Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 12, Episode 13 - Full Episode | Forensic Files

tonight on unsolved mysteries it was unthinkable just days after the cold-blooded attacks of 9/11 America
faced another ominous threat bioterrorism the instrument of death this time anthrax the toxic bacteria that can kill
in a matter of days and did five times the killer is still on the loose and the FBI needs your help to solve this
baffling case a Texas teenager is kidnapped his father has seven hours to collect the ransom and deliver it to his
abductors the fate of young Kyle McElroy hangs in the balance for more than 20 years Monica Lobo has
been searching for her birth parents her investigation has brought her to a painful conclusion at a very young age
she may have been kidnapped perhaps you can help Monica learn the truth at Texas
A&M University a suspected serial rapist is caught when his first victim has a second startling face-to-face encounter
with it after being released on bail Don Richard Davis jr. dropped out of sight we bring you an update on his
surprising arrest and trial a woman whose family was ripped apart by murder searches for her long-lost
siblings thanks to our audience she is finally reunited with a relative she believed she would never see again
join me these intriguing stories and more perhaps you may be the one chosen by fate to solve a mystery
[Applause] [Applause] [Music] Tuesday October 16 2001 normal Wallace reported for work at the postal office
in Trenton New Jersey she wasn't feeling well and thought it was a mild case of the flu but as a day
wore off Norma became increasingly ill she could barely breathe some 200 miles away in Washington DC
another postal worker Leroy Richmond was suffering nearly identical symptoms he too became gravely ill in a matter of
days both Norma and Leroy were hospitalized the conditions growing worse by the hour they seemed to be
slowly suffocating to death doctors couldn't figure out why but after administering a battery of tests they
finally came up with the diagnosis anthrax what these veteran postal workers were told by doctors was
terrifying like millions of other Americans Oh Roy Richmond and normal Wallace were
aware of an anthrax related death in Florida just days earlier now they were suffering from the most virulent form of
the disease fatal 95% of the time suddenly in the wake of September 11th the nation faced a second wave of
terrorism who would commit such heinous crimes and why someone somewhere in the world had
access to the deadly substance anthrax the knowledge to work with it and an environment appropriate for its handling
was it an individual or the work of a group or were they located and what were their motives these questions plagued
investigators and continue to do so today for a nation still reeling from the 9-1-1 terrorist attacks it seemed
nearly impossible to fathom the anthrax time bomb started taking 11 days before striking Norma and Leroy on October 5th
2001 63 year old Robert Stevens a photo editor at the Sun newspaper died in Boca
Raton Florida the cause exposure to anthrax spores which experts believe came from an open letter the letter had
been thrown away its origin unknown suddenly federal investigators were thrust into the world of bioterrorism
they were baffled we don't have a crime scene in the traditional sense we don't have witnesses and we really
don't have any of anyone that we can call an informant at this point the same week more media targets NBC News and the
New York Post in Manhattan it is clear that the terrorists responsible for these attacks intended to use this
anthrax as a weapon but this time a clue postmarks on the envelopes Trenton New Jersey
a swarm of FBI agents checked every mailbox in town for traces of anthrax they found none only more questions
white Trenton was the anthrax package there did the terrorists live in the area or were the letters mailed from the
city only as a ruse whoever had the diabolical will and ability to put anthrax in the mail could easily have
the intelligence to plot unimaginable false trails October 9th 2001 two more anthrax laced letters again postmarked
Trenton this time politicians at targets senators Tom Daschle and Patrick Leahy at their offices in DC a form of anthrax
so pure and concentrator it was termed weapons-grade as dangerous dangerous stuff it was
estimated that two trillion spores went into each of those envelopes which would
have been two grams one envelope may have had a hundred million lethal doses unthinkable under the right conditions
just two grams of anthrax could potentially wipe out one third of the US population investigators came to a
significant conclusion notes contained within the anthrax Laden envelopes were so similar in handwriting they had to
come from the same source but the content of the notes could be viewed as a clue or another ruse it references to
9/11 death to Israel and Allah is great point to Arab terrorists or to someone who wanted investigators to think Arab
extremists were involved we are looking at three broad areas the first being international terrorists domestic
terrorism we're looking at some of the individuals within the United States and then we're looking at the lone wolf as
well October 20th 2001 hundreds of federal investigators worked night and day to solve a crime like none they had
ever encountered meanwhile postal worker normal Wallace fought for her life her temperatures soared above 100 she was in
shock the anthrax spores were secreting a lethal exotoxin causing blood vessels to break and the bacteria too pumps
through her bloodstream I felt like I was dying I felt like I I couldn't breathe
once the spores enter your lungs they actually attack the tissues and the lymph nodes and causes the anthrax to
actually take possession of your body Norma know her condition was serious but the news of just how serious was
alarming I'm just reading about the survival rate and my brother brought me the information back it said that
inhalation anthrax was the deadliest form of anthrax 95 percent of the people died so I said I'm ready
whatever God decides for me I'm ready for it the prognosis for Leroy Richmond was also grim suffering excruciating
pain Leroy laid helpless as as lungs filled with fluids worse doctors knew their
most powerful drugs were rarely effective in fighting this silent killer I think I wasn't but his nearing death
then that's that advil is gonna get my breathing had become so shallow that I was actually panting like a dog would
breathe and I heard a couple guys say man he's not gonna last for a couple of hours and that'll be it for him
but Howard to mail sorters are two different post offices become infected in the first place
high-tech mail sorting equipment investigators concluded that the sheer speed of 30 thousand envelopes per hour
flying through a sorter could send millions of anthrax spores into the air routine machine maintenance using air
blowers only made the possibilities worse I looked up and saw this dust and this decision stuff coming out of the
machine and I just looked them so my god and I said like that and probably that instance I may have been held the spores
miraculously Norma and Leroy survived their harrowing ordeal however their lives will never be the same I can't do
all the things that would normally do and the diagnosis from the doctors is and look mr. Richmond the toxins Albania
on your system for at least a year and a half to two years the hardest part is not knowing what's going to happen next
year or ten years from now you know whether whether my memory is going to come back or whether I'm just going to
you know fade into oblivion [Music] despite their uncertainty normal Wallace and Leroy Richmond at least have a
future for other anthrax victims weren't so lucky bringing the death toll to 5 October
21st and 22nd 2001 Washington DC Leroy's co-workers Thomas Morris and Joseph curscene October 31st New York
City hospital worker Kathleen Owen three weeks later aunt Leigh Lundgren in Derby
Connecticut the deaths of Cathy and Natalie were especially puzzling authorities concluded they had somehow
come in contact with anthrax tainted mail that may have been contaminated in the sorting process but no one could say
for certain it was said that the lethal dose for human was eight to ten thousand
spores it would suggest by the deaths of the lady in Connecticut New York City that probably many fewer spores led to
their death November 30th 2001 a breakthrough experts determined the anthrax spores and each of the letters
came from the same strain of the bacterial the so called Ames strain was confined to only six research labs in
the u.s. that led FBI profilers to conclude the anthrax attacks are probably not the work of international
terrorists but rather someone right here at home someone who may have had access
to one of these facilities loading these letters with anthrax required specific expertise in other
words it couldn't be done in your basement or your garage unless you had some specific equipment may 2002 still
no prime suspect however scientific analysis of the genetic fingerprints of the anthrax
spores reveal they may have come from one of two research sites both under the control of the US Army the Medical
Research Institute at Fort Detrick Maryland and the Dugway proving ground in Utah today federal investigators are
in the midst of a controversial program to administer voluntary polygraph tests to large numbers of employees at these
two sites the goal to smoke out individuals who might have information about the anthrax attacks meanwhile with
no assurance the elusive killer has ties to any of these facilities the manhunt continues at home and abroad that person
has to be a serious coward and unable to deal with reality to have done something
like that and and it's not just that it could have happened here but it could have happened anywhere we are in the
middle of an exhaustive national international investigation we've interviewed over 5,000 people already
we've issued well in excess of 1300 subpoenas and every little piece of the puzzle helps
[Music] [Music] [Music] Stacia tha's over time for the real workers 18 year old Kyle McIlroy is
among the most promising young citizens of the small town of troupe Texas he works for his father Kevin who owns a
plastics factory at the end of each day Kevin turns the reins of the business over to Kylie
despite his youth he has proven himself to be an adept supervisor of the night shift together father and son have made
the McElroy plastics company a booming success Friday March 10th 9:20 a.m. plastic Barney came in and told me that
SB if I knew Becerra and I said what company did she work for she said she wouldn't tell me nothin
this is McIlroy how can I help you take the 110 South you'll find his truck there look in the truck for further
instructions do not call the police you're watching you I'm not really in the mood for this right now I'm thinking
you know it's might be a joke that's not funny and I'm really not believing what I'm
hearing put him on the phone so she put Kyle on the phone just for maybe five seconds or so the last time Kyle had
been seen was at the end of his work shift the previous night Kevin was now certain the mysterious Sarah was dead
serious Kevin McLeroy had only moments to decide what course of action to take despite the kidnappers warning he
contacted the troupe Texas Police Department the officers were determined to keep their involvement a secret from
cows abductors following sarah's orders kevin set out to retrieve the written instruction from Kyle's abandoned truck
as a precaution kevin allowed a troop Texas police officer to follow him discreetly the officer posing as a
rancher would stop further along the road and observed Kevin from a distance both men knew they had to expect the
unexpected the truck was locked and Kevin had no keys the first thing I was thinking is
we dated him with a a bunch of terrorists or what if while I'm trying to get in the pickup it bums up the
ransom note was just for Sarah said it would be the letter said that they were asking for $200,000 in hundred-dollar
bills and that I had seven hours to come up with the money and then go back to my
office and that's when they would call me and tell me were to drop that off at the six and a half hours remaining until
the kidnappers deadline Kevin arrived at a pre-arranged staging area to meet with the authorities the
FBI was now in charge of the case there was nothing in that note to tell us where Cowell was where to deliver the
money or what means Cowell will be released so we knew the abductors had to contact mr. McElroy again with him so I
sent two agents with him for their plan to work FBI agents had to be present at Kevin's
factory when the kidnappers phoned again but they had to do so under conditions of absolute secrecy all of Kevin's
employees were sent home under the pretense of a major mechanical breakdown at the plant 4:00 p.m. the way was now
clear for the FBI to move in by this time Kevin had collected only half of the demanded $200,000 the next meters
belonged to the kidnappers 6:30 p.m. hello what I mean most the money I can't get the whole 200 it's Friday the banks
don't have it the FBI worked furiously to trace the call dad asked me to stall her I said you're gonna get your money I
said but I want to talk to Connor I want to make sure he's all right she said he's fine she said you're not gonna get
to talk to take the money you have Sarah instructed Kevin to drive to a pay phone
outside a local restaurant there he would find a note directing him what to do next
the call was traced to a rural phone booth but by the time the FBI got there had vanished the only course of action
now was to follow her orders and take every precaution possible [Music] 7:15 p.m.
that it see a the note or guys kaya expected you a little brown envelope like the rats of milk come here and so I
went to picking through all that trash I thought well you know maybe there's something in this trash maybe on the
candy wrapper so you know what do it and in the very bottom of that pile was a note the note ordered Kevin to deliver
the ransom money to a laundromat a half a mile away he would then receive another call at his office informing him
where he could find Kyle the FBI rapidly deployed his SWAT team near the back of
the laundromat when kevin drove up to the laundromat to drop off the ransom money there was it
was a lot of tension anytime someone's life is on the line there's a lot of tension you want to get this done and
find the victim as soon as possible [Music] one hour past two suspects approaching
from the north fini caps blue sweatshirts blue jeans look around gone for the money got the money there go
[Music] one of the men arrested was an employee of the McElroy plastics company a friend
of Kyle's Viktor for a tiss the FBI learned his real name was Daniel Rios two alleged accomplices were also
arrested but the woman who called herself Sarah was nowhere to be found [Music] the following day the suspects told the
FBI Kyle could be found on an abandoned farm outside of town Kevin waited anxiously as agents went in
search of his son he was light and evening they asked me if I could speak to me they had some information for me
and I could tell by the looks on their face that it wasn't good and they said it he was he was dead they found him
dead it's like somebody walking up and hit him but you can't feel it you know you think about it and just it just
bites man the medical examiner determined Kyle had been choked to death before the first ransom call was ever
made the FBI believes his abductors made a recording of Kyle then killed him Sarah then played the tape for Kevin
over the phone they say they learned this sarah was in fact Desiree dawn lingo Perkins the FBI
believes she was a prostitute known to frequent migrant worker camps in the area she is now wanted for murder she is
five foot six and her weight fluctuates between 170 and 200 pounds [Music] [Music]
[Music] may 1970 in a small Texas town a fragile child clutched her only friend and
waited patiently her family was on the move again a routine that had become all too familiar
it was the eighth moved to five different states and Monica Lobos young life eventually she would move a total
of 28 times and 15 years I would come home from school you know and there would be boxes everywhere and I knew it
was time to go again Monica's parents Pablo and Berman LeBeau were older her two half sisters grown and never around
however the lonely little girl didn't question her family's nomadic lifestyle or why she was always kept home from
school on class picture days Monica simply learned to fend for herself but it wasn't easy I would get
kind of angry because by the time I made friends we were up and gone again so that was kind of hard
then at age 16 when most teams are thinking about boys in the latest fashion rage Monika's life was turned
upside down my mother got ill and I had to transfer my mother's medical papers to where she was in the hospital and I
was reading through my mom's folder and I read some words that just probably changed my life forever and that's when
I found out that my mother had a total hysterectomy in 1945 there's no way I could have belonged to her imagine
finding out your mother had a hysterectomy nearly two decades before you were born she couldn't possibly have
been your mother and for 16 years he'd been lied to if burr malabo wasn't Monica's mother
than who was the search for that answer is consumed Monica's life leading her into an incredibly tangled web of lies
half-truths and innuendos what makes a story even more disturbing however is where it all may lead to an unthinkable
crime ask my mother I said if you're not my mother I want to know who is my mother she got mad but she told me that
my mother was a family member my sister I was shocked and that was probably the worst shock of my life
it was true that Monica's half-sister was much older nineteen years in fact but could she really be her mother I
asked her straight out if she was my mother and she said no I'm not your mother she said well mom just doesn't want to
face the truth and I said well what is the truth and my sister told me that my real mother sold me for a bus ticket to
New York and that she was trash and no-good and I didn't need to know her anyway
she gave you had Monica really been sold for the price of a bus ticket or was this simply another bizarre story about
her birth mother Monica didn't know who to trust or who to believe again she haunted her parents to tell
her the truth the more I asked the more they wouldn't tell me anything and I started wondering at that point maybe
something bad happened Monica was not convinced her parents had something to hide
she began snooping around the house in search of any link to her past and soon ran across a sturdy metal box inside was
a very document Monica had hoped to find her birth certificate but the details seem sketchy
there was no Hospital listed no address no doctor and the document had not been filed until the early 1970s when Monica
was 7 years old she had only one place to turn for help one of her half sisters she said your mom and dad
paid a lawyer $2,000 to make this false birth certificate was Monica's whole life of fraud it now made sense why
growing up she never had her own social security number but he was her father's instead Chicago was listed as Monica's
place of birth and in 1990 at age 26 she contacted Illinois Judge Jean Scott in hopes of finding an adoption record
judge scott answered her in a letter she told me that she could not find anything
from the years 62 63 64 that she had searched all the records that they had there Chicago returned into another dead
end sadly it all seemed like a bad soap opera but Monica thrust into the lead role for the next decade Monica was
haunted by the strange and conflicting stories surrounding her past still she managed to get on with her life
marry and have a daughter of her own during a rare family get-together Monica decided to try one last time to
find out the truth my mom at that point was just angry very angry she started getting mad and my sister they just kind
of looked at each other according to Monica her half-sister suddenly became irate
she began ranting about her nearly four decades earlier her mother had hidden a tiny baby from the police
[Music] Monica was stunned in an instant the past came flooding back she remembered as a teenager overhearing
her father talk about stashing a cardboard box in a bar something about roadblocks and the need to tell the
truth a picture began to emerge it was both ugly and sinister the indication that I got from the whole thing is that
my mother had probably kidnapped me I really started thinking my god had they just up and take me you know from
somebody to this day that question and others remain unanswered miss Monica abducted as an infant an appalling crime
that forced a bluebird Malabo to stay one step ahead of the law with a tiny baby sold by a desperate young girl for
the price of a bus ticket or as Monica's half sister not her sister at all but her mother I would be willing to go
through anything a DNA test anything at all to be able to find out the truth behind
all this if Monica's half-sister agreed to be tested it would answer at least one of these puzzling questions however
according to relatives she recently left her husband of 25 years and simply disappeared
on another sad note Monica's own husband passed away in 1998 he was only 31 years
old the tragic loss has only deepened Monica's resolved to find her birth mother I am without an identity and I am
searching and I'm probably gonna keep searching I'm not gonna give up Monica was born with only half an ear lobe on
her left ear a clue that may help unravel this mystery and if Monica was indeed kidnapped she believes it
happened in the Miami Florida area in 1963 or 1964 [Applause] [Music] previously we brought you the story of
the fear that gripped Texas A&M University when police thought that a serial rapist was on the loose now that
a suspect is behind bars the residents of a small college town can finally feel more secure the rapist
hid his intentions behind a show of normalcy it looked like just another student out for an evening jog
but as they turned to go back toward his intended victim his casual demeanor turned violent a suspect kept that knife
within her sight and she had every indication at that point that he would use that knife on her thirty minutes
later the rapist disappeared into the shadows University Police released a composite sketch and character profile
of the suspect several months later a knife wielding assailant attacked another Texas A&M student from nowhere
she said a knife appeared and was placed against her throat he threatened her he
told her that if she screamed he was gonna kill her and then took her to the location that he was he had already
prepared this composite was based on the second victims description a comparison
were the first drawing bolstered investigators suspicions that a serial rapist was stalking the campus
authorities papered the campus community with posters but the rapes went unsolved
for 10 months the critical break in the case came from the first victim herself when she happened to stop for groceries
at a local market Hey this is a knife the young woman was convinced that she was face to face with
a man who raped her excuse me you forgot something police would soon learn that the clerk
was named Don Richard Davis jr. he was scheduled to graduate from Texas A&M in three weeks when this photograph of
Davis was shown to the second victim she too identified him as the rapist DNA tests confirmed the identification with
90 percent certainty Don Richard Davis jr. was charged with aggravated sexual assault and released on bail six days
later Davis disappeared for the next five years police had a fugitive case on their hands in October of 2000 a routine
traffic violation in Cleveland would be the beginning of the end for Davis Don Davis got stopped on a traffic stop one
day and when they rolled his fingerprints at that point in time that's when they connected up as a hit
with Don Davis and then that information just kind of mushroomed from there Davis
was brought back to Texas to stand trial in the rapes of the two women but before
his trial began he pled guilty to the charges a jury heard testimony to determine his sentence
Don Richard Davis will serve 99 years in prison pending his appeal with the conviction of mr. Davis justice has been
served and I know for a fact that the two victims that we had are extremely relieved they feel better and I think
they probably sleeping a lot better now because mr. Davis will no longer be out on the streets
you [Music] on a previous broadcast we brought you the story of lorry Delorme magnin at the
age of three lorry was adopted under mysterious circumstances by a family in Kansas City Missouri the reason for her
adoption was kept secret by all parties involved Laurie had no idea what happened to her birth parents or her
brother and three sisters as she grew older Laurie searched for her family but only discovered that her mother Frances
Camarena died on November 27th 1956 along with her husband and son Laurie decided to look at the Kansas City Star
on the day of her mother's death staring back at her from the front page was a 14
month old lorry surrounded by her four siblings that's why first time saw the picture of me and my brother and my
sisters first time the accompanying article finally revealed the dark violent secret in Laurie's past
[Music] in the pre-dawn hours of November 26 1956 Lori's father Alexander Camarena
murdered Laurie's mother Laurie learned that her father was convicted of second-degree murder and died in 1991
but her efforts to find her older sisters Phyllis rosemary and Nancy and her younger brother Robert have failed
my real brother and sisters we lost both our parents now and I think they need me
like I need them shortly after our broadcast Ruth crook Laurie's birth cousin contacted our telecenter 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 because everyone always wondered what happened to those children
my dream my dreams coming true three weeks later Laurie found herself at her adopted sister's house outside of
Kansas City eagerly awaiting the arrival of the relatives she spent her entire life searching for first out of the car
was Laurie's older sister rosemary I just was just looking at her I just couldn't believe it
and we were both crying and it was just it just felt good to hold her we we just
held each other so happy they're here and I was just shaking when I got out of the car you know just nervous and happy
very joyful soon Laurie was surrounded by aunts uncles and cousins she never even knew she had as her birth family an
adopted family became acquainted Laurie circle of loved ones grew larger than she could have ever imagined surrounded
by love I feel really great I have all these pictures of me when I was a baby I've ever seen and for the first time
Laurie got to see a picture of her mother the elder sister Phyllis was unable to attend the reunion but she and
Laurie met each other shortly after the rest of the family reunited sadly Laurie's younger brother Robert
seen as an infant in the news photo died in 1982 and after our original broadcast
Laurie finally located the last sibling Nancy Nancy and Laurie have spoken on numerous occasions hope to have another
family reunion in the near future [Music] wonderful family of families we especially thank you now that we're all
back together that we have each other now we'll write each other call each other visit each other nothing will keep
us apart everybody's just all excited is there it's all excitements are good for
every mystery there is some knows the truth perhaps it's you [Music] [Music] [Applause]
[Music] [Applause] [Music]

Brief Summary

This episode covers anthrax bioterrorism, Kyle McElroy's kidnapping, and Monica Lobo's search for her birth parents.

Key points

The Anthrax Attacks. In the wake of 9/11, America faced a new threat: bioterrorism through anthrax letters.
A Father's Desperate Race Against Time. Kevin McElroy has seven hours to collect a ransom for his kidnapped son, Kyle.
Monica Lobo's Search for Truth. Monica Lobo discovers shocking truths about her identity and family history.
Monica's Search for Truth. Monica discovers her birth certificate is a fraud, leading her to question her identity.
Laurie's Family Reunion. Laurie reunites with her birth family after years of searching, filled with emotion.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I felt like I was dying.

Norma Wallace describes her terrifying experience with anthrax.

0:52WatchMay 23, 2019

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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