Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 8, Episode 1 - Full Episode | Forensic Files

tonight the exciting season premiere unsolved mysteries Brandon Lee handsome charismatic destined to be a star then
something went horribly wrong on a movie set in North Carolina it Brandon Lee for
victim deletion curse some believed also killed his father Bruce Lee 20 years earlier
rusty Carlson was a frightened and confused 16 years she gave her baby up for adoption more
than two decades later she and the child's father were together again and searching for their long-lost daughter
have you ever had a dream that just had to be real tonight you'll meet a man whose nightmare of capture and
imprisonment during the Gulf War was astonishing psychic vision that came true in Northern California a fugitive on the
loose a standoff a massive search have you seen Tony Castile join me for our dramatic season premiere perhaps you
hold the key perhaps you may be able to help solve a mystery [Music] Bruce and Brandon Lee father-and-son
licked by legend each was a rising star in the action-packed world of martial-arts films some say Bruce and
Brandon are also bound for eternity by an ancient Chinese myth a few have called it a lethal family curse
supposedly the first victim was Bruce Lee's older brother who died as an infant later when Bruce nough son
Brandon met unexpected deaths many again divined the unstoppable hand of fate be
formless shapeless like water ultimately martial art means honestly expressing yourself with his explosive power and
fluid grace Bruce Lee was a one-of-a-kind movie hero almost single-handedly he created an audience
for martial arts films in the summer of 1973 Lee was 32 years old on the brink of international stardom then on July
20th he took a prescription drug for a headache and laid down for a nap Bruce Lee never got up I was at the hospital
when they brought Bruce in it was just incredible I couldn't understand what was going on I you know I kept thinking
he's gonna snap out of this you know but I didn't know that he was already gone and they were trying heroic measures to
bring him back and all that the unthinkable had happened Bruce Lee was dead his funeral drew more than 25,000
mourners after an unprecedented nine day inquest the corner announced his findings Bruce Lee had died from a freak
allergic reaction to a pain remedy here we have this paragon of fitness you know the one of the most lethal human
beings with his hands or his feet taken out you know essentially by a headache tablet but it happens and it only seems
all the more unbelievable when it happens to someone who is larger than life favorite allegations sprang up
overnight Lee had been murdered by a rival studio the disgruntled business partner the Japanese mafia others blame
Bruce Lee's death on the family curse and the mysterious forces of funk she among other things this ancient Chinese
belief mandates had a home be built in perfect harmony with its environment Bruce Lee's house in Hong Kong was said
to be spiritually misaligned a virtual guarantee of ruinous bad luck the Chinese believe that unless this is
addressed through either a funky expert who comes in to help you in some way deflect whatever evil Homans there are
or if you just tear down the building and redirect it properly then you're okay apparently the previous owner of
the house had consulted a funky expert who placed a small mirror on the house to deflect the evil spirits it remained
there until July 19th 1973 when it was ripped away during a typhoon Bruce Lee died the next day
was a coincidence for a family curse one that could reach across the generations
at the time Bruce's son Brandon was just 8 years old already he was following in
his father's footsteps I started training with my dad really as soon as I could walk I mean my dad was a really
diligent trainer and he always had people over the house practicing in fact I remember when I was a little kid a lot
of my friends didn't want to come over to the house because there were always these men out in the backyard screaming
and breaking things you know like father like son Brandin followed Bruce's path to the big
screen as a star of martial arts films Brandon was 28 years old when he was fatally shot on the set of his fifth
feature the chrome an untimely death one dogged by controversy like father like son it was awful
I mean I didn't think no one no one ever thinks that their child is going to pre
decease them especially one who is so vibrant he had so much life and so much future and so much promise and
everything was coming together for him and for one who had already suffered tragedies in his life and then than this
Brandon Lee sudden death renewed speculation about a family curse the canoe strategy really be attributed to
supernatural forces tonight in an exclusive television interview detectives in charge of the case set the
record straight nearly 50 eyewitnesses more than a dozen ballistics tests this is the story pieced together by
detectives Rodney Simmons and Brian Pettis of the Wilmington North Carolina Police Department the strange six-week
journey of the bullet destined to killed Brandon Lee after about five to six months we knew pretty much where the gun
had gone where bullets had gone who had handled the bullets who had handled the guns and at what level responsibilities
everybody was they were filming a pawn shop scene and they needed items from actual pawn shops so they went to one of
the local pawn shops and Wilmington the stagehand gathered hundreds of props among them was a box of live 44 Magnum
bullets the first link and the fatal chain of events was now in place they dressed the set up with all the items
that they received they had placed the 44 rounds on a counter that was used in the scene punch up earlier
these are live hey that's enough stunt coordinator said when he found a lot of ammunition 'el and said he was livid the
bottom line rule is that you don't have a lot of ammunition on the set the stunt
coordinator locked the bullets in the trunk of his car where they would remain for another two
weeks understanding the tragic events to come requires some knowledge of bullets
and blanks the business end of a bullet is a lead tip it sits snugly in the casing packed inside is a load of
gunpowder this small disc is an explosive charge known as a primer once the trigger is
pulled hammer hits primer primer detonates igniting powder the explosive force of burning powder shoots LED tip
towards target simple deadly a blank is a bullet with a harmless disc of cardboard instead of a LED tip a
gunpowder load can be varied to affect the amount of flash visible when the blank is fired on the set of the CRO
preparations are underway for a scene that required quarter load blanks however none were purchased to save time
the live shells were brought out to be modified into blanks they removed the lead tip with pair of pliers shook out
the powder that was inside of it that left the cartridge in the primer the primer in itself they decided was the
equivalent of a quarter load manufactured blank the end result was a handful of empty casings each with a
live primer and while they were making the quarter low blanks they realized that he needed some dummy bullets also
the dummy round is basically a bullet with no powder no primer just a casing and a LED tip it no way it could be
fired that's a dummy round so what they did they fired off there were some of the primers from the blanks that they
made and took those casings and put the lead tips back in the casings but what they didn't do was check the primers to
see if they'd all been fired when they made the dummy rounds so they got some mixed up so they made at least one dummy
round they had a primer still intact they needed a scene looking down the barrel the gun people that are doing to
do this shot was part of the second unit filming crew and they would pull the trigger rotating one cylinder at her
time around simulating someone firing a weapon [Music] police say that at least two people on
the set heard of popping noise no one realized it had been the sound of a primer firing no one realized that the
primer had exploded with just enough force to dislodge the lead tip from the bullet casing and wedge it into the gun
barrel there it would remain undetected for another 14 days awaiting his fateful
meeting with Brandon Lee about two weeks after the second unit filmed the gun the
same came up it was a death scene for Brandon's character and for this scene the director chose to use a full load
blank they called for the the 44 magnum loaded it with the full charge blanks at
this time the LED tip is still lodged inside the barrel he gives the gun to the actor
and action [Music] that bullet being lodged in the barrel and that full load blank that was the
equivalent of a live 44 round and it was projected out of the gun and and to Brandon Lee
North Carolina officials concluded that the film company's biggest failures were
not having a gun expert on the set and taking shortcuts to save time and money however the chain of negligence involved
so many people that convicting any one of them was unlikely no criminal charges were filed in the end it seems that
Brandon Lee was truly a victim of circumstance or was he as some claim the final casualty of the family curse I
think the family of Bruce Lee is has been blessed not cursed and we who are still here myself and my daughter
Shannon I felt very fortunate that we were part of this family and knew Bruce and Brandon intimately I think that
Brandon and I think that Bruce were two people who did try their best most of the time who wanted to produce quality
work in their lives and who did they were extraordinary young people next the mysterious case of the missing
anchorwoman what happened Jodi huisentruit [Music] Mason City Iowa is a quintessential
small town in fact it was a model for the town immortalized in the legendary Broadway show The Music Man
but since June of 1995 this homespun Hamlet has been in mourning yellow ribbons everywhere symbolize the hope
that one of Mason city's most popular residents will someday come home I'm John shine from KIMT television Mason
City Iowa we need your help one of our news anchors is missing her name is Jodi huisentruit Jodi is five feet three
inches tall and weighs 120 pounds she has blonde hair and was last heard from around 4:00 a.m. Tuesday June the 27th
in case you're coning today marks the sixth consecutive day of hitting 90 degrees or better
Jodi huisentruit moved to Mason City in late 1993 and quickly became an active member of the community as the anchor of
a morning news show Jodi was a local favorite a woman with many friends and no known enemies the day Jodi vanished
she was scheduled to work a regular shift on the morning show but she didn't arrive on time
producer Amy kun's called her apartment everything sounded normal just like I had just woken her up
what time is that she asked the question so I told her jawed it's about 10:00 to
4:00 you need to come into work how much time was left to produce on the show I mean she was obviously thinking and she
was aware she just knew she had overslept and she had to get into work I didn't hear anything out of the ordinary
nothing when Jody didn't show up by airtime amy anchored the newscast then sent the
first available person to check on Jody I was halfway mad because I had to do all of this stuff all by myself halfway
worried because I thought geez what if she's laying in her apartment bleeding because she fell down hit her head on
the tub you know things like that but never once did I think somebody nabbed her outside of her apartment never wants
to that cross my mind the officer arriving at the scene observed several Julie's personal items
strung about the ground around her car a quick check was done in and around the apartment complex for Jody eventually
were when I unable to find her her personal items which which appear to be things that she was bringing with her to
work in preparation for that morning's newscast were scattered about her car kind of trailing off away from the
vehicle which which - all involved is a good indicator that she was taken fortunately by that afternoon the Mason
City police launched a massive search aided by the FBI in the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation rescue teams
scoured the countryside divers and police dogs covered the Winnebago River and its banks but there was no trace of
Jodi huisentruit in fact the only possible clue was a white Ford Econoline van much like this one it was seen in
the parking lot of Jodi's apartment building about the time she disappeared the most difficult aspect of this
investigation to date has really been the lack of apparent motive for an abduction the lack of physical evidence
involved in the crime scene and the lack of any genuine eyewitnesses this is still very much an open case and will
remain an open case we are receiving is still four to six leads a day on the case in those K all those leads will be
followed outward it's been eight months since the people of this quiet community hung the yellow
ribbons and put up the missing posters the ribbons are now shattered a posters faded and mason city is still trying to
make sense of what happened to Jodi huisentruit good thinking way to go we spent a lot of time and a lot of effort
talking to the people who knew Jodi and spend time with Jodi we've located nothing in her private life that would
have put her at risk at all no dark side to Jodi she was as real and all-american
as as she appeared to those who knew her and into her viewers I think there's still hope I really feel that we might
find her yet there's you can't give up hope that's what gets you up in the morning I can't
imagine life without her because she is our joy she's our life I mean we love her so much it's just everything to us
[Music] next more than 20 years ago a teenage girl reluctantly gave her daughter up
for adoption can you help reunite [Music] tis better to have loved and lost than
never to have loved at all or so the poet's say better still to have a second chance at that lost love and so it would
be for an Iowa teenager named Christie Whismur in 1973 Christie was 16 her boyfriend
Dave Carlson was 18 their youthful romance burned briefly but brightly [Music] after six months together they broke up
only to discover that their love had consequences it would last a lifetime [Music]
Christie hi I need to talk to you how you doing not so good I'm pregnant [Music]
we had broke up a week before I found out that I was pregnant you know I could think of was house Dave gonna handle
this and what about my folks you know I just thought it was the end of the world
coming come on in Carlson any parent would be upset and angry to learn that their teenage daughter was pregnant
Christie says a confrontation with her father came when she was four months pregnant and just beginning to show
you're 16 and pregnant and you did it it's my father he was taking it very hard and told me that um you know I was
just an embarrassment to the family that you couldn't possibly love me it seemed
like the only thing to do was put the child up for adoption Dave and Christie talked about getting married but that
was out of the question I was forbidden to see him so we'd sneak you know and see each other but then we kind of grew
apart during the pregnancy in June of 1974 Christie Whismur gave birth to a baby girl it should have been a time of
joy for Christie a transition to life with a child in the family of her own instead the infant was to be adopted
giving birth was lonely labor destined to end and discipline they took the baby wave right away and after they wheeled
me back to my room and put me into the bed my mother come up and talked to me for a little while and she asked if I
had walked down and look at the baby I saw her earlier this evening she's beautiful she's the one down front she
looks so sweet laying there you know I knew that I loved her [Music] but I couldn't take her home
Christie Bob Riley about that paper for you to sign the adoption rolled forward overwhelming any last-minute doubts
Christie might have heard that right there sure I just want you to know how proud we are before the baby was 24
hours old she was on her way to a new family I'm very tired right now do you think this could wait until a little bit
later no got to do it right now just as we talked about there you go I knew that the adoption was gonna take
place but it hadn't really hit me at the time you know I was just I was pregnant I was in labor
everything was just happening so fast Cristi Whismur never saw her daughter again she and Dave Carlson went their
separate ways they each married had children divorced in 1995 Christie returned to Iowa for
her 20-year highschool reunion friends told of the Dave Carlson I've been asking about her Christie called
him up I was really nervous about contacting him and I was really glad when I did make the phone call though
because it seemed like we still you know the feelings were still there and he asked if we could see each other at the
following night for a date and we met and things were still quicken between us the romance that is Spofford for two
decades reignited Christie and Dave were married on June 22nd 1996 now they feel
that their happiness would be complete if they could locate their daughter and I'm trying to take the place of her
family I gave up all my rights back then and I would just like to make myself available for whatever purpose she might
have [Music] I've kept it inside for so many years and not talked about it after meeting
Dave again it's just surfaced and it's just something that I've got to do I've got to at least attempt and try to find
her let her know that I didn't give her up for adoption because I didn't want her I gave her up because by the
circumstances maybe she never will forgive me for what I've done back then but I would like to just be able to see
her and talk to her [Music] next an accused killer is on the run and the authorities need your help to track
him down [Music] July 23rd 1994 a young man in a Chevy Suburbans beat southbound along
Interstate 5 in Shasta County California on his tail his Highway Patrol officer Kevin Benson southbound approaching
father Cloud Washington Tom x-ray Sam 726 requesting backup officer Benson has no idea that he is following a very
dangerous fugitive Tony Castro is a Mexican national a long rap sheet for violent offenses three
days earlier he had walked into an empty house near Sacramento California an allegedly attacked a man who was
repairing a heating system he stabbed me multiple times kicked me and left me on
the floor went through my pockets for the car keys took my car and left two days later the burned-out shell of
William gull arts car was found in Washington State 800 miles away the day before just down the road 72 year old
Mike Fidel had been murdered in his farmhouse the prime suspect is now Tony Castro mr. Fidel was beaten badly shot
twice one of the worst cases our pathologist has ever seen I just don't understand how he could do it
how he could have beat on my uncle the way that he did and then to shoot him boy was Mike for deaf word apparently
for his gun collection and his truck officer Benson kept Castro in his sights for about ten miles Bari got fifty to
sixty one be advised he's exiting the bollard flat he may have just been hoping that the patrolman just continued
on south on i-5 and and he would make his escape that way but the escape route led straight to a cul-de-sac
Tony Castro was trapped or so it seemed get your hands up on them officer keep your hands up get out of the car get out
okay you know in the blink of an eye Castro disappeared within an hour state and
local law enforcement agents had converged on the Sacramento River Canyon a wilderness area that covers thousands
of acres of rugged dense terrain not a trace not yet the whole situation was dealt with as an emergency in progress
there was nothing that led us to believe that he wouldn't commit the same acts in
his attempt to flee the area forty units were dispatched immediately the Highway Patrol put extra squad cars
on the interstate trackers fanned out up and down the Sacramento River SWAT teams
checked the freight trains that ran through the canyon but there was no sign Tony Castro
[Music] because a canyon is bordered by steep terrain to the east and west authorities speculated that Castro would
stick to the river an hour later confirmation command post 20 to 24 there wasn't anything rational about him it
was difficult to pinpoint what he would do next this guy had no feelings towards
taking a human life to just get an automobile just to provide himself transportation to kill another human
being in the early afternoon and a mile upstream a news reporter was lost along the frontage road
[Music] Kestrel doated back into the woods and apparently changed direction he headed
south downstream this is an extremely rugged Canyon we could have had an army of officers out there and he still would
have slipped by us just because of the natural terrain and the concealment opportunities he had made available to
him [Music] Castrol is a survivalist this man has the skills to survive in elements that
the average person wouldn't he was a strong individual he could probably go for days in the elements without food or
water and and survive call in the teams will just pick it up tomorrow he's got the advantage and I don't want to
jeopardize our trappers as nightfall approached captain Richardson was forced to pull the trackers out of the canyon
he could only hope that Castro would still be around the next day in our fear level kept rising because we hadn't had
any reports on the movement of the suspect we hadn't been able to confirm whether he was still in the area or not
and it became our concern that he had taken refuge in somebody's home holding him hostage or doing him harm but Tony
Kestrel continued to confound authorities as far as anyone knows he did not bother a soul that night in the
morning he showed up in the small town of Lakehead eight miles south of where the chase had begun can I help you with
something Thank You bear your car uh it runs good right Thank You Beth my wife huh do you
hundred bucks right yeah if you got the cash I got cash I'll get the key wait up
hope you don't mind you wait right there I'll be right back I was swimming with some friends a few minutes later Tony
Castro was on the road again having bought himself a new set of wheels Enoch showed his face in Orange County
California Maria's family but within a few days Castro disappeared again he had eluded one of the largest manhunts in
Northern California history the authorities feel very fortunate that no one was hurt during Castro's flight to
the Sacramento River Canyon but they also fear that the next time Castro was cornered he may lash out
Tony Castro is 28 years old five feet seven with a muscular build he has two distinctive physical features his right
index finger is cut off at the knuckle and his upper front teeth have gold etching at the gumline when we return a
man's strange dream of capture and imprisonment apparently comes true of one of his friends
[Music] at one time or another most of us have had a dream so intense so vivid that we
felt it had to be real do you though have ever discovered the dream actually was real if you aver the spine-tingling
experience of the man you're about to meet January 1991 the onslaught by the United
States and its allies known as Desert Storm burst across Iraq and Iraqis Kuwait [Music]
the conflict was instantly uplinked television sets all over the world I would like to see a peaceful solution to
this question I think saddened the saint should fully the first night Baghdad was
bombed Joe O'Brien of Crestline California watched with special interest one of the Kuwaiti jet pilots fighting
with the Allied forces was his longtime friend Muhammad Mubarak nicknamed Sami they had met sixteen years before when
Sammy was in the US on a training mission and had remained close ever since during the hours of darkness
Baghdad was bombed by allied warplanes wait Homa Joe had no doubts Sammy would be in the thick of the fighting I'm
gonna have to call you back but he was stunned to see his friends face staring out at him from the TV
the Iraqis who shot down Sammy's plane and taken him prisoner I had a feeling it was like my blood turned to lead I
think my biggest concern when he was shot down was that Saddam Hussein would make an example out of him Iraq's issue
was with Kuwait so we have a Kuwaiti pilot we will if they were to torture or kill him that was my main concern
Joe was consumed with worry when he finally fell into a fitful sleep he had a dream without question one of the most
bizarre he had ever had [Music] in my dream I was very much aware that I was Sammy I was in his cell and I was
seeing things through his eyes it was a fairly small cell with a high ceiling the floor was very cold I was very cold
in this dream and I noticed the color was almost like a dark flat porcelain it had on a maroon took on a maroon or a
purplish color when the light was on when it was off it just looked gray or black I remember being very
uncomfortable but the pain I had in my hands almost overrode everything else about my captivity it was so painful my
hands were on fire in his dream Joe had a surprisingly strong feeling about what appeared to be
an ordinary striped blanket there was something about this blanket or material that I was very happy to have it and I
don't know what the significance was but I remember studying the material and the
design and I was shortly after that when I woke up in a cold sweat I've never had
a dream like that and I've never woken up like that before and I immediately got out of bed it was about 6 o'clock
and I went right in to the bathroom and turned on the cold water to run some water on my wrists which were very very
sore that same morning Joe met a friend John Goffe for breakfast sure when he showed up I noticed that his hands were
kind of red and he had a tough time picking his coffee cup up and he says the darkness thing happened to me last
night I had a strange dream and in the process of my dream my hands started hurting and
so then he told me about the dream your friend is a Kuwaiti planet yeah yeah I dream that was him in his cell
Joel Bryan is not a person to just fabricate stories he's a very honest person and when he told me about this
story I really did think that there was something really unusual because of the fact that he explained in detail about a
prisoner of war and that the pain of his hands didn't go away for five days you know someone's captive you're gonna
picture a cell but why the pain and why in my wrists you know I've I used to be a Mason I have strong hands I've never
had problems with my hands and here I can't even hold a coffee cup [Music] finally 42 days after the war began
Iraq surrendered Saddam Hussein agreed to a ceasefire and an exchange of prisoners Joe again saw Sammy on
television this time he was on his way to freedom when I saw Sammy actually being released
I couldn't believe it I was just so happy and I called him I called him right after he that night he was in the
hospital and I guess he had just walked into his room and I called him and had a
wonderful conversation with him and it was very happy you know so it was a good day the following Christmas was a true
celebration Sammy and his sister visited Joe in California for a reunion that night Joe finally decided to tell Sammy
about his extraordinary dream I think I was Sammy was struck dumb Joe's words thrust
him back back into the horror of captivity while the Iraqis were taking Sammy to the PIO WK they kept him
handcuffed so tightly that his wrists were cut and bleeding the pain of the hands guy hardly can move my rusts
around I had the handcuffs for five long days you know very tight and very hurting my
breasts badly and then also he had the pain for five days exactly so very strange general this asian green striped
cloth which was really important to me the detail was astonishing Joe was describing Sammy's blanket
the only comfort he had I was very cold and to keep myself warm so I usually just have the blanket around me and that
was some kind some how my favorite because you know it was keeping me warm Jones Sammy compared notes for hours on
point after point Joe's dream match Sammy's experience precisely I was totally amazed surprised he said we
matched the cell and the reality almost is a hundred percent you know 100 percent the feeling that description the
color is how I felt everything there is no accepted explanation for this particular unsolved mystery perhaps it
was just an eerie coincidence or perhaps it is proof that true friendship cannot
be bound by time distance or dimension as renowned psychiatrist and dream analyst Karl Yune once said the
unexpected in the incredible along in this world only then is life hold for every mystery there is someone somewhere
who knows the truth perhaps it's you join me again next Friday and every Friday run solve mysteries
[Music]

Brief Summary

Brandon Lee's tragic death, Jodi Huisentruit's disappearance, and a man's prophetic Gulf War dream are featured in this episode.

Key points

The Lee Family Curse. Exploring the tragic deaths of Bruce and Brandon Lee, linked by a supposed family curse.
The Mysterious Disappearance of Jodi Huisentruit. The ongoing investigation into the disappearance of a beloved news anchor.
A Second Chance at Love. Christie Whismur reunites with her first love after decades apart, seeking to find their daughter.
The Murder of Mike Fidel. Mike Fidel, a 72-year-old, was brutally murdered, leading to a manhunt for Tony Castro.
The Chase for Tony Castro. After a violent crime, Tony Castro evades capture in a dramatic police chase.
A Dream of Captivity. Joe O'Brien dreams he is in the cell of his friend, a POW in Iraq.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

Like father, like son.

Referring to the tragic similarities in the lives of Bruce and Brandon Lee.

6:08WatchMay 23, 2019

Tension

65/ 100Some tension

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