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Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 8, Episode 6 - Full Episode

May 23, 2019 / 42:58

This episode of Unsolved Mysteries covers the abandonment of a newborn baby girl in a New York City subway in 1955, the legend of the Cadborosaurus sea monster in Canada, a murder case in North Carolina, and the story of kidnapper Franklin Floyd.

Jean Martin, the abandoned baby known as "Miss Subway's," shares her lifelong dream of finding her birth mother. Despite being adopted, she has always sought answers about her origins and hopes someone watching might help her reunite with her mother.

The episode also discusses the Cadborosaurus, a legendary sea creature from Cadboros Bay, Canada. Eyewitness accounts and historical photographs are presented, including a 1937 discovery by whalers, but skepticism remains about the creature's existence.

In North Carolina, the case of Sherri Hart's murder is highlighted. Her daughter, April, reflects on the loss of her mother, who was last seen in 1984. The investigation reveals troubling details about the night of Sherri's disappearance and the subsequent charges against two men.

Lastly, the episode features Franklin Floyd, a kidnapper serving a lengthy prison sentence. His claims about the whereabouts of his victim, Michael Hughes, raise questions about the boy's fate, as Floyd refuses to disclose any information.

TL;DR

Jean Martin seeks her birth mother, while legends of the Cadborosaurus and a murder case unfold in this episode of Unsolved Mysteries.

Episode

42:58
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tonight on unsolved mysteries just
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before Christmas 1955 a newborn baby
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girl was abandoned in a New York City
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subway car forty years later Jean Martin
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still dreams of finding her birth mother
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perhaps someone watching make her dream
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come true if you think sea monsters are
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nothing more than fanciful legend you
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probably never visited Canada's Kepler
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Bay you probably never heard the
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incredible eyewitness accounts of a
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mysterious creature known as
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cadborosaurus in North Carolina a night
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of drinking and joyriding suddenly turns
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vicious a young mother is thrown to her
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death also a rare glimpse into the mind
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of a criminal Franklin Floyd is serving
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52 years for kidnapping but his victim 7
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year old Michael Hughes was never found
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incredibly Floyd claims a kidnap boy is
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alive and well but refuses to say where
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he is stay ones perhaps you hold the key
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perhaps your call can help solve on a
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tonight's unsolved mysteries
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[Music]
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immediately immediately dignity
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[Music]
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for centuries the stories have
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fascinated us in Scotland is the Loch
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Ness monster in New York's Lake
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Champlain is chimp there's all go Pogo
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at Lake Okanagan and British Columbia
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Canada
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and finally nearby Cadbury Bay is the
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legendary caddy the thing I noticed most
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about it was its eyes that they were big
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and they were serpent like the odor from
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it was just incredible it would permeate
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it it made you want to vomit
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it went down and Hum came up and then it
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went down and another hump came up and
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it was like it was moving
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[Music]
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they called it cadborosaurus caddy for
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short the sea monster of Cadbury Bay
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many people believe this is the carcass
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of just such a creature computer
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enhancement gives us an idea of what it
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might have looked like when alive like
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the biblical joke it came from the belly
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of a whale
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[Music]
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in 1937 there was a whaling station in
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the north part of British Columbia and
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one of the whale boats our poom this big
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sperm whale about six hours run from the
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whaling station towed it back and the
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flenders got to it fairly quickly
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cleansers are the workers of butcher the
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whales once they are brought to shore
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amazingly a sperm whale has three
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enormous stomachs inside one of them the
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flenders made an astonishing find
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instead of bringing out a book ten foot
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shark or a giant squid or a rack rag
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fish or something like that they came
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across this incredible snake-like thing
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none of them had ever seen it before in
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years of whaling and flensing they knew
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it was something different the Whalers
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took this photograph that very day James
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wakeland then a 24-year old blacksmith's
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assistant is the only witness still
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alive who saw the creature with his own
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eyes I don't know I got no idea what it
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is
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I haven't never seen anything like it
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and I guess somebody thought that's a
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queer-looking affair there we better get
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the manager or go and see him but I'm
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bought it and he got it brought down and
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he took the pictures laid out the
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creature measured some 12 feet long it
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had a head shaped like a horse or a
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camel in a thin snake-like body
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approximately 16 inches in circumference
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[Music]
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Norma's detail is visible especially in
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the tail region which shows us that the
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it has a pair of hind flippers that were
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webbed together with the tail to form
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this whale Lake fluke which undoubtedly
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provided the main driving force for this
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animal
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the Whalers cent part of the specimen to
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the provincial Museum and Victoria
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British Columbia there the museum
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director Frances Kermode dismissed it as
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a fetus of a baleen whale and tossed it
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out even to untrained eyes a baleen
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whale fetus bears little resemblance to
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the carcass examined by the museum
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director if he just stopped in thought
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would these men send down a fetal baleen
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whale i dissected hundreds of these
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things out of dead whale uterus is every
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week a new one if fetal baleen well so
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that was really not complimentary to
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these professional whalers if the
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Whalers weren't wrong
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maybe the creature was a fake one of the
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most famous photos of the Loch Ness
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monster eventually proved to be a hoax
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[Music]
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skeptics claim the cadborosaurus photo
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is no different but that hardly explains
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all the people in the sixty years since
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who insist they've seen a caddy like sea
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monster in 1968 William Hagglund was
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sailing in a remote cold as evening fell
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he and his sons netted what he now
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believes was a baby cadborosaurus look
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back a little garter snake but it was a
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little bit more husky than that but it
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wasn't much longer about 16 inches long
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maybe the thickness of my thumb but it
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had a little shoulders with little
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flippers on its shoulders or and a bit
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of a neck not much but an a head on it
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there with two bright brown eyes looking
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at us
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Peggle and sketched the animal in detail
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he decided to take the oddity to the
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nearest biology station but he was at
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least a day's sail away
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through the evening I could hear this
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little thing making quite a fuss in the
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bucket that we'd put it into but when I
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Shawn the light down Adam he just opened
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his mouth and hissed at me and you could
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see that he was quite terrified and
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quite put out with all of this I felt
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that maybe if we tried to held him
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overnight that he might perish I just
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the great deal of soul-searching decided
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to put it back in the water and leave it
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be it was another opportunity lost for
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the second time but was thought to be a
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caddy was thrown back in the bay in
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consultation with a paleontologist we
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applied computer animation techniques to
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one of the original cadborosaurus
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photographs the skeletal structure is
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similar to that of a snake a caddy seven
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metres long would probably have at least
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360 vertebrae that would give the
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creature enough flexibility to form the
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signature hoops so frequently mentioned
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by eyewitnesses unlike a snake but
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Canole wiggle from side to side but
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cadborosaurus could propel itself
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forward with his tail fluke and steer
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with us for fin something like a sea
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lion if this is truly an accurate
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depiction of a caddy
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imagine seeing one in the wild
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that's what a Pyrus spotted while flying
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a seaplane over a cat burrow Bay two
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college boys saw just 20 yards from
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shore and a homemaker surprised the sea
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monster right on the beach I was walking
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my dog lady and as we were coming down
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the path to the beach she was struggling
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to get away from me she just didn't want
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to go to the beach come on Lady
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finally I pulled her and pulled her and
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she got closer and as I turned to look
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down I saw this face looking at me and
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it was shaped like a horse face and
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there were eyes that were like a snake
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and as that I looked at it it looked at
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me and then it dropped his head below
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the cliff sort of took my breath away
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when I saw it and I just was thinking to
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myself did I really see what I thought I
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saw you know what is it I heard a sound
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thought it was probably a whale or
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something looked out didn't see much and
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heard it again and saw like a strange
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head out of the water 50 60 feet away
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I had the definite snout with a big
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large head really rocky looking a really
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greeny black color almost like a garbage
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bag color was a very odd-looking
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looking thing it was a hoof like a
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creature it had two vertical loops as we
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were on approach and landing we could
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see that it was moving very quickly
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through the water and I would estimate
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to be about 40 miles per hour and we
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could actually see through the two hoops
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we could see you know what was on the
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other side of the hoop so that was very
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strange
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it was the most unique thing I've ever
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seen in the in the waters around here
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I've seen lots of different things but
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I've never seen something like that it's
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our view that the animal does exist
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because of the total mass of evidence if
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these people who act independently over
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a century time and 3,000 miles of
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coastline were in collusion it would be
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the biggest con game in the history of
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science there's no way that happened
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these people are totally I've known to
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each other
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skeptics abound outnumbered perhaps only
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by believers doubters claim caddy
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eyewitnesses are mistaken but they
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really saw a humpback whales elephant
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seals basking sharks are perhaps a herd
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of sea lions hopefully the next person
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to get hold of a caddy managed to resist
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the urge to dump it back in the bay
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perhaps then this mystery will finally
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be solved we'll be back in a moment with
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an urgent appeal from the authorities in
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North Carolina they need your help to
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track down an accused killer
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[Music]
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[Music]
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most teenagers would do anything to
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avoid being with their parents but a 17
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year old April heart nothing would be
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more precious of spending a few moments
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with her mother savagely murdered when
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April was 6 I just want to go back to
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being sick so that she will be there was
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something to play with me and I'll have
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her let her know and she's there with me
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not going what she is now April's mother
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sherry was last seen alive on a January
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night in 1984 a 24 year old divorcee was
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supposed to meet a date outside a local
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restaurant sherry Hart did not come home
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that night or the next police located
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several friends who had seen her that
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evening however they found no evidence
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of foul play no explanation for Sherry's
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sudden disappearance four months
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afterwards April heard rumors that her
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mother had run off to Florida with a
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lover I just thought she hated me and
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didn't want to come back because she had
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me and she didn't feel like she was
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responsible for me and I just didn't
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that she loved him anymore sure what he
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got dogs female she's been here a while
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yeah she's pretty well decomposed the
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truth was worse far worse 11 months
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after sherry vanished an unrelated
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investigation led police down a two
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thousand foot cliff locals call it the
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jumping-off place it was there that
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authorities found the body of sherry
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Lyle Hart
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investigators immediately reopened the
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case they doing well I was supposed to
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have a day just about a half hour ago
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but they located a witness who had seen
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sherée on the night she vanished with
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two highschool friends
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Jeffrey Burgess and Richard bear where
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were you going nowhere particular just
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out cruising around no Elise
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interrogated Bear and Burgess separately
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Richard Bears brother had once dated
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sherry Hart what time would that have
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been nine nine o'clock you sure about
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that
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no I'm not sure could have been 905 it
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could have been two 855 I don't I don't
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keep a watch on me and check in every
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minute okay we have witnesses that saw
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you together after nine o'clock and
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Burgess gave us a different time as well
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so are you sure it was nine o'clock okay
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look let me tell you something it was
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dark it was cold we dropped her off by
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her car I don't know what time it was
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but stores were open they were opened
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okay Richard bear volunteered little
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information so detectives pushed forward
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with other leads we interviewed a great
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deal of people many people and as a
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result of those interviews we feel that
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we have developed a scenario as to what
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occurred that evening
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I feel we go cruising first a couple
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buddies minor down there meet up with
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them and then made me go to the toilet
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club afterwards
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sounds good at some point in time this
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riding around led them to an area
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possibly in the vicinity of a high club
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or a party and during this riding around
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Shea Hart asked to make a arrest op
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authorities allege that sherry and the
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two men pulled off the highway about 1/4
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of a mile from the jumping off place
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I think the woods are a dangerous place
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for a little girl that night Richard
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bear was apparently carrying a handgun
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[Music]
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are you doing shut up and stay in the
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car richard bear' and jeffrey burgess
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were charged with a murder of Sherri
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Hart
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our DUI conviction could have led
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straight to the gas chamber however four
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months after his arrest Richard Baer
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managed to escape from the County Jail
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Jeffrey Burgess was released on bail
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pending his friends recaptured more than
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10 years later the trial has yet to
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begin we let those people down we let
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the victim down and we certainly like to
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have an opportunity to get him back to
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let them know that we wants to see we
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want to see justice done this is
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probably his brutal of crime as you will
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ever encounter because the horror the
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fear and the fried that that victim had
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to feel for several minutes before she
00:18:02
went over that clip because she would
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have in my opinion known enough
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to know where she was she was a outgoing
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person she liked people she liked to
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have fun she was the mother that lived
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her daughter very much
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she thought more of April than anybody
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or anything
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it won't never get behind me I can't
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actually from that power grade knowing
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she's down there and I want her to be
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here with me so I can just give her a
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hug and just have her in my life for
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Jenna
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[Music]
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[Music]
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[Music]
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recently we profiled a pair of cunning
00:19:18
criminals two women who in some circles
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that achieve near folk hero status the
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police knew them as a real-life Thelma
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and Louise if you passed them on the
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road you would think they were just best
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friends out for a joyride but over a
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three-month period nearly 1995 roaster
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Fred and Carolyn Stevens told more than
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a quarter of a million dollars from at
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least ten men their mo was simple yet
00:19:49
devious frozen Carolyn lured their
00:19:51
victims to hotel so the promise of an
00:19:54
adventurous date rose and Carolyn from
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the onset wanted to be the real life
00:20:03
that woman Louise it they wanted to
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experience that thrill and the
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spontaneity and the only thing is I
00:20:10
don't believe they ever considered what
00:20:11
they were going to do to their families
00:20:13
in March of 1995 rose and Carolyn were
00:20:18
finally arrested in Houston Texas their
00:20:21
families put up almost everything they
00:20:23
owned a post a $500,000 bail the Thelma
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and Louise bandits were released and
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promptly disappeared as it turned out
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our broadcast was a catalyst for a
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full-scale media blitz aimed at tracking
00:20:38
down the two women here's Keeley che
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Smith with the details
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Bob the story of the Thelma and Louise
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bandits appeared everywhere in
00:20:46
newspapers magazines and on television
00:20:48
but it was a t-shirt just like this one
00:20:51
which led to their capture in Toronto
00:20:54
Canada less than five months after they
00:20:56
had vanished the gentlemen that gave us
00:21:00
the tip saw the pictures in the
00:21:03
Maclean's magazine of me holding the
00:21:05
t-shirt and call the number on the
00:21:07
t-shirt the tipster knew the whereabouts
00:21:10
of rose turf 'red she was working at a
00:21:12
telemarketing firm in Toronto within 24
00:21:15
hours both of the fugitives were in
00:21:17
custody probably the weirdest thing in
00:21:21
this whole chase was watching those two
00:21:24
smile
00:21:25
going to jail looking at all the time
00:21:28
that they're looking at they smile for
00:21:31
the camera terr furred and Stephens were
00:21:35
extradited to Texas and are currently
00:21:37
being held here at the Harris County
00:21:39
Jail in Houston I think that anyone who
00:21:43
does a series of aggravated robberies
00:21:45
are nothing more than criminals they're
00:21:48
not anything special they're not
00:21:51
anything to admire they're not anything
00:21:54
to emulate
00:21:55
they're just robbers
00:21:58
[Music]
00:22:07
[Music]
00:22:15
[Music]
00:22:27
next a provocative case study of a
00:22:30
criminal mind meet kidnapper franklin
00:22:33
delano floyd and later the poignant tale
00:22:37
of a baby girl abandoned on a subway as
00:22:40
a grown woman she dreams of a Christmas
00:22:42
reunion with her birth mother
00:22:45
[Music]
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this is Michael Hughes is seven years
00:23:01
old and has been missing for more than
00:23:02
14 months in 1994 Michael was living
00:23:07
with foster parents when he was abducted
00:23:09
by a man who claims to be his father
00:23:12
you're acting like I walked up to the
00:23:15
McDonald's and took a strange boy and
00:23:17
walked off with and that's where you're
00:23:20
wrong this is Franklin Delano Floyd in
00:23:25
fact he is not the father of Michael
00:23:27
Hughes today Ford is serving a 52 year
00:23:31
prison sentence for kidnapping Michael
00:23:33
Floyd insists the boys alive and safe
00:23:36
but he refuses to tell anyone where
00:23:39
Michael is or who is sheltering him the
00:23:44
case of Franklin Floyd Michael Hughes is
00:23:46
one of the most bizarre we have ever
00:23:47
profiled a twisted tale of deception and
00:23:50
deceit that truly defies rational
00:23:52
thinking we now joined Kevin ogle from
00:23:55
our NBC affiliate kfo our TV in Oklahoma
00:23:58
City this is Indian Meridian elementary
00:24:02
school just outside of Oklahoma City on
00:24:04
September 12 1994 Franklin Delano Floyd
00:24:07
walked into the office of principal
00:24:09
James Davis Floyd said he was the father
00:24:11
of six year old Michael Hughes and then
00:24:14
Floyd said he had a gun he came in he
00:24:18
was acting rather nervous he said what
00:24:21
I'm doing is very difficult he's I think
00:24:24
I should tell you I've got a gun in my
00:24:26
pocket at that time he was sitting right
00:24:29
here he reached his pocket he pulled the
00:24:32
gun partway out of his pocket enough
00:24:34
that I could see the handle in the palm
00:24:36
of his hand and then he put it back in
00:24:37
his pocket he said I'm ready to die if
00:24:41
you don't help me you won't live either
00:24:46
principal Davis led Floyd down this
00:24:48
hallway to Michael's classroom
00:24:51
Floyd then forced both of them into
00:24:53
Davis's pickup truck and ordered Davis
00:24:56
to drive out into the country and when
00:25:01
we got down here aways he told me to to
00:25:04
stop and he had meeting you down the
00:25:08
truck and go into the woods he left
00:25:10
Michael and in the truck and he followed
00:25:13
me into the woods he said sit down with
00:25:16
that tree and put your arm between those
00:25:19
two trees so I couldn't see it so I just
00:25:22
did like yes and put my hands behind me
00:25:25
and he handcuffed my hands behind me
00:25:28
like this five hours later principal
00:25:33
Davis was rescued for the next two
00:25:35
months there was no sign of either
00:25:36
Franklin Floyd or Michael Hughes police
00:25:39
were on a warrant for kidnapping finally
00:25:42
Floyd is arrested in Louisville Kentucky
00:25:44
but Michael was nowhere to be found
00:25:49
the authorities began to probe into
00:25:51
Floyd's background they discovered a
00:25:53
past remarkable for his demented
00:25:55
behavior in 1975
00:26:00
Floyd then 32 had turned up in Oklahoma
00:26:03
City going by the name Trenton B Davis
00:26:05
with him was a young girl floyd claims
00:26:09
she was his daughter Suzanne over the
00:26:13
next decade Suzanne and Floyd moved from
00:26:15
town to town
00:26:16
using a variety of aliases in 1988
00:26:20
Suzanne then seventeen gave birth to his
00:26:23
son Michael incredibly Floyd claimed to
00:26:27
be the boy's father even more incredibly
00:26:30
he then turned around and married the
00:26:32
woman he claimed was his daughter
00:26:35
then in 1990 when Michael was 2 Suzanne
00:26:38
was killed in a mysterious hit-and-run
00:26:40
accident a prime suspect though he was
00:26:43
never charged was none other than
00:26:45
Franklin Floyd Floyd vanished but only
00:26:50
after he had left Michael with foster
00:26:52
care Michaels foster parents remember
00:26:54
him as a child with many difficulties he
00:26:58
was not up to grade for his age he was
00:27:01
he didn't have muscle control like he
00:27:02
should have he did not talk at all
00:27:06
he was very hysterical so he just
00:27:09
wouldn't he was once a mighty Trish
00:27:11
ain't the right word he was delayed that
00:27:14
so severely that he was in an infant
00:27:16
stim class and he tested out at nine
00:27:18
months when he was 2 when he was 2
00:27:23
six months after abandoning Michael
00:27:25
Franklin Floyd was arrested on a parole
00:27:27
violation at that time a routine blood
00:27:30
test delivered a stunning revelation
00:27:32
Floyd was not Michael Hughes his
00:27:35
biological father after all when Floyd
00:27:46
got out of jail he requested that
00:27:48
custody of Michael be returned to his
00:27:52
request was denied six months later
00:27:57
Floyd would abduct Michael Hughes from
00:27:59
this first-grade classroom
00:28:01
Michael has not been seen since we would
00:28:05
like to have some information from the
00:28:07
public indicating that this child is
00:28:08
either has been seen out there is out
00:28:10
there somewhere or they may know
00:28:11
something about him being a solid or
00:28:13
possibly murdered that's what our
00:28:15
interest is well you know what people
00:28:17
say the reason you won't tell where he
00:28:19
is yeah because they think he's dead
00:28:21
that's right well they just have no
00:28:24
evidence of that Michael is not dead why
00:28:28
won't you tell us where he is it's none
00:28:31
of your damn business where he said you
00:28:33
don't have a right to love him care for
00:28:35
him in church cuz he ain't yours
00:28:39
from the start the case of young Michael
00:28:42
Hughes had been marked by disturbing
00:28:43
unexpected twists and now there is one
00:28:46
more only recently the police learned
00:28:49
that Michael's mother Suzanne was not
00:28:52
Franklin Floyd's biological daughter in
00:28:55
fact she may also have been kidnapped by
00:28:58
Floyd how did she come into your life as
00:29:01
a little girl I very bluntly say and she
00:29:08
was abandoned to me and I raised her if
00:29:11
I actually told you and you believed it
00:29:13
or I could prove it to you you know what
00:29:15
you do you try to pin a medal on me for
00:29:16
taking her where'd you go you really
00:29:19
would I can't tell you that I was good
00:29:21
but I'm gonna tell you right now I did
00:29:26
her a favor that's one of the biggest
00:29:28
mysteries that we have in this case as
00:29:30
to who this girl is we have absolutely
00:29:32
no idea we know that she is not the
00:29:34
biological daughter of mr. Floyd and we
00:29:37
feel that there's a very good
00:29:38
possibility that this young girl may
00:29:39
have been abducted or kidnapped when she
00:29:42
was probably 3 4 years of age and we
00:29:44
would like to find out her true identity
00:29:45
we don't know that
00:29:49
[Music]
00:29:57
[Music]
00:30:09
in a moment two armed robbers hit a
00:30:12
small-town post office and terrorized
00:30:15
the postmaster
00:30:16
[Music]
00:30:28
epps Alabama of the population of just
00:30:31
300 is a very definition of
00:30:33
off-the-beaten-path the local post
00:30:36
office as much like the town itself
00:30:38
small quiet and friendly a most unlikely
00:30:41
target for robbery
00:30:45
October 30th 1987 began like any other
00:30:49
day for opal Johnson the postmaster in
00:30:51
UPS everyone that came into office was
00:30:55
people that I knew almost except hunting
00:30:57
season and then there were strangers who
00:31:00
came into post office quite often so
00:31:03
that's why I did not really notice this
00:31:05
guy when he came to the window because I
00:31:07
thought he was someone there hunting at
00:31:11
around 11 a.m. to strangers one white
00:31:14
and one black came in for stamps after
00:31:25
the blackmailer jump told the county he
00:31:27
immediately began to give orders he
00:31:32
seemed to be real familiar with the
00:31:35
operation of a postal service the black
00:31:38
mail gave all the orders he would he
00:31:41
told the white male everything to do and
00:31:44
he did it
00:31:58
I never took money to work with me I had
00:32:03
a dollar in 38 cents killa and the white
00:32:15
male sis man let's don't do that sister
00:32:18
said she did everything we told her to
00:32:21
he says okay we'll take her with us the
00:32:28
thieves made off with about 700 dollars
00:32:30
in cash and stamps one of the men forced
00:32:33
opal into her car and followed the other
00:32:35
out into the country it would turn out
00:32:39
to be just a 10-minute ride for opal the
00:32:43
most frightening ten minutes of her life
00:32:45
when a white ball got into the car he
00:32:48
put his gun across his lap with this
00:32:53
thing are still on the trigger
00:32:54
and it was poking me in the side and he
00:32:58
was extremely nervous don't do anything
00:33:05
stupid or they'll be all right
00:33:07
[Music]
00:33:10
finally the tiny convoy pulled into a
00:33:12
remote clearing near Goggins lake three
00:33:15
miles from town whatever you do don't
00:33:18
make you mad I can't control when he's
00:33:20
mad okay don't talk
00:33:38
he said give me your rings I like those
00:33:42
rings and as I was taking my rings off I
00:33:46
looked at him in his eyes looked as if
00:33:48
he hated the world they were just
00:33:52
piercing he was just angry it's like he
00:33:54
was angry with everyone in the world I
00:33:57
was sure that they were gonna kill me
00:34:01
let's go when he took the car and I
00:34:02
thought well it'll drown Mike off into
00:34:04
the lake
00:34:17
[Music]
00:34:20
they got in their car and they left and
00:34:23
I could not hear it anymore I began to
00:34:26
feel around in the corner you could see
00:34:28
if I could go into the coffee through
00:34:30
the back seat and it's metal across
00:34:32
there
00:34:33
no posh boy so then I found a tattoo and
00:34:41
I took that tattoo and I began to work
00:34:44
on that lock and when I broke the
00:34:47
locking up the trunk popped up and I
00:34:50
come all that trunk running within an
00:34:56
hour
00:34:57
Opel had provided police with a detailed
00:34:59
description of the two men the first
00:35:03
suspect would now be in his late 20s he
00:35:06
was 5 feet 5 inches tall and weighed
00:35:08
approximately 130 pounds he had brown
00:35:11
hair and green eyes and was probably not
00:35:14
from the south the second suspect was
00:35:17
about 6 feet tall and slender he would
00:35:20
now be in his late 30s yet long heavy
00:35:22
sideburns greasy hair and dark eyes
00:35:25
authorities believe he may have had
00:35:27
family in the EPs area that he may have
00:35:29
previously worked in the mail service
00:35:31
[Music]
00:35:45
when we return 40 years ago a baby girl
00:35:49
was abandoned on the subway in New York
00:35:51
City
00:35:51
can you help turn a Christmas mystery
00:35:54
into a Christmas miracle
00:35:56
[Music]
00:36:15
forty years ago the approach of
00:36:18
Christmas brought no joy to a lonely
00:36:19
young woman in Brooklyn New York on the
00:36:25
afternoon of December 11th 1955 she
00:36:28
boarded a subway train rode four stops
00:36:31
and exited without a word for reasons
00:36:35
unknown she left behind a tiny baby girl
00:36:40
by the next day the infant was something
00:36:42
of a celebrity dubbed miss Subway's by
00:36:45
the local press despite the publicity
00:36:48
no one ever claimed the baby and a year
00:36:50
later she was adopted Christmas means
00:36:55
different things of different people
00:36:57
brigene Martin of Long Island New York
00:37:00
the holiday season is a time of
00:37:02
reflection and hope genius II is Miss
00:37:05
Subway's and the mysterious woman on the
00:37:07
train was her birth mother perhaps
00:37:10
tonight someone watching can help jeans
00:37:12
Christmas dream of a reunion come true
00:37:17
Jean grew up in a happy loving home from
00:37:21
an early age he knew she had been
00:37:22
adopted but through the years geez
00:37:25
questions about her past fell on deaf
00:37:27
ears almost as if her parents were
00:37:30
protecting her as her own children grew
00:37:39
Jean became more and more curious
00:37:44
finally in July of 1992 Jean once again
00:37:48
pressed her mother for answers you know
00:37:52
ma this may not be the best time to
00:37:55
bring this up again oh no gee but I
00:37:57
really feel I need to for the kids sake
00:38:00
for medical reasons you're gonna hate me
00:38:02
no you're gonna hate me you were
00:38:13
abandoned
00:38:15
abandoned on assembly I was shocked at
00:38:23
her reaction which threw me it was
00:38:27
basically the driving home that day it
00:38:30
was a total identity crisis cuz nothing
00:38:35
belonged to me there was no name there
00:38:39
was a name on the adoption papers which
00:38:42
I thought to be my birth name but that
00:38:45
wasn't mine
00:38:46
I had no birth date my religion wasn't
00:38:52
mine there was nothing just nothing once
00:38:59
she got over the initial shock gene
00:39:01
began the search at the local library
00:39:03
she spent hours in front of the
00:39:05
microfilm viewer sifting through
00:39:07
newspapers from 1955 the year of her
00:39:10
birth I was letting the the microfilm
00:39:15
roll and I saw the top of the
00:39:16
policeman's hat and it said Miss
00:39:18
Subway's and I saw this baby and I was
00:39:23
devastated I just felt like all the
00:39:29
blood had just drained out of my face
00:39:31
and my fingers I went numb
00:39:33
I was nauseous I felt faint it was
00:39:39
incredible
00:39:45
the newspaper account gave Gina
00:39:48
tantalizing glimpse into her unknown
00:39:49
past a past which began when the lonely
00:39:53
young woman entered the subway station
00:39:55
at Coney Island
00:39:59
she walked slowly and carried an old
00:40:02
battered suitcase the woman took a seat
00:40:05
off to herself in the lead car several
00:40:09
passengers recalled that the woman
00:40:11
opened her suitcase shielding it from
00:40:13
view and took something out she exited
00:40:17
the train at the band's sickliness
00:40:18
Street Station seconds later
00:40:29
it was gene no more than five days old
00:40:32
and wrapped in a blanket with a full
00:40:34
bottle of milk tucked inside hey tell
00:40:39
the motor not to leave the station so
00:40:41
the baby was just left on the train the
00:40:47
passengers are able to provide police
00:40:48
with a vague description of the young
00:40:50
mother but no one had any idea who she
00:40:53
was or why she had abandoned her baby
00:41:00
the next day the saga of Miss Subway's
00:41:03
are splashed across the front pages this
00:41:06
photograph of baby gene was seen by
00:41:08
thousands but jeans mother never came
00:41:11
forward now some 40 years later Jean
00:41:16
Martin is convinced that her birth
00:41:17
mother had her best interests at heart
00:41:19
choosing to leave her in a place where
00:41:21
she was certain to be quickly found and
00:41:23
turned over to the authorities my
00:41:28
feelings are desperate people do
00:41:29
desperate things I need information I
00:41:34
need somebody who remembers something
00:41:36
somebody who remembers a neighbor maybe
00:41:39
even someone who was on the train who
00:41:42
saw her or maybe even recognized her but
00:41:45
at the time was afraid to come forward
00:41:48
I'm ready to meet her anytime anywhere
00:41:52
[Music]
00:42:02
from all of us at unsolved mysteries to
00:42:05
all of you our best wishes for a safe
00:42:07
and joyous holiday season may peace be
00:42:10
with you and may all your mysteries be
00:42:13
solved
00:42:17
[Music]
00:42:51
[Music]

Badges

This episode stands out for the following:

  • 75
    Most heartbreaking
  • 70
    Most emotional
  • 60
    Most shocking
  • 60
    Best concept / idea

Episode Highlights

  • The Search for Caddy
    Eyewitness accounts of the mysterious cadborosaurus spark intrigue and debate.
    “They called it cadborosaurus, Caddy for short, the sea monster of Cadbury Bay.”
    @ 02m 47s
    May 23, 2019
  • A Mother's Love
    April Hart reflects on her mother's murder and the longing for reunion.
    “I just want to go back to being sick so that she will be there.”
    @ 11m 54s
    May 23, 2019
  • The Thelma and Louise Bandits
    Two women robbers achieve notoriety, evoking the infamous characters from film.
    “If you passed them on the road, you would think they were just best friends out for a joyride.”
    @ 19m 21s
    May 23, 2019
  • The Mystery of Michael Hughes
    Michael Hughes was abducted from his classroom and has not been seen since.
    “Michael has not been seen since.”
    @ 28m 01s
    May 23, 2019
  • The Abandonment of Baby Jean
    Forty years ago, a baby girl was abandoned on the subway in New York City.
    “I was abandoned on a subway.”
    @ 38m 13s
    May 23, 2019

Episode Quotes

  • Perhaps someone watching can make her dream come true.
    Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 8, Episode 6 - Full Episode
  • I just want to go back to being sick so that she will be there.
    Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 8, Episode 6 - Full Episode
  • Michael has not been seen since.
    Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 8, Episode 6 - Full Episode
  • They think he’s dead.
    Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 8, Episode 6 - Full Episode
  • I was abandoned on a subway.
    Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 8, Episode 6 - Full Episode
  • I need information. I need somebody who remembers something.
    Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 8, Episode 6 - Full Episode

Key Moments

  • Caddy Sightings02:47
  • April's Grief11:54
  • Thelma and Louise19:21
  • Abduction Case27:57
  • Missing Child28:01
  • Subway Abandonment36:15
  • Search for Identity39:01
  • Desperate Plea41:29

Words per Minute Over Time

Vibes Breakdown

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