Original subtitles

NARRATOR: 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]

NARRATOR: Tonight on "Unsolved Mysteries,"

we continue our examination into New York's

infamous son of Sam shootings.

New evidence suggests that the Son of Sam killer,

David Berkowitz, was part of a satanic cult

that murdered six people.

At an inn near Philadelphia, the head

waitress sees a Revolutionary War

soldier on the main staircase.

In Jackson, Mississippi, a wealthy woman is kidnapped.

Her millionaire husband gives into the kidnapper's demands.

Annie Hearin is still missing.

These intriguing stories all need

one final clue, one final piece of information

before they can be solved.

Perhaps someone watching tonight can help.

Perhaps it's you.

[theme music]

For over 100 years, people have seen and heard things

around the General Wayne Inn in Philadelphia that they cannot

explain, a number of different ghosts

who seem to have an unusual agenda of mischief in mind.

Located in Merion, Pennsylvania, the General Wayne Inn

opened in 1704 and is reputed to be

the oldest, continuously-functioning inn

in America.

Ben Franklin visited the inn, and George Washington

slept in what is today this dining room.

Edgar Allan Poe wrote part of his famous poem, "The Raven,"

here in 1836.

But it is a history of hauntings that brings

us to the General Wayne Inn.

Barton Johnson is the innkeeper and serves

as vice president of the local historical society.

We have had towels thrown all over the kitchen.

We have had adding machine problems.

We've had television problems directly

attributable to something that is not understandable.

We have had reports of sightings of entities, ghosts.

We have had a funny incident with a new Cadillac

in the parking lot outside.

NARRATOR: Last year a valet walked by a Cadillac

parked in front of the inn.

The owner had gone inside and had taken his keys with him.

[engine starts and horn honks]

BART JOHNSON: Doors were locked.

Windows were all closed.

The kid was scared to death.

And I said look.

Calm down.

These things happen around here and just relax.

I enjoy these ghosts.

I mean, they don't bother me at all.

I think they come up with some real clever little things.

For God's sake, what are you doing?

Nothing.

What the hell are you doing?

I didn't do anything.

BART JOHNSON: On a busy night, that's

when this entity will start.

Did you do that?

Do what?

BART JOHNSON: And he'll go down the entire side

of the bar blowing on the back of the girls' necks.

And the poor guys, they really were doing nothing.

Cut that out.

Who me?

BART JOHNSON: Now I knew when the first one

started that it would continue all the way down

to the end of the bar.

It always did.

Did you do that? MAN: Do what?

Blow on the back of my neck.

BART JOHNSON: It happened so often

that I enjoyed standing back on the other side of the bar

and watching.

Hundreds of occurrences have happened, some very minor,

some more dramatic.

But there have been hundreds of them.

NARRATOR: Bart has witnessed many ghostly events

but has never actually seen a ghost.

Dave Rogers has.

I was maitre d' at the time.

And we were closing the restaurant up for the night.

[water running]

And I was starting on my way out.

And I had looked up.

I only saw it for a split second.

It was just a head sitting on this chest of drawers.

It didn't register with me right away.

And when I got out into the bar area,

it was like I hit a brick wall.

And I just stopped dead in my tracks, and I started saying,

I saw a head!

I saw something.

I saw a head.

It was just like It happened yesterday.

I'll never forget the details, although I

just saw it for an instant.

NARRATOR: Other employees have also seen apparitions.

One day Alice Gormley was walking

through the dining room.

And I heard someone call my name.

Alice?

Alice?

So I walked out of here to see if it was the manager.

And I saw this apparition, this person on the stairs.

And he was standing on this step.

And he looked so startled.

And when I said can I help you, he just disappeared.

NARRATOR: Local historian, Jay Robert Manty,

has studied the inn's history in detail.

And, according to him, this spectre has been

seen before over 100 years ago.

The first written record of a ghost in the General Wayne Inn

that we came across in writing was

a report of an election in 1848 that took place in here.

A lady went down to the basement to get some more ballots.

When she came up, she said to the lady

in charge of the elections, I just saw a soldier

down there in a green uniform.

NARRATOR: In recent times, there have been three

new sightings of this soldier.

Manty interviewed three witnesses

who saw the same apparition at different times.

Each of them saw the ghost in this basement.

It's an interesting place.

I know there's a wine cellar here.

It was right by the door of the wine cellar

that each one of them saw the apparition.

This is it.

This is where they found him, and he stood right there.

Each one described the-- in perfect way--

the green uniform, and the yellowish lapel,

and the black mustache of a Hessian soldier

of the regiments that were occupying

Philadelphia at that time.

NARRATOR: Hessians were German mercenaries

who frequented the inn during the Revolutionary War.

What about the British barracks room--

NARRATOR: "Unsolved Mysteries" invited

Michaeleen Maher, a paranormal investigator to the inn.

Michaeleen uses experimental research techniques that

can separate fact from fiction, for without evidence,

she refuses to believe that ghosts exist.

--might have been feeling or what might

have happened here before.

NARRATOR: Starting with detailed floor plans,

she uses statistical analysis to evaluate the responses

of both skeptics and hand-picked psychics

who have been brought to the scene of the hauntings.

When we bring them into an experimental situation,

into a haunting, we ask them to tour the place where

something has been reported.

NARRATOR: Michaeleen has asked psychic Paula Rogers

to walk through the building.

Paula knew nothing about the inn's history.

She went through every room.

And, in the basement, she made a surprising discovery.

PAULA ROGERS: I got an extremely strong impression

I see a young soldier hiding.

I can still see it.

And he's in a very old costume.

We're probably talking at least 200 years.

I could see if it was a memory.

He crouched there, petrifying.

He seemed to have been left behind.

NARRATOR: Paula sensed the soldier

only several feet from the spot where witnesses had

reported seeing the Haitian.

Coincidence or something more?

You never know what they're going to do,

and you never know how long they're going to do it.

MAN (ON TV): At the General Wayne Inn, the ghosts check in,

but they don't check out.

NARRATOR: One night during a local newscast Halloween story

on the inn, a number of regular patrons gathered in the bar

to watch.

MAN (ON TV): Bart Johnson has had a number of these spirits--

As soon as he showed the first scene of the inside of this

building, a whole-- no flop-over now, no snow, perfect picture--

the whole picture started to go very, very slowly

clockwise all the way around.

MAN (ON TV): --for 200 years.

And for 148 of those years, ghosts have been spotted.

BART JOHNSON: And all the 50 people in the bar

were looking at this and wondering what was going on.

And their heads are all turning.

And the whole thing just kept going

around until our portion was over,

but it never did that before.

And it never did it afterwards.

And no one else in the whole neighborhood had it that way.

NARRATOR: Are there ghosts at the inn?

Michaeleen Maher believes that something unexplained is going

on, but as is so often the case, cannot prove for certain

that it is caused by ghosts.

MICHAELEEN MAHER: We did get some interesting results.

I can only call them tentative at this point,

but our experimental measures, our measures with random number

generators, and some of our photography measures

have given us enough of a hint that something is actually

going on at the General Wayne Inn that deserves a great deal

of further exploration.

DAVE ROGERS: I know I saw something.

I don't think it was a figment of my imagination.

I don't think it was a mirage or whatever you want to call it.

I saw something.

And I don't believe in ghosts, but I know they're here.

[horn honking]

They have no other place to go, and they might

as well have a little fun.

And that's exactly what they're doing.

And I don't think they're going anywhere either.

[theme music]

Our next story is about a modern day good Samaritan,

a woman who dedicated her life to helping others,

first as a mother and community volunteer,

and later as an advocate for children's rights,

and as a court-appointed attorney

for criminal defendants who could not

otherwise afford legal council.

Two years ago, she fell victim to the same type

of street criminal she once vigorously defended.

After raising three children, Gretchen Burford

embarked on a new life in 1979 when she enrolled in law school

at the age of 41.

By 1984, Gretchen had a full-time practice

in Palo Alto, California.

She specialized in criminal defense and juvenile law

motivated by a lifelong concern for the underprivileged,

especially minorities and children.

It appears it's a 489.

You're looking at possible time in state prison.

MAUREEN BURFORD COHEN: I think justice was

really important to my mother.

And I think that's part of the reason

that she was drawn to a career in law.

--any prior convictions?

She wanted to help people who didn't

maybe start out with all the benefits that her children had.

Gretchen put her heart and soul into defending the people.

And she worked hard with them, not only

just with the legal defense.

But there were a lot of things that she

would be involved in as far as their personal lives.

NARRATOR: February 26, 1988 was a normal Friday

for Gretchen Burford.

Late that afternoon she left her office

and started home for the weekend.

The police are unclear on her subsequent movements.

But with the help of computer banking logs

and eyewitness testimony, they have sketched

out a probable scenario.

They do believe that what happened

next was a random act of violence

by an assailant unknown to her.

Bank records verify that at 6:37 PM Gretchen deposited a check

for $449 at a branch bank four blocks

from her office in Palo Alto.

It was the beginning of a nightmare that would

last for 30 terrifying minutes.

[music playing]

SGT DAVID WORLEY: It's here that we

suspect that her assailant may have accosted

her for the first time.

She may have been the type of person

who left her car unlocked, which is

what assailants look for when they

are stalking their victims.

She's near a walk-up teller at night.

Obviously she would be a target for some type of an attack.

Gretchen was naive about how she handled

herself, especially outdoors.

She was never really aware of what was going on around her.

The way she looked at things, I think she looked

at people very trustingly.

[screaming]

Shut up.

Shut up. Shut up.

Shut up.

Shut up. I'm not going to hurt you.

I'm not going to hurt you.

All right. Start the car.

[engine starting]

NARRATOR: Authorities speculate that Gretchen was abducted

in the bank parking lot some five to 10 minutes

after arriving there.

The next 20 minutes are a complete mystery.

ASSAILANT: What'd you do with the money

you took out of the machine?

GRETCHEN BURFORD: I didn't take any money out.

I-- I made a deposit.

I want you to take me to one of those money machines, OK?

You got that?

We can park, and we could walk around--

What? Do you think I'm stupid?

- No. - The kind you drive up to.

Now go!

You can do some serious jail time for this.

SGT DAVID WORLEY: We can only speculate as to what was going

on during that 20 minutes.

She was used to this type of person

and perhaps was trying to appeal to him as to what

the consequences would be.

Who knows?

We don't know.

NARRATOR: At 7:02 PM, 25 minutes after her first bank

transaction, Gretchen attempted to withdraw money

from another bank machine three miles away.

This transaction was aborted when

she requested more cash than she was authorized to withdraw.

Police assumed Gretchen may have been trying

to discourage her abductor.

ASSAILANT: All right. Where is the money?

I don't know. I don't know.

I don't-- ASSAILANT: Do it again!

--working!

ASSAILANT: Do it again!

GRETCHEN BURFORD: All right.

SGT DAVID WORLEY: We had two witnesses pull

up behind Gretchen's vehicle.

The male driver saw a struggle going on inside the car.

He saw the driver's door open, and then it appeared that she

was pulled back inside.

[brakes squealing]

GRETCHEN BURFORD: He stabbed me.

SGT DAVID WORLEY: Witnesses have told us

that she got out of her car screaming he stabbed me!

He stabbed me!

And help me.

And she collapsed immediately.

So the wound was definitely one single stab, and it was fatal.

NARRATOR: Police believe that Gretchen Burford

deliberately caused the accident in a desperate attempt

to escape.

Her car came to rest 150 yards from the drive-up teller

machine.

In the aftermath, two witnesses were

able to get a clear and detailed look at her killer.

He stabbed me!

WITNESS: The lady jumped out of the car

screaming that she was stabbed.

And then he got out of the car, stared me and my friend down.

Then he turned around and ran.

Within two seconds, three seconds, he was out of sight.

Since the girl hit the ground, she said she was stabbed,

we went for her.

What happened?

(BREATHLESS) He s-- stabbed me.

WITNESS: She was lying on the ground,

and I could see a little pool of blood.

She was looking up at me.

She was saying I'm dying.

I'm going to die.

And I said you're just bleeding, and you're

going to be fine, so relax.

And I held her hand.

She looked up at me, her eyes rolled back,

and her eyes closed.

And it kind of-- I guess her life ended right there.

[police radio]

SGT DAVID WORLEY: When I arrived at the scene,

Gretchen had already been transported

to an emergency room.

What have we got here?

We have a female stabbing victim.

Do we have a perimeter set up up there?

Yes. Officers are around.

There some evidence let's take a look at over here.

SGT DAVID WORLEY: I almost immediately started processing

her vehicle for any evidence.

We've got some blood here on the steering wheel.

SGT DAVID WORLEY: I looked inside

and saw a paisley baseball hat in the rear passenger

compartment that just seemed out of place.

If we go around, I can--

SGT DAVID WORLEY: We later confirmed that that

did not belong to her, and it's unknown

how that got in her car.

So we assumed that it belonged to our suspect.

NARRATOR: The next day, authorities

recovered the murder weapon, a butcher

knife with an eight-inch blade.

It was found in a driveway one block from the scene,

but provided no additional leads.

The investigation next focused on the unusual hat

found in Gretchen's car.

A check with the manufacturer revealed that only two stores

in the area stocked this item.

Even though all attempts to connect the paisley hat

with a suspect have failed, police are convinced it holds

the key to solving the case.

MAUREEN BURFORD COHEN: I think it's ironic

that my mother would have gone on helping, you know, for years

probably, that she'd only just started her law career,

that she had so much to give, and was giving so much

and helping so many people, and that it was just ended

by somebody who had no idea who she was, or what she was,

or no ability to care about her.

[music playing]

[theme music]

Last week, we examined the Summer of Sam shootings

that took place in New York in 1976 and 1977.

Investigative Reporter Maury Terry

believes that the Son of Sam did not act alone, that he was part

of an organized conspiracy that carried out a year-long reign

of terror in New York City.

The Son of Sam shootings began on July 29, 1976.

[gunfire]

In eight separate incidents, six people were killed

and seven seriously wounded.

All of the shots were fired with a .44-Caliber revolver.

[police radio]

Police created composites from eyewitness

accounts of the shootings.

[police radio]

The difference in appearance suggested more than one

suspect.

But on August 10, David Berkowitz

was arrested and confessed to all

of the Son of Sam shootings.

Investigative Reporter Maury Terry

gathered evidence that indicated that more

than one man was involved.

The general perception among the public for years

had been that David Berkowitz was a lone gunman.

The facts and the evidence-- not speculation-- the facts

and the evidence say otherwise.

NARRATOR: Terry found major discrepancies

in eyewitness accounts of the last shooting

that support his theory of more than one gunman.

Eyewitness Tommy Zaino was parked just

in front of the victim's car, and he

got a good look at the gunman.

[gunfire]

No, I didn't think it was David Berkowitz then,

and I don't think it's him now.

I definitely don't think it's him.

NARRATOR: A yellow Volkswagen had been spotted

leaving the crime scene.

It may have contained one or more

accomplices to the shooting.

Columnist Jimmy Breslin received a letter from the Son of Sam.

In this letter, there were cryptic references

to the quote, "twenty-two disciples of hell,

and a wicked king wicker.

John Wheaties, the rapist and suffocater of young girls"

was also mentioned.

The letter was signed the Son of Sam.

Underneath was a satanic symbol.

Maury Terry believes that the Breslin letter was sent not

by Berkowitz but rather by a satanic

cult that operated in Berkowitz's

Yonkers' neighborhood.

He also believes that Berkowitz was a member of the cult,

and that it was this group that planned and executed

the Son of Sam attacks.

David Berkowitz lived in a seventh floor apartment

in Yonkers.

Down the hill was a street named Wicker.

Could this be the King Wicker mentioned

in the Breslin letter?

Wicker Street was near the home of another character

believed to be mentioned in the letter, John Wheaties.

MAURY TERRY: I learned that John Wheaties rapist and suffocater

alias of the killer in the Breslin letter

was not really an alias at all, but it

was the name of a real person.

That person was John Carr who was

the real-life son of Sam Carr.

John Carr's nickname was Wheaties.

And I learned this within a day of the arrest.

And from then on, I became deeper

and deeper involved in the case trying to locate John Carr.

NARRATOR: This is the face of John Carr.

And these are the composite drawings

of the .44-Caliber killers.

Maury Terry believes that there is

a resemblance between these two and John Carr.

Terry tracked John Carr to Minot, North Dakota,

where he had worked as a mechanic

at a local Air Force Base.

Though he lived in Minot during the mid-70s,

Carr frequently commuted to New York

during the time of the Son of Sam attacks.

TERRY GARDNER: Well, from my experience,

John Carr was a mixed up drug addict.

He was hanging around with the group

of people that were on the other side of the law all the time.

John Carr, many, many months before Berkowitz was ever

arrested, had talked about his friend Berky to his friends

out in Minot, North Dakota.

John Carr was a friend of, a confidant of,

and an associative of David Berkowitz.

NARRATOR: On February 17, 1978, six months after Berkowitz's

arrest, John Carr was found dead in his girlfriend's Minot

apartment.

TERRY GARDNER: When I first walked into the room,

it was a ghastly sight.

Obviously the guy had sat on the edge of the bed,

put the gun in his mouth, and pulled the trigger.

My first interview with his live-in girlfriend at the time,

she told me that he must have just taken his own life.

The next day, same person, new interview, whole new story.

John Carr had to have been murdered.

He was wanted by the police in New York

for the Son of Sam killings.

He was afraid for his life, and I fully believe

that John Carr was murdered.

MAURY TERRY: Through interviews with Carr's friends

and the police officials in North Dakota,

the picture emerged of John Carr being heavily involved

in satanic cult activity, both in Minot, North Dakota,

and in Westchester County, New York, where

he spent part of his time.

It involved blood drinking, urine drinking,

the ritualistic sacrifice of animals,

specifically German Shepherds, all sorts

of other rather horrible activity

that certain satanic cults get into.

NARRATOR: The satanic symbol found on the Breslin letter

directly under the signature of Son of Sam

was also found inscribed on Carr's Minot phone book.

One of Carr's Minot acquaintances

was a man named Phil Falcon.

Falcon accidentally walked in on John Carr and a companion

performing a satanic ritual.

MAURY TERRY: Phil Falcon told us that he walked

into his own house one night in North Dakota

and found John Carr and another friend of Carr's part

of the circle in the act of ritualistically

sacrificing an animal right in Falcon's house.

Sorry.

We're out of here.

PHIL FALCON: What are you guys doing in here?

We're going to go.

MAURY TERRY: And Phil Falcon also told

us that John Carr belonged to a very,

very violent satanic cult.

NARRATOR: Prison sources who knew Berkowitz told Maury Terry

that Berkowitz had been introduced to this cult

by John Carr's brother, Michael, in 1975.

MAURY TERRY: Michael Carr ended up

inviting Berkowitz to attend what he

called a floating coven party.

And Berkowitz came in, and attended the party,

and symbolically-- not literally,

but symbolically-- the .44 put into his hand that night.

That's how he got into the cult scene.

NARRATOR: At 4:00 AM on October 4, 1979,

over two years after Berkowitz's arrest,

Michael Carr was killed.

He was driving at a high rate of speed

when he crashed into a light post

on New York's West Side Highway.

He died just 18 months after his brother.

How many members of this devilish cult--

NARRATOR: Conclusive proof that Berkowitz

knew both John and Michael Carr came

during two of his depositions.

On October 25, 1978, when asked point blank whether he knew

John Carr, he answered yes.

Yes.

NARRATOR: In another deposition taken on January 19, 1982,

Berkowitz was asked if the Carrs were part of a satanic cult,

he also answered yes.

Would evade anything to--

NARRATOR: When asked whether the brothers

were killed to ensure their silence,

Berkowitz again responded yes.

Maury Terry believes that the death of the Carrs may have

been engineered by the quote, "twenty-two disciples of hell,"

mentioned in the Breslin letter.

He also believes this is a satanic group that

held their rituals in Untermyer Park, located just one mile

from Berkowitz's apartment.

It's right up ahead.

Right there.

NARRATOR: On August 11, 1977, the day

after Berkowitz's arrest, two young boys

led police to a grave that contained the bodies

of three German Shepherds.

Two of them had been strangled with chains.

One had been shot in the head.

At least 10 other slaughtered dogs had

been found in the park area.

CAPT GERARD BUCKHOUT: We received information

that groups of people who attired themselves

in black or dark-colored robes with hoods

were chanting, carrying on some types

of rituals on the aqueduct in the rear of Untermyer Park.

Subsequently, authorities did find some remains of dogs.

And the information that we had was that this group of people

were sacrificing animals in a satanic ritual.

MAURY TERRY: I got a call from a young boy in Yonkers,

15-year-old high school sophomore,

wanted to know if I knew that there was

a satanic cult that was meeting in Untermyer Park in Yonkers

and killing dogs.

And so I met him down there, which is just about a mile

from Berkowitz's residence.

And he took me around to various spots in Untermyer Park,

showed me where the cult was meeting.

We saw all the satanic graffiti--

very sophisticated graffiti at the time--

and took me throughout the park.

BOY: And over here on the other side of the wall,

I had found three dead dogs.

MAURY TERRY: Saw the remains of probably

two or three dead German Shepherds

right there at that time.

And he took me along the aqueduct, literally the gutters

of NYC from the Breslin letter, and showed me

where they had set up an alter.

They had an altar.

They placed the altar board right over here

in between the two trees.

MAURY TERRY: And now we had the cult,

and we knew where it was meeting.

And we could tie it right to the Son of Sam case

and the Son of Sam letter.

It was a very significant development in the case.

You'd like to see your cases resolved

with a conviction, or an acquittal, or no case,

or whatever.

But it's when you have these constant doubts-- who else was

involved, were there others involved

and to what extent, will they do it again-- you see,

that becomes the overriding concern.

If there is someone out there who was involved

in the Berkowitz cases in the killing of a number of people

and the wounding of a number of people,

and that person is bent on doing the same thing again,

then the public's in jeopardy.

And so certainly I would like to have that solved

and get that person out of the way.

NARRATOR: Cult activity is continued around Untermyer Park

since the Son of Sam killings.

While we were filming, two local residents

told us they had witnessed a satanic ceremony in 1987.

About a year and a half ago, me and my cousin

were watching TV.

And we saw a car headlights go by on the aqueduct path.

Well, my cousin took a flashlight,

and I took a baseball bat.

And we walked up through my yard onto the aqueduct path.

There must have been about 15 or 30 people.

And there was one guy, and he must have been the head chanter

or something because he was chanting the loudest

over the other people.

[chanting]

We just froze.

We didn't know what to do because we'd never encountered

something like this before.

[chanting]

We'd both decided just to get out of there.

We didn't want to get seen because you don't know

what people like that'll do.

[dog whimpering and chanting]

JOHN SANTUCCI: But I think it would serve the public interest

for us to know if, in fact, a cult does

exist, if, in fact, they engage in satanic activities,

if, in fact, sacrifice is part of that activity,

if, in fact, human life is the sacrificial aspect

of that activity, and how it's impacting upon life

in our respective communities.

NARRATOR: The Queens District Attorney

would like to question the individuals

that match these composites.

They would also like to locate the yellow 1971

Volkswagen noticed at the scene of one

of the Son of Sam attacks.

Its license ends with the letters G-U-R or G-V-R.

If Maury Terry is correct, the satanic group

responsible for the Son of Sam attacks

is still alive, still meeting, and still

recruiting new members.

If this last claim is true, certainly that is a most

disturbing thought of all.

Next, the story of a Mississippi millionaire desperately

searching for his kidnapped wife.

The ransom money has been paid.

And Annie Laurie Hearin is still missing.

[theme music]

In this house in Jackson, Mississippi,

lives 71-year-old Robert Hearin, one of the wealthiest

men in the state.

His wife, Annie Laurie Hearin, is

72, a devoted wife and mother.

She's well-beloved and extremely active

in the social and civic life of Jackson.

On July the 26th, Annie Laurie Hearin was kidnapped.

Good morning.

On behalf of--

NARRATOR: 12 Days later, Robert Hearin called

a press conference at his home.

The kidnapping was linked to one of his businesses,

and he wanted to make a personal plea to the kidnapper.

My name is Robert Hearin.

My wife, Annie Laurie, was taken from my home over 10 days ago.

My children and I have done everything humanly possible

to obtain her release.

Like any businessman, I've made decisions which may

appear to others as unfeeling.

But those appearances are just not true.

Moreover, those business decisions

were mine, not my wife.

She had absolutely nothing to do with them.

My children and I appeal you to whomever has my wife that she

may be safely returned to us.

Thank you.

ROBERT HEARIN, JR: I think about Mom all the time,

and I'm sure my daddy does, too.

There's no real way to qualify how enormous

a tragedy and ordeal this has been to him

and to the rest of the family.

NARRATOR: Annie Laurie Hearin's kidnapping was unusual.

Rather than simply insisting on money for himself,

the kidnapper left a note naming 12 people he felt

were owed money by one of Robert Hearin's companies

and should be paid back.

It is Robert Hearin's desperate hope

that someone watching tonight will come forward

with information that will lead him

to the woman he loves, the woman he married 48 years ago.

When Robert Hearin came home from work on the afternoon

of July the 26th, he was alarmed to find that his wife was not

in the house.

ROBERT HEARIN: Well, I'm really starting--

NARRATOR: After checking with friends and family,

he called the police to report her missing.

I'll wait right here for you, Officer.

Thank you.

NARRATOR: Then Mr Hearin made an alarming discovery,

a note apparently left by a kidnapper

lay by his front door.

The note said do not call the police.

However, Mr Hearin had notified the police prior

to the note being discovered.

Responding to Mr Hearin's missing persons report,

police arrived at the scene and found

that it was now a kidnapping connected in some way

to Robert Hearin's business dealings.

John, you need to take a look at this.

Robert Hearin, put these people back

in the shape they was in before they got

mixed up with school pictures.

WAYNE TAYLOR: The demands in the note

very vague and made several demands of Mr. Hearin

concerning certain individuals listed on the note who were

allegedly harmed by a company of which Mr. Hearin was president.

NARRATOR: Hearin had been president of School Pictures,

a company that sells franchises to photographers

throughout the United States to produce

portraits of schoolchildren.

Between 1981 and 1983 in an effort

to collect outstanding debts, School Pictures

filed lawsuits against 12 franchise owners

in eight states, including Florida.

On the day of Annie Laurie Hearin's kidnapping,

neighbors had reported seeing vehicles that seemed out

of place in the neighborhood.

JL BLACK: We had calls from various people

that there had been two particular vehicles that

had been seen in that neighborhood, one of which

was a pickup truck.

And the other was a white cargo van.

The cargo van had a Florida plate on it.

NARRATOR: Police discovered that the 12 people

on the kidnappers list were the same 12

sued by School Pictures.

They resided in eight different states.

But they were all sued through the Hinds County

Court in Jackson, Mississippi.

Their names were easily available to the general public

in county court records.

This means that the kidnapper need not have been one

of the 12 people on the note.

JL BLACK: It's possible that these 12

people had absolutely nothing to do with this abduction.

However, you can't rule out the fact

that maybe somebody, especially that

had knowledge of School Pictures and its operation,

could have been involved with it.

ROBERT HEARIN, JR: No specific ransom demand

was contained in the letter.

We assumed it was a ransom note, and we wanted to comply.

We wanted to do everything we could to get Mother back.

School Pictures was requested to look into their files

on these 12 people.

The transactions were reviewed, and letters were, of course,

sent out to these 12 people trying to determine

what damages that they had.

What did they want?

At that point, we didn't get a response

except from several of them saying we don't want anything.

NARRATOR: Eight days after his press conference,

Robert Hearin received a letter.

He recognized the handwriting.

It belonged to his wife, Annie Laurie.

ROBERT HEARIN, JR: We had hit a very

low ebb prior to August 15.

And that was the day that we received a letter

in mother's handwriting.

And it basically plead with daddy

again to comply with the demands and to please save her.

This gave us quite an emotional lift

because it meant that mother apparently had

survived the initial struggle.

But it still was extremely vague as to what we were to do.

At that point, Daddy, in order to do something

to show our good faith effort to comply

with these vague demands, instructed his attorneys

to check these roles and find out

how much School Pictures had sued these 12 individuals for.

NARRATOR: Robert Hearin, Sr. Sent

out checks totaling nearly $1 million to the people

on the list.

Half of the checks have been returned.

More than four months had passed since Annie Laurie Hearin

was abducted from her home.

Neither her family nor the authorities

has had word from her or the kidnapper since the letter

they received on August the 15th.

It's been our sincere desire from the very beginning,

from the moment of the kidnapping,

that we do everything possible to comply with these demands.

We want Mother back.

It's not our intention to question the motive

of these people, at this point.

Whatever they want, we want to give it to them,

so we can get Mother back.

That is our very paramount concern.

NARRATOR: Update-- last month, Newton Alfred Wynn,

a 65-year-old lawyer was arrested by the FBI in Florida

on charges relating to the abduction

of Annie Laurie Hearin.

Wynn was one of the 12 men named in the ransom

note left at the Hearin home.

Also, less than one month before the kidnapping,

he had allegedly purchased a van which

matched the description of the vehicles seen

in the Hearin neighborhood.

A woman told the FBI that Wynn had promised her

$500 to travel from Florida to Atlanta, Georgia,

and mail a letter for him just 16 days after Annie

Laurie Hearin was kidnapped.

He handed her a manila envelope.

Inside was the letter wrapped in a gray, linen napkin.

Wynn instructed her not to look at or touch the letter.

But to deposit the letter in a mail slot,

she had to ease the napkin off.

And she was able to observe the writing on the envelope.

Later she identified a photograph of the envelope

Robert Hearin had received from his wife

as the one she had mailed in Atlanta.

[music playing]

ROBERT HEARIN, JR: I think about Mama all the time,

an I'm sure my daddy does, too.

There's no real way to quantify how enormous

a tragedy and ordeal this has been to him

and to the rest of the family.

[music playing]

[theme music]

For every mystery, there is someone

somewhere who knows the truth.

Perhaps that someone is watching.

Perhaps it's you.

[theme music]