Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 3, Episode 21 | Forensic Files

[Music] next on Unsolved Mysteries two Army buddies are found dead both hung by the
neck the Army says suicide their families say murder he's Charming intelligent Swap
and he's left four women both heartbroken and broke at this lonely intersection in
Nebraska a young man and woman vanish in the thin air what could have possibly happened and finally a young woman
breaks up with her possessive boyfriend she ends up dead and she may not be the only
victim these are stories that are guaranteed to surprise you I'm Dennis finina and for the next hour it's
Unsolved Mysteries [Music] the national Summit in Little Rock Arkansas is the final resting place for
hundreds of soldiers Sailors and Pilots two men buried here are at the center of
a mystery that has no easy answers the Army says that both men kill themselves but their famili say that the Army is
dead wrong Mike didn't have nothing to die for no more than Billy had to die for neither one of them committed suici
that they didn't do it Billy Ray harrove and Mike carmichel LED similar lives both had planned
careers in the military since they were kids both joined the army in their teens
and both married Korean women while stationed in the Far East they became best buddies as they climbed through the
ranks during Operation Desert Storm Billy and his outfit were sent to Saudi Arabia however the conflict ended before
their platoon saw any action we're wondering when you'd recommend us for the Desert Storm
decoration Billy Ray I appreciate everything you and the men did during the campaign when Billy finished Desert
Storm he was disappointed because his men did not get a merit award a medal that he felt like they deserved and he
set about trying to get the metal farm and every direction he went in he couldn't accomplish it sir I understand
your point but the men were just as they decided to refuse the application Billy
just could not accept the Army's decision and he made a questionable decision of his own yes sir he forged
his Superior signature on the appropriate documents a short time later his men received their
MS a few months later he arrived in Korea for another Tour of Duty Sergeant harrove yes sir I'm here to place you
under arrest for treason Willis remove the Desert Storm accommodation sir what's this about
Billy Ray called me January the 28th and told me dad I think I'm going to get out
of the military I've had all of it I can stand and he said I'll probably be home
by June Billy's Court Marshal was not his only problem his marriage was falling apart I had visited their house and they
were fighting a lot and there was a lot of jealousy she was constantly accusing him of having a girlfriend and having a
child somewhere that she didn't know anything about and it wasn't true at all hey
hard then one morning Billy missed a summons to report to duty hey Billy where you been I just having breakfast
oh did you not hear the siren uh no is we having a drill yeah and the captain's going ballistic but he is uh telling my
mama why okay good deal see you later Billy never did report for Duty instead he took his dog for a
walk 20 minutes later Billy's wife heard the dog barking what's wrong with you huh
where's Bill huh where's Bill she found Billy hanging inches from the ground by an elastic parachute
string a suicide note was found in his pant's pocket it read in part my life is really screwed up now and I just don't
know how to fix it I've been thinking a lot about taking my life for a long time
now I looked at the riding and I did not believe it was his writing it did not look to me like his writing
the Army acknowledged that the suicide note might not have been in Billy's handwriting even so they ruled his death
a suicide They concluded that he had been depressed about his upcoming Court Marshal and his
divorce he was not the type person to commit suicide no matter what especially putting a rope around his neck I I just
could not believe it and I still don't believe it something happened to him but he did not commit
suicide the autopsy report also contained evidence that it might not be suicide Billy had cuts and abrasions on
his face hands and Knuckles that would indicate to me that someone had been in a fight but the
military in their report didn't question anyone or ask where the scratches come from they just ignored
him when Billy Ray Hargrove was laid to rest one of the MERS at his funeral was his friend Mike
carich I do know that there was one part of the scure when I finally did meet Mike it was at Billy's funeral when he
brought Billy's body back home and he told me he said har said we'll give him hail we're going to make
them pay the sobs pay for what they done after the service Mike returned to the hargroves house with Billy's family he
looked at me and he promised and he told me that if it was the last thing he ever
did he was going to find out what happened to Billy R don't do anything until you hear from
me but 6 weeks later Mike would also be dead Mike's Uncle Oscar served in the Marines for 20 years he is now suffering
from INF AA but in our interview said that Mike believed there was a larger conspiracy
involved there had been three other Army personnel there in Korea that had supposedly committed
suicide and my nephew told his birthmother says don't be surprised if I'm not next Mike carmichel returned to Korea
and began his own investigation he and his wife son he visited at Billy Ray's Widow and collected his personal
papers included was a letter Billy wrote to his father a few days before the hanging but that letter never made it
home for some reason he was supposed to have written me a letter in February I don't know when but he was supposed to
have written me a letter and I'm sure if I could find that letter it would explain
everything Mike continued to collect Billy's papers and store them with his own papers in a metal box Mike told his
uncle Oscar that if anything happened to him Oscar should immediately open the box but Mike never said what was in
it all right then on Mike car Michael's 38th birthday he received an unexpected phone call ordering him back to the base
by the next morning Mike had still not returned home on Sunday morning I called the army base
to find out where my husband was I talked to a security guard I was told that he did not see my husband so I
asked him to try to knock on the door of his Barrack's room he said that there was no response and the door was
locked an hour later son he found Mike Carmichael's body in his Barrack's office he was hanging by a parachute
cord and leaning oddly positioned against his Lo Lo ER like Billy he had abrasions on his
face and a gash on his forehead he had been dead for several hours the Army's investigation concluded
that Mike carmichel had taken his own life because he was depressed over financial matters and Billy's death
there was no way that Mike would take his life and and take the chicken way out he was happier than I had seen him in a
long time due to the fact that him and Son e had just gotten married in July they was just like a couple of overgrown
kids really and he had his determin to look forward to I think he was angry and I think he was going to direct his anger
towards finding out the reason why or who caused his friend or killed his friend the carmichel and harrove
families absolutely refused to believe the deaths were suicides they launched a letter writing
campaign asking for the official reports from the military unsatisfied with the Army's response they contacted the
office of us Congressman J dicki even the reports that I could get were were lacking in in uh the the photos of the
crime scene other things were W withheld or Whited out for certain reasons and uh
after looking at it I don't think that they took into account all the different aspects of of the case and they maybe
kind of just closed the door uh without a thorough investigation I think the signs are there that there is a cover up
of some sort and I I don't want to uh accuse anything or anybody at this time of that but uh the reason why there
would be a cover up I don't know I that that's one of the things we want to find
out I happen to think that if we open this thing up that we will find an answer the two families are especially
troubled by the many similarities of the two deaths both Billy and Mike died just
after they were summoned to the Army Barracks both were tied with parachute cord both had cuts and abrasions on
their faces and hands and both men were found hanging just inches from the ground the question marks that come up
about Sergeant Carmichael start with the fact that he's in a sitting position some 3 in from the floor even the
Natural Instincts of a person would have your hands falling down or pushing against it there's not any way that we
our our rights our self self-preservation rights are such that we'll do something like that this is the
official crime scene sketch from the US military investigation noted in the drawing was the metal box that contained
Mike and Billy's personal papers it was sitting on a desk across the room from Mike's body the box of letters later
disappeared no one knows what happened to it and military personnel deny its existence the men's families suspect a
cover up I believe in Billy Ray's case and in Mike's case too something had to be going on that wasn't right something
that they found out about or knew about or maybe was going to expose and they were gotten rid of a
congressional hearing upheld the Army's finding of suicide they found that Mike had choked himself with a rope while
sitting on the ground Billy's mother says the hearing was just a formality put on for show she insists the two
buddies were murdered if you have any information that could shed some light on this case
please log on to our website at unsolved.com next a con man uses investment schemes
of phony identity and the Art of Seduction to trap his female victims you're about to meet a
successful highly intelligent businesswoman who never imagined that she could have been duped by a con man
but guess what she was in fact she turned over her entire life savings to him and and she was not the only one the
woman who we'll call Catherine was at a singles party when she was approached by
A well-dressed man who spoke with a German accent he introduced himself as Eric Kesler no I was born in Hamburg oh
Germany the night I first met Eric Kesler he presented himself as a businessman who was in town on business
and would be staying for probably a year some business associates have asked me to look at some property here I was
impressed on his dress his mannerism I never got an impression that he was even attempting to make a pass and what do
you do here you work yes Eric encouraged Catherine to reveal intimate personal details about her life she told him she
was divorced that she operated a hair salon and that she was worried about being able to put her children through
college it's such a coincidence that we should meet I'm talking with some friends of mine from Western Europe Eric
just happened to have a solution he told her about an invention which would revolutionize Catherine's industry well
I'd like to hear about that what what area of the business is well it's very complex and very technical he arranged
for her the C the image system known as the video makeover it was cuttingedge technology
that let clients see how they would look with different hairstyles and colors I thought that the concept was
fantastic you could charge a large amount of money for it Kesler convinced Catherine that he could place the system
in a major Midwest department store chain but they needed money to get started it's called a video makeover she
got a $50,000 loan from a wealthy friend Eric said he would repay the loan 4 months later can do that she did not ask
a lot of questions because she believed in me she wrote a check for $50,000 you're terrific thank you Kesler
insisted that a business account be established in Catherine's name only she can make deposits and
[Music] withdrawals a few days later he moved into Catherine's basement so they could
work more closely together we brought in another telephone line which was uh strictly a business
line at one point in time my son took the message from the Department Store saying they wanted to set up a meeting
with Eric Kesler he was very convincing before long Eric began to romance his new
partner when Eric Kesler came into my life it never occurred to me that the man was a con artist because I certainly
assumed that I would recognize that I have dealt with people who have attempted to con me or take me in
business matters the fact that Eric also made me feel that he was in love with me also
put me off guard 3 weeks later Eric's Conquest was complete he surprised Catherine with a
special gift Eric I have a gift for you what in the world have you done one day when I
came home from work there was a king-size bed in my bedroom and he had made the decision that it would be much
easier if he could have the office downstairs and didn't have to use it also as a bedroom and his way of doing
that was to bring in a king-size bed do you like it I love it good thank you Kesler started controlling every
part of Katherine's life for you it makes you feel good yes make you feel confident decisions about wardrobe
makeup jewelry they were all made by Kesler and we are confident people I did get to the point that I I was not
confident I mean I wouldn't B a pair of earrings at that point because I didn't think that I was capable of doing it
anymore on a 24mon closed in lease agreement Eric even convinced Catherine to lease a high-priced Cadillac with all
of the options Erica I don't think this is a good idea I don't think we have $500 a month
to spend on this my dear this is a taxable deduction why can't you make an intelligent business
decision then Kesler started asking Catherine for large cash advances we have accountants we have business
managers we have lawyers we have Tax Consultants he claims some of their suppliers would not accept
checks thank you when the loan money ran out Eric convinced Catherine to put $20,000 more of her own money into the
business and that's when the truth finally began to Dawn on Catherine I didn't know who I was more angry with
myself or Eric all we had done is spent money it had not been spent wisely here I am as a businesswoman and I have blown
it I mentioned to him that I thought that he was a conman and I had thought about going to the police he said what
good would it do you you got the money you signed all of the checks you agreed to all of the decision decisions that
were made there is nothing that ties me in it is your word against mine we have to talk Eric moved out of
Catherine's apartment the day he was supposed to repay the loan she met him at a bar to ask for the money there's no
money in the account I have a check coming by special Courier tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m. for
$50,000 and if they don't come what then it will be here and you will right to Al
I was exhausted I wanted to believe that I was going to get money down deep I didn't believe it but I had that was the
only thing I had left I had to hope that the check was going to be there I met my benefactor that night I
wrote the check I was very hesitant if it all was going to come through hello I've got to talk to Eric
Kesler where is he I don't know who is this this is Andy down at irishman's Pub he bounced a
check in here last night for ,000 I want to know where when the bartender called
me the next morning I knew right then and there it was all over Catherine lost more than
$75,000 she was unable to pay back her benefactor and she was forced into bankruptcy
update after the broadcast a viewer called us to report that Eric Kessler's real name was Edward C Maynard and that
he was staying at a motel in Houston Texas the FBI closed in and arrested Maynard on charges of forgery and theft
by fraud but mayard posted bail and then skipped his court hearing when we reran the story a viewer
in Michigan recognized mayard she contacted the police and he was arrested again this time Edward C mayard ended up
serving 5 years in [Music] prison next a man stalks then kills his exgirlfriend police believe he's killed
before and could kill again Elgen Illinois Michael Alfonso has reached a breaking point he's
desperate his girlfriend a single mother Josephina Gonzalez is leaving him he asks for one last chance but she won't
relent and he can't handle it no no Alonso stabs her and tries to escape with josephina's 2-year-old child
although severely wounded Josephina Fights Back Michael alanso drops the child and
runs into the night Josephina Gonzalez and her son recovered from that attack Michael
Alfonso was arrested and served four years in prison but then Alfonso was released and he began looking for
another relationship when Hanah vquez separated from her husband she worked hard to
support her young daughter Michael Alonso was a coworker at one of her jobs SMS good you scared me I came in here
just to ask you out to dinner tonight yeah tonight okay Hanna was not interested in a serious relationship she
had enough to deal with she didn't talk about any relationship with him but she always said I'm alive right now I got to
do what I can right now and she also wanted a good future for for her and for her her daughter Hannah's second job was
at a local fast food restaurant she had told the co-worker that she was having a
hard time working things out with her former husband Hanna was having marriage problems I said you just got to
communicate with each other and then about a few days later H starts getting these phone calls at work H for you
thanks hello yeah we're busy now and man starts calling like every other day there yeah
okay then I asked her I says who is this man calling you at work and she would not answer
Mees she would not tell me sure yeah we're just friends everything's fine she said I know what I'm doing I know what
I'm doing I say okay then fine apparently Alonso had become more than just a coworker but Renee Anderson was right to
be worried my husband and I are getting back together me and my husband we are what does that mean that mean you're
leaving me no you're not eventually Hannah decided to go back to her husband Michael Alfonso is an aggressive violent
man when he doesn't get his way he gets angry many of his friends tell us that they're scared of him that they don't
know which way he's going to turn because he's so unpredictable and I'm talking to you
want to hear did you hear me you want to listen to me okay that's nothing you're
not going anywhere you don't break up with me or I hurt you and your family Hannah was so scared that she notified
authorities she did not want to pursue any criminal charges at the time because she was deathly afraid of retaliation by
Michael Alfonso no you can't talk to him then I know he's going to do something one day Alonso showed up at
the restaurant where Hannah worked you don't let me talk to you I told you it's over between us I told you according to
what One customer told me some man comes up to her and they start arguing and it
was a very heated argument from what the customer told me hna's husband who worked at the same restaurant was taking
a break in his car on the other side of the building he had no idea his wife was
in danger back me you're not leaving me you regret this one of the witnesses was in an
automobile waiting in the drive-through line for food Michael directly at her vehicle and walked between her car and
the drive-thru and she looked at his face and noticed that he had a smirk on his
face there was a person that noticed a black Firebird type of a vehicle drive away at a high rate of
speed we know from records that Michael Alfonso owns a 1994 black colored Pontiac Firebird
oh I'm holding Hano and I said to her hold on Hano hold on everything's going to be okay he 28-year-old henna vquez
was pronounced dead shortly after being taken to a hospital an all points bulletin went out
for the arrest of Michael Alonso police would soon learn that they were now looking for a career criminal before
alonso's four-year prison term for the attack on Josephina Gonzalez he had served time for rape authorities also
suspected Alonso and The Disappearance of suire yangang she vanished after telling
Alonso that she wanted to go back to her husband two months later suir Yang's body was discovered in a remote
area she had been shot once in the head a pretty clear pattern of Michael alonso's Behavior has emerged here it
seems as though when he begins to date a woman and the relationship goes sour he
gets angry at the woman and does not not want them to leave and what he does is he reacts with
violence any woman that he gets involved in a relationship with is in grave danger unless they assed to all his
demands and remain his loyal servant they are in danger of being raped or killed update over 2,000 mil from Elgen
Illinois in Veracruz Mexico Michael Alonso was arrested after 3 years on the Run he was deported to the United States
to avoid the death penalty Alfonso pleaded guilty to the murders of both Hanna Velasquez and suir
yang he was sentenced to three life terms without the possibility of parole next an explosion Blast the
church into Smither how did the church choir managed to escape a fiery death beatric Nebraska
[Music] 1950 this is an area where people take their religion very seriously if you
wanted to sing in the choir of the West End Baptist Church you showed up no later than 7:25 p.m. choir director
Martha Paul made sure of it no one was ever really late uh there might have been very very few
circumstances but most often everyone was there all the time I really can't think of a time that anyone came
late very nice see you Sunday and next week at 7:15 doing that rehearsal would be their last
in the West End Church on March 1st at 7:27 p.m. exactly 2 minutes after the choir was to meet something happened
that nobody can explain that is of course unless you believe in miracles the afternoon of March 1st
turned bitter cold the church's Pastor stop by at 4:30 to light the furnace so the church would
be warm in time for the evening choir practice the Reverend and his wife always brought their 18-month-old
daughter with them to choir practice but that night the baby stained her dress and Mrs clle had to iron another one it
was 7:15 and they were running late at about that same time Martha Paul's teenage daughter Marilyn was
sound asleep I was very tired and I wanted to rest for a very short period of time before going to the church to
practice so I decided that maybe a little 15-minute nap wouldn't hurt and it ended up being a little bit longer
probably about a half an hour a few blocks away Herbert Kip was working on Church business I know I I
just need to finish this by tonight okay that night I was writing a letter to our
denominational headquarters and it seemed very important for me to get it into the mail that evening my mother was
pounding me to get going because the time was late already but I felt it was more important to get it in the mail and
drop it on the way to church 18-year-old Lucille Jones let herself get hooked on a radio show that
night Lucille was supposed to pick up another choir member but tonight she didn't
care I turned on the radio to listen to this is your life I don't know how I turned it on
that night but but I turned it on they said this was going to be Edgar Bergen's life and I just decided I was going to
listen to it at 723 Ladonna Vandergrift was struggling with geometry she was determined to find
the answer before leaving but the problem was difficult and Ladonna was running late 2 miles away Rowena eses couldn't
start her car she was picking up another choir member so they were both way Joyce black who lived across the street
from the church was ready for choir practice but just couldn't seem to get moving I was just plain lazy and I just
didn't want to get out in the cold and so I kept putting off going out the door at last I couldn't put it off any longer
so I put my coat on and when I opened up the door and stepped out our church just
disintegrated the lights went out all over town uhoh what really impressed me was our
sheet music and our song books flying through the air we had a lot of those things it was really something to
see a real nice choir book fell right near me and it was in pretty good condition so I picked it up I didn't
think anybody care cuz I wanted to keep it minutes after the explosion the choir
members began to arrive come on there might be more people in there frantically they search the rubble for
survivors then one by one all of them straggled and each of them late for his or her own
reason when we found out that everyone was safe and that no one was in the explosion we were standing there holding
each other's hands and one of the members said let's give thanks to God and we offered a prayer of Thanksgiving
that we were indeed spared and that no one lost their life if this had been a busload of
people stopped by a flat tire or any such occurrence it might be considered a coincidence but where you have 12 15
people scattered throughout the entire city and each of them detained by some trivial little thing it can't
be I believe that night and no one will convince me otherwise that God didn't want us there we were
spared and I'm very grateful it turned out the explosion was caused by a gas leak from an underground
pipeline people still debate what it was that kept each choir member safely away
from the church to some it was just just a coincidence but to the people of beatric
Nebraska it was the act of a higher power next two friends take an afternoon drive by midnight they have disappeared
Without a Trace even their car has [Music] vanished our next story is about two young people
who simply vanished in the Great Plains of Nebraska it was supposed to be a short trip and nothing seemed out of the
ordinary nothing at all and yet these two young people and their car completely disappeared whatever happened
to Bill Rundle and Tracy Kenley on the day Bill and Tracy vanished they paid a visit to Tracy's
parents 38 Mi southeast of Hastings hey hi you guys hi Mom this is Bill get to meet you this is
my mom Sharon we had never met bill before this so we don't know anything about him but we you know it's like her
dad said any friend of Tracy's is a friend of ours so what do you do Bill we never talked about where they were going
when they left or what they were going to do I guess we felt that she'd make it home
safe but they didn't go home Tracy call her boyfriend Doug and made plans to meet him at a local bar at 12:30
a.m. I'm just leaving my parents house with Bill what are you going to do after work Tracy and Bill were never heard
from again hey Bill the following day Bill rundo didn't show up for work I was concerned if he
would have not just not showed up for work absolutely not he would have called one way or the other he would
have let somebody know that he wasn't going to be there Tracy Tracy didn't show up at her job
either I knew it was pretty serious because Tracy if she wasn't going to go to work first thing she'd do would be to
call him to work and let him know that she was sick or whatever the first thing I did was just hop up and head out the
door and start looking I didn't know what to think I didn't know what to think think at
all when Tracy didn't answer her phone her parents reported her missing police pinpointed Tracy's location at the time
of the call through cell phone records it was a junction in the Road 16 m east of
Hastings they organized the search of the 30 square miles around the intersection there was no sign of Bill
Tracy or the Jeep a lot of dedicated individuals came out and searched for two solid days some
areas were searched two and three times I believe in a 30 m circumference we've done a very thorough job of
searching not finding anything with as many searches is we've had um you know you would think you'd find
something there's there's just nothing nothing police began to wonder if Bill and Tracy had run off
together at the time that he disappeared bill was he was really lonely from what
I know of Tracy she was a really sweet person and I think that bill was probably really attracted to that as a
friend and that at that point he did need a friend and U I think maybe they needed each
other trac's a very responsible person there's no way that she would run away from her responsibilities she was was
very close to her parents she was close to me I mean if she didn't want to call me if she ran off or something the first
P first people she would call would be her parents they didn't run away I I feel that in my heart because neither
one of them took their toothbrush neither one took their uh any change of clothing there has been no evidence uh
as far as their credit cards ATMs phones have ever been powered up from the day they disappeared no evidence has led us
in that direction that they're still out there one full week after Bill and Tracy
disappeared a strange piece of evidence turns up at the intersection where Tracy
made her final phone call we had a farmer come to us who had recovered a hat and the hat was sent
into the lab just in case through lab analysis it was found that the Hat was Bill
rundles where about was that to that was laying right down here we do not believe believe that bill was
wearing the Hat when Bill and Tracy disappeared there had been 3 in of rain uh in two nights after they had
disappeared and the hat was clean and did not appear to be out in the weather plus most of our search teams went
directly by that area and we believe our search teams would have seen it if it would have been there if Bill wasn't
wearing the hat and there was no trace of it during the search how did it get to this remote location police were
convinced the Hat was planted but by whom and why Bill and Tracy knew that they didn't
have to meet Doug for at least an hour it would have been very normal for for Bill to find a place to pull
over maybe pulled into a shaded area and just opened up a few beers and talked another theory is Foul Play
Nebraska is an area where you travel through to get from the east or the West there's always a possibility of somebody
coming through the area that may have been a a more severe criminal than we're normally used
to but how could a killer dispose of two bodies and a car without leaving a trace
and why would a killer plant Bill's hat one week later there were no answers I'll never stop
looking we need some kind of clue we have no clue there has been nothing it's just like they just
disappeared update 2 years after Tracy Kenley and Bill Rundle vanished drought conditions lowered the level of a pond
near the road where the two had been driving a farm worker noticed the outline of a car in the pond and
contacted police they theorized that because Tracy and Bill didn't know the area they drove down the narrow private
road by mistake when they tried to turn around the car went into the pond investigators have ruled out Foul
[Music] Play [Music] [Music]

This, Episode includes: A Couple of Good Men, Ladies Man, McDonald's Murder, Lucky Choir and Vanished in the Heartland.

Brief Summary

Two Army buddies die under suspicious circumstances, a con artist deceives a woman, and two young people vanish without a trace.

Key points

Mysterious Deaths of Soldiers. Two soldiers found dead under suspicious circumstances, families believe they were murdered.
Suspicion of a Cover-Up. Families of the deceased soldiers suspect a larger conspiracy behind their deaths.
Catherine's Betrayal by a Con Man. A successful businesswoman loses her life savings to a charming con artist.
Michael Alfonso's Threats. Michael Alfonso's unpredictable behavior terrifies those around him, leading to tragic consequences.
Survivors of the Church Explosion. A gas leak causes a devastating explosion, but choir members are miraculously spared.
The Mysterious Disappearance of Bill and Tracy. Two young people vanish without a trace after a seemingly normal visit, leaving their families desperate for answers.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I just don’t know how to fix it.

Billy's suicide note expresses his despair.

5:13WatchMar 9, 2017

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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