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Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 5, Episode 6 - Full Episode

May 23, 2019 / 44:56

This episode of Unsolved Mysteries covers psychic dreams, a serial killer in New Orleans, and a con artist named JD Method.

Glen Lough Neagh shares a vivid dream he had 20 years ago that he believes saved his life while driving. He later encountered the exact scenario from his dream, leading him to believe in psychic dreams.

Dr. David Rybak, an expert on psychic dreams, discusses his research and the phenomenon, while Rhonda Anderson recounts her own experiences with psychic dreams that foretold events in her life, including a bear attack on her husband.

The episode also tells the story of Katherine Webb, who had a dream about her first love, Joe Stewart, revealing his death before she learned of it. Her dreams were vivid and detailed, leading her to believe in their significance.

In the latter part of the episode, the focus shifts to a serial killer in New Orleans, who has claimed multiple victims, and the investigation led by Detective Elizabeth Wigginton. The episode highlights the fear and urgency surrounding the case.

TL;DR

This episode features psychic dreams, a New Orleans serial killer, and con artist JD Method's scams.

Episode

44:56
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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 tonight on unsolved mysteries
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journey into the shadowy world of dreams
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and here the startling accounts of three
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people who are convinced that their
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dreams predicted the future in New
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Orleans a brutal serial killer has
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apparently taken the lives of several
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young women police need your help before
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he strikes again
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and an intriguing profile of a devious
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con wand preys upon lonely women taking
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first their hearts and then their
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wallets
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join me perhaps you may be able to help
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solve a mystery
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[Music]
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[Applause]
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[Applause]
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[Music]
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have you ever had a dream so vivid you
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thought it was real so compelling you
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wondered if it actually happened as
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fantastic as it may seem you're about to
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meet several people who are convinced
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that sometimes dreams do come true
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Glen Lough Neagh is a professor of
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theater at Brooklyn College in New York
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City
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his story begins on a cold winter night
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20 years ago when he had a dream which
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he believes saved his life
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[Music]
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I was driving up a hill and there was a
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blind curve up at the top it was like
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the road was built sort of around a
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hillside on my side the outside lane
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there's really a very steep drop
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suddenly there came a car around the
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curve there's a little two wheel trailer
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mind and suddenly the outside wheel of
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the trailer comes off and there was a
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shower of sparks like a sparkler and
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suddenly the wheel came skidding across
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the road toward my car and I thought
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step on the gas or you're a dead man and
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I woke up in a cold sweat I never had a
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dream that I remembered every particular
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detail up and it was so vivid as if it
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had actually happened I mean other
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dreams aren't like that other dreams are
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bits and pieces of things from the real
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world and from the world of fantasy and
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things that never were or never could be
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this was just like seeing the thing that
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somebody else had filmed it that there
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might have been a camera in the backseat
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six months later Glenn was on a business
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trip with a fellow professor in a part
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of the country where he had never been
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before how's your classes going by the
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way Oh fine
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yeah we got some good people this
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halfway up I realize this is the hill of
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my dream I suddenly realize this is the
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road this is the place there was no
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traffic coming the other way nothing
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right
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I said my god it cars gonna come around
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that curve and wheels going to come off
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the trailer and it's going to come at
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our car I got a step on the gas or dead
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[Music]
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[Music]
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some would say that what happened to
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Glenn Loney was mere coincidence however
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there are many people who believe that
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what he experienced was a phenomena
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known as a psychic dream a dream is can
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apparently foretell the future there's a
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clear distinction between ordinary
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dreaming which we all do every night and
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the psychic dream and the clear
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distinction is that for ordinary dreams
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they're very difficult to remember if
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I've been is ten minutes after you're
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awake you forgot most of the details
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it's very hazy on the other hand a
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psychic dream wakes you both up right
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out of bed it's a clear vivid dream that
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literally shocks you awake dr. David
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Rybak is one of the leading authorities
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on psychic dreams he and freelance
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author Letitia Switzer have written a
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book which contains more than 80 case
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studies dr. Rybak has concluded that
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perhaps one out of 12 people have
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experienced psychic dreams when I first
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realised that I had the ability to see
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into the future through my dreams was
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when I was a teenager Rhonda Anderson is
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one of the subjects and dr. Rybak study
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do you remember just having glimpses
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into the future through my dreams in
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1980 Rhonda was living in Knoxville
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Tennessee when she began dating Joe
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Anderson the man she would later marry
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the first test of their relationship
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came and Rhonda told Jo about her
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special ability for me to believe
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something like that I would probably
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have to have been involved in door or
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know specifically the incident I don't
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believe things like that without you
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know having some proof
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six months after Joe and Rhonda met Joe
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got the proof he needed while he was
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away on a weekend camping trip
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Ronde a dream that he had none invited
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intruder at his campsite
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[Music]
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my heart was pounding so hard that I had
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to sit up in my bed and I looked at the
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clock
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and it was three o'clock in the morning
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and I knew that there was really not
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anything that I could do about it at
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that time
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hello oh I'm so glad you called is
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everything all right
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the next morning joe called Rhonda as
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soon as he returned home she had not
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been expecting me until later that
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afternoon she asked me what I was doing
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back so early
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I told her we'd had an incident with a
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bear and decided to leave come back home
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early Joe says it around 4 o'clock that
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morning he awoke when he sensed a
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disturbance outside of his tent he was
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certain of the time because he checked
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his watch
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[Music]
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she had a dream about three o'clock
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since I actually saw the bear after the
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bear had gotten into camp and torn
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things up it must have been about the
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time of the Buried come into camp the
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first time it occurred to me you know
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possibly it was just a coincidence but
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actually thinking back on it the fact
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that she had the dream while the
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situation was occurring and the way she
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described it was very similar the way
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actually occurred I felt like it was
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been a very unusual coincidence about a
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year later Joe and Rhonda were married
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and Joe received another surprise his
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new stepdaughter Roxanne also claimed to
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have psychic dreams researchers believe
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the ability can be passed from
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generation to generation we do have
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cases where families have have psychic
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dreams very often the mother may have it
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in one family we know the mother dreamed
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psychic dreams the son did and all of
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the first cousins and they were even
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raised in different environments because
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each of the members had been adopted
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when the family split up it's hard to
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know whether there's a hereditary factor
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or not clearly some families have two or
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three people in the family who not only
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has psychic dreams would have the same
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psychic dreams which is a really
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astounding event Rhonda and Roxanne have
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had just that experience in April of
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1991 round a dream that Joe was in a
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terrible accident but did not tell
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anyone in her family
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a week later Roxanne says she had the
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very same dream
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[Music]
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our car was on the side of the road and
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then I saw a glimpse of Joe his head his
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face and then I saw the police right in
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a police report it was really really
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disturbing to me it really upset me
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because it just you know it scared me
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and it felt like it was something that
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was gonna happen and I said well Roxanne
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I said let's just think positively about
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it and let's just pray that everything
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will be okay and from then on I would
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just ask Joe to please be careful
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two weeks later joe was on his way to
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the mountains for another weekend of
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camping and he momentarily took his eyes
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off the road
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[Applause]
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[Music]
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luckily I wasn't injured of course the
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first thing I thought about after that
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happened was that Ron did warn me to be
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very careful and I had not paid
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attention to the road and slid off and
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had the accident the the car crash could
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have been more detrimental it could have
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been more disastrous and I hang on to
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the thought that perhaps maybe that was
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the reason that I had the dream and
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Roxanne had the dream so that we could
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warn him over and over again - please be
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careful because had we not we don't know
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what would have happened the
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extraordinary experiences of the
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Anderson family could make even the
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harshest skeptics stop and think after
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all coincidence can only account for so
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much you're about to meet a woman who
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says her psychic dreams had not foretell
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the future but brought her news of an
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untimely death
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in 1942 20 year-old Katherine Webb fell
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in love with a soldier named Joe Stewart
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I think it's really the best time for us
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to go into a marriage both wanted to
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marry but because of hardships and their
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families they decided that the timing
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was not right we know the truth is Joe I
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I've been thinking the same thing
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mother's not well dad's not very strong
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I just don't think it's fair to you to
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take on that much responsibility yes
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I've always regretted that instead of
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being so conscientious about our
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obligations we should have thought of
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ourselves
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I didn't see him for a while and then I
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saw him again and from then on through
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the years when I'd see him we'd we go
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out to her three times but I'd love to
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go with that Catherine never forgot her
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first love she remained single until
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January of 1965 when at the age of 47
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she married her next-door neighbor the
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next year Catherine began having a
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strange recurring dream I kept getting
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this dream all the time all I saw was
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these nurses and doctors a lot of
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confusion probably working on someone
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that was would be how it would look the
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nurses were rushing around the doctor
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seemed very concerned but I couldn't see
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what they were doing
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and then it seemed to me that I just got
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the intuition that it's about Joe Stuart
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and I just kept having that dream off
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and on all during the month of May and
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June and it just got worse and worse
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finally Katherine had a dream which
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seemed to explain everything
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[Music]
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in this new dream Catherine was in her
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kitchen when she received a most
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unexpected visitor I turned around and
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Joe was standing there Joe what are you
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doing Kate I came to tell you that I
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died what yes it's true I'm dead it
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seemed quite natural for him to have a
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hold of my hand and taking me I know I
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believed him just couldn't grasp it Joe
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I don't understand this I'll explain you
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see I just had to let you know that
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thanks to your prayers I'll have a
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Christian burial
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it's alright who is this
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it's me Kate I could smell flowers and
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firm and I look down at the man in the
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casket didn't look like Joe you just
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that you it doesn't look like you yes I
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know but it is and I came to tell you
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that I'll always love you and I could
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feel the flesh and the warmth of his
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hand and he said I always loved you and
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he kissed me and I felt his lips and his
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breath and that was it
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[Music]
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my perspiration was pouring off of me I
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was shaking I thought now I know why all
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those dreams I saw of doctors and nurses
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and I thought it was Joe this is what it
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meant
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what I just saw was no dream this was a
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vision and I knew it was true I just
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felt my heart it was true I didn't want
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to believe he was dead but I knew that
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was true
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nobody let me know that Joe was sick a
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few days later catherine contacted joe
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sister and brother-in-law and her worst
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fears were confirmed catherine was
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stunned to learn that joe had gone into
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a coma the very day that she had the
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first dream about doctors and nurses he
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had died of a brain aneurism just two
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days before he appeared to catherine in
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her dream about the church we know
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somebody should have told me well we
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didn't know what to do and even if you
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went to the funeral you wouldn't
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recognize them the mortuary put a wig on
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Joe his body was so thin nobody knew him
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well let me tell you something Joe came
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to me in a dream he came to me in my
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kitchen and told me himself that he had
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died I was convinced him everything I'd
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tell them they would tell me yes that's
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the way it was and when I did tell him
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his sister said yes she's every detail
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you've told us she said it's just the
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way it was
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[Music]
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William Shakespeare once wrote today's
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dream is tomorrow's reality the cases
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we've examined tonight certainly seem to
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support that sentiment but there is
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still no logical explanation for psychic
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dreams perhaps this phenomenon will
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always remain inexplicable and beyond
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our understanding
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truly an unsolved mystery next a serial
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killer may be stalking the streets of
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New Orleans
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[Music]
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New Orleans home of the Mardi Gras the
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city's heartbeat is as raucous French
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Quarter or great music Street
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celebrations and Cajun cooking sometimes
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overshadow a more unsavory side of the
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city
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[Music]
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August 4th 1991 across the Mississippi
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River from the French Quarter a lone
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recycler gleaned what he could along a
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narrow deserted city road often used
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illegally as a dump site he had no idea
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he was about to launch one of the city's
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most complex murder investigations
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[Music]
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the body was identified as 17 year old
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Danielle Britton who lived nearby with
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her mother she had been strangled and
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possibly raped approximately 12 hours
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earlier at first glance the murder of
00:18:34
Danielle Britain has seemed an isolated
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incident but the reality was far more
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sinister
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Danielle Britnie may have been the
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victim of a serial killer preys on women
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he believes her prostitutes by some
00:18:47
chilling estimates more than a hundred
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serial killers roam the streets of
00:18:50
America at any given moment police are
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usually left to gather clues only from
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the silent testimony of gruesome crime
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scenes the New Orleans case would be
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different just ten minutes into the
00:19:08
investigation of Danielle Britain's
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murder detective Elizabeth Wigginton at
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her first inkling that she was dealing
00:19:14
with a serial killer and if it means
00:19:16
anything at night about two weeks ago a
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man approached me regarding an attack of
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a woman which had occurred approximately
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two weeks earlier at this time I
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realized that there was a possibility
00:19:26
that this attack and the murder of
00:19:28
Danielle Britain could be connected
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somehow with one striking difference
00:19:32
that this victim has survived her attack
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it's most scarier than anything because
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I did realize that he has told that I
00:19:41
was dead in order to leave me there the
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surviving victim we will call Brenda had
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her voice permanently damaged in a
00:19:48
strangulation attempt police believe she
00:19:51
was attacked by the same man who killed
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Danielle Britain Brenda feel you tell me
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is his detail as possible what happened
00:19:59
that night when interviewed by Detective
00:20:02
wiggenton Brenda was able to recall a
00:20:05
trauma in minut detail house that house
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and I decided that I wanted to call and
00:20:12
visit a friend of mine so I walked up my
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own Street knows that a car was
00:20:17
following me
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so I ran in the Cortot side-by-side with
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me as I was walking the next me where I
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was okay and I kept on walking we kept
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on insisting that he could give me a
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ride to where I was going and the car
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stopped and define the man grabbed me
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and prevent to the car
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despite Brenda's protests a man drove
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about a half a mile past her friend's
00:20:55
house to the same deserted city road
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where Daniel Britons body would be found
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two weeks later yeah on top man began to
00:21:09
choke when he looked at me and I looked
00:21:13
at him and I realized this man I was
00:21:14
trying to kill me so I tried to fight
00:21:21
him off but I really couldn't have any
00:21:24
strength
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the killer strangled Brenda with his
00:21:32
bare hands
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stripped off her clothes and dumped her
00:21:35
by the side of the road six hours later
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shortly after dawn Brenda awoke to find
00:21:42
herself covered with garbage and
00:21:44
discarded tires
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finding Brenda had certainly been a
00:21:55
lucky break in this case we had now a
00:21:57
live victim who could identify an
00:21:59
attacker an attacker who could be
00:22:01
responsible for the murder of Danielle
00:22:03
Britton I knew this guy was out there
00:22:07
stalking his victims he was stalking
00:22:09
women intending to kill them and I was
00:22:11
unable to come up with a suspect I had
00:22:15
no idea was going to get worse our
00:22:19
September 22nd 1991 the killer claimed
00:22:22
his third victim
00:22:23
Charlene Price dumping her body within 1
00:22:27
mile of the spot where Danielle Britton
00:22:29
was found on December 14th the fourth
00:22:33
victim as yet unidentified was found in
00:22:36
the same vicinity this is a sketch of
00:22:39
the woman who was in her early twenties
00:22:41
she was 5 feet 2 inches tall weighed 125
00:22:45
pounds and had protruding front teeth
00:22:52
two and a half weeks later on January
00:22:54
4th 1992 The Killers struck yet again
00:22:57
the nude body of 29 year-old Lydia
00:23:00
Madison was found in an illegal dump
00:23:02
site under the Greater New Orleans
00:23:04
bridge eight blocks from Police
00:23:06
Headquarters and four hundred yards from
00:23:08
the Superdome police soon learned that
00:23:14
three other bodies had been found at a
00:23:16
nearby jurisdiction which borders New
00:23:18
Orleans bringing the total number of
00:23:21
victims to eight these bodies closely
00:23:26
resembled bodies found in our
00:23:28
investigation in previous months leading
00:23:32
me to believe that the same killer may
00:23:35
be responsible for all these victims
00:23:39
seven of the eight women were found
00:23:41
within a three-mile radius all but one
00:23:44
on the west bank of the Mississippi the
00:23:48
killer has struck once a month
00:23:49
always strangling his victims always
00:23:52
leaving them lewd facedown in or near
00:23:55
illegal dumpsites these women have had
00:24:01
difficult lives they're invulnerable
00:24:04
positions and are at risk to becoming
00:24:09
statistics of murders and rapes I
00:24:14
certainly can't do anything about
00:24:16
helping them at this point other than
00:24:18
trying to find out who killed these
00:24:22
victims and I'm determined to get this
00:24:25
guy I'm still afraid I don't I don't run
00:24:29
the street at all anymore I don't go
00:24:31
anywhere unless sister church or if I go
00:24:33
to the stores with my mother and
00:24:34
somebody accomplice to me
00:24:36
because I still don't know where this
00:24:38
man is and I know he knows me just like
00:24:41
as well as I know him so I'm still very
00:24:44
much afraid if I'm at home I still
00:24:46
locked up but only someone else is in
00:24:48
the house with me it's more now like I'm
00:24:52
living in fear every minute or every
00:24:54
second
00:24:56
on the night she was murdered Danielle
00:24:58
Britton was seen with a suspect outside
00:25:00
a bar called nivas rendezvous a man was
00:25:03
driving a blue late-model Buick Regal or
00:25:05
motor Carlo when we return a man
00:25:09
searched for an anonymous hotline
00:25:11
counselor who saved him for the
00:25:13
nightmare of drug addiction among the
00:25:23
unheralded heroes a modern city life the
00:25:26
men and women who answer the urgent
00:25:27
calls coming into crisis hotlines at any
00:25:31
moment a counselor may be plunged into a
00:25:32
desperate situation with the fate of a
00:25:34
total stranger hangs in the balance
00:25:36
our next story is a very special mystery
00:25:39
about one man's search for the anonymous
00:25:42
hotline counselor who reached out and
00:25:44
save his life Houston Texas 1982 James
00:25:50
Vernon was strung out again he had been
00:25:53
addicted to heroin since he was 16
00:25:55
on several occasions James had had heard
00:25:58
drug treatment programs but inevitably
00:26:00
he wound up back on the street still
00:26:02
addicted his life stripped of everything
00:26:05
but the daily hustle for a fix
00:26:10
nothing mattered other than where was my
00:26:12
next shot coming from and that became my
00:26:16
life I mean it's you speak of careers
00:26:18
when you say someone has a career in
00:26:21
show business or someone has a career as
00:26:23
a doctor my career was getting my next
00:26:26
fix that was that was my career I can
00:26:32
remember back in 82 I just fixed and I
00:26:36
just dunno a load of her last call and I
00:26:39
was just walking around the streets just
00:26:41
trying to figure out what my next move
00:26:42
were cuz I knew that things were getting
00:26:43
bad and looked up and saw a billboard
00:26:45
that said if you need help we do care
00:26:49
[Music]
00:26:51
Jamis felt he had nothing to lose he
00:26:54
called the number and spoke to a woman
00:26:56
who identified herself as Libby well
00:26:59
what would you like to talk about Jane
00:27:01
[Music]
00:27:04
I'm lonely scared and nobody cares oh by
00:27:11
the way I'm a junkie oh by the way I'm a
00:27:15
junkie okay let's start with that I
00:27:18
really want a voice being soft and kind
00:27:21
and caring and she didn't talk down to
00:27:24
me or or at me she talked to me and it
00:27:29
was the first caring voice I'd heard in
00:27:32
a long time it wasn't degrading to me
00:27:33
and she was like letting me know that it
00:27:36
wasn't all of it wasn't my fault that I
00:27:39
had a problem and I needed some help
00:27:41
that it's not that I was a bad person it
00:27:44
was just that I was sake and I needed
00:27:46
some help
00:27:47
hi James what's new over the next few
00:27:51
months
00:27:52
James called Libby nearly every night
00:27:54
mother took me back in again though he
00:27:59
had finally found someone he could trust
00:28:01
this new friendship wasn't enough James
00:28:04
was unable to resist the pull of heroin
00:28:06
in desperation he stole from his own
00:28:09
mother selling her jewelry to support
00:28:11
his habit mr. braley been in bad shape
00:28:15
to do something like that
00:28:18
facing up to it James
00:28:20
I tried to make it look like someone
00:28:23
else broke into a house but I don't
00:28:27
think she bought it
00:28:29
she was I remember coming home after was
00:28:32
away I knew that my mother was home and
00:28:34
she asked me about it and she said that
00:28:36
all the jury was gone and the window was
00:28:39
broke do I know anything about it and I
00:28:41
lied he said I'm told that I had nothing
00:28:43
to do with it now you know I wouldn't
00:28:45
take a jewelry mom I can't believe
00:28:49
somebody would do this
00:28:53
you know this this neighborhood ain't
00:28:55
like it used to be you know two weeks
00:28:57
later and with great reluctance James's
00:29:00
mother threw him out of the house
00:29:04
it was just raw like devastating for
00:29:06
both of us because I had to face up to
00:29:08
it the end and I just couldn't do it I
00:29:10
just couldn't minute James turned to his
00:29:15
ex-wife who allowed him to move in with
00:29:17
her and their two-year-old son it
00:29:19
appeared to be a promising new start
00:29:23
like okay I can do this okay I'll pull
00:29:26
it back together I've got my wife back
00:29:28
I've got my son back I'll get a job I'll
00:29:30
get off the drugs don't make it work you
00:29:33
know I would do it for them hey baby
00:29:36
guess what but James wasn't able to do
00:29:40
it he began using drugs again
00:29:42
and his ex-wife felt she had no choice
00:29:44
but to walk out there was no no I had no
00:29:50
idea where she had gone when my son was
00:29:52
the furniture the clothes the dishes I
00:29:55
mean everything was gone I think they
00:30:00
did it I was at a point where I just
00:30:01
didn't want to live anymore like I just
00:30:03
couldn't stand anymore and I decided
00:30:06
that I was gonna commit suicide and I
00:30:07
knew how I was gonna do it I was gonna
00:30:09
just overdose on heroin just go
00:30:10
someplace sit down and go out you know
00:30:12
just just sleep through it you know and
00:30:14
then Libby ran across my mind I wanted
00:30:17
her to know that I really appreciated
00:30:18
everything she had done and for sticking
00:30:20
with me but I just could you I just
00:30:23
couldn't take no more I was ready to die
00:30:25
haven't heard from you in a while
00:30:27
hope that means you went to get help but
00:30:35
I wanted to call you
00:30:39
been a real good friend
00:30:43
goodbye James let's talk this over can't
00:30:49
be that bad ain't got no money it's not
00:31:00
that bad well maybe it's time you went
00:31:03
and got help for yourself got change you
00:31:07
have to read I told I just didn't want
00:31:09
to try no more this doesn't have to be
00:31:11
the end and I did the last shot of what
00:31:14
I thought would be my last shot of
00:31:17
heroin and it should have been enough to
00:31:19
kill at least three people and I got
00:31:23
what's known as a slight Rush and a
00:31:24
little dizzy and it was it even messed
00:31:27
that and I I remember saying to Libby
00:31:29
she started screaming my name and I just
00:31:33
started laughing I go I've even messed
00:31:35
this one up lady I can't even kill me
00:31:37
and she said alright you've tried your
00:31:40
way it didn't work there's give not wash
00:31:42
let's go back to treatment go to
00:31:45
treatment
00:31:49
right come on James you have never lied
00:31:53
to me before
00:31:54
now say those words I'll go to treatment
00:32:09
I'd never lied to Libby she was the only
00:32:12
person I hadn't lied to and I wasn't
00:32:15
gonna start then and just something
00:32:18
about that voice that that carrying I
00:32:20
went alright man your part mr. James
00:32:24
Vernon kept his promise the changes in
00:32:27
his life since that evening are nothing
00:32:29
short of miraculous when I say my poor
00:32:34
departed wife I don't want you folks to
00:32:35
thank my wife is dead
00:32:37
she's got sick of being poor and
00:32:38
departing from the brink of
00:32:42
self-destruction James is now confident
00:32:44
enough to make his living as a stand-up
00:32:46
comedian
00:32:47
nearly a decade after I last spoke to
00:32:49
Libby he remains drug and alcohol-free
00:32:52
dough going to therapy I spoke to my
00:32:54
therapist last week and she said my mind
00:32:56
was like a bad neighborhood you should
00:32:58
not go in there alone and where she
00:33:02
pulled me out of a spot man where I
00:33:04
don't think I don't make it out open
00:33:06
either
00:33:10
Libby if if you're watching this tonight
00:33:15
please call and I really want to talk to
00:33:18
you I really want to see alright when I
00:33:20
give you a hug and I want to say thanks
00:33:21
I uh
00:33:23
it's been a long time and it's and a lot
00:33:26
has happened but you've always been that
00:33:28
light you know you've always been there
00:33:30
I don't want to tell you that
00:33:33
[Music]
00:33:45
next a smooth talking con man steals its
00:33:48
victims affections and their money most
00:34:01
con artists play on a basic human
00:34:02
instinct the desire their victims to
00:34:05
make a quick easy buck however the more
00:34:08
cunning practitioners of fraud prey not
00:34:11
on greed but on emotion you're about to
00:34:14
meet three women who fell in love with a
00:34:16
smooth-talking swindler named JD method
00:34:18
each discover the hard way that when it
00:34:21
comes to the confidence game JD method
00:34:23
is a master well the new friends Peggy
00:34:31
Peterson a single mother and
00:34:33
businesswoman from the Golden Colorado
00:34:34
area met JD method in 1990 she had
00:34:38
innocently responded to his ad in the
00:34:40
personals column of a local newspaper
00:34:44
know something I learned in Vietnam
00:34:48
really pilot there JD was a very
00:34:54
charming person and a nice person and a
00:34:58
fun person and someone with some
00:35:03
professional credentials well you know
00:35:05
David it really sounds like you like to
00:35:07
go to swap meets and flea markets
00:35:08
Linda Weaver a divorced mother of three
00:35:11
got to know JD method in 1987 through a
00:35:14
telephone dating service after two weeks
00:35:17
of phone calls they began to see each
00:35:19
other
00:35:20
he's extremely well-versed in everything
00:35:24
he's witty because it's such a
00:35:26
fascination of mine he just knows the
00:35:29
answers to just about everything he's
00:35:31
intelligent and you just enjoy his
00:35:33
company he could talk about any subject
00:35:35
he knows about a little bit of
00:35:37
everything in essence he would interview
00:35:39
these women he would talk to them he
00:35:42
would find out what they were about
00:35:44
their idiosyncrasies what they liked
00:35:46
what they didn't like what their style
00:35:49
of life was you know
00:35:51
I was thinking you really ought to have
00:35:52
a few more credit cards no I don't need
00:35:56
more credit Cole with credit like yours
00:35:58
you want to have 500 that interesting
00:36:01
well one of the things that we found
00:36:02
that our investigation was methods
00:36:05
ability to get his victims to extend
00:36:08
their credit through the use of credit
00:36:10
cards and and not just one but get a lot
00:36:13
of credit cards and even get a lot of
00:36:15
the same kind of credit cards you ought
00:36:17
to think about it in the case of Peggy
00:36:24
Peterson JD spent several weeks
00:36:26
carefully beating his trap until she
00:36:29
trusted him implicitly Rick I noticed
00:36:33
that nice-looking Camaro over there
00:36:34
what's the story on that one JD you love
00:36:37
that $1500 private owner hold it down
00:36:39
for it for $500 down oh is that right
00:36:42
see peg there you go if I had $500 cash
00:36:45
I could buy that car today sell it
00:36:48
tomorrow for $1,000 profit have a
00:36:50
thousand bucks in my pocket yeah hey
00:36:53
what else you got there I got a nice
00:36:55
clean zero method worked the scam so
00:37:00
well that Peggy made the decision to
00:37:02
invest without prompting me I had
00:37:06
already survived him doing several car
00:37:09
deals over the weeks that we had been
00:37:11
dating so I wrote him out a check for
00:37:13
$500 let's just go ahead and get that
00:37:18
car yeah let's do it come on can you
00:37:22
believe this huh what am I gonna do with
00:37:24
you no I'm not gonna take your money no
00:37:27
it's not a matter of the money it's
00:37:29
playing the game he toured the check up
00:37:31
and he said I wouldn't take money from
00:37:33
you and I said so you know I mean check
00:37:39
was torn in half I didn't think anything
00:37:40
about it the very next day he calls me
00:37:45
listen honey I need your help this
00:37:47
afternoon
00:37:48
and when JD told Peggy that his uncle is
00:37:51
seriously ill and required immediate
00:37:53
surgery
00:37:53
he explained that his funds were tied up
00:37:56
with investors and feigned great
00:37:58
embarrassment at having to ask Peggy for
00:38:00
a loan
00:38:01
okay mm-hmm y'all have it ready for you
00:38:02
I mean you know what could I do I mean I
00:38:05
already I've already committed myself
00:38:08
that I could let him have $500 and you
00:38:13
know what could I do I can't say well
00:38:16
yesterday I had $500 to loan you today I
00:38:18
don't other victim whom we call Amelia
00:38:24
met JD in August of 1990 one month later
00:38:28
her son decided to sell his car and buy
00:38:31
a pickup truck
00:38:32
JD saw his opening and quickly talked
00:38:35
his way into the deal JD told him Eli
00:38:38
that he could sell the car and for an
00:38:40
additional $4,000 could make a great buy
00:38:43
on a new pickup so you got the title I
00:38:57
told I had some questions about the car
00:39:00
feeling anxious about the whole
00:39:02
situation I didn't know him very well he
00:39:05
was saying to me you know how could I
00:39:07
possibly doubt him here he is this
00:39:09
honest caring wonderful person is at
00:39:13
some point in the conversation you know
00:39:14
I had said something to the effect that
00:39:16
for all I knew he could be a con artist
00:39:19
and his immediate response was Emilia
00:39:22
you could be a con artist for all I know
00:39:25
the end result was that we ended up with
00:39:28
no truck and no money and no Mustang at
00:39:31
the end of the situation that's how it
00:39:35
got started first it was a little amount
00:39:36
and then it would get bigger and then
00:39:38
bigger and bigger and eventually it
00:39:40
would get into the tens of thousands of
00:39:42
dollars Linda I need your help on this
00:39:45
deal in the case of Linda Weaver it was
00:39:48
two months before JD began to ask for
00:39:51
large sums of money isn't that good news
00:39:53
I think that's great but that's gonna be
00:39:55
three weeks before it gets here
00:39:57
now we've got to get this business
00:39:58
rolling now so what I'm asking for is a
00:40:01
small loan 15,000
00:40:03
don't have $15,000 do it for you and me
00:40:10
now you know the answer you can do this
00:40:14
for us okay good girl it happened so
00:40:20
fast that I didn't realize what was
00:40:23
coming across until afterwards I'm gone
00:40:25
oh my god what is going on you know he
00:40:28
was so good he hit and ran and he's
00:40:31
doing it to all his victims three months
00:40:34
after he met Peggy Peterson yes JD
00:40:36
played out the same scene with her
00:40:38
listen dear I need to I need to borrow
00:40:41
some money from you to you know help me
00:40:43
have some cash for the for the trip I
00:40:45
need about ninety six hundred bucks oh
00:40:47
man that's a lot of money JD well I know
00:40:50
it seems like it but that 9600 is chili
00:40:53
beans compared to what my assets are his
00:40:55
rationale was always that well I'm gonna
00:40:57
pay you back next week I'll have my
00:40:59
money next week I'll pay you right back
00:41:01
that night I you know I was just
00:41:04
sleeping soundly I was sleeping like a
00:41:06
brick and at 2:30 in the morning I just
00:41:08
said all tough right in bed I'd like God
00:41:11
had slapped me upside the head with a
00:41:13
2x4 and realized what had happened to me
00:41:15
I knew Jerry for 11 months during that
00:41:20
period of time he in one way or another
00:41:23
extorted over $70,000 in Amelia's case
00:41:28
JD also waited three months before he
00:41:30
went for the big money I don't know
00:41:32
about taking the equity out of my home
00:41:35
well Amelia it would only be a short
00:41:37
term now if it'd make you feel more
00:41:41
comfortable I've got a promissory note a
00:41:43
promissory note yes it's a legally
00:41:47
binding contract that insures you that
00:41:50
I'll pay you back exactly so Jerry ain't
00:41:52
no problem with the promissory notes was
00:41:54
that JD met that would fill out the
00:41:57
promissory note backwards he would make
00:41:59
himself the payee and he would make the
00:42:02
victim the maker so that when you read
00:42:05
the promissory note it said that she
00:42:07
owed him $30,000 $40,000 whatever the
00:42:11
amount that was involved with that
00:42:13
particular victim
00:42:14
by looking at that time line what you
00:42:16
see is that as as mr. method was
00:42:20
starting a relationship he would either
00:42:22
be in the middle or the end of another
00:42:24
relationship
00:42:25
I don't believe JD method knows the
00:42:29
difference between truth and reality
00:42:30
anymore I think that he has built his
00:42:33
life on lies for so long that he doesn't
00:42:39
even know the truth anymore I think he
00:42:42
he probably believes all of a glop that
00:42:46
he shovels off on women update on
00:42:50
September 1st 1992 j.d method was
00:42:53
apprehended in Beaverton Oregon after
00:42:56
police were contacted by a woman who
00:42:58
lost $2,000 to a man she met through a
00:43:00
personals ad in the newspaper
00:43:03
police staked out the man's home in
00:43:06
Beaverton and arrested him when he
00:43:07
returned he was later identified as JD
00:43:10
method inside methods house authorities
00:43:14
seized several briefcases in a steamer
00:43:16
trunk containing papers and documents
00:43:18
which may have been used by method to
00:43:20
perpetrate his scams
00:43:32
[Music]
00:43:38
next week
00:43:40
haunting tales in honor of Halloween
00:43:42
during prohibition the dramatic love
00:43:45
triangle ended in tragedy for a
00:43:46
beautiful lady dressed in blue some say
00:43:49
her ghost still haunts the spot where
00:43:51
she and her lover met and in Wilmington
00:43:54
California many believe the spirits of
00:43:57
the Civil War still roam the drum
00:43:59
barracks Museum join me next time
00:44:03
perhaps you may be able to help solve a
00:44:06
mystery
00:44:07
[Music]

Badges

This episode stands out for the following:

  • 70
    Most intense
  • 60
    Most shocking
  • 60
    Best concept / idea

Episode Highlights

  • The Power of Dreams
    Glen Lough Neagh shares how a vivid dream saved his life.
    “I woke up in a cold sweat... it was so vivid as if it had actually happened.”
    @ 03m 09s
    May 23, 2019
  • Psychic Dreams Explored
    Experts discuss the phenomenon of dreams that predict the future.
    “Perhaps one out of 12 people have experienced psychic dreams.”
    @ 05m 21s
    May 23, 2019
  • The Serial Killer in New Orleans
    A chilling investigation into a serial killer preying on women in New Orleans.
    “Detective Wigginton realized she was dealing with a serial killer.”
    @ 19m 13s
    May 23, 2019
  • A Life Saved by a Hotline Counselor
    James Vernon recounts how an anonymous counselor helped him escape addiction.
    “If you need help, we do care.”
    @ 26m 45s
    May 23, 2019
  • A New Beginning
    James finds hope in reconnecting with his ex-wife and son, but struggles with addiction.
    “I can do this, I'll pull it back together for them.”
    @ 29m 26s
    May 23, 2019
  • James' Turning Point
    After a near-fatal overdose, James realizes he needs help and decides to go to treatment.
    “You've tried your way, it didn't work. Let's go back to treatment.”
    @ 31m 40s
    May 23, 2019
  • From Despair to Comedy
    James transforms his life, becoming a stand-up comedian after overcoming addiction.
    “The changes in his life since that evening are nothing short of miraculous.”
    @ 32m 29s
    May 23, 2019

Episode Quotes

  • Have you ever had a dream so vivid you thought it was real?
    Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 5, Episode 6 - Full Episode
  • What I just saw was no dream; this was a vision.
    Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 5, Episode 6 - Full Episode
  • I knew this guy was out there stalking his victims.
    Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 5, Episode 6 - Full Episode
  • I'm still living in fear every minute or every second.
    Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 5, Episode 6 - Full Episode
  • I can't even kill me!
    Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 5, Episode 6 - Full Episode
  • You've always been that light, you know?
    Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 5, Episode 6 - Full Episode

Key Moments

  • Unsolved Mysteries00:03
  • Psychic Dreams04:35
  • Serial Killer Investigation18:39
  • Addiction Recovery25:50
  • Supportive Voice27:29
  • Reconnection29:15
  • Desperation30:06
  • Commitment to Change31:54

Words per Minute Over Time

Vibes Breakdown

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Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 4, Episode 8 - Updated Full Episode
March 16, 2022
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45:17
Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 4, Episode 8 - Updated Full Episode
Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 9, Episode 4 - Full Episode
May 23, 2019
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44:09
Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 9, Episode 4 - Full Episode
Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 10, Episode 2 - Full Episode
May 23, 2019
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45:51
Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 10, Episode 2 - Full Episode
Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 7, Episode 13 - Full Episode
May 23, 2019
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45:17
Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 7, Episode 13 - Full Episode
Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 9, Episode 5 - Full Episode
May 23, 2019
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43:33
Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 9, Episode 5 - Full Episode
Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 3, Episode 22 - Full Episode
May 22, 2019
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47:29
Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 3, Episode 22 - Full Episode
Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 11, Episode 5 - Full Episode
May 23, 2019
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48:12
Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 11, Episode 5 - Full Episode
Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 1, Episode 10 - Full Episode
May 16, 2019
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48:05
Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 1, Episode 10 - Full Episode