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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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the 1962 sonny liston defeated floyd
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patterson to become a heavyweight boxing
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champion of the world nine years later
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he was dead what police claimed was an
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overdose of drugs Sunny's family and
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friends believe he was murdered in Texas
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21 year old elizabeth campbell stalked
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off into the night after an argument
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with her boyfriend she banished and some
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believe she's being held hostage by a
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mysterious abductor Sharon Stevens
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childhood was a succession of unhappy
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foster homes then she met a couple who
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literally changed her life teaching her
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the true meaning of the word love
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today Sharon was to find this couple and
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say thank you also tonight the story of
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how unsolved mysteries helped to bring a
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family together last month we profile
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six Oklahoma children were tragically
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separated back in 1960 thanks to our
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broadcast they all met for the first
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time in more than 29 years
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join me tonight for their touching and
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heartwarming reunion
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[Music]
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[Applause]
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[Music]
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Paterson is a proud champion listen you
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all know it has a good left hand
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September 25th 1962 the title bound for
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the heavyweight boxing championship of
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the world
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the current titleholder Floyd Patterson
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battles a 30 year old former convict
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named Charles Sonny Liston
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[Applause]
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in two minutes and six seconds Patterson
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is locked out Sonny Liston is no world
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champion
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[Applause]
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[Music]
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nine years later Las Vegas Nevada
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January the fifth 1971 Liston's wife
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Jerry arrived back at their home from a
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trip out of town she was worried that
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she had not been able to talk to her
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husband for several days
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all right
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as she walked toward their bedroom she
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saw sunny lying on the bed Sonny Liston
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was dead from what officials claimed was
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an accidental drug overdose but his
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family and friends believe the official
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verdict may be wrong no he never used
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drugs he used drank every night anybody
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Sonny never used no drugs if he did I
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didn't know anything about the girls and
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I'm sure I know a dope head when I see
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one and Sonny never used drugs I am sure
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in mr. Liston's life he had enemies and
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I somehow believe one of them killed him
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or several of them killed him and I
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don't think one man could have done it
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I'm sure it took several the rise and
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fall of Sonny Liston reflects the brutal
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and occasionally corrupt boxing world
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that he dominated in the early 1960s and
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the circumstances of his death had never
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been satisfactorily explained in fact as
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compelling evidence Sonny Liston was
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murdered a victor who became a victim
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his story began with a lonely bus ride
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in 1944
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[Music]
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one of 25 children of a sharecropper in
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Arkansas Sonny Liston endured frequent
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beatings as a child at the age of 12
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after selling a bag of pecans for bus
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fare
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Sonny left for st. Louis and a better
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future but once he arrived Liston's life
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would take a violent turn a path that
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would eventually lead to prison most of
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his prison records were strong-arming
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'we would turn to the streets and
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strong-arm people to get money to make a
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living after all he come from a big
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family so somebody had to support him so
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he done what he had to do to make a
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living in 1950 Liston received two
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concurrent five-year terms for the armed
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robbery of a gas station while in prison
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Liston channeled his considerable
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strength into boxing after 29 months he
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was paroled in 1953 Sonny went
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professional winning 32 of his first
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thirty three bouts 22 by knockouts Sonny
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was the type of fighter when he got in
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the ring he was mean he come to fight
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and he had only one thing in mind when
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he went out and that was to win by 1962
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Sonny was ready to make his successful
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bid for Floyd Patterson's heavyweight
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title he was one of the toughest most
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durable fighters of all time you
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couldn't knock him off his feet he was
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awesome
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after his victory over Paterson sunny
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was champion for 17 months until he met
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a young man named Cassius Clay one day
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become a medallion
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[Applause]
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Alley superior agility simply
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overwhelmed the champion after six
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rounds Liston gave up
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Mohammed Ali on the time
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[Applause]
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during Ali's reign as champion Liston
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stayed in Las Vegas rumors circulated
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that Liston was drinking heavily during
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this time he befriended a boxing referee
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named Davey pearl Sonny was a very hard
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man to get to know he was quiet and he
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was a loner
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he was very rarely with anybody because
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he didn't trust very many people and I
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didn't blame him
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Sonny was really on the downside with
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his career and people beat him out of
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millions of dollars you know phony
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managers and they had this gone invest
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your money with this and that had mr.
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fighter is a strike it rich
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[Music]
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and he was such a nice guy and it was a
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shame that most people didn't realize
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how nice a guy he really was in 1967 Ali
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was stripped of his title after he
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refused to be drafted Liston decided to
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resume training for his boxing career
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once back in the ring
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Sonny won 14 consecutive bucks baby
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pearl became his unofficial manager and
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signed listened to fight an
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up-and-coming young heavyweight from New
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Jersey Chuck Wepner the two men both had
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eyes on Ali's vacant heavyweight title
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day after day Liston prepared to meet
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and beat Wepner I wanted Sonny to win
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that fight and Sonny wanted to win the
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fight because had he won the fight he
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would have gotten a big money fight
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there were rumors as some gamblers were
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betting heavily on Liston to lose Johnny
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toko believes that two days before the
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fight
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Liston had a meeting and two of these
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gamblers
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he glanced over and seen these two black
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gentlemen and he said go over and sit on
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a while in the lobby he said I'll be
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over in a little bit all right
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so how you doing it I believe the Sun II
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was approached to drop the fight he had
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to be approached because the talk that
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was around it seemed to me like they
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wondered a Chuck no Chuck Wepner wind
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and the only way they can do that Sonny
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would have to be involved welcome to the
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US June 29th 1970 City New Jersey Sonny
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Liston was ready to take his first step
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on the road back to the top only local
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favorite Chuck Wepner walked his way hey
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Sonny
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everything's okay go to work on the guy
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well fit the six rounds Sonny told me
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and it's the first time in my life that
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I ever thought I would hear this from
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him
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he says I'm afraid to hit this guy
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anymore yeah it hit him so many times in
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the face by the ninth round Liston had
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beaten Wepner so severely that the fight
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was finally stopped
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Wepner needed 54 stitches in his face
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alone Sonny Liston had taken that first
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important step towards regaining his
00:09:46
former title but that step may have
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endangered his life
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January 5th 1971 just six months after
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the Wepner fight Liston's body was
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discovered by his wife police were
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summoned to the scene in Liston's
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kitchen and Plainview investigators
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found three small bags of heroin on top
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of the kitchen counter a small amount of
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marijuana was also discovered in Sonny's
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pocket and a syringe was found near his
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body take him on down to the morgue my
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opinion was two things was either
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natural or self induced the drug
00:10:27
overdose and the only reason I dwell on
00:10:30
the drug is simply because there was
00:10:32
this found in the kitchen
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an autopsy discovered needle marks on
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Liston's right arm and the official
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report stated that Liston had died of a
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cardiac arrest after injecting himself
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with heroin but surprisingly only small
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traces of heroin byproducts were found
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in his body there is some trace of
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morphine and codeine found in the kidney
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tissue but the level of drugs in his own
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tissues did not indicate that it was an
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overdose type of drug death just one
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month before listing had been briefly
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hospitalized after a car accident he
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receive intravenous medicine in his
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right arm and baby pearl believes that
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that is where the tell-tale needle mark
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came from what happened to you hey the
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needles were the passion a few times you
00:11:30
know he'd start to get him running nose
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or something like that a little cold and
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I said come on Sonny I'll take it to the
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doctor he wouldn't go to the doctor mr.
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Liston would not go for common shots for
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colds or flu because he hated the needle
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to that extent that he would make a fuss
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when it was necessary to go
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I think mr. Liston was killed he was a
00:11:56
strong healthy man he was not depressed
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he was not prone to suicide certainly I
00:12:01
think Sonny Liston was murdered I think
00:12:05
that somebody promised him some sort of
00:12:07
a deal at that time Sonny had no income
00:12:10
a lot of fellas you know proposition for
00:12:13
different business deals he's hanging
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around with the wrong crowd and I told
00:12:17
Sahn I just keep away from these people
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but if Liston was on someone's hit list
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how was this murder carried out with no
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signs of violence some believe that he
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was slipped a drug drink and then taken
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home once there Liston was given the
00:12:33
fatal shot but if this theory is true
00:12:39
why were such minut traces of chemicals
00:12:41
found in his body even if he had
00:12:44
committed suicide why would he have
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injected himself with such a small
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amount of heroin to this day Liston's
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death remains shrouded in mystery
00:12:55
so what actually happened you know I
00:12:59
often wonder but I I don't know he did
00:13:07
come from nowhere to get where he was
00:13:10
and I like the world to know that he was
00:13:12
a good hug he was a good man that's why
00:13:16
I like the world to remember
00:13:17
[Music]
00:13:21
the past 20 years Sonny Liston's
00:13:24
accomplishments have been tarnished by
00:13:25
the circumstances of his death was his
00:13:28
death caused by an accidental drug
00:13:29
overdose or was Sonny Liston murdered
00:13:32
because he wouldn't lose when he was
00:13:33
told to Sonny Liston's family and
00:13:36
friends demand an answer to these
00:13:37
questions in October we presented the
00:13:48
touching story of a family from Locust
00:13:50
Grove Oklahoma that was torn apart by
00:13:52
poverty and an abusive father in the
00:13:57
spring of 1960 an Oklahoma Court
00:13:59
determined the top rogers and his wife
00:14:01
Edith were unfit parents that five sons
00:14:06
and daughter were taken away and
00:14:07
subsequently adopted into six different
00:14:09
homes where they grew up isolated from
00:14:12
one another in February of 1984 two of
00:14:18
the Rogers children senior Wangler and
00:14:20
John Regan were reunited after 26 years
00:14:23
of separation
00:14:24
[Music]
00:14:28
within several weeks John and Celia
00:14:31
managed to find two more of their
00:14:32
brothers Vernon and Robert when they
00:14:36
told me I'd never see my brothers and
00:14:37
sister again I know better than that
00:14:39
because I knew I loved him and they was
00:14:42
my family and I was gonna find him and I
00:14:44
never left my mind for 26 years for the
00:14:49
last five years
00:14:50
Celia John and Robert have searched for
00:14:52
their two other missing brothers Joey
00:14:53
and the happy ending to this story to me
00:14:58
is when I get a phone call from my other
00:15:01
brothers that that be the truly happy
00:15:04
ending found him thanks to our broadcast
00:15:10
John Ritter's dream of a happy ending
00:15:12
became a reality
00:15:13
the morning after the story aired John
00:15:15
contacted his brothers Joey and Billy
00:15:17
for the first time in almost 30 years
00:15:19
the Rogers children immediately made
00:15:21
arrangements for a reunion
00:15:24
Joey was five and Billy just a year old
00:15:27
when the family was separated
00:15:29
[Music]
00:15:37
the morning of October 27th 34 year-old
00:15:40
Joey who's adopted name is rusty
00:15:42
Dunivant arrived at his sister's seniors
00:15:44
home in Oklahoma City rusty lives only
00:15:51
36 miles from his brother job amazingly
00:15:54
they have mutual friends and I've even
00:15:56
met socially on a number of occasions
00:15:59
we've brushed shoulders several times in
00:16:03
several places we were thin speaking
00:16:07
distance of each other and I've seen him
00:16:08
eye-to-eye and and there what an Oni is
00:16:11
my brother later that day the youngest
00:16:15
of the Rogers children Billy whose name
00:16:17
has now Chuck young arrived at the
00:16:19
airport and was greeted by his brothers
00:16:21
and sister
00:16:22
[Music]
00:16:31
Chuck who lives in Tennessee watched our
00:16:34
broadcast and was shocked and he
00:16:35
realized that he was one of the missing
00:16:37
brothers at the end of the show they put
00:16:40
the family picture together well I seen
00:16:43
me sitting there and I just got up by
00:16:46
the chair and I said that's me that's me
00:16:48
you know they looking for me the rogers
00:16:52
family
00:16:53
this reunion marks the beginning of a
00:16:55
new chapter in their lives the part of
00:17:02
our hearts that was torn out years ago
00:17:04
and now you know I don't I don't hurt
00:17:07
anymore because that part of my heart's
00:17:09
been replaced it's back again and it
00:17:13
feels good god this is toast us and I
00:17:18
want y'all to know I love all they heard
00:17:22
today
00:17:24
[Music]
00:17:36
it was Christmas morning in Torrance
00:17:38
California
00:17:39
the year was 1957 Sharon Stevens her
00:17:43
parents and brothers and sisters were
00:17:44
celebrating around the tree
00:17:47
Sharon's real mother had died in an auto
00:17:49
accident when Sharon was three months
00:17:51
old she had drawn closer to her father
00:17:53
I shouldn't buckle well I like it I love
00:18:00
it this is great
00:18:08
this is great good look nice and the
00:18:12
buckle was silvered and it was not very
00:18:15
pretty or gives me goose bumps when I
00:18:18
think about it yeah getting beat a lot
00:18:21
with it you lie to me girl I still think
00:18:25
about it now and then and I get very
00:18:27
upset when I think about it I remember
00:18:29
it cutting me quite a few times because
00:18:32
the way the size of the buffer was it
00:18:34
used to cut my skin
00:18:39
I've been slashed in the face and the
00:18:42
legs and the arms all over once he
00:18:46
started it seemed like he couldn't
00:18:48
finish like you get outrageous was it
00:18:50
just too fun I guess until he got
00:18:52
exhausted it wasn't a pretty buckle
00:18:55
anyway the abuse at the hands of her
00:19:01
father continued for a year until 1959
00:19:03
when she was taken to live with new
00:19:05
foster parents in a childhood marked by
00:19:11
beatings and loneliness there are a few
00:19:12
memories that Sharon cares to recall
00:19:14
save one a couple named Bill and Cynthia
00:19:17
szalinski took her into their home and
00:19:19
for a few months Sharon discovered what
00:19:21
it was like to live with a loving family
00:19:23
they taught her how to trust how to
00:19:25
communicate and how to love today Sharon
00:19:28
wants to find this couple I showed them
00:19:30
how an emotionally devastated young girl
00:19:32
has grown up into a caring responsible
00:19:34
adult
00:19:35
this is Sharon's story what her foster
00:19:41
home Sharon was angry and rebellious she
00:19:43
fought regularly with her new parents
00:19:46
problems in trouble what is the matter
00:19:49
to you you care so much once to have
00:19:51
your kids leave me alone can't you
00:19:53
cooperate can't you try to go with the
00:19:55
thoughts of these things get you to
00:19:59
listen can't you they just couldn't
00:20:05
handle me
00:20:05
I had a chip on my shoulder because of
00:20:08
everything that happened in the past and
00:20:10
I just felt that you know the world
00:20:13
wasn't there for me you know the world
00:20:15
hated me and so I'm gonna be
00:20:18
hard you know I was very hard and very
00:20:20
cold one afternoon Sharon came home from
00:20:26
school to find her social worker waiting
00:20:28
she had been kicked out of her foster
00:20:29
home it was time to move on again I was
00:20:35
very upset because of the transition I
00:20:38
had to make again I was just a little
00:20:39
girl and I knew no one I had to make new
00:20:42
friends and go to new schools and I
00:20:44
didn't know how the new foster parents
00:20:46
were going to be if they were gonna you
00:20:48
know be abusive in any way that I was
00:20:51
already used to Sharon was sent to the
00:20:57
Gardena California home of Bill and
00:20:59
Cynthia szalinski at first she treated
00:21:02
her new parents as adversaries
00:21:03
Sharon had grown cynical tough and felt
00:21:06
that she was only a pawn in a system
00:21:08
that didn't care but as time passed she
00:21:12
noticed that the solinsky's were
00:21:13
different I know but it's nine o'clock
00:21:15
in it's bedtime
00:21:16
I don't go to sleep I'm not tired you've
00:21:19
had a big day and I know it's you can
00:21:21
just go to bed I can take care of it no
00:21:23
no no well someone here just doesn't
00:21:28
want to go to bed and we have rules here
00:21:31
and my other houses they didn't care
00:21:33
what time I went to bed oh the other
00:21:35
houses tell me about the other houses
00:21:38
they knew how to parent they really knew
00:21:41
how to parent they were childless and I
00:21:44
don't understand how they got all the
00:21:45
patients they had but they hung in there
00:21:47
with patients with me and instead of
00:21:49
just giving up and throwing up their
00:21:50
hands and saying forget it she's a lost
00:21:52
cause they knew that I was probably
00:21:54
young enough to change and they knew
00:21:57
that there was a good little girl under
00:21:59
all that skin somewhere you know I had a
00:22:01
good heart somewhere and they're gonna
00:22:02
bring the goodness out of me and they
00:22:05
did life with a zelinsky's was like
00:22:08
something out of a dream they cared I
00:22:10
honored believe me every day when Sharon
00:22:13
came home from school for lunch
00:22:15
Cynthia szalinski was there she would
00:22:17
tutor Sharon with flashcards in an
00:22:19
attempt to improve her grades
00:22:21
I got 32 she forced me to do it and
00:22:25
after a while I started liking it and I
00:22:27
went from an F to an A student and then
00:22:30
I really liked it now the purpose of the
00:22:33
dance forest for balance at the urging
00:22:36
of the Solinsky sharon fulfilled a
00:22:38
childhood dream began to take ballet
00:22:40
lessons they build you a dance bar then
00:22:43
furnish the reference and they went all
00:22:47
out you know to make it happy especially
00:22:49
when he put a bar you know my own bar
00:22:52
she even did the ballet steps with me
00:22:55
and it showed me that they really loved
00:22:58
and cared for me enough to you know
00:23:00
introduce me to this type of thing
00:23:03
Sharon and one should meet somebody
00:23:05
special they bought me this dancing doll
00:23:08
and there's a lot of love and tears
00:23:09
behind the perfect dance partner if you
00:23:12
don't have anybody to dance with or
00:23:14
somebody you need to talk to here she is
00:23:16
why don't you try her out
00:23:22
perhaps the high part of her childhood
00:23:24
was a birthday party at a neighbor of
00:23:26
his olinsky's in honor of the occasion
00:23:31
Cynthia had bought her a party dress and
00:23:35
I first was a little skeptical of going
00:23:37
and mrs. Zelinsky went with me you know
00:23:40
and I thought okay and so she she gave
00:23:44
me the present
00:23:45
you know she wrapped it all up and I
00:23:47
took it to a birthday party and I think
00:23:50
my present was one of the best ones
00:23:51
there and it made me feel proud that she
00:23:54
went out of her way to you know make
00:23:57
everything you know work it out and to
00:24:00
make me happy I felt very special for
00:24:03
one of the first times in my whole life
00:24:06
so I started to change in the right
00:24:09
respectful way they taught me respect
00:24:12
they taught me how to you know respect
00:24:15
other people and myself and that they
00:24:18
brought my self-esteem up and because I
00:24:21
had a very low self esteem about myself
00:24:23
they really changed I never wanted to
00:24:26
leave just one year after she arrived
00:24:33
Sharon's dream came to an end her father
00:24:35
had remarried on the court ordered that
00:24:37
Sharon be returned to his custody
00:24:39
I remember hugged mr. Zaleski goodbye
00:24:43
and I had no choice and it was very very
00:24:46
scary I felt so safe at the solinsky's
00:24:52
and loved it to solinsky's and that's
00:24:54
what I wanted that's what I needed and
00:24:56
that was no more so I went back with my
00:24:59
dad and my new stepmother and six of her
00:25:02
kids and none of us got along I just
00:25:06
didn't feel safe anymore I didn't feel
00:25:08
loved anymore
00:25:11
I was very homesick all the time a lot
00:25:15
of times I would pick up the dancing
00:25:17
doll and remember the good times that I
00:25:19
was dancing into solinsky's with it and
00:25:21
I cried dancing with the doll but it
00:25:24
made me feel a little safe and I did
00:25:26
have at least one memory of them you
00:25:28
know present with me
00:25:33
not long after Sharon's return she came
00:25:36
home from a friend's to find her brother
00:25:37
waiting dad's inside and he's got his
00:25:43
belt off and he wants you to get inside
00:25:46
why did I do
00:25:48
you're late not later Tony be home at
00:25:52
this time all I know is that you wants
00:25:55
you to get inside
00:26:07
hello mrs. Lewinsky this is Sharon
00:26:10
Stephens
00:26:13
the zelinsky's immediately sent a cab to
00:26:15
pick her up Jen was comforted by the
00:26:19
zelinsky's and in their company she
00:26:21
finally felt she was safe I said I
00:26:30
didn't feel loved there and I want to
00:26:32
come home and she said okay you're home
00:26:33
now and so we talked a couple of hours
00:26:35
and I asked her not to tell my dad and
00:26:37
she said she wouldn't and I went to bed
00:26:39
and I went back in the same bedroom I he
00:26:43
slept in and it felt good it did it felt
00:26:46
so good it felt so safe again you know
00:26:48
and I thought good I'm back home I'm not
00:26:50
ever leaving again a few hours later
00:26:57
Sharon awoke to hear her father's voice
00:27:01
my first thought was I was very upset
00:27:03
with the solinsky's for calling I
00:27:05
thought you know I felt betrayed and I
00:27:08
thought why would they do this to me and
00:27:10
I slept by a window and my second felt
00:27:13
was to go out that window and run again
00:27:15
the zelinsky's assured Sharon that her
00:27:17
father had promised not to hurt her
00:27:19
reluctantly she left her sanctuary but
00:27:22
when she arrived home she knew her worst
00:27:24
fear was about to come true my dad first
00:27:32
just said go to bed get your pajamas on
00:27:33
and go to bed and I thought no it's not
00:27:36
gonna end here I know my dad too well so
00:27:39
I went my dresser drawer I put on four
00:27:41
or five pair of pedal pushers which they
00:27:43
were called back then and a bunch of
00:27:45
blouses and that but my pajamas over
00:27:48
patting myself knowing something was
00:27:50
gonna happen and so I got into bed and I
00:27:52
put the covers way up on me and sure
00:27:54
enough about NSA or my dad came in with
00:27:56
his belt off and he just starts swinging
00:27:58
and I mean I was flying all over that
00:28:00
bed when he left the room he said stay
00:28:04
in bed and I was just shaking because it
00:28:06
hurt so bad through all those clothes he
00:28:08
had cut me all of them and he walked
00:28:14
back in and I was sitting on the side of
00:28:16
the bed and he screamed at me and said I
00:28:18
told you not to get up and he had still
00:28:20
had the belt in his hand and he slashed
00:28:21
me right across the face and I mean just
00:28:25
zip me to
00:28:26
blood and with that belt buckle and I
00:28:31
thought my god what did I do wrong
00:28:33
you know I didn't do anything wrong and
00:28:36
then he left the room and a couple of
00:28:39
days later school started and he was
00:28:41
arrested for child abuse after school
00:28:45
authorities contacted the police Sharon
00:28:47
was placed in three more foster homes
00:28:49
but not the zelinsky's Sharon still has
00:28:52
no idea why when she was 16 she gave
00:28:55
birth to her first child when she was 18
00:28:58
her second baby was killed by an abusive
00:29:01
relative but in 1974 Sharra's life began
00:29:07
to change for the better when she met
00:29:08
her husband Dean today she is living
00:29:11
near her married daughter and has a
00:29:12
six-year-old son it's not easy to be a
00:29:19
parent but it's easy when you have the
00:29:22
right tools I know I would have turned
00:29:25
out different
00:29:26
and a lot of it is because of the
00:29:27
solinsky's I know if it had meant for
00:29:30
them I probably would have been a child
00:29:34
abuser a drug addict a prostitute very
00:29:41
active alcoholic I feel I would have
00:29:44
turned out very bad if it hadn't been
00:29:48
for them you had the freedom in your
00:29:50
other homes and Sharon searched for
00:29:52
those olinsky's will continue until she
00:29:53
finds the company that literally saved
00:29:55
her life but we think a lot of you I
00:30:00
would like to be reunited with the Swiss
00:30:02
keys to tell them how much I appreciate
00:30:06
what they've done for me in the past
00:30:07
[Music]
00:30:09
it's a dream a hope a fantasy whatever
00:30:13
you want to call it but I've got to find
00:30:15
these people and I've got to say thank
00:30:16
you
00:30:17
[Music]
00:30:20
a 13-year Sharon tried to find the
00:30:22
solinsky's but was unable to locate them
00:30:24
and just minutes after her story aired
00:30:27
Sharon's search came to an end bill and
00:30:30
Cynthia szalinski were watching our
00:30:31
broadcast and called our telecenter we
00:30:33
immediately put Sharon in contact with
00:30:35
Bill and Cynthia and they made
00:30:37
arrangements for a reunion on November
00:30:41
25th
00:30:42
Sharon arrived at the Zielinski home in
00:30:44
Laguna Niguel California and met Bill
00:30:46
and Cynthia for the first time in almost
00:30:48
30 years
00:30:54
[Music]
00:31:01
bill and Cynthia who are now retired
00:31:03
were shocked when they saw Sharon stokoe
00:31:09
when you see your own life he'll part of
00:31:13
your life history unfolding on national
00:31:15
television your mind goes black you
00:31:18
don't hear anything else that's going on
00:31:21
but your mind goes back to 30 years ago
00:31:24
and all the memories that it brings back
00:31:27
I was very optimistic that someone out
00:31:33
there their friends relatives neighbors
00:31:35
someone if not their self would see it
00:31:37
and I was very surprised that they
00:31:41
themselves called him and he's got
00:31:45
goosebumps when I found out and I still
00:31:47
get goose phones for Sharon the reunion
00:31:54
with a zelinsky's was a long-awaited
00:31:55
chance to say thank you for the
00:31:57
inspiration and courage they gave her as
00:31:59
a young girl making a difference in
00:32:03
somebody's life is nice that's the only
00:32:07
way to describe it you feel like there
00:32:09
was a reason for what happened at the
00:32:12
time you don't know it but now you
00:32:14
realize there was a reason for
00:32:19
it's the only dream that I've ever had
00:32:22
just applying the Solinsky and it feels
00:32:25
great and it's like a dream come true
00:32:29
[Music]
00:32:32
next the story of a girl missing for
00:32:35
almost two years
00:32:36
eyewitnesses have seen her accompanied
00:32:38
by a strange man who experts believe may
00:32:40
have forced her into prostitution 10:00
00:32:54
p.m. April 25th 1988 21 year old college
00:32:58
student Elizabeth Campbell got into an
00:33:00
argument with her boyfriend Ricky and
00:33:01
angrily walked out of his home Killeen
00:33:03
Texas near Austin
00:33:07
[Music]
00:33:13
45 minutes later Elizabeth called Ricky
00:33:16
from a payphone 11 miles away - join
00:33:22
coppers code I got a ride I'm all scared
00:33:27
just come pick me up call me from the
00:33:31
Commun store and wanted me to come pick
00:33:34
her up we got in kind of a little
00:33:36
disagreement there because I was asking
00:33:38
her why she left my house without
00:33:39
telling me
00:33:40
that kind of frustrated me a little bit
00:33:42
I didn't understand really why she would
00:33:44
do something like this because it's not
00:33:46
like her like never mind I'll call my
00:33:49
parents don't worry about it that night
00:33:54
Elizabeth Campbell disappeared her
00:33:57
friends and family have not seen or
00:33:59
heard from her since
00:34:02
the daughter of a marine engineer and
00:34:05
his Korean wife Elizabeth lived at home
00:34:07
but was looking forward to attending
00:34:08
Texas A&M in the fall this was to be an
00:34:11
important step for Elizabeth for she had
00:34:13
led a quiet sheltered life and always
00:34:15
stayed very close to her family as soon
00:34:19
as we knew she was missing we knew
00:34:21
something that happened to her because
00:34:24
there's too much out of character for
00:34:26
her to not tell her mother where she was
00:34:29
when she was at home in a case such as
00:34:39
Elizabeth camels where we have a
00:34:40
responsible young lady that for no
00:34:43
apparent reason has just disappeared one
00:34:46
of the theories is and it's very
00:34:48
possible that Elizabeth is dead excuse
00:34:54
me I've easily seen this girl real
00:34:58
Elizabeth's parents refused to believe
00:35:01
that their daughter was gone they
00:35:03
launched their own investigation
00:35:04
distributing thousands of fliers
00:35:06
throughout Central Texas the determined
00:35:08
efforts soon paid off
00:35:12
only six days after she was reported
00:35:14
missing a girl matching Elizabeth's
00:35:17
description was spotted by a convenience
00:35:19
store clerk near Waco Texas
00:35:21
about 85 miles from where she
00:35:22
disappeared but this car drove up to the
00:35:28
fuel tank and a man got out the car and
00:35:32
took a young woman by the arm and
00:35:35
brought her into the store with him
00:35:37
holding on to Iran it wasn't as if it
00:35:42
was a boyfriend/girlfriend type hole is
00:35:45
dug his hand was above her wrist counter
00:35:55
and pushed a $20 bill out one hand off
00:36:01
of a row of money and I said there were
00:36:04
anything else I could get you and he
00:36:06
just shook his head the girl looked up
00:36:10
at me and I said yes could I help you at
00:36:12
all he said something to her in the
00:36:16
language that I didn't understand and
00:36:18
she dropped her head looked down as if
00:36:23
she was being punished or something you
00:36:26
know for trying to say something she
00:36:28
just hid put her face down and that was
00:36:31
the end of that
00:36:33
[Applause]
00:36:34
her mother came into the store a couple
00:36:36
of weeks later asking could she put up
00:36:39
this poster in the window about a
00:36:43
missing girl and it hit me just like
00:36:45
that I've seen that girl and she showed
00:36:49
me another picture a photograph and I
00:36:53
said that's the girl I saw what another
00:36:54
man in this door a couple of weeks ago
00:37:00
you see that girl in compras Cove Texas
00:37:04
two miles from her her daughter
00:37:05
disappeared Elizabeth's mother
00:37:07
discovered someone else who claimed to
00:37:09
have seen Elizabeth just two weeks after
00:37:11
she vanished but mrs. Campbell came in
00:37:15
she come up to the counter with three
00:37:17
pictures and asked me if I had seen her
00:37:19
daughter and I had told her yes that I
00:37:22
had about two weeks prior to that and
00:37:25
she was with an oriental man and that
00:37:28
they came in and got ice cream and the
00:37:30
whole time he brought her in he was
00:37:32
holding her by the wrist because the
00:37:39
second sighting matched the first year
00:37:40
in every detail
00:37:41
the Campbells were positive and in both
00:37:43
cases a young woman was Elizabeth like
00:37:48
the first thing that caught my eye
00:37:49
was it was his he had a real mean rough
00:37:52
look to him he gave the attitude that he
00:37:56
didn't want her to talk just to stay
00:37:58
silent and that's a weird situation
00:38:01
because if someone wants to talk they
00:38:03
usually talk but she didn't when I
00:38:08
handed the strawberry cone to him
00:38:10
Elizabeth Campbell looked up at me look
00:38:13
very sad today when I said you look very
00:38:16
sad today she immediately dropped her
00:38:18
eyes back down and wouldn't look
00:38:21
and vanilla for you Elizabeth Campbell
00:38:25
looked like she was being pulled around
00:38:27
she wasn't with him by choice despite
00:38:32
these two sightings local police are not
00:38:34
convinced that the young woman's scene
00:38:36
where the Asian man was Elizabeth but
00:38:40
two months later of July 10th another
00:38:42
person claimed they saw Elizabeth this
00:38:45
time at a gas station in Garland Texas
00:38:47
150 miles from where she had vanished I
00:38:51
just left my car going in to pay for the
00:38:54
gas and I bumped into Lizbeth coming out
00:38:58
of the store he acted as if maybe she
00:39:07
was frightened of someone or maybe she
00:39:10
was was being watched or that she was
00:39:13
speaking to someone that she shouldn't
00:39:14
be and I felt like she was really
00:39:18
wanting to say more than you know excuse
00:39:21
me
00:39:24
when I saw the photograph of Elizabeth I
00:39:27
automatically knew that that was the
00:39:29
girl that I had bumped into in Garland
00:39:30
because she had a tooth that overlapped
00:39:34
on the right hand side when she smiled
00:39:36
at me I'm just positive but that was
00:39:38
Elizabeth camera
00:39:42
based on these three sightings
00:39:44
Elizabeth's past believed that their
00:39:46
daughter is alive and is being held
00:39:48
against her will we believe that she's
00:39:53
being controlled by someone that she's
00:39:56
no longer able to think for herself
00:39:58
or try to come home or come immediately
00:40:02
seen this girl realm the Campbells fear
00:40:04
that Elizabeth may have been abducted
00:40:06
and is being forced to walk the streets
00:40:08
as a prostitute usually when someone
00:40:11
abducts another person for purposes of
00:40:15
prostitution they have a process of
00:40:18
where they strip away their identity and
00:40:20
supply them with the new oftentimes it
00:40:22
involves being repetitively raped they
00:40:25
may be beaten with whips they may be
00:40:26
tied up they may be chained they're
00:40:30
deprived of food they're deprived of
00:40:31
light they're deprived water of whatever
00:40:34
it takes in order to strip away their
00:40:35
identity and to force them to assume
00:40:38
another one
00:40:41
hi dr. Lewis Lee the sociologist and
00:40:45
founder of children of the night an
00:40:47
organization that rescues young people
00:40:49
from prostitution by providing
00:40:51
counseling and helping them find shelter
00:40:53
over the past 10 years she has worked
00:40:55
with thousands of young boys and girls
00:40:57
who have been forced into prostitution
00:41:00
my guess in a situation as Elizabeth is
00:41:05
that she's locked up against her will
00:41:07
and that the people are brought into
00:41:08
sexual abuse her or to take nude
00:41:11
pictures of her or to even film her in
00:41:12
acts of pornography it does not end the
00:41:16
things I've learned about this case it
00:41:18
does not seem to me that he would
00:41:19
actually put her on the streets and let
00:41:20
her work alone
00:41:24
but if the woman cited and gone under
00:41:26
was Elizabeth she was alone
00:41:28
why didn't she try to escape or even ask
00:41:31
for help
00:41:33
the temp creates an invisible leash by
00:41:36
presenting himself as if he's omnipotent
00:41:39
as if everybody works for him so no
00:41:41
matter where you go no matter what
00:41:43
you're doing I guess someone who works
00:41:45
for me
00:41:46
her friend of mine watching you so I
00:41:49
don't think that she's going to really
00:41:51
try and escape because she knows what
00:41:54
the consequences are she does try to
00:41:56
escape and doesn't
00:41:58
that's why she would never make eye
00:42:00
contact with anyone she's not allowed to
00:42:01
make eye contact with anyone and if she
00:42:04
does and she looks like she's asking for
00:42:06
help then she goes back to the closet
00:42:08
until she's learned
00:42:16
I've easily seen this girl room
00:42:21
she's our daughter and she's missing
00:42:23
although a year and a half has passed
00:42:25
since Elizabeth disappearance her
00:42:27
parents refused to give up hope
00:42:33
well there's no way we can give up until
00:42:36
we find out where she is what's happened
00:42:39
to her she's our daughter not what
00:42:42
somebody's trying to make she'll always
00:42:45
be on little girl
00:42:47
[Music]
00:42:49
experts believe that with a love and
00:42:51
support of her friends and family
00:42:53
Elizabeth will be able to regain her
00:42:55
pride and her lost sense of identity
00:42:56
there is currently a reward for any
00:42:59
information that leads to Elizabeth
00:43:00
returning home today Elizabeth Campbell
00:43:05
would be 22 years old she's 5 feet 2
00:43:08
inches tall weighs about 97 pounds and
00:43:10
has long brown hair her eyes are brown
00:43:12
and she occasionally wears glasses based
00:43:17
on the two eyewitness descriptions of
00:43:19
the man's seen with a young woman he
00:43:21
appears to be about 5 feet 7 inches in
00:43:23
height age 25 to 30 weight 160 pounds he
00:43:27
has acne scars on his face and seems to
00:43:29
have plucked his eyebrows in both
00:43:31
sightings he was wearing a silver
00:43:32
martial arts medallion with a gold chain
00:43:35
[Music]
00:43:46
next week on unsolved mysteries ralph
00:43:50
Sigler was a career army officer with a
00:43:52
wife a loving daughter and secret life
00:43:55
for over ten years
00:43:57
Ziegler was a double agent feeding the
00:43:59
soviet KGB false information but in 1976
00:44:03
Ziegler was found dead in the Maryland
00:44:04
hotel room
00:44:05
the US government called his death a
00:44:07
suicide the rouse family believes that
00:44:10
was murder and they want to know who was
00:44:12
responsible join me for another edition
00:44:17
of unsolved mysteries
00:44:18
[Music]
00:44:38
[Applause]
00:44:41
[Music]
