All language subtitles for Unsolved.Mysteries.S06E20.480p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DD 2.0.x264-AJP69_track3_[eng]

NARRATOR 1: 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.

[theme music]

WILLIAM SHATNER: In 1935,
legendary gangster Dutch

Schultz was ambushed
by an underworld rival

at a tavern in New Jersey.

On his deathbed Schultz
reportedly rambled incoherently

about his mother, his enemies,
and his ill-gotten $7 million

fortune buried in
rural upstate New York.

But when Dutch died,
he took the secret

of his alleged lost treasure
with him to the grave.

When five-year-old Lauren
Jackson disappeared,

an eyewitness account led
police to believe she'd

been abducted by a stranger.

Then a few months later,
another witness came forward

with a stunning accusation.

Lauren's own mother
may have been

involved in the kidnapping.

Beware of the classifieds.

In September of 1992, a man
calling himself Tom Johnson

answered an ad for
a computer system,

but Johnson had no intention
of paying for his purchase.

Instead he had hatched a
con of deadly proportion.

Just outside Dallas, Texas,
a young boy and his mother

were murdered by a
ruthless unknown assailant.

Authorities hope
one of our viewers

will recognize several
items left behind

by the killer, crucial evidence
that may lead to the suspect's

identity and capture.

Join me.

Perhaps you hold
the one vital clue

that will help solve one of
tonight's unsolved mysteries.

On a cool moonless
night some 60 years ago,

two shadowy figures dug along
the banks of Esopus Creek.

100 miles north
of New York City.

The man doing all the work was
Bernard Rosenkranz, nickname,

oddly enough, Lulu; his boss,
the infamous Dutch Schultz,

king of the New York underworld.

According to legend, Dutch
buried a strongbox that night

containing a king's
ransom of cash, bonds,

unset diamonds, and gold coins.

Today it would be worth
more than $50 million.

That is, of course,
if it ever existed.

Like most tales of
buried treasure,

this one comes with a familiar
wet blanket disclaimer,

but let's face it,
we love these tales.

Perhaps because
they often spring

up around society's
villains as pirates,

thieves, and gangsters.

Men just like Dutch Schultz.

The legend of his lost
treasure is rooted smack

in the middle of one of
America's most colorful

periods, the roaring '20s.

[swing music]

The decade came by
its nickname honestly.

Prohibition was passed in 1919.

The criminal element
was in its element.

Bootleg liquor
became an art form.

Its manufacture and
distribution made millions

for ruthless gangsters like
Legs Diamond, Lucky Luciano,

Al Capone, and Dutch Schultz.

Dutch Schultz was something
of a criminal prodigy.

Born Arthur
Flagenheimer in 1902,

he was already a
force to be reckoned

with by the time he was 25.

He adopted his name from
a notorious ganglord who

had flourished in another era.

JACK FRENCH: Dutch Schultz was
a very successful and widespread

bootlegger.

Owned a string of
speakeasies, and then

quickly branched out into
narcotics, the numbers racket,

and the protection racket.

Schultz was an extremely
dangerous gangster.

He was reported to have
had 136 people killed,

and that's over a criminal
career of less than 10 years.

WILLIAM SHATNER: As the
roaring '20s came to a close,

Dutch Schultz's criminal
empire was netting

more than $20 million a year.

In 1933, Dutch turned
a dubious distinction.

He was named public enemy number
one by the Justice Department.

Like Al Capone
before him, Schultz

was highly vulnerable
to the newly enacted

federal income tax laws.

When he was indicted by a grand
jury for income tax evasion

he did what gangsters do.

He went on the lam.

THOMAS P. TERRY: At
the time, Dutch Schultz

was facing a long
prison sentence

and he decided that
he needed a nest

egg to fall back on in
case he was sent to prison.

He had his top lieutenants
clean out a safety deposit boxes

and gather together
whatever cash

they could from his
available bank accounts.

Beautiful.

Looks good, boss.

WILLIAM SHATNER: At a
hideaway in Bridgeport,

Connecticut, Dutch
and his henchmen,

including Lulu Rosenkranz and
a man named Marty Krompier,

rendezvoused.

According to
gangland legend, they

stacked bundles of $1,000 bills
in negotiable liberty bonds,

together with a
trove of gold coins,

unmounted diamonds,
and other gems,

into a steel plated strongbox.

Hey, Marty.

Go get me something to drink.

WILLIAM SHATNER: Schultz
had the only key.

That very night, Dutch
and the faithful Lulu

made their fabled nocturnal
journey across the Hudson River

towards Phoenicia, New York,
a tiny hamlet Dutch knew

well from his bootlegging days.

Dutch swore Lulu
to secrecy, then

allegedly marked the site by
carving an X into the trunk

of a nearby tree.

But Lulu couldn't
keep his mouth shut.

He wasted no time in
spilling the beans

to his crony Marty Krompier.

LULU ROSENKRANZ: I
shouldn't tell you this,

but I think it'd be good
for somebody else to know.

MARTY KROMPIER: Know what?

Remember that strongbox
that me and Dutch

buried upstate a few weeks ago?

Yeah, what about it?

I'm going to tell
you where we buried it.

WILLIAM SHATNER: Some say
Lulu even drew Marty a map.

I ain't got to worry about
you doing anything stupid, do I?

Me and the Dutchman,
we're like this.

And he's going to
take care of me.

WILLIAM SHATNER:
As it turned out,

Marty was none too good at
keeping his mouth shut either.

WOMAN: And just where
is this nest egg?

Lulu drew me this map, and I
got it right here in my wallet.

Listen, Marty.

WILLIAM SHATNER: Rumors
of Dutch's secret treasure

filtered through
New York, but he had

other troubles to contend with.

Specifically Manhattan's
crime-busting district

attorney Thomas E. Dewey.

Dewey would later become
famous for almost,

but not quite beating out
Harry S. Truman in the 1948

presidential elections.

But in 1934, he was
determined to make

a career out of squashing Dutch
Schultz and his illegal empire.

With the pressure
building, Schultz

finally surrendered
to authorities

in Albany, New York.

His first trial
resulted in a hung jury.

At his second trial he was
acquitted of all charges

for lack of evidence.

By Dutch's design, both trials
had taken place in upstate New

York where he could
jury tamper in peace,

far from Thomas E. Dewey.

After the acquittal,
Dutch Schultz moved

his headquarters to New Jersey.

Specifically to the
Palace Chophouse, a tavern

he owned in Newark.

Determined to regain
control of his empire,

Dutch went on a
bloody killing spree,

thereby alienating the powerful
New York crime syndicate.

JACK FRENCH: The syndicate was
a confederation of New York City

mobsters who controlled
virtually all the crime

in the Manhattan area,
and they were very afraid

that he was bringing
additional heat

upon them with these killings.

NARRATOR: The heat came
in the form of Schultz's

old nemesis Thomas E. Dewey.

Finally Dutch decided
to get rid of Dewey.

DUTCH SCHULTZ: Hey, let
me tell you something.

Dewey's just another politician,
and I never met a politician

who couldn't be bought.

I don't think you
can buy off Dewey.

Well, if I can't buy
him off, then we'll

just have to bump him off.

What are you crazy?

You can't bump off Dewey.

He's right, boss.

Hey, nobody asked you your
opinion, Lulu, so shut up.

WILLIAM SHATNER: In the backroom
of the Palace Chophouse,

Dutch's trusted lieutenants
tried to talk him out of it.

Arthur, you can't
go around saying

you're going to bump off Dewey.

Maybe you're right.

I'm just going to go splash
some water on my face.

WILLIAM SHATNER: Dutch Schultz
headed for the men's room.

Perhaps he would have listened
to reason when he returned,

but it was too late.

The syndicate had already taken
matters into its own hands.

The date was October 23rd, 1935.

[gunshots]

JACK FRENCH: They took
Schultz to the hospital,

and he lingered on
until the next evening.

And all the time issuing a
delirium series of statements.

How many shots
were fired at me?

JACK FRENCH: The police actually
had a court stenographer

in the room with them taking
down everything he said,

most of which was
unintelligible.

Kindly take my shoes off.

They're still on, they
feel like handcuffs.

I wonder who owns these woods.

NARRATOR: Dutch hung
on for nearly 22 hours.

Once he allegedly begged
to be taken to Phoenicia,

where the strongbox was buried.

To the police it was only
the babbling of a dying man.

POLICE: Come and get me if
he says anything useful.

WILLIAM SHATNER: Dutch
Schultz finally died at age

8:35 PM on October 24, 1935.

He was 33 years old.

His trusted bodyguard,
Lulu Rosenkrantz,

had died hours earlier.

That left only one man who
knew where the treasure

was buried, Marty Krompier.

Too late, Marty learned that
the blonde he had blabbed to

was friends with Jake
Shapiro, a mobster who

had a few henchmen of his own.

WOMAN: I don't believe you.

Let me see it.

THOMAS P PERRY: The night of
the Chophouse murders, the two

henchmen caught up with Marty at
a barbershop in New York City,

gunned him down,
and took the map.

Krompier survived the attack,
but he was never able to locate

the treasure without the map.

Jake Shapiro made
several attempts

at finding the
treasure from the map,

as did several other
gangsters of the year,

but none were successful.

JACK FRENCH: I think buried
treasure is always fascinating.

And certainly when you add the
element of the gangsters to it,

it becomes even more
of a popular story.

Because we're interested in
the gangsters because they

represent unfortunately a
flamboyant side of our society

which although evil, can
be compelling to people.

If people knew about it,
Schultz's closest associates,

they told other people.

I would suspect
strongly that it had

been retrieved long before now.

I personally believe the
treasure of Dutch Schultz

was buried, and there's
a good possibility

that it still exists today.

Because even though the
liberty bonds have long since

matured in the
last 60-plus years,

none have ever been redeemed.

WILLIAM SHATNER:
Did Dutch Schultz

leave an ill-gotten
fortune buried

on the banks of the Esopus
Creek in upstate New York.

Those who believe say that
somehow, somewhere, someone

will stumble across a
tree scarred with an X

and hit the jackpot.

[theme music]

Next a classified ad
leads two innocent people

into a deadly trap.

[theme music]

In today's high
tech marketplace,

more and more people are
using the classifieds

to buy and sell computers.

In September of 1992, a music
video company in Nashville

ran these notices in a
local trade publication,

hoping to sell a top of
the line computer system

valued at more than $30,000.

At the time it seemed
inconceivable that the ads

would lead to murder.

OK, if you've got
a couple of minutes,

I'd like to ask you some
specific questions about it

because I'm really interested.

WILLIAM SHATNER: On
October 7th, 1992,

a man calling himself Tom
Johnson answered the ads.

He said he was a freelance
computer programmer

and database consultant.

A few days later, Johnson met
with a videotape editor named

Jeremy for a demonstration.

I'm mainly concerned
with a fast processor.

WILLIAM SHATNER: The
two men eventually

agreed on a price of $31,000.

Johnson requested that the
computer system be delivered

to his office in
Marietta, Georgia,

several hundred
miles from Nashville.

October 24, 1992, 1:30 a.m.

Jeremy, and his fiance
Heather Uffelman

set off on a five
hour trek to deliver

the computer to Tom Johnson.

I just had this feeling that,
that you were attracted to me.

JEREMY: I'd been
working for about

30 hours on another project,
and was completely exhausted.

And I said well, I don't know
if I'm going to be able to find

anybody except
Heather at this point,

and I'd like to take
her along anyway

because we enjoyed
taking trips together.

WILLIAM SHATNER: 7:30 AM.

After driving all night, Jeremy
and Heather arrived at Tom

Johnson's motel in Marietta.

JEREMY: Originally
we had been set

to meet in an industrial park,
but he said that the directions

to the industrial park were so
complex that he would prefer

to meet us first at his motel.

Which made perfect sense to me
because I spent a lot of time

lost in industrial
parks trying to find

an unposted address somewhere.

Come on in.

Tom, hi.

How you doing?

This is my fiancee Heather.
- Hi.

Nice to meet you.

JEREMY: We arrived a
little early, I think.

But he said that his business
partner would be along shortly,

and he was bringing
the certified check.

He should be here in about
half an hour, 45 minutes.

JEREMY: I suggested
that we go and get

breakfast if we had to wait
for a while because Heather

and I were really hungry.

So we left, and when we came
back maybe half an hour later,

he said that his
business manager

had called and was on the way
and would be there shortly.

I think it'll really
save some time if we just

transfer it between your car.

Where's he coming
from, do you know?

He's coming from--

WILLIAM SHATNER: 8:00 AM.

Johnson suggested that Jeremy
and Heather load the computer

into his car while they
waited for Johnson's

partner to arrive with a check.

JEREMY: We so trusted this guy.

It didn't strike
me as being odd.

There were absolutely no clues
that this guy was anything

but what he said he was.

He was very good
at making people

believe that he was legitimate.

Think about how computer
technology's influenced

every aspect of our society.

WILLIAM SHATNER:
The three returned

to Johnson's motel room and
made small talk for 20 minutes.

Finally Jeremy grew
tired of waiting.

Tom, I've been
up about 30 hours.

If you knew where your president
was, we could close this deal.

I think we can close
this deal right now.

Are you kidding?

No, I'm not kidding.

Put your money belt over there,
and get down on your knees.

You stand up.

Take the sheet off that bed, and
lay it down here on the floor.

Hurry up.

Put the sheet down here.

Lay it on the ground.

JEREMY: Why are you
doing this, Tom?

Why did you lie?
TOM JOHNSON: Shut up.

Lay down.

JEREMY: The person
we've been talking

to before was this kind of
thoughtful, introspective guy

interested in
computers, and then

this person who is
pointing a gun was cold,

and calculating, and deliberate.

He knew exactly what
he wanted to do.

TOM JOHNSON: Now lay down in it.

Roll yourself up in it.

Your company's going to
get an insurance check,

and I'm going to
get the computer,

and everybody's
going to be fine.

Look away.

Don't look at her.

JEREMY: And so I turn
my head away from him,

and then a second later I hear
a sharp buzzing in my ear,

almost like a siren,
and the whole room

spins because he's struck
me in the back of the head.

And then he moved
over to Heather,

and I saw him raise his
hand up, and bring it down.

And when he did, Heather
screamed this horrible scream.

So he kept hitting her.

[screams]

Stop screaming,
and he'll leave.

So he came back over,
and hit me more,

and then went back
over, and hit her more.

And then as he backed out of
the room still pointing the gun

at us, he dusted the
countertop for fingerprints

as he walked out of the room.

And as soon as he left, I
crawled over to Heather,

and I told her that I
was going to get help,

and we were going to be OK.

And what I saw haunts
me, you know, I can't--

I can't get the
picture out of my head.

I mean, that someone could
so hurt such a gentle person.

WILLIAM SHATNER:
Heather and Jeremy were

rushed to a nearby hospital.

Two hours later,
Heather Uffelman

died of massive skull injuries.

Meanwhile, the authorities
questioned witnesses

and searched the motel
room for evidence.

Among the few clues
that Johnson left

behind was the murder weapon.

BILLY HUGGINS: The hammer
was still wrapped in plastic,

still had the card identifying
its weight, its SKU number.

But we have not been able
to trace exactly which

store it was purchased from.

Beautiful.

Oh, I can hardly wait.

BILLY HUGGINS: This is a very
unusual robbery in the fact

that he would allow himself to
be seen in public in daylight.

I think we can close
this deal right now.

BILLY HUGGINS: It's unusual that
he had a handgun, especially

a small caliber handgun,
and didn't use this handgun

to kill the victims.

WILLIAM SHATNER:
Police learned of yet

another curious circumstance
that occurred approximately

an hour before the attack.

MOTEL WORKER: Yes,
ma'am, may I help you?

WOMAN 2: Yes, I'd like to report
a disturbance down in room 332.

NARRATOR: An unknown
woman had complained

of a problem in the motel
room rented to Tom Johnson.

At that time, Jeremy and Heather
had gone out for breakfast.

I know, but there's a
lot of noise going on.

Well, ma'am, it sounds
like a domestic dispute.

We try not to get involved
in a domestic dispute.

WILLIAM SHATNER:
Investigators now

believe that the woman may have
been an accomplice of Johnson's

who attempted to sabotage the
scheme when she learned that he

intended to murder his victims.

I wouldn't have
come down here if i

didn't think this was urgent.

BILLY HUGGINS: If we could
locate the mystery woman that

entered into the
motel that morning,

maybe she could give
us further information.

Or anybody at the motel, if they
would come forward and give us

any further information on
the vehicle or this suspect

called Tom Johnson.

Or if anybody has any
information on the computer,

its whereabouts.

WILLIAM SHATNER: The vehicle
that Tom Johnson was driving

was a Dodge Dynasty,
black cherry color

with a red interior and
Tennessee license plates.

Tom Johnson is in his
late 20s, or early 30s,

approximately six feet tall
and weighing 165 pounds.

He has sandy brown hair
and may be wearing glasses.

He was last seen wearing
an expensive pair

of boots made of either
snake or alligator skin.

JEREMY: Tom Johnson is a riddle.

He had a smile, and a
way of talking to you

that made you feel
very much at ease.

Tom Johnson could be
someone's coworker.

He could be someone's
acquaintance,

and they would have no clue
that this other side is there

at all.

Until it was too late.

WILLIAM SHATNER: This
is the same computer

model the man calling himself
Tom Johnson stole from Jeremy.

It is a Macintosh Quadra 950
used for desktop publishing

or videotape editing.

Perhaps someone in
our audience purchased

the unit from Tom Johnson.

At this point the police have
evidence that Johnson tried

to pull a similar
scam just one week

before he murdered
Heather Uffelman.

But for some unknown
reason, Johnson never

showed up for the appointment.

[theme music]

When we return, after a
five-year-old girl disappears,

her grieving mother
finds herself a suspect.

[theme music]

On a chilly October
evening in 1988,

200 rescue workers
and volunteers

swarmed into the tiny township
of East Vincent, Pennsylvania.

At a moment's
notice, they had put

their lives on hold to launch
a search for one of their own.

A five year old girl named
Lauren Jackson was missing.

CHRISTINA O'DONNELL: At
the time, I was in shock,

and I really didn't
realize because I always

thought she's right here.

She'll come up, you know.

She'll come home, mommy,
and this is all for naught.

But when daylight
came, she wasn't home.

WILLIAM SHATNER: Lauren
Jackson has been missing

for more than five years.

In a case like this, anyone
and everyone becomes a suspect.

Since Lauren vanished,
her case has taken

a number of bizarre turns.

And when all is said
and done, many people

believe the prime suspect
is a member of Lauren's

family, her own mother.

Lauren's parents, Christina
O'Donnell and Mickey Jackson,

were never married.

They split in 1987 when
Lauren was four years old.

Lauren lived with her mother,
but in September of 1988,

Christina was arrested for
attempting to illegally

obtain prescription drugs.

Soon after, Mickey
told Lauren he planned

to file for custody of her.

A month later on
October 4th, 1988,

Kristina took Lauren and her
other daughter out for dinner.

The day had been so normal
it was almost mundane.

But within two hours, Lauren
Jackson would be gone.

CHRISTINA O'DONNELL: I
remember her all day asking me

for a cheeseburger, and I
finally gave in and took her

down, got her a cheeseburger.

And we ate, and I let
her go out and play

with Brian to dig in the
dirt, she loved to do that.

WILLIAM SHATNER: Brian
was a six-year-old boy

who lived three doors down
from Lauren and Christina

in the Park Springs
Apartment complex.

CHRISTINA O'DONNELL: I was
outside sweeping, watching her.

And I walked in, and I
put the broom in the house

and cleaned up my kitchen
counters, and went out,

and she was gone.

Lauren?

WILLIAM SHATNER: Christina says
that 20 minutes had elapsed.

She immediately went
to Brian's apartment.

According to Christina,
no one was home.

CHRISTINA O'DONNELL:
I found out later

that his mom had
went to the mall,

and they left Lauren outside.

But she wasn't out
there when I went out.

MICKEY JACKSON: When I showed
up at Park Springs that night

and got out of
the car, there was

people mobilizing, and
fire engine trucks,

and just a whole lot of--

it was pretty hectic.

I was hoping for the
best at the time.

You know, you're kind of
overwhelmed by everything,

and you can't believe
what is happening to you.

What is all this?

JIM COTE: There
are a lot of people

out here looking for Lauren.

WILLIAM SHATNER: At the time
Lauren disappeared, Jim Cote

was East Vincent's police chief.

JIM COTE: Anything you can tell
us at all to help us find her?

I had probably 250
people went out,

going through weeds
and bushes, combing

the area looking for the child.

Rescue units from
the surrounding area

cleared 19 ponds in two days.

WILLIAM SHATNER: By
the next morning,

the police, using bloodhounds
and a professional tracker,

uncovered evidence that
Lauren had either wandered

or been dragged
towards Route 724,

a quarter of a
mile from her home.

When an 11-year-old
girl came forward

with an eyewitness account,
everyone's worst fears

seemed to be confirmed.

The girl was certain that
the child she saw was Lauren,

but the investigation
soon stalled

for lack of further evidence.

Then a few months
later, another witness

came forward with
stunning new information

that pointed the
finger of suspicion

directly at Lauren's
mother, Christina.

DAVID E RICHTER:
A witness told us

that Lauren was not kidnapped,
and that she saw Christina give

Lauren away to a
couple in the James Way

Mall on October 4th of 1988.

WILLIAM SHATNER: According to
the witness, at around 7:00 PM

she was in the mall parking lot
when she heard a child yelling.

LAUREN: Please don't
make me go, no.

WILLIAM SHATNER:
The witness reported

seeing a woman, possibly
the child's mother,

hand the young girl to a
couple in a parked car.

The day after the
witness came forward,

police chief Jim Cote
showed up unannounced

at Christina's apartment.

From across the street,
the witness and FBI agents

were watching.

WOMAN 3: That's the woman.

That's the woman I saw.

DAVID E RICHTER: She observed
Christina, and told us

that she was 100%
positive that that was

the same woman that
she saw give Lauren

away on October 4th of 1988.

CHRISTINA O'DONNELL:
My whole thought is she

saw my picture in the paper.

Either maybe she mistaked
me for somebody else,

maybe she just is one of
those kind of people that like

to go to the police or the FBI.

There are people like that.

Why, I don't know.

WILLIAM SHATNER: Christina
O'Donnell staunchly

maintains that she had nothing
to do with her daughter's

disappearance and points
to a major discrepancy

in the witness' story.

The witness placed Lauren and
Christina in the parking lot

at 7:00 PM.

However residents at
Christina's apartment complex

clearly recall seeing Lauren
playing in her front yard

as late as 7:15.

BILL DEMPSKI: I don't doubt
that she may have seen a child

and a mother in the mall.

WILLIAM SHATNER:
The current East

Vincent police chief
Bill Demski believes

the witness was mistaken.

BILL DEMPSKI: She's quite
sure the time she was there.

There's other people
that live in the complex

where Lauren disappeared from
that are quite sure the times

that Lauren was
still in the complex.

WILLIAM SHATNER: Mickey
Jackson is convinced

that Christina was involved.

MICKEY JACKSON: I'd bet my
life on it that she did it,

and I feel certain
that it's because two

reasons tied together.

Number one to spite me.

Number two she was just
overwhelmed with responsibility

of raising a child.

DAVID E RICHTER: Everyone was
a suspect in the beginning.

Mickey Jackson was a suspect.

He can probably relate the phone
conversation I had with him

the night of the disappearance.

Wasn't too happy with that.

He took offense at being
an initial suspect.

There are other
suspects along the route

of that long and tedious
investigatory process,

and you work through them.

Christina O'Donnell, given the
scenario, would be a suspect.

WILLIAM SHATNER: Ultimately
a grand jury in East Vincent

was asked to consider whether
Christina O'Donnell should

be charged in connection
with the disappearance

of her daughter.

After four months, the grand
jury declined to take action.

Today there is only one absolute
fact in this troubling case.

Lauren Jackson has not been seen
since the day she disappeared

more than five years ago.

MICKEY JACKSON: There's
got to be-- there's

got to be a trail somewhere.

We were so far behind
it that we're here,

and the trail's there.

You know, we need--
we need somebody

to put us on the trail.

A lot of times I
give up hope, but

there's always just that glimmer
there that I'll see her again.

[theme music]

WILLIAM SHATNER: Next,
authorities in Dallas,

Texas need your help to
solve a brutal double murder.

[theme music]

Just a few days before
Christmas in 1981,

the Dallas County, Texas
Sheriff's department

was preparing for their
annual holiday lunch.

It was a Wednesday,
December 23rd, a day

that no one in the
department will ever forget.

At about 11:45 AM,
Officer Roy Baird

was still on duty patrolling an
area 10 miles outside Dallas.

His attention was
drawn to a car parked

on the wrong side of a dirt
road with one door hanging open.

ROY BAIRD: This vehicle
appeared to be suspicious to me,

and I decided to check it out.

And upon checking
the hood, I found

that the car was still warm.

WILLIAM SHATNER: On the backseat
was a pile of brightly wrapped

Christmas gifts.

On the front seat, a blue sports
bag, a pair of women's gloves,

and a purse.

With the instinct born
of 15 years experience,

Officer Baird quickly
concluded that someone

was in dire trouble.

ROY BAIRD: I felt that there
was possibly a rape going on,

or that a female had been raped.

I then called for cover, and
made my entrance into the field

on the north side of the road.

I very slowly and cautiously
made my way towards the tree

line that was to the northeast.

I observed a small boy that
appeared to be crumpled

to the ground, and
lying next to him

was a white female that
was covered with a blanket.

I touched him, and his
body was still warm.

I felt at that time that whoever
did this was possibly still

in the area, and I
could not believe

that someone had
shot this little boy

this close to Christmas.

WILLIAM SHATNER: That
same day, the victims

were identified as
30-year-old Roxanne

Jeeves and her five-year-old
son Christopher.

More than 12 years have passed
since the brutal double murder,

but it still grips the
investigating officers as

though it happened yesterday.

For them the case
is far from over.

They hope that tonight,
one of our viewers

will provide the critical
information necessary to solve

this troubling mystery.

Roxanne Jeeves had moved
to Dallas after a divorce.

She worked for an
insurance company

and enjoyed
country-western dancing.

Roxanne was engaged to be
remarried in June of 1982.

Friends describe
Roxanne's son Christopher

as happy and outgoing.

He had turned five years old on
Wednesday, December 23rd, 1981,

the very day he was murdered.

That morning, Roxanne
and Christopher

planned to embark on a
special Christmas trip

to visit relatives in Kansas.

Concerned that her car might
break down on the long journey,

Roxanne told
neighbors she planned

to take along her toolbox.

About one hour
before the murders,

a man authorities
believe was the killer

was seen by a neighbor outside
Roxanne's apartment complex.

It was the first of
many eyewitness reports

that enable
investigators to piece

together this appalling crime.

LARRY FORSYTH: We located
a neighbor of Roxanne's who

left about the time that
Christopher came out

the door with the red toolbox.

Matter of fact, she
spoke to Christopher.

In the process of
going to her car,

she saw the man
carrying the toolbox

in one hand and
Christopher by the hand

as they went around the
corner where she believed

Roxanne's car was parked.

She said they looked rough.

They looked nervous.

She described them as not
fitting in the complex.

WILLIAM SHATNER: 30 minutes
later at about 11:00 am

the suspect was seen again.

This time it was with Roxanne
and Christopher in their car.

The man's female companion
was no longer with him.

DONALD CRAWFORD: He was
acting kind of nervous.

He had his hands down
between his legs.

He never looked up at me.

He never said anything.

He just stared at
the floorboard.

You could tell that
she was nervous,

and when I looked at her she
looked me right in the eyes,

and you could tell
then she was nervous,

that something was wrong.

Her little boy was in the
backseat, and I thought well,

he acts like
everything's all right.

I told one of my
fellow employees,

I said, it's gonna be
something if something

happens to that women cause
she acted awful strange.

WILLIAM SHATNER: Sometime
during the next half hour,

Roxanne and Christopher
were murdered.

I'm afraid that she
saw her son killed,

and then she and the killer had
quite a struggle before she was

initially shot twice herself.

WILLIAM SHATNER: The bodies
were still warm when officer

Baird found them at 11:45.

He immediately called
backup units to the scene.

At the very moment support
officers were arriving,

the suspect was seen
fleeing the area.

A total of eight
eyewitnesses saw

the alleged killer either
running or hitchhiking away

from the scene.

Meanwhile, less
than a mile away,

investigators were
gathering evidence

that may someday convict him.

In making his quick
getaway, the suspect

had inadvertently left
behind a blue sports

pack, literally a bag of clues.

A pre-World War II holster,
possibly a collector's item,

a set of burglary tools, a
toboggan hat, and finally

a bottle of formaldehyde.

It would be the first hint that
the case was linked in some way

to drugs.

It was popular
among heavy drug users

then to lace a marijuana
cigarette with formaldehyde.

Locally here they called
it a Sherman stick.

WILLIAM SHATNER: Investigators
were still at the murder scene

when the suspect burst
into a gas station

just five miles away,
demanding to use the phone.

SUSPECT: I need
to use the phone.

CLERK: Got a pay phone right
out there on the corner, sir,

right there where
that little sign is.

There's a phone right there.

Let me use that
phone right there.

I'm sorry, that's
a business phone.

Can't let you use it.
- Come on, lady.

I can't let you
use that phone, sir.

If you want to make a call,
you can use that payphone right

out there on the corner.

It's right out there, sir.

ROY BAIRD: He was
there at the gas

station for 15 to 20 minutes.

She said that he
used the telephone.

The last time she saw
him, he wandered off

towards Interstate 635.

WILLIAM SHATNER: The suspect
was seen one final time.

This sighting led authorities
to believe that he

may have had an accomplice.

RAY MORRIS: I seen this
man run down the hill

from the service station.

And I thought it might have
been a robbery because there

was a car on a side road slowing
down, stopping to pick him up.

WILLIAM SHATNER: Roy Morris
described the getaway car

as a green 1955 Buick.

The driver was a
heavyset black man.

In the wake of the
murder, anonymous tips

flooded police hotlines.

Several callers made
the same suggestion.

Talk to Roxanne's brother,
Army Private Kurt Jeeves.

Investigators learned that
before joining the service

in August of 1981,
Kurt had stayed

with Roxanne and Christopher
in their Dallas apartment.

ROY BAIRD: When Kurt moved
out to go to the army,

people had told us that
Roxanne was relieved.

We know that he was
dealing in marijuana,

and at some point in time,
he had a disagreement

with these folks over
some of their transactions

with regard to this marijuana.

WILLIAM SHATNER: According
to Roxanne's friends,

late one night a man showed up
unexpectedly at her apartment.

SUSPECT: Where's Kurt?
- Kurt's not here.

What do you mean,
he's not here?

WILLIAM SHATNER: Police
believe that when

Kurt left to join the
army, his former associates

were still angry.

Roxanne may have
found herself trapped

in the middle of a bitter
drug related dispute.

Kurt owed me some money,
and I'm going to find him,

and I will find him.

WILLIAM SHATNER: Two
years later in 1984,

Kurt Jeeves was himself murdered
during an attempted drug buy.

He had always angrily
insisted that he

had no information that might
shed light on the deaths

of his sister and nephew.

ROY BAIRD: This case
occurred at Christmastime,

and I'm sure that myself
and all the other detectives

will never forget what we
saw out there that day.

Whomever committed that
offense doesn't need

to be free in our society, and
I don't intend to ever give

up trying to find that person.

WILLIAM SHATNER: On our
next "Unsolved Mysteries",

two stories of death defined
by overpowering love.

In one, a mothers pain
over the loss of her child

was eased when she was
contacted by what she believes

was a spirit of her daughter.

And a woman raising
two young sons

after the death of her
husband says she found

solace when he appeared to her.

Some say these after death
visits are pure hallucination.

Others claim they
are all too real.

Also a case of utmost urgency.

A serial killer is
stalking and murdering

young women in the Midwest.

Perhaps you can help
catch the I-70 killer.

Join me next time.

Perhaps you may be able
to help solve a mystery.

[theme music]