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Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 4, Episode 19 - Updated Full Episode

July 26, 2021 / 48:19

This episode covers the brutal murders of Joe and Maddie Harvey in Tennessee, the search for a missing sister, and a bank robbery in Henderson, Nevada.

The episode begins with the shocking murder of Joe and Maddie Harvey, who were well-known in their community. In March 1991, their bodies were discovered after a fire was set to cover up the crime. Investigators found evidence linking a family member, Cheryl Holland, to the murders, raising questions about her involvement.

Barney Dewey's poignant search for his sister, separated from him at a young age, is also featured. After decades of searching, he finally reunites with her, bringing a sense of closure to his long journey.

The episode also recounts a bank robbery in Henderson, Nevada, where two armed robbers took hostages. A newspaper reporter, Katherine Scott, captured a crucial photograph of the suspects, aiding the investigation.

Throughout the episode, the emotional weight of family separation and the impact of violent crime on communities is highlighted, making it a powerful exploration of these unsolved mysteries.

TLDR

Joe and Maddie Harvey's murders shock their community, while a brother's search for his sister and a bank robbery unfold in parallel stories.

Episode

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

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This episode stands out for the following:

  • 85
    Most shocking
  • 80
    Most dramatic
  • 80
    Most heartbreaking
  • 80
    Biggest twist

Episode Highlights

  • Brutal Murders Shock Community
    Joe and Maddie Harvey were brutally murdered, leaving their small town in shock.
    “A grieving community was shattered by the news.”
    @ 00m 33s
    July 26, 2021
  • A Journey to Find Family
    Barney Dewey searches for his sister after being separated for decades.
    “Perhaps you can help bring his long search to an end.”
    @ 00m 58s
    July 26, 2021
  • A Thrilling Reunion
    After 51 years, Barney finally reunites with his sister, Martha Jean.
    “My search is ended; I found who I was looking for.”
    @ 23m 09s
    July 26, 2021
  • Tragic Family Separation
    After their mother's murder, the Vest children were split up and sent to different homes.
    “We were punished for what my father did.”
    @ 26m 08s
    July 26, 2021
  • A Dream Comes True
    Shireen's dream of reuniting with her siblings becomes a reality when Heath calls.
    “I just know that I’m going to get them all together.”
    @ 26m 53s
    July 26, 2021
  • Mysterious Disappearance
    Cheryl Holland's pickup truck is found abandoned, leading to questions about her fate.
    “The evidence would lead a reasonable person to assume there had been an abduction.”
    @ 33m 54s
    July 26, 2021
  • Cheryl's Arrest
    Cheryl Holland is captured after living under an assumed name for six months.
    “I asked her if she was Cheryl Holland and she said yes.”
    @ 46m 14s
    July 26, 2021
  • Potential Death Penalty
    Cheryl faces serious charges that could lead to the death penalty if convicted.
    “Sheryl Holland could receive the death penalty.”
    @ 46m 59s
    July 26, 2021

Episode Quotes

  • Perhaps you can help bring his long search to an end.
    Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 4, Episode 19 - Updated Full Episode
  • It was a real thrill... my search is ended.
    Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 4, Episode 19 - Updated Full Episode
  • I was really excited; I just wanted to get out of the car.
    Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 4, Episode 19 - Updated Full Episode
  • I never really knew why, but now I have that wanted feeling.
    Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 4, Episode 19 - Updated Full Episode
  • The hardest part is when I had to identify the bodies.
    Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 4, Episode 19 - Updated Full Episode
  • Did Cheryl Holland mastermind the murders?
    Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 4, Episode 19 - Updated Full Episode

Key Moments

  • Unsolved Mysteries00:04
  • Brutal Murders00:31
  • Family Separation00:44
  • Hostage Situation07:55
  • Emotional Reunion22:26
  • Family Tragedy24:59
  • Reunion Hope26:57
  • Crime Scene Discovery31:16

Tension Over Time

Words per Minute Over Time

Vibes Breakdown