Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 9, Episode 16 - Full Episode | Forensic Files

tonight on unsolved mysteries the images still provoke stunned disbelief as investigators continue the search for
answers conspiracy buffs continue to push scenarios of military involvement and high level of cover-up what happened
the TWA flight 800 it was a young families Dream House that turned into a nightmare of ghostly turmoil and demonic
mayhem can a team of high-tech ghost busters find out what's behind the chaos don't miss this hair-raising tour of a
haunted house from ancient Greece to TV's zenith of mythic exploits of fearless women warriors have captivated
countless generations but were the Amazons more than just a legend recent discoveries and rushes they provide a
surprising answer in 1992 doctors told candy Horner's family to prepare for the worst
but as she slipped into a coma candy says she was visited by an extraordinary vision of love a vision that brought her
back from the brink of death join me for these intriguing cases perhaps you may be able to solve one of
tonight's unsolved mysteries [Music] [Music] for most of us haunted houses are the
places we visit on Halloween we scream we jump we laugh and we go home but for 20 years the family in a suburb of
Cleveland Ohio has had to deal with a daunting fact that for them home is a haunted house first in 1972 a newly
married couple will call them Joe and Mary Smith moved into what they thought was their dream home but the dream
didn't last long by the time Mary was pregnant with their first child she got her first warning something was
seriously wrong [Music] on a night when Mary was all alone she heard a commotion start up in the Attic
[Music] it really worried me because it sound much more than a mouse or a raccoon or
something started like grating noises and things being dragged start to speak Mary called her father a Cleveland
police detective he approached the Attic with gun drawn expecting a burglar [Music]
sweetheart take a look at this [Music] oh my god the attic was a complete mess blankets pulled out boxes of Christmas
ornaments dumped childhood trinkets broken there was no sign of a human culprit and the Attic was supposed to be
sealed tight against animals the thought ran through my mind that no animal could
possibly have done that kind of chaos it wasn't probable at that point I just shivered kind of like what fear because
something was there that I didn't know about and I didn't particularly care for that feeling at all hints of something
sinister in the house never stopped doorknobs turned over their own accord and the strange noises continued Mary
soon learned the house had a disturbing past in the 1940s previous owners have reportedly adopted a little boy one day
the child mysteriously vanished even now no one knows what happened to him over the years Mary couldn't help but suspect
that that boy might be connected to the hauntings one night when her own son was
almost the same age as a long lost child Mary says he let out a blood-curdling scream it just was a very tormented type
of a cry that's what I heard in his voice was that horrible fear Mary had no idea what had so traumatized her son
until he visited his grandmother a few weeks later [Music] and I thought what happened
he says grandma go home I'm never coming back here again why would I why aren't you coming back
he says no no no what is he talking about the child was pointing at a religious picture of Saint Michael the Archangel
trampling Satan underfoot the little boy later told his mother it was a same devil he had seen in his bedroom life
and Mary's house became a ride on a surreal rollercoaster especially when she realized the hauntings were not
always malevolent shortly after Mary's second child was born he developed a life-threatening case of jaundice the
condition required surgery the night before the operation Mary got down on her knees and prayed I am grateful for
all you have given me but please and much to my surprise as I was kneeling there praying I saw this most beautiful
white light I just kind of engulfed your whole inner being with just a soothing soothing peace that everything will be
alright Mary says the light was coming directly from the baby's room [Music] Mary was astonished all traces of
jaundice seemed gone the next morning blood tests confirmed the baby boy was cured
I think it's an evil spirit in our house but I also think there's a guardian angel looking over us and I think that
there is a war between the good and the evil going on is my explanation and we're kind of caught right in the middle
when Mary's third son was five he had a different kind of encounter the spirits of the house and he stared and blinked
his eyes and stared again and he still saw it [Music] during the next several years the boy
suffers severe stomach pains doctors couldn't find a cause or a cure eventually like the man on the stairs
the pains just disappeared I I think it it's gonna come down to be just plain being honest saying it's unexplainable I
can say that the medications that I've used for him have helped ameliorate his symptoms and maybe have helped a little
bit of the irritation that was there but as far as being able to cure and taking
responsibility for curing his problem I cannot do that Mary and her husband considered moving many times if they had
invested a good deal of money and effort in the house and they didn't want to risk losing it
finally in 1993 Mary discovered what she now believes is a key to the house is unsettling history rumor had it that the
little boy who once lived there and in fact died under mysterious circumstances and was actually buried somewhere on the
property it just was creepy there perhaps thought there might be a connection in fact it
wasn't it might be I was very concerned that there probably was a connection [Music]
Mary went to bed that night believing that the unhappy fate of the little boy had somehow tainted her house with evil
socks were so strong that I felt as though I was well-to-do that bad I thought I was gonna die and have it
actually because because I couldn't escape but and I didn't know if they were going me more shocks and then the
radio stopped saying which made it even worse and made a more bizarre downstairs
mary ii son then a teenager had just finished showering he noticed the dryer had inexplicably gone on by itself and
could not be turned off and i attribute it to the spirit that I believe exists in our home was so angry that the pieces
finally fit that it just went crazy when most people think of a haunted house they think of spirits of the dead
but in most cases houses that are haunted genuinely appear to be haunted by some type of an energy force dr.
Andrew Nichols is a parapsychologist a Ghostbuster who hunts unexplained phenomena with the latest in technology
energy force at the request of unsolved mysteries dr. Nichols his colleague Russ
McCarty and another well-known parapsychologist dr. William roll investigated Mary's home we conducted a
series of energy field scans throughout the house to try to establish a baseline
energy field reading electromagnetic electric magnetic fields mark wave fields to try to determine if there
are any unusual energy fields present in the house in one of the bedrooms the parapsychologists found an unusually
strong electromagnetic field surrounding a dresser left behind by previous owners
one of the suggestions that I made to the family was that they removed the dresser at least from the bedroom and
preferably from the house temporarily and see if it has an effect on the haunting phenomena that they're
experiencing in many cases we find that that's the case if a person has acquired
a piece and antique and suddenly haunting phenomena starts up it may be actually associated with that that piece
of furniture the parapsychologist found even stronger readings in the basement run abandoned well ran down 120 feet to
an underground lake we find many houses that are haunted are located over sources of underground water and so
there does seem to be a correlation this may conduct some form of psychic energy
it may conduct some form of natural earth-based magnetic fields that stimulates a
person's psychic abilities the well pipe is located directly under the bedroom of
the primary witness so it's possible that she is being exposed to these natural earth generated magnetic and
electrical fields on a regular basis [Music] people ask us frequently do we believe
in ghosts and the answer is yes there's no question that people experience ghosts but what are they are they
actually spirits of the dead are they some type of entities from another dimension or are they some strange
artifact of human psyche unfortunately those are questions which for now remain an unsolved mystery coming up did a
missile cause the tragedy of TWA flight 800 could the US Navy be involved a special report on the controversy that
refuses to go away but first what an undercover drug operation goes bad federal agent is gunned down
[Music] I'd like to propose a toast to Richard Fez best agent this side of the Mississippi June 30th 1994 was a
red-letter day for drug enforcement agent Richard fast I just want to say that I'm really proud to work with all
of you guys I know honestly I mean you guys are the best team of agents I ever worked with
after more than eight years of dangerous undercover work he was finally leaving the streets fast was being promoted to
an administrative position fast his partner Michael pallamary I think Richard was in a position where
he was ready to advance his career this this is really a positive stepping stone
in in an agent's career we're gonna miss you buddy Thank You boss the launch celebration
ended at 2:00 p.m. Richard fast had one last piece of unfinished business late that afternoon agents fastened
Pelin arrow drove to an automotive repair shop just outside of Phoenix Arizona they were posing as drug buyers and
carrying 160 thousand dollars in cash it was Richard fastest last undercover assignment the previous day he had set
up a deal with this man Agustin Vasquez Mendoza Mendoza had agreed to sell him 22 pounds of
methamphetamine or speed Mendoza was known to aegis fasten Pelin arrow as Fernando 6:45 p.m.
Pelin arrow stays in the truck while fast enters a garage the man in a dark blue shirt is a confidential police
informant the other man is one Vasquez an associate of Fernando's Rolando himself is not present Nadia I'm sorry
the operation proceeds as expected Vasquez wants to see the cash in the back of the garage two more men wait on
the left a second police informant on the right a man named Rafael Rubio another associate of Fernando's is this
it's my brother-in-law let me see he looked into the duffle bag and didn't touch it or anything but
apparently he he was satisfied that there was in fact 160 thousand dollars there yeah we got a deal
six-thirty Vasquez apparently calls Fernando to confirm but the buy is good and again dang Adam fair Suites outside
until agent pelo narrow repositions the truck 6:32 Helen arrow puts backup units on
alert a deal is going down 6:35 the double-cross best gives a reveal what the drugs and the cash Richard told the
individual that if he wanted the money that he didn't have to do this he had kids he had a family that he was just
doing this to for profit and that he didn't have to do anything wrong that that anything he wanted he could have
one individual told the other one to hang curve Richard and the two informants I believe Richard saw death
staring him in the face and he reacted Rubio has been shot once Ian Vasquez flee in opposite directions
was very chaotic at that point but when I saw the vehicle leaving I tried to ram
it and I missed it I was on the radio all this time and I just I put out a message that that vehicle needs to be
stopped [Music] let's go with backup unison pursuit of the suspects Pelin arrow rushes inside richard fast
has been shot five times at point-blank range he will be dead within an hour 6:41 Drug Enforcement agents high-speed
pursuit of revealed when he fled in the vehicle it was rush hour traffic he was on both sides weaving in and out of
traffic and he was making every attempt possible to avoid being captured 6:45 p.m. best guest enters an alleyway a few
hundred feet from the crime scene [Music] 6:52 three miles away the ages close in
on Rubio by 7:15 is all over later Rafael Rubio and one Vasquez are booked on charges of
first-degree murder they are both convicted and sentenced to life in prison however Agustin Vasquez Mendoza is still
on the run he has also been charged with first-degree murder authorities believe
he masterminded the rip-off robbery was their motive from the very onset I don't think that there was ever
any intent to do a dope deal with us that they knew that the money was outside apparently these people did not
want to negotiate they had a plan and no matter what Richard did or said was going to deviate them and at that
particular point in time I believe that Richard realized that he had to do something to protect not only his life
but the life of other people as well Richard fast died a hero's death at the age of 37 he was honored with a DEA
award of Valor he left behind a wife and four children I lost my best friend I miss him girly Richard will always be
in my heart and that thing can never take those memories and him away for me but our main intention now is to seek
this fugitive that's out there [Music] [Music] next every week millions of fans thrilled to the feats of Xena the
warrior princess but did a legendary race of Amazon women ever truly exist [Music]
they call them Amazons strong fearless women like T V Xena ruthless warriors who dominated men
contrary to popular belief The Legend of the Amazons did not originate in South America but in ancient Greece where the
historian Herodotus first immortalized the mythic deeds in the fifth century BC rumor had it Amazon's were so warmer
that they could not marry until they had first killed an enemy in battle even their name at all some implications in
Greek Amazon apparently meant without one breast the women supposedly cut away their own flesh to make it easier to
shoot a bow and arrow the Greeks used the Amazons as the antithesis of what a Greek woman should be the Greek woman
should stay at home take care of the kids take care of the house and the Amazon went out and fought
the Greeks and so therefore she got her got what was coming to her when she was killed for centuries people assumed the
tales of wild Amazon Warriors were merely fiction an ancient myth created to enhance the glory of Greece now 2,500
years later archaeological digs on the windswept Russian steppes have revealed a long buried secret a tribe of nomadic
women warriors perhaps real-life Amazons once rode these desolate plains the goal is to determine if we can
determine any specific ethnicity from these particular tribes their indo-european but there may be subtle
differences there are subtle difference Janine Davis Kimball that a team of American and Russian archaeologists has
spent four years excavating iron age burial mounds in southern Russia the date from the time of Herodotus is
writings traditional scholars believe early nomads were male-dominated tribes the men were the leaders the warriors
the priests but these graves tell a new story we never think of women in in the context of a nomadic Society it's not
ever been interpreted from that point of view so here we are out in the steppes we're excavating nomads early nomads and
suddenly we have women with weapons women who are actually controlling wealth because of the wealth in their
burials we have a different concept entirely of what we think of nomads the burial mounds contain the graves of both
men and women perhaps the most intriguing remains are those of a young girl no more than 14 years old she was
only as tall as an average woman today but the artifacts buried with her proof she was no ordinary teenager she had a
quiver by her side that had a lot of bronze arrowheads in it she had a dagger on the other side and then there was
this large boars tusk that was drilled and it was probably suspended around her waist from a cord another woman was
found with a bronze Arrowhead is still embedded in her body cavity a sign that she likely died in battle but these
women were more than warriors the wide variety of ritual artifacts found in the graves showed a society where the power
of a woman was often greater than that of a man the graves of the male no mass also reveals surprises we have a lesser
variety of statuses among them male population than among the female population there's
guys that fight and there's guys that don't and we even have males that have a child buried with them and this is
extremely unusual because we have no females with a child buried with them but who were these warrior women are
they the archetypes for the Amazons they're matriarchal culture is gone overrun 2,000 years ago by invading
Mongols Huns and Visigoths today only their bones bear witness we've signed typically proven that they're there were
women warriors number one number two we also now realize that women have not always been at the bottom of the pit and
can control their own lives and and and be like a woman warrior The Legend of the Amazon still echoes in South America
the majestic Amazon River is named after them in the United States California takes its name from an Amazon Queen
Khalifa and on Tel Aviv mythic power of warrior women continues to fascinate the world
the discovery in Russia isn't definitive proof that Amazon's were real but it does raise tantalizing possibilities who
knows what the next excavation will reveal perhaps someday archaeologists will discover evidence of other ancient
fables the true root of Ulysses Odyssey the calcified bones of the Cyclops for their shattered marble columns of the
lost city of Atlantis when we return a woman on the brink of death the extraordinary vision a breathtaking
recovery that her doctor says can only be a miracle and later ever since the crash of TWA
flight 800 the investigation has been shadowed by disturbing rumors of conspiracy and government cover
[Music] according to all the medical literature candy Gaither Horner should have died in
1992 she has convinced she is alive today because her sister Roxy reached out to save her life if so was nothing
less than amazing Roxy had been dead for 13 years in October of 1992 candy Horner was
fighting a critical run age an eight-year battle against leukemia a battle no one expected her to win don't
give up every day I felt I was getting worse that I didn't I didn't really know if I if I was gonna make it or not
[Music] when I started slipping in into my coma I thought about Roxy I thought about
seeing her in her hospital bed I thought about where mom and dad gonna have to go
through this again I thought a lot about that candy and Roxy were the two oldest
and a family of six children they were the only girls born just 13 months apart [Music]
they and their four brothers grew up in a small farming community in Illinois like most youngsters as sisters often
fought as much as they played but by the time they were both adults and young mothers kandi and Roxy had formed a deep
and permanent bond Roxie and I got real close one well she became a mother first
and then I did so I asked her advice and she gave it to me and and we started getting along really really well with it
then on February 27th 1979 Roxie was rushed to the hospital Roxie had suffered serious head injuries
after being thrown from a Jeep she was awake and talking but her condition was critical
are the time candy arrived Roxy had slipped into a coma I thought that she would be fine I thought she would wake
up and and we'd go home and everything would be fine that's what I thought [Music]
I know I've never said those words before but I I hope you have always known that candy never knew whether Roxy
heard her words two days later Roxy died she was 22 years old it was really hard um for a
long time I just I still thought she was just gone for a while she'd be back it took a long time for me to realize that
she was really gone calm thirteen years later candy herself was lying in a hospital
desperately ill after seven years in remission her cancer had revived more virulent than ever
the only hope was a bone-marrow transplant at first the transplant seemed to be a
success but five days later Candy's body began to shut down her liver failed she started sinking into a car
her family had been very dedicated in continuously supporting her talking to her and praying for her but there came a
time when I felt that I needed to prepare them for her possible death what candy needed was a miracle and she
believes she got one at some point during her ordeal candy says she felt a gentle touch upon her hand and awoke to
see a young woman bathed in white light it was Roxie exactly as she had appeared
in life mom and dad needs you here I was so glad it's here you need to stay and fight
they had been so long I can't I'm too tired and it hurts too much mom and dad already lost me I couldn't stand all
those you - I don't think I could take the pain any longer you have to stay here you know why because you're gonna
be a grandmother someday really promise you I'm gonna be watching over you [Music]
at first I thought Roxie's visit was a dream but then the more I thought about it I thought I was so close to death and
I actually believed that she did visit me and she did give me the strength to fight
[Music] I felt cold one day I I don't know why I just felt real cold and I just opened my
eyes and there was my husband and my dad standing there [Music] all right they were smiling I mean I
knew something good had happened I just wasn't sure what I think all physicians have cases in which they cannot explain
the outcome however in my experience as a physician this is truly the most amazing case and I feel qualified truly
as a medical miracle two weeks later candy was released from the hospital two years later
Roxie's prediction came true Candy's daughter had a baby girl Emmie someday when my granddaughter grows up I'm gonna
tell her all about Roxy [Music] I figured people can't believe what they want to believe but I know that she was
there with me she was with me I don't know how but I do know that she was there and I did talk to her and she did
talk to me me and Roxy had such a bond I loved her so much I never got to tell her that I
loved her and I feel like she came back to tell me hey I know you love me and I love you too
next what caused the crash of TWA flight 800 some conspiracy buffs are adamant that a missile fired by our own military
brought the plane down the investigators insist the charges are baseless and irresponsible
[Music] it was a summer of 1988 tensions are running high between the United States
and Iran the USS Vincennes was patrolling the Persian Gulf this footage was shot aboard the ship on July 3rd
that morning the Vincennes believing it was about to be attacked by her two surface-to-air missiles and an
unidentified aircraft the crews jubilance we turned to horror the target turned out to be an Iranian
passenger plane carrying 290 innocent civilians it was a terrible tragedy but it did occur what was essentially
considered a war zone certainly could never happen in peacetime certainly could never happen here or couldn't
July 17th 1996 TWA flight 800 crashed into the Atlantic off the coast of Long Island killing 230 passengers and crew I
have found some people who have other information that I four months later Pere Salinger a former press secretary
to President John Kennedy made a stunning allegation he claimed TWA 800 had been shut down by our own Navy and
that the Navy was attempting to conceal the truth it's the rumor that refuses to go away
but as such a scenario even possible and if it did happen why of hundreds of people not said a word today authorities
are still trying to determine what caused the crash the longer it takes the greater the pain
for those who lost family and friends and the more whispered innuendo turns into public speculation the
investigation has been painstaking and tedious since the night of the tragedy tons of debris have been scraped off the
ocean floor in an attempt to piece the plane back together officials of naradhama caused to three
possibilities a bomb mechanical malfunction or a shoulder-launched terrorist missile the missile scenario
is largely supported by more than 30 credible eyewitness accounts of the unusual streak of life seen in the sky
just before the explosion however physicist and missile expert bud su says those accounts could just as
likely support a bomb scenario a terrorist bomb if properly designed would indeed give you a very bright
luminous streak out from the aircraft so that it be very possible to have a design which could produce what the
eyewitnesses said they saw but eyewitness testimony no matter how credible cannot stand alone as far as
anyone knew there was no physical evidence of a missile hit much less one fired by the u.s. Navy
unless you believe pierre salinger and despite navy statements that they had nothing to do with the TWA 800 crash we
have strong evidence that they are wrong just last month Salinger was back again
at a press conference in Paris he produced still frames of radar sweeps that he claimed were recorded in the
Tower of New York's Kennedy Airport on the night of the tragedy according to Paris match magazine TWA
flight 800 is represented by this written designation circled on the right is a navy plane a p3 Orion circled in
the center is US Air flight 217 the object circled on the left is unidentified the conspiracy camp
believes it is a Navy surface-to-air missile in this frame reportedly recorded a second before the crash the
unidentified object has disappeared the p3 Orion TWA 800 and US Air 217 are all in close proximity but flying at
different altitudes in later frames the TWA 800 designation has vanished from the scope but if the plane was brought
down by a missile and where is the evidence the government has said they found nothing conclusive to indicate a
missile hit pierre salinger disagrees moreover we have discovered that certain bodies on the plane were crushed by
something which went through the plane the missile let us suppose for the sake of argument but the conspiracists are
right there is some circumstantial evidence to support their claims the Navy has admitted that military
exercises were being conducted off the Long Island Coast the night of the crash in fact TWA 800 diverted from its
original flight path to avoid a restricted area the Navy will almost certainly try to conduct exercises where
they're not going to get in the way of shipping and they don't really fire many missiles because the darn things cost a
million dollars each so they really don't do exercises they they assume that if they get a radar lock on with the
ship they will get a hit and they just can't afford to shoot that many missiles but suppose the Navy did shoot a live
missile that night either accidentally or intentionally then where could it have come from according to the Navy the
USS Normandy was the only ship with standard missile capability in the area the Normandy was reportedly on maneuvers
in the Atlantic 180 miles south of the crash site the main problem is that the maximum range of the standard missile is
80 month and the Normandy was alleged to be a hundred and eighty miles away from
the incident so you just it just doesn't make sense if a missile ship had been within the 80 mile radius to shoot it
the eyewitnesses would have seen a tremendous flash of light because the initial launch of standard missile
essentially lights up the night sky but regardless of what they say we have now reached the point where we are totally
sure that what we are saying is true assume again that the conspiracy theorists are right and the Normandy or
some other ship was in fact within range and did accidentally shoot down the airliner is it conceivable that the Navy
brass could successfully engineer a cover-up if it were a friendly fire incident it would take approximately one
day for everybody in the countries in the water you had what several hundred people on that ship on the unanimity
how can you cover anything up and sailors would write home to their the sweethearts or their parents and say my
god we did this you couldn't there's no way you could cover it up because sailors love to talk
but the conspiracy camp points out that the Navy has been less than forthcoming in the past when the Vincennes shut down
the Iranian airliner in 1988 Navy officials initially tried to justify the action with false
information they claimed the plane had been emitting military codes they have since admitted that this was
not true could the same thing have happened with TWA 800 I did contact a high-ranking person in the Navy and and
you know for what it's worth the Navy after this incident did a thorough inventory I mean they should with him
things that cost a million dollars and they can account for every ordinate of missile in the Atlantic Fleet by serial
number of course you know the the doubters would say sure that's what certainly what they say but I have known
this person and I thought that I talked to 40 years and have fun very reliable as you know in the press yesterday and
this morning the FBI has been renewing its attack on us pierre salinger and his associates continue to insist that the
government is lying but critics of the conspiracy theory are quick to point out that a cover-up would have to include
not just hundreds of Navy personnel but also hundreds of civilians involved with
the investigation [Music] join me next time for another compelling our unsolved mysteries
[Music] you [Music]

Brief Summary

A haunted house, the real Amazons, and TWA Flight 800 conspiracy theories are explored in this episode.

Key points

The Haunting of Mary Smith's Home. For 20 years, Mary Smith's family has faced eerie disturbances in their home, believed to be haunted by a tragic past.
Richard Fast's Heroic Last Stand. DEA agent Richard Fast was shot during an undercover operation, leaving behind a legacy of bravery.
The Legend of the Amazons. Archaeological finds suggest that the legendary Amazons may have been based on real warrior women from ancient tribes.
Roxie's Tragic Accident. Roxie suffered serious head injuries after being thrown from a Jeep, slipping into a coma.
Candy's Miraculous Recovery. Candy, after a bone-marrow transplant, felt a presence that gave her strength to fight.
The Mystery of TWA Flight 800. The crash of TWA Flight 800 raises questions of a possible missile strike by the Navy.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I just kind of engulfed your whole inner being with just a soothing peace.

Mary describes a vision she had while praying.

7:09WatchMay 23, 2019

Tension

65/ 100Some tension

More from True Crime Files

Solve the Crime

Read a real case one clue at a time, then see how your call held up against the investigators.