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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 Glendale California a
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bookkeeper dies during a late-night
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visit to a doctor's office apparently of
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a heart attack within weeks
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investigators begin to unravel an
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intriguing tale of multiple identities
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insurance fraud murder in Montana a
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century-old legend of a lost traitor
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some believe the state's most vicious
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Highlander a sheriff turned outlaw
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buried 6 million dollars in gold in
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rugged mountains Lake Michigan in 1985 a
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wealthy investor named woody Kelley but
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not for a book a few hours later his
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yacht was found adrift and empty no
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trace of woody Kelley has ever been
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found
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also tonight the poignant story of a
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woman's search for her missing half
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brother and sister today Leigh Ann
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Robinson was to reunite with the only
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family she's ever known a family she's
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not seen from 18 years maybe with your
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help she will join me
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you may be able to help solve a mystery
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[Music]
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[Applause]
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[Music]
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[Applause]
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[Music]
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a Hippocratic oath is a solemn pledge
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that represents the highest ideals of
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the medical profession in essence at
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places are good of the patient above all
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other concerns in Glendale California
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police suspected a physician named
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Richard Boggs may have betrayed this
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oath normal shock away imaginable Boggs
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is currently in jail charges being one
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of the ringleaders of a complex plot
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that has led police on the bewildering
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trail of conspiracies false identities
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and murder it all began in the early
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morning of April 16th 1988
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just before 7:10 a.m. paramedics
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responded to an emergency call at the
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Glendale California medical office of
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Richard Boggs
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inside they discovered a man lying on
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the floor of an examining Boggs
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identified him as Melvin Eugene Henson
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Boggs says that he'd received a phone
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call from one of his patients a
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long-term patient
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Melvin Eugene handsome man said he'd
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been drinking heavily he was having
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chest pains and he wanted to come in and
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be examined Boggs said that he had
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treated Hanson for seven years and that
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his patient had recently complained of
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heart trouble
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Boggs claimed Henson had asked to meet
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him at his office at 5:00 in the morning
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for an EKG and other medical tests
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he brought Hanson in examined him left
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him in a treatment room by himself to
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rest for a few minutes lie down here for
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a few minutes and I'll be right back and
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Boggs went into another room to sort
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through things while he was waiting for
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Hanson to rest when he heard a thud
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Bogg said he rushed back only to find
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Hanson lying unconscious Boggs then
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claimed that he immediately called the
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911 founded busy
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[Music]
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Bogg city tried to revive hansen for 30
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minutes and at 7:04 he finally got
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through on the 911 finally paramedics
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arrived
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he thought he was pronounced dead at the
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scene originally it was just a normal
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death just a natural death in a doctor's
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office with a doctor and attendants and
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that makes it just a routine death and
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the majority of deaths in this county
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are in the attendance of a physician
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pupils are fixed and dilated what kind
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of history cardiovascular problems when
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paramedics examine the body in Boggs's
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office they noticed that his condition
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seemed inconsistent with a doctor story
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he's got some rigor and his neck his jaw
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the body's rigor mortis suggested that
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death had occurred significantly earlier
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than Boggs was claiming in fact the EKG
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tape revealed that the machine had last
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been used just after midnight not 5:00
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a.m. how long did you say he's been down
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suspicious paramedics called the police
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you thought your patient was having a
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heart attack but you didn't call an
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ambulance we were going to treat him at
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your facility yes because he trusted me
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and believed me has heard enough to even
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get him to come in for his regular
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checkup site dr. Boggs ignored basic
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life-saving protocol the doctor is not
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going to try and help a heart-attack
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patient in his office he's gonna have an
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ambulance waiting for him
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dr. Bosco you tell me a little more
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about the 9-1-1 call right are you sure
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you dialed 9-1-1 yes I'm certain and I
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got no response there his comments
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regarding the 9-1-1 bother he had told
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us he got in a busy signal that time in
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the morning I found it hard to believe
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that he'd get a busy signal on a 911 one
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system though three credit cards and a
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copy of a birth certificate were
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discovered in Hanson's wallet no ID with
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a photograph of Hanson was found
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Boggs gate police the name of Hanson's
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business partners an emergency contact
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John
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Zomba so hyoe police were reluctant to
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further question Boggs without more
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evidence as he had once been one of the
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most respected physicians in Southern
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California by virtue of his skilled and
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hard work he had built up an extremely
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lucrative medical practice but by the
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1980s Boggs had experienced severe
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personal and financial reverses there
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were rumors that he was dangerously
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overextended that his practice and
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medical license were in jeopardy on
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April 17th when the body found in Boggs
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his office was autopsy the pathologist
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noticed something peculiar 46 though the
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body appeared to be younger than the 46
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year old Hanson's birth certificate and
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stated the opportunity to examine it
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further vanished on Hanson's business
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partner John Hawkins arrived from Ohio
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[Music]
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25 year-old John Hawkins and Melvin
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Hanson had co-owned a successful
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clothing store chain Hawkins made it
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clear he needed to settle Hansen's
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Affairs quickly in order to return home
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to his business when John Hawkins
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arrived from Columbus Ohio he made
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arrangements with a local mortuary to
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have the body cremated when Hawkins
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learned that the ashes would not be
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scattered until a much later time that
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being up to a month
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he was upset business there I need to
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expedite this as much as possible is
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there any other way Hawkins through the
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mortuary personnel located a local
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scattering service that scattered those
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ashes the following day londo Police
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Department officer you go to mount two
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months later this case took another
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intriguing attorney On June 9th they a
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detective received a phone call from the
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insurance company representative who
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informed him they were about to pay a 1
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million dollar life insurance policy for
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the death of Gene Hanson the beneficiary
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of that policy was John Hawkins of
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Columbus Ohio the representative
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inquired if the photographs of the body
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had ever been compared to any other
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known pictures of Melvin Hanson that up
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to that point that had not occurred
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detective
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sent away for a California driver's
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license photo of Melvin Eugene Hansen
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several weeks later when the photographs
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arrived police made a shocking discovery
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a man found in Boggs's office was not
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Melvin Hansen the detective contacted
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the insurance representative immediately
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and it was too late and that the
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insurance company had already paid out
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the $1,000,000 to the beneficiary John
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Hawkins but if the body in boxes office
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was not handsome and who was it
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police used fingerprints to match the
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dead body with missing-persons reports
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the body that Boggs had identified as
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his patient Melvin Eugene Hansen was in
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fact out of a 32 year old North
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Hollywood bookkeeper named Ellis Henry
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Greene investigators not wanted to talk
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with John Hawkins the man who had
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ordered Greene cremated investigators in
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Columbus Ohio followed up on John
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Hawkins they found that he had abandoned
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the residence that he had lived in and
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later discovered his convertible
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Mercedes parked at the airport top down
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keys still in the ignition indicating an
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obvious quick exit from that particular
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area
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dr. Boggs during our investigation and
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concern has arisen when the body that
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you identified as mr. Hansen may not in
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fact be mr. Hansen quite evidence to the
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contrary
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Boggs continued to insist to police that
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the man found in his office was the man
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he knew as Melvin Hansen all right
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they're saying man I had identified to
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the other officers have you guys seen
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the other man before
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well dr. Boggs later claimed that he'd
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been duped by this individual who died
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in his office and demanded to know why
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this person represented himself as
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Melvin Hansen
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the police were not convinced and issued
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a search warrant for Boggs's files a
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trace of his phone records showed
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frequent calls to Hanson's business
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number and more suspiciously to Hanson's
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partner John Hawkins investigators also
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notice that Boggs had received calls
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from Wolfgang von snoring in fact pancit
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spoke to them the same night that
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Greene's body was found they wanted to
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know why and she noticed name is
00:11:01
distributed to law enforcement agencies
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around the country several months past
00:11:08
January 29th 1989 Dallas International
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Airport nine months after Ellis Greene
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was found in Richard Boggs's office a
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suspicious acting man was interrogated
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by customs officials after getting off a
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flight from Mexico when his bag was
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examined $14,000 an undeclared cash was
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discovered oh that I closed out a bank
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account in Mexico I had an account there
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I'm sorry
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back when the customs agents searched
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the man's bags
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he discovered not only the
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identification that he was using at that
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time but he also discovered photo
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identification of the same person with
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the name of Wolfgang von shneider
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but the most critical discovery was the
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original California driver's license for
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the dead man Ellis Henry green take off
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your sunglasses
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why take off your sunglasses the customs
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agent made a computer inquiry and
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learned that Wolfgang von Snowden was in
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fact wanted by authorities before I'll
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put down you know figure out what gang
00:12:18
bot Snowden is wanted in a murder case
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what college it was in a few hours
00:12:23
the man who carried ideas Wolfgang von
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Snowden was finally identified by his
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real name
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Elvan Eugene handsome
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if Melvin Ely and Hanson was alive why
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had Boggs claimed he had died in his
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office in order to answer this question
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police began to piece together an
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alleged conspiracy that they believed it
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almost resulted in the perfect crime
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[Music]
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Melvin Hanson and John Hawkins were
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business partners it is thought that
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they came up with a scheme of murdering
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Ellis Greene switching his identity with
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Hanson's and then collecting on Hanson's
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insurance policy by ordering if the
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remains be cremated if the state's proof
00:13:08
the Greene had been murdered would
00:13:09
literally have gone up in smoke cut off
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her agency five days after the
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apprehension of Hanson Richard Boggs was
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arrested at his Glendale office he was
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charged with insurance fraud and the
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murder of Ellis Greene
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[Music]
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what we do know about Ellis crane is
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that he had a point two nine alcohol
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level in his body that would suggest to
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to us that he was lured into the
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doctor's office and along with that
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level of intoxication a final mechanism
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of death was inflicted upon him because
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of a doctors involvement in this case it
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is forced us to look into other areas
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drugs when used in combination with high
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levels of alcohol could cause death
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poisons medications and not to exclude
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the fact that he may have suffocated him
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in a television interview conducted just
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before his arrest Richard Boggs stoutly
00:14:10
maintained his innocence saying that
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there was no evidence he had profited
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from the plot I didn't take off with the
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money as they did I didn't vanish I've
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been here all the time getting all the
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heat from what they pulled and I've
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benefited absolutely in no way from this
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little scheme of theirs
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and add insult to injury they didn't pay
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the medical film
00:14:37
[Music]
00:15:01
next the story of a successful
00:15:04
entrepreneur who literally sailed off
00:15:05
the face of the earth
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[Music]
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9:30 p.m. June the 8th 1985 Lake
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Michigan a derelict yacht had been
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reported drifting just offshore its
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occupant apparently in danger
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officer Wang wooks responded to the call
00:15:36
when I initially got there heard the
00:15:38
engines running the approaching possibly
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and he died
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the boat was then just drifting I was
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able to pull myself up over the side I
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was looking for victim of a possible
00:15:50
heart attack
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I searched the boat cabin area down
00:16:00
below found nobody on the boat when I
00:16:04
arrived away the engines were running if
00:16:05
somebody falling off that boat
00:16:07
it's my PIN they could not have got back
00:16:09
onto the boat would have been moving
00:16:11
away from them too quickly
00:16:17
the owner of the yacht was a 42 year old
00:16:20
investment counselor named woody Kelly
00:16:21
no sign of woody or his body has ever
00:16:25
been found
00:16:31
in 1975 Woody Kelly and his family
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settle near Lake Michigan in a small
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Illinois town of Antioch at first the
00:16:40
Kelly's lived in a modest neighborhood
00:16:41
but after he began an investment
00:16:43
business the family's fortunes began to
00:16:45
change they moved to a mansion near a
00:16:49
local lake by virtue of his business and
00:16:52
his outgoing nature
00:16:53
woody soon became one of the town's most
00:16:55
respected personalities woody I feel was
00:16:59
considered by a lot of people as a
00:17:01
pillar of the community he belonged to
00:17:05
two very active community organizations
00:17:10
participated a great deal in those
00:17:13
organizations I think that the community
00:17:17
enjoyed woody they liked him he just had
00:17:22
this genuine personality that he just
00:17:25
wanted to talk to him he was a real
00:17:27
likable guy woody was a dedicated family
00:17:31
man and often invited his new friends
00:17:33
and neighbors to his luxurious home soon
00:17:36
many of his personal friends became
00:17:38
business clients he became your friend
00:17:43
he'd actually make you why invest money
00:17:46
god I wish I had some money I could give
00:17:49
him one of the principal clients of
00:17:53
Woody's investment company was
00:17:54
veterinarian Daniel Osgood he seemed
00:17:58
very professional he had a very
00:18:00
substantial office office staff his
00:18:05
reports were very exacting he's had all
00:18:09
the instruments that promoted confidence
00:18:12
over here we have George another one of
00:18:14
our people woody was able to promise and
00:18:20
deliver an amazing 16 to 19 percent
00:18:23
interest on his investments he was not
00:18:26
pushing at all but he was enthusiastic
00:18:29
about what he was doing he did not come
00:18:34
on hard sell he was fairly laid back he
00:18:40
assured me that this was a good
00:18:41
investment that I
00:18:42
we should consider it and he would
00:18:45
welcome my business and they're just
00:18:47
wonderful investments are they insured I
00:18:50
mean is this safe definitely to me I
00:18:52
think they're just a very very good
00:18:55
situation for you to be in Woody's
00:18:57
business flourished Inc he bought four
00:18:59
luxury cars to airplanes three different
00:19:02
homes and six boats as a hobby he even
00:19:05
started a yacht charter service what he
00:19:11
was known to be extremely generous
00:19:13
he took his friends and investors on
00:19:15
Lake cruises and then a few cases he
00:19:18
treated them to expensive vacations I
00:19:24
asked him if he wrapped banks for a
00:19:27
living he just laughed I mean we
00:19:31
believed in him so much that we were
00:19:35
building a restaurant for $350,000 and
00:19:38
he was gonna be part of it no questions
00:19:42
asked
00:19:47
Julie 8th 1985 woody unexpectedly showed
00:19:51
up at a yacht dealers a check on a new
00:19:52
boat he had just purchased he told me he
00:19:59
was going to throw it out so I asked me
00:20:01
if you want me to go with him a test
00:20:03
drive our company policy is that nobody
00:20:07
will go for a lake test alone my boat
00:20:10
I'm picking it up he was very adamant
00:20:12
about it he insisted that no I have
00:20:15
people waiting for me to dock he said I
00:20:19
wanted to go out alone so I helped him
00:20:22
cast off and that was the last we seen
00:20:24
him
00:20:30
would he left at approximately 3:00 p.m.
00:20:33
and headed north towards Waukegan
00:20:35
Illinois about 20 miles away he had told
00:20:38
his family he would be home by 6 o'clock
00:20:43
he never returned
00:20:46
[Music]
00:20:53
over the next few days of coast guard
00:20:55
retraced Woody's route as his
00:20:59
distinctive sunglasses were found on a
00:21:01
boat they assumed he had accidentally
00:21:03
fallen overboard because victims of
00:21:06
drowning inevitably surfaced they looked
00:21:08
for a body they found nothing
00:21:14
after this unusual disappearance a ton
00:21:17
of Antioch was set but as time passed
00:21:20
sadness turned to shock and that anger
00:21:22
evidence appeared showing that woody
00:21:24
Kelly was more than a genial financial
00:21:26
wizard much the same week that Kelly
00:21:35
disappeared a client filed a civil suit
00:21:37
charging him with improper business
00:21:39
practices after Kelly vanished detective
00:21:44
Dan column from the Lake County
00:21:45
Sheriff's Department became involved in
00:21:47
the investigation when the office staff
00:21:55
began looking at the records they
00:21:57
realized that there was no money in the
00:21:58
bank accounts so this is where he kept
00:22:02
his private files right the money was
00:22:04
just being spent every time an investor
00:22:06
would put money in it was going right
00:22:08
back out so you know basically
00:22:10
immediately looking at the checkbooks
00:22:11
you knew that it was a fraud when
00:22:17
counties records were scrutinized they
00:22:18
showed that the bulk of the investors
00:22:20
money had gone directly into his pocket
00:22:22
almost six million dollars was missing
00:22:26
in 1981 I gave woody Kelly a hundred and
00:22:30
ten thousand dollars to invest for me I
00:22:32
have never recovered
00:22:34
one cent my husband and I invested our
00:22:37
money with woody after we sold our home
00:22:40
and we invested I estimate about $30,000
00:22:45
my investment with woody Kelley was an
00:22:49
excess of $400,000 and the entire sum
00:22:53
was eventually lost Woody's investment
00:22:58
company took in everybody well there was
00:23:01
a blue-collar worker a white-collar
00:23:04
worker he included everybody yet firemen
00:23:07
you had schoolteachers you had actors
00:23:09
you had lawyers woody was nine
00:23:13
segregation all he took everybody
00:23:19
[Music]
00:23:21
what happened to woody Kelly some
00:23:24
believe that he had been murdered by a
00:23:25
former partner in crime
00:23:27
another persistent rumor was that an
00:23:29
accomplice had picked him up by boat or
00:23:31
seaplane
00:23:33
if he did fake his disappearance police
00:23:35
still have no idea how he escaped
00:23:37
detection over the years we keep getting
00:23:43
phone calls you know someone supposedly
00:23:45
so I'm down in Rio de Janeiro we get you
00:23:48
know inferences they's down in the
00:23:50
islands a solid lead to say you know
00:23:54
this is where Woody is it I have never
00:23:56
gotten one when we interviewed some of
00:24:03
the investors we had people that we
00:24:06
talked to who that said if he walked in
00:24:08
the door and he asked him for $10 they
00:24:10
give it to him even though they just
00:24:11
lost thousands because he was so likable
00:24:15
he was a good salesman he was a good can
00:24:18
man today woody Kelley would be 46 years
00:24:22
old he is 5 feet 11 inches in height and
00:24:25
weighs 200 pounds his eyes are blue at
00:24:28
the time of his disappearance his hair
00:24:29
was brown at the present time he may be
00:24:33
wearing a beard these are home movies
00:24:37
taken of woody Kelly the same year he
00:24:39
disappeared
00:24:41
[Music]
00:25:05
in a moment a story of a fortune stolen
00:25:08
gold which has remained hidden in the
00:25:10
rugged hills of Montana for more than a
00:25:12
century our next mystery is a tale of
00:25:23
legendary treasure buried we've been
00:25:25
told somewhere the hills of Montana 126
00:25:29
years ago a crooked Sheriff and his
00:25:31
outlaw gang went to the gallows refusing
00:25:33
to reveal the exact location of their
00:25:35
hidden booty to this day the tantalizing
00:25:37
Lord of buried gold still attracts
00:25:39
prospectors it all began in the summer
00:25:42
of 1863 during what would prove to be
00:25:45
the bloodiest period in Montana history
00:25:47
a Montana territory 26 years before
00:25:53
Montana would be admitted to the Union
00:25:55
when gold was discovered the part of the
00:25:57
territory known as Alder Gulch under the
00:26:00
prospector showed up each trying to
00:26:02
claim his share of the Spoils news of
00:26:06
any gold discovery in those days spread
00:26:09
fast and spread far and wide riches for
00:26:15
being the made and people wanted to get
00:26:17
in on them that's why there was such a
00:26:20
large gang of Outlaws around every
00:26:23
mining camp
00:26:24
[Music]
00:26:27
[Applause]
00:26:35
in the spring of 1863 the Montana
00:26:38
prospectors were nearly wiped out by a
00:26:40
brazen group of outlaws called the
00:26:42
Rhodesian gang through Diaz reportedly
00:26:45
stole more than 1,000 pounds of gold
00:26:47
nuggets coins and gold dust they were
00:26:50
secretly led by a man named Henry
00:26:52
Plummer but amazingly Palmer had another
00:26:55
identity sharin of the gold boomtown of
00:26:58
Bannack Montana the people who elected
00:27:01
him at no way of knowing that Henry
00:27:02
Plummer was an ex-convict ironically he
00:27:05
had been released just four years
00:27:07
earlier from a brand-new California
00:27:09
prison San Quentin Henry Plummer was a
00:27:13
very pleasant looking individual he was
00:27:16
the only man in Bannack practically that
00:27:19
always tipped his hat to a lady when he
00:27:21
saw her on the street well you could
00:27:23
call him the consummate con man of his
00:27:26
day so he was able to con people into
00:27:30
thinking he was a competent man to be
00:27:33
the sheriff and of course he knew that
00:27:36
being a sheriff would give him a perfect
00:27:40
cover for whatever he wanted to do and
00:27:42
the illegal wine
00:27:46
boys we got a stage leaving Bannock in
00:27:49
two days it's full of gold and I want
00:27:51
that stage no passengers no survivors
00:27:57
plumbers targets of choice we're miners
00:28:00
trying to transport their gold to a
00:28:01
major rail head
00:28:15
during a four month period in 1863 it is
00:28:18
estimated that Henry Plummer and the
00:28:20
road agents killed more than a hundred
00:28:22
and twenty miners at the same time
00:28:24
stealing gold value today at over six
00:28:26
million dollars the town spoke of
00:28:33
Bannack Montana had no idea that their
00:28:35
chief law enforcement officer was in
00:28:37
reality the ringleader of the road
00:28:39
agents for eight months
00:28:40
Henry Palmer's secret identity remained
00:28:43
hidden file in December of 1863 an
00:28:51
incident in Bannack but the first crack
00:28:53
and plumbers carefully constructed
00:28:55
facade a well-liked young man was
00:28:57
cruelly murdered by the road agent gang
00:28:59
one of the local ranchers found the body
00:29:02
and brought it into town and that was
00:29:06
enough for them they formed a posse and
00:29:09
during the next six weeks the vigilantes
00:29:12
work picking people up giving them a
00:29:15
trial and we know they hanged about 22
00:29:18
men at least the vigilantes tracked down
00:29:21
the outlaws each of them fingered others
00:29:24
the vigilante possibly armed with her
00:29:27
new information rounded up the rest of
00:29:29
the gang
00:29:30
dispensing rough justice and makeshift
00:29:32
trials finally when a road agent named
00:29:36
Brad Yeager was about to be hanged he
00:29:38
dropped a bombshell naming Henry Plummer
00:29:40
as the gangs ringleader Akers the one
00:29:44
that spilled the beans but of course
00:29:46
when a man is faced with a news
00:29:49
he has second thoughts about a lot of
00:29:51
things according to one account he said
00:29:54
it looks like you're gonna hang me boys
00:29:56
if you do I know a lot of others that
00:29:59
deserve as much insight with us I want
00:30:01
y'all to know that Henry's the one who
00:30:03
planned all this he's the one who run
00:30:05
all the road agents he's a man you want
00:30:12
that was the first firm indication that
00:30:15
Henry Plummer was the leader of the gang
00:30:21
the vigilante posse immediately went to
00:30:23
plumbers house he named you as the
00:30:37
leader of the road agent red Yeager's a
00:30:39
liar
00:30:40
plumber wasn't given a full-scale trial
00:30:43
because they had radiators confession
00:30:46
and olicity outlaws so they didn't waste
00:30:49
time at the trial on January 12th 1864
00:30:54
only seven months after the road agents
00:30:57
had begun their reign of terror
00:30:58
Henry Palmer was marched to a scaffold
00:31:00
he himself had built in his role as
00:31:02
sheriff before the vigilante posse could
00:31:05
hang him Palmer made an unusual request
00:31:08
I know I've deceived you boys I'm sorry
00:31:12
for that we'll give me two hours in a
00:31:15
horse I'll bring back my weight in gold
00:31:18
we made that mistake once we're gonna
00:31:20
hang
00:31:27
Henry Plummer died without benefit of a
00:31:29
trial
00:31:30
leaving obscure hints of buried treasure
00:31:32
as his only legacy immediately after
00:31:37
Plummer died a new kind of gold fever
00:31:39
hit the Montana territory instead of
00:31:42
looking for gold nuggets prospectors
00:31:44
looked for plumbers buried treasure in
00:31:46
the early 1900's two mysterious gold
00:31:48
hunters found something local historian
00:31:51
Jim Edmonds recounts the story one day
00:31:55
they came into the town of Ennis and
00:31:57
they have this box they went into a
00:32:00
local store that had a vault and asked
00:32:03
if they could leave this box in there
00:32:05
all night and one of the men stayed
00:32:08
there riding shotgun on the vault the
00:32:11
next morning they disappeared nobody
00:32:14
knew who they were where they went or
00:32:16
what they dug up of course nobody at the
00:32:18
time thought much about plumbers gold I
00:32:20
don't know that it was but they died
00:32:23
something up even if one box a plumber's
00:32:27
gold was removed much more might remain
00:32:29
two local men Scott Jones and bill Jaffe
00:32:32
have been hunting with treasure for
00:32:34
nearly five years they're confident the
00:32:36
plumber's gold still lies buried
00:32:38
somewhere in the Montana Hills I think
00:32:42
he put enough money in different getaway
00:32:44
routes that you know it's probably worth
00:32:46
something worth finding the goal has to
00:32:48
be there because Plummer was the outlaw
00:32:51
leader so he would have had control of
00:32:53
the gold
00:32:54
nobody would bury all their eggs in one
00:32:56
basket
00:32:57
he was sheriff of both towns and same
00:32:59
time so it's understandable that he has
00:33:02
a someplace where he has access I bet
00:33:04
there's a thousand pounds are better in
00:33:07
different places maybe from Virginia
00:33:09
City to banning is Henry Palmer's
00:33:13
treasures six million dollars worth of
00:33:14
nuggets and gold uzzums still hidden in
00:33:16
the stark Montana hills that is a
00:33:19
question that may never be answered
00:33:20
only the men who buried it can be
00:33:23
certain of its exact location and they
00:33:25
to lie buried somewhere
00:33:28
Tanith countryside in 1954 the
00:33:32
historical town of Bannack was placed
00:33:34
under the protection of Montana's
00:33:36
Department of Fish Wildlife and Parks
00:33:37
that means anyone without a special
00:33:40
permit is barred from digging for gold
00:33:42
on the state control land but says no
00:33:44
one knows exactly where Henry Plummer
00:33:46
might have hidden his gold the search
00:33:48
126 years later still goes on next the
00:33:53
story of Jim Tammy and vn3 inseparable
00:33:55
children pulled apart by abduction 18
00:33:58
years have passed today Leanne was to
00:34:01
see her brother and sister again our
00:34:12
next story is one of lost luck woman
00:34:14
searching for her half-brother and
00:34:16
sister
00:34:16
sadly she hasn't seen them since they
00:34:19
were only five and seven years old the
00:34:21
clues that remain are a few photographs
00:34:23
in this small reel of home movies movies
00:34:26
of herself and her little brother and
00:34:27
sister playing with other children at
00:34:29
the beach even though more than 19 years
00:34:32
of pass insists film was shot watch
00:34:34
closely
00:34:34
perhaps you know where these children
00:34:37
are this is Jimmy in 1970 when these
00:34:42
films were made he was four years old
00:34:45
today he is 23 this is Tammy at 2 years
00:34:50
old today Tammy is 22
00:34:54
and finally this is Leanne when the
00:34:57
whole movies were made she was 11
00:34:59
today she is 32 Leanne has not seen
00:35:03
Jimmy and Tammy since 1972 I never left
00:35:08
and you'll go by where I didn't make
00:35:09
some kind of effort to find him I can't
00:35:12
see any reason in this world what we
00:35:13
should be separated why we shouldn't be
00:35:14
together
00:35:15
they are my brother and sister and I'm
00:35:19
gonna keep searching until I find him in
00:35:27
1971 Leanne lived with Jimmy and Tammy
00:35:30
in Carson California a working-class
00:35:33
suburb of Los Angeles their mother Doris
00:35:41
had cancer so at 13 Leanne virtually ran
00:35:44
the household Doris and her first
00:35:49
husband who was Lee Ann's father and
00:35:51
divorced seven years earlier
00:35:53
I just remember her losing weight and
00:35:56
getting skinny and being tired a lot and
00:35:59
she'd cry and told me that she was sorry
00:36:02
but I needed to you know be home with
00:36:04
damning Jimmy their next-door neighbor
00:36:08
Ella Morel was a constant source of
00:36:10
support
00:36:10
[Music]
00:36:12
on her deathbed Doris asked Ellen if she
00:36:15
would promise to take care of LeAnn
00:36:16
Jimmy and Tammy she just asked me to
00:36:20
take her kids and I told her that I
00:36:21
would because I loved her children they
00:36:23
were easy to love they were and they got
00:36:25
along fine with mine they were all like
00:36:28
brothers and sisters and so she put it
00:36:31
on her own piece of paper that I would
00:36:34
take her children and keep them together
00:36:37
and and then she just lasted a few more
00:36:40
hours
00:36:42
[Music]
00:36:48
Doris died the next day LeAnn Jimmy and
00:36:52
Tammy moved in with Ellen and her
00:36:54
children
00:36:56
[Music]
00:36:59
Ellen was great she took care of all
00:37:01
five with the children you know and me I
00:37:04
can really appreciate it now because at
00:37:06
that time she was 27 or 28 and I was
00:37:10
little so I thought of her as old you
00:37:12
know I know I'm 31 and I think God how'd
00:37:14
she do it with six children in a
00:37:18
two-bedroom house life was hectic
00:37:24
nevertheless a social worker assigned to
00:37:27
the case decided that Ellen could not
00:37:29
provide an adequate home for LeAnn Jimmy
00:37:32
and Tammy the social worker tracked down
00:37:41
Leigh Ann's father and began to look for
00:37:44
a couple to adopt Jimmy and Tammy we've
00:37:51
heard from Lee Ann's father and he wants
00:37:54
to take her and you know he's in Texas
00:37:55
but he does not want to take Jim and
00:37:58
Tammy I promise Doris and it was our
00:38:02
agreement that I would keep I remember
00:38:04
feeling immediately that I was gonna you
00:38:06
know run away or I was gonna take Tammy
00:38:08
Jimmy there was just no way I was gonna
00:38:10
have us be separated but they talked to
00:38:12
me and told me that how much since it
00:38:14
made that Tammy Jimmy needed to have a
00:38:16
father figure that Ellen really couldn't
00:38:17
financially take care of us and what
00:38:19
about our future and I remembered doing
00:38:22
everything I needed to do to be to leave
00:38:24
and it was
00:38:25
I believe it was a Monday morning cuz I
00:38:26
remember kids going to school I want you
00:38:31
guys to know that I'll be going away for
00:38:33
a little while okay but I promise we'll
00:38:39
keep in touch and I'll be back okay I
00:38:41
love you both
00:38:45
even that moment I was thinking I can't
00:38:47
do this I've got to stay out well under
00:38:49
fight but I thought if I just be good
00:38:50
and do what everybody tells me to do
00:38:52
then I'll be able to you know reunite
00:38:56
with them and they won't have to be very
00:38:58
long
00:39:00
[Music]
00:39:02
but I still remember them walking down
00:39:04
the sidewalk I remember hugging them
00:39:07
waving at him and telling him I'd be
00:39:10
back and then I call
00:39:13
[Music]
00:39:14
didn't even register to me that they
00:39:16
would be put under adoption I mean I
00:39:19
would never know who they went to or you
00:39:21
know where they went
00:39:24
several months later on May 2nd 1972 the
00:39:28
Department of Social Services arranged
00:39:30
to have Jimmy and Tammy picked up by a
00:39:32
couple they had chosen to adopt the two
00:39:34
children it was very very hard and my
00:39:44
children love them too but it was it was
00:39:48
best and I remember they don't get into
00:39:53
her car and I knew that I'd never see
00:39:56
them again
00:39:59
I remember seeing them through the back
00:40:01
window you know anyway we'll be back
00:40:03
when we get to the last I saw their
00:40:05
little faces in the window
00:40:12
for years Leanne tried to write to Jimmy
00:40:15
and Tammy through the adoption agency
00:40:17
but she never received an answer
00:40:21
thirteen years passed during that time
00:40:25
Leanne moved back to California married
00:40:27
and became a successful businesswoman
00:40:29
finally in 1987 she received a letter
00:40:32
from the Department of Social Services
00:40:35
containing the tales about the couple
00:40:37
who had adopted Jimmy and Tammy
00:40:40
they were both 26 years old
00:40:42
a Catholic couple living in Ventura
00:40:44
County California the adoptive father
00:40:48
was a career Navy man who in 1973 had
00:40:51
the rank of first class Petty Officer
00:40:54
the couple had been married for three
00:40:56
and a half years when they adopted Jimmy
00:40:58
and Tammy
00:40:58
but the agency lost touch after the
00:41:01
family was transferred to New York in
00:41:03
1976
00:41:05
[Music]
00:41:11
eighteen years have passed since I've
00:41:13
seen Tammy and Jimmy and when I look to
00:41:16
my home movies I can really see
00:41:20
my life together
00:41:22
I felt like I lost a lot back there and
00:41:26
that having Jimmy there's its completion
00:41:31
it's a it's my family it's also
00:41:34
important for me to find them so that
00:41:36
they know the truth about how much I
00:41:38
love them how much mom loved them how
00:41:41
much Ellen loved them they won't know
00:41:43
that unless I find them
00:41:49
the children's mother was Doris
00:41:52
Marguerite beard born in Austin Texas
00:41:55
she died on May the 5th 1971 Jimmy's
00:41:59
birthday is February the 6th 1966 today
00:42:03
he is 23 years old his given name as
00:42:07
James Arthur Tammy's birthday is August
00:42:11
25th 1967 and she is 22 her given name
00:42:15
is Tamara Christina their family name is
00:42:18
not known
00:42:21
just minutes after her story aired LeAnn
00:42:24
Robinson's search came to an end when
00:42:26
she received a call at our telecentre
00:42:27
from her 22 year old sister Tammy Tammy
00:42:30
lives in Maine and has two children of
00:42:32
her own immediately put Liana in contact
00:42:34
with her brother Jim an Army sergeant
00:42:36
stationed near Monterey California on
00:42:41
December 10th is four days after our
00:42:42
show aired Jim and Tammy arrived at Lee
00:42:45
Ann's home in Los Angeles California and
00:42:47
met their older sister for the first
00:42:48
time in more than 17 years I just had a
00:43:00
really good feeling that they somebody
00:43:03
was gonna call live either they were
00:43:04
some didn't knew them and today when I
00:43:07
first saw him I felt so close to him it
00:43:11
felt like the 17 years just came
00:43:12
together and then it was just a few days
00:43:14
ago that would laughs aww each other
00:43:16
[Music]
00:43:20
the 10 the biggest surprise came when
00:43:23
she phoned our telecenter and discovered
00:43:25
that Leanne was there waiting for the
00:43:27
call a late occasions bonuses hello and
00:43:31
I said hello I said who's this and she
00:43:33
goes this is Leanne and I was too
00:43:35
excited to cry I was just too excited to
00:43:37
do anything I said oh my god Lee and I
00:43:39
said this is Tammy and I don't even
00:43:44
remember what we said the first thing I
00:43:46
think I remember her saying was that she
00:43:47
loved me
00:43:50
this is the happiest time of my life I
00:43:53
just feel like we're so young you know
00:43:56
they're 22 and 2332 we have a whole life
00:43:59
ahead of us and we're all healthy and
00:44:01
we're very fortunate that we could find
00:44:04
each other
00:44:05
[Music]
00:44:20
for every mystery there is some
00:44:22
somewhere who knows the truth perhaps
00:44:31
[Music]
00:44:53
[Applause]
00:44:56
[Music]
00:45:05
you
00:45:05
[Music]
