Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 8, Episode 3 | Forensic Files

DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Next on "Unsolved Mysteries," a 24-year-old Beverly Hills tennis
pro befriends a homeless man and invites him to move in. Shortly after, the young man is missing.
Glen and Bessie Hyde vanish on a Grand Canyon river trip. 50 years later, a bullet-pierced skull turns up near the river.
Is it a clue to the couple's disappearance? A young girl vividly recalls a car crash that happened
17 years before she was born. Could she be the reincarnation of her own great-grandmother?
And Sally Garrity thought she had met Mr. Right. Now Sally's been murdered and Mr. Right
is nowhere to be found. Five stories of crime, deceit, and intrigue. I'm Dennis Farina, and this is "Unsolved Mysteries."
[theme music] Beverly Hills, California, one of the nation's wealthiest communities, filled with glamorous people
living a life of luxury. But there is another side to Beverly Hills, a growing population of homeless people that
live on its affluent streets. And one of those homeless found a surprising friend
in 24-year-old Adam Hecht. Adam was born into Beverly Hills luxury, the son of a successful Hollywood producer he spent
his childhood surrounded by movie stars, mansions, and privilege. After graduating from Beverly Hills High School,
Adam made his living as a tennis instructor. All who knew him recalled a bright, independent,
and friendly young man. And then one day at breakfast, Adam's brother noticed that he seemed different.
In front of the restaurant, they met a street person, apparently blind in one eye.
I'll have the orange juice. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): A few minutes later, Adam left the table and went back outside.
Excuse me. HAROLD HECHT, JR (VOICEOVER): Adam said, excuse me. He went outside and started talking to this person.
And I could see through the blinds, and I couldn't understand it. I was quite surprised.
I didn't understand what was his reason for being out there. What was all that about?
HAROLD HECHT, JR (VOICEOVER): So we went on, had our breakfast, and when we finished, we left.
I went to my car. Listen, I've got a 10:00 o'clock at Mulholland, but I'll catch up with you later.
I'm going make a quick call, all right? All right. All right. Bye. HAROLD HECHT, JR (VOICEOVER): And just before I
got in my car, I looked back, and he was talking to this person. I was very surprised.
The young man said that his name was Tony. Within a few weeks, Adam had invited Tony
to move into his apartment. Why? Well, his brother says that Adam was disillusioned
with his pampered life. It started out as a gesture of kindness, but today Adam Hecht is missing.
ACTOR AS ADAM HECHT: Tony, this is where my mom lives. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Soon after Tony moved in,
Adam brought his new roommate to his mother's house for dinner. She was surprised that her son would give
shelter to a street person. I thought, my goodness, that's strange. But knowing Adam, the way he is, I could
understand it until I met Tony. You know, I really understood it. I thought, oh, my goodness, it's so nice that he
wants to help him, you know. Oh! What a surprise. Who's this? Mom, this is Tony.
Tony, this is my mother. OK. Pleased to meet you. Won't you come in? When When I saw Tony and how he talked, and, my god, the smell.
It was unbelievable. Wow, it was scary. It was really scary. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): During the meal,
Tony began to wave his hands over his food, as if he were blessing it. MARTINE HECHT: Adam was very, very much
wanting to talk about Tony. And they seemed to have a good relationship. Adam seemed to understand Tony.
And I was led to believe that Tony was being very kind to Adam, as far as helping
him grow up as a person. Mature, that's what he said to me. He's helping me mature as a person.
REBECCA HECHT: Adam, he was an elite, preppy businessman. Drove a great car, taught tennis.
And then me met Tony, and I mean, it just all changed, and he became a mystical person.
And I just-- I didn't know him anymore. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): With Tony by his side,
Adam began to visit a homeless area of Los Angeles and often stayed out on the streets at night.
HAROLD HECHT, JR: I know that when Adam sets his mind to something, he really goes wholeheartedly
into any type of project. Part of me was torn, because I felt for what he was trying to do.
I mean, it was a very noble thing. Hey, Tony, I got some food and stuff in back of my car.
Maybe help me pass it out? OK, cool. Let's go. HAROLD HECHT, JR: His involvement with street people
increased when he met Tony. I think he started to understand their problems. There's going to be some food coming up.
I want to make sure you guys get some. Yeah. ACTOR AS TONY: All these things you have,
Adam, it's never what counts. What counts is what's inside. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Tony and Adam
also shared in strange mystical rites invented by Tony. In one of these rituals, Adam burned his hand severely.
MARTINE HECHT: All I know is when I saw it, I said, my god, Adam, what happened to you.
He said, oh, he said, you know, he said, I was testing a test of endurance. He said, Tony told me we were experimenting that-- see
how would make me stronger. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): And then came the day when Harold Hecht realized
that he hadn't heard from his brother, Adam, for several days. Concerned, he went to Adam's apartment.
Adam? Oh gosh, Tony. Is Adam here? HAROLD HECHT, JR (VOICEOVER): My brother was not there.
His car was not there. And I tried to get in. I said, where's Adam? I said, where's he gone?
And in his strange, strange way, did not answer that question, or seemed to really know.
Everybody's really worried. Will you let me in? Let me in. It's really hot in here.
Let me in the door! DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Adam's mother also went to his apartment.
Adam? MARTINE HECHT (VOICEOVER): As I'm walking back down the corridor, he's following me.
And he says, "Give us a kiss." He starts to put his arms around me, and I was-- oh, it was the most scary thing.
What's wrong? Are you afraid of me? I just want to know where my son is. Where my son is.
Where is he? I'm your son. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): The family contacted the Beverly Hills Police
to file a missing persons report and arranged to have Tony evicted. You're the manager?
OK. Right up the stairs. Come on out here. Come on out here. Put your hands up behind your head.
Man, this is my friend's house. Come on, you know the routine. Come on. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Tony made no effort to avoid police.
Local detectives interviewed him and came to the conclusion that he had nothing to do with Adam's disappearance.
One month later, Adam's car was found abandoned on a Beverly Hills side street. There were several parking tickets on the windshield.
Inside, the keys were still in the ignition. Police also found Adam's wallet, credit cards,
and hundreds of dollars in cash and checks. There were no other clues. ROBERT CURTIS: We wish we knew specifically
what happened to Adam Hecht. Apparently, he in the past occasionally had gone away for a few days at a time,
but always had returned. And whether he did this time and just decided not to return,
we don't know. HAROLD HECHT, JR: He had a very solid business, very active with people on a number of different levels.
For him just to disappear does not fit his character. ROBERT CURTIS: We have no real evidence of any foul play
or any criminal involvement, so we're not handling it as a crime, strictly as a missing person case.
DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Does Tony know more about Adam's disappearance than he's telling?
Or did Adam reject his former life of luxury and choose to lose himself among the homeless?
MARTINE HECHT: What can I say? I just love him, and I just want him to come home.
I miss him with all my heart. It's not a complete family without him. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Adam Arthur Hecht is 5 feet, 11"
and weighs 160 pounds. His eyes are hazel, and his hair is black. Today, Adam would be in his 50s.
If you have any information about Adam Hecht, please log on to our website at unsolved.com.
Next, Glen and Bessie Hyde disappear while rafting down the Colorado River. Four decades later, a woman claiming to be Bessie
says that she murdered her husband. [theme music] Grand Canyon, Arizona. The Colorado River runs some 1,400 miles
through five states. More than 250 miles cut through the Grand Canyon. Some of the rapids were once considered the most dangerous
in the world. In 1928, two newlyweds set out to navigate this treacherous whitewater.
They were never seen again. Emory Kolb, a Grand Canyon photographer, was perhaps the last person to see them alive.
50 years later, when Kolb died, authorities were surprised by what was discovered in Kolb's boathouse
on the rim of the canyon. Carefully hidden away in a canoe was a single human skeleton.
Upon close examination, it would show evidence of a violent death. Whose bones were they?
And who killed the victim? WALTER BIRKBY: It would be nice to know who this individual was
somebody is missing, somebody was out there, and there may be friends or relatives who would very
much like to know who it is. The disappearance of the honeymoon couple and the discovery of human remains in the boathouse
happened almost 50 years apart. And yet, many people believe that there could be a connection.
Glen and Betsy Hyde were married in Twin Falls, Idaho when Glen was 27 and Bessie
was just 18 years old. That fall, they built a boat for a special honeymoon adventure,
a trip down the Colorado River through the dangerous Grand Canyon. Glen, it turns out, was a thrill seeker.
SCOTT THYBONY: Glen wanted to make a record run through the Grand Canyon. He wanted to do it in a homemade boat.
He wanted to do it with a new bride who had never been on rivers before, and he wanted
to do without life jackets. In the fall of the year, about six months after they were married, they were in Green River, Utah.
An experienced river men at Green River looked at the boat he thought looked to him like a coffin.
DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): The Hydes navigated the first half of the river in just 26 days, a new record.
With the most dangerous stretch still ahead, they stopped to see local resident photographer
Emory Kolb, well-known for his stunning photos of the Grand Canyon. Kolb had navigated the rapids twice before
and was considered a legend on the Colorado. THELMA SELF: Everybody that I know who's
interested in the river at all, all the years I was there, first came and talked to Emory Kolb.
No woman has traveled the river-- DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): By the time the Hydes visited Kolb, Bessie had
grown tired of the river trip. Emory tried to warn them about the dangers ahead.
He suggested that they stay with him through the winter and postpone their trip until the weather improved.
I just don't think you should do this trip. I've mentioned this to your-- DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): He even offered
the couple his own life jackets, but Glen refused all Emory's offers. Come on, Bessie.
The light will be fading. Mr. Kolb told me that he tried his best, every way in the world to talk them out of going.
He said, you have no idea what you're getting into. He said, I've been there, and I know what it's like.
DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Glen and Bessie ignored all of Kolb's warnings and headed back down the river.
Two days later, they disappeared. Army aviators flew into the canyon and spotted the empty boat below a year-round stream
called Diamond Creek. Emory Kolb was asked to lead the search party to find the lost
couple, but all he ever found was their boat without a scratch on it. Glen! Bessie!
SCOTT THYBONY (VOICEOVER): The boat seemed to be intact. The clothes, food, Glen's rifle was on board,
a camera with exposed film. There was a very sketchy diary, but a diary that Bessie Hyde
had been keeping was on board. They found everything there except for the people.
There was no sign of them. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): 50 years later, the discovery of the bones in Kolb's boathouse
got people wondering. Could these be the remains of Glen or Bessie Hyde? And if so, how were they connected to Emory Kolb?
The authorities turned the skeleton over to Dr. Walter Birkby, a specialist in the science of identifying human remains.
He determined that the bones belonged to a Caucasian male, 20 to 23 years of age.
He was 6 feet tall with light brown hair. Dr. Birkby also discovered a bullet embedded in the skull.
What we found out from the bullet that was removed from the skull was that not only was this a .32 caliber
projectile that came from a revolver that began manufacturing about 1902. ACTOR AS WALTER BIRKBY: 2.1 centimeters.
DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): The production date of the gun and the clothing fragments
found with the skeleton suggest that death occurred in the 1920s. During that time only Glen and Bessie Hyde
are known to have disappeared in the area. Femoral length, so we can get the stature estimate.
WALTER BIRKBY: I heard a rumor to the effect that Emory Kolb could have murdered Glen Hyde in order
that he could have, I guess, beautiful Bessie. It's so preposterous that I just can't believe it,
that he would off somebody and then keep the damn body around. ACTOR AS WALTER BIRKBY: You got verticality on these mirrors?
MAN: Yes. ACTOR AS WALTER BIRKBY: Uh, we're going to have to rotate that more to the left.
DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): To test the rumors, Dr. Birkby superimposed a photograph of Glen
over the skull to precisely compare the bone structure. ACTOR AS WALTER BIRKBY: Even more.
WALTER BIRKBY: The skull is of a different shape than the face of Glen Hyde. The eye orbits themselves are angled in a different
direction than Glen Hyde's. The cheeks are wider. Even the shape of the chin is wrong.
Those features alone do not match. These remains, these bones that were submitted for analyzes
are not the remains of Glen Hyde. Period. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): But the story doesn't end there.
Over four decades after the Hydes disappeared, a woman was seen on a Grand Canyon
rafting trip who may have been retracing Bessie's steps. Geologist George Billingsley was also in the rafting party.
GEORGE BILLINGSLEY: She was a very serious person. She was always just watching the canyon
and helping out a little bit around camp, all the time wanting to do something, and fairly happy, but quiet.
DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Towards the end of the trip, they made camp at Diamond Creek.
GUIDE: Right around the corner there where Emory Kolb-- DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): It was
the same spot where Glen and Bessie's boat had been found decades before. That evening, a river guide told the legend
of the missing couple. And the woman, matter-of-factly, revealed her true identity.
I'm Bessie Hyde. GEORGE BILLINGSLEY (VOICEOVER): She told us seriously enough to where we wasn't sure
what else to say. - I killed him. GEORGE BILLINGSLEY (VOICEOVER): But we all figured she was
just making up her own story. But later on, you know, we got to thinking maybe she really was Bessie, because the age was right.
I got a knife, and I stabbed him. GEORGE BILLINGSLEY (VOICEOVER): And she never smiled when she said what she said,
as if she really knew. ACTRESS AS BESSIE HYDE: Well, it was right along here, we had a bad fight.
DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): According to the woman, Glen was obsessed with completing the trip,
no matter how dangerous. When she tried to leave, a fight erupted. SCOTT THYBONY: I got the full name of the woman
and eventually contacted her back in Ohio. When I asked her about the Hydes and their disappearance,
she denied everything. She said she hadn't told the story. She said she didn't know anybody named Hyde.
And she said she wasn't Bessie Hyde. My gut feeling, though, is that she was. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Update.
Detectives have moved a small step closer to identifying the young man whose remains were found
in Emory Kolb's boathouse. This photo was one of several recently donated to the National Park Service.
It shows a skeleton found in the Grand Canyon during June of 1933. A skull and a .32 caliber revolver
were discovered nearby. Authorities are confident that this skeleton is the one found
decades later in the boathouse. In addition to forensic similarities, this shoe is identical to one found with the Kolb skeleton.
Detectives believe the unidentified young man committed suicide some time before 1933.
The case of Glen and Bessie Hyde remains a total mystery. We know little more about their fate
than the day they disappeared more than 80 years ago. Next, a young girl recalls things
only her great-grandmother would know. Are they reincarnation memories? [theme music]
Crofton, Maryland. When Cece Klepper was a young mother of 26, she experienced an amazing event that completely
changed her view of the world. ACTRESS AS DEE KLEPPER: Mommy, mommy, stop. What's wrong?
DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): While driving to a friend's home, her daughter Dee suddenly became very upset.
It's OK. CECE KLEPPER: Dee started crying uncontrollably. I went through the intersection, I pulled over to see what was
wrong, and I said, what is it. and she goes, oh, mommy, you have to be so careful here.
This is such a dangerous place. People get really hurt here. And I was just flabbergasted.
I don't know why she could be so upset. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Later that day, Cece
told a relative what happened. She was shocked to learn that her grandmother, Ocelia, was
nearly killed at that exact same intersection 17 years earlier. [screaming] Dee seemed to be remembering that accident,
but how was that possible? Ocelia had died seven years before Dee was born. Cece Klepper is convinced that her daughter
is the reincarnation of her grandmother, Ocelia. Is this wishful thinking or could it
be possible for the living to have access to the memories of the dead? Ocelia Davidson died at the age of 73.
Her great-granddaughter, Dee Klepper, was born seven years later. At first, Dee appeared to be a perfectly ordinary child,
but as she grew, she sometimes behaved as if she was actually her great-grandmother Ocelia.
CECE KLEPPER (VOICEOVER): We were in the grocery store, and there was an older woman who came over.
Mommy, mommy, there's my old friend. CECE KLEPPER (VOICEOVER): And Dee said, mommy,
this is my friend. In fact, the woman was a friend, but not of Dee's. Cece learned that the woman had been a neighbor
of Ocelia's for 30 years. Before that day, Dee had never met her, and had no way of knowing who she was.
Two months later, Dee made a second mysterious comment. CECE KLEPPER (VOICEOVER): We walk into the restaurant
and she goes, mommy, there's Helen. And this older waitress comes over. How did you know my name?
CECE KLEPPER (VOICEOVER): And before I could say anything, my daughter piped up and said, because I used
to come here when I was big. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Dee had never been to the restaurant before, but her great-grandmother
had been a regular. CECE KLEPPER (VOICEOVER): I asked this waitress how long she had worked there, and she said she had been a waitress
there for about 20 years, so she definitely would have been there at a time when my grandmother came.
And since my grandmother went on a weekly basis, it's quite likely my grandmother did know her pretty well.
This seemed pretty strange that my daughter seemed to have memories from my grandmother's life.
And to me, reincarnation was really the only thing that could explain that. In the typical case, a child at a young age--
two or three-- describes having lived before, and will continue to talk about this until he or she
gets to be seven or eight. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): In San Rafael, California, a similar case.
Ron Ortega and his wife had a baby they named Gus. The family had no prior belief in reincarnation
until Gus began to speak. RON ORTEGA: I was changing his diaper when he was about 1
and 1/2, and he abruptly just said, you know, when I was your age, I used to change your diapers.
And that kind of threw me for a loop. I kind of stopped to look back, and I said, well,
what a weird thing to say. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): As Gus got older, he made more puzzling references, often
talking as if he were grown up. One day Ron showed Gus some old family photos. RON ORTEGA: One of the photos was a class photo of my father
when he was about 10, with about maybe 15 or 20 other kids. That's me. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Gus was
pointing to his grandfather, August Ortega, a man that he had never met. August had died one year before Gus was born,
and the child had never seen a picture of him. And now Gus was picking August out in photo after photo
and claiming that he was August in a previous life. RON ORTEGA: He was shown a picture of my family's
business, and when asked what this was, he said that's my shop. He said, I used to be big, and know I'm a kid again.
And he was giggling when he was saying this. I mean, it was just like, isn't this great,
this is absolutely cool. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): If that wasn't strange enough,
Gus soon began talking about a tragic event in the Ortega family's past. The incident had occurred more than a half
a century before Gus was born, and Ron claims that his son knew nothing about it.
RON ORTEGA: He said, I had a sister, and she died. She's a fish. And bad guy made her die.
DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): August Ortega's sister had been murdered by her husband.
He wrapped her body in a blanket and dumped it into the San Francisco Bay. RON ORTEGA: That blew me away because there
was no way, at all, that this kid could have known anything about that. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Over the years,
Gus' memories of his grandfather have slowly faded away. Experts say that most children who remember past lives usually
lose those memories by the age of seven. JIM B TUCKER: We certainly have not proven reincarnation.
In fact, we're not even attempting to. I think what these cases can do is open our minds
a little bit of where we may not understand everything about how the world works, that there may be more to life
than we really know. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Next, police need your help to find a man suspected
of killing his girlfriend and beating her 60-year-old aunt. [theme music] San Francisco, California.
Sally Garrity was looking to settle down but had not yet found the man of her dreams.
Oh, excuse me. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): And then, at a neighborhood tavern, Sally thought that she had met the perfect mate,
a young man named Sal Guardado. - What's your name, anyway? - Sally. What's yours?
Sal, Sal Guardado. Sal, Sally. That's neat. SHERI YSIT: She said, I think I met Mr. Right, Sheri.
So I was very happy for her to have a good-- meet someone that would make her happy.
And I'd seen that in her face, that Sal had made her happy by just the short time that she
had met him and known him. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Sally was half Irish, half Shoshone Paiute Indian.
She was making and selling Native American handicrafts when she met Sal. Sal worked part time in a local pizza parlor.
Sally brought her family there to meet him, her sister, Sheri, and her Aunt Lydia,
who raised the two girls. - This is my sister, Sheri. - Hi, Sheri. - Nice to meet you.
- And this is my auntie Lydia. - Hi, Lydia. How are you doing? SHERI YSIT: Sally was really glowing,
and she said, did you see his car? Do you see him? He has a job. And her expression and her glowing
was so overpowering that she was so happy. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Within a week of meeting,
Sal proposed to Sally and took out a loan for a diamond ring. But things didn't stay romantic for very long.
Sal lost his job and his car, and the couple was forced to move in with Sally's aunt Lydia.
It seemed that Sal was always in a fowl mood. This place is a dump! - So get a job. - Shut up!
I'm working on it. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): He did nothing but watch TV and go
bowling with his friends. Big words from a big man. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): When they visited
a Native American festival, Sheri got a firsthand look at Sal's dark side. --so rude today.
God, I can't take him. I hate him. - Oh! I don't want to be with him anymore. And he just--
SHERI YSIT: That was the first indication to me that she was unhappy with him. So do you want to tell her?
Just forget about it, Sal. It's not going to work out. - What's the matter? What are you talking about?
Sal doesn't want to take the train back to San Francisco. He wants to borrow your van instead.
Oh, I'm sorry, Sal. You can't take it. What is the problem? We the van, so we'll just take it.
Sal, it's not mine. I just borrowed it for the day. I have to get it back. - Don't give me that lie.
Where are the keys? ACTRESS AS SHERI YSIT: It's not a lie! SHERI YSIT: That was a big change from the pizza parlor.
She indicated to me that she wished he would leave. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Three months into the relationship,
Sal was at home when Sally was dropped off by a friend. When he noticed that the friend was a man, he flew into a rage.
ACTRESS AS SALLY GARRITY: --will you, Sal? I already told you I didn't do anything.
I know what you were doing. I could see you in the car! He's a friend. He gave me a ride home.
DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Sally's aunt Lydia returned home in the middle of the argument.
ACTRESS AS LYDIA HENRY: Hello. I'm home. LYDIA HENRY (VOICEOVER): Oh, I just hated him.
He was very aggressive. He might have got jealous, yes, but there's nothing between the man and Sally.
She just rode home with him. Lydia, I need you to go to the store for me. I need some smokes.
OK, Sal. Here's some money. I need them right away. OK. LYDIA HENRY: He never asked me to do anything for him.
He just wanted me out of the house that day. When I think about it, that's what--
I think that's what he wanted, me out. Sally? Sal? DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): A short
while later, Lydia returned. LYDIA HENRY (VOICEOVER): I didn't see anything when I came back.
It was so quiet. Then the TV was on, so I just sat down on the daybed and thought, well, I'd better watch the news,
because it was coming on. I heard the bedroom door open, and I didn't hear nothing else.
I just kept watching the news. He tried to strangle me. I wouldn't let him. I start biting him.
Before I know it, I got hit on the head. I heard the bones crushing and the ball
roll over or something. That's what I heard. But I was out. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Lydia eventually
regained consciousness. LYDIA HENRY (VOICEOVER): When I came to, I got up, and I was so weak, I was just staggering around.
And then I went in the bedroom. My niece was laying there. I knew right away she was dead.
Oh no! No! And I just went to my neighbor and knocked on the window and told her to call the police.
I was hurt. OK. Take it away. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Sally had been strangled to death.
During the murder investigation that followed, Sally's family learned a disturbing truth
about Sal Guardado. Authorities discovered that Guardado was a convicted felon with a long criminal history.
He spent five years in prison for arson and for the attempted murder of a former girlfriend.
Investigators searched the San Francisco area, but Sal Guardado had already fled.
JEFF BROSCH: We thought we'd solve this case right away. We had the FBI involved.
We had local law enforcement involved. We had all the tools, and we just couldn't find out where
he'd gone or where he was. Boggles the mind to understand how he avoided us all this time.
SHERI YSIT: In the Native American beliefs, our culture, we believe that if someone's life is taken
before they're ready, their spirit can't rest until justice is served. So Sally's spirit, we believe, isn't at rest until Sal will
be caught and put to justice. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Salvador Nunez Guardado is 5 feet 10 inches and weighs 210 pounds.
He has black hair, brown eyes, and a tattoo of a heart and arrow with a name Rachel on his upper right arm.
Authorities believe that he may be living in Florida. If you have any information, please log on to our website
at unsolved.com. Next, two teenage girls and their mother are found murdered after setting out on a boat ride.
And now, Florida investigators are hunting down a serial killer. [theme music] Tampa, Florida.
Joan Rogers and her daughters, Michelle and Christe, checked into a motel for their long-awaited Florida vacation
after a cold Ohio winter. Boy, long trip. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): But the Rogers'
carefree vacation was about to come to a sudden, and horrifying, end. I knew they were supposed to back maybe on Saturday,
Sunday, maybe a Monday. But Tuesday morning, I got a little concerned about it. And I called her mom, and she hadn't even called her,
and I knew something had happened then, because she's not type that don't call. I just figured she couldn't get a hold of me.
And that's when I think I reported them missing. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Within days,
their bodies floated to the surface of Tampa Bay. Each had been bound with tape, weighed down
with a cinder block, and dumped into the bay while still alive. All three had been sexually assaulted.
Authorities were confronted with the grim knowledge that a psychopathic killer was on the loose.
JANA MONROE: We believe that they were victims of opportunity. What that means, basically, is he surveilled them,
he knew that they were the ones that he wanted to approach, and he had planned this.
But it wasn't that much in advance, because the circumstances of their travels wouldn't lend to that.
DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Authorities believe that in order to bring Joan and her daughters
under his control, the killer first had to overcome their natural suspicions. JANA MONROE: We feel that the offender presented himself
in a very non-threatening manner, something where he made it enticing or inviting to them,
struck up a conversation. And that in his physical appearance, he was probably pleasing to look at, someone that they
felt comfortable with. That appears to be the car. It's a two-door Olds, blue in color.
DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Several days after the bodies were discovered, police from the Rogers' car at a boat
ramp near their motel. GLEN MOORE: We found a note in that vehicle that indicated
directions for the victims to go to the boat ramp and to meet someone there with something that's blue
slash white. That would lead us to believe that they went there to meet a blue and white boat.
DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Police believed that Joan and the girls were lured to their deaths
probably by the promise of a boat ride. - Hi. - Hi. How you doing today? Good. Let me give you a hand.
CINDRA CUMMINGS: They got on the boat with this person or these people. And at that time, I'm sure they felt very safe with them.
And that was the killer's plan. He knew what he was going to do to those victims
before they ever got on his boat. JANA MONROE: We think a person like this will kill again,
and in all probability has killed again. We think that he was surprised that the bodies surfaced as
quickly as they did, and in his killings subsequent to this, he will change his manner and his method
of disposal of any bodies. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): A guest at the motel on the day of the Rogers' deaths
reported seeing a young, well-groomed, white male loading a cooler into a white boat
with dark blue racing stripes. The boat was towed by a dark-colored Chevy Blazer or Ford Bronco.
Update. Acting on a tip from one of our viewers, authorities tracked down and arrested Oba Chandler
in Pinellas County, Florida. Police say a palm print on the brochure found in the Rogers' car focused the investigation on Chandler.
He was convicted on three counts of first degree murder and was sentenced to death.
Artists hope to live forever through their work, but one painter's chance at immortality
has literally been stolen. 14 of his large-scale paintings were spirited away in a single night.
The artist was Ben Stahl, born in Chicago in 1910. As a young man, he honed his skills
on beautiful illustrations for books and magazines. Norman Rockwell once wrote in a letter to Ben, "The rest of us
are just illustrators, but you are among the masters." At the height of Ben's career, the Catholic Press
commissioned him to paint the Stations of the Cross for a special edition of the Bible.
The 14 small paintings were so popular that Ben decided to paint them again on a much larger scale.
DAVID STAHL: Well, he spent two years painting these paintings. There was something very special going on while he was painting
these paintings, because when he did the face of Christ, or the head of Christ, he pulled it off in 30, 40 brushstrokes
without ever having to do it over again, and he was really amazed at that. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): With the paintings completed,
Ben opened the Museum of the Cross so that the public could enjoy his work. DAVID STAHL: It was almost holy, I mean, just the atmosphere
of the museum. And people would come out with tears in their eyes. It was very moving for a lot of people.
DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): But three years after the museum opened, thieves broke in.
Somehow, they knew that there were no security guards on duty and no alarm system in place.
Instead of cutting the canvas out, the thieves painstakingly removed each staple
and then rolled the paintings up and made a clean getaway. JOHN TOWNSEND: There had to be at least three to four people
do this. And we felt that they were probably in there a minimum of four hours. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): The next day,
Ben responded to a frantic call from the museum's director. All 14 paintings had been stolen.
Oh, no. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Ben was crushed. DAVID STAHL: He had a lot of trust in people.
Insurance is very expensive. He didn't have any-- there were no burglar alarms or anything like that
because of this trust. So when the place was robbed, he was in total shock. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): What happened
to Ben Stahl's paintings? Ben died without ever finding out, and now his children are offering
a reward for their safe return. The statute of limitations has run out on this theft,
so anyone who might have unknowingly bought the stolen paintings is in no danger of prosecution.
If you have any information about the paintings or any of the other cases that we profiled in this program,
please log on to our website at unsolved.com. [theme music]

This, Episode includes: Down & Out, Honeymoon Bones, Return From Heaven, Sal and Sally, Women in the Bay and Stahl's Paintings.

Brief Summary

This episode features Adam Hecht's disappearance, the Hyde couple's mystery, reincarnation claims, and Sally Garrity's murder investigation.

Key points

Mysterious Bones Found. Fifty years after a couple vanished, a bullet-pierced skull is discovered.
Reincarnation Memories?. A young girl recalls a car crash from before her birth, raising questions of reincarnation.
The Disappearance of Adam Hecht. A young man from Beverly Hills goes missing after befriending a homeless man.
Gus's Unexplained Memories. Gus Ortega, at just 1.5 years old, claims to have memories of changing his father's diapers.
A Shocking Family Tragedy. Gus reveals knowledge of a tragic event from his family's past that he couldn't possibly know.
Murder Investigation Unfolds. Sally Garrity is found dead after a violent confrontation with her fiancé, Sal.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

What counts is what's inside.

Tony's perspective on life and values.

6:30WatchMar 9, 2017

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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