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tonight on unsolved mysteries for more
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than 20 years meri clams has suffered
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from the debilitating effects of
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multiple sclerosis then a violent summer
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storm swept over Mary's house and
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brought with it what can only be called
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a miracle a powerful bolt of lightning
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that apparently released Mary from the
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shackles of a devastating disease July
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1986 a young marine is nearly killed
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during a brutal hazing ritual called a
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Code Red
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if it sounds like a movie plot is
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because the film a few good men starring
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Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson was based
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on the incident tonight the disturbing
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untold story behind the movie most
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people know Reggie white as one of the
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most feared players of the National
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Football League
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he's also an ordained minister last
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January a tragic fire ravaged white's
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church in knoxville tennessee in the
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ruins investigators found the
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unmistakable signs of arson the ugly
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taint of racism
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they call him a taunting bankrupt but
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now his fine boy at criminal career has
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come to an end thanks to one of our
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viewers join me for these intriguing
00:01:18
cases much more perhaps you may be able
00:01:22
to help solve a mystery
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[Music]
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almost everyone knows about the hit
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movie a few good men starring Tom Cruise
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Jack Nicholson and to be more but not
00:02:25
everybody knows that a few good men is
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based on an actual event it tells a
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story of Marines on trial for attacking
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a squad member in a brutal hazing ritual
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known as a Code Red
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amazingly that event still has
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repercussions today repercussions that
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may have led to the mysterious death but
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one of the Marines who executed the Code
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Red David Cox of Needham Massachusetts
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join the Marines straight out of high
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school being one of the proud and the
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few was all he ever wanted in 1986
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David was stationed in Guantanamo Bay
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Cuba a naval base the US had refused to
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give up but Fidel Castro came to power
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in the 1950s political tensions kept the
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base on constant alert trouble filtered
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down to David Cox when another platoon
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member PFC William Alvarado wrote to his
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senator about marine misconduct we
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didn't actually decide to have a code
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read for alvarado on our own our platoon
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commander had given us an implied order
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that if we were good Marines something
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should happen to Alvarado
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Saturday night we went into Alvarado's
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room blindfolded him and gagged him and
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then dragged him off of his bed
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Dave starts shaving his head within five
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minutes he had stopped struggling so we
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knew something was wrong with him
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something's wrong
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David Koch's convinced his platoon mates
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to stop the hazing so we removed the gag
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untied him and he still didn't come
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around he was still unconscious so at
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that point we started to panic everybody
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else get to your rooms Alvarado was
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rushed to the hospital he recovered but
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his ten attackers were slept with
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charges
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relax [ __ ] sir yes sir that's relaxing
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come on dawn mercury was appointed to
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defend David Koch's they're gonna charge
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you with attempted murder they got a
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confession from you and they get a
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pretty beat-up Marine doesn't look too
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good
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sir I was just following orders sir
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David claim the Code Red started with
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implied orders from his superior
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officers they're prepared to offer you
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an administrative discharge it's less
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than honorable but to be no
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court-martial proceeding and you
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wouldn't be looking at 20 years if you
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were found guilty sir but I'm not guilty
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sir I told David that this was a defense
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of medians two orders that had not been
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successful at Nuremberg
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had not been successful with lieutenant
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Calley at My Lai and plus we had a
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Colonel denying he ever gave an order so
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he had the additional burning of now
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saying he was following an implied order
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then it was a very difficult case to win
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and I told David that all right [ __ ]
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we'll do it your way he decided he won
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to fight it because he believed in his
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heart that he didn't do anything wrong
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Davis Gamble was a codified success he
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was convicted only of simple assault and
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sentenced to time already served in the
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Brig
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he then completed his hitch received an
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honorable discharge and returned to
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civilian life in his hometown in the
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Boston area six years later when a few
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good men hit the theaters David felt the
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moviemakers had stolen his story for one
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David's reaction was that he was stunned
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here he was he was watching his life in
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front of him and he wasn't getting any
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of the credit fryer the anchor came a
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little bit later because he was this
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movie company that was making tons
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millions of money off of his story and
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if it weren't for him the story never
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would have existed to be in the first
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place
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David and some of the other Marines
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involved in the Code Red
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filed suit against the movie production
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company thought it was pending David
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spoke out about his case on radio talk
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shows by January of 1994 David and his
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girlfriend Elaine had set up
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housekeeping together
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David was hoping a temporary job at
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united Parcel Service would become
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permanent I'm doing everything I should
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do Dave was very enthusiastic about
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getting on board with them I think it
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was something where he felt that he
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could have a full-time steady occupation
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David expected to hear about the UPS job
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on January 5th 1994 because of a back
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problem he spent the night before on the
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couch I hope you PS calls
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Elaine left about 8:30 shortly after
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noon she called home David didn't answer
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but there was a message for him on the
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machine yes so I was really excited I
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was like oh the cold Dave's gonna get
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this job and he's gonna be so excited
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and then I called back again at one
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o'clock to check the messages and that
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message was still there and the UPS guy
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had called again - David at 5:30 Elaine
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returned home David when I came into the
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house that night after work I realized
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right away that the doors to all the
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rooms were open and our rabbit who we
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usually just kept in the kitchen was
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hopping all over the place
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David's truck was still in the driveway
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the keys in the ignition
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David had left an uncashed paychecks on
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the dashboard and his 9-millimeter gun
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in the glove box
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but David himself was gone I immediately
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had a feeling of dread because I know
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David well enough David would not just
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disappear and right from the start I was
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very concerned as the days went on and
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there was nothing there was no news from
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him I mean we checked his bank account
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his bank account list there was no
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activity on his bank account you start
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to believe that you know maybe something
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did happen but why there would be no
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answers until the spring thaw on April
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2nd 1994 the body of David Koch's was
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discovered on the banks of the Charles
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River at Medfield Massachusetts
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approximately five miles from his
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apartment he was shot according to the
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Emmy four times once at the base of the
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rear of the neck and three times in the
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left side torso area David's wallet was
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still in his back pocket cash and credit
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cards intact it seemed obvious that
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robbery was not the motive and police
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have since ruled out a random attack
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they are convinced David left his home
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with someone he knew
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[Music]
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it's our belief that he get in the car
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willingly that he knew who was coming to
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pick him up and that he went to this
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area and walked into the woods with this
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person we really believe that David was
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what we would call a scrapper if he knew
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there was some danger loitering ahead he
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would do his best to get out of that
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[Music]
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I think that if was somebody that was
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just holding a gun in him or something
00:10:39
like that that they would do it within
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the first 30 or 40 yards into the woods
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dave was found almost three-quarters to
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a mile walk into the woods
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[Music]
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I don't know why David was killed
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I personally believe it had something to
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do with the military he was taken out of
00:11:03
his house without signs of struggle he
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was wearing his Marine Corps jacket
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which he never wore he was found between
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two hunting ranges where gunshots would
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not be unusual and he was murdered
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execution-style now there is a movie
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opening tonight called a few good men
00:11:20
after the release of a few good men
00:11:23
David had been highly vocal about his
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story in the u.s. activities in Cuba
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David's family believes he may have
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talked too much to say the least we were
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trying to provoke a war pretty much
00:11:36
every day because of this Colonel yeah
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he would never say anything directly but
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it was certainly implied absolutely okay
00:11:43
now after I heard that interview on the
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radio I spoke to him and I said I don't
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like what you're doing I think what
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you're doing is dangerous the colonel
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had implied I think he felt far too too
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free to just speak his mind to his
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congressman saying that police checked
00:12:01
out the military angle to David's murder
00:12:03
we realized that was something going
00:12:05
wrong because he wasn't fighting back
00:12:07
after a while and there's nothing here
00:12:09
that shows us that the military in any
00:12:12
way shape or form are involved with
00:12:14
David's death but we're certainly open
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to anything that comes our way in
00:12:18
regards to the military David's brother
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suggested another possible scenario a
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UPS connection taking the good packages
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and taking them away from their regular
00:12:31
stealing a couple of months before Dave
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disappeared he had mentioned to me that
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he had come upon a supervisor and one of
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the drivers involved in some type of
00:12:44
activity what he believed to be was
00:12:46
theft I interviewed a number of people
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they were candid with me I felt
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certainly if there was anything there
00:12:53
with ups I think as far as they were
00:12:56
concerned paramount was David's death
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and they would have certainly told me
00:13:00
anything that UPS was involved with at
00:13:02
this point the investigation still open
00:13:04
it
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remain open until we solve it again
00:13:09
we'll follow any leads that came come
00:13:11
through vigorously and remain to do that
00:13:15
until it is solved I'm angry what
00:13:17
happened to my son I'm angry that
00:13:21
someone can do that and get away with it
00:13:27
my life has been devastated by his
00:13:30
murder
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it really has a death would be bad
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enough a murder is just dreadful
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[Music]
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at this point police have only one hope
00:13:42
the someone saw David Cox leave his home
00:13:44
between 8:30 and noon on January 5th
00:13:46
1994 perhaps someone saw the person who
00:13:50
picked him up or the vehicle they left
00:13:52
in coming up for a disabled woman a
00:13:57
harrowing brush with death apparently
00:13:59
culminates in the miraculous rebirth but
00:14:03
first NFL superstar Reggie White
00:14:06
asked for your help to find the arsonist
00:14:08
who burn down his church
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[Music]
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the capture of a criminal suspect always
00:14:23
brings us great satisfaction tonight
00:14:26
another fugitive is in custody thanks to
00:14:28
your cause
00:14:31
Thomas Dixon is the working definition
00:14:33
of career criminal he was paroled in May
00:14:36
of 1984 after serving 10 years of hard
00:14:39
time for armed robbery
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it hadn't reformed him one bit this is a
00:14:44
hole to stay cool during the five months
00:14:47
following his release from prison Dixon
00:14:49
in a series of accomplices locked off
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seven banks in North Carolina an FBI
00:14:55
raid brought down Thomas Dixon in
00:14:57
October of 1984
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and he spent another decade behind bars
00:15:01
he was paroled in 1994 as unrepentant as
00:15:05
ever this is a hole Hoffman Dixon again
00:15:10
hit banks in the Carolinas five and a
00:15:12
seven-week spree he showed up in one
00:15:14
surveillance tape after another have you
00:15:17
FBI ever heard of Thomas Dixon but there
00:15:22
was a disturbing new twist to Dixon's mo
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now he taunted the FBI North advanced
00:15:27
notice of his bank jobs
00:15:30
when one of Dixon's getaway cars was
00:15:32
discovered
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federal investigators concluded that he
00:15:35
had deliberately left it for them to
00:15:37
find inside were photos of Dickson's
00:15:40
impressive arsenals in a note Dixon
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threatened future robberies and warned
00:15:45
of a bloody showdown if anyone tried to
00:15:47
stop him
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Dixon was alerting us to the fact that
00:15:51
that he is heavily armed and he has
00:15:55
every intention of using those arms in a
00:15:57
confrontation with law enforcement one
00:16:01
week before our broadcast Thomas Dixon
00:16:02
struck again this time in Pennsylvania
00:16:05
here's Keely with a dramatic conclusion
00:16:07
to the case Bob thanks to one of our
00:16:11
viewers Dixon's most recent heist will
00:16:13
probably be his last after the robbery
00:16:16
Dixon fled Pennsylvania and eventually
00:16:18
made his way to Clarksville Tennessee in
00:16:21
Clarksville Dixon took a room in this
00:16:24
motel Pam petit a resident housekeeper
00:16:27
first became wary of Dixon when she
00:16:29
cleaned his room it's the way he acted
00:16:32
he was weird I mean he stood by the bay
00:16:35
is in between the beds by the luggage he
00:16:38
wouldn't ever sit down it wants you to
00:16:40
make the beds you know if stuff like
00:16:42
that he's like he was on guard you know
00:16:44
his luggage he just was you know ready
00:16:47
watching you when Dixon's story aired
00:16:51
pound putit recognized him instantly
00:16:55
within minutes Pam had contacted both
00:16:58
the unsolved mysteries phone center and
00:17:00
the authorities in Tennessee by Sunrise
00:17:03
FBI agents had Dixon's hideaway staked
00:17:06
out we knew he was armed and dangerous
00:17:09
and he had not to be taken alive with
00:17:12
that information obviously you want to
00:17:14
approach the subject with extreme
00:17:16
caution but once we got him subdued he
00:17:19
was very cooperative all he said is you
00:17:22
got me good basically that the way that
00:17:25
you guys arrested me was the way you
00:17:27
needed to arrest me name was a lot
00:17:29
better that way then quote throw bullets
00:17:32
to each other
00:17:33
[Music]
00:17:54
[Music]
00:18:02
January 8 1996 fire ravages the inner
00:18:07
city church in Knoxville Tennessee at
00:18:10
first it seemed an isolated tragedy but
00:18:13
it would soon become linked to what may
00:18:14
be a series of vicious hate crimes
00:18:16
targeting black churches this church
00:18:20
however has a famous voice speaking out
00:18:22
on its behalf
00:18:24
Reggie White the most feared defensive
00:18:27
end in professional football but the man
00:18:29
opponents see is a six foot five
00:18:31
300-pound brick wall with legs has
00:18:33
another career God sent Moses away for
00:18:38
about 40 years to get him ready to face
00:18:40
Pharaoh
00:18:41
Reggie White is an ordained minister but
00:18:44
he's not tackling quarterbacks he's back
00:18:45
in his home state of Tennessee saving
00:18:48
souls in 1993 Reggie White and two
00:18:54
longtime friends in Knoxville founded
00:18:56
the inner city church by merging two
00:18:58
congregations into one their goal to
00:19:03
create a church that would serve poor
00:19:05
people of all races their model together
00:19:09
we can make a change
00:19:12
it's very important in this very vital I
00:19:15
believe that our church is doing things
00:19:17
in our communities that no other
00:19:20
churches are doing you know the most
00:19:22
segregated hour it is in our country
00:19:23
it's on Sunday 11:00 to 12:00 because
00:19:26
black school the black churches white
00:19:28
goes to white churches we wanted to try
00:19:30
to have a church to everybody would feel
00:19:32
weapon no matter what the color was it
00:19:36
was a noble undertaking with aggressive
00:19:38
community outreach and self-help
00:19:40
programs the church thrived then
00:19:44
disaster I believe in my heart that it
00:19:49
was an attack from the devil himself
00:19:50
that there were devil inspired people
00:19:53
that he used to fireball my church we
00:19:57
had a big snow on the ground is buried
00:19:59
David Upton is a church's senior pastor
00:20:01
when I arrived there it was a sickening
00:20:03
feeling in my stomach to see the things
00:20:06
we had fought for the things we had
00:20:07
worked so hard to establish over the
00:20:10
years or ministry just to see us go up
00:20:13
in flames within hours agents from the
00:20:18
FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco
00:20:20
and Firearms began to investigate an
00:20:24
immediate visit to this location
00:20:27
indicated to us that it was a very
00:20:28
deliberate criminal act the sanctuary
00:20:31
portion of the building had been totally
00:20:32
destroyed but there's another building
00:20:35
that sets on the back side of the
00:20:36
property that had joins the rear of the
00:20:38
sanctuary it's a building in which there
00:20:40
are classrooms and offices as the agents
00:20:43
went through that portion of the
00:20:45
structure they found multiple Molotov
00:20:47
cocktails they found that both floors of
00:20:50
this structure had been saturated with
00:20:52
gasoline and kerosene and they found
00:20:54
gasoline cans and kerosene cans
00:20:56
scattered throughout this portion of the
00:20:58
building agents also found racial
00:21:03
epithets scrawled on the walls leaving
00:21:05
little doubt that the arson was a hate
00:21:07
crime Reggie White was a pond that
00:21:11
turned to outrage when he learned that
00:21:13
his church had not been the first but
00:21:16
only reason that you hear about my
00:21:18
church is because of me but there have
00:21:21
been 20 22 other churches as
00:21:23
firebomb and that's a problem and this
00:21:27
problem needs to be rectified the
00:21:30
statistics are alarming the count is now
00:21:33
at least 24 black churches hit by arson
00:21:36
in the past three years the attacks have
00:21:38
occurred throughout the south in
00:21:40
Louisiana Tennessee Mississippi Alabama
00:21:44
Georgia Virginia North and South
00:21:48
Carolina
00:21:49
the most recent arson fire occurred on
00:21:51
March 5th 1996 both the FBI and the ATF
00:21:56
are looking to see if if there are any
00:21:59
links we recognize that some weigh in in
00:22:02
Kansas for example might say let's burn
00:22:05
black churches and associates in
00:22:08
Tennessee and Alabama and Florida might
00:22:10
go out and do those things but they
00:22:12
might use entirely different methods I
00:22:14
don't believe it was anyone that would
00:22:16
be a what you would call a professional
00:22:18
based on the way the field was in the
00:22:22
building the way to set up four in the
00:22:24
building I think that they just thought
00:22:26
if a little is good a whole lots better
00:22:27
and that's what they tried to do he's
00:22:30
put enough fuel in there to do the job
00:22:34
three days after the inner city church
00:22:37
fire Flyers from two white supremacist
00:22:39
groups the BFI Brotherhood and skinheads
00:22:42
for white justice turned up at a bank
00:22:44
that had ties to the church however the
00:22:47
possibility remains that both the Flyers
00:22:49
and the graffiti were planted as decoys
00:22:53
there was a deliberate act of arson the
00:22:55
arsonist wants us to look in a different
00:22:58
direction away from from him so we have
00:23:01
to consider the possibility that the
00:23:03
racial graffiti was placed there to
00:23:05
divert us into a different direction so
00:23:08
we have to consider the racial
00:23:10
motivation as a possibility but we also
00:23:12
have to look at other motivations as
00:23:13
well the inner city church did not have
00:23:17
enough fire insurance to cover all the
00:23:19
damage but with hard work from the
00:23:21
parishioners and donations from the
00:23:23
community both black and white they hope
00:23:26
to rebuild
00:23:27
but the problem is because racism has
00:23:30
alienated itself so that you can't touch
00:23:33
it when it affects you in the meantime
00:23:35
Reggie White and his fellow pastors keep
00:23:37
the congregation spirit strong with
00:23:40
church services held at a local school
00:23:42
auditorium that's why we shooting each
00:23:45
other today that's why this just makes
00:23:48
me more determined and I know that all
00:23:50
the way did you defeat the devil is that
00:23:52
you have to do it as a group and that's
00:23:54
why I would say I would call whites and
00:23:57
blacks to come again and find how to
00:23:59
work together because what kills the
00:24:02
enemies attack --tx is if a bunch of
00:24:05
people of all ethnic backgrounds start
00:24:08
loving each other
00:24:10
[Music]
00:24:11
[Applause]
00:24:12
[Music]
00:24:12
[Applause]
00:24:25
when we return for many years Mary clams
00:24:29
er struggled with a crippling effects of
00:24:31
multiple sclerosis though her faith
00:24:33
never wavered Mary certainly didn't
00:24:35
believe in miracles until a freak
00:24:38
accident changed her life
00:24:41
[Music]
00:24:56
the state of Oklahoma is a natural
00:24:58
laboratory for studying the world's
00:25:00
worst weather here at the National
00:25:04
Weather Service in Oklahoma City
00:25:06
meteorologists track an average of one
00:25:08
severe thunderstorm every week sometimes
00:25:11
the storms bring tornado force winds
00:25:13
sometimes soft ball sized hail
00:25:15
not long ago one of those stars brought
00:25:17
weather a gift from the heavens but one
00:25:20
woman calls a modern day miracle
00:25:24
[Music]
00:25:27
August 17th 1994 Barry clams are never
00:25:32
thought of herself as a warrior but for
00:25:34
23 years she had fought a battle against
00:25:36
multiple sclerosis the battle she was
00:25:38
losing fast Mary had no idea that this
00:25:44
day an extraordinary event would erase
00:25:46
four years of torment and give her back
00:25:48
her freedom
00:25:52
in 1972 Mary was nineteen years old
00:25:56
vibrantly healthy and recently engaged
00:25:58
to Mary Ron clams earn six months before
00:26:02
the wedding she went to the hospital
00:26:03
with what she thought was a bad case of
00:26:05
flu I didn't know whether I had some
00:26:08
kind of intestinal bug or whatever and
00:26:11
shortly after being admitted to the
00:26:13
hospital a lot of neurological problems
00:26:16
started coming up that we weren't even
00:26:17
aware of Barry and Ron were certain
00:26:24
something was seriously wrong but the
00:26:26
doctors tried to shield them from the
00:26:28
brutal facts can you move your legs at
00:26:30
all can you feel this it was extremely
00:26:40
frustrating not knowing what was going
00:26:43
on feeling so many different changes in
00:26:46
my body the left leg was going out there
00:26:50
were bladder complications so many
00:26:52
things were going wrong it was like I
00:26:54
had no control over my own body the
00:27:00
final diagnosis was devastating Larry
00:27:03
had multiple sclerosis Ron set out to
00:27:06
learn exactly what that meant it's a
00:27:09
degenerative nerve disease it affects
00:27:11
the impulses from the brain to the
00:27:13
muscles so what stages marry him
00:27:17
they don't know I mean one good thing is
00:27:19
that she's young Ron found out that M s
00:27:21
could attack Marian waves each episode
00:27:24
lasting a few weeks between bouts Mary
00:27:27
would appear to be disease-free
00:27:28
sometimes for months over the years
00:27:32
however the attacks could get worse and
00:27:34
more frequent they told me that I
00:27:38
probably would never walk again
00:27:40
and if we did proceed to go ahead and
00:27:45
get married I would not be well enough
00:27:47
to have children if I could have
00:27:48
children at all and Ron came in shortly
00:27:51
after that and we talked and I said to
00:27:55
him you deserve better
00:27:56
you deserve a wife that can walk and a
00:27:59
wife that can grow with you and and have
00:28:01
children with you and they are telling
00:28:03
me I can't do any of this and I took off
00:28:06
the engagement ring and said to him as
00:28:08
much as I loved him with all my heart
00:28:09
the only way I could give it give love
00:28:12
back to him was to let him go I just
00:28:15
gave it right back to her and I said no
00:28:17
I mean we I just have faith that things
00:28:19
will work out and you know when you get
00:28:23
married you get married for better or
00:28:24
worse we're engaged to be married for
00:28:27
better or worse to me it was the same
00:28:29
thing
00:28:31
very spent the months before her wedding
00:28:34
in the hospital two week to address the
00:28:36
invitations herself just two weeks
00:28:39
before the ceremony the disease relented
00:28:41
giving Mary enough strength to walk down
00:28:44
the aisle the wedding day was only a
00:28:48
brief respite the MS soon returned
00:28:52
despite her illness Mary refused to give
00:28:54
up her dream of being not only a wife
00:28:56
but a mother over the next 10 years
00:29:00
Mary struggled through three difficult
00:29:01
pregnancies so she and Ron could have a
00:29:03
family two sons had a daughter
00:29:07
our children have grown up with a mom
00:29:10
that was in the hospital many times a
00:29:12
mom that couldn't walk many times and it
00:29:17
was incorporated into the family life
00:29:19
because even when I was ill my focus
00:29:22
always was Ron and the children you know
00:29:27
it wasn't something that was easy not
00:29:28
that I want to say she was a burden but
00:29:30
you know we had a carrier to the car we
00:29:31
had to take those scooter apart and put
00:29:33
the wheelchair in so it became a not a
00:29:36
hassle but it was a lot of work
00:29:40
after 23 years the cycles of Mary's
00:29:42
illness have become almost routine a few
00:29:45
weeks perhaps a few months of disability
00:29:48
than another precious period of normalcy
00:29:50
in the summer of 1992 that cycle
00:29:54
abruptly changed this attack was
00:29:58
different because it went past a year
00:30:00
and prior to that no attack had gone
00:30:03
past six months so we began to wonder
00:30:06
when I went past a year how long it was
00:30:08
gonna last I could not leave the bed
00:30:11
literally and I would hear the children
00:30:15
arguing amongst themselves it was your
00:30:18
turn to do this or that or Ron coming
00:30:20
home from work very frustrated and I
00:30:23
remember one night feeling really kind
00:30:26
of the only way to describe it was as if
00:30:29
I had died but I was laying in the back
00:30:32
room listening to my family fall apart
00:30:38
then came August 17th 1994
00:30:44
it could have been a metaphor for Mary's
00:30:46
life a beautiful day the suddenly turned
00:30:49
dark and story
00:30:53
Perry decided to take her bath while she
00:30:56
could as a tub filled the storm
00:30:59
intensified I would have to say on that
00:31:05
particular day was one of the worst
00:31:07
storms I've ever seen in the 12 years
00:31:08
we've been in Oklahoma at that
00:31:11
particular time I was the leg brace was
00:31:14
up against the porcelain part of the tub
00:31:17
and when I went to turn the knob I saw
00:31:20
the flash of lightning but I never heard
00:31:23
the Thunder
00:31:28
[Music]
00:31:33
at least 10,000 volts of electricity at
00:31:36
course through Mary's body enough force
00:31:39
to launch her six feet across the room
00:31:41
mom are you alright mom wake up
00:31:45
Mary was alive a miracle by any standard
00:31:48
but there was an even greater one to
00:31:50
come I remember feeling like my body was
00:31:59
on fire
00:32:00
pins and needles shooting up and down my
00:32:02
arms and being totally confused all of a
00:32:15
sudden I'm feeling my legs and I started
00:32:26
to get really like he's agitated there's
00:32:29
like I feel you touching me why do I
00:32:32
feel you touching me because you have to
00:32:33
remember for 23 years I couldn't feel my
00:32:37
left leg and for two years in my right
00:32:39
leg and now all of a sudden for no
00:32:41
reason to my knowledge I feel both I
00:32:47
mean I was dumbfounded and shocked and I
00:32:51
didn't know what to think neither did
00:32:55
anyone else
00:32:56
medical literature includes accounts of
00:32:59
lightening making blind B plus C and
00:33:01
deaf people here but the doctor warned
00:33:04
wrong yet the effects are often
00:33:05
temporary usually lasting no more than
00:33:08
30 days more often not the patient can
00:33:12
go back to her prior conditions could
00:33:13
just be a temporary situation I ran it
00:33:16
back up and down her she felt it I know
00:33:17
I came in the next two weeks I was in
00:33:20
quite a bit of pain I mean I was
00:33:22
miserable I didn't even get to enjoy
00:33:24
feeling my legs and every few hours Ron
00:33:28
wouldn't even call me and say I know
00:33:30
you're hurting but can you still feel
00:33:31
your legs I mean that was the $64
00:33:34
question you know it was like yes
00:33:40
incredibly Mary could soon do more than
00:33:43
feel her legs two weeks after being
00:33:46
struck by lightning she walked across
00:33:48
her kitchen without a second thought she
00:33:51
didn't even realize what she had done
00:33:52
until she found herself at the
00:33:54
refrigerator a dozen feet from her
00:33:57
wheelchair I was at a part of the
00:34:01
kitchen there to this day I can't tell
00:34:03
you how I got there and I thought oh I
00:34:07
can't handle this anymore because now
00:34:09
I'm doing things I don't even know how I
00:34:11
did oh you want you want to try it again
00:34:18
okay hold on I took some real robotic
00:34:29
toddler type kind of walk and I mean it
00:34:31
was like three or four steps and went
00:34:33
into his arms it was like I just did
00:34:35
that didn't I and he's like yeah mom you
00:34:37
did very improved rapidly a few days
00:34:44
later when Ron's senior arrived home
00:34:46
from work Mary was waiting with a big
00:34:48
surprise she had walked out the front
00:34:51
door and down the sidewalk completely
00:34:53
under her own power no leg brace no
00:34:56
support the clampers were thrilled but
00:35:03
not yet ready to call the cure permanent
00:35:07
in the beginning we did worry about
00:35:11
well the 30 days you know what if they
00:35:13
were wrong and it was 60 days and then I
00:35:16
started thinking I'm not gonna worry
00:35:18
about it because whatever amount of time
00:35:22
that's the time I had we never thought I
00:35:25
would have it's almost like a second
00:35:27
honeymoon I mean it's almost like year
00:35:31
one starts over again
00:35:36
today almost two years later Mary
00:35:39
exercises regularly and lives a
00:35:41
completely normal life I mean we can
00:35:45
dance again we can go out together and
00:35:48
walk again but shopping together there's
00:35:52
just so many things that were missing
00:35:54
that we have back and it's just it's
00:35:58
just like a rebirth
00:36:02
[Music]
00:36:10
when we return a tragic accident claims
00:36:13
a life of a young woman now her daughter
00:36:15
needs your help to uncover the secrets
00:36:18
of her family's past
00:36:20
[Music]
00:36:32
recently we received an unusual request
00:36:35
from woman named LaDonna alfano
00:36:37
Madonna was just a little girl when her
00:36:39
mother died in a terrible accident 35
00:36:42
years later Madonna has no memories of
00:36:44
her mother and only scant details about
00:36:46
her mother's family tonight she hopes
00:36:49
that will change
00:36:54
December 29th 1961 in the early
00:36:58
afternoon a train left Dallas Texas
00:37:00
heading west
00:37:03
[Music]
00:37:06
the loot would take it through the heart
00:37:08
of downtown Abilene Texas around the
00:37:16
same time two army wives in Abilene
00:37:18
Darlene Alfama when pinky Johnson
00:37:20
gathered up their children for a trip
00:37:22
into town
00:37:30
[Music]
00:37:31
McBride's also they're having a
00:37:33
teleconference at around 2:00 pinkie and
00:37:37
Darlene were heading north on Shelton
00:37:39
Street towards the center of town
00:37:42
[Music]
00:37:44
no one knows how or why it happened but
00:37:47
the car ended up right in the middle of
00:37:49
the tracks
00:37:50
[Music]
00:38:05
[Music]
00:38:27
the car was literally torn to shreds its
00:38:30
roof sheared completely off the human
00:38:33
toll was incalculable two of the
00:38:38
children died almost immediately a third
00:38:41
would die in the hospital as would one
00:38:43
of the mothers
00:38:44
Darlene alfano her husband Fred was by
00:38:48
her side I was sitting with her talking
00:38:55
to her and I was holding her hand she
00:38:58
took a very deep breath held it for a
00:39:01
few seconds and very slowly let it out
00:39:04
and I knew she had expired
00:39:08
Fred Alfaro found myself almost
00:39:10
completely alone he had lost his wife
00:39:13
and two of his children his other child
00:39:16
LaDonna had survived but was barely
00:39:18
hanging on they never gave me any hope
00:39:22
for any of them surviving they were all
00:39:26
almost universally sure that LaDonna
00:39:28
would not survive because of facial
00:39:31
damage extended all the way down to the
00:39:33
base of her brain LaDonna had suffered
00:39:44
catastrophic injuries to her face and
00:39:46
head but against all the odds she began
00:39:49
to recover see two weeks passed before
00:39:54
Fred could bring himself to tell LaDonna
00:39:56
about her mother and sisters
00:40:04
they're in heaven and then in a
00:40:08
playground so they can play together
00:40:21
mommy's an angel angel daddy
00:40:27
she sure is when my father told me that
00:40:31
my mother and my sisters had died I
00:40:33
thought oh the Angels had come down and
00:40:35
gotten them I was happy that there were
00:40:37
angels everybody would talk to her in
00:40:40
the hospital than she would first things
00:40:41
she would tell him was that my mommy and
00:40:44
my sisters are angels in heaven I've got
00:40:46
three angels watching me I knew she
00:40:49
would be fine I felt if she had taken
00:40:52
that attitude she would be fine why I
00:40:55
used to think why did I live why was I
00:40:59
the one that survived
00:41:00
I believe that when I was a child
00:41:03
that I lived for my father that my
00:41:05
father wouldn't have survived it I think
00:41:07
her strength gave me strength and my
00:41:10
only direction in life then was to take
00:41:13
care of LaDonna make sure she survived
00:41:16
and had a normal childhood
00:41:19
over the years LaDonna underwent a
00:41:22
series of reconstructive surgeries on
00:41:24
her face but there was one thing the
00:41:26
operations could not correct the loss of
00:41:28
her mother Darlene I have no memories of
00:41:32
my mother at all I look at pictures of
00:41:35
her and I try to remember something it's
00:41:38
like looking at a magazine article of a
00:41:40
woman
00:41:41
I have recollections of my twin and my
00:41:44
father and my little sister my father
00:41:47
has told me stories about us as children
00:41:49
with my mom and it doesn't bring back
00:41:51
any memories whatsoever none whatsoever
00:41:57
compounding Madonna's heartbreak was the
00:41:59
fact that her father had only met her
00:42:00
mother's family a few times eventually
00:42:03
what little contact they did have ceased
00:42:06
altogether after the accident happened
00:42:09
which is probably too painful to keep in
00:42:12
touch with them and now I've just
00:42:15
decided I needed to get in touch with
00:42:16
them I'm trying to you know get some
00:42:19
connection with my past and try to
00:42:21
remember something so it will fill in
00:42:24
the holes of missing my mother
00:42:28
[Music]
00:42:29
one of the only clues LaDonna has is a
00:42:32
letter she received from a maternal
00:42:34
grandfather when she was 13 it contained
00:42:38
a photograph of her mother's sister but
00:42:40
Donna's aunt Patricia and hints my own
00:42:45
pet is the only survivor of my mother
00:42:47
that I know of I think finding my aunt
00:42:50
Pat will definitely fill my emptiness
00:42:52
just being able to touch her and knowing
00:42:55
that she was a part of my mother is the
00:42:57
only thing that I have of my mother and
00:42:59
it was just knowing her and meeting her
00:43:01
and hugging her it would be really even
00:43:03
enough for me right now
00:43:05
[Music]
00:43:25
join me again this Friday at our regular
00:43:28
time run all new edition unsolved
00:43:31
mysteries
00:43:31
[Music]
00:44:09
[Music]
