Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 6, Episode 4 | Forensic Files

[Music] next on Unsolved Mysteries when a woman suddenly disappears her husband claims that she
ran away but the police believe he killed her Tanya cobri wanted to break up with
her boyfriend but he didn't like that idea and responded a murderous rage a little girl and her mother are
found dead 12 M apart who murdered them and why and many people believe they have
been cured by father solanus Casey is he truly a miracle worker sound intriguing if you better
believe it these are unusual cases that you won't want to miss I'm Dennis finina
and this is Unsolved Mysteries [Music] [Music] Johnston Rhode Island Steven Mario comes home from work
to find that his house is oddly silent dorine a small suitcase is missing so is Dorene Steven's wife of 12
years I started looking for the clothes I noticed some jeans a couple of shirts were missing
blouses I checked the small safe that we used to have and I noticed that there's
some money out of there there was probably a few hundred in there that was gone other than that there was the car
was in the yard uh there were no notes no letters [Music] nothing since the day she disappeared
there have been several unconfirmed sightings of Dorene marfield but beyond that nothing no phone calls no paper
trail nobody Dorene just vanished the police are now convinced that she was murdered and Steven Mario has now
discovered that when someone disappears The Prime Suspect is often the person who knew them
best Steven and Dorene Mario had similar outgoing personalities and both loved the outdoors they seemed like the
perfect match hello but 11 years into their marriage a crack appeared and their perfect world Dorene suddenly quit her
job and said that she needed a change it was a surprise to her bosses as well as myself and her friends and
mother you just don't quit a job and not go anywhere she's not the type to just leave for no
reason according to Steven dorene's Behavior grew more and more erratic she seemed to be on the verge of a nervous
breakdown do you know what time it is I know I know um look just go back to bed I'll be there in a couple of minutes
okay from a strong independent woman she became very weak very unassured of herself uh basically a nervous wreck in
a matter of weeks is it me is it something I did when I did try and push the issue she would get more hysterical
can't talk about it we always could talk about everything before why not now she
said it's I can at this time I will tell you but I can't this time and I never did find
out hi is is Dorene there Steven admits that he did nothing for 2 days after Dorene vanished assuming that she needed
some time alone to se things out finally he called dorene's mother she hadn't seen or talked to her daughter in a week
think she went away to get a few days by herself to clear her head when Steve called me in the morning he sounded
strange I said there's something wrong then he called the afternoon right away I knew I I told him call the police now
don't wait the police questioned dorene's family and friends but no one knew why she may
have left and then detectives made a start with the discovery I just called Stephen marfield back he said he had
Dorne followed around by two private investigators for like 11 months so I did hire a private
investigator on and off for a year maybe a few hours a month to follow her once in a while cuz I don't know what was
going on I just felt that there was something wrong but then never found anything basically what you have is you
have a man who has a personality who has his wife followed around for 11 months for no reason at all and this same man
later on down the road his wife disappears she's missing for 2 days and you don't think anything unusual you
don't you don't make any phone calls or call the police it's not [Music] consistent 2 and 1/2 months after Dorene
disappeared police got their first break in the case when they received two anonymous letters in one the author
accused Dorene of cheating on her husband it said although on the outside she personifies class Beauty and
professionalism in reality she is nothing more than a cheap Harlot her promotions were achieved by
her sexual prowess rather than management or leadership abilities we talked to co-workers there
was absolutely no inclination of Doren having to affil with anyone her cooworker says that was totally out of
her character uh she had mentioned just a normal conversation with her co-workers that that's something she
would never be involved in or tolerate was any type of marital Affairs even long before she
disappeared however according to her sister darene had considered leaving Steven for another man early in their
marriage she was having an affair and the guy that she was having the affair with was leaving or wanted to have her
leave with him to wherever he was going she was pretty worried and very upset about what she should do and she
came to me and eventually to my husband to talk about it and we all decided that
probably the best thing she should do was not not do what she was thinking of doing the second letter was even more
disturbing than the first it gave a chilling account of how Steven Mario had allegedly murdered his
wife Steven got hot under the collar he made for couch and strangled dorine on a narrow dirt road he stopped
and deposited wife's body in reeds in a pond police sent the letters to an expert on psycholinguistics for
evaluation well it's got to be of someone who knew durine quite well close to uh the family the
maros and then one says uh that the easiest and simplest account of this was it was designed to deceive the
authorities in his report Dr myON concluded that Mario probably wrote both letters and was quote The Logical
suspect in the murder of his wife I did not type any letters they're police they can say whatever they want
and they do and they get away with it but I'm really getting tired of the accusations and the
allegations in your windows if you have something bring It Forward the police seized several
typewriters which Steven could have used to type the letters a comparison of type
Styles revealed that the first letter had been written on a typewriter belonging to one of Steven's close
relatives establishes for the first time a linkage between the document the instrument and a suspect so it was a
major importance to us and I mean it's it's like a fingerprint as far as identification everybody calls me an
optimist and everybody says oh Steve killer but I don't believe that at all uh none of his friends do as well the
ones that I know that I've talked to uh I myself don't the police do but there is no
evidence today Steven Mario lives in the same house that he and Dorene shared for
12 years the police stood still believed Dorene didn't leave voluntarily partly because she left
$50,000 in a joint savings account untouched but without a body it is difficult to prove that a crime has ever
been committed I had nothing to do with my wife's disappearance nor do I know where
she is I would like to think that she's still alive but I I do feel that it's possible
it could go the other way too but I want to know that she is alive Update 9 years after darene disappeared
this case took another unexpected turn Steven Mario fatally shot an ex-girlfriend wounded her boyfriend and
then committed suicide he left a suicide note stating that ever since his wife's
disappearance he had been quote just the shell of a man faking that I'm okay okay
shortly after maro's death police searched his property for daren's body but they found nothing investigators
believe that Dorene Mario is dead but her family is still searching for answers if you have any information
about this case please contact us at unsolved.com next one of Pharmacy student is kicked
out of school he snaps and turns his rage on the woman who once loved him Kansas City Missouri on a fall
evening police respond to reports of a shooting it is immediately clear that the female victim is
dead soon investigators learn her identity Tanya cpri had immigrated from Yugoslavia to study medicine in the
United States she was determined to beat the odds to build a career and a life in
a new country and by the age of 34 Tanya had achieved her goal she was a doctor at a
Kansas City Hospital she had also found someone to share her successful life with Richard bage seemed like the
perfect guy at first Richard was a pharmacy student at the University of Missouri he was young
and dynamic and quite attentive to Tanya soon after they met he moved into her apartment 6 months later Richard
proposed an Tanya accepted but her friends weren't so sure it was the perfect match I did not really like him because
he used using her financially and morally she was using her for lot of things like using her Master charge card
and was kind of using car and using everything Richard spent more and more time with Tanya and less time in class
he was on his way to flunking out hungry he was not real motivated he wanted it he wanted to be a
pharmacist but you have to want it bad enough to devote many many hours to the academic
study end of it University officials notified Richard that he had been expelled Richard begged
Tanya to use her connections to get him readmitted Tanya look you got to help me
do this you must help yourself help myself how am I going to do that if I'm I'm not in school I won't do it come on
I was thinking maybe he's there under drugs or alcohol because his behavior was changing he was kind of wild person I
can't find my electric razor I don't after a few weeks of Richard's increasingly erratic and sometimes
violent Behavior Tanya broke off their engagement and kicked them out of her apartment 2 weeks later Richard returned
to class pretending that he had not flunked out but University officials refused to accept him back a Richard I
need to talk to you for a minute sure could we go out in the hallway take up with the admissions I
know last quarter I had a little trouble but I'm trying now I have anything to do
with your grade to Richard there's a there's a proper procedure okay Richard wrote to the admissions
office office begging school officials to reconsider his case his appeal was denied and a
secretary was ordered to call him with the news at 3:45 right after Richard got the
call denying his request two professors saw him driving towards the Dean's office they immediately headed in the
opposite direction hey excuse me have you seen Professor Strickland sorry haven't
Richard Ro the hallways searching for the dean of admissions under his arm he carried a large Mano of
fer some witnesses thought that had HD a weapon the dean in no he's not when will
he be back I'm not sure he's coming back today I'll just wait for him okay [Music]
okay 3 hours later Tanya returned to her apartment after work [Music] [Music] by the time police and paramedics
arrived Tanya cpri was dead she had been shot three times in the head with a 45 caliber
automatic I came out and then I heard the first gun shot and I turned there was a witness at the scene and she saw
this man walk up to the side of the doctor's car and shoot her three times in the face she recognized him as being
the man that dated Dr cop Richard bachl later during the investigation we found out that Mr bage had purchased a
45 caliber handgun himself [Music] 6 days later Royal Canadian Mounted Police found Bach's car Richard was seen
by two people in the area he then dropped from [Music] sight I personally think he's back in
the United States I think he would have gotten tired of being that Far North with no
family and that's that's that's not his style his style was a little bit faster a little flashier a little looser and
that might have been okay for a year too but I think he's back 2 months after Tanya was murdered
her parents in Yugoslavia notified police that they had received an unsigned letter postmarked 2 days before
the murder the envelope was addressed in Richard Bach's handwriting dear coick family
your daughter Tanya cick has been executed in Kansas City Missouri she has caused so much grief
anguish and turmoil to so many Americans that this act was necessary her execution was
inevitable Richard bage is wanted for capital murder authorities believe he may be living in Canada he is 6 ft tall
and weighs 170 lb he has vertical star under each armpit where he had sweat plans
removed if you have any information about Richard bage please contact us at unsolved.com
[Music] next when a young girl is murdered her mother is considered a suspect until she
too is found dead Booneville Missouri I'll see you tomorrow make sure she takes her it had been a routine
Monday at riverdell Care Center 43-year-old nurse's aid Janice Owen a widow and mother of two finishes
her shift and then heads for home just a half a block away it's just after 2: p.m. about an hour later Janice's
8-year-old daughter Alyssa is on her way home she is riding alone her older brother had been dropped off earlier at
the babysitter's house she's a cute little smiling girl I just noticed her when she got off
the bus and walked in front of my bus to get on her property I watched her angle toward the
front door of this residence and then I was on my way later on Monday Janice's mother stopped
by to say hello Janice I tried the door and it was unlocked Janice hello she didn't answer me so I walked
on through the house and she wasn't anywhere to be found in there alysa's coat is on the couch her
backpack on the floor but Francis finds no sign of her daughter or granddaughter
it is now 5:00 p.m. so I wrote a note that I'd been there and I thought it was funny that
night she didn't call me but there was nothing messed up or anything that would have given me any idea anything was
wrong 5:45 p.m. a neighbor returning home from work sees some unusual activity outside Janice's
home there was cars parked on the street that usually I I mean I've just never noticed
before there was a woman on the porch and there was a younger guy he was wearing the red baseball cap they were
both facing the street and they both stared at me as they drove by 15 minutes later the neighbor notices
more strange activity outside of Janice's home there was a white four-door car in
front of her house but on the wrong side of the street and I saw a different guy
facing me looking down towards my end of the street my intuition was telling me there's something
wrong the next morning the start of a routine workday on the outskirts of fet Missouri
just 12 miles from Booneville three employees of a local Sawmill noticed something on the side of the road
oh stop at first they thought it was a mannequin it turned out to be the lifeless body of a young
child minutes later the Howard County Sheriff arrived on the scene there wasn't no signs of any
trauma or anything so we called the coroner and he arrived and and could determine that she'd probably been you
know at least dead 6 to8 hours well Sheriff Paulson Howard County Sheriff's Department with no reports of any
missing children in their area Sheriff pson contacted Booneville police in neighboring Cooper County yeah I'll
check it out and I'll call you back as soon as I know anything okay detective Bob williver made calls to several
schools and soon had an answer Alyssa Owen had been absent that day it was her body discarded at the side of the
road 12:15 p.m. detective Welliver drove over to deliver the terrible news to alysa's
Mother no answer suspicious he went inside hello anybody home there was no sign of Janice
Owen I didn't see anything out of the ordinary that would give me any suspicions that there was a struggle no
signs of any blood no signs of any kind of uh uh any trauma or anything we did not see anything out
of the ordinary at the house an autopsy revealed Alyssa had been suffocated now her mother was not
only missing but she was also the prime suspect in the murder of her daughter but police had no motive according to
friends Janice adored her daughter Boonville Police Department detectives canvased the area for Clues a neighbor
reported seeing an older model dark colored pickup truck parked near Janice's home Monday afternoon then an
employee with a local waste disposal company said he saw a similar pickup truck on the same road where Alysa was
found just minutes before The Sawmill workers discovered her body and went by he was going slow and I
looked at him he was looking at me so I waved and he didn't turn his head away or wave or nothing just stared and just
right on going and the guy was wearing a red ball cap the witness couldn't see into the
bed of the pickup truck but he thinks he knows what was there the body of Alysa Owen Jeff was certain she had not been
lying on the side of the road when he drove by minutes earlier they ever done through there had
to have done it after 8:30 because I was through there not you know there's no way SP she was laying it out of missing
her was the man behind the wheel the same one seen at Janice's home on Monday and was the dark green pickup truck
parked near her home that afternoon the same one spotted near the crime scene Tuesday Morning detectives searched for
answers but came up empty over the next month they chased hundreds of other leads then 6 weeks
after Alyssa's death J 's body was discovered in a creek bed about 12 mi from where her daughter had been
found she'd been in the water quite a while but there were no really serious signs of trauma that we could
tell everything she had on from work were still there her rings and necklaces and earrings and even her eyeglasses
were still on her head the corner determined that mother and daughter had both died of suffocation within hours of
one another more questions why was Alyssa's body left in plain sight while her mother's body was
dumped in a remote Creek bed 12 mil away and who knew the Maze of back roads that
Criss crossed Howard County Police have plenty of theories but still no suspects
yeah I'll check it out I would love to say I have it or that I have any clue I am a law enforcement officer I I am a
detective my job is to leave the options open until I can prove the facts and quite frankly I don't
[Music] [Applause] know update the man and woman seen outside the Owens home the day of The
Disappearance have been identified as 25-year-old Angela mice and her 18-year-old husband Eric Angela mice had
worked at the Care Center where Janice Owen was a nurses aid she went to the police after she and her husband had a
fight and told them that he had killed both Alyssa and her mother police learned that the couple had kidnapped
Alyssa used her for sexual gratification and then killed her Alyssa's mother was
murdered because she was quote in the way Eric and Angela mice were charged with two counts of first-degree murder
they avoided the death penalty by pleading guilty and were sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of
parole next some say father salonus Casey was a miracle worker in life as well as in death does he really have the
power to heal Detroit Michigan for more than 50 years father solonus was a church receptionist and
doorman one of the lowest ranking priests in the Catholic hierarchy father solanus was a man who
really cared for people and when people came to him with their worries and fears and pains he had
a way of Simply giving them courage to live their life the way it was those whose lives were touched by
father solonus claimed that he was a miracle worker even today some people still turn to Father solonus for help
when facing a medical crisis I do believe my prayer to father solanus was answered it's the first time my prayers
have really been answered like that in such a dramatic way I'm still in awe of what had
happened I I have no other explanation for it the mamogram was positive when David Whit cop's wife Joanne developed a
lump in her breast they immediately went to see a surgeon I'd like to set it up as soon as possible we were concerned
whether uh this density could be a cancer we weren't sure what we were dealing with so medically you have to do
a biopsy to see is it benign or malignant David and Joanne arrived at the hospital
and noticed a small prayer room inside hung a portrait of father salonus I was very desperate uh and I
just prayed to father solonus that there would be no more surgery and uh I just wanted Joanne not not to have this this
kind of operation at all anymore Joanne was wheeled into surgery and David prepared for a long anxious
wait David Joanne I looked up and it was Joanne out in the hallway there going home I thought well maybe they're taking
her down for surgery now hello Mr whop hello doctor we did another series of x-rays on your wife there's no sign of a
mass what does that mean it's over David prayed to God that I wouldn't have surgery and his prayers were
answered even though a half hour before it looked hopeless and I believe that solanus and
God saw fit to have a healing that [Music] day the medical term spontaneous remission describes sudden recoveries
like Joanne wit cops but some see her recovery as just one more example of the miraculous healing powers of Father
salonus Casey Bernard Casey was born in 1870 one of 16 brothers and sisters at the age of 21 he decided to
dedicate his life to the church for Bernard who had not even graduated high school it was a struggle from the start
his classes were taught in German and Latin F yeah Professor good father solanus was one of
these people who had difficulty remembering the question and answers and Theology and so on and as a
result he never really passed all the tests in the Seminary days solonus almost flunked out but a
few of his superiors recognized his spiritual character and proposed a compromise salonus was ordained but he
was not allowed to hear confession Prof preach a sermon or teach the doctrine all the most cherished duties of a
priest this was a rather humiliating thing but I think he accepted it as God's Will and that act of humility then uh
made him more pleasing in God's sight and so God could work great things through
him after his ordination in 1904 father solonus was sent to New York every day he would greet worshippers at a church
in yers soon it was father solonus that people came to see father solonus was later transferred
to St bon aventures in Detroit your parishioners lined up to see him and father solonus was now regarded as a
Divine healer oh do thank goodness you're here good morning where's the boy right
upstairs the story of 12-year-old Charles Rogers is one of the most amazing his sister Helen was 8 years old
at the time and remembers every detail in 1935 we had the polio epidemic in Detroit and at that time my brother
came down with a severe headache and stiffness of the neck that went down into his arms and
legs and eventually he ended up with spasms he would shake his body would Shake Dr Ronald ay was one of Detroit's
top polio Specialists it didn't take him long to make the diagnosis what can we do
nothing father salonus one of Mr Rogers employees heard about Charles symptoms and went straight
to father salonus will you pray for him father please don't worry he he will be better
[Music] tomorrow Helen gleon says that her brother underwent a miraculous transformation that very
night Dad Mom Charles Charles is that you according to Helen Charles recovered fully within a month he lived to be 64
years old and was never again troubled by any symptoms of polio father salonus Casey retired in
1956 at the age of 85 and died the following year the streets around St Bon aventur filled with 10,000 MERS it was
one of the largest funerals in the city's history 10 years later father solanus was proposed as a candidate for
sainthood his body was was exume to allow Church officials to look for the signs of exceptional preservation that
might validate canonization while his hands and his face were somewhat darkened the rest of
his body was very natural [Music] looking following the ritual examination the body of father salonus was placed in
a special Sanctuary within St p aventures as he did in life father solonus continued to Inspire Believers
from around the world to me a lot of times just myself praying to God I need [Music]
help or I might need an interpreter if I can put it that way and uh uh I I think
he does help people do that reverence for father salonus continues to grow if he is canonized he
will be the first American born male [Music] Saint next a family torn apart by violence is finally
reunited chilicothe Missouri Lori magnan had just been adopted when she happened to see her new father
cleaning a handgun Lori was deeply upset by the scene the first hint of a dark secret that had ripped apart her birth
[Music] family and I saw that and I just said that's what the policeman had when they
come to get my daddy at the age of four Lori couldn't make any sense of the dim memory
that included her birth father a policeman and a gun it wasn't until she was an adult with a family of her own
that Lori magnan would fully understand the horror of her childhood at the age of three Lori had
been adopted by Charles and retha delor the court sealed Lor's records and only told her adoptive parents that she
needed a stable home but even within the safety of her new family Lori began having nightmares
she appeared distant and distracted Lori was probably about um 6 or 7 and she was eating at the table one
day and she couldn't close her mouth she would just leave her mouth open and it really scared mother so she made an
appointment with a therapist in another town and took her there and they said that she had had um a serious
trauma and that it happened when she was fairly young L's adoptive mother had no idea
what was wrong with her little girl as Lori Grew Older she was haunted by a troubling sense that something awful had
happened in her past eventually Lori asked her mother for any paperwork concerning her
adoption I turned 16 and she brought the adoption papers out she kept every letter and this is I'm going to give
this to you Now's the Time and so I took them and went over to Rene's house I can
wait till she got there cuz we we always had this dream we were going to find her
mom and so when she came we got up on the bunk bed and she opened up the papers and that's when we found out that
her mom was already dead the adoption papers did not give a cause of death or mention any other
siblings and we was like oh my goodness and Renee we was like well we're just go try to
find somebody here and it didn't uh we know where to go we were too young Lori moved on with her life she
grew up married and had three children of her own but the vague memories of a past trauma persisted Lori needed to
know the truth finally Lori her husband Donald and their son searched a microfish copy of
the Kansas City Star for November 27th 1956 the day Lor's mother had died we go SL down down okay I was getting through
the the old papers and I came across this picture four girls and a and a boy and
one of them was about Lor's age would have been Lor's age and uh I said Lori could this possibly be your family I
said this looks awful lot like you the next the youngest one and she looked at the picture and
she said yeah that's me in the photo 14-month-old Lori sat next to her brother and three sisters who ranged an
age from 3 months to 9 years that's when I first time saw the picture of me and my brother and my
sisters first time my first baby picture I ever seen Lori then started reading the
article next to the photo Lori delore magnan had finally come face to face with a horrifying
truth of her past my beautiful when Lor's father Alexander camarina arrived home drunk
Lor's mother was waiting for him Alexander had made two purchases earlier in the evening a box of
chocolates and a 38 caliber handgun can you money on a gun they fought about the gun Alexander claimed
that it was broken and demonstrated by pointing the weapon at his wife's head I don't care if he say he sorry and
all that uh you just don't point a gun in someone's Temple I don't care and that was my mom and I W never see her
again Lori made a copy of the photo and took it home with her I just went to the bedroom took that
picture with me I just stared at it I just just couldn't believe it you know me me my brother my sisters and we all
looked alike while the dark hair in that and the oldest girl she's like looking off in a direction she just looks so sad
cuz she was old enough to remember Lor's mother is buried under her her maiden name in a Kansas City
Cemetery her father was convicted of second degree murder and sent to prison he is now deceased just for
you my brother and my sisters we lost both our parents now and uh I think they need me like I need
them and know they may have their own families now like I do but like I feel they must want to see
me if they think about me I don't know if they tried to find me but I'm trying update as the result of our broadcast
Lor's cousin Ruth crook contacted us a friend had seen the show and told Ruth that her long lost cousin was looking
for her birth family it was um a happy shock and very exciting to know that she had been
found several weeks later the family met for a long awaited reunion with her growing circle of family members Lori
Magnum is increasingly able to put her past losses to rest [Music] [Music] [Music]

Brief Summary

Unsolved Mysteries covers disappearances and murders, including Dorene Marfield, Tanya Cpri, and Janice Owen, alongside Father Solanus Casey's miraculous claims.

Key points

The Mysterious Disappearance of Dorene. Dorene Marfield vanished without a trace, leading to suspicions about her husband.
Tragic Murder of Tanya Cpri. Tanya Cpri, a successful doctor, was shot dead by her ex-fiancé Richard Bage.
Miraculous Healing. David Whit cop's wife Joanne experiences a dramatic recovery after a prayer to Father Solanus.
A Family Reunited. Lori Magnan finds her long-lost family after years of searching and trauma.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

She just vanished.

Dorene's disappearance leaves everyone puzzled.

2:27WatchMar 9, 2017

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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