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tonight on unsolved mysteries
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you've no doubt heard of a near-death
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experience where someone embraced by the
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light as a premature glimpse of heaven
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tonight meet a man who says his
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near-death experience took him on a
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tortuous journey to the depths of hell
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and changed his life forever
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rushing home after the birth of his
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first child Steve Newton had a wet patch
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of Road that along came an unknown Good
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Samaritan
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her Stephanie Booker and two friends a
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moonlight cruise on a lake in Texas
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ended in a horrifying collision
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Stephanie's physical scars have begun to
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heal but the man who nearly killed her
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is still at large
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he was a convicted bank robber she was
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an elementary school teacher who helped
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him escape from prison see how one of
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our viewers helped track them down
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if you're a woman traveling alone beware
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of this man police say he offers a
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helping hand on the highway as a prelude
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to kidnapping and murder
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join me for these intriguing cases
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perhaps you may be able to help solve a
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mystery
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[Music]
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be able to do the beautiful difficulties
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[Music]
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sometimes the incredible occurs when you
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least expect it just a scoured storm in
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the summer of 1985 Howard spent three
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weeks touring Europe with his wife
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Beverly
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in Paris on their last day abroad
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disaster struck the curtain was drawn on
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a profound drama that would take Howard
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to the brink of death and launched him
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on a frightening journey to the
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afterlife I
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thought I'd been shot it was the most
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serious we champagne in the center of my
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abdomen I
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was just panicked and full of fear I
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couldn't think at all
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the doctor that came to the hotel and
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the two doctors that examined me in the
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emergency room at the hospital all said
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the same thing that this was a very
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critical situation and that if I didn't
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have the surgery within an hour I would
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die
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Howard small intestine had ruptured he
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was transferred to another hospital with
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a staff spoke only French
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now there were problems finding a
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surgeon
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they didn't give me any medication
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whatsoever no treatment whatsoever then
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I was beginning to fear that I wasn't
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gonna make it after a few hours after
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six or seven hours I had a very strong
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feeling that I wasn't gonna make it and
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after ten hours I knew I wasn't gonna
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make
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and I said to my wife it's time for us
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to say goodbye
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when Howard lapsed into unconsciousness
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it seemed like the end is very near
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[Music]
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in fact Howard's story was just
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beginning he was about to embark on what
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is commonly referred to as a near-death
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experience
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thousands of people have described such
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episodes as warm and comforting even
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heavenly Howard storm on the other hand
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believes his near-death experience took
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him straight to the depths of hell
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what makes his story even more
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remarkable is that at the time Howard
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wasn't about a theist who believed in
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nothing not God not heaven and certainly
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not hell
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by his own admission Howard storm was a
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man with a dark side an accomplished
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artist turned professor Howard commanded
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everyone around him with angry passion
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my wife and my children feared me
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sometimes I was fun sometimes that's
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good but I also used a lot of threats I
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used a lot of rage and they used a lot
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of coercion to to get my way that was
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that was the bottom line all the time
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was to get my way my will to prevail
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now that person lay in a Paris hospital
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as he slipped closer to death our storms
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as he took the first step on a journey
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that was nothing short of terrifying I
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[Music]
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looked at the bed and I saw myself lying
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in horrified me because I knew that
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that's not possible because I didn't
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believe in life after death I didn't
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believe in God I didn't believe in
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heaven hell I mean I really didn't
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believe
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I
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heard people calling me from outside the
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room and they were saying Howard hurry
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up
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it's time come with me I am assumed that
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they must be hospital personnel come to
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take me to have my surgery where's my
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doctor
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this way and they didn't deny that
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although they didn't confirm it either
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we were waiting
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as I walked with these people I became
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increasingly aware that something was
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very wrong everybody wants to help me
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plant these people were getting more and
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more aggressive
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cruel to me
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we have to move along as I wanted to do
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now much to get away from him
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he's getting darker and darker
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they kept leading me on extending the
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circle around me and there was really no
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way to escape from them
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when they were scratching pushing and
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pulling me and began biting at me so I
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was starting to yell and scream and howl
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with pain and they thought that was real
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funny and they really liked that a lot
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and I'm more that they did the better
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they liked it
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it was worse and worse and worse -
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totally tear me apart not only
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physically but psychologically
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emotionally
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that place I heard a voice which sounded
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like my voice say pray to God and I
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didn't believe in God said a second time
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pray to God and I tried to remember how
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to pray
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[Music]
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[Applause]
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the mention of God pushed them away from
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me and pushed them back and back from
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darkness so I just kept at it kept at it
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and since if it burned
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[Music]
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they simply retreated him to the
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darkness gone and I was all along that
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place left in light
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physical pain emotional pain self-pity
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and
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in considering my whole life was sort of
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like what was the point of ever living
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to end up like this I never really
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accomplished anything very significant
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now I end up in this place of torment
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why was I ever born
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in that state of like complete
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hopelessness I recalled myself as a
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little child
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[Music]
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and what was so especially powerful
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about it was that that child whom I had
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been thirty years before believed in
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something other than himself believed in
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something greater members
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and in that complete despair the pain
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and hopelessness a small light appeared
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and got brighter and brighter and
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brighter
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and for the first time in that light I
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could see myself and I was horrible it's
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like I look like roadkill and it's just
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all mangled and gore and her and I felt
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this brightness reached down and picked
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me up and I was like all healed Paul and
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full of the most wonderful physical
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ecstasy I
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[Music]
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was being carried
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by my new friend this person of light
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I'm aware that there's a tangible
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feeling of light and loving us coming
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from the direction that we're moving
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towards he called a number of angels
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around us and they showed me the effects
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that I had on other people how it hurt
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other people and I think to myself I'm
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scum I don't belong here they made a
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mistake and then for the first time he
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spoke to me and said we don't make
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mistakes you do belong
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howard storms journey to the other side
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was over he says a mysterious figure
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instructed him to return to earth and
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live with love in his heart I can't
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I can't you can
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[Music]
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soon after Howard regained consciousness
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a surgeon arrived the operation saved
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Howard's life but not without a price
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you remain hospitalized for two months
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suffering from hepatitis double
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pneumonia a collapsed lung and minimal
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liver function
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Howard storm would eventually make a
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full recovery you would also undergo a
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dramatic transformation
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the Lord be with you
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lift up your hearts
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let us pray in 1988 Howard left teaching
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and attended a Methodist Seminary today
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he is pastor of Zion United Church of
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Christ in southern Ohio
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I'm thankful for the whole experience
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because it gave me a whole second chance
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at life I feel like I died and was born
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again my wife said that on that day I
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died and she the person that came out of
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that experience was a complete stranger
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to her and I feel that way that I've
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been given a new life
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there's no doubt in my mind that I went
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to hell
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I know what I experienced and I know it
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wasn't a dream and I know that there is
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a conscious existence beyond this world
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outside this world if you might call
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another dimension or you want to call it
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the supernatural world or you want to
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call it Heaven and Hell there is a life
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beyond this life and we will reap the
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reward or suffer the consequence of what
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we've done with this life
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next a stranger's helping hand becomes a
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fist of death woman in Virginia
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[Music]
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as children were taught never to get
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into a car with a stranger as adults we
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sometimes forget that lesson even though
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it's a lesson that might save your life
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I'm going right to the mall call you
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when I get there how are you getting it
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four ninety five to sixty six to twenty
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nine straight to Charlotte's belt which
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got a full time guys
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on March 2nd 1996 Alysia Showalter
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Reynolds said goodbye to her husband and
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left her home in Baltimore Maryland it
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was a Saturday about 7:30 in the morning
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Alysia planned to drive more than 150
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miles to spend the day shopping with her
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mother in Charlottesville Virginia
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[Music]
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she left early giving us a plenty of
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time to be at the mall by 10:30
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[Music]
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Alicia's mother arrived on schedule
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expecting her daughter at any moment but
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what elisha was late Sadie Showalter
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became worried
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right about 11 o'clock she wasn't there
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and I said this is not like Alicia
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I wonder what's going on
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but I made myself wait till 11:15 and I
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then finally called her husband called
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mark have you heard from Alicia no I've
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been waiting it's over a half hour at
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that point I said you know the weather
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is kind of bad this morning you know
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there was a little fog that was a little
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drizzle it could have been some slick
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roads maybe she just slowed down a
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little bit or you know give her a little
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while and give me a call back
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Sadie continued to wait an hour past
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then to Alesia never showed up
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as six o'clock that evening a Virginia
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State Trooper found Alicia's car
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abandoned along a highway near Culpepper
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Virginia 50 miles from Alicia's
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destination a
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white paper napkin had been tucked under
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the windshield wiper the commonly used
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signal of car trouble when the car was
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examined however there were no
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mechanical problems my gut reaction that
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immediately was that she was gone that
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somebody had abducted her and taken her
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I feared the worst but we were told by
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many many folks to hope for the best we
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have an update on our top story tonight
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as we told you 25 year old Alicia
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Reynolds disappeared this weekend her
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abandoned car was the next day the local
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news media began broadcasting reports of
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Alicia's disappearance
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police set up a traffic block where
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Alicia's car was found and tracked down
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witnesses would seen her on route 29 the
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day she disappeared
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at least three people saw Alicia talking
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to a clean-cut white man with a
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dark-colored pickup truck
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the traffic block also produced
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witnesses who had been approached by a
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man fitting that exact description
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police began to realize that whatever it
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happened to Alicia
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might have been the final act in a
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nightmare ii scenario that had been
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evolving for weeks there were
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approximately 20 women who came forward
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after mrs. Reynolds disappearance who
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indicated that they too had been stopped
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along the route 29 corridor
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most of the witnesses talked about a man
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who would come up behind them or beside
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them in a dark small pickup truck
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flashing his headlights honking his horn
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looking in any way he could to attract
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the attention
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[Music]
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most of the women did have some concern
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for their vehicle did manage to pull off
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to the side of the road
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he immediately jumps underneath the
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vehicle conducts an examination comes
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out and it engages them in a
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conversation a very polite conversation
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about the mechanical difficulties that
00:17:01
he has allegedly uncovered
00:17:04
at that point the helpful stranger
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usually offered to drive the woman to
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the nearest phone
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okay
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in at least two cases the women accepted
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and came to no harm
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other women found the stranger to be
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anything but kind and courteous
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some of the women would not pull over
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for him but merely went to the next exit
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or to their destination and had someone
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else look at their vehicle
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the only instances where we have found
00:17:41
that the individual became agitated were
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those instances where women either
00:17:45
refused his assistance or refused to
00:17:48
pull over for him and in those instances
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there was a display of anger by him such
00:17:53
as pounding fists on steering wheel or
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normally things under his breath
00:18:00
looking at all of the stops I think we
00:18:03
pretty much all agree that he was
00:18:05
getting his courage up if you will he
00:18:07
was practicing
00:18:10
getting comfortable and what he was
00:18:12
doing was stopping these ladies until he
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found someone that trusted him enough
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for him to carry forward what he
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intended to do
00:18:21
one week before Alesia Rendell's
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disappeared a woman driving through a
00:18:26
neighboring County apparently fell for
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the same ploy I didn't mean to scare you
00:18:31
but there's something wrong with your
00:18:32
car there sparks coming on the back of
00:18:33
your car Sark's yes mark said so I think
00:18:38
there's a gas there's about a mile up
00:18:40
the road if you want me to give you left
00:18:41
up there I'll be happy to help you she
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said from the first moment she met him
00:18:46
he was soft-spoken she's seen he seemed
00:18:48
to be trustworthy she had no problem
00:18:50
with it at all and she knew that she
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needed a ride home she didn't know how
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to get home so she she accepted the ride
00:19:00
hey no problem glad to help I
00:19:04
just can't see anything on this
00:19:06
windshield at the Frost as they're going
00:19:08
along the road he would slow down and he
00:19:10
would make the excuse that there was
00:19:12
bright lights behind him or he couldn't
00:19:14
see because of the vehicles behind and
00:19:16
he pulled off the road he did this three
00:19:18
times
00:19:20
we believe that he was trying to
00:19:22
establish a place to do something
00:19:33
very frightened she fought him and he
00:19:37
decided he didn't going to fight with
00:19:38
him so he pushed her away
00:19:40
when he pushed her out he took off and
00:19:43
the shoulder belt was still caught on
00:19:45
her arm
00:19:53
the woman broke her ankle but she got
00:19:56
away
00:19:59
seven days later Alesia rebels would not
00:20:02
be so fortunate
00:20:06
but two months the search for Alisha
00:20:09
approved fruitless then on May 7th 1996
00:20:12
a passerby found her body in a wooded
00:20:14
area 15 miles southeast of Culpepper
00:20:17
Alisha had been murdered probably on the
00:20:20
day she disappeared
00:20:23
I
00:20:24
don't want it to happen to somebody else
00:20:26
I think that's that's really my main
00:20:30
concern for the capture of the guy is so
00:20:34
that I don't want to hear about another
00:20:36
husband who lost his wife or another
00:20:38
father another who lost their daughter
00:20:41
that's that's too much
00:20:45
[Music]
00:20:48
the stalker may have begun his
00:20:50
rehearsals in February of 1996 he
00:20:53
apparently stopped operating in the
00:20:55
Culpeper area shortly after Alesia was
00:20:57
abducted on March 2nd no context had
00:21:00
been reported since
00:21:02
there is a likelihood that the
00:21:04
individual has fled this area possibly
00:21:07
the state and may be in another
00:21:09
community now where he may be preparing
00:21:12
to start the same type of behavior again
00:21:16
this entire incident was based upon the
00:21:21
perpetrator having a fantasy and then
00:21:24
living this fantasy in his mind over and
00:21:27
over and over and then going out and
00:21:29
living it with a real person getting a
00:21:33
little closer and a little closer and
00:21:35
finally with Alicia he found the perfect
00:21:38
victim she got in the car with him and
00:21:41
if we don't catch him there will be
00:21:43
another perfect victim out there that
00:21:45
will get in his car again
00:21:53
[Music]
00:22:04
next when a motorcyclist loses control
00:22:07
of his bike disaster is averted thanks
00:22:09
to an unknown Good Samaritan
00:22:12
also an escaped convict and his wife are
00:22:15
finally in custody after 11 years on the
00:22:17
run
00:22:20
[Music]
00:22:32
this quiet neighborhood in st. Paul
00:22:35
Minnesota is a quintessential American
00:22:37
community tree-lined streets quaint
00:22:39
churches cozy homes the kind of place
00:22:43
where everyone knows their neighbor or
00:22:44
so they think
00:22:46
for eight years
00:22:48
Thomas Leo Langstone and his wife lived
00:22:50
in the small nondescript bungalow
00:22:52
no one ever suspected that Langston was
00:22:55
in fact Richard Sep aloneness an escaped
00:22:58
convict with a long criminal record
00:23:00
[Music]
00:23:03
in 1973 sepp aloneness and two
00:23:06
accomplices robbed a bank in new bern
00:23:08
Massachusetts made off with more than
00:23:10
seventeen thousand dollars in cash in
00:23:12
fleeing they almost killed an innocent
00:23:14
bystander
00:23:17
[Music]
00:23:21
Sep aloneness was convicted of bank
00:23:23
robbery and armed assault his sentence
00:23:25
58 to 82 years in prison
00:23:29
then he met Karen Wolters Karen was an
00:23:32
aspiring teacher whose class assignment
00:23:34
involve writing letters to inmates
00:23:36
eventually she visited Richard and the
00:23:38
relationship intensified
00:23:43
for Karen it was loved persepolis that
00:23:47
may have been something different
00:23:48
perhaps nothing more than a means to an
00:23:50
end a
00:23:53
typical inmate in in prison I find takes
00:23:58
advantage of people on the community
00:24:01
oftentimes they'll latch on to women who
00:24:04
are lonely want some attention
00:24:07
and they take advantage of them and I
00:24:10
think the women have beguiled by the all
00:24:12
that attention
00:24:14
eight years after they met Richard SEP
00:24:17
aloneness and Karen Wolters married in
00:24:18
the prison chaplain several months later
00:24:21
zat bellona's escaped a couple
00:24:23
disappeared
00:24:26
11 years would pass before anyone knew
00:24:29
where Richard Sep aloneness and Karen
00:24:30
Wolters were hiding let's go to Keeley
00:24:33
Shay Smith to find out what happened
00:24:37
after a recent broadcast a viewer in
00:24:40
Minneapolis who had done business with a
00:24:41
couple recognized Karen's photograph a
00:24:44
taskforce which included the local
00:24:45
police and FBI was mobilized and the
00:24:48
house was staked out
00:24:50
on October 1st 1996 officers observed
00:24:54
Richard Sepp aloneness leave his
00:24:56
residence and drive to a nearby
00:24:57
convenience store
00:24:59
as soon as he pulled into the parking
00:25:02
lot and got out of the vehicle
00:25:04
one of the task force members was right
00:25:07
there with him so he jumped out drew his
00:25:10
weapon ordered Sekulow honest not to
00:25:12
move and at that point other task force
00:25:15
members got there jumped out and
00:25:17
assisted in the arrest
00:25:19
Karen Wolters was picked up 20 minutes
00:25:22
later for eight years
00:25:23
she and SEP aloneness had completely
00:25:25
fooled their neighbors
00:25:27
when I found out that they were who they
00:25:30
were I was shocked I couldn't believe it
00:25:33
my mouth fell to the floor I never would
00:25:35
imagine in a million years that these
00:25:38
two people would be that would do
00:25:40
anything wrong a
00:25:42
bag of robbery paraphernalia found
00:25:44
inside the hideout gave authorities a
00:25:46
much different impression
00:25:48
the discovery of the bag with the
00:25:51
facemask the gun the rubber gloves the
00:25:55
large amount of
00:25:56
cash and small bills
00:26:00
we think that perhaps he's been back in
00:26:02
the bank robbery or robbery business
00:26:04
again
00:26:05
[Music]
00:26:38
[Music]
00:26:47
August 27th 1995 was a joyous day of her
00:26:51
Steven Sharon Newton that morning their
00:26:54
first child Virginia was born at Naples
00:26:56
Community Hospital in Naples Florida
00:26:59
it was the most incredible thing I ever
00:27:01
seen before my life to watch this child
00:27:03
being born especially knowing that it
00:27:05
was my child
00:27:07
that's what I always wanted to be was a
00:27:09
father and I just that she was my world
00:27:13
that's pretty much how I felt with my
00:27:16
wife and you know I just they couldn't
00:27:18
they couldn't gotten any better at that
00:27:19
point
00:27:22
Steve had come to the hospital straight
00:27:24
from work the night before at around
00:27:27
2:00 p.m. he headed home to pick up the
00:27:29
family car the ride to the small town of
00:27:32
Immokalee would take about an hour and a
00:27:34
half
00:27:38
over the previous week rainstorms had
00:27:40
blanketed the area Steve says it had
00:27:43
cleared by that afternoon but up ahead
00:27:45
disaster loomed a deep pool of water and
00:27:49
covered the road creating a treacherous
00:27:50
hazard
00:27:52
it looked like a mirage at first but it
00:27:55
wasn't a mirage it was water I remember
00:27:57
thinking this is it I'm gonna die
00:28:03
[Music]
00:28:04
I
00:28:07
just remember coming straight down on my
00:28:09
head as I hit I saw poof this big bright
00:28:13
light and that was it then I was just
00:28:15
completely out
00:28:18
Steve ended up in a drainage ditch faced
00:28:21
down at unconscious death was just a
00:28:24
whisper away
00:28:29
[Music]
00:28:33
I woke up and there's this lady staring
00:28:36
me in the face I remember thinking that
00:28:38
this woman was like an angel of some
00:28:40
sort she was just so peaceful so quiet
00:28:43
so pretty
00:28:48
the woman apparently a passing motorist
00:28:51
had turned Steve over in the water and
00:28:52
saved him from drowning she pulled him
00:28:55
to his feet led him from the drainage
00:28:57
ditch and over to her car
00:28:59
in a car she was talking to me and after
00:29:04
a while her voice started to fade out I
00:29:06
remember that and then I remember seeing
00:29:07
these lights coming up the street
00:29:11
when paramedics arrived Steve was in a
00:29:14
precarious state
00:29:23
he appeared slightly confused and he was
00:29:26
hyperventilating
00:29:28
where are you hurt my back
00:29:32
the woman was there initially and since
00:29:34
his answers were somewhat disoriented I
00:29:36
asked her what she had found on the
00:29:38
scene and she said that he was facedown
00:29:40
in the water at the roadside and when
00:29:44
she initially went up to him he was
00:29:45
unconscious at that time he wasn't
00:29:47
answering her at all
00:29:48
he easily could have drown if she had
00:29:51
not pulled him from the water
00:29:53
the stranger stayed at the scene until
00:29:55
Steve was taken away she gave a
00:29:57
statement to police then disappeared
00:30:00
without leaving her name
00:30:04
do you remember your name
00:30:06
see 120 minutes later Steve was brought
00:30:10
into the same hospital where his
00:30:12
daughter had been born just hours
00:30:13
earlier I kept telling him the whole
00:30:17
time that you know tell my wife I'm
00:30:18
sorry and they didn't understand what I
00:30:22
was getting that but I just I was really
00:30:24
getting at the fact that if I died I was
00:30:27
really sorry that you know it shouldn't
00:30:29
happen like this
00:30:32
more than a year is passed in Steve
00:30:35
Newton's brush with death he is now on
00:30:37
disability because he suffers from
00:30:39
occasional seizures but if not for the
00:30:41
mysterious Good Samaritan Steve Newton
00:30:44
wouldn't be here at all
00:30:46
she helped him stay around to be a
00:30:48
father to her daughter I mean if she
00:30:51
wouldn't helped him you might have died
00:30:53
and then then my baby wouldn't have a
00:30:56
father you know that's basically why I
00:30:58
want to find her I just want to thank
00:31:00
her
00:31:02
I'm just glad to be alive now I never
00:31:06
thought about life before you know I'm
00:31:08
here and I'm always gonna be here now I
00:31:09
just thank God for each day I always
00:31:12
knew tomorrow was coming I always knew
00:31:13
that next week was coming and now I
00:31:15
don't take that for granted no more
00:31:17
because they could just end just like
00:31:19
that
00:31:20
[Music]
00:31:23
if she could just see my daughter she'll
00:31:26
know that she did me that the greatest
00:31:28
favor or gift that anybody can give and
00:31:31
that's to give me about my life and I'd
00:31:32
like to say thank you for that
00:31:34
[Music]
00:31:39
with the help of our viewers Steve
00:31:42
Newton recently had a chance to do just
00:31:44
that here's Keeley Shay Smith with the
00:31:47
details
00:31:49
Bob a woman in Florida recognized the
00:31:52
story as when she had heard from a
00:31:53
co-worker named Tammy Dodson after the
00:31:56
broadcast Tammy's boyfriend discussed
00:31:58
the case with one of his co-workers who
00:32:00
happened to be Steve Newton's
00:32:02
father-in-law it soon became perfectly
00:32:04
clear that Steve's mysterious Good
00:32:06
Samaritan was in fact Tammy Dobson
00:32:10
on January 31st 1997 Steve and Tammy met
00:32:15
face to face for the first time since
00:32:17
the near-fatal accident
00:32:18
[Music]
00:32:20
as a special treat Steve brought along
00:32:24
Virginia now one and a half years old
00:32:27
nobody's ever gone that far to come to
00:32:30
thank me and he kept saying that I was
00:32:33
his angel I've never been called an
00:32:35
angel before far from it but
00:32:38
it just I mean it made me feel good
00:32:41
inside to know that I done I've done
00:32:45
something that's helped somebody so much
00:32:48
Steve and his wife Sharon now expecting
00:32:51
their second child were finally able to
00:32:53
express their gratitude to the woman who
00:32:55
had saved Steve's life I owe her
00:32:59
everything and there's nothing that I
00:33:01
have I can give to you know to say thank
00:33:05
you
00:33:06
right through here it started for the
00:33:09
day was out Tammy and Steve returned to
00:33:11
the scene of the accident all too aware
00:33:13
that Tammy's simple act of kindness had
00:33:16
changed both of them forever it makes me
00:33:19
want to do more for other people no ice
00:33:21
if someone's in trouble I would go that
00:33:23
extra mile you know today that extra
00:33:26
just to help that person I
00:33:29
just wanted to hug him I was so glad to
00:33:32
see that he was okay and the baby and
00:33:35
everything I was just just thrilled that
00:33:37
he was fine
00:33:40
[Music]
00:33:44
next a hit and run boating accident
00:33:47
leaves a young woman fighting for her
00:33:49
life
00:33:50
[Music]
00:34:03
this is Stefanie Booker of Dallas Texas
00:34:06
as she appeared in 1995 before this
00:34:09
happened
00:34:16
Stephenie Booker 1995 Stephenie Booker
00:34:19
today
00:34:20
the change may seem slight to you but to
00:34:24
Stephanie her new face is that of a
00:34:25
stranger artfully created by plastic
00:34:28
surgeons in that horrific hit and run
00:34:31
accident the other Stephanie was
00:34:33
destroyed
00:34:34
[Music]
00:34:37
it happened on Lewisville Lake 20 miles
00:34:41
north of Dallas
00:34:42
Stephenie Booker and two friends Sabra
00:34:45
Scott and Kim Colvin spent a great deal
00:34:47
of time on the lake swimming sailing
00:34:49
whatever appeal to them June 17 1995 was
00:34:54
a typical owie until night
00:35:01
after a break for dinner the three
00:35:03
friends decided to take one last cruise
00:35:06
beyond the breakwater
00:35:14
near midnight the young women headed
00:35:17
back to the slip can it's really dark
00:35:19
can you help me
00:35:21
they slowed down as they entered the
00:35:23
marina maneuvering through a no-wake
00:35:25
zone that prohibits boaters from going
00:35:27
more than 5 miles an hour
00:35:30
then a hundred yards away a speedboat
00:35:33
raced out of the darkness
00:35:36
Stephanie and her friends never had a
00:35:38
chance
00:35:40
[Music]
00:35:59
for a moment only silence stunned
00:36:02
disbelief
00:36:12
still screaming I could feel someone
00:36:15
tugging on the back of my shirt and it
00:36:18
was Stephanie
00:36:20
and that point I got on my knees and I
00:36:23
could see that she was in serious
00:36:25
condition I tried to speak and no words
00:36:28
would come out It was as if my mouth
00:36:31
felt SunShot and
00:36:33
so I had to brace myself with my hands
00:36:38
to push my body up and then I felt this
00:36:41
terrible weight hanging off of my face
00:36:44
as if
00:36:45
dough was hanging off of my face and I
00:36:48
reached up and realized that my
00:36:52
face was in my hand
00:36:56
the speedboats propellers rushed across
00:36:58
Stephanie's face literally slicing it
00:37:01
from the world
00:37:03
her lips were detached from her face I
00:37:05
couldn't see any gums her teeth there
00:37:08
was skin hanging down from her eye so I
00:37:12
was seeing her exposed face and I could
00:37:14
tell she was having a hard time
00:37:15
breathing
00:37:18
all the other books a young woman
00:37:21
appeared at the driver's side they
00:37:23
stared neither said a word
00:37:28
he stood there as if contemplating the
00:37:31
pros and the cons I'm sure he thought he
00:37:33
already killed someone by looking at the
00:37:35
damage on our boat I remember when one
00:37:38
of the individuals making the other
00:37:39
person to kind of like be silent don't
00:37:41
say anything so it was total silence
00:37:44
with me yelling and screaming at him
00:37:46
they made no motions to say one word or
00:37:49
make any actions towards to come to help
00:37:50
us
00:37:58
when the driver finally did do something
00:38:00
it was to save himself he gunned his
00:38:03
engine and took off
00:38:07
[Music]
00:38:11
him turned her attention back to
00:38:13
Stephanie a Sabra got the boat started
00:38:15
and made for sure
00:38:19
I'm thinking to myself that Stephanie is
00:38:22
going to quit breathing any any minute
00:38:23
now and so the trip was seemed like it
00:38:26
lasted forever long enough for me to
00:38:28
think I can't give her mouth-to-mouth
00:38:30
because I'm afraid if I put any pressure
00:38:32
it'll cave in any facial structure she
00:38:34
has and also I didn't think there was a
00:38:36
airway big enough to get any air in her
00:38:40
looking at Kim not being able to breathe
00:38:43
very well I felt a very conscious
00:38:44
decision to either live or die and so at
00:38:48
that moment instead of freaking out
00:38:50
looking at Kim's face I decided to just
00:38:52
remain calm and it was as if a power
00:38:55
overcame me and gave me this incredible
00:38:58
strength to take control of my life
00:39:03
as Stephanie was being rushed to surgery
00:39:05
police started looking for the driver of
00:39:08
the other boat or anyone who might have
00:39:10
seen it right
00:39:11
after the accident we have two witnesses
00:39:14
that were there they heard the screaming
00:39:15
they heard the noise coming from the
00:39:17
accident and then about 15 or 20 seconds
00:39:19
such of that I saw a boat fitting this
00:39:21
description just just come hauling but
00:39:25
five minutes later another eyewitness
00:39:27
saw two people load the same boat onto a
00:39:30
trailer towed by a white 4x4 pickup
00:39:33
truck without even bothering to tie down
00:39:36
the boat they sped off into the night
00:39:38
they remain unidentified
00:39:42
the community was outraged our local
00:39:46
businesses raised reward money stephanie
00:39:48
suffered through her own private ordeal
00:39:51
seven reconstructive surgeries done and
00:39:53
five more scheduled to rebuild her
00:39:55
internal facial structure
00:39:58
I'm not able to breathe very well I'm
00:40:01
not able to smell as well nor can I
00:40:04
taste the way I used to be able to and
00:40:07
my teeth that I have are very much for
00:40:11
aesthetics for looks
00:40:14
memory concentration skills the ability
00:40:18
to do more than one task at a time all
00:40:21
the things that I used to do and take
00:40:23
for granted are gone and I walk by a
00:40:26
mirror after I've had one of my many
00:40:28
surgeries and look at myself and just
00:40:30
wonder why did someone do this why did
00:40:33
they not come forward why don't they
00:40:36
care
00:40:40
at least one person did seem to care
00:40:43
police have heard from the same
00:40:45
anonymous caller on three occasions
00:40:47
he stated emphatically that he knew that
00:40:50
it was and he was going to talk to the
00:40:52
person and try to get them and turned
00:40:54
himself in from just the tone of his
00:40:56
voice and the way he was talking we
00:40:58
think that he does know who it is and we
00:41:00
would like for him to at least contact
00:41:02
us it frightens me that these people are
00:41:04
still out there it really does they've
00:41:07
proven that they place absolutely no
00:41:08
value whatsoever on human life that was
00:41:12
shown the night of our accident when
00:41:13
they chose to leave us there to die
00:41:14
these people being brought to justice
00:41:17
has a huge impact on me emotionally as
00:41:21
well as my family
00:41:30
my feelings towards the people in the
00:41:33
other vote was I felt very sorry for
00:41:35
them it had to be devastating to cause
00:41:37
an accident like this however they do
00:41:40
need to do the right thing and come
00:41:41
forward so that I can move on and try to
00:41:44
work on myself emotionally and get back
00:41:47
as close to normal as possible
00:41:51
the suspects boat is a Miami Vice style
00:41:54
speedboat the single-engine mercury
00:41:56
Cruiser out drive similar to these that
00:41:59
is 25 to 30 feet long painted white the
00:42:02
teal green markings the fiberglass shell
00:42:05
was probably damaged on the starboard
00:42:06
side about five feet from the stern the
00:42:09
motor would have had damage to the
00:42:11
outdoor gear Kings skeg or gimble wing
00:42:14
it might have been brought in for
00:42:16
repairs were sold sometime after June
00:42:18
17th 1995
00:42:23
the driver of the speedboat was a stocky
00:42:26
muscular clean-shaven white male with
00:42:28
light hair his companion was an athletic
00:42:30
looking woman with very long dark hair
00:42:32
they drove a white 4x4 pickup truck
00:42:43
join me next time for another compelling
00:42:46
our unsolved mysteries
00:42:48
[Music]
00:43:25
[Music]
