00:00:05
tonight on unsolved mysteries a 19 year
00:00:12
old college students car becomes
00:00:13
disabled along an interstate minutes
00:00:16
later in the full view of other
00:00:17
motorists the same young woman finds
00:00:19
herself in a life-or-death struggle 'she
00:00:21
hurtles down the highway authorities
00:00:24
need your help to find her attacker
00:00:27
when Helen Ruth was diagnosed with
00:00:30
cancer and Dave Cernan with hepatitis
00:00:32
they began searching for a medical
00:00:34
miracle
00:00:35
they believe they found it in dr. Caplan
00:00:38
jur a physician with an experimental
00:00:40
remedy could the doctors treatment save
00:00:43
their lives or would it turn out to be
00:00:45
deadly he was a well-loved teacher from
00:00:50
a selfless family man and a community
00:00:52
icon in fact many considered him a hero
00:00:55
who would have ever thought that Frank
00:00:58
Montana would be charged with child
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molestation
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a small Idaho town is shaken by the
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mysterious disappearance of a young gay
00:01:08
college student will Hendrick vanished
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one January night and hasn't been heard
00:01:13
from since did he willingly walk away or
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is it possible he was a victim of crime
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join me these stories that have defied
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reason and explanation perhaps you would
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be the one to solve the mystery
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[Applause]
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[Applause]
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[Music]
00:01:57
a beautiful spring day outside Little
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Rock Arkansas
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routine lunch hour traffic was suddenly
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interrupted by an unfolding drama that
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was anything but routine a white pickup
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swerg erratically as it barreled down
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the highway inside a terrified female
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passenger struggled for her life with a
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male driver
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Franek 9-1-1 calls poured in
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but no one could come to her rescue
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horrified witnesses were powerless to
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stop what seemed inevitable the driver
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sped off without a moment's hesitation
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19 year-old Carson Prince was rushed to
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the hospital with massive head injuries
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as doctors tried to stabilize Carson's
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injuries Arkansas State Police
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investigators swung into action
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identifying and locating the driver of
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the white pickup truck became their
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number one priority but authorities and
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other puzzling questions related to the
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shocking broad daylight attack in Carson
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knew her assailant and if not but was a
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well-liked college student doing in his
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truck
00:03:37
Carson prints grew up in Maumelle
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Arkansas a suburb of Little Rock she was
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the oldest of three Carson was a neat
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kid a very caring and giving young lady
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but she didn't expect anything in return
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she was very very funny Carson could
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always make you laugh even if she didn't
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feel like laughing inside however
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Carson's outlook changed dramatically
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when her parents divorced when she was
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13 I think Carson was struggling she
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wasn't where she was going and she kind
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of grew up in the middle of a 16-year
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divorce after coming to terms with her
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parents divorce Carson went on to earn a
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college scholarship to the University of
00:04:25
Arkansas
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Carson was that friend who everybody
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adored she was the person that was you
00:04:33
know more excited about your stories
00:04:35
than you were she was she was selfless
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she was more into everybody else and she
00:04:41
was herself
00:04:43
during her sophomore year in college
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Carson left school and moved back home
00:04:47
with her dad then came that ill-fated
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spring morning as I was heading out the
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door to go to work I passed by her
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bedroom and she said would you get me a
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glass of water
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you know how daughter can pull on your
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heartstrings I got our glass of water
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and came in and sat down beside her bed
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and she set up and we talked about what
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she was going to do during the day she
00:05:12
was going to go to school pick up the
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forms for registering in the university
00:05:16
there in Rock I like that idea I'll come
00:05:20
home early tonight we'll go and
00:05:21
celebrate that okay
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[Music]
00:05:27
but Carsten and her father would never
00:05:29
have that celebration dinner
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Carson's mother who was a county
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prosecutor was returning from lunch when
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she learned the dreadful news from her
00:05:38
boss Susanne Carson's been in an
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accident she's at the hospital he's down
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there
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Donny we're gonna get Susanne down to
00:05:48
the hospital co-workers immediately
00:05:51
rushed Susanne to the emergency room she
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just got out of surgery
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Carson's divorce parents are brought
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together under the diarist of
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circumstances there were some spinal
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injuries and swelling of the brain the
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swelling doesn't go down we may lose her
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you could tell very early on it that
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Carson wasn't wasn't gonna pull through
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to her brother and I were there and it's
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very peaceful
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we stayed at Carson side throughout the
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day as she slowly slipped away
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[Music]
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nineteen-year-old Carson Prince died at
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10:30 that night
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investigators were already busy
00:06:52
reconstructing the events leading up to
00:06:54
Carson's death
00:06:59
Carson's Ford Bronco was found alongside
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Interstate 430
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just half a mile from where her body was
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recovered the car's gas tank was empty
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strangely less than 30 minutes after
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leaving her house
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Carson seemed to be headed back home in
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the opposite direction of her errands a
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number of witnesses recalled seeing
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Carson after she pulled to the shoulder
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of the highway a gas station was within
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walking distance so Carson's apparent
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next move does not make sense to her
00:07:36
parents there's something strange in the
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fact that she didn't leave her vehicle
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and walk a quarter of a mile to the gas
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station to get gas or to get help
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witnesses saw a young man with a white
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pickup truck stop near Carson's disabled
00:07:52
vehicle he was holding a gas can
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although investigators have yet to find
00:08:00
anyone who witnessed it
00:08:01
Carson somehow got inside the truck I
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don't think Carson would have gotten
00:08:08
into a truck with somebody she didn't
00:08:10
know just because she was out of gas I
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have a hard time believing she get in
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the trunk with a stranger either she
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knew the person and she got in a vehicle
00:08:18
with or the person 4-strand under threat
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of her life otherwise she wouldn't be in
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that vehicle
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motorists reported witnessing a violent
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struggle going on inside the truck's cab
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as a sped down the interstate at nearly
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70 miles an hour
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[Music]
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[Applause]
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Carson was being beaten Carson was
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fighting back trying to defend herself
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and that somehow the guy reached across
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the door was opened and and Carson was
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shoved out of the door and trying to
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hang on while the truck was speeding
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away and hung on as long as she could
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and then fell out and fell to her death
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and the driver continued which naturally
00:09:04
and how what roll guys mind says okay
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well this you know obviously this guy's
00:09:07
left the scene of an accident here where
00:09:09
someone's critically injured so we got
00:09:12
to find him this truck was described to
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us by the witnesses is not being a
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totally one it was more of a off-white
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or a cream type white color even
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unfortunately to this point authorities
00:09:28
have been unable to locate the truck
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next came an investigation into all
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aspects of the college student's life
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authorities would learn that Carson had
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developed a stormy relationship with a
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young man of dubious character whom she
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had met while working at the local
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Country Club friends were concerned that
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Carson could not seem to break away from
00:09:54
the turbulent affair the reasons that
00:09:58
she wanted to be the theme I still don't
00:10:00
know I don't know what she saw him
00:10:02
because he just made her unhappy all the
00:10:05
time I gotta go
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I told her I was like Carson this guy's
00:10:11
not good for you he's not good for you
00:10:12
at all you know all he does is make you
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cry he makes you upset he's not doing
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anything for you at all
00:10:20
the young man was also no stranger to
00:10:22
law enforcement yeah
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he was a suspected drug dealer yeah
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let's do this about 7:30
00:10:31
it's believed Carson's boyfriend
00:10:33
occasionally used her car when making
00:10:35
deliveries I told her that if she were
00:10:41
out with him and he got arrested she was
00:10:44
gonna get arrested too
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whatever his fate was she was Sheeran
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she didn't seem to be too worried about
00:10:56
that then the day before her death
00:11:01
Carson unexpectedly showed up at her
00:11:03
mother's home the prediction that had
00:11:06
been made about her boyfriends arrest
00:11:08
had actually come through
00:11:12
Carson was upset because she believed
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her mother as a deputy district attorney
00:11:16
could have been involved in her
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boyfriend's arrest and prosecution and
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at that point I got afraid I thought
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that he was outside the Bronco had
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pulled into the the carport lights on
00:11:31
engine running I thought he might be
00:11:34
gonna come to the door and hurt me
00:11:36
blaming me for a prison sentence that I
00:11:40
didn't even know anything about and I
00:11:44
told her y'all need to leave it's just
00:11:47
that's the last time I saw her a very
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strange coincidence that within 12 hours
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of her telling me that she's on the side
00:12:00
of the road fatally injured
00:12:05
so who killed Carson Prince al Carson's
00:12:08
boyfriend has been cleared of any
00:12:09
involvement in her death could it have
00:12:12
had anything to do with his drug dealing
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[Music]
00:12:16
could she have been fleeing a stalker
00:12:20
go ahead Carson merely run out of gas at
00:12:22
the wrong moment I wish I had some
00:12:26
answers I don't think there will ever be
00:12:30
justice for Carson but I think there
00:12:37
will be truth and I will settle for that
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[Music]
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[Music]
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[Music]
00:13:06
[Music]
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Hellen root packs her bags for a trip to
00:13:15
Santa Domingo in the Dominican Republic
00:13:17
[Music]
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she is not headed for a tropical
00:13:22
vacation but is on a mission she
00:13:24
believes can save her life I had
00:13:29
third-stage colon cancer and the whole
00:13:33
right side of my colon was removed they
00:13:37
wanted me to have six months of
00:13:39
chemotherapy and I did chose not to have
00:13:43
that and I looked was looking for an
00:13:45
alternative
00:13:46
so Helen root and her husband William
00:13:49
mortgage their home for the $40,000
00:13:52
Helen needed for an experimental drug
00:13:54
therapy a friend had told him about a
00:13:56
doctor Keplinger in Santo Domingo who
00:13:59
reportedly had an amazing treatment for
00:14:01
fighting cancer Dr Kaplan Gia's resume
00:14:05
was a long and impressive list of
00:14:07
medical schools including Harvard
00:14:08
University according to his brochure the
00:14:12
clinic in Santo Domingo was a
00:14:13
world-class facility there his remedy
00:14:17
the drug cocktail called mu stim didn't
00:14:20
need FDA approval Keplinger claimed mu
00:14:23
stim could fight many deadly diseases
00:14:25
including aids and hepatitis Helen was
00:14:31
glad to arrive in Santo Domingo but was
00:14:34
taken aback by the poor condition of the
00:14:36
facility I noticed that there was no
00:14:42
patients in the rooms
00:14:43
it was pretty old-fashioned looking kind
00:14:47
of dumpy
00:14:48
and not certainly what I was expecting
00:14:51
to see within a few hours
00:14:55
Helen was relieved to finally meet the
00:14:57
doctor she'd heard so much about mrs.
00:14:59
rude mrs. Ruth oh nice to meet you
00:15:02
he looked very professional and very
00:15:05
caring and very concerned about my
00:15:08
condition and so I thought well finally
00:15:11
I'm going to get some good help here it
00:15:14
could become malignant although US
00:15:17
doctors had confirmed Helen to be
00:15:18
cancer-free Caplan jur said his reveal
00:15:21
of her file revealed a small tumor that
00:15:23
needed aggressive treatment Helen was
00:15:25
frightened but also confident she had
00:15:27
made the right choice to travel so far
00:15:29
from home you're in good hands because
00:15:32
of the degrees that he had because of
00:15:34
his background I thought I was in
00:15:37
excellent hands
00:15:40
until the next morning when she received
00:15:43
a phone call from her husband William
00:15:48
9:00 a.m. Saturday morning and it's my
00:15:51
husband on the phone almost hysterical
00:15:54
saying Helen you've got to come home
00:15:57
that man is not a doctor he's a crook we
00:16:02
have to get the money back tell him we
00:16:05
had a family emergency
00:16:06
I said Helen you got to get out of there
00:16:08
he's ripping us off say whatever you
00:16:11
have to say but don't take any
00:16:14
treatments get out of there come home as
00:16:16
quickly as you can
00:16:17
I'll try
00:16:23
but Helens husband discovered is a
00:16:25
Gregory Kaplan juror is not a doctor he
00:16:28
is a fugitive wanted by the FBI
00:16:31
Kaplan jurors an alleged con man accused
00:16:33
of scamming millions from investors non
00:16:35
suspecting patients willing to support
00:16:37
his cure-all drug mu stem the FBI
00:16:40
believes mu stem could contain a
00:16:42
combination of illegal steroids vitamins
00:16:45
and amphetamines Caplinger was a medical
00:16:51
imposter he had more phony credentials
00:16:53
than any other medical impostor in
00:16:55
history Kaplan Kerr is a conman because
00:17:00
he plays on the people that are dying he
00:17:03
plays on their families he gives them
00:17:05
that one last hope to live it takes
00:17:08
their money and provides very little
00:17:11
care he never went to any medical school
00:17:14
he got some of his papers by sending
00:17:18
money to British diploma mills that
00:17:21
simply issued them when they got his
00:17:25
money dr. Byrd has created an extensive
00:17:28
website dedicated to medical scams it is
00:17:32
there that a friend of the roots read
00:17:34
the disturbing truth about dr. Keplinger
00:17:36
and quickly called William when I heard
00:17:40
that he was a fraud I feared for her
00:17:41
life there she is down there all by
00:17:43
herself
00:17:44
I know boy how's she gonna handle this
00:17:46
she doesn't speak any Spanish she
00:17:48
doesn't know anyone and now her friends
00:17:52
are the enemy
00:17:55
I knew that I had to go to his office
00:17:59
and ask for my money back and now I'm
00:18:02
not talking to the doctor
00:18:05
Kaplan jur I'm talking to a crook he
00:18:13
said there's no emergency at home that's
00:18:16
more important Helen than your health I
00:18:20
can't say Helen insisted and by the next
00:18:28
day Keplinger agreed to return 20 of the
00:18:31
$40,000 payment she had made we figured
00:18:35
we would take that and be happy that we
00:18:38
got that so we thought 20,000 was better
00:18:40
than none
00:18:41
three years after Helens ordeal she
00:18:44
remains cancer-free but she is one of
00:18:46
the lucky ones there are dozens of
00:18:48
others who suffered at the deadly hands
00:18:51
of the doctor impostor usually in many
00:18:55
many cases they'd never make it out of
00:18:56
the Dominican Republic
00:18:58
most of them many of them died there
00:19:01
Linda and Dave Cernan also put their
00:19:03
faith in dr. Kaplan jur when it looked
00:19:05
like Dave had no other options they had
00:19:08
been married three years when Dave was
00:19:09
diagnosed with hepatitis C two years
00:19:12
later he needed a liver transplant but
00:19:14
finding a match in time wasn't likely so
00:19:17
they gambled with Linda's inheritance
00:19:19
and went to Santa Domingo the money that
00:19:26
we had to come up with you know was
00:19:27
worth every penny because Dave wanted to
00:19:30
live we would have done anything in
00:19:32
which we did do everything we could and
00:19:34
by going down there I felt like you know
00:19:36
it was an answer from God
00:19:38
Dave's treatment began immediately Dave
00:19:43
was hooked up to an IV for six to eight
00:19:44
hours a day and on alternating days he
00:19:48
received vitamins the other days was a
00:19:50
clearer liquid that we were told that
00:19:53
was the MU stim Dr Kaplan jure assured
00:19:57
us that Dave's chances of living were
00:19:59
very very good but instead of getting
00:20:03
better
00:20:03
Dave's help deteriorated rapidly I'm
00:20:06
getting very worried Dave isn't eating
00:20:09
he's too weak to walk or stand I don't
00:20:11
understand what's going on well with mu
00:20:14
stim things actually get worse before
00:20:16
they can get better
00:20:17
dr. Caplan jur reassured me that a lot
00:20:21
of times the patient will go downhill
00:20:23
before the drug really kicks in before
00:20:25
the vitamins really kick in before the
00:20:28
treatment really produces extravagant
00:20:30
results as the week's went by Linda was
00:20:35
shocked by the unsanitary conditions of
00:20:37
the clinic there was no water probably
00:20:41
80% of the time there was no electricity
00:20:43
probably 60% of the time there was
00:20:46
lizards crawling on the walls there was
00:20:48
roaches everywhere the conditions of
00:20:51
this world-renowned Institute was
00:20:54
appalling look I want to go home I want
00:20:59
to see John
00:21:01
like now although Dave hadn't been
00:21:03
strong enough to get out of bed for
00:21:05
weeks Linda was desperate to get him
00:21:07
home to see his son
00:21:10
mrs. Cernan can't stay here any longer
00:21:17
he was rather upset he said that you
00:21:20
have to give the treatment a chance to
00:21:22
work you have to stay and stick with
00:21:24
this it's still save Oh No I told him
00:21:27
that there was no way that there was any
00:21:29
kind of improvement it was just
00:21:30
deterioration we realized we had made a
00:21:33
mistake at this point and we were going
00:21:35
home and we left when we got to Santa
00:21:41
Domingo Dave was weak but he was walking
00:21:44
he was eating at the end of six weeks my
00:21:49
Dave could not stand he could not eat he
00:21:52
could not even talk to me he was too
00:21:54
weak to even hold a phone Dave Cernan
00:22:00
passed away just 24 hours after
00:22:02
returning to the United States I very
00:22:06
much believe dr. Caplan sure killed my
00:22:08
husband
00:22:10
[Music]
00:22:14
shortly after competing production on
00:22:16
this story
00:22:17
unsolved mysteries was informed that
00:22:19
after two years of evading law
00:22:21
enforcement
00:22:22
Gregory Keplinger has turned himself in
00:22:24
to Dominican Republic officials
00:22:26
outstanding warrants about Keplinger to
00:22:28
be immediately extradited to the US due
00:22:31
to a knee injury Keplinger was
00:22:33
transported in a wheelchair he spent two
00:22:37
days in the care and custody of the
00:22:39
Dominican authorities and then agents
00:22:41
from the Charlotte division flew down to
00:22:43
the Dominican Republic where they are no
00:22:47
more than a half hour took custody of
00:22:50
him put him in a in a plane and flew him
00:22:52
back
00:22:54
the FBI added cap enger' to their wanted
00:22:57
list after he fled during a 1999 trial
00:22:59
and shot at North Carolina where he was
00:23:02
convicted of money laundering in the MU
00:23:04
stem scheme Keplinger is also facing
00:23:08
indictment in Philadelphia 39 counts of
00:23:11
wire fraud related to the travel and
00:23:13
treatment of patients who went to his
00:23:15
clinic and Santo Domingo when you look
00:23:19
at the charges of wire fraud or you look
00:23:22
at the charges of mail fraud they may
00:23:25
not seem to reach that level of you know
00:23:29
why are you discharging this man with
00:23:31
simple fraud when in fact you know
00:23:34
people were dying and dying terrible
00:23:36
terrible deaths but it's a a surefire
00:23:39
way of putting this man in jail
00:23:43
Linda Cernan whose husband Dave died
00:23:46
soon after receiving treatments from
00:23:48
Keplinger
00:23:48
will be a key witness at Caplin jurors
00:23:51
pending fraud trial cap injure may not
00:23:55
be able to be tried as a first-degree
00:23:58
murderer but he did murder these people
00:24:00
because he knew that his drug was a
00:24:03
fraud in my eyes he is a murderer I'm
00:24:08
hoping that when he is sentenced and he
00:24:11
has given enough time that he can never
00:24:13
get on the streets again so that there's
00:24:15
no way he can do this horrible
00:24:19
thing to families again
00:24:21
[Music]
00:24:45
[Music]
00:24:48
by any measure he was a hero at the age
00:24:52
of 24 both the Frank Montenegro's
00:24:54
parents suddenly died leaving behind
00:24:56
Frank and five children under the age of
00:24:58
18 Frank's response was both unselfish
00:25:02
and noble he immediately gave up his
00:25:04
carefree life in San Diego and moved
00:25:07
back home to Hayward California to raise
00:25:09
his orphaned brothers and sisters
00:25:12
basically was kind of like an angel that
00:25:14
came in there and said you know it's
00:25:16
gonna be alright you'll stay together
00:25:18
and you don't have to worry about being
00:25:22
different places and you know not being
00:25:25
taken care of soon the story of Frank
00:25:30
sacrifice was national news numerous
00:25:33
newspapers and magazines proclaimed how
00:25:35
Frank's generosity should be a lesson to
00:25:37
us all
00:25:39
[Music]
00:25:41
to support his family
00:25:44
Frank taught special education at the
00:25:45
local elementary school he seemed to be
00:25:50
not only the perfect teacher but also
00:25:52
the perfect citizen an avid church-going
00:25:54
man the devoted family man and a
00:25:57
compassionate meant to order troubled
00:25:58
kids known affectionately as mr. Monty
00:26:04
everyone admired and trusted Frank
00:26:06
Montenegrin
00:26:11
then a mother of a boy in Frank's class
00:26:13
said she made an odd discovery I noticed
00:26:19
in his clothes a new pair of underwear
00:26:21
Billy
00:26:26
and I asked him where did you get these
00:26:29
and he said my teacher mr. Monty bought
00:26:31
him for me I thought that was strange
00:26:34
why would a teacher at school be buying
00:26:38
a student underwear I couldn't really
00:26:42
come up with sensible reason but I just
00:26:45
kind of kept it in the back of my head
00:26:46
and a year after this had happened my
00:26:50
son said he goes I forgot to tell you
00:26:52
something and I go what and he goes
00:26:55
remember my teacher mr. Monty the one
00:26:57
that bought me those underwear and stuff
00:26:59
and I said yeah what about him
00:27:01
he said well he raped me
00:27:08
honest kind-hearted even heroic these
00:27:13
were the words commonly used to describe
00:27:15
Frank Montenegro could somebody who
00:27:18
seemed to care so much for children be
00:27:20
harming them in such an unspeakable way
00:27:22
because false accusations have been made
00:27:24
in past cases of alleged child abuse
00:27:27
authorities were faced with a troubling
00:27:29
dilemma was Frank an upstanding citizen
00:27:32
or was he really a child molester in
00:27:35
disguise
00:27:41
[Music]
00:27:43
the allegation against Frank Montenegro
00:27:46
landed on the desk of Fremont California
00:27:48
police detective Teresa Martinez an
00:27:51
officer since the age of 22
00:27:53
Martinez became a detective three years
00:27:56
earlier and now worked on the sexual
00:27:58
assault unit Frank Montenegro the scene
00:28:01
is this huge icon in the community and
00:28:04
you can't ruin somebody's career because
00:28:07
one child says it happened and you can't
00:28:10
go into court and convict the guy for
00:28:12
child molester sexual assault when
00:28:15
there's nothing to cooperate in do you
00:28:17
know why you're here today yeah so you
00:28:20
know about good touch and you know about
00:28:22
bad touch
00:28:23
Martinez professional experiences with
00:28:26
children had shown that they sometimes
00:28:27
lie so she had to corroborate the boys
00:28:30
story she brought him to an interview
00:28:33
center for childhood sexual abuse
00:28:35
victims who are specialists questioned
00:28:37
the boy
00:28:38
Teresa watched on closed-circuit
00:28:40
television so as not to frighten the
00:28:42
child and where do you call that spot
00:28:57
what came out of that interview is the
00:28:59
victim said that all the students in his
00:29:01
class had seen what occurred when we
00:29:04
heard that everybody's opinion was okay
00:29:07
we know that's not true okay
00:29:10
despite her doubts detective Martinez
00:29:13
immediately interviewed all of the
00:29:15
children in the boys class they all
00:29:18
denied seeing anything
00:29:20
Martinez decided to re-interview the boy
00:29:23
herself why talk to the kids and not one
00:29:27
of them said they saw what happened I
00:29:28
want you to tell me the truth
00:29:31
did any of those kids see what happened
00:29:35
the boy admitted to lying about the
00:29:37
other students seeing the assault he
00:29:40
said he became scared during the initial
00:29:42
interview and thought this light would
00:29:43
stop investigators from questioning him
00:29:45
but he insisted there everything else he
00:29:47
had said was true
00:29:49
Frank Montenegro had attacked him this
00:29:55
kid was so believable
00:29:57
his demeanor wasn't one of being
00:29:59
untruthful and you know he just wasn't
00:30:02
lying and I believed them
00:30:08
this is mr. Martinez classroom detective
00:30:12
Martinez searched Frank's classroom
00:30:14
where the victim said the attack took
00:30:15
place as she made her way to the back
00:30:19
she found something you'd never expect
00:30:21
to see at an elementary school through a
00:30:30
nondescript door were two hidden rooms
00:30:32
separating them a two-way mirror there
00:30:37
should be no reason for a two-way mirror
00:30:38
between those two rooms I'm thinking why
00:30:42
would he need that and in my mind as an
00:30:45
investigator I'm thinking this guy's
00:30:47
probably filming Zach's the way the two
00:30:53
rooms are set up in the back if Frank
00:30:56
wants to do this with this child he can
00:30:58
shut those doors and even if somebody
00:31:00
walked into the classroom they wouldn't
00:31:03
be able to see what was going on the
00:31:07
following day detective Martinez
00:31:09
returned to the rooms
00:31:11
according to Martinez the two-way mirror
00:31:13
was now a regular pane of glass fearing
00:31:21
it Frank might have gotten wind of the
00:31:23
investigation and was possibly
00:31:24
destroying evidence
00:31:25
Martinez moved into high gear a search
00:31:28
warrant was immediately secured for
00:31:31
Frank's home and when we searched his
00:31:33
room we found gifts for smaller kids and
00:31:36
books about sex with younger kids now
00:31:40
we're starting to get some things that
00:31:42
are gonna help me corroborate the
00:31:44
profile of a child molester
00:31:47
Frank was not home during the search but
00:31:49
a female relative was detective Martinez
00:31:52
says the relative then made a disturbing
00:31:54
revelation she told me of an incident
00:32:04
involving another victim that was found
00:32:07
in Frank's bedroom naked after hearing
00:32:12
about the possible second incident of
00:32:13
molestation detective Martinez asked
00:32:16
Frank to come in for questioning and he
00:32:18
agreed he's always telling stories why
00:32:27
would he lie about something like this
00:32:28
we talked to him for close to four hours
00:32:31
and in that whole time he never denied
00:32:34
that he did anything that was always you
00:32:37
know it couldn't have been me not know I
00:32:39
didn't do it it was more very passive
00:32:42
very very clear to us that he wasn't
00:32:45
being truthful but it was still the word
00:32:48
of a little boy who had initially lied
00:32:50
against that of a well-respected teacher
00:32:52
and community leader and for allegations
00:32:55
of child abuse that is often not enough
00:32:56
to get in the restaurant stories
00:32:59
detective Martinez needed to corroborate
00:33:01
her victims testimony fearing it Frank
00:33:05
might run at any moment Martinez raced
00:33:07
to find the alleged second victim she
00:33:10
discovered that a neighboring Police
00:33:11
Department did have a complaint against
00:33:13
Frank involving a boy in his bedroom
00:33:16
detective Martinez immediately picked
00:33:18
the boy up from school for an interview
00:33:20
so he's going to talk to you about Frank
00:33:22
a little bit okay so I would come on
00:33:24
over here to the car his eyes started
00:33:26
tearing up and he looked as if oh my
00:33:28
gosh I am caught I need to talk I knew
00:33:33
that something had happened to that kid
00:33:35
being real truthful about what happened
00:33:37
okay detective Martinez says the boy
00:33:41
finally told his terrible secret
00:33:44
the stories he told me were probably
00:33:48
some of the most horrific stories I had
00:33:49
ever heard and to even picture in my
00:33:52
mind how this guy did these things to
00:33:54
this little boy it made me sick and it
00:34:03
broke my heart to see this little kid
00:34:05
who's a great little boy think that he
00:34:08
was bad when he wasn't bad at all
00:34:12
detective Martinez now have the
00:34:13
corroboration she needed to arrest Frank
00:34:16
Montenegro but it was too late
00:34:19
Montenegro was already long gone six
00:34:23
days after Frank was interviewed by
00:34:24
police a car rented and his name was
00:34:27
found abandoned in La Paz Mexico his
00:34:29
whereabouts are currently unknown but
00:34:32
police believe he has likely returned to
00:34:34
the United States it was hard for me to
00:34:37
believe that he did this I still had a
00:34:40
tendency like everybody else did to look
00:34:43
up
00:34:44
my heart has to go out to these children
00:34:47
that this has been done to because if
00:34:51
their innocence has been talking away
00:34:53
from I don't think just because he had a
00:34:56
close run-in with the law that that
00:34:58
would motivate him or scare him to stop
00:35:01
his actions that obsession is still with
00:35:05
him wherever he goes and I hate to think
00:35:09
that other kids are going through what
00:35:11
my son went through
00:35:14
[Music]
00:35:29
[Music]
00:35:40
[Music]
00:35:41
Moscow Idaho population 25 thousand is a
00:35:45
quiet cottage community in one of the
00:35:47
most conservative states in the country
00:35:49
the University of Idaho sits in his
00:35:52
picturesque rural setting making the
00:35:55
town a unique mix of cowboys and
00:35:57
academics little happens out of the
00:36:01
ordinary here so when a local university
00:36:04
student suddenly vanished Moscow was
00:36:06
shocked people don't disappear around
00:36:11
here murders don't happen you know I can
00:36:14
name them on on one hand in the last 20
00:36:17
years we don't expect it so it couldn't
00:36:20
have happened it didn't happen here on
00:36:23
an early January morning will Hendrick
00:36:26
mysteriously vanished without a trace
00:36:29
family and friends are desperate to know
00:36:31
if we'll met with foul play or just
00:36:34
walked away from his seemingly happy
00:36:36
life there are a few clues to lead
00:36:40
detectives in their search a 25 will
00:36:46
Hendricks seemed to have it all he was a
00:36:49
well-liked senior in a theater
00:36:50
department and had a good job on campus
00:36:53
he recently landed a small part in the
00:36:55
Hollywood action film some believer
00:36:58
disappears may be connected to the fact
00:37:00
that he was gay no one seems to know
00:37:03
what happened late one night in Moscow
00:37:05
to interfere with wills bright future
00:37:12
the evening began with hard work will
00:37:15
and his partner Jerry who'd been
00:37:17
together for five years were remodeling
00:37:20
their kitchen Katie's parties tonight
00:37:24
we're going will decided he wanted to go
00:37:27
to Katie's party I didn't want to go I
00:37:30
wanted to go to sleep and at about
00:37:33
midnight he said okay I'm gonna go and
00:37:36
I'll be home in a few hours I'll see you
00:37:38
in a few hours the last thing I told
00:37:40
will was I love you
00:37:43
and he said I love you back it was the
00:37:49
last weekend before school started and
00:37:52
everyone who was coming back into town
00:37:54
from Christmas break and it was a
00:37:55
perfect excuse for a party
00:37:59
[Music]
00:38:03
by the time Liv arrived two parties were
00:38:06
in full swing on the third floor were
00:38:09
Moscow locals mostly former athletes
00:38:11
from the town high school Katie's party
00:38:15
on the second floor was for her friends
00:38:18
from the college theater department
00:38:20
because of the two different worlds that
00:38:23
were kind of colliding that night my
00:38:26
concern was that there could be a
00:38:28
possibility for some sort of
00:38:30
confrontation sincewell has no problem
00:38:32
being open with how he is and with every
00:38:35
opinion throughout the night will was
00:38:43
preoccupied with another friend Karen
00:38:45
and the trouble she was having with her
00:38:47
boyfriend a local resident who was
00:38:49
attending the third floor party
00:38:56
will was very protective of his friends
00:38:59
and being as he was drunk it enhanced
00:39:02
him his concern naturally but he just
00:39:05
wanted to make sure she was okay there
00:39:07
were times when if he'd had a bit to
00:39:10
drink he'd get belligerent if somebody
00:39:12
yelled a slur at him he'd respond he
00:39:15
takes a babe by about 2:30 in the
00:39:19
morning Karen had gone home leaving
00:39:22
Katie to keep wil from putting himself
00:39:24
in an unpredictable situation with
00:39:26
Karen's boyfriend and the partiers on
00:39:28
the third floor I'm going upstairs and
00:39:35
then I thought I want to make sure that
00:39:38
Karen got home okay so I called her
00:39:41
house found out that she was okay if I
00:39:44
thought she was asleep and I walked back
00:39:45
outside onto the porch and what was gone
00:39:48
well well
00:39:54
Caty nudist wills car was still parked
00:39:56
out front and assumed he had gone
00:39:58
upstairs by the next morning the car was
00:40:03
gone it was about 11:30 12 o'clock when
00:40:07
I called Katie's and I said can you wake
00:40:10
will up and send him home we've got some
00:40:12
stuff to do today and she said well he's
00:40:14
not here he didn't stay here last night
00:40:16
and I started calling around to all the
00:40:18
theater students try and find out if
00:40:20
he'd gone to somebody else's house
00:40:22
continued drinking passed out on their
00:40:23
couch and nobody had seen him he called
00:40:28
about 7:30 Sunday evening and he was
00:40:31
concerned and I was immediately
00:40:33
concerned it was winter and my initial
00:40:37
concern was hypothermia when will hadn't
00:40:43
shown by Monday morning nearly 36 hours
00:40:45
after the party his friends combed the
00:40:48
city searching for him a big break came
00:40:53
when the search team found wills car
00:40:55
parked on a downtown street Gerry
00:41:02
examined the car and was surprised to
00:41:04
find it was unlocked and that will had
00:41:06
left his portfolio inside that portfolio
00:41:10
carried all of wills artwork his
00:41:13
drawings his makeup sketches everything
00:41:18
that was important to him was in that
00:41:20
portfolio and on the dash his work keys
00:41:23
from the University the keys that were
00:41:26
left there they never left his body he's
00:41:29
right here they were clipped to his belt
00:41:31
or they were at home because if you lost
00:41:34
the keys then he would have to rekey the
00:41:36
building we did go through the car with
00:41:39
a fine-tooth comb with our with crime
00:41:41
lab folks there weren't any blood or any
00:41:45
hair samples that weren't Wells there
00:41:48
wasn't anything in there that would
00:41:49
indicate that any kind of foul play
00:41:51
occurred at least in the car finding the
00:41:55
car had only raised more questions about
00:41:57
wills disappearance
00:41:59
some of his friends thought it possible
00:42:01
that we'll had left voluntarily to start
00:42:03
a new life we'll had a lot of
00:42:08
trepidation about school and I think he
00:42:09
shared that with me because we had that
00:42:12
in common sometimes you just get
00:42:14
overwhelmed and his comment was you know
00:42:16
I'd like to tour the country I just like
00:42:18
to take off someday like wow and not
00:42:21
tell anyone no I said you know not even
00:42:24
your parents you know what about what
00:42:26
about your commitments I just go I think
00:42:31
he took the car downtown and
00:42:33
intentionally parked it
00:42:35
he left his work keys he took his wallet
00:42:39
maybe he even hitchhiked out of town I
00:42:43
spent probably about a year hoping
00:42:47
praying that he had walked away because
00:42:50
the alternative was he was dead but
00:42:54
after nearly two years and still no sign
00:42:56
of will his friends and family fear the
00:42:58
worst
00:43:00
Kati believes it all goes back to her
00:43:02
apartment building that January night my
00:43:06
hypothesis I guess used to say is that
00:43:08
something happened and it got out of
00:43:10
control and it probably didn't mean to
00:43:13
happen but then whatever happened got
00:43:16
covered up simply because it was it
00:43:19
became so huge I could see that this
00:43:23
might have been a possibility good he
00:43:25
ran to somebody that didn't like gays
00:43:27
and they did him in we did interview all
00:43:33
the folks on the top floor and did not
00:43:35
get any indication from any of them that
00:43:38
they had done anything other than just
00:43:40
talked to well subsequent to our initial
00:43:44
contact with them those individuals on
00:43:46
the top floor took a polygraph and all
00:43:49
of them did pass the polygraph the gap
00:43:52
between 3:30 in the morning and then
00:43:55
finding the car at 11 o'clock on Monday
00:44:00
it's a whole it's a blank hole
00:44:05
gerri believes the car might hold the
00:44:08
most important clues to wills
00:44:09
disappearance when the police released
00:44:12
the car he discovered disturbing details
00:44:15
I found out that there was mud caked on
00:44:20
the inside wheel wells of the car so
00:44:23
there was no reason for mud to be caked
00:44:25
on the inside of the wheel wells and
00:44:27
then the other odd thing was that
00:44:30
somebody had moved the seat all the way
00:44:34
to its far back position indicating to
00:44:37
me that a large person may have been the
00:44:39
last person to drive wills cart grasping
00:44:43
for answers Gerry pursued a theory that
00:44:46
someone they both knew might have
00:44:48
crossed wills path early that January
00:44:50
morning two months prior to wills
00:44:55
disappearance Gerry had fired a van
00:44:57
driver who worked for his shuttle
00:44:59
service one morning he came in from his
00:45:04
shift demanding that the operations
00:45:07
manager go out and change a headlight
00:45:09
it's your van you own the van you fixed
00:45:12
the headlight he started yelling
00:45:16
screaming and ended it with a slur at my
00:45:21
sexuality [Â __Â ] I terminated him on the
00:45:25
spot I want you again he subsequently
00:45:31
went to work for a long-haul trucking
00:45:33
outfit and on the morning of wills
00:45:37
disappearance at approximately 4:30 5
00:45:41
o'clock in the morning he checked out a
00:45:43
refrigerated truck from the dispatch in
00:45:46
Lewiston 30 miles south of here
00:45:49
there is a coincidence there and that
00:45:53
the last time we'll was seen was about
00:45:56
the time this driver would have been
00:45:58
going to Lewiston
00:46:00
we have had a number of sightings across
00:46:04
the country that people call us up and
00:46:05
say hey we have seen will we have
00:46:07
checked each and every one of those
00:46:08
calls out and they have not proven to be
00:46:11
will we have checked out hundreds of
00:46:14
leads put in hundreds and hundreds of
00:46:16
hours on this particular case and as far
00:46:19
as absolute facts that we can lay down
00:46:22
on a piece of paper to show what may
00:46:25
have happened we are no closer than we
00:46:27
were on day one I don't know that it
00:46:31
that it's important to find him because
00:46:33
if he's dead and I believe that he is I
00:46:37
know where is that but I think having a
00:46:43
body can really definitely put some
00:46:48
closure
00:46:49
[Music]
00:47:08
[Music]
00:47:18
join me next time for more intriguing
00:47:21
true tales unsolved mysteries
00:47:24
[Music]
00:47:36
[Music]
00:47:59
[Applause]
00:48:00
[Music]
00:48:00
[Applause]
00:48:03
[Music]
