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Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 6, Episode 4 - Full Episode

May 23, 2019 / 43:53

This episode covers the mysterious death of Ted Llosa, a surgeon found dead in his garage, and the quest of his mother, Zell Llosa, to uncover the truth. It also discusses Wally Spencer's claim of discovering an underground river in Nevada and the tragic story of Christopher Kirovsky, a Polish boy lost to his family after World War II.

Zell Llosa believed her son Ted was murdered, despite the police ruling it a suicide. She uncovered discrepancies in the investigation, including the behavior of Ted's wife, Wilda, and the circumstances surrounding the supposed suicide note. After years of investigation, authorities eventually reclassified Ted's death as a homicide.

The episode also features Wally Spencer, a former rocket scientist who claims to have found a vast underground river in Nevada. His discovery could potentially transform the arid region, but he faced bureaucratic challenges in proving his findings.

Lastly, the episode recounts the heartbreaking story of Christopher Kirovsky, who was sent to America for a better education but was lost to his family. His sister, Michelle, spent years searching for him, ultimately leading to a bittersweet reunion.

Viewers are encouraged to provide any information that could help solve these mysteries.

TL;DR

Zell Llosa investigates her son Ted's suspicious death, Wally Spencer claims to find an underground river, and Christopher Kirovsky's family seeks reunion after WWII.

Episode

43:53
00:00:00
[Music]
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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 imagine the vast arid deserts
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of the American West flowering into a
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modern-day Garden of Eden
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incredible this scenes a former rocket
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scientist believes he has found a vast
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underground river in Nevada and could
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create just such a transformation after
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World War two a trusting polish couple
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sent their only son off to America with
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friends they had no idea that they would
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never see him again in Los Angeles
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Ted Llosa a prominent surgeon was found
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dead in his garage
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the police ruled suicide but Ted's
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mother's L was not convinced disturbed
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by the odd behavior of Ted's wife
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zel began to suspect that her son had
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been targeted for murder
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solos have embarked on her own
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investigation investigation of
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ultimately forced authorities to
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reclassify her son's death perhaps some
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watching tonight I'll have that one
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vital clue that could help end cell loss
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of SATA SI joint perhaps you may be able
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to help solve on the street
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[Music]
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[Applause]
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[Music]
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[Music]
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the doorbell rang at 10 o'clock at night
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and my daughter and her husband were at
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the door I was startled company at 10
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but when I took a look at their face I
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knew I was going to hear something awful
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[Music]
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On February 25th 1974 Zell Llosa at Los
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Angeles California sat ninetieth with
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the funeral of her only Son Tay two days
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earlier the 40 year old orthopedic
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surgeon had apparently taken his own
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life
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Zell was devastated in her grief she
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could not have imagined what lay ahead
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an all-consuming 19-year investigation
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into her son's death that would
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ultimately force authorities to back
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down from the official finding of
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suicide of all people in the world
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Ted was not one to take his life
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my son was murdered
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definitely
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[Music]
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the night turd lows have died police
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found a suicide note apparently written
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to his wife wildered the note said
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simply all I ever asked for was one
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moment of compassion and understanding
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Zelo safe now believes the note was a
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finishing touch in a plot to cover up
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the murder of her son congratulations
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Ted this is quite a setup thanks a lot
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Bob very proud of it Ted Llosa was
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already a well respected sir claps and
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leave his practice in 1971 during a
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private reception at his new offices Ted
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was introduced to a nurse named Ted and
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Wilda were married less than a year
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later at Ted's insistence will decide a
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prenuptial agreement she would get no
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property if the marriage ended in
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divorce within six months that seemed
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increasingly likely she needed problems
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with alcohol it wasn't I soon learned
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that the marriage was a marriage not of
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love Wilda would go into history onyx
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and scream and yell and carry on the
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fighting was just awful
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[Music]
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apparently is a bitter arguing plagued
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the marriage up until the day Ted low
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Civ died February 23rd 1974 at around 8
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p.m. an anxious will delusive and called
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police saying her husband was are
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waiting with Wilden red were Jay a
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family friend most of South skipper
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[Music]
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yeah Ted didn't answer and there was no
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sign of it anywhere in the house
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well I don't know where he is but he's
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definitely not here usually parks
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outside the gates of report
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[Music]
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around the side here
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Oh
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they found him in his car in the garage
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it had to be suicide it wasn't until a
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little later when things began to become
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so suspicious that I wondered about it
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to authorities on the scene the evidence
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of suicide was overwhelming and there
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was no further investigation no
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fingerprints were taken no autopsy was
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performed no questions were asked in the
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days following Ted's death cell and
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Wilda rarely spoke when they did finally
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meet face to face March of 1974 Zell was
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totally unprepared from will des
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behaviour L arrest will defer a keepsake
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a watch she had given her son as a
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wedding present I know you're worried
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about this was it worried about this as
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oh I didn't care about Ted the way you
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did I'm glad he's gone
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we'll discuss comments that awakened
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unfocused suspicions in Zell and her
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grief was slowly overtaken by doubts she
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began to feel as something was not quite
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right about the suicide scene incredibly
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Zell says the discrepancies finally
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became clear to her in a dream she
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recalled that Ted had never parked his
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car in the garage
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I saw a garage filled with lots and lots
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of bold equipment cartons of boxes and I
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realized I was at Ted's garage and I
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knew that to put his car there it had to
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move the things that were in that garage
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Ted had back surgery it was impossible
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for him physically and then I saw the
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gates these great big double old firing
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gates in her dream Zell remembered that
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the driveway gates were damaged and
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difficult to open Ted had always parked
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in front of the house
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giselle the implications of the dream
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were simple but stunning someone had
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cleared out the garage and pried open
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the gates
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the suicide had been staged her son
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murdered in cold blood
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zel suspicions alone are not nearly
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enough to get the case reopened taking
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matters into her own hands she tracked
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down her son's former housekeeper her
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account of Ted's last day would confirm
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Szell's worst fears for my son Ted to
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protect her identity we will call the
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housekeeper married the following
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recreations are based on her sworn
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testimony before a Los Angeles County
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coroner's inquest well I was supposed to
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arrive at 8:30 but I didn't get there
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until around 10:00 and when I arrived
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dr. lo Civ was in the kitchen oh that's
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okay I hope your wife isn't angry that I
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wasn't here earlier she's not going to
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be around here anymore we had a little
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misunderstanding and well we're going to
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be getting a divorce
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oh I'm sorry to hear that but around 2
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o'clock she came in she she parked her
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car directly in front of the door and
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then she went right upstairs and then a
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few minutes later I heard all this
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screaming and yelling and I said if you
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want me to continue to work with you
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you'll have to talk to my husband so he
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paid me for my work and I got in my car
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and I drove down the street and there
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was mrs. lefse
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my god Mary what am I gonna do I can't
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go back there and then she asked me if
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she could go with me and I said well yes
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so I drove home she kept insisting that
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dr. Lowe civ had a gun so I called the
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police no officer no I'm not the wife
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well she said that he had a gun
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he had a gun it's all good she insists
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that he has a gun
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why don't you come talk to him they told
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me that they couldn't go over there if I
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hadn't seen a gun and I haven't seen it
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Mary says she tried to call Ted at least
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20 times between 3 and 8 p.m. every time
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the line was busy about 8 o'clock I
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called dr. moseph again it's ringing
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finally no one's answering
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I'm gonna call the police again
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within the hour police had found Ted's
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body their initial belief that he killed
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himself was confirmed by the discovery
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of the note in an upstairs bedroom
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however to Mary it was the first of
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several alarming discrepancies I always
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thought that that note on the shirt
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cardboard was kind of strange because I
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had been ironing doctor love shirts for
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a long time and I always used a hanger I
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never used a shirt cardboard who you see
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as she stood with her husband and gave
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the doctor low surfs body
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Mary was jarred by another inconsistency
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when I last saw him he was wearing brown
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pants and a kind of a mustard shirt and
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now he had on grey pants and a dress
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shirt and do you know that whole time
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that I worked there
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after dr. Lowe sofy ID I never once saw
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those brown pants and that mustard
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colored shirt that he was wearing the
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last time I saw him the discrepancies
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became impossible to ignore in the
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kitchen Mary found several empty beer
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cans and four dirty glasses
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Ted glozer rarely drank
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can you come here please a week later
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Mary found unusual stains on some
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bedspreads in the guest room oh yes this
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is this is the dog's vomit baby were
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sick last night however Mary remembers
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the dogs being in a kennel at that time
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when she later washed the bedspreads
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Obama spots completely disintegrating
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after hearing the housekeeper's many
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stories I knew it was foul play and
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something terrible happened to Ted and
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that I had to find out there is evidence
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of food fiber and the bran key of the
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logs in 1978 four years after her son's
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death cell finally won a legal battle to
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have Ted's body exhumed for an autopsy
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the pathologist found undeniable
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evidence that Ted had suffered a violent
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vomiting spell here moments before his
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death
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there should have been vomitus on his
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clothing his face and perhaps on the
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inside of the car why wasn't it there
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this certainly strongly suggests to me
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that this vomiting occurred someplace
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other than in the car
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and there were a number of discrepancies
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that have never been explained but that
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very strongly move away from the whole
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thought of suicide this until proven
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otherwise as a homicide
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fueled by the autopsy findings zel
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pieced together a theory explaining her
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son's death a scenario a premeditated
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murder
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zel believes ted was assaulted soon
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after Wilda and meri left the house I
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believe that the people that killed my
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son were close to the wife because they
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knew the back door would be open the
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autopsy indicated Ted had been involved
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in a struggle
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zel believes he was overpowered by at
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least two men who forced poison down his
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throat
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it was definitely fighting for his life
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according to the doctor's somebody took
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the phone off after they made sure he
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was dead because it took a certain
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length of time for this to happen it
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could be five six seven minutes then
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they cleaned him up and they put his
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great dress shirt on him then they went
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to the garage emptied out the garage to
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make room for the car then they had to
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open the gates to put his car into this
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garage carry his dead body into that
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garage close the door and then go out
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and close the gates then they went back
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into the house I think again put the
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receiver back on the hook
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it's ringing finally all afternoon Mary
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had been getting busy signal's when she
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tried to call Ted now the phone was
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suddenly ringing Zell believes that this
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was a pre-arranged message from the
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killers to Wilden that their job was
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done
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in March of 1982 the Los Santos County
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Coroner finally ordered an inquest
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Szell's murder scenario which many had
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dismissed as a grieving mothers fantasy
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began to gain credibility at the inquest
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the witness who knew the family
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testified at the note
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the alleged suicide note was indeed
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written by Ted however he had written it
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after an argument with Wilden more than
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two years before he died the inquest
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ultimately ruled that Ted loss of death
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was a homicide but the most critical
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witness in the subsequent investigation
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would soon be lost forever on May 1st
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1983
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Wilda died from an overdose of drugs and
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alcohol more than two years later the
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police completed their inquiry they
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ruled that the cause of Ted loss of
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death was undetermined however Zelo
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CIFAS convinced that someone has gotten
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away with murder she is still hopeful a
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witness will come forward with new
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information if the case would open up
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and they really get the criminal
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there'll be a peacefulness that'll come
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on me I hope a desire to walk to sing to
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laugh I haven't been able to if I can do
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that again
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that's it
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[Music]
00:18:49
next controversy surrounds a modern-day
00:18:53
prospector had his claim that he has
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found a vast untapped water supply in
00:18:57
the middle of the desert even in a good
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year
00:19:08
precious little rain will fall in the
00:19:10
rugged deserts of the western United
00:19:12
States but doesn't evaporate instantly
00:19:17
is quickly soaked up by the few plants
00:19:19
and animals evolution has sentenced to
00:19:21
living
00:19:23
however numerous legends have sprouted
00:19:25
to this otherwise infertile land tales
00:19:28
such as the Lost Dutchman's mine or the
00:19:30
missing gold and pegleg Smith in 1927 a
00:19:36
prospector named Earl d'Or drove deep
00:19:39
into the Nevada desert floored by an old
00:19:41
Indian legend it told of a secret cavern
00:19:44
leading to an underground river the
00:19:46
sparkled with nuggets of gold hurled or
00:19:49
was just crazy enough to believe he
00:19:51
could find it according to an affidavit
00:19:57
d'Or later published he and his sidekick
00:19:59
eventually found the secret opening
00:20:01
foretold in the legend and squeezed on
00:20:04
through
00:20:05
[Music]
00:20:13
the affidavit recounts of treacherous
00:20:15
3,500 foot descent into a murky
00:20:17
subterranean Canyon Earle claimed it at
00:20:21
the bottom
00:20:21
they found the legendary River running
00:20:24
as promised far below that cactus and
00:20:26
the scorpions girls said the extorter
00:20:30
for days following the river for eight
00:20:33
long miles along every footed nature
00:20:36
would slowly concentrated vast amounts
00:20:38
of gold what he's describing is
00:20:43
something like the world's largest
00:20:44
natural underground sluice where light
00:20:48
rocks are carried away by the water and
00:20:52
the heavier minerals like your gold your
00:20:54
platinum group metals rare earths would
00:20:56
be settling out and concentrating so
00:20:59
it's almost kind of a too good to be
00:21:01
true thing Earle claimed that the rich
00:21:05
black sands essayed out at a phenomenal
00:21:08
100 ounces of gold per cubic yard at
00:21:11
today's prices a bucket of this fancied
00:21:14
earth would be worth close to fifteen
00:21:16
hundred dollars it was a stuff dreams
00:21:19
are made of
00:21:19
however Earle door had one very major
00:21:22
problem someone else owned a land where
00:21:25
the entrance to the cavern was located
00:21:27
believing that he could find another way
00:21:30
in door decided to dynamite the original
00:21:33
opening
00:21:34
[Music]
00:21:41
Earl doar was never able to find his
00:21:44
treasure again over the next 50 years
00:21:46
others would follow in his path but the
00:21:49
location of the river if it existed
00:21:51
seemed lost forever
00:21:55
[Music]
00:22:00
oddly it was a space shuttle program of
00:22:03
the 1980s has suddenly opened the door
00:22:05
to the rediscovery but might be url'
00:22:07
doors fantastic River successive
00:22:11
missions brought back new and more
00:22:12
remarkable photographs of our planet
00:22:14
some of the pictures came to the
00:22:16
attention of a scientist named Wally
00:22:18
Spenser for 30 years Spencer had been
00:22:23
involved in the development of solid
00:22:25
rocket motors for NASA and other
00:22:26
government agencies when he studied the
00:22:29
Space Shuttle photographs
00:22:31
Spencer was convinced they offered a
00:22:33
down-to-earth opportunity in one picture
00:22:37
of Nevada while he spotted what he
00:22:39
believed was an ancient river channel
00:22:41
bone-dry for some five hundred billion
00:22:43
years but eons ago plants would have
00:22:46
flourished along such a river in the
00:22:48
millennia since those plants would have
00:22:50
slowly decomposed into black gold
00:22:52
Nevada's own crude oil wall-e
00:22:58
jerry-rigged a prospecting device from
00:23:00
common laboratory instruments he based
00:23:03
his design on two simple facts first the
00:23:06
earth naturally emits a low level of
00:23:08
radiation second a large subsurface pool
00:23:11
of liquids such as oil will block this
00:23:13
radiation wall he believed that his
00:23:16
invention could detect such a drop in
00:23:18
radiation thus revealing the location of
00:23:20
a hidden reservoir but Wally had no idea
00:23:25
if his device actually worked in June of
00:23:28
1989 with the help of his wife and son
00:23:31
Wally put it to the test for three weeks
00:23:34
they bounced across the sands waiting
00:23:36
for the device to react
00:23:40
whoa Mary stop stop pull it hold it we
00:23:43
went off the hill I don't know the wild
00:23:46
response at first suggested a monumental
00:23:48
deposit of oil but further testing began
00:23:51
to indicate the warning that they had
00:23:53
actually found an immense underground
00:23:55
river perhaps the same River
00:23:57
Earle door had boasted about half a
00:23:59
century before very disappointing when
00:24:04
we found out at one well because once we
00:24:06
started Madeleine looked like the river
00:24:08
yeah everybody says hey you found the
00:24:11
river you didn't find a pocket of oil
00:24:13
very disappointing but it was so large
00:24:16
that it had to be exciting Wally became
00:24:22
convinced he had found a virtually
00:24:24
inexhaustible water supply he estimated
00:24:27
the flow could be an incredible 17
00:24:29
billion gallons a day in a parched
00:24:32
region like Nevada water is as precious
00:24:35
as gold
00:24:35
Wally Spencer was certainly it found a
00:24:38
priceless resource there is enough water
00:24:43
for a hundred and seventy gallons a day
00:24:46
for a hundred million people now that
00:24:50
has got to be something that is
00:24:52
extremely of interest to the western
00:24:56
United States to Nevada to our nation as
00:24:59
a whole
00:25:00
[Music]
00:25:02
the land I'm standing on here in Los
00:25:05
Angeles is once a virtual desert but
00:25:08
with water piped from hundreds of miles
00:25:09
away it became a flourishing garden
00:25:12
Wiley Spencer's River if it does exist
00:25:14
could likewise transform Nevada but for
00:25:18
Wally that remained just a pipe dream
00:25:20
when he found himself mired down in a
00:25:22
bureaucratic standoff with state
00:25:24
officials Nevada law required that
00:25:29
anyone drilling for water her first
00:25:30
apply for a permit and that meant
00:25:33
revealing the rivers location before
00:25:35
doing so Wally asked state officials to
00:25:38
guarantee that he would receive a
00:25:39
finder's fee even though the state would
00:25:42
all any water that he found however
00:25:45
authorities insisted that Wally apply
00:25:47
for a drilling permit just like anybody
00:25:49
else no promises no guarantees if I
00:25:55
filed for appropriations permit then it
00:25:58
would it could be denied on any kind of
00:26:02
whimsical motion the state has like not
00:26:04
in the best interest of the people or
00:26:06
not to mention best interests of the
00:26:09
state they would own it I would have
00:26:10
nothing there's nobody's again I try to
00:26:13
rob him of his water rights there might
00:26:14
be other speculators out here that try
00:26:16
to might also claim that he has priority
00:26:19
if he files the proper documentation and
00:26:21
a lawyer can help him do that all he and
00:26:26
his wife Beverly were not convinced and
00:26:28
they weren't taking any chances
00:26:30
concerned that others might try to steal
00:26:32
the secret of their finds the Spencer's
00:26:34
asked two experts to scan their house
00:26:36
for electronic but interesting books at
00:26:40
first the sophisticated equipment failed
00:26:42
to locate any hidden listening devices
00:26:45
but then one sensor picked up a bug on
00:26:48
the phone line you see this guy thing
00:26:54
we're talking about
00:26:55
[Music]
00:27:03
in addition the investigators found a
00:27:06
high-tech listening device secret in the
00:27:08
living room Beverly was convinced that
00:27:10
only one thing would motivate the
00:27:12
electronic eavesdropping
00:27:14
[Music]
00:27:16
they were trying to probably find out
00:27:20
the location we never discussed the
00:27:23
location of the water it's not nerve
00:27:25
vocabulary so I don't know who did it I
00:27:29
don't know why they did it but they
00:27:32
haven't gained from it however there are
00:27:35
those who question where the Wally
00:27:37
Spencer has any information that is
00:27:39
truly worth stealing
00:27:43
he has never revealed his technology he
00:27:46
can't show where the water is coming
00:27:47
from he can't show where the water is
00:27:49
going and he won't reveal the location
00:27:52
so it's not a lot different than the guy
00:27:55
that's walking around the desert with a
00:27:57
willow stick or a peach branch and
00:28:00
dowsing for water or the guy that's
00:28:02
walking around the crust of the earth
00:28:03
with a turquoise bead on a gold chain
00:28:05
witching for water
00:28:06
I've known Wally for about 15 years and
00:28:09
actually I've worked professionally with
00:28:10
him starting about 10 years ago
00:28:14
Wally's one of the true scientist
00:28:17
problem solvers that you can run into
00:28:21
he's the type of guy that doesn't run to
00:28:24
the textbook to pull out the equation to
00:28:25
solve the problem
00:28:26
he takes Newton's equations and he
00:28:29
derives what he needs out of them to
00:28:31
solve the problem so he's a true
00:28:33
scientist you know I'd like it to be
00:28:35
true I mean I don't think he'll find
00:28:37
anybody in Nevada that wants to find
00:28:40
water resources like like Wally has
00:28:43
described but you have to be practical
00:28:45
at the same time in the way to be
00:28:46
practical is just simple questions Wally
00:28:48
what have you found with that technology
00:28:50
and the second thing is let me see it
00:28:54
[Music]
00:29:06
when we return one of your tips leads to
00:29:09
the arrest of a murder suspect
00:29:11
[Music]
00:29:22
October eights 1980 in Los Angeles
00:29:25
California four friends climbed on their
00:29:28
motorcycles to cruise the nearly
00:29:30
deserted streets it was a frequent
00:29:32
weekend ritual 26 year-old Lisa won a
00:29:35
popular local DJ always look forward to
00:29:38
the freewheeling late-night rides
00:29:42
but this night would be different
00:29:46
one of the cyclists became involved in
00:29:49
an argument because he believed a
00:29:51
vehicle was trying to run him down but
00:29:59
the drivers spit in the face of Lee's
00:30:00
friend the altercation turned on
00:30:09
the four riders scattered although Lee
00:30:12
self had been a completely innocent
00:30:14
bystander he became the target
00:30:18
[Music]
00:30:21
the chase went on are nearly 30 city
00:30:25
blocks it speeds of up to a hundred
00:30:27
miles an hour
00:30:36
least someone was thrown 100 lady feet
00:30:39
and suffered a massive skull fracture he
00:30:42
was rushed to the hospital but died
00:30:44
within hours I received a call from
00:30:48
Cedars they said that he was in the
00:30:52
intensive care and I knew I just knew
00:30:56
[Music]
00:30:59
but I don't believe it yet it's real but
00:31:03
it isn't real he was such a big part of
00:31:08
my life he was my buddy wasn't just my
00:31:11
son he was my buddy
00:31:13
the Los Angeles police began a citywide
00:31:16
manhunt but Lee Selden's killer had
00:31:18
skipped town
00:31:20
incredibly four years went by before
00:31:23
police finally got the tip they'd been
00:31:25
waiting for after a recent rebroadcast
00:31:28
of the story a viewer called her phone
00:31:30
center and told one of the operators
00:31:32
that there was a man in prison in
00:31:33
Georgia would often bragged about
00:31:35
running down a biker in Los Angeles the
00:31:39
Los Angeles police obtained a mug shot
00:31:41
of the suspect Lee's friends picked the
00:31:44
man out of a photo lineup his name is
00:31:47
Franklin Legrand Perkins
00:31:52
on July 30th 1993 yes five days before
00:31:55
Perkins was scheduled for parole
00:31:58
he was arrested one week later he was
00:32:00
brought back to Los Angeles by Detective
00:32:02
Dan Andrews most murder victims know
00:32:07
their attackers know their killers but
00:32:09
this is a case that that just wasn't
00:32:11
that way this was a random event a
00:32:14
person was basically minding his own
00:32:16
business and and unfortunate was in the
00:32:19
wrong place at the wrong time and I
00:32:21
think it's very unusual to identify
00:32:23
somebody and be able to solve a case
00:32:25
after five years it's a very good
00:32:27
feeling except for the most important
00:32:31
fact which is nothing can ever bring
00:32:34
Leigh back I hope this will bring some
00:32:38
closure to this five years of
00:32:41
uncertainty and the pain that goes along
00:32:44
with it
00:32:49
finally justice can be served and and
00:32:52
also I'm grateful that this man is not
00:32:56
out there committing other crimes and
00:33:00
hurting other people who killing other
00:33:02
people's loved ones one portion of the
00:33:08
grief will be closed or dealt with and I
00:33:13
know that when I'm driving on the
00:33:15
streets I won't be looking in other cars
00:33:24
wondering if that might be the guy next
00:33:41
a young boy is lost to his family in the
00:33:44
aftermath of world war ii plymouth
00:33:56
england 1952
00:33:58
even though seven years have passed
00:34:01
since the end of world war two this
00:34:03
British port city is still surrounded by
00:34:05
refugee camps for families displaced by
00:34:08
the ravages of war in Eastern Europe
00:34:11
Helena and Apollinaire II kirovsky a
00:34:14
Polish couple are sending their son
00:34:16
Christopher off to America with another
00:34:19
family the tearful farewell would prove
00:34:23
sadly prophetic though Christopher
00:34:25
kirovsky was only five years old he
00:34:28
would never see his parents again
00:34:32
for Helena kirovsky the loss of her son
00:34:35
was a heavy blow in a life already
00:34:37
marred by tragedy in 1928 Helena had
00:34:41
married a dashing infantry officer in
00:34:43
the Polish army after the Nazis invaded
00:34:45
in 1939 he was executed Helena was taken
00:34:50
prisoner and forced to serve as a nurse
00:34:51
in a German prisoner of war camp for six
00:34:54
harrowing years
00:34:56
[Music]
00:34:58
shortly before the end of the war a
00:35:01
German officer helped Helena escape
00:35:03
alone she crossed the border to Austria
00:35:06
then occupied by the Allies it was a
00:35:10
dramatic story which Helena would tell
00:35:12
her daughter Michele time and time again
00:35:16
my mother was walking down the road and
00:35:19
then here comes this Polish Red Cross
00:35:21
army truck and all of a sudden the truck
00:35:25
stops yeah she decided that she would
00:35:37
let this man help her and he took her to
00:35:41
where all the Polish people were looked
00:35:43
over to her did things for her that
00:35:46
nobody had done for her since the war
00:35:49
had been going on her heart was
00:35:52
beginning to to become alive again
00:35:55
something it hadn't done since the war
00:35:58
had happened and he asked her to marry
00:36:04
him and so he says
00:36:09
Helena began a new life for the Paulo
00:36:11
nari kirovsky they stayed on in Austria
00:36:15
even after the war was over in October
00:36:18
of 1946 they adopted an infant and named
00:36:21
him Christopher
00:36:25
within a month a karofsky's joined
00:36:28
thousands of war survivors flooding into
00:36:30
england and into refugee camps
00:36:33
Apollinaire ii found work as a mechanic
00:36:35
in 1950 Michelle was born
00:36:39
Christopher finally had a sister to play
00:36:41
with my only memory of Christopher is a
00:36:47
real happy memory he would run around me
00:36:49
hide behind me and all of a sudden you
00:36:52
come around to the front and he got boot
00:36:54
and I'd laugh and I'd laugh and I can
00:36:57
still remember to this day the giggles
00:36:59
the giggles I was giggling so hard if
00:37:02
it's so good it's so good like so many
00:37:09
other refugees Helena and Apollinaire II
00:37:12
dreamed of a better life for themselves
00:37:13
and their children we want to go to
00:37:21
America to make a visa just tobe oh no
00:37:25
no Reva also two children as it turned
00:37:27
out the karofsky's would wait months for
00:37:29
permission to emigrate
00:37:33
another Polish family living in the camp
00:37:36
had better luck listen I have news for
00:37:44
you today I got the visa now we will be
00:37:47
going to America
00:37:53
or we'll have a toss for you when do we
00:37:57
get to go to America Christopher you
00:38:00
must be patient
00:38:01
we will go soon you were to go to
00:38:03
America - huh I have an idea why don't
00:38:08
you let me Christopher come with me and
00:38:09
my family to America he will play with
00:38:12
my children and he will go to school and
00:38:14
soon you will be going to America
00:38:15
yourselves the decision was made
00:38:21
Christopher would go on before the rest
00:38:23
of his family so we could start first
00:38:25
grade in the United States crystal my
00:38:32
mother didn't really want to send him
00:38:34
with somebody else but my father kept
00:38:37
saying you know education education he's
00:38:40
going to get a good education he's going
00:38:42
to be able to start school so it was
00:38:45
easier for him but my mother I guess
00:38:49
being a woman it just tore at her heart
00:38:54
[Music]
00:38:59
weeks went by
00:39:01
Eleanor and the Paulo nari continued to
00:39:04
wait for their visas they talked of
00:39:06
little else but America and outlandish
00:39:09
rumors about life and that unknown land
00:39:11
circulated throughout the campus did you
00:39:33
hear this never got scared she had gone
00:39:38
through so much during the war and the
00:39:41
things that she had seen had made her so
00:39:44
scared that this was another unknown to
00:39:48
her and she didn't know whether she
00:39:51
could really make it
00:39:54
in the end Helena and Apollinaire II
00:39:57
made the agonizing decision to withdraw
00:39:59
their visa application they wrote to the
00:40:02
family who had taken Christopher asking
00:40:04
them to send him back to England
00:40:05
[Music]
00:40:12
don't send Christopher back they don't
00:40:15
send Christopher my parents got a letter
00:40:18
back from your family in the United
00:40:21
States saying that Christopher had
00:40:23
already settled in school had made
00:40:25
friends and they weren't going to see
00:40:27
him back Eleanor and apolinaria
00:40:34
immediately went to the refugee camps
00:40:36
polish Constance he was sympathetic but
00:40:40
all of Christopher's adoption records
00:40:42
had gone to the United States making it
00:40:44
nearly impossible to bring the boy back
00:40:48
the karofsky's eventually left the camp
00:40:51
and suddenly are knotting him they
00:40:53
continued to write to the family who had
00:40:55
taken Christopher but received no
00:40:56
response in 1966 when Michelle turned 16
00:41:01
she decided it was time to find her
00:41:04
brother it was hard to look for him I
00:41:08
really didn't know where to start so I
00:41:10
had to ask people where to look and one
00:41:13
person told me to write to the American
00:41:15
Embassy and then put a letter inside
00:41:18
there for Christopher just in case they
00:41:21
found Christopher and that's what I did
00:41:26
two months later Michelle received a
00:41:29
reply
00:41:30
[Music]
00:41:33
I never thought in a million years that
00:41:37
I would actually find him I was jumping
00:41:41
up and down I was running around it was
00:41:43
one of the happiest moments of my life I
00:41:58
wrote back right away but I didn't get
00:42:02
an answer I waited and I waited
00:42:05
check the postman always stopped the
00:42:09
postman asked him if he had any letters
00:42:11
for me that were coming from America
00:42:13
nothing I didn't get anything back
00:42:16
no letter return to sender nothing the
00:42:21
karofsky's were crushed by the lack of
00:42:22
further news in 1973 Michelle moved to
00:42:27
the United States after a pollen Airi
00:42:30
died
00:42:30
Helena finally came to America herself
00:42:33
last April she passed away
00:42:35
Alana's dying wish was that her children
00:42:38
would someday be reunited
00:42:41
[Music]
00:42:59
join me next time for another edition of
00:43:02
unsolved mysteries
00:43:03
[Music]
00:43:30
[Applause]
00:43:33
[Music]

Badges

This episode stands out for the following:

  • 85
    Most heartbreaking
  • 80
    Most emotional
  • 75
    Most shocking
  • 75
    Best concept / idea

Episode Highlights

  • Zell Llosa's 19-Year Investigation
    Zell Llosa embarked on a relentless investigation into her son's suspicious death, challenging the suicide ruling.
    “My son was murdered, definitely.”
    @ 03m 18s
    May 23, 2019
  • Discovery of a Vast Underground River
    Scientist Wally Spencer believes he has found an immense underground river in Nevada, potentially transforming the desert.
    “Wally became convinced he had found a virtually inexhaustible water supply.”
    @ 24m 22s
    May 23, 2019
  • The Tragic Loss of Lee Selden
    A mother recounts the heartbreaking loss of her son in a random act of violence.
    “He was such a big part of my life.”
    @ 31m 08s
    May 23, 2019
  • A Long Search for Family
    Michelle embarks on a quest to find her brother Christopher after years of separation.
    “I was jumping up and down; it was one of the happiest moments of my life.”
    @ 41m 41s
    May 23, 2019

Episode Quotes

  • My son was murdered, definitely.
    Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 6, Episode 4 - Full Episode
  • I hope a desire to walk, to sing, to laugh...
    Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 6, Episode 4 - Full Episode
  • He was my buddy, wasn't just my son.
    Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 6, Episode 4 - Full Episode
  • I never thought in a million years that I would actually find him.
    Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 6, Episode 4 - Full Episode

Key Moments

  • Unsolved Mysteries00:03
  • Zell's Grief02:55
  • Murder Investigation09:14
  • Underground River Discovery24:22
  • True Scientist28:14
  • Murder Suspect Arrested29:06
  • Heartbreaking Farewell34:23
  • Reunion Hope41:30

Words per Minute Over Time

Vibes Breakdown

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