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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're about to see is not a news
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broadcast
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for more than 30 years joe and matty
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harvey and their country store
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were an institution in the small town of
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louis chapel mountain tennessee
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then in march of 1991 joe and maddie
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were brutally murdered
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a grieving community was shattered by
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the news that one of the primary
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suspects
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was a member of the harvey's own family
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[Music]
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in 1941 barney dewey and his sister
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angela were taken from their parents
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separated and placed for adoption by a
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deceitful preacher posing as a friend
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a year later bonnie set out on a lonely
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journey to find his sister
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perhaps you can help bring his long
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search to an end
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in henderson nevada two unknown bank
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robbers took a woman hostage
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and led police on a dangerous high-speed
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chase
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incredibly as the escape unfolded an
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alert newspaper reporter snapped a
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picture of the bandits from her passing
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car
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also thanks to our viewers nine brothers
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and sisters who were separated by the
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tragic death of their mother
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have found each other join me perhaps
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you
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may be able to help solve a mystery
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[Applause]
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[Applause]
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[Music]
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according to official fbi files on any
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given day an estimated 40 banks in the
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united states are robbed at gunpoint
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on november 13 1991 a bank in henderson
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nevada was added to the list
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it is a frightening traumatic experience
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for the bank employees
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who fearing retribution of asset their
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identities be concealed
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it began an hour before opening the bank
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manager was at his desk
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alone seemingly secure behind locked
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doors
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don't touch the alarm did you set off
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the alarm
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no this is a robbery i want you to do
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everything i tell you to do
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now is there anything you have to do now
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i have to sign on my computer and i have
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to check my daily note
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let's do it the first thing that that i
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saw was the handguns that both of them
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had they were
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like a stub nose large caliber weapon
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i believe the individual was a
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professional bank robber because
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he knew about banking procedures
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all right do what you have to do he
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watched every move that i made
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up and down the tele line to make sure
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that i didn't reach down
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and set off any alarms all right i'm in
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i just stand there
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the robbers had apparently done their
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homework don't
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look at me they seemed well aware that
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the bank's vault was equipped with a
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dual combination lock
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the manager knew the first half of the
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six-digit sequence
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the other three numbers were known only
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to the vault teller
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at 8 am she arrived for work
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when i was unlocking the door i kind of
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felt that there was something
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something wrong but i went ahead and
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answered anyway
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don't touch the alarm do you know the
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other information open this vault
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yes i do open it come on
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the bank robber was pretty calm i
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thought
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he was just really precise on what he
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wanted us to do
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so my manager and i we opened the outer
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door
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and we all went inside the fall and we
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went to go to the
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to the interval where the cache was
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now this is what i want you to do you'll
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go across the lobby to my partner
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and stay there now go you
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go outside and stand by the vault door
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and don't move
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hey you get over here
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two tellers were also taken hostage by
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the second gunman
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when they arrived for work
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at some point during this phase of the
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heist a silent secret alarm was
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activated
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[Music]
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police moved in cautiously and staked
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out the bank
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[Music]
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the robbery was very well planned out
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but we were able to make it to the bank
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we believe without their knowledge had
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they have known we were on our way to
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the bank i believe they would have left
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the bank prior to our getting there to
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avoid the confrontation
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once officers were in position the
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police dispatcher placed a call to the
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bank
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trying to find out if a robbery was in
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fact in progress
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i got to get the phone get it
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valley bank this is the henderson police
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department we're receiving a silent hold
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up alarm from your business is
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everything okay there
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my stomach was in my throat um i suppose
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i didn't know really what i was gonna
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say or how i was gonna say but i knew
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that i had to
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alert this person that there was a
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problem within my branch
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and my normal procedures would be joyful
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and tell her that everything was okay
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this time i just told her that
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yeah i suppose everything's okay that
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alerted the dispatcher that there was
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definitely something wrong within my
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brain
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everything's all right set off the alarm
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didn't you no i did not
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who are you talking to um there's
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someone else here with me
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okay what i need you to do is i need you
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to go outside and speak with my officers
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can you do that for me
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okay very well bye
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oh that's the store across the street
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they they think there's something up
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here i
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they're gonna call the authorities i
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gotta go i have to i have to straighten
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this out with them
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go outside and take care of it the
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hardest thing that i had to do
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was to walk up my tele line
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and see my three employees tied up
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knowing that once i left that bank
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that i couldn't get back in to do
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anything to help them
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it's just taking too much time
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one robert he was really
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really nervous and he was mumbling to
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himself
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much time i was nervous of course but
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i wasn't freaked out i guess as some
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people would say i
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kept my cool i didn't say anything i
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didn't make them
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nervous or jury you know that i was you
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know going to cause them problems
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no one knows if the gunman were aware
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that the police were outside
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let's go grab one of those women let's
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get out of here you
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come on stop
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for reasons known only to himself one of
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the holdup men removed his mask as he
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left the bank
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what had begun as a robbery had suddenly
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escalated into a dangerous hostage
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situation
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[Music]
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[Applause]
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[Applause]
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[Music]
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oh
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[Applause]
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the escape route had obviously been
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planned well in advance
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the robbers managed to confuse their
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pursuers as they entered the labyrinth
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of a large apartment complex
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there are only three entries and exits
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from that apartment complex
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and there are probably six to eight dead
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ends in that apartment complex
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they seem to have known exactly which
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route to take through there
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when i was in the car i wasn't sure what
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was going to happen to me i kept my eyes
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closed for the most part so they
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wouldn't want to kill me
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since i could identify them so i
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automatically laid down on the
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back seat
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[Music]
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police sealed off all possible exits in
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an attempt to trap the robbers
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incredibly the bandits made good their
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escape
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a short time later they switched getaway
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cars and released their hostage
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unharmed
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authorities believe that the two men who
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robbed the henderson bank may be
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responsible for as many as 10 holdups
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during the past five years
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in every case their disguises
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successfully concealed their identities
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leaving investigators with absolutely
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nothing to go on
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but the henderson hold hold-up would be
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different
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that morning newspaper reporter
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katherine scott heard of the robbery on
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her police scanner
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i ran out of the office to my car with
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the camera and my
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scanner as i was going
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i heard my scanners say that there were
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three people tied up in the bank
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there was a hostage in the car the
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robbers had a semi-automatic handgun a
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semi-automatic pistol
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and they were heading my way on sunset
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road with the police behind them
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i saw the car and decided that that had
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to be the car
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and that's when i thought i can take a
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picture
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but i was afraid to take the picture
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because if i lifted up my camera and
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took the shot then i knew that they had
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plenty of time to react by lifting their
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weapons and shooting me
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that's when my heart started to pound
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and
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i don't know how much time passed it
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couldn't have been very long
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but i kept thinking i can take this
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picture
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but he'll shoot me i can take this
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picture i can take this i want to take
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this picture i have to take this picture
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but he'll shoot me
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and just as we passed that was it the
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moment of truth
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and so i took it
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this is the photograph that catherine
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scott took that morning
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authorities have enhanced it to make the
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unmasked driver more recognizable
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from this image and eyewitness
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descriptions the fbi created a composite
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drawing of the suspect
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he is caucasian or hispanic between 40
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and 50 years old
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six feet two inches tall and weighs
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approximately 220 pounds
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no photographs exist of the other robber
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without a mask
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he is believed to be in his late 30s is
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5 feet 9
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inches tall and weighs around 175 pounds
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[Music]
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next a man's poignant search for the
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sister he hasn't seen in
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50 years
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[Music]
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more than 50 years ago the united states
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began a brutal downward economic spiral
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that lasted just over a decade
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officially the great depression ended in
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1942
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but for many the cost and personal
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tragedy would continue for a lifetime
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such was a case for a young girl and her
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older brother who lived in haskell texas
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in 1941 barney dewey was just 12 years
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old
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but he had already been forced into
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manhood and the charge was 63 cents now
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how much
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change do i have 37 cents
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that's right well here you go sir no no
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you keep that that's yours
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well thank you very much mr wilson
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you're welcome and i'll see you barney
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worked part-time at a gas station
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and looked after his little sister
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angeline their stepfather was
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hospitalized
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and their mother toiled long hours as a
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garment worker
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times were rough in those days and uh we
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were
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concerned with uh living and trying to
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keep uh
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keep body and soul together and so and
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my mother was trying real hard
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you know she she was not a well-educated
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person but she
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she could read and write and what have
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you but that was the only job that was
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available you want to play a game with
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me okay
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it was a bleak existence but barney and
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his family managed to scrape by and stay
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together
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until the day in the spring of 1941 when
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barney and angeline had a visitor
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a kindly old man named reverend nicholas
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i'll get up sir hello you're bonnie do i
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ain't
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well i'm i'm very [ __ ] most people
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call me
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daddy nichols oh daddy nukes yeah i i'm
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a good friend of your
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your mother so he told us that uh
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my mother wanted us to go with him she
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said it would be all right if i came
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over and
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took you and the way he put it uh and
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the way he
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expressed himself well there's nothing
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wrong you know just go with him and and
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my mother i thought well you know
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uh that perhaps my mother was sick so
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you're sure she's gonna be there later
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god she's gonna be hello your answer
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united
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how would you like a piece of candy he
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was uh a very personable person and uh
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he was very nice
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and uh he could quieten your fears real
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easy with just a few words and uh
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with his candy which he always had in
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his pocket come along
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there you go there you are
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[Music]
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reverend nicholas took barney and
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angeline to a fancy hotel
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bought both of them new outfits and fed
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them a sumptuous dinner
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the next day all dressed up in their new
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clothes the children were formally
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photographed there you go
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now go on over here we find the bus
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waiting for him
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they said that uh that something had
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happened to my mother and that we
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weren't able to see her
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and so they took us to uh the bus
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station and i questioned
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him asking well where are we going he
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says well so we're going to take a
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little trip
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and uh don't worry everything's going to
00:15:58
be all right well my sister balked
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and she began to uh cry
00:16:07
it's all right don't worry don't worry i
00:16:09
talked to your mom she said she'd meet
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us
00:16:11
every time we would raise some objection
00:16:14
well he would uh
00:16:15
smooth our our feelings down and say
00:16:17
well everything's gonna be all right you
00:16:19
know
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just so we'll we'll go see your mother
00:16:23
i still had in my mind that we were
00:16:25
going to see our mother that
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all of this was taking place to get us
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transported to the place that she was
00:16:32
and so uh this uh this is the way it
00:16:34
happened and it worked out for
00:16:36
reverend nichols just real well we we
00:16:38
kind of trusted him and when we got to
00:16:40
the
00:16:40
foster home we just felt like that that
00:16:42
was a place that we was to stay until we
00:16:44
met my mother a few days later
00:16:51
barney realized that his trust had been
00:16:52
misplaced
00:16:54
reverend nicholas and his adopted son
00:16:56
nick crane came to the orphanage to pick
00:16:58
up bonnie
00:16:59
but not angela it's uh time for lunch
00:17:02
we're going to our house and we'll just
00:17:04
can't take him now oh we're just taking
00:17:06
him for some food
00:17:07
and of course angeline began to cry and
00:17:09
sob and
00:17:10
and held on to me and uh and followed me
00:17:13
out
00:17:13
you know and she had to be restrained
00:17:16
barney
00:17:17
[Music]
00:17:24
only later did barney understand that
00:17:26
the fancy new clothes
00:17:27
and the photograph had been nothing more
00:17:29
than an advertisement
00:17:30
to be shown to prospective foster
00:17:32
parents
00:17:36
barney was sent to live on a ranch
00:17:38
outside abilene texas
00:17:40
his foster parents reverend nicholas
00:17:42
secretary and her husband
00:17:44
who conveniently needed a ranch hand
00:17:50
i had the responsibility of driving the
00:17:53
tractor and plowing and
00:17:55
and doing the chores on the ranch to
00:17:57
keep the animals uh
00:17:59
up and everything keep them fed and what
00:18:01
have you
00:18:02
and i was pretty pretty satisfied right
00:18:04
at first there you know because i
00:18:06
had my own horse and i could uh do
00:18:08
whatever i wanted to do you know and
00:18:10
on the ranch and i was kind of in charge
00:18:13
really felt good about it
00:18:14
[Music]
00:18:16
barney's memories of his foster parents
00:18:18
are fond ones even though he lived a
00:18:20
solitary existence
00:18:22
eight miles from the main ranch house
00:18:23
and saw them rarely
00:18:26
as time passed barney yearned for his
00:18:28
own family more and more
00:18:32
i began to get lonely and i began to
00:18:35
miss my mother and my sister
00:18:37
well i just got so upset that
00:18:41
i begin to think about you know maybe i
00:18:43
ought to get away from here and go look
00:18:44
for my mother
00:18:46
[Music]
00:18:50
well i felt obligated to my foster
00:18:52
mother and father
00:18:54
and so i took my clothes off took my
00:18:56
good clothes off that they had bought me
00:18:58
and everything and i just
00:18:59
laid them aside and put my old clothes
00:19:01
on that i came
00:19:02
to them with and i made sure i had my
00:19:06
money with me
00:19:07
i had 37 cents in my pocket
00:19:11
i decided i was going to go to haskell
00:19:13
and left for my mother
00:19:18
it was 97 miles from the ranch to
00:19:20
haskell
00:19:22
when barney got there he discovered that
00:19:24
his mother and stepfather had moved away
00:19:27
thus began a personal odyssey for barney
00:19:29
dewey
00:19:30
one that would crisscross texas and
00:19:32
cover nearly a thousand miles
00:19:38
barney found his birth father in
00:19:39
cleburne together they traveled to
00:19:42
kilgore texas
00:19:43
then on to humble just outside houston
00:19:47
there barney's father put him on a bus
00:19:49
to odessa where he would be reunited
00:19:51
with his mother
00:19:52
and stepfather
00:19:53
[Music]
00:20:03
when i got off the bus in odessa texas
00:20:05
and i looked over and i saw my mother
00:20:07
and i recognized her of course but she
00:20:08
didn't know me
00:20:10
to me
00:20:13
i'd changed in the year that that it
00:20:14
passed and uh i had glasses on and uh
00:20:17
and of course my daddy bought me some
00:20:19
new clothes you are so
00:20:21
brave to go all this way we had a
00:20:24
wonderful time there and then she said
00:20:25
where's angie
00:20:26
have you heard from angeline no no
00:20:29
but she's doing okay though we began to
00:20:32
talk about the events that had taken
00:20:34
place and uh i asked her i said mama i
00:20:36
said did you sign any kind of papers or
00:20:38
anything to release us to these people
00:20:39
and she says no
00:20:40
honey says i'd never do that
00:20:44
barney lived happily with his mother and
00:20:46
stepfather until he was 18 years
00:20:48
old in 1947 barney married
00:20:51
four years later he and his wife
00:20:53
traveled to abilene trying to locate
00:20:55
reverend nicholas
00:20:56
barney asked around and discovered that
00:20:58
nick crane the reverend's adopted son
00:21:01
owned a pharmacy in town hi i'm nick
00:21:03
crane can i help you
00:21:04
yes i'm i'm barney dewey this is my wife
00:21:06
stella hi bernie
00:21:08
i don't know if you'll remember me or
00:21:09
not nick crane told bonnie that reverend
00:21:12
nicholas had died two years earlier
00:21:14
and that his orphanage had been shut
00:21:15
down by the state
00:21:17
whatever records existed were stored
00:21:19
haphazardly behind the pharmacy
00:21:22
barney and his wife sifted to the dusty
00:21:24
papers but found nothing that could lead
00:21:27
them to angeline
00:21:32
for the last 50 years i have been
00:21:36
searching for my
00:21:37
sister and i haven't been able to
00:21:40
contact her
00:21:41
and i have nobody that knows anything
00:21:44
about her
00:21:45
and uh and and it has been this long
00:21:48
50 years half a century in my search
00:21:52
for my sister anjali
00:21:57
the night of our broadcast barney
00:21:58
dewey's prayers were answered when neal
00:22:00
smith of cedar hills texas
00:22:02
recognized angeline as his adopted
00:22:04
sister martha jean
00:22:06
martha gene is mentally handicapped and
00:22:08
lives at a group home for the disabled
00:22:09
in arizona
00:22:11
barney immediately made arrangements to
00:22:13
reunite with his sister
00:22:14
at his daughter's home in chandler
00:22:16
arizona
00:22:20
on march 23 1992 the moment barney had
00:22:24
waited more than 51 years for
00:22:26
finally arrived
00:22:32
hello angie can you get out of there all
00:22:36
right
00:22:36
oh well it's good to see wow oh
00:22:40
good after all this time yeah goodness
00:22:43
look at me
00:22:44
i know i look at me oh no
00:22:47
goodness it's good to see you
00:22:51
hey i'm telling you it was a real thrill
00:22:54
you know i mean yeah
00:22:56
it's hard to describe but you know there
00:22:58
she was and
00:22:59
my search is ended i
00:23:03
found who i was looking for all of these
00:23:05
years
00:23:07
and the only thing that i only regret i
00:23:09
have is that my mother
00:23:10
was not there to greet her
00:23:13
my little sister yeah this is where we
00:23:15
were standing when we took that picture
00:23:17
you know
00:23:18
back there in abilene just before we
00:23:21
were separated
00:23:22
separated yeah that's right it's joy
00:23:25
that i found
00:23:26
born in all his family i'm happy
00:23:30
that i found that i've got two families
00:23:33
now
00:23:34
instead of one i got two
00:23:37
and i am really happy
00:23:41
yeah this is your sister opal faye
00:23:44
she really was thrilled when you were
00:23:46
born i look like her
00:23:48
and there's barney dewey your brother
00:23:51
that afternoon barney and martha jean
00:23:53
began to fill in the details of the
00:23:55
years they had spent apart
00:23:58
yeah and this is your mother my mom yeah
00:24:00
that's your mom and she was 51 years old
00:24:02
there 51.
00:24:04
yeah i got the information that she was
00:24:06
treated right
00:24:07
and had been raised properly and had
00:24:09
gotten an education
00:24:10
and had been loved and so that that
00:24:13
really
00:24:14
was the ultimate as far as i was
00:24:16
concerned
00:24:17
when when i got back to odessa
00:24:21
i really feel good i mean really this is
00:24:24
an exciting
00:24:25
high part in my life and i'm really glad
00:24:28
that everything turned out like it did
00:24:30
and our dream has really come true
00:24:48
[Music]
00:24:54
the lord is my shepherd i shall not want
00:24:59
on may 31 1974 funeral services were
00:25:02
held for 34 year old wanda vest in
00:25:04
toledo ohio
00:25:06
wanda left behind nine children the
00:25:08
oldest was 16
00:25:10
the youngest just 10 prepare
00:25:13
the months father james vest did not
00:25:15
attend the funeral
00:25:17
he was in jail charged with a murder of
00:25:19
his wife
00:25:23
three days earlier james vest brutally
00:25:25
gunned down wanda at a tavern where she
00:25:27
worked
00:25:29
he later pled guilty to first degree
00:25:31
murder and was sentenced to life in
00:25:33
prison where he died in 1983.
00:25:37
in one senseless and violent moment
00:25:39
james vested shattered his entire family
00:25:43
within days of their mother's funeral
00:25:45
the nine vest children were sent to live
00:25:47
in separate homes
00:25:50
i think for some reason i felt we had
00:25:52
enough family that some kind of way we
00:25:54
would all be kept together but i was
00:25:56
wrong
00:25:57
it was like nobody wanted us we were
00:25:58
taboo you know
00:26:00
to to be around us would be to remember
00:26:02
what happened to have to accept it and
00:26:04
they didn't want that
00:26:05
so to me we were punished for what my
00:26:08
father did because
00:26:10
we weren't even allowed to have each
00:26:12
other
00:26:14
in 1986 with a love and encouragement of
00:26:17
her husband and two daughters
00:26:18
shireen began searching for her missing
00:26:20
brothers and sisters whom she had not
00:26:22
seen in 11 years
00:26:26
incredibly it took shireen only two
00:26:28
months to find four of her brothers
00:26:31
within the next two years she managed to
00:26:33
locate two of her sisters and another
00:26:35
brother
00:26:36
but one of the best children still
00:26:37
remained unaccounted for
00:26:39
shireen's brother heath who was six
00:26:41
years old when they were separated
00:26:42
[Music]
00:26:46
i actually had a dream one night that
00:26:49
there was all nine of us in a room
00:26:51
and i just know that i'm going to get
00:26:53
them all together
00:26:57
the night of our broadcast shireen's
00:26:59
dream of finding her brother heath came
00:27:01
true when he called our telecenter
00:27:03
heath who is now married and living in
00:27:05
ohio was shocked to learn he'd been
00:27:06
featured on national television
00:27:09
the next day he spoke with his sister
00:27:11
for the first time
00:27:12
in more than 17 years
00:27:17
four weeks later heath accompanied by
00:27:20
his wife robin
00:27:21
arrived in los angeles for a special
00:27:23
reunion with five of his brothers and
00:27:32
sisters
00:27:34
i was really excited i just wanted to
00:27:35
get out of the car you know i was
00:27:37
thinking you know who am i going to hug
00:27:38
first you know and i didn't want anybody
00:27:40
to start bowling or anything you know i
00:27:42
just
00:27:42
wanted to get out and hug everybody at
00:27:44
once basically
00:27:48
uh when i heard heath was found i was
00:27:50
actually kind of numb
00:27:53
i thought it would take months
00:27:56
i didn't know that people would just
00:27:58
call in and it would be that easy
00:28:00
i'm glad it was because
00:28:04
it's been a long wait
00:28:08
meeting everybody it's changed my
00:28:10
attitude a lot it's picked up my
00:28:11
attitude because uh
00:28:13
you know i had a lot of feelings now i
00:28:15
had that unwanted feeling
00:28:17
you know i i never really knew why but
00:28:20
now now since uh
00:28:21
they've found me i have that wanted
00:28:24
feeling now
00:28:29
it's a good it's a good feeling because
00:28:32
uh i never really knew
00:28:34
you know finding heath and this reunion
00:28:38
is the first day of a new beginning
00:28:41
i know when we all leave here that we're
00:28:43
all going to leave her differently it's
00:28:44
going to be better for all of us
00:28:59
the picturesque forests of the
00:29:00
appalachian mountains are dotted with
00:29:02
small tranquil communities
00:29:04
where everyone knows their neighbor and
00:29:06
families take root for generations
00:29:08
[Music]
00:29:10
joe harvey and his wife maddie called
00:29:13
teat by friends
00:29:14
exemplified the unique character of the
00:29:16
area
00:29:18
for 35 years the harvey's ran a
00:29:20
combination convenience store and
00:29:22
automobile repair shop in louis chapel
00:29:24
mountain tennessee just northwest of
00:29:26
chattanooga
00:29:28
it was the only place to buy gas or
00:29:30
groceries for miles around
00:29:31
and served as a gathering place for the
00:29:33
community
00:29:35
pete liked to talk a lot and joe was
00:29:39
quieter than pete was but t liked to
00:29:40
talk a lot they
00:29:42
that was kind of like the community
00:29:44
newspaper in other words
00:29:46
right there they just
00:29:50
knew everybody and anybody needed help
00:29:52
they would help it was pretty well
00:29:54
common knowledge that they kept
00:29:56
cash receipts from the store hey patty
00:29:59
i asked them time and time again not to
00:30:01
keep that kind of money around
00:30:03
but they needed a bank account and
00:30:06
joe i tried to get him to even get a gun
00:30:08
and put in a garage and
00:30:09
and stationed there where he's at and he
00:30:11
wouldn't even do that
00:30:14
trusted people too much let's go get
00:30:16
some supper before you fall
00:30:18
around the tv joe and maddie were such a
00:30:21
fixture that everyone figured they would
00:30:22
be there forever
00:30:29
then came march the 4th 1991 the local
00:30:32
sheriff was called to the harvey's house
00:30:34
by a concerned neighbor
00:30:36
for the first time in memory the store
00:30:38
was not open at 9 00 a.m on a monday
00:30:40
morning
00:30:46
i walked up a little steps like we go up
00:30:48
to the back door
00:30:50
and uh reached the handle of the door
00:30:54
and it was unlockable while i just
00:30:56
pushed the door open
00:30:58
joe take
00:31:08
the inside of the house was completely
00:31:10
gutted joe and maddie were nowhere to be
00:31:13
found
00:31:16
and i just turned and come back out onto
00:31:19
the porch
00:31:21
i discovered blood spots with some
00:31:25
hair fragment and flesh
00:31:28
so that give me a funny feeling that
00:31:30
something
00:31:32
had really happened at that point
00:31:37
agents from the tbi the tennessee bureau
00:31:39
of investigation
00:31:40
arrived on the scene state arson
00:31:43
investigators
00:31:44
soon found a two gallon gasoline can on
00:31:47
the kitchen table
00:31:50
the investigators found various blood
00:31:52
spots throughout the house and on porch
00:31:54
and steps leading from the house
00:31:57
the conclusion is obvious the arson was
00:31:59
set for an attempt to cover up
00:32:02
the crimes that had been committed there
00:32:04
and so with the idea
00:32:06
that we had been informed that they did
00:32:07
keep large sums of money
00:32:09
first first reaction is there had been a
00:32:12
robbery
00:32:13
i just thought maybe they might have
00:32:14
been kidnapped i thought
00:32:16
maybe they'd went on the smokies or
00:32:18
something like that
00:32:20
but when i got to the mountain and they
00:32:22
told me they'd found blood and the house
00:32:24
been burned inside
00:32:27
i didn't know what to think at that
00:32:29
point all i could think about
00:32:31
was hoping that they were still alive
00:32:35
a large-scale search of the area yielded
00:32:37
absolutely nothing
00:32:39
the disappearance of joe and matty
00:32:41
harvey left their family and friends
00:32:42
stunned
00:32:44
that sort of thing just did not happen
00:32:45
in lewis chapel mountain
00:32:48
but soon the community would be rocked
00:32:49
again another member of the harvey
00:32:52
family would mysteriously vanish
00:32:56
joe and maddie had no children of their
00:32:58
own but were extremely close to their
00:33:00
extended family
00:33:01
especially their niece 27 year old
00:33:04
cheryl holland and her young daughter
00:33:12
could not have loved cheryl anymore if
00:33:14
she had been her own daughter
00:33:18
that's where she felt about her and she
00:33:20
felt that
00:33:21
way about the little girl of cheryl she
00:33:24
loved that little girl today
00:33:25
i mean she she thought that little girl
00:33:27
is all they were
00:33:30
one week after joe and matty disappeared
00:33:33
cheryl's pickup was found abandoned at a
00:33:35
truck stop
00:33:36
two hours from home investigators found
00:33:39
the truck uh
00:33:40
unlocked they found keys in the truck
00:33:43
and they found a
00:33:44
necklace that has later been identified
00:33:46
as hers laying beside the truck also her
00:33:49
pocketbook was still in the truck
00:33:52
the evidence they found on the scene
00:33:54
would lead a reasonable person to assume
00:33:56
there had been an induction
00:33:58
what time do you leave ross for lady
00:34:01
it's about the middle of the morning on
00:34:02
wednesday
00:34:04
tbi agents soon questioned cheryl's
00:34:06
common-law husband
00:34:07
eddie wooten about noon time he tells
00:34:10
about
00:34:11
her taking him to newport news virginia
00:34:14
he tells about stopping at a place where
00:34:17
they
00:34:17
they slept what was the name but he
00:34:19
can't remember where they stopped
00:34:21
so we kept finding many many
00:34:23
inconsistencies
00:34:24
such as that it was uh we have two
00:34:27
missing people now we have three
00:34:29
all out of a very close immediate family
00:34:31
even as i say living next door in
00:34:34
many times in her life the favorite
00:34:37
niece is missing
00:34:38
there's no money in the house the arse
00:34:40
and the blood it all bills and then the
00:34:43
question is
00:34:44
is she really missing is she an abductee
00:34:47
or is she part and parcel of a crime
00:34:51
as far as thinking that sherry was
00:34:53
involved in anything the tbi asked me
00:34:55
i was telling him that we had about all
00:34:57
the grief we could take
00:34:59
because we'd lost a brother-in-law and a
00:35:01
sister-in-law you know
00:35:03
and uh he wanted to know was it connect
00:35:06
did i think it was connected and i said
00:35:07
no there ain't no way i mean you know
00:35:08
sherry was christian girl and she was
00:35:10
living christian life
00:35:11
and there's no way that sherry's
00:35:13
involved in this this is all together a
00:35:15
different story
00:35:17
eddie when was the last time you saw
00:35:18
cheryl it's like i said
00:35:20
when she dropped me off at newport news
00:35:23
okay where was uh
00:35:24
cheryl the la the week on march 10th
00:35:26
eddie wooten was questioned again
00:35:28
he told authorities that in late
00:35:30
february he took cheryl to a hospital in
00:35:32
knoxville for a week-long treatment of
00:35:34
stomach cancer
00:35:36
what was the name of the hospital i
00:35:37
don't remember you don't remember the
00:35:40
name of the hospital
00:35:41
we had been told by the family that she
00:35:44
had borrowed money
00:35:45
and gone to other institutions for
00:35:48
supposed
00:35:49
treatment of a cancerous condition
00:35:52
and we found that not to be true on the
00:35:55
day in question that he claimed that he
00:35:57
left her in knoxville
00:35:58
for treatments she in fact was working
00:36:01
in chattanooga tennessee
00:36:03
how could she be in knoxville at the
00:36:05
hospital and here in china working at
00:36:07
the truck stop at the same time eddie
00:36:11
if i tell you what happened what's going
00:36:13
to happen to me finally wooten broke
00:36:15
down
00:36:15
and a tale of heartless betrayal began
00:36:17
to unravel
00:36:19
in all wooten would tell his story three
00:36:21
different times
00:36:23
what follows is based on the court
00:36:25
records of eddie wooten's confessions
00:36:27
that whole week cheryl worked at the
00:36:30
truck stop and i stayed at home
00:36:33
on saturday i guess
00:36:36
march 2nd cheryl came home from work
00:36:39
and she started telling me that she
00:36:42
needed more money
00:36:44
so that night we were going to go up to
00:36:47
her mother's
00:36:48
so cheryl could pick up a paycheck on
00:36:51
the day
00:36:52
or in question and towards the evening
00:36:55
hours
00:36:56
they stopped by a service station and
00:36:58
purchased a gas can
00:36:59
and fill it up with gasoline they then
00:37:02
went up on the mountain where her
00:37:04
parents lived
00:37:05
where she went in to talk to her mother
00:37:07
and from there they drove
00:37:09
to the residence of joe and maddie hart
00:37:15
we got to do it we need the money you
00:37:17
don't need it that bad
00:37:19
we need it they got more than they need
00:37:20
and i know where they got it
00:37:24
eddie are you gonna help me do this or
00:37:25
not
00:37:31
according to wooten he and cheryl were
00:37:33
not alone that night
00:37:35
when they went into joe and maddie's
00:37:36
house they left their six-week-old son
00:37:38
and cheryl's five-year-old daughter in
00:37:40
the cab of their truck
00:37:45
you got the gun what do i need a gun for
00:37:48
cause we're gonna have to kill him kill
00:37:49
him
00:37:50
kill joe and t do you think they're just
00:37:52
gonna hand over the money
00:37:53
look eddie we got no choice now come on
00:37:57
and i said that i didn't want to kill
00:37:59
him but she said that
00:38:01
i was gonna have to help her to do it
00:38:04
and so i said i would hey joe
00:38:08
oh hi cheryl how you doing where's teeth
00:38:12
oh she's in the back bedroom
00:38:20
in the west
00:38:31
[Music]
00:38:37
she came out of the back bedroom
00:38:42
and i shot her in the head
00:38:46
[Music]
00:38:50
cheryl uh she told me to go out into the
00:38:54
driveway
00:38:55
and tell the kids to get down onto the
00:38:58
floorboard
00:39:06
according to wooten he and cheryl stuff
00:39:09
the bodies into the trunk of joe and
00:39:11
maddie's own car
00:39:14
next wooten followed cheryl as she drove
00:39:16
the harvey's car
00:39:17
across the alabama state line they
00:39:20
stopped at the bridgeport ferry on the
00:39:22
tennessee river
00:39:34
[Music]
00:39:50
according to wooten cheryl later
00:39:52
returned along to joe and maddie's house
00:39:54
she stole an estimated one hundred and
00:39:56
fifty thousand dollars in cash
00:39:58
and then tried to cover up the crime
00:40:01
[Music]
00:40:06
two days later shell brazenly returned
00:40:09
to the crime
00:40:10
scene again even as investigators were
00:40:12
searching for evidence
00:40:15
she intended obviously for the house to
00:40:17
burn completely
00:40:19
and the house did not burn as a result
00:40:21
of that the
00:40:22
gas can was left uh basically intact on
00:40:26
the kitchen table
00:40:27
you're not gonna believe what's on the
00:40:28
bottom of this can what's that bloody
00:40:29
fingerprint
00:40:31
hey mike come here
00:40:35
shoot the print
00:40:39
[Music]
00:40:42
and from that gas can we were able to
00:40:45
obtain a latent print
00:40:47
which definitely matched up to the known
00:40:50
thumbprint
00:40:51
of cheryl holland i was mad
00:40:54
i was hurt because i couldn't believe
00:40:56
that she would do anything like that
00:40:58
not at all sure i'll just sure would not
00:41:00
have had that in her
00:41:02
i've done her so much on sure that it
00:41:04
didn't shock me anymore i mean
00:41:06
it was uh i just felt like it it was
00:41:09
it was sherry and eddie and at this time
00:41:12
i felt like she was much involved as
00:41:13
eddie was
00:41:17
searchers began dragging near the
00:41:18
bridgeport ferry
00:41:20
on wednesday april 17th they found the
00:41:22
harvey's car
00:41:24
joe and maddie had both been shot in the
00:41:26
head just as eddie wooten described
00:41:31
the hardest part is when i had to
00:41:34
identify the bodies
00:41:37
i just identified them and walked off
00:41:39
there for a few minutes i had to
00:41:42
that was a bad thing to have to look at
00:41:45
them
00:41:46
way i'd always seen them at the store
00:41:49
and everything and
00:41:50
see them in the trunk of this car
00:41:54
it was bad really bad
00:41:59
eddie wooten was arraigned on charges of
00:42:01
first degree murder
00:42:03
a warrant was immediately issued for
00:42:05
sheryl holland's arrest on the same
00:42:06
charges
00:42:08
investigators began to track her
00:42:10
movements in the days just after the
00:42:11
killings
00:42:13
she seemed to be traveling alone having
00:42:15
left her children with her mother
00:42:17
but authorities soon learned of a
00:42:19
mysterious man who had apparently been
00:42:21
following her
00:42:25
on march 7th at 9 30 p.m five days after
00:42:28
the murder
00:42:29
cheryl was seen by a service station
00:42:31
attendant in greenville tennessee
00:42:34
how can i help you i was gonna get some
00:42:36
gas but i got i got a gun
00:42:38
we have a witness that saw miss holland
00:42:40
talking to a
00:42:42
male with a with a beard and a black
00:42:44
leather jacket driving a
00:42:46
red and white pickup truck miss holland
00:42:49
didn't
00:42:49
seem to have any desire to talk to the
00:42:52
bearded man
00:42:54
she left the scene in the truck of the
00:42:56
with the mail and it followed
00:42:58
behind her in the same direction
00:43:03
about an hour later cheryl was spotted
00:43:06
using a pay phone at a truck stop
00:43:08
12 miles from the service station she
00:43:10
called her family and said she was two
00:43:12
hours from home
00:43:14
[Music]
00:43:15
later another witness spotted two people
00:43:18
talking inside cheryl's pickup truck
00:43:22
a man meeting the same description of
00:43:25
the bearded
00:43:26
person seen in the greenville area
00:43:28
[Music]
00:43:29
had come to sheryl holland's place of
00:43:33
business
00:43:33
on the day before the murders and she
00:43:36
was seen
00:43:37
writing this man a check now whether or
00:43:39
not that is the same man
00:43:42
whether or not a bearded man has any
00:43:44
involvement in this at all of course
00:43:46
would be idle speculation on our part
00:43:48
and we have no factual basis to conclude
00:43:51
that he is cheryl was last seen at the
00:43:55
truck stop
00:43:56
around 11 30 p.m that same evening
00:44:00
whether or not she planned this
00:44:03
disappearance
00:44:04
prior to the homicide of whether or not
00:44:06
the disappearance was impulsive
00:44:08
i don't know but we as prosecutors and
00:44:11
investigators
00:44:12
do feel that she is alive and has
00:44:14
assumed a new identity somewhere
00:44:16
you're innocent until proven guilty and
00:44:19
i don't think they're giving her the
00:44:22
benefit of the doubt
00:44:23
as much as i would like for her to be
00:44:27
i think that eddie went berserk and
00:44:31
cheryl was just
00:44:32
there she didn't know what to do if she
00:44:34
did
00:44:35
burn the house it was the only way that
00:44:37
she could figure that she could get
00:44:38
away from eddie until she could see that
00:44:42
it was safe for her and her babies
00:44:43
she's just going to have to go and try
00:44:45
to help him
00:44:47
as far as having to show off i think
00:44:49
eddie or someone that he knows has done
00:44:51
something to her
00:44:53
has killed her eddie's first place not
00:44:57
got that much education
00:44:59
uh second place eddie did not know
00:45:02
eddie and sure had been together about a
00:45:04
year and uh
00:45:06
eddie would have no way of knowing joe
00:45:07
and them had a lot of money in the house
00:45:11
a year has passed since the murders of
00:45:13
joe and maddie harvey yet a number of
00:45:15
questions remain
00:45:17
did cheryl holland mastermind the
00:45:19
murders
00:45:20
if so what could drive a woman to kill
00:45:23
the aunt and uncle who loved her so much
00:45:26
did cheryl stage her own disappearance
00:45:28
to escape justice
00:45:30
or did she simply fall prey to an
00:45:32
unknown assailant
00:45:33
possibly the mysterious bearded man
00:45:38
no one will ever know exactly what
00:45:39
transpired on the night of the murders
00:45:41
until
00:45:41
cheryl holland is found authorities
00:45:44
believe she is still alive in his fled
00:45:46
tennessee
00:45:47
her common-law husband eddie wooten
00:45:49
remains behind bars awaiting trial
00:45:51
[Music]
00:45:54
update austin texas less than an hour
00:45:57
after our broadcast
00:45:59
cheryl holland was captured thanks to a
00:46:01
viewer's tip
00:46:03
holland was arrested at this convenience
00:46:05
store where she'd been working for six
00:46:07
months under the assumed name
00:46:08
amy forrester i asked her
00:46:11
if she was cheryl holland and she said
00:46:14
yes and that
00:46:15
that was about it we put her in
00:46:16
handcuffs at that point placed her under
00:46:18
arrest
00:46:19
employees of the store were shocked to
00:46:22
learn of their co-workers double life
00:46:24
the first thing i got to my mind no that
00:46:26
can't be her not
00:46:28
not amy daunting she said last night she
00:46:31
said i'm sorry
00:46:32
i got myself into a mess and i will
00:46:36
get myself out of it
00:46:39
four days later cheryl holland was
00:46:41
returned to tennessee to face charges of
00:46:44
first degree murder
00:46:46
anytime that you apprehend someone
00:46:49
that's a fugitive in a
00:46:50
case like this case of double homicide
00:46:52
you're relieved and yes really
00:46:54
we're relieved from that standpoint if
00:46:57
convicted of the charges against her
00:46:59
sheryl holland could receive the death
00:47:08
penalty
00:47:13
[Music]
00:47:20
join me next time for another
00:47:22
fascinating edition of unsolved
00:47:24
[Music]
00:47:36
mysteries
00:47:39
[Music]
00:47:55
[Applause]
00:47:58
[Music]
00:48:18
you
