When a promising career path ends in mystery | Forensic Files

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the next episode right now [Music] our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents if you feel at
anytime you need support please contact your local crisis center for suggested phone numbers for confidential support
please see the show notes for this episode on your app or on our website [Music]
on the morning of Saturday May 3rd 1997 33 year-old single father Gary Patterson
woke up before dawn in his home in Waco Texas he got dressed in black jeans and a white shirt and boots he didn't need
to wear a suit to his final job interview he had already met with one of the business partners and today had got
to know each other pretty well over the previous three weeks that morning the 7:30 a.m. flight from Waco to El Paso
was the last step in the process he would meet the company's CEO and would hopefully return home that night the new
head of a large housing development project after a tough few years things were starting to look up
[Music] the majority of the Chihuahuan deserts 200 million acres lost south of the
United States border in the central Mexican highlands azus Perls north into the US the crosses the far western
corner of Texas into the south of New Mexico and Arizona it is vast and it's landscape
ever-changing one of the most biologically diverse deserts in the world long sweeping valleys of Sandy
scrub agave in the yucca trees morph into huge experiences of flat part and dry land dotted with desert grass and
cacti virtually no rain falls until the summer monsoon season between July and October the habitat is resistant to
extreme conditions only the strongest survive the Chihuahuan is well known for its
rocky mountain ranges which form long and sometimes overlapping silhouettes searing daytime temperatures drop away
to freezing nights due to the lack of humidity and cloud cover and it can be a hot day in the lowland regions while the
surrounding mountains are capped in snow add in the desert you would have more luck coming across a
native wild animal then you would another human being people don't stay out in the desert at night there is
nothing out there except for the biting temperatures and the animals who use the
cover of darkness to cross the desert plains and valleys in order to stay hidden from predators
the Chihuahuan Desert contains over 250 species of butterflies 20 and phibian species 100 mammals 250 birds and 100
reptiles snakes sliver that way in the low-lying desert scrub wizards and scorpions hide around the rocks and
crevices it's a mix of extremes it's harsh it's not a place you can survive on your own hundreds of miles east of
the West Texan desert in Waco Gary Patterson was starting to feel like life was getting back to normal
he'd only recently gained full custody of his daughter after a long and stressful divorce and custody battle
with the support of his family and friends he was through the worst of it he and Lisa Urich had married back in
1984 when Gary was 21 having their daughter five years later for most of their marriage Gary and Lisa worked for
Lisa's father Sam Urick sam opened a few different businesses including a marina and an insurance
agency every now and then Sam would appear take the profits and disappear again often for weeks or months at a
time leaving Gary and Lisa to deal with the customers they never seemed to be a clear business model and things weren't
sitting right with Gary it was after an incident at the insurance agency in the early 90s that
Gary got fed up with the lifestyle and told Lisa he wanted out he was sick of Sam's get-rich-quick
schemes Lisa was working in the reception desk holding their baby when two men stormed in and demanded to know
where Sam Urick was they were angry and threatening and like always Sam was nowhere to be found following
that incident Sam Urick returned and abruptly closed the business only to open a completely new company a trucking
business called southern sales in Conroe two and a half hours southeast of Waco Gary told Lisa he didn't want to work
for her father anymore he wanted to make his own way in the world he suggests that they should distance themselves
from her family and get on with things alone away from the wheeling and dealing of Sam
[Music] Gary took a job as a draftsman with Brazos environmental engineering and
soon after his marriage with Lisa broke down Sam Urick had grown critical of his
son-in-law and a rift was created in the family Sam began suggesting to his daughter that she should file for
divorce Lisa sided with her father and in 1992 after eight years of marriage and when
their daughter was two years old the divorce was settled Lisa was granted custody with Gary granted liberal
visitation rights by this time Sam and Gary had completely fallen out and Sam was not happy that his son-in-law was
granted any visitation rights at all he didn't want Gary to have anything to do with these family
in the autumn of 94 Lisa disappeared with their daughter she just got up and took off her father Sam had been in
hurry he'd got it into Lisa's head that if she and his granddaughter weren't around then Gary wouldn't be able to see
them Sam wanted to get at Gary and have this seems like a strong message and good payback for the next two years Lisa
and their daughter moved from Texas to Nevada to Alaska and on to California along the way Lisa would tell different
stories as to why she had to escape Texas to some she told stories of abuse and to others she said Gary was dead
people bought the stories but Lisa never stayed long enough for any real questions to be asked Gary and his
family hired a private investigator in California to track Lisa down and after being on the run for almost two years
she was found living in Oregon she was arrested in August 96 and returned to Waco where she was charged with parental
kidnapping after three court appearances Gary was granted sole custody with Lisa being
allowed supervised visits Gary focused hard on getting his life on track as a single father and helping his
daughter settle back into a normal routine and a normal life eight months later in early April 97 the month before
Gary Patterson's life-changing interview Lisa was sentenced to five years probation for her parental kidnapping
charge and she was ordered to pay child support it was an amicable but when Lisa called
Gary's parents and asked if they could give her a photo of Gary so she could put it in a locket for their daughter it
seemed like things were going to be okay with the stress of the court proceedings
and custody battles over Gary could finally focus on building a life he had a new girlfriend and he was happy to be
finally moving on just days later the opportunity of a lifetime came Gary's way there was a normal day
at the Brazos office the environmental engineering company had a strong team and a respected presence in Waco that
morning a man arrived at the front reception desk he'd arrived by taxi said the receptionist knew he must have been from
out of town he was tanned grain and smartly dressed the man introduced himself as Ned Roy he
was a real-estate developer from Florida and he was in Waco to look for engineers
to partner up on a multi-million dollar project they were starting a large development of modular homes in Waco he
said he and his partner had heard great things about browsers and seeing as he was in the area he thought it would drop
in and introduce himself Ned met with the engineers and explained a little more about himself in the
project he was from one of Florida's fortune 500 companies so joining forces with his caliber of property developer
would be an extremely lucrative partnership for Brazos Ned Wright thought Brazos seemed like a perfect fit
he asked if he could review the team's resumes and to meet everyone in the office saying I liked the shake a man's
hand and look him in the eye before a hi him there was a buzz in the office that
something big and exciting was about to happen but it was followed by disappointment a
few days later Ned found Brazos and said the bank wanted them to partner with a bigger firm so he wouldn't be able to
follow through with their negotiations later that week a man phoned Brazos and asked to speak to Gary Patterson
when Gary answered the call he found that it was actually Ned right on the other end Ned had given the receptionist
the false name as he didn't want anyone to know it was him calling Ned explained
that although they wouldn't be able to partner with Brazos they were in a position to hire someone to head up part
of the operation and do they wanted to speak to Gary about coming on board Ned had been impressed with him but didn't
want other staff at Brazos to know until they could negotiate something over the
next three weeks Gary took several calls from Ned at his desk and became a bit of
a joke with a receptionist she knew it was the same person but she couldn't work out why he was giving a different
name each time he called she'd buzz through to gary saying Gary it's that strange man from Florida on
the phone who doesn't want me to know who he is Ned rod explained to Gary that they were
willing to offer him a higher position with a better salary if he joined them it was a great opportunity and Gary was
excited but he kept his cool he had kept the offer on the down-low only telling his girlfriend his parents
and a few of his trusted workmates Ned had returned to Florida and he wanted to know if Gary would consider flying out
there for a few days to meet Ned's partner the CEO of the company Gary said he'd think about it when they next spoke
Gary agreed to go to Florida and he was thinking he would take his girlfriend and they'd make a trip of it
a getaway after all the stress of the last couple of years Ned explained that they only had a quick back and forth
trip in might and were hoping it would just be Gary as things were so busy with the company but he said he would try and
work something out and get back to Gary when he did when Ned called back he said those a
change of plans and he could now make Geary at Waco Airport Ned had to fly out unexpectedly for the development project
and he was actually there right now but Gary couldn't make it and the plan fell through
but Ned found another opportunity he explained to Gary that the CEO was going to be in El Paso in early May to survey
a new development site over there and it would be the perfect opportunity for the
three of them to finally meet Ned offered to fly Gary to the Far West Texas City where they would finalize his
employment contract and get acquainted if the CEO was happy and Gary was still interested they were planning to make
him the head of the new operation if Gary agreed to take the job they could even arrange his new company car
straight away the Chevrolet Suburban and he could drive it back home to Waco if he decided
not to take the job there would be no hard feelings and they would fly him home on their company jet they would
even make the meeting on a Saturday so as not to disrupt his current position Gary felt he had absolutely nothing to
lose it was the type of opportunity that didn't come around every day and he was
prepared to see what came of it if he didn't go he would always wonder what if Gary's family and the few who
knew about the job I thought were happy for him his dad was a little skeptical but he knew that Gary was right if he
didn't go and see what it was all about he would always wonder his only advice to Gary was don't give them any money on
the morning of Saturday May 3rd 1997 Gary left his daughter with his parents and took a 7:30 a.m. American Eagle
flight from Waco to El Paso the flight took him right over the Chihuahuan Desert touching down into the fourth
largest city in Texas just before noon no peso is located in the far western corner of Texas in a region of the
desert known as the trans-pecos El Paso borders New Mexico to the north and west and to Mexico to the south
that's close proximity to Mexico brings a Mexican flavor to everything from cuisine to the landscape and the
architecture compared to many other parts of the state the El Paso region is arid and mountainous the Franklin
Mountains loom over the city like a wave the Rio Grande River runs smoothly down
towards Mexico where it forms part of the border between the two countries outside El Paso the Chihuahuan Desert is
sparsely populated the mix of dry desert conditions and mountains make for some of the harshest weather extremes
imaginable and may is usually the beginning of the most severe weather of the year
El Paso has always been associated with its higher levels of poverty and low median income level a factor which
statistically can contribute to high crime rates but El Paso has defied the odds and remained one of the safest
cities in America El Paso has been ranked in the top 3 safest large cities in the US since 1997 and it has gone on
to win the safest city four years in a row in more recent times after reaching El Paso Gary called his father to let
him know he had arrived safely he got his dad's answering machine so he left a message the following day was when Gary
was either due to fly back to Waco or if he had accepted the job drive back in his new work car and no one had heard
from him as night fell on that Sunday evening Gary's parents were worried Gary wasn't the sort of person to not stay in
touch especially given everyone back home was waiting for the big news on whether he
had the new job or not after everything Gary had been through to get his daughter back they knew that it was
totally out of character for him not to contact them and let them know what was going on he was due back at work on
Monday morning and he wasn't the type to not show up without calling in when Monday came around and Gary still hadn't
been in touch his father filed a missing person report with the Waco Police Department he knew something was wrong
he told the officer on duty that he was sure son had happened to his son at first it was
locked most other adult missing-person reports they were concerned loved ones adamant that something must have
happened to Garrity and there were the police officers who were looking for more logical explanations after their
cursory checks on Gary he came up with nothing Waco investigators detective Steve January and detective Christina
Woodruff went to browsers to find out more about the job Gary was going for and the fortune 500 company who was
poaching him when staff at Brazos put together all of the information they had on the mysterious Ned right and became
clear that they didn't know very much they had his description some brief info on his company's intentions and they
knew he was from Florida that was about it back at the station the detectives put together what they
had and began to look for Ned Wright he was described as suntanned white male approximately 50 years of age 5 feet 8
inches tall 180 to 200 pounds the receptionist had seen Ned Wright come and go in a taxi and detective
Christina Woodruff knew there was only one taxi company in the area yellow cab Waco Texas and they only had 7 cars of
the most operating by law taxi drivers had to keep a log book detailing where they picked each
passenger up and where they dropped them off down at the yellow cab office a log
book showed that arrived that when to Gary's work the day Ned Wright arrived had come from a hotel in downtown Waco
called the Fairfield Inn when they spoke to the driver he remembered picking up the fare but he
couldn't really give them any further info about Ned Wright so the detectives went to the hotel they asked to see the
records of people staying there in the day surrounding Ned's arrival at Brazos there were plenty of checking records
but no one registered under the name Ned Wright the next thing they checked was the hotel's phone records looking for
outgoing calls to either Gary's home or work after searching pages and pages of records they finally got a hit
room one to five showed a series of calls to Brazos environmental and engineering room one to five was paid
for in cash the room was registered to a man from Florida named Ted young Ted young had to live a photocopy of his
passport with the hotel staff and detectives realized the similarities between the description of Ned gray and
the passport photo of Ted young detective January took a copy of the passport photo and made a photo lineup
to take to the Brazos office one of Gary's co-workers immediately identified the photograph of Ted young as being Ned
Wright with the mystery businessman identified they got to work tracking Ted Young down there was no surprise when
they found out that he had no ties to any fortune 500 development companies in Florida for the past two and a half
years Ted young had actually been a federal fugitive he had been convicted in South Carolina in the twenty six
million dollar fraud case and he was sentenced to 52 months in a federal prison only Ted never showed up to serve
his sentence and he had been on the run ever since Waco police had no idea why Ted young would target a single father
with no particular wealth there was nothing to extort what did he have to gain it didn't make any sense
they began contacting everyone close to Gary hoping for some answers they found Gary's ex-wife Lisa Urich but
she wouldn't return their calls they looked into Lisa further and learnt about the complex custody battle she had
with Gary they also learned that just a few days after Gary went missing Lisa hired an attorney and filed for
full custody of their daughter it was clear she was trying to use Gary's disappearance to her advantage next on
the list was Sam Urick Lisa's father the detectives were aware of his falling-out with Gary and also of
his possible shady business deals they gave him a call of his trucking company two and a half hours southeast of Waco
to see if he could shed some light on any shady deals his ex son-in-law may have been involved in detective January
picked up the phone and set up a tape recorder to tape the conversation detective Steve January has quoted on
the investigators TV show I placed a call to him at his trucking company in Conroe in hopes of setting up an
interview I tried to persuade him to come to Waco to talk to us but he insisted I come there he made it clear
he wanted me on his turf and then toward the end of the conversation he began to
say some really strange things he started talking about my kids my boys even knew their names I've had you
checked out he said and I know how much you love your kids and then he hung up detective January had no doubt that Sam
Urick was trying to intimidate him January hung up the receiver and rewound the tape in his recorder to playback the
threat but when he pressed play he realized the tape hadn't recorded he kicked the rubbish bin across the room
in disgust something wasn't right it was obvious that Sam Urick wanted the police
to back off but they didn't know boy detective January sought the advice of local Texas Ranger sergeant Matt Cawthon
Texas Rangers are a law enforcement agency with statewide jurisdiction they fulfill the role of the State Bureau of
Investigation and can assist the local law enforcement agencies especially when there are jurisdictional issues or the
investigation is complicated they have certain pool and power that local law enforcement don't have together
Ranger Cawthon and detective January decided that the best thing to do would be to make a surprise visit to Sam Urick
at his trucking company in Conroe but they drove three hours to find the warehouse empty Sam Urick had cleared
out and disappeared the trucking company showed little evidence that it was a legitimate
business at all the business name southern sales had operated under six different names and company bosses there
were no tax listings and two the only activity on the phone records were thousands of long-distance phone calls
Terrell Paso Mexico and Honduras in Central America as well as numerous other locations
the investigation with the help of the Texas Rangers now focused on Sam Urick they had absolutely no idea how he could
possibly be linked to Ted young or even their disappearance of Gary Patterson but it seems like the right direction to
go Gary's father told investigators the rumors and stories he had heard about Sam Urick how he would sometimes brag
about the old days when he was a CIA he'd been there was the time Sam went to a Waco bank with $100,000 in cash
wanting to open an account the bank requested a disclosure agreement signing where the money had come from but rather
than tell them Sam left the bank furious [Music] Lysa Urich was eventually called in for
questioning she had no idea where her father was and she had no idea where Gary was either she didn't look worried
at all about Gary but the detectives didn't know if that was because they weren't on speaking terms or she knew
something they didn't detective January do you have any suggestions of thoughts on why he might have disappeared Lisa I
really don't I can't imagine what has happened to him what do you think happened to him like I
said before I don't know I mean it's just totally out of character do you think your father could be involved
no why not because my dad is not like that that's why Gary's father passed over there details of the private
investigator they had hired to tackle a sit-down hoping that he might have some information for the police and he was
right he did the san diego private investigator told detective january that while trailing lisa he had a hunch that
her father Sam was involved and it turned out that Sam had actually been funding Lisa to stay hidden for the two
years she was on the run it was clear to the PR that Urich hated his former son-in-law because of the custody battle
and it was not a man to forgive or forget very easily the pay I confirmed that Urich was involved in money
laundering schemes and different business scams any sniffing around his business by the cops was a sure way to
get him to run because he wouldn't want to jeopardize his money over an investigation into the disappearance of
his ex son-in-law the PI also disclosed that he had managed to get his hands on a leather-bound a day planner owned by
Urich it was sitting on the front seat of Eurex Lincoln and it just happened to fall into his hands and get photocopied
the P I gave detective January a copy when January received the pages he saw it was a large list of contacts they
weren't in alphabetical order like a phone book it was just the list of around a thousand names and phone
numbers written randomly January got to work going through the list and after getting through around 500 names he
finally found the one he was looking for Ted young the both Sam Urick and Ted young had vanished and detectives from
the Waco Police Department didn't have the capabilities to track them down they were faced with major jurisdiction
issues Gary Patterson was from Waco in McLennan County but he disappeared in El Paso
which is in El Paso County Ted young was a federal fugitive who could be anywhere
and Sam Urick got around further background checks on him revealed he had been either charged indicted or served
time in 22 different states Texas Ranger Cawthon went to the Waco Police Department and went over the entire case
with detectives January and Woodruff they spent a whole afternoon outlining everything they knew before Cawthon
suggested that the only way to help with the jurisdiction issues was to get everyone in the same room he organized
the meeting of local state and federal agencies believing they might be able to put together some sort of strategy the
meeting was attended by the McLennan County District Attorney the assistant US attorney for the Western District of
Texas representatives from the FBI and members of the US Marshals office they went over all the details of the case
and decided that the only chance they had of finding out what happened to Gary Patterson was to locate the last known
person to have seen him alive Ted young what the Waco detectives didn't know was
that the US Marshals had been following Ted young already the u.s. marshal deputy who was present at the meeting
excused herself to make a phone call when she returned she sat down and said we've got him we know all about him and
where he is she reeled off an enormous catalogue of details of the surveillance of Ted young
finishing with he just crossed over the border from El Paso to Juarez pulling a trailer the u.s. marshals made it clear
that Ted young was a federal fugitives and they had sole jurisdiction over him but they said that would keep local law
enforcement in the loop the Waco detectives had trouble reconciling that the u.s. marshals knew where Ted young
was that hadn't made the arrest yet they kept quiet but they were troubled and as
the week's went on and still no arrest was made they became restless and decided to continue on with their own
investigation getting everyone in the same room hadn't helped their jurisdiction issues they
weren't getting any cooperation from El Paso boys they had no idea what the u.s.
marshals plans for Ted young were and they were no closer to finding either Sam Urick or Gary Patterson with the
help of Waco based assistant US attorney Bill Johnston they realized that if they
could somehow have Gary's disappearance viewed as a federal crime in a federal case they would gain power to subpoena
witnesses as well as seek the cooperation of the El Paso authorities and the FBI but the problem they heard
was that Gary Patterson didn't cross over state lines El Paso was still in Texas Texas Ranger Cawthon recalled in
an interview with Carlton stylus from the Dallas Observer for his article and book death in a Texas desert quote
finally after doing some research assistant US attorney Bill Johnston came up with a statute referring to
interstate flights that worked to our advantage the commercial flight that Gary had taken to El Paso had been
scheduled to travel on to San Francisco that same day they had found a loophole to get their federal link and soon after
the FBI officially joined the missing person investigation they were now ready to utilize all the resources they had
available to them since the marshals insisted on bringing Ted Jung in assistant US attorney Johnston called
them and request that they help locate Sam Urick as well but it was given a stern warning by the marshals you don't
know who you were dealing with the Texan grandfather Sam Urich's history went far
beyond what local law enforcement knew there was a highly classified FBI investigation called Operation circus
which named Urich as a known associate of two rogue CIA agents in the 1980s frank terpil
into Edmund Wilson the rogue agents had been accused of selling stolen items to terrorist countries
the FBI believed Senior ik helped hide the rogue agents when they were on the run and that he was also involved in the
purchase and delivery of arms and 20 tons of plastic explosives these explosives were sold to Libyan
terrorists who would ultimately claim credit for the 1986 bombing of a Berlin nightclub frequented by American
soldiers the bombing killed two US servicemen and wounded over 200 others in retaliation to the bombing President
Reagan ordered airstrikes on Libya at the time of the investigation into Garry Patterson's disappearance at least three
US intelligence agencies had his ex-father-in-law Sam Urick listed as someone who assisted
in facilitating the shipment of explosives to Libya so near local law enforcement knew Sam Urick
wasn't just a small-time money-launderer with shady businesses he was a serious criminal and there was every chance that
he was involved in his ex Sonny lures disappearance with the threat Sam Urick had made still fresh in his mind
detective January stepped up his own personal protection he checked his home and vehicle for explosives and he kept
several guns close by in case he needed one at a moment's notice when detective Christina Woodruff found out about the
dark past of Sam Urick she feared for her life they believed was a person capable of anything the
next stage of the investigation involved Texas Ranger Cawthon and Waco detectives
January and Woodruff going over every name in Sam Urick state planner they constantly flew between Waco and El Paso
creating a road map between different people on the list everyone in the day planner seemed to be involved with the
underside of the law in some way fugitives conmen and lawbreakers dotted across the desert plains of Texas some
people got wind that police were sniffing around and fled before they could be questioned other Associates of
Sam's sometimes two or three times removed gave tidbits of information one person told detectives the Sam Urick
was actually with Ted young in El Paso the day Gary Patterson flew there on a dusty rocky road on the outskirts
of El Paso detectives approached the house of a man known to both Sam Urick and Ted young Holli Martinez all he told
them that Ted was living in Honduras in Central America and he offered to take them there personally Ted young might
have been in Honduras that would explain the long distance calls from Sam Urick striking company to the country but it
also might have been a ruse by Ollie Martinez to get back over the border himself
when Waco investigators caught through the info to the US Marshals in El Paso they were warned there Martinez was a
known hustler and con men and he was likely just playing them as the one-year mark of Gary Patterson's disappearance
came round the leads finally started heating up they interviewed dozens of Eurex associates and worked through
every name in his day planner which led them to a man named Clark Paulsen Clark confirmed that he knew both Sam Urick
and Ted young and after some prodding he admitted that Ted had contacted him a while ago and asked to borrow his pickup
truck on May 3rd 1997 the day Gary Patterson disappeared Clark Paulsen delivered his pickup truck
to Ted young at the Red Roof Inn El Paso Paulsen picked his truck up the following day in the same motels parking
lot but he wasn't sure what Ted had used it for detectives then made a plan to go
to an address that had come up in their extensive investigation of Sam Urick and
his associates it was a wrench in the Chihuahuan Desert east of El Paso owned by a longtime associate of Urich's
the ranch was on 600 isolated acres of desert they believed that Urich often visited the ranch sometimes staying
there for weeks at a time he would use the ranch to meet Ted young and others on unknown business according to Texas
Ranger Cawthon when interviewed for the Dallas Observer for the book of death in
a Texas desert quote when we arrived out there this old Dodge Charger comes racing down a hill spewing dust 20 feet
into the air the driver was head of security for the ranch ex-military and it turns out a
real police buff when we gave him a general idea of what we were up to he said he was glad someone was looking at
the place because he was pretty sure whatever was going on there wasn't legal to my surprise he agreed to meet with us
when he got off work the security guard told Cawthon and detective January that he had walked
every inch of the 600 acre ranch they asked him if he had ever found any bones here there and he said yes
many they were on his workbench he collected the bones and bleached them he showed Cawthon in January his collection
many of looked like animal bones but then he pulled one from the box that made the officers stare at each other it
looked human Cawthon explained that they would like to have a forensic anthropologist examiner be my guest
the security guard required dr. Susan Mackay Wallace only needed one quick look at the bone as it was pulled from
coffins briefcase it's a human arm she said after a few quick measurements she confirmed that could very well be the
bone of a male in his early 30s while they waited for a search warrant for the ranch had seemed to the perfect time to
get Lisa Urich back in for questioning and as luck would have it Lisa had failed to pay ordered court
costs and fees in the aftermath of her sentencing so she found herself arrested for parole violation
when detectives January and Woodruff the raw data has to arrest her she didn't argue as laces sat in the
back of the police car Woodruff returned to her and said he won't believe would have been uncovered
in the desert outside El Paso Lisa looked at her with no idea a human arm bone leisa sank down in her sea and according
to the detectives she doubled over as if she had stomach cramps at the county jail house places has
silently when questioned detective January explained to her in very simple terms that the window of opportunity was
closing fast at that police are appeared defeated and quiet and within 24 hours she started talking her father Sam Urick
had made a plan to lure Gary to El Paso but according to Lisa it was only to beat him up not to kill him
he used an associate that in u-turn young to entice Gary away from Waco in order to carry out the plan Lisa
admitted that she knew Gary would go as soon as they offered him the new worker the Chevrolet Suburban her father had
asked her to help Ted young identify Gary just before her sentencing which had occurred the day before the
mysterious Ned Wright walked into Gary's office Lisa called Gary's parents to ask
them for a photo of Gary to put in a locket for their daughter Gary's parents obliged although they were confused why
she was been caring enough to do so the photo wasn't for their daughters locket the photo was to give to Ted young so
that when he was taken around Brazos to meet the staff he would be able to recognize Gary immediately
the Waco investigators approached US Attorney Bill Johnston with what they had arrest warrants were approved for
Sam Urick and Ted young and the search warrant for the ranch outside El Paso where the arm bone was found was also
approved that day an army of volunteers from the military base the prison and the fire department joined to the team
of police and police dogs as they searched the 600 acres of desert on the ranch to look for Gary's body the huge
team fought the harsh Sun and tough ground over three days every disturbed piece of ground and every unusual
gathering of rocks would prick the senses of those searching one of the officers came upon a neat pile of rocks
and beneath them just under the surface was a skull after a little more digging they found more bones even though the
reality of what they had found hung heavy they were relieved to have located Gary's body bringing some closure to the
case the search team rejoiced there was a massive breakthrough the body was sent
to the El Paso coroner's office and detective Christina Woodruff waited for the medical and dental records to arrive
when the records came through she walked through the front doors of the coroner's
office and sat waiting with a coffee the coroner looked at the dental records for just a few seconds then turned to
Detective Woodruff it's not him woodruff felt herself slipped to the floor how could it not be Gary Patterson
[Music] further investigation revealed the body belonged to someone else a homeless man from El Paso a homicide
victim but not related to the Gary Patterson case at all with the search coming up with nothing on Gary the
investigation focused back on locating Sam Urick and Ted young regardless of the u.s. marshals jurisdiction over the
arrest of Ted young for the fraud sentence he faced with Gary Patterson's case now being a federal investigation
the Waco investigation team could go after him as well and it was in their best interest to find him first they
believed that they could get Ted to spill the beans on Sam Urick and maybe even lead them to Gary's body
but without Ted their case was weak three weeks later word came through that Sam Urick had been apprehended by US
Marshals in Las Vegas apparently the US Marshals have known of Eurex whereabouts
for three days prior to his arrest but didn't inform the investigation team back in Waco
Eirik was holding jail awaiting extradition back to texas detectives knew that they had to find firm evidence
on Urich by the time he was brought back to Waco if they didn't they risk them being released without charge
they realized to get that firm evidence they had the track down Ted young their investigation had revealed that Ted was
in Honduras as they had been told previously and the decision was made to go there and get him Texas Ranger Matt
Cawthon and his lieutenant boarded a plane with members of the Secret Service who had agreed to run interference with
the Honduran government in Central America they were the liaised with local police to if necessary when they arrived
in the capital city of Tegucigalpa representatives of the US Embassy were waiting for them never before had the
Texas Rangers being involved in an arrest of this magnitude they had never traveled so far been involved with so
many different agencies will being this deep into an investigation it was uncharted waters Honduras is nestled
between Nicaragua El Salvador and Guatemala and remains one of the poorest and least developed countries in Latin
America the economy is based mostly on agriculture and in 1997 coffee and bananas accounted for 37% of the total
legal export revenue during the 1990s drug trafficking and kidnapping were an enormous problem for Honduras the rise
in violent crime had intensified with government unrest and the murders we're at an all-time high
between the years 94 and to 98 88 percent of the cocaine headed for the US is believed to pass through Central
America so Honduras was exposed to the problems that came with that organized crime violence and corruption senior
military members were alleged to be involved in drug trafficking like elsewhere in Central America
private security outnumbered police corruption was rife and people protected themselves with people they knew they
could trust when the team pursuing Ted Jung arrived in Honduras at the end of July 98 they
had no idea that within just two months the country and the entire region would be unrecognizable it would be hit by the
second deadliest Atlantic hurricane on record and the deadliest recorded hurricane in the satellite era hurricane
Mitch when the Texas Rangers arrived to their hotel in Tegucigalpa the hit the fan one of the Secret Service guys
came in and told them that the u.s. marshals were furious that they were there the same US Marshal that had
attended the meeting in Waco the one who had taken the phone call and told them to back off Ted young as he was the sole
jurisdiction of the u.s. marshals had just found Washington to get the Waco investigators kicked out of Honduras but
while officials were disagreeing back in the u.s. over who had jurisdiction over
ted young's arrest the waco team in honduras continued tracking him they got into a van outside their hotel and drove
four hours north to San Pedro Sula they had word that Ted Jung was there the road between Tegucigalpa in san pedro
sula can be dangerous rock slides are common especially in the wet season which they were in traffic signs are
often unmarked or inadequate and the traffic is heavy with trucks and buses because of the high incidence of
carjackings international tourists are advised the drive with locked doors and to be wary at traffic stops it's advised
not to drive at night after driving over four hours through the mountains and the
dense pine trees which grow along the central part of the country the Waco team arrived in san pedro sula Cawthon
showed a photo of Ted young to some locals they told him the American man in the picture worked at a local junkyard
and pointed in the direction when they pulled their van up to the rundown junkyard they all watched as the
gray-haired Ted young walked through a gate into the yard Texas Ranger Cawthon recalled in an interview with Carleton
Stowers for the Dallas observer and for the book death in a Texas desert quote I
can't describe how I felt at the moment when I finally saw the men we'd been chasing after for 15 months I wanted to
run across the road and hug him but they held back they watched him overnight and
first thing the next morning Ted young was arrested and taken to the local police station before being transferred
to the San Pedro Sula jail Cawthon told Ted he was from the Texas Rangers and he
wasn't there about the fraud case who was wanted for he was there to talk about Gary Patterson at that point Ted's
face dropped Cawthon reeled off all the evidence they had on him they knew he had stayed at the Fairfield Inn in Waco
they knew he had posed this Ned right they knew he had stayed at the Red Roof Inn in El Paso they knew he borrowed the
pickup truck from Clark Paulson the day Gary disappeared they knew he had spent time in El Paso with Sam Urick Cawthon
told Ted that if he didn't fill in their gaps and cooperate then he would spend the rest of his life in jail protecting
a man who would never protect him after sitting silently and staring back at the
Texas Rangers Ted young required okay I'll give you what you want Ted young told them the entire story
Ted fled his conviction in South Carolina and made his way to Honduras he had been traveling back and forth to the
US on his twin brother Fred's Passport Sam Urick contacted him in Honduras and asked him to come back to the u.s. to
carry out a job he Yurika been shipping Ted old trucks to Seoul it was the only way he was able to make a living at the
time so he felt he owed Eureka favor Ted went on to explain the failed attempt that luring Gary to Florida then he
tried to meet him at the airport in Waco with the intention of driving him out near China Springs to arrange his murder
when that also failed Ted and Urich came up with the plan to lure Gary to El Paso
that day Ted met Gary at the old Paso Airport Gary was under the impression he was
there to meet the CEO of the company so Ted had to make excuses for the delay he
took Gary to lunch and they visited a few bars for drinks by the time dusk came which was the arranged time they
were meeting the CEO Gary was a little tipsy they jumped in the pickup truck and Ted
tell Gary that he had to swing by the desert development location to pick up a soil sample as they drove out into the
desert the Sun was fading and Gary began dosing off when they approached the location a figure stood out on the road
in front of the pickup truck as Gary's eyes adjusted he focused on the man he assumed was his new boss the CEO but as
he looked closer he saw his ex father-in-law Sam Urick walking to the passenger side door he turned Patel who
was by then holding a 22 caliber pistol in his face senior Akopian mcGarry's door wrapped
duct tape around his arms and legs and dragged him out of the car seeing then turned to ted and told him
to go back to town and to pick him up the next day because this is going to take all night Ted went back to the Red
Roof Inn and retired for the night the next day he collected Urich and returned to the pickup truck to the
parking world of the motel where it was later collected by its owner clark paulson Urich then drove ted out of town
to a safe place where he could travel back over the border when Ted asked Uruguay Kerry was he said he's in the
desert here it pulled a hundred and eighty dollars from his pocket apparently taken from Gary and gave it
to Ted for his troubles using his twin brother Fred's passport Ted young crossed the border into Mexico
and disappeared back to Honduras after hearing his story Ranger Cawthon had one more thing he needed Ted young to do he
slid a notepad in his direction across the table and asked him to draw a map of where he and Gary had met Sam Urick
Ted explained that originally he was supposed to take Gary to a ranch they knew which sat on 608 is east of El Paso
but security were walking around so they moved to an area adjacent to that property Cawthon knew exactly what ranch
he was referring to there was the ranch where they had found the remains of an unrelated murder victim during their
search for Gary Ted drew a map to the spot Eureka dragged Gary from the pickup truck from
San Pedro Sula the Texas Rangers got in touch with detective January who was in El Paso that day January had arrested
Clark Paulson for misprision of felony which is the knowledge and concealment of a felony Paulson was the man made
questioned earlier the man who had lent Ted young his pickup truck January couldn't believe what he was hearing on
the phone Corson said get a search party together I'm faxing your map and with it
you're going to find Gary Patterson's body on the 3rd of august 1998 a search team
driving convoy down the same long road east of El Paso their Gary Patterson traveled on his final day 15 months
before Gary thought he was going out into the desert evening to collect the soil sample instead his ex father-in-law
stood over him bound him and beat him with a metal pipe until he was almost dead but killing him wasn't enough he
want to Gary to suffer until his very last breath Urich dug a shallow grave and rolled his
ex son-in-law in gary was still gasping his last breaths of air as Urich shoveled desert sand over him following
ted young's map the search party warp into the desert the search dog led them to a spot of unsettled ground and a
small amount of digging was all it took to know there was something there detective January ordered the area be
cordoned off and the medical examiner was called in a helicopter hovered above taking aerial photos of the soil a
hydraulic mule was brought in and every moment of the excavation was filmed January wasn't leaving any stone
unturned and he wanted the scene treated with the utmost care [Music] Gary Patterson's body was lifted from
his shallow grave still dressed in the black jeans white shirt and boots he had been wearing the day he went to El Paso
it had taken 15 months and an excessively complicated investigation involving Waco police the Texas Rangers
the FBI a California private investigator the US Marshals office the Secret Service the State Department
Border Patrol the government of Honduras and even Interpol but they had finally got there
they had found Gary Patterson that day detective Steve January cried for the first time in his career in September
1999 Clark Paulsen the owner of the pickup truck faced a misprision of felony charge for his role in the murder
but paulsen adamantly denied he knew anything about the plan to murder Gary Patterson he said he had no idea what
ted young was using his truck for he was acquitted lisa Urich pleaded guilty to miss prison of felony and received a
three year prison sentence plus the two-year sentence she was already serving for violating the terms of her
parole she lost all custody rights to her daughter who by that time at nine years old was cared for solely by Gary's
parents when Sam Urick and Ted Young's cases came to court assistant US attorney Bill Johnston made no secret
that if the cases went to trial he would be seeking the death penalty they both pleaded guilty
federal judge Walter Smith without pointing the finger at any agencies or persons in particular made mention that
he was troubled by the lack of federal participation in the investigation Ted young pleaded guilty to being an
accessory to murder and for carrying a firearm during a crime of violence he received a 20-year sentence plus the
four years and three months he still owed in South Carolina for his fraud conviction Sam Urick pleaded guilty to
the murder of Gary Patterson and was sentenced to life in prison despite the coroner confirming the scene
was inhaled into his thorax Sam Urick denies any knowledge that Gary was still alive when he buried him in the desert
[Music] [Music] you [Music]

Case 69: Gary Patterson

On the morning of Saturday, May 3rd, 1997; 33-year-old, single father Gary Patterson woke up before dawn in his home in Waco, Texas.

He got dressed in black jeans and a white shirt and boots. He didn’t need to wear a suit to his final job interview, he had already met with one of the business partners, and they had got to know each other pretty well over the previous three weeks.

CREDITS

Narration – Anonymous Host Research and writing – Anna Priestland Production, scoring – Mike Migas Additional scoring – Andrew Joslyn

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RESOURCES

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Brief Summary

Gary Patterson was murdered in 1997 by his ex-father-in-law Sam Urick, following a complex investigation.

Key points

Movement Watches: The Perfect Gift. Gift-giving made easy with Movement watches starting at just $95.
Gary Patterson's Life Changes. After a tough divorce, Gary Patterson's life was finally looking up.
A Job Opportunity of a Lifetime. Gary receives an unexpected job offer that could change everything.
Lisa's Custody Battle. Lisa Urich files for full custody just days after Gary's disappearance, raising suspicions.
Intimidation Tactics. Detective January experiences intimidation from Sam Urick during a phone call.
The Shocking Discovery. Detectives find a human arm bone in the desert, leading to a major breakthrough.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

Life was getting back to normal.

5:51WatchNov 20, 2018

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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