00:00:05
tonight on unsolved mysteries the young
00:00:10
man is mesmerized by a beautiful girl
00:00:12
and begins a toward relationship within
00:00:15
a month his body is found burning in a
00:00:17
vacant lot did a brief love affair
00:00:20
culminated murder according to police
00:00:24
this cunning con artist coolly walked
00:00:26
out of an Alabama bank with a small
00:00:28
fortune and never looked back but this
00:00:30
was no ordinary bank heist it was a
00:00:33
crime that took meticulous planning and
00:00:35
daring execution today he's still on the
00:00:37
lam and he may be in your community half
00:00:42
a million dollars vanishes from eight
00:00:44
automated teller machines in Indiana so
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does the courier responsible for tending
00:00:50
them was she a thief with a victim of a
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shadowy figure who forced her to do his
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bidding a woman sets out to find the
00:00:59
family she hasn't seen in over 45 years
00:01:01
that search triggers shocking memories
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of her violent and secret past join me
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for these intriguing cases and more
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unsolved mysteries
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[Applause]
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[Music]
00:01:58
a fire blazes on a vacant lot outside of
00:02:01
Chicago smouldering deep in the flames
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is a scorched body wrapped in a
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partially burned tarp and bedsheet the
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victim a 22 year old man with nothing in
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his background to suggest such a violent
00:02:14
end
00:02:15
Oscar Velazquez at the county morgue
00:02:21
Oscar's parents are faced with the most
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difficult task of their life identifying
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the remains of their eldest son I never
00:02:35
thought we would find him there he was a
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good kid he never got into trouble he
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didn't drink he didn't smoke he was
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different from the other kids in the
00:02:47
neighborhood growing up
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Oscar Velasquez had managed to avoid the
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gangs that infested his neighborhood he
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was well respected in the community and
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had a steady job as a truck driver
00:03:03
Bhaskar had also recently begun a new
00:03:05
relationship with an attractive
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eighteen-year-old brunette her name
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Regina DeFrancisco investigators soon
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discover a troubling coincidence
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two days after Oscars body was found
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Regina's mother and 16 year old sister
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Margaret filed a missing-persons report
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for Regina DeFrancisco she's been gone
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for two days
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has she ever taken off before no four
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days after the discovery of Oscars body
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the same detectives who were
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investigating his murder visited the
00:03:47
house of the missing Regina DeFrancisco
00:03:51
while searching her home for any clues
00:03:54
related to the teenager's disappearance
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investigators made a startling discovery
00:03:58
that linked Regina to the murder of
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Oscar Velazquez lo and behold to our
00:04:06
surprise there was the matching
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pillowcases to the sheet that was used
00:04:11
to wrap Oscar's body up in and that's
00:04:15
when our focus of our investigation
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switched to Regina herself as police
00:04:21
sought to solve the murder of Oscar
00:04:23
Velasquez they were soon confronted with
00:04:25
a tangled web of sexual fantasy and
00:04:27
homicidal impulse but the center's are
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strikingly attractive teenage girl whom
00:04:32
police believed lured Oscar to his death
00:04:34
but why authorities are convinced that
00:04:38
Regina DeFrancisco knows the answer and
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they're asking for your help to find her
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[Music]
00:04:50
by all accounts
00:04:51
Oscar Velazquez lead a stable life but
00:04:55
that all apparently changed when he set
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eyes on Regina DeFrancisco Oscar thought
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she looked like a nice girl
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in the short period of time
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approximately three weeks they only had
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maybe three or four dates Oscar and
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Regina seem to hit it off and I think
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Oscar was blinded by Regina's good looks
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but below the alluring surface a storm
00:05:27
was brewing Regina
00:05:29
apparently had another boyfriend a gang
00:05:32
member nicknamed loco and she needed
00:05:35
$1,000 to bail him out of jail according
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to police
00:05:41
Regina decided to get the money from
00:05:43
Oscar Velasquez and she allegedly
00:05:46
enlisted her sister Margaret in the
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scheme detectives believe Margaret told
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Oscar that it was Regina who was in jail
00:05:58
and needed to be bailed out ask her
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being a loyal and true boyfriend that he
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thought he was didn't hesitate at all
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Oscar gives Margaret $2,000
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Margaret else asked her as soon as she
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bails Regina out of jail that Regina
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will call him
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Regina did call Oscar and the two went
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out on another date
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Oscar allegedly asked Regina when she
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would pay him back to $1,000 according
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to police her answer laid the foundation
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for Oscars death Regina says hey you
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know I'm sorry I'm willing to pay you
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back give you a little extra Marga
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really likes you too you know how about
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coming over and I'll give your money and
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the three of us will have a little fun
00:07:10
and that's when Regina offered the
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threesome the sexual encounter and Oscar
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was pretty willing to turn around and
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oblige according to witnesses
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Oscar arrived at the defense's go home
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at around eight o'clock he was greeted
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at the door by Margaret
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allegedly a friend of the differences Co
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Sisters was also at the house and
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waiting downstairs in the basement was
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Regina I'm in the basement Oscar went
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ahead of Margaret walked down the steps
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and when he made it to the last step in
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the basement Margaret took the
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semi-automatic shot him one time in the
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back of the head
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investigators believe that the girls
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took Oscars necklace his car keys and
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six hundred dollars in cash
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next they wrap the body in a bedsheet
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and then a tarp
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according to the police the sisters did
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what they could to clean up the crime
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scene
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and finally they dragged the body up the
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basement stairs and reportedly put it
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into the trunk of Oscars car then they
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drive around I'd say for approximately
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40 minutes looking for a spot to dump
00:09:03
the body until they happened upon this
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vacant lot
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Regina and Margaret try to get Oscars
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body out of the trunk body gets dumped
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out into the light
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one of the girls take a large bottle of
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nail polish remover doused Oscars body
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they ignite the body
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and drive away
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two days later police discovered Oscars
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Camaro not far from where his remains
00:09:45
were found it too had been torched it
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wasn't long before the case broke wide
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open the young girl who was allegedly at
00:09:57
the home at the time of the crime
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confessed to police she gave a detailed
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account of what she witnessed on the
00:10:04
night of Oscars murder arrest warrants
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were issued for Regina and Margaret
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DeFrancisco both are believed to have
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fled the Chicago area as Maria Velasquez
00:10:19
waits for justice she struggles with a
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painful void left in her life by her son
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Oscar's murder yes every day is a labor
00:10:32
because I'm still looking for him I see
00:10:36
young people and I'm always hoping that
00:10:38
I see him but I can't find him it's hard
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to get used to living without him it's
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really hard to get used to the idea that
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he isn't here anymore we miss him a lot
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all of us
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[Music]
00:11:01
[Music]
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the bank should be right around the
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corner run up here
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on Brent ratha Baton Rouge Louisiana
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decided to sell his nissan sports
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counter he found a ruddy buyer and John
00:11:22
Maggio
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all Maggio needed to seal the deal was a
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cashier's check
00:11:31
Brent agreed to drive him to the bank
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during the short trip the conversation
00:11:36
was light and friendly without warning
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it turned ugly
00:11:43
Brent suddenly found himself on the
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wrong end of a gun fighting for his life
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he had the meanest look on his face
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cold-blooded killer he pulled the gun to
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the right and it went on the side of my
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leg the bullet went on the side of my
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leg and came out on the corner by my
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kneecap and that's when I bit him on the
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shoulder he let go of the gun and I
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thoroughly gone out the car
00:12:17
Maggio then filled up the passenger side
00:12:19
door while Brett rotz rolled himself to
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the hospital
00:12:25
Brentt nearly lost his leg but later
00:12:27
recovered the next day police tracked
00:12:32
down my Joe and made the arrests to
00:12:37
those who knew him it came as no big
00:12:38
surprise
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madjoe had been a rebellious teen
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constantly at odds with his wealthy
00:12:44
father who owned a real estate empire in
00:12:47
and around Baton Rouge con artists John
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Maggio was much smarter than the average
00:12:52
street criminal charged with attempted
00:12:55
murder and facing overwhelming evidence
00:12:57
Maggio plea-bargained his way to a
00:12:59
reduced sentence of five years he then
00:13:01
arranged to pull a work detail outside
00:13:03
prison grounds ironically at the offices
00:13:06
of the Louisiana State Police but
00:13:09
allegedly Mario's biggest con was yet to
00:13:11
come
00:13:13
[Music]
00:13:19
John Maggio did his time and was
00:13:21
released on parole he immediately left
00:13:23
from Obul Alabama her family connections
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helped land him a position is boarding
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agent at Follette Green shipping
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services and a characteristic display of
00:13:32
bravado modulus to the prison job on his
00:13:35
resume failing of course to mention he
00:13:37
was behind bars at the time ma Joe's new
00:13:46
job in Bob processing payroll accounts
00:13:48
for ships and dock a service that often
00:13:50
involves sizable amounts of cash it was
00:13:53
another ironic twist an ex-con with his
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hands on the checkbook the owners of the
00:13:58
vessel would wire us the money that the
00:14:01
captain requested and then we wouldn't
00:14:04
make out the receipts bring the cash
00:14:06
down to the captain he would sit there
00:14:09
and count it out and then sign the
00:14:10
receipt and you'd be done John fit in
00:14:15
right away and got along well with
00:14:17
everybody we just went overboard to be
00:14:22
nice you would he was just super he was
00:14:25
outgoing and when when you talk to me
00:14:27
you felt like you'd known him forever
00:14:28
that's just how he made you feel
00:14:30
[Music]
00:14:33
baldie Perez was certainly taken by
00:14:35
Maggio's charms following a short
00:14:37
whirlwind romance the couple decided to
00:14:39
tie the knot Molly had a four year old
00:14:47
daughter from a previous marriage
00:14:48
Raju appeared to love her like his own
00:14:51
but according to Molly's mother the
00:14:53
relationship was stormy and sometimes
00:14:55
violent Molly never told me that he was
00:14:59
abusive but her daughter did and at that
00:15:04
time her daughter had just turned 4 and
00:15:08
she was terrified of John terrified in
00:15:13
front of us he acted like the doting
00:15:16
stepfather
00:15:18
but when he was away from us it was
00:15:20
different story
00:15:22
[Music]
00:15:28
it turned out Maggio had a lot of people
00:15:30
fooled but no one could have guessed
00:15:33
what he was really up to an alleged scam
00:15:36
it was as brazen as it was risky to the
00:15:38
tune of nearly $200,000 according to
00:15:42
police it all began with a phone
00:15:44
conversation between Maggio and a local
00:15:46
bank officer who asked not to be
00:15:49
identified
00:15:50
he called to inquire how long it would
00:15:53
take me to get a hundred and ninety
00:15:54
seven thousand you know and I told him I
00:15:56
need to know by Tuesday to have it in
00:15:58
towards the end of the week sometime
00:16:03
over the next few days police believe
00:16:05
Maggio snuck back into the office after
00:16:07
hours unlocked a filing cabinet and
00:16:09
walked out with a blank check he showed
00:16:19
up at the bank on Thursday morning right
00:16:21
on cue with a check for one hundred and
00:16:23
ninety seven thousand dollars apparently
00:16:25
authorized by the office manager the
00:16:27
amount was unusually large but otherwise
00:16:30
everything seemed to be in order
00:16:32
it was a well-established account he was
00:16:35
a well known person to be you know
00:16:38
responsible for picking up and calling
00:16:39
into orders and the signature was a
00:16:41
match according to the bank officer
00:16:45
Maggio was friendly but
00:16:46
uncharacteristically on edge sure is a
00:16:49
lot of money this was the largest amount
00:16:51
that they had ever gotten in one period
00:16:52
and he told me that one of their
00:16:54
couriers for the company in New Orleans
00:16:56
had been killed doing a drop such as
00:16:59
this and so he was a little nervous I
00:17:01
can get you an escort if you like we can
00:17:03
have someone walk you out no that won't
00:17:05
be necessary I mean just you really know
00:17:07
about this transaction right
00:17:10
right moments later police say Maggio
00:17:16
calmly walked out of the bank in Mobile
00:17:18
Alabama and simply disappeared
00:17:20
[Music]
00:17:22
for that green shipping the next day
00:17:26
denis mcdonough received a disturbing
00:17:28
phone call from the home office in new
00:17:30
orleans the accountant that manages all
00:17:33
the money he asked me we had written any
00:17:36
big checks and of course i said no so he
00:17:39
said look for this check number so i
00:17:40
went and looked and the check was
00:17:42
missing so i went back to the phone and
00:17:49
i said yes the check is gone and i said
00:17:51
how much money was gone and he said a
00:17:54
hundred and ninety seven thousand
00:17:56
dollars and I said god you're kidding
00:18:01
investigators learned that the
00:18:02
authorized signature on the check was a
00:18:04
forgery
00:18:07
meanwhile Molly left her little girl
00:18:09
with her mother and prepared to leave
00:18:11
town
00:18:12
Molly left with John because she was
00:18:15
protecting us and her daughter because I
00:18:19
know now that Molly knew just how evil
00:18:22
he was and he is but what Molly didn't
00:18:28
realize was would have done anything to
00:18:31
protect her
00:18:32
[Music]
00:18:33
anything police say money left with
00:18:40
Maggio and a new $35,000 SUV which he
00:18:43
had allegedly purchased with some of the
00:18:45
stolen money
00:18:57
four months later the couple reportedly
00:19:00
turned up in Staten Island New York
00:19:05
using the names Rick and Sarah Parker
00:19:08
they rented an apartment from Nanette
00:19:10
coming Molly and Maggio came off to be
00:19:14
the sweetest people to everyone not only
00:19:17
to my husband and you know myself and my
00:19:20
family members but to the neighbors as
00:19:23
well
00:19:25
over the next year my job bounced from
00:19:28
one job to another before landing a
00:19:30
sales position with a rare autograph
00:19:31
dealer in Manhattan but it wasn't long
00:19:37
before he is up to his old tricks
00:19:38
allegedly gaining access to company
00:19:40
checks forging authorized signatures and
00:19:43
discreetly pocketing the funds
00:19:48
[Music]
00:19:50
however by the summer of 2001 Maggio's
00:19:53
days in the Big Apple were numbered help
00:19:56
you Maggio had attempted to cash a
00:20:00
fifteen hundred dollar check and a place
00:20:05
where he was trying to cash it contacted
00:20:07
the employer and he said no he does not
00:20:09
have the authority to cash a check in
00:20:11
that amount I cashed checks here all the
00:20:13
time I served for this amount I need an
00:20:16
authorization Maggio never showed back
00:20:19
up at that company the individual had an
00:20:22
audit done of his records and determined
00:20:25
that Maggio on 14 different occasions
00:20:28
had written one thousand dollar checks
00:20:31
which were forged and which were
00:20:33
basically embezzlements from the company
00:20:36
by the time police were notified it was
00:20:39
too late
00:20:40
Maggio and Molly were already on the run
00:20:44
early in the morning it must have been
00:20:46
like 6:30 in the morning I suddenly get
00:20:48
a phone call from ammaji oh hello and he
00:20:54
was like oh I'm taking water to the
00:20:56
hospital she's very sick I'm leaving the
00:20:59
dog papers watch the dog
00:21:02
I left the key underneath the mat
00:21:04
Nanette was surprised and concerned for
00:21:07
money but before she had a chance to ask
00:21:09
any questions
00:21:10
madjoe had hung up the phone right there
00:21:17
all the cards started falling right into
00:21:20
place
00:21:21
something is very fishy suspicious
00:21:26
Nanette went down to check on her
00:21:28
tenants the apartment was trashed
00:21:35
John Maju and his wife had simply
00:21:38
vanished
00:21:43
[Music]
00:21:49
detectives later discovered that Molly
00:21:51
had purchased two airline tickets for a
00:21:53
flight from New York to Los Angeles but
00:21:56
there have been no reported sightings on
00:21:57
the west coast so where are they now
00:22:00
that's what the FBI would like to know
00:22:03
Molly has not contacted her daughters in
00:22:05
sleeving Alabama in the summer of 1999
00:22:08
authorities believe they are probably
00:22:10
using assumed names and the John Maggio
00:22:13
wherever he is is cooking up a scam he
00:22:19
is what we would consider to be an armed
00:22:21
and dangerous person because of the fact
00:22:23
of his previous criminal record
00:22:27
in the past remember this individual
00:22:30
almost killed another individual in
00:22:33
order to steal a car so there's no
00:22:36
question if he feels like he is in some
00:22:39
jeopardy of having his freedom curtailed
00:22:41
he would more than likely engage in such
00:22:44
conduct again
00:22:45
[Music]
00:22:53
[Music]
00:23:01
[Music]
00:23:09
pérot Indiana for am cynthia wis
00:23:14
miller's day begins already a
00:23:17
grandmother at age 42 Cynthia is a
00:23:20
free-spirited matriarch of a close
00:23:22
family we drank coffee and talked for a
00:23:25
while and she kissed me goodbye said she
00:23:29
loved me and she'd see me later now that
00:23:32
was probably the worst day of my life my
00:23:38
baby Cynthia is a courier for an armored
00:23:41
vehicle service her job is to replenish
00:23:44
automated teller machines with cash at
00:23:51
5:50 a.m.
00:23:52
Cynthia begins making her rounds of the
00:23:54
ATMs on her route later that morning she
00:24:00
mysteriously disappears along with 268
00:24:04
thousand dollars in cash for Cynthia a
00:24:10
former police officer and dedicated
00:24:12
grandmother a brazen thief or was the
00:24:16
real thief working out of range of ATM
00:24:18
surveillance cameras forcing Cynthia to
00:24:21
take the money before he killed her
00:24:24
bank robber or victim the police and
00:24:28
Cynthia's family found themselves
00:24:30
bitterly divided on the surface the
00:24:33
evidence of her guilt seemed
00:24:34
overwhelming yet detectives acknowledged
00:24:37
it was odd for a woman with an
00:24:38
unblemished past to commit such an
00:24:40
audacious theft and then desert her
00:24:42
loved ones the only certainty was that
00:24:45
no trace of Cynthia remained
00:24:54
Cinthia wissmiller was a nucleus around
00:24:57
which your entire family revolved those
00:25:01
who knew her best say she possesses a
00:25:02
generous spirit and an unwavering sense
00:25:05
of right and wrong to suggest that she
00:25:08
was capable of bank robbery was
00:25:10
inconceivable
00:25:15
my mother has taught me that it's very
00:25:17
good to be good you can't take more than
00:25:20
you give no one gets anything for
00:25:22
nothing she instilled that into us very
00:25:24
early for there even to be speculation
00:25:27
that she would have done something like
00:25:29
this or gone this direction or done
00:25:31
anything to attempt to take the easy way
00:25:33
out it's just ludicrous there's no way
00:25:35
no way in hell it would have happened
00:25:38
whatever did happen say investigators
00:25:41
may have begun three days before the
00:25:43
robbery
00:25:45
Cynthia supervisor told her their
00:25:48
security company had been bought by the
00:25:50
Brinks armored car service and that she
00:25:52
was to have a new position the recent
00:25:55
changes in an opinion on that next week
00:25:58
but because of time constraints right
00:26:00
now I just want to cover one thing with
00:26:01
you mm-hmm
00:26:02
the following workday she was to
00:26:04
postpone her pre-dawn duties until 9:00
00:26:06
a.m. at that hour she was to meet her
00:26:09
replacement and acquaint him with her
00:26:11
route show him your routine etc etc yeah
00:26:14
sure I can do that so then am i giving
00:26:17
up my job do I have a job as long as I
00:26:21
still have a job you still have a job
00:26:25
despite her instructions Cynthia arose
00:26:28
that morning just as early as she always
00:26:30
had
00:26:31
according to her boyfriend Billy she
00:26:34
never mentioned that her work schedule
00:26:35
had been changed investigators say that
00:26:41
between 550 and 7:15 a.m. Cynthia may
00:26:45
stops at each of the eight ATMs on her
00:26:47
route she began three hours earlier than
00:26:51
she had been instructed and without her
00:26:54
trainee
00:26:58
[Music]
00:27:02
each of the machines was virtually
00:27:04
emptied of cash
00:27:07
the ATMs had video cameras on them out
00:27:10
of the eight ATMs we only found actual
00:27:13
film footage of Cynthia wissmiller on
00:27:17
one of the tapes and throughout the
00:27:22
entire time she was in that building she
00:27:24
was alone it didn't appear that she was
00:27:27
under any type of duress or force of any
00:27:30
kind
00:27:31
most of the ATMs that she serviced were
00:27:35
exterior buildings they were not
00:27:38
actually in the bank branch and she
00:27:40
could get into the back of the ATMs
00:27:42
without being seen on the video camera
00:27:45
when you take him down to a room
00:27:47
detectives began their investigation by
00:27:49
questioning Cynthia's family and her
00:27:51
boyfriend Billy Hawkins
00:27:56
Billy was adamant that Cynthia was
00:28:00
abducted and that she did not take any
00:28:03
money from the ATMs and he also was
00:28:05
adamant that someone has forced her to
00:28:07
do this Billy told me that there's no
00:28:10
way she would have done this on their
00:28:12
own if someone was holding a gun on her
00:28:14
or had threatened her family or
00:28:17
something she would do something like
00:28:19
this to protect her family or to protect
00:28:21
her own life possibly but there's no
00:28:24
there's nothing else on this earth that
00:28:25
would make her do something like this
00:28:27
without being coerced into it was
00:28:31
someone else present at the ATMs who for
00:28:33
Cynthia to steal the money
00:28:36
or was it your person merely conjured up
00:28:39
in the imagination by those unable to
00:28:41
face as Cynthia had turned to crime
00:28:48
investigators discovered an eyewitness
00:28:50
and said that Cynthia indeed was not
00:28:52
alone but his account only deepened the
00:28:55
mystery the witness said that he saw
00:29:00
Cynthia with another person he saw
00:29:04
Cynthia and this other person unloading
00:29:07
bags and putting them into another
00:29:09
vehicle he said this person had a sock
00:29:14
hat pulled down to the lower part of the
00:29:16
face so he could not tell if this person
00:29:20
was white black or male or female
00:29:23
according to the witness Cynthia did not
00:29:26
appear to be assisting the mysterious
00:29:28
figure against her will the police
00:29:31
concluded she had a partner in crime but
00:29:35
her family believed that this was a
00:29:36
person he forced her to steal the cash
00:29:38
from the ATMs on her route they knew
00:29:41
exactly where she was going they knew
00:29:42
what she was doing it was an obvious
00:29:44
vehicle she was by herself I think that
00:29:49
someone came they took advantage of a
00:29:51
situation and and they did what they
00:29:56
felt was necessary and getting the money
00:29:58
from these machines that's what I think
00:30:00
happened
00:30:03
investigators learned that if Cynthia
00:30:05
was an unwilling accomplice she had the
00:30:08
means to secretly alert her security
00:30:10
firm to open an ATM couriers must enter
00:30:15
a code that changes daily a distress
00:30:19
signal is sent by altering one of the
00:30:21
digits but Sidney did not enter the
00:30:24
distress code at any of her machines it
00:30:31
is possible however that she was warned
00:30:34
not to buy one who was aware of how the
00:30:36
security measure functioned but as the
00:30:43
investigation of Cynthia wissmiller
00:30:45
progressed the police made a discovery
00:30:47
that seemed to erase whatever doubts
00:30:49
remained an audit revealed an additional
00:30:53
two hundred thousand dollars was missing
00:30:55
cash as Cynthia was supposed to a place
00:30:58
in her ATMs more than a week before the
00:31:00
robbery I think she was dipping in the
00:31:03
till a little bit to help her family out
00:31:06
when she was informed that Brinks
00:31:09
security was taking over the company she
00:31:12
knew she was going to be caught when
00:31:13
they did the audits and I think she just
00:31:16
took as much money as she could and fled
00:31:19
the area we as a police department want
00:31:23
to find her because she stole the money
00:31:25
but we also want to find her to make
00:31:26
sure she's safe we have the fact of
00:31:28
another person being with her in the
00:31:30
parking lot if it was a plan that those
00:31:33
two were going to take the money and
00:31:34
split it and disappear who's to say that
00:31:38
that other person isn't going to harm
00:31:40
Cynthia so that that person could get
00:31:43
all of the money and not have to split
00:31:45
it despite the evidence pointing to
00:31:49
Cynthia's guilt her family still firmly
00:31:52
believes she is a victim not a criminal
00:31:55
I don't believe for a minute she get
00:31:57
anything wrong she is one that kind of
00:31:58
person just one earth
00:32:04
whatever the truth the void of her
00:32:07
absence has taken its toll
00:32:10
seems like somebody just ripped your
00:32:12
world apart and you don't know where to
00:32:14
go you don't know anything just
00:32:19
completely blind
00:32:22
your mind is blank and you can't
00:32:24
function it's been tremendously
00:32:27
difficult and continues to be and I
00:32:29
don't see it letting up anytime soon it
00:32:52
was a winter of 1960 and four year old
00:32:54
Laurie Delorme had just been adopted by
00:32:57
a family in Chillicothe Missouri one
00:33:00
evening Laurie stumbles upon her
00:33:01
adoptive father cleaning a gun
00:33:05
disturbing feelings flood into her mind
00:33:08
giving Laurie the first horrific glimpse
00:33:11
at the dark secret that ripped her birth
00:33:13
family apart when I was very little
00:33:17
my adopted dad he hunted guns and he was
00:33:22
clean one of his guns and and I saw that
00:33:25
and I just said that's what the
00:33:29
policeman had when they come to get my
00:33:31
daddy
00:33:34
unable to fully grasp what she was
00:33:36
remembering Laurie vowed to discover the
00:33:39
truth her search would trigger ominous
00:33:42
memories of a fateful night over four
00:33:45
decades ago
00:33:51
a policeman holding a gun to her father
00:33:56
and putting him under arrest that vague
00:33:59
and fleeting memory somehow explains my
00:34:01
lorry Delorme magnin was separated from
00:34:03
her biological family at 14 months of
00:34:06
age lorry now hopes to find the only
00:34:09
people who can help her understand what
00:34:11
exactly happened to her as an infant a
00:34:13
family she hasn't seen in over 45 years
00:34:19
at the age of three Laurie was adopted
00:34:22
by Charles and REE third alarm in Kansas
00:34:24
City Missouri
00:34:26
but the Jackson County Court seal
00:34:29
Laurie's records and would only tell her
00:34:31
adoptive parents that she was in need of
00:34:33
a stable home although Laurie was
00:34:37
welcomed into the extended Delorme
00:34:39
family with open arms sign soon emerged
00:34:42
as something wasn't right
00:34:43
Laurie began having nightmares and
00:34:46
appeared distant and distracted Laurie
00:34:51
was probably about six or seven and she
00:34:56
was eating at the table one day and as
00:34:59
she couldn't close her mouth she would
00:35:01
just leave her mouth open and it really
00:35:04
scared mothers so she made an
00:35:05
appointment with a therapist in another
00:35:09
town and took her there and they said
00:35:11
that she had had a serious trauma and
00:35:16
that it happened when she was fairly
00:35:18
young
00:35:20
Laurie's adopted mother tried in vain to
00:35:22
find out what was wrong with her little
00:35:24
girl as Laurie grew older she took up
00:35:28
the search herself driven by a troubling
00:35:30
sense as something dire had happened in
00:35:33
her past
00:35:33
Laurie asked her mother for any
00:35:36
paperwork concerning her adoption turn
00:35:40
16 and she brought the adoption papers
00:35:42
out she kept every letter and this is
00:35:45
I'm gonna give this to you
00:35:46
now's the time and so I took them I went
00:35:51
over to Renee's house I can wait till
00:35:53
she got there because we we always had
00:35:54
this dream we were going to find her mom
00:35:56
and so when she came we got up on the
00:35:58
bunk bed and she opened up the papers
00:36:00
and that's when we found out that her
00:36:02
mom was already dead Laurie and Renee
00:36:05
were shocked to discover that Laurie's
00:36:07
mother Frances Camarena died on November
00:36:09
27th 1956 in Kansas City Missouri the
00:36:15
adoption papers did not give a cause of
00:36:17
death nor mention any other siblings and
00:36:21
words like oh my goodness and Renee
00:36:25
wheeze like what was this girl try to
00:36:27
find somebody here and it didn't we
00:36:31
don't where to go we were too young
00:36:37
Loree soon moved on with her life
00:36:39
married and had three children of her
00:36:42
own but her happiness was always haunted
00:36:45
by hazy memories of an unbearable
00:36:47
tragedy
00:36:48
there was only one hope for her peace of
00:36:51
mind Laurie had to know the truth there
00:36:59
was still one last place Laurie had not
00:37:01
yet looked the Kansas City Public
00:37:04
Library Laurie
00:37:06
her husband Donald and their son
00:37:08
searched the microfiche files of the
00:37:11
Kansas City Star on the day Laurie's
00:37:13
mother died November 27th 1956 I was
00:37:23
going through the old papers and I came
00:37:25
across this picture for four girls and a
00:37:28
and a boy one of them was brought
00:37:32
Laurie's age would have been Laurie's
00:37:33
age and I said Laurie could this
00:37:36
possibly be your family I said this
00:37:38
looks awful lot like you the next the
00:37:39
youngest one and she looked at the
00:37:42
picture and she said that yeah that's me
00:37:45
in the photo a 14 month old Laurie sat
00:37:48
next to her four siblings who ranged in
00:37:51
age from 9 years to 3 months that's why
00:37:55
first time saw a picture of me and my
00:37:57
brother and my sisters first time my
00:38:00
first baby picture I've ever seen but
00:38:03
Laurie's joy was short-lived
00:38:05
seconds later she saw the article
00:38:07
accompanying the photo
00:38:10
Loree Delorme magnin had finally come
00:38:13
face-to-face with a horrifying truth of
00:38:15
her past in the pre-dawn hours of
00:38:25
November 26 1956 Lori's father Alexander
00:38:30
Camarena arrived home drunk his wife
00:38:34
Laurie's mother was waiting for
00:38:40
Alexander had made two purchases earlier
00:38:43
in the evening a box of chocolates and a
00:38:46
38 caliber handgun an argument ensued
00:38:52
over the gun
00:38:53
Alexander claimed it was broken and
00:38:56
demonstrated by pointing the weapon at
00:38:58
his wife's head
00:39:04
when I read that I felt guess my father
00:39:09
it's like I don't care if he say you're
00:39:13
sorry and all that you just don't point
00:39:16
a gun in someone's temple I don't care
00:39:18
and that was my mom and I won't ever see
00:39:21
her again
00:39:23
Laurie made a copy of the photo and took
00:39:26
it home with her I just went to the
00:39:29
bathroom took that picture with me and I
00:39:31
just stared at it I just couldn't
00:39:33
believe it
00:39:34
you know ask me my brother my sisters
00:39:37
and we all look alike why the dark hair
00:39:40
in that in the oldest girl she's like
00:39:45
looking off in a direction she just
00:39:46
looks so sad because she was old yeah
00:39:49
old enough to remember
00:39:50
[Music]
00:39:58
Lori's mother Frances Camarena is buried
00:40:01
under her maiden name of Rivas in a
00:40:03
cemetery in Kansas City hey our mommy
00:40:09
just for you
00:40:13
Lori's father was convicted of
00:40:15
second-degree murder and imprisoned for
00:40:18
eight years he died in 1991 my brother
00:40:24
and my sister's real brother and sisters
00:40:27
we lost both our parents now and I think
00:40:32
they need me like I need them and they
00:40:36
may have their own families now like I
00:40:38
do but like I feel they must want to see
00:40:42
me if they think about me I don't know
00:40:45
if they tried to bind me but I'm trying
00:40:54
shortly after our broadcast
00:40:56
Ruth crook Laurie's birth cousin
00:40:58
contacted our telecentre a friend of
00:41:01
roofs had seen the show and told her
00:41:04
that her long-lost cousin was looking
00:41:06
for her birth family it was a happy
00:41:10
shock and very exciting to know that she
00:41:14
had been found family reunion was held
00:41:17
several weeks later and we were there to
00:41:18
capture the elder sister Phyllis was
00:41:22
unable to attend the reunion
00:41:25
sadly Laurie's younger brother Robert
00:41:27
died in 1982 Nancy the last sibling was
00:41:31
located after the reunion was held
00:41:37
[Music]
00:41:44
join me next time for another hour of
00:41:47
fascinating cases on unsolved mysteries
00:41:50
[Music]
00:42:02
[Music]
00:42:24
[Applause]
00:42:25
[Music]
00:42:26
[Applause]
00:42:28
[Music]
