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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 were about to see is not a news
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broadcast in 1978 19 year-old Gus
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Hoffman was accosted by a motorcycle
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gang in San Jose California for 10 years
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his mother as haunted gang hangouts in a
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desperate attempt to find her son or his
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killers in 1927 two weeks before Charles
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Lindbergh's famous Atlantic crossing a
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pair of intrepid Frenchy leaders
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attempted the same flight some believe
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they make an aviation history will have
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to be rewritten in 1987
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Patsy Wright was killed by a lethal dose
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of strychnine in a cold medicine police
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believed the murderer was someone close
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to her in 1942 the oil tanker Muskogee
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was sunk by a German u-boat all hands
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were lost 45 years later the son of the
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Muskogee's captain is asked a Nazi
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u-boat commander to help locate the
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missing relative men lost at sea tonight
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four stories which ordinary people are
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thrust into the most extraordinary
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circumstances each leading one vital
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clue to solve a mystery perhaps someone
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watching tonight can help perhaps
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[Music]
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[Applause]
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[Music]
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in 1977 Gus Hoffman was a popular 19
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year old in San Jose California he had a
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reputation as an excellent musician and
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a mechanical who is Gus was not a biker
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but one of his hobbies was restoring
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vintage motorcycles and he took great
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pride in his work in October of 1977 Gus
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bought a 1966 harley-davidson Sportster
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he spent eight months and four thousand
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dollars restoring it to mint condition
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the motorcycle became a source of
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conflict between Gus and his parents we
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didn't like it at all my husband gave
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him an ultimatum
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he said either you go or the bike I said
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I don't I don't want you to leave Gus I
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said you gotta do something and neither
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does your dad want you to leave so he's
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just afraid that something's gonna
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happen to you we don't want you to have
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that bike he said well I'll just fix it
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up and I'll sell it that's what he told
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us on July the 4th 1978 Gus put the
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finishing touches on his motorcycle he
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showed it off to his brother and told
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him he was taking the bike out for a
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short ride
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Gus Hoffman's family would never see him
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again when Gus did not return his mother
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Rose Hoffman called the police to report
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her son missing because they could take
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no action until 48 hours had passed she
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started to investigate on her own
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this began a 10-year quest which Rose
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Hoffman never stopped trying to find out
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what had happened to her son roses asked
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that an actress portray her and
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recreating these most painful moments
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when Gus didn't return Rose canvassed
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the neighborhood she questioned one of
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Gus's friends who worked at a nearby gas
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station about two days ago I saw him
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pull up on his motorcycle who these two
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other guys they want choppers with them
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he said that he saw Gus ridin by
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Meridian and he said there was two
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motorcycles and back of him in a blue
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Monte Carlo and he said the reason he
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recognized it was because these same two
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motorcycle guys came in to the gas
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station and they were like real mean to
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him
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and so he remembered them and they had
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real long hair and they were just real
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tough guys guys that you don't fool
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around
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a second witness later said that the two
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bikers had stopped Gus argued and
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threatened him with chains when Gus
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pulled away
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they brought after the car in pursuit
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the two witnesses identified one of the
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bikers as Michael Hodges a member of the
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Forgotten few motorcycle gang the other
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was Michael Stevenson another member of
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the same gang if there was ever a person
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who you could say was a career criminal
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named would be Michael Stevenson he's
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probably the most violent person that
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I've ever investigated the San Jose
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police did not have enough evidence to
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bring Stevenson and Hodges in for
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interrogation so they began to question
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other gang members who knew the two men
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no one was willing to talk it appeared
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that everyone feared Michael Stevenson
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well then arrest me after they found out
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who they were they told me expect the
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worst
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I got very angry my husband got angry we
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said no this can't happen I just wanted
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to go after them after that I mean
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that's all I thought about was going
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after them
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in order to turn up leaves for the
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police rose and a friend named Carol
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Jenson went undercover to infiltrate
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motorcycle gang hangouts I tried to
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dress like a biker person a woman that's
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been around in the biker world I had to
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I wore my hair all wild and and tight
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pants and tight jeans and heels and
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bracelets and just I tried to look tough
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it was scary but I don't think I was
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afraid as afraid as I should have been
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we just let it be known that I had a
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loaded gun it was not loaded but we let
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him think it was and that I would use it
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any moment to protect Rose Rose often
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spent hundreds of hours going to biker
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bars different low-class establishments
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soliciting information from informants
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buying information when necessary she
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followed up every lead which she shared
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with us she and her daughter's family
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members and friends covered the whole
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area knocking on doors talking to
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anybody that whose name they were given
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Rose hired a private investigator with
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connections to motorcycle gangs he set
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up a meeting with a woman who claimed
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she knew what had happened to Gus I
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understand you have information about my
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son yes I do she told me were that my
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son was dead and she told me that my son
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was tortured he was tortured for three
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to five days and
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and I begged her I said please tell me
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who did it you gotta talk to the police
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you got to talk to the police I begged
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her I offered her money I said I'll give
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you anything you want anything please
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talk to the bullies didn't tell them and
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she anyway the investigator he just said
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knowest there's no way he could let her
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talk he said he just wanted her to let
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me know what happened to my son and I
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begged him to and he said I can't he
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said I don't want to be responsible for
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her death Rosenau felt she knew the
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horrible truth of what had happened to
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her son but she had no hard evidence and
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could lead to an arrest
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I think they enticed him I think they
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said well let me see your bike let me
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see your bike and then he was like
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intimidating Zawar you know cuz there
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are real rough tough looking guys real
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tough guys and I think he was more
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intimidated into everything
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[Music]
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and I think that once that he got off
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his bike that was it
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I think they willed the bike into the
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garage and then walked him into the
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garage and when that garage door went
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down he was never seen again never seen
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again on June the 19th 1986 Michael
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Stevenson was killed during a failed
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extortion attempt his death provided an
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unexpected break in the Hoffman case
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with Stevenson dead police request
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members of biker gangs and other
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possible witnesses now they talked and
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they name names
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it appears that Gus Hoffman was forced
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through intimidation to go to Mike
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Stevenson's residence in San Jose
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was forced through intimidation to enter
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the garage there were certain acts of
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violence against Gus Hoffman inside the
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garage which ultimately resulted in his
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death and the disappearance of his
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motorcycle police immediately arrested
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Michael Hodges one of the men witnesses
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had linked to Gus's murder Richard
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dollar a friend of Hodges was picked up
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at San Quentin where he was already
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serving time for a parole violation
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the third remaining suspect John stell
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was finally captured in Northern
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California he was carrying a loaded
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handgun
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tragically no trace of Gus Hoffman has
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ever been found
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Rose Hoffman wants to give her son the
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dignity and death that he was denied at
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the end of his life she hopes one of our
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viewers can help you can help me as if
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anyone knows if anybody knows where my
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son is
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please I beg you please tell the police
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or call me I want my son that's the most
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important thing
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[Music]
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on a previous broadcast we brought you
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the story of a Los Angeles resident who
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won midnight last summer went to an
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automatic teller machine to make a cash
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withdrawal he never returned home on
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June 8th 1988 22 year-old Matthew Chase
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left his house and drove to his Bank a
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few blocks away that night the hidden
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camera took these photographs of an
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unknown man standing next to Matthew as
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he used the automatic teller machine the
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person standing next to Matt was
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somewhat shorter somewhat stockier and
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overall he shouldn't have been in the
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photograph no one is going to let
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someone stand that close to him while
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they're using an ATM machine where they
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can see the pin number
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police believe that Matthew was abducted
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in a robbery attempt and that this
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mysterious figure was his kidnap
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today I sense that he's still alive and
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that has kept us going and will never
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stop looking for him until we find him
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and I know we'll find him over the next
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few months Matthews friends and family
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scoured Los Angeles searching for the
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missing youth they turned up nothing
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Los Angeles can be a dangerous place at
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night we saw a lot of things that were
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very frightening I think and that only
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made it more real to us that that
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something perhaps very serious had
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happened to Matt on March 29th one
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chapter of this mysterious case came to
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a close when the Los Angeles coroner's
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office positively identified the body of
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Matthew chase his remains were
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discovered in a ravine and nearby
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Pasadena on September the 17th of last
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year three months after he disappeared
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identification was delayed by the
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difficulty in tracking down dental
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records the cause of death was a gunshot
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wound we had estimated that he had been
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down in this Canyon area since the last
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week in June of last year - September
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when he was located this case is being
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handled as a robbery homicide at this
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point the man in the bank photograph is
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wanted for questioning and a
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disappearance and death of Matthew chase
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this is an artist's rendering of the
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prime suspect in this case based on
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computer enhancements of the bank
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photographs Matthew's car was also
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stolen and later abandoned the killer
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may have been seen driving this car in
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early June it was a red two-door 1983
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Volkswagen GTI when this car was
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recovered a blue bandana was found
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inside it is thought the bandana may
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have belonged to the killer
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I do hope to find his killer and I think
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that we need to see this through and we
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will see it through and this person must
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be brought to justice
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[Music]
00:16:00
on May 21st 1927 Charles Lee electrified
00:16:05
the world by being the first to fly
00:16:07
non-stop across the Atlantic from New
00:16:09
York to Paris when he returned home he
00:16:19
received a hero's welcome ten days
00:16:26
earlier the two French pilots Charles
00:16:28
Nungesser and Francois Cooley were
00:16:31
preparing to beat Lindbergh across the
00:16:33
Atlantic in their plane was old gone the
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white bird their plan was to take off
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from an airfield near Paris and land
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there watertight plane in the New York
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Harbor at the base of the Statue of
00:16:47
Liberty Nungesser was Frances most
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decorated World War one pilot Colley was
00:16:54
the first man to fly non-stop across the
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Mediterranean he had promised his wife
00:17:01
that this would be his last adventure
00:17:02
boone's as fate would have it he kept
00:17:07
his promise
00:17:10
the white bird was last seen by escort
00:17:12
planes as it crossed the coast of France
00:17:14
and headed out over the vast reaches of
00:17:17
the Atlantic it was never seen again
00:17:22
most experts assume the plane simply
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crashed at sea nearly 50 years later in
00:17:33
1971 Jim Reed
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a local hunter was deep in the remote
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woods of Maine when he came across a
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strange moss-covered mound
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I saw something that just didn't look
00:17:44
right I thought it was a bold red first
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and shortly thereafter I went up and I
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probed around was an engine an aircraft
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engine well I was a mechanic and
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definitely not a diesel engine the
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cooling elements the way it was built
00:18:02
indicated to me it was an aircraft and
00:18:07
Jim Reed was never able to relocate the
00:18:10
engine although he made several attempts
00:18:12
to retrace his steps through the dense
00:18:14
woods could it have been the last
00:18:16
remains of the white bird and proof that
00:18:19
the French pilots actually crossed the
00:18:21
Atlantic two weeks before Lindbergh
00:18:25
it's very much like trying to assemble a
00:18:27
jigsaw puzzle in a little bit by a
00:18:31
little bit the pieces come together and
00:18:33
make a picture and we have enough of a
00:18:35
picture now to convince us that we're on
00:18:38
to the trail Ric Gillespie and his wife
00:18:41
Pat Thrasher aircraft archaeologists
00:18:43
have been searching for the white bird
00:18:45
for over four years
00:18:46
they're so convinced the plane crashed
00:18:48
in Maine they've given up their job to
00:18:50
devote their lives to search for the
00:18:51
missing plane after 50 years most of the
00:18:54
aircraft made a wooden fabric will have
00:18:56
totally disintegrated but they feel they
00:18:59
are close using a helicopter equipped
00:19:03
with an infrared scanner the
00:19:05
investigators surveyed the area near
00:19:07
Machias Maine where the engine had been
00:19:09
sighted they were hoping to find traces
00:19:13
of metal that would indicate where the
00:19:15
white bird had crashed from the very
00:19:18
beginning of its project we felt that
00:19:21
technology would be the answer and we
00:19:24
have driven ourselves nuts trying to
00:19:27
find that technology and time and time
00:19:30
again but has worked his people people
00:19:34
have succeeded people have led us closer
00:19:39
Rick and Pat concentrated their
00:19:41
investigation on longtime Maine
00:19:43
residents who might have seen or heard
00:19:45
the white bird 50 years ago they visited
00:19:49
a retired blueberry farmer who had lived
00:19:51
in the area for 77 years I was outside
00:19:55
and all of a sudden this plane
00:19:58
what overhead you heard the earth herald
00:20:02
vining is the last person still alive
00:20:05
who claims to have heard the white bird
00:20:07
on its final flight at that time we was
00:20:10
all keyed up listening for Lindbergh due
00:20:15
to the fact that this plane was
00:20:17
traveling in the wrong direction it
00:20:20
couldn't have been Lindbergh
00:20:24
without chopping wood when I heard this
00:20:29
plane war one I honestly believe that
00:20:32
that's the best plan that I ever heard
00:20:35
in my life that's my initial outstanding
00:20:40
in my mind not knowing these French
00:20:45
people I am a mystery bid no attention
00:20:50
to it three miles from Harold Vinings
00:20:55
home a young couple Everett and Abigail
00:20:59
Scott heard of plane and stopped their
00:21:02
car to listen
00:21:07
two miles away Mary Gould was in her
00:21:10
kitchen when she too heard the sound of
00:21:12
a plane it would real foggy for several
00:21:19
days I remember the day well Maurice
00:21:22
Berry's cousin Anson Barry was fishing
00:21:25
when he too heard a plane fly over then
00:21:29
heard its engine stop
00:21:31
[Music]
00:21:37
Antrim said that he heard a ripping I
00:21:42
believe the beer I believe what he said
00:21:45
and I fully believe that airplane is
00:21:51
down there somewhere you would get
00:21:54
heaven stumbled onto it the team
00:22:00
searched one possible crash site near
00:22:02
where the old-timers heard the plane
00:22:04
there they discovered an unusual piece
00:22:07
of wood hey Pat it turns out to be a
00:22:11
single stalk of something that has been
00:22:15
run through a roller man fashioned the
00:22:19
kind of generic material that would have
00:22:22
been used for any kind of a padding
00:22:24
purpose but not in Maine because it's
00:22:28
not from Maine and it's not even
00:22:29
apparently from North America eventually
00:22:32
they found 23 more fragments of the same
00:22:35
strip together they formed a length of 2
00:22:38
meters the exact width of the white
00:22:41
bird's wing we will continue on the
00:22:44
project as long as it seems reasonable
00:22:47
to do it what has kept us going in the
00:22:49
past has been that new information keeps
00:22:52
coming out the corroborates what's come
00:22:55
before and there's very much a feeling
00:22:57
of getting closer and closer closer
00:23:03
watch your whining Rick believes that
00:23:08
there still may be a hunter who has
00:23:09
spent time in the desert woods near
00:23:11
Machias Maine and who has seen some clue
00:23:14
to the fate of the white bird they
00:23:16
intend to search until the ill-fated
00:23:17
French plane is found only then will
00:23:21
Nungesser and coli be awarded their
00:23:23
rightful place in the annals of aviation
00:23:25
history October 1987 Arlington Texas the
00:23:47
friends and family of 43 year old Patsy
00:23:49
Bolton right warned the tragic
00:23:51
unexpected death she had died suddenly
00:23:54
at 3:00 in the morning in her own
00:23:57
bedroom no one knows why you know I mean
00:24:06
she was she was so much she was so
00:24:08
healthy there was nothing wrong with her
00:24:10
and when it happened yes you're just in
00:24:13
awe because you would never ever have
00:24:16
expected that to happen to her there's
00:24:19
not a day that goes by that we can even
00:24:21
believe that this has happened we can
00:24:23
all you know still see Patsy coming into
00:24:25
the room smiling and we can hear her
00:24:27
laugh and you know just it just doesn't
00:24:30
seem real at all eight days after
00:24:33
Patsy's memorial service a routine
00:24:36
autopsy was performed a mass
00:24:38
spectrometer checked for 56 thousand
00:24:41
different foreign substances and Patsy's
00:24:43
blood samples suddenly the machine
00:24:46
showed a violent positive reaction the
00:24:51
lab technician immediately requested
00:24:53
identification within seconds the
00:24:56
chilling answer came back
00:24:57
strychnine
00:25:01
because of its horrible side effects
00:25:03
strychnine poisoning is considered an
00:25:05
unusually cruel way to die death by
00:25:08
strychnine is also very rare
00:25:10
according to a leading toxicologist
00:25:12
since 1950 there's only been one
00:25:14
confirmed case of homicide by strychnine
00:25:16
poisoning in the entire United States in
00:25:19
the death of Patsy right
00:25:20
the Texas authorities faced a puzzling
00:25:22
question how had this variant poison
00:25:24
entered Patsy's bloodstream 3:00 a.m.
00:25:30
the morning of Patsy's death Steve and
00:25:33
Sally Hornung were awakened by a frantic
00:25:35
phone call the caller was Sally's sister
00:25:44
Patsy right we got to the house and
00:25:59
parked in the driveway and went to the
00:26:01
front door and of course the door was
00:26:03
locked and we couldn't get in I went
00:26:12
around to the side window was open just
00:26:15
suppose for getting fresh air in there
00:26:17
open it up jump through the window came
00:26:21
through and I saw Patsy on the bed
00:26:27
oh my god in she was in the bedroom she
00:26:31
just looked like she had kind of fainted
00:26:33
so I thought that's what had happened
00:26:35
and so we tried to get her up and that
00:26:38
didn't work I worked on both her heart
00:26:50
and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation
00:26:52
during that a lot of green fluid came up
00:26:56
from her and I would continually spit
00:27:00
that out onto the bed or there was a
00:27:03
towel there as I remember sometime after
00:27:06
that the medics came was the last time
00:27:08
y'all talked to her yes we at first
00:27:18
thought that she was responding because
00:27:20
you could see the monitor going up and
00:27:23
down but it was every time they were
00:27:24
pushing on her chest that that's what it
00:27:27
was
00:27:29
yeah
00:27:39
I wrote to the hospital and ambulance
00:27:41
with her and they said that they were
00:27:45
not able to save her and they said they
00:27:47
had done everything they could do and
00:27:49
there just wasn't anything I could do
00:27:53
neither Sally nor the police had any
00:27:55
reason to suspect foul play but in her
00:27:58
phone call Patsy had mentioned taking
00:28:00
cold medicine so police collected the
00:28:03
bottle for possible analysis
00:28:05
Patsy's cold medicine contained huge
00:28:08
amounts of strychnine
00:28:09
the FBI ruled out product tampering
00:28:17
Patsy Wright seemed to have everything
00:28:19
to live for
00:28:20
she had two children a son Wayne and a
00:28:22
daughter Leslie to whom she was very
00:28:24
close Patsy and her sister Sally were
00:28:27
successful business women they owned two
00:28:30
wax museums worth over six million
00:28:32
dollars also Patsy had just bought three
00:28:36
prized quarter horses and she planned to
00:28:38
train them herself in my professional
00:28:41
opinion it's highly unlikely that Patsy
00:28:44
committed suicide or was a high risk for
00:28:47
suicide sergeant Jay Gustafson of the
00:28:52
Arlington Texas police began to
00:28:53
investigate Patsy's death as a murder he
00:28:57
had two clues which made him think that
00:28:59
the murder was probably someone Patsy
00:29:01
knew very well first Patsy's burglar
00:29:05
alarm had not been set on the night she
00:29:06
died secondly only those close to Patsy
00:29:12
knew it was her habit to take nighttime
00:29:14
cold medicine when she had trouble
00:29:15
sleeping I can pretty much say that this
00:29:19
case involves someone that knew Patsy
00:29:23
knew her habits and then I have to put
00:29:26
together motive and opportunity the
00:29:29
first people sergeant Gustafson
00:29:31
questioned were Patsy's sister and
00:29:33
brother-in-law Sally and Steve Horning
00:29:35
they started asking a lot of questions
00:29:37
of all of us and I guess we came to the
00:29:41
realization that we were all you know
00:29:44
pretty much suspects and they had to ask
00:29:46
us some questions and you know we're not
00:29:48
very comfortable and you know I I don't
00:29:52
ever want to go through that again
00:29:54
the sergeant looked for a motive patsies
00:29:58
wealth came from the two wax museums she
00:30:00
owned with her sister not only were the
00:30:06
museum's tourist attractions they were
00:30:08
also centers of social life in the
00:30:10
respective towns when Patsy died the
00:30:14
museums were inherited by Steve and
00:30:16
Sally Horning we as family members were
00:30:19
being asked questions that you never
00:30:21
even think you're ever going to be asked
00:30:25
so surprised and heard and yet knowing
00:30:31
that questions like these have to be
00:30:34
asked did you put that straight line in
00:30:38
Patsy's cold medicine no the authorities
00:30:42
also speculated that if Steve Horning
00:30:44
had poisoned Patsy he would not have
00:30:46
performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation
00:30:48
on her taking potentially deadly liquid
00:30:50
into his own mouth Steve and Sally along
00:30:55
with other family members voluntarily
00:30:57
took polygraph tests all of them passed
00:31:01
police also gave Patsy's former
00:31:04
boyfriend Leo fakes upon the graft tests
00:31:07
he was one of the ones that would have
00:31:08
been close enough to her to have known
00:31:11
about her taking the liquid cold
00:31:13
medicine on occasion he was very much in
00:31:15
love with Patsy but for reasons from
00:31:19
Patsy herself she she did not want to
00:31:22
get remarried do you know for sure who
00:31:26
calls Patsy to be poison no I had no
00:31:30
fear of any questions I had no fear of a
00:31:33
polygraph test in realizing that I was a
00:31:37
suspect I think the most difficult part
00:31:40
of it for me was hey Patsy had rejected
00:31:42
me and we had not been real close or
00:31:46
seven or eight months prior to that I'd
00:31:49
seen her I've been out with her two or
00:31:51
three times but there was a certain
00:31:54
tenseness when we were together
00:31:58
Leo Fikes passed his polygraph test
00:32:03
Patsy's
00:32:04
husband Robert Cox was another person
00:32:06
questioned by the police
00:32:08
Patsey had obtained a restraining order
00:32:10
against Cox during their separation
00:32:12
because she claimed he was harassing her
00:32:14
I had some people give me statements
00:32:17
that Patsy had some fears of her
00:32:24
ex-husband Bob Cox I understand there
00:32:27
are times that Patsy believed that Bob
00:32:30
Cox had driven by are parked close to
00:32:34
her house
00:32:35
[Music]
00:32:40
we knew that Patsy was gonna be
00:32:42
testifying against her second husband in
00:32:45
an upcoming civil suit about a arson
00:32:48
fire and we knew that that he had called
00:32:52
her on the number of occasions and asked
00:32:55
her to change this for that story and
00:32:57
she had told him that she was going to
00:32:59
tell the truth he was offered a
00:33:04
polygraph test the same as several
00:33:07
others that I had interviewed and taking
00:33:10
statements from and he refused to take
00:33:13
polygraph tests Robert Cox maintains as
00:33:18
innocence as does Leo fakes and there is
00:33:21
evidence to suggest that neither them is
00:33:23
guilty next to Patsy's bed on the night
00:33:27
she died were two empty dinner plates on
00:33:29
a tray it seems highly unlikely that
00:33:32
Patsy would have spent an intimate
00:33:34
evening with either Robert Cox or Leo
00:33:36
thanks could there have been an unknown
00:33:38
visitor that night intimate enough to
00:33:41
know Patsy's personal habits and a share
00:33:44
a late-night dinner with her
00:33:50
the day after Patsy died her daughter
00:33:53
Leslie received a strange phone call no
00:33:56
she's not right now man I take a message
00:33:58
I said hello and this person asked for
00:34:00
my mother and I said well she's not here
00:34:02
right now you know can I take a message
00:34:04
and this person persisted and wanting to
00:34:07
talk with her um well she passed away
00:34:11
yesterday she said something to the
00:34:14
effect that we'll get it I wanted her
00:34:16
dead
00:34:17
or something like that I don't know if
00:34:20
it was a prank phone call if it meant
00:34:22
something maybe somebody wanted to find
00:34:23
out if she had died it by taking the
00:34:26
cold medicine with the poison in it you
00:34:29
know it could be totally unrelated it
00:34:31
could be related I don't know the
00:34:36
authorities are still convinced the
00:34:38
murder is someone who knew Patsy whether
00:34:45
it's frightening because we do know that
00:34:47
somebody knew her very well and knew her
00:34:49
habits and was close enough to her to
00:34:51
know how to get in in to use that cold
00:34:55
medicine so it is very frightening and
00:34:57
and we are afraid that we do know the
00:35:00
person pretty well it's a hard thing for
00:35:03
I guess my brother and I just from the
00:35:06
point that this person knew her very
00:35:09
well and we obviously have to know them
00:35:13
just because we are such a big part of
00:35:15
my mother's life that we knew most of
00:35:17
the people that she didn't know and it's
00:35:19
hard just because you don't really know
00:35:22
who to trust anymore
00:35:30
this is not unlike someone who wanted to
00:35:35
set a trap out in the woods to trap
00:35:38
something illegal he knows what path the
00:35:42
animal goes down he knows if he sets a
00:35:44
trap and walks away from it that he can
00:35:47
be alone he can be in a crowd of people
00:35:50
when the trap goes on what we've got is
00:35:58
Patsy home alone she decided to take
00:36:03
medication that night and that
00:36:05
medication was like a trap it was laced
00:36:08
with strychnine poisoning
00:36:11
[Music]
00:36:19
in a moment a story of an American oil
00:36:21
tank the Nazi submarine is something
00:36:24
over 45 years later the real story can
00:36:27
finally be told the center 7th 1941 on
00:36:41
that day of infamy the Japanese bombed
00:36:43
Pearl Harbor the United States was
00:36:45
thrust into World War two
00:36:48
in the Pacific the Japanese claimed
00:36:51
victory after victory but in the
00:36:54
Atlantic the German Navy threatened the
00:36:56
sea lanes of America's backyard the
00:36:59
German submarines known as u-boats even
00:37:01
infiltrated the waters of New York
00:37:03
Harbor and Chesapeake Bay in 1941 39
00:37:13
year-old William Betts a father of two
00:37:15
boys was captain of the Muscogee a
00:37:17
tanker that transported crude oil up and
00:37:19
down the Atlantic coast the oil was
00:37:23
vital to the burgeoning war effort
00:37:25
because Betts had no time to go home to
00:37:28
his family
00:37:28
Ellen his wife would go to him on
00:37:32
February 2nd 1942 two months after Pearl
00:37:36
Harbor the Muscogee was preparing to
00:37:38
leave its homeport William and Ellen
00:37:41
exchanged what would be their final
00:37:42
farewells Ellen returned home to her
00:37:48
sons and waited for word of her husband
00:37:52
are you mrs. Betts I have a telegram for
00:37:58
mrs. William Betts
00:37:59
I received telegram from the company
00:38:07
saying that the ship was probably lost
00:38:11
on suede North and that is all I said
00:38:20
they didn't know anything Ellen had no
00:38:24
idea what happened to her husband the
00:38:26
father of her two boys one year later
00:38:30
the older son George was drafted into
00:38:33
the military but he remained haunted by
00:38:35
his father's unknown fate for 13 years
00:38:39
there was no clue then in 1955 in a
00:38:43
strange coincidence a friend at work
00:38:46
showed him a book about German
00:38:47
submarines called the sea wolves and
00:38:50
George had his first clue as to what
00:38:52
happened to his father and told of how
00:38:55
this submarine the you 123 as soon as
00:38:59
they arrived in their battle zone why
00:39:02
they came upon the tank of Muskogee and
00:39:04
sunk it after I got done work that day I
00:39:08
hopped in my car and rode north to my
00:39:11
mother's home to see if I could find out
00:39:14
if that's where the Muscogee had come
00:39:16
from with Wilmington and she said yes I
00:39:19
said well then I've just found out what
00:39:21
happened dad ship when ii went down
00:39:26
[Music]
00:39:32
the Muscogee was just one the 413 ships
00:39:36
sunk by German u-boats in 1942 29,000
00:39:41
merchant sailors lost their lives among
00:39:43
them the 34 missing mariners of the SS
00:39:46
Muskogee these are photographs taken
00:39:51
from the deck of the German submarine in
00:39:53
the u 123 only minutes after torpedoed
00:39:57
the Muscogee they were taken by a German
00:40:00
war correspondent and show seven
00:40:02
survivors from William Betts ship all
00:40:05
seven would perish at sea these
00:40:09
photographs took George Betts an
00:40:10
important step closer to uncovering the
00:40:12
complete story of his father's death as
00:40:15
George learned more about the last
00:40:17
moments of the Muscogee he began to
00:40:19
develop a bond with his Merchant Marine
00:40:21
captain he never really knew by learning
00:40:23
about his father's death he was
00:40:25
establishing a closeness they never
00:40:27
shared in life well it was fascinating
00:40:31
to see the pictures at last and it made
00:40:36
me feel closer to the to my dad's demise
00:40:40
when I saw the pictures here in the book
00:40:43
I naturally looked to see if I could
00:40:46
recognize my father on the raft but I
00:40:49
didn't see him there and I could quite
00:40:52
understand it because the basic rules of
00:40:54
C are that the captain sees that all
00:40:56
able-bodied men are off the vessel
00:40:58
before he leaves it so therefore I felt
00:41:01
it was a safe assumption my dad went
00:41:03
down with his ship
00:41:07
in 1979 George contacted the National
00:41:11
Archives in Washington DC and obtained a
00:41:14
microfilm copy of German war records
00:41:16
including the captain's log of the you
00:41:19
123 of course it was in German but I can
00:41:24
see the American name of the Muscogee
00:41:26
ship sunken I could read some of the
00:41:29
fact the ship was being fired on then I
00:41:33
could see where the Muscogee was on that
00:41:36
plotting chart and it would show that
00:41:38
and he even had it marked on there like
00:41:40
it - go get you somethin
00:41:43
maybe they sunk the ship captain
00:41:47
Reinhardt Hartigan commended the you 123
00:41:50
through most of the war he sucked 23
00:41:53
Allied ships totalling 200,000 tons was
00:41:56
personally congratulated by Adolf Hitler
00:42:01
only one out of ten u-boat personnel
00:42:03
survived the war
00:42:05
Reinhardt Hartigan was among them after
00:42:09
the war he was elected to the West
00:42:11
German parliament and served 32 years
00:42:13
George began writing to hardigan and
00:42:16
they agreed to meet in Canada I'm all
00:42:21
for this man I had no animosity toward
00:42:26
him that's the way I felt I've got
00:42:29
here's one World War 2 veteran that was
00:42:31
on one side and one World War two
00:42:33
veteran that was on the other side and
00:42:36
in our cases we were - the lucky ones
00:42:39
who survived the battles in October of
00:42:43
1987 the two met Reinhardt Harding and
00:42:47
gave Georgia chilling eyewitness report
00:42:49
of the last moments of the Muscogee in
00:42:52
the morning of the 22nd of March and
00:42:55
1942 I saw steam and some mast and then
00:43:01
I tried to get in front of the course of
00:43:04
the ship the ship was sick sacking a
00:43:07
little bit of nearly 15 degrees to every
00:43:09
side after nearly two hours I was in
00:43:12
their good position and then I dived
00:43:14
[Music]
00:43:18
and then I shot a torpedo with nice down
00:43:21
tube this talky new hitch in the engine
00:43:27
room of the tanker therefore they think
00:43:29
I didn't burn and she sank very friction
00:43:34
minutes was all over and it was too
00:43:38
short for the crew to take lifeboats in
00:43:43
the water and therefore they were only
00:43:44
two apps
00:43:46
I gave food after food and water
00:43:51
cigarettes and cold and the position I
00:43:53
thought the next day and ship will find
00:43:56
the rafts and so it was reset
00:43:59
information for me to learn from George
00:44:00
bad said no one of the core rescued now
00:44:07
that George knew the truth about the
00:44:09
Muscogee he was determined to let the
00:44:11
families of the other crew members share
00:44:12
in his knowledge he managed to contact
00:44:16
eight families in September of 1988 he
00:44:20
drove over 200 miles to meet with a
00:44:22
family of Clifford Chesley the radio man
00:44:24
of the Muscogee Clifford was 26 when he
00:44:28
perished at sea the ship going down from
00:44:35
the the Chesley family had no idea what
00:44:39
had happened at Clifford thanks to
00:44:42
George for the first time the chezy's
00:44:44
learned the fate of their loved one 46
00:44:47
years earlier we just assumed that with
00:44:51
either storm or something that the ship
00:44:55
was missing up till now we didn't even
00:44:58
know actually if it went down I mean
00:45:02
there were so many prison of ours and in
00:45:05
my age now could have happened the same
00:45:08
thing back then I thought I saw him
00:45:12
walking across the street you know you
00:45:15
they say everyone has a double I almost
00:45:18
ran over and just was wondering you know
00:45:21
where he could be
00:45:24
now that I know which definitely was the
00:45:28
sinking of the boat and it's gonna
00:45:31
definitely believe my mind to say you
00:45:35
know my oldest brother and that's how
00:45:37
he's going it's just a little more peace
00:45:41
yeah finally normally what really did
00:45:45
happen of the seven men in this
00:45:50
photograph three had been identified
00:45:53
they are third mate Nathaniel foster
00:45:55
chief mate Morgan fennekin an
00:45:59
able-bodied seaman Anthony Souza the
00:46:02
other four have never been identified
00:46:04
but they are among these 34 men who
00:46:07
disappeared on board the Muscogee like
00:46:10
so many brave men who served in the
00:46:12
Merchant Marine
00:46:13
they died unheralded unrecognized until
00:46:17
now
00:46:17
[Music]
00:46:30
[Music]
00:46:35
next week on unsolved mysteries the
00:46:38
story of a 16 year old school girl who
00:46:40
vanished just yards away from her
00:46:42
parents home
00:46:43
a year later she may have been 1,000
00:46:46
miles away in South Carolina then she
00:46:48
disappeared again perhaps you could help
00:46:51
find Carrie Lynn Nixon also a
00:46:54
fascinating treasure hunt in New Mexico
00:46:56
50 years ago a prospector discovered a
00:46:58
maze of secret tunnels and a mountain
00:47:00
which he claimed went to an underground
00:47:02
chamber filled with gold bars and
00:47:04
priceless relics join me next week for
00:47:08
another edition of unsolved mystery
00:47:15
[Music]
00:47:37
[Applause]
00:47:41
[Music]
