All language subtitles for Unsolved.Mysteries.S03E01.480p.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-PLAYREADY_track3_[und]

[music playing]

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.

ROBERT STACK: Tonight on the
season premiere of "Unsolved

Mysteries," 25 years ago
something odd fell from the sky

and crashed in the remote woods
near Kecksburg, Pennsylvania.

The official Air Force report
states that nothing was found.

But eyewitnesses claim a
strange, cone shaped object was

secretly removed Was it their
imagination or a government

cover up?

In California, an
unknown arsonist

set this house on fire, then
callously videotaped the blaze

and left the tape near a
highway for authorities to find.

Last season, we
interviewed LeVar Bates,

a coworker of a suspect captured
thanks to one of our viewers.

Incredibly, that
chance interview

led to a reunion between LeVar
and the daughter he never knew

existed.

Watch closely.

You may be able to
help solve a mystery.

Twilight, December ninth, 1965.

A brilliant light
streaked through the skies

over Canada and the
Northeastern United States.

Thousands of
eyewitnesses reported

seeing its trail, which
was visible for hundreds

of miles in every direction.

Near the village of Kecksburg,
Pennsylvania, 40 miles

southeast of Pittsburgh, Robb
Landy and his brother Ray

were out riding their bicycles.

RAY LANDY (VOICEOVER): We
were riding up the road

and we just happened to
look up into the sky.

And we saw this thing coming
over the tops of the trees.

It just glided right
across the sky,

like across the
horizon of the trees.

We could see and then it
disappeared behind the trees.

It scared us.

We didn't know what
it was or didn't

know what to think about it.

Just like dumbfounded,
we were just

like in awe as we watched it.

Then it disappeared.

We ran.

You knew what an
airplane looked like.

You knew what a
helicopter looked like.

And that didn't
look like anything

we had ever seen before.

And the angle that
it was coming in,

I mean you knew that it
had to hit the ground.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Three miles away

another local boy, Randy
Overly, also saw the object.

RANDY OVERLY (VOICEOVER): I was
playing by a creek at the time

and heard a deep hissing noise,
and I looked up in the sky

and saw an object coming at
me from a pretty good distance

away.

It flew right over
top of me, no higher

in the air than 200 feet.

It was going no faster than
a small airplane would go.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Nearby, Nevin and Nadine Kalp

were playing outside
when the object flew

overhead and apparently crashed
in a wooded ravine half a mile

away.

This ball of like
fire come through.

It's something that
I've never seen

before and never seen since.

And seeing the smoke
then at that time,

down in the holler there.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
For the strange object,

that ravine was the end of
a long and highly visible

trajectory.

But for the residents of
Kecksburg, Pennsylvania,

the mystery was just beginning.

For the next 25 years,
townspeople would grapple

with a perplexing question.

What fell from the sky
that December night?

Dozens of people, most of
them still alive today,

were eyewitnesses.

For the first time, 10 of them
agreed to come together, make

their identities public, and
tell the story of a night

that they will never forget.

FRANCES KALP (VOICEOVER):
While you're up,

will you turn on
the radio, please?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): After
Nevin and Nadine Kalp returned

home, their mother heard
an emergency appeal

on the local radio station.

OK, we're back.

Now this just in.

We got a report of a downed
plane in the Kecksburg area.

State police have
asked that anyone--

The radio said something
had been sighted.

And they were
calling around trying

to find out if anyone had an
airplane or something missing.

So I called in and told
them it was no airplane.

It was just a small
piece that had fallen off

an airplane, because smoke
had came up from the area

where it landed.

And I said it burnt up.

FRANCES KALP (ON
PHONE): That landed

right out here near my farm.

Yes, it did.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The
radio announcer thanked Frances

Kalp for the information.

She hung up and put
the matter out of mind.

[phone ringing]

FRANCES KALP (ON PHONE): Hello.

FRANCES KALP (VOICEOVER):
Within a matter

of two or three minutes,
I got a call from a man

from the US Navy.

And he told me that I
was to watch the area.

should anything strange
develop to call this number.

I asked, well, shouldn't
I call the fire company,

and he said no.

You call us, and
we'll call them.

So I hung up from
talking to him and went

to call a girl friend of mine.

And I didn't get about
two sentences out to her

when an operator come
on and cleared the line

with an emergency call.

FRANCES KALP (ON
PHONE): OK, operator.

That turned out to
be the state police.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Pennsylvania State

troopers were on the
scene within 15 minutes.

They were accompanied by
two men in civilian clothes

who never identified themselves.

It went down over there.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
By now there was no smoke,

and the fading light
made it difficult to pin

down the crash site.

FRANCES KALP (VOICEOVER): At
this point, two of the men

took a box and went walking
towards those trees.

And I said to this state
trooper that was there, I said,

what are all these
people coming for?

And he says, well, they think
they're going to see something.

But when this goes out of here,
nobody is going to see it.

And I said, well,
maybe it isn't in here.

He said, it's here.

And I asked him how he knew and
they said, it's the radiation.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Located less than a mile

from Kecksburg
village, the ravine

runs east to west for 800 yards,
cutting across several farms.

The object appeared to
crash here, more than a half

mile from the Kalps' home.

As darkness fell, several
other search teams

left Kecksburg, also trying
to locate the crash site.

Just keep going straight.

When you get to that
road, make a right.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Volunteer fireman Jim Mayes

led one team of state
troopers to a promontory

overlooking the ravine.

JIM MAYES (VOICEOVER):
We went up this road

and came to the brow
of a hill and stopped.

And down to the
right in the hollow

were these blue flashing lights.

You see that light?

What is that?

JIM MAYES (VOICEOVER): It wasn't
searcher's down in the woods

with flashlights or anything.

It was a real bright
blue, real bright,

like an electric welder.

The flashes seem to be timed.

At what intervals, I don't know.

But it was a timed thing.

It wasn't like flash bulbs
or anything like that.

At that point the troopers
decided to close the area

off, close the roads off.

So he brought the two of
us that was with him back

to the fire station.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Meanwhile, a call

went out to all the
local fire departments.

Soon more than 30 volunteer
firemen had gathered

at the Kecksburg station.

OK, guys listen up.

There's a plane
down over the hill.

And what we're going to do
is split up into quadrants.

We'll have teams of
three men, all right?

Romansky, Bill,
you come with me.

Rezzy, you get your
men, get out of here.

Tom, take your unit.

Now, I'm not sure.

But I think--

JAMES ROMANSKY
(VOICEOVER): We all

gathered at the fire station.

And the report was we
had a aircraft that

was down in the Kecksburg area.

Yeah, I saw it as
I was driving over.

Whatever it is, it's burning.

And after we got our
assignment and everybody knew

what they were doing, they took
us in pickup trucks up the road

up here.

And they dropped us
off at certain points

going up the hill.

Watch your step.

I'll be all right
as soon as I got--

JAMES ROMANSKY (VOICEOVER):
As we were proceeding

through our grid, we
heard the first team,

which was down in front
of us, radio back,

we found the aircraft.

Where is it?

We're below the [inaudible]
farm in [inaudible].

Let's search down there.

10-4.

Well, man, we booked out of
ours, and down over the fence

we went, down into the woods.

And we got there.

What is that?

I don't know.

JAMES ROMANSKY
(VOICEOVER): Here was

this humongous metal object,
half buried in the ground.

About six, seven,
eight foot around,

and it was every bit of
eight, 10, 12 foot long.

And to me, the object looked
exactly like a fresh acorn

that you pick off of a tree.

There were no wings.

There were no motors.

There were no propellers.

There was no
identification whatsoever

that would identify it as a
aircraft that I would know.

There was a bumper on
the bottom part of it.

On that bumper, there
was what I call,

it looked to me like the
ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics.

It was markings like
stars and shapes

and figures and
circles and lines.

And what it was, I don't know.

To this day, I've never
seen anything like it.

I've studied the ancient Incas.

I've studied the
ancient Aztec Indians.

I've studied the Egyptians.

I've looked at pictures
of Russian writing.

I've looked at pictures
of Polish writing.

I've looked at pictures
of Hebrew writing--

nothing, nothing
that resembles it--

Chinese writing, no.

So we're all standing
around this thing,

looking around, checking and
everything, and wondering

what the heck it could be.

And finally, here come two
men down through the woods.

Gentlemen, you
must leave the area.

This site is quarantined.

JAMES ROMANSKY
(VOICEOVER): And they

took one look at the object and
immediately told us to leave.

They said, this area
is now quarantined.

We are in charge.

We're taking command.

Get out of here.

So we start walking
out of there,

and down through the
woods, here comes military.

So we left there.

And by the time we got back
down here to the fire hall,

I mean this place was
wall-to-wall military.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Within three hours of the crash,

military personnel had
set up a command center

in the Kecksburg fire station.

They promptly restricted
civilian movement in the area.

Good evening, y'all.

We need this building
here for a temporary

tactical headquarters, with
your permission, of course.

You have phones here?
Can we see where they are?

JIM MAYES (VOICEOVER): It seemed
like they were on the scene

immediately.

I would imagine there
was in a neighborhood

of 25, 30 military.

At the time it
seemed like that they

were really anxious
to get into the scene

of whatever may have been.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): An hour

later, the military
authorities also commandeered

a farmhouse near the ravine.

Ten-hut.

Folks are here.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Lillian Hayes

and her family had been living
in the house for just a month.

LILLIAN HAYES (VOICEOVER):
Well, the military

was coming in and out
of my house all evening.

And they were making
a lot of phone calls,

and they were standing
around in groups talking.

That's a roger.

We believe we've
located the ravine.

We estimate contact
within 10 minutes.

I have no idea
who they telephoned.

There was no calls
turned up on my bill.

Notify NASA.
Put them on standby.

And let the Pentagon
know what's going on.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): The village

of Kecksburg, with a
population of just 250,

appeared to have been
invaded, first from the sky

and then by the United
States military.

Soon hundreds of
curious spectators

gathered on nearby roads
to try and get a glimpse

of the mysterious object.

19-year-old Bill
Weaver was among them.

BILL WEAVER
(VOICEOVER): I happened

to come down through Kecksburg.

And I heard on the radio
that an object had landed.

Seeing some people and some
cars alongside the road,

I pulled in.

And there was a pretty
good crowd of people

gathered in that field.

And they were looking down in
the small ravine at some trees.

Hey, what's going
on down there?

BILL WEAVER (VOICEOVER): I
looked down in there myself.

I seen there was
something down in there

that had bright
lights on it, but I

couldn't see the object itself.

Some time later, I
seen a box truck,

a van type truck pull up there.

There were some men come
around the side of it.

They were dressed in moon suits,
we called them at the time.

And they had a
light-colored box,

I'm guessing roughly
five foot square.

They carried it down
into the ravine.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): The box

Bill Weaver saw seemed too
small to hold the object itself.

Was there something or
something inside the object

that the military
wanted to remove?

Please don't be alarmed.

Everything is under control.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Before long, an army

officer appeared on the scene.

He ordered the
crowd to disperse.

Thank you, but you'll have
to leave the area now.

Hey, hey, what's
going on down there?

You'll have to
leave the area now.

BILL WEAVER (VOICEOVER): He
told me unless I moved my car

and got out of there that
they would confiscate my car.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Back
in Kecksburg, Jim Romansky

and the other fireman
had still not been

allowed inside the firehouse.

The military continued to
occupy it as a control center.

We looked up, and here comes
this jeep down over the hill

with its red light on.

Right behind the jeep was
a large flatbed truck.

And on the back of the flatbed
was this covered object.

They come down
here so fast that I

know if you'd have walked
out in front of it,

they'd have ran you over.

They'd have never stopped.

And off down the road they
went, and where they went,

I have no idea.

Whatever came
down in Kecksburg

that night is of high importance
to the military agencies.

The most mysterious thing
about the whole case

is the fact that after
25 years, the government

still refuses to give us
any actual information

on what occurred.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): Stan Gordon

is a local researcher
who has spent

more than 10 years
interviewing dozens

of Kecksburg eyewitnesses.

He has explored
several theories trying

to answer the questions raised
on that December night in 1965.

STAN GORDON
(VOICEOVER): Astronomers

who looked into the case
at the time basically felt

that the object in question
was a bolide, which was a very

bright, fireball-type meteor.

And they, in fact,
eliminated reports

that it could have been
some type of man-made device

that re-entered the
Earth's atmosphere.

But we now know the thing
basically was coming down

from the tip of
Ontario and was passing

down basically in a Northwest
to Southeast trajectory.

The object appeared to
have made about a 25

degree turn toward the
east, near Cleveland, Ohio.

And it came in on a straight
path over the Pittsburgh area.

And the interesting thing is
now that the new data suggests

that the object made a
turn towards the South,

and then the object made
another turn towards the village

of Kecksburg where it
was proceeding into there

towards the Northeast.

The interesting
thing is the fact

that within several
miles of the crash site,

multiple witnesses tell
us that this object

was coming in at a very,
very slow speed of descent.

Meteors do not make
controlled turns.

They do not come in at
a slow speed like this.

And they, in fact, do
not glide in, which

this thing apparently did.

JIM MAYES (VOICEOVER)
My personal opinion

what landed in
Kecksburg that night

was a capsule of some kind.

From where, whether it was
one of ours or a foreign,

I have no idea.

The military wouldn't
let us get to the scene,

so I have no idea.

But I know it wasn't a meteor.

Two, one, zero.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Another theory

is that the object
was space debris.

In 1965, NASA was involved
in the Gemini program.

Then as now, it was
our government's policy

to monitor not only
US space activity,

but also launches
from the Soviet

Union and all other countries.

STAN GORDON (VOICEOVER):
Going back into the records

we have from NASA and documents
we have from other agencies,

they apparently have no
loggings for any type

of space debris on that date and
the time of this observation.

So we also have to look at
the other possibility-- could

this indeed have been an
extraterrestrial spacecraft?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Space debris, meteor, or a

genuine extraterrestrial craft?

The final answer to what
was found in the ravine

may only be known by
the military personnel

who worked in the Kecksburg
recovery operation.

This is a copy of the
official Air Force record

of the Kecksburg
incident, which Stan

Gordon obtained through the
Freedom of Information Act.

STAN GORDON
(VOICEOVER): The report

indicated that there was
quite a lot of interest

by government agencies as to
what the object may have been.

There were memos there and
requests for information

from Houston Space
Center, from NORAD,

from the Air Force command
post, the Pentagon,

even the Chairman of
the Office of Emergency

Planning requested information.

The official Air
Force explanation was

that it was likely a meteor.

And basically what
it goes on to say

is the fact that the search
was called off around 2:00

AM says nothing was found.

But evidence indicates
that something

indeed was found at the site.

The military's idea of finding
nothing is completely false.

There was something down
in that ravine that night.

There was something that
glowed an awful bright light.

And they took
something out of there.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Another eyewitness

reported seeing
a military convoy

coming out of the ravine.

At the end of the convoy
was a flatbed truck

with a large covered
object on the back.

John Hays was only 10
years old when the truck

rumbled by his bedroom window.

What was on the back
of it, I have no idea.

It was about the size
of a Volkswagen Beetle

from the distance I was at.

Gentlemen, you
must leave the area.

This site is quarantined.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
According to Stan Gordon,

eyewitnesses identified
the military unit

as the Air Force's 662nd Radar
Squadron based in Pittsburgh.

Gordon believes the unit was
part of a top secret operation

investigating UFOs.

STAN GORDON (VOICEOVER): There
is no entry at all for December

9th of 1965 in the December
log of all activities

for that squadron.

That tells us that
somebody apparently

wanted to keep all
information associated

with the unit's
involvement in that site

away from public information.

I think that we can very
plainly see the fact

that the government has
not told us everything they

know about the Kecksburg case.

JAMES ROMANSKY (VOICEOVER):
The official reports

that the military
and the government

put out, as far as I'm
concerned, are a bunch of bull.

If this thing was a meteorite,
then why didn't they just bring

it out and say here it is.

Let the reporters
take pictures of it.

Let the firemen see it.

Let the people in
this area see it.

Why the big mystery?

I think when we get down to
eliminating everything we've

known about the object,
we have two possibilities

we're dealing with here.

Either one that we're dealing
with some highly advanced space

probe, probably of
a foreign nation,

that appears to be
very highly technical

for what we knew about in 1965.

Or the possibility
exists we may indeed

be dealing with an
extraterrestrial spacecraft.

ROBERT STACK: What
happened in the fields

outside of Kecksburg,
Pennsylvania

on December 9th, 1965?

25 years after the fiery
object was seen streaking

through the skies, the
answers to the mystery

remain as elusive as
the object itself.

The Air Force has
declined our request

to comment on this story.

Their official report
still states that they

were investigating a meteorite.

The report concludes
that nothing was found.

Some people in Kecksburg,
Pennsylvania disagree.

When we return, last
summer one of our updates

inadvertently solved
a mystery of lost love

and helped a daughter meet her
father for the very first time.

Last July, we featured an update
on the capture of convicted

murderer John Mooney.

During this segment,
we interviewed several

of Mooney's
unsuspecting coworkers,

including 53-year-old
Lavar Bates.

What Lavar didn't
know at the time

was that he was at the center
of his own unsolved mystery.

ROBERT STACK: Over
the past three years,

we have featured more than
20 stories of lost love.

More than half of them resulted
in heartwarming reunions.

Tonight we present an unusual
update about lost love

and how a chance helped a father
and his 31-year-old daughter

meet for the first time.

1958-- Ike was President.

Elvis was King.

Sock hops and hula hoops
were the latest craze.

That summer in Amarillo,
Texas, 22-year-old Lavar Bates

fell in love with
18-year-old Peggy Atwood.

Do you have any beer?

Yes, in the back seat.

PEGGY ATWOOD (VOICEOVER):
We met at a place called

the Panhandle Barn Dance.

They were playing a dance
called the Paul Jones.

It's where you
dance with someone

and then they blow a whistle
and then you change partners.

Well, when the time came
for us to change partners,

and he turned around and grabbed
me, I was swept off my feet.

I thought he was the most
handsome man at that time

I'd ever seen.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Lavar was employed

by a construction
outfit and was working

temporarily in Amarillo.

Peggy lived in Pampas, Texas,
a small town 60 miles away.

Every weekend, Lavar would make
the hour drive to Peggy's home

so they could be together.

PEGGY ATWOOD
(VOICEOVER): The most fun

about driving around
with Lavar and having

my arm over his shoulder,
and cranking up the radio.

And just like all teenagers,
just making the drag.

We just thought that
was the grandest thing.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Several months after they first

met, Peggy drove to
Amarillo and paid a surprise

visit to the man of her dreams.

Hey, baby.

Come on inside.

[laughter]

Honey, let me finish
up in the bathroom, OK?

OK, sure.

All right.

PEGGY ATWOOD (VOICEOVER):
When I went in

to see Lavar in his
hotel room, he had just

gotten out of the shower and was
putting his stuff in his pocket

because we were
fixin' to go out.

I thought maybe then we
could go over to Hill's.

PEGGY ATWOOD (VOICEOVER):
And there was a picture

of this girl on his dresser.

Yeah, I think so.

PEGGY ATWOOD (VOICEOVER):
And of course, being 18,

I just throwed a fit.

It's good to see you.

Who the hell is Fifi?

She's just a friend of mine.

I met her at the coffee
shop the other day.

Just a friend.

Yeah, just a friend of mine.
It's nothing.

PEGGY ATWOOD
(VOICEOVER): He kept

telling me that he'd only known
her for a couple of times.

You know, he'd went out
with her a couple of times

and there wasn't anything
serious between them.

Naturally, I didn't believe him.

I don't have to
put up with this.

- Listen to me.
- You're two timing me, Lavar.

Peggy, I am not
two timing you.

Listen to me, OK?

Listen to me.

And then I got
real mad and left.

And that was the last time
I saw him or heard from him.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
When Peggy stormed out

of Lavar's life, she
had no idea that she

was pregnant with his child.

The next day, Lavar's company
transferred him to Colorado.

He never saw or heard
from Peggy again.

Eight months later, Peggy
gave birth to a daughter

whom she named Kimber.

When she was older,
Kimber learned

the truth about her father.

KIMBER TICE (VOICEOVER):
My mother had told me

as much as she could about him.

That she didn't know where he
was at, or where he'd went to,

or anything like that.

I wondered a lot what he'd
be like, what he'd look

like, or just things like that.

But I just couldn't imagine.

With no information at
all, I just couldn't

imagine what he'd be like.

ROBERT STACK: Lavar Bates
had no way of knowing

that he was a father.

Over the years Peggy
and Kimber often

discussed trying to
locate Lavar, but with so

little information to
go on they eventually

gave up hope of finding him.

All that changed on Wednesday
night, July the 4th, 1990.

That evening, Peggy was
watching the rebroadcast

of our third anniversary
special when she suddenly

recognized a familiar face.

Ah, Ah, it's just disbelief.

I didn't really believe it.

He'd be the last one
I'd believe was involved

in something like that.

I didn't know what to do.

I didn't know whether to try
to call him and try to find out

or to call Kimber and tell her.

But then I decided not
to, not to call her

at all until I
found out for sure

whether he wanted to meet her.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
At Peggy's request,

we contacted Lavar, who now
lives in Phoenix, Arizona.

Lavar is married and
has two children.

When the guy from
"Unsolved Mysteries"

called me, and said that
Peggy'd seen me on television,

seen the name, and
was wondering if I was

interested in talking
to her about a daughter

we had that was 31 years old.

And I sit down, and shook
a little and it scared me.

I was so nervous because I
was afraid he wouldn't call.

And I wanted to tell Kimber
so bad about her daddy.

And those four days, not being
able to pick up the phone

and call her and tell her that
I had found her daddy, you know,

was probably the
hardest thing I've

ever went through in my life.

The day she called and told
me that she had found him,

it was just--

I was excited.

I was scared.

I was-- just all the
emotions, just went crazy.

I didn't really know what to do
because I was kind of in shock,

I think.

I wanted to see him.

I wanted to know him.

And I was just hoping that he
would want to know me, too.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
On August 10,

"Unsolved Mysteries"
flew Lavar to Amarillo

to meet his daughter
for the first time.

For Kimber, the chance
to meet her father

was a dream come true.

I'm fine.

How are you?

It's been a long
time, hasn't it?

KIMBER TICE (VOICEOVER):
When I actually

seen him for the first
time, it was great.

You're looking good.

It was exciting
and nerve wracking.

But once I actually met
him, it was all right.

Oh gosh--

KIMBER TICE (VOICEOVER): He's
the kind of person I really

would like to know a lot better,
and I hope we have the time

to gather to get to do that.

This is David.

I'm glad to meet you, David.

This is Regina.

A gap of 30 years is a long
time when you think about it.

But we seemed to hit
it off pretty good,

like we've known each
other quite a while.

I don't know why that is, but
it just seemed to be real easy.

To actually find my
father, it means to me

that now I can get all
the questions answered

that I've wondered about.

And in the future, I
hope more than anything

that he stays part
of our family,

and we can make up
for all the years

that we didn't get
to be a family.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Next an unsettling look

into the mind of a deranged
arsonist, who videotaped

the fire he set
and filled the tape

with his alarming and
possibly satanic commentary.

I've never run across
anything as eerie as this tape.

It frightened me.

As a matter of fact,
I thought about it

that night when I went to bed.

ROBERT STACK: Each
year in the United

States, more than
200,000 people become

the victims of arsonists.

Each fire is an
individual tragedy.

In many cases, victims
are left not only

homeless, but injured or dead.

You're about to have the rare
and disturbing opportunity

to go inside the
mind of an arsonist.

An arsonist who
police believe made

a videotape of the fire he set.

The story starts with
an innocent discovery.

August 15th, 1989,
near Stockton,

California, a car overheated
in the scorching summer

temperatures.

We'll call the car's
owner Joseph Villa.

[car door closing]

Oh, man.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Joseph inspected the damage

while his wife
and son looked on.

Joseph decided
that he and his son

should walk to the
nearest telephone.

On the way, the boy
noticed a camouflage jacket

on the ground.

Wrapped in the jacket were
a videotape with no label,

and several audio cassettes
of heavy metal music.

They decided to take
the videotape home.

This is the actual videotape
found by the Villas.

And police are convinced that
the person holding the camera

set the fire himself.

The Villa family was
stunned when they realized

what they were watching.

The disturbing voice
on the tape seemed

to belong to the arsonist.

The police have since enhanced
the voice for clarity.

ARSONIST (VOICEOVER):
This is beautiful.

Look at it.

You see what I
can do [inaudible]

Do you see what I can do?

[laughs] Ah.

This is crazy.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Joseph
Villa decided to turn the tape

over to the authorities.

I've never run across
anything as eerie as this tape.

It frightened me.

As a matter of fact,
I thought about it

that night when I went to bed.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Unable to pinpoint the location

of the fire, investigators
began an in-depth study

of the videotape itself.

ARSONIST (VOICEOVER):
Look at it, Omar.

OK.

Look at it, Omar.

Look at it, Omar.

Look at it, Omar.
- OK.

He did say the name Omar.
Look at it, Omar.

Look at it, Omar.

And then he laughs.

FRANK CURRY (VOICEOVER):
When we listened to the tape,

it was hard to
understand certain words

that this person was saying.

So we sat down, and we actually
went through this tape,

I mean hundreds of times.

And came up with a script.

ARSONIST (VOICEOVER):
Look at it, Omar.

This is what I've been doing
on your week's vacation.

[laughter]

ARSONIST (VOICEOVER):
I said I'll do it!

I said I'll do it!

[laughs]

FRANK CURRY (VOICEOVER): He
says, I told you I'd do it,

Omar.

Is Omar the property owner,
it's a revenge type burn?

Is Omar the construction person
that maybe hired this person

and fired him and made that a
revenge motive for the fire?

I really don't know.

We really don't
know who Omar is.

OK, is this the jacket?

Yes, that's it right here.

OK.

Did you see anything
else around here?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
A county arson investigator

accompanied Joseph Villa's
brother to the spot where

the tape had been discovered.

Amazingly, the jacket
was still there.

In it was a wooden
pestle, the type

sometimes used to grind
herbs for satanic rituals.

Nearby, the two men found
a glove that matched

the jacket and a ceramic skull.

The pestle and the
skull suggest satanism,

as do certain portions of
the arsonist's monologue.

ARSONIST (VOICEOVER):
This is hell.

I call it home.

My hell.

The whole sky is
black with smoke.

This is the fire that I will
destroy and burn your soul up.

Ancient spirit of evil.

FRANK CURRY (VOICEOVER):
Those are basically the clues,

all we have on the video.

And that's why we need to
find out where this went down.

Where is this home.

ARSONIST (VOICEOVER):
The fire department's

trying to put it out.

What a laugh.

FRANK CURRY (VOICEOVER):
As we viewed the tape,

we realized that there was
fire suppression equipment that

had responded to the incident.

And we thought if we
can enhance the tape,

bring those shots in a
little bit closer to us,

we may be able to get
a door mark or a house

number or maybe even
a fire department

insignia on the door.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Despite a frame by frame

analysis, the
photographic enhancements

did not reveal any new details.

Investigators were
still unable to match

the tape with any reported fires
in the state of California.

The tape was found
by the Villa family

here, just a few yards from
Interstate 205 near Stockton.

205 feeds into several
major highways,

so authorities believe the fire
could have happened anywhere

in the United States
and that the arsonist

might have been only
traveling through California.

I think the person
who made this videotape

and is responsible
for the fire will,

without a doubt in my mind,
continue to set fires.

And the person needs
to be apprehended

and stopped before his fires
become more destructive.

And then there's a few of
these type of serial arsonists

that will move into
another criminal area.

You may recall the Son of
Sam back east, who killed

six people with a 44 magnum.

He was responsible
for about 2,000 fires

in the city of New York.

And then he stopped
setting fires

and started killing people.

ARSONIST (VOICEOVER):
Look at the flames.

Listen to the coyotes yell.

[laughs] Listen to 'em.

Good night ladies and gentlemen.

[laughs]

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The
house appears to be a one story

ranch house with two chimneys.

There was another
house on the left side

of the picture, partially
hidden by a white trailer.

The trailer may indicate
that the burning

house was under construction.

The setting is
uncluttered, perhaps rural.

The arsonist gives
the date as 1988,

and TV commercials recorded
onto another part of the tape

verify that date.

Because fire engines
do arrive, it

seems fairly certain that
somewhere a report of this fire

is on file.

Update-- Redwood
City, California,

60 miles west of Stockton.

Within minutes of our
broadcast, several viewers

from Redwood City
called our telecenter

and identified the
location of the house

seen burning on the videotape.

As we were sitting here and
we looked at the film on the TV,

we realized with utter
shock that it was the house

behind us that was on TV.

And our family was
scared, to say the least,

because we didn't realize
that the film even existed.

And it was no mistake in
my mind at all that that

was the house that was
behind us by watching

the videotape on TV.

We called into
"Unsolved Mysteries"

and gave all the information.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): The arson

occurred on August 15th, 1988.

The house that was destroyed was
under construction at the time.

Today it has been rebuilt.
Incredibly, on the night

of the blaze, Woodside
Fire Captain John Dellinges

also videotaped the fire.

JOHN DELLINGES (VOICEOVER):
While I was setting up

the command post,
directing companies in

to extinguish the
fire, I had set up

my video camera to film
the fire for training

and investigation purposes.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): By
comparing Captain Dellinges's

tape with the video
shot by the arsonist,

investigators were able
to confirm beyond a doubt

the fire's location.

MARK POLLIO (VOICEOVER)
Some of the calls received

led us to a 17-year-old
Woodside youth.

We interviewed that youth.

Through that interview, it led
us to a 19-year-old Redwood

City youth.

He was arrested and
interviewed and subsequently

admitted burning the
house, taking the video

and was the one who
talked on the videotape.

Our biggest hope was that
maybe we'd find an area

or a location on the fire.

We never dreamed that we'd
get the results that we did.

[non-english speech]

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Every October 18th, Francesca

and Tomas Santana
commemorate their daughter

Marlene's birthday.

But every October
18th is also a time

of sorrow for the
Santana family,

for their daughter has
been missing since 1985.

Three days after Marlene
Santana was born,

she was kidnapped on
a Brooklyn street.

No trace of her has
ever been found.

On October 18th, 1985, Francesca
gave birth to a little girl.

She named her Marlene.

FRANCESCA SANTANA (VOICEOVER):
When my baby was born,

she was pretty.

She was very beautiful.

She was the most beautiful
baby in the nursery.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Three days later on the 21st

of October, Francesca
was preparing

to take her baby daughter
home when she met

a woman outside the nursery.

That your baby.

Yeah.

He's so beautiful.

I was looking at my
baby in the nursery,

I saw a woman in
the window that told

me that my baby was the most
quiet one, the prettiest one.

And I was glad that she
told me that, because I

thought she liked my baby.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): A
few hours later, Francesca

checked out of the hospital.

Her two sisters-in-law
came to take her home.

The time was 9 PM.

FRANCESCA SANTANA
(VOICEOVER): When

we were going downstairs,
a woman come to me,

the same woman that
I saw in the nursery.

Where are you going?

I've been waiting
for you all night.

FRANCESCA SANTANA
(VOICEOVER): She told me

she was waiting for me all day.

I'm going home now.

Goodbye.

This isn't a game.

I'm not joking around.

Walk, or I'll blow her head off.

FRANCESCA SANTANA (VOICEOVER):
So she told us to come

and she told us to walk.

Or she's going to
blow up the head.

And we walk.

Keep going.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
They walked over six blocks

at gunpoint.

KIDNAPPER (VOICEOVER): Walk.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Finally they stopped

near a deserted junkyard.

KIDNAPPER (VOICEOVER): Stop.

I said stop.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
At first Francesca thought

that they were being robbed.

Give me the baby.

Give me the baby.

[baby crying]

I said, give me the baby.

KIDNAPPER (VOICEOVER):
Keep walking.

Walk!

The woman got in a car driven
by an accomplice and drove off.

FRANCESCA SANTANA
(VOICEOVER): No!

No!

When she took the
baby, I was in shock.

I didn't know what to do.

I was crying.

I st-- stopped the car
there, and nobody help us.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): After
Francesca and her companions

went to the police, detectives
were assigned to the case.

Francesca was able to
describe the car that

had driven away with her baby.

It was a white 1976 Chevy Malibu
with red lettering on its door.

At the hospital, police
tried to gather descriptions

of the mysterious woman.

Some believe that she was
not a professional criminal,

but rather an emotionally
disturbed woman

unable to have a
child of her own.

Based on eyewitness
descriptions,

a composite was created
showing the abductor.

She was white with Hispanic
features and no accent.

She had dyed reddish
blond hair and appeared

to be in her late '20s.

Today, three years later,
the Santana family still

search for their missing child.

A composite artist
sketched Marlena

as she might look today.

She would be three years
of age, and may celebrate

her birthday around Halloween.

She might have been put
up for an illegal adoption

in late 1985 or 1986.

Maybe one day a person
who knows where's my baby--

they must say something.

They must do it.

I don't think I could die
without seeing my baby again.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Next week on "Unsolved

Mysteries," December 1945--

a squadron of Navy torpedo
planes took off from Florida

and literally disappeared
from the face of the earth

during a routine training
exercise in an area we

now call the Bermuda Triangle.

Since then, the mysterious
powers of the Bermuda Triangle

are said to have caused hundreds
of ships and planes to vanish.

Now dramatic new
evidence suggests

that the legend of
the Bermuda Triangle

is just that, only a legend.

And in northern
California, one woman

takes a brave stand against drug
dealers in her neighborhood.

An unexpected barrage of
gunfire left her wounded,

but more determined than ever.

Her attackers fled and
remained unidentified.

We'll also tell you the
poignant story of six brothers

and sisters who were
uprooted from their homes

and placed in orphanages.

Today five of them
are still searching

for the missing brother.

Join me next week
for another edition

of "Unsolved Mysteries."