Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 5, Episode 22 | Forensic Files

[Music] next on Unsolved Mysteries a kind-hearted truck driver treats a young man to breakfast and
becomes a key witness in a missing person's case it's one of world war II's strangest Mysteries a Navy blimp crashes
on a city street and there's no sign of the crew two Canadian High School sweethearts travel to Washington state
for their first romantic getaway but they never make it home and a brutal serial killer murders at least
eight women in New Orleans police need your help before he strikes again five compelling cases I'm Dennis
finina and this is Unsolved Mysteries join us won't you [Music] com Memphis Tennessee 26-year-old John Chek seemed
destined for Success fresh out of business school he had been hired as the Chief Financial Officer for one of
Tennessee's largest real estate companies never in their wildest dreams that John cheek's family and friends
imagined that he would wind up the focus of an endless missing person search his
face peering out from thousands of Flyers plastered all over their hometown by the age of 28 John had
bought this house in East Memphis and was hard at work putting together the deal of a lifetime for months Jan had
helped lay the groundwork to take his company public he was working 18 hours a day and flying all over the world to
meet with investors finally the deal was on the verge of closing millions of dollars
were on the line the company was about to be thrust into the national Spotlight literally
overnight John was very proud of his accomplishment of getting this job and he worked very hard non-stop almost to
see that his duties were fulfilled and that every eye was dotted and every tea was
crossed but one winter day John didn't show up for work and surprise quickly turned to concern at company
headquarters it was out of character and then as the day went on and then that night uh when no one had heard from John
we began to know that something terribly was wrong early the next morning John's car
was found abandoned on Interstate 55 where the highway crosses over the Mississippi River it was about 12 mi
from John's home there was no signs of Foul Play on the car the car was checked uh
everything appeared to be intact the cheek family examined a car also and it appeared to be just the way John would
have left it police theorized that John had committed suicide by jumping into the
rapid Waters of the Mississippi River however Searchers of the river and its banks failed to locate his body and to
those who knew him best suicide seemed to be out of the [Applause] question we didn't believe that he could
be normal right up until 11:00 p.m. one night and then all of a sudden jump off the bridge the next day we were just
left with the same position we are right now that it was just some big mystery had happened to him and we didn't know
what two months passed with no leads no word from John and no reason to believe that he was EV been
alive until a trucker named Ron Jackson rolled into town over the years Ron had seen
hundreds of missing persons Flyers at truck stops all across the country so he was stunned when he saw the face of
someone that he actually recognized the young man that he had met just the day before you never really expected to jump
right out and say hey I know this person I had breakfast with this person the other morning so that was added to my
surprise of seeing this poster and this identity was so strong and it just kind of grabbed a hold of me and shook me
like this is the individual period do you have breakfast yet no I have no money Brown found the young
Drifter sleeping at a Virginia Truck Stop 700 mil from John chek's hometown this morning my first impression of this
man when I saw him is that he was not homeless people he was clean and the white shirt was so white it looked like
had just come out of the laundry okay Help Yourself he didn't tell Ron his name but the man did say that he had
spent some time in an Arkansas homeless shelter there for a while I didn't press
him he just was rambling on in cafeteria line I would have to say that he was definitely not 100% in all mental
capabilities you have a good breakfast yeah where you headed Richmond Richmond Ron and The
Drifter were headed in opposite directions good luck outside the cafeteria they said
goodbye well there were several things about the encounter that made us feel optimistic that it was a positive
identification for John the first was the white shirt and tie because that would be typical for him to be wearing
that because that's what he wore every day he also mentioned the fact that he used very correct English and sounded
like he was well educated person which was obviously correct for John's parents the most promising detail was Ron's
description of the young man's shoes slipon moccasins John had a pair that was identical and his parents believed
that he might be wearing them we knew that John had a pair of shoes like this we had not mentioned that to anyone up
until this point in time immediately my thought was we've got to find him quick and get him home he's uh wandering
around and not knowing who he is no one could be sure why John vanished his father believes that he
suffered a sudden episode of stress induced Amnesia it's sort of a self-preservation mechanism if something
in their past has become so stressful that they can't stand it any longer then that's how they deal with it they just
block it all out and you're no longer John Chek and you're no longer a financial officer and you no longer
putting together a big deal since Ron Jackson's sighting there has been no other sign of John
cheek he has brown hair blue eyes and stands 6 feet tall at the time of his disappearance John weighed 150 lb
there's a hole in my heart and I'm hoping that all of this publicity will find someone that can um feel that void
and a mother never gives up if you have any information that can help return John Chek to his family and
friends please log on to our website at unsolved.com [Music] next two young lovers are murdered while
on vacation the killer then PPS the family with vicious our next story is about a young couple
who had been dating for 6 months Jay cook and his high school sweetheart T van kenborg took the ferry from Victoria
Canada to Washington State to go camping Jay was 20 years old Tanya was 17 and they were in
love the couple's Journey began in Victoria where they took a late afternoon car furry headed to Port
Angeles Washington it was their first trip together and they planned on a romantic
getaway Jay and T had been going out for about 6 months I think I think she was quite special to them they certainly
seemed to be good for each other from everything that I could gather uh I certainly had no apprehension about
Tanya being with Jay I I felt very comfortable with that it's windy but sometime during their Journey
Jay and Tanya's peaceful vacation turned into a violent nightmare Jay was driving his father's
van Witnesses reported seeing a drive off the ferry and heading south on Highway 101 authorities believe they
were headed towards a second car ferry from Bremerton to Seattle it was just an overnight trip
Jay and Tanya were expected home the next day if Tanya was late for anything she
would always phone so when Tanya did not phone the next evening when they were supposed to be returning my wife became
apprehensive the following day when she didn't call we knew there was something wrong Tanya's body was found partially
clothed she had been uh raped and murdered we found some wire ties but you would bundle wires together with laying
alongside the road we assume that they were used to secure Tanya in the van well we didn't know what to think
then because they hadn't found Jay and for a while it looked like Jay might even be a suspect they told us to be
prepared for that soon after Jay's van was found 90 Mi away in the city of Bellingham there's one of the ties was
just like with t down the scene there's another one oh we got some blood over here it looks like two blocks away
police found more plastic ties the keys to Jay's van Tanya's driver's license and a half empty box of ammunition they
also found a pair of surgical gloves together these Clues comprised an outright taunt he leaves Those Behind as
basically a sign to the police that you needn't look for fingerprints because I wore these gloves and uh he has
confidence that there's nothing that's going to connect him with these crimes a short time later Jay's body was
found he had been beaten and strangled to death his hands have been bound with some plastic tie wraps and the things we
found on Jade certainly raised this as suspicion that the person or people who did this have been in the prison system
before without telling you anything else uh that's definitely a possibility police believe that it's
most likely that Jay and Tanya met their killer on the 1020 PM ferry from brierton to
Seattle we don't know the Killer's intentions when he first met these two we feel that he was out to do some harm
and certainly to assault both Jay and Tanya and from what we have found I think we can say that he had set his
sights on Tanya and Jay was in the way few lights how you doing hi hey what's up not much you guys going to Seattle
mhm yeah how about you friendly Young on their first trip and I think easily fooled an easy Mark say I wonder if you
could do me a favor it's pretty cold out there and I only live a couple miles M fery deck can you get me right I think
it's safe to say that by the time they exited the ferry in downtown Seattle they probably were in the company of the
man that killed them it would seem to me that it's logical that the person has committed
crimes like this in the past and been successful at them and having been successful I would certainly say that
it's likely that they'll continue to do them good how's the holidays great thanks good see you tomorrow yeah
bye-bye then over the Christmas holidays Just 4 weeks after the murder of their children Jay and Tanya's families each
received a series of disturbing greeting cards they were filled with taunting descriptions of the murders and the
author claimed to be the killer postmarked from New York Los Angeles and Seattle all of these cards had been
written by the same person so far at least six of these greeting cards have been mailed over three different
holidays and authorities still have no idea who sent them perhaps surprisingly DNA found on
the victim and DNA on the envelopes do not match the handwriting in these letters
and the cards is very distinctive and there are some phrases that are very distinctive also
Hallelujah bloody Jesus is a favorite phrase of his he just continues to make life miserable for these parents who
have lost their children it's important that this individual be caught police are convinced the murderer
is an ex-convict familiar with the Washington area they hope that he may have talked about the crime and that
someone watching might be able to identify him authorities are also interested in finding out who wrote The
Strange greeting cards if anyone has any inform information that might help solve this
case please log on to our website at unsolved.com coming up the Fateful Flight of the
ghost blimp whose crew vanished without a troops along the Pacific coast The Hunt
is on for the [ __ ] submarine that brought the to us soil in 1942 the final outcome
of World War II was still very much in doubt the United States had every reason to fear that the Japanese would launch
an allout attack on the west coast they were known to be Japanese submarines operating off the coast there
had been an attack on an oil refinery down in near Santa Monica there was a great fear that there
would be uh more attacks the Navy responded to the threat by putting together a fleet of 12 blimps to
patrol the California coast the mission of Airship Squadron 32 as they were called was largely
[Music] uneventful until August of 1942 that's when one of the blimps crashed on a city street with no one on
board it was almost impossible for them him not to have been seen by somebody but nobody saw him go nobody saw him
jump and there's no relics of them at all a real puzzle it was perhaps one of the
strangest events that happen here in the United States during World War II incredibly Airship Squadron 32 only lost
two men during the entire War the two men who disappeared that day decades later
their exact fate remains a mystery San Francisco August 16th 1942 it was early on a Sunday morning
when Flight 101 prepared to take off the pilots were 27-year-old Lieutenant Ernest dwit Cody and
34-year-old insen Charles Ellis Adams both were experienced and reliable which made the events of the next 5
hours even more mysterious Aviation machinist mate Riley Hill was supposed to go with Adams and
Cody that morning Adams had flown in the large durables and was thoroughly checked out
but he had never flown in the small blimps and this was an indoctrination flight for him that Sunday morning just
before departure Riley Hill was ordered off the blimp for some unknown reason no need for you to go Riley Adams
and I will take it yes sir hill now believes that the heavy moisture in the air was weighing the blimp down making
it unsafe to take off with three men on board I got out shut the door and locked
it and they took off the Flight Plan called for the Blimp to leave Treasure Island pass over the
Golden Gate Bridge then head to the Falon Island 25 M off the coast from there Flight 101
would continue North to point Rays then South along the coastline the first leg of the patrol
went smoothly but then an hour and a half after takeoff Lieutenant Cody radioed Squadron headquarters and said
investigating suspicious oil standby go 101 those were the last words ever received from flight
101 when it came time for further explanation and we didn't get it we just assumed well it was negative and they
went on their way but when 3 hours passed and still no one had heard from the crew flight commanders became
alarmed frantic attempts to contact the blimp went unanswered no sir no Communications from the crew since they
report at 7:42 I'm investigating suspicious oil s yes sir finally a message was received
but it was not from Flight 101 San Francisco sh Patrol one blimp cross Beach to play crashed into the
golf course and dropped the dev charge peeled it off let's get a team over there right away the blimp had somehow
drifted 8 Miles off course and came ashore just south of San Francisco there was a swimmer there a
man called Mr capala who was standing ready to go into the water and all of a sudden he saw this huge gray Mass just
coming right at him remember this thing is 47 ft wide and it wasn't too high off
the water and he watched it come in it dragged a wheel along the sand at the water's edge then hit a little sand null
it bounced up into the air and then slid up a little bit of a canyon and then hit
rather heavily on the side of the canyon and this knocked off a depth charg the collapsing blimp was seen by
hundreds of people bunny gpie was 16 years old at the time I was on the way home from Sunday
school and I saw this big gray thing coming in over what I thought was going to be right over Templeton Avenue when I
saw this thing coming in through the sky I was very surprised as were a lot of other people because things like that
just didn't happen in Daily City Flight 101 quickly lost altitude and headed straight for the homes in the hills of
Daily City one woman's house almost became the point of impact it was a Mrs Appleton she said
that all of a sudden this huge Behemoth had settled and scraped across the the top of her roof and she said it sounded
like chains dragging but the entire house was blacked out because of the the size of
this thing and she raced to the front window Wonder wondering what in the world was going on and she saw the rest
of it the gondola hit the crossarm break off part of the uh uh mechanism there and gradually settled down to the ground
I missed the actual Landing of the thing but when I got there it was just like great big gray monster with the gondola
jutting up towards the tops of the houses it was huge miraculously no one was injured
when the blimp landed in the middle of the street Street almost immediately Daily City officials were on the scene
when Navy personnel arrived they were shocked to discover that there was no sign of Lieutenant Cody or inen Adams
apparently the blimp had pilot itself straight into downtown the legend of the ghost blimp
was born investigators were puzzled by what they found the door was latched open a
highly unusual inlight position the safety bar normally used to block the doorway was no longer in place and a
microphone hooked to an outside loudspeaker dangled from the gondle the ignition switches were still
on the uh radio was still on and working nobody had touched my uh fuel valves they were set up just exactly the way
that I'd left them we still had another 6 hours of fuel Lieutenant Cody's cap rested on the
insulin panel and two of three life jackets on board were missing suggesting the crew had put them on before takeoff
as regulations required a locked briefcase containing top secret codes was still in its place it was as if Cody
and Adams had opened the door and simply stepped out Into Thin Air the machine gun was still there the
expandable life raft was there uh and one more life jacket there was nothing missing the Navy investigation revealed
that Flight 101 was seen by several ships and planes between 7 and 11: a.m. some of the eyewitnesses said they were
close enough to see Cody and Adams in the gondola and everything seemed normal theories emerged almost immediately
about what happened to the two men some believe that Cody and Adams spotted an enemy submarine when they descended to
investigate they were taken prisoner according to one rumor the pilots were involved in a lovers
triangle with an unknown woman supposedly one killed the other during the flight and then fled when the blimp
crashed Naval investigators came up with their own Theory they believe that one of the officers climbed out of the
gondola to fix a mechanical problem and had some kind of trouble the second pilot came to his Aid and then both men
fell [Music] overboard a year later Lieutenant Ernest Cody and inston Charles Adams were
officially declared dead the blimp itself was repaired after the war it became this Goodyear blimp
seen by millions at sporting events across the country few were aware that the Airship circling overhead was the
infamous ghost blimp coming up there's someone in town who looks just like Jim boom Garden
could he have a twin imagine that there's someone who looks walks and talks just like you well
that's been a bizarre fact of life for Jim bomgarden Jim has been haunted for years by a mysterious double a man who
seems to be everywhere or at least everywhere Jim is not baby the place is Rockford Illinois
and the event is a regular Saturday morning company softball game third baseman Rick holder is coming up
to bat when suddenly his brother-in-law Jim boomgarden who should be 20 miles away at home enters the game to pitch
for the other team hey Jim Jim I would say hi Jim hello Jim and I wasn't getting no response from the
guy so I just thought you know after the game was over I'd go up and I'd talk to
the guy hey Jim how Cindy and the kids he said the guy just kind of looked at him weird
give him a funny look and turned around walked away from [Music] him 5 years later and just a few miles
away Jim's father Ernie was leaving the doctor's office when he saw his son Jim my dad came after this guy and was
yelling at him Jim this guy ignored him got into a car which he said was very similar to mine
drove off and didn't even acknowledge Him now we had two people who knew me very well and they were both fooled
especially my dad who reared me this guy fooled my dad he has to look almost identical to
me Jim had been adopted when he was an infant by a loving family in Illinois his childhood was happy and uneventful
except for one strange incident when Jim was 11 and visiting his adoptive grandparents he was
approached by a group of neighborhood boys Billy you talking to me yeah do you want
to play basketball with us my name isn't Billy what are you talking about it's not Billy my name is Jimmy it's Billy
look if you don't call me by my right name I won't play basketball with you I couldn't understand if why they
want me to play basketball so much and they wouldn't call me my by my name and why they were making this name up I
could not understand that Jim didn't think much of it after high school he joined the army returned home got
married and had two children Jim says that many times people that he didn't know seem to know him
how's it going man I've Haven seen a long time what's going on not much I'll see you around okay and I've
met a lot of people and there's no way that you can remember every face you see so I kind of brushed off as as nothing
until some people would see me in places that I I never was or I wasn't at that time finally the strangest of all the
encounters took place at a mini Mark just five blocks from Jim's home Shirley hurling was behind the cash register
pump number three I was working and this gentleman came in I assumed it was Jim no not today he looked like him he
walked the same talked the same same mannerisms I assumed it was Jim within minutes Jim and Cindy walk in
do you forget something no why well you were just here a few minutes ago oh first time I've been here today and I
looked over at said I said he's kidding right and she said no this is first time
he'd been out today and I said well then my god there was somebody that came and
look just like you if i' had been just 15 minutes earlier just maybe we could have ran
into each other as he was coming out and I was going in and met face to face the lady who was there said she saw
a man who looked exactly like Jim and they're not 15 minutes ago she said it could have been Jim twin 3 weeks later
Jim's wife Cindy was visiting his adoptive grandmother Sophie she became noticeably silent when Cindy told her
about the odd case of mistaken identity at the mini Mark what's wrong Sophie then revealed a family secret about
Jim's adoption Jim's father Ernie who had since passed away told her that Jim had a twin brother Jim had a twin
she said that Ernie didn't like keeping it a secret but yet he figured that you know if Jim had never known his brother
he would never miss him I was excited you know all the speculations are now true I am looking
for a twin brother Jim obtained a family history from the adoption agency and learned
that his birth mother had a nephew who drowned at the age of 14 desperate for the details Jim spent hours in the
library until he found the newspaper story about the tragedy finally Jim had a family name
heronimus Jim found a woman with that last name living just 20 miles away may I help you is your last name
aonomus oh yes I think we might be related you don't have to tell me we're related you look exactly like my brother
bud she was his aunt Myrtle his birth mother's sister the mother of the boy who had
drowned for the first time Jim saw a picture of his mother Hazel and learned that she had died just 3 years
earlier Myrtle told Jim that his mother had cut herself off from the family and that they had never known anything about
the birth of the twins Hazel never told you about me and my brother no she never said anything
about having had twin boys of course I I knew about the little girl she had little girl another bombshell not only
did Jim have a twin brother but he also had an older sister now the mystery is even harder now I got two to find
instead of one but I'm bound determin I'm want to find him one way or the other update after we aired this story Jim
tried to access his adoption files a sympathetic judge agreed to contact his sister's adoptive family and
tell them of Jim's search 47-year-old Judy Sullivan learned for the first time that she had a
brother Judy and Jim met the very next day however Jim died a little more than a year after their reunion
he had never met his twin brother Jim's son James and Jim's sister Judy would still like to find Jim's twin
or any other family relatives Jim's twin brother whose first name might be Billy was born in the
Salvation Army hospital Cook County Illinois on March 29th [Music] 1947 his brother was adopted by a family
in Rochelle Illinois if you have any information about this case please log on to our website at
unsolved.com [Music] coming up police in New Orleans hunt for a brutal serial killer their best lead
is the woman that he left for dead LA centa California we recently told you about
Diane hanline since her mid-40s Diane has battled a rare and often fatal blood disease Diane needed a bone marrow
transplant and only one person was a potential donor her younger sister Marilyn but
Diane had no idea where to find her bye by years before when their parents separated Marilyn went to live with
their father Diane stayed with their mother over the next few years they saw each other just a few times and then for
reasons long since forgotten the sisters became estranged I feel I'm asking a lot of my
sister to do this bone marrow for me but even if she doesn't agree to a transplant if she doesn't says I don't
want to do this I would still like to make peace with her update when we aired Diane Story a
private investigator named Robin Lee was watching Robin was touched by Diane's search and volunteered to help find
Marilyn I contacted the show got a little more information started out with the sister's name Marilyn Jones was her
ma name started with that and a date of birth and went on from there and it took
me about days to find her Marilyn and Diane finally met face to face for the first time in 30
years it's so good to see you once we hugged it was like it hadn't been 30 years it had been just short
time I guess maybe that's why I feel comfortable is because I can feel the love and when you feel that love you
feel comfortable over you haven't changed a bit know you I think I'm still in shock you know
it's still like I don't you know I'm not here yet it's just it's just a dream you
know but it's it's a great dream and we have a lot of catching up to do and we're going to have a lot of fun
together enjoy the time we have isn't that beautiful the day of the reunion just
happened to be Diane's birthday and Marilyn had not forgotten this is the best gift I've
ever had in my whole life is to have my sister and to have my family for my birthday it'll be the best birthday I've
ever had in my whole life Marilyn hoped that she could be a bone marrow donor for her sister but as
it turned out she was not a match sadly a little more than a year after their reunion Diane passed
away New Orleans Louisiana one summer day across the Mississippi River from the French quar a
lone recycler was collecting trash along a deserted Road often used illegally as
a dump he was about to set off one of the city's most complex murder investigations the body was identified
as 17-year-old Danielle Brittain who lived nearby with her mother she had been strangled
and possibly raped just 10 minutes into the investigation detective Elizabeth wion's
instincts told her that she was dealing with a serial killer I don't know if it means anything or not a man approached
me regarding an attack of a woman which had occurred approximately 2 weeks earlier at this time I realized that
there was a possibility that this attack and the murder of Danielle Britain could
be connected somehow with one strike making difference that this victim has survived her
attack assumed that I was dead in order to leave me there the surviving victim will'll call Brenda had her voice
permanently damaged in the strangulation attempt police believe that she was attacked by the same man who killed
Danielle Brittain Bren I need for you to tell me as in as detail as possible what
happened that night Brenda was able to clearly recall the attack in specific detail started following me in his
car I was at my house and I decided that I wanted to go and visit a friend of mine say you need a ride no I'm okay I'm
just going so the man in the car got side by side with me as I was walking and ask me where I was going okay and I
kept on walking and he kept on insisting that he could get me a ride to wherever
I was going and the car stopped and before I knew it the man grabbed me and put me into the the
car despite Brenda's protest the man drove about a half a mile past her friend's house to the same deserted Road
where Danielle's body would be found 2 weeks later what are you doing he on top me and began to choke
me he looked at me and I looked at him and I realized this man was trying to kill me I tried to fight him off but I I
couldn't I didn't have any strength the killer strangled Brenda with his bare hands stripped off her
clothes and dumped her body by the side of the road 6 hours later Brenda woke up and
found herself covered with garbage finding Brenda had certainly been a lucky break in this case we had now a
live victim who could identify an attacker who could be responsible for the murder of Daniel Britain I knew this
guy was out there stalking his victims I had no idea it was going to get worse about a month later the killer
attacked his third victim Charlene price her body was dumped within one mile of where Danielle was
found after another 3 months a fourth victim was found in the same area this is a sketch of that woman who
is still unidentified she was 5' 2 in tall weighed 125 lb and had protruding front
teeth only 2 and 1/2 Weeks passed before the killer struck again the nude body of
29-year-old Lydia Madison was found in a different dumb site this one only eight
blocks from Police Headquarters detective soon learned that three other bodies had been found in a
nearby Town bringing the total number of victims to8 these bodies closely resembled
bodies found in our investigation in previous months leading me to believe that the same killer may be responsible
for all these victims the killer always strangled his victims and always left them nude face down in or near illegal
dump sites seven of the eight women were found within a 3M radius I'm still afraid because I still
don't know where this man is and I know he knows me just like as well as I know him with me it's more now like
I'm living in fear every minute or every second of the day on the night that she
was murdered Danielle Britain was seen with a man resembling Brenda's attacker outside a local bar police are convinced
that he is the killer the man was driving a blue late model Buick Regal or Monte
Carlo if you have any information about this case please log on to our website at
unsolved.com [Music] [Music]

This, Episode includes: Missing Cheek, Identical Twins, Ghost Blimp, Greeting Card, Update: Lifesaving Sister and New Orleans Killer.

Brief Summary

Five unsolved cases include a missing CFO, murdered lovers, a ghost blimp, and a serial killer in New Orleans.

Key points

Tragic Murder of Young Lovers. Jay Cook and Tanya Van Kenborg are found murdered during a romantic getaway.
The Disappearance of John Chek. John Chek, a promising CFO, goes missing under mysterious circumstances.
The Ghost Blimp Mystery. A Navy blimp crashes with no sign of its crew, leaving a baffling mystery.
Jim's Mysterious Double. Jim Bomgarden discovers he has a twin brother he never knew about.
The Reunion. Diane and Marilyn reunite after 30 years apart on Diane's birthday.
The Serial Killer's Pattern. Detectives connect a series of murders to a single serial killer.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

It was just some big mystery.

John Chek's family reflects on his sudden disappearance.

4:19WatchMar 9, 2017

Tension

70/ 100High tension

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