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Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 1, Episode 4 - Full Episode

May 16, 2019 / 46:07

This episode of Unsolved Mysteries covers the disappearance of Gale Delano, the hauntings of the Queen Mary, and the case of Joe Shepherd, a suspected murderer.

Gale Delano, a lonely housewife from Wiscasset, Maine, vanished after a blind date in 1986. Her family became concerned when she did not return home, and her keys and purse were later found, raising suspicions of foul play. The episode discusses the possibility of her orchestrating her own disappearance due to her struggles with depression.

The Queen Mary, a historic ship moored in Long Beach, California, is featured for its reported hauntings. Eyewitness accounts and expert investigations reveal strange sounds and ghostly sightings, including a ghostly woman in a 1940s dress and unexplained noises in the ship's engine room.

Joe Shepherd is implicated in the murders of two teenage girls, Roxanne Woodson and Kathy Lauer. After Woodson's disappearance in 1978, Shepherd's story changed during police interrogations, leading to his indictment. He later escaped custody but was eventually apprehended in Canada.

The episode highlights the ongoing mysteries surrounding these cases, emphasizing the search for truth and closure for the families involved.

TL;DR

Gale Delano vanished after a blind date, the Queen Mary is haunted, and Joe Shepherd is a suspected murderer on the run.

Episode

46:07
00:00:03
this program is about unsolved mysteries
00:00:07
whenever possible the actual family
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members and police officials have
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participated in recreating the events
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what you are about to see is not a news
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broadcast
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tonight on unsolved mysteries a story of
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a lonely housewife in Maine who searched
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for love and her loose papers personal
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columns two years ago she went on a
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blind date and vanished and on the Queen
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Mary dozens of eyewitnesses claimed they
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have seen or heard ghosts last month
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parapsychologist tape recorded phantom
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sound of what some believe as a
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shipwreck that took place 40 years
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earlier
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they'll also examine the case of a man
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awaiting trial for the murder of two
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teenage girls Joe Shepherd has escaped
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perhaps you can help kitchen the nice
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cases feature ordinary people thrust
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into a vortex of mystery heartbreak and
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intrigue each one is searching for that
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vital clue to end a story that so far
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has no ending perhaps you can help join
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me you may be able to help solve a
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mystery
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[Music]
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this is the Queen Mary now permanently
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moored in Long Beach California on her
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decks and in her quarters people have
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seen and heard things they can't explain
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I'd been here about 14 years when I'd
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first had the first experience with
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actually seeing what I thought to be a
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ghost it was a December morning I was in
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the work area and for some reason I
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picked up a cup of coffee went out to
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the table and there was a lady sitting
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there I was so fascinated by her dress
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she appeared to be in a late afternoon
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cocktail type dress from the 40s she had
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dark hair rolled at the sides no makeup
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on she seemed to be very pale but I
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never saw a movement I left the table
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went up about ten feet turned around
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because I wanted to take another look
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and there was nothing there
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I am probably the last person that
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should have had these experiences
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because I'm such a skeptic one day I was
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standing on the stairs of the pool and
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out of the corner of my right eye I saw
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a woman probably in her 60s or 70s in
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black and white so I went down the
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stairs and around the pillar expecting
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to find her standing there and she
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wasn't anywhere to be found
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it was only a matter of seconds she
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couldn't have gone anywhere several
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others besides Carol and Nancy say they
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have seen or heard ghosts here in the
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Queen Mary's first class pool how do we
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explain these sightings are reportedly
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well balanced level-headed people could
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they simply result from the power of
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suggestion stimulated by an eerie
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location a some parapsychologists
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believe that all locations are haunted
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that is they retain memories of past
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events as some people with psychic
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sensitivities their ESP experiences
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hauntings whatever the explanation the
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Queen Mary seems to be inhabited by
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something ethereal that has been seen
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and heard but not explained the Queen
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Mary took her maiden voyage on May 27th
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1936 and transported the titled and
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elite from both sides of the Atlantic
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[Music]
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during that five-day voyage the Queen
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Mary was a floating party a living
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symbol of luxury trout
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but we man
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[Applause]
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[Music]
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in the Second World War the Queen Mary
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was turned into a troopship due to her
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ghostly gray camouflage she was
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ironically nicknamed a gray ghost after
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the war she reverted back to her former
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glory and crossed the ocean a total of
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1001 times in the over 30 years a ship
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was at sea she witnessed four births and
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at least 49 recorded deaths after her
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arrival in Long Beach in 1967 one of the
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first people to work on board was marine
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engineer John Smith part of my duties
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was to check and learn this ship
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thoroughly and so I explored it in the
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evenings on my regular days work was
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done to his job took him into the remote
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regions of the ship's bow and several
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times over a two-month period he heard
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something where there should only have
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been silence
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[Music]
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he heard the sounds of metal Terry water
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Russia and then men screaming
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it sounded like there had been a rupture
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of the ship's hull was frightful I went
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up to the extreme bow section of the
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ship the sound was here but there was no
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water and nothing could cause it I don't
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believe in supernatural things but in
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all my experiences as a marine engineer
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never seen anything like this years
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later Smith read about a wartime tragedy
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the Queen Mary's accidental collision
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with a British Cruiser named the
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Kurosawa over 300 men were killed the
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Queen Mary's bow sliced the kurosawa in
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half after I read that article I was so
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shook up and so overwhelmed the very
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area
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I heard that mysterious water rushing
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was this exact same area that was
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damaged when the ship hit the Curacao I
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said this is what it would have sounded
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and felt like it had been in that
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compartment at the time
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but I knew it couldn't be that was 30
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years earlier it couldn't be anything
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over the years dozens of sightings have
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been reported late one night in the pool
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area maintenance supervisor Kathy Lud
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and a co-worker heard mysterious sounds
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we came into the pool and I heard
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giggling sound of a little girl or a
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child playing in the area and at that
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point I noticed they were splashing the
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splashing stopped the giggling continued
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and we observed the footprints of a
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small child walking across into the
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locker room
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[Music]
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I know that I saw what I saw
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I'm not sure exactly why I saw it but I
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know it was there
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several unexplained encounters have
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occurred in shaft alley deep within the
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ship near the engine room here in 1966
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during a routine fire man named John
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Penner was crushed to death and
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watertight doors
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some believe Petter still haunts shaft
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alley what a day yeah what'd they say he
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was it was down here at shaft alley
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somewhere
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both tour members and employees have
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experienced hauntings in shaft alley
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coveralls in the beard yeah son Jim is
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dressing blue blue coveralls and he had
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a beard there was two different tour
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groups to set it I had a second
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experience down in shaft alley it was
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about 5:30 or 6 o'clock in the evening I
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was working in the capacity of a lead
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guide which meant my job was to close
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down the tour route and make sure that
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there weren't any stragglers behind and
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I don't know why I turned around but I
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turned around I'm standing right behind
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me on the step was a man he had blue
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overalls they were dirty when I stepped
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aside to let him go by he wasn't there
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he was gone
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I don't necessarily believe any other
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ghost stories that other people have
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come up with I only know what I saw and
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I only believe what I saw with my own
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eyes last month unsolved mysteries
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brought to the Queen Mary a team of
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experts who've spent decades
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investigating hauntings using
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sophisticated recording equipment they
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would attempt to verify the eyewitness
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accounts head out as soon as I got
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around the corner it started again
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Danish born William rural Macon is one
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of the world's leading authorities on
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poltergeists and often asked the
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question do you believe in ghosts and
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what I expect I will be asked you know
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when I finished this investigation are
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there ghosts and this ship and these are
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questions that I cannot answer
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Tony Cornell has researched paranormal
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activity for 25 years I am a skeptic but
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at the same time I must allow for the
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fact that other people who are very sane
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and sensible have seen things and
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experienced things the apparitional
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study I think is probably the most
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interesting stuff in the pool and the
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stuff in shaft and look as if they are
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repeated cases so often that they must
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be genuine
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Cornell set up his surveillance
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equipment William Earl led a team of
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psychics on lured all six claimed to
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know nothing about the ship's history or
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about the haunting occurrences
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armed with maps and their psychic
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sensitivity they struck off in many
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different directions alone
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[Music]
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after the search the psychics gathered
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together to compare notes though some
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had nothing to report
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others sensed a great deal of activity
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that coincided with eyewitness reports
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the ship did you mention something about
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a collision of felt a collision I see
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I felt the impression and of a collision
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I see no sure I don't but I definitely
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felt the movement of the ship and I felt
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that a jerking hit mm-hmm and the
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sensation from the body and I did hear
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footsteps
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I see let's go to the next one in shaft
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alley one psychic sense -
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twenty-year-old tragedy Janice would you
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describe your experiences in that area I
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felt that there had been not that I was
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hearing it physically but then at times
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someone could hear a very rhythmical
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banging as if someone had a ranch or a
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large piece of iron banging against a
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wrench ring a wrench
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that was the know someone had apparently
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gotten trapped it is a fact that some
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psychics managed to pick up things and
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you can't quite see how they got it but
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you got to be suspicious about this
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because there's a thing called three
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things
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I mean I've met enough mediums now
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who've read what they want to tell you
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in the newspaper one investigator did
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find something well William roll was
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surveying the bar area he heard some
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unusual sounds he couldn't explain there
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was the sound two men talking and it was
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heard by the security guard who brought
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me there and by myself and it seemed to
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come from the lower levels the bow of
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the ship in 30 years of investigation
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this was the first time that royal had
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heard an unexplained sound that had been
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reported by a witness in this case he
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believes what he perceived was
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genuine parole placed a voice-activated
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tape recorder in the bow area at the
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same spot where the voices were heard
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[Music]
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for most of the night this is what was
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recorded nothing in the early morning
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for a full two minutes the tape recorder
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picked up sounds where no sounds should
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be this is a condensed version of the
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actual tape
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[Music]
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earlier the bar had been sealed off the
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researchers attempted to duplicate the
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sounds through mechanical means they
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were unsuccessful but what we can
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conclude is that there is a physical
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source for the sounds in now is it
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parapsychological or does it have some
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other kind of source and that that
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remains that still remains uncertain a
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man has had this kind of experience as
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long as recorded history it is a human
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experience it's going to continue going
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on and somebody's going to look at it
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it's a challenge and some mystery that
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has got to be solved what can explain
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these hauntings overactive imagination a
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quest for publicity for something more
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intangible something supernatural is the
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Queen Mary haunted
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we cannot say yes but we cannot say no
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[Music]
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February 27th 1978 Teleco Plains
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Tennessee in a parked car
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sixteen-year-old Roxanne Woodson fought
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off the advances of a man named Joe
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Sheppard two friends watched in the
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backseat Roxanne escaped ran off into
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the night
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Joe chased after rocks and never
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returned
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when Roxanne failed to come home her
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family began to worry
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Judis wringing your hands and there's no
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outlet there's no relief because you
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haven't got her she's gone you don't
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know what's happened to her and she's
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out there and you can't reach her you
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can't help her after 10 years the case
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of Roxanne Woodson still haunts her
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family and everyone living in Teleco
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plains Tennessee for weeks there was no
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trace of Roxanne and as her
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investigation unfolded the police became
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convinced that the last person who saw
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her Joe Shepherd was a psychopathic
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killer
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the night after Roxanne Woodson is
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reported missing police went to the home
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where Joe Sheppard lived with his
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parents to take him in for questioning
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the officers waited while joe went into
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his bedroom to put on his boots the gang
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just wants to talk to him
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Joe Reese for a shotgun the officers
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fired two warning shots after a brief
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struggle they wrestled the gun away from
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them
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he was then brought in for interrogation
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Joe's initial story was that he had
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attempted to seduce Roxanne and she had
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gotten mad at him at his persistent
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efforts and had jumped from the car and
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run into the woods that he went running
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after her and finally Joe came back
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telling the two boys that he'd tried to
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get her back and that he didn't know
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where she'd gone
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Joe Shepard was booked for assaulting a
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police officer made bond and was
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released for several days over 60 people
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combed through the woods looking for
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Roxanne
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Joe voluntarily joined them the police
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brought in dogs to follow Roxanne's
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scent into the woods they tracked her
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only a few yards and then the trail
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abruptly stopped still the searchers
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found no trace of Roxanne and the girl's
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family began to panic we just fell on
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her knees and said oh god no oh god no
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she loved her daddy so much and he knew
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she would not have ran out after a few
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frustrating days the search was called
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off
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Roxanne Woodson had vanished until the
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afternoon of April 8 1978
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Roxanne's body was found after Joe's
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mother was standing at the window in the
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kitchen looking out she noticed that the
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dogs were digging and going on that one
00:19:53
specific location there and she became
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alarmed she went outside and walked up
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on what proved to be an speaking out of
00:20:02
the ground she notified the authorities
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at that time and they came to the
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Shepherd home and did remove the body of
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rocks and woods and from Joe Shepards
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mother and father's yard Roxanne had
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been buried in a shallow grave some of
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her clothes were missing and her pants
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had been wrapped around her head at that
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point the Monroe County sheriff's deputy
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took out a warrant charging the suspect
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Joe Shepherd of the first-degree murder
00:20:43
we went to his mother-in-law ex
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mother-in-law's home to conduct a search
00:20:49
and they told us he wasn't there we went
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in and searched the house and found him
00:20:53
there was a child in the bed and he was
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rolled up in the covers on the foot of
00:20:57
the bed like the cover was just rolled
00:20:59
out to pull of the bed he was hidden in
00:21:00
there Joe look at me
00:21:03
we found Roxanne Joe Joe appeared Jeff
00:21:13
during his second interrogation Joe's
00:21:15
story began to change Joe began to fill
00:21:22
in the blanks of the segment that he had
00:21:24
earlier given and he said that when
00:21:26
Roxanne ran from the car and into the
00:21:28
woods
00:21:29
he gave chase and that as she was
00:21:31
running through the woods that she had
00:21:32
fallen and reprobated I come up on her
00:21:45
and he told investigators that he
00:21:53
panicked and returned to his car and
00:21:54
come
00:21:56
they left the area joe claimed he
00:22:00
returned to the scene later that same
00:22:01
night unsure whether roxanne was dead or
00:22:05
alive he carried her back to his car he
00:22:13
placed the girl inside and drove off
00:22:15
into the night according to Joe Shepard
00:22:36
not knowing what to do with in his
00:22:38
previous encounters with allow he was
00:22:40
afraid to contact any law enforcement
00:22:41
held then he decided to bury her and he
00:22:45
could find no other place other than
00:22:46
just residence there in Teleco plains he
00:22:52
never did it and actually admit to being
00:22:55
responsible for her death
00:22:56
he admitted he where had been with her
00:22:59
and she had died as was all except for a
00:23:01
head injury that she had attained when
00:23:03
she failed Joe was brought before a
00:23:07
judge he recommended that Joe be
00:23:12
formally charged with the murder of
00:23:14
Roxanne Woodson to the grand jury bond
00:23:16
is set at $150,000 as a Roxanne Woodson
00:23:21
story began a draw to a close another
00:23:23
murder case was about to be reopened
00:23:26
after Joe had been charged in regards to
00:23:29
the homicide the investigators who had
00:23:32
topped with him in questioning they
00:23:34
became pretty much buddies Joe had
00:23:37
learned to trust these people and he
00:23:40
wanted to help them detective Joe Gray's
00:23:44
have received an anonymous phone call
00:23:46
linking Joe to another disappearance
00:23:48
that of a girl named Kathy Lauer's a
00:23:51
local 14 year old who had vanished two
00:23:54
years earlier I'm taking the last place
00:23:59
I saw her I need you to take us and show
00:24:03
us where she is now
00:24:04
can you do that
00:24:09
yeah I can take you there Joe told them
00:24:12
that not only did he know Cathy Lauer's
00:24:14
he knew where she was buried he offered
00:24:18
to take them there I have my
00:24:30
we went into the woods I'm a couple
00:24:33
hundred yards off the highway
00:24:35
Joe had designated sparkly all to do was
00:24:41
taking along a pickaxe and shovel and
00:24:44
such and start digging in the ground
00:24:46
we've gone down some death and hadn't
00:24:50
uncovered a body at all and I took the
00:24:53
pickaxe just to sort of relieve the guy
00:24:55
who had been doing the digging and after
00:24:57
about the second effort piece of red
00:25:00
cloth came up on the head of the pickaxe
00:25:05
I'll never forget Joe Shepherd was
00:25:08
hunkered down beside the the hole we
00:25:11
were digging and he looked up with his
00:25:13
cold smile on his face and said see I
00:25:16
told you something he was proud I think
00:25:19
of the fact that he had produced a body
00:25:21
for us and and showed no emotion at all
00:25:25
though the body was badly decomposed dr.
00:25:28
William bass a noted forensic
00:25:30
anthropologist was able to identify it
00:25:32
as that of Kathy flowers Kathy flowers
00:25:38
had chipped a tooth and this match the
00:25:41
chipped tooth that she had dr. bass is
00:25:43
there anything that indicates there was
00:25:46
no evidence on the skeleton of cause of
00:25:49
death there were no gunshot wounds no
00:25:51
stab wounds no broken bones whatever
00:25:55
cause death did not leave its mark on
00:25:58
the skeleton the clothing of this girl
00:26:01
the pants pants they have been wrapped
00:26:03
around her head very similar to the man
00:26:07
in which the Woodson child had been
00:26:11
buried they've been pants they wrapped
00:26:13
around her head on April 17th 1978 Joe
00:26:18
Shepard was formally indicted for the
00:26:20
murder of Kathy Lauer's while awaiting
00:26:24
trial for the double homicides Joe was
00:26:27
held at the Bradley County Jail on July
00:26:30
17th 1978 one of the jailers was someone
00:26:34
who was cell near Joe's the jailer was
00:26:38
lured into the cell by a man feigning
00:26:41
sickness
00:26:43
[Music]
00:26:53
after locking up the jailer
00:26:55
the two men went to jump Shepards cell
00:26:57
they released him and the three men fled
00:27:00
the prison well here the two escapees
00:27:07
were recaptured the following week Joe
00:27:10
Shepard remains at large I feel certain
00:27:15
that Joe is a danger to society the
00:27:19
methodology that he put into each act
00:27:22
was that of a very criminal mind a mind
00:27:27
that feels no guilt oh he is just there
00:27:32
and he's capable of doing it at any time
00:27:35
we don't know what sets him off I would
00:27:38
like to see him brought to justice I'd
00:27:41
like to see justice done for personal
00:27:46
reasons and for the love of my
00:27:48
granddaughter I would like to see it but
00:27:50
also for the ones the mothers out there
00:27:53
that their daughters might be in danger
00:27:56
these pictures of Joe Arlen Shepard were
00:27:59
taken in 1978 he is six feet tall and
00:28:02
weighs about a hundred and fifty pounds
00:28:03
he has brown hair a scar on his left
00:28:06
forearm and he may be working as an auto
00:28:08
mechanic Shepard has recently been seen
00:28:10
in El Paso Texas and the authorities
00:28:13
believe he may be living somewhere along
00:28:15
the Mexican border update London Ontario
00:28:21
Canada the ten years search for Joe
00:28:23
Shepard has ended after the unsolved
00:28:26
mystery Shaun October the fifth we
00:28:28
received a phone call from a local
00:28:30
resident saying that he believed the guy
00:28:34
called Sheppard was in fact living in
00:28:37
London under the name Joseph Tripp
00:28:39
we began an investigation and when we
00:28:43
had identified him to our satisfaction
00:28:45
as Sheppard he was arrested
00:28:49
at the time of his arrest Shepard was
00:28:51
living in a government housing project
00:28:53
in London Ontario with his common-law
00:28:55
wife and their two children it seems
00:28:58
apparent that mr. Shepard was and London
00:29:01
Canada with just within a matter of days
00:29:03
after escaping
00:29:07
[Music]
00:29:28
Wiscasset Maine
00:29:31
a picturesque town of 3,000 people each
00:29:36
year vacation has come here to escape
00:29:39
but for Gale Dewayne lived in Wiscasset
00:29:43
this vacation paradise was a prison she
00:29:47
wrote about it in her diary Maine seems
00:29:50
to bring out the worst in me I don't see
00:29:54
him into my loneliness it just seems to
00:29:57
go on forever
00:29:58
I need someone so desperately but
00:30:02
nothing seems to work
00:30:07
Gale Delano was twice divorced and the
00:30:09
mother of two teenage boys she looked
00:30:16
for companionship in the personal ads of
00:30:18
her local newspaper
00:30:21
when she placed the ads she described
00:30:23
herself exuberant a unique female 34
00:30:28
attractive trim intelligent affectionate
00:30:32
independent slightly crazy night out
00:30:36
likes music movies dance dining Sikhs
00:30:43
easygoing intelligent responsible not
00:30:46
overweight male for growing relationship
00:30:48
I'm in Wiscasset where are you June 21st
00:30:57
1986 Gael Delano drove alone to a
00:31:01
restaurant in Brunswick Maine to meet a
00:31:04
blind date
00:31:04
[Music]
00:31:07
Gayle's family never saw or heard from
00:31:10
her again
00:31:14
[Music]
00:31:17
despite the tone of her personal ads
00:31:20
Gayle Delana was shy and withdrawn for
00:31:23
Gayle placing these ads was an act of
00:31:25
courage was also an act of hope last
00:31:29
entry in her diary read it would be nice
00:31:32
to find someone to date over the summer
00:31:34
who knows maybe I'll get lucky and find
00:31:38
someone interesting Gayle was searching
00:31:41
not only for companionship but also for
00:31:43
a father figure for her two boys her
00:31:46
desperate need to find love placed her
00:31:47
in the center of an unsolved mystery
00:31:52
Friday evening June 20th 1986 Gail's
00:31:58
son's recalled that she had a
00:31:59
two-and-a-half-hour telephone
00:32:01
conversation with a man named John a man
00:32:04
they assumed their mother had met
00:32:06
through the personal ads the next
00:32:16
morning Gayle told her son she planned
00:32:18
to have coffee with John at the Howard
00:32:20
Johnson's and Brunswick and then if
00:32:23
things went well spend the afternoon
00:32:25
with him
00:32:30
[Music]
00:32:32
that night gales thirteen-year-old son
00:32:35
Ryan returned home from a friend's house
00:32:38
he discovered that his mother was not at
00:32:40
home
00:32:42
Ryan was concerned but not alarmed when
00:32:48
Gail did not return home the next night
00:32:50
her family called the police it was now
00:32:56
37 hours but time Gayle delano had left
00:32:59
home to meet her date the police
00:33:02
immediately searched the Howard Johnsons
00:33:04
parking lot allocated Gail's car there
00:33:10
was no indication at that point that
00:33:11
there was any foul play basically it was
00:33:14
an adult woman who has gone out and
00:33:16
spent the night the history we got was
00:33:19
that that's not unusual for her to spend
00:33:21
the night out although it was unusual
00:33:23
for her to do it without calling you
00:33:26
know when she's been going that long it
00:33:27
just wasn't right because she was so
00:33:30
careful about keeping track with the
00:33:33
children where she was that we knew if
00:33:35
she'd been going for that long that
00:33:37
something was haywire aoes family was
00:33:40
forced to wait until 11 o'clock Monday
00:33:42
morning to have her officially declared
00:33:44
a missing person only then could the
00:33:47
police search her car when we got the
00:33:52
car open we tried to see if there would
00:33:54
be a note or anything that would be from
00:33:57
Gail I would explain particularly who
00:33:59
she was with because at this point we
00:34:02
figured the sky that shed the day was
00:34:04
had done something it's pretty clean and
00:34:08
we looked the car over there was nothing
00:34:10
in the car normally I know the person's
00:34:14
first and last name and where where he's
00:34:17
from but this one time we just missed
00:34:20
the one had to be that one time I'd
00:34:23
spoken with her earlier that afternoon
00:34:25
and she said I have a feeling I'm gonna
00:34:28
have a date I'm gonna do something happy
00:34:30
and I'm gonna have fun this weekend and
00:34:31
then look what happened
00:34:37
two hours after the police had removed
00:34:40
Gail's car a Howard Johnson's busboy
00:34:43
made a startling discovery manager of
00:34:46
Howard Johnson called the bun to the
00:34:48
police department to notify them that
00:34:50
one of their Busboys had found a set of
00:34:52
keys in the parking slot where Gilliland
00:34:56
old car had been parked fired that
00:34:57
they're moving in when the policeman
00:35:00
handed those keys Gail's keys oh my god
00:35:03
I said they'd have to kill her short of
00:35:06
getting those keys from her and I just
00:35:07
about came unglued then and yes I was
00:35:11
said the plot you've got to find my baby
00:35:13
where is she where is she
00:35:16
two weeks later a nine-year-old boy
00:35:19
playing on the other side of the Howard
00:35:21
Johnsons
00:35:22
made a second starting discovery Kayla's
00:35:26
purse finding the purse at the parking
00:35:31
lot kind of raised our concern about the
00:35:36
possibility of foul play
00:35:38
I was just heartsick when I found out
00:35:40
because again she would not let go of
00:35:42
that handbag short of being bopped in
00:35:45
the head or dragged away actually the
00:35:51
pocketbook was very neat inside and
00:35:53
quite orderly so it appeared right from
00:35:56
the beginning that it had not been
00:35:58
rifled through by anybody looking for
00:36:01
any type of money or things of this
00:36:03
nature curiously while the purse
00:36:07
appeared untouched there was no money in
00:36:09
it even the emergency five-dollar bill
00:36:13
that Gail always kept tucked in a secret
00:36:16
compartment was missing using a date
00:36:22
book they found in her purse detectives
00:36:24
mallet and Bradford compound a list of
00:36:26
the men that Gayle might have dated in
00:36:28
the last year one of them was a man
00:36:36
named John from Old Orchard Beach this
00:36:43
man swore he had never dated Gayle he
00:36:46
said the only time he might have talked
00:36:47
to her on the phone was months before
00:36:48
she disappeared
00:36:50
not really wasn't a rain he had a
00:36:52
rock-solid alibi for the day Gale
00:36:54
vanished so did all the other men the
00:36:57
police questioned the police were
00:37:04
totally baffled Gale kept detailed
00:37:07
records of the men who responded to her
00:37:09
ads yet there was no record of a man
00:37:12
named John in her files
00:37:16
who would call Gayle talked for two and
00:37:18
a half hours a night before she
00:37:20
disappeared why were her keys found on
00:37:24
exactly the spot where her car had been
00:37:26
parked why was Gail's purse found on the
00:37:30
other side of the restaurant
00:37:32
apparently untouched but with no money
00:37:34
in or the keys and purse thrown where
00:37:39
they lay by someone who attacked Gail or
00:37:41
is it possible
00:37:42
Gail placed the keys and purse herself a
00:37:49
new theory about Gail's disappearance
00:37:51
emerged when police interviewed a local
00:37:54
late-night disc jockey I was working the
00:37:59
overnights it's his radio station and
00:38:00
Gail would call sometime after one
00:38:02
o'clock in the morning just to talk and
00:38:04
go on in general about life experiences
00:38:08
and then Gail finally asked if I would
00:38:11
like to meet her
00:38:13
Gail always seemed to be very very sad
00:38:16
or depressed almost to the point of not
00:38:18
being able to MOLLE always you felt that
00:38:21
Gail was just going to perhaps give up
00:38:24
at any moment
00:38:25
just it ceased to exist disappear
00:38:28
literally right sitting there on the
00:38:30
couch for years Gail head struggled with
00:38:35
depression had been on medication for it
00:38:38
several times she had considered taking
00:38:40
her own life that talked about it with
00:38:42
her sister
00:38:44
Darrell's family reluctantly considered
00:38:46
whether her disappearance might have
00:38:47
been a suicide I don't feel that Gale
00:38:52
committed suicide because I don't
00:38:54
believe that she would ever have left
00:38:55
and left us to go through this kind of
00:38:59
pain and not knowing if she's out there
00:39:01
somewhere I think that she definitely
00:39:03
doesn't know who she is and that would
00:39:06
be of course our best scenario is that
00:39:08
she's out there somewhere and then we
00:39:09
can find her with the help of truck
00:39:14
drivers Gail's family distributed
00:39:16
missing posters throughout the eastern
00:39:18
United States over a year after Gale
00:39:23
disappeared
00:39:24
the truck driver spotted her missing
00:39:26
poster in a Georgia truck stop on Friday
00:39:31
August 14th 1987 I received a phone call
00:39:34
in the evening from man named John Scott
00:39:37
of Swansea South Carolina earlier that
00:39:40
day he'd seen a missing-persons poster
00:39:43
of Delano he recognized that woman
00:39:47
there's one that he had given a ride to
00:39:49
several months earlier I was with her
00:39:54
somewhere in the neighborhood of twenty
00:39:56
four hours she didn't talk too much but
00:39:59
she had that northern accent pretty bad
00:40:03
you know and I could tell she isn't Noah
00:40:06
she was sort of a neat type of woman and
00:40:09
mostly you catch these regular
00:40:12
hitchhikers I'd call him and truck stop
00:40:14
queen you don't care how they dress you
00:40:16
don't have to go but this Roman was
00:40:18
dressed pretty neat you could tell she
00:40:21
was bit but didn't erect the one you
00:40:22
know and I asked him did he notice
00:40:31
anything about her whether she was on
00:40:33
medication or took any medication or
00:40:35
anything of this one he did notice and
00:40:37
pill bottles but he had no idea what
00:40:39
might be in them my next question to him
00:40:42
was how sure he felt that this was a fad
00:40:45
Gale Delano I would bet money on that
00:40:48
that was her
00:40:53
the truck driver story suggested another
00:40:56
possibility the gay love engineered her
00:41:00
own disappearance from the Brunswick
00:41:01
restaurant
00:41:06
Yale could have told the children that
00:41:09
she was going to a restaurant to meet a
00:41:11
gentleman by the name of John Gielgud
00:41:14
have easily driven to the restaurant
00:41:16
dr. car either concealed the keys
00:41:20
somewhere under the car but merely
00:41:23
tossed them under the car stating to
00:41:28
herself she was going to give up her
00:41:30
identity stole the purse in the
00:41:32
shrubbery and either catch a ride with
00:41:36
somebody leaving the restaurant area or
00:41:38
perhaps even a truck driver leaving the
00:41:40
area the Gail Delano
00:41:42
I met did not seem to have it together
00:41:44
enough or brave enough or sure of
00:41:46
herself enough to just pack it up and
00:41:48
head for another part of the country
00:41:49
without telling anyone what she was
00:41:51
doing they couldn't even get Gail Delano
00:41:54
to go for a Sunday Drive or out to a
00:41:56
restaurant or for an ice-cream and I
00:41:59
really cannot picture Gail playing I was
00:42:00
just getting in a car and just going to
00:42:02
the other side of the country she could
00:42:06
just as well have thrown my hands up and
00:42:07
said back with it all and just took off
00:42:09
but what we're afraid of is that she's
00:42:12
out there wandering around possibly not
00:42:15
knowing who she is needing our help
00:42:17
I want her to know that if she's well
00:42:22
I'm happy and I pray she is she doesn't
00:42:25
have to come home she doesn't even have
00:42:28
to call she'll just let somebody know
00:42:30
that she's alive so that we can put
00:42:35
ourselves at peace
00:42:40
Gayle's parents are no closer to the
00:42:42
truth and all the day their daughter
00:42:43
disappeared
00:42:46
wish you the victim of foul play
00:42:48
Marisha wandering somewhere unaware of
00:42:51
her own identity
00:42:53
or could the blind date with John merely
00:42:56
have been an elaborate ruse Yale
00:42:58
concocted to cover up her own
00:42:59
disappearance
00:43:01
[Music]
00:43:04
the only thing I want is to find a man
00:43:08
to share my life I know I'm lonely and
00:43:12
tired of doing it all by myself time is
00:43:16
becoming a big enemy to me to say it
00:43:19
passes slowly is a laugh for me it seems
00:43:25
to stand still update Mobile Alabama the
00:43:31
two and a half years search for Gil
00:43:33
Delano has come to an end tragically she
00:43:35
took her own life shortly after she
00:43:37
disappeared a forensic administrator in
00:43:42
Mobe watched our procurement recognized
00:43:44
gales photo as a woman who had died in a
00:43:47
local hotel room in 1986 when I saw the
00:43:52
photo
00:43:53
I immediately saw the resemblance
00:43:56
between MS Delano and an unidentified
00:44:01
body that we had in our laboratory in
00:44:05
Mobile
00:44:06
after two weeks of forensic tests
00:44:09
positive identification was made
00:44:12
police now theorized killed Elena
00:44:15
orchestrated her own disappearance they
00:44:17
believe that after she drove to the
00:44:19
restroom she hid her keys somewhere on
00:44:21
the car removed all the money from her
00:44:23
purse discarded it and then he flew to
00:44:26
Alabama that evening she checked into a
00:44:29
hotel in MOCA where she registered under
00:44:31
the name Jackie Stafford three days
00:44:34
later police discovered her body she had
00:44:37
died from a drug overdose on November 11
00:44:42
Gail's family held a memorial service
00:44:44
for and Brunswick Maine Gail's family
00:44:49
showed remarkable courage is for two
00:44:51
long years they search for the truth her
00:44:54
loss saddens us all and to her parents
00:44:56
and sons we send our deepest sympathy
00:45:05
for every mystery someone somewhere who
00:45:09
knows the truth perhaps if someone is
00:45:12
watching
00:45:13
perhaps as you
00:45:14
[Music]

Badges

This episode stands out for the following:

  • 90
    Most heartbreaking
  • 80
    Most shocking
  • 80
    Biggest twist
  • 75
    Most intense

Episode Highlights

  • Ghostly Encounters on the Queen Mary
    Eyewitnesses share chilling stories of ghost sightings aboard the haunted ship.
    “The Queen Mary seems to be inhabited by something ethereal.”
    @ 04m 20s
    May 16, 2019
  • The Vanishing of Roxanne Woodson
    Roxanne Woodson disappeared after a night out, leading to a decade-long mystery.
    “You don't know what's happened to her and she's gone.”
    @ 17m 01s
    May 16, 2019
  • Joe Shepherd's Dark Secrets
    Joe Shepherd's story shifts as he becomes a suspect in multiple disappearances.
    “He admitted he was with her and she had died.”
    @ 22m 59s
    May 16, 2019
  • Gail's Desperate Search for Love
    Gail Delano's personal ads reveal her longing for companionship and a father figure for her sons.
    “I'm in Wiscasset, where are you?”
    @ 30m 48s
    May 16, 2019
  • The Mysterious Disappearance
    Gail goes missing after a blind date, leading to a frantic search by her family.
    “Gail's family called the police; it was now 37 hours since she left.”
    @ 32m 50s
    May 16, 2019
  • Tragic Discovery
    Two years later, Gail's body is found, leading to a heartbreaking conclusion.
    “Gail's family showed remarkable courage as they searched for the truth.”
    @ 44m 54s
    May 16, 2019

Episode Quotes

  • I know that I saw what I saw.
    Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 1, Episode 4 - Full Episode
  • I told you something.
    Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 1, Episode 4 - Full Episode
  • I need someone so desperately but nothing seems to work.
    Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 1, Episode 4 - Full Episode
  • It would be nice to find someone to date over the summer.
    Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 1, Episode 4 - Full Episode

Key Moments

  • Unsolved Mysteries00:03
  • Roxanne's Disappearance16:30
  • Joe Shepherd Arrested28:49
  • Loneliness29:58
  • Blind Date31:01
  • Missing Person33:44
  • Heartbreak43:33
  • Final Farewell44:42

Words per Minute Over Time

Vibes Breakdown

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