Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 11, Episode 4 - Full Episode | Forensic Files

tonight on unsolved mysteries the young man is mesmerized by a beautiful girl and begins a toward relationship within
a month his body is found burning in a vacant lot did a brief love affair culminated murder according to police
this cunning con artist coolly walked out of an Alabama bank with a small fortune and never looked back but this
was no ordinary bank heist it was a crime that took meticulous planning and daring execution today he's still on the
lam and he may be in your community half a million dollars vanishes from eight automated teller machines in Indiana so
does the courier responsible for tending them was she a thief with a victim of a
shadowy figure who forced her to do his bidding a woman sets out to find the family she hasn't seen in over 45 years
that search triggers shocking memories of her violent and secret past join me for these intriguing cases and more
unsolved mysteries [Applause] [Music] a fire blazes on a vacant lot outside of Chicago smouldering deep in the flames
is a scorched body wrapped in a partially burned tarp and bedsheet the victim a 22 year old man with nothing in
his background to suggest such a violent end Oscar Velazquez at the county morgue
Oscar's parents are faced with the most difficult task of their life identifying
the remains of their eldest son I never thought we would find him there he was a
good kid he never got into trouble he didn't drink he didn't smoke he was different from the other kids in the
neighborhood growing up Oscar Velasquez had managed to avoid the gangs that infested his neighborhood he
was well respected in the community and had a steady job as a truck driver Bhaskar had also recently begun a new
relationship with an attractive eighteen-year-old brunette her name Regina DeFrancisco investigators soon
discover a troubling coincidence two days after Oscars body was found Regina's mother and 16 year old sister
Margaret filed a missing-persons report for Regina DeFrancisco she's been gone for two days
has she ever taken off before no four days after the discovery of Oscars body the same detectives who were
investigating his murder visited the house of the missing Regina DeFrancisco while searching her home for any clues
related to the teenager's disappearance investigators made a startling discovery
that linked Regina to the murder of Oscar Velazquez lo and behold to our surprise there was the matching
pillowcases to the sheet that was used to wrap Oscar's body up in and that's when our focus of our investigation
switched to Regina herself as police sought to solve the murder of Oscar Velasquez they were soon confronted with
a tangled web of sexual fantasy and homicidal impulse but the center's are strikingly attractive teenage girl whom
police believed lured Oscar to his death but why authorities are convinced that Regina DeFrancisco knows the answer and
they're asking for your help to find her [Music] by all accounts Oscar Velazquez lead a stable life but
that all apparently changed when he set eyes on Regina DeFrancisco Oscar thought
she looked like a nice girl in the short period of time approximately three weeks they only had
maybe three or four dates Oscar and Regina seem to hit it off and I think Oscar was blinded by Regina's good looks
but below the alluring surface a storm was brewing Regina apparently had another boyfriend a gang
member nicknamed loco and she needed $1,000 to bail him out of jail according to police
Regina decided to get the money from Oscar Velasquez and she allegedly enlisted her sister Margaret in the
scheme detectives believe Margaret told Oscar that it was Regina who was in jail
and needed to be bailed out ask her being a loyal and true boyfriend that he thought he was didn't hesitate at all
Oscar gives Margaret $2,000 Margaret else asked her as soon as she bails Regina out of jail that Regina
will call him Regina did call Oscar and the two went out on another date Oscar allegedly asked Regina when she
would pay him back to $1,000 according to police her answer laid the foundation for Oscars death Regina says hey you
know I'm sorry I'm willing to pay you back give you a little extra Marga really likes you too you know how about
coming over and I'll give your money and the three of us will have a little fun and that's when Regina offered the
threesome the sexual encounter and Oscar was pretty willing to turn around and oblige according to witnesses
Oscar arrived at the defense's go home at around eight o'clock he was greeted at the door by Margaret
allegedly a friend of the differences Co Sisters was also at the house and waiting downstairs in the basement was
Regina I'm in the basement Oscar went ahead of Margaret walked down the steps and when he made it to the last step in
the basement Margaret took the semi-automatic shot him one time in the back of the head
investigators believe that the girls took Oscars necklace his car keys and six hundred dollars in cash
next they wrap the body in a bedsheet and then a tarp according to the police the sisters did
what they could to clean up the crime scene and finally they dragged the body up the
basement stairs and reportedly put it into the trunk of Oscars car then they drive around I'd say for approximately
40 minutes looking for a spot to dump the body until they happened upon this vacant lot
Regina and Margaret try to get Oscars body out of the trunk body gets dumped out into the light
one of the girls take a large bottle of nail polish remover doused Oscars body they ignite the body
and drive away two days later police discovered Oscars Camaro not far from where his remains
were found it too had been torched it wasn't long before the case broke wide open the young girl who was allegedly at
the home at the time of the crime confessed to police she gave a detailed account of what she witnessed on the
night of Oscars murder arrest warrants were issued for Regina and Margaret DeFrancisco both are believed to have
fled the Chicago area as Maria Velasquez waits for justice she struggles with a painful void left in her life by her son
Oscar's murder yes every day is a labor because I'm still looking for him I see young people and I'm always hoping that
I see him but I can't find him it's hard to get used to living without him it's really hard to get used to the idea that
he isn't here anymore we miss him a lot all of us [Music] [Music] the bank should be right around the
corner run up here on Brent ratha Baton Rouge Louisiana decided to sell his nissan sports
counter he found a ruddy buyer and John Maggio all Maggio needed to seal the deal was a
cashier's check Brent agreed to drive him to the bank during the short trip the conversation
was light and friendly without warning it turned ugly Brent suddenly found himself on the
wrong end of a gun fighting for his life he had the meanest look on his face cold-blooded killer he pulled the gun to
the right and it went on the side of my leg the bullet went on the side of my leg and came out on the corner by my
kneecap and that's when I bit him on the shoulder he let go of the gun and I thoroughly gone out the car
Maggio then filled up the passenger side door while Brett rotz rolled himself to
the hospital Brentt nearly lost his leg but later recovered the next day police tracked
down my Joe and made the arrests to those who knew him it came as no big surprise
madjoe had been a rebellious teen constantly at odds with his wealthy father who owned a real estate empire in
and around Baton Rouge con artists John Maggio was much smarter than the average
street criminal charged with attempted murder and facing overwhelming evidence Maggio plea-bargained his way to a
reduced sentence of five years he then arranged to pull a work detail outside prison grounds ironically at the offices
of the Louisiana State Police but allegedly Mario's biggest con was yet to come [Music]
John Maggio did his time and was released on parole he immediately left from Obul Alabama her family connections
helped land him a position is boarding agent at Follette Green shipping services and a characteristic display of
bravado modulus to the prison job on his resume failing of course to mention he was behind bars at the time ma Joe's new
job in Bob processing payroll accounts for ships and dock a service that often involves sizable amounts of cash it was
another ironic twist an ex-con with his hands on the checkbook the owners of the
vessel would wire us the money that the captain requested and then we wouldn't make out the receipts bring the cash
down to the captain he would sit there and count it out and then sign the receipt and you'd be done John fit in
right away and got along well with everybody we just went overboard to be nice you would he was just super he was
outgoing and when when you talk to me you felt like you'd known him forever that's just how he made you feel
[Music] baldie Perez was certainly taken by Maggio's charms following a short whirlwind romance the couple decided to
tie the knot Molly had a four year old daughter from a previous marriage Raju appeared to love her like his own
but according to Molly's mother the relationship was stormy and sometimes violent Molly never told me that he was
abusive but her daughter did and at that time her daughter had just turned 4 and
she was terrified of John terrified in front of us he acted like the doting stepfather
but when he was away from us it was different story [Music] it turned out Maggio had a lot of people
fooled but no one could have guessed what he was really up to an alleged scam it was as brazen as it was risky to the
tune of nearly $200,000 according to police it all began with a phone conversation between Maggio and a local
bank officer who asked not to be identified he called to inquire how long it would
take me to get a hundred and ninety seven thousand you know and I told him I need to know by Tuesday to have it in
towards the end of the week sometime over the next few days police believe Maggio snuck back into the office after
hours unlocked a filing cabinet and walked out with a blank check he showed up at the bank on Thursday morning right
on cue with a check for one hundred and ninety seven thousand dollars apparently
authorized by the office manager the amount was unusually large but otherwise everything seemed to be in order
it was a well-established account he was a well known person to be you know responsible for picking up and calling
into orders and the signature was a match according to the bank officer Maggio was friendly but
uncharacteristically on edge sure is a lot of money this was the largest amount that they had ever gotten in one period
and he told me that one of their couriers for the company in New Orleans had been killed doing a drop such as
this and so he was a little nervous I can get you an escort if you like we can have someone walk you out no that won't
be necessary I mean just you really know about this transaction right right moments later police say Maggio
calmly walked out of the bank in Mobile Alabama and simply disappeared [Music] for that green shipping the next day
denis mcdonough received a disturbing phone call from the home office in new orleans the accountant that manages all
the money he asked me we had written any big checks and of course i said no so he
said look for this check number so i went and looked and the check was missing so i went back to the phone and
i said yes the check is gone and i said how much money was gone and he said a hundred and ninety seven thousand
dollars and I said god you're kidding investigators learned that the authorized signature on the check was a
forgery meanwhile Molly left her little girl with her mother and prepared to leave
town Molly left with John because she was protecting us and her daughter because I
know now that Molly knew just how evil he was and he is but what Molly didn't realize was would have done anything to
protect her [Music] anything police say money left with Maggio and a new $35,000 SUV which he
had allegedly purchased with some of the stolen money four months later the couple reportedly
turned up in Staten Island New York using the names Rick and Sarah Parker they rented an apartment from Nanette
coming Molly and Maggio came off to be the sweetest people to everyone not only to my husband and you know myself and my
family members but to the neighbors as well over the next year my job bounced from
one job to another before landing a sales position with a rare autograph dealer in Manhattan but it wasn't long
before he is up to his old tricks allegedly gaining access to company checks forging authorized signatures and
discreetly pocketing the funds [Music] however by the summer of 2001 Maggio's days in the Big Apple were numbered help
you Maggio had attempted to cash a fifteen hundred dollar check and a place where he was trying to cash it contacted
the employer and he said no he does not have the authority to cash a check in that amount I cashed checks here all the
time I served for this amount I need an authorization Maggio never showed back up at that company the individual had an
audit done of his records and determined that Maggio on 14 different occasions had written one thousand dollar checks
which were forged and which were basically embezzlements from the company by the time police were notified it was
too late Maggio and Molly were already on the run early in the morning it must have been
like 6:30 in the morning I suddenly get a phone call from ammaji oh hello and he
was like oh I'm taking water to the hospital she's very sick I'm leaving the dog papers watch the dog
I left the key underneath the mat Nanette was surprised and concerned for money but before she had a chance to ask
any questions madjoe had hung up the phone right there all the cards started falling right into
place something is very fishy suspicious Nanette went down to check on her tenants the apartment was trashed
John Maju and his wife had simply vanished [Music] detectives later discovered that Molly
had purchased two airline tickets for a flight from New York to Los Angeles but there have been no reported sightings on
the west coast so where are they now that's what the FBI would like to know Molly has not contacted her daughters in
sleeving Alabama in the summer of 1999 authorities believe they are probably using assumed names and the John Maggio
wherever he is is cooking up a scam he is what we would consider to be an armed and dangerous person because of the fact
of his previous criminal record in the past remember this individual almost killed another individual in
order to steal a car so there's no question if he feels like he is in some jeopardy of having his freedom curtailed
he would more than likely engage in such conduct again [Music] [Music] [Music] pérot Indiana for am cynthia wis
miller's day begins already a grandmother at age 42 Cynthia is a free-spirited matriarch of a close
family we drank coffee and talked for a while and she kissed me goodbye said she
loved me and she'd see me later now that was probably the worst day of my life my
baby Cynthia is a courier for an armored vehicle service her job is to replenish
automated teller machines with cash at 5:50 a.m. Cynthia begins making her rounds of the
ATMs on her route later that morning she mysteriously disappears along with 268 thousand dollars in cash for Cynthia a
former police officer and dedicated grandmother a brazen thief or was the real thief working out of range of ATM
surveillance cameras forcing Cynthia to take the money before he killed her bank robber or victim the police and
Cynthia's family found themselves bitterly divided on the surface the evidence of her guilt seemed
overwhelming yet detectives acknowledged it was odd for a woman with an unblemished past to commit such an
audacious theft and then desert her loved ones the only certainty was that no trace of Cynthia remained
Cinthia wissmiller was a nucleus around which your entire family revolved those who knew her best say she possesses a
generous spirit and an unwavering sense of right and wrong to suggest that she was capable of bank robbery was
inconceivable my mother has taught me that it's very good to be good you can't take more than
you give no one gets anything for nothing she instilled that into us very early for there even to be speculation
that she would have done something like this or gone this direction or done anything to attempt to take the easy way
out it's just ludicrous there's no way no way in hell it would have happened whatever did happen say investigators
may have begun three days before the robbery Cynthia supervisor told her their security company had been bought by the
Brinks armored car service and that she was to have a new position the recent changes in an opinion on that next week
but because of time constraints right now I just want to cover one thing with you mm-hmm
the following workday she was to postpone her pre-dawn duties until 9:00 a.m. at that hour she was to meet her
replacement and acquaint him with her route show him your routine etc etc yeah sure I can do that so then am i giving
up my job do I have a job as long as I still have a job you still have a job despite her instructions Cynthia arose
that morning just as early as she always had according to her boyfriend Billy she
never mentioned that her work schedule had been changed investigators say that between 550 and 7:15 a.m. Cynthia may
stops at each of the eight ATMs on her route she began three hours earlier than she had been instructed and without her
trainee [Music] each of the machines was virtually emptied of cash the ATMs had video cameras on them out
of the eight ATMs we only found actual film footage of Cynthia wissmiller on one of the tapes and throughout the
entire time she was in that building she was alone it didn't appear that she was
under any type of duress or force of any kind most of the ATMs that she serviced were
exterior buildings they were not actually in the bank branch and she could get into the back of the ATMs
without being seen on the video camera when you take him down to a room detectives began their investigation by
questioning Cynthia's family and her boyfriend Billy Hawkins Billy was adamant that Cynthia was
abducted and that she did not take any money from the ATMs and he also was adamant that someone has forced her to
do this Billy told me that there's no way she would have done this on their own if someone was holding a gun on her
or had threatened her family or something she would do something like this to protect her family or to protect
her own life possibly but there's no there's nothing else on this earth that would make her do something like this
without being coerced into it was someone else present at the ATMs who for Cynthia to steal the money
or was it your person merely conjured up in the imagination by those unable to face as Cynthia had turned to crime
investigators discovered an eyewitness and said that Cynthia indeed was not alone but his account only deepened the
mystery the witness said that he saw Cynthia with another person he saw Cynthia and this other person unloading
bags and putting them into another vehicle he said this person had a sock hat pulled down to the lower part of the
face so he could not tell if this person was white black or male or female according to the witness Cynthia did not
appear to be assisting the mysterious figure against her will the police concluded she had a partner in crime but
her family believed that this was a person he forced her to steal the cash from the ATMs on her route they knew
exactly where she was going they knew what she was doing it was an obvious vehicle she was by herself I think that
someone came they took advantage of a situation and and they did what they felt was necessary and getting the money
from these machines that's what I think happened investigators learned that if Cynthia
was an unwilling accomplice she had the means to secretly alert her security firm to open an ATM couriers must enter
a code that changes daily a distress signal is sent by altering one of the digits but Sidney did not enter the
distress code at any of her machines it is possible however that she was warned not to buy one who was aware of how the
security measure functioned but as the investigation of Cynthia wissmiller progressed the police made a discovery
that seemed to erase whatever doubts remained an audit revealed an additional two hundred thousand dollars was missing
cash as Cynthia was supposed to a place in her ATMs more than a week before the robbery I think she was dipping in the
till a little bit to help her family out when she was informed that Brinks security was taking over the company she
knew she was going to be caught when they did the audits and I think she just took as much money as she could and fled
the area we as a police department want to find her because she stole the money but we also want to find her to make
sure she's safe we have the fact of another person being with her in the parking lot if it was a plan that those
two were going to take the money and split it and disappear who's to say that that other person isn't going to harm
Cynthia so that that person could get all of the money and not have to split it despite the evidence pointing to
Cynthia's guilt her family still firmly believes she is a victim not a criminal I don't believe for a minute she get
anything wrong she is one that kind of person just one earth whatever the truth the void of her
absence has taken its toll seems like somebody just ripped your world apart and you don't know where to
go you don't know anything just completely blind your mind is blank and you can't
function it's been tremendously difficult and continues to be and I don't see it letting up anytime soon it
was a winter of 1960 and four year old Laurie Delorme had just been adopted by a family in Chillicothe Missouri one
evening Laurie stumbles upon her adoptive father cleaning a gun disturbing feelings flood into her mind
giving Laurie the first horrific glimpse at the dark secret that ripped her birth
family apart when I was very little my adopted dad he hunted guns and he was clean one of his guns and and I saw that
and I just said that's what the policeman had when they come to get my daddy unable to fully grasp what she was
remembering Laurie vowed to discover the truth her search would trigger ominous memories of a fateful night over four
decades ago a policeman holding a gun to her father and putting him under arrest that vague
and fleeting memory somehow explains my lorry Delorme magnin was separated from her biological family at 14 months of
age lorry now hopes to find the only people who can help her understand what exactly happened to her as an infant a
family she hasn't seen in over 45 years at the age of three Laurie was adopted by Charles and REE third alarm in Kansas
City Missouri but the Jackson County Court seal Laurie's records and would only tell her
adoptive parents that she was in need of a stable home although Laurie was welcomed into the extended Delorme
family with open arms sign soon emerged as something wasn't right Laurie began having nightmares and
appeared distant and distracted Laurie was probably about six or seven and she was eating at the table one day and as
she couldn't close her mouth she would just leave her mouth open and it really scared mothers so she made an
appointment with a therapist in another town and took her there and they said that she had had a serious trauma and
that it happened when she was fairly young Laurie's adopted mother tried in vain to
find out what was wrong with her little girl as Laurie grew older she took up the search herself driven by a troubling
sense as something dire had happened in her past Laurie asked her mother for any
paperwork concerning her adoption turn 16 and she brought the adoption papers out she kept every letter and this is
I'm gonna give this to you now's the time and so I took them I went over to Renee's house I can wait till
she got there because 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 Laurie and Renee
were shocked to discover that Laurie's mother Frances Camarena died on November 27th 1956 in Kansas City Missouri the
adoption papers did not give a cause of death nor mention any other siblings and
words like oh my goodness and Renee wheeze like what was this girl try to find somebody here and it didn't we
don't where to go we were too young Loree soon moved on with her life married and had three children of her
own but her happiness was always haunted by hazy memories of an unbearable tragedy
there was only one hope for her peace of mind Laurie had to know the truth there
was still one last place Laurie had not yet looked the Kansas City Public Library Laurie
her husband Donald and their son searched the microfiche files of the Kansas City Star on the day Laurie's
mother died November 27th 1956 I was going through the old papers and I came across this picture for four girls and a
and a boy one of them was brought Laurie's age would have been Laurie's age and I said Laurie 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 that yeah that's me in the photo a 14 month old Laurie sat next to her four siblings who ranged in
age from 9 years to 3 months that's why first time saw a picture of me and my brother and my sisters first time my
first baby picture I've ever seen but Laurie's joy was short-lived seconds later she saw the article
accompanying the photo Loree Delorme magnin had finally come face-to-face with a horrifying truth of
her past in the pre-dawn hours of November 26 1956 Lori's father Alexander Camarena arrived home drunk his wife
Laurie's mother was waiting for Alexander had made two purchases earlier in the evening a box of chocolates and a
38 caliber handgun an argument ensued over the gun Alexander claimed it was broken and
demonstrated by pointing the weapon at his wife's head when I read that I felt guess my father
it's like I don't care if he say you're sorry and all that you just don't point a gun in someone's temple I don't care
and that was my mom and I won't ever see her again Laurie made a copy of the photo and took
it home with her I just went to the bathroom took that picture with me and I just stared at it I just couldn't
believe it you know ask me my brother my sisters and we all look alike why the dark hair
in that in the oldest girl she's like looking off in a direction she just looks so sad because she was old yeah
old enough to remember [Music] Lori's mother Frances Camarena is buried under her maiden name of Rivas in a
cemetery in Kansas City hey our mommy just for you Lori's father was convicted of
second-degree murder and imprisoned for eight years he died in 1991 my brother and my sister's real brother and sisters
we lost both our parents now and I think they need me like I need them and 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 bind me but I'm trying
shortly after our broadcast Ruth crook Laurie's birth cousin contacted our telecentre a friend of
roofs had seen the show and told her that her long-lost cousin was looking for her birth family it was a happy
shock and very exciting to know that she had been found family reunion was held several weeks later and we were there to
capture the elder sister Phyllis was unable to attend the reunion sadly Laurie's younger brother Robert
died in 1982 Nancy the last sibling was located after the reunion was held [Music]
join me next time for another hour of fascinating cases on unsolved mysteries [Music]
[Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music]

Brief Summary

Oscar Velazquez is murdered, Cynthia Wissmiller disappears with cash, and Laurie Delorme searches for her birth family.

Key points

The Mysterious Death of Oscar Velazquez. A young man's brief romance leads to his shocking murder. 'Did a brief love affair culminate in murder?'
Regina DeFrancisco's Dark Secrets. A tangled web of deception unfolds as police investigate a murder linked to a missing girl. 'Why did Regina lure Oscar to his death?'
The Disappearance of Cynthia Wissmiller. A grandmother and armored vehicle courier mysteriously vanishes with a large sum of cash. 'Bank robber or victim?'
Cynthia's Mysterious Partner. Witness accounts suggest Cynthia had an accomplice, complicating the investigation.
Laurie's Dark Family Secret. Laurie's search for her past uncovers a tragic family history involving violence.
A Shocking Discovery. Laurie finds a photo that connects her to her long-lost siblings.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I never thought we would find him there.

Oscar's mother reflects on the tragedy.

2:35WatchMay 23, 2019

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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