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Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 7, Episode 17

March 09, 2017 / 42:53

This episode of Unsolved Mysteries covers the disappearance of Michael Rosenblum, the murder of police officer Ralph Proest, and miraculous recoveries attributed to prayer.

Michael Rosenblum vanished from a Pennsylvania highway, leading to a search involving his father Maurice and local authorities. The investigation revealed police missteps, including the delayed discovery of Michael's car, which was found 91 days after he disappeared. Maurice received anonymous tips suggesting police cover-ups, and years later, bone fragments confirmed Michael's death.

The episode also recounts the unsolved murder of Cook County sheriff's officer Ralph Proest, who was shot in his kitchen. His partner Bob Barowski vowed to find the killer, but despite evidence pointing to a planned murder, no suspects were ever identified. The investigation faced challenges, including suspicions surrounding Ralph's wife and connections to organized crime.

Additionally, the episode features stories of individuals who experienced spontaneous recoveries from serious illnesses, including Kathleen Burkhart, who believed her healing from breast cancer was due to prayer, and Eric Danowski, who survived multiple liver transplants after widespread prayer support.

These narratives highlight themes of loss, unanswered questions, and the potential power of faith in healing.

TL;DR

Michael Rosenblum's disappearance, Ralph Proest's murder, and miraculous recoveries through prayer are featured in this episode.

Episode

42:53
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[Music]
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next on Unsolved Mysteries a forest
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Ranger's quiet life is thrown into chaos
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when his family is
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attacked 25 year-old Michael Rosenblum
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vanishes on the side of a Pennsylvania
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highway his family suspects a police
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coverer when a police officer is Gunn
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down in his own kitchen his partner vows
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to find the
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killer also a deathbed miracle and a
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spontaneous recovery for these people
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saved by the power of
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prayer these are stories that are
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guaranteed to surprise you I'm Dennis
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finina and for the next hour it's
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Unsolved
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[Music]
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Mysteries
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[Music]
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just south of Pittsburgh in Baldwin
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burrow p
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pania 30 volunteer firemen gather on a
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steep Bluff overlooking the mananga hila
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River look for anything that you find
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out of the ORD at the suggestion of a
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psychic they are here to search for the
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remains of Michael Rosen Blom a young
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Pittsburgh man who has been missing for
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more than 8 years for Michael's father
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Maurice the search is one more desperate
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attempt to find out what happened to his
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son who disappeared from a road that
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runs along the foot of the
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cliff there is not the slightest
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possibility in my mind that he could be
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out there
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alive I pray that that one in 10 million
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chance would
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happen I guess you always have some hope
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as long as I don't have a body there's
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always
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hope Maurice Rosen blum's search has
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triggered mysterious phone calls the
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discovery of forged documents and
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Revelations of official coverups it has
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even led to the firing of a police chief
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what really did happen to Michael
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roseno during High School Michael began
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experimenting with drugs and soon became
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a heavy user of prescription
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painkillers his life spun wildly out of
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control and his family struggled to help
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him get back on track they insisted that
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he go to drug
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rehab let's get out of here don't worry
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about a month after Michael was released
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from drug rehab he began behaving oddly
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his mother found a bottle of painkillers
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in his bedroom and that was it she
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kicked him out Michael left with his
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girlfriend Lisa in her
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car I said to Michael don't come back
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until you're completely off drugs until
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you want to live your life the way you
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should and that's that's the way it
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is I've always faulted myself for that
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and I probably will till I
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die that I didn't
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say okay well we'll try again maybe
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tomorrow will be
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different but the next day wasn't
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different after a night of partying
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Michael became extremely agitated he
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insisted I driving Lisa's car and then
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he left her stranded at a local gas
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station Michael's last words were go to
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my parents house I'll see you there in 2
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hours I figured well he took her car and
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he took off for a day or two then he'll
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be back or he'll
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call we waited that night there were no
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calls I became seriously
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worried my
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wife felt immediately that it was a
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terminal situation that he was dead I
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didn't he would never have just left
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when he left there was money in his bank
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account his clothes were in his
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closet and if he were going to have gone
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anywhere he would have said to us I plan
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to do such and such and I'm going to
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take my money and go but all of that his
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money is still in his bank
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account the following day the RO Ren
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blooms filed a missing person's Report
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with the Pittsburgh Police Department
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you need a starting point any homicide
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case that your dead body is your
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starting point in this case the car
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would have been the starting point so
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it's important we find the car as
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quickly as possible and then take the
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steps of notifying the media for their
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help and asking the general public if
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anybody saw the boy who was in the car
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they know what happened to
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him but after two weeks they had found
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nothing so Michael's father began his
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own
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search he offered a reward for
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information posted flyers and traveled
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as far as California to find friends
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Michael might have
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contacted I launched the investigation
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myself because I was concerned about
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finding him and seeing if I couldn't put
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him back on the right track
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again 3 months later police in a
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Pittsburgh sub subb notified Lisa that
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her car had been found official records
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show that the car had been impounded on
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the very day that Michael
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vanished we couldn't believe that they
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had that car for 91 days absolutely
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couldn't believe it the Pittsburgh
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Police had contacted every Police
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Department in this area looking for that
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specific car and here that car was
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discovered in the police bonded tow yard
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Less Than 3 mi from where we're sitting
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right
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[Music]
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now what happened the day Michael
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disappeared the More's father learned
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the less he felt he
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knew according to police reports just 2
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hours after Michael left Lisa a Baldwin
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police unit found the car on River
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Road two of the tires were flat the keys
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were gone and the engine was
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cool the car had been told to the
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Baldwin burough car impound where it
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remained resting on its bent tire rims
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for the next 3
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[Music]
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months one the question throws your
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whole investigation off if we start in
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the beginning we knew that car was on
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River Road the whole picture would have
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changed
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drastically if we had known that that
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car was found in Balwin that morning
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within ours I strongly believe we would
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have known by now what had happened to
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Michael when they found the car
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after 91 days my immediate reaction was
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that he was
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gone
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dead Maurice demanded an explanation the
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Baldwin police claimed that they'd
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mailed Lisa a letter the day after the
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car was found saying they had impounded
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it Lisa says that she never received
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it they eventually produced a copy of
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the letter dated the day after Michael
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disappeared but Lisa still insisted she
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never received the letter from the
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Baldwin police in my opinion they
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deliberately misled the Pittsburgh
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Police in the search assuming that my
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son was never even involved why didn't
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they search for the young lady that
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owned the
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car around that same time Maurice claims
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that he received two Anonymous phone
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calls the first one came in during the
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time that the car was
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gone you know they said that he was
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arrested and I wrote it off as a
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crackpot hello
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hello after the car was found I received
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a second telephone call just simply
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said that your son was arrested by the
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Baldwin
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police click they were
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gone this was just the first first of
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many bizarre twists in Maurice's
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agonizing search for his
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[Music]
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son up next a forge document points to a
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mysterious police coverup in the death
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of Michael
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Rosen Maurice Rosen Bloom offered a
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reward for information about his missing
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son Michael but after 5 months the only
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concrete Clues were the discovery of the
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car that Michael had been driving and
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two Anonymous phone calls saying that
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Michael had been
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arrested and then in a shocking turn of
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events the Baldwin police issued a
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warrant for Michael's arrest they
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claimed that he was wanted in connection
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with a robbery that had taken place 2
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and 1/2 months after he had vanished now
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the big twist in this whole thing was
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that everybody talked to the people who
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were the victims of the robbery they
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both told everybody from day one that
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the person that come iner was a white
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man and he had Aviator mirrored
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sunglasses on that covered high above
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his eyebrows and down almost to the
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bridge of his nose so the only part they
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actually could see would be the forehead
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and the chin line but yet the composite
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was made without sunglasses there's no
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doubt in my mind that this composite was
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made from that first flyer put out on
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Michael Rosenbloom back in Fe worry it's
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just too
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perfect one week after it was issued the
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warrant was suddenly
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dismissed something very strange was
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going on in the buau of Baldwin where
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the Baldwin police working to solve this
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missing person's case or were they
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trying to hide the truth a full inquiry
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into the case cleared the police
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department of any wrongdoing but years
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later new evidence
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emerged
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6 and 1/2 years after his son
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disappeared Maurice received an unsigned
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letter it urged him to talk to a former
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Baldwin police dispatcher named Margaret
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hasset the tip would ultimately lead to
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accusations that the department headed
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by police chief Aldo gaburi had
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mishandled Michael's case Mr Rosen Bloom
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showed me an anonymous letter that he
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had received indicating that if he
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contacted me I had information regarding
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the U vehicle that the Baldwin police
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towed um I then told him that um
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approximately two or 3 months after the
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vehicle had been towed um the chief of
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police ordered his clerk Fred Capell to
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type a letter uh notifying the owner of
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the vehicle that it had been towed um
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and the letter was backd to uh February
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15th the day after the vehicle was
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Ted the chief's former clerk confirmed
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Margaret's disturbing
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story approximately May 20th the chief
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told me to type a letter in reference to
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the car that was towed from River
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Road I never thought anything about it I
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did what what I was told to
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do you know he's my boss so I did what
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he told me to do and I didn't uh
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question it Fred Capell claims that
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after he typed the letter the chief
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ordered him to sign the name of Chester
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Lombardi the senior officer at the River
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Road scene that day Lombardi is now
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deceased he had asked Chester Lombardi
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to sign the letter and Chester refused
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to sign it because it was
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backdated so the chief told me to go
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ahead and sign Chester Lombard's name to
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it but don't mail
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it he said put in a
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file and then that's what I
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did based on these new Revelations
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Maurice wrote an angry letter to the
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Baldwin burough Council demanding an
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investigation into what he thought was a
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coverup the council held a hearing on
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the matter and dismissed chief gaburi
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for interfering with the investigation
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into Michael's
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disappearance when he was discharged he
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appealed that to the Civil Service
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Commission and there conclusion
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was uh that the chief was not
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guilty the Civil Service Commission
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voted to reinstate gaburi as police
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chief finding that there was no
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misconduct they have never published a
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transcript of the hearings but clearly
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they did not believe Fred
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Capelli why they didn't believe
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me
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because he the chief had friends on that
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Civil Service
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Commission and they wouldn't believe me
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no matter what I
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said all I can say is this commission
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rendered its decision strictly on the
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evidence and a testimony that was
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presented at the
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hearing the time that I'll let this go
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is when it
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ends and it's not over yet it's not over
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we're getting close but it's not
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over
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[Music]
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8 years after he disappeared a bone
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fragment and some scraps of clothing
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were found near river road the bone
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could not be identified but the pieces
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of clothing match those Michael had been
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wearing I just felt sick I contended all
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along that something had happened to
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them but the possibility that I might
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have proof in my pocket
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makes you kind of
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sick that final proof was discovered 4
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years later a hiker in the River Road
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area found a piece of human skull and
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turned it into authorities Tess
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confirmed that it belonged to Michael
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rosenblau after 12 years of searching
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and wondering Michael's parents were
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finally able to bury their son but for
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them the agony isn't over they still
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desperately want to know how and why
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Michael
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died if you have any information about
00:15:36
the death of Michael Rosenblum please
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log on at
00:15:40
unsolved.com
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[Music]
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next decades after a police officer is
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murdered in his own kitchen there are
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still no suspects only
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questions
00:16:02
Cook County
00:16:04
Illinois outside the Academy Theater the
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atmosphere is
00:16:09
electric it was the night of the Oscars
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and like millions of Americans Ralph
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propest and his wife marleene settled
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down in front of the television to watch
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the
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Stars while we were watching the Academy
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Awards on TV that night and I must have
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dozed
00:16:26
off and the next thing I knew there was
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this loud explosion that woke me
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up I saw this cloud of smoke from behind
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the television set when I went in the
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kitchen Ralph was laying on the kitchen
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floor Ralph had been shot once in the
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back of the head by the time help
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arrived he was
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dead Ralph PR was a 30y old Cook County
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Illinois sheriff's officer Ralph left
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behind his wife three small children and
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a series of baffling questions that
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almost 50 years later remain
00:17:11
unanswered 4 days after his murder Ralph
00:17:14
was laid to rest on that afternoon his
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partner Bob barowski made a silent
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pledge as I Stood Beside the casket and
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looked down at Ralph I made a vow to him
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that I would find his killer and I would
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not rest until I get
00:17:32
him I figured it would be solved
00:17:35
quickly but it didn't turn out that
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way Bob barowski continued to search for
00:17:43
his partner's killer the crime scene
00:17:46
evidence pointed to a carefully planned
00:17:48
murder but no suspect has ever been
00:17:50
named perhaps you might have the missing
00:17:53
clue to solve the murder of Ralph
00:17:57
proest
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Bob and Ralph met for the first time
00:18:01
shortly after Ralph graduated from the
00:18:03
police
00:18:04
academy okay Gentlemen let's shape up
00:18:06
your inspection
00:18:08
time the two men were both assigned to
00:18:10
the special Elite Tactical Squad Ron
00:18:14
barowski you got Stickney Township
00:18:16
tonight you had a lot of problems out
00:18:18
there last night everybody else in the
00:18:20
department looked up at the attack unit
00:18:21
we were a very elite unit we were all
00:18:23
spit and polish and we were a very proud
00:18:25
bunch and Ral was not only a partner
00:18:28
but he was also a friend and it was that
00:18:31
sort of relationship you can depend on
00:18:33
him and he could depend on you driving
00:18:36
again Ralph played things strictly by
00:18:39
the book and made some powerful
00:18:42
enemies a few months before his death
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Ralph and Bob were assigned to guard a
00:18:47
notorious mobster Named Sam D
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Stefano he had been transferred from the
00:18:53
prison to a local hospital after
00:18:55
complaining of stomach trouble to guard
00:18:58
you you two lackes are going to guard me
00:19:01
Sam you can't have any visitors here you
00:19:02
folks are going to have to go come on
00:19:03
who you my doctor hang call the doctor
00:19:06
take don't steal my apples copper man
00:19:09
you're going to have to go too get your
00:19:10
hands off of her call my lawyer you're
00:19:14
also going to have to eat the regular
00:19:16
hospital food just like everyone else in
00:19:18
the hospital I am as a matter of fact I
00:19:20
do that's why you're here now uh lie
00:19:23
down on the bed hey what are you doing
00:19:25
when uh Ralph handcuffed the Stefano to
00:19:28
the bed he became very irate and
00:19:30
threatened to kill him better grow eyes
00:19:33
in the back of your
00:19:34
head if you need us we'll be outside get
00:19:38
out get out of here we really didn't
00:19:41
take it very serious we felt that he was
00:19:44
just a big bag of wind and just brushed
00:19:46
it off I don't think that the risk ever
00:19:49
entered Ralph's mind I really don't I
00:19:51
think it to him it was a job he enjoyed
00:19:53
it and I don't think he was ever afraid
00:19:57
I me imag in the back of anyone's mind
00:20:00
something could happen but I don't think
00:20:02
he dwell on it I just heard it on the
00:20:05
radio on the night that Ralph was killed
00:20:06
police found a suspicious pattern of
00:20:09
circumstantial
00:20:12
evidence it appeared that Ralph had been
00:20:14
shot through the kitchen window okay now
00:20:18
secure the house no one in the
00:20:19
neighborhood saw the gunman though a few
00:20:21
people did hear a shot a good clear shot
00:20:24
of this Ricochet Mark the bullet that
00:20:26
killed Ralph ricocheted off a kitchen
00:20:28
cabinet and then fell onto the stove it
00:20:32
was fired from a rare 41 caliber magnum
00:20:35
handgun that had only recently been
00:20:39
manufactured keep your eyes near as
00:20:41
working as what's going out on the
00:20:42
street see if there's any talk contact
00:20:45
all your informant although there were
00:20:46
only 2,000 of these guns in the United
00:20:49
States police were unable to locate the
00:20:52
murder weapon we don't have a motive on
00:20:54
this one yet it could be some n who just
00:20:56
doesn't like police officers so when
00:20:58
you're out there be very careful the
00:21:00
only likely suspect Sam D Stefano was
00:21:03
cleared there were no other obvious
00:21:06
suspects except one Ralph's wife
00:21:10
marleene I know from the beginning of
00:21:12
the investigation I think what puzzled
00:21:15
everybody is how I had seen smoke inside
00:21:17
the house but if the gunman had been
00:21:20
outside there wouldn't have been smoke
00:21:21
inside and yet when I woke up that's the
00:21:23
first thing I saw was this small cloud
00:21:26
of smoke coming up from like in back of
00:21:28
my television set this puff of smoke LED
00:21:32
police to suspect that the shot had been
00:21:34
fired from inside the house adding to
00:21:38
their theory was the fact that the
00:21:39
broken glass from the window was found
00:21:42
in the yard not on the kitchen
00:21:45
floor when you have a murder
00:21:48
investigation one of the first places
00:21:50
you start with is with the
00:21:53
family are you set inside yeah the
00:21:56
investigators conducted a test to see if
00:21:59
marleene was telling the
00:22:02
truth first they fired from 15 ft away
00:22:06
there was no smoke and the glass fell
00:22:09
inside but then they fired from 2 in
00:22:12
away from the
00:22:14
window there was the puff of smoke
00:22:18
inside the house back all over me I
00:22:21
never seen anything like we found the
00:22:23
glass came out back under the shooter
00:22:26
and fell to the ground and we had the
00:22:28
puff of smoke inside the house from that
00:22:31
point on we knew that Marlene was
00:22:34
telling the
00:22:36
truth we determined that the shooter
00:22:39
would have have to have been 5'1 or
00:22:43
taller in order for that projectile to
00:22:46
follow the path to where it struck
00:22:50
Ralph to strike the center of the back
00:22:53
of the head where the entry point was
00:22:55
took one terrific shot
00:22:58
my my theory on Ralph's murder is that
00:23:01
somebody knew Ralph was going to be in
00:23:03
that position at that certain
00:23:06
time if anyone had been watching the
00:23:09
house they wouldn't have been able to
00:23:11
know even what room we were sitting in
00:23:14
unless they were standing by that
00:23:15
kitchen window every other window was
00:23:20
covered there was too much light in the
00:23:22
driveway and that person did not stay
00:23:25
there and wait for hours for Ralph to
00:23:27
get in that certain position Ralph was
00:23:29
set up I believe that possibly he was
00:23:32
going to receive a phone call or he was
00:23:35
going to make a phone
00:23:37
[Applause]
00:23:37
[Music]
00:23:43
call Bob believes that Ralph may have
00:23:45
been working on his own secretly in
00:23:48
order to bring down a vice ring in fact
00:23:51
several days before his death he had
00:23:53
been seen at the home of an ex-convict
00:23:55
named Frank kelvis he had spoken with
00:23:59
Kel's wife and then
00:24:02
left come on in I'll show you around I
00:24:05
think you'll like it one week before the
00:24:06
murder a man resembling Kelis looked at
00:24:09
a home for sale across the street from
00:24:11
Ralph's home as they toured the house
00:24:14
the visitor asked the owner a suspicious
00:24:17
question was the floor plant similar to
00:24:20
the one across the street most of the
00:24:23
houses in this area were built about the
00:24:25
same time yeah however after identifying
00:24:27
these in a police lineup the neighbor
00:24:30
changed his story some are convinced
00:24:33
that he feared
00:24:37
retaliation Frank cvis died s years
00:24:40
later and no charges were ever filed in
00:24:43
connection with Ralph's
00:24:46
death Ralph had information on something
00:24:49
whether it be BCE pornography fencing
00:24:53
operation and whoever killed him
00:24:56
knew that he was going to talk about
00:24:59
it and they killed him before he
00:25:03
could at this time I am unofficially
00:25:06
still working on a case and whoever did
00:25:08
it I've been making him awful nervous
00:25:11
because he knows that I'm not giving up
00:25:14
that somehow someway somebody's going to
00:25:16
say something and he's going to get
00:25:18
caught so somewhere somebody's awful
00:25:20
nervous and I'm going to keep him that
00:25:24
[Music]
00:25:26
way if you have any information about
00:25:29
the murder of Ralph propes please log on
00:25:32
to
00:25:33
unsolved.com
00:25:38
next a kidnapped baby is returned to his
00:25:42
parents and later a forest Rancher wants
00:25:45
to know who blew up his
00:25:51
[Music]
00:25:56
home Baltimore
00:25:59
Maryland in a previous episode we
00:26:02
profiled a frightening case of a baby
00:26:04
boy who was abducted from the hospital
00:26:07
just 2 days after he was
00:26:09
born a woman disguised as a nurse
00:26:12
entered the room of Linda Norris she
00:26:15
instructed Linda to hand over her
00:26:17
two-day old son Avery James and return
00:26:20
to her bed for a physical examination
00:26:24
the woman pulled the Privacy curtain
00:26:25
closed and then disappeared
00:26:28
with
00:26:29
Avery this has really been um I guess
00:26:33
one of the hardest things I've have to
00:26:34
ever had to face in my life um I can't
00:26:37
imagine going on from day to day without
00:26:40
having him
00:26:42
back 2 months later the Maryland state
00:26:45
division of Vital Records received a
00:26:47
call from a woman who claimed that she
00:26:49
had given birth to a baby boy at her
00:26:52
home 2 months
00:26:54
earlier the caller 33-year-old carlen
00:26:58
Victoria Wilkinson said that she wanted
00:27:00
to get a birth certificate for her son
00:27:03
Tavon Anthony Wilkinson authorities
00:27:06
immediately became suspicious and began
00:27:09
an
00:27:10
investigation a DNA test later confirmed
00:27:13
that the infant was actually Avery James
00:27:19
Norris two-month-old Avery James Norris
00:27:22
was immediately reunited with his real
00:27:24
parents and went home for the first time
00:27:28
we're very happy this is day one we
00:27:32
start our life right from today but I
00:27:35
just like to thank all the people who
00:27:36
called and all the people who sent
00:27:38
letters and cards and who prayed for us
00:27:41
and I thank you from from my husband and
00:27:43
myself and for our
00:27:47
baby carlen Victoria Wilkinson was
00:27:50
convicted of three counts of kidnapping
00:27:53
and sentenced to 30 years in prison she
00:27:56
has since been
00:28:02
released you're about to meet a man
00:28:04
named guy Pence he goes to work each day
00:28:08
knowing that his job has made someone
00:28:10
angry enough to try to kill him but he's
00:28:13
vowed never to
00:28:17
quit Carson City Nevada on the window
00:28:21
ledge us forest service ranger guy Pence
00:28:24
arrived at work one morning to find that
00:28:26
his office had been apart by a bomb the
00:28:29
night before you know I don't know what
00:28:31
kind of bom the FBI believed that the
00:28:33
bomber had targeted just the building
00:28:35
but guy thought there was more to it
00:28:38
than that I really always felt that it
00:28:41
was aimed um as a direct statement to me
00:28:44
now it may be aimed as a direct
00:28:46
statement to me as a district Ranger or
00:28:49
as a federal employee and not so much uh
00:28:53
at me
00:28:55
specifically why would guy Pence or the
00:28:58
forest service be a Target perhaps
00:29:01
because they are in the front line of a
00:29:03
war that most of us don't even know
00:29:05
about some call it the Sagebrush
00:29:08
Rebellion ranchers loggers and miners
00:29:11
who are opposed to Federal control of
00:29:14
local public lands for nearly a century
00:29:17
many of them have had permits that give
00:29:19
them access to huge tracks of that land
00:29:24
but gradually federal regulations to
00:29:26
protect the land and have restricted
00:29:28
their use Rangers like guy have to
00:29:31
enforce these new laws which brings them
00:29:34
face to face with angry protesters we'll
00:29:37
do if you wind up a 22 xra tomorrow just
00:29:40
bring him back up on your own and we'll
00:29:42
just call it good now I don't think
00:29:44
that's the case we're running the whole
00:29:45
herd through Michael we went through
00:29:47
this we said 800 and you said you
00:29:48
weren't going to give me any trouble
00:29:49
about it I don't think that's the case
00:29:52
guy you're making a mistake Michael guy
00:29:55
says scenes like this have become a
00:29:57
regular part of his job and in some
00:30:00
cases rebellious Ranchers have the
00:30:02
support of their local
00:30:05
officials make the issue that we have
00:30:09
here is these people have a right to
00:30:11
Grace forage they have a right to mine
00:30:13
minerals they have a right to harvest T
00:30:16
Timber and the bureaucrats have exceeded
00:30:20
their Authority in some way or trying to
00:30:22
stop them one way or the other and we
00:30:25
are standing up as County Government to
00:30:27
protect their
00:30:29
rights cut although local leaders
00:30:31
support the land use none of them
00:30:34
support the use of violence like the
00:30:36
bombing of guys's
00:30:38
office we were devastated by it we want
00:30:41
to put a stop to it as bad as anybody
00:30:45
else four months after the bombing any
00:30:48
question about whether guy Pence had
00:30:50
been personally targeted was
00:30:53
erased guy was out patrolling the back
00:30:55
country his wife was at home home with
00:30:58
their two oldest
00:31:01
daughters the homemade bomb had been
00:31:04
placed directly beneath guys van how
00:31:07
many do we
00:31:18
[Music]
00:31:21
have fortunately no one was hurt in the
00:31:26
explosion
00:31:28
wait wait wait wait go go it's a very
00:31:32
hard thought to accept that someone
00:31:35
would try to kill your family it just
00:31:37
thrown under there was it tape there's
00:31:39
absolutely no doubt in my mind that
00:31:42
whoever did this knew my family was at
00:31:44
home the windows were open the lights
00:31:47
were on the TV was on my own daughter
00:31:50
heard their footsteps and that they left
00:31:54
a killing device and ran into the
00:31:56
darkness
00:31:59
I have a hard time
00:32:00
comprehending how any human could do
00:32:04
that like the first bombing there are
00:32:06
few solid Clues and no
00:32:10
suspects the FBI laboratory in
00:32:13
Washington DC has advised us that these
00:32:17
bombs are very similar in construction
00:32:20
we're looking for someone who knows the
00:32:23
the basics and the basic use in
00:32:27
uh application of explosives to make
00:32:29
this bomb but this was not a mastermind
00:32:32
by any stretch of the
00:32:35
imagination guy and his family have
00:32:37
moved to another location he could have
00:32:40
quit his job but guy chose to keep
00:32:42
working for the forest
00:32:45
service I think the stakes are very high
00:32:48
those Stakes are our natural resources
00:32:51
those Stakes belong to all of us 300
00:32:53
million Americans and those unborn today
00:32:57
those are those resources belong to them
00:33:00
it's extremely important to me that that
00:33:04
the forces that support this kind of
00:33:06
thing understand that this is not ever
00:33:07
how you win that you only
00:33:09
lose that's extremely important that
00:33:12
this perpetrator be brought to justice
00:33:15
so that everyone understands this is not
00:33:18
how we solve our
00:33:20
problems if you have any information
00:33:23
about the attacks on guy Pence and his
00:33:25
family please walk on to our website at
00:33:29
unsolved.com
00:33:32
coming up two people are healed and they
00:33:36
believe that prayer made the
00:33:43
[Music]
00:33:48
difference Fort Lauderdale
00:33:51
Florida I think I'm seeing something
00:33:54
right so Friday December 1st first
00:33:58
42-year-old Kathleen Burkhart is stunned
00:34:01
when a sonogram confirms a large lump in
00:34:04
her right breast Kathleen's doctors fear
00:34:07
the worst cancer she is told to come
00:34:10
back on Monday for a biopsy and possible
00:34:14
mastectomy I just went into an absolute
00:34:17
panic I had known two women that were
00:34:21
younger than I that are dead from breast
00:34:23
cancer so I had this anxiety in this
00:34:27
Panic about not having breast surgery or
00:34:31
even a biopsy I didn't even want a
00:34:35
biopsy to alleviate her fears Kathleen
00:34:38
turned to meditation and
00:34:42
prayer I went home and I
00:34:45
literally uh told everybody to leave me
00:34:47
alone that I was going to concentrate my
00:34:49
whole weekend on healing and that I
00:34:52
wasn't going to have that surgery on
00:34:55
Monday I put in to practice everything
00:34:58
that I had been reading about fasting
00:35:00
and um went on a fruit juice and fruit
00:35:03
fast and listened to the tapes and did a
00:35:05
lot of praying got down on my knees and
00:35:08
just really asked God to heal me any way
00:35:11
to take this away from me please I felt
00:35:14
very peaceful very calm very Serene the
00:35:17
fear went away the anxiety went
00:35:20
away I became very convinced that I was
00:35:24
healed and that this was totally
00:35:29
gone all right let's see what we got on
00:35:32
Monday Kathleen was x-rayed again just
00:35:34
prior to her biopsy I don't see any
00:35:38
lumps there are no lumps in their
00:35:41
breasts today are you sure these are her
00:35:43
pictures
00:35:45
yes doctor this is what I wanted to show
00:35:47
you the pictures that we took today and
00:35:50
the pictures from Friday what happened
00:35:53
here Kathleen's doctor was stunned but
00:35:55
cautious he wanted to conduct the biopsy
00:35:58
anyway Kathleen was adamant she was
00:36:02
going home on the basis of Friday's
00:36:05
pictures for many years doctors have
00:36:07
called these phenomena spontaneous
00:36:11
remissions and explained it away oh
00:36:13
that's just a spontaneous remission but
00:36:16
what is that this is a healing and we
00:36:19
have to as
00:36:21
healers find out how this happens what
00:36:24
are the mechanisms so that more people
00:36:27
can have this
00:36:30
experience thankfully Kathleen is still
00:36:33
healthy she continues to meditate and
00:36:35
pray and go in for regular breast exams
00:36:39
but was she actually helped by the power
00:36:41
of prayer well some people are not so
00:36:47
sure there's no question that the Mind
00:36:49
exerts an influence over what happens in
00:36:51
the body the issue at hand is whether
00:36:56
prayer or or any other kind of mental
00:36:59
exercise can predictably influence what
00:37:02
happens to a person and with respect to
00:37:06
prayer there simply is no evidence that
00:37:08
it
00:37:09
does Dr Larry dossy former Chief of
00:37:12
Staff at Medical City Hospital in Dallas
00:37:15
Texas
00:37:17
disagrees one of the best kept secrets
00:37:19
in modern medicine is the scientific
00:37:21
data surrounding
00:37:23
prayer currently there are over 130
00:37:25
studies showing that if you bring prayer
00:37:27
into the laboratory the hospital or the
00:37:29
clinic the prayer
00:37:32
works the most significant study in the
00:37:35
century I think uh was done by Dr
00:37:37
Randolph bird at the University of
00:37:38
California medical school in San
00:37:39
Francisco it took place uh in the carer
00:37:42
Care Unit almost 400 people were
00:37:44
involved everybody gets treated with
00:37:47
state-of-the-art coronary care
00:37:48
techniques the difference was that half
00:37:50
the people get prayed for the results
00:37:53
showed that the prayed for patients did
00:37:55
significantly better they needed fewer
00:37:57
drugs there were fewer deaths in the
00:37:59
prade for group and nobody in the prade
00:38:01
for group wound up on the mechanical
00:38:03
ventilator 12 of the people not being
00:38:05
prayed for had to have this
00:38:07
done many in the medical community find
00:38:10
Dr Bar's study unconvincing and even his
00:38:14
supporters admit that when it comes to
00:38:16
prayer you cannot adequately monitor a
00:38:19
human control
00:38:21
group still some patients and their
00:38:24
families turned to prayer as in this
00:38:26
next case at Children's Hospital in
00:38:29
Pittsburgh
00:38:30
Pennsylvania though he was only 11
00:38:33
months old Eric danowski had just
00:38:36
undergone a liver
00:38:40
transplant by the time he had his first
00:38:43
transplant he was already quite
00:38:46
ill his U Outlook became progressively
00:38:50
work worse because the first
00:38:53
liver uh was rejected uh necessitating a
00:38:57
second one which was done about 8 or n
00:38:59
days later the second one you know I was
00:39:02
like how much more can his little body
00:39:04
take you know he was so frail his he had
00:39:06
bones sticking out of his back he was so
00:39:08
skinny and had been bedridden for so
00:39:10
long that we weren't you know you had
00:39:13
your doubts you know I mean I kept my
00:39:14
faith kept positive attitude but in the
00:39:17
back of your mind there's always that
00:39:18
doubt is he really going to be able to
00:39:19
pull through all this you
00:39:21
know 3 weeks after Eric's second
00:39:24
transplant he developed viral pneumonia
00:39:27
Dr starel gave him only a 5050 chance to
00:39:31
live I didn't want to hear that my son
00:39:34
wasn't going to
00:39:36
live there's nothing more the doctors
00:39:38
could do and the only thing that we had
00:39:41
left was to hope that the Lord would
00:39:43
answer our
00:39:45
prayers that same night Debbie called a
00:39:48
newspaper reporter who had written
00:39:49
several articles about Eric's medical
00:39:52
crisis he promised to write another one
00:39:55
if you would please
00:39:58
the article appeared a few days later
00:40:00
churches all over central Pennsylvania
00:40:02
began to fill with worshippers praying
00:40:05
for little Eric
00:40:08
danowski within a few days Eric
00:40:11
experienced a sudden and unexpected
00:40:14
turnaround less than a week later his
00:40:17
family and medical team gathered to
00:40:18
celebrate his
00:40:21
first I feel in my heart that Eric's
00:40:25
recovery was definitely a
00:40:28
miracle it was the first day that I
00:40:30
think I felt like a really sense of
00:40:33
relief that he was going to make it did
00:40:36
prayer give um Eric a booster U I don't
00:40:40
know when I when I was young I would
00:40:42
probably have scoffed at the
00:40:44
idea but I've seen things and uncovered
00:40:48
things over the last um nearly 40 years
00:40:52
that um uh make me unwilling to be
00:40:54
nihilistic about any
00:40:57
possibility and I think that includes uh
00:41:00
uh
00:41:02
prayer eventually Eric underwent a third
00:41:05
liver transplant this one a complete
00:41:09
success Eric was far too young to
00:41:11
remember his ordeal but his parents have
00:41:15
told him about
00:41:17
it when I found out how sick I was I
00:41:21
realized that I was very sick and a lot
00:41:26
of people are praying for me I want to
00:41:29
make one thing perfectly clear if you've
00:41:31
got appendicitis you ought to have an
00:41:33
appendectomy we're not advising people
00:41:36
to give up drugs and surgical procedures
00:41:37
and just wing it with prayer uh on the
00:41:41
other hand you should feel free while
00:41:42
you're doing that while you're having
00:41:44
surgery for your appendicitis to get
00:41:46
prayed for it too because there are
00:41:48
studies which show literally that prayer
00:41:50
increases the healing rate of surgical
00:41:52
wounds so we ought to do what works I
00:41:55
think this just Falls falls into the
00:41:56
category of Common
00:41:59
Sense did prayer help Kathleen Burkhart
00:42:02
and Eric danowski each of us must decide
00:42:05
that for ourselves and while prayer will
00:42:07
never take the place of medicine it may
00:42:10
offer a very powerful
00:42:13
[Music]
00:42:25
assist
00:42:27
[Music]
00:42:38
[Music]

Badges

This episode stands out for the following:

  • 85
    Most heartbreaking
  • 80
    Most shocking
  • 80
    Biggest twist
  • 75
    Most dramatic

Episode Highlights

  • The Disappearance of Michael Rosenblum
    Michael vanished under mysterious circumstances, triggering a desperate search by his father.
    “There's always hope as long as I don't have a body.”
    @ 02m 23s
    March 09, 2017
  • The Ongoing Search for Justice
    Maurice Rosenblum's relentless pursuit of the truth continues despite years of unanswered questions.
    “It's not over yet, we're getting close but it's not over.”
    @ 14m 27s
    March 09, 2017
  • A Shocking Discovery
    Years later, a bone fragment and clothing were found, leading to a grim confirmation.
    “I just felt sick... proof in my pocket makes you kind of sick.”
    @ 14m 59s
    March 09, 2017
  • Avery James Norris Reunited
    Two-month-old Avery is reunited with his real parents after being kidnapped at birth.
    “We're very happy; this is day one we start our life right from today.”
    @ 27m 28s
    March 09, 2017
  • Kathleen's Miraculous Healing
    Kathleen Burkhart experiences a spontaneous remission from breast cancer after prayer and meditation.
    “I became very convinced that I was healed and that this was totally gone.”
    @ 35m 24s
    March 09, 2017
  • Eric Danowski's Recovery
    After a community's prayers, 11-month-old Eric makes a miraculous recovery from severe illness.
    “I feel in my heart that Eric's recovery was definitely a miracle.”
    @ 40m 25s
    March 09, 2017

Episode Quotes

  • There's always hope as long as I don't have a body.
    Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 7, Episode 17
  • It's not over yet, we're getting close but it's not over.
    Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 7, Episode 17
  • I just felt sick... proof in my pocket makes you kind of sick.
    Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 7, Episode 17
  • I can't imagine going on from day to day without having him.
    Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 7, Episode 17
  • I felt very peaceful, very calm, very serene.
    Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 7, Episode 17
  • I think that includes prayer.
    Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 7, Episode 17

Key Moments

  • Mysterious Disappearance00:14
  • Desperate Search05:32
  • Grim Discovery14:36
  • Ongoing Investigation25:06
  • Mother's Pain26:37
  • Healing Through Prayer35:11
  • Miraculous Recovery40:25

Words per Minute Over Time

Vibes Breakdown

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March 09, 2017
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42:54
Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 5, Episode 3
Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 8, Episode 9
March 09, 2017
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42:23
Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 8, Episode 9
Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 3, Episode 21
March 09, 2017
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42:55
Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 3, Episode 21
Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 8, Episode 8
March 09, 2017
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42:34
Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 8, Episode 8
Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 4, Episode 9
March 09, 2017
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42:53
Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 4, Episode 9
Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 3, Episode 19
March 09, 2017
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42:55
Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 3, Episode 19
Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 4, Episode 20
March 09, 2017
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42:53
Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 4, Episode 20