All language subtitles for Unsolved.Mysteries.S03E02.480p.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-PLAYREADY_track3_[und]

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.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): In
1945, five navy torpedo bombers

took off from a Florida
airfield and headed

east over the Atlantic, only
to disappear without a trace.

Thus the legend of the
Bermuda Triangle was born.

Today an aviation
researcher believes

he has found one of
the missing planes

and solved the mystery
of the Lost Patrol.

When she was a young
woman, Marge Rider

faced the excruciating decision
to give up a child for adoption

not once, not twice,
but three times.

Perhaps someone watching
tonight is one of the daughters

she is searching for.

Near San Francisco,
a 60-year-old woman

made a brave stand
against drug dealers

plaguing her neighborhood
and was shot in her own home.

Authorities need your help to
find her unknown attackers.

We'll also bring
you the poignant story

of six children torn apart
by adoption four decades ago.

One phone call may be the
final step in bringing

this family back together.

Join me, you may be able
to help solve a mystery.

[theme music]

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): December 5,

1945, Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Five navy Avenger
torpedo bombers took off

on a routine training flight.

There were 14 men on board.

The mission was
known as Flight 19.

Five hours after they took
off, the entire squadron

would vanish without a trace.

Their disappearance became the
linchpin of a modern legend

of the supernatural.

It has been called the Triangle
of Death, the Hoodoo Sea,

or the Graveyard of the
Atlantic, but to most of us

the area where the
five planes disappeared

is known as the
Bermuda Triangle.

This 400,000 square mile
area in the eastern Atlantic

extends from the
south of Florida,

northeast to Bermuda and
southeast to Puerto Rico.

According to experts,
in the last 75 years,

over 100 ships and
planes have apparently

disappeared in this region.

Though at least 1,000
lives have been lost,

the Triangle's most
famous victims were

the five Avengers of Flight 19.

For the last 45 years, the
disappearance of Flight 19

has been used by many as
proof that the Bermuda

Triangle does exist.

The five planes
were said to have

vanished inside some
supernatural vortex

and then whisked away
to another world.

But recently, an
aviation investigator

named Jon Myhre has
come up with a more

down-to-Earth explanation.

He is certain that he has found
one of the missing aircraft

just 30 miles off
the Florida coast.

If Myhre air is
correct, then one

of the most intriguing unsolved
mysteries of this century

may finally be explained.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
For years, Jon Myhre

has scrutinized Flight
19's flight plan,

radio transmissions,
and the weather

on the day of the disappearance.

When I read the
story and I read

the transcripts of the
radio conversations,

it triggered a response in me.

And I said, if this is
true and this is true,

then I think I can find
one of the airplanes.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): Last summer,

using the latest in
modern technology,

Myhre mounted his fourth
underwater expedition looking

for one of the last planes.

In order to pinpoint
its final resting place,

Myhre has carefully
reconstructed the last flight

of the lost Avengers.

It all began at the
Naval Air Station

in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

It was the afternoon
of December 5, 1945.

Lieutenant Charles Taylor was
assigned to command Flight 19.

Known as a cool, capable pilot,
Taylor had logged over 2,500

hours as a Naval aviator.

You are scheduled for a
low-level navigational problem.

You will fly 123
miles southeast,

beginning your practice by--

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Before takeoff, the crewmen

of Flight 19 were briefed on
the routine training exercise

by a senior operations officer.

--12 Miles and the
winds are southwest

at 18 knots and gusting.

Again, I remind you it
can change momentarily so

please be aware.

Now, I respect your
professionalism.

Let's go over your--

Excuse me.

Captain, can I have a word
with you in private, sir?

All right.

I'll be back in five minutes.

Relax.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): Just before

takeoff, Lieutenant Taylor
made an my usual request.

Sir, if it's all the same
to you, I'd just as soon you

replace me on the
flight this afternoon.

I'm just not feeling up to it.

Why, what's the matter?

I just don't feel right, sir.

I'd rather not be
in the air today.

Well, the rest of the
instructors are off the base.

You're the last
one on the roster.

I'm sorry, son.

You've got to go up.

Some people have speculated
that he was a party animal

and he was out drinking.

I don't think
that's fair to him.

The fact was that for some
reason, he didn't feel 100%.

It could have been
an ear infection,

it could have been
the flu, could

have been any number of things.

And as a pilot, it
was his duty to say,

I don't want to fly
for whatever reason.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): At 2:10 PM,

the five planes left the
runway and headed east.

Leaving Fort
Lauderdale, the planes

were to head 120
nautical miles southeast,

make a practice bomb run, and
then fly 73 miles northwest.

They then would head
120 miles southwest

back to Fort Lauderdale.

Flight 19 consisted of
four student pilots who

were qualified Naval aviators.

They each had more
hours in the air

than the FAA requires now
for a commercial license.

They had gone through
all of their training

but this one flight.

FT28 to flight.

I'm making my clearing turn.

The flight was not
following Charles Taylor.

He was the instructor
pilot who was trailing

behind the rest of the flight.

He was grading
their performance,

he wasn't doing the navigating.

The other pilots
in the flight were

doing their own navigation.

CHARLES TAYLOR: FT28
to FT36, area is clear,

target is marked.

FT28 to flight, target is
it 12 o'clock one while out.

Let's see what you're made of.

FT36, roger.

I'm commencing my run.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Radio traffic

indicated that the men
successfully completed

the practice bomb run.

But at approximately 3:10 PM, on
the second leg of the mission,

Taylor's compass
began to malfunction.

CHARLES TAYLOR: I don't
know where we are.

We must have gotten lost
after that last turn.

Powers, what does
your compass read?

AIRMAN (ON RADIO): Lieutenant,
we're at 330 degrees.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Myhre
believes the coordinates given

by the students were accurate.

For some reason, Taylor remained
convinced that they were lost.

At the Fort Lauderdale
Air Station,

the communications center
monitoring the flight

became concerned about
Taylor's defective compasses.

CHARLES TAYLOR (ON
RADIO): At this time

I am over small islands
believed to be Florida Keys.

My compass is out.

I'm in the Keys but I
don't know how far down

and I don't know how to
get to Fort Lauderdale.

I am over land, but it's broken.

I'm going to swing down
and take another look.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Taylor
had made a critical error.

He thought that Flight 19
was in the Gulf of Mexico,

flying over the Florida Keys.

Myhre believes that in
actuality, the flight

was 300 miles northeast of
Taylor's estimated location,

flying over the Abaco
Islands in the west Atlantic.

From the air, the two chains
look remarkably similar.

Taylor ordered northeasterly,
then due east headings.

Had they been over the
Keys, this route would

have taken them safely home.

Instead, it took them
further out to sea.

The students I am
sure, because they

had flown the area
before, they're saying,

uh-uh, you're wrong.

We're not in the Gulf of
Mexico, we're in the Atlantic.

But if the instructor pilot
says do it, you do it.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): By 5:00 PM,

the short winter
day had darkened

and the weather
was deteriorating.

Flight 19 was heading
east, away from their base,

and they were beginning
to lose radio contact.

The base did monitor one
of the squadron's last

pilot-to-pilot communications.

AIRMAN (ON RADIO): If we just
head west, we'll get home.

Damn it, if we'd just
head west, we'd get home.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): Fuel was low

and the time was running out.

According to Myhre,
Taylor finally listened

to his student pilots and headed
west towards the Florida coast.

JON MYHRE: So he
flew due west for 49

minutes until the
first airplane crashed.

AIRMAN (ON RADIO):
We may have to ditch.

Damn it, I'm going down.

I've got to ditch.

Do you read?

Do you read?

Damn it, do you read?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
In Myhre's reconstruction,

the surviving four pirates
then made a fatal error.

Although they were
only seven minutes

away from the
Florida coast, they

still have not spotted land.

They began to believe
that they must be

flying over the Gulf of Mexico.

For this reason, they
again reversed their course

and headed east.

But instead of going
towards Florida,

their new course took
them back out to sea.

By 8:00 PM, the
other four planes had

disappeared beneath the waves.

The legend of
Flight 19 had begun.

Over the next five
days, the Navy

mounted the largest
air-sea search

ever conducted up to that time.

No trace of the planes or the
14 missing men was ever found.

However, Myhre believes that
some of the men of Flight 19

were alive, drifting
at sea, slowly

running out of food and water.

JON MYHRE: Two ships
sighted flares within five

hours of each other.

And everybody in
the investigation

said, no, those flares that were
spotted were search aircraft.

Well, you go back
to the investigation

and you find out when the
search aircraft took off

and where they
went, and the search

aircraft weren't
where those flares

were sighted by those steamers.

Three days later, another ship
spots some blinking lights,

distress lights on the
water and discounts them

as being from another ship.

I don't think so.

I think those were
people from Flight 19.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): After
carefully cross-checking all

the available
information on Flight 19,

Myhre calculated the impact
point of the first plane

is here, just 30 miles
off the Florida coast

near Cape Canaveral.

But finding a single
Avenger in the ocean

was an overwhelming task, until
ironically, a national tragedy

made it possible.

On January 19, 1986,
the space shuttle

"Challenger" exploded
moments after liftoff

from Cape Canaveral.

Some of the debris fell
in the precise location

where Myhre believes the
first plane had ditched.

Quite by accident,
the underwater search

for the "Challenger" wreckage
may have uncovered what

Jon Muhre had been looking for.

Just 30 miles from
Cape Canaveral,

the salvage team
located a plane wreck

submerged in 400 feet of water.

Believing the wreckage was
that of a twin engine DC-3,

they ignored it.

But to Jon Myhre, this
discovery appeared to be

the vindication of his theory.

Last July, Jon
Myhre was on board

a submersibles that
prepared to dive 400 feet

to inspect the wreckage.

He knew that 45 years
might have obliterated

many of the Avenger's
identifying characteristics.

We knew we had a
wreck, but we didn't know

what type of airplane it was.

And to say I was on
the edge of my seat,

along with my colleagues,
would be an understatement.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
As they first approached

the location of the
wreck, they could

see nothing in the murky water.

Then the wing of a
blame became visible.

DELBERT HECK, JR.: Oh my god,
I can't believe I'm here.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
But was it the right plane?

One distinctive
feature of the Avenger

is its bomb bay, located
under the fuselage.

The submerged plane
is upside down.

Here the bomb bay cavity
is clearly visible.

JON MYHRE: I can't believe it.

I'm sitting here in
front of this airplane

after all these years.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Another distinctive feature

of the Avenger is
its overwheel well.

Here, this well can be seen
on the underside of the wing.

JON MYHRE: Oh my god.

Look at that.

Look at that.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): Perhaps the

Avenger's most
unusual feature is

the ball turret, which protected
the gunner behind the pilot.

Even though the plane
that Myhre found

was upside down and
partially buried in the sand,

the unique crosshatch of
the turret's window frame

is clearly visible.

JON MYHRE: There's no question
we've got an Avenger, folks.

After all at this point
eight years of research

and all the frustrations
that we had,

to actually be in
a submarine and be

right over top of this
wreckage was just incredible.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
It is obvious

that Myhre has found
an Avenger, but is it

one of the Avengers
of the lost Flight 19?

Through the manipulation of the
submersible's mechanical arm,

Myhre removed the
engine cowling.

He was hoping that a serial
number could be found

that would confirm
that this Avenger had

been part of Flight 19.

But after raising the
cowling to the surface,

Myhre was unable to
find any serial numbers.

JON MYHRE: The only way to
prove whether this is, indeed,

a Flight 19 aircraft
is going to be to raise

that sucker out of the water.

I and my partners believe
that we're correct,

but it'll remain a mystery
until we can raise the airplane.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): If
this plane can be identified

as belonging to Flight 19, the
legend of the Bermuda Triangle

will have to be rewritten.

It is not as romantic to say
that the flight disappeared

due to a tragic chain
of simple mistakes,

but if Jon Myhre
is correct, this

is precisely what happened.

No matter what the explanation,
the 14 men of Flight 19

deserve to be honored
not as victims

of the supernatural,
but as brave

man who died in the
service of their country.

Next, the heartwarming reunion
of a young woman and her mother

marks the beginning
of a new search

for two long lost sisters.

Jackie Dragon grew up in a
typical middle class home

near San Francisco, California.

She knew she had been
adopted but had no idea

who her birth parents were.

Curiously, Jackie always
had an unusual fascination

with films and television
shows about women in prison.

FEMALE PRISONER (ON
TV): What's the matter?

Is somebody getting
soft around here?

PRISON GUARD (ON TV): Try
something and you'll find out.

I'm not sure what it was
that attracted me exactly,

but I do know that there was
some strange sense of security

that I felt in watching
the stories and the women

interacting in their lives and
their relationships in prison.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Like any young child,

Jackie had a mischievous side.

At the age of 12, she made
an unexpected discovery.

I was scavenging around,
sneaking around in my father's

closet and looking
through a box of papers,

important documents and things.

And what I found
were legal papers,

and as I read through
them I realized

they were my adoption papers.

Jackie Stark?

It was a big thing.

It was a turning point.

It was something that I
knew from that point on that

someday, I would find
those people in that paper

and that I had to,
that they were real.

I searched off and on
for a number of years,

probably starting around 1982.

And I think it was 1986 when
I got the information that I

wasn't born in some
hospital somewhere,

but that I was born in
prison and that my mother had

been incarcerated at
the time of my birth.

I'm sorry, but it's time.

JACKIE DRAGON: When I
remembered that I had had such

a fascination with movies
with women in prison in them,

I thought, boy, that's bizarre.

Say bye-bye, Mommy.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Jackie learned

that she was born at the
Dwight Reformatory for Women

in Chicago, Illinois.

Her mother, Marge
Rider, was serving

a one-year sentence for her
part in an armed robbery.

10 months later, Marge made
one of the most difficult

decisions of her life.

She put Jackie up for adoption.

I convinced myself that the
best thing to do for Jackie was

to give her a home
that I assumed had two

upstanding parents, that there
was security in that home,

that she could be
guaranteed an education--

all the things that I knew
at that time in my life

there was no way I could
possibly give her any of that.

And I don't remember exactly
when Jackie was taken,

but I do remember that the day
she left, after she had left

they came and told
me that Jackie

had gone to her new home in
some other state and it hurt.

Same as it's hurting now.

That's one memory I didn't lose.

I didn't give her
up in that sense.

I knew nothing else to do.

And that's the last
memory, basically,

that I have of Jackie.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Jackie's adoptive parents

provided a stable home,
but Jackie was always

curious about her birth mother.

I wondered whether or
not she had been able

to kind of clean it
up or whether she'd

gotten in more trouble
or whether or not

she was safe or well.

I don't think I ever
considered not looking for her.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
After more than nine

years of searching,
Jackie finally

learned of Marge's whereabouts.

On July 26, 1990, she
spoke with her mother

for the first time in her life.

Hi.

May I speak with
Marge Rider, please?

Speaking.

JACKIE DRAGON: And what I
realized when I found out

that I had her phone number or
when I realized that I was very

close to finding her
was that in a way,

I was setting myself up to
feel rejected all over again.

Does that date February 16,
1964 or mean anything to you?

Not for a second
did she hesitate.

She was happy that I had called.

And I felt so
relieved and so lucky.

Well, do you have time
to talk right now?

I've got all the time in
the world to talk now, yes.

JACKIE DRAGON: One
of the first things

she said was, I never
thought any of you girls

would be calling me.

And then she let me know that
there were two other sisters.

It was very exciting.
I couldn't believe it.

It was like, there's more?
You're kidding.

There's something more
that I didn't know?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Jackie and Marge

talked for more than two hours.

Marge told Jackie about
her own troubled childhood,

how she dropped
out of high school,

fell in with the wrong
crowd, got pregnant at 17.

Marge Rider would
be the first person

to admit that she made a lot
of mistakes in her early life,

but Marge has managed
to rise above her past.

Today she is happily married and
lives in Winchester, Illinois.

Inspired by Jackie's
open-hearted love

and understanding,
Marge now wants

to find the other
daughters she gave

away more than 25 years ago.

Marge's first
daughter, Laura May,

was 18 months old when
Marge went to prison.

She was left in the care
of Marge's grandmother.

At the time, Marge
was already eight

months pregnant with Jackie.

She claims that once
she was in prison,

her grandmother attempted to
get legal custody of Laura May.

Paul Myrich.

Hi.

Please sit down.

MARGE RIDER: I hadn't been
there too terribly long

and a lawyer came to see me.

Now, when I'm
finished with my term,

I want to take
Laura May with me.

I want to raise her myself.

Oh, I understand.

And if you sign
these, then it'll

help us to all keep Laura May.

Now, what does this say?

Don't worry about this.

This is just some legal jargon.

I need to get you to
sign right here, OK?

Right here?

That's it.

MARGE RIDER: I think
that he was probably

on my grandmother's
side, trying to help her

adopt the child away from me.

And just the courts
just stepped in

because she was too old a
woman to raise an infant child.

And I think I think they
lost her as well as I did.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): Laura May

was ultimately taken by the
Cook County Welfare department

and became a ward of the state.

Marge never saw Laura May again.

After Jackie was born, Marge
cared for her in the prison's

nursery, but 10
months later, Marge

gave in to outside pressures
and put Jackie up for adoption.

A few weeks later, Marge
completed her sentence

and was released.

She never again got in
trouble with the law.

However, she did give
birth to a third daughter,

Dawn Marie, whom she also
gave up for adoption.

I had often gone
over in my mind, what

if they come looking for me?

How do I explain to them
that I gave them away?

And I pretty much convinced
myself, and I do believe it,

I felt I was giving
each child the very

best that I could give them.

- So how was your flight?
- It was real long.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
On September 20, 1990,

Marge Rider flew to
California and had

met her daughter, Jackie,
for the first time

in more than 25 years.

I see you've definitely
got red and curly hair.

Well, I wonder
where I got that.

I had many, many, many
questions for her about her,

about her hair,
about everything.

It's like, who had red hair?

That was something that I
grew up with, red curly hair.

Nobody ever had it but me and it
was a curse when I was a child.

And she was great.

I could ask anything
I wanted and she

would tell me everything.

This is Laura May and
this is you, of course.

Wow.

You can definitely
tell it's family.

She really looks the same.

Look at all those knees.

I guess.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): For
Jackie, the reunion with Marge

marked the end of one search
and the beginning of another.

I like to think that
somewhere, wherever they are,

that they know that
they're adopted

and that they wonder
where they came from.

They were mine,
I did love them.

I do love them and it
would be nice to make

the family complete again.

Thanks to our viewers, Jackie
Dragon and Marge Rider's dream

of reuniting their
family finally

came true when
they were contacted

by Laura May and Dawn Marie.

Dawn Marie, whose
adopted name is Susan,

owns her own business in
Santa Barbara, California.

Laura May, Marge's
oldest daughter,

is now married and
lives in Mississippi.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Three
months after our broadcast,

Laura May arrived at
her sister, Jackie's,

home in Glendale, California.

Marge and her youngest
daughter, Tracy,

had flown in from Illinois
for this very special reunion.

Your sister, Tracy.

LAURA MAY: Meeting
her was was really

nerve wracking
because it's like I

wasn't quite sure what
to expect and what

they would expect of me.

You're You're tall.

And then after I got here,
it just all seemed to flow.

It was very natural.

The last time I
remember seeing Laura,

she was in a high chair and
now here she is all grown up

and I'm still looking
for this little girl.

And it's kind of hard.

Hi, Susan.

Oh, it's good to meet you.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): A
short time later, the circle

was finally completed with
the arrival of Marge's

other daughter, Susan.

I grew up knowing
that I was adopted,

but I didn't know anything
about who my real parents were.

And it's nice to know
who your family is

and what your background
is and learn more about it.

I think when I first started
feeling really comfortable

was when we went out
and took some Polaroids.

And it was a really
neat feeling to have

a picture right in
front of me and see

all of us standing together.

It's a very once in a lifetime
kind of a thing to find

a sister that you've never met.

Everybody smile.

Each one is
totally individual.

They're all strong, I
found out, and they've

done good with their lives.

I'm proud of all four of them.

When any family is torn apart,
the scars can last a lifetime.

The saga of the six
Heck children of Iowa

is reminiscent of
a Dickens novel

with an equally large
cast of characters--

Delbert, Jr.; Florence; Jim;
Cheryl Louise; Doris Jean;

and little Tommy.

These brothers and sisters
were separated by adoption

as children, but
through force of will

finally managed to
reunite in adulthood.

Today they want to make
sure that their life's

story has a happy ending.

They need your help in order
to make that dream come true.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Council Bluffs,

Iowa, the summer of 1944.

Come on, you guys.

You're gonna be late for school.

Come on.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
10-year-old Delbert Heck,

Jr was the man of the house.

His father was
often away from home

and did little to
support the family.

It was very rough times.

We didn't have any money
for food or groceries.

I mean, it wasn't
hard times for us

because that was all we knew.

You don't ever wish for water
if you've never had the well.

So we just thought
we was doing fine.

We had each other
and we had Mother

and we just made the
best we could of it.

What did you have for
supper last night, Florence?

Puffed rice.

Puffed rice?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
In August 1944,

the family was visited
by a social worker

sent by the local
welfare department.

I'd like to see
the kitchen now.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The
Hecks had to stand by silently

as she scrutinized their home.

FLORENCE HECK-TAYLOR:
She opened the cabinets

to see what was
there, which there

was nothing there-- maybe
a bag of dry puffed wheat

or something.

We didn't have
dressers, we didn't have

clothes hanging in the closet.

She saw the mattress on
the living room floor

where all six of us kids slept.

And she just explained to Mother
that she wasn't able to care

for us properly
and they were going

to take us where they could be.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Three
months later, the State of Iowa

took the Heck children away.

FLORENCE HECK-TAYLOR: She us
she was taking us to a movie.

Of course, we hadn't
ever been to a movie

so that was really something.

So we went with her willingly.

And Mother stood on
the porch and cried.

And I thought
there was something

that just wasn't right.

When she crossed
Broadway going north,

I knew we weren't
going to a movie.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): The six

children were scattered
across the countryside

like windblown seeds.

Three were immediately adopted,
three languished in orphanages.

Seven-year-old Florence
was one of them.

[sobbing]

I cried for
Mother a lot, but I

cried a lot for the littler ones
because I spent a lot of time--

this was my life with the.

And we had a dorm
mother that lived

in the end of our building
and they'd come get me,

take me to the end of the dorm.

And there was a
little pause there.

You are going to sleep here
until you learn to stop crying.

[sobbing]

FLORENCE HECK-TAYLOR:
That's where

I slept for a good
long while when

I first went to the orphanage.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Jim and Delbert

were placed in a different
orphanage in Davenport, Iowa.

Delbert was farmed out
briefly to foster parents.

DELBERT HECK, JR.:
I really think what

they wanted was a farm hand.

I don't think they
wanted a child.

I didn't have no
contact with Jim

and he was the only one
that I knew at that time.

And when I didn't
have him no more,

I didn't have
nothing to hold onto.

So it didn't last
but just a few weeks

and was ready to go
back to Davenport.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Delbert and Jimmy

would remain in the orphanage
until 1952, when the state sent

the two boys and their
sister, Florence,

back to their natural mother.

Jimmy!

Ma.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Maude Heck would never see

her other three children again.

Unbeknownst to the Heck family,
one-year-old Sharon Louise

had been placed in the home
of Wendell and Helena Jones.

She had been renamed Doresa.

Five-year-old Doris Jean
was sent to the home

of Glenn and Gertrude West.

Her new name was Sally.

He's 10, she's nine.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
It is assumed

that three-year-old Tommy
Heck was also adopted.

His new name, if he has
one, is still unknown.

In 1970, Doresa and
Sally were reunited.

Both had been adopted
through the same orphanage,

which put them in
contact with each other.

The two then set out to
find their missing family.

I had a lot of information
on our biological family

from all of the
records that my parents

had given me when I was 16.

Sally didn't have a
whole lot of information,

but I had said if I
knew where we lived,

perhaps I could start there.

And she said that she
had that information

because they had sent her her
original birth certificate.

And she was born
at home, so she had

our home address, which happened
to be Council Bluffs, Iowa.

And I got on the
phone and I called

information in
Council Bluffs, Iowa

and started making phone calls.

It was like 1:30
in the afternoon

March 29 when I talked to her.

And at 11:30 that
night, she called back

and she said, since
I talked to you,

I've talked to an aunt
in Council Bluffs,

two brothers, and a sister.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): 45 years

after the Heck family
had been torn apart,

their day of reunion
finally came.

DORESA "SHARON"
HECK-DRESSLER: Sally and I

decided to drive to the reunion
together, kind of like a team.

We by that time, of
course, had known

that the three oldest children
had been raised together

and we kind of
felt like outsiders

and we wanted to be together.

We didn't really
know what to do.

It was like, do you walk up
and hug them and tell them

how glad you are to see
them after 45 years,

or do you just stand back and
shake hands, or what do we do?

But the minute we
walked in, it was--

the bond was instant.

And within five minutes, we were
like we'd grown up together.

The minute we
saw each, you knew

you were in the right place.

You were home.

There was no doubt but what
these were brothers and sister.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The
reunion was a celebration,

but there was still
one person missing.

Oh, there went the cake.

It's important for
me to find Tommy now,

or for all of us really.

To me, there's still part
of my life that's missing.

Finding Tommy
is like if you've

got a car and part of
the pieces are not there,

it's not going to run right.

Well, we got a family.

Part of the pieces
are not there.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): These
are the last known pictures

of Tommy Heck, taken when
he was four and a half

years old by his
adoptive parents

who sent them to the orphanage.

Today Tommy would be 47.

Tommy was adopted
through Christian Homes

Orphanage in Council
Bluffs, Iowa, most likely

by a Midwestern family.

His most distinguishing
physical characteristic

is a double earlobe
on his right ear.

We need to find Tommy to
make the rest of our family

complete, so that we can just
close that family and say,

here we are.

Here we are, world.

This is the Heck family.

Look at us, Iowa.

You separated us, but
we're back together now.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Next,
the story of a brave woman who

nearly lost her
life in the fight

to keep her neighborhood
safe from drugs.

[gunfire]

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Just
past midnight on the first day

of 1990, paramedics and
police in East Palo Alto,

California responded
to an emergency call.

A 60-year-old woman lay inside
her home, shot in the stomach.

Unknown gunmen had fired
35 rounds of ammunition

into her house and
car before they fled.

The victim was Mrs. C.W.
Roddy, a retired service

representative for
the phone company

who had lived in the area with
her son, Darnell, for 23 years.

The New Year's Eve attack was
a culmination of a three-year

nightmare in which C.W.
Roddy had been physically

and verbally threatened
by a group of young

men in her neighborhood.

Now she lay in her own home,
bleeding from a bullet wound.

Fortunately, Mrs. Roddy
survived and the East

Palo Alto authorities continue
to search for her assailants.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Palo Alto, California, home

of prestigious Stanford
University, is one of several

primarily white upper
middle class communities

surrounding the city
of East Palo Alto,

which stands in stark contrast.

Formerly a respectable
working class community,

it has in the last few
years fallen victim

to drug traffickers,
whose customers

often come from the
affluent suburbs nearby.

The drug dealing on
our street was very much

like a drive-up bank window.

They drive up, the
dope dealers will

rush to the car in a total
frenzy of competition with one

another trying to get the sale.

And it continued like
that day and night.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): When
C.W. Roddy finally understood

what was happening
in her neighborhood,

she began to take action.

The first confrontation
came when teenage drug

dealers parked their
cars in front of a house

she shared with her son.

Excuse me.

Young man, do you have
any business with me here?

Lady, lady, we're just taking
care of a little business.

We'll only be here a few.

OK?

Go wax your wheelchair
or something.

If you don't have
business with me,

I'd really like you
to move your cars.

Lady, I'm not moving.

I will be taking
your license number

and giving it to the police.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): C.W.
reported the young traffickers

often, but the understaffed
local police simply

were unable to cope with
the enormous problem.

I've always felt that
your home is your castle,

and what you do in your
home is your business.

But when they bring
their drugs out

in front of my house
in the streets,

that makes it my business and I
don't do that kind of business.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
In February of 1988,

Mrs. Roddy was
physically threatened.

Watch yourself, old bag.

We gonna blow your
damn house up.

See what I'm saying?

And I said to him, are you
gonna make sure that I'm in it?

And I looked up and saw
a police officer sitting

directly across the street.

You better watch your back.

Officer, did you hear with
the young man said to me?

No, I didn't, ma'am.

He threatened to
bow up my house.

Do you wish to make
a citizen's arrest?

- Yes, I do.
- You do wish--

I do wish to.

So he did.

And he took him off but he was
back with a matter of minutes.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Over the next 18 months,

the situation worsened.

During certain hours of the
day, the neighborhood streets

resembled a rush
hour traffic jam.

In their off hours, the
dealers used C.W.'s front curb

as their personal parking lot.

- Do you know whose car this is?
- It's my car.

You seen me park it there.

Don't act stupid.

I would look to have it moved.

Why I gotta move my car?

Let somebody else
move their car.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Then in October of 1989,

the confrontations suddenly
erupted into violence.

He picked up a piece of
wood and I was infuriated.

And I said to myself,
this is stupid.

So I started back
across the street

and they said, yeah,
go call the police.

Go call the police

After getting to the police
station, the boy was on his way

back home before I even
finished with the police report.

Hey, you guys are
gonna pay for this.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): In December

of 1989, C.W. became involved
in another confrontation.

Chris Thomas, a new
neighbor, was wounded

when he came to her defense.

--my own neighborhood.

They cut him very
badly in the face

and they had to take him to
the hospital and get stitches.

And someone called the police.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Police arrested the young man

who had attacked Chris Thomas.

For the next 10 days,
things were quiet--

until New Year's Eve.

On New Year's Eve in East Palo
Alto, for some strange reason

a lot of citizens
like to shoot guns.

They just shoot up in the air.

At midnight, Mrs.
Roddy was sleeping

when the gunfire awakened her.

I heard all the shooting.

And I looked up
at the clock and I

said, oh, they're
just celebrating

New Year's Eve, right?

So I got up and then I
went into the living room.

I noticed across the
street three young men.

They were standing
around talking

and there weren't any cars
coming up and down the street

at that particular time.

I would say about 20
minutes after midnight,

it had all quieted down.

All of a sudden, I
heard all these shots.

[gunfire]

I hit the floor.

I was about to get up and I
heard my mother scream in pain.

Mama, are you all right?

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): C.W. Roddy

had been shot in the stomach.

Her son, Darnell,
immediately called for help.

C.W. RODDY: I think
the attack on my house

was a planned attack and they
were planning to kill us.

My mother's been shot.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The
police arrived within minutes.

As they fanned out
to search the street,

they found that C.W.'s
new neighbor, Chris

Thomas, and his wife
had seen the attack.

We heard this big,
loud, rattle of gunfire

outside our house.

And I turned towards
the window and I

could see the blue flames from
the gun through the blinds.

When I looked outside, I
saw two young black men.

It was really scary because
I could see bullet holes

in the windows and the
walls and the doors and all

over the garage.

The car had bullet holes in it.

And I thought that
they had killed her.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Investigators located shell

casings from three
weapons, a .39

revolver, a 380
semiautomatic pistol,

and possibly an assault weapon.

When the local police completed
their own investigation,

they called in the FBI.

We know that there were
three to four individuals who

were responsible for
firing these rounds

into the home of Mrs. Roddy.

This is a neighborhood that has
been somewhat paralyzed because

of the amount of
violence that has been

generated from those who took a
stance to come forward and say,

no more.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): Despite

an extensive investigation,
no concrete evidence

has been unearthed.

But even though C.W. Roddy's
assailants have not been found,

the attack has galvanized
her neighborhood.

A group of mothers have taken
charge of the local park

and attempted to move
the drug dealers out

of their neighborhood.

They have had
success in the park,

but the women realize that
this is only the first step.

I went by a
couple of Saturdays

ago and just observed the
children out there playing.

And it was such
a beautiful sight

and it made me feel so good.

It brought tears to my eyes.

So it's looking better.

It didn't all happen in
one day and I don't expect

it all to change in
one day, but I do

see the beginning of a change.

And the future looks
bright and I am hopeful.

Out of the near tragedy of
Mrs. Roddy's brush with death,

the rebirth of her
neighborhood has begun.

A new drug task force has been
formed, and for the time being,

drug trafficking on her
street has been curtailed.

Still, the neighborhood
wants C.W. Roddy's

attackers brought to justice.

For every mystery,
there is someone

somewhere who knows the truth.

Join me next week
for another edition

of "Unsolved Mysteries."

[theme music]