00:00:00
[Music]
00:00:05
Next on Unsolved Mysteries, when a
00:00:08
17-year-old goes hunting in the woods,
00:00:10
he doesn't realize that someone is
00:00:13
hunting
00:00:15
him. She was America's first lady of
00:00:17
flight until her fatal plane crash in
00:00:20
the South Pacific.
00:00:22
New evidence suggests that Amelia
00:00:24
Heheart was
00:00:26
executed on a remote island.
00:00:29
Don't turn around or I'll kill you. A
00:00:31
gunman steals almost a quarter of a
00:00:33
million dollars from a
00:00:35
casino. But then the victims become the
00:00:39
suspects. A shootout in a bar. Two
00:00:42
police officers are ambushed by a crazed
00:00:45
excon. The gunplay turns deadly.
00:00:49
[Music]
00:00:51
Cunning, deceit, and lies. Can you
00:00:54
figure out who's telling the truth? I'm
00:00:57
Dennis Fina, and this is Unsolved
00:00:59
Mysteries. Join us.
00:01:15
[Music]
00:01:22
[Music]
00:01:37
Mosquite, Nevada, 80 miles from Vegas. I
00:01:41
didn't think that he was going to leave
00:01:43
any witnesses. I really didn't. and he
00:01:45
had the perfect opportunity to kill us
00:01:47
and leave us. This man, who we'll call
00:01:50
Jim, says that he was the victim of an
00:01:53
armed robbery. The FBI, however,
00:01:56
considers Jim a
00:02:00
suspect. Jim worked as a security guard
00:02:03
at a local casino in
00:02:07
Nevada. One summer day, he and the
00:02:10
assistant cage manager picked up the
00:02:11
payroll money at the local bank.
00:02:15
then headed back to the casino. How's
00:02:18
the baby doing? He's doing good. He's
00:02:20
sleeping through the night. I've only
00:02:22
had two bad nights so far. Oh, don't
00:02:24
make any sudden moves.
00:02:27
Shut up. Don't say nothing. Don't Wait a
00:02:29
minute. You make any moves and I'm going
00:02:31
to kill this girl next to you.
00:02:34
Just shut up. Don't turn around or I'll
00:02:37
kill you. I said look I looked to the
00:02:38
rearview mirror to see what was going on
00:02:40
back there and he said if I did that
00:02:42
again he was going to blow her brains
00:02:44
out right then. And with your left hand
00:02:47
take your gun out and throw it on the
00:02:49
ground. Take your walkie-talkie and
00:02:52
throw it on the ground, too. Don't turn
00:02:54
around.
00:02:56
Jim was ordered to drive to a deserted
00:02:58
area outside of town. Don't turn around.
00:03:01
Keep your hands up. You know what's
00:03:03
going to happen. You're just waiting to
00:03:05
catch a bullet and you can feel it.
00:03:07
You're just waiting to.
00:03:10
The gunman left without hurting either
00:03:12
one of them, but he got away with nearly
00:03:14
a quarter of a million dollars in
00:03:16
unmarked
00:03:18
bills. From the beginning, authorities
00:03:21
believe that the robbery was an inside
00:03:23
job. Everyone at the casino became a
00:03:26
suspect. Not surprisingly, Jim and the
00:03:29
assistant cage manager were at the top
00:03:32
of the list.
00:03:34
Investigators soon discovered that a
00:03:37
number of unusual things happened on the
00:03:39
day of the
00:03:40
robbery. First, the cage manager and the
00:03:44
security chief who normally did the bank
00:03:46
runs didn't do them that
00:03:49
day. Second, the assistant cage manager
00:03:52
decided to make the bank run 2 hours
00:03:56
early. Third, this was Jim's first time
00:04:00
doing payroll duty.
00:04:03
And finally, the van they drove was not
00:04:05
the one they normally used.
00:04:09
So the question came up, how was the
00:04:11
robber going to be so sure that this was
00:04:13
going to be the day that that van was
00:04:15
going to make that run? Too much
00:04:17
coincidence. Too many times. Too many
00:04:20
things fell into place. Too many things
00:04:22
happened right in this thing. Somebody,
00:04:25
in my opinion, gave him some
00:04:26
information.
00:04:29
We still had
00:04:31
inconsistencies with both of the
00:04:33
accounts of the teller and the security
00:04:37
officer. Things that just didn't make
00:04:39
sense. He even asked me at one time,
00:04:41
"Why didn't you slam on the brakes?"
00:04:43
It's a big van. They don't lock up like
00:04:46
they do in the movies. You don't click
00:04:48
your radio on like they do in the movies
00:04:50
and everything goes smooth and everybody
00:04:51
hears where you're at and what's going
00:04:52
on. Don't talk. There was no way I could
00:04:56
reach over and key that mic without him
00:04:58
knowing about it. Every time that he saw
00:05:00
me trying to get a description of him,
00:05:02
he would tell me that he was going to
00:05:03
kill us if I did that again. And I
00:05:05
didn't want to take that chance.
00:05:10
An hour after the robbery, police found
00:05:13
the van. It was parked about a mile
00:05:15
south of the spot where the gunman had
00:05:17
dumped Jim and the assistant cage
00:05:19
manager. Jim's gun and radio were
00:05:22
missing. coming back from the van,
00:05:23
walking around the back to the side.
00:05:25
Police took plaster casts of footprints
00:05:26
and tire prints that indicated the
00:05:29
robber walked from the van to another
00:05:31
vehicle and drove away.
00:05:34
Despite a thorough investigation, the
00:05:36
police couldn't tie any casino employee
00:05:39
to the robbery.
00:05:41
But then they got lucky. About a month
00:05:44
and a half after the crime, uh, the
00:05:46
Mosquite police were following a simple
00:05:49
domestic dispute call in Mosquite,
00:05:52
Nevada. There was a gun involved in the
00:05:54
dispute, and it turned out that that gun
00:05:57
was in fact the security officer's
00:05:59
weapon that was stolen during the
00:06:01
robbery.
00:06:03
The man in the domestic dispute was
00:06:05
ruled out as a robbery suspect. So, the
00:06:08
FBI turned to the man who sold him the
00:06:11
gun.
00:06:12
His name was Luis Oawa, the owner of a
00:06:17
local pizza parlor. He was nervous and
00:06:19
defensive from the very beginning. Mr.
00:06:21
Oawa, would it be okay if we go inside
00:06:22
and have a talk here? Actually, it's
00:06:25
okay. We We can talk out here. He didn't
00:06:28
want us to come in the pizza shop. We
00:06:30
found that a little bit odd. He
00:06:32
immediately set our alerts off that he
00:06:36
didn't want us to be there and he really
00:06:37
didn't want to talk to us. I didn't sell
00:06:39
anybody any gun. I don't know nothing
00:06:41
about any guns. I don't know nothing
00:06:43
about the robbery. I'm in the pizza
00:06:45
business, guys. I'm not in the gun
00:06:47
business. It was probably a great stroke
00:06:50
of luck for us that he kept us outside
00:06:52
because we were standing by the pickup
00:06:54
truck. We're here doing our
00:06:56
investigation. During the month and a
00:06:57
half after this robbery, I sat and I
00:07:00
looked at this plaster casting of a tire
00:07:03
print until my eyes were going to fall
00:07:06
out. I knew what the tire print looked
00:07:08
like.
00:07:10
I looked down at the tires on his truck
00:07:13
and they matched.
00:07:17
The FBI searched OOA's house and found
00:07:20
$5,000 in $100 bills tucked inside the
00:07:23
toe of a cowboy boot. Bring me an
00:07:25
evidence bag. In OOA's truck, they also
00:07:29
found a
00:07:30
bullet. It was the same kind used in
00:07:33
Jim's gun.
00:07:36
As the searches were going on, Mr. Mr.
00:07:38
AO was in fact with an attorney and they
00:07:41
were making arrangements to come and
00:07:42
meet with myself to discuss Mr.
00:07:47
Ato's involvement in the case and
00:07:50
possibly his accompllices. Things were
00:07:52
starting to unravel very quickly for
00:07:54
him. And I think at that point Luis
00:07:56
decided it was time to get out of dodge.
00:08:00
And that's exactly what Luis Ooa did. He
00:08:03
left town. The FBI charged them with
00:08:06
robbery and
00:08:07
[Music]
00:08:10
kidnapping
00:08:13
update. Authorities captured Luis Ooa in
00:08:16
Los Angeles. The evidence was
00:08:19
insufficient to convict him of robbery,
00:08:21
but he plead guilty to a lesser charge
00:08:24
of money laundering. He served 3 months
00:08:27
and was
00:08:28
released. So far, no one else has been
00:08:32
charged.
00:08:33
Coming up, a routine call sends two
00:08:36
policemen into a barrage of
00:08:48
gunfire. Greenville, South
00:08:51
Carolina. Two gunmen rob a local grocery
00:08:54
store. The mastermind is a convicted
00:08:56
armed robber named Sam Watkkey. His
00:08:59
19-year-old son, Richard, waits in the
00:09:02
getaway
00:09:04
car. Grocery store clerks immediately
00:09:07
call the
00:09:09
police. Squad cars quickly close in.
00:09:16
Two officers try to set up a roadblock,
00:09:18
but before they can get into position,
00:09:24
[Music]
00:09:27
hit arrives too late. 47year-old Valvin
00:09:31
Keith, the father of four, is dead.
00:09:36
Within 48 hours, police have arrested
00:09:38
all three suspects.
00:09:42
As the shooter, ring leader, and gunman,
00:09:45
Sam Watkkey is convicted of first-degree
00:09:47
murder and sentenced to life in prison.
00:09:50
We were leaving the courthouse and he
00:09:53
grinned at me and and he said, you know,
00:09:55
he said, "Life isn't nothing." He said,
00:09:57
you know, I'm going to get out. Uh he
00:10:00
was very confident about it.
00:10:03
More than 8 years later, Watkkey did
00:10:05
just that. He and another inmate used
00:10:08
the stolen hacksaw to cut their way to
00:10:12
[Music]
00:10:15
freedom. Just a few minutes before the
00:10:17
evening headcount, Watkkey and his
00:10:20
accomplice drove through the prison
00:10:21
gates and
00:10:24
[Music]
00:10:26
disappeared.
00:10:28
Update: Watkkey remained at large for
00:10:31
more than 2 years. But on the night of
00:10:33
our broadcast, an Unsolved Mysteries
00:10:36
viewer saw the story and called the
00:10:38
police. She told them that a man she
00:10:40
knew as Michael Alman looked exactly
00:10:44
like Sam Watkkey.
00:10:46
We were able to track
00:10:48
down driver's license information on a
00:10:51
nationwide driver's license search that
00:10:53
eventually led to Louisiana.
00:10:56
We called Louisiana authorities and they
00:10:59
faxed us photos of a Louisiana driver's
00:11:02
license for Michael Alman. And as soon
00:11:03
as they came across the wire, we knew it
00:11:05
was Sam Watkkey.
00:11:07
Louisiana State Police tracked Watkkey
00:11:10
to the flop house where he was staying.
00:11:13
They used distraction devices,
00:11:15
flashbangs, and were instantly into the
00:11:17
room with a fully armed and and uh ready
00:11:20
SWAT team. He had no opportunity to
00:11:22
resist at all. Prison officials were
00:11:24
notified immediately. He said, "Mr.
00:11:27
Corbett, I hate to wake you up so early
00:11:28
in the morning, but I got some good news
00:11:30
for you." I said, "We'll put it on me."
00:11:32
He said, "We got him." Happy to be back
00:11:34
in South Carolina. Just love, man. I
00:11:36
love it here. Sam Watkkey was sent back
00:11:38
to a South Carolina prison to serve out
00:11:41
his life term, plus 3 years for his
00:11:44
escape. He has since died of a heart
00:11:47
attack. Did you see the story on
00:11:49
Unsolved Mysteries on you? No, I didn't.
00:11:51
Missed it.
00:11:55
In the Wild West, a bad guy can simply
00:11:58
hight tail it out of town and have a
00:12:00
very good chance of never getting
00:12:02
caught. Today, criminals still figure
00:12:05
that they can simply leave town and hide
00:12:07
behind an alias and get away
00:12:10
scot-free, but it ain't necessarily so.
00:12:16
Albuquerque, New Mexico.
00:12:19
I've been hit.
00:12:21
10:25 p.m.
00:12:29
We hit twice. We're real bad in the arm.
00:12:33
332.
00:12:35
[Music]
00:12:37
Police units respond to the most urgent
00:12:39
of all emergency calls. An officer is
00:12:43
down. I knew I was losing a lot of blood
00:12:46
and it was getting hard to breathe
00:12:48
because of the wound in my side in my uh
00:12:50
left lung area.
00:12:53
Vic Web had been a policeman in
00:12:55
Albuquerque for 5 years. This incident
00:12:58
was the first time that he had ever
00:13:00
fired his gun on duty. What happened?
00:13:04
During the shootout, Webb was struck
00:13:06
twice. Without the rapid response of his
00:13:08
fellow officers, he would almost
00:13:11
certainly have died.
00:13:17
The evening started when officer Rick
00:13:20
Foley sat down at the police crime
00:13:22
computer. He discovered that a woman he
00:13:24
wanted to question happened to have an
00:13:26
outstanding arrest warrant. I was going
00:13:28
to check on an outstanding bench
00:13:30
warrant, please. An informant told Foley
00:13:32
that the woman hung out at a local bar
00:13:34
called Gary's Game Room. Foley and Vic
00:13:37
Webb arrived at around 1000 p.m. Another
00:13:40
bench warrant. Yeah. They didn't usually
00:13:42
work together, but Webb had volunteered
00:13:45
to help Foley serve the warrant.
00:13:50
When we walked in, we noticed some
00:13:51
people sitting at a bar off to the left
00:13:54
and uh a couple of people playing pool.
00:13:56
You guys need some help with something?
00:13:58
Just looking towards the back of the
00:14:00
room, there was a uh dark hallway. So,
00:14:03
we decided to move towards the back and
00:14:04
take a look.
00:14:06
[Music]
00:14:11
Drop your
00:14:13
guns. Get to me now.
00:14:17
This was a situation where we were
00:14:19
caught absolutely cold and here was a
00:14:22
guy pointing a gun at us demanding our
00:14:24
weapons. I'd been out of the academy for
00:14:27
approximately a year and a half, 2
00:14:29
years. My first thoughts were, I
00:14:32
couldn't believe this was happening to
00:14:34
me. Go
00:14:35
ahead.
00:14:38
His first round hit me in the side. I
00:14:42
was wearing a uh a bulletproof vest at
00:14:44
the time, but this round went in between
00:14:46
the two panels on my side and um entered
00:14:48
the rib
00:14:50
area. The first shot broke two ribs, but
00:14:53
Officer Webb managed to pull his own
00:14:55
weapon and returned fire.
00:15:00
We were probably about 3 ft apart at
00:15:02
this time, but he was on one side of the
00:15:04
wall and I was on the other side.
00:15:07
I had fired five to six rounds by this
00:15:09
time and he was continuing to fire back
00:15:12
through the
00:15:16
sheetrock. A bullet ripped through Web's
00:15:18
right arm, severing an artery and
00:15:20
destroying nerves. His shooting hand was
00:15:23
now
00:15:25
useless. Badly hurt, Web staggered
00:15:29
outside. The suspect picked up Web's gun
00:15:33
and used it to make his escape.
00:15:39
The alleged asalent was later identified
00:15:42
as Lyall Moody, a parrolled armed robber
00:15:45
with a criminal record stretching back
00:15:47
17 years.
00:15:50
I would hope that the police officers
00:15:52
who run across him the next time know
00:15:54
who he is and know how dedicated he is
00:15:56
to not going back to uh to prison.
00:16:00
My fear is that he's going to be
00:16:02
cornered by some other officers who may
00:16:04
not know who he is and uh more police
00:16:07
officers are going to get hurt.
00:16:14
Update. After 18 years on the run, Lyall
00:16:18
Moody was busted for loitering. He was
00:16:21
hanging around a building in New York
00:16:22
City known for drug deals. Moody gave
00:16:25
police false identification, but a check
00:16:28
of his fingerprints revealed that he was
00:16:31
a wanted
00:16:32
fugitive. Moody was tried, convicted,
00:16:35
and sentenced to 12 years in prison. He
00:16:38
served his time and has been
00:16:43
released. Coming up, the mysterious
00:16:46
final flight of legendary pilot Amelia
00:16:49
Heheart.
00:16:54
[Music]
00:16:58
During the 30s, Amelia Heheart was one
00:17:01
of the most famous people in the world.
00:17:04
She was the first woman to pilot an
00:17:06
aircraft across the Atlantic. Part
00:17:09
all-American girl, part daredevil. She
00:17:12
was way ahead of her time. A self-
00:17:14
aacing yet outspoking champion of
00:17:17
women's rights. Men or women, a pilot to
00:17:20
pilot. I hope that such equality could
00:17:24
be carried out in other fields so that
00:17:27
men and women may achieve equally in any
00:17:31
endeavor they set out. At the age of 39,
00:17:35
Hehheart planned what was to be her
00:17:37
greatest triumph. She wanted to be the
00:17:40
first person, man or woman, to fly
00:17:42
around the world at the equator, the
00:17:46
longest route around the earth. Hehheart
00:17:48
selected Fred Nunan, a former airline
00:17:51
pilot, to be her
00:17:53
navigator. Well, as it turned out,
00:17:55
Amelia Heheart and Fred Nunan never
00:17:57
completed their flight. History tells us
00:18:00
that they crashed in the South Pacific,
00:18:02
but new eyewitness testimony suggests
00:18:05
that history has it
00:18:09
wrong. Oakland,
00:18:11
California, May 20th, 1937.
00:18:16
Amelia Heheart and Fred Nunan begin
00:18:18
their epic flight. They touched down at
00:18:21
several airports in the United States
00:18:24
and headed to South
00:18:27
America. They continued on to Africa,
00:18:30
Asia, Australia, and finally lie New
00:18:34
Guinea. Amelia and Fred had flown almost
00:18:39
twothirds of the way around the world,
00:18:41
and they had done it fairly quickly. But
00:18:43
after that amount of flying time, they
00:18:46
must have been exhausted. And here they
00:18:47
were facing the most difficult leg of
00:18:49
their flight.
00:18:51
From New Guinea, Amelia and Fred faced a
00:18:54
grueling 18 hours of flying. They also
00:18:57
had to hit a tiny target, Howland
00:19:00
Island. A mile and a half long and a
00:19:02
half a mile wide, Holland rises a mere
00:19:05
20 ft above the sea. It was like trying
00:19:08
to find a speck of dirt in the vast
00:19:10
South Pacific. The difficulty factor on
00:19:15
a scale of 1 to 10. Piloting from Lelay
00:19:19
New Guinea to Howland Island in 1937 in
00:19:22
that aircraft make it a
00:19:25
10. Bad weather delayed them for a day.
00:19:29
But finally on July 2nd at exactly 10:00
00:19:31
a.m. Amelia and Fred took off.
00:19:38
They hoped to land on Howland Island 18
00:19:40
hours
00:19:43
later. So she had the best navigator in
00:19:45
the world sitting beside her, Fred Nan.
00:19:48
She was responsible for running that
00:19:49
airplane. She had to fly the heading.
00:19:51
She had to watch the weather. She had to
00:19:53
watch the fuel flows. She had to watch
00:19:54
the mixtures, the carburetor air, make
00:19:56
sure they weren't getting carburetor
00:19:58
ice. She was responsible for the
00:19:59
airplane maintaining altitude and
00:20:01
maintaining trim.
00:20:06
All these things were constant. Plus,
00:20:08
she had to do the radio
00:20:10
transmissions. Amelia was not competent
00:20:12
where radio was concerned. She would
00:20:15
never take the time to learn properly. I
00:20:19
think it can be honestly said that the
00:20:22
radio was the Achilles heel of that
00:20:25
flight.
00:20:26
It seems incredible, but Amelia's only
00:20:30
link with the world was her
00:20:31
batterypowered radio.
00:20:36
The Coast Guard cutter Itasa was waiting
00:20:39
in the waters around Holland Island.
00:20:41
They were ready to communicate by radio
00:20:44
with Amelia as soon as she came within
00:20:46
range. With a radio bearing, they could
00:20:49
rescue Amelia and Fred if anything went
00:20:52
wrong. For 16 hours, the flight went
00:20:55
smoothly. But then Amelia's lack of
00:20:58
radio experience caused problems.
00:21:02
About 17 hours and 14 minutes into the
00:21:04
flight, now we're really getting to the
00:21:06
critical part. She reports that she's
00:21:09
approximately 200 m out and she wants
00:21:13
them to take a radio bearing on her. And
00:21:16
she whistles into the microphone.
00:21:19
Want bearing on
00:21:21
3105 kily an hour.
00:21:26
[Music]
00:21:30
She stopped whistling. Amelia didn't
00:21:33
whistle long enough to give the Atasca a
00:21:35
constant signal. And what she didn't
00:21:38
understand was that whistling wasn't
00:21:41
necessary. Any 30-cond radio signal
00:21:44
would have been enough. Please repeat
00:21:46
last transmission on
00:21:48
7500. I repeat, they were 19 hours into
00:21:52
the flight and an hour behind schedule.
00:21:55
Amelia and Fred calculated they should
00:21:58
be directly above Howland Island, but
00:22:01
when they looked down, all they saw was
00:22:04
water. Fred, I don't see Howard Island.
00:22:08
I don't know where it is. We should be
00:22:09
right on top of it. It's not on my side.
00:22:12
Something was terribly wrong. Instead of
00:22:16
keeping her radio line open so the Atasa
00:22:18
could help them get back on course,
00:22:20
Amelia stopped her radio transmissions.
00:22:24
On a previous flight, she had overused
00:22:26
the radio and drained her battery. She
00:22:29
did not want to make the same mistake
00:22:32
twice.
00:22:33
They know they've missed the island,
00:22:35
gone past it, but they don't know which
00:22:37
side. They have no way of knowing. They
00:22:39
have to take a radio bearing. So, Amelia
00:22:41
does the only thing she can. 20 hours
00:22:44
and 13 minutes into the flight, Amelia
00:22:46
sends her last message. Her voice is
00:22:48
talking very rapidly and very tense.
00:22:52
-137 will repeat message. We will repeat
00:22:56
this message on 6210.
00:22:59
In her final radio message, Amelia said
00:23:02
she was switching frequencies to 6210
00:23:06
kily. The Atasa couldn't reach her on
00:23:09
that frequency. So they assumed she had
00:23:11
turned her radio to the wrong setting.
00:23:14
Frantically, the Atasaska tried other
00:23:16
frequencies with no luck. Airheart, this
00:23:19
is the Ataska. Come in over. We have an
00:23:21
emergency. Notify all the ships in the
00:23:23
area. Amelia Heheart's plane may be
00:23:25
going down. We may be losing her. That
00:23:27
was the last verified transmission ever
00:23:30
heard from Amelia Heheart and Fred
00:23:31
Nunan. They must have ran out of fuel
00:23:34
and within a minute or two from 1,000 ft
00:23:37
would have had to ditch the airplane
00:23:38
into the
00:23:41
ocean. A search effort began
00:23:43
immediately. 10 ships, 65 planes, and
00:23:48
4,000 men scoured a quarter million
00:23:50
square miles of open ocean around
00:23:53
Holland Island. The search was the
00:23:55
largest in history for a single plane,
00:23:58
and it lasted 16 days. With its gas
00:24:01
tanks empty, the plane would float for
00:24:03
at least 5 hours. Amelia and Fred had
00:24:07
life preservers and a small life raft
00:24:09
equipped with emergency supplies, so
00:24:12
they could have been afloat for days.
00:24:15
But despite the massive search, no trace
00:24:17
of Amelia Heheart, Fred Nan, or the
00:24:20
plane was ever
00:24:22
[Music]
00:24:24
found. The nation was in mourning. A
00:24:27
unique hero was lost.
00:24:32
Next, 7 years after her plane went down,
00:24:35
an eyewitness claims that she saw Amelia
00:24:38
Heheart
00:24:44
alive. Amelia Heheart and Fred Nunan
00:24:47
flew 3/4 of the way around the world,
00:24:50
some 22,000 m. Most accounts say they
00:24:53
ran low on fuel, crashed, and then died
00:24:56
at sea. But eyewitness testimony now
00:24:59
suggests that they both survived.
00:25:03
Most experts believe Amelia went down
00:25:06
somewhere near Holland Island, but
00:25:08
incredibly unconfirmed sightings have
00:25:11
placed Amelia and Fred 2500 m northwest
00:25:15
on the island of
00:25:18
Saipan. At the time, Saipan was
00:25:20
controlled by the Japanese military.
00:25:23
Japan was building an empire and had
00:25:25
begun to extend its reach to islands
00:25:27
across the South
00:25:29
Pacific. But by July of
00:25:32
1944, 7 years after Hehart's plane
00:25:35
vanished, American forces had taken
00:25:38
control of
00:25:39
Saipan. US Army Sergeant Thomas Divine
00:25:42
and his unit were among those stationed
00:25:44
there. Soon after my arrival on the
00:25:48
island, Lieutenant Leebig, who was our
00:25:50
first lieutenant, had secured a jeep and
00:25:54
told me that I was to drive him to Esto
00:25:57
airfield, which was a short distance
00:25:59
away from our bibac area.
00:26:02
Divine and the lieutenant drove along an
00:26:04
isolated road and pulled up in front of
00:26:06
a padlocked aircraft hanger.
00:26:12
I'm sorry, sir. This is a restricted
00:26:14
area. While he waited, Divine overheard
00:26:16
part of a conversation between a group
00:26:19
of Marines. Telling you guys, you know,
00:26:21
we got Amelia Heheart's plane in that
00:26:23
hanger. You guys wouldn't believe it
00:26:25
when we found them. Suddenly, an
00:26:26
official in civilian clothing confronted
00:26:29
the Marines. You people want to knock
00:26:31
off the chatter? I want you to sit down,
00:26:33
do your jobs, and shut up. Do you
00:26:34
understand?
00:26:36
[Music]
00:26:38
Later on that same day, I heard a roar
00:26:42
from the airfield, but we didn't pay too
00:26:45
much attention until suddenly it came
00:26:48
overhead very, very low and you could
00:26:51
see the markings on it. It was not a
00:26:53
military plane. It was a civilian plane.
00:26:56
The marking was very evident.
00:26:59
NR1620. We all looked up. We all
00:27:02
wondered what in the world was going on.
00:27:04
Divine wrote down the ID number. It
00:27:08
matched the number of Amelia Heheart's
00:27:11
[Music]
00:27:13
plane. That same evening, Thomas saw the
00:27:16
plane again, but this time it was on
00:27:20
fire. And I was a guest to see this
00:27:25
plane, the so-called Earheart plane,
00:27:28
engulfed in flames.
00:27:30
I saw that plane personally on three
00:27:33
occasions that day. The last time the
00:27:36
plane was in flames.
00:27:39
Another soldier stationed on Saipan,
00:27:41
former Marine Bob Wallik, also found
00:27:44
evidence that Hehheart had been on the
00:27:46
island. We're looking through some
00:27:49
government looking buildings, brick
00:27:51
buildings. We found this safe. One of
00:27:55
the guys was a demolition person that
00:27:57
knew and he thought he could blow the
00:27:59
door off the safe and we'd have
00:28:02
[Music]
00:28:05
something. No, we thought we're going to
00:28:07
be millionaires, you know. But anyway,
00:28:09
there was a briefcase that I
00:28:11
grabbed and I thought I had it packed
00:28:13
full of money or something like that. To
00:28:16
my surprise, it was something I didn't
00:28:19
expect to see, but it was full of Amelia
00:28:20
Heheart's papers.
00:28:23
Hey Joe, come take a look at this. What
00:28:26
do you got, Wall? Amelia Heheart. What's
00:28:30
this stuff doing here? I may have only
00:28:32
been 18 years old, but I knew I had a
00:28:34
piece of history in my hand. This is
00:28:36
incredible. Wall gave the briefcase to a
00:28:38
commanding officer. He never saw it
00:28:41
again.
00:28:44
I do not believe Amelia Heheart died at
00:28:47
sea. I think Amelia Heheart survived the
00:28:53
downing.
00:28:54
Buddy Brennan is an Amelia Heheart
00:28:57
expert. He interviewed a woman in Saipan
00:29:00
who said she witnessed Amelia's death.
00:29:03
We went to Saipan and we spoke with the
00:29:06
same woman.
00:29:09
This woman was brought ashore by the
00:29:11
Japanese.
00:29:14
[Music]
00:29:18
It was said they had captured two spy
00:29:21
people. The Japanese soldiers brought
00:29:23
the spies into
00:29:25
town. Many of us went there to see
00:29:34
them. I think they want us to strip. The
00:29:37
Japanese cars made them take off all
00:29:39
their clothes, everything they had on
00:29:42
their bodies.
00:29:43
It was then we could see that one of the
00:29:46
spies was a
00:29:48
woman. I had never known before a woman
00:29:51
who wore men's
00:29:56
trousers. All the things that happened
00:29:58
to that
00:29:59
woman. The soldiers put her in
00:30:03
jail. They removed her jewelry from her
00:30:06
hands. Then the Japanese came and gave
00:30:09
her rice. She threw it out.
00:30:14
When they took her out of the prison,
00:30:16
they tied her hands. They blindfolded
00:30:19
her. I was working on a farm. I saw a
00:30:23
Japanese motorcycle.
00:30:27
The woman was in a little seat on the
00:30:29
side of the motorcycle.
00:30:33
[Music]
00:30:41
I watched and they took her to this
00:30:43
place where a hole had been
00:30:47
dug. They made her kneel in front of the
00:30:50
hole.
00:30:56
[Music]
00:30:59
Who's there?
00:31:03
[Music]
00:31:15
I planted a bread fruit tree near her
00:31:18
grave.
00:31:20
In 1987, Buddy Brennan excavated the
00:31:24
grave site. He was only allowed to dig
00:31:26
for 12 hours.
00:31:28
We got down to 6 and 1/2 ft below what
00:31:33
they said would have been the surface in
00:31:37
1944, which is the date M. Bloss gave us
00:31:40
of having witnessed the
00:31:43
execution, and that's where we retrieved
00:31:46
the
00:31:48
blindfold. Buddy believes this tattered
00:31:51
piece of cloth was Amelia's blindfold.
00:31:54
However, he found no human remains.
00:31:58
What really happened on Saipan? Did the
00:32:01
Japanese actually execute Amelia Heheart
00:32:04
or did Amelia and Fred Nunan go down
00:32:07
with their plane somewhere in the vast
00:32:10
South Pacific?
00:32:13
I think if we can raise her airplane and
00:32:16
prove once and for all the solution to
00:32:18
the Mary Heart mystery, it will be
00:32:20
something very, very worthwhile for our
00:32:23
heritage. We can't afford to throw our
00:32:26
heroes away.
00:32:28
When she set out to fly around the
00:32:30
world, Amelia Heheart was only
00:32:33
39. After more than a half century of
00:32:36
research and speculation, we know little
00:32:39
more now than on the day she
00:32:42
disappeared. She remains a true hero. As
00:32:46
inspiring in failure as she might have
00:32:49
been had she succeeded.
00:32:52
[Music]
00:32:54
Next, a hike in the Mississippi woods
00:32:57
turns deadly for a popular teenager.
00:33:00
Some think he was killed by drug
00:33:12
runners. Pikyune,
00:33:16
Mississippi. On a warm summer day,
00:33:18
Norman Ladner left his parents' country
00:33:20
store to go hunting on his family farm.
00:33:25
Norman was a popular high school student
00:33:27
who loved the outdoors. He knew his
00:33:30
family's property, all 122 acres of it,
00:33:33
like he knew the back of his hand. So,
00:33:36
it didn't make any sense that he would
00:33:38
be late coming home.
00:33:41
Norman would always be back by 7 to 7:30
00:33:45
in the uh afternoon or in the evening.
00:33:48
And about 7:00 up I began to get worried
00:33:51
about him because he was very punctual
00:33:54
and it was the most
00:33:59
unusual. Norman
00:34:02
I helped in the
00:34:04
search but then I decided that it would
00:34:07
be best had I waited at the store for
00:34:09
him. Perhaps if he was lost he could
00:34:12
come to the
00:34:14
store. Harmon
00:34:21
[Music]
00:34:22
Norman. Oh, Norman. Norman. I knelt down
00:34:27
by him and I felt him and felt he was
00:34:29
cold. So, I knew he'd been dead for a
00:34:31
while.
00:34:33
It's a deep shock and a tragedy to come
00:34:36
up on and find your own
00:34:38
son because you could never imagine or
00:34:42
think how this could happen or the loss
00:34:45
of a child until you've experienced or
00:34:47
gone through it. Norman Ladner, who was
00:34:50
just 17, was dead. A single gunshot
00:34:54
wound to the head had taken his
00:34:57
life. Just after 10 p.m., the sheriff's
00:35:00
department arrived. They roped off the
00:35:02
area and began their investigation.
00:35:06
[Music]
00:35:09
Foul play is the first thing that I
00:35:12
normally address in the course of an
00:35:15
investigation. I ruled it out in this
00:35:18
instance because I saw nothing there to
00:35:21
indicate
00:35:26
that. After they found him, a deputy
00:35:30
came to the store and approached the
00:35:33
door. And I
00:35:35
said, "Is he
00:35:37
dead?" And he said,
00:35:42
"Yes. I can tell you it's the most
00:35:45
shattering experience anyone can go
00:35:48
through."
00:35:51
Right there, guess it. At first, I
00:35:53
thought it might have been an accident.
00:35:56
It looked as though he might have been
00:35:57
in a tree nearby and subsequently fallen
00:36:00
out of the tree and the gun discharged
00:36:06
etc. We felt that it was an accident and
00:36:11
even when the coroner came back at the
00:36:12
store after the results of his
00:36:14
examination
00:36:16
uh he came up with two deputies and he
00:36:18
said he felt that it was 90% sure that
00:36:21
it was an accidental shooting.
00:36:24
However, Norman's family was in for a
00:36:26
terrible shock when the official ruling
00:36:29
came down. The coroner said that Norman
00:36:31
did not die from an accident. He
00:36:34
committed
00:36:35
suicide. The coroner's decision was
00:36:38
based on the fact that Norman died from
00:36:40
a close contact head
00:36:44
wound. The bullet entered his right
00:36:46
temple and exited his left. It was a
00:36:49
very typical suicide wound.
00:36:54
I think that he went back into an area
00:36:57
where he felt comfortable and for
00:37:01
reasons that we don't know that he
00:37:03
decided to take his
00:37:06
[Music]
00:37:08
life. It was impossible for it to be a
00:37:12
suicide. I knew my son too well. He
00:37:15
enjoyed and he lived life to the
00:37:17
fullest. Uh he was happy. He was
00:37:20
outgoing. He was not depressed in any
00:37:22
way and uh he had too many things going
00:37:26
for
00:37:31
him. They made no attempt to locate the
00:37:34
bullet. They never fingerpointed the
00:37:37
gun. They cannot say with any facts that
00:37:42
his gun was the weapon that was used to
00:37:45
kill him.
00:37:47
There were other problems. Norman's
00:37:50
wallet with $140 was missing. He had a 1
00:37:53
and a4 inch long cut on the top of his
00:37:56
head. If Norman had committed suicide,
00:37:59
how did that cut get
00:38:02
there? Authorities said the head wound
00:38:04
was caused by this bloody tree root that
00:38:07
was found at the scene. We didn't see
00:38:09
how that could happen because falling
00:38:11
straight back uh you would hit your head
00:38:14
on the the side or directly in the back,
00:38:17
not up in the crown of your head.
00:38:20
Norman's parents began their own
00:38:22
investigation. They dug in a dirt area
00:38:24
where their son had fallen to see if
00:38:26
they can find the bullet that had taken
00:38:28
his life. I remember so well the feeling
00:38:31
that I had of having to sift through
00:38:36
the dried
00:38:40
particles of brain tissue and blood that
00:38:44
my of my
00:38:48
son. We found a
00:38:51
bullet. It was longer than the bullet
00:38:55
that Norman's gun would hold. The
00:38:57
chamber was not bored out for the length
00:38:59
of that bullet and it had dried blood
00:39:02
and a hair that we examined under the
00:39:04
magnifying glass. We don't have any
00:39:07
reason to believe that it was the bullet
00:39:09
that was fired that caused the boy's
00:39:12
death. U mainly because we feel that
00:39:15
that the boy was standing at the time
00:39:18
the gun was fired. And if that being the
00:39:21
case, it would not have been in the
00:39:23
ground underneath his head.
00:39:27
We came to the conclusion that he was
00:39:30
lying on the ground and he was shot by
00:39:34
someone in a standing position.
00:39:37
The Labers gave the bullet to a state
00:39:39
ballistics expert, but he couldn't tell
00:39:42
if it had come from Norman's rifle. And
00:39:44
when they were given the bullet back,
00:39:46
they claimed that it was not the same
00:39:48
bullet that they had found.
00:39:50
My boy didn't commit suicide. A few
00:39:52
weeks later, Norman's parents went to
00:39:54
the coroner's office to question his
00:39:56
ruling. His mother said a stranger
00:39:59
interrupted their conversation. In the
00:40:02
womb, I speak to you over here a minute,
00:40:03
please. He said, "Mrs. Ladner, don't
00:40:06
open this case up." Mrs. Lner, you have
00:40:09
other children. I suggest you raise them
00:40:11
for your own good. You'll never find the
00:40:13
person that killed your son. And then
00:40:16
the man left.
00:40:20
[Music]
00:40:24
Unfazed, Norman's father returned to the
00:40:26
area where his son died.
00:40:31
Hey, come here. 300 yd away, he found a
00:40:36
strange radioike device that looked
00:40:39
homemade.
00:40:41
State authorities said it was not an
00:40:44
important clue, but a neighbor suggested
00:40:47
that he show it to an ex narcotics agent
00:40:49
who lived in the area. The former DEA
00:40:52
agent said this was a type of device
00:40:55
that drug dealers used to signal
00:40:58
aircraft by sending out a low range
00:41:00
signal
00:41:02
uh for the proper alignment to drop
00:41:06
shipment of drugs.
00:41:14
Norman believes that his son came upon
00:41:16
drug dealers in the woods and that they
00:41:18
killed them because they didn't want any
00:41:23
eyewitnesses. Authorities continue to
00:41:26
stand by the coroner's rulings, but
00:41:28
Norman's parents say it was nothing less
00:41:31
than coldblooded murder.
00:41:34
We will not stop this
00:41:37
investigation, no matter what, until it
00:41:40
is
00:41:41
finished. We owe it to our son.
00:41:52
It's a great deal of strain knowing that
00:41:54
he was murdered and nothing has been
00:41:56
done to bring his murderers to justice.
00:42:02
If you have any information about the
00:42:04
death of Norman Latner, please log on to
00:42:07
our website at
00:42:10
[Music]
00:42:25
unsolved.com.
00:42:29
[Music]
00:42:40
[Music]
00:42:47
Heat. Heat.
