Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 7, Episode 2 | Forensic Files

[Music] next on Unsolved Mysteries a US spy is found dead in his motel room the Army says that it was
suicide his family thinks that he was tortured and electrocuted when a Small Town Bank
president is killed some believe the robbery is a coverup for a contract killing a desperate Chase in a parking
lot shootout the suspect was captured only to escape again and a beautiful young waitress at
a topless Club disappears her boyfriend becomes the prime suspect whether it's murder Larsen or a
foul play sometimes these cases are solved thanks to you I'm Dennis finina and this is unsolved solve
[Music] Mysteries [Music] Houston Texas The Men's Club an upscale night spot the clientele adult males the
entertainment young females topless most people know what goes on in clubs like these and make assumptions
about the kind of women who work here but Tara was a waitress not a dancer her life wasn't what anyone
expected Tara grew up in Del Rio Texas population 34,000 she was the third of five
children in a devoutly religious family After High School Tara arrived in Houston to pursue a career in
photography it wasn't long before the cost of big city living forced her to find another
job as a waitress at The Men's Club Tara found the cash that she needed Tara wasn't the type of person you would
think would work in a place like that it was more just for the money you know she
was going to school and stuff so it made her the money that she was comfortable with and she was happy with that Tara
was a small town girl with big city dreams but late one night she was driving back to her apartment after work
and she never made it home the police feared the worst high on the list of possible suspects Tara's boyfriend a
young man named Wayne Hecker Wayne and Tara met 2 years after Tara arrived in Houston even though Tara
never danced at The Men's Club Wayne was less than thrilled with her job Wayne was not happy about Tara
working at a topless Club but Wayne wasn't working at the time so he didn't have much of a choice she loved the
money and she loved the atmosphere and I guess that's just something that you want to grow out of and I'm not going to
tell her where to work you know despite Wayne's concerns he and Tara moved in together at first they seemed happy but
the romance did not last Tara and Wayne's relationship was kind of Rocky to say the least um she was always
talking about moving out or thinking about moving out and uh we would discuss it at times and she would say she needed
to talk it over with him and and uh occasionally we talked about her doing it without talking it over
first Tara's job at The Men's Club distracted her from the problems with Wayne but on one very slow night she did
something that remains unexplained anybody want to go I'll go you want to all any one more any volunteers I'll go
home I'm kidding yeah it's slow not much happening when the manager asked for volunteers to end their shift ear
Tara agreed to go home it'd be a little unusual for Tara to ask to go home she wasn't always interested in leaving she
was there till 2:00 to see if she you know till closing time make as much money as she could Tara changed into
Street Clos and at 1220 a.m. punched out for the night Tara when she left walked
past the doorman without saying you know goodbye or without responding to his goodbye and that would have been
unusual the security guard at the club told police that he walked to to her car and that she drove off without
incident Wayne Hecker later told the police that at the moment Taro was leaving The Men's Club he was in a pool
hall 15 minutes away Wayne said he called Tara earlier that evening but never spoke to her and did not know that
she left early I probably got home at around 5 and I expected to see Tara either laying on the sofa or in bed and
she wasn't there so at that point I mean would do like anybody else would that was in love with someone
or I went to find her at 7 the next morning Wayne found Tara's car abandoned on a busy freeway when I saw the car the
first thing comes to my mind is what's it doing there uh apparently she drove the car there the car alarm wasn't even
on um the flashers weren't even on that really surprised me the car was locked and a can of Mace was inside she always
carried her mace on her and when I saw the mace in the car I thought why is the mace in the car and why aren't the
flashers on and why isn't the car we did have a car alarm why wasn't it engaged police feared that Tara was a victim of
Foul Play it wasn't long before suspicion began to Center on Wayne hacker police wanted to know if he had a solid
Alibi the night that tar disappeared we have employees of the club that indicated that he left the club
approximately midnight 12:30 and was next seen approximately 1:45 in the morning the pool hall is located 15
minutes from The Men's Club Tara's car was found about 3 mi from the club according to Witnesses Wayne was gone
from the pool hall for a full hour and 45 minutes well there's certain uh actions and reactions that we've got
from Wayne that uh that cast suspicion upon himself later we put the question directly to Wayne Hecker how do you
respond to the charge that Wayne Hecker had something to do with our disappearance uh to tell you the truth
um I don't I don't know an explanation to anybody but the Lord and the Lord has given me uh you know he's I'm I'm
waiting I'm waiting hear something and it's from him I I I can't I can't answer anybody cuz there's not an answer uh
that I have only he has it and and until there is an answer I don't think anybody
will be satisfied with no concrete evidence of Foul Play Taro was officially listed as
missing when police obtained a series of love notes indicating there was another
man in Tara's life they thought there might be a break in the case one note said quote please don't be scared do
what your heart tells you I'm very excited that you'll marry me but in another one quote the more you hold out
the longer you jeopardize what I feel for you unquote according to co-workers at the
club Tara's secret admirer was a frequent visitor who lavished her with $100 tips he knew about her problems
with Wayne but in the end the notes suggest that Tara rejected him there was nothing threatening in those notes uh we
interviewed the individual uh our our opinion at this point it's uh he was just an individual that had an
attraction toward tar and nothing more once again the trail LED right back to Wayne
Hecker I haven't been charged with a crime no not at all I I love the woman to death she's the best thing that ever
happened to me um she's a great girl yeah I do I love her I love her with all my heart and and um I hope the Whole
World Hears that uh I didn't commit a crime so I canot be charged with one simple as
that other than her abandoned car no trace of Tara Breen Ridge has ever been found Tara is 5' 5 in tall and weighs
120 lb she has a small scar under the left side of her lower lip a scar under her left arm and a scar on her left
side if you have any information about this case please log on to our website at
unsolved.com next an outlaw that neither police nor prisons can keep Behind Bars
Fountain Valley California after being called to the scene of a burglary police are swept out
in a high-speed chase it ends in a parking lot officer Kevin AR takes off after one of the
suspects everything is supposed to go a certain way we chase him and and tell him to get down the ground he gets on
the ground and we handcuff him and that's the end of the problem uh this one all of a sudden he wasn't obeying my
commands they're struggling over the gun and I realized that he's trying to kill
me to avoid being shot with his own gun Arnold tries to empty his revolver no there's one
left Arnold reaches for his second revolver the suspect survives his name is Michael Wade Mohan a background check
shows five pages of previous convictions it turns out that Mohan is also a master of disguise with a talent
for escape after his arrest Mohan remained in police custody awaiting trial once a week he was brought to a
local hospital for physical therapy to treat his bullet bounds well one day when he was going to
therapy uh there was a nurse that was talking to someone else and she made a mistake by saying out loud that he was
going to be coming again on a certain day and of course Mohan is the type of person that would file it away for
future use just as scheduled that certain day arrived and Mohan was at the hospital for
treatment as they got to the back door of the Therapy Building he walked again he stumbled and fell forward don't move
ra Sho once he had the deputy handcuff himself he took a second set of cuffs moved him down the hall and used that
set of cuffs to cuff him to a fire pipe yeah I feel it Mohan bolted out the door and jumped
into his wife's pickup truck Michael Mohan had escaped again I got to get into my clothes
clothes are in that bag on the floor during the course of the follow-up investigation it was our conclusion that
it was Sharon Mohan that had been driving the truck we also felt that she was the one that planted the gun and
when we took her into custody a couple of days later we arrested her for aiding and abetting and she eventually plad
guilty Sharon Mohan was sentenced to 2 years for helping her husband get away Mesa Arizona one week after Mohan
escaped another high-speed chase this time at more than 100 mph eight different police departments
joined the chase then police put up a barricade the Chase had lasted 2 hours right light over your
right once again Michael Mohan was in custody but not for long Mohan was Shackled to seven other
convicts in the back of a van at the Tempe Courthouse after mohan's preliminary hearing I drove the inmates over to the
Tempe Justice [Music] Court I had one inmate that had to go in there for a preliminary hearing I I
parked in front of the court secured the van took the prisoner inside I was inside approximately 10 minutes during
those 10 minutes Mohan and another inmate managed to kick out the van's windshield then they disappeared into
the crowded Campus of Arizona State University yeah let come on let's go Mohan and his accomplice Jeffrey
Leslie stole a truck and drove away to Freedom against all All Odds Michael Mahan had escaped
again update 1600 M from Tempe in Mobile Alabama minutes after the story aired the FBI received a tip from a viewer who
reported that she recognized Michael and Sharon Mohan the tipster that called in
indicated that she had seen uh Mohan and his wife in m Bill and that they were using an assumed name of Steve and Mary
Boswick at first I didn't think it was him and then I noticed her immediately there was no
doubt the caller told authorities that Mohan and his wife were living in a trailer located behind a house just
outside of mobile the FBI staked out the trailer two individuals a man and a woman who fit the description of Michael
Mohan Sharon Mohan went to a Autoport store and after Mr Mohan came out of the Autoport store he was arrested along
with his wife Sharon Mohan Michael Wade Mohan was tried and convicted of assault
with a deadly weapon and armed robbery he was sentenced to a total of 16 years behind bars Sharon Mohan served time for
aiding in The Escape of a prisoner both have since been released next a daring American spy suddenly
turns up dead did he take his own life or did someone have him [Music] kill round go try it 11:00 p.m. in a
motel room near Fort me in Maryland Army officer Ralph Sigler is found dead the Army claims that he committed suicide
electrocuting himself with wires wrapped around his arms but just before sigler's funeral
began his daughter Karen had a few moments alone with him she was shocked to discover the condition of his
body when I looked at him the first time I didn't believe it was him his body was
so so bruised so mutilated so it didn't look like my father at all I noticed that his nose was broken I
noticed that there was a dent in the top of the head and there was blood I looked
inside his mouth he was missing the two front teeth but all the teeth were cracked and and Jagged as if someone hit
him in the mouth what are you doing mom he looks lousy look at this look at his hand I took off one of his
gloves I saw cuts on the Palm look look at his arm I rolled up the sleeves I looked at the arms I found a lot of
bruises from looking at the body and the condition that the body was in I don't think he committed suicide I believe
that he was beaten to death I believe he was [Music] murdered Ralph was no ordinary army
officer Ralph Sigler was a spy who worked for both the Army and the FBI his assignment
to deceive the KGB and exposed Soviet spies he was walking a Razor's Edge in service to his country his family
believes that it may have led to his murder and now they want to know who killed Ralph Sigler and why the idea
that Ralph Sigler committed suicide in the way that the Army and the Maryland State Police described
is patently and totally absurd Ralph's Life as a double agent began when the Army sent him to the
Soviet Embassy in Mexico City I'd like to speak to the KGB resident Ralph told the KGB officer that
he could provide them with stolen documents that would compromise US missile defenses
what do you want I want to come to work for your government I when the Russians took the bait Ralph's double life
began for 10 years Ralph contacted his Soviet handlers through various covert methods and provided the KGB with bogus
Secrets cooked up by Army intelligence one of his superiors at the time was Lewis Martell Ralph was considered a a
very good double agent by the community uh he was a shining star and in I say community I mean that's the FBI and to a
degree the CIA as a very valuable asset and a man who was doing a a very good job Ralph was so successful that other
agencies got wind of him the FBI secretly asked Ralph to expose Soviet agents to them one of the most notorious
was Rudolph Herman a Soviet Master spy who lived and worked in the United States when the FBI asked Ralph to keep
this mission to himself he agreed when Ralph was asked to take a routine polygraph test the results
surprised his superiors have you ever passed any unauthorized intelligence to the Soviet
Union no the question or question that showed something was bothering were questions involved with what he had
given to the Soviets that he was not authorized to give that question was asked time and time again on every poly
and every ply it showed indications of deception journalist Joe trento believes that Ralph failed the polygraph due to
his secret assignment with Rudolph Herman the operation the Army knew nothing about Rudolph fman was the number one
Soviet spy in America and this was the great secret that the FBI kept from the army they were never told that Ralph
seagler was servicing Herman so when they asked him questions did you ever have any unauthorized contacts with the
Soviets Ralph would say no and it would show up his deception Ralph of course thought that the FBI would clear it for
the Army and they never did that as suspicion grew the Army gave Ralph even more polygraphs he failed in
any other money from one of your missions no finally Ralph was called in for questioning with army brast already
assuming that he was a traitor it was going to be a rough meeting you think just 24 hours before
the interview Ralph Sigler called his wife at work hello Elsa Ral is that you now
listen to me this is important where are you I want you to hire a respectable lawyer he sounded tense as if he was
under a lot of pressure I want you to sue the US Army I'm dying I never lied then the phone was disconnected
Ralph's wife rushed home and called Army intelligence hours later Ralph was found
dead in his motel room Maryland State Police took charge of the investigation as as far as the uh the
room looked there did not appear to be have been a struggle the locks on the door uh to the room had been double
locked from the inside as a result of our investigation uh we found that sometime during that evening Ralph
Sigler apparently took a cord lamp cord cut it off spliced the wires and WRA both wires around his
biceps he plugged the outlet in the socket causing him to be electrocuted there was no evidence
developed to indicate that the uh death of Ralph Sigler was anything other than suicide the suicide Theory makes no
sense because Ralph had no motive for a suicide the Army told him that no matter
what he had done they didn't care they weren't going to prosecute him they weren't going to punish him they weren't
going to hurt him in any way the fact of the matter is the experts we Tau to about electrocution electricity told us
that the amount of damage caused to seager's Arms by the presence of the electrical wire wrapped around them
couldn't have been made by 110 volt circuit that you'd find in a normal Motel lighting situation is as you did
at this motel and in fact it would take a much greater amount of electricity to do this sort of damage I'm sorry folks
we conducting a police investigation please clear the hallways the Toros believe that Ralph Ziggler was kidnapped
by the KGB tortured and then murdered his double life had finally run out they knew Ralph was going to be
questioned standard tradecraft on the part of the KGB would mean that they would take Ralph and put him through
their own hostile interrogation probably torture him and the Soviets have a history of using electricity for torture
and get the answers they needed I want you to sue the US Army was he one of their agents or was he really a double
agent for the Army had he snookered him all these years and Ralph may have been for to give up those answers had he
compromised Rudolph fman to the Army and to the FBI that's why the Soviets had every reason in the world to kill Ralph
seagler at this point uh my feelings about the theory is that the KGB did not kill Ralph Zigler in fact uh my opinion
and strictly my opinion based on facts is that Ralph Ziggler committed suicide however what about the broken
nose missing teeth the bruises on Ralph's body and the cuts on his hands Elsa Sigler is convinced that her
husband's death was not suicide the government told me all the time if anything happen we'll be here
for you we're taking care why they lied to me when he died he wasn't double agent I respected National
Security could have come and tell me the truth I want to know the truth we may never know the truth about
Ralph sigler's secret mission if he committed suicide because he betrayed his country then he was a
traitor but if he was murdered by the KGB after exposing a master spy he was an American
hero sigler's family will not rest until they find the truth if you were part of the intelligence
community and know something about Ralph Sigler or if you have any information at
all about this case please contact our website at UNS south.com next a bank president is murdered was it
a bungle robbery or an execution an employee of the NL Missouri State Bank arrives at 8:30 a.m. to open the
doors she's startled to find one of them unlocked anybody here inside another surprise the vault
is wide open open the bank has been robbed authorities discover that $70,000 is missing from the Vault some of it in
coins on the floor they find two Spence shell casings from 45 caliber bullets try to end short
again they make repeated attempts to contact Bank President Dan short but he's nowhere to be found is just raining
okay some begin to wonder if Dan short has robbed his own bank at the time Dan was 51 years old he
had been president of the bank for 6 years and was respected by people in town 5 days after the robbery police
found Dan's body floating in Grand Lake about 20 mi from the bank investigators would soon come to a grim conclusion
when Dan short was thrown into the water he was still alive he was tied to a chair which had a
concrete block taped to it with duct tape no apparent wounds to the extent to cause death it appeared at that point
that he had indeed been drowned by being thrown from the bridge uh it was appalling to think that any human being
would do this to another particularly with the obvious motive being just to conceal a robbery or the identities of
the perpetrators if Dan short was murdered as part of the bank robbery why would the thieves choose to kill him in
such a coldblooded way it is possible that Dan's shocking death was a premeditated
execution when Dan short became president of the no Missouri State Bank the local economy had been in bad
shape he was faced with with balancing the financial needs of his customers against the bank's need to turn a profit
in the process he made a few enemies how are you this morning good uh Dan could I
talk to you about that apprais sure he had some difficulties that he had to straighten out in order for the bank to
to function properly uh there was repossessions restructuring denial of credit but even though he had a
difficult position he was able to win the people over he became a friend of the people uh he wasn't particularly
outgoing uh he wasn't a backs slaber but people accepted him for what he was and
that was just a genuinely nice person Dan lived about 8 mil out of town in a remote rural area on the night of
the robbery he had a guest who left just before 11:00 p.m. the FBI has tried to Recon instruct
what happened next they believe someone showed up at his door between 11:00 p.m.
and 1:30 a.m. my car broke down up the road may I use your telephone probably the perpetrators went to his front door
armed and when Mr short answered the door they immediately restrained him and later took him to the bank Lo the bank
we want the money according to the FBI Dan and his abductors arrived at the bank around 2
a.m. indications are that the perpetrators forced him to turn the alarm off to unlock the front doors and
then after gaining entry into the bank dealt with the surveillance camera to some extent spray painting the lens and
turning the camera around backwards Hey where's the money it's right there open it up come
on the perpetrators took only what cash they saw in the vault which was approximately
$70,000 including coins where's the rest of the money anymore leaving behind approximately $100,000 that Mr short was
aware of led us to believe that he was not willingly involved and probably did not volunteer
that the extra currency was there at the time of the robbery as they left the bank one of the thieves fired two shots
at the surveillance camera people who lived nearby heard the shots minutes later on the edge of town
a caravan of three vehicles was seen by a local trucker he says the first vehicle looked like Dan's
pickup Only The Killers know exactly what happened next at some point they ditched Dan's pickup and put him in the
van there they chained him to a kitchen chair weighted with concrete blocks we know that Mr short was alive
when he was thrown into the lake what we don't know is if he was conscious or unconscious but the fact that he was not
gagged leads us to the believe that he was unconscious when he was thrown into the
lake Witnesses reported seeing a dark vanan stopped on the bridge at 6 a.m. but It
sped away before they could get a license number one nagging question remains why
was Dan short killed in such a cruel and ruthless way sorry I'm going to have to
turn you down well I'm certain that there are some people out out there that has some
real animosity some hatred towards the State Bank of Noah and Dan short he had deny credit to people and the denial of
credit probably broke others Dan had worked in I think three other Banks maybe something followed him
here from someplace else maybe he stubbl across something in this area he shouldn't have police hold on to the
theory that the bank robbery was nothing more than a cover of for an execution they believed the thieves were amateurs
they left behind plenty of fingerprints stole heavy bags of coins and fired unnecessary
shots I want them to find the people that did this and to explain to me why they had to kill my brother
over50 or $60,000 and I want to know why that happened update after a 2 and 1/2 year
investigation the FBI arrested two brothers Shannon Wayne agofsky and Joseph Anthony agavi for armed robbery
and the murder of Dan short Shannon agavi was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison the murder
trial for his brother Joseph ended with a hung jury but he was found guilty and sentenced to life for armed robbery a
motive for the crime was never [Music] revealed next authorities in New York force a loving couple to give up their
only child their crime he is black she is white Buffalo New York Elanor Platt and John Elias have
finally found each other they fell in love as teenagers but racism and intolerance drove a wedge between them
for more than 30 years while still a senior in high school Elanor Platt took an interest in
John Elias but there was a problem John was black and 11 years older in 19 1953 this was not a good idea have you
seen him around no I think he is so cute I think you're crazy right away I was drawn to
him and we started talking we met at different places and I just was fascinated with the feelings that we
were having toward each other and I knew that uh I was in love with him we talked and talked and we
veloped a closer closer relationship and then I asked her would she marry me and
she thought about it and I asked her again so finally she decided after Christmas that she would leave home and
that she would move in with me in my apartment elanar knew that it was a big step despite the likely reaction from
her father who was an alcoholic and prone to violence she ran away to start a new life with John
Elias I lived with John from the last part of December until the 26th of January and on the 26th of January I
decided I was going back home because I surmised that I was pregnant at that point she decided she wanted to tell her
mother of her situation because she had been missing from home I had warned her before that if she went home that there
would be problems elanar daddy where you been elanar I've been staying with my friend John John Elias John Elias you
stay away from him I really want you to meet him I don't want to meet him I'm going to have his baby what outraged her
father placed her in a home for rebellious girls she was put into a home because that's what they did with girls
that made mistakes and uh the law took care of him because they accused him of of
rape and so he was arrested for that just 3 days before Eleanor's 18th birthday John was charged with the rape
of a minor and thrown in jail I pleaded guilty to the grand jury uh because I did not want to have
elanar go through the ordeal of having to be in a trial abro on the stand in a way I felt that I was protecting her on
September 13th 1954 Elanor gave birth to Rosemary authorities at the home told Eleanor
that it would be best for her to give the baby up for adoption confused and frightened Eleanor reluctantly
agreed this is Elanor and rosemary elor's ready now I handed my daughter to the social
worker and she took the baby and in turn handed her to the lady that was standing
next to her I was tore up inside because I knew that or surmised that these ladies were going to take her and that I
would never see her again a few months later John got out of jail I still wanted to see John and and
get together with John and marry John because I loved him but John was nowhere to be found only later did she discover
that he had literally been run out of town I was continually harassed by the police department when I was driving my
car they would ask me for my my license my registration my license my regist a continual harassment type thing I did
not see eler anymore after that because I left town where I could get a decent job and start settling down after that
ordeal because of complications resulting from rosem Mar's birth Elanor would never have another child in time
her emotional pain healed and in 1977 Eleanor married Steven wac together they raised four foster
children John Elias also married and raised two children after more than 30 years John
began to search for his long lost daughter rosem Marie along the way he located elen yes it's me it's a long
time since I've seen you kill it's good to see you oh come on in the house it's too cold out here with the blessings of
their spouses John and Elanor began a new search for or daughter Rosemary if my daughter is watching this
girl Rosemary I want you to know that I do love you and your father loves you and that's why we're working together to
find you there's so much we want to explain to you and to tell you that we really do care and we really did care at
the time I hope that we will be successful in finding this child who has been gone for all of these years who was
literally uh taken away from us by the forces of the law and at that point even though we don't want to interfere with
her life we just like to know her whereabouts how she is and how she came out update John and Eleanor's search came to
an end the night of our broadcast when a viewer recognized Rosemarie as a coworker Sally Riley one of my
co-workers called me on the phone and he's hysterical and he's going were you watching Unsolved Mysteries and I said
no and he said they're looking for you and I said what do you mean they're looking for me he says your mother and
father were on TV looking for you 2 weeks later Elanor and John were reunited with a daughter they once knew
as Rosemarie hi are you hi okay when I first saw my parents I was I was kind of flavor gasted or in
awe I really don't know the word I'm looking for but it just you had to stare at them because you know it's like I'm a
part of them unless a person has gone through it there is no way to describe the
feeling that uh a person has once they find their child that's been adopted I had carried an imaginary picture in my
mind of how I thought she would look all I needed I had a a form but I didn't have a face when she stepped out
of the vehicle I had a face and it was a good feeling that's what I was just I'm just
glad I have a very extended family now and that everybody is accepting me and I'm accepting them and it just it feels
really [Music] good [Music] [Music]

Brief Summary

The episode covers mysterious deaths, a disappearance, and a family reunion after decades apart.

Key points

Tara's Disappearance. Tara, a waitress at The Men’s Club, goes missing after leaving work one night, leading to a police investigation.
The Mysterious Death of Ralph Sigler. Army officer Ralph Sigler is found dead under suspicious circumstances, raising questions of foul play.
The Mysterious Death of Dan Short. Bank president Dan Short is found dead after a robbery gone wrong, raising questions about his murder.
A Long-Lost Love Reunited. Elanor and John search for their daughter Rosemary after years of separation due to societal pressures.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I believe he was beaten to death.

Karen Sigler on her father's condition after death.

17:45WatchMar 9, 2017

Tension

65/ 100Some tension

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