Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 4, Episode 10 | Forensic Files

DENNIS FARINA: Next on "Unsolved Mysteries." On a deserted highway a couple is stalked by a mysterious stranger, then,
a harrowing confrontation. When two women and a young girl vanish without a trace,
their families accuse each other of kidnapping and murder. In Cincinnati, a clever con man poses as a physician.
We'll call him Dr. Fraud. And the incredible journeys of two lost house pets. They managed to find their way back home from a distance
of over 100 miles. Five fascinating mysteries, some just waiting to be solved. I'm Dennis Farina, and this is "Unsolved Mysteries."
[theme music] For most people, most days pass quietly, without threats or danger.
But this next case is just a little reminder of just how easily an ordinary evening can
turn into a deadly nightmare. Sunnyvale, California. Dick Hansen was a former college football star.
He was just getting over a very tough divorce when he decided he needed a night out.
So he asked a friend who we'll call Jean to meet him at his favorite hangout. He was in a very good mood.
He was very happy with where he was, he was very happy with what was going on in his life,
and where he was headed. DENNIS FARINA: Dick and Jean left the bar together in Jean's car, and Jean drove Dick to where
he had left his pickup truck. JEAN: There were no cars at all, and I thought, I remarked
to Dick, I said, this is funny. Yours is the only car left on the street. You uh, want to come home for a little while?
JEAN: So we were sitting there talking, and this car pulls up behind us. And I looked, and I thought-- I really
didn't think it was too strange, because there was a mailbox on the sidewalk there.
I think he's trying to get to the mailbox. Does he have enough room? I mean, we should probably pull forward.
Nah, no problem. He's got plenty of room. JEAN: The man just sat there. He didn't do anything, and I was kind of half turned in the seat
so I could look at Dick, and I could see him of the corner of my eye. I don't know what he's doing, he's just sitting there.
He isn't doing anything. DENNIS FARINA: Jean was unfamiliar with the way home, so Dick told her to follow him.
JEAN: Well, he pulled out, I pulled out, the guy behind us pulled out. We went up to the stoplight, turned left.
Dick turned left, I turned left, the guy turn left. We go up to blocks and turn left again,
and he did the same thing. Well, by this time it's making me uncomfortable. So I've moved to middle lane.
He moved to the middle lane. So I moved back, and he moved back. I only did it once, but that was enough to tell me that this man
was definitely following us. DENNIS FARINA: At the next traffic light, Dick signaled for Jean to follow him onto the freeway.
The man stayed close behind. For 10 miles, the man shadowed Jean's every move. JEAN: Dick was on the inside lane, I was on the outside,
and he was between us, but behind us. I thought all right, you rascal, I'm going to get you.
So I slammed on my brakes. I'll be darned if he didn't slam on his brakes, too. It was almost like he was reading my mind.
The guy, he's still following me, we should go to the police! I can't hear you, take the next exit!
JEAN: I almost missed the turn, but he followed. This man was still behind me. So I followed Dick down the ramp,
we made a right hand turn. Dick just pulled over to the side of the road, I pulled up behind Dick, and I don't know why in my mind,
I just knew this guy would just go right on by and wave or something. He pulled right up behind us.
And I'm not sure who is in more shock, Dick or I. Do you know the guy? I've never seen him before.
Get back in the car. JEAN: So he walked back to the man, and kind of leaned down,
and he said, what are you-- he either said, what are you doing or what do you want.
I couldn't quite hear what he said. And the guy said something to him, and Dick goes, what?
And the guy said something else to him, and then proceeded to point to the back of my car.
And at that point in time, Dick just stepped back, stood up, and raised his arm, and said get a blankety blank out of here.
So I jump back in my car, and I looked in my rear view mirror. And I hear pop, pop.
[gunshots] JEAN: We just stared at each other. Must been for oh, I'd say at least five to 10 seconds.
I'm just staring at him. I got back out of the car, and ran back to where Dick was,
and his eyes were half closed. Somebody, help! JEAN: And I tried to find a pulse on his neck,
and it didn't look like he was breathing. So I started to give him mouth to mouth.
DENNIS FARINA: Dick Hansen was shot twice, once in the chest and once in the neck.
He never regained consciousness and was pronounced dead at the hospital. He left behind two daughters, age 11 and 13.
LES RICHARDS: As far as we know, Dick Hansen did not know his assailant. What makes this particular case extremely difficult
is when you deal with homicide, most homicides boil down to common denominators of sex, money, or drugs
and network out from there. We have not been able to put this particular homicide
in any of those categories so that we can develop a motive. DENNIS FARINA: However, police have come
up with one possible theory. Jean's personalized license plate read 49RHUGS. The killer had gestured toward her license plate,
while she was talking to Dick. LES RICHARDS: Dick Hansen's physical stature was that of a football player, so we were looking
into the theory of a disgruntled fan as being one of the responsibles. DENNIS FARINA: At the time of the shooting,
Jean thought that the suspect was white with a dark complexion. He wore eyeglasses with large, black frames.
The suspect's vehicle resembled a 1970 Pontiac GTO LeMans. It was a two door coupe, with a dull, faded light
gray or blue paint job. If you have any information about this case, please contact us at unsolved.com.
Coming up, two women and a young girl disappear after an argument, and their families
point the finger at each other. Two women and a young girl suddenly and mysteriously
drop from sight. When authorities investigate, they find themselves in the middle of a fight between two families
and their bitter accusations of abuse, kidnapping, and murder. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Wendy Britto was a divorced mother with a young daughter when she fell in love with a coworker named Chad Noe.
So we're still on tonight? Yeah. JACKIE TAYLOR: They hit it off fairly quickly, and started a relationship, and then she got
pregnant with her second child. And he convinced her to marry him. And they got married about three or four
weeks before Jonathan was born. DENNIS FARINA: Just one month after Jonathan's birth, Wendy developed a crippling case
of multiple sclerosis. She was hospitalized for nearly a year. Chad filed for divorce and was awarded
primary custody of Jonathan. Of course, along with the MS, I didn't think she would be
able to help me raise my child and instead of having two people to-- or two children to deal with,
I just decided that it was best if we got a divorce and I help her raise the child on my own.
Reach up and put this ring on this rung. DENNIS FARINA: Wendy Camp was too sick to contest the divorce
or the custody decision. For two years, she struggled through physical therapy just to regain the simplest skills,
like eating and walking. And then her life took a positive turn, at least for a while.
During this time, friends introduced Wendy to Leon Camp. They fell in love and were married.
Wendy's first child, Cynthia, lived with them. Wendy's condition improved, so she asked her ex-husband Chad
for visits with Jonathan. At first, everything went smoothly. Jonathan spent a few weekends with Wendy and Leon,
and then according to Wendy's mother, Chad's family began to sabotage the visits.
JACKIE TAYLOR: She would call and make an appointment with them, set up a time and everything for her
to see him, and she would go there and they would not be at home. And then they kept moving and getting unlisted phone
numbers, this type of thing. So it was almost impossible to keep track of them. DENNIS FARINA: Chad Noe remembers it differently.
CHAD NOE: She was allowed to visit him whenever she wanted, and there was never really any hard feelings up until the time
that my grandma-- or my mother-- informed me that he was being sexually molested.
And then what's whenever the visitations were cut off. There was no molestation.
None whatsoever. And the idea of them thinking, it just tore me up inside. I was mad.
DENNIS FARINA: The charges of sexual abuse against Leon couldn't be proved or disproved.
The court ordered that Wendy and Leon's visits resume and cited Chad for contempt.
For more than six months, Chad refused to allow Jonathan to visit. And then one day, he had a sudden change of heart.
Oh. Yeah, that would be great. That would be just great. Chad is going to let me see Jonathan today.
DENNIS FARINA: Chad even offered to have his mother, Beverly Noe, pick Wendy up since she was unable to drive.
Chad is going to let me see Jonathan today. Beverly's going to pick me up. I didn't want Wendy going by herself, because I
didn't trust these people. Me and Chad didn't get along, and I was just-- something inside of me, I just felt like she
better not go by herself. DENNIS FARINA: By the time Beverly arrived, Leon had convinced his sister, Lisa Renee Kregear,
to go with Wendy and Cynthia. You be careful, you make sure you call me, you hear?
LEON CAMP: I kissed Wendy goodbye first, and they go in the car and took off, and I waved at them.
That was the last time I seen them. DENNIS FARINA: The 115 mile drive to Chad's home in Shamrock, Oklahoma
took just over two hours. When the group arrived, Wendy called Leon. ACTRESS AS WENDY CAMP: Hi, babe.
Oh, we're fine. We're fine. We're just at the cafe. We're waiting for Chad to get here.
The first time she called me that day, it was about one something to let me know that she made it all right.
We sat there and visited, and she didn't even really play with Jonathan. Her and Jonathan and Cynthia played for a while.
But she mostly sat there and drank coffee with me out on the porch and talked. DENNIS FARINA: When it was time for Wendy to say goodbye
to Jonathan, she, Cynthia, and Lisa Renee climbed back into Beverly's car. Chad's grandmother, Ida Prewitt, joined them for the ride.
Before leaving Shamrock, Wendy called Leon again. We'll be home in just a few hours.
Beverley's ready-- LEON CAMP: About 4:30, 4:45, she called me to let me know how the visit went.
She said that Beverly was in a hurry, so she had to get off the phone, and that was the last I talked to her.
Now-- Chad is never at the house. Chad doesn't spend any time with him-- Chad is a good father.
DENNIS FARINA: According to Chad's grandmother, Ida, Wendy was unpleasant from the very beginning.
[interposing voices] IDA PREWITT: And all this time, all the way into town, she's
just griping and bitching, and that's all she could do. So after they got back in the car and everything,
I told Beverly, I said just take me back home. I said you've got to put up this, but I don't.
So she brought me back home, and then she went on. DENNIS FARINA: Ida says Chad's mother later
reported that the bickering continued for the next half hour. IDA PREWITT: She said that by the time she got to Chandler,
she had had just about all she could stand. She pulled into Walmart and told them to get out.
DENNIS FARINA: Beverly told police that she pulled into a shopping center parking
lot 45 miles from Wendy's home. She then ordered Wendy, Cynthia, and Lisa Renee out of the car.
They never returned home. They never called. They never asked anyone for help. It was as though they had dropped
off the face of the earth. We did an aerial search which involved four and five airplanes searching a five county area.
It also involved several search teams, and nothing was discovered at that time. JACKIE TAYLOR: Wendy was very, very dependent upon Leon,
and she's already called twice. She would have immediately gone in and called her husband, Leon, or, if she had
been able to get a hold of him she would have called me. I feel that my daughter and my granddaughter
and the sister-in-law were murdered that Friday night. I feel that Ida, Beverly, and Chad all three are involved.
I feel that they pretty well had their plans laid out on what they were going to do when
they made the phone call to ask Wendy if she wanted to see Jonathan. And after whoever got in that car,
they were going to do what they had planned to do. Beverly and I did not have nothing
to do with their disappearance, and I know this. I don't care whether they know it or not or believe it,
but I know it. There is no way that I or my grandma or my mother could kill them, or ship them off somewhere,
or are still holding them. DENNIS FARINA: No physical evidence has ever been found to indicate what happened to Wendy Camp, Cynthia
Britto, and Lisa Renee Kregear. They simply vanished without a trace. Update. There are new developments in this case,
here's one of our staff with details. STAFF MEMBER: 21 years after they disappeared,
a man named Grover Prewitt alerted investigators that he suspected that the bodies of Wendy Camp, Cynthia
Britto, and Lisa Renee Kregear were located on his property. Prewitt is the brother of Beverly Noe,
and he believed the victims were buried in a septic tank hole he had dug. All three victims were found there.
Beverly Noe was arrested for the 1992 killings. Noe pleaded no contest to the murder charge,
and was sentenced to 30 years in prison, with 15 years suspended as part of a plea bargain.
Ida Prewitt, Beverly's mother, was also a suspect, but she is now deceased. DENNIS FARINA: Next, a clever con man poses as a doctor
and dupes his victims out of jewelry, coins, and gold. Cincinnati, Ohio. A smooth talking con artist lays the intricate groundwork
for his latest scam. The target is Mike Wills, a veteran coin dealer. Mike Wills?
Yes? Dr. John Anderson, how do you do? Well, nice to meet you, doctor. MICHAEL P. WILLS: He came across as a very polite,
articulate man, and I had no reason at that time to doubt that he was anything other than what he told
me he was, indeed a doctor. DENNIS FARINA: The man, who called himself Dr. John Anderson, was interested in buying
gold coins. He suggested that Mike visit him at a local hospital and speak to his physicians investment group.
I got to be rushing on over to the hospital-- DENNIS FARINA: The trap was now in place.
Coins Plus. DENNIS FARINA: Two days later, Dr. Anderson ordered $30,000 worth of gold coins.
Mike agreed to bring the coins to the hospital when he addressed Anderson's investment group.
MICHAEL P. WILLS: The elevator door opens up, and he's in the elevator. We'll take care of our business
as soon as we get downstairs. That's fine. MICHAEL P. WILLS: There were two other doctors on the elevator.
He was not having conversation with the gentlemen-- See you later. MICHAEL P. WILLS: --but as we got off, he acknowledged them.
There was nobody at all in the hall, which didn't strike me as being odd because it
was so early in the morning. OK, let's see what we have here. I have two tubes of gold, each 25 pieces.
DENNIS FARINA: Dr. Anderson told Mike that he had access to a safe upstairs where
he wanted to store the gold. He said he'd be right back. You might want to have a seat, and I'll
be back with the check. MICHAEL P. WILLS: I sit there, thinking back on it, what seems to be in eternity
but was most probably more like five or six minutes. And my gold is gone, and Dr. Anderson is gone,
and I have nothing to show for it. That was about all I could take, I guess, at that moment
I got up and I walked out of this blind door. And now everybody is there. There's five or six parents in the waiting room,
now there's a nurse at the nurse's station. Can I help you? Yes, I Mike Wills from a coin store here in Cincinnati.
I need you to a page a Dr. John Anderson for me. I just gave him a large amount of gold.
There's no Dr. Anderson at this hospital. There was a Dr. Anderson-- MICHAEL P. WILLS: It made me feel
extremely gullible, that I could be duped so easily out of $30,000. I trusted a name tag.
I trusted what this man told me, and when he mentioned doctor, maybe checks that I could have made I didn't make,
because this made everything seem right. Here you go. DENNIS FARINA: Three years later,
a Doctor Alford Evans showed up at a coin shop in Albany, New York. OK., here you go, doc.
80 ounces of gold maple leaves. How much is this? They'll $380, 75 each. All right, I'll make you out a check for it.
You know I'm going to have to hold it it over check, please. DENNIS FARINA: When plan A didn't work,
the bogus MD switched strategies. 'Scuse me, fellas, I've got to take care of a customer.
Sure. Can I help you? DENNIS FARINA: With the store owner occupied, the coast was clear.
Plan B went off without a hitch. All right. I tell you what, if you can do me a favor,
I gotta get running off to the hospital. So I'm going to leave these checks here,
and if you can just do me a favor, make sure that he gets them. Uh, sure. Thank you very much.
DENNIS FARINA: Dr. Evans skipped town. His check for more than $30,000 was, of course, no good.
In trying to track the activities of Dr. Evans we've noticed that he'll be in town for a couple of months
to pull his scam, and then he'll be disappeared for a couple of months. We can't seem to find out what he's been doing
during that period of time. DENNIS FARINA: Authorities had uncovered these photographs
of the con man. In addition to Anderson and Evans, he also used the aliases Dr. John Miller, Dr.
Michael Baker, and Dr. Brown. Update. After this story originally aired, one of our viewers
pointed authorities to the con man, who was later identified as Michael John Sabo.
Basically, we received a telephonic tip from a viewer of "Unsolved Mysteries" who
called in with where they believed Mr. Sabo was currently residing. DENNIS FARINA: Authorities learned that Sabo had escaped
from federal prison, where he was serving time for possession of stolen securities.
Sabo was arrested and charged with three counts of felony grand larceny. He would ultimately spend time behind bars in five states
on a variety of convictions. Next, what mysterious force guided this cat and this dog hundreds of miles to find their owners?
We've all heard the stories. Common household pets are separated from their owners
and then travel hundreds of miles to find their way home, against impossible odds.
Next we have two accounts of this mysterious animal instinct. Bear Head Lake State Park, Minnesota.
All right, we'll put Lee in there, how about that? DENNIS FARINA: Whenever the Riesgraff family went camping,
they brought along their dogs, a collie named Lady and Wolfka, a Belgian Shepherd.
It was springtime, ice was coming off a lake. Green leaves were starting to bud out,
and it was just a good time to take a break. Come on, come on, Lady, come on, Wolfka, have a good run,
go on! DENNIS FARINA: The family had been to the cabin a couple of times. They felt perfectly safe letting the dogs out on their own.
Normally, Lady and Wolfka would return within an hour. Lady! Come on, Lady! DENNIS FARINA: But this time was different.
Wolfka! Wolfka! DENNIS FARINA: A forest fire erupted just a few miles southwest of the camp.
Flames were headed in their direction, and they had to evacuate instantly. For our own safety we have to go, honey.
Come on. HANNAH RIESGRAF: I was scared because I didn't know where they'd go, and wish we could've stayed.
When my mom told me that we were leaving, I felt sad and I wish we didn't have to leave.
DENNIS FARINA: The fire burned out of control for three days, consuming more than 9,000 acres.
From their home in Duluth, 100 miles away, the Riesgrafs waited for news that their dogs were OK.
JOHN RIESGRAF: We had called Susan's father, and I had asked him to go back to the cabin a few times,
because I thought they would come back to the cabin. I thought that would be our best hope.
And he had done that, and not seen anything. DENNIS FARINA: Then, almost two weeks after Lady disappeared,
a hungry, scruffy collie wandered up to a house on the outskirts of Duluth. Hello!
Let me see, have you got a collar? [phone rings] What? Wait, you found Lady? SUSAN RIESGRAF: Out of the blue, some folks
that were about 15 miles from our house called and said your dog is in our yard.
And I said what? And they said your dog is a collie, her name is Lady, is this telephone number?
I said yes, and I said, do you realize this dog has traveled a long way to get to your yard.
DENNIS FARINA: After 13 days apart, Lady was reunited with her family. Lady! Lady!
DENNIS FARINA: When Lady's amazing journey made headlines, several people called to tell the family that they had
seen the dog on her journey. A railroad worker had spotted a collie 30 miles from the cabin.
About a week later, someone spotted a collie near an old logging trail, approximately 15 miles from Duluth.
All together, Lady had traveled more than 150 miles. The Riesgrafs have no doubt that Lady would have reached
their house one way or another. SUSAN RIESGRAF: She's found her home and she's there to stay.
Since this long walk home, she stays home. It's like she realized this is my family,
and we just appreciate her a whole lot more. DENNIS FARINA: The Riesgrafs still don't know the fate
of their other dog, Wolfka. They hope he is safe, perhaps adopted by a caring stranger.
Meanwhile, they continue to marvel at Lady's return. But dogs aren't the only pets that
show this remarkable ability. Baltimore, Maryland. Sue Anderson has been an animal lover for as long
as she can remember. When she packed for a cross-country move, the last thing she loaded were her most valued possessions,
her five beloved cats. SUE ANDERSON: I had Puss and Cinderella and Woolly Booger and Nova and Stardust.
They're like children to me, in a way, and I feel when I take on the responsibility of a pet,
then that responsibility is mine until the pet dies. DENNIS FARINA: Sue traveled with their brother,
who was also moving west. As for the cats, it was the first time they'd been further away from home than the local vet.
I got over about four years ago. SUE ANDERSON: She was left outside of my apartment.
She just kind of clung to me, and got very attached to me, and ever since then it's been a very, very close relationship.
DENNIS FARINA: After 10 days on the road, Sue and her brother reached California.
Hi. How you doing? I'm so beat. DENNIS FARINA: They stopped to rest for the night
200 miles from Modesto, their final destination. They planned to sleep until daybreak before pushing on.
[cat meowing] Good morning. DENNIS FARINA: Sue awoke to discover Nova was gone. Oh no.
Kitty, kitty! SUE ANDERSON: I felt devastated. She was in a strange place, and never been here before,
and it scared me. I was worried about her survival. Nova's escaped. Oh, great. Nova!
DENNIS FARINA: Sue and her brother searched for an hour, without any luck. Nova!
Nova! SUE ANDERSON: I was very, very anxious about her, very, very frightened for her, and very
upset about the whole incident. Nova! DENNIS FARINA: When sue told a coworker about Nova,
he gave her a picture of a black cat as a memento. SUE ANDERSON: People would stop by, they would stop
and say, get real, she's never going to come back. You know, you're just dreaming.
I said, well, maybe one day she will. So I kept it up there the entire time I was working there.
DENNIS FARINA: A full year later, Sue came across two stray cats outside of work.
One resembled Nova. Kitty, kitty, kitty, kitty, kitty, kitty. DENNIS FARINA: Could Nova have traveled more
than 250 miles to find Sue? SUE ANDERSON: She had a mole inside her ear. She had five or six distinguishing white hairs
on her chest, and she let me look at her claws, and I could identify her claws. All these things were adding up that this was indeed my cat.
DENNIS FARINA: How do we explain Nova's incredible journey? Noted animal behaviorist Miriam Yarden has a theory.
MIRIAM YARDEN: She told me that she spend 10 to 12 hours at her place of work. And by thinking of the cat and seeing her own surroundings,
subconsciously she was sending visual images to the cat, come to this area, come to this place,
this is where I am. Can I prove it? No. Anyone can disprove it? Probably not. I like to think that there's enough of a bonding
that if you really believe in your capacity to love and let that love be a kind of a guiding light,
that they will use that love to get back to us when they want to. And that that's a sort of communication in its own way.
DENNIS FARINA: Next, a killer calls the police to confess his crimes, and then he disappears.
On a previous broadcast, we interviewed detective Pat Brennan of the Philadelphia Police Department.
One day, she received a call from Julius Patterson, an ex-con who had served time for rape.
Patterson confessed that he and his girlfriend Paulette Hite killed two people. PAT BRENNAN: It was like a man on a mission.
He was out to convince me and anyone else that would listen to him that what he had to say was real,
and he was out to make the police act on it. With this urgency in his voice and the detail to what he was
saying to us, just made me feel that everything he was saying was the truth, and would be founded.
DENNIS FARINA: Patterson said one of the victims was an older man named Hall Luther
Gordon, who had mysteriously disappeared three years before. How do you know he was telling the truth?
Well, we have to check it out, Pat. It's probably just a crank call. DENNIS FARINA: Patterson claims that the remains
of the second person he had murdered could be found buried in the basement of a Philadelphia row house.
The victim, his own sister. Julius Patterson was telling the truth. Testing later confirmed that the bones found
in the basement were those of his mentally handicapped younger sister, Jessie. After Patterson called police, he and Paulette Hite
disappeared. These are pictures of Patterson and Hite, taken from a bank ATM camera, and they
suggest a possible motive for the killings. Authorities believe that the pair may have stolen social security checks from the two victims
while they were still alive, and collected and cashed additional checks after killing them.
Update. When this story aired, a viewer called our phone center to report that Paulette Hite had worked for him in New
Jersey under an assumed name. He gave us the social security number she used, and the FBI tracked that Social Security number to a welfare
recipient New York City. FBI agents and New York City Police Department staked out the location where she was to pick up her checks.
At that time, both Julius Patterson and on Paulette Hite were apprehended. DENNIS FARINA: After the arrest, Patterson led police
to this empty warehouse in North Philadelphia, where he said he had left the partial remains
of Hall Luthor Gordon. Patterson's confession allowed police to finally identify bones found earlier at that site.
Paulette Hite and Julius Patterson were arraigned on charges of armed robbery and assault. Patterson was also charged
with the murders of Hall Luther Gordon and Jessie Patterson. Hite was sentenced to six years in prison,
and has since been released. Patterson was convicted of third degree murder and involuntary manslaughter.
He was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Candy Gaither Hoerner should be dead, but thankfully, she isn't.
And Candy is convinced that her sister, Roxy, who died years before, is the reason.
Crystal River, Florida. Candy Hoerner was fighting leukemia, a battle that no one
expected her to win. CANDY HOERNER: Every day, I felt I was getting worse. I didn't really know if I was going to make it or not.
When I started slipping into my coma, I thought about Roxy. I thought about seeing her in her hospital bed.
I thought about were mom and dad going to have to go through this again. I thought a lot about that.
DENNIS FARINA: Candy and Roxy were the only girls in their family, born just 13 months apart.
When they both became young mothers, they grew closer. CANDY HOERNER: Roxy and I got real close.
One She became a mother first, and then I did. So I asked her advice, and she gave it to me,
and we started getting along really, really well then. She's in an auto accident.
DENNIS FARINA: Then one day, Roxy was rushed to the hospital. Roxy had suffered serious head injuries
after being thrown from a Jeep. I'm sorry, but we need to get Roxy-- DENNIS FARINA: She was awake and talking,
but her condition was critical. By the time Candy arrived, Roxy had slipped into a coma.
I thought that she would be fine. I thought she would wake up, and we'd go home and everything would be fine.
That's what I thought. Two days later, Roxy died. She was only 22 years old. CANDY HOERNER: It was really hard, for a long time.
I still thought she was just gone for a while. She'd be back. It took a long time for me to realize
that she was really gone. DENNIS FARINA: 13 years later, Candy herself was lying in a hospital.
Her only hope was a bone marrow transplant. At first, the transplant seemed to be a success.
But five days later, Candy's body began to shut down. Her liver failed, and she started sinking into a coma.
Her family had been very dedicated and continuously supporting her, talking to her,
and praying for her. But there came a time when I felt that I needed to prepare them for her possible death.
DENNIS FARINA: What Candy needed was a miracle, and she believes she got one. Roxy?
DENNIS FARINA: It was Roxy, exactly as she had appeared in life. Candy, I love you, but you can't come with me now.
Mom and dad need you here. CANDY HOERNER: I was so glad to see her. It had been so long.
I'm too tired, and it hurts too much. Mom and dad already lost me, they couldn't
stand to lose you, too. I don't think I can take the pain any longer. You have to stay here, you know why?
Because you're going to be a grandmother someday. CANDY HOERNER: I thought I was so close to death,
and I actually believe that she did visit me, and she did give me the strength to fight.
I felt cold one day, and I just opened my eyes and there was my husband, and my dad standing there.
They were smiling. I knew something good had happened, I just wasn't sure what. I think all physicians have cases in which they
cannot explain the outcome. However, in my experience as a physician, this is truly the most amazing case,
and I feel qualifies truly as a medical miracle. DENNIS FARINA: Two weeks later, Candy
was released from the hospital. Two years later, Roxy's prediction came true. Candy's daughter had a baby girl.
CANDY HOERNER: Someday, when my granddaughter grows up, I'm going to tell her all about Roxy.
She was with me. I don't know how, but I do know that she was there, and I did talk to her and she did talk to me.
Me and Roxy had such a bond, I loved her so much. I never got to tell her that I loved her,
and I feel like she came back to tell me, hey, I know you love me, and I love you, too.

This, Episode includes: Sunnyvale Stalker, Missing In-Laws, Calling Dr. Fraud, Incredible Journeys, Update: Social Security Murder and Candy & Roxy.

Brief Summary

This episode features stalkings, disappearances, a con artist, and lost pets reuniting with their owners.

Key points

A Deadly Night Out. Dick Hansen's night out takes a tragic turn when he is shot by a mysterious assailant.
The Disappearance of Wendy Camp. Wendy Camp and her family vanish after a visit with her son, leading to suspicions and accusations.
Con Man Poses as Doctor. A clever con artist tricks a coin dealer into handing over $30,000 worth of gold coins.
Lady's Incredible Journey. After 13 days apart, Lady the collie was reunited with her family, having traveled over 150 miles.
Sue's Search for Nova. After losing her cat Nova during a move, Sue Anderson held onto hope for a year.
Candy's Miraculous Recovery. Candy Hoerner believes her sister Roxy visited her during a near-death experience, giving her strength to survive.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

This is just a little reminder of how easily an ordinary evening can turn deadly.

Dennis Farina introduces the next case.

1:35WatchMar 9, 2017

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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