All language subtitles for Unsolved.Mysteries.S05E07.480p.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-PLAYREADY_track3_[und]

ANNOUNCER: This program is
about unsolved mysteries.

Whenever possible, the
actual family members

and police officials
have participated

in recreating the events.

What you are about to see
is not a news broadcast.

NARRATOR: Five weeks
ago, we brought you

the story of a young man who
was suffering from amnesia

and living in a homeless
shelter in San Diego.

Thanks to our viewers, he now
knows who he is he will soon

be reunited with his family.

Tonight, the dramatic
conclusion to his story.

And we'll introduce
you to this woman,

also suffering from amnesia
and needing your help

to find out who she is.

We'll also examine accusations
that a nurse in Texas

named Ethel Nation sold dozens
of babies to adoptive parents.

Two of those infants,
who are now adults,

would like your help to
find their natural parents.

And finally, with
Halloween almost upon us,

two tales of things that
go bump in the night.

NARRATOR: During the
Civil War, this building

was an important outpost
for the Union Army.

Today, it is a museum, and
many employees believe some

of the old soldiers never left.

This building, an
upscale restaurant,

known as the Moss
Beach Distillery,

also has a spectacular
and intriguing past.

Legend has it that
during the roaring '20s,

it was a hotbed for loose women,
bathtub gin, racketeering,

and mobsters.

Over the years,
eyewitnesses recount

a series of strange happenings
right here in the distillery--

eerie sights and sounds that
no matter how hard you try,

cannot be explained.

Some believe that the
ghosts of the Roaring '20s

are still here today,
brewing up spirited mischief

to make a fascinating and
chilling unsolved mystery.

[theme music]

NARRATOR: Moss Beach is
a lonely, windswept cove

which lies 20 miles
south of San Francisco.

The Moss Beach Distillery
is perched on a bluff

overlooking the cove.

The restaurant's
name pays homage

to the building's history.

During the heady
days of prohibition,

it was a notorious speakeasy.

In recent years, all
manner of strange goings

on have been reported at
the Moss Beach Distillery.

Waitresses swear that cold winds
swirl through the dining room

when no windows
or doors are open.

One of the former owners
claims she has seen objects fly

through the air and
doors lock mysteriously

of their own accord.

At last count, as many
as five different ghosts

have been reported lurking in
and around this restaurant.

Now I've been here all day, and
I haven't seen a single ghost.

But over the years,
a lot of other people

have or say they have.

And since it's almost
Halloween, the rest of us

should at least try
to keep an open mind.

According to local legend,
all this ghostly business

began some 70 years ago with
a beautiful lady in blue.

NARRATOR: The Roaring
'20s, flappers,

fast living, illegal booze.

Hey, Eddie, tell those
punks to get the lead out.

NARRATOR: Frank's Roadhouse,
the speakeasy at Moss Beach,

was a favorite jumping
off point for bootleggers.

Hey, what took you so long?

Hey, you want the goods?
You gotta wait for them.

Let's get this party rolling.
- Nice.

Hey, Tony.

Mm, gentlemen, the best
whiskey money can buy,

fresh off the boat.

NARRATOR: Franks
was also the setting

for a legendary love triangle.

The lady was beautiful.

She always wore blue.

The piano player had
eyes only for her.

But their romance was
conducted in secret

because the lady in blue
belonged to someone else.

The lovers communicated
in code, a silent language

in which the lift of an
eyebrow spoke volumes.

The lady's husband
was a bootlegger,

and that night, she
made a serious mistake.

Unaware that he
would soon arrive,

she signaled the piano player
to meet her on the beach.

Moss Beach was a
bootleggers' haven,

isolated and sheltered
under a cliff

just outside the speakeasy.

Seen my wife down here?

NARRATOR: When the
lady's husband found out

she had left Frank's Roadhouse,
he made his way to the cove

and frantically
questioned his cronies.

Son of a--

Hey, Mick, keep in the bottle.

NARRATOR: Suddenly,
the bootlegger

saw his wife with
the piano player

and went mad with jealousy.

Oh.

No, it's all right.

Hey, evening, Max.

- Very bad move, Eddie.
- No, no, no.

Relax.
- What's wrong with you?

Why would you do that to me?

I'm telling you, relax.

Stay back!

That's it, right
now, right now.

Let's go, Max.
NARRATOR: A knife flashed.

A gun was drawn.

I'm gonna blow
your brains out!

NARRATOR: The lady threw herself
between the two men she loved.

Eddie!
[grunt]

[groan]

Lucy.

Lucy.

NARRATOR: When the
struggle was over,

the beautiful lady in blue lay
lifeless, victim of her lover's

dagger, or so it is said.

Some will deny that
she ever existed,

but others will swear
that her ghost haunts

Moss Beach to this very day.

Believers claim that just as
the Blue Lady once held court

inside the speakeasy, her spirit
now pervades the restaurant,

breathing a chill
wind down the necks

of women she sees as rivals.

Moreover, some employees
swear that she calls out

their names seductively
when they are

all alone in the dining room.

BLUE LADY: Bryan.

She's mischievous.

A lot of pranks will happen,
a lot of things will go on,

but I don't think that
any of it is malicious.

I don't think that anything is
supposed to be hair-raising,

send you running
out of a building,

or anything else like that.

She's good.

She seems to be a kind
soul, nice spirit.

It still amazes me that
she still is there and still

playing tricks on people.

Every time I come back
and talk to someone,

they give me the list of all the
things that she's been doing.

NARRATOR: When Pat
and Dave Andrews owned

the Moss Beach
Distillery, their family

lived on the ground floor.

They say the Blue Lady
seemed to delight in locking

them out of their rooms.

[clattering]

Pat also says that the Blue
Lady liked to play other tricks,

especially late
at night when Pat

was all alone in the
restaurant office.

PATRICIA ANDREWS
(VOICEOVER): My checkbook

lifted right off the
shelf above my head

and sailed around,
kind of slowly,

around in this small room.

And I just told
her to put it back,

and it went right
back onto the shelf.

JOHN BARBOUR (VOICEOVER): I
was a total skeptic, couldn't

have been more skeptical.

It would be impossible to be
more skeptical than I was.

And I just didn't believe in it.

And then as time went on, the
things that happened totally

brought me around to the
point of view that it is here.

There's no if, ands,
or buts about it.

It happened.

NARRATOR: On the cliff
outside the restaurant,

some neighborhood children once
claimed they saw the Blue Lady.

But she seemed to be a very
different kind of ghost,

not the playful spirit
who dwelt indoors,

but one with a somber
demeanor, concerned

for the children's safety.

Children.

Please.

Please listen.

Go back.

Go away.

It's dangerous.

Please.

Listen.

Hurry.

NARRATOR: The housekeeper of
one of the restaurant employees

believes she has
met the same spirit,

and that it is definitely
not the two-timing flapper

of popular legend.

The first time I
see the Blue Lady

is one night, I am very sick.

I have cold, I have fever.

I see one person on
the side of my bed.

NARRATOR: The mysterious
Blue Lady would soon

reappear, this time,
just after Consuelo

had finished showering.

She claims that once again,
the spirit asked for her music

and then revealed her name.

NARRATOR: The name "Alma
Reed" conjured a dim memory

from Consuelo's childhood.

When she was 10 years
old, Consuelo's father

had given her
sheet music written

by one of his close
friends, Ricardo Palmarin,

a famous Mexican musician.

The song was titled "Peregrina."

It was dedicated to
Ricardo's beloved.

Her name was Alma Reed.

According to Consuelo, Alma
Reed and Ricardo Palmarin

were star-crossed lovers.

Alma was already
married to another man

when she fell in love with
the handsome musician.

Legend has it that in 1927,
she walked into the sea,

preferring death to life
without her beloved Ricardo.

Some say she drowned herself off
the Northern California coast,

not far from Moss Beach.

I became involved
with the Blue Lady--

NARRATOR: Sylvia Browne
has a national reputation

as a psychic.

She has worked
with the police on

many unsolved criminal cases.

In 1992, the owner of
the Moss Beach Distillery

asked her to find out just
who the Blue Lady was.

And I said, oh,
I have more things

to do than to go ghost chasing.

But I said, what the heck?

So after I got up here, I
walked in and said, oh my god.

There is a ghost here, and
I'm getting the name "Mary

Ann" or "Mary Ellen Morley."

And she seems to be swarthed
all in a hat, in blue--

NARRATOR: The
restaurant employees

were surprised when Sylvia
came up with a totally

new identity for the Blue Lady.

How old is she?

Maybe, I'd say 26.

NARRATOR: Sylvia went on
to say that Mary Ellen

Morley had been
killed by crushing

blows to the chest and head.

But her demeanor seems--

We took that information, went
over to the San Mateo County

Vital Statistics and
researched documentation

between 1910 and 1930.

And, in fact, came
up with the name

that Sylvia Browne had
mentioned during dinner--

Mary Ellen Morley.

My god, Jen, look at this.

What'd you get?

Oh, you're kidding.

"Mrs. Fred W. Morley."

NARRATOR: Jennifer Towner
and Jan Mucklestone,

another restaurant employee,
dug through the archives

and made an eerie discovery.

Mary Ellen Morley's
maiden name was Reed,

and in an astounding
coincidence,

she had a sister named Alma.

This is all checking out.

This is just incredible.

NARRATOR: Jennifer
and Jan were also

intrigued by the
newspaper accounts

of Mary Ellen Morley's death.

When she was killed,
it made front page news

in the "Redwood City Standard"
as well as the "Times Gazette."

It was really
chilling when I came

upon that, because all of a
sudden, she became very real.

NARRATOR: Mary
Ellen Morley lived

in Redwood City, California,
near the San Francisco Bay.

On the day of her death, Mary
Ellen and her husband Frederick

had driven north to
visit her mother's grave.

The cemetery was 15 miles from
the Moss Beach distillery.

Returning home on the Bayshore
Highway that same night,

Frederick lost control
of his automobile.

It overturned, and Mary Ellen
was trapped in the wreckage.

Are you all right?

The car, it's heavy.

Get it off of me.

I'll get you out.

NARRATOR: With her
last breath, she

asked Frederick to take care of
their three-year-old son Jack.

--Jack for me.

NARRATOR: When Frederick
Morley heard a car,

he frantically ran for help.

But in the end, he could do
nothing to save his wife.

The injuries she suffered
were crushing blows

to the chest and head,
the exact injuries

described by Sylvia Browne.

Help me!

You say that
you're very tired.

NARRATOR: The owner
of the distillery

called Sylvia Browne back to
the restaurant for a seance.

Because you've
been walking so long.

So cold, so tired.

NARRATOR: Sylvia
claimed that Mary

Ellen Morley's spirit
was weary from searching

for Jack, her son.

Incredibly, Sylvia
also said she saw three

other spirits with Mary Ellen--

a beautiful blonde
named Anna Philbrick,

her dashing lover, John
Contina, and Hannah

Elder, a Mennonite woman.

As the seance came
to an end, Sylvia

said Mary Ellen warned
there would soon

be a fire at the restaurant.

SYLVIA BROWNE: --concerned.

Is that what you're
saying, Mary Ellen?

Four or five days
later after this, we had

a fire here in the restaurant.

We had to close the
restaurant temporarily.

And that was really eerie.

That was kind of scary.

I've moved from a 1 on
a scale of 10 of belief

to somewhere in the neighborhood
of an 8, I would say,

and a 10 with regard
to my Blue Lady.

I'm convinced she's here.

NARRATOR: Does the spirit
of a beautiful Blue Lady

really haunt the Moss
Beach Distillery?

If so, who could she be?

Most people now
believe she is Mary

Ellen Morley, the
young mother who

died in a tragic car accident.

Others swear that
the Blue Lady is

Alma Reed, the ill-fated
lover of Ricardo Palmarin.

A few still hold with
the original legend

of the beautiful flapper
who romanced a piano

player at Frank's Roadhouse.

Perhaps all three
women haunt Moss Beach.

Perhaps the Moss Beach
Distillery is not only

a watering hole for
humans, but a gathering

place for spirits as well.

When we return, a tale of a
haunting from a different era.

Some say the spirits
from the Civil War

have taken up residence in
the Drum Barracks Museum.

[theme music]

NARRATOR: On April 12,
1861, the first tragic shots

of the American
Civil War were fired

at Fort Sumter, South Carolina.

Over the next four
years, the battle raged

along a thousand-mile front.

Though most of the fighting took
place in the Southern states,

the Union war effort eventually
spread across the country,

all the way to
Wilmington, California.

In 1862, a military installation
was established on 60 acres

overlooking Los Angeles Harbor.

Christened the Drum Barracks
after an obscure lieutenant

colonel, the facility was
a key center for training

and processing troops.

By the end of the
war, nearly half

of California's 17,000
Union volunteers

had passed through the barracks.

Today, all that
remains of the outpost

is a single building
which now houses

a modest museum and some
very unlikely tour guides.

I don't call them
ghosts, or I don't

call them hauntings, usually.

What I do believe in is
we call them spirits.

It's a comfortable feeling.

They don't bother
me, and I'm very

comfortable here with them.

You can lock the
rooms at night, I do.

I make a check, in fact.

Very religiously, I
check all the rooms.

They're locked.

The lights are off.

The shades are down.

And you come here at 8
o'clock in the morning,

and the light in the parlor
jolly well might be on,

and then again, it might not,
but the shades may be up.

NARRATOR: In 1986, Marge
O'Brien was hired to revitalize

the Drum Barracks.

The museum had
fallen into disrepair

despite being declared a
historic landmark in 1963.

MARGE O'BRIEN (VOICEOVER):
It was very dark, very sad

feeling as you walk through.

And it was just a building, just
standing here, saying, help me.

NARRATOR: Over the
next few months,

Marge and a team of
craftsmen and volunteers

worked diligently to
overhaul the museum.

The officers' lounge
was faithfully restored,

and new displays were installed.

The old building was coming back
to life in more ways than one.

MARGE O'BRIEN (VOICEOVER):
I'm sitting in my office,

doing the proverbial
paper work, and something

will take my attention.

Either a window will
rattle, the roses will

hit against the windows,
the wind possibly,

but something attracts
me to the fact

that I should be
checking something.

[soft thudding]

I will walk over to the parlor.

9 chances out of 10,
when I have this feeling,

and I open the door,
more likely than not,

the lights on the table are on.

Most times, I will walk up the
stairs and check the gun room.

Very often, that too
has the lights on

and the window blinds
open, even though they

have been closed and down.

Because the rule here is
that after every tour,

you pull the shades
down, turn off the light,

and lock the door.

Never thought
much about ghosts.

I've never inquired
about it, never tried

to speak to the dead,
never got involved.

Even when I first came here,
I took it very lightly.

NARRATOR: Forrest
Neal was always

a skeptic when it came
to ghosts and the like,

until the summer of 1989.

FORREST NEAL (VOICEOVER):
It was on a Monday

morning, museum being closed.

I'm here by myself,
and I heard someone

walking in one of the hallways.

As it continued, I
walked out of my door,

looking down the stairway.

[creaking]

I proceeded down,
knowing that someone

was probably in the
gift shop, hiding,

waiting for me to leave.

As I went in the
gift shop, no one.

When I opened the
bathroom, I expected

for something to happen.

There was no one
in the bathroom.

And since then, I've become
pretty much a believer.

We were up there in the
gun room, cleaning, dusting.

NARRATOR: Yasmin works
with volunteer groups

who assist in the
museum's upkeep.

In 1991, she too began to
believe that the Drum Barracks

might, in fact, be haunted.

I think we're
done for the day.

Let's go.

YASMIN (VOICEOVER): I
put down the blinds,

and turned off the lights,
and locked the door,

and left, came downstairs
and left the building.

There was nobody around.

You will be back
Friday, won't you?

Yeah, sure.

What time?

10: 30, the silver
needs polishing.

OK, we'll do that.

YASMIN (VOICEOVER):
When I looked up,

I saw the blind in the
window that we were working

went up really slow.

Did you just see that?

What?

The blind went up by itself.

YASMIN (VOICEOVER): It
gave me the impression

as if someone was holding
it, someone was doing it.

To me, a ghost was like
Casper the Friendly Ghost,

or some movie, or something.

I guess one doesn't
believe in it until they

actually are really convinced.

NARRATOR: Fred Duran
is an exterminator

for the city of Los
Angeles, and the museum

is among his regular stops.

On one visit in
particular, Fred got

all the convincing he needed.

FRED DURAN (VOICEOVER): As I got
into the kitchen that morning,

I heard some
footsteps behind me,

and I thought it
was the caretaker.

MAN: I need to get some water.

Yeah.

FRED DURAN (VOICEOVER): And I
didn't pay any attention to it.

Have you seen Maria?

No, no, I haven't seen her.

FRED DURAN (VOICEOVER):
As I turned around,

there was this guy there.

And I thought it was kind of
odd because he was in a Civil

War outfit, and I thought it was
the caretaker that lived there.

So as I was going out towards
the front of the building

to go out towards my
vehicle, I saw the caretaker

there and the workman also.

And I just asked them, I
said, hey, the guy that lives

here takes his job seriously.

And they said, you saw
the captain's ghost.

And I said, oh, come on, guys.

And they said, no, you actually
saw the captain's ghost.

If Fred said he
saw it, he saw it.

I have no doubts in that.

Fred's a very honest man.

My reaction is I wonder
what the reason was,

at this point in time,
why he had to come now,

and why to Fred.

This was the hallway
I was talking about.

NARRATOR: Marge O'Brien
became determined

to find out who or
what had taken up

residence in the Drum Barracks.

In 1991, she asked
Barbara Connor,

an internationally recognized
psychic, to visit the museum.

Oh, this is the parlor.

She says, we seem to have
some creaks and groans.

And I thought, right away,
mentally, I thought to myself,

oh, it's an old house,
it's just settling.

And I said, well, I've
never done it before,

but sure, I'd like to come out.

So we came out and started
to go through the barracks.

Often, when I come
in, the light is on.

NARRATOR: According
to Barbara Connor,

the Drum Barracks was teeming
with ghostly activity.

In the officers' lounge,
she claims to have

encountered several spirits.

Two were playing cards.

Another stood by the window,
peering through the curtains.

But one phantom seemed more
forceful than the rest.

BARBARA CONNOR (VOICEOVER):
He looked at me, and he says,

I want this chair closer to
the fireplace 'cause I'm cold.

And I was telling Marge,
I said, this gentleman

that's sitting in this chair
here has a foot that his boot

is too tight for him.

What was interesting
is my research

showed that Colonel Curtis,
who was the commander here

the longest, had frostbitten his
left foot when he was fighting

Indians up in Washington.

Right around the ankle above
where the nerve endings were

was a great deal of pain, which
he suffered much of his life.

He would wear a boot that
was a size smaller so

that he could have more
control of that foot,

and he dragged it.

There was no way Barbara
could have known that when

she walked into the room.

I had just started to
uncover this research.

NARRATOR: Upstairs,
Barbara Connor continued

to have visions which
seemed to explain some

of the strange noises
Marge and the staff

had grown familiar with.

There's a little
boy sitting here.

[soft thudding]

He's bouncing a
ball back and forth.

I told Marge, I said,
there's a little boy here,

and he's throwing a ball
up against the wall.

And she goes,
that's what that is.

And I go, what?

She says, well, we've heard
this thump, thump, thump,

and we couldn't
figure out what it is.

And I said, well, that's it.

He's throwing this ball
up against the wall.

And I said, if you want him to
stop, just tell him to stop,

and he'll stop.

Now I'd like to take
you into the storage room.

NARRATOR: As the
tour came to an end,

Barbara Connor says
she saw the specters

of Colonel Curtis and his
officers in a planning session.

BARBARA CONNOR
(VOICEOVER): The colonel

was standing there at the
table, and when we came in,

he looked at us.

Then all of a sudden, he
started looking at a box

over on the side, like he
left what he was doing,

and went over, and started
digging in this box.

And he turned to me, and
mentally, he projected,

he wants his award.

He wants the award.

He's trying to find an award.

And I said, what award?

And he says, I have an award.

I want my award, and I
want it on that wall.

MARGE O'BRIEN (VOICEOVER): Well,
I had never heard of a plaque

before, and I don't
remember anything ever

hanging in that storage room.

But I discovered later that
when he left Washington,

Colonel Curtis did receive
an award for his work

with the Indians up there.

And possibly, that could
have been the plaque.

Commander Curtis, gentlemen,
it's time to go home,

lights out.

If you want them back
on, that's fine with me.

I believe that there's
something here.

People ask me, have I seen it?

No, I haven't seen it,
and apparently, they

don't talk to me.

And if I'm wrong in
talking to spirits,

well then, I'm
wrong, because I do.

I've become accustomed to them.

I'm pleased that they're
here, if indeed, they are.

Because it means someone
with a longer span

here is going to take
care of this place,

and it will be taken care of.

NARRATOR: Do the long dead
spirits of the Civil War

still roam the Drum Barracks?

At this point, the museum
staff has little doubt.

Skeptics might say they
have overactive imaginations

or perhaps a fanatic
reverence for the past.

But those who've experienced
the unguided tour of the museum

believe it as nothing less
than a case of living history.

When we return, a
young man and woman,

sold as infants by
a nurse in Texas,

are searching for
their natural mothers.

[theme music]

These three infants were
all born in San Antonio,

Texas, between 1959 and 1966.

What they have in
common is a connection

to an opportunistic woman, a
woman who, according to some,

ran a secret but profitable
business in which she sold

babies for more than 20 years.

That questionable
enterprise first

came to light when the
mother of this infant

began looking for her.

In November of 1959,
18-year-old Dylene Zolikoff

was alone, scared, and
seven months pregnant.

She was taken in by a nurse in
San Antonio named Ethel Nation.

On January 6, 1960, Dylene gave
birth to a healthy baby girl.

Almost immediately, Ethel
whisked the infant away.

Ethel stole my baby.

And I searched, I
searched, I tried

everything in San Antonio.

I talked to a lawyer.

Ethel wouldn't help me.

I just couldn't find my baby.

NARRATOR: Ethel
Nation always denied

that she had anything to
do with the disappearance

of Dylene's baby.

But in 1968, Dylene found a
photograph of her daughter

in Ethel's house.

It took another 15
years of searching

before Dylene and her
daughter were reunited

on national television.

She's so beautiful, isn't she?

When I first saw my daughter,
she looked beautiful.

And she smiled.

And I was just overjoyed.

It was so beautiful,
after all these years,

I finally found her.

While the story of Dylene
Zolikoff and her daughter

has a happy ending,
the stories of two

other young people who
were sold by Ethel Nation

are far from over.

Perhaps someone in
our audience tonight

can help unlock the
secrets of their past.

NARRATOR: Scott Merz was
born in San Antonio in 1965.

His adoptive parents were
unable to have children

and paid Ethel Nation
$1,200 for Scott.

Scott grew up knowing
he had been adopted.

When he was 10, he began to have
an odd, recurring dream which

seemed to be about the
mother he never knew

and perhaps the place
where he was born.

SCOTT MERZ (VOICEOVER):
I remember walking

through the main doorway.

I remember feeling very cold.

I felt like very, very
horrible things went on there.

There was a table,
and beside this table,

there was a man in a green robe
and a lady dressed in white.

I don't know what
they were doing there.

When I woke up, I woke
up almost screaming.

I was really, really scared.

He said, I was
born in that room.

I was born in that room.

And he said, I feel like
my birth mother was having

a rough time in her life,
and for some reason,

I felt very drawn to her,
almost like she was calling me.

NARRATOR: When Scott was 18,
he and his adoptive mother Mary

began an intensive search
for his natural mother.

Scott's adoption records
revealed few clues,

so he and Mary paid a
visit to Ethel Nation.

She seemed really nice.

She seemed like
she wanted to help.

Then as the times
grew on, it got

worse, and worse, and worse.

Ms. Nation, I'd just like to
ask you a few more questions.

NARRATOR: Scott and Mary
visited Ethel on six occasions.

With each visit, Ethel
changed her story.

At various times, she told
Scott he had been born in three

different hospitals,
but none of them

had his birth records on file.

They had no record
of my being born there.

Who said anything
about Santa Rosa?

You did.

I never-- you
must be mistaken.

I never mentioned Santa Rosa.

You most certainly did.

The last time we
came, you told Scotty

he had been born at Santa Rosa.

I sat right here
when you said it.

NARRATOR: On the final
visit, Ethel became angry

and revealed what she
said was the bitter truth

about Scott's mother.

Your mother didn't want you.

Your mother had an abortion.

Your mother was a slut.

Your mother was a whore.

And you want to know why she
didn't have the abortion?

Because it was too late.

She told me that I
was a bastard child,

that all my mother was
was a slut, a whore,

and that I should have no
right to even look for her.

So for me to go home and for
me to stop looking for her.

NARRATOR: Scott and
Mary refused to give up.

They decided to visit yet
another place where Ethel said

Scott had been born, a community
health center that in 1965, was

known as the Woodlawn Clinic.

This is my son Scotty.

SCOTT MERZ (VOICEOVER): The
very minute that we walked

in, I was completely stunned.

I couldn't even talk.

The feelings that I got from
this were just incredible.

It was very of a
morbid type feeling,

but yet, I felt like I
had been there before.

And everything in this dream
that I had back when I was 10,

it was coming true
before my eyes.

MARY MERZ (VOICEOVER):
I was scared to death.

He held onto me,
I held onto him.

We both cried all the
way down the hall.

SCOTT MERZ (VOICEOVER):
I was so happy

that it made sense, the dream
that I had many years ago.

NARRATOR: Sadly, Scott
Merz has still not

found his natural mother.

But through his search,
he met a young woman

who had a remarkably similar
experience with Ethel Nation.

Dawnette Barker was
adopted in July of 1966

by a childless couple
from San Antonio.

As a last, desperate
resort, they

had approached Ethel Nation
after years of trying to adopt

through state agencies.

Dawnette learned that on
the night she was adopted,

her parents had to
choose between her

and two other infants.

We have these two little
boys here that are twins,

and this little girl over here.

Now, of course, you
have your choice,

but I would prefer that
the boys be kept together

if that's at all possible.

There were bassinets
in there with children.

I think there were two
twin boys and myself.

My parents, because they didn't
expect that things would happen

so quickly, they just
thought they were going

to go to see the baby,
but at that point,

Mrs. Nation told my parents
that they could go ahead

and take me home that night.

We can?

ETHEL NATION: Yes, absolutely.

Honey.

Is there a problem?

Well, ma'am, we don't
have the full $1,700.

I thought that
had been settled.

Well, ma'am, we
just didn't think we'd

be able to take her tonight.

ETHEL NATION: Well, do you
have some kind of property?

Do you have anything
that you can sell?

How about the boat?

What kind of boat?

It's all right, we'll
work something out.

NARRATOR: As payment
for Dawnette,

Ethel Nation accepted a
14-foot ski boat worth $1,700.

You can go ahead and
take your baby home.

NARRATOR: When she turned
18, Dawnette began to search

for her natural parents.

She found that her mother's name
was listed as "Gloria Cantu."

The adoption papers had been
notarized by Ethel Nation.

What can I do
for you this time?

NARRATOR: Dawnette spoke with
Ethel Nation several times

and was finally told the
same story as Scott Merz.

Your mother was a tramp.

She didn't want you.

She went there to
have an abortion,

but it was just too
late to have one.

I don't understand
what's happening.

I told you you shouldn't
have been messing around

with something like this.

You should have left
well enough alone.

I really couldn't understand
why or how she could say that.

It hurt.

There is no way of knowing how
many babies were sold by Ethel

Nation, who died in 1991.

Scott Merz and
Dawnette Barker now

suspect that there may be
dozens of other young people

who, like them, will not be able
to rest until they are reunited

with their natural mothers.

NARRATOR: Scott Merz was
born on August 5, 1965,

in San Antonio, Texas.

His mother's name is
listed as Joyce Koehier.

She may have been 22 years old.

Scott's adoptive mother
Mary met her once

and recalls that she
was thin with dark hair

and an olive complexion.

Is Ethel Nation here?

It's important for me to
find her because there's

a certain gap, a certain
hole that's inside me,

that I want to fill.

And I think the only way
that I can fill this hole is

to be whole myself.

And finding my birth
mother will do that.

If she's out there,
and she is watching,

I just want her to know that I
don't want anything from her.

Above all, I don't
want to hurt her.

Maybe it's something
she's never told anyone

or who she's currently
married to if she's married,

but I don't want anything.

No strings attached.

I just want to know what
happened and how it happened.

I would never, in any
way, want to hurt her.

NARRATOR: Dawnette
Barker's birthday

is listed as July
21, 1966, but she may

have been born weeks earlier.

Her mother, Gloria Cantu,
may have been 23 years

old when Dawnette was born.

Both Scott Merz and
Dawnette Barker-Lussier

may have been born in
the Woodlawn Clinic

in San Antonio, Texas.

On the right of our
broadcast, several viewers

called our telecenter
on behalf of Dawnette's

birth mother, Gloria Cantu
Martinez of San Antonio, Texas.

A short time later,
Dawnette spoke to her mother

for the very first time and
learned that Gloria had never

intended to give her up but
had been tricked into signing

the adoption papers.

Dawnette was overjoyed to
discover that Gloria wanted

to see her as soon as possible.

NARRATOR: On November 9, 1992,
Gloria flew to Washington, DC,

for a tearful reunion
with Dawnette.

For mother and daughter, it
was an emotional end to 26

years of painful separation.

DAWNETTE BARKER
LUSSIER (VOICEOVER):

When I was waiting for her
to come out from the plane,

a million things were
going through my mind.

Just relief that
it was over, that I

was finally where I wanted to
be after a long time of looking.

GLORIA CANTU
MARTINEZ (VOICEOVER):

And I just couldn't
believe it, that it

was finally going to happen,
what I always wanted.

I've always wanted to
find her, and wondered

what she was like, if
she was married, if she

had any children.

NARRATOR: The reunion
was made even more

special when Gloria met
her four grandchildren

for the first time.

Hi, baby.

Hi.

NARRATOR: Dawnette's dream
of having her entire family

together had finally come true.

This is Michael.

How are you?

This is Tyler.

Next a woman
stricken with amnesia

needs your help in
tonight's Special Alert.

[theme music]

Last month, we aired
the story of a young man

in San Diego, California,
who had no idea who he was

or where he had come from.

In May of 1992, he had wandered
into a local homeless shelter,

apparently suffering from
complete and total amnesia.

Doctors were baffled
by his memory loss.

The only clue to his identity
was a Boston library card which

bore the name "Pierre April."

Update.

On the night of our
broadcast, a viewer in Canada

called our telecenter to say
that the young man had once

worked for his wife,
and that his name

is, in fact, Pierre April.

Pierre soon learned
that he has two sisters

and that his parents
live in Lachine, Canada,

where his father
practices medicine.

The next day, they spoke on
the phone for the first time

in more than five months.

It was a very
emotional moment,

and then I even had to tell him
that I couldn't even trust him

100%, that I wanted a package
with family pictures in it,

and with my birth
certificate in it,

and anything else
he could think of.

He said, OK, we'll
send that to you.

And then he said, do
you remember your mom?

And I said, no.

And she was listening
on the extension,

and she burst into tears.

NARRATOR: A few days
later, the packet arrived.

Pierre sat down with
his fiance, whom

he met in San
Diego and a friend,

to get reacquainted
with his past.

It is strange to be told
who you are and what you did.

I am someone again.

And for quite a few months,
I was nobody and nothing.

Shortly after
Pierre's story aired,

we were contacted by authorities
in Richardson, Texas,

a suburb of Dallas, about
another unusual case

of amnesia involving a woman
who calls herself Sandra Evans.

There's a wall
across my brain,

and it won't let me
see the other side.

Occasionally, a
snapshot comes through,

and I get a glimpse of a life
before, but nothing solid,

nothing concrete.

NARRATOR: On May
14, 1992, Sandra

fainted in a Dallas
area bus station

and was transported
to a local hospital.

She seemed to be suffering
from total amnesia,

and the police were notified.

I did receive numerous phone
calls from around the United

States, from law enforcement
agencies and citizens

in general, thinking
that they may

know who Sandra actually is.

We did follow up
on all of the phone

calls we received and
were not able to determine

who she actually is.

NARRATOR: This photograph was
taken the day Sandra was found.

Initially, she could
not remember her name,

and she is still not sure that
she truly is Sandra Evans.

In fact, the tag on the
luggage she was carrying

had the name "Linda
Kennedy" on it.

Sandra says the
handwriting is hers

but is certain the name is not.

The strongest clues
of Sandra's identity

are several photographs
found on the luggage.

There is one of
Sandra as a bride.

Another shows two
young children.

And finally, a picture
of a teenage girl,

which appears to be a high
school graduation portrait.

They troubled me.

I didn't want to
deal with the thought

if they could be my children.

It was much easier to
believe they could be nieces

and nephews because the
thought of them being mine

and not knowing where they
are, not knowing who they are,

not knowing what conditions
that they were in,

was too upsetting.

NARRATOR: At this
point, Sandra believes

her amnesia is the result
of some traumatic, perhaps

violent experience.

And she is haunted by
a vague fear of both

her past and her future.

I am afraid of what I'm going
to find on the other side,

because something
made me forget it.

I am afraid that if
I've had children,

that they won't
understand where I've

been for the last five months.

That if I-- my mother
must be elderly, if this

is doing something to her.

NARRATOR: Update.

Just moments after this
story aired in Canada,

a viewer contacted
authorities there

and identified Sandra
Evans as her sister Carole

Ann Rozak of London, Ontario.

Carole Ann soon learned
that she is divorced,

and that the photographs
found in her luggage

were of her two
sons, now teenagers,

and her 13-year-old daughter.

When I talked to my
daughter, I asked her

about things that we had done.

And she said we did
everything together.

She said we were real close.

In fact, the first
time I talked to her,

it was more like she was the
mother, and I was the daughter.

She was so sweet.

She was so excited
to talk to me.

NARRATOR: Even though the
information about her past

had nothing to jog her memory,
Carole Ann immediately began

packing to return
to Canada where

her children, her four
sisters, and her brother

would be waiting.

On October 30, 1992,
a nervous Carol Ann,

accompanied by friends
she had made in Texas,

arrived at the Dallas airport
to board a flight that

would take her
back to her family

six months after
she disappeared.

Oh, yes, I'm happy to go home.

A little nervous,
a little nervous,

but I'm happy to be going home.

NARRATOR: Today, Carole
Anne lives with her daughter

in Milton, Ontario.

She still has no idea
what caused her amnesia

but is currently undergoing
therapy in the hope

that someday, she will
fully recover her memory.

Join me next time.

Perhaps you may be able
to help solve a mystery.

[theme music]