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Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 2, Episode 17 - Full Episodes

May 21, 2019 / 50:43

This episode of Unsolved Mysteries covers three main stories: the reunion of Vietnam veteran Jim Bukowski with Army nurse Linda Sharpe, the con artist Gertrude Pruitt, and the mysterious murder of bank president Dan Short.

Jim Bukowski, a Vietnam veteran, shares his experience of being wounded in combat and the critical role Army nurse Linda Sharpe played in his recovery. After 20 years, Jim seeks to thank Linda for her support during his darkest times. Their emotional reunion occurs after Linda sees Jim's story featured on the show.

Gertrude Pruitt, a seemingly sweet grandmother, ran a fraudulent investment scheme that defrauded investors of three million dollars. Despite her charming demeanor and homemade fruitcakes, Gertrude's deceptive practices led to her disappearance after the scheme unraveled, leaving her son Harold to face the consequences.

The episode also investigates the murder of Dan Short, a bank president found dead after a robbery. The circumstances surrounding his death raise questions about whether it was a robbery gone wrong or a planned execution, with various theories about his potential enemies in the banking business.

Each story highlights the complexities of human relationships and the impact of past events, leaving viewers with lingering questions about justice and redemption.

TL;DR

Jim Bukowski reunites with nurse Linda Sharpe, Gertrude Pruitt cons investors, and bank president Dan Short is murdered in a robbery gone wrong.

Episode

50:43
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this program is about unsolved mysteries
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whenever possible the actual family
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members and police officials have
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participated in recreating the events
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what you are about to see is not a news
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broadcast tonight on unsolved mysteries
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a heartwarming story of a Vietnam
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veterans battle wounds nearly cost him
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his life and the Army nurse who healed
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him both physically and emotionally you
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may be able to help reunite them after
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20 years by all appearances Gertrude
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Pruitt seemed to be the kindly
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grandmother you would find in a normal
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Rockwell painting but in reality this
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sweet little old lady was a con artist
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who stole three million dollars from
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investors and in Missouri we would
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investigate a baffling case of
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kidnapping bank robbery and murder did a
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bank president die as the victim in a
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simple holdup or was his death a cruel
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and callous execution join me these
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fascinating stories perhaps someone
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somewhere has that one vital clue that
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can help solve a mystery
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perhaps that someone is watching perhaps
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it's you
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[Music]
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Jim Bukowski lives with his family in a
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small town of Grand Junction Colorado he
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and his wife Dolores have two son in
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1968 Jim was wounded by enemy action
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during the Vietnam War for over 20 years
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he and his family have had to cope with
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his injuries both physical and emotional
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during the war Jim was one of thousands
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of troops manning the constantly
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changing frontlines what he went through
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turned his life inside out but one
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memory of the war Jim still holds dear
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that memory has a name and a face
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Linda Sharpe captain Sharpe was the only
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good memory I had she had something
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about her that made you feel comfortable
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warm want to live and go back home when
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you were dying
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the hushed feels of gravestones here at
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the National Cemetery in Arlington
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Virginia are mute testimony to the
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tragic toll of the Vietnam War thousands
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of surviving Vietnam veterans have tried
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to put the war behind them summer
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succeeded many have not for them the war
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continues one of the few memories it can
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still inspire a smile among vets is a
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selfish devotion and kindness exhibited
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by the nearly 10,000 nurses who in many
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cases literally breathed the life back
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into their patients
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Jim Bukowski was one such survivor 20
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years ago an Army nurse named Linda
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sharp gave Jim the strength he needed to
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return home to his wife he feels that if
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he can reunite with captain sharp his
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private war will be much closer to
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ending Jim was drafted in December of
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1967 and after boot camp was sent for
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advanced training to Fort Polk Louisiana
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but he learned he was to be shipped to
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Vietnam
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he placed a late-night
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five years Flores five
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look I've been giving this a lot of
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thought I waited in line during the rain
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for over four hours and I told her that
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I was going to Vietnam and I said will
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you marry me I was 19 she was eight oh
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that's great she said yes I turned him
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down the first two times and then I
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decided after that it was time to say
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yes because I knew he was gonna leave so
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we got married before he left
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I wasn't sure when he was coming back I
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knew the time was the year I just know
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the year would have to hurry up and get
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by
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only a week after they were married Jim
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was shipped off to Vietnam
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[Music]
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we land and we're all scared see unknown
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didn't know what I was getting in it had
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no idea
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but I found out
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[Music]
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within three months Jim was wounded
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twice once in the jaw and once in his
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leg on August 29 2016 8 is two days
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before he is to be reunited with his new
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bride in Hawaii Jim's platoon was
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attacked by a group of North Vietnamese
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they blew us to smithereens we didn't
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even have a chance there were 60 of us
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somewhere between 250 and 300 of them
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and it wiped out my whole company at the
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time I was operating the radio for
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lieutenant because we were two people
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side by side he was dead
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and then the next thing I knew I was
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reaching for a weapon
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I went flying through the air I landed
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30 feet down the hill I picked up my leg
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that was blown off and I crawled back up
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the hill I think you better in addition
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to that telegram was sent to Delores his
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parents addressed to her it's stated
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James P Bukowski was wounded in Vietnam
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as a result of hostile action he
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received traumatic amputation of the
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right leg when engaged by hostile force
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in a firefight
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you will be kept informed of any
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significant changes in his condition I
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just cried I couldn't believe it really
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happened did you hear things happened to
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everyone else but not to your own family
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I guess
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I just kept looking at like it can go
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away and it doesn't cause it just stays
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there and you have to learn to live with
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it Jim had been rushed by helicopter the
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67th evacuation hospital and quinion his
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prognosis was grim his fever hovered at
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105 degrees and his wound was badly
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infected
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it also left six pints of blood behind
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in the jungle
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[Music]
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[Applause]
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my first conscious memory was looking up
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and seeing this blonde lady in fatigues
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helping captain Lynn sharp
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[Music]
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I just woke up mo mais and she was
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looking over me I heard people talking
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him he ain't gonna make it and all I saw
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was her looking down to me she gave me
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the encouragement to live because of the
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extreme infection what was left of Jim's
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leg was amputated at the hip this was
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followed by frigid bass to lower his
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high body temperature at this time Jim
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began to become more aware of captain
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sharps constant attention hi Jim how you
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doing go for a little swim
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the lady was phenomenal you know every
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time I don't my eyes ladies blue eyes
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would be looking down at me looks like
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you're feeling better
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hey I promise if you get your
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temperature down I could take you out
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and go get a couple beers she told me
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when your temperature drops and you get
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into bed I'll pull you outside and I'll
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bring you a cold beer the process what
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I'm gonna do if you weren't cold before
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[Applause]
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[Music]
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over a period of six days captain Sharpe
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was always there and Jim slowly began to
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heal he'll be going home soon
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goodnight guy with her help agenda gate
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this former spirit because will to live
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to go Jim see what's your time late one
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night two days before Jim was scheduled
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to leave captain shark kept her word
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I keep my promises stars were out
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beautiful night and she brought two cans
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of beer pop them both sat on the edge
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your bed and smiled so you're gonna
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write your wife about your leg come on
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oh how now you started with one word at
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a time I just don't know what to say to
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her you were not allowed to leave the
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mass unit until you wrote a letter to
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your wife I didn't have the courage to
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write it she forced me to do it
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and then I didn't know she had sent a
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letter and a picture to my wife with it
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telling my wife would expect
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dear mrs. Bukowski I'm the head nurse on
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the ward where Jim is now it truly is
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not possible for me a poor letter writer
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to tell you how very much Jim loves you
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when he talks about you his lovely blue
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eyes sparkle and he gets a wide grin on
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his face in spite of his missing leg he
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is probably the most cheerful and
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optimistic patient I have ever had the
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pleasure of caring for his spirit
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determination are marvelous and with
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your hard work and he'll not pity he'll
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make rapid progress however both of you
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have a long difficult road ahead there
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will be days when Jim will be
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discouraged but don't you or any of your
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families ever feel sorry for him
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he needs understanding love and help not
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pity a missing limb doesn't make Jim
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less a person and it certainly doesn't
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lessen his love for you
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Jim leaves tomorrow for Japan and then
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home we shall all miss him god bless you
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both sincerely captain Linda sharp
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the letter helped me because nobody in
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my family has ever had anybody lose a
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leg or hurt in a war they didn't
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understand her letter just let you know
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what to expect
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I've always wondered why she wrote I
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guess that's kind of a question I'll
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always be there finally is September 5th
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1968 Jim began his long journey home
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when I left she pushed me out on my bed
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to the chopper she gave me a big hug
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I've thought about her since today I
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left Vietnam
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I just think about her
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[Music]
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the camaraderie when you make a friend
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in Vietnam is there until the person
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dies I lived
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I don't think that I would have came
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back to my wife without captain sharp
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she just gave me all the encouragement
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and the strength and the motivation to
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live in 1969 Jim was awarded to crippled
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hearts for wounds sustained in combat
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and a Silver Star for his bravery under
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fire but Jim's War raged on silently Jim
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blocked out Vietnam for years and years
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he didn't want people to know he was a
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Vietnam veteran he would just assume
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people thought his leg was lost in a car
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accident or something he really did not
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want people to know that he'd been to
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Vietnam
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a 20-year the gym has suffered from what
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has become known as post-traumatic
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stress disorder
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only recently has it begun to come to
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grips with his war experiences linda
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sharp helped him to transcend his
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physical wounds he wants to find her
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today so he can say thank you he's ready
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to look for now because now he's well
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enough mentally to look for and I think
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if he could meet her it might help him
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to heal Jim and Delores have recently
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celebrated their 21st wedding
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anniversary life together they feel
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might have been impossible without Linda
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sharp I would very much like to get in
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touch with captain Linda sharp if it's
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at all possible and thank her for what
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she did for me and all the other guys
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[Music]
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before this segment even aired
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Linda sharp saw a promotional
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announcement for Jim story on unsolved
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mysteries she immediately called our
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telecentre two weeks later she and Jim
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were reunited the door I was elated all
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I wanted to do is give her a great big
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hug
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and just hug her and thank her and kiss
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her on the cheek and just oh just try to
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show my appreciation I feel very blessed
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to be here to actually see him and talk
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with him and and hear his versions of
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what went on because sometimes what what
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nurses don't even don't realized that we
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have an impact on patients lives and I
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certainly didn't realize the impact I
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had on his life at all over the years
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I've thought about about Jim and Dolores
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and wondered how they were doing and if
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they were still together and seeing this
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show on TV and seeing them in this
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segment was just the best news that just
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made it all worthwhile it really pulled
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things together for me and it it
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reinforced that that what I did over
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there was important when dismiss on Cory
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moments after arriving Linda received an
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unexpected gift a portrait of a Vietnam
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nurse Jim had a frame for
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I think I had just made up for you when
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I [ __ ] you like that
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[Music]
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when he gave me the the plaque it was
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just such a special moment it's made
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this day very very special something
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that is like the culmination of a
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nursing career to be to be thanked in
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such a special way is very memorable
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something I'll never forget this meeting
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with Linda represents in my healing the
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final step knowing tonight in my own
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mind mentally physically and the way I
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feel right now
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all right I finally beat the battle we
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lost a few battles but I have won the
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war let me rephrase that I have won the
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war
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[Music]
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when we return we will meet a sweet and
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charming little only win realities of
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cunning and elusive crook most of us
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consider ourselves decent judges of
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character we think we know a crook if we
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saw one but cannot has come in all sorts
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of packages even a grandmother baking
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goodies could be out to take your money
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and run
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meet Gertrude Pruett for 1979 to 1981
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his grandmother a 70 year old con woman
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ran what appeared to be a flourishing
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investment business in Beverly Hills
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this crafty granny hit her simi business
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activities behind a facade of southern
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hospitality and homemade fruitcake while
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making off with three million dollars of
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her investors money you couldn't help
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but like her and when you looked at the
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woman she was so smooth and trusting and
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very soft sell that she you thought of
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his almost family she was a homey
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business woman even though you knew she
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had the business skills she also never
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lost her touch in the kitchen I mean I'm
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not a big fruitcake lover but they were
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delicious to be honest with you as you
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see this carpeting is so beautiful isn't
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it in all these lovely colors gertrude
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claimed that her investment
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opportunities came from special
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connections with carpet factories and
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textile mills in the south and we have
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pre-sold a large order to hotel chain
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what impressed me the most was that
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although the returns seemed almost too
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good to be true
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Gertrude seemed like such a loving
00:21:03
sincere person that it was a legitimate
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investment and that she could do no harm
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to her investors well of course you
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should give it some thought I think
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it'll be nice if you would talk to
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seasonal about a little more even when
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Gertrude didn't feed people her own home
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cooking she insisted that they be fed
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take Mike out for lunch it's a Brown
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Derby it's just around the corner it got
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awfully good food awfully nice meeting
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and you'll be hearing from me soon
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nothing was too good for Gertrude
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Pruitt's clients she often hired
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limousines to pick up potential
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investors and bring them to her posh
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office building one of those investors
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is a woman who had soon discovered that
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she had a weakness for charm and
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fruitcake she has requested that her
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identity be kept secret we will call her
00:21:51
Myrna thank you Gertrude selected a
00:22:00
really magnificent outlay for just
00:22:04
selling carpets I mean this was two
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storeys high
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mrs. Pattison well my first impression
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of Gertrude was that she was standing
00:22:15
there sizing me up and then because she
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was so cordial she was southern and so
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forth warm that I forgot all about the
00:22:25
fact that I was being sized up and just
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entered into her world of house bright
00:22:31
she was and how able she was I
00:22:36
originally invested about twenty
00:22:38
thousand but as I watched the operation
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from the sheets of the balance sheets
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that were coming out monthly and and
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watched the fact that people were
00:22:49
getting their interest I invested more
00:22:51
this is my secretary Jennifer well
00:22:54
Gertrude really was the office she was
00:22:56
out working every day early in the
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morning until very late at night
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handling the customers handling the
00:23:05
money and Harold was in his office but
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what he was doing I never knew virtues
00:23:14
40 year old son Harold was her partner
00:23:16
in the bed but he had very little
00:23:17
contact with the clients he was a
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glowering unfriendly man in sharp
00:23:22
contrast to his sweet southern mother
00:23:25
even though I was Gertrude and Harold's
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banker for two and a half years I never
00:23:31
really met Harold for almost the first
00:23:33
year and a half he was the kind of a
00:23:36
person who you would not have trusted
00:23:42
our bought a car from you might say
00:23:44
Myrna invested $100,000 before she had
00:23:48
her first inkling that something was
00:23:50
wrong
00:23:51
Gertrude Gertrude you know that check
00:23:54
you gave me it bounced I just came from
00:23:56
the bank they said insufficient funds
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believe me well I do I just came from
00:24:00
the bank I know what happened
00:24:01
oh hell just deposit a large check sick
00:24:06
as I was inside I was still playing it
00:24:10
like a friend which I thought she was it
00:24:16
was impossible from runner to believe
00:24:17
that this charming adorable woman could
00:24:19
be conning her so instead of pressing
00:24:21
the issue she took home a fruitcake and
00:24:23
accepted a lunch date Mona's bad check
00:24:33
was not the only one
00:24:34
the prude switchboard was jammed with
00:24:36
angry calls both Gertrude and Harold
00:24:38
made themselves scarce thank you very
00:24:45
much for holding no finally employee
00:24:48
Cecil true shell secretly contacted the
00:24:50
Pruitts accountant and received a rude
00:24:52
shock the financial statements Gertrude
00:24:55
had been showing investors were
00:24:57
completely different from the
00:24:58
accountants records most even can only
00:25:01
mean that statements are fraudulent it
00:25:03
was at that particular period of time no
00:25:06
I knew that there were serious problems
00:25:08
and I just didn't know where they had
00:25:10
been stashing money so at night
00:25:14
sometimes between the wee bitty hours of
00:25:17
1:00 and 3:00 I made midnight raids I
00:25:20
found every canceled check every
00:25:22
statement that had been paid everything
00:25:24
that I could remove out of that office
00:25:27
and by the end of the time I had about
00:25:30
four cardboard boxes full of stuff
00:25:34
because his friends and family had
00:25:36
invested heavily with the Pruitts Cecil
00:25:39
confronted Harald with his evidence
00:25:40
Harold
00:25:41
I've got enough evidence to prove that
00:25:42
this whole company's a phony and you've
00:25:44
got two days to come up with the money
00:25:46
or I'm gonna go to the authorities are
00:25:48
you threatening me I'm not threatening
00:25:50
you Harold I'm telling you the truth he
00:25:52
told me all of the people had done
00:25:54
nothing but made investments and there
00:25:56
was a risk to be made and I looked at
00:25:58
him and I said to him I said Harold
00:26:01
they made an investment on a pack of
00:26:04
lies that you have presented to them and
00:26:05
that's called fraud Cecil reported both
00:26:10
Harold and Gertrude Pruitt to the
00:26:12
authorities but the two of them had
00:26:13
disappeared taking their investors money
00:26:16
with them three years later the FBI
00:26:19
tracked down Harold Pruitt and in 1986
00:26:22
brought him to trial
00:26:23
none of the investors money was
00:26:25
recovered sweet motherly Gertrude Pruitt
00:26:28
was nowhere to be found it was really
00:26:32
amazing that Gertrude would leave Harold
00:26:34
behind to take the rap everybody thought
00:26:37
that Harold was a little bit of a hard
00:26:40
character but Kurt Rude still was the
00:26:43
sweet loving mama and when she failed to
00:26:46
show up and became a fugitive everybody
00:26:49
was surprised I've read every one of the
00:26:52
letters based on the trial testimony of
00:26:54
ten victims Harold was convicted on 20
00:26:56
counts of mail fraud he is currently
00:26:59
serving an eight-year sentence at a
00:27:00
California state prison
00:27:02
his mother was never apprehended
00:27:06
update Gertrude Pruett has been captured
00:27:10
just minutes after this story originally
00:27:12
aired the Sacramento California FBI lab
00:27:15
has received several calls from viewers
00:27:17
who recognize Pruitt five days later she
00:27:20
was arrested at a Bakersfield California
00:27:22
residence where she was working as a
00:27:24
live-in housekeeper under the assumed
00:27:26
name
00:27:26
Martha gray on May 29th 1990 good truth
00:27:31
proof pleaded guilty to seven counts of
00:27:33
mail fraud she was sentenced to eight
00:27:35
years in prison and is currently serving
00:27:37
her term at a federal penitentiary
00:27:39
Pruitt was also ordered to pay
00:27:41
restitution to her former investors
00:27:44
[Music]
00:27:55
next a baffling story of the murder of a
00:27:58
popular bank president was robbery the
00:28:00
motive or was it a brutal execution at
00:28:14
8:30 a.m. the morning of October 6 1989
00:28:17
an employee of an ol Missouri State Bank
00:28:20
arrived as usual to open the door
00:28:24
strangely one of them was unlocked
00:28:30
anybody here what she saw inside
00:28:34
shakhter the vault was wide open during
00:28:37
the night the bank had been robbed
00:28:42
the FBI along with three different
00:28:44
police forces investigated they
00:28:46
discovered two 45 caliber bullet casings
00:28:49
$70,000 is missing from the vault some
00:28:52
of it and coin tried and short again
00:28:56
repeated attempts were made to contact
00:28:58
the bank president ban short but he was
00:29:00
nowhere to be found
00:29:04
he sits three people began to walk
00:29:07
around Dan short had robbed his own Bank
00:29:11
Dan short was 51 years old and separated
00:29:15
from his wife of 23 years he had been
00:29:17
president of the State Bank of Laurel
00:29:19
since 1983 and was popular with people
00:29:21
in town on October 11th 1989 five days
00:29:29
after the run then shorts body was
00:29:32
finally found floating in Grand Lake 20
00:29:34
miles to the bank a Cabra troops at Dan
00:29:37
short had been alive he was thrown into
00:29:40
the water
00:29:42
he was tied to a chair which had a
00:29:45
concrete block taped to it with duct
00:29:48
tape with no apparent wounds to the
00:29:52
extent to cause death it appeared at
00:29:55
that point that he had indeed been
00:29:57
drowned being thrown from the bridge it
00:30:01
was appalling to think that any human
00:30:03
being would do this to another
00:30:05
particularly with the obvious motive
00:30:09
being just to conceal a robbery the
00:30:12
identities of the perpetrators if Dan
00:30:15
shorts murder was simply part of a bank
00:30:18
robbery why would the robbers choose
00:30:20
such a deliberately cruel way of killing
00:30:22
their hostage people no longer wondered
00:30:25
if Dan short had robbed his own bank but
00:30:27
they did begin to wonder if he might
00:30:28
have had enemies bent on revenge padana
00:30:32
shorts bizarre death had been an
00:30:33
execution when the bank robbery used
00:30:36
merely as a cover
00:30:38
no Missouri population 1200 is located
00:30:42
just a few miles from the Oklahoma and
00:30:44
Arkansas borders its economy centers
00:30:46
around chicken farming when Dan short
00:30:51
took over the State Bank presidency in
00:30:53
1983 the local economy was in bad shape
00:30:56
dan had the tricky job of balancing the
00:30:59
needs of local people over the banks
00:31:01
need to turn a profit in the process you
00:31:03
naturally alienated some people he had
00:31:08
some difficulties that he had to
00:31:10
straighten out in order for the bank to
00:31:12
function properly
00:31:13
there was repossessions restructuring
00:31:16
denial of credit but even though he had
00:31:20
a difficult position he was able to win
00:31:23
the people over he became a friend of
00:31:25
Stevie he wasn't particularly outgoing
00:31:28
he wasn't a backslapper but people
00:31:32
accepted him for what he was and that
00:31:33
was just a genuinely nice person
00:31:38
dan short lived eight miles outside of
00:31:41
NOLA and an extremely isolated location
00:31:43
on the night of the robbery he had a
00:31:45
guest who left just before 11 p.m. the
00:31:49
FBI is attempted to reconstruct what
00:31:52
happened once Dan short was alone in his
00:31:54
home they believe his abductor showed up
00:31:59
sometime between the hours of 11:00 p.m.
00:32:01
at 1:30 a.m. my car broke down at the
00:32:08
road may I use your telephone
00:32:09
probably the perpetrators went to his
00:32:11
front door armed
00:32:13
when mr. short answers the door they
00:32:16
immediately restrained him and later
00:32:18
took him to the bank according to the
00:32:25
FBI
00:32:25
Dan short and his abductors arrived at
00:32:27
the bank around 2:00 a.m. indications
00:32:34
are that the perpetrators forced him to
00:32:36
turn the alarm off to unlock the front
00:32:40
doors and after gaining entry into the
00:32:42
bank dealt with the surveillance camera
00:32:45
to some extent and spray-painting the
00:32:46
lens and turning the camera around
00:32:49
backwards hey where's the money
00:32:53
opening it come on the perpetrators took
00:33:01
only what cash they saw in the vault
00:33:04
which was approximately seventy thousand
00:33:06
dollars including coins leaving behind
00:33:11
approximately a hundred thousand dollars
00:33:13
that mr. short was aware of led us to
00:33:16
believe he was not willingly involved
00:33:18
and probably did not volunteer that the
00:33:22
extra currency was there at the time of
00:33:25
the robbery as the robbers left the bank
00:33:28
one of them fired at the surveillance
00:33:30
camera disconnecting it people who live
00:33:32
nearby heard the shots the time was
00:33:35
shortly before 3:00 a.m.
00:33:40
a few minutes later on the outskirts of
00:33:45
town a caravan of three vehicles was
00:33:47
sighted by a local trucker the first
00:33:50
vehicle looked like dan short's pickup
00:33:56
as I was driving south through town I've
00:33:58
seen no red pickup but two vehicle
00:34:01
spotted crossing bridge I didn't pay
00:34:04
that much attention to the ones behind
00:34:06
me I went on South and the little blue
00:34:10
pickup passed me about a half a mile
00:34:12
south cut me short and as he cut me
00:34:16
short I looked he looked back out of the
00:34:18
back glass I seen his face
00:34:20
he is heavyset guy was a long hair and a
00:34:23
beard brown hair only the killers know
00:34:29
exactly what happened during the next
00:34:30
three hours at some point they ditched
00:34:32
dan short's pickup and put it in the van
00:34:34
there they chained him to a kitchen
00:34:37
chair with weights attached it's very
00:34:42
possible that mr. short was even
00:34:44
unconscious as they put him into the
00:34:46
chair due to the fact that chair was not
00:34:48
a strong piece of furniture
00:34:51
with a weight already on it you mean
00:34:54
kind of struggle would have likely
00:34:56
broken the chair up prior to even
00:34:58
[Music]
00:34:59
arriving at the bridge we know that mr.
00:35:05
Shore was alive when he was thrown into
00:35:07
the lake what we don't know is if he was
00:35:10
conscious or unconscious but the fact
00:35:14
that he was not gagged leads us to the
00:35:18
belief that he was unconscious for
00:35:20
astronomy duty
00:35:23
[Music]
00:35:31
at 6:00 a.m. witnesses cited a dark van
00:35:34
stopped on the bridge and sped away
00:35:36
before they could get a license number
00:35:41
why had dan short's abductors killed him
00:35:44
in such a cruel manner it was a question
00:35:47
no one could answer but there were
00:35:49
theories it seemed to lead back to the
00:35:51
banking business I'm sorry I have to
00:35:55
turn you down I'm certain that there are
00:35:58
some people out there that has some real
00:36:00
animosity some hatred towards the state
00:36:02
bank of Nolan Dan short he had deny
00:36:05
people deny credit to people and the
00:36:08
denial of credit probably broke others
00:36:12
Dan had worked in I think three other
00:36:16
banks maybe something followed him here
00:36:18
from someplace else maybe he stumbled
00:36:21
across something in this area he
00:36:23
shouldn't have maybe a drug deal maybe a
00:36:26
lot of money laundering there's any
00:36:30
number of things that could have
00:36:31
happened that none of us are aware of
00:36:33
and that's where the confusion comes
00:36:35
from there just was no reason police
00:36:39
have few clues to go on
00:36:40
but they believe the medium blue Chevy
00:36:42
love may be vital to solving the case
00:36:44
one week before the robbery love and his
00:36:47
driver was cited at a local gas station
00:36:49
the same trucker who saw them on the
00:36:51
night Dan short was murdered why is an
00:36:54
older model blue Chevrolet know when it
00:36:57
had a white toolbox in the back they had
00:37:00
the Oklahoma tags
00:37:01
and I looked at the tag gonna look back
00:37:03
up at the guy you know he turned around
00:37:05
I just heavyset guy big through the
00:37:09
chest
00:37:10
big neck big face and lots of hair and
00:37:13
lots of beard
00:37:14
[Music]
00:37:16
the love was seen again four days before
00:37:18
the robbery near dan short's house dan
00:37:21
had told his brother that he felt he was
00:37:23
being staked out but on one occasion his
00:37:25
home had actually been broken into
00:37:28
because of this authorities believe that
00:37:30
Dan's killers had planned everything in
00:37:32
advance the bank robbery may have been
00:37:36
only a cover-up for his execution
00:37:38
robbers amateur behavior supports this
00:37:41
theory they left behind numerous
00:37:43
fingerprints they stole heavy bags of
00:37:47
coins and they fired unnecessary shots
00:37:52
[Music]
00:37:56
I want them to find the people that did
00:37:58
this and to explain to me why they had
00:38:03
to kill my brother over 50 or $60,000
00:38:07
now I want to know why that happened
00:38:12
[Music]
00:38:34
when we return the incredible tale of a
00:38:36
Loch Ness type monster that just might
00:38:38
exist in British Columbia filmed footage
00:38:41
shown for the first time on television
00:38:42
appears to reveal his creature that has
00:38:45
eluded searchers for decades
00:38:48
[Music]
00:38:56
for the last century renowned scientists
00:38:59
and amateur investigators have grappled
00:39:01
with a mystery of the Loch Ness monster
00:39:03
that elusive Lake creature in Scotland
00:39:05
sighted more than three thousand times
00:39:08
over the last 50 years but never so far
00:39:10
adequately explained
00:39:14
some zoologists now actually theorized
00:39:17
at the monsters home Loch Ness may be
00:39:19
connected by underwater channels to the
00:39:21
sea and that the Loch Ness monster is in
00:39:24
fact a sea serpent of some kind
00:39:25
travelling back and forth between the
00:39:27
lake and the ocean
00:39:29
the zoologists also theorized at
00:39:32
hundreds of other lakes located in the
00:39:34
same approximate latitude band as Loch
00:39:36
Ness could have similar connections to
00:39:38
the sea and could today also be home to
00:39:40
mysterious sea creatures
00:39:44
there have been reported sightings of
00:39:47
creatures like the Loch Ness monster and
00:39:49
approximately 60 other lakes around the
00:39:51
world for example here at lakes door
00:39:53
jean suite
00:39:54
they Club in here in the Soviet Union
00:39:56
and Lake qu char Japan all these lakes
00:40:00
bull into the same latitude band as Loch
00:40:02
Ness in Scotland so far there's been no
00:40:07
scientific verification for any of the
00:40:09
sightings the recent photographic
00:40:11
evidence Canadian Lake in the same
00:40:13
latitude band suggests the bizarre was
00:40:15
somehow enchanting thought that here in
00:40:18
North America we may have a loch ness
00:40:19
monster of our very own Lake Okanagan
00:40:25
located in the Canadian province of
00:40:27
British Columbia as for more than 300
00:40:29
years been the reputed home of a water
00:40:31
Beast which seems to resemble a sea
00:40:32
serpent the lake is 79 miles long and in
00:40:36
places 800 feet deep an ample home for a
00:40:39
large creature
00:40:42
in the 1700s local Indians called a
00:40:44
beast night taco or Lake demon they
00:40:47
routinely sacrificed small animals in
00:40:49
order to appease the demon today 300
00:40:54
years later the local population still
00:40:56
fervently believes in the existence of
00:40:58
the creature which they have dubbed
00:40:59
Ogopogo I saw it back in 1937 we were
00:41:04
facing the lake at the time and there's
00:41:06
this head of something-or-other swimming
00:41:10
around out there and we were all
00:41:13
convinced that it was the Ogopogo very
00:41:17
big very it was very scary Oh about two
00:41:20
feet out of the water the head part and
00:41:23
the head itself was browned and then it
00:41:27
the kind of a neck part went down the
00:41:31
water and it had a great big long tail
00:41:33
like all you could see there was just
00:41:35
the just a little bit of a hump sort of
00:41:38
just coming out of the out of the
00:41:41
splashes and stuff and it went on for a
00:41:43
little bit and like we we saw it and
00:41:45
then we didn't know what to do a minute
00:41:46
when I heard you so we just got out of
00:41:48
there just we were like scared in that
00:41:49
canoe
00:41:50
[Music]
00:41:51
hundreds of sightings of Ogopogo have
00:41:54
been reported but no film footage was
00:41:57
ever captured until 1968 that year a saw
00:42:03
mill worker named art Fulton was driving
00:42:05
beside the lake with his wife when he
00:42:07
noticed something odd
00:42:10
we were on our way back from holidays
00:42:12
and we seen something in the lake near
00:42:17
the shore and I said hey look just
00:42:21
jokingly there's Ogopogo and she saw it
00:42:24
looks like a bunch of ducks anyway I
00:42:26
said I'm gonna stop and see if we can
00:42:27
get a picture
00:42:28
I stopped filling every time it dove
00:42:31
under the water and as it reappeared I
00:42:35
began to film again
00:42:37
[Music]
00:42:39
the film shows a dark object diving
00:42:43
reappearing in a sequence of moves that
00:42:46
indicates that it's moving out from
00:42:48
shallow water into deeper water for a
00:42:52
large dive into deeper water it then did
00:42:55
not reappear
00:42:58
because the pine trees on shore are
00:43:00
approximately 25 feet tall the dark mass
00:43:03
in art fortin's film is estimated to be
00:43:05
40 feet long about the same size as a
00:43:08
creature in the Loch Ness sightings in
00:43:15
1980 12 years after the Folden film was
00:43:17
made a group of vacationers thought they
00:43:19
too had sighted olga Pogo one of them
00:43:23
Larry Thal had a home movie camera I was
00:43:27
taking pictures of the kids and their
00:43:29
wife and bingo all of a sudden Neoga
00:43:31
Pogo supposedly whatever it may have
00:43:33
been appeared on Lake Okanagan and I was
00:43:36
right there with my camera it was a
00:43:39
strange sight in the water
00:43:43
[Music]
00:43:45
played in slow-motion Athol film reveals
00:43:48
intriguing details
00:43:50
Larry's film shows how the animal swims
00:43:54
it shows the speed and the the mass of
00:43:58
waves that it creates it actually shows
00:44:00
that it has some form of appendage that
00:44:02
seems to pump up every now and then but
00:44:06
the interesting thing again is that the
00:44:08
animal let art fold and shot on the
00:44:10
animal that Larry thought shot they're
00:44:12
basically the same size they're very
00:44:14
large creatures and in Larry's film
00:44:17
we're seeing a creature at least forty
00:44:20
to sixty feet from head to tail no doubt
00:44:24
nine years later on July 18th 1989 78
00:44:29
year old Clem Chaplin showed his son
00:44:31
Kenan Inlet where he thought he had seen
00:44:32
Ogopogo the creature was going to and
00:44:35
from a boom of logs at the mouth of a
00:44:37
nearby creek ken took his video camera
00:44:40
and staked out the area it paid off and
00:44:44
this is the first time as videotape has
00:44:46
ever been seen on television but Ken
00:44:48
Chapman tape was a creature that
00:44:50
appeared to be hairless greenish in
00:44:51
color spotted and about 15 feet long
00:44:54
less than half the size measured in the
00:44:57
Folden and of all films I was probably
00:45:01
75 to 100 feet away
00:45:03
I saw its features very clearly
00:45:06
being sneaker lizard-like no fur hair
00:45:08
and you can see the body thrashing
00:45:10
behind it and then brought its tail
00:45:14
section out of the water
00:45:19
dad and I were stunned in into silence
00:45:22
and then dad turned to me and he said
00:45:24
you know if that tail hit a man and
00:45:26
probably kill him and I agreed that was
00:45:28
our impression as to size ken took his
00:45:32
camera back to the inlet a few days
00:45:34
later along with his daughter Cory and
00:45:36
his father once again Ken videotape the
00:45:39
creature
00:45:43
it appeared swimming parallel to the
00:45:46
shore and swam right past us at maybe
00:45:49
sixty to seventy-five feet away and I
00:45:52
got that on video and dad and Cory and I
00:45:54
saw it very clearly
00:45:56
[Music]
00:46:00
it has a long long snake-like body I
00:46:02
asked who mated about the size of a long
00:46:04
car maybe 15 feet definitely like a
00:46:07
snake its head poking straight out and
00:46:09
then its body swimming and starts to
00:46:11
undulate through the water
00:46:13
[Music]
00:46:18
Kent Chaplin's video caused a media
00:46:20
sensation Time magazine as well as
00:46:22
several newspapers in the United States
00:46:24
carried the amazing story of what
00:46:26
appeared to be a new Loch Ness monster
00:46:28
however opinion was widely divided and
00:46:30
experts were called in to analyze the
00:46:32
video there was not a hoax there was
00:46:37
nothing in there that he was the
00:46:39
impression this was fabricated in any
00:46:41
way it was a live living animal the
00:46:43
discussion revolved around the two
00:46:45
species most likely and that is a river
00:46:48
otter and a beaver logo Pogo could exist
00:46:52
elsewhere in Okanagan Lake but in our
00:46:54
view this particular video was of a
00:46:57
beaver you know the largest recorded
00:47:00
beaver in the interiors four and a half
00:47:02
feet long now it's 75 to 100 feet away I
00:47:05
guess can't see dad and I'd be very very
00:47:07
impressed a beaver one two slaps its
00:47:10
tail the head is either leveled to the
00:47:12
water or else it's already starting to
00:47:14
go down now in the sequence here the
00:47:17
video that I did it's dark in its head
00:47:20
up while the tail comes down on this
00:47:25
side we have a still photograph from
00:47:27
taken from the video recording by mr.
00:47:29
Chaplin on this side we have a color
00:47:32
photograph of a beaver with his tail
00:47:34
held vertically in the air just prior to
00:47:37
a tail slap the two photographs seem for
00:47:41
the most part to be mirror images of one
00:47:44
another closer comparison of the
00:47:46
photographs however does appear to
00:47:48
substantiate Ken Chaplin's point at the
00:47:50
creature he saw raises head prior to
00:47:52
slapping its tail or as a beavers head
00:47:54
is at water level also Ken says the
00:47:58
creature he and his family saw was 15
00:48:00
feet long not for like a beaver and had
00:48:03
a long snake-like body he also said it
00:48:05
did not have fur and was green in color
00:48:08
I've asked myself thousands of times is
00:48:12
there a possibility I could be mistaken
00:48:14
and I just can't see where I could be
00:48:16
for those who want to call it a beaver
00:48:19
I'll say no way an otter
00:48:21
I can't buy it
00:48:23
manager over polo and all probability
00:48:28
is it possible that there are several
00:48:29
creatures living in the lake each of
00:48:31
varying size but all belonging to the
00:48:33
same unknown zoological family experts
00:48:37
may disagree on the Chaplin footage but
00:48:39
there is still been no adequate
00:48:40
explanation for the large creatures seen
00:48:42
surfacing an art foldings film or
00:48:45
clearly churning up awake in the Larry
00:48:47
Thawne footage
00:48:50
in addition hundreds of other sightings
00:48:52
over the years attest to the presence of
00:48:53
something unusual in Lake Okanagan I
00:48:56
would be delighted to find that Ogopogo
00:49:00
really existed in Ocala and I would
00:49:03
encourage everybody to keep their not
00:49:07
only their minds open but their eyes
00:49:09
open when they're in the Okanagan who
00:49:12
knows what really exciting wildlife
00:49:14
encounter that they may enjoy this
00:49:21
Ogopogo real well the Canadian
00:49:24
government has declared Ogopogo an
00:49:26
endangered species and hunting it is
00:49:27
against the law most of the people who
00:49:30
live on the shores of Lake Okanagan need
00:49:32
no further proof for them oh go Togo is
00:49:35
very real indeed
00:49:38
[Music]
00:49:44
for every mystery there is someone
00:49:46
somewhere who knows the truth perhaps
00:49:49
that someone was watching perhaps
00:49:51
[Music]
00:50:19
[Applause]
00:50:22
[Music]

Badges

This episode stands out for the following:

  • 85
    Most heartwarming
  • 80
    Most emotional
  • 75
    Most inspiring
  • 75
    Best concept / idea

Episode Highlights

  • Jim Bukowski's Journey
    A Vietnam veteran seeks to reunite with the nurse who saved his life.
    “Captain Sharpe was the only good memory I had.”
    @ 02m 39s
    May 21, 2019
  • Jim's Emotional Reunion
    After years apart, Jim reunites with Captain Linda Sharp, the nurse who helped him heal.
    “I just wanted to give her a great big hug.”
    @ 17m 00s
    May 21, 2019
  • The Con Artist Grandmother
    Gertrude Pruitt, a seemingly sweet grandmother, swindled millions from investors.
    “You couldn’t help but like her.”
    @ 20m 10s
    May 21, 2019
  • Dan Short's Mysterious Death
    Dan Short, a popular bank president, was found dead after a robbery gone wrong. His murder raised questions about revenge and cruelty.
    “It was appalling to think that any human would do this to another.”
    @ 30m 01s
    May 21, 2019
  • Theories Behind the Murder
    Speculations arise about the motives behind Dan Short's execution-style murder linked to his banking career.
    “Why had Dan Short's abductors killed him in such a cruel manner?”
    @ 35m 44s
    May 21, 2019
  • The Search for Ogopogo
    The legend of Ogopogo, a creature in Lake Okanagan, captivates locals and researchers alike.
    “I would encourage everybody to keep their minds open and their eyes open.”
    @ 49m 03s
    May 21, 2019

Episode Quotes

  • I just cried. I couldn’t believe it really happened.
    Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 2, Episode 17 - Full Episodes
  • I’ve thought about her since the day I left Vietnam.
    Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 2, Episode 17 - Full Episodes
  • I have won the war.
    Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 2, Episode 17 - Full Episodes
  • It was appalling to think that any human would do this to another.
    Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 2, Episode 17 - Full Episodes
  • I want to know why that happened.
    Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 2, Episode 17 - Full Episodes
  • I would encourage everybody to keep their minds open and their eyes open.
    Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 2, Episode 17 - Full Episodes

Key Moments

  • Unsolved Mysteries00:03
  • The Kind Nurse03:35
  • Emotional Healing15:40
  • Reunion16:42
  • Bank Robbery29:57
  • Murder Mystery30:01
  • Ogopogo Sightings41:50
  • Endangered Species49:24

Words per Minute Over Time

Vibes Breakdown

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