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Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 9, Episode 1 - Updated Full Episode

March 16, 2022 / 46:08

This episode of Unsolved Mysteries covers the Zodiac Killer and the Unabomber connection, the mysterious disappearances of two college students, and a miraculous recovery from a nerve disease.

The episode begins with a report on the Zodiac Killer, who terrorized Northern California decades ago, and the recent arrest of Theodore Kaczynski, the Unabomber. Investigators Mike Rusconi and Doug Oswell propose a theory that Kaczynski and the Zodiac Killer may be the same person, citing similarities in their methods and backgrounds.

Key discussions include the Zodiac's first victims in Vallejo, California, and Kaczynski's time as a mathematics professor at UC Berkeley. The episode highlights the cryptograms sent by the Zodiac and the eerie coincidences linking Kaczynski to the Zodiac's crimes.

In a separate segment, the episode covers the cases of April Gregory and Kristen Smart, two young women who vanished under mysterious circumstances on the same day. Their families share their heartache and hope for answers.

The episode concludes with the inspiring story of Trish Zemba, who overcame a rare nerve disease through faith and prayer after suffering severe pain and disability.

TL;DR

The episode connects the Zodiac Killer to the Unabomber, covers two mysterious disappearances, and features a miraculous recovery from a nerve disease.

Episode

46:08
00:00:07
tonight on the season premiere of
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unsolved mysteries we travel to san
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francisco for a stunning special report
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a generation ago the zodiac killer
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terrorized northern california striking
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at random taunting the police taking at
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least five lives
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but when the killing abruptly stopped
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the memories faded
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until this
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the dramatic arrest of theodore
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kaczynski the accused una bomber changed
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everything
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two investigators soon challenged the
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authorities with a remarkable theory
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they believe the una bomber and the
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zodiac are the same man
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theodore kaczynski
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it may seem improbable that the
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similarities are chilly and even
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skeptics admit the evidence is worth
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debating
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join me for this compelling
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investigation as well as these
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intriguing mysteries
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for fourteen-year-old trish zembler a
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fall from her horse marked the onset of
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a rare often incurable nerve disease
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the grim prognosis left her family with
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little to do but pray for a miracle
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a heartless murder in georgia leads to a
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dramatic shootout with police
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now a killer is on the run
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and from the current case file
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two young coeds two different
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universities to baffling disappearances
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stay with us perhaps you may be able to
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help solve a mystery
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[Music]
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here in the san francisco bay area the
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paths of two serial killers once crossed
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and recrossed seemingly intertwined
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yet the two haunted different decades
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and had markedly different tastes and
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murder
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an unmatched pair
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are merely different faces of the same
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madness
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the unabomber psychopathic general in a
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one-man war against society
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his targets anyone even loosely
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connected to technology
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university students airline officials
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computer salesman
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a decade earlier the zodiac he was
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obsessive and particular
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young couples moonlit knights secluded
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roads
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zodiac had five known victims though he
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claimed nearly 40
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he was never arrested never even
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identified
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the una bomber burst onto the scene in
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1978
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during an 18-year cross-country reign of
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terror he killed three and injured 23.
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he taunted police with letters all
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mailed from in and around the bay area
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frustrated officials said it was like
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chasing a ghost
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the unabomber was seen but once a
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sighting that resulted in this notorious
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portrait
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then
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april 1996 a suspect unmasked
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fbi agents named theodore kaczynski a
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55-year-old ex-mathematics professor as
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the elusive killer
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the fingerprints were hardly dry on
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kozinski's booking sheet when the case
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was spun in an entirely new direction by
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these two men mike rusconi and doug
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oswell
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working independently at opposite ends
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of the country and joining forces once
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their story hit the papers
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rusconi and oswell had each come up with
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the same stunning theory there's a
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there's a more even point of similarity
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i've concluded that there's a very good
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likelihood
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that the unabomber suspect ted kaczynski
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and zodiac are one and the same
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was there resemblance more than
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coincidence
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journalists wrote it off as unlikely
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to detectives it was doubtful
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but nobody said it was impossible
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at the age of 26 theodore john kaczynski
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was a rising star in the world of higher
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mathematics one of the youngest
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instructors ever hired by the university
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of california berkeley
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kozinski began teaching there in
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september of 1967.
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the zodiac crawled out of nowhere a
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little over a year later
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it was a full moon december 20th 1968.
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the zodiac's first victims were two
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teenagers parked on a lover's lane near
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the bay area town of vallejo
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[Music]
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both victims died at the scene
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to researchers mike rusconi and doug
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oswald huzinski's actions shortly after
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the murders were the first hint that he
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could be the zodiac killer
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one month later on january 20th 1969
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kozinski tendered his resignation from
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berkeley
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without any apparent motive and this
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astounded the people who worked with him
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it was just an inexplicable thing to do
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oswald and moscone find an even stronger
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link to kozinski and the zodiac's next
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murder some seven months later
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once again it was a full moon
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once again zodiac targeted two lovers
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parked on a secluded road near vallejo
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[Music]
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this time the zodiac left an eyewitness
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one of the intended victims mike mcgowan
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survived the shooting and watched the
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killer drive away
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mike mcgowan claimed that the man who
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shot him drove a light tan chevy
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ted kaczynski's brother in a washington
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post interview claimed that ted owned a
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1967 chevy malibu tan in color
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at the time of the killings
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it's an interesting comparison i mean
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certainly ted kaczynski the suspect was
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at berkeley
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roughly at the same time that the zodiac
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killings occur
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we know both
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enjoyed taunting the police
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however there's many more differences
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than similarities
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after the murders zodiac bombarded local
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newspapers with letters
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as a una bomber would a decade later
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zodiac loaded the envelopes with far
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more postage than necessary
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he teased that his identity would be
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revealed if authorities could only
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decipher a three-part coded message
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each section of the cryptogram consisted
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of letters and astrological symbols
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arranged according to an unknown formula
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robert graysmith of the san francisco
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chronicles saw the cryptograms firsthand
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the genius of of zodiac's cryptograms
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first of all he laid them out like works
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of art are very perfectly arranged
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he would use 16 different symbols for
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the letter e for instance
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and he would not repeat them he'd go
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completely through the 16 before he
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began he made it very very difficult he
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kept them short 360 symbols in the
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longest one that we had
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that made it difficult to break
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to oswan and rusconi the cryptograms
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forge yet another link between the
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zodiac and ted kaczynski
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cryptograms are the toys of
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mathematicians
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kozinski was a highly regarded
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mathematician he wasn't just a
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garden-variety mathematician he was
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he was touted as one of the top
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mathematicians in the country ted
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kaczynski was interested in very
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abstract mathematics
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there's not a lot of evidence that he
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was interested in astrology
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or the radeons
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or local geography
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or the full moon
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ted kaczynski is a man of numbers
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but not the kind of numbers that zodiac
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was interested in
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when the zodiac's message was finally
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deciphered it proved to be a vile ode to
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the joys of murder
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[Music]
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for the researchers there was one more
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connection to ted kaczynski
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the message was solved all except for
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the last 18 characters
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now coincidentally enough there happens
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to be 18 letters in the name theodore j
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kozinski
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so this possibly could be his signature
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at the end of the letter
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it was in these letters as zodiac
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introduced his now infamous symbol
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within a few weeks it would be seen
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again
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did you pack any more stuff in the
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basket yeah we've got apples bananas
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september 29 1969 just north of berkeley
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the zodiac stalked another couple
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don't worry about it all right
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don't move
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don't make any noise okay the intruder
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wore an executioner's hood
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emblazoned on his rope the sign of the
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zodiac
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what yeah tyra
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take my car keys man i don't once again
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it was a young man who would survive
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i'm an escaped convict from deer lodge
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montana and i don't have much time
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dear lodge montana
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the zodiac mention of such an obscure
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town to fight explanation
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until the capture of ted kaczynski at
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his cabin just 10 hours drive from deer
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lodge montana
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kozinski had owned the cabin for 25
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years
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after his arrest fbi agents catalog
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kaczynski's every possession
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buttons to bomb parts
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i would certainly have expected to have
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found
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in the investigation
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at suspect ted kaczynski's cabin
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something there that belonged to zodiac
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now suspect ted kaczynski kept
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everything the hood
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the sunglasses
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bomb making paraphernalia he had a
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fetish for keeping these what we call
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souvenirs why wasn't there one shred of
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evidence in that cabin
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linking him to zodiac
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you guys come here come here
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look at this
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as for the zodiac himself teenage
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partygoers in san francisco were the
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next to catch a glimpse of the furtive
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killer
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it was october 11th 1969 roughly two
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weeks after his last assault
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it was a zodiac's fifth known murder an
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unarmed cab driver
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however a police dispatcher garbled the
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eyewitness description hey buddy
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see anything suspicious around here in
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the last few minutes as a result police
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did not arrest the man they encountered
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less than a block from the murder scene
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he was going on east on washington
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thanks a lot
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the man walked off into the night
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soon after he sent a letter to a local
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newspaper
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inside was a blood stained slice of the
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cab driver's shirt and a mocking letter
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describing the encounter with police
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it was signed the zodiac
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authorities released this sketch of the
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suspect
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researchers oswald and moscone maintain
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that without glasses the face is
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familiar
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a young ted kaczynski
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they both had a strong lower jaw with a
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cleft small cleft in the chin
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both had a reddish tint to their hair
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and they both were about five nine
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also the age given for the zodiac killer
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was between 25 years of age and 30 years
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of age theodore kaczynski at that time
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was around 29 years old
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after the cab driver murder zodiac
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announced a new ammo
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instead of guns and knives he would now
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kill with bombs
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he threatened to target a school bus
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filled with children and enclosed
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diagrams of complex triggering devices
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despite his threats zodiac did not bomb
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a single target
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indeed he was never heard from again
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after his letter of april 1978
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but one month later the unabomber
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attacks were underway
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and the zodiac reinvented himself as an
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anti-technology warrior
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i think it would be quite unusual to
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change your mo like that to go from
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different kinds of weapons to suddenly
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ball making i
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i think there are a lot of interesting
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connections but i do not believe they
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are the same
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zodiac is a confrontational killer
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hands-on
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he enjoys looking at his victims
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he enjoys stabbing
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shooting
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so there's a marked difference there
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serial bombers like suspect ted
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kaczynski
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tend to be nerdy
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cerebral they enjoy killing from afar
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it's been thought that kaczynski was a
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mathematical nerd growing up that he
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spent all his time with his nose and a
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book in a classroom that's not true
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he spent a great deal of time in the
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woods learning survival skills with his
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brother and his father
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that's been brought out by the fbi and
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by interviews with his brothers since so
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we know that kaczynski was familiar with
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weapons he knew how to use them and he
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was comfortable with them i don't
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believe
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a confrontational
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serial killer
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such as zodiac
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later on would become a serial bomber
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when he mellowed out when he became
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better educated settling back now i'm
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going to play a new game with law
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enforcement
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we rarely see that
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ted kaczynski was 36 when the first
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unabomber explosion occurred
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the fbi was a little puzzled as to why
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somebody that age would want to begin on
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a career of serial murder usually it's
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much younger people who do
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perhaps they didn't dream that he had
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had an earlier more violent
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period of murder
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and had mellowed out over the years as
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serial killers are said to do if they're
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not caught
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rusconi and oswell's theory prompted
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police to review their zodiac case files
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sifting for evidence against theodore
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kaczynski
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mr ted grozinski is not a viable suspect
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at this point as the zodiac
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we have not made any conclusion as to
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who the zodiac was or is
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the record detectives specify one
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suspect among the more than 2 000
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questioned in the case that they believe
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was a zodiac
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however there was never enough evidence
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to make their suspicions stand up in
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court
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the zodiac has been silent now for
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almost 20 years
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is he still with us
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perhaps facts will emerge at the trout
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of theodore kaczynski and expose him as
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a zodiac killer
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or perhaps the truth about the zodiac
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will remain forever just out of reach
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[Music]
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[Music]
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next
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two young coes from opposite sides of
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the country mysteriously vanish
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and later
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do you believe in miracles
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if you don't trish zemba's recovery from
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a painful nerve disease might just
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convince you
00:16:41
[Music]
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tim harris a veteran journalist with a
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long list of credits but one particular
00:16:59
story had haunted him for years
00:17:01
his own as told to him by his adoptive
00:17:03
mother helen harrell
00:17:05
[Music]
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in 1946 helen was working as a nurse at
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a hospital in saint louis missouri
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she told tim that she had found him
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abandoned in a trash can she took him
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home and raised him as her own
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tim was still a boy when helen told him
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that story because of the tim harbert a
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lifelong grudge against his birth mother
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a woman he thought had thrown him away
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by 1976 tim was on staff for the los
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angeles herald examiner when he got a
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call out of the blue city desk
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speaking who's calling
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this is your mother excuse me
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what are you talking about my mother's
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at home
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this is your mother your real mother
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all of a sudden all the hatred just
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exploded i said how could you how could
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you throw me away like i was a piece of
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garbage
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[Music]
00:18:05
how could you do that
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and uh
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she said well you don't understand
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i said i don't want to understand
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after helen died tim began to reconsider
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in 1990 on a trip back to saint louis
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with a second wife tim tried to locate
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his birth mother through adoption
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records
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thanks to a helpful lawyer tim learned
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that everything helen had told him had
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been a lie
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his birth mother was helen's own niece
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and she had given tim up because he
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needed medical care
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care that helen could provide
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it threw me like a jolt of electricity
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the only thought in my mind was is i
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really wanted to find her now
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i really wanted to
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say look i didn't know and i am so sorry
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i am so sorry for what i said to you and
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how i acted to you
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you may have lived in the st
00:18:59
tim harold called on all his skills as a
00:19:01
reporter to track his birth mother but
00:19:03
it was not until the night of our
00:19:04
broadcast that he got the help he needed
00:19:07
here's keely shea smith with the tales
00:19:09
of a reunion long overdue
00:19:14
bob one of the people watching our
00:19:15
broadcast that night was a private
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investigator from scottsdale arizona
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alice simon volunteered her expertise
00:19:22
and resources for tim's search within
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one week she telephoned him with
00:19:27
extraordinary news
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she called and she said i just talked to
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your mother and you have a wonderful
00:19:32
family of three sisters and a brother
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and
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scads of cousins and nephews and nieces
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and everything and i just broke down and
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cried
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tim's birth mother muriel gartner lives
00:19:43
in campbell california this past june
00:19:46
muriel gathered her entire family to
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welcome tim and his son adam home at
00:19:51
last
00:19:52
[Music]
00:20:06
it feels right it feels like finally
00:20:08
everything has come full circle
00:20:10
this is your grandson
00:20:13
[Music]
00:20:16
there's always been the hole
00:20:18
an empty hole though i've had a lot of
00:20:21
other kids in a wonderful life great
00:20:23
kids
00:20:24
but it it feels like this hole's
00:20:26
beginning to feel fill in now
00:20:28
this is your brother
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[Music]
00:20:39
it's just the most amazing feeling in
00:20:40
the world to know that i've got this
00:20:42
family and that i'm going to be a part
00:20:45
of this family and that they're going to
00:20:46
be a part of my life
00:20:48
i mean i just can't tell you what the
00:20:49
feeling is like i was involved
00:20:51
[Laughter]
00:20:54
he's just one of us
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and it felt that way from the very
00:20:57
beginning when he called me he
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said hello mom and i said hello son and
00:21:01
that was it
00:21:02
when we went to hang up he said can i
00:21:04
call you again tomorrow mom i've been
00:21:06
wanting to call my mom for a long time
00:21:08
and i cried and he cried
00:21:11
[Music]
00:21:25
did
00:21:31
[Music]
00:21:32
at this time every year a familiar
00:21:34
ritual plays out all across america
00:21:37
kids head off to college
00:21:39
the last thing any parent imagines is
00:21:41
that their child will go to school and
00:21:43
vanish without a trace
00:21:46
but recently the unimaginable is exactly
00:21:48
what happened to 18 year old april
00:21:50
gregory and 19 year old kristen smart
00:21:56
april and kristen never met
00:21:58
indeed they were enrolled at different
00:22:00
universities on opposite sides of the
00:22:01
country
00:22:02
yet within the same five-hour period
00:22:04
they were both suddenly gone
00:22:06
no warning no explanation
00:22:10
april gregory took her schoolwork very
00:22:12
seriously
00:22:13
she wrapped up freshman year at syracuse
00:22:15
university in new york then turned right
00:22:18
around and enrolled in summer session
00:22:22
at 11 45 on may 24 1996
00:22:26
april's brother lamar dropped her off at
00:22:28
her dorm sadler hall
00:22:31
i helped people with her bags
00:22:34
to the front of the dormitory
00:22:36
and that was the last i saw
00:22:40
the mystery begins
00:22:42
april walks up these steps
00:22:45
enters these doors under the watchful
00:22:47
eyes of dorm officials
00:22:49
ascends to a seventh-floor room
00:22:52
these are the meager facts
00:22:56
later police examine april's room
00:23:00
she is not completely unpacked
00:23:02
was she interrupted
00:23:04
in the closet a clue april is employed
00:23:07
at a local restaurant and her work
00:23:09
uniform is missing
00:23:12
this is a path april takes to her job
00:23:15
did she even get this far
00:23:17
all we know is that april never arrived
00:23:19
at work
00:23:22
really did she miss work very really
00:23:25
i just knew something bad happened to my
00:23:27
baby
00:23:29
whatever happened happened between
00:23:31
midnight and 5 am
00:23:34
during that same time three thousand
00:23:36
miles away another young woman
00:23:38
mysteriously disappeared
00:23:42
kristen smart 19 years old a freshman at
00:23:45
cal poly state university in san luis
00:23:47
obispo california
00:23:51
about the time april gregory should have
00:23:52
been heading to work in new york
00:23:54
kristen was walking along this road in
00:23:56
california
00:23:58
she was returning to her dorm after a
00:24:00
party
00:24:01
she was not alone
00:24:03
paul flores 19 years old also a freshman
00:24:06
at cal poly
00:24:08
he had offered to walk kristen back to
00:24:10
campus after the party
00:24:11
[Music]
00:24:13
an eyewitness saw paul and kristen at
00:24:15
this corner roughly 200 yards from their
00:24:17
dormitories
00:24:20
paul told police that kristen headed to
00:24:22
her dorm
00:24:23
and he continued across the street alone
00:24:25
to his
00:24:28
kristen
00:24:29
phoned home every sunday religiously
00:24:32
and when that sunday passed and she
00:24:34
hadn't phoned
00:24:36
i knew something was wrong
00:24:40
authorities agreed 100 sheriff's
00:24:43
deputies and 300 volunteers search the
00:24:45
campus for any trace of christian smart
00:24:48
results negative
00:24:52
search dogs specially trained to
00:24:54
recognize the odor of a dead human body
00:24:56
were taken through campus dorms
00:24:59
experts say the only possible false
00:25:01
positive is a scent of menstrual blood
00:25:04
those dogs
00:25:06
hit on this room run room 128 at the cal
00:25:09
poly campus
00:25:11
and specifically came into this room and
00:25:13
hit on this mattress and the corner of
00:25:15
this mattress
00:25:17
this room was occupied by
00:25:19
coincidentally the
00:25:21
male subject that was last seen
00:25:23
with
00:25:25
kristin smart on the day she became a
00:25:27
missing person
00:25:30
that male subject was paul flores
00:25:32
authorities began to question flores
00:25:34
statement that he and kristen had gone
00:25:36
their separate ways once they arrived at
00:25:38
the dorms toured their dorms when they
00:25:40
got to approximately here
00:25:44
he says he continued into his dorm which
00:25:46
is up the hill and she left and went up
00:25:49
between the two dorms to her dorm
00:25:52
however we believe that
00:25:54
based on what we've learned from the
00:25:56
search dogs
00:25:57
she actually continued into his dorm
00:25:59
with him
00:26:04
at this time no criminal charges have
00:26:06
been filed in the case
00:26:08
kristen smart is still considered a
00:26:10
missing person
00:26:13
we never give up hope that kristen will
00:26:14
be found
00:26:16
but
00:26:17
as any parent can imagine the longer
00:26:19
that it goes on
00:26:21
the dimmer the
00:26:22
light and
00:26:25
we can only hope
00:26:28
[Music]
00:26:50
coming up authorities need your help and
00:26:53
track down a convicted killer
00:26:56
but first
00:26:57
in a remarkable story of faith and
00:26:59
resilience a young girl overcomes a
00:27:01
painful nerve disorder
00:27:05
[Music]
00:27:11
do
00:27:19
[Music]
00:27:21
it was a normal christmas eve western
00:27:23
style in phoenix arizona the sky was
00:27:26
blue temperature of bomby 75.
00:27:29
fourteen-year-old trish zamba saddled up
00:27:32
her ex-racehorse sly and headed out for
00:27:34
a ride
00:27:38
[Music]
00:27:45
[Applause]
00:27:51
ah
00:27:53
[Music]
00:28:02
i felt it hurt very much but i was in
00:28:04
shock i had so much adrenaline rushing
00:28:06
through my system that what had just
00:28:07
happened did not
00:28:09
register with me at the moment i helped
00:28:11
her into the house she was lumping a
00:28:13
little bit
00:28:14
and uh took her in and took everything
00:28:16
off to look for broken bones and she was
00:28:19
scraped
00:28:20
on the one side
00:28:22
somewhat scraped and it was red like
00:28:24
road rash and some bruising where you
00:28:27
could tell there was going to be
00:28:28
bruising
00:28:30
the injuries appeared superficial trish
00:28:33
improved overnight and the incident had
00:28:35
little impact on the family's christmas
00:28:37
day plans
00:28:39
i got up got myself dressed came out and
00:28:41
basically spent all christmas day on the
00:28:43
couch i was sore stiff hobbled around
00:28:45
some but i was able to get around
00:28:48
the accident seemed like a thing of the
00:28:50
past until trish was bathing some 10
00:28:52
days later
00:28:54
i remember i went to get up and when i
00:28:57
was standing up i started feeling dizzy
00:29:01
i heard a thump and i called out to her
00:29:04
and she didn't answer me
00:29:10
[Music]
00:29:18
i was panicked when i saw trisha
00:29:20
passed out
00:29:22
i didn't know what had happened i
00:29:23
couldn't get a response out of her first
00:29:26
i i just didn't know what was going on
00:29:29
from there on
00:29:31
then she her condition seemed to get
00:29:33
worse
00:29:34
pain increased
00:29:36
her mobility you know started to be less
00:29:38
she had more trouble getting around and
00:29:40
sitting so that's when we started taking
00:29:42
her to the round of doctors
00:29:45
[Music]
00:29:47
the bathtub fault had triggered an
00:29:48
avalanche of pain doctors could neither
00:29:50
diagnose nor relief
00:29:53
after five weeks of unrelenting agony
00:29:56
trish was hospitalized
00:29:58
can you tell me where it hurts
00:30:01
is it hurting your back
00:30:04
is hurting your legs
00:30:08
she was in a lot of pain so they started
00:30:10
administering morphine
00:30:12
and they just kept giving it to her and
00:30:13
giving it to her in large doses and
00:30:16
it wouldn't affect the pain does not
00:30:17
help the pain at all and finally they
00:30:19
had given her so much they couldn't give
00:30:22
her any more without killing her it was
00:30:24
horrible
00:30:25
seeing trisha in this pain and not being
00:30:28
able to do anything for her and it was
00:30:31
very very scary
00:30:33
until we would pray
00:30:36
dear jesus we would just ask father that
00:30:39
you would reach down and lay your hands
00:30:41
on tricia father trish was wrecked by
00:30:43
pain every waking hour
00:30:45
her left leg alternately turned purple
00:30:47
and then back to normal
00:30:48
grew hot and feverish and icy cold
00:30:52
the diagnosis could hardly have been
00:30:53
more frightening
00:30:55
trish had a rare often incurable nerve
00:30:57
disease called reflex sympathetic
00:30:59
dystrophy or
00:31:01
[Music]
00:31:03
this is rsd far the worst i had ever
00:31:05
seen
00:31:06
and i was feeling pretty hopeless about
00:31:08
her chances of getting any kind of a
00:31:09
good recovery here
00:31:11
and i remember her mother being so
00:31:12
strong in their faith
00:31:14
saying
00:31:16
we're going to see a miracle here before
00:31:18
this is over
00:31:20
and i kept thinking
00:31:23
no i don't think so
00:31:27
this videotape of trish was made at the
00:31:29
hospital where she was treated for rsd
00:31:33
doctors believe the disease is produced
00:31:34
by malfunctioning nerve circuits the
00:31:37
nerves endlessly amplify and re-amplify
00:31:39
pain sensations making even a minor
00:31:42
injury unremitting torture
00:31:46
she was literally writhing in pain
00:31:48
unable to have anybody touch or move her
00:31:51
leg her hip if you even breathe on it or
00:31:54
put a blanket over the skin
00:31:57
she would just
00:31:59
jump
00:32:02
we continually gave her medication to
00:32:06
try and basically numb her legs the idea
00:32:09
being that if we break the cycle
00:32:11
kill the pain stop the cycle of pain
00:32:14
from renegotiating itself that the
00:32:17
condition itself would disappear
00:32:20
[Music]
00:32:23
doctors injected the most potent pain
00:32:25
killing drugs available directly into
00:32:27
trisha's spinal column
00:32:29
but trish hardly noticed
00:32:31
the rsd continued to worsen and trisha's
00:32:34
muscles began to weaken from disuse
00:32:37
it started telling us that they were
00:32:39
going to have to institutionalize her
00:32:41
that most patients with rsd this bad
00:32:43
either die from it or they commit
00:32:45
suicide or they literally go crazy
00:32:48
because they cannot live with this type
00:32:50
of pain
00:32:51
[Music]
00:32:52
even in the face of such bleak
00:32:54
predictions trisha's parents say they
00:32:56
never lost faith
00:32:57
countless times each and every day they
00:33:00
turn to prayer
00:33:01
grant her some peace and take away this
00:33:03
pain so that she can rest father
00:33:06
we would pray
00:33:08
and again that sense that things would
00:33:10
be all right would come over us
00:33:12
and
00:33:13
though trisha would still be moaning and
00:33:15
our circumstances didn't change it was
00:33:18
like things were all right
00:33:21
trish's doctors were less optimistic
00:33:24
they propose an operation usually
00:33:26
reserved for terminal cancer patients
00:33:28
implanting a morphine pump into trisha's
00:33:31
body
00:33:32
if it sufficiently dulled her pain they
00:33:34
could at least attempt physical therapy
00:33:36
to slow the deterioration of tricia's
00:33:39
leg muscles
00:33:41
that was our next step that was really
00:33:42
all that we had left to offer
00:33:44
and quite frankly what i foresaw was a
00:33:47
long painful
00:33:49
route in rehab and with a very uncertain
00:33:53
outcome as to whether this would ever
00:33:54
resolve
00:33:58
surgery loomed
00:34:00
then early on the morning of march 11
00:34:02
1994 the family's prayers were answered
00:34:06
suddenly and dramatically
00:34:17
i felt the pain that my body moved down
00:34:20
as it was moving down my ribs
00:34:22
i remember feeling what my roots felt
00:34:24
like i felt it keep on moving down
00:34:27
and moving down and then finally i felt
00:34:29
it move all the way down my leg and i
00:34:31
felt it
00:34:32
exit through my toes i felt it leave my
00:34:34
body
00:34:36
and i heard very very quietly almost the
00:34:38
point where i couldn't hear it get up
00:34:41
and i remember thinking i can't get up
00:34:44
my i'm physically unable to get up and i
00:34:48
heard again clear and more much more
00:34:51
authoritative get up
00:34:56
and i remember grabbing onto the side of
00:34:58
bed rail and beginning to sit up and i
00:35:01
was able to sit up like i would have in
00:35:03
the past i sat up and i was sitting on
00:35:05
the edge of the bed
00:35:07
and the second i set my feet on the
00:35:09
ground i didn't have any pain anywhere
00:35:10
in my whole body
00:35:11
[Music]
00:35:13
i stood up and i remember staying there
00:35:15
like well what now
00:35:17
and i started walking
00:35:20
[Music]
00:35:26
it was unbelievable to walk into her
00:35:28
hospital room and see her standing there
00:35:30
she hadn't stood for two and a half
00:35:32
months on her own
00:35:34
tremendous relief and gratitude
00:35:37
to god who never let us down he didn't
00:35:40
ever let us down
00:35:42
as a medical physician i have to go by
00:35:45
the medical data
00:35:48
and the medical data has no explanation
00:35:50
for this
00:35:52
on a purely personal basis
00:35:54
and based on my own religious beliefs
00:35:56
i feel that yes she did have a
00:35:57
miraculous healing
00:36:00
we work in the world of science
00:36:02
but that does not mean it necessarily
00:36:05
has to be mutually exclusive
00:36:07
of the realm if you will of of the
00:36:10
spirit or of religion
00:36:12
and i think we work together uh to
00:36:15
create
00:36:16
a successful end when the ends are
00:36:19
successful
00:36:23
that same morning trish was released
00:36:25
from the hospital
00:36:26
trish's parents made this videotape soon
00:36:29
after she arrived home
00:36:32
i know it was a miracle
00:36:34
the pain just left my body in one fell
00:36:37
swoop
00:36:39
i felt like god was standing there right
00:36:40
there just taking this pain from me and
00:36:42
saying you know i love you so much i
00:36:45
just want to set you free
00:36:48
[Music]
00:36:50
spontaneous remission is virtually
00:36:52
without president in acute cases of rsd
00:36:56
medical science still cannot explain
00:36:58
trish zimba's stunning turnaround
00:37:00
however the tradition her family it is
00:37:02
no mystery at all
00:37:04
just further evidence of the infinite
00:37:06
power of faith
00:37:10
when we return
00:37:12
an abduction and murder leads to a wild
00:37:14
shootout with the police
00:37:16
[Music]
00:37:29
for most of us 22 years seems like a
00:37:31
long time
00:37:32
but when it comes to tracking down a
00:37:33
ruthless killer who's escaped punishment
00:37:36
time doesn't matter
00:37:37
22 years ago might just as well be
00:37:40
yesterday
00:37:42
[Music]
00:37:45
march 6 1974 sawani georgia 30 miles
00:37:50
northeast of atlanta i just got my uh
00:37:53
my check cashed i've got 200 in my
00:37:56
wallet just just reach in the back james
00:37:58
rouse jr a teacher husband and father of
00:38:01
two young children is abducted at
00:38:03
gunpoint by two fugitives william jordan
00:38:06
and anthony prevette
00:38:08
jordan and provette were wanted in north
00:38:10
carolina for a series of burglaries
00:38:13
make another right up
00:38:17
oh here you've got my thrust
00:38:20
turn around that way
00:38:21
you've got my money the ride ended at
00:38:23
the edge of a remote forest
00:38:25
the kidnappers forced rouse to go
00:38:27
barefoot and marched him into the
00:38:31
when they woods the shore of a deserted
00:38:33
lake they stopped
00:38:35
[Music]
00:38:39
james rouse died instantly shot at
00:38:42
point-blank range with a sawed-off
00:38:44
shotgun
00:38:45
[Music]
00:38:48
the next day wadesboro north carolina
00:38:51
240 miles from siwani
00:38:54
that's it over there
00:38:56
421.
00:38:58
police got an anonymous tip that jordan
00:39:00
and pravette were back in town
00:39:02
hiding at the home of a friend
00:39:04
you recognize that car
00:39:06
nah it doesn't look familiar to me
00:39:11
we
00:39:12
knew who we were looking for we were
00:39:13
looking for two guys last name of
00:39:15
private and jordan they had a reputation
00:39:18
of being bad guys
00:39:20
uh predominantly in the property theft
00:39:23
house break-in
00:39:25
those type of things we
00:39:27
didn't
00:39:28
really suspect that they were involved
00:39:30
in anything serious
00:39:32
other than that
00:39:35
the officers approached the house fully
00:39:37
expecting to make an arrest but jordan
00:39:40
and prevet were one step ahead
00:39:49
sheriff's office 107 in pursuit of
00:39:51
suspects traveling east on highway 117.
00:39:58
suspects are firing upon us requesting
00:40:00
backup
00:40:05
everything was happening so fast but it
00:40:07
seemed extreme that these guys were
00:40:10
using this much excessive force to get
00:40:12
away from us just because we wanted to
00:40:14
talk to them about some housebreakings
00:40:22
[Music]
00:40:26
suspects has thrown out what looks like
00:40:28
to be a weapon just past olivet church
00:40:31
[Music]
00:40:33
i'll get up along
00:40:35
[Music]
00:40:46
[Music]
00:40:51
get your hands up let's go get him out
00:40:54
get him up first get out the door run up
00:40:56
get out of the car let me see your hands
00:40:58
come on come on give me hands 24 year
00:41:00
old anthony private and 31 year old
00:41:02
william jordan were booked on charges of
00:41:04
breaking and entering larceny and
00:41:06
assaulting officers with a firearm
00:41:09
police in north carolina still didn't
00:41:11
know that the two men were killers
00:41:15
[Music]
00:41:18
48 hours later the body of james ross jr
00:41:21
was discovered in georgia
00:41:23
it was his stolen car that jordan and
00:41:25
pravat had crashed in waysburg
00:41:28
it didn't take long to piece together
00:41:30
the rest
00:41:30
[Music]
00:41:33
a shotgun shell found at the murder
00:41:35
scene further damned jordan and pravette
00:41:38
ballistics tests reveal rouse had been
00:41:40
killed with a blast from the shotgun
00:41:42
dumped during the chase
00:41:46
finally and most chilling of all police
00:41:48
in north carolina found arrogant
00:41:50
trophies of murder inside the wrecked
00:41:52
car
00:41:53
photographs of jordan and pravat leaning
00:41:55
against rouse's car and posing proudly
00:41:58
with a shotgun that killed him
00:42:02
they were both eventually extradited
00:42:05
back to georgia
00:42:07
they were both tried both found guilty
00:42:10
of first-degree murder
00:42:11
both given death
00:42:13
given the death sentence
00:42:16
however neither jordan or pravat stayed
00:42:18
long on death row
00:42:20
upon review by the georgia supreme court
00:42:23
they felt there were some prejudicial
00:42:24
comments
00:42:25
made by the district attorney in his
00:42:27
closing argument that lifted the burden
00:42:30
of the decision from the jury
00:42:32
and it was reversed and their sentences
00:42:34
commuted to life
00:42:37
in 1991 prabhat was paroled but was
00:42:40
returned to prison after he murdered his
00:42:42
girlfriend
00:42:44
pravat is currently on death row in
00:42:46
north carolina
00:42:48
the story of william jordan however has
00:42:50
yet to end
00:42:53
jordan
00:42:54
you and greene take the truck on back to
00:42:56
the house gas it up make yourself useful
00:42:59
yes sir after 10 years of good behavior
00:43:02
jordan had been assigned to a minimum
00:43:04
security work farm in odom georgia
00:43:07
but his image as the model prisoner
00:43:09
proved false
00:43:13
[Music]
00:43:18
william jordan just kept driving
00:43:20
a month later police caught the inmate
00:43:22
who escaped with him but jordan has
00:43:24
alluded capture ever since
00:43:28
jordan was possibly seen in 1992 in
00:43:31
virginia he possibly works in virginia
00:43:34
west virginia as a heavy equipment
00:43:36
operator he also possibly has a family
00:43:39
in west virginia
00:43:40
he uses the name william bill jordan or
00:43:42
william junior jordan
00:43:44
[Music]
00:43:48
it's been more than 20 years since
00:43:50
jordan and prevent heartlessly murdered
00:43:52
james rouse jr
00:43:53
but the rouse family still feels the
00:43:55
pain
00:44:02
the hardest part
00:44:04
has been
00:44:05
not only the way it happened but
00:44:07
certainly the fact that he has not been
00:44:10
with us
00:44:12
and been able to enjoy his own family
00:44:14
[Music]
00:44:17
we have lived through years
00:44:19
of anger for what jordan did
00:44:22
to my brother-in-law jim
00:44:25
and what it has done
00:44:27
to the children as well as to his wife
00:44:33
this is how william jordan looked in
00:44:34
1974 the year he murdered james rouse
00:44:38
this photograph the last known taken of
00:44:40
jordan shows how he looked in 1979
00:44:45
computer aging shows how he might look
00:44:46
today at the age of 54.
00:44:49
william jordan is six feet two inches
00:44:51
tall has brown graying hair and probably
00:44:53
wears glasses
00:44:57
jordan has several distinctive tattoos
00:45:00
a skeleton on his right forearm
00:45:02
a spider on his right upper arm a cross
00:45:04
with the name sybil on his left forearm
00:45:07
and the name louise on his left leg
00:45:10
[Music]
00:45:18
join me next time for another intriguing
00:45:20
edition of unsolved mysteries
00:45:27
[Music]
00:46:00
[Music]
00:46:06
you

Badges

This episode stands out for the following:

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

Episode Highlights

  • The Zodiac Killer and the Unabomber: A Chilling Connection
    Investigators propose a shocking theory that the Zodiac Killer and the Unabomber may be the same person, Theodore Kaczynski. 'There's a very good likelihood that the Unabomber suspect Ted Kaczynski and Zodiac are one and
    “There's a very good likelihood that the Unabomber suspect Ted Kaczynski and Zodiac are one and the same.”
    @ 04m 29s
    March 16, 2022
  • Tim Harris's Emotional Reunion
    Tim Harris, abandoned as a baby, discovers the truth about his birth mother and finally reunites with her. 'It feels right, it feels like finally everything has come full circle.'
    “It feels right, it feels like finally everything has come full circle.”
    @ 20m 08s
    March 16, 2022
  • Kristen Smart's Disappearance
    Kristen Smart is still considered a missing person, and hope remains for her return.
    “We never give up hope that Kristen will be found.”
    @ 26m 13s
    March 16, 2022
  • Trish Zamba's Miraculous Healing
    After suffering from a debilitating nerve disorder, Trish experiences a sudden recovery.
    “I felt like God was standing there right there just taking this pain from me.”
    @ 36m 42s
    March 16, 2022
  • Medical Mystery of RSD
    Trish's case of reflex sympathetic dystrophy baffles doctors, leading to a miraculous turnaround.
    “Spontaneous remission is virtually without precedent in acute cases of RSD.”
    @ 36m 50s
    March 16, 2022

Episode Quotes

  • How could you throw me away like I was a piece of garbage?
    Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 9, Episode 1 - Updated Full Episode
  • I really wanted to say look, I didn’t know and I am so sorry.
    Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 9, Episode 1 - Updated Full Episode
  • It feels right, it feels like finally everything has come full circle.
    Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 9, Episode 1 - Updated Full Episode
  • We never give up hope that Kristen will be found.
    Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 9, Episode 1 - Updated Full Episode
  • I felt like God was standing there right there just taking this pain from me.
    Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 9, Episode 1 - Updated Full Episode
  • Spontaneous remission is virtually without precedent in acute cases of RSD.
    Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 9, Episode 1 - Updated Full Episode

Key Moments

  • Zodiac Connection04:25
  • Emotional Reunion20:08
  • Mysterious Disappearances21:50
  • Missing Person26:08
  • Miraculous Healing36:42
  • Medical Mystery36:50

Words per Minute Over Time

Vibes Breakdown

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