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this program is about unsolved mysteries
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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 tonight on unsolved mysteries
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eighteen-year-old Lisa Marie Kimball was
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brutally stabbed in Casper Wyoming yet
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four weeks after police believe she was
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murdered hundreds of people across the
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western United States claimed they saw
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Lisa or her car for over a hundred years
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fortune hunters had tried to find
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Arizona's Lost Dutchman mine many men
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have died trying today the gold to be
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worth over two hundred million dollars
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also a story of love and murder remote
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Louisiana by melissa chromis led to one
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man's death and the young woman's
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mysterious disappearance from a murder
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discovered in the swamps of Louisiana to
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a treasure lost in an Arizona mountain
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range our stories have one thing in
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common as yet there is no solution
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perhaps you can help join me you may be
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able to help solve a mystery
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[Music]
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on a little-used suspension bridge
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outside Casper Wyoming residents
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reported seeing unexplained lights in
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the early morning hours of March the
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26th 1988 police theorized that none
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known assailant operating under cover of
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darkness brought his victim a young girl
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of 18 to the bridge
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after stabbing her repeatedly he threw
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her into the chill waters of a North
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Platte River
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[Music]
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the victim was later identified as Lisa
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Marie Kimmell from Billings Montana she
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had been sexually assaulted prior to
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being killed in a manner that suggested
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some kind of bizarre torture
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the savage nature of Lisa's murder is
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not the only perplexing aspect of this
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case Lisa was last seen alive on the
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night of March 25th police believe that
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she was killed a few hours later in the
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early morning of March the 26th what
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complicates the investigations at nearly
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1,000 people claim they saw Lisa Marie
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Kimball or her car during a week when
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police believe she was already dead Lisa
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was 18 years old had worked as a manager
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at a fast food restaurant in Denver
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Colorado on March the 25th she left town
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and headed for Cody Wyoming to visit her
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boyfriend Lisa's car the black 1988
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Honda CRX si carry the spunky license
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plate a little Miss the plan was that
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she was supposed to leave Denver and
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sometime after work and get to Cody to
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see me sometime late that evening I am
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talked to her about 4:30 and she was
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gonna be leaving in about a half hour I
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thought she'd be in about midnight or
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something like that
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from Denver Lisa had planned to travel
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to Casper Wyoming on interstate 25 from
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Casper she would take a two-lane road to
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Ed Gerak's house and Cody after spending
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the night there she planned to go on to
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Billings Montana to visit her parents
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weather conditions were good so Lisa
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should have made the trip to Cody in 8
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or 9 hours
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arriving at Ed's house late Friday night
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however at 7 o'clock Saturday morning
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she still had not arrived
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edie Jarek frantically telephoned the
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Highway Patrol's in three states two
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days later the Wyoming Highland Patrol
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reported they had stopped Lisa for
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speeding about 60 miles south of Casper
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on March 25th the night she disappeared
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it was nearly 9 p.m. Friday night four
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hours after Lisa had left Denver she was
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right on schedule I was patrolling
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southbound on March 25th I noted a small
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car northbound at 88 miles an hour
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according my radar I turned around and
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pursued the car I stopped her near or
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injunction good evening miss she was
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well kept
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driving a nice car kind of first and
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you'd like to have for a daughter
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okay mr. Kimmel hedge it on my radar
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back there at 88 miles an hour is there
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any particular reason for your speed I'm
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trying to hurry Billings I've got a
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friend who's going in for surgery this
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was the last confirmed sighting of Lisa
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her signature on the citation and a
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routine voice recording the policeman
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made verify that it was definitely Lisa
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Marie Kimmell who was stopped that night
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[Music]
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as the week went on we realized the
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gravity of the situation we knew that
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the outlook was looking a little grim
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but even if that even if the outcome
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wasn't as we hoped we still needed to
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find her
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[Music]
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on April 2nd one week after she
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disappeared
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Greg Bradford a mechanic who was
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spending his Saturday fishing brought
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the search for Lisa Marie to a sad end
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and I came up to just about this spot
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right here and I got a real bad feeling
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something was wrong
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I felt that somebody died or if somebody
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was hurt real bad it just kept coming
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over me I couldn't shake it so I just
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stepped up and when I stepped up off the
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side of the bank I looked over my
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shoulder and I saw the lady in the water
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now I knew it was a lady in the water
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but your mind tells you it's not true
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you know it's not real
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and then I remember when we're driving
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up from Cheyenne they said this young
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girl was missing from Montana so I
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looked again and I said oh my god it
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must be her when we went out there the
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physical description matched Lisa but at
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that point because of the condition of
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the body we'll work sure until we'd
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gotten her out of the water we're not
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sure at this point whether the body was
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placed in the river sometime on the 25th
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of the 26th the body just didn't show
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any signs of decomposition because of a
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so cold there was some stab wounds in
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the chest area she was sexually
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assaulted
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she was found nearly nude but not quite
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they made stab wounds some in such a
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manner that we feel are unique and I
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can't tell you how they were done to the
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body but it would lead the appearance
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that somebody took their time and doing
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this it's hard to understand why
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somebody would do something like that to
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another human being
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police scouted the area where Lisa's
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body was discovered on an old highway
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bridge 1/4 of a mile away they found
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blood which was the same type as Lisa
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Marie Kimmel's because the bridge is so
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inaccessible in so seldom used police
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believe the murder may be someone local
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based on the eyewitness accounts of
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unexplained lights on the bridge and an
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analysis of other evidence that police
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believe the time of Lisa's murder is the
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early morning of Saturday March 26th
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approximately 5 hours after she was
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stopped for speeding
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strangely in the next seven days
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hundreds of sightings of Lisa and her
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car many of them involving an unknown
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male companion were reported throughout
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the northwestern United States in Canada
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up until the state we've had over a
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thousand sightings of this vehicle a lot
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of them from law enforcement officers
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there's no pattern to the murder that's
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enforcement apart there's no direction
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of travel they went south they went to
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the north they went to the west they
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just were everywhere and we were down
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loose with them at the point that we
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thought they had gone to Canada we had
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some sightings in Canada composites were
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made of at least 17 men but none of them
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seemed to resemble one another closely
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enough to justify issuing a wanted
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poster three of these sightings believed
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to be among the most reliable were
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reported on the 26th and 27th of March
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after police believe Lisa Marie had
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already been murdered one of them was in
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Casper just 20 minutes drive away from
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the place her body was found the other
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two sightings were in Buffalo Wyoming
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two hours drive outside Casper in none
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of the three sightings at Lisa appear to
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be signaling for help the Casper
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sighting occurred on Sunday March 27th
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two days after Lisa had been stopped for
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speeding
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dianna Houston was driving a van through
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the downtown area of Casper which he
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noticed the personalized Little Miss
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license plates because a roommate owned
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a puppy with the same name it was in the
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afternoon about quarter to two and I saw
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Montana license plate on a vehicle and
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being from Montana I hadn't got my ice
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re-elect and their license plate said
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little yes I went by I saw somebody with
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blond hair driving and head on a yellow
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sweater twenty two hours earlier Donna
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Kirkpatrick the county sheriff's wife
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and Buffalo reported that she had seen
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Lisa wearing a pink sweater but was
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Saturday at noon and I noticed a little
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black sports car had pulled out right in
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front of me and then I noticed a license
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plate it was a Montana license plate
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with Little Miss on it al ilm ISS and at
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that point I decided that I needed to
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see who was driving the car I was most
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interested to see if the car went with
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whoever was driving it
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I am absolutely positive there was a
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young gal driving it I know the license
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plate I know Montana license plates
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I saw the plate on that car at that time
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on that day and there's not a doubt in
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my mind
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curiously Lisa's parents are not sure
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that she ever owned either a yellow or a
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pink sweater
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the highway patrolman who stopped it for
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speeding the last person to a verifiable
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evidence that he saw Lisa alive remember
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that she was wearing a black and white
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sweater
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could Lisa have changed her clothes but
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did the eyewitnesses see another young
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woman who resembled Lisa two hours after
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Donna Kirkpatrick so Lisa another
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eyewitness also saw her in Buffalo this
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time a mysterious man is with Lisa I was
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busy at the register but a car pulled up
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and I said Little Miss on the Montana
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license plates on in front of it there
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were two people in the vehicle
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there was a very attractive young lady
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at the wheel the individual that was
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with her was a small man I would say 135
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to 140 pounds dark hair dark eyes rather
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large eyes and he had very fine features
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it wasn't what nosed or anything like
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that they were excellent I think is the
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word that the poets use and he was
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swarthy complected and he was small he
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fit into the car he didn't look out of
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place or anything like that and a few
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minutes later when I turn to looked
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again the car had gone if the three
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sightings of Lisa Marie Kimmell
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are reliable they raised some disturbing
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questions as Lisa killed as a police
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think she was during the early morning
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hours of March the 26th if she was who
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was a woman seen driving Lisa's car in
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Casper and Buffalo if Lisa was not
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killed in the 26th why was she in
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Buffalo more than two hours off the
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course of her planned journey and if she
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was in jeopardy why did she not signal
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for help when she was sighted
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[Music]
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next the story of the legendary Lost
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Dutchman mine the clues are scarce the
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stakes are high millions of dollars in
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gold the Superstition Mountains in
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Arizona cover 160,000 acres of desolate
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rugged terrain
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according to legend these mountains
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contain the richest deposits of gold in
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America the Lost Dutchman's gold mine
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[Music]
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there are hundreds of stories hinting at
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its location and they're all tied to one
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man a German prospector named Jacob
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waltz who is said to have discovered the
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mine in 1876 his nickname was the
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Dutchman Jacob waltz was a student of
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mining and he knew what he was doing the
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old-timers were very very astute at to
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the fact of geology they knew what they
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were looking for if you're gonna go out
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in these mountains anywhere and look for
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gold you really want to go to places
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where gold has been found superstitions
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would be an exception you wouldn't go in
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there
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waltz was one of the few who is prepared
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to prospect a nun promising locations
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and apparently he was rewarded 15 years
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later in 1891 when Jacob Waltz's 80
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years old he decided to hide his mind he
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is said to have dug a hole six feet deep
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at the entrance to the mine
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he then laid in two solid layers of iron
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wood logs and filled a hole with dirt
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and topped it with stones from the
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surrounding area a Dutchman brag that
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you could drive a packed train over the
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entrance to the mine and never know it
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was there for over 100 years
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fortune hunters have searched for Jacob
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Waltz's hidden treasure trove several
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months after Walt's hid the mine he
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contracted pneumonia and was taken to
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the home of a friend Julia Thomas in
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Phoenix she tried to nurse Jacob back to
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health before Jacob walls died he told
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them that there was gold from the mines
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stashed under his bed and he said that's
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what I've been living on all these years
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he took out the box they opened it and
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their comment was my god that's rich
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it's got to be just a pocket and he said
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no it isn't he said it's a vein he said
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there's enough in sight to make
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millionaires out of 20 men as his end
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drew near the Dutchman gave Julia and
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Reinhardt petrache a local miner clues
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to the location of the mile northwest
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corner of the Superstition Mountains
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take two take the trio man
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I left a number of clues but several
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times he said I've almost got to show
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you where it is or you'll never find it
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because you've got to know exactly where
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it is Waltz died before he could give
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them a map that showed exactly where the
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mine lay even though there are hundreds
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of maps in existence today none of them
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came from Jacob walls
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the only directions Julia in the
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petrache brothers had when they ventured
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into the mountains where the verbal
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clues waltz had given on his deathbed he
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said the Setting Sun shines into the
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entrance to bond line and glitters on
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the gold so it must have faced to the
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west he said you take the first gorge on
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the south side from the west end of the
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range he said that you can see weavers
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needle to the south from above my mind
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Julia and the Patricia's were so anxious
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to get in the mountains they actually
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went in mid-summer when the mountains
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were hotter than hell in a bucket and it
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must have been a real ordeal for all of
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them they went in there for almost five
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weeks they came out without any gold and
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this was noted in the Arizona Republican
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in 1892 in fact they called it the
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clearquest in search of gold julia had
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invested everything she owned into this
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expedition but she returned penniless
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Julia Thomas never attempted to return
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to the Superstition Mountains again
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[Music]
00:18:00
Reinhart petrache was accused by his
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brother Herman of not paying attention
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at Jacobs bedside writing the clues down
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incorrectly they never spoke again
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Reinhart continued to search
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sporadically over the next 50 years when
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as eyesight began to fail Reinhardt
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realized he would never find the mind
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and took his own life for over a century
00:18:29
treasure hunters have occasionally
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claimed that they have clues to waltzes
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lost mind a few of them may even have
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found it but curiously they all died
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before they could tell their tale when
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we return the story of walk gaster well
00:18:45
five years ago claimed he'd found the
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mine on his last trip to the mountains
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he lost his life before he could reveal
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a secret location the Lost Dutchman's
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gold mine is one of the greatest living
00:18:58
legends of the American Southwest some
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people say that it's just that a legend
00:19:03
on the other hand government studies
00:19:06
indicate that there's a large quantity
00:19:07
of gold located somewhere in the
00:19:09
superstitions it is said that this
00:19:11
matchbox was made from the high-grade
00:19:14
ore the Jacob waltz had miss possession
00:19:15
when he died
00:19:16
the ore is so rich that if the mine were
00:19:19
found today it could be worth over 200
00:19:22
million dollars almost 100 years later a
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modern-day treasure hunter claimed he
00:19:29
had found the mind
00:19:32
his name was Walt gasps Larry head chef
00:19:36
at the Biltmore Hotel in Phoenix using
00:19:39
Clues handed down from Jacobs deathbed
00:19:41
description gaster had spent most of his
00:19:43
free time looking for the famous or nice
00:19:50
to meet you have a seat thank you when
00:19:52
his health began to fail he contacted
00:19:54
two other prospectors one of them was
00:19:57
Bob Corbin the Attorney General of
00:19:59
Arizona this is a map to the area where
00:20:02
I have my camp he wanted to get together
00:20:04
with me
00:20:05
so that we could perhaps go with him and
00:20:06
continue looking for the mine and with
00:20:09
his directions after he had died and he
00:20:11
gave me his notes as well as a map as to
00:20:13
where his camp was and where he believed
00:20:16
the mine to be that's a good location
00:20:18
there could be there
00:20:20
two months later gaster called Bob's
00:20:22
partner Tom
00:20:23
a local historian Gasper was excited and
00:20:27
claimed that he had finally located the
00:20:29
Dutchman's mine
00:20:30
Wang gas recalled me on Sunday evening
00:20:33
he said I'm going to the mine I know
00:20:36
exactly where it is you and Corbin have
00:20:39
to go
00:20:39
I just can't possibly break away in the
00:20:41
morning I could if you just give me a
00:20:43
little bit of notice I'd sure want to go
00:20:45
in with you he said no I can't wait any
00:20:47
longer
00:20:47
I'm going to it I'll see you when I get
00:20:50
back but I'm leaving in the morning
00:20:54
Walt gasps Lee was convinced that the
00:20:57
mine existed from the clues that he had
00:20:59
some of those clues he would not reveal
00:21:02
and the next morning his wife took him
00:21:05
out to the trailhead and dropped him off
00:21:06
see in three days
00:21:08
Walt hiked alone into the superstitions
00:21:11
never to be seen alive again three days
00:21:16
later he was found dead by Ranch Hand
00:21:18
Don shade an autopsy proved he had died
00:21:21
of a heart attack I don't have the
00:21:24
license to talk like a coroner I thought
00:21:28
he was dead probably two to three days
00:21:30
he looked to me like a nice little old
00:21:33
man that found a lovely place to give up
00:21:36
the ghost Tom Horn yes I'm rolling one
00:21:43
month after walls of death Tom Cullen
00:21:44
born had a surprising visitor this man
00:21:47
came over to my house any say was rollin
00:21:49
ghastly Walt gasps first son and we were
00:21:53
talking a few minutes he says well you
00:21:54
know my dad found the Lost Dutchman in
00:21:56
the superstitions and he got out of
00:21:58
commission go talk to me boy that stuff
00:22:00
really looks good it looked very similar
00:22:02
to the gold that allegedly came out of
00:22:05
the Lost Dutchman mine where'd this come
00:22:07
from came right straight out of my dad's
00:22:09
backpack Bob Corbin told me that you had
00:22:13
a map that belonged to my dad I wonder
00:22:15
if you'd let me have it well I don't
00:22:17
have the map anymore but I do have your
00:22:20
dad's manuscript apparently what really
00:22:24
had found the lost mine and his son
00:22:27
Roland planned to use the map and notes
00:22:29
to retrace his father's steps well I
00:22:32
knew that you'd be interested
00:22:33
want to thank you for all right okay two
00:22:41
months later as time was finishing a
00:22:42
slight lecture he was approached by
00:22:44
another stranger who claimed he was
00:22:46
rollin gas ler Walt's son mr. Colin born
00:22:49
yes I'm rollin Dassler I've been wanting
00:22:52
meet you for a long time now well I'm
00:22:54
sure I met several rollin yassir's lady
00:22:55
Walt cows and I think my jaw dropped 10
00:22:58
foot to the ground cause it wasn't the
00:22:59
same guy I said I ought to ask you for
00:23:01
driver's license or somethin I said
00:23:02
here's the second roll in gas ler I run
00:23:04
into in the last couple of months
00:23:06
sure looks like you're rolling gasoline
00:23:09
yes sir
00:23:09
after meeting to rolling gas lers I
00:23:12
wondered who was really rolling gas
00:23:14
lured who was the first man who claimed
00:23:17
to be rolling gas ler it appeared that
00:23:20
he was an impostor who needed Walt's
00:23:22
maps so he could search for himself rich
00:23:25
but how would he gotten hold of the gold
00:23:27
or sample when won't die the share of
00:23:31
support listed a backpack among Walt's
00:23:33
belongings but the real rowland gasser
00:23:35
never received it Don Schade
00:23:38
the man who found Walt's body also
00:23:40
remembered seeing the backpack and he
00:23:42
said that there was a stranger in the
00:23:44
area there was another man in the area
00:23:47
at the time one tom Colin born later
00:23:50
gave us a description of the man that
00:23:53
came to him and showed him some gold
00:23:56
that jived up with the man that we saw
00:24:00
in here
00:24:01
some believe that the fake Roland gasner
00:24:04
may have been in the mountains when Walt
00:24:05
died and stolen the backpack with his
00:24:08
precious or I like to believe walked out
00:24:11
that he spent so many years looking for
00:24:13
it and the last thing he would have done
00:24:15
in his life before he died would have
00:24:16
found the mind I'd like to believe that
00:24:19
when Jacob waltz died he left the trunk
00:24:22
of or a list of clues and a legend of
00:24:25
lost treasure which has captured the
00:24:27
dreams of three generations I have good
00:24:30
reason to believe that the Dutchman's
00:24:32
legend could be true I've seen the ore
00:24:34
that was under his bed when he died I've
00:24:36
seen the assay report on it at a jewelry
00:24:39
store in Phoenix which did exist at that
00:24:41
time
00:24:41
and at today's gold prices that ore
00:24:43
would be worth over 2.2 million dollars
00:24:46
a ton it's a richest gold ore I've ever
00:24:48
seen in my life and I've seen a lot of
00:24:50
gold ore it could have been gassers
00:24:54
[Music]
00:24:55
the Department of the Interior
00:24:57
reclassify the Superstition Mountains as
00:24:59
a federally owned wilderness area and if
00:25:03
the mine were found all the gold would
00:25:05
have to be surrendered to the government
00:25:08
but this does not deter Tom Collin
00:25:10
Bourne and Bob Corbin for them the
00:25:13
search for the Lost Dutchman mine is a
00:25:15
fascinating mystery and a tradition that
00:25:17
keeps alive one of the most enduring
00:25:19
legends of the American Southwest in a
00:25:25
moment the story of two lovers who met
00:25:27
secretly deep in the swamps of Louisiana
00:25:29
30 years ago
00:25:31
their illicit romance ended in murder
00:25:37
[Music]
00:25:51
the Louisiana bayou country surrounded
00:25:55
by humid swampland lies Lake
00:25:57
Pontchartrain just west of New Orleans
00:26:00
November 24th 1956 at 9:00 a.m. on this
00:26:05
chill Saturday morning a local hunter
00:26:07
and his young son unintentionally
00:26:09
surprised a pair of lovebirds in an
00:26:10
isolated area known as friend near Beach
00:26:18
[Music]
00:26:23
the next morning the two passed by the
00:26:26
same spot and made a grisly discovery
00:26:28
the manly had surprised the day before
00:26:31
lay dead of a gunshot wound in the front
00:26:33
seat of the car
00:26:34
the woman was nowhere to be seen the
00:26:38
victim was identified as Thomas Howe
00:26:39
tarde a 46 year old engineer from nearby
00:26:42
Laplace authorities later determined
00:26:45
that the woman who had been with him the
00:26:47
day before was 31 year old Audrey moat a
00:26:50
divorced mother of three she has not
00:26:53
been seen for 32 years
00:26:56
this was probably the largest case that
00:26:59
ever hit the area it was all over New
00:27:01
Orleans it was all over Baton Rouge
00:27:03
everybody was talking about and they all
00:27:05
wanted to know where's the woman where
00:27:07
did she disappear why did she disappear
00:27:09
did they kill it did they bury Hill
00:27:11
Party did they throw her in a lake three
00:27:13
months before this happened my mother
00:27:15
told my grandmother there anything
00:27:18
happens to me take the kids and get as
00:27:20
far away from here as possible why would
00:27:22
a 30 year old 31 year old woman in 1956
00:27:26
and a environmentally crime-free area
00:27:30
say this three decades ago the case of
00:27:34
Thomas ho tart not remote was one of the
00:27:36
most publicized and sensational stories
00:27:38
of modern Louisiana history the case
00:27:41
still provokes discussions among the
00:27:42
old-timers in the area most of those
00:27:45
involved in the initial investigation
00:27:46
have since passed away but the mystery
00:27:49
of the incident at frontier Beach has
00:27:51
remained a baffle the next generation
00:27:54
the newspaper obituaries in 1956
00:27:58
described Thomas Howe Todd is a quiet
00:28:00
hard-working family man active in the
00:28:02
church and with the Boy Scouts he worked
00:28:05
for a local chemical company it was here
00:28:08
in 1952 that he met Audrey moat
00:28:11
[Music]
00:28:13
[Applause]
00:28:17
Audrey was a recently divorced mother 15
00:28:20
years younger than ho time in addition
00:28:23
to their work the two shared interests
00:28:25
in Scouting were often seen together in
00:28:27
town organizing their troops activities
00:28:29
[Music]
00:28:31
my mother was a woman that was way ahead
00:28:34
of her time she was a single parent in
00:28:36
56 and she was the kind of woman that
00:28:40
was very loving very giving perhaps she
00:28:44
was the best friend I ever had
00:28:45
[Music]
00:28:50
even though Thomas was married he and
00:28:52
Auggie fell in love but their romance
00:28:55
was a deeply held secret Audrey told her
00:28:58
family that she had to work every
00:29:00
Saturday it was alive but two years
00:29:03
Thomas Howe Todd kept the same schedule
00:29:05
telling his wife that he too was working
00:29:07
on Saturdays unbeknownst to both their
00:29:10
families Howe Todd and Audrey spent
00:29:12
these stolen days together I remember we
00:29:20
used to go together he was there on my
00:29:24
birthday's I thought they were friends I
00:29:27
didn't realize they were lovers um I
00:29:30
found out later whenever the newspaper
00:29:32
accounts I just thought they were
00:29:33
friends on Saturday November 25th Thomas
00:29:37
and Audrey met and applause around 7:30
00:29:39
a.m.
00:29:40
then drove together to the secluded
00:29:42
Lovers Lane with the edge of Lake
00:29:44
Pontchartrain speed and slow rock by me
00:29:51
to and fro ironically that son of news
00:29:55
Audrey's birthday it is a special day
00:29:58
that was to end in tragedy police later
00:30:01
estimated that by mornings and Thomas
00:30:03
who thought had been shot to death an
00:30:05
Audrey moat had vanished forever
00:30:08
[Music]
00:30:14
[Music]
00:30:26
when the hunter made his grim discovery
00:30:28
the next morning he went straight to
00:30:31
Percy a bear and the sheriff of st. John
00:30:32
the Baptist Parish a bear was a first to
00:30:36
arrive at the scene Oh Todd had been
00:30:41
killed by a single shot from a 16-gauge
00:30:43
shotgun fired a point-blank range
00:30:45
through a side window at first Sheriff a
00:30:49
bear thought that the missing woman had
00:30:51
probably killed Howe Todd in a lover's
00:30:53
spat
00:30:54
however once he began to investigate the
00:30:57
crime scene he made some unusual
00:30:59
discoveries scattered on the ground with
00:31:04
a partial contents of a woman's purse
00:31:07
inside the car he found the car keys
00:31:09
still in the ignition and women's
00:31:11
clothes crumpled on the floorboard from
00:31:15
the articles of clothing that were found
00:31:16
in the car the only thing she could have
00:31:18
been wearing was a bronze lip her
00:31:20
sweater her underwear her stockings her
00:31:22
shoes skirt all that was in the car
00:31:26
the car had the bed made down in it in
00:31:29
other words it was one of those old
00:31:30
Nash's that had a bed that could be
00:31:31
folded down the evidence indicates that
00:31:35
they were probably in the act of making
00:31:37
love when the murder occurred it
00:31:41
appeared that the woman had tried to
00:31:42
flee spilling the contents of her purse
00:31:44
on the process 50 yards from her tards
00:31:48
car a bear found a pair of footprints
00:31:50
made by small bear feet probably
00:31:53
Audrey's just behind them was a print of
00:31:56
a man's heavy boot five feet away was an
00:31:59
area where it appeared a scuffle had
00:32:01
taken place and a set of car keys was
00:32:03
discovered there was no other physical
00:32:06
evidence and no indication that the
00:32:08
murder had an accomplice
00:32:10
significantly the woman's purse itself
00:32:13
was never found it was not until 10
00:32:16
hours later that the authorities decided
00:32:18
the missing woman
00:32:19
definitely was Audrey moat
00:32:31
at 7:30 that same Saturday night Sheriff
00:32:34
a bear found Audrey's car parked next to
00:32:36
the cafe where she had met Haute are the
00:32:42
keys found at the crime scene fit the
00:32:44
ignition in a box on the back seat he
00:32:48
found the verses of a song from a music
00:32:50
of the King Anand handwritten by Audrey
00:32:52
on a small file card it read like an
00:32:55
obituary for her secret lost love affair
00:32:58
[Music]
00:32:59
we kiss in the shadows we hide from the
00:33:03
moon our meetings are few and over too
00:33:07
soon we speak English afraid to be heard
00:33:11
when people are near we speak not a word
00:33:20
this was quite a scandal it was quite a
00:33:22
shock to this sleepy little town total
00:33:24
cost Pike in 1956 everybody was buzzing
00:33:28
was talking about it they all had their
00:33:30
own theory of what happened they all had
00:33:33
idea of who could have committed the
00:33:35
murder they all had an idea of where
00:33:37
Audrey moat was and they all wanted to
00:33:41
help the sheriff because they saw a
00:33:43
woman answering that description going
00:33:45
door-to-door and all kinds of confusion
00:33:47
believe me confusion reigned supreme
00:33:50
apart that time on December 6th two
00:33:56
weeks after the disappearance
00:33:57
Audrey's former mother-in-law received a
00:33:59
strange phone call perhaps Audrey was
00:34:02
still alive hello Audrey Audrey is that
00:34:09
you Audrey Audrey Audrey then a waitress
00:34:18
in New Orleans reported that she had
00:34:19
seen Audrey at her restaurant around the
00:34:21
same time that mrs. mote received the
00:34:23
phone call
00:34:25
now the waitress said she recognized
00:34:28
Audrey from seeing her picture in the
00:34:29
paper
00:34:30
Audrey appeared to be very tired and a
00:34:33
clothes were shabby
00:34:35
Audrey then left the restaurant when she
00:34:37
realized the waitress was watching her
00:34:39
this is a last reported sighting of
00:34:42
Audrey moat I couldn't let myself
00:34:47
believe she was gone
00:34:49
I kept think she'd walk through the door
00:34:51
I couldn't relate to mr. Howe to her
00:34:55
being dead at all that didn't register
00:34:58
but my mother not coming back I thought
00:35:02
they were both lying to me
00:35:03
I just couldn't accept it as the years
00:35:08
went by the sensational story slipped
00:35:10
slowly from the headlines and eventually
00:35:12
disappeared from the newspapers
00:35:15
the murder of Thomas hotel the
00:35:17
disappearance of Audrey moat soon became
00:35:19
an obscure footnote in Louisiana
00:35:21
folklore until the case was suddenly
00:35:23
revived more than 20 years later in 1980
00:35:29
a sick and ailing old man told his
00:35:31
family that he knew what happened to odd
00:35:33
remote you remember that Holt our fella
00:35:37
what got killed in the swamp and a big
00:35:40
search for everybody looking around
00:35:41
never did find out who killed him and
00:35:44
the moat woman what they never found
00:35:48
nothing I don't know several months
00:35:53
before he died Ernest Acosta made a
00:35:55
startling confession he claimed that his
00:35:58
common-law wife at the time caroline
00:36:00
Slusher had murdered both thomas ho Todd
00:36:03
and Audrey moat and that he had helped
00:36:06
her dispose of the bodies Caroline died
00:36:09
in 1979 and it was Caroline what shot
00:36:13
both those two
00:36:16
[Music]
00:36:19
a costume slasher lived on the edge of
00:36:21
the swamp less than a mile from the
00:36:24
friend near beach murder site
00:36:25
both had surly reputations an Acosta was
00:36:29
known to sit in his front yard and take
00:36:31
potshots at any passers-by the strayed
00:36:33
too close to the house my father was a
00:36:38
very mean person he had no respect for
00:36:41
nobody and if you would come up to him
00:36:45
and ask him anything
00:36:47
he wouldn't answer you he would grab the
00:36:49
gun show it to you and then tell you
00:36:53
what the hell you want and then if he
00:36:58
didn't like what you wanted or what you
00:37:00
said he would tell you hit the road jack
00:37:05
Caroline was in the same manner she
00:37:08
slept with a gun underneath her pillow
00:37:10
at all times
00:37:11
and she was another person that the gun
00:37:15
would come first she would ask questions
00:37:19
later because next week I don't want
00:37:21
them kids here I don't want him around I
00:37:22
don't want him underfoot next week no I
00:37:26
don't want they were the perfect pair
00:37:28
they were two of a kind
00:37:31
and they loved
00:37:39
[Music]
00:37:44
Marvel Corona claims to know of at least
00:37:46
two occasions when ho Todd and Audrey
00:37:48
came to the house
00:37:50
both times he apparently argued with
00:37:53
Caroline but no one knows why
00:37:57
my father said that they knew something
00:38:01
about mrs. Caroline Slusher what you
00:38:05
want here ho tog what they knew I do not
00:38:08
know we got nothing to talk about boa
00:38:10
I'm Miss Caroline but I'm talking to him
00:38:12
mrs. notes was related to mrs. lush some
00:38:17
kind of way right make sure this is the
00:38:19
last time boy
00:38:20
come on and you better watch your
00:38:23
manners and don't talk that trash
00:38:25
talking my house the night before the
00:38:27
body was found
00:38:28
Marvel says her father was away visiting
00:38:30
his children
00:38:32
apparently Caroline phoned him and he
00:38:34
rushed home
00:38:39
[Music]
00:38:45
Acosta told his daughter that both ho
00:38:48
Todd and moat had actually been killed
00:38:50
by Caroline in the house he claimed that
00:38:53
he in the neighbor carried her tarts
00:38:55
body back to friend near Beach and
00:38:57
placed it in the car
00:38:59
they then tied Audrey's body to an old
00:39:02
Civil War cannon and dumped it in the
00:39:04
swamp I told him I said daddy how could
00:39:10
you all have killed mrs. moats and mr.
00:39:14
warthog
00:39:14
because mr. Hattori was killed in the
00:39:18
car he said believe what you want to
00:39:21
believe I'm telling you what happened
00:39:24
I brought Miss Corona to the sheriff's
00:39:29
office and she was given a lie-detector
00:39:31
test on everything that she said and she
00:39:35
passed it it said that she was telling
00:39:37
the truth
00:39:39
Wayne Norwood joined the Sheriff's
00:39:41
Department as st. John the Baptist
00:39:43
Parish in 1983 he heard about the ho
00:39:46
tarde moot case and became intrigued by
00:39:49
it for the past five years is conducted
00:39:52
an unofficial investigation on his own
00:39:54
time right on the other side of the
00:39:58
track right the edge of the swamp is
00:39:59
where the old Acosta house used to be
00:40:01
and according to miss more Vale about
00:40:03
where you see the big Cypress stump it's
00:40:07
about where the cannon used to set and
00:40:09
we hope to go back in there a little
00:40:11
later on when the water goes down and do
00:40:13
some more diving hopefully we'll find
00:40:15
something there Wayne Norwood is
00:40:18
convinced Audrey's body was indeed
00:40:19
thrown into the swamp tied to a cannon
00:40:21
and he has combed the area with a metal
00:40:24
detector but he believes Acosta may have
00:40:27
warped the truth when he told his
00:40:29
daughter the other crucial details of
00:40:31
that night mr. Koster said that his wife
00:40:36
had actually done the killing and that
00:40:39
he had helped hide the body but this is
00:40:42
one of the things that I disagree with I
00:40:44
think that this was his way of telling
00:40:48
what had happened but not laying the
00:40:51
kids know that he actually did the
00:40:53
murder just relieving his conscience I
00:40:55
think this was his way of doing it
00:40:58
I would imagine since he watched the the
00:41:05
area back there real close and he run
00:41:07
hunters off all the time that he had to
00:41:10
know what was going on because the
00:41:11
people had seen this automobile and a
00:41:14
man and woman parked back there every
00:41:17
Saturday just like clockwork
00:41:21
[Music]
00:41:27
my theory is that he had been watching
00:41:31
them and this particular time that he
00:41:33
was watching them and probably got
00:41:36
excited I think it was a sex crime
00:41:39
[Music]
00:41:58
I had to be sheer panic
00:42:04
it had to be intense fear to watch your
00:42:10
lover get his head blown off and then
00:42:13
fear for your own life I'm sure he only
00:42:22
lived about a mile from the murder scene
00:42:25
there were no tire marks according to
00:42:28
the investigation and he only had to
00:42:33
take her about a mile to the house so
00:42:36
this would be why there was no tracks
00:42:38
and a quick disappearance
00:42:41
[Music]
00:42:48
the scene of the crime has changed
00:42:51
considerably since that tragic Saturday
00:42:53
morning in 1956 the actual spot where
00:42:57
Thomas wrote art died is not 100 yards
00:42:59
offshore reclaimed by the waters of Lake
00:43:02
Pontchartrain an Audrey moat her fate
00:43:06
remains a mystery hidden in the murky
00:43:08
swamp surrounding the lake I think it's
00:43:14
always gonna be in the back of my mind
00:43:16
in in my heart to want to know what
00:43:21
happened I hope that whatever happened
00:43:27
that it was quick that she didn't suffer
00:43:31
but she wasn't put through a lot but I
00:43:35
need to know
00:43:37
[Music]
00:43:56
for every mystery there is someone
00:43:58
somewhere who knows the truth perhaps
00:44:01
that someone was watching perhaps
00:44:03
[Music]
00:44:30
[Applause]
00:44:34
[Music]
