00:00:03
this program is about unsolved mysteries
00:00:07
whenever possible the actual family
00:00:09
members and police officials have
00:00:10
participated in recreating the events
00:00:12
what you are about to see is not a news
00:00:14
broadcast in 1983 two beautiful young
00:00:22
women on holiday from Sweden who were
00:00:24
murdered while hitchhiking in California
00:00:26
the case gathered dust until 1991 when
00:00:30
the anonymous phone call sparked a
00:00:32
renewed search for the unknown killer as
00:00:35
a young boy Jo saw was teased by
00:00:38
schoolmates because he had been adopted
00:00:39
as an adult Jo would learn the painful
00:00:43
truth about his past he had been bought
00:00:45
and sold by a notorious baby broker in
00:00:49
1974 a successful businessman named Gary
00:00:52
Simmons disappeared on the same day he
00:00:54
paid thirty thousand dollars for a prize
00:00:56
horse no one had any idea where he had
00:00:59
gone - Gary Simmons skeletons found
00:01:02
hidden in a cave almost 20 years later
00:01:05
also tonight a fascinating update on a
00:01:08
story about legendary aviator Amelia
00:01:10
Earhart who disappeared in 1937 recently
00:01:14
an aviation archaeologist made headlines
00:01:17
and claimed he had solved the mystery of
00:01:18
Amelia Earhart's last flight others say
00:01:21
he just plain alone join me
00:01:27
for every mystery there is some knows
00:01:29
the truth perhaps it's you
00:01:33
[Music]
00:01:48
[Applause]
00:01:57
[Applause]
00:02:01
[Music]
00:02:23
good afternoon Consulate of Sweden
00:02:27
excuse me September 26 1991 a bizarre
00:02:32
anonymous phone call came in to the
00:02:34
Swedish consulate San Diego California
00:02:36
Chivers two hitchhikers yes two Swedish
00:02:40
girls
00:02:40
the caller went on to describe a double
00:02:43
murder incredibly a double murder that
00:02:46
had taken place a full eight years
00:02:48
earlier this was a first solid lead
00:02:51
since 1983 it all began on July 24th of
00:02:58
that year behind a gas station in the
00:03:00
city of commerce a Los Angeles suburb a
00:03:04
station attendant went to dump trash he
00:03:08
looked inside the dumpster and saw a
00:03:10
couple of backpacks checking further he
00:03:13
found clothing Diaries there were rolls
00:03:17
of film passports wallets many of the
00:03:22
things that that she would expect
00:03:23
tourists to have collected in a several
00:03:26
month tour of the United States the
00:03:29
items in the dumpster belong to two
00:03:31
Swedish nationals Marie Lillian Berg 23
00:03:34
and Maria Ville in 25 they had failed to
00:03:37
show up for the return flight to Sweden
00:03:39
that day the fathers of both women came
00:03:45
to California hoping to find their
00:03:47
daughters by means of widespread media
00:03:49
attention I'll tell you that during the
00:03:53
next three weeks more than 50 sightings
00:03:56
of Maria the Lynn Marie Lillian burger
00:03:58
reporting all were checked out none of
00:04:01
them could be confirmed that's not the
00:04:03
nature of my daughter absolutely I'll
00:04:05
tell you that she is the one who who
00:04:07
stick to every promise made better
00:04:09
nature
00:04:12
what is that
00:04:15
[Music]
00:04:17
then on August 18th 1983 in Santa
00:04:21
Barbara County California a
00:04:23
missing-persons case became a murder
00:04:25
investigation two deer hunters noticed a
00:04:29
skeletonized arm probably a coyote and
00:04:32
pulled one of the arms off and drug it
00:04:34
out into the open checking further they
00:04:37
found other remains hidden on your brush
00:04:39
there those remains were positively
00:04:43
identified as being Marie Lillian Berg
00:04:46
and Maria Valente an autopsy showed that
00:04:51
both women had been stabbed to death as
00:04:53
well as sexually assaulted sheriff's
00:04:59
detectives learned that the two young
00:05:00
women had met in January of 1983 at a
00:05:03
resort hotel in Vail Colorado where they
00:05:06
both worked as chamber maids when the
00:05:11
ski season ended they decided to
00:05:13
hitchhike around California before
00:05:15
heading back home to sweep
00:05:17
[Music]
00:05:21
we're just touring we just want to see
00:05:23
the cost Murray
00:05:26
Lillian Berg and Rivlin thought that it
00:05:28
was safe to hitchhike they had been
00:05:30
cautioned by Swedish friends and by
00:05:33
Americans that it was not safe to
00:05:34
hitchhike but they felt that they would
00:05:37
be able to size up persons giving them a
00:05:39
ride they would be able to sense whether
00:05:41
this was a dangerous situation or not
00:05:44
Marija villain carried a small knife
00:05:47
with her and she felt that she would be
00:05:49
able to to defend herself and in any
00:05:52
type of a situation where she was
00:05:54
threatened young Swedes come to the
00:05:56
United States from a culture which is
00:05:59
entirely homogeneous and middle-class
00:06:01
there are only 8 million people in
00:06:03
Sweden it is a more open and if you will
00:06:06
a more more trusting environment they
00:06:09
therefore tend to come to the United
00:06:11
States and remain as trusting as they
00:06:14
were in Sweden so sometimes they do run
00:06:17
into trouble when the gas station
00:06:27
attendant found the knapsacks in the
00:06:28
dumpster he also found a travel diary
00:06:31
and two rolls of undeveloped film
00:06:33
working from these photographs as well
00:06:36
as a diary
00:06:37
investigators established the woman's
00:06:39
itinerary and contacted several truck
00:06:41
drivers would given Murray and Maria
00:06:44
rides
00:06:49
where he girls going mark handsome a
00:06:53
trucker from San Diego California
00:06:54
remembered them well a lot of truck
00:06:59
drivers out there have daughters and if
00:07:00
they do see girls out hitchhiking they
00:07:02
tried to take care of them talked about
00:07:05
that they shouldn't be hitchhiking I may
00:07:07
be being too much of a big brother and a
00:07:09
little bit of a lecture on the way up
00:07:11
about that it wasn't safe it wasn't like
00:07:13
being in Europe that women didn't
00:07:16
hitchhike in the United States anymore
00:07:17
and they didn't seem terribly concerned
00:07:20
that they felt they would be safe being
00:07:22
together
00:07:24
Hansen drove the women from San Diego to
00:07:27
Compton just south of Los Angeles
00:07:29
rearranged another Ryan form with a
00:07:31
truck stop the second truck driver
00:07:40
dropped the women off in Oakland just
00:07:42
across the bay from San Francisco
00:07:47
Mariya vilena Marie Lillian Berg were
00:07:50
last seen in Redwood City California
00:07:51
July 22nd 1983 heading back to Los
00:07:55
Angeles so they could catch their flight
00:07:57
to sleep in two days later on the very
00:08:01
day they were scheduled to depart their
00:08:03
backpacks and personal effects were
00:08:05
found in the city of Commerce four weeks
00:08:07
later the hunters discovered their
00:08:09
bodies near Santa Barbara for eight
00:08:14
years the investigation into the murders
00:08:17
of Marie Lillian Berg and Maria Val in
00:08:19
Romania a standstill two hitchhikers
00:08:26
the anonymous phone call came in to the
00:08:29
Swedish consulate said that he knew a
00:08:34
felon whom he had seen on a regular
00:08:36
basis who was from Canada who would come
00:08:40
down every winter in his van to go
00:08:43
through San Diego to Mexico he said that
00:08:46
on one occasion in 1983 the man had come
00:08:51
through and mentioned that he had met
00:08:54
two Swedish girls who had tried to con
00:08:56
him
00:08:58
the caller also described the van they
00:09:00
said he drove a white van with a green
00:09:02
canoe on the top of it this was very
00:09:06
recognizable and a number of people knew
00:09:07
it we are going to Los Angeles he gave a
00:09:13
description of the man he said he was
00:09:14
over six feet a slight build 175 pounds
00:09:18
thinning red hair long pointed nose
00:09:21
protruding watery eyes I don't believe
00:09:26
that the call was a hoax I have to
00:09:27
squeeze in here there's not a lot of
00:09:29
room my regret is that the caller was
00:09:32
unwilling to identify himself if he
00:09:35
would step forward even now and call us
00:09:37
again even anonymously to provide
00:09:41
further information it might be very
00:09:43
helpful it's not only frustrating that
00:09:46
we have not been able to find the
00:09:48
persons responsible for these Slains but
00:09:50
also the considering the probability
00:09:53
that there may be other Slains
00:09:55
across the country that this killer is
00:09:57
responsible for as well I think the
00:10:01
moral of the story is is quite simple
00:10:03
that it is just very very dangerous to
00:10:05
hitchhike and in the case of women
00:10:08
hitchhiking and it can very easily turn
00:10:10
up in this type of a situation when we
00:10:16
return an aviation expert leaves you
00:10:18
solve the mystery Amelia Earhart's final
00:10:21
flight others disagree
00:10:23
[Music]
00:10:32
one of the most popular stories we have
00:10:35
featured is a fascinating mystery of
00:10:36
legendary aviator Amelia Earhart
00:10:39
recently she once again made front-page
00:10:41
news
00:10:42
Life magazine even carried an exclusive
00:10:45
six page spread after aviation
00:10:47
archaeologist Richard Gillespie
00:10:49
announced to the world that he had
00:10:51
finally solved the mystery of a media
00:10:53
Earhart's final flight
00:10:56
six decades ago Amelia Earhart captured
00:10:59
the heart and spirit of an entire
00:11:01
generation part all-american Gert part
00:11:04
daredevil she was the perfect hero for
00:11:06
her time on May 20th 1937 Amelia and her
00:11:13
navigator Fred Noonan began a daring
00:11:15
attempt to circumnavigate the world in
00:11:17
this twin-engine Lockheed 10 Electra
00:11:21
they never returned
00:11:25
on July 2nd they disappeared enroute to
00:11:28
tiny howland island in the South Pacific
00:11:30
a massive search turned up no trace of
00:11:34
Amelia Fred or their aeroplane they were
00:11:37
officially declared lost at sea but as a
00:11:40
years past rumors surfaced that Amelia
00:11:42
Earhart and Fred Noonan ended up on the
00:11:44
island of saipan 2,500 miles from
00:11:47
Howland Island at the time of Earhart
00:11:51
and Noonan zhh disappearance Saipan was
00:11:53
occupied by the Japanese Army in 1944
00:11:57
American forces liberated the island and
00:12:00
among the soldiers stationed on site
00:12:02
band was this man Thomas divine divine
00:12:06
claims the overheard a conversation
00:12:08
between two Marines outside a god and
00:12:10
aircraft hangar at a remote location on
00:12:13
the island the Marines were severely
00:12:19
reprimanded by an official wearing
00:12:21
civilian clothes you come about that
00:12:24
damn close to compromising the project
00:12:26
right now I'm telling you I want you to
00:12:28
sit down do your jobs and shut up do you
00:12:30
understand
00:12:32
devine claims that later that same day
00:12:35
he actually saw Annie Earhart's plane
00:12:37
fly overhead that night he saw the
00:12:42
lockheed 10 electra again engulfed in
00:12:45
flames
00:12:47
I saw that playing personally on three
00:12:50
occasions that day the last time the
00:12:53
plane was in flames
00:12:54
personnel water this woman neva Blas has
00:12:58
lived on Saipan her entire life she
00:13:05
claims that Earhart and Noonan were
00:13:06
captured by the Japanese as spies and
00:13:09
that she actually witnessed Amelia
00:13:11
Earhart's execution you dad were Amelia
00:13:17
Earhart and Fred Newton taken prisoner
00:13:20
and executed on the island of Saipan or
00:13:23
did their plane in fact go down the vast
00:13:25
and unforgiving waters of the South
00:13:27
Pacific in 1989 the tiny uninhabited
00:13:33
island of Nikumaroro became the focal
00:13:36
point of a new and intriguing theory
00:13:38
Nikumaroro is located 420 miles from
00:13:42
Howland Island Earhart's intended
00:13:44
destination aviation archaeologist
00:13:48
Richard Gillespie headed an expedition
00:13:50
to search for evidence that Earhart and
00:13:52
Noonan had been marooned on Nikumaroro
00:13:55
the expedition turned up this aluminum
00:13:58
aircraft part which at the time
00:14:00
Gillespie believed may have come from
00:14:02
Earhart's plane this box doesn't
00:14:07
constitute proof what it does is
00:14:10
constitute sufficient evidence to merit
00:14:13
a return to Nick Amaro to find and
00:14:16
photograph the ultimate proof the
00:14:19
airplane itself in October of 1991
00:14:24
Richard Gillespie mounted his second
00:14:26
expedition in Nick Amaro searchers found
00:14:29
several intriguing artifacts which
00:14:31
Gillespie claims are indisputable proof
00:14:33
that Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan died
00:14:36
on the island while awaiting rescue
00:14:39
on March 16th 1992 Gillespie presented
00:14:43
his findings at a press conference in
00:14:45
Washington DC for you are artifacts
00:14:49
which along with recently discovered
00:14:51
historical documents conclusively solve
00:14:54
the disappearance of Amelia Earhart
00:14:58
among the items on display were these
00:15:01
Tattered Remnants of a shoe allegedly
00:15:03
worn by Amelia Earhart and this
00:15:05
weathered piece of aluminum
00:15:06
according to Gillespie it came from the
00:15:09
fuselage of Earhart's Lockheed 10
00:15:11
Electra the rivet pattern is the same
00:15:15
four parallel rows of number three
00:15:19
rivets the if Richard Gillespie is
00:15:21
correct and the final chapter of Amelia
00:15:23
Earhart story can be written however
00:15:26
Gillespie's conclusions had been
00:15:28
disputed by several experts it was quite
00:15:31
exciting that a new piece of evidence
00:15:34
had been uncovered because there hasn't
00:15:36
been much on Amelia Earhart in the last
00:15:38
few years
00:15:39
Belgium lune noted historian Earhart
00:15:42
biographer was asked by Gillespie to
00:15:44
study detailed measurements and
00:15:46
photographs of the aluminum section
00:15:50
long assembled a panel of experts to
00:15:52
compare the evidence with an airplane
00:15:54
fuselage identical to Amelia Earhart's
00:16:00
when we received it Adam we made a
00:16:03
template that was the exact same size
00:16:05
and had all the rivet holes in it just
00:16:07
like the fragment that was found on Nik
00:16:09
Amuro roll we put this template up to
00:16:12
the bottom of the airplane and we
00:16:13
compared the rivet lines with the rivets
00:16:15
on the actual airplane you notice that
00:16:17
there's no roll fasteners along here
00:16:20
they didn't match at all there was rivet
00:16:22
holes where there shouldn't be any
00:16:23
rivets and there weren't rivet holes
00:16:25
where there should be rivets the panel
00:16:30
compared the template to nearly every
00:16:32
section of the airplane no match could
00:16:35
be found there's no way that piece could
00:16:38
have come from a lockheed 10 or Amelia
00:16:41
Earhart's airplane
00:16:43
Richard Gillespie attributes
00:16:45
discrepancies on the rivet patterns to
00:16:47
repairs which were made on Earhart's
00:16:49
plane during her first attempt to fly
00:16:51
around the world repair had to be
00:16:56
exactly her the engineering orders panel
00:17:00
consultant and former Lockheed engineer
00:17:02
ed Werner disagrees he argues that all
00:17:05
repairs made on Earhart's plane were
00:17:07
done to strict factory specifications so
00:17:11
the first I was kind of happy that Sue's
00:17:14
controversy was over that's him
00:17:17
very disappointed now I'm the conclusion
00:17:22
that can't be part of her airplane
00:17:26
according to Richard Gillespie the
00:17:28
National Transportation Safety Board has
00:17:30
concluded that the aluminum fragment is
00:17:32
consistent with materials used to build
00:17:34
lockheed 10 Electra however they could
00:17:37
not confirm that it came from Amelia
00:17:39
Earhart's plane so for now at least
00:17:41
Amelia Earhart's disappearance remains
00:17:44
an unsolved mystery on a previous
00:17:59
broadcast we brought you the chilling
00:18:01
story of a woman named Georgia Tann for
00:18:04
more than 20 years tan used her
00:18:06
well-known Tennessee orphanage as a
00:18:08
front for a highly illegal black market
00:18:10
baby ring thanks to our viewers nearly
00:18:14
200 of the children placed for adoption
00:18:16
by Georgia Tann have been reunited with
00:18:19
their birth families such happy endings
00:18:23
are certainly gratifying but the
00:18:25
appalling fact remains that Georgia Tann
00:18:27
was not the only one of her kind another
00:18:30
notorious baby broker was Bessie Barnard
00:18:32
who bought and sold thousands of
00:18:34
children one of them would learn of his
00:18:37
adoption in a very painful way his story
00:18:40
begins almost 50 years ago in Nyack New
00:18:42
York in 1944 Joe Saul was in his first
00:18:49
months of kindergarten I didn't know
00:18:58
what that meant except I knew it was bad
00:18:59
because of the way they said it and I
00:19:02
ran home crying and I asked my mother
00:19:05
what what that meant and and was I in
00:19:08
fact adopted still not knowing what the
00:19:10
word meant and she said yes you were
00:19:14
killed in a car crash but you're safe
00:19:18
and now we're your real parents
00:19:21
and we love you so much Joe had been
00:19:25
adopted as an infant in 1939 by Florence
00:19:28
and Charles song
00:19:29
Charles was a successful attorney who
00:19:32
died unexpectedly in 1960 it was not
00:19:35
until 20 years later that Joe learned
00:19:38
his birth parents had not died in a car
00:19:40
accident after all a fact which his
00:19:42
mother reluctantly confirmed she said
00:19:47
that my father handled the whole thing
00:19:48
and she really didn't want to know and
00:19:50
not only that he didn't want to tell her
00:19:51
he told her that that he had fixed it so
00:19:54
that nobody could ever find out anything
00:19:57
which is very scary for me yes your
00:20:01
father's old files you can use our
00:20:03
library feel like thanks a lot after
00:20:07
extensive maneuvering Joe gained access
00:20:09
to his father's records filled with
00:20:14
anticipation he began the search for his
00:20:17
origins I found that there was a file
00:20:19
that he had left with all the letters
00:20:22
that he had written looking for a baby
00:20:23
and information on me which the
00:20:27
information was that my name was Robert
00:20:29
Wilson when I was born that my birthday
00:20:31
was November 3rd 1939 and that my
00:20:34
mother's name was Ruth haverman and
00:20:37
there were the the adoption decree I had
00:20:42
never seen any of this it was it just it
00:20:44
just washed me with all sorts of emotion
00:20:46
excuse me and know that my birth mother
00:20:51
was supposed to have lived at 77 Mexican
00:20:54
Avenue here in New York City
00:20:55
does the name Ruth Haberman mean
00:20:57
anything to you no but there was never a
00:21:00
haverman
00:21:00
at 677 that scenes in IBM I know that
00:21:04
there was a family named habour sac that
00:21:07
lived it at 677 Lexington Avenue and
00:21:09
that building apparently was an unwed
00:21:11
mothers home
00:21:13
disheartened Joe went back to the old
00:21:16
files he discovered that his father had
00:21:19
corresponded regularly with an adoption
00:21:21
agent named Bessie Bernhard in the New
00:21:27
York City Archives
00:21:28
Joe found out more about Bessie Barnard
00:21:30
than he had ever bargained for as I
00:21:34
searched to try and find out who bested
00:21:36
Barnard was I came across articles in
00:21:39
the New York Times from 1949 when she
00:21:41
was arrested for baby selling and
00:21:44
realized that I was a black market baby
00:21:46
that I was sold which my mother
00:21:48
confirmed you know when I was bought and
00:21:51
and that was painful it was it's like I
00:21:54
felt like a piece of property it's it's
00:21:58
it's a strange feeling to know that
00:21:59
somebody paid money for you that ad to
00:22:02
put in the Miami Herald it was great the
00:22:04
Bessie Bernhard lived with her father in
00:22:05
Manhattan she use loose paper ads to
00:22:08
round up infants for her thriving East
00:22:10
Coast baby oh it's good
00:22:15
Bessie Barnard charged each adoptive
00:22:17
couple up to $2,000 a huge sum at that
00:22:21
time
00:22:23
averaged 20 a month she brought them in
00:22:26
from Florida from Hartford Connecticut
00:22:28
Boston anywhere she could get baby she
00:22:30
advertised and she brought them in had
00:22:34
the births registered in New York
00:22:35
changed names it was vicious what she
00:22:40
did by 1949 the Manhattan district
00:22:45
attorney was all to Bessie Barnard mr.
00:22:50
Barnard yeah hi detective O'Brien's on
00:22:52
October 8 - that you two police officers
00:22:55
armed with a search warrant showed up at
00:22:57
her apartment when the detective started
00:23:07
to rummage through Bessie Bernards purse
00:23:08
she what some believe that the little
00:23:18
black book Bessie Barnard through to her
00:23:20
father contained the names of clients
00:23:22
and other vital information
00:23:24
[Music]
00:23:27
Bessie's father escaped in the book was
00:23:30
never recovered
00:23:34
the defendant please step forward on
00:23:37
June 30th 1950 Bessie Bernhard was found
00:23:40
guilty of illegally placing children for
00:23:43
adoption at this time is there anything
00:23:46
you wish to say in your behalf no I
00:23:51
hereby sentence you to one year in the
00:23:54
women's penitentiary
00:23:58
Bessie Barnard never spent a day in jail
00:24:00
she paid a $2,500 fine to avoid serving
00:24:04
her one-year sentence Bessie Bernhard
00:24:07
died in 1989 taking her secrets withered
00:24:10
what makes me angry and it fills me with
00:24:13
pain is that because Bessie Bernard
00:24:15
always changed things birth dates and
00:24:19
birth names and and birth mothers names
00:24:21
and places of birth that that me and and
00:24:25
so many other people can't can't find
00:24:28
their family and I need to find my
00:24:31
family
00:24:31
[Music]
00:24:33
when I was looking through the adoption
00:24:35
file in my father's office and I saw all
00:24:39
the letters that he had written to
00:24:41
adoption agencies and orphanages and war
00:24:43
relief organizations when I finally
00:24:45
understand how much they wanted a child
00:24:48
and why they did what they did but it's
00:24:51
impossible to think for me and many
00:24:53
other adopted people about ever leaving
00:24:56
the world when you don't know how you
00:24:57
got here in the first place and my
00:25:01
mother could be alive I could have a
00:25:03
brother or sister cousins aunts uncles
00:25:06
need to know I need to know who my
00:25:10
family is
00:25:11
[Music]
00:25:16
Joe Saul thinks his mother's name was
00:25:18
either Ruth Haberman a Ruth haversack
00:25:20
she may have had a friend named Lucy
00:25:23
bint Joe's father is listed as Robert
00:25:26
Wilson an engineer who worked in
00:25:27
Hartford Connecticut
00:25:28
Joe saw believes he was born in
00:25:31
Manhattan on November 3rd 1939 or one
00:25:34
week earlier in Florida
00:25:36
[Music]
00:25:52
next an unexpected discovery prompts a
00:25:56
murder investigation
00:25:57
[Music]
00:26:05
in November of 1991 unsolved mysteries
00:26:10
received a very unusual letter from a
00:26:12
man named Tyrone Rollins who wanted us
00:26:14
to look into a case Rollins had
00:26:17
unwittingly sparked a murder
00:26:18
investigation after experiencing a
00:26:20
number of strange premonitions which he
00:26:22
simply could not explain in 1985
00:26:31
Tyrone Robbins was hired as a school bus
00:26:33
driver in Independence Missouri right
00:26:36
from the start he had an eerie feeling
00:26:38
about the rocky outcroppings behind the
00:26:40
bus yard every time I walk past him
00:26:46
hills I'd get the same feeling I'd be
00:26:49
setting up to the front of my bus and
00:26:50
I'd feel like somebody watching me from
00:26:53
behind and I'd look back there and there
00:26:57
would be nobody on the bus for a while
00:27:00
then I just thought I was going crazy
00:27:02
this is strong feeling like some pulling
00:27:06
inside me want me to do something and I
00:27:08
just couldn't figure out what it was
00:27:12
finally on October 16th 1991 Tyrone was
00:27:16
overcome by the urge to investigate
00:27:19
about north side of the hill he
00:27:21
discovered a hidden cave that strong
00:27:25
feeling was back again I knew I had to
00:27:28
go in there for some reason it was like
00:27:36
amazing adrenaline rush just a feeling
00:27:39
of being in there I didn't know if it
00:27:40
was from not knowing what was in there
00:27:46
when I shined my flashlight towards the
00:27:48
rocks you could see little tiny specks
00:27:50
with like crystals so I started
00:27:53
examining the rocks and it was just then
00:27:55
that I happen to glance over and I seen
00:27:57
a pair of boots
00:28:06
it was just shot I just couldn't believe
00:28:10
what I was saying
00:28:12
dental records would later confirm that
00:28:14
the remains are those of Gary Simmons a
00:28:16
businessman from Overland Park Kansas 25
00:28:19
miles away an autopsy revealed that he
00:28:23
had been murdered shot once in the head
00:28:28
Tyrone Rollins startling discovery was
00:28:31
about to become a nightmare for the
00:28:32
police they were confronted with a
00:28:34
killing that had taken place 17 years
00:28:36
earlier Gary Simmons mysteriously
00:28:39
vanished in 1974 and at this point
00:28:43
investigations seemed almost futile yet
00:28:46
the police had no choice after all
00:28:48
someone had gotten away with murder for
00:28:51
nearly two decades in the 1970s
00:28:58
Gary Simmons owned and operated a
00:28:59
lucrative chain of gas stations in the
00:29:01
Kansas City area his passionate
00:29:04
avocation was horse trading beautiful
00:29:08
Gary always worked hard and he get
00:29:13
involved in horses in order to have a
00:29:15
form of relaxation and a means of doing
00:29:19
something that was fun with his family
00:29:21
and it was a hobby that he had probably
00:29:25
been involved in 92 or three years party
00:29:26
his disappearance
00:29:27
[Music]
00:29:29
good just got back from a show down tell
00:29:32
us Oklahoma man I saw some of the most
00:29:34
beautiful horses I've seen in a long
00:29:35
time is that right you bet anything I
00:29:37
might be interested in on October 14th
00:29:40
1974 the day before he disappeared
00:29:43
Gary Simmons learned of a prize horse
00:29:45
for sale you know Tom Dickson Tom
00:29:49
Dickson
00:29:50
yeah isn't he a member of the Appaloosa
00:29:53
Association right right
00:29:54
he had one of the most beautiful
00:29:56
purebred Appaloosas I've seen a long
00:29:58
time raised him from a colt
00:29:59
how much is he asking for him that's for
00:30:02
sure he wants to sell him he's asking
00:30:03
$30,000 for $30,000 whew that must be
00:30:07
some kind of horse the next morning an
00:30:10
agent acting for the horse's owner
00:30:12
showed up at Gary Simmons office hi can
00:30:16
I help you yeah I'm here to see mr.
00:30:17
Simmons do you have an appointment uh
00:30:19
yeah we talked earlier on the phone and
00:30:21
your name please Tom Dixon it was a
00:30:25
beginning of an intricate transaction
00:30:27
which lasted all day long and which
00:30:29
police are still trying to piece
00:30:31
together excuse me Gary there's a Tom
00:30:34
Dixon here to see you
00:30:35
oh sure hi Gary hi Tom Dixon a 10:15
00:30:39
a.m.
00:30:40
Gary Simmons left his office with Dixon
00:30:42
okay Simmons told his secretary and he
00:30:47
would return shortly but he did not say
00:30:49
where he was going 15 minutes later Gary
00:30:55
Simmons telephoned his secretary and
00:30:57
instructed her to make out a $30,000
00:30:59
check to Tom Dixon
00:31:07
hi can I help you with something yeah
00:31:10
I'm here 11 a.m. Dixon I picked up the
00:31:13
check yeah did he call
00:31:15
yes he did and I've drawn up the check
00:31:18
but you're gonna have to get Gary
00:31:19
signature on it
00:31:21
Dixon then took the check - Gary Simmons
00:31:23
for his signature but no one knows where
00:31:26
the meeting took place
00:31:28
[Music]
00:31:31
at 11:30 a.m. Gary Simmons was spotted
00:31:34
that a truck stopped ten miles from his
00:31:36
office the owner saw Gary Simmons
00:31:41
walking back and forth between the
00:31:43
counter and the window he remembers that
00:31:49
Gary Simmons was alone and there did not
00:31:51
seem to be anybody with him or waiting
00:31:54
with him it was the last time anyone
00:31:58
ever saw Gary Simmons alive just before
00:32:05
noon
00:32:06
Dixon showed up at Simmons Bank Gary
00:32:10
Simmons had called the president of the
00:32:12
bank and had informed him that Tom Dixon
00:32:16
was on his way to cash the check the
00:32:19
bank president recognized Gary Simmons
00:32:21
voice and he did not recognize anything
00:32:24
unusual and his voice to raise his
00:32:26
suspicions either $9,000 $30,000 total
00:32:33
mr. Dixon think you'd like to open up a
00:32:35
checking or savings account Dixon took
00:32:38
delivery of the money in $100 bills
00:32:41
need to pay off some debts thank you
00:32:45
thank you around five hours later
00:32:51
Dixon showed up at a salvage yard 11
00:32:54
miles from the bank he was driving Gary
00:32:56
Simmons Lincoln Continental I got busy
00:33:00
did you get that link it's not my car
00:33:04
it's something I need to get rid of I
00:33:05
was wondering if you could use your
00:33:08
machine to sort of crush it for me yeah
00:33:10
I can make it flat for you maybe you
00:33:13
want to get rid of it you're gonna have
00:33:14
to melt it feds been keeping a real
00:33:17
close eye on the furnace you got any
00:33:20
better ideas yeah put a brick on the
00:33:23
accelerator and drive at the Missouri
00:33:25
River hey thanks for the advice kitchen
00:33:30
the next day one of Tom Dixon's friends
00:33:34
dropped him off at a truck stop near
00:33:35
Kansas City Dixon said he was planning
00:33:38
to hop across country ring it is the
00:33:42
last time many ever saw Tom Dixon six
00:33:48
months went by then on April 25th 1975
00:33:51
Gary Simmons Lincoln Continental was
00:33:54
pulled out of the Missouri River less
00:33:56
than six miles from the salvage yard
00:33:58
where Dixon had tried to get rid of it
00:34:00
all he had was two grown men that had
00:34:05
disappeared and that happens every day
00:34:09
in America it was unknown whether they
00:34:11
had disappeared and not wanted to be
00:34:14
found or if foul play had indeed
00:34:17
occurred
00:34:18
[Music]
00:34:21
upon finding Gary Simmons body it became
00:34:24
a homicide investigation and he had an
00:34:26
actual crime the finger of guilt appear
00:34:32
to point squarely at Tom Dixon police
00:34:34
theorize as Simmons had been the victim
00:34:36
of a bogus horse deal the Dixon acting
00:34:39
either a loner with a partner took
00:34:41
Simmons money and killed him that in
00:34:44
fact there may never have been a horse
00:34:45
at all but then during the filming of
00:34:48
this story a new witness came forward Oh
00:34:51
Gary knew a horse that's for sure he
00:34:53
knew what a good horse was and Roy
00:34:56
Hilton is a local rancher who says he
00:34:58
knew both Simmons and Dixon didn't like
00:35:00
and didn't care about on the day that
00:35:04
Gary Simmons disappeared Roy Hill claims
00:35:06
he heard Simmons making calls to his
00:35:08
office and to the bank from the
00:35:10
whispering Downs horse ranch yeah thirty
00:35:13
thousand dollars
00:35:14
he also states at Simmons Road in a
00:35:17
horse
00:35:17
he was buying the signature just have it
00:35:20
ready for him okay this murder didn't
00:35:22
come down over $30,000 horse deal it had
00:35:25
to come down on some black market gasps
00:35:27
I'm almost positive that because Gary
00:35:31
was Simmons was having problem getting
00:35:33
fuel for his stations Roy Hilton's
00:35:35
testimony adds another layer of
00:35:37
confusion to an already complex case in
00:35:41
the year prior to his death Gary Simmons
00:35:43
was struggling to save his chain of gas
00:35:45
stations in the face of a 1973 Arab oil
00:35:48
embargo
00:35:50
gary was affected and drastically by the
00:35:53
embargo because the bulk of his stations
00:35:56
because effective lack of gasoline after
00:36:00
Gary disappeared there was numerous
00:36:02
rumors that Gary might have been
00:36:04
involved in black-market gasoline what
00:36:07
Gary was involved in was buying gasoline
00:36:08
on the spot market and a lot of people
00:36:11
labelled spot market gasoline because it
00:36:13
was beyond government controls has black
00:36:16
market gasoline but it was one the same
00:36:18
and it was a perfectly legal transaction
00:36:20
to buy gasoline on the spot market that
00:36:22
most of oil companies did so
00:36:25
who murdered Gary Simmons and why there
00:36:29
may be only one man who can answer both
00:36:31
of those questions Tom Dixon a warrant
00:36:36
has been issued for Dixon's arrest on
00:36:38
charges of auto theft when he
00:36:40
disappeared in 1974 he was 42 years old
00:36:44
this photograph has been aged to show
00:36:47
how Tom Dixon might look today at 60 he
00:36:50
is 5 feet 8 inches tall the brown or
00:36:53
graying hair and green eyes he may be
00:36:56
working as a house painter or general
00:36:58
contractor on a previous broadcast we
00:37:15
featured the story of Jackie dragon who
00:37:17
was adopted by a California couple when
00:37:20
she was just an infant when Jackie was
00:37:24
12 she came across her adoption papers
00:37:27
and learned the names of her birth
00:37:29
parents it was a big thing it was a it
00:37:33
was a turning point it was something
00:37:34
that I knew from that point on that
00:37:35
someday I would find those people in
00:37:39
that paper and that I had to that they
00:37:41
were real
00:37:44
in July of 1990 after nine years of
00:37:48
searching Jackie finally tracked down
00:37:50
her biological mother Marge Ryder hi may
00:37:55
I speak with Marge Ryder please speaking
00:37:57
Marge is living in Winchester Illinois
00:38:00
the phone call from Jackie was totally
00:38:03
unexpected anything to you
00:38:05
I was already sitting down and I felt
00:38:08
like I had just fallen into a chair
00:38:10
because it was I've never had a shock
00:38:13
like that before
00:38:15
during the course of the conversation
00:38:17
Jackie was surprised to learn that she
00:38:19
had three sisters whom she had never met
00:38:21
only the youngest Tracy was raised by
00:38:25
Marge
00:38:26
it was very exciting I couldn't believe
00:38:28
it was like there's more you're kidding
00:38:29
there's something more than I didn't
00:38:30
know during a poignant reunion with
00:38:34
Marge
00:38:34
Jackie learned that her two other
00:38:36
sisters Laura Mae and Dawn Marie had
00:38:38
also been placed for adoption you can
00:38:41
definitely tell it's family I would love
00:38:43
the opportunity to find my sisters I
00:38:45
would hope you know I like to think that
00:38:48
somewhere wherever they are that they
00:38:50
know that they're adopted and that they
00:38:52
wonder where they came from they were
00:38:55
mine I did love them I do love them and
00:39:01
it wouldn't be nice to make the family
00:39:03
complete again thanks to our viewers
00:39:09
Jackie dragon and Marge Ryder's dream of
00:39:11
reuniting their family finally came true
00:39:13
and they were contacted by Lora Mae and
00:39:15
Dawn Marie Dawn Marie was adoptive name
00:39:18
is Susan owns her own business in Santa
00:39:20
Barbara California Lora Mae Marge's
00:39:23
oldest daughter is now married and lives
00:39:26
in Mississippi
00:39:30
three months after our broadcast Lora
00:39:33
Mae arrived at her sister Jackie's home
00:39:35
in Glendale California Marge and her
00:39:38
youngest daughter Tracy had flown in
00:39:40
from Illinois for this very special
00:39:42
reunion meeting it was really
00:39:50
nerve-racking because it's like I wasn't
00:39:52
quite sure what to expect and what they
00:39:54
would expect of me and then after I got
00:40:00
here it's just all seemed to flow it was
00:40:03
very natural the last time I remember
00:40:09
seeing Laura she was in a high chair and
00:40:11
now here she is all grown up and I'm
00:40:14
still looking for this little girl you
00:40:17
know and that's it's kind of hard shirt
00:40:27
time later the circle was finally
00:40:29
completed with the arrival of Marge's
00:40:31
other daughter Susan um I grew up
00:40:38
knowing that I was adopted but I didn't
00:40:40
know anything about who my real parents
00:40:42
were it's nice to know you know who your
00:40:47
family is
00:40:50
now what your background is you know
00:40:53
learn more about him I think when I
00:40:56
first started feeling really comfortable
00:40:57
was when we went out and took some
00:40:59
Polaroids and it was a really neat
00:41:02
feeling to have a picture right in front
00:41:03
of me and see all of us standing
00:41:04
together it's a very once-in-a-lifetime
00:41:09
kind of a thing to find a sister that
00:41:12
you've never met
00:41:13
everybody smile each one is totally
00:41:17
individual they're all strong I've found
00:41:20
out and they've done good with their
00:41:26
lives I'm proud of all four of them
00:41:29
[Music]
00:41:40
wholesale medical-supply distributor
00:41:43
wanted vestment of $18,000 minimum
00:41:47
required for necessary inventory during
00:41:51
the past year this advertisement was
00:41:52
placed in over 90 newspapers all across
00:41:54
America by company called fidelity
00:41:57
National Medical Supply Incorporated the
00:41:59
ads seemed to offer the perfect
00:42:01
opportunity for enterprising individuals
00:42:04
who'd always dreamed of owning their own
00:42:05
business
00:42:07
[Music]
00:42:08
fidelity national was based in Oklahoma
00:42:11
City Oklahoma they extended an open
00:42:14
invitation to potential investors to
00:42:16
visit the company headquarters one
00:42:19
personal took advantage of the offer was
00:42:22
a man whom we will call Robert Jones he
00:42:24
has asked that we not reveal his true
00:42:26
identity On January 24th 1992 Robert
00:42:33
Jones was driven to the company offices
00:42:35
in a limousine provided by fidelity
00:42:37
national Jones who had arrived in town
00:42:41
the day before wanted to see the
00:42:43
operation firsthand before making an
00:42:45
investment I checked with the Better
00:42:49
Business Bureau in Oklahoma City
00:42:51
there was no complaints there I had him
00:42:53
checked out with a national credit firm
00:42:56
and all their resources checked out the
00:42:59
same with with this firm I was satisfied
00:43:01
that that they were legitimate identity
00:43:10
national was certainly impressive orders
00:43:12
were pouring in workers were busily
00:43:14
taking inventory and answering a
00:43:16
constant stream of phone calls I can't
00:43:21
take into the warehouse because it's a
00:43:23
bonded warehouse you know we have
00:43:24
pharmaceuticals and well you know it is
00:43:25
for security sure what you see here the
00:43:28
warehouse was equally impressive with
00:43:30
thousands of boxes were stocked behind
00:43:32
locked doors awaiting delivery to
00:43:34
distributors you see bother packing
00:43:36
labels here that all needs to be raised
00:43:37
their financials indicated that they had
00:43:40
2.8 million or so of inventory in
00:43:43
various locations Moore comes in next
00:43:46
weekend
00:43:48
Jones took the plunge and purchased a
00:43:50
distributorship for $54,000 his life
00:43:54
savings he was just one of more than 300
00:43:57
people who had made investments totally
00:43:59
1.2 million dollars but as the money
00:44:04
flooded in the Criminal Investigation
00:44:06
Division of the IRS became increasingly
00:44:09
suspicious On February 17 1990 two
00:44:14
agents from the FBI and the IRS and the
00:44:17
Oklahoma City police made a surprise
00:44:19
raid fidelity nationals headquarters
00:44:21
until they are you lifting five or six
00:44:23
boxes one time and everything you needed
00:44:25
the boxes chicken tail when they went
00:44:29
into the boxes they found that they were
00:44:31
completely we found no evidence that
00:44:34
fidelity had in any way purchased
00:44:37
ordered received are shipped during the
00:44:40
entire course of their business life any
00:44:42
medical supplies the inventory which we
00:44:45
found when we executed search warrants
00:44:47
at their warehouse would fit on the side
00:44:49
of my desk
00:44:52
investigators painstakingly checked
00:44:54
every single box in the warehouse every
00:44:57
single box was empty and the masterminds
00:45:00
of the operation had long since
00:45:02
disappeared these are not amateurs these
00:45:06
people have obviously done this in the
00:45:08
past they knew what they were doing they
00:45:10
did it very quickly
00:45:11
they knew how to get in they knew how to
00:45:13
get out they knew how to set up the
00:45:15
accounts without putting fingerprints on
00:45:16
the accounts we believe the leader of
00:45:20
this operation was a gentleman named
00:45:23
Richard con dia
00:45:25
[Music]
00:46:00
join me next time perhaps you may be
00:46:03
able to help solve a mystery
00:46:10
[Music]
00:46:33
[Applause]
00:46:36
[Music]
00:46:47
you
