medicine
00:42:53
scientists tell us that we understand
00:42:55
even less than 5% of how our memory
00:42:57
functions Saturday Gennaro is still
00:43:00
adjusting to life with 16 years of
00:43:01
missing time though she carries on
00:43:04
bravely her doctors do not foresee the
00:43:06
day the Sarah will recover her lost
00:43:08
memories on our next unsolved mysteries
00:43:20
three suspicious deaths all investigated
00:43:23
his possible suicides haunt the
00:43:25
freelance journalist who now believes he
00:43:27
has been targeted for murder because he
00:43:30
may know too much about possibly illegal
00:43:32
multi-million dollar gold transactions
00:43:36
On June 26 1990 in Rochester New York
00:43:39
one of the largest armored car robberies
00:43:41
in United States history went off
00:43:43
without a hitch
00:43:44
the total haul over ten million dollars
00:43:47
in untraceable bills join me next time
00:43:51
perhaps you may be able to help solve a
00:43:55
mystery
00:43:55
[Music]
00:44:21
[Applause]
00:44:24
[Music]

Badges

This episode stands out for the following:

  • 90
    Most heartbreaking
  • 80
    Most emotional
  • 75
    Most intense
  • 70
    Most dramatic

Episode Highlights

  • The Santos Family Tragedy
    The Santos family faces a series of mysterious heart-related deaths across generations.
    “Despite the years of pain, the Santos family has remained remarkably resilient.”
    @ 10m 59s
    May 22, 2019
  • Kathy Bondar's Mysterious Death
    Cathy Bondar's fatal car fire raises questions about whether it was an accident or murder.
    “Did Kathy Bondar die in an accident or was she murdered?”
    @ 17m 01s
    May 22, 2019
  • The Loomis Heist
    A meticulously planned robbery leads to the tragic deaths of three guards.
    “There was no reason to kill them other than if they could possibly identify the robbers.”
    @ 30m 50s
    May 22, 2019
  • Sara de Janeiro's Amnesia
    A woman loses 16 years of memory after a brain aneurysm, struggling to piece her life back together.
    “Imagine what it would be like to awake one day and discover that your memories are gone.”
    @ 33m 03s
    May 22, 2019

Episode Quotes

  • I knew he was gone.
    Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 4, Episode 24 - Full Episode
  • It's just too young.
    Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 4, Episode 24 - Full Episode
  • This is a problem that is in the genetic code.
    Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 4, Episode 24 - Full Episode
  • They filled the bags so full of money that they could not carry them.
    Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 4, Episode 24 - Full Episode
  • These people's lives have been permanently impacted.
    Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 4, Episode 24 - Full Episode

Key Moments

  • Unsolved Mysteries00:03
  • Tragic Loss00:28
  • Family Resilience10:59
  • Mysterious Death17:01
  • The Loomis Heist28:18
  • Sara's Amnesia32:57
  • Memory Loss37:13
  • Reconstructing Life42:17

Words per Minute Over Time

Vibes Breakdown

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