Search Captions & Ask AI

Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 8, Episode 2 - Updated Full Episode

July 18, 2022 / 44:05

This episode of Unsolved Mysteries covers the cases of Dr. Michael Swango, the miraculous revival of Logan Carroll, and the love story of Fawzi Mahmoud and Zoyla Maldonado.

Dr. Michael Swango's medical career was marred by allegations of poisoning and murder. In 1984, while working at a hospital in Columbus, Ohio, he was present during a series of unexplained patient deaths. Despite suspicious circumstances, he left without formal investigation. Swango continued to work in healthcare under different aliases, leading to further incidents of illness among colleagues. He eventually vanished, and authorities believe he may still be practicing medicine.

The episode also tells the story of Logan Carroll, who was born without a heartbeat and pronounced dead shortly after birth. In a miraculous turn of events, Logan began to show signs of life 40 minutes after being declared dead. His case has baffled medical professionals and is described as a modern-day miracle.

Lastly, Fawzi Mahmoud recounts his love story with Zoyla Maldonado, which began in the 1960s. Their relationship was complicated by war and family pressures, leading to Zoyla marrying another man after giving birth to their son, Marcelo. Fawzi's attempts to reconnect with Zoyla and meet his son were thwarted, leaving him with a sense of longing and regret.

These stories highlight themes of tragedy, hope, and the enduring power of love.

TL;DR

Dr. Michael Swango's medical career ends in murder allegations, Logan Carroll's miraculous revival, and Fawzi Mahmoud's lost love story unfold in this episode.

Episode

44:05
00:00:05
[Music]
00:00:06
tonight on unsolved mysteries
00:00:10
dr michael swango's career began with
00:00:12
great promise only to be derailed by
00:00:14
allegations of poisoning and murder
00:00:17
what happened to michael swango
00:00:19
did an angel of mercy choose to become
00:00:21
an angel of death
00:00:24
some 30 years have passed as a young
00:00:26
woman from texas and a jordanian airman
00:00:28
fell in love only to be torn apart by
00:00:30
the uncertainties of war
00:00:32
now a heartbroken father needs your help
00:00:35
to find the son he has never met
00:00:38
little logan carroll was born with no
00:00:40
heartbeat and no vital signs doctors
00:00:42
could do nothing to save him
00:00:44
but as logan's family gathered to grieve
00:00:46
something truly extraordinary happened
00:00:49
something that can only be called a
00:00:51
miracle
00:00:53
join me perhaps you hold the key
00:00:56
perhaps you may be able to solve one of
00:00:58
tonight's unsolved mysteries
00:01:07
[Music]
00:01:58
february 7th 1984 columbus ohio
00:02:01
an intern at the state university
00:02:03
hospital checked on a 69 year old woman
00:02:06
recovering from routine back surgery
00:02:08
no one knows why dr michael swango was
00:02:11
in the room perhaps just to say hello
00:02:14
when he left rena cooper seemed to be
00:02:16
doing fine
00:02:20
[Music]
00:02:41
[Music]
00:02:48
let's check
00:02:54
as she was being stabilized rena
00:02:57
struggled to tell the doctors what
00:02:59
happened
00:03:02
she wrote
00:03:03
the doctor put something in my iv that
00:03:06
was dr when i was over there i was
00:03:08
taking some notes
00:03:09
while this is going on we know that
00:03:12
another nurse
00:03:13
decided to walk down the hall to calm
00:03:16
the other patients since there was a
00:03:17
great deal of commotion and four rooms
00:03:20
down within minutes sees dr swango
00:03:22
exiting another room with a very funny
00:03:25
grin on his face and those are her words
00:03:27
not mine the nurse goes into that room
00:03:30
and finds a large hypodermic needle with
00:03:32
the plunger down sitting on the sink
00:03:35
which is not very unusual you wouldn't
00:03:37
expect that in a hospital hypodermics
00:03:39
aren't left lying around
00:03:41
oh mike good glad you're here
00:03:44
i need to talk to you for a second three
00:03:45
different doctors confronted michael
00:03:47
swango about what had happened in rena
00:03:49
cooper's room
00:03:50
swango allegedly told three different
00:03:52
stories
00:03:53
at one point he claimed he had never
00:03:55
even been in the room just kind of
00:03:57
surgery it's coming for patients just
00:03:58
out of surgery to be delusional
00:04:01
most of us tend to hold doctors to a
00:04:03
higher standard and perhaps that's fair
00:04:06
after all we are sometimes compelled to
00:04:07
trust them implicitly depending on their
00:04:10
knowledge and expertise to save our
00:04:11
lives
00:04:13
did michael swango betray that trust for
00:04:15
his own sadistic pleasure
00:04:17
if you ask swango he'd probably tell you
00:04:19
he was a victim of bad luck and
00:04:20
circumstance
00:04:22
but unfortunately the question cannot be
00:04:24
posed
00:04:25
no one can find michael swango
00:04:30
michael swango came to ohio as a recent
00:04:33
graduate of the medical school at
00:04:34
southern illinois university
00:04:36
he projected charm and confidence
00:04:38
despite a lackluster med school record
00:04:41
it came back normal normal michael
00:04:43
swango became more and more withdrawn as
00:04:45
he proceeded through his college classes
00:04:48
and eventually got into medical school
00:04:51
and though academically he did very well
00:04:54
the more the classes became advanced and
00:04:56
the more he needed to do hands-on
00:04:58
patient work the more he pulled away
00:05:00
from that to the point where he was um
00:05:04
held back a year take a look at one of
00:05:06
these appraisals and you can see what
00:05:07
i'm talking about
00:05:09
swango's poor performance continued
00:05:11
through the first six months of his
00:05:12
internship
00:05:14
dr swango the end result is unless you
00:05:17
have a significant improvement you will
00:05:19
not be allowed to take sam you may not
00:05:21
recommend me for residency
00:05:24
i've been working my entire life to be a
00:05:26
doctor
00:05:28
swango's lifelong goal was now
00:05:30
jeopardized it could mean he would never
00:05:32
become a full-fledged doctor
00:05:35
[Music]
00:05:37
it was shortly after swangy was put on
00:05:39
probation that rina cooper suffered her
00:05:41
mysterious seizure
00:05:42
it was one of a series of puzzling
00:05:44
events at the hospital that spring
00:05:46
rina cooper survived but at least five
00:05:49
other patients died
00:05:52
the five mysterious respiratory arrests
00:05:53
in the last month the neurosurgery wing
00:05:55
has caused quite an alarm among all of
00:05:57
us i'm aware of that
00:05:58
i've decided to see if there's some sort
00:05:59
of pattern to this situation and i've
00:06:01
developed a chart the upshot of it is
00:06:04
that uh whenever these incidents
00:06:06
occurred uh swango is always there
00:06:10
a black cloud seems to follow michael
00:06:12
swango wherever swango was there was an
00:06:15
unexplained respiratory arrest and it
00:06:17
didn't happen once or twice it happened
00:06:18
five six seven times
00:06:21
though some evidence appeared to point
00:06:23
to swango hospital officials chose not
00:06:25
to call the police
00:06:27
they decided to watch him closely and
00:06:29
quietly wait out the last months of his
00:06:31
internship
00:06:33
i think the kid was great i think i was
00:06:35
better but i think
00:06:37
chicken food thank you thank you so much
00:06:40
swango did not appear disturbed by the
00:06:42
hospital's decision to let him go or the
00:06:44
whispered allegations against him
00:06:47
in fact on several occasions during the
00:06:49
last months of his internship he treated
00:06:51
staff members to what he called extra
00:06:53
spicy chicken
00:06:59
you weren't kidding that really is spicy
00:07:02
we know that from interviews with three
00:07:04
doctors they became violently ill within
00:07:06
hours of eating the spicy chicken so ill
00:07:09
in fact that they needed treatment for
00:07:11
their eyes from ruptured blood vessels
00:07:13
from the vomiting
00:07:15
michael swango left osu hospital in june
00:07:18
of 1984 without being formally
00:07:20
investigated
00:07:22
no charges have ever been filed
00:07:26
one month later swango had a new job not
00:07:29
as a doctor but as a paramedic
00:07:31
on september 14th he brought donuts for
00:07:34
the whole crew
00:07:35
i grabbed a donut started eating the
00:07:37
donut
00:07:38
but i noticed there was something
00:07:40
different about the donut it didn't
00:07:41
spring back up like most donuts do
00:07:44
you already know 45 minutes later brent
00:07:47
and several others became very ill
00:07:49
they wanted to test the leftover donuts
00:07:51
but they had disappeared only an empty
00:07:54
box remained
00:07:56
no one had any suspicions of mike at all
00:07:58
at that time they figured that that was
00:08:00
food poisoning since the donuts were
00:08:03
gone and they couldn't analyze it they
00:08:05
just more or less thought that that's
00:08:07
what it was and let it go by that
00:08:09
well the next night i worked with mike
00:08:11
at a football game a local football game
00:08:13
at halftime he offered to buy me a soda
00:08:17
i
00:08:18
started sipping the soda at halftime and
00:08:20
about the start of the third quarter i
00:08:22
became
00:08:23
deathly sick
00:08:26
yet another mysterious illness made
00:08:28
swango's co-workers increasingly
00:08:30
suspicious
00:08:31
they also couldn't help noticing
00:08:33
swango's grisly fascination with
00:08:35
accidents and death
00:08:36
the gorier the better
00:08:38
is she breathing
00:08:39
he would describe his ultimate calls as
00:08:41
a paramedic
00:08:43
and that would be a busload of children
00:08:45
hitting head on with the tanker truck
00:08:47
and
00:08:48
igniting and as he's approaching the
00:08:50
scene he would see charred bodies out of
00:08:52
the out of the windows of the buses
00:08:55
bodies that are up up against the barbed
00:08:57
wire fins caught in the car caught in
00:08:59
the barbed wire fences i mean this is to
00:09:01
me i thought was really strange
00:09:03
just you know to want to see death
00:09:05
no no just stay calm man finally the
00:09:07
paramedics decided to fake a call to get
00:09:10
swango out of the building
00:09:12
they wanted him away long enough to
00:09:13
search his locker
00:09:17
in michael swango's gym bag his
00:09:19
co-workers found two bottles of ant
00:09:21
poison
00:09:22
one full
00:09:24
one empty poison
00:09:27
michael swango
00:09:28
yes i am detective reynolds these are
00:09:30
officers dewitt rogers we have a warrant
00:09:32
search premises paul wants to start a
00:09:34
living in swango's apartment police
00:09:36
discovered more incriminating evidence
00:09:39
dozens of bottles of poisons books on
00:09:42
poisons recipe cars for making poisons
00:09:45
and an assortment of syringes
00:09:47
one syringe was full of ant poison
00:09:52
the evidence was overwhelming
00:09:54
swanger was convicted of six counts of
00:09:56
aggravated battery and sentenced to five
00:09:58
years in prison
00:10:00
after serving half his sentence he was
00:10:01
given time off for good behavior
00:10:04
amazingly swango again found work in the
00:10:07
healthcare field he was apparently able
00:10:09
to convince employers that he had been
00:10:11
the victim of a miscarriage of justice
00:10:14
in newport news virginia he turned up at
00:10:16
a medical vocational school
00:10:18
there three of his colleagues reportedly
00:10:21
fell ill
00:10:22
swango then talked his way into the
00:10:24
university of south dakota hospital
00:10:26
again he was shadowed by his past and
00:10:29
dismissed
00:10:30
finally in august of 1993 swango
00:10:33
resurfaced to stony brook university in
00:10:35
new york he was assigned to a veterans
00:10:38
administration hospital on long island
00:10:40
while there he changed his name to
00:10:42
michael kirk
00:10:44
he was accepted into the stony brook
00:10:46
program and they never bothered to check
00:10:47
him with a central registry for medical
00:10:50
residents which apparently had a file
00:10:52
that was an inch thick on him there were
00:10:54
180 people who applied for 12 slots
00:10:57
and he managed to get one of those 12
00:10:58
slots despite
00:11:01
these clouds of questionable activity
00:11:04
that followed him in at least four
00:11:06
states
00:11:07
on september 29 1993 michael swango's
00:11:11
path crossed out of lc and baron harris
00:11:14
baron harris was a 60 year old cabinet
00:11:16
maker from long island hi mr harris he
00:11:18
had a fever of 104 degrees and a slight
00:11:21
case of pneumonia
00:11:22
i'm going home tomorrow well we'll see
00:11:24
if we can't accommodate you my first
00:11:26
impressions of dr kirk he seemed very
00:11:28
professional he seemed to be very
00:11:30
concerned he seemed to know what he was
00:11:31
doing a very pleasant man
00:11:33
okay if you say so okay all right yes he
00:11:35
will okay thank you see you in the
00:11:37
morning yes swango told elsie to go home
00:11:40
there was nothing more she could do i'll
00:11:42
see you in the morning sweetheart don't
00:11:43
you forget to come back and get me no
00:11:45
you'll be all right
00:11:47
i love you love you too
00:11:50
elsie harris claims that sometime during
00:11:52
the night dr michael swango alias
00:11:54
michael kirk gave her husband a sedative
00:11:57
by the next morning baron had been moved
00:11:59
to intensive care he had lapsed into a
00:12:02
coma
00:12:03
doesn't make any sense to me
00:12:06
he was coughing he had a little fever i
00:12:08
don't get it i don't understand mrs
00:12:10
harris sometimes people have allergic
00:12:12
reactions to certain drugs now that may
00:12:14
have happened in your husband's case why
00:12:16
a coma
00:12:18
i just hope it wasn't anything that we
00:12:19
did
00:12:22
he had a very smirky attitude
00:12:25
like a half cocked smile on his face
00:12:28
like
00:12:29
a little kid with his hand in the cookie
00:12:31
jars this is what he reminded me of even
00:12:33
though he had a terrific bedside manner
00:12:36
he there was just something sneaky about
00:12:39
him
00:12:40
once the uh story hit the wires and uh
00:12:44
reporters started uh
00:12:46
converging on the northport va hospital
00:12:49
and on his dorm room he very hastily
00:12:53
packed up and
00:12:55
disappeared
00:12:57
before michael swango vanished elsie
00:12:59
harris says he told her that baron would
00:13:01
never come out of his coma
00:13:03
swango apparently knew what he was
00:13:05
talking about
00:13:06
baron harris died on november 9th 1993.
00:13:12
wherever michael swango is today
00:13:14
authorities believe that he is most
00:13:15
likely working in the medical field
00:13:26
[Music]
00:13:34
[Music]
00:13:41
[Music]
00:13:47
[Music]
00:14:01
[Music]
00:14:19
every parent hears of these stories that
00:14:22
it's your worst nightmare it's worse
00:14:24
than that
00:14:27
the person that hurt amy and took amy
00:14:30
has no idea what they've done i mean
00:14:34
she was such an integral vital part of
00:14:36
life
00:14:37
that um
00:14:40
it's very hard
00:14:41
very very hard
00:14:42
i guess the biggest question in
00:14:44
anybody's mind is why did the person
00:14:46
choose amy
00:14:52
[Music]
00:14:55
she had no enemies no secret habits no
00:14:58
taste for danger
00:15:00
she was a world-class athlete who kept
00:15:02
her mind focused and her body primed
00:15:04
there was no reason for her to die
00:15:09
the circumstances of amy willard's death
00:15:11
would lead some to conclude that the
00:15:12
killer was well-versed in police
00:15:14
procedure
00:15:16
during the investigation three men with
00:15:17
just such knowledge came forward to
00:15:19
offer eyewitness accounts
00:15:21
each reportedly placed himself at the
00:15:23
crime scene it each told a different
00:15:25
story
00:15:26
some believe all three were merely
00:15:28
publicity seekers
00:15:30
but until a suspect is actually charged
00:15:32
with amy's murder their true motives
00:15:34
will remain the subject of intense
00:15:35
scrutiny
00:15:39
[Music]
00:15:40
[Applause]
00:15:42
[Music]
00:15:43
[Applause]
00:15:44
[Music]
00:15:45
in 1992 george mason university in
00:15:48
fairfax virginia offered amy a full
00:15:50
athletic scholarship
00:15:52
[Music]
00:15:54
by her junior year amy was ranked among
00:15:57
the top 25 female lacrosse players in
00:15:59
the united states
00:16:00
[Music]
00:16:04
she had talent and she loved it aim
00:16:06
always said whether they won or lost she
00:16:08
had a good day she played well the team
00:16:10
did well she felt good it didn't matter
00:16:11
what the outcome was like they didn't
00:16:13
have to win all the time as long as
00:16:15
everybody enjoyed what they were doing
00:16:16
as much as she did
00:16:19
in june of 1996 amy returned to her home
00:16:22
in philadelphia for the summer
00:16:24
she enrolled in classes at a local
00:16:26
school
00:16:28
on wednesday night june 19th amy met up
00:16:30
with friends at smokey joe's tavern a
00:16:32
well-known college hangout she stayed
00:16:35
for about three hours
00:16:38
yeah i've gone on a couple of dates
00:16:40
lately
00:16:41
but you know nothing serious really
00:16:44
amy's friends say that she drank less
00:16:45
than one beer and left the bar before
00:16:47
they did somewhere between 1 30 and 1 40
00:16:51
a.m
00:16:56
bye guys
00:17:01
at 203 am amy's car was discovered by
00:17:04
off-duty paramedics it was parked on the
00:17:07
shoulder of a highway transition road
00:17:10
engine running headlights ablaze car
00:17:12
radio plane
00:17:15
amy however was gone
00:17:17
and fresh blood stains on the pavement
00:17:19
suggested that she hadn't gone willingly
00:17:22
within the hour state police would be
00:17:24
scouring the area for clues
00:17:27
they found some blood along the right
00:17:29
side of the car on the guard rail they
00:17:31
found a palm print on the car
00:17:33
and the next morning about 10 a.m at the
00:17:36
top of the ramp they found her underwear
00:17:39
and her tennis shoes
00:17:41
with daylight the search had expanded to
00:17:43
include helicopters canine teams and
00:17:45
legions of volunteers
00:17:49
around noon as police were searching for
00:17:51
amy willard's body essentially
00:17:54
police say a guy showed up at the ramp
00:17:56
and told them he had been on the ramp
00:17:58
the night before and had seen a car
00:18:01
you were out here last night yeah i was
00:18:02
driving by and i saw the car
00:18:05
did you see anyone near the car
00:18:07
no i just saw the car they took his name
00:18:09
and an address and said they'd get back
00:18:11
in touch with him and in the interim
00:18:13
they checked him out and found out that
00:18:14
he used to work in the area of 16th and
00:18:17
indiana where amy's body was found
00:18:20
amy's unclothed body was found the
00:18:22
afternoon of her disappearance by
00:18:23
children playing in a vacant lot in
00:18:25
philadelphia
00:18:27
she had been dumped 20 miles from her
00:18:28
car and five blocks from where the young
00:18:31
man had once worked
00:18:32
there was no conclusive evidence of
00:18:34
sexual assault
00:18:36
three momentous blows to the head had
00:18:38
crushed amy's skull
00:18:42
the investigation quickly focused on the
00:18:44
would-be eyewitness
00:18:45
initially he willingly answered
00:18:47
questions and cooperated with the
00:18:49
authorities
00:18:50
police searched his car and they found
00:18:52
handcuffs they found a flashlight that
00:18:54
is the type used by police
00:18:56
and when they searched his house they
00:18:57
found some police paraphernalia and they
00:19:00
also found a magazine that you could be
00:19:02
used to order police equipment
00:19:04
[Music]
00:19:05
prior to the search authorities learned
00:19:07
that the young man had once been charged
00:19:08
with impersonating a police officer
00:19:11
without warning he stopped cooperating
00:19:14
then he lawyered up
00:19:16
he says through his lawyer he didn't do
00:19:18
it but he also denies coming to the ramp
00:19:20
that day and police are steadfast saying
00:19:22
he did come to the ramp
00:19:25
the now reluctant eyewitness remains a
00:19:27
potential suspect but police have been
00:19:29
unable to find any evidence that links
00:19:31
him directly to the murder
00:19:34
meanwhile a second witness had come
00:19:36
forward to say that he too was on the
00:19:38
highway transition road the night amy
00:19:40
was abducted
00:19:45
an off-duty pennsylvania state trooper
00:19:47
who has since resigned claimed that not
00:19:49
only had he seen the car
00:19:50
but he has spoken to a uniform policeman
00:19:53
sitting in a squad car parked behind it
00:19:57
the police are very adamant that this
00:19:59
trooper was elsewhere when he said he
00:20:01
was on the ramp but the trooper is just
00:20:02
as adamant that he saw what he saw and
00:20:04
he has always stood by his story that he
00:20:06
saw this cop car behind amy's
00:20:09
in a stunning turn around one week later
00:20:11
newspapers reported that a local
00:20:13
policeman did come forward to admit he
00:20:15
had been at amy's car are you okay here
00:20:18
yeah i already called the local pd
00:20:20
they're on their way
00:20:21
however the officer made no mention of
00:20:23
the state trooper though he did say that
00:20:25
he had talked to the ambulance driver on
00:20:27
the scene
00:20:29
[Music]
00:20:31
the police re-interviewed the ambulance
00:20:33
crew and they said that absolutely they
00:20:34
had not talked to this officer that
00:20:36
night
00:20:37
he agreed to resign from the force and
00:20:39
cooperate fully with them and in
00:20:41
exchange he would not be prosecuted for
00:20:43
lying to them
00:20:45
well
00:20:46
one alleged police impersonator and two
00:20:48
bona fide officers
00:20:50
was there an ounce of truth in anything
00:20:52
they said
00:20:54
each had reportedly thrust himself into
00:20:56
the limelight with an eyewitness account
00:20:58
each in turn was questioned as a
00:21:00
potential suspect
00:21:02
there are a lot of coincidences here on
00:21:04
the first suspect worked in the area of
00:21:06
where amy's body was found the trooper
00:21:09
lived around the corner very near where
00:21:11
amy lived with her mom the
00:21:13
the officer used to take his drunk
00:21:15
drivers for blood tests to the hospital
00:21:17
where amy's mom works
00:21:18
are they coincidences or are they all
00:21:20
linked i mean that's for the police to
00:21:22
find out
00:21:25
to date authorities have not amassed
00:21:26
enough proof to charge anyone with a
00:21:28
crime
00:21:29
however some of the evidence does
00:21:31
suggest that whoever killed amy willard
00:21:34
approached her under the guise of
00:21:35
authority
00:21:36
[Music]
00:21:40
a woman like amy according to her family
00:21:42
would not have stopped for just anyone
00:21:45
it's nearly 2 am in the morning she's in
00:21:47
a car she's alone
00:21:49
so a police impersonator or police
00:21:51
officer seems to be the most likely
00:21:53
reason she would have pulled over
00:21:56
take a step out of the car please
00:22:01
i don't understand what they're doing
00:22:05
i don't understand what the problem is
00:22:07
listen
00:22:08
on the road
00:22:14
i think amy realized she was in trouble
00:22:16
and was on a run and took off and that
00:22:18
she was moving they hit her and aim was
00:22:21
gone that's what i would like to think
00:22:23
happened that she
00:22:24
only had fear for a couple seconds and
00:22:26
that she didn't know anything else that
00:22:28
happened to her
00:22:30
we loved amy we loved her more than
00:22:32
anything in this world and we are
00:22:34
thankful to god for giving her to us
00:22:37
and the way that he chose to end her
00:22:39
life
00:22:41
that's something that we try to deal
00:22:42
with but we're not going to dwell on
00:22:45
our job is making sure that amy is
00:22:47
remembered for the wonderful person that
00:22:48
she was instead of the way that her life
00:22:50
was ended that's for the police to
00:22:52
handle
00:22:55
amy willard was last seen alive at
00:22:57
smokey joe's tavern in wayne
00:22:58
pennsylvania just outside philadelphia
00:23:01
on june 20th 1996 around 1 30 a.m
00:23:06
amy's car was found here on the
00:23:08
transition road leading from interstate
00:23:10
476 to route 1.
00:23:13
amy willard's body was discovered in
00:23:15
this vacant lot at 16th in indiana in
00:23:18
north philadelphia
00:23:28
[Music]
00:23:34
[Music]
00:23:42
in a moment
00:23:43
the tragic death of an infant is
00:23:45
followed by a miraculous rebirth
00:23:49
[Music]
00:23:59
perhaps the only time we welcome a visit
00:24:01
to the hospital is for the birth of a
00:24:02
child
00:24:04
but even this special moment can be
00:24:06
marred by sudden disaster
00:24:08
just ask an indiana couple named todd
00:24:10
and tammy carroll
00:24:11
their second child megan was still born
00:24:14
after an eight-month pregnancy
00:24:18
naturally megan was very much on their
00:24:20
minds when the carols arrived at the
00:24:21
hospital for the birth of their third
00:24:23
child the son named logan
00:24:26
they had no idea how close they would
00:24:28
come to another tragedy
00:24:31
this is my sister ruthie she's going to
00:24:33
be with us today hi ruthie nice to meet
00:24:35
you nice to meet you well tammy
00:24:37
everything looks great
00:24:38
after we lost megan i was real anxious
00:24:41
it was real stressful um i was worried
00:24:44
is anything going to be wrong with this
00:24:45
baby is you know everything going to be
00:24:47
all right and after the ultrasound and
00:24:49
everything looked good on it and then we
00:24:51
ran some other tests that looked fine
00:24:54
that eased my mind i really tried to
00:24:57
look at it as a separate incident okay
00:25:00
here comes the next one
00:25:02
tammy's obstetrician dr diana oaken
00:25:04
induced labor at around 8 45 a.m
00:25:08
the contractions grew stronger and more
00:25:09
frequent through the day
00:25:11
the baby's vital signs were consistently
00:25:14
stable and positive
00:25:18
4 30 p.m
00:25:20
birth was imminent
00:25:22
tammy's sister ruthie stationed herself
00:25:24
near the fetal heartbeat monitor
00:25:26
the red numbers showed a normal rate 120
00:25:29
to 140 beats per minute another deep
00:25:32
breath
00:25:33
and push
00:25:35
while tammy was pushing trying to
00:25:37
push the baby out i noticed that the
00:25:39
heart monitor like would drop way down
00:25:41
and that really kind of alarmed me and
00:25:43
they had her take some slow breaths and
00:25:46
it recovered back up
00:25:48
one more push deep breath and push 4 42
00:25:52
p.m
00:25:53
at the moment logan carroll was born his
00:25:55
heart rate plunged to zero
00:25:57
a fragile life in mortal danger
00:26:01
i knew something was wrong as soon as he
00:26:02
delivered because he didn't have any
00:26:04
tone when i felt his umbilical cord i
00:26:06
didn't feel any pulse at all
00:26:09
and that's when we started cpr
00:26:12
why isn't he crying
00:26:14
why's he crying relax it's all right
00:26:16
[Music]
00:26:20
call a code
00:26:22
[Music]
00:26:34
for 15 minutes the emergency team tried
00:26:37
desperately to revive logan
00:26:39
[Music]
00:26:44
4 57
00:26:45
dr mary valentine the carol's
00:26:47
pediatrician joined the emergency team
00:26:51
what's the history here an eventful
00:26:52
pregnancy we lost the heart rate
00:26:54
immediately before delivery logan still
00:26:56
had no vital signs no heartbeat no
00:26:59
breathing
00:27:00
no heart rate
00:27:01
[Music]
00:27:08
stop compression
00:27:09
no heart rate flat line continue
00:27:11
resuscitation
00:27:13
we continued doing cpr throughout that
00:27:15
time again with no response for
00:27:18
approximately another 15 minutes after
00:27:20
my arrival
00:27:22
and i began inserting a line into his
00:27:24
umbilical cord to try to administer some
00:27:27
drugs to help revive him
00:27:29
they had put
00:27:31
ekg monitor on him and the tracing was
00:27:34
not showing any electrical activity so i
00:27:36
i knew
00:27:37
oh it didn't look good at all
00:27:41
well i was still hoping but
00:27:43
that he was there so long
00:27:45
i don't know how many five or six
00:27:47
doctors there working on him
00:27:49
at one time trying to
00:27:52
do get him revive and he still ain't
00:27:55
doing nothing i i just couldn't lose
00:27:57
this baby i just could not believe this
00:27:58
could happen again
00:28:00
at some point you know you always have
00:28:02
to just say
00:28:03
we've done what we can do
00:28:05
this baby is not going to respond
00:28:07
and
00:28:09
we finally called it and pronounced him
00:28:10
dead at that time i'm sorry
00:28:19
i don't think
00:28:21
there's any lower feeling than holding
00:28:23
your dead child
00:28:25
it's supposed to be such a time of joy
00:28:28
and
00:28:30
renewed life giving birth that when they
00:28:33
they hand you this child that's no
00:28:35
longer living
00:28:37
i just can't begin to tell you how low
00:28:39
that that feeling is
00:28:40
and
00:28:42
sitting there holding him and looking in
00:28:43
his face
00:28:45
i just i just wanted him to be alive so
00:28:47
bad
00:28:50
logan james carroll was officially
00:28:52
pronounced dead at 5 15 pm
00:28:55
he was 33 minutes old
00:29:00
in accordance with hospital policy the
00:29:02
carols were allowed time to say their
00:29:03
goodbyes
00:29:05
swaddled in a blanket logan was cradled
00:29:07
by each grieving family member
00:29:10
in the midst of their anguish tammy and
00:29:12
todd agreed to an autopsy hoping for
00:29:14
some explanation
00:29:19
[Music]
00:29:26
tammy
00:29:28
todd
00:29:29
i don't mean to sound crass or anything
00:29:31
but we usually take pictures of the baby
00:29:33
for the family
00:29:34
you never know how people are going to
00:29:35
take that when you come in and say
00:29:37
i'd like to take pictures of you and the
00:29:39
baby but they were very receptive
00:29:41
because they said they didn't get enough
00:29:42
pictures the last time that this had
00:29:44
happened to them
00:29:47
these photos were taken that afternoon
00:29:50
stark portraits meant to commemorate the
00:29:52
end of a young life
00:29:54
instead they would mark the beginning of
00:29:56
a miracle
00:30:05
what was that what was what he just made
00:30:08
a noise that was just a reflex action
00:30:10
tammy are you sure i'm sorry while i was
00:30:13
holding logan he made the gasping sound
00:30:15
it was a very eerie feeling but we had
00:30:18
been told that that was normal
00:30:20
it is called agonal gasping and
00:30:23
it can happen because of the medication
00:30:25
it can go on for quite a while so i
00:30:28
wanted to let them know because every
00:30:29
time he would do that he did a couple
00:30:31
times for tammy
00:30:33
they would they would just their eyes
00:30:34
would light up and then they would be
00:30:36
really let down when he wouldn't do it
00:30:38
again
00:30:41
as the minutes went by i was slowly
00:30:44
becoming unaware of what even was going
00:30:47
on in the room i just wanted to
00:30:49
completely detach myself and float away
00:30:51
somewhere and be somewhere where it
00:30:53
wasn't hurting so bad i wanted to get
00:30:55
away from the pain
00:30:58
some 40 minutes had passed since logan
00:31:00
was pronounced dead
00:31:02
a time for his autopsy was close at hand
00:31:05
however as tammy's stepmother held the
00:31:07
infant she was beginning to think that
00:31:09
an autopsy would not be such a good idea
00:31:12
this color looks so good ruthie's
00:31:14
getting warmer
00:31:20
bailey
00:31:27
i'll get the nurse
00:31:34
just look
00:31:41
[Music]
00:31:46
i'll be right back
00:31:48
what's going on ruthie there's no reason
00:31:50
for this to happen dr o'conn i
00:31:52
understand about agonal breathing but is
00:31:55
there such a thing as an agonal heart
00:31:56
rate susan he has a heart rate please
00:32:00
come and take a look at him
00:32:02
i thought she was nuts you know if you
00:32:03
keep this up you're going to give me a
00:32:05
heart attack i just i think i was afraid
00:32:07
that she was
00:32:10
reacting in a way that was going to
00:32:11
upset the family even more because i
00:32:13
mean the baby was dead
00:32:16
[Music]
00:32:24
[Music]
00:32:26
this baby's alive let's get him nursery
00:32:29
what
00:32:31
it was total unbelief and i wanted to
00:32:33
touch him i can't i had an
00:32:35
uncontrollable urge i needed to touch
00:32:37
him
00:32:38
and
00:32:39
i don't know how soon it was but it was
00:32:42
real soon they came in took my iv out
00:32:44
and i had monitors on me and i had a
00:32:46
blood pressure cuff i mean they were
00:32:48
taking wires and just pulling them off
00:32:50
of me and put me in a wheelchair and
00:32:52
wheeled me into the nursery and i
00:32:55
reached in and i held his arm and i i
00:32:58
was talking to him telling him that he
00:32:59
had to hang in there and that i loved
00:33:01
him and that i was proud of him for
00:33:04
being so strong
00:33:06
i was still
00:33:08
in a different type of shock
00:33:10
because it was so unbelievable
00:33:12
[Music]
00:33:14
unbelievable indeed
00:33:16
at least six physicians and eight
00:33:18
registered nurses all certain that logan
00:33:20
carroll had died
00:33:22
high-tech meters and monitors had
00:33:24
confirmed that judgment
00:33:26
i figured god's hand hadn't been in it
00:33:29
but
00:33:30
that's not in the medical literature
00:33:33
to account for the miraculous as an
00:33:35
explanation but um
00:33:38
yeah it's amazing i mean we're all
00:33:40
trained to
00:33:41
do something as doctors and here we did
00:33:44
nothing and he came back
00:33:48
words spread through the hospital very
00:33:49
quickly you know people from the lab
00:33:52
people from other nursing units came up
00:33:54
just to look at him to say that they
00:33:56
could have seen this miracle baby it was
00:33:58
it was incredible
00:34:00
the emergency room doctor came up and
00:34:03
was totally amazed it was
00:34:06
it was something
00:34:08
you know something
00:34:11
logan's metamorphosis from the lifeless
00:34:14
infant in this photo the squirming
00:34:16
marvel videotaped just one day later was
00:34:19
simply astonishing
00:34:21
he would remain in the hospital for the
00:34:23
next five weeks his vital signs never
00:34:25
faltered
00:34:28
though logan remains healthy doctors
00:34:30
fear he may have sustained some degree
00:34:32
of permanent neurological damage during
00:34:35
the time he had no oxygen
00:34:37
only time will tell
00:34:39
[Music]
00:34:41
my feelings for him will stay the same
00:34:43
whether he has an iq of 180 or 50. he's
00:34:46
here he's alive
00:34:49
i've held the alternative
00:34:51
and
00:34:53
holding him
00:34:54
no matter how he's going to develop in
00:34:56
the future
00:34:57
we try to live for today
00:34:59
and
00:35:00
we're keeping
00:35:01
[Music]
00:35:05
it is impossible for most of us to fully
00:35:06
appreciate the carroll family's
00:35:08
experience
00:35:09
today logan's extraordinary revival
00:35:12
continues to baffle any expert who
00:35:14
studies the case however those who were
00:35:16
in the delivery room that day when
00:35:18
despair turned to wonder
00:35:20
are certain that they witnessed nothing
00:35:22
less than a modern day miracle
00:35:27
next
00:35:28
a poignant tale of love denied and a son
00:35:31
lost
00:35:33
[Music]
00:35:45
you're about to meet a man named fawzi
00:35:46
mahmud
00:35:48
almost 30 years ago a single moment
00:35:50
changed his life forever
00:35:52
it was the spring of 1967 in san antonio
00:35:55
texas the event
00:35:57
nothing less than love at first sight
00:35:59
[Music]
00:36:02
fauzi mahmoud was a trainee in the
00:36:04
jordanian air force he was in the united
00:36:07
states to learn american flying
00:36:08
techniques he was not interested in
00:36:10
anything else or so he thought
00:36:14
how are you doing
00:36:16
do you remember barbara
00:36:17
hi
00:36:19
hello
00:36:21
her name was zoyla maldonado she was
00:36:24
just 20 years old in fauzi's eyes she
00:36:27
was dazzling
00:36:28
what
00:36:30
i mean she looked so beautiful to me and
00:36:33
she got this green dress
00:36:35
and just she was a knockout and i was
00:36:37
knocked out
00:36:40
i fell in love with her i mean i felt
00:36:42
madly in love with her
00:36:44
this is beautiful
00:36:45
it is pretty
00:36:47
i like it like you
00:36:49
very beautiful
00:36:51
for both fawzi and zoiler this was her
00:36:52
first taste of true love
00:36:55
but for fawzi it was also much more
00:36:58
i liked that
00:36:59
[Music]
00:37:00
actually zoella was not only the first
00:37:02
love it was the first woman i ever
00:37:04
talked to in my life because we came
00:37:06
from a very very strict family and
00:37:08
strict people and a strict government
00:37:10
you know
00:37:11
but she was
00:37:12
my first ever thing
00:37:14
oh mom he's waiting
00:37:16
zoila's parents were very conservative
00:37:18
and she was their only child
00:37:20
they did not like the idea of zoyla
00:37:22
dating anyone
00:37:24
the fact that fauzi was a foreigner who
00:37:26
spoke little english did not help he's a
00:37:28
nice boy
00:37:30
well
00:37:31
what does it matter and i guess
00:37:34
even though her parents were
00:37:36
conservative and strict we managed to go
00:37:39
out almost daily
00:37:41
we went dancing we went to the lake we
00:37:43
went to the mountains we went everywhere
00:37:45
together
00:37:47
six months later zoil and fauzi found
00:37:50
themselves at a turning point
00:37:52
[Music]
00:37:54
bowsey i think i'm pregnant
00:37:57
to zoyla's great relief fauzi was
00:37:59
ecstatic
00:38:00
you are
00:38:02
yes i want to marry you
00:38:05
[Music]
00:38:14
but the marriage would never take place
00:38:17
several months earlier the six-day war
00:38:19
had erupted between jordan and israel
00:38:22
tension between the two countries
00:38:24
remained high
00:38:25
in late november 1967 fousey was ordered
00:38:28
home
00:38:30
i
00:38:31
back i promise
00:38:33
rosie
00:38:34
we talked and we promised and we vowed
00:38:36
that we will always be together no
00:38:38
matter what happens
00:38:41
when i come back
00:38:42
i can't raise baby by myself
00:38:45
i can't you and baby come to jordan i
00:38:47
just felt so helpless
00:38:50
i come back very soon
00:38:52
come on kids we need to get going
00:38:55
i felt my life should be like that i
00:38:57
mean
00:38:58
we're having so good time together we're
00:39:00
happy why the happiness have to go
00:39:06
[Applause]
00:39:07
[Music]
00:39:13
[Music]
00:39:18
sometimes i miss you so much i think
00:39:20
i'll go crazy but then i receive your
00:39:23
letters and i feel better
00:39:25
zoiling files he continued the love
00:39:27
affair by letter
00:39:28
the jordanian air force refused to
00:39:30
release fawzi so zoyla planned to go to
00:39:32
jordan
00:39:33
please take care of yourself and stay
00:39:35
safe
00:39:36
i will close now
00:39:38
i'm tired but the baby's fine
00:39:41
it still kicks all the time if he's a
00:39:44
boy he'll probably be a football player
00:39:47
in late june 1968 zarla gave birth to a
00:39:50
healthy baby boy
00:39:52
she named him amadeo marcelo
00:39:56
i mean i was thrilled i was very happy i
00:39:58
was jumping
00:39:59
but i also was very
00:40:03
unpleased because of the fact that i
00:40:05
cannot be there to see him and be with
00:40:07
her and be of help to her
00:40:10
i was very frustrated
00:40:14
even on duty fauzi's thoughts were with
00:40:16
zoyla and his infant son he could not
00:40:19
wait to bring his new family to jordan
00:40:24
zoyla kept writing to fawzi but the tone
00:40:26
of her letters soon changed
00:40:29
pozzi i'm writing to say i'm sorry to
00:40:31
hear of your problem
00:40:33
i want us together more than ever i will
00:40:36
always believe my love is strong
00:40:39
but the war
00:40:40
i refuse to take that chance with
00:40:42
marcelo's life
00:40:44
zoyla made a difficult decision
00:40:46
she needed a father for her baby
00:40:49
she wrote fousey that she had married
00:40:51
someone else
00:40:55
fawzi could not bring himself to right
00:40:57
to zoyla again but he could never forget
00:40:59
his son
00:41:03
in 1970 fawzi returned to the united
00:41:05
states
00:41:06
he claims he tried to call zoyler by
00:41:08
phone but her mother hung up on it then
00:41:10
had the number changed
00:41:12
she apparently blamed fauzi for her
00:41:14
daughter's out of wedlock child and was
00:41:16
understandably upset to hear from him
00:41:18
again
00:41:19
in desperation fauzi went to zoiler's
00:41:22
house
00:41:24
hello
00:41:26
i like cinzoyla please nobody wants to
00:41:28
talk to you
00:41:29
my son i like seeing my son
00:41:32
you ruined my daughter's life
00:41:35
no no i love your daughter you know what
00:41:39
you are three years too late
00:41:45
[Applause]
00:41:50
if you don't get out of here i'm gonna
00:41:51
call the police no please wait
00:41:54
i just want to see my son
00:41:56
please
00:41:57
wait
00:42:00
fauzi had no choice
00:42:02
he could not risk being arrested and
00:42:04
possibly deported
00:42:07
that moment was as close as fauzi
00:42:10
mahmoud has ever gotten to meeting his
00:42:12
son
00:42:15
today fauzi lives in enid oklahoma with
00:42:17
his wife robin they have a young son and
00:42:20
fauzi has three grown children from a
00:42:22
previous marriage
00:42:23
but thoughts of his firstborn still
00:42:25
haught him
00:42:28
there is one thing missing all the time
00:42:30
i would like to see my son i would like
00:42:32
to see how he looks like i want to hug
00:42:34
him i want to tell him i love him
00:42:37
i mean there's a lot of things that we
00:42:39
did not do together maybe we can do it
00:42:40
now even at this age
00:42:43
[Music]
00:43:06
do
00:43:12
[Music]
00:43:13
join me again next week perhaps you may
00:43:17
be able to help solve a mystery
00:43:24
[Music]
00:43:50
[Music]
00:43:57
[Music]
00:44:04
you

Badges

This episode stands out for the following:

  • 90
    Most heartbreaking
  • 85
    Most heartwarming
  • 80
    Most emotional
  • 80
    Best concept / idea

Episode Highlights

  • The Mysterious Case of Michael Swango
    Dr. Michael Swango's career was marred by allegations of poisoning and murder, leading to a chilling investigation.
    “Did an angel of mercy choose to become an angel of death?”
    @ 00m 19s
    July 18, 2022
  • The Tragic Death of Amy Willard
    Amy Willard, a talented athlete, was tragically murdered, leaving her family and community in shock.
    “The circumstances of Amy Willard's death would lead some to conclude that the killer was well-versed in police procedure.”
    @ 15m 09s
    July 18, 2022
  • A Miraculous Rebirth
    The story of a heartbroken father seeking his son, who experienced a miraculous event.
    “Perhaps the only time we welcome a visit to the hospital is for the birth of a child.”
    @ 24m 02s
    July 18, 2022

Episode Quotes

  • What happened to Michael Swango?
    Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 8, Episode 2 - Updated Full Episode
  • Something truly extraordinary happened.
    Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 8, Episode 2 - Updated Full Episode
  • Every parent hears of these stories; it's your worst nightmare.
    Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 8, Episode 2 - Updated Full Episode
  • We loved Amy more than anything in this world.
    Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 8, Episode 2 - Updated Full Episode

Key Moments

  • Unsolved Mysteries00:06
  • Miracle00:51
  • Medical Malpractice04:15
  • Eyewitness Accounts15:17
  • Athletic Scholarship15:48
  • Night of Disappearance16:51
  • Police Investigation19:05
  • Tragic Loss22:37

Words per Minute Over Time

Vibes Breakdown

Related Episodes

Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 8, Episode 2 - Full Episode
May 23, 2019
Captions not detected. You can watch the video, but not search it. If you think this is an error, contact support.
43:30
Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 8, Episode 2 - Full Episode
Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 3, Episode 19 - Full Episode
May 22, 2019
Captions not detected. You can watch the video, but not search it. If you think this is an error, contact support.
51:51
Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 3, Episode 19 - Full Episode
Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 6, Episode 19 - Full Episode
May 23, 2019
Captions not detected. You can watch the video, but not search it. If you think this is an error, contact support.
52:45
Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 6, Episode 19 - Full Episode
Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 5, Episode 8 - Full Episode
May 23, 2019
Captions not detected. You can watch the video, but not search it. If you think this is an error, contact support.
45:47
Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 5, Episode 8 - Full Episode
Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 9, Episode 18 - Updated Full Episode
March 16, 2022
Captions not detected. You can watch the video, but not search it. If you think this is an error, contact support.
44:30
Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 9, Episode 18 - Updated Full Episode
Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 11, Episode 5 - Full Episode
May 23, 2019
Captions not detected. You can watch the video, but not search it. If you think this is an error, contact support.
48:12
Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 11, Episode 5 - Full Episode
Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 4, Episode 16 - Full Episode
May 22, 2019
Captions not detected. You can watch the video, but not search it. If you think this is an error, contact support.
46:53
Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 4, Episode 16 - Full Episode
Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 11, Episode 8 - Full Episode
May 23, 2019
Captions not detected. You can watch the video, but not search it. If you think this is an error, contact support.
42:07
Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 11, Episode 8 - Full Episode
Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 9, Episode 10 - Full Episode
May 23, 2019
Captions not detected. You can watch the video, but not search it. If you think this is an error, contact support.
46:25
Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 9, Episode 10 - Full Episode
Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 9, Episode 6 - Updated Full Episode
July 26, 2021
Captions not detected. You can watch the video, but not search it. If you think this is an error, contact support.
49:27
Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 9, Episode 6 - Updated Full Episode
Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 6, Episode 23 - Full Episode
May 23, 2019
Captions not detected. You can watch the video, but not search it. If you think this is an error, contact support.
01:32:48
Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 6, Episode 23 - Full Episode
Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 9, Episode 4 - Full Episode
May 23, 2019
Captions not detected. You can watch the video, but not search it. If you think this is an error, contact support.
44:09
Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 9, Episode 4 - Full Episode