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Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 8, Episode 18

March 09, 2017 / 42:51

This episode of Unsolved Mysteries covers the mysterious case of Maria Armstrong, a mother going undercover to find her son, the legend of buried treasure in Virginia, and the claims of a man channeling famous artists.

In Bitter Springs, Arizona, a woman named Maria Armstrong, who was later revealed to be wanted for murder, appeared on the Navajo Nation. Her erratic behavior raised suspicions among locals, leading to the discovery of her violent past and the murder of her boyfriend, Ron Arti.

Rose Hoffman, a mother from San Jose, California, went undercover to investigate the disappearance of her son Gus, who vanished after a motorcycle ride. She infiltrated motorcycle gangs to gather information, ultimately leading to the arrest of three men connected to his murder.

The episode also discusses the legend of Thomas Beal's treasure, worth $30 million, buried in Virginia. Treasure hunters have attempted to decode Beal's ciphers for over a century, with some claiming to have found clues to the treasure's location.

Lastly, the episode features Luis Gasperto, a man who claims to channel the spirits of famous artists like Monet and Van Gogh to create new works of art, sparking debate among art experts about the authenticity of his claims.

TL;DR

Maria Armstrong's murder case, a mother's quest for her son, buried treasure legend, and a man channeling famous artists are featured in this episode.

Episode

42:51
00:00:00
[Music]
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next on Unsolved
00:00:07
Mysteries a mysterious woman shows up on
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an Indian Reservation no one knows she's
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wanted for
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murder according to Legend $30 million
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in gold and silver is buried in the
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Virginia Countryside it's yours if you
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can decipher a secret
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code a mother goes undercover in the
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world of motorcycle gangs to find the
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men who murdered her
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son and are the spirits of artists
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Claude Monae and Vincent Bango creating
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new works through this
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man cunning deceit and lies maybe you
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can figure out who's telling the truth
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I'm Dennis finina and this is Unsolved
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Mysteries
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[Music]
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bitter Springs
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Arizona one November day a mysterious
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visitor arrives at a housing settlement
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of the Navajo Nation she calls herself
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Sandy and everyone is puzzled by her
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behavior she has conversations with
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herself and walks into several homes
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Uninvited she's secretive and seems to
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be hiding from something or someone she
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asks can you dye my hair I said what for
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you to cut my
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hair blonde so I can change my
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identity she asked one family if she can
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leave a pickup truck behind their
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house my niece told me that this Sandy
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wanted to park her vehicle there for
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about a week immediately I said well why
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don't she park it out front but she said
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that she wanted to really Park her
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vehicle where it was hidden from the
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road I just had a a funny feeling that
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things were not all
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right 2 Days Later Sandy suddenly
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leaves within a week the people of
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bitter Springs learned the truth about
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their mysterious visitor her real name
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was Maria Armstrong and her brief visit
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to the Navajo settlement marked the end
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of a doomed relationship that had
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started near nearly 10 years
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earlier Maria Armstrong grew up in a
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small suburban City in Southern New
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Jersey she was an attractive girl who
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always had her choice of boyfriends one
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of those boyfriends was Robert areny
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nicknamed Ron he had graduated high
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school at 17 with honors and joined the
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National Guard he was outgoing and
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athletic yet he had always been
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fascinated by the introverted Maria
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Maria was innocent and she was beautiful
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she had long almost black hair um really
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gorgeous and I think that's what my
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brother was attracted to her cuz she was
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so unusual looking she was sweet she was
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kind to people she um she was your
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friend Ron eventually moved to Mesa
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Arizona to be near his
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family back in New Jersey Maria had
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begun to behave strangely showing signs
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of delusion and paranoia her parents
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feared that she was using drugs and
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placed her in a series of metal
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hospitals finally it was determined that
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Maria was suffering from paranoid
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schizophrenia a physical disease of the
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brain it most commonly strikes its
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victims in their teens and
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20s schizophrenics frequently have
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trouble telling the difference between
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the real world and their delusions there
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there is no known cure for schizophrenia
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but the symptoms can be sometimes
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controlled with
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medication Ron convinced Maria to move
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to Arizona and live with him so that she
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could start over with a clean slate he
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seemed to think that she was fine and
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that all he wanted to do was get her
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away from New Jersey and get her away
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from the drugs and get her away from the
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bad influences back there and help her
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help her to reestablish her life out
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here that June Maria finally came to
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Arizona despite his family's objections
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Maria moved in with Ron we were
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concerned because we did hear that she
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was in a mental institution and we knew
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she was on drugs back back East but you
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know they were holding hands kissing
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they were like a
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couple for the first few weeks Maria
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seemed happy in
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Mesa but soon after she arrived Ron
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began working the graveyard shift so
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Maria was often alone at night she began
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pacing talking to herself and once again
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showing symptoms of
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schizophrenia somebody in the apartment
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complex where they lived Maria had made
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friends with and Ron found out that this
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person was supplying drugs to Maria she
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wasn't going to the psychiatrist she had
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canceled her appointments she wasn't
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taking her medication she said that it
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kept her up at night well she was
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already up all the time at night she
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never slept slept
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anyway Maria began to accuse Ron of
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plotting against her calm down list Cal
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leave me alone they told me about you
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they told all
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right ran told his sisters that Maria
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often attacked him physically she once
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hit him so hard that she ruptured his
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eardrum I would talk to Ron on the phone
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and I would tell him Ronnie you have to
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do something you have to get rid of her
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send her home I don't want to do that I
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want to help her he would say I says but
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you can't help her it's obvious you
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can't help her she needs more than you
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to help her she needs psychiatric care
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know who are you talking to after 5
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months Ron had finally reached the end
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of his rope who are you talking to roxan
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hi
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roxan yeah I called him and he said the
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neighbors are complaining
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the management wants to kick me out and
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I want to get her out of here she is
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she's there in the
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room listening to all
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this the next morning Maria slowly drove
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into Bitter Springs 260 Mi north of Mesa
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she was calling herself Sandy and trying
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to sell the pickup truck that she was
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driving first thing she said do you
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interested in buying a truck and I said
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no I'm not you know where I could get a
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pained I just thought maybe she was
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hiding from her boyfriend or something
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like that cuz she said she left her
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boyfriend
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someplace the following morning the
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Arizona Highway Patrol responded to a
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complaint in Bitter Springs Maria had
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left her pickup truck parked behind the
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house and the owner was afraid that it
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was stolen the officer ran a computer
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check on the license plate and found the
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car was registered to Ron arti he
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arranged have it towed to a nearby
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town after searching several locations
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the officer found out that the
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mysterious woman was hiding in a local
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house come on out I see you behind the
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[Music]
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bed I let her go but I just had the
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feeling that she had either done
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something was doing something or was
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going to do something
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4 days later a maintenance man at Ron
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aren's apartment complex asked the
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manager to come with him to Ron's
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apartment I noticed a stack of old
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newspapers in front of Ron's apartment
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we went up got the manager and then we
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entered the
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apartment hello well I first hit the
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door the door just flung right open uh I
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walked in and I saw a pile of clothes on
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the couch didn't see any anybody in
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there and everything was quiet so I
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walked through the unit looking yelling
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anybody here and didn't get any
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answer oh my
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God according to the medical examiner
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report on the autopsy the cause of death
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was uh blunt force trauma to the head
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region and Mr arti had been dead for
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several days looking at this guy is
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definitely going to be a homicide his
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body had been covered by bedding pillows
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clothing is there someone was trying to
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hide the discovery of the body we found
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just left of the body a small can Sledge
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Hammer we also found that he had been
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stabbed in the right rib area with a
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wooden handled knife but the knife W
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came after the trauma to the
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Head it was our theory that Mr arti had
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been sleeping in a sitting position on
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the couch because he was afraid of uh
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Maria Armstrong and that sometime when
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he was asleep
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Miss Armstrong came up and inflicted the
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blows to his head with the sledgehammer
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and then subsequently stabbed
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him then we believe that she uh covered
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the body in an attempt to hide the crime
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she went into the bedroom changed her
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clothing and then took the keys to Mr
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argent's truck and then left Mesa and
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drove up north to Bitter
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Springs the last sighting that we had on
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Maria was on November 11 where she was
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seen hitchhiking on the highway next to
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Bitter Springs back towards the
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Flagstaff area I would say she's
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probably very much alive and very
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dangerous there's no predicting what
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she's going to
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do
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update Maria Armstrong has been captured
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shortly after this story air the FBI
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received a call from one of our viewers
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we received a telephone call that Marie
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Armstrong had been living in the M
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Memphis Tennessee area and that she was
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going to be at the airport on August 3rd
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of this year uh the FBI subsequently
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went to the airport and were able to
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identify her and they did Place her
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under
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arrest Armstrong had changed her
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appearance by dying her hair blonde she
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pleaded guilty to second degree murder
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and was sentenced to 15 years in prison
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Maria Armstrong has since been
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released next a mother goes undercover
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to solve the mystery of her missing
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son San Jose
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California Gus Hoffman was a popular
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20-year-old with a reputation as a
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skilled mechanic he was not a hardcore
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biker but one of his Hobbies was
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restoring vintage motorcycles Gus
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brought a 1966 Harley-Davidson Sportster
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and spent 8 months and $4,000 restoring
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it to Mint
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Condition on the 4th of July he was
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putting the finishing touches on the
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motorcycle he showed it off to his
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brother and told him that he was going
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to take it off for a short ride
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Gus's family never saw him
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[Applause]
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again when Gus Hoffman didn't return his
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mother called the police but they were
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required to wait 48 hours before
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investigating a missing person's report
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so Rose Hoffman set out on her own it
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was the beginning of a 10-year quest to
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uncover the truth about her son's
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disappearance I'm Miss Hoffman Rose
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Hoffman first searched her neighborhood
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and questioned one of Gus's friends who
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worked at a nearby gas station but about
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2 days ago I saw him pull up on his
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motorcycle look were these two other
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guys that want choppers with
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him he said that he saw Gus riding by
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and he said there was two motorcycles in
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back of them and a blue Monte Carlo and
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he said the reason he recognized it was
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because these same two motorcycle guys
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came in to the gas station and they were
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like real mean
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to him and so he remembered
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them and they had real long
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hair and they were just real tough guys
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guys that you don't fool around with a
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second witness later said that the two
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bikers had stopped Gus argued and
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threatened him with
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chains when Gus pulled away they took
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off in
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Pursuit the two witnesses identified the
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bikers as Michael hajes and Michael
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Stevenson both members of a motorcycle
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gang called The Forgotten
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F if there was ever a person who you
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could say was a career criminal the name
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would be Michael Stevenson he's probably
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the most violent person that I've ever
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investigated the San Jose police didn't
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have enough evidence to bring Stevenson
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and hajes in for questioning so they
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talked to other gang members who knew
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the two men with the San Jose police
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was willing to talk it seemed that
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everyone was afraid of Michael Stevenson
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never heard of him never heard of a gusf
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after they found out who they were they
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told me expect the worst I got very
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angry my husband got angry we said no
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this can't
00:14:49
happen I just wanted to go after them
00:14:51
after that I mean that's all I thought
00:14:53
about was going after
00:14:57
them in order to to turn up leads for
00:15:00
the police rose and a friend named Carol
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Jensen went undercover to infiltrate
00:15:05
motorcycle gang hang ons I tried to
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dress like a biker person a woman that's
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been around in the biker world I wore my
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hair all wild and and tight pants and
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tight jeans and heels and bracelets and
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uh just I tried to look
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tough it was scary but I don't think I
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was as a as I should have been what
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about you you seen this
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guy we just let it be known that I had a
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loaded gun it was not loaded but we let
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him think it was and that I would use it
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any moment to protect Rose hey guys
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what's
00:15:44
happening Rose Hoffman spent hundreds of
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hours going to biker bars different low
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class establishments soliciting
00:15:52
information from informant buying
00:15:54
information when necessary knocking on
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doors talking to anybody that
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whose name they were given so she
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doesn't like to speak Rose hired a
00:16:05
private investigator with connections to
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motorcycle gangs he set up a meeting
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with a woman who claimed that she knew
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what happened to
00:16:14
Gus I understand you have information
00:16:17
about my
00:16:18
son yes I do she told me that my son was
00:16:22
dead and she told me that my son was
00:16:25
tortured he was tortured for 3 to 5
00:16:30
days
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and and I begged her I said
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please tell me who did
00:16:44
it and uh I begged him too and he said I
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can't he said I don't want to be
00:16:50
responsible for her
00:16:54
death although Rose now thought that she
00:16:57
knew the horrible truth of what had
00:16:58
happened happened to her son she had no
00:17:01
hard evidence that could lead to an
00:17:03
arrest I think they enticed
00:17:06
him I think they said come on let me see
00:17:10
your bike let me see your bike and then
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he was like intimidated and said well
00:17:13
you know cuz they were real rough tough
00:17:15
looking guys real tough guys and I think
00:17:18
he was more intimidated into
00:17:24
everything and I think uh that once that
00:17:27
he got off his bike that was it
00:17:30
I think they wheeled the bike into the
00:17:32
garage and then walked him into the
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garage and when that garage door went
00:17:38
down he was never seen
00:17:43
again 9 years after Gus vanished Michael
00:17:46
Stevenson was killed in a failed
00:17:48
extortion attempt let me show you a
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picture see if you have ever seen this
00:17:53
man before with Stevenson dead police
00:17:56
reined members of biker gangs and
00:17:58
impossible Witnesses these sources
00:18:01
confirm the story that Rose heard from
00:18:03
the anonymous Witnesses and this time
00:18:06
they named names crazy guy it appears
00:18:09
that Gus Hoffman was forced through
00:18:12
intimidation to go to Mike Stevenson's
00:18:15
residence in San Jose was forced through
00:18:17
intimidation to enter the garage there
00:18:19
were certain acts of violence against
00:18:21
Gus Hoffman inside that garage which
00:18:24
ultimately resulted in his death and The
00:18:25
Disappearance of his motorcycle
00:18:28
police arrested Michael hajes one of the
00:18:31
men Witnesses had linked to Gus's murder
00:18:34
Richard dollar a friend of hajes was
00:18:36
located at San Quenton where he was
00:18:38
already serving time for a parole
00:18:42
violation the third remaining suspect
00:18:45
John stelle was finally captured in
00:18:47
Northern California all three men were
00:18:50
convicted of first-degree murder and
00:18:52
given life
00:18:54
sentences stelle and hajes died Behind
00:18:58
Bars
00:19:00
no trace of Gus Hoffman has ever been
00:19:03
found Rose Hoffman wants to give her son
00:19:06
the dignity and death that he was denied
00:19:09
at the end of his
00:19:12
life if anybody
00:19:15
knows where my son
00:19:17
is please I beg you please tell the
00:19:22
police or call me I want my son that's
00:19:26
the most important thing
00:19:31
if you have any information please log
00:19:34
on to our website at UNS solve.com
00:19:37
[Music]
00:19:41
next $30 million in gold and silver is
00:19:45
buried somewhere in
00:19:47
Virginia you just have to find it
00:20:00
Bedford County
00:20:02
Virginia in 1821 a man named Thomas J
00:20:06
Beal wrote about a vast fortune that he
00:20:08
had buried somewhere in these Rolling
00:20:11
Hills the stash of gold and silver would
00:20:14
be worth some $30 million
00:20:17
today for over a 100 years treasure
00:20:20
Hunters have been searching the
00:20:21
countryside looking for Bill's buried
00:20:24
Fortune no one has found
00:20:26
it the amount of gold and silver That
00:20:30
was supposed to been deposited and two
00:20:32
deposits gave me an idea that you'd have
00:20:35
to have two wagons or more to bury it
00:20:37
well somebody will get lucky somebody
00:20:40
will get lucky and find it by mistake or
00:20:42
they'll find it because theyve really
00:20:43
searched it out and know what they're
00:20:44
doing one way or the other I think it'll
00:20:46
be
00:20:47
found the legend of Beal's treasure
00:20:50
begins in the early 1800s in New Mexico
00:20:54
Thomas Beal and a team of 30 miners dug
00:20:56
up more than a ton and a half of gold
00:20:59
and another 2 and 1/2 tons of
00:21:02
silver they brought the treasure to
00:21:04
Virginia where Bill buried it he left
00:21:07
written instructions to the location of
00:21:10
his fortune in the form of three secret
00:21:13
codes or ciphers then he returned to New
00:21:16
Mexico and was never seen again in 1869
00:21:21
a wealthy Virginia solved one of the
00:21:23
three ciphers using the Declaration of
00:21:26
Independence as the key
00:21:29
he numbered the first letter of every
00:21:31
word in the Declaration and then for
00:21:34
each number in the cipher he substituted
00:21:36
the corresponding letter once it was
00:21:39
decoded the message read I have
00:21:42
deposited in the county of Bedford in an
00:21:45
excavation or vault 6 ft below the
00:21:48
surface of the ground
00:21:51
5,100 lb of silver and
00:21:56
2,921 lb of gold securely packed in iron
00:22:00
pots with iron covers no difficulty will
00:22:04
be had in find in
00:22:07
it for more than 130 years the other two
00:22:11
ciphers have remained unsolved one is
00:22:14
said to list Thomas bei's next of kin
00:22:17
and the other is said to pinpoint the
00:22:19
exact location of the treasure whoever
00:22:22
decodes it may find Beal's secret
00:22:25
Fortune
00:22:28
two brothers Eddie and Joe Tony and
00:22:31
their father-in-law Earl bogs say
00:22:33
they've broken the cipher they claimed
00:22:36
the message tells of five geographic
00:22:38
locations where beill left
00:22:41
[Music]
00:22:43
Clues during our filming the treasure
00:22:46
Hunters found this 19th century Carriage
00:22:49
Rod they believe it is the fifth clue to
00:22:52
their search and that Beal buried it
00:22:55
pointing it in the direction of his
00:22:57
secret vault
00:22:58
[Music]
00:23:00
when the metal detector went off I got
00:23:02
excited and it's hard to explain how
00:23:05
exciting you do get and you imagine a go
00:23:09
down in there behind them
00:23:11
rocks and my heart felt like it come up
00:23:14
in my
00:23:19
throat miles away in a different section
00:23:21
of Bedford County Californian Wilbur
00:23:24
Swift is also searching he too believes
00:23:28
that he has broken the cipher Wilbur has
00:23:31
spent
00:23:32
$20,000 trying to find the beal treasure
00:23:36
I'm a computer programmer to start with
00:23:39
so on my own personal computer I decided
00:23:41
to try to decipher this in about 8
00:23:43
months time I was able to break the code
00:23:46
and uh it told me about a specific type
00:23:50
of rock that I was looking for and I
00:23:53
happened to locate that specific type of
00:23:55
rock and there it is right there
00:23:59
it has a face on it and it has a head on
00:24:03
it this is is what the the deciphered
00:24:07
code told me to look for and then I said
00:24:11
okay the treasure has to be underneath
00:24:12
it because it said that's where it was
00:24:14
supposed to
00:24:15
[Music]
00:24:19
be Wilbur hired a local contractor to
00:24:22
help him excavate under the
00:24:26
rock I have lived in be count all my
00:24:28
life and over the past 25 years I have
00:24:33
dug this treasure up here for about 20
00:24:35
25 people most of them knew exactly
00:24:38
where it was and when talking to them
00:24:41
it' be so uptight it just couldn't
00:24:43
hardly breathe really and when you start
00:24:46
digging for there was always just 2 ft
00:24:49
away from it I don't care how deep in
00:24:51
the ground you went it's still it was 2
00:24:52
ft deeper than what you uh
00:24:56
dug the target was pre-measured at 26 ft
00:25:00
and we're down right now at about 24 ft
00:25:02
so we don't have too much further to
00:25:05
go now that we found the Rock and we've
00:25:08
done some extensive testing by the way
00:25:11
and uh we're sure that we're getting the
00:25:13
treasure out of
00:25:16
there some Bedford County residents are
00:25:19
not convinced that there really is a
00:25:22
treasure it may be here I may be sitting
00:25:25
on it I've got some land in tax no why
00:25:29
it it may be on my spread I don't know I
00:25:32
hope it is I say I think it's outside
00:25:34
possibility it might be a treasure
00:25:36
somewhere yet but I don't think not
00:25:39
believe enough in it to go up and start
00:25:41
digging they think they can break that
00:25:43
code maybe they can I hope them good
00:25:46
luck but personally I just don't believe
00:25:49
it's here how we doing Carl oh we're
00:25:52
doing very well I'm down to the 19th
00:25:53
line and I'm could the be ciphers be a
00:25:56
hoax Dr Carl hammer has spent 30 years
00:25:59
studying Beal's numbers to find out if
00:26:01
they contain a coded message as part of
00:26:04
his investigation he attempted to
00:26:06
recreate conditions under which Beal
00:26:09
wrote the ciphers in his computer
00:26:12
[Music]
00:26:14
lab my aim was to find out whether the
00:26:17
ciphers are real or whether they are
00:26:19
hoax hoax means these are random numbers
00:26:22
they're toodles and so I started to
00:26:24
analyze those numbers and I discovered
00:26:27
that there were some very very
00:26:28
distinguishable patterns and they were
00:26:31
in fact not random numbers they were not
00:26:33
Doodles but they contained information
00:26:36
we don't know what the information is
00:26:39
but there are a legitimate set of
00:26:41
cryptographic numbers and that is all
00:26:44
that is known to the
00:26:47
state and that's enough for Wilbur Swift
00:26:51
my wife is back in California and some
00:26:54
of the neighbors say Hey where's Wilbur
00:26:56
and I I don't think any of let them take
00:26:58
it serious well he who laughs lasts
00:27:02
laughs best and I I believe that one of
00:27:05
these days I might get the last
00:27:08
laugh the Tony Brothers believe they
00:27:11
will have the last
00:27:13
laugh the facts that we've got I know
00:27:16
it's not a hoax you know I'm convinced
00:27:18
that it's not it's been there 160 some
00:27:21
years supposedly and it's going to be
00:27:23
there uh until it's
00:27:26
found despite all the computer programs
00:27:29
historical research digging and
00:27:31
searching Thomas Beal's secret vault if
00:27:34
it exists remains
00:27:42
intact next the man searches for the
00:27:45
sister that he hasn't seen in over 50
00:27:53
[Music]
00:27:57
years in the late 1920s the United
00:28:00
States began a downward economics viral
00:28:03
that lasted just over a decade
00:28:06
officially the Great Depression ended in
00:28:09
1942 but for many the cost and personal
00:28:13
tragedy continued for a
00:28:15
lifetime this was the case for a young
00:28:18
girl and her older brother who lived in
00:28:20
Haskell Texas in 1941 Barney dwey was
00:28:25
just 12 years old working parttime at at
00:28:28
a gas station and looking after his
00:28:30
little sister
00:28:32
Angeline their stepfather had been
00:28:34
hospitalized and their mother was gone
00:28:36
long hours at her job as a garment
00:28:39
[Music]
00:28:41
worker times were rough and we were
00:28:43
concerned with living and trying to keep
00:28:45
Body and Soul together and so and my
00:28:47
mother was trying real hard she was not
00:28:49
a well educated person but she she could
00:28:52
read and write and what have you but uh
00:28:54
that was the only job that was available
00:28:56
you want to play game with me
00:28:58
okay Barney and his family managed to
00:29:00
get by and stay together until the day
00:29:03
when a man who called himself Reverend
00:29:06
Nicholas showed
00:29:08
up okay
00:29:11
sir hello you're Bonnie do aren't you
00:29:15
well I'm I'm rever Nichols most people
00:29:18
call me daddy Nichols Oh Daddy Nichols
00:29:21
Yeah I'm I'm a good friend of your your
00:29:24
mothers so he told us that uh my mother
00:29:27
wanted us to go with them she said it
00:29:29
would be all right if I came over the
00:29:32
way he put it and the way he expressed
00:29:34
himself well there's nothing wrong how
00:29:36
would you like a piece of candy God you
00:29:39
too you know just go with him and and my
00:29:41
mother I thought well you know uh that
00:29:43
perhaps my mother was sick goad come
00:29:47
along Reverend Nicholas took Bernie and
00:29:49
Angela to a nice hotel bought both of
00:29:52
them new outfits and fed them a fancy
00:29:55
meal the next day all dressed up in
00:29:58
their new clothes the children were
00:30:00
professionally
00:30:02
photographed there you go now going over
00:30:06
here and we find the bus waiting for her
00:30:08
they said that something had happened to
00:30:10
my mother and that we weren't able to
00:30:11
see her and so they took us to uh the
00:30:14
bus station and I questioned him asked
00:30:16
him well where are we going he said well
00:30:18
said we're going to take a little trip
00:30:20
and uh don't worry everything's going to
00:30:22
be all right well my sister bed and she
00:30:24
began to uh cry
00:30:30
every time we would raise some objection
00:30:32
well he would uh smooth our our feelings
00:30:35
down and say well everything's going to
00:30:37
be all right you know just we'll we'll
00:30:39
go see your mother and it worked out for
00:30:42
Reverend Nicholls just real well we kind
00:30:44
of trusted him and when we got to the
00:30:47
foster home we just felt like that that
00:30:49
was a place that we was to stay until we
00:30:51
met my
00:30:52
[Music]
00:30:53
mother a few days later Reverend
00:30:56
Nicholas and his adop son Nick crane
00:30:59
came to the orphanage to pick up Barney
00:31:02
but not Angel time for lunch we go to
00:31:05
our house you can't take him now oh
00:31:07
we're just taking him for some food and
00:31:10
of course angelene began to cry and sob
00:31:12
and and held on to me and followed me
00:31:15
out and she had to be restrained
00:31:20
Barney later Barney learned that the
00:31:23
fancy new clothes and the photograph
00:31:25
were just an advertisement to be shown
00:31:27
to to prospective foster
00:31:33
parents Barney was sent to live on a
00:31:36
ranch outside abene Texas his foster
00:31:39
parents were Reverend Nicholas's
00:31:41
secretary and her husband who
00:31:44
conveniently needed a ranch
00:31:47
hand I had the responsibility of driving
00:31:50
the tractor and plowing and doing the
00:31:52
chores on the ranch to keep the animals
00:31:54
up and everything keep them fed and I
00:31:56
was pretty satisfied i' ready first
00:31:58
there you know because I had my own
00:32:00
horse and I could do whatever I wanted
00:32:02
to do you know and on the ranch I was
00:32:04
kind of in
00:32:05
charge really felt good about
00:32:08
it Bernie's memories of his foster
00:32:11
parents are good ones even though he
00:32:13
lived alone 8 miles from the main ranch
00:32:16
house and rarely saw
00:32:19
them I began to get
00:32:22
lonely and began to miss my mother and
00:32:24
my
00:32:25
sister well I just got so upset that I
00:32:29
decided I was going to go to hasal and
00:32:31
look for my mother it was 97 mi from the
00:32:35
ranch to the town of hasell when Barney
00:32:38
got there he discovered that his mother
00:32:39
and stepfather had moved away so Barney
00:32:43
set out on a journey that would
00:32:45
crisscross Texas and cover nearly 1,000
00:32:48
[Music]
00:32:51
miles Barney found his birthfather in
00:32:54
curn together they traveled to Kilgore
00:32:57
Texas and then on to Humble just outside
00:33:00
of Houston there Barney's father put him
00:33:03
on a bus to Odessa where he was reunited
00:33:06
with his mother and
00:33:10
stepfather when I got off the bus in uh
00:33:13
Odessa Texas and I looked over and I saw
00:33:15
my mother and I recognized her of course
00:33:17
but she didn't know me it's me ohy oh i'
00:33:22
changed in the year that that had passed
00:33:24
and uh had glasses on and uh and of
00:33:26
course my dad had bought me some you clo
00:33:28
see you you are so brave to go all this
00:33:31
way we had a wonderful time there and
00:33:33
then she says where's Angie have you
00:33:35
heard from
00:33:36
Angeline no no but she's doing okay
00:33:39
though oh we began to talk about the
00:33:41
events that had taken place and U I
00:33:43
asked her I says mama I said did you
00:33:45
sign any kind of papers or anything to
00:33:47
release us to these people and she says
00:33:49
no honey says I'd never do
00:33:52
that Barney lived happily with his
00:33:54
mother and stepfather until he was 18
00:33:56
years old in 1947 he married but he
00:34:01
never stopped thinking about his sister
00:34:05
Angeline for the last 50 years I have
00:34:09
been searching for my sister and I
00:34:12
haven't been able to contact her and I I
00:34:15
have nobody that knows anything about
00:34:18
her and it has been this long 50 years
00:34:22
half a century in my search for my
00:34:25
sister Angelie
00:34:32
update on the night of our broadcast
00:34:35
Neil Smith of Cedar Hills Texas
00:34:38
recognized angelene as his adopted
00:34:40
sister Martha Jean Barney discovered
00:34:43
that Martha Jean was mentally challenged
00:34:46
and living in a group home for the
00:34:48
disabled in Arizona he immediately made
00:34:51
plans for a
00:34:54
reunion the moment Bernie had waited for
00:34:56
for more than 51 years finally
00:35:00
arrived
00:35:02
she open the door hello
00:35:06
Angie can you get out of there all right
00:35:08
now no well it's good to see oh goodness
00:35:12
after all this time yeah goodness look
00:35:15
at me I
00:35:16
know look at me oh no goodness it was a
00:35:21
real thrill you know I mean it's hard to
00:35:23
describe but you know and there she was
00:35:26
and my search is ended I found who I was
00:35:31
looking for all of these
00:35:33
years my little sister it's joy that I
00:35:37
found B and all his family I'm happy
00:35:41
that I found that I've got two families
00:35:44
now instead of one I got
00:35:47
two and I am really happy what I did I
00:35:50
sent a letter to Mr Nicholls
00:35:54
[Music]
00:35:58
next do the spirits of great artists
00:36:01
still create masterpieces through the
00:36:03
hands of this
00:36:12
man for those who love art it's tempting
00:36:15
to wish that the great Masters could
00:36:17
return to paint just one more campus
00:36:21
that's impossible right well not a few
00:36:23
believe in the extraordinary claims of a
00:36:25
man named Lis gas
00:36:30
perto as he Scrolls colors across the
00:36:33
page gas perto seems like a man
00:36:36
possessed if his astounding claims are
00:36:38
true every movement he makes is directed
00:36:41
by the spirits of long dead Masters who
00:36:44
continue to create new work from Beyond
00:36:47
the
00:36:48
[Music]
00:36:50
Grave Luis gas perto grew up in Sal Pao
00:36:53
Brazil's largest city the culture here
00:36:56
Embraces the Supernatural and many
00:36:59
consider psychic experiences part of
00:37:02
everyday
00:37:03
life the gas peretto family is no
00:37:06
exception Louis's mother Zia has written
00:37:10
13 books in which she says we're all
00:37:13
channeled from the spirit world Luis was
00:37:16
just a boy when he first began to
00:37:17
believe that he also possessed psychic
00:37:24
abilities at the age of 13 Luis was
00:37:27
suffering uffing from stress and
00:37:29
insomnia and was having trouble at
00:37:31
school Zia thought that he needed
00:37:34
counseling and took him to see Madame
00:37:36
laise one of the city's best known
00:37:41
[Music]
00:37:46
Clairvoyant I was embarrassed because it
00:37:48
was the first time there and uh but I
00:37:51
start to feel all that my body shaking
00:37:54
inside and all that energy
00:37:59
and something was holding my throat and
00:38:02
I tried to control
00:38:04
myself and that gets worse so I I had to
00:38:08
to Let It
00:38:09
Go Lis recalls feeling pain and tingling
00:38:13
in his arms to Madame liise it was a
00:38:16
sign that he would be able to channel
00:38:18
writing just like his mother but instead
00:38:22
Luis began to
00:38:24
draw Luis gaspero says that over the
00:38:27
past four decades he's channeled more
00:38:30
than 20,000 paintings by 50 different
00:38:34
artists we asked if we can film one of
00:38:37
the channeling sessions when you invite
00:38:40
me for a presentation I asked them if
00:38:43
they want to if they want to come
00:38:44
because I cannot do myself so if they
00:38:48
say yes I just you know accept the
00:38:53
invitation our invitation was apparently
00:38:56
accepted and and we film gas perto in
00:38:59
New York
00:39:02
City Gas perto Works with such intensity
00:39:05
an assistant holds down the
00:39:08
work the sensation of coming in
00:39:11
involving me you know involving my arms
00:39:16
and I just let it go and the arm goes by
00:39:19
that force not me it's not coming from
00:39:21
inside comes from
00:39:24
outside during the session gas perto
00:39:27
complet did six drawings and three
00:39:29
paintings most in less than 5 minutes he
00:39:32
moved easily between different Artistic
00:39:38
Styles I try not to control anything I
00:39:41
try not to put my thoughts or my ideas
00:39:44
but you see people think that uh if you
00:39:48
are unconscious there going to be
00:39:49
somebody else coming through you are
00:39:51
taking your body that's impossible
00:39:53
nobody takes your body you know it's
00:39:55
just energetical influence
00:39:58
through you so I just learned to be
00:40:02
passive during the 45 minutes we were
00:40:04
filming gas perto says he channeled
00:40:07
works by seven artists among the
00:40:09
greatest of all time is it proof that
00:40:13
the great Masters are still hard at work
00:40:15
in the
00:40:18
afterlife this is a painting by Pierre
00:40:21
AUST renois completed in
00:40:25
1877 this is renois as channeled through
00:40:28
gaspero in roughly 5
00:40:32
minutes Claude Monae
00:40:35
1880 Claude Monae through
00:40:39
gaspero Vincent vano
00:40:43
1890 van go through
00:40:45
[Music]
00:40:47
gaspero ART experts in the United States
00:40:50
are not convinced the notion that any
00:40:53
one of these artists take a van go for
00:40:56
example a man of of extraordinary
00:41:00
intensity and seriousness of purpose to
00:41:02
think that he would want to come back
00:41:04
after his death and
00:41:08
produce um third fourth fifth rate
00:41:11
imitations of what he successfully did
00:41:13
during his life seems to me incredible
00:41:16
gasparo certainly seems to be possessed
00:41:18
by some Force I mean perhaps it's the
00:41:20
force of his own subconscious playing
00:41:23
back images that he's seen in our
00:41:24
history books or perhaps he's really
00:41:26
receiving these images from the
00:41:29
afterlife I mean I certainly can't
00:41:32
say the painters are coming through me
00:41:35
because they want to show that there is
00:41:38
life after death and they want us to
00:41:40
think about
00:41:41
eternity they want to help the evolution
00:41:44
of our conceptions of Life they want us
00:41:48
to see life in a different
00:41:51
way is Luis gaspero a window to the
00:41:54
metaphysical side of art can there
00:41:57
possibly be any substance to His
00:41:59
stunning claims no matter what you may
00:42:03
believe even a skeptic has to admit that
00:42:06
Luis
00:42:07
gaspero sure puts on a good show
00:42:10
[Music]
00:42:28
[Music]
00:42:34
[Music]
00:42:43
[Music]

Badges

This episode stands out for the following:

  • 80
    Most heartbreaking
  • 80
    Biggest twist
  • 75
    Most shocking
  • 75
    Most unpredictable

Episode Highlights

  • The Mysterious Visitor
    A woman named Sandy arrives in Bitter Springs, hiding from something or someone.
    “She asked if she could dye her hair to change her identity.”
    @ 02m 09s
    March 09, 2017
  • Maria Armstrong's Downfall
    Maria Armstrong, once a troubled woman, becomes a murderer and is eventually captured.
    “She pleaded guilty to second degree murder and was sentenced to 15 years in prison.”
    @ 11m 24s
    March 09, 2017
  • A Mother's Ten-Year Quest
    Rose Hoffman embarks on a decade-long search for her missing son, Gus.
    “I just wanted to go after them.”
    @ 14m 51s
    March 09, 2017
  • The Legend of Beal's Treasure
    Treasure hunters seek a buried fortune worth $30 million in Virginia.
    “The stash of gold and silver would be worth some $30 million today.”
    @ 20m 14s
    March 09, 2017
  • The Search for Truth
    Dr. Carl Hammer investigates whether Beal's ciphers are a hoax or contain real information.
    “I discovered that there were some very very distinguishable patterns.”
    @ 26m 24s
    March 09, 2017
  • A Brother's Longing
    Barney Dewey searches for his sister Angeline for over 50 years, facing numerous challenges.
    “For the last 50 years I have been searching for my sister.”
    @ 34m 09s
    March 09, 2017
  • A Long-Awaited Reunion
    Barney finally reunites with his sister Angeline after more than five decades apart.
    “Hello Angie, can you get out of there?”
    @ 35m 06s
    March 09, 2017

Episode Quotes

  • I just had a funny feeling that things were not all right.
    Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 8, Episode 18
  • I want my son, that’s the most important thing.
    Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 8, Episode 18
  • Somebody will get lucky and find it by mistake.
    Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 8, Episode 18
  • I believe that one of these days I might get the last laugh.
    Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 8, Episode 18
  • My search is ended. I found who I was looking for all of these years.
    Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 8, Episode 18
  • I’m happy that I found that I’ve got two families now instead of one.
    Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 8, Episode 18

Key Moments

  • Mysterious Arrival01:38
  • Murder Investigation09:21
  • Ciphers Investigation25:56
  • Family Struggles28:36
  • Reverend Nicholas29:06
  • Foster Care31:33
  • Reunion Joy35:31
  • Artistic Claims36:15

Words per Minute Over Time

Vibes Breakdown

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Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 2, Episode 17
Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 7, Episode 10
March 09, 2017
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42:53
Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 7, Episode 10
Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 2, Episode 19
March 09, 2017
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42:54
Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 2, Episode 19
Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 8, Episode 4 - New Updated Episode
March 16, 2022
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43:01
Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 8, Episode 4 - New Updated Episode
Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 3, Episode 1
March 09, 2017
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42:48
Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 3, Episode 1