All language subtitles for Unsolved.Mysteries.S07E14.AMZN.WEB-DL.DDP2.0.H.264-BTW_track3_[eng]

[music playing]

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: Kansas City, Missouri.

It started as a small fire
at a construction site.

Then suddenly, it exploded
with unrestrained fury,

instantly killing
six firefighters.

Later, investigators discovered
that the blaze had been

deliberately set, meaning
the deaths were in reality

cold-blooded murders.

Imagine the eerie feeling
of stepping off a train

and coming face to face
with a total stranger who

looks exactly like you, in
effect, your mirror image.

That is precisely what
happened to a soldier named

Ken Palmer during World War II.

Some 50 years later, he's still
searching for his exact double.

On a small plane loaded
with marijuana crashed

in the Virginia
countryside, it blew the lid

off one of the East
Coast's biggest drug rings.

Authorities began to close
in on the mastermind,

a charismatic
pilot named Wallace

Thrasher, only to
hear he had apparently

died in Central America.

But reports of the
drug lord's death

may have been a clever hoax.

Officials now
believe that Wallace

Thresher got away scot-free.

Join me for another
fascinating edition

of "Unsolved Mysteries."

[theme music]

Tonight, a woman named
Pam Paige is missing.

For more than four
years, her family

has endured the agony of not
knowing what happened to her.

In 1977, Pam and
her husband, Rob,

left Arkansas and
eventually moved

to a suburb of Phoenix,
Arizona where they

opened a video rental business.

Despite one shaky period in
1987, Pam and Rob seemed happy.

In fact, on July 7, 1989,
Pam went back to Arkansas

for a family reunion
and told everyone

that things were great.

[music playing]

Two weeks later, however,
on July 22, 1989,

Rob Page said he
noticed that his wife

was behaving strangely.

During the middle of the
night on the early morning

hours of Saturday Mr.
Page awoke and discovered

that his wife was not in bed.

He went downstairs and
discovered her on the sofa.

Honey, what are you doing?

I just couldn't sleep.

My back really hurts.

DOUG HILDEBRANDT: She was
through family photographs.

And she was crying.

I'll just leave
for a little while.

DOUG HILDEBRANDT: She told him
that her back was bothering her

and that she didn't feel well.

And Mr. Page said
that he encouraged

her to go see a
doctor in the morning,

and he returned back to bed.

Mr. Page said he got up at 7
or 8 o'clock in the morning,

went downstairs, and found his
wife sorting through clothing.

I'm sorting through
some clothes for goodwill.

I've been wanting to
do this for a while.

It's almost 8 o'clock.

Are you going to go
down to the shop?

I really don't feel very good.

Well, you want me
to open it for you?

- Would you?
- Yeah, sure.

That would be good.

OK, I got the keys.

OK, thanks.

Right.

DOUG HILDEBRANDT: He
did leave the home.

He stated he had trouble
starting his vehicle,

because he has an
ignition switch problem--

worked on his truck
for a little bit,

got it started, and went up
and opened up the video store.

NARRATOR: Rob Page
said that eight

hours later, he came home to
an empty house and a letter

from Pam.

PAM (VOICEOVER): "Rob, by
the time you read this,

I'll be a long way from here.

I have though this thing
out, and I've been planning

this for several months."

NARRATOR: The letter
stated that Pam had left

town with a woman named Sarah.

Rob Page claimed
she was embarrassed

because he thought his wife
had left him for a woman.

He did not call Arkansas
to tell Pam's family.

Four days later, however,
Pam's older sister, Trena,

did call Rob.
- Hi, Rob.

This is Trena.

I was calling to see
how Pam was doing.

ROB (ON PHONE): She's gone.

What do you mean she's gone?

Well, I came home on Saturday,
and-- and she left me a letter.

It seemed out of character
to me for her not to let

anyone know where she was--

where she was at.

But I didn't think
about that at first.

I just had one thing on mind
was getting my word to somebody

that she was missing.

"By the time you read this, I
will be a long way from here."

NARRATOR: One by one, the
members of Pam's family

called Rob and listened
as he read the letter.

To each and every one,
something seemed odd.

Rob told him the police
had taken a report.

But Pam's father wanted
to see the letter anyway.

He asked Rob to
fax it to Arkansas.

"How living back home
would make me happy.

It won't."

When I received
that faxed letter,

I knew that something
was bad wrong.

For one thing, I looked
at the signature.

I had birthday cards, and
letters, and so on from Pam.

And the signature
wasn't her signature.

NARRATOR: Finally,
Pam's sister Jimmy

called the police in Arizona.

But they had never
heard of the case.

The family was stunned.

I knew from that
second that she was dead.

It scared me, because I didn't
know if we would find her body

or if we would know
what happened to her.

But I knew she was dead.

I was sure of that.

She wouldn't leave
under no circumstances.

She would have let mama know.

They were too close.

NARRATOR: Rob Page
told detectives

that on the day of
Pam's disappearance,

he left home around 8:00 AM.

Later, he went to several
auto parts stores,

looking without success for an
ignition switch for his truck.

In the parking lot of one store,
the truck finally gave out.

Rob said he called
home, got no answer,

and assumed Pam had gone to
the video shop after all.

He phoned for a taxi
to take him home.

Hi, I need a taxi.

NARRATOR: Rob said he
never went into the house,

only the garage.

He got a part for his
truck, hopped on his bike,

and went back to the store.

When the truck finally
started, he drove home

and found the letter.

The letter stated
that Pam had taken

all their money, $60,000
in cash, out of the safe

at the video store.

Rob Page said he went
straight to the store.

And indeed, the cash was gone.

The letter also said that Pam
had left the couple's Corvette

at a Winchell's Donut Shop.

Rob Page claimed he drove to
every Winchell's in the area

until finally the next day
he located the Corvette.

Soon, however, the
police began to question

the details of Rob's story.

None of the employees of
the last auto parts store

remembered rob or anyone asking
about an ignition switch.

In addition, Rob Page
said his truck, which

was very distinctive, was
parked at the store for nearly

four hours that afternoon.

DOUG HILDEBRANDT:
None of the employees

ever recall seeing
that truck being

out in the front of the store
or anyone ever working on it.

And one particular
employee stated

if that truck had been
out front of his business,

he would have known it.

NARRATOR: The police
also found it curious

that the donut
shop where Pam had

allegedly parked the Corvette--

the shop which had taken Rob
Page several hours to locate,

was right across the street
from the auto parts store.

However, police did
verify Rob's claim

that a cab took him home from
that location on July 22, 1989.

Next, investigators
turned their attention

to the letter and the traveling
companion named Sarah.

Rob said he had never
met Sarah, but had

heard Pam talk about her.

DOUG HILDEBRANDT: Mr. Page
felt that his wife had

met Sarah at the video store.

From checking with the video
store and the customers

by the name of Sarah, we
were not able to find a woman

by that name of Mrs. Page.

NARRATOR: Finally, three weeks
after Pam Page disappeared,

the Arizona State
Crime Lab verified

that the signature on the letter
was almost certainly not Pam's.

DOUG HILDEBRANDT: Mr.
Page refused to believe me

and was adamant that his wife
had in fact signed the letter.

After continuing to question
Mr. Page about the signature

on the letter, he admitted
to me that he in fact

did sign that letter.

NARRATOR: Rob Page
now became a suspect

and suddenly, he began to
tell a very different story.

DOUG HILDEBRANDT:
Mr. Page stated

that the Thursday preceding
his wife's disappearance

that while he was on the
family's home computer,

he discovered a letter
that he claims his wife

had authored in which,
in essence, that she

was going to be leaving him.

I was working on
the computer just now,

and I found something
very interesting.

What did you find?

DOUG HILDEBRANDT: Mr.
Page stated he confronted

his wife about that letter.

Oh, I'm sorry you found this.

I wrote this a long time ago.

Oh, then you weren't
planning to leave me, huh?

No, I wasn't.

I wrote this when I was upset.

Oh, then you're not going to
take all our money and run off.

Rob, why do you
have to blow up

everything out of proportion?

Let's talk about this
when you've cooled down.

Come back here.
We're not finished.

DOUG HILDEBRANDT: On Saturday,
he went to the video store,

opened it up, and stayed at
the store until about noon.

And then he returned home
to check on his wife.

NARRATOR: Rob now
told police that when

he came home from
the video store,

he found the house in disarray.

Pam?

NARRATOR: Rob said that all of
Pam's clothes except the items

she had set aside for
goodwill were gone.

All the family pictures
and one of their dogs,

a dachshund name
Rerun, were missing.

Pam's credit cards and house
keys were on the kitchen table.

But Rob said he couldn't
find her driver's license.

Rob Page said he went downstairs
and added four innocuous

sentences to the
letter in the computer,

printed it out, and
signed Pam's name.

Then Rob drove the Corvette
to Winchell's, went

to the payphone across the
street, and called a taxi.

DOUG HILDEBRANDT: Mr. Page
stated that he fabricated some

of the things he did and
acted out some of the things

that he did, because
no one would ever

believe him that
his wife had in fact

left him had he not done this.

Due to Mr. Page's
inconsistent statements

throughout this
investigation, and as well

as the suspicious circumstances
surrounding the disappearance

of his wife, he was offered
a polygraph examination

on several occasions to
eliminate him as a suspect

in his wife's disappearance.

And he declined to take a
polygraph on each occasion

that it was offered.

NARRATOR: Despite the
suspicions about Rob Page,

there was no evidence
that he had done anything

wrong except change his story.

No charges were filed.

And the investigation
sputtered to a halt.

This is a picture
of your sister, Pam?

Oh, yes.

NARRATOR: Frustrated,
Pam's sister, Jimmie, Rice,

decided to visit Carol Pate,
a psychic in Little Rock,

Arkansas, who has worked with
the police there for 10 years.

Carol had never been
to Arizona and knew

nothing about the Page's.

She had only a photograph
of Pam to go on.

That's very good.

Thank you.

JIMMIE RICE : I just
handed her a picture.

She put her hand
on it, and started

describing Pam's front room.

And unless you've
ever been there,

she didn't know if Pam lived
in a trailer, or apartment,

or whatever, but to
describe the downstairs

and how you go up the
stairs, and the balcony,

and going into a
bedroom, you know,

you knew she was
actually seeing all this.

I saw her with a man in
what appeared to be her house.

And she was arguing with him.

The argument goes up the stairs.

She's going up the stairs.

She's going down the hallway.

He knocks her to the floor.

He's trying to strangle her.

He grabs a pillow.

And all of a sudden, she--

she's quiet.

Then a female comes.

She assists him when
placing her in the trunk.

Now I'm seeing them
pull out of the garage.

And they're driving.

The name Coolidge comes
into my mind and 2, 4, 1.

Then I'm seeing a factory.

And it's gray in color.

It appears to be to my left.

And there's a railroad
track parallel

and then crossing over
the railroad track

onto a small road.

Then he pulls over on
the side of the road

and removes the body
and begins to dig.

When apparently
it is deep enough,

he places her in the grave
and then drives away.

NARRATOR: Jana Thorson,
a Arizona newspaper

reporter covering the
case, was in touch

with Pam's family in Arkansas.

She decided to check out Carol
Pate's three strongest clues--

the factory, the numbers 2,
4, 1, and the name Coolidge.

Incredibly, Thorson
did find a gray factory

building near railroad tracks
right in Peoria, Arizona.

Nearby was a sign
with the numbers 241.

One of the routes between the
Page home and a friend's house

passed both of these
sites and ended

at a street named Coolidge.

There is no way of knowing if
Carol Pate's information means

anything until we know whether
Pam Page met with foul play

or chose to disappear.

From the beginning, Rob
Page has maintained that he

believes his wife is alive.

In a letter to
"Unsolved Mysteries,"

he declined a request
for an interview,

but said that if we
aired this story,

he hope Pam would be found.

Pam Page would today
be 36 years old.

She has red hair and is
5 feet 8 inches tall.

[music playing]

[siren]

It was just after
Thanksgiving, 1988,

firemen raced to extinguish
two small blazes burning

at the edge of the city.

It was a most routine of calls.

Then in the blink of an
eye, one of the fires

exploded with
unprecedented fury.

[explosion]

LEOTA HALLORAN: He could have
retired several years ago,

but he loved it so
much that he stayed.

JEWELL HURD: He wasn't even
supposed to have been working.

He was filling in
for somebody else.

CECILIA KILVENTON: I'd rather
have him go this way than

to lay in a coma or
be sick, because that

would never be Jim Kilventon.

KAREN OLDHAM CABLE: He didn't
want to fly an airplane,

because he didn't want to
risk his life on an airplane.

And I said, but you risk your
life every day being a fireman.

And he said, well,
he's in control when

he's at the fire department.

NARRATOR: Michael
Oldham, Robert McKarnin,

James Kilventon, Gene Hurd,
Thomas Frye, Gerald Halloran.

They were among
Kansas City's best--

six firefighters with
more than 100 years

of service between them.

All had been married.

All had children.

Underlying the tragedy is
the ugly fact that the fires

had been deliberately set.

And arson means that the
deaths are nothing less

than cold-blooded murderers.

In spite of a massive
investigation,

no charges have been
filed-- no convictions won.

Today, the case
remains Kansas City's

most notorious unsolved crime.

The first minutes gave no
hint of what was to come.

At about 3:40 AM on
November 29, 1988,

two security guards at a
highway construction site

discovered a pickup
truck in flames.

Yes, I want to report a fire--

71 Highway, southbound lane.

Across the street--

NARRATOR: Some 500 yards
away, a second blaze crackled

around a storage trailer.

CALLER: Look, there's
some explosives there

that are burning near the fire.

OK, we'll get
somebody started.

NARRATOR: The dispatch
went to Station 41.

MAN (ON RADIO): Pumper
41, this is pickup track.

NARRATOR: Captain Jim
Kilventon, fireman Robert

McKarnin and Mike
Oldham were out the door

in just over 90 seconds.

MAN (ON RADIO): Pumper
41, a pick up truck,

87 South 71 Highway on the
west side of the highway.

[siren]

Pumper 41, use caution.

Information from calling party--
there may be explosives stored

in that construction site.

The pickup truck may be
in the construction site.

41 is clear.

NARRATOR: As Pumper 41
whipped through town,

Jim Kilventon's
wife Cecilia heard

the dispatch over the police
scanner she kept at work.

CECILIA KILVENTON: I just
didn't think anything about it

at the time, because you are
just going to a regular truck

fire down on the highway.

I just thought it
was teenager's truck.

They said they caught it on
fire for insurance purposes.

[siren]

Yeah, we're the
ones that called.

Yeah.

You'll have to
talk to the captain.

- Are you the captain?
- I'm right here.

Totally involved.

We'll be using one small screen.

Thanks for getting
here so quickly.

The truck is totalled, but there
is a fire on the other side.

Yes, ma'am.

MAN: There's
explosives over there.

CAPTAIN: On the other
side of the highway?

MAN: Yes, sir.

NARRATOR: From the onset,
arson seem probable,

given two fires
that were apparently

started simultaneously.

CAPTAIN: Send another
pumper company.

NARRATOR: The highway
construction site,

a frequent target of
vandals, lay some 10 miles

from downtown Kansas City.

The burning trailer was located
here perched on a hillside.

Roughly 500 yards to the
northwest, across a highway,

was the pickup truck.

Kilventon and his crew soon had
the truck blaze under control.

However, fires still burned
unchecked through the trailer.

Within minutes,
Captain Gerald Hallaron

along with Fireman
Thomas Fry and Gene Hurd

arrived from Station 30.

Pumper 30 to 97.

Hey, Gene, how you doing?

Gene, what do we got?

Well, Gerald, it
looks like we've

got a pickup down here that we
pretty well got under control.

Why don't you go up on top
of the hill and handle that?

NARRATOR: Hallaron and
his men headed up the hill

to work the trailer fire.

Pumper 41 stayed behind to
wrap up the first blaze.

To Captain Hallaron,
a check of the area

suggested that
the explosives had

been properly stored
in clearly marked

metal sheds known as bunkers.

JAMES GIBSON: Just the fact that
the bunker was there-- in fact,

there was two bunkers there--

led that Captain to
believe that's where

the explosives was.

And this trailer was just a
regular, normal construction

trailer with tools
and equipment in it.

And therefore,
there was no danger,

that the heat was going
to put that fire out,

and they'd be done
for the night.

NARRATOR: Roughly
eight minutes later,

Captain Kilventon
and his crew joined

the others at the trailer.

POLICE RADIO: 10-4.

Are you back up in there now?

Yeah, 10-4.

NARRATOR: 4:08 AM, the
battalion chief pulled

into the construction site.

He was a quarter mile from
the flames, just minutes

from one of the worst tragedies
in Kansas City history.

I'm the battalion chief.

You guys are?

We're the security guards.

We're the ones that
reported the fire.

Uh-huh.
Tell me a bit about it.

We just got on the scene.

Well, my truck was on fire.

And they came and
took care of that.

And I think the firefighters
went over to the site

across the street.

They're down around
the trailers down there.

We understand there's some
explosives here in a bunker?

Yeah, and we think that there
there's some in that trailers

over there as well.

The trailers that are on fire?

Yeah.

Let's come out of there, John.

106--

[explosion]

KAREN OLDHAM CABLE: It was just
the loudest noise I ever heard.

It just kind of
went through you.

It was just so loud
I can't describe it.

I'm serious.

It was just incredible.

And we live about 12 miles away
from where the explosion was.

[explosion]

LEOTA HALLARON: It
knocked me out of bed.

And I got up and looked to
the east, and I saw a big--

great big ball of fire,
and I said to myself,

Gerald is going to
have to go to that,

because that's his district.

And I just knew he had to go.

I knew he'd be there.

POLICE RADIO: 407
to dispatchers.

DISPATCHER: 407.

POLICE RADIO: Explosions just
a s we pulled up in here.

Get us all kinds of ambulances
and at least a couple

or three more companies.

NARRATOR: 15 companies of
Kansas City firefighters

rush to aid their comrades.

Comrades.

The safety considerations
forced them to wait

frustrated on the sidelines.

BILL FORBES: They feared that
there were more explosives

up there on the hill.

And it was still dark.

From the sounds
of the explosions,

they were pretty sure
that nobody had survived.

And so we made the
decision that we

were going to wait until
daylight, because we didn't

want to go up there and stumble
around on more explosives

and get more people
injured and killed.

[explosion]

NARRATOR: 40 minutes
after the initial blast,

a second explosion did
indeed rip through the site.

DISPATCH; Pumper
41 or pumper 30--

answer.

Pumper 41 or pumper 30.

Pumper 30, pumper 41-- answer.

Pumper 30, pumper 41--

please answer.

CECILIA KILVENTON: I knew
something had happened.

Why couldn't he get to his radio
or anybody get to the radio?

I said everything will be OK.

I just sort of blocked
it out of my mind.

Then she come through.

There were about five after
six come through the door.

He says, they're
gone, but legally,

they cannot pronounce him gone
until the coroner gets there.

I said, no way,
they're still alive.

He said, no, they're gone.

His captain came to the door.

And when he came in, and I said,
don't tell me it isn't true.

And I just started crying.

NARRATOR: Daylight
revealed a stark landscape.

In the dismal aftermath, agents
from the Bureau of Alcohol,

Tobacco, and Firearms
joined Kansas City Police

to sift the wreckage for clues.

BILL FORBES: It was
evident that nobody

could have survived that.

It was just totally devastated.

I don't think any of the
group that went up there

was expecting what we found.

I don't think anybody had any
idea that it was that bad.

I'd been in Vietnam
and seen B-52 strikes--

what the aftermath
of those were.

And these craters
were much larger

than 2,000 pound bombs leave.

And as we found
the firefighters,

we came to the last one,
and he was lying there,

and his radio was still on.

And you could hear the voice
of the dispatcher still coming

on over the radio calling.

And it just kind of shattered
the stillness of it.

It's just a very
surreal looking scene.

NARRATOR: A public
outcry erupted

following the revelation
that arson had led

to the firefighters' deaths.

Angry residents inundated
the police department

with literally
hundreds of leads.

JOHN FRAISE: The tips have
ranged anywhere from someone

out trying to steal to someone
out just for fun, someone

out just because they
liked to set fires

and wanted to see
what would happen.

But as time wore on,
these leads soon wore out.

NARRATOR: Meanwhile,
federal agents

pursued the investigation
from a different angle.

The highway project
had long been the focus

of a bitter labor dispute.

We know that there
was labor unrest.

And it primarily
dealt with union

versus non-union companies.

We learned that there were a
number of violent acts directed

at non-union companies.

They were putting acid
into company equipment.

They were putting a dirt
into the diesel lines.

And there were a number
of incidents where fire

was used to destroy equipment.

And if you take away the
tragedy of that night of the six

firefighters dying,
we can look at some

of these previous incidents
being very similar to what

happened that night.

You had equipment damaged.

And then, in this instance,
you had a security

guard's truck set on fire also.

NARRATOR: The untimely deaths
of the six firemen reverberated

across the entire country.

Firefighters from every state
joined in memorial services

at Kansas City's
Arrowhead Stadium.

To this day, surviving
family members

have been the focus of
unflagging community support.

LEOTA HALLARON: We were all
very proud of our husbands.

And we are proud of the
people in Kansas City,

because they gave
us such support.

Everyone was back of us.

And we weren't alone.

KAREN OLDHAM CABLE: I guess I
feel like if I knew who did it,

we'd know why they did it.

And I don't think they were
trying to kill six firemen.

But somebody was trying to
do something to somebody.

And six men are gone.

And that's hard to deal with.

Today I think about this case.

Tomorrow I'll think
about this case.

And I'll think about
it until it's resolved.

[music playing]

NARRATOR: When we
return, the case

of the enigmatic
Wallace Thrasher--

debonair country gentlemen
and alleged drug lord.

[music playing]

[siren]

On October 17, 1984,
Virginia State Troopers

converged on an eerie scene.

A small airplane had crashed in
a remote mountain wilderness.

Sprint across out there.

Making trails out there.

[inaudible].

Check this pilot.

NARRATOR: Still
strapped in the cockpit

was a body charred
beyond recognition.

But it was the plane's
cargo that riveted

the attention of police.

In smoldering heaps
strewn over the crash

site was 1,200 pounds
of high-grade marijuana.

Street value-- more
than $1 million.

For the authorities, the crash
was something of a godsend.

Eventually, they would
connect both the plane

and the dead pilot to Wallace
Thrasher of Bland County

Virginia, one of the most
successful and most flagrant

drug runners in the
Eastern United States.

Back in high school when
he belonged to the Key

Club and the Latin Club, Wallace
Thrasher hardly seemed the type

to end up peddling drugs.

He played on the
football team and earned

the nickname Squirrel for his
ability to outrun trouble.

But somewhere along the way,
Wallace Thrasher went wrong.

Today, his whereabouts
are the subject

of unending speculation.

Former associates
insist Thrasher

died in Central America.

But authorities suspect
that the Squirrel

is once again on the run.

From the late '70s
to the early '80s,

Thrasher's operation flew
tons of marijuana and cocaine

into the western
region of Virginia.

Distributors then smuggled
the drugs north to Chicago,

Detroit, and other big cities.

Thrasher often piloted
the planes himself.

And many of his neighbors
seemed to regard

him as a kind of local hero.

DONALD LINCOLN: Here
in Western Virginia

and for probably 200 years,
kind of the swashbuckling,

pirate, buccaneer
type people out here

were the local moonshiners.

And to some extent, dope pilots
are the modern-day moonshiners.

It takes the same
kind of talents

to smuggle dope in
by air as it does

to run a load of moonshine.

He was the type person he
wasn't afraid let everybody

know what he was doing.

Basically everybody that had
contact with him at the airport

and in the areas where he
was doing his drug business

knew he was transporting drugs.

[horn]

Hey, baby!

NARRATOR: The rewards of
Wallace Thrasher's life of crime

are on display for
everyone to see.

He and his wife owned a
10-acre country estate

and surrounded themselves
with the luxury.

What you been doing?

Been shopping.

Oh, yeah?

DONALD LINCOLN: Wally Thrasher
was a very charming fellow--

very generous to his
associates and the people

who lived around him.

He spent money very freely.

So there a great
many people will

tell you kind things about him.

NARRATOR: For nearly a
decade, Wallace Thrasher

managed to stay two
steps ahead of the law

until that fateful night
when one of his pilots

slammed an airplane full of
marijuana into a mountainside.

It would take two
weeks of painstaking

investigation to turn
up undeniable proof

that Thrasher owned the plane.

Detectives were planning to
move in until this article

appeared in the local paper.

Wallace Thrasher was dead.

May I help you gentlemen?

NARRATOR: Soon after, Virginia
authorities tried to speak

directly with Thrasher's wife.

No, I'm afraid now
is not a good time.

Well, we read that
Wallace Thrasher died.

That's correct.

Exactly how did he die?

In a plane crash.

He was a pilot.

And where did he die?

In Jamaica.

When did this happen?

November 5th.

Gentlemen, I'm sorry.

I have to go.

Goodbye.

Thank you.

NARRATOR: The investigators
departed unimpressed.

Later, Mrs. Thrasher
produced this death

certificate as proof of
her husband's fatal crash

in Jamaica.

Still suspicious, police sought
to verify the information.

DAVID DEAN: The investigation
revealed that the death

certificate was fraudulent,
and there was no evidence

from any witnesses
or anyone in Jamaica

that knew of any such crash.

NARRATOR: The disclosures
convinced authorities

that Wallace Thrasher was
still alive, and as a result,

they filed charges against him.

But with Thrasher's
whereabouts unknown,

his wife was again questioned
by the authorities.

Eventually, she agreed to tell
investigators what she knew.

She began with the
night of the crash

and confirmed that there had
been a second pilot on board

the aircraft.

Although severely
injured, the pilot

was able to drag
himself to a payphone.

Hey, man!

NARRATOR: Thrasher picked him
up at the very moment police

were racing to the crash scene.

[siren]

What happened?

tThe plane crashed.

Oh, my god.

You've got to get
him to the hospital.

No, no.

NARRATOR: Almost
immediately, Wallace Thrasher

began to assess the
damage to his operation.

What happened man?

We were trying to come in
low under the cloud cover.

It was just too low, man.
I tried to get us out of there.

NARRATOR: Thrasher
was well aware

that the plane could be traced
back to him, that it was just

a matter of time
before the authorities

would be knocking at his door.

I think we got problems.

I think we got real problems.

We have got to get
him to a hospital.

NARRATOR: Later, Thrasher
sped the injured pilot

to an out-of-state hospital
and dropped from sight himself.

Mrs. Thrasher went
on to tell police

that about two weeks
after the crash,

her husband stuffed a
quarter of a million dollars

in cash into a travel bag
and departed for the Central

American country of Belize.

Thresher had said
that he planned

to buy a load of marijuana and
return to the United States.

But some believe Thrasher
never intended to come home,

that the $250,000 was a
down payment on a new life.

[phone ringing]

Hello?

DONALD LINCOLN:
About a week later

Mrs. Thrasher received a call
from two of their confederates

down in Belize advising her that
Mr. thrasher had been killed

on takeoff in a massive crash.

Oh, my god.

The fire had been so intense
that literally the plane was

burned down to the outline
of a plane on the ground

and that there
would be very little

for them to send back and no
reason for her to come down.

My god.

DONALD LINCOLN: Mrs. Thrasher
contacted her attorney with

the basic problem of how to
handle her husband's estate--

how would she inherit things--
how would you spend money--

take money from
accounts and so forth.

NARRATOR: In the
end, Thrasher's wife

admitted she bought the
fake death certificate

and concocted the tale of
a Jamaican plane crash.

She had feared that her
property would be confiscated

if authorities learned her
husband was on a drug run

when he died.

But even the crash
in Belize started

to seem like a
fabrication after one

of Wallace Thrasher's
former associates

showed up in May of 1986.

So what did you find?

Well, I went to Belize to the
spot where the plane went down.

And apparently, the
fire was really bad.

So the guys just bulldozed
whatever was left into a hole.

And the fire was so
bad there wasn't much.

I did get some proof though.

It's a wedding ring.

I got that from
one of the guys

that was there when he crashed.

NARRATOR: The ring was
in perfect condition--

the inscription as sharp as
the day it had been engraved.

For detectives, that
was part of the problem.

DONALD LINCOLN: Mrs. Thrasher
did advise me it was definitely

Wally Thrasher's wedding ring.

We find it kind of tough to
believe that an aircraft could

go in with that
amount of fuel, cause

that amount of destruction
to the point where literally

the substructure of
the plane was melted,

and the ring itself would still
be in that kind of condition.

NARRATOR: A decade has passed
since Wallace Thrasher left

for Belize with a
change of clothes

and a quarter of
a million dollars.

Did he perish in a fiery
crash in the jungles

of Central America?

Or did the Squirrel once
again dash to freedom?

I think that at the time
that Mr. Thrasher disappeared,

he was facing a lot
of different problems.

And it may have been an
opportune for him to, as they

say, exit stage left.

We know that he
was having problems

within his own organization.

He knew that if he
got caught this time,

it wouldn't be a matter of
18 months at a country club

and would be some
serious prison time.

So I think it was
an excellent time

for him to make that decision
if he was going to make it.

NARRATOR: This photograph
shows Wallace Thrasher

at about the age of 36.

He has graying hair, an
athletic build, and stands

5 feet 10 inches tall.

Next, the amazing encounter
of two lookalikes--

identical strangers
who may in fact be long

lost blood relatives.

[music playing]

What are the odds that
somewhere in the world

is another person who
looks exactly like you?

1 in a million?

1 in 50 million?

The chances of actually standing
nose to nose with your double

seems beyond calculation.

And yet around 50
years ago, that

is precisely what happened to a
young soldier named Ken Palmer.

Tonight, with your help, he
hopes to beat the odds again.

In December of 1943, Ken
Palmer was a newly commissioned

second lieutenant in the Army
Air Corps on his way from Texas

to Wisconsin.

During a momentary
stop to change trains

in Cincinnati, Ohio, Ken
had the most remarkable

encounter of his life.

Ken sensed that someone
was staring at him.

A quick glance told him why.

Incredibly,
improbably, Ken Palmer

had found his exact double.

KEN PALMER: I was amazed.

And both of us saw it and both
of us reacted so much to it.

Both of us sat down
our bags and stared.

And until I got a hold of
myself and extended my hand,

he didn't move.

He was just frozen, looking at
himself in a different uniform.

I'm Ken Palmer.

My name is Palmer.

KEN PALMER: My first
thought, of course,

was that he's closely related.

Look, my father is from
Brownsville, Minnesota

just across from
Lacrosse, Wisconsin.

Do you know Brownsville?

No, I have no family there.

KEN PALMER: We began
to exchange our fathers

names, our grandfathers
names, where we lived--

things of this nature.

And that didn't get it.

My grandfather is
from Brownsville.

NARRATOR: Surprisingly,
the two men could not find

a single relative in common.

But when Ken began to
recount an old family legend,

he was stunned by the
stranger's response.

My family often talks of
this lost treasure in India.

Two Palmer brothers
were at a party

in the Court of St. James.

They, uh, cut the queue
off a court official.

Yeah, that's right.

They had to flee England.

I mean, that's the story.

They left a fortune.

KEN PALMER: Not only
did he know about it,

he added details that I
checked out with dad later.

And they were accurate--

things that I didn't know.

So it was perfectly obvious
that we were related.

And yet we couldn't
understand how we could be.

- All aboard!
- This is my train.

I've got to go.

Look, ti's going to be--

Do you-- do you have a pen?

Yeah, I do.

You write down your
name and address.

When I get back home,
I'm going to contact you.

This is good.
This is good.

Do.

I will.

KEN PALMER: I took
his name and address--

stuffed it in my pocket.

I'll write you.

Goodbye.

Goodbye.

KEN PALMER: I
picked up my luggage

and scooted off for my train.

If I'd had the sense
that God gave geese,

I would have stopped
right then, and we would

have spent some time together.

When I got on the
train and settled,

I reached in my pocket to
get that slip of paper.

It wasn't there.

It all fell apart
at that moment.

I was devastated.

NARRATOR: Ken Palmer never
saw his double again.

And all attempts to find the
man have been unsuccessful.

These pictures of Ken Palmer
were taken in the 1940s.

The man he met at the
train station so long ago

was virtually identical.

Like Ken, his last
name was Palmer.

His first name may have
been Robert or James.

Ken believes the man lived
in the Eastern United

States, possibly New Jersey.

At the time, Ken's double was
either a technical or a staff

sergeant in the Army Air Corps.

KEN PALMER: I would
like very much to find

him and/or part of his family.

Doggone it!

How many times are you're going
to walk across the station

and see that double
out of all the people

in the United States--

out of everybody
that it could happen.

That split second timing when
in this great crowd and all

these people we walk
into one another

and we sat down our bags
and stare at one another--

magical moment.

[music playing]

Join me next Friday.

Perhaps you hold the key.

Perhaps you may be able
to help solve a mystery.

[music playing]