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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 were about to see is not a news
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broadcast in 1986 a bank vault in
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Hollywood California was emptied by a
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cunning group of burglars the bandits
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tunneled hundreds of feet underground
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and escaped with two million dollars the
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police call it a crime of the century
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in 1982 a 46 year old appliance
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repairman was brutally murdered three
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theories of surfaced was a seemingly
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ordinary father of four killed by angry
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drug runners or by vengeful crime bosses
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against whom his brother was called to
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testify or was it a crime of passion
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committed by a jealous husband in 1982
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seven year-old crystal merlok drowned in
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a swimming pool accident crystal was
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clinically dead but after 15 minutes
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doctors brought her back to life crystal
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is one of millions of Americans who've
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undergone what psychologists call a
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near-death experience an intriguing
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mystifying phenomenon which they
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describe a peaceful journey after death
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and which old friends lead them towards
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a white light proof of life after life
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are simply a mass hallucination
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[Music]
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[Applause]
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[Music]
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[Music]
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8 p.m. Friday June 6 1986 an alarm
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sounded at the First Interstate Bank in
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Hollywood California
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a police patrol was dispatched to
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investigate
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[Music]
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when they arrived they found no evidence
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of a break-in
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[Music]
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hi Joe on Monday morning bank employees
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arrived for work it is business as usual
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a few minutes later when a bank officer
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opened up the phone she made a shocking
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discovery
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incredibly someone had tunneled 30 yards
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from under a nearby Street ending up
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precisely underneath the vault
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using hand tools a patiently sliced
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through the 18 inch thick steel
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reinforced concrete floor once inside
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they made off with over 2 million
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dollars in cash jewelry and rare coins
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[Music]
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detective Dennis pigan comp is assigned
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to the case
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my initial feelings that morning when we
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first arrived at the scene was one of of
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aw I realized the fact that these
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suspects were excellent burglars they
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would be extremely difficult to catch
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they'd gone to a lot of work and it was
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awesome we view this burglary in the
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city as the crime of the century as far
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as burglaries go the the method of
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attack in the fact they got two million
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dollars plus their ingenuity I had never
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seen a burglary like this in 27 years
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underneath the streets of Los Angeles a
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subterranean highway of storm drains
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exists detective pagan cop discovered
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that the burglars had used these drains
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to secretly travel to the bank they then
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could tunnel undetected to the vaults
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they dug 95 feet from the drain to the
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bank the extraordinary tunnels were
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approximately three and a half feet wide
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by four and a half feet high all dug by
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hand but finished with electric tools a
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remarkable feat of precision engineering
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the experts tell us that the type of
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tunnels they dug were very safe tunnels
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the size of the tunnels the shapes of
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the tunnels were extremely expertly done
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and the contour the tunnels were done as
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such to add extra strength and
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protection of those digging
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police searched underground in a
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three-mile radius of the bank looking
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for signs of the robbers when we
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conclude our investigation at First
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Interstate Bank basically we were left
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with no clues at all there was no
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physical evidence left the suspects left
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us nothing to work with and we were
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basically handcuffed police had run out
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of clues it seems as if the perfect
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crime had been committed 14 months later
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the daring bandit struck again they must
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have known that their extraordinary
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tactics were known to the authorities
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but that didn't deter them what is more
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surprising the tunneling burglars came
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within minutes of succeeding on Saturday
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morning August 22nd 1987 the alarm
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system went off at a Bank of America in
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West Los Angeles police were called in
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to investigate the assistant bank
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manager opened the vault
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[Music]
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they discovered the vault had been
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broken into apparently the burglars had
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fled while a robbery was in progress on
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the floor an 18 inch hole was cut
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through the concrete when I got the
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phone call from the officer at the bank
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and he explained to me a hole in the
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floor all I could think of was they're
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back they've done it again in how much
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money did they get this time because
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they were interrupted the thieves are
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only able to steal $90,000 they left
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behind their teachers and some work
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clothes
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the robbers also left an 18-inch Corbitt
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a cutting tool used in construction to
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bore large holes through cement this was
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purchased in the San Francisco Bay Area
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by a construction company using a
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fictitious name and address in San Diego
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and they paid cash so basically we knew
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that it was probably a white male that
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purchased it but no other information
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again detectives searched miles of storm
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drains for some clue as to the identity
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of the bandits approximately three miles
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from the bank they found a four-wheel
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vehicle called a quad runner just inside
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a storm drain entrance detected pagon
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cop believes the tunnels were dug by
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just two men apparently they use their
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vehicles to carry their heavy equipment
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underground that Corbett and drill alone
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required a drill press that weight in
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excess of 100 pounds
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we came to the conclusion that the
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suspects were very close friends
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possibly army buddies able to work
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together for long periods of time and
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very confined areas taking up three to
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six weeks probably to dig that one
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tunnel the ticktick pagan cop also
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believes a third man was involved since
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clearly the burglars must have been
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warned by someone outside the bank go in
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there escape footprints indicated that
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the burglars ran through the tunnel one
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barefoot one in stocking feet
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[Applause]
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did they abandon one of their vehicles
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and apparently escaped on foot for all
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of their labors $90,000 must have been a
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disappointing reward of all the
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evidentiary recovered tools ladders
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clothing
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we had developed no fingerprints
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whatsoever the only fingerprint we
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developed was the on the quad Runner
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itself
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we got one latent print from that
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vehicle that print has been run through
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and compared with all arrestees and it's
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our opinion that this individual has
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never been arrested police again went
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underground looking for more evidence
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[Music]
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followed about a mile and a half from
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the Bank of America they found another
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tunnel completely finished this 102 foot
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tunnel ended beneath a Beverly Hills
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Bank and the mounting boats for the
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drill were already in place under the
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vault if they'd have been able to
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accomplish both burglaries that weekend
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it's told to me by the people in the
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banks in the banking industry that they
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probably would have gotten away with
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between 10 and 20 million dollars police
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learned that the quad Runner was
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purchased by a man using the name David
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Spalding his only known address a post
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office box in Hollywood one or two
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people using this name apparently
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purchased five of these distinctive
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vehicles salespeople created two
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composites of the same man he is a male
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Caucasian around 35 years of age he's
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about 6 feet in height and rugged
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looking as if used to outdoor labor next
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the story of two people then pronounced
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clinically dead and brought back to life
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the experience has profoundly changed
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their lives the stories they tell may
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suggest what lies
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after seven years ago on March a 13th
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1982 a seven-year-old girl named crystal
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merlok was attending a children's
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birthday party held at a local swimming
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pool though she had just recently
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learned to swim
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crystal felt comfortable in the water we
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went into the pool and we were just
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playing down at the at the shallow end
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for a while and then I don't know why
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but for some reason I went up to the
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deep end where a group of boys pushed me
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in that they didn't know it and I just
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start swelling water gasping for air
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trying to grab up to the top of the
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water I can give me air and so I just
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fell unconscious
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and then I was just in darkness era
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medics rushed Krystle to a local
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hospital where a team led by dr. Melvin
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Morris feverishly worked to save her
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life when she came in her pupils were
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fixed and dilated
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meaning that she probably had no brain
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activity
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she had none of the normal reflexes that
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we associate with surviving she had
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what's called a Glasgow Coma score of 3
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which very few people survive if they
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have such a profound coma I did not
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think that she would survive dr. Morris
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said that she was so close to death that
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to prepare yourself for her demise that
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she could expire at any time there
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wasn't much chance given to her for her
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long life after that event
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[Music]
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at 3:30 p.m. crystal merlok was
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clinically dead 20 minutes later she was
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brought back to life during the period
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of time she's being revived crystal
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shared a common experience with
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thousands of other Americans a
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near-death experience are NDE almost
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without exception these people describe
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a journey to allow a beautiful light a
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trip accompanied by an overwhelming
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sense of well-being is this experience
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an hallucination or evidence of a life
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after death as crystal a near-death she
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felt herself moving into darkness then
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her eyes opened when she beheld a
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wondrous sight I didn't really know
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where I was
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it's just I looked up and I saw this
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bright light at the end of a tunnel and
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there were colored bricks on the walls
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of the tunnel
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the light kinda pulled me toward it it
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was just the most loving line I've ever
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seen
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and then I saw this lady she came to our
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Leroy staff to end really slow she took
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my hand she said I'm Elizabeth and I
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will help you
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she just led me into the light and
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through the light and into heaven
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I just felt that this was the place I
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wanted to be crystal senses she was
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floating over her body observing the
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medical team as they attempted to save
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her life when I was up there I saw the
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doctors they were working on me they
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were sticking things up my arm and at my
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nose tell me breathe and I didn't like
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it that was one of the reasons I wanted
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to stab that but when I got thinking
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about how I wouldn't be able to really
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hug my mom again or anybody I really
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loved then I said no I want to go back
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and then I was back in my body
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I wasn't dead it I was still alive there
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was still a part of me like my soul my
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spirit was still alive I wasn't dead at
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all for at least 20 minutes crystal was
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for all intents and purposes dead even
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after she was revived the child was in a
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coma for three days fortunately once she
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returned home
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crystal completely regained her health
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crystal had never met dr. Moore's the
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man who saved her life but when they
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were introduced he seemed familiar the
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last time I had seen her she was
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profoundly comatose she could not have
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been in a deeper coma and still be alive
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and then I saw her and follow-up two
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weeks later I said you know hi I'm dr.
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Morris you probably don't remember me
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but I sure know you crystal because I
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spent you know grueling four hours
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trying to bring you back to life and
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then she turned to her mother and said
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well no I have seen him before she
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stated that she remembered seeing me
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from the emergency room she said oh yes
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I met you I saw you you were putting
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something in my neck and she scowled at
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him I saw his face and I knew him it was
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just like I never seen him before and I
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knew him she also described other
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elements of her resuscitation she
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described us pushing on her chest and
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putting various lines in her she
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described that she she told me first you
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worked on me in the emergency room and
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then you took me to another room you
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know which was in fact true and when you
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see a seven-year-old talk like that and
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say things like that there is no reason
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for you not to believe it you know it
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comes straight from the heart
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dr. Gabbard has studied these near-death
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experiences and believes they may be
00:17:30
physical not metaphysical phenomena
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the near-death experience can be
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understood as deriving from a
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fundamental psychological need to deny
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the reality of death because it's too
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horrible to face the prospect that when
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the body goes that's it it's very
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tempting of course to suppose that these
00:17:54
experiences are explainable by some sort
00:17:57
of physiological events or biochemical
00:17:59
events going on in the brain at the
00:18:01
point of death or perhaps by
00:18:02
psychological principles that this is
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just wish fulfillment that the mind is
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unable to accept final death so makes up
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this beautiful fantasy but in fact when
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you carefully look at the reports I
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think we've all concluded that something
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very different is going on one reason
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for this is that the patients are able
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to tell us things about the
00:18:22
resuscitation attempt that they wouldn't
00:18:24
have any way of knowing my own
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subjective feeling after 23 years of
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working with these patients is that I
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have no doubt whatsoever that they had a
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glimpse of the life Hereafter
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[Music]
00:18:40
crystal has been to a place where her
00:18:43
friends and family have never gone she
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is certain that this experience will
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stay with her the rest of her life I
00:18:49
[Music]
00:18:50
have remembered this or at seven years I
00:18:54
cannot forget it
00:18:56
it's always there it's always been very
00:18:59
real to me and it's always very clear to
00:19:04
me when we return the story of a man who
00:19:11
may have passed through death to the
00:19:12
other side
00:19:13
today his life has been transformed he
00:19:15
believes that life after death is a very
00:19:17
real possibility 20 thousands of people
00:19:25
have died and lived to tell the tale an
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overwhelming number described the same
00:19:29
phenomenon a tunnel of light and a sense
00:19:31
of floating over their body one of the
00:19:34
strangest stories connected with a
00:19:35
near-death experience as told by a New
00:19:37
York man named Thomas Sawyer 10 years
00:19:40
ago his life was transformed by an
00:19:41
accident that occurred in his garage
00:19:43
today Tom Sawyer is literally a new man
00:19:49
[Music]
00:19:54
Tom Sawyer lives in upstate New York
00:19:56
works as a snow plow operator for 33
00:19:59
years he lived a normal uneventful life
00:20:01
[Music]
00:20:03
I'd have to describe myself as pretty
00:20:06
much an all-american boy you know with a
00:20:08
name like Tom Sawyer you have one of two
00:20:10
choices you can become a comedian and
00:20:13
outgoing or end up being an introvert
00:20:16
Tom turned to athletics during high
00:20:18
school and that propelled him to
00:20:20
popularity however his academic record
00:20:22
was lackluster for good reason from 7th
00:20:26
grade in grammar school right through
00:20:28
age 33 I never read a book
00:20:29
cover-to-cover I just dislike reading
00:20:32
immensely and I read nothing in his late
00:20:36
teens Tom race bicycles and a 1968
00:20:39
qualified for the Olympic team in 1967
00:20:43
he married Elaine and they had two sons
00:20:45
Tim and Todd tom was a family man a
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blue-collar worker who prided himself on
00:20:51
his practicality prior to this
00:20:54
experience I had thought about such
00:20:56
things as religion and so on and I
00:20:58
thought that it was just a bunch of
00:20:59
foolishness
00:21:00
I would describe myself as an agnostic
00:21:03
what I had figured out was that when you
00:21:06
die you die the show is over everything
00:21:08
goes black and that's it hand me the
00:21:13
needlenose pliers
00:21:14
when I had this experience I was
00:21:16
repairing my pickup truck
00:21:17
I had the front wheels off it and was
00:21:19
lying on my back and the truck suddenly
00:21:22
started to move
00:21:24
[Music]
00:21:31
when Todd ran and made the phone call I
00:21:34
heard it very clearly and vividly hello
00:21:37
my name is our there were other things
00:21:40
that I was able to hear that were
00:21:42
impossible for me to hear with my ears
00:21:44
and others with my normal hearing such
00:21:46
as the conversation of the paramedics
00:21:49
getting into the ambulance three and a
00:21:51
half miles away his wife screams brought
00:21:56
the neighbors and they worked
00:21:57
desperately to freedom as I went
00:22:05
unconscious
00:22:06
I then experienced a sensation or a
00:22:10
feeling of absolutely waking up it
00:22:12
wasn't anything at all like waking up
00:22:14
from a sleep state it was like being
00:22:17
unconscious or absolutely asleep and
00:22:20
then like a click of the fingernail
00:22:21
absolutely awake the only problem with
00:22:24
this feeling of waking up was that all I
00:22:27
saw was darkness that darkness gradually
00:22:30
took the shape of the tunnel and way off
00:22:34
absolutely positively to infinity appear
00:22:37
this little speck of white light this
00:22:40
was the most beautiful thing that I'd
00:22:42
ever experienced in my life it was just
00:22:44
extraordinary
00:22:48
all the pressure of the truck being on
00:22:50
me in the horrendous pain that was gone
00:22:52
and I felt very comfortable
00:22:57
and that thing that I realized was that
00:22:59
I was motionless at the end of the
00:23:02
tunnel confronted by the light of God I
00:23:05
was confronted by heaven that light
00:23:08
included absolutely everything it was
00:23:11
the entire universe there was absolute
00:23:14
total knowledge I've had the opportunity
00:23:17
to ask any question at all and the
00:23:21
absolute unequivocal correct answer
00:23:23
would be emanated to me
00:23:25
I then experienced a complete total life
00:23:30
review it was every day every event
00:23:33
every minute and second in other words I
00:23:36
relive the Olympic Trials my merit all
00:23:38
of these things at the same time
00:23:46
I was then given a choice to return to
00:23:49
normal life or stay and become part of
00:23:52
this light I chose to stay and become
00:23:55
part of it light
00:23:58
but I then had a feeling of going
00:24:01
exactly reversal through the tunnel and
00:24:03
slamming back into my body finally as
00:24:11
paramedics arrived the truck was lifted
00:24:13
off and Sawyer was taken to the hospital
00:24:18
well I'm probably the only one you'll
00:24:21
ever meet that's been kicked out of
00:24:22
heaven because since I chose to stay and
00:24:24
become part of their life and I am back
00:24:27
here without any explanation at all one
00:24:29
of the logical deductive things that you
00:24:31
could assume was that I would got kicked
00:24:33
out for some reason or another
00:24:37
surprisingly Sawyer left the hospital
00:24:39
the same day of his accident he had no
00:24:42
broken bones that we suffered from some
00:24:44
internal bleeding according to medical
00:24:47
reports Tom had been deprived of oxygen
00:24:49
for 15 minutes
00:24:52
I've a Glee recall the right hug that
00:24:56
was an extreme pain of course and I was
00:24:58
just sitting in the backseat by myself
00:25:00
moaning and groaning from the pain but
00:25:03
apparently when I was riding home all of
00:25:06
a sudden I blurted out and said all was
00:25:08
so beautiful
00:25:09
any laying turn on said what was so
00:25:12
beautiful what are you talking about
00:25:13
well I didn't answer her at all and I
00:25:16
just continued to moan and groan for the
00:25:17
rest of the ride home
00:25:20
Elaine said to me don't you know what's
00:25:22
happened don't you know what you've had
00:25:24
that's called a near-death experience
00:25:26
whereupon my response was well I don't
00:25:29
believe in any of that hocus-pocus
00:25:30
baloney but shortly after I recuperated
00:25:35
from the injuries from this accident I
00:25:37
started saying things that I didn't
00:25:40
understand and my wife Elaine didn't
00:25:42
understand and one particular day I was
00:25:45
watching television and I kind of
00:25:47
blurted out max-planck and I said it
00:25:51
just like that who who's that so of
00:25:54
course I asked my family if they knew
00:25:56
who that was and Elaine said no I don't
00:25:59
know who it is and then she asked me do
00:26:01
you know who it is and my answer was
00:26:03
well no but you'll be hearing more about
00:26:06
him in the near future
00:26:11
Alaine encouraged him to write down his
00:26:13
thoughts Tom began to jot down complex
00:26:16
equations equations that could only have
00:26:19
been understood by a master of quantum
00:26:21
physics Tom also drew symbols like the
00:26:24
Greek letter Sai sometimes I would write
00:26:28
something down and know that it was
00:26:30
correct but I have no idea what it was
00:26:31
known as I would write down a
00:26:33
mathematical equation while I had
00:26:35
geometry in some algebra in high school
00:26:38
but this had symbols like triangles and
00:26:40
things like that in in an attempt to
00:26:45
find out the meaning of these arcane
00:26:47
symbols Sawyer went to the Rochester
00:26:49
library he was directed to the physics
00:26:55
section and asked for guidance from a
00:26:57
man he met at the stacks the man
00:27:01
suggested a textbook that contained
00:27:02
information on quantum physics and
00:27:04
biographies of its pioneering founders
00:27:06
Wow yeah I think possibly you might find
00:27:11
this one interesting thank you when I
00:27:17
opened it there were two things that
00:27:19
stood out on that page there was the
00:27:22
symbol sigh in the middle of the
00:27:24
paragraph and there was a title just
00:27:26
underneath a picture of a man and it
00:27:28
said Max Planck the most common things
00:27:35
we hear from people who have had
00:27:37
near-death experiences are that they
00:27:39
have a much greater sense now of being
00:27:41
part of something larger than themselves
00:27:42
they become interested in what could we
00:27:44
call the spiritual aspects of their
00:27:46
lives they are no longer invested in
00:27:49
things like individual fame fortune
00:27:53
material rewards competitiveness they're
00:27:57
much more involved in cooperation in
00:28:00
helping others than they were before
00:28:01
started being more loving person
00:28:03
he started caring about myself in a lot
00:28:07
of strangers or loved people he helped a
00:28:10
lot anybody needed help you would help
00:28:11
these people have undergone profound and
00:28:14
dramatic changes and their personality
00:28:16
and their lifestyle and their values all
00:28:19
of them talk about the import
00:28:20
of interpersonal relationships learning
00:28:23
how to love others a great sense of the
00:28:26
importance of wisdom and understanding
00:28:28
and certainly a renewed appreciation of
00:28:31
life this is a genuine spiritual
00:28:33
experience which profoundly and
00:28:35
dramatically changes the way they are
00:28:38
from then on out one of the real dangers
00:28:42
of all the attention the near-death
00:28:46
experience is getting in the media is it
00:28:49
a might romanticized death it might lead
00:28:52
people who are contemplating suicide to
00:28:56
think that death is a wonderful
00:28:58
experience I suppose the new death
00:29:01
experience does romanticize death in
00:29:03
that regard but if you listen to what
00:29:05
near-death experiences are saying
00:29:06
they're saying it also romantic eyes
00:29:08
--is life it makes life so much more
00:29:11
meaningful more purposeful more
00:29:12
beautiful than it was before
00:29:14
that suicide just becomes a not an
00:29:17
option anymore people have asked me if
00:29:19
death is so wonderful and so sensational
00:29:22
and you want to be part of that light
00:29:24
why don't you kill yourself that's very
00:29:26
important to me to stay to everybody
00:29:28
that suicide is an absolute
00:29:30
impossibility for me you know it's not
00:29:33
only a social and legal nono it's a
00:29:39
moral and spiritual nono also to even
00:29:41
think of or consider suicide
00:29:43
I think the way these people will
00:29:45
respond to the experience and the degree
00:29:49
of change that they experience after it
00:29:51
points to a tremendously powerful force
00:29:53
the types of changes they experience
00:29:55
afterwards the unusual abilities they
00:29:57
have to afterwards point to something
00:29:58
far greater than we're aware of now our
00:30:01
usual explanations of the way the brain
00:30:02
the way the mind works in terms of
00:30:04
physiology just don't explain what's
00:30:06
going on something larger at work here
00:30:08
than we're aware of yet
00:30:15
are these strange journeys only a
00:30:17
prelude to a life after death or are
00:30:19
they hallucinations
00:30:21
religions around the world of grapple
00:30:23
with a metaphysical aspects of these
00:30:24
questions and scientists have tried to
00:30:26
explain it in physical terms
00:30:28
clearly death and what comes after is a
00:30:31
most profound unsolved mystery of them
00:30:34
all on a previous broadcast we examine
00:30:45
the story of Dan Whillans a mysterious
00:30:47
prospector who spent his life searching
00:30:49
for gold in the Canadian wilderness we
00:30:51
asked our audience to help locate his
00:30:53
unknown heirs in 1926 woolens was
00:31:00
panning at Red Lake in the province of
00:31:01
Ontario when he found gold
00:31:03
he and his partner staked their claim
00:31:05
and established one of the most
00:31:07
profitable small gold mines in Canadian
00:31:09
history in 1936 dan Wilden set out into
00:31:14
the wilderness to do some solitary
00:31:15
prospecting he was never seen again
00:31:18
woolens left behind in a state of almost
00:31:20
100 thousand dollars which today may be
00:31:23
worth as much as three and a half
00:31:24
million dollars it has remained
00:31:26
unclaimed for more than 50 years update
00:31:32
within days of our broadcast
00:31:34
Davy Williams a New York businessman
00:31:36
called our 800 number claiming he might
00:31:38
be one of the heirs to Dan Williams
00:31:40
fortunately my grandfather we have
00:31:45
determined came from the UK to Ontario
00:31:47
in 1895 at that time he was 11 years of
00:31:51
age we believe he traveled with another
00:31:55
family member and we also have been told
00:31:57
that there was a cousin someplace up in
00:32:00
the outback of Ontario but there was
00:32:02
never any contact with that individual
00:32:04
through the years so when this unsolved
00:32:07
mysteries program aired and this Dan
00:32:09
Willens a Bushman from Ontario was was
00:32:12
disclosed it certainly was an exciting
00:32:14
possible link for our family tree
00:32:17
searching
00:32:18
Davee wooden scooter Toronto to meet Joe
00:32:20
Perkins one of mandolins last surviving
00:32:23
friends he brought along photographs of
00:32:25
his grandfather Harold Willis and his
00:32:27
great-grandfather John Doe is to see if
00:32:29
there was a family resemblance with
00:32:32
uncanny I couldn't believe the
00:32:36
similarity of the face no spacing the
00:32:41
eye forehead and I think if you took the
00:32:46
beard off the old man they'd look like
00:32:50
twins indeed there does seem to be a
00:32:53
strong resemblance our great-grandfather
00:32:56
John grandfather Harold and prospector
00:32:58
Dan Williams all blood relatives is
00:33:01
Davey and heir to Dan Williams fortune
00:33:04
certainly money is important everybody
00:33:06
and if the Ontario government is holding
00:33:09
considerable assets that could
00:33:11
rightfully be claimed by a Whillans then
00:33:13
I'd like to see that happen I don't know
00:33:15
if it'll be me and my cousins or not but
00:33:18
maybe now we can get some will answers
00:33:20
to come forward and maybe we do have a
00:33:22
strong case to be made and certainly we
00:33:25
are going to take the next steps to
00:33:26
pursue that possibility
00:33:29
[Music]
00:33:37
in a moment the story of a 46 year old
00:33:40
repent who was brutally murdered in a
00:33:42
quiet town in rural Ohio police have
00:33:45
three bizarre theories no suspects
00:33:51
[Music]
00:33:59
May the 23rd 1982 in the small town of
00:34:02
Hamer's Ville oh hi Oh fifteen year old
00:34:04
boy riding his Paris lawnmower back home
00:34:07
after a mowing job made a terrible
00:34:09
discovery it was a man's body nude and
00:34:15
beaten that night the man would be
00:34:18
identified as 46 year old Herman Gilbert
00:34:20
an appliance repairman who lived just
00:34:23
seven miles from the place his body was
00:34:25
found the most puzzling thing about
00:34:28
premon Gilbert's murder is that he
00:34:30
appeared to those who knew him delete
00:34:31
such a normal non-controversial life yet
00:34:34
some believe that just beneath the
00:34:36
comforting small-town facade dark forces
00:34:38
swirled as a citizens of Clermont County
00:34:41
Ohio discuss Perman Gilbert's murder
00:34:43
phrases like organized crime drug
00:34:46
trafficking and jealous husband began to
00:34:49
surface Gilbert was a beloved husband
00:34:53
and father of four he and his family
00:34:55
belonged to the Church of Christ and
00:34:57
participated in the civic life of the
00:34:59
rural Ohio County where they had lived
00:35:00
their whole lives premon Gilbert
00:35:04
remained close to his siblings
00:35:05
especially his youngest brother who was
00:35:07
always in and out of trouble with the
00:35:08
law
00:35:10
Herman's hobby was flying but he was
00:35:12
employed as an appliance repairman
00:35:14
assigned by a nationally known company
00:35:16
as their troubleshooter he worked for
00:35:19
the large firm during the week but on
00:35:20
Saturdays premon made independent
00:35:22
service calls answering only to himself
00:35:26
when he left that Saturday morning it
00:35:28
was probably 8:30 and he said he didn't
00:35:32
want to go and it just now it bothers me
00:35:35
I that's what I remember about him
00:35:38
leaving that morning
00:35:41
Bremen Gilbert service appointments at
00:35:43
Saturday morning took him to Mount Orab
00:35:45
Ohio and also further south to
00:35:48
Georgetown and Aberdeen Ohio
00:35:51
hi mr. Gilbert how are you fine just
00:35:53
call me perm perm I keep smelling gas in
00:35:56
my kitchen I think it's my pilot light
00:35:58
gilbert service calls had put him at the
00:36:00
southernmost tip of ohio when the calls
00:36:03
were completed he crossed the Simon
00:36:05
Kenton bridge into Maysville Kentucky
00:36:06
and stopped in at a large market and
00:36:08
variety store and Brees who works at the
00:36:12
market checkout counter remembers his
00:36:14
visit that Saturday he was tall a
00:36:19
nice-looking man
00:36:20
he was always bearing me greeted you you
00:36:24
know very friendly every time you saw
00:36:26
him I never saw the man down or act like
00:36:29
he had a care in the world would usually
00:36:39
say that to me and he knew that I
00:36:40
wouldn't go to lunch with him you know
00:36:42
just usual chit chatter when Berman left
00:36:46
the market checkout counter he walked
00:36:48
into the flower shop next door he pushed
00:36:53
the buzzer I came from the back and I
00:36:56
could help him he'd like to know if
00:36:59
another employee was here and I said no
00:37:02
she doesn't come in till 4:00 and if I
00:37:04
could help him anyway and he said no he
00:37:06
wanted to order some flowers and they
00:37:09
knew what he wanted and everything and
00:37:11
he said he would come back later she
00:37:14
knows what I wanted okay thank you there
00:37:17
was nothing unusual about him here just
00:37:19
a normal customer he wasn't nervous or
00:37:21
anything when I when I met him
00:37:24
no one can account for Perlman Gilbert's
00:37:27
movements after he left the flower shop
00:37:29
he had told his wife he would be back
00:37:31
home around 3 p.m.
00:37:33
he did not arrive then it got to be dark
00:37:37
and he wasn't here it got to be midnight
00:37:41
and I was scared and I was afraid to go
00:37:45
out even I had a small child and I was
00:37:49
afraid to put her in the car and go out
00:37:50
looking and then I think about three
00:37:54
o'clock in the morning I called one of
00:37:56
our friends and you know do you have you
00:37:58
seen Berman do you know where he said
00:38:00
anything like that and they didn't
00:38:04
Joanne Gilbert called the police they
00:38:08
were unable to turn up any leads until
00:38:09
late the next afternoon when her
00:38:11
husband's body was found
00:38:13
he was completely nude he didn't have
00:38:17
any clothes on that bothers me I would
00:38:20
like to know why that was done I've
00:38:24
heard it's to humiliate the family I
00:38:26
don't know that's why it was done maybe
00:38:29
it was done to can make it longer to
00:38:33
identify him because no cloth fibers
00:38:37
were found in the two bullet wounds
00:38:39
Clermont County police believe that
00:38:41
Perman had been naked above the waist at
00:38:43
the time he was shot
00:38:46
[Music]
00:38:49
Herman's billfold carrying the symbol of
00:38:51
the Masons was missing along with his
00:38:53
clothes so is the masonic belt buckle he
00:38:55
always wore
00:38:59
although permis clothes were never found
00:39:01
his van was located the next day 22
00:39:04
miles away from the spot where his body
00:39:06
had been discovered Hermann Gilbert's
00:39:09
watch was still hanging on the gearshift
00:39:11
lever his tool box was him there parts
00:39:17
and supplies was in place in the van we
00:39:20
did do an inspection of the van and
00:39:25
recover fingerprints and hair samples
00:39:27
and at this time we have not been able
00:39:30
to match the fingerprints and hair
00:39:33
samples to anyone in the investigation
00:39:37
that followed Bremen Gilbert's death
00:39:39
three theories evolved I think that that
00:39:43
whatever happened to him had something
00:39:45
to do with drugs Herman was a licensed
00:39:49
pilot he owned a small plane which he
00:39:51
flew out of a makeshift landing strip on
00:39:53
his farm
00:39:58
Harlen told me that he had been
00:40:02
approached to fly drugs just a little
00:40:12
trip and all we had to do was to take
00:40:15
the airplane and fly it to a certain
00:40:18
airport
00:40:19
go and have a cup of coffee come back
00:40:22
out and there would be money laying on
00:40:24
the seat or under the seat these guys so
00:40:29
quit bugging me I'm gonna call the
00:40:31
authorities and it would have been easy
00:40:33
money but that's against the law and it
00:40:36
was against everything that we believed
00:40:38
in I believe that he knew too much about
00:40:42
what was going on as far as who was
00:40:44
involved with drugs and he wasn't
00:40:45
because he would not go along with her
00:40:48
plan that he was beaten and killed
00:40:50
because of it the second theory revolves
00:40:54
around premon Gilbert's youngest brother
00:40:56
Vernon Vernon was 12 years younger than
00:40:59
Perman and they were devoted to one
00:41:01
another in February of 1982 when Vernon
00:41:06
was called to testify in an organized
00:41:08
crime case Hermann stood by him okay it
00:41:12
should be about an hour so thanks the
00:41:19
actual hearings were closed to the
00:41:20
public and Perman had to kill time while
00:41:23
his brother was testifying he began to
00:41:26
suspect that he was being followed
00:41:31
Herman Gilbert had told acquaintances
00:41:34
that he felt at the day at the federal
00:41:37
court building that a man was following
00:41:41
him around I don't know of any person
00:41:44
that might have been following Perman
00:41:47
Gilbert and it was not any of our
00:41:48
personnel perhaps premon Gilbert had
00:41:52
become a target of organized crime maybe
00:41:55
my husband knew too much
00:41:57
maybe Herman was killed to lure his
00:42:01
brother back to the funeral and because
00:42:03
they were after him really and but then
00:42:06
his brother didn't come to this funeral
00:42:10
the third theory is that permanent may
00:42:13
have been involved in a crime of passion
00:42:21
the very nature of Herman Gilbert's home
00:42:25
appliance repair business placed him
00:42:28
into many many households alone with a
00:42:31
family member
00:42:33
yes I thought it was very attractive in
00:42:35
I know other women were very attracted
00:42:38
to him - he was tall about 6 -
00:42:42
well-built had nice hair pretty eyes and
00:42:48
a nice-looking man
00:42:51
I really didn't know about his death
00:42:54
until someone from in his home area came
00:42:59
through said there was one or two
00:43:01
theories but one was that they thought
00:43:05
jealous boyfriend her husband had killed
00:43:08
him I feel at the crime of passion
00:43:11
theory doesn't hold up because that's
00:43:15
supposed to be something that's very
00:43:17
Swift and they beat around on him like
00:43:20
someone was trying to get information
00:43:22
out of him or something what we need now
00:43:25
is for someone to come forward and help
00:43:27
us trace perman Gilbert from that flower
00:43:32
shop
00:43:32
anyone that has seen him around the
00:43:36
flower shop or in the parking lot with
00:43:40
his cream and brown van at that time or
00:43:44
later in the day we'd like to hear from
00:43:46
and I feel like there are people out
00:43:48
there in the community that know what
00:43:49
happened to my father
00:43:50
and for fear of their own lives for
00:43:53
other people they're afraid to speak up
00:43:55
I wish that they would come forward and
00:43:57
fill in those bits and pieces for us
00:43:59
[Music]
00:44:11
next week on unsolved mysteries an
00:44:14
examination of the legend of Billy the
00:44:16
Kid that suggests history may have to be
00:44:18
rewritten most historians and Hollywood
00:44:20
screen versions claim that Billy was
00:44:22
dramatically gunned down by his friend
00:44:24
Sheriff Pat Garrett in 1881 but the
00:44:26
people of tiny heiko Texas say that's
00:44:28
all bunk at one of their own citizens a
00:44:31
man named brushy bill Roberts was a real
00:44:34
Billy the Kid that he died in 1950 69
00:44:37
years after the famous gunfight we'll
00:44:40
examine the evidence next week on
00:44:42
unsolved mystery
00:44:46
[Music]
