All language subtitles for Unsolved.Mysteries.S03E12.480p.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.

40 Miles east of
Tombstone, Arizona,

lies a rugged and forbidding
map, Skeleton Canyon.

A century ago, it was sight
of murder and betrayal

as outlaws fought over a fortune
in stolen gold and jewels.

And dazzling treasure which
continues to tantalize

fortune seekers to this day.

March 1990, Fayetteville,
North Carolina.

A brutal attack
leaves a young woman

disfigured and near death.

Miraculously, she survived
to tell the horrifying story.

Police need your help
to find her attacker.

The Virgin Islands, a
vacationer's paradise.

In the last several years,
this tropical paradise

has been plagued by the strange
deaths of five local residents.

Police believe the killer
is a devious con-man

who uses phony voodoo
rituals to trap his prey.

Also tonight, a Gothic
tale of wealth and greed.

An eccentric recluse has left
behind a $4 million estate

and destroyed all
traces of her past.

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

[music playing]

NARRATOR: St. Croix,
the US Virgin Islands.

This popular vacation
spot attracts more than 1

1/2 million visitors
in the continental

United States each year.

But even America's paradise
can have a dark side.

Control, this is 5-0 echo
reporting a traffic accident

in Gallows Bay, vicinity--

NARRATOR: November 18th, 1988.

Just after 9:30 p.m.,
St. Croix police

are called to the scene
of what was reported

to be a minor traffic accident.

They find a local woman,
Radha Maharaj in the car,

apparently suffering
from internal injuries.

She will later die en
route to the hospital.

Less than one, hour
later another body

is discovered 16 miles away.

The dead man is Krishnadath
Maharaj, Radha's husband.

The investigation revealed
three unusual clues.

The clothing worn
by both victims

was saturated with seawater,
$25,000 in cash belonging

to the couple had vanished,
the agent of both deaths

was cyanide.

Incredibly, the
Maharajah's brought

to five the number
of cyanide poisonings

on St. Croix since 1984.

Authorities began to
suspect that all five

deaths were linked to voodoo.

This is documentary footage
of a voodoo ceremony in Haiti.

Contrary to popular belief
there, is nothing inherently

sinister about voodoo.

It is a unique blend
of Roman Catholicism

and African tradition
practiced predominantly

in Haiti and Louisiana.

In this ceremony, the
participants honor the spirits

of their deceased ancestors,
some of whom they believe

have become deities.

Many of us mistakenly think
of voodoo as curses, hexes,

effigy dolls, and potions.

But these exist more often
in the realm of Obeah,

an underground form of
sorcery unconnected to voodoo,

but common in many
parts of the Caribbean.

Like all forms of sorcery,
Obeah has malevolent potential.

Police in St. Croix have
come to believe that the five

cyanide poisonings
on their island

are the work of a master con man
who practices Obeah, but tries

to cloak himself in voodoo.

He lures his victims
into a vicious web

of deceit and murder.

The Virgin Islands are an
ethnic and religious polyglot,

nearly everyone comes
from somewhere else.

Radha and Krishnadath
Maharaj were

both born in the Caribbean,
but their parents

immigrated from India.

The Maharajas owned a
small grocery store.

Radha's two daughters
from her first marriage

helped run the business.

We We were doing very good.

I mean we probably couldn't
afford a new car or anything

like that, but we
were paying our bills

and we did have food
to eat, we're all well,

we were strong and healthy.

And we were all working
hard, especially my mother.

NARRATOR: Several
months before they died,

the Maharajas took out a
loan to enlarge the grocery.

They soon found themselves
in a financial bind.

I've got a loan.

No, I don't want to
talk about the loan.

Listen, this time
it's going to work.

It's not going to work,
it never worked before.

The last week
that they werealive,

they were very tense.

And especially when
I spoke to my mother

about what they were
doing, she didn't like

for me to ask all those things.

I'm sorry I couldn't
make it last week.

Yes, are some
emergency had come.

NARRATOR: According
to their daughters,

the Maharajs also began
receiving daily phone

calls from a mysterious man.

Yes.

Usually I answered the
phone and this man would

ask to speak to my stepfather.

As soon as I gave
it to him, he would

ask me to go outside
because he had

something private to discuss.

Yes, $25,000.

NARRATOR: Three weeks
before the Maharajas died,

they brought home
$25,000 in cash borrowed

from Radha's relatives.

Is Friday alright?

MAHARAJ DAUGHTER: She told
us that this is what they

had to pay to the gentleman.

So I asked her, well why?

She said, well don't
ask me any questions,

by Monday you will know
what it's all about.

NARRATOR: At approximately
7:30 PM On Friday,

November 18th, two
hours before Radha

would be found near
death in her car,

she left home and drove east.

MAHARAJ DAUGHTER: For
her to actually go out

alone is something
very strange for me.

And for her to go
out at night, that

is even more strange,
because she didn't ever

go anywhere at night, never.

NARRATOR: 30 Minutes later,
Krishnadath drove off

in the opposite
direction, presumably

to meet the mysterious man.

MAHARAJ DAUGHTER:
I still don't see

why my mother and stepfather
got involved with this man.

The only thing I could
think about perhaps

is, he probably promised that if
they gave him a certain amount

of money, he would probably give
them back three or four times

the amount.

NARRATOR: Perhaps no one
will ever know exactly

what transpired that night.

Less than two hours
after leaving home,

Radha Maharaja's car
was coasting gently out

of control near a local beach.

Inexplicably, her dress
was soaked with seawater.

She was unconscious
and near death,

but there were no outward
signs of struggly or foul play.

16 miles away,
Krishnadath Maharaj

was found lying by the
side of a beach front road.

Oddly, He was clad only in
a pair of shorts, which were

also saturated with seawater.

Once again, there were no
signs of struggle or foul play.

The police told me that
they believe that mom tried

to commit suicide, probably
because she and my stepfather

had quarreled about something
so very big that there was

no way they could patch it up.
That is nonsense.

NARRATOR: Autopsies of Radha
and Krishnadath Maharaj

revealed that they had both
died from cyanide poisoning.

Incredibly two years earlier,
another St. Croix couple

Edstall Striden
and Carmen Torres

had died under eerily
similar circumstances.

In 1986, Edstall Striden
and Carmen Torres

owned a small neighborhood bar.

Like the Maharajs,
they took out a loan

to expand their establishment.

They converted the loan
into cash, $54,000.

Come on honey,
we've got to go.

NARRATOR: At dusk on
September 13th 1986,

Edstall and Carmen left home
in Edstall's pickup truck.

Their daughter
would later recall

that her father had slipped a
small bottle into his pocket

before he left.

It was the last time she
saw her parents alive.

Three hours later, Carmen
Torres was found near death

less than half a
mile from the spot

where Radha Maharaj was found.

Like Radha, Carmen was
drenched in seawater

and died within minutes of
being taken to the hospital.

She too was killed by cyanide.

Edstall was found dead in
his truck on a nearby beach.

His shorts were
soaked with seawater.

He had also died of
cyanide poisoning,

and the $54,000 in
cash was missing.

Is he dead?

Yes, call the ambulance.

NARRATOR: Police flashback
two years to 1984

and another cyanide death.

38-Year-old Haig Caesar who
had immigrated to St. Croix

10 years earlier from Dominica.

Police believed that
the death of Haig Caesar

was linked either to Obeah or
to a twisted form of voodoo.

On the morning of May
24th 1984, a young girl

on her way to school
came upon a car that had

apparently run off the road.

Behind the wheel and
was Haig Caesar, dead.

He appeared to be
dead for several hours.

There was no indication of
foul play or any struggle.

I think this guy might
of had a heart attack.

SGT.RHYMER The autopsy was
performed the next day.

The results of the
medical examinations

showed that he had died
from cyanide poisoning.

We didn't know whether he had
induced the poison himself

or whether it was
given by someone else.

We started talking to people
and we later found out

that he had made contact
with an individual that

might be involved in voodoo.

What he said is that the
man had told them that there

were three large jars of
coins buried on the property

that we owned.

And that the coins
are being guarded

by spirits, ancient spirits.

And in order to get
those coins, they would

have to get rid of the spirits.

And there was a ritual ceremony
that went through that.

And in order to do that, they
would need to raise some money.

NARRATOR: Before his death, Haig
Caesar apparently paid $100,000

in cash to an Obeah
man, who claimed

he could manipulate
voodoo rituals

to remove the evil spirits.

I can feel something.

Jumbo's presence is really
here, I can feel it.

There's a lot of
gold on this land.

When you come up with
the balance on the money,

I have a potion.

It'll loosen up the jumbie
and then you can get it when

you have the rest of the money.

All right don't
worry about that, I'll

come up with the money.

When I found out about all the
money he was borrowing and all

the cash that he had taken out
of all accounts and everything,

without even letting me know, I
really was very angry about it.

And shocked, overall
just shocked that he

would have taken it so far.

NARRATOR: Police now believe
that on the night he died,

Haig Caesar went
to the spot where

the Obeah man had said a
treasure of priceless coins

was buried.

The Obeah man's lethal
scam called for Caesar

to drink a potion
and thus drive away

the spirits guarding the coins.

The potion turned
out to be cyanide.

There is no way of knowing
whether Haig Caesar was alone

when he drank the cyanide.

By the time his body was
discovered the next day,

less than a mile from his
property, both the Obeah man

and the $100,000 had vanished.

ROSMUND CAESAR: I knew that he
was aware of Obeah and voodoo,

I mean most people who
live in the islands are.

I thought he was smart
enough, intelligent enough,

aware enough to know
that it wasn't real.

When you come up with
the money, I have a potion.

NARRATOR: Were all five deaths
the work of an Obeah man?

If so, is the man
who promised buried

treasure to Haig Caesar the same
one telephoned the Maharajs?

25,000?

Come on Honey,
we've got to go.

NARRATOR: Was he
also the man Edstall

Striden and Carmen Torres went
to meet on the night they died?

Only one thing is certain.

The similarities
in all three cases

go far beyond coincidence.

CAPT. HARRIS: The connection
between the Maharajs, Carmen

Torres, Edstall
Striden, and Haig Caesar

came from what we theorize is
someone in the community that

was a conduit between
this individual

and the potential victims.

This person probably knows
these people in the community,

knows the lifestyle,
and knows the capability

of the financial status.

It's very hard to
understand why people

would want to cheat and kill.

And if somebody
doesn't find him,

then I don't believe that there
is any justice in this world.

If somebody doesn't
find that man.

NARRATOR: The man who has
murdered five people in St.

Croix has believed to travel
throughout the Caribbean

and even into the
continental United States.

There are rumors that he
has been seen in Florida.

He speaks with a heavy
French West Indian accent.

When we return, the legend of an
outlaw ambush in the Wild West.

And the buried treasure
allegedly worth millions.

Who among us has not
imagined what it would be

like to discover
a buried treasure.

The very thought
brings the promise

of romance and adventure.

Some people spend their
entire lives searching

for legendary hidden fortunes.

One such elusive fortune lies in
the forbidding Arizona desert.

Its legend springs from a
notorious tail of Desperados,

deception and greed.

Stretching 20 miles across
Arizona's eastern border

is a jagged mountain
ravine whose

very name reflects its
dark and treacherous

past, Skeleton Canyon.

A century ago, thieves
and robbers from Mexico

frequented this rugged
landscape, smuggling stolen

riches into the United States.

Legend holds that somewhere
near this mysterious canyon

lays a buried cache
of gold and jewels.

According to some,
it is a wild west

largest unclaimed treasure.

HUNTER PRICHARD: I Spent
a night at Skeleton Canyon

about two years
ago, full moonlight.

And I must admit, the hair
never went down on my back

once that entire night.

I just have a second
sense that there was just

too much to go on, that went
on here, not to be a treasure

involved with it somehow.

No I don't believe that there
is a Skeleton Canyon treasure

waiting out there to be found.

It's a known fact that
it's a real treasure.

This is one of the treasures
that's absolutely real, real.

NARRATOR: The legend
of Skeleton Canyon

begins in a small
Mexican village.

In 1881, a con artist
named Jim Hughes learned

that a gang of
Mexican bandidos had

looted the town of Monterrey.

They were planning to
smuggle their booty

into the United States.

Hughes himself was a member of
the infamous Curly Bill Brocius

gang, which operated
out of Arizona.

Donde vives tu?

Culiacan?

HUNTER PRICHARD: Hughes was able
to infiltrate them because he

spoke fluent Spanish.

And he found out
that the gang was

coming back to Skeleton Canyon.

The reports that I read, and
the myriad of books and treasure

magazines as far back as
1964 reported the treasure

to be worth anywhere from
$2.5 million all the way,

and I've seen reports of it
being worth up to $8 million.

NARRATOR: Hughes rode
back to Arizona told

his cronies of the treasure.

They made plans to
ambush the smugglers.

HUNTER PRICHARD: The Estrada
gang had come out of Mexico,

through Sonora, and were
going to what was later become

known as Skeleton Canyon.

And they were about a mile to
two miles in the Arizona side,

right outside an area
called Devil's Kitchen.

The men on watch
shot the Mexicans

off their mounts
and the contraband

scattered all over the canyon.

And in order to stop the mules
from scattering and taking

the loot with them, the gang,
the Curly Bill Brocius gang,

was shooting the mules.

NARRATOR: The outlaws
now had their treasure,

but without mules they had no
way of moving it out of canyon.

Part of the loot was
divided up on the spot,

the rest was buried
to be retrieved later.

But two members of the
gang had different ideas.

HUNTER PRICHARD: Zwing
Hunt and Billy Grounds

were fairly good friends.

And they decided that
while the rest of the gang

was on in the local bars, in
Galeyville or Shakespeare,

or Tucson or wherever they went
spending their money ill-gotten

fortune, that they would
double cross the gang

and come back into the canyon.

According to legend,
they were able to find

a Mexican teamster,
talked him into bringing

his team and horses
into Skeleton Canyon,

and removing the treasure.

Of course, he was later
killed because they

wanted to keep the new
hiding place as a secret.

I feel very sure in my own
mind that it's very likely

that the treasure
is still buried

within the vicinity
of Skeleton Canyon,

probably no more
than 30 miles away.

NARRATOR: Fearing
retribution from ex-partners,

Zwing Hunt and Billy
Grounds went into hiding.

They found a desert
cave where they remained

for nearly four months.

During this period,
Billy Grounds

penned a number of letters
to his sister Maggie,

in San Antonio.

Billy wanted her to know
where the treasure was hidden,

should anything happen to him.

Billy has said to
have ventured out

once a week to give the letters
to a passing stage coach.

Hey, get this through.

Yeah, you bet.

NARRATOR: Treasure
hunter Fern Hamill

claims to have seen and
copied portions of nine

of the letters.

He refused to show us
his copies but agreed

to divulge their contents.

FERN HAMILL: In the letters,
it told about the cave

and how long they
were on the road.

They moved all night with
the treasure from dark

until sun up before
they stopped to bury it.

And then they went to the cave.

One of the letters he's
writing to his sister,

he said there's a cave at
the mouth of the canyon.

I found that cave, and
he goes back 80 feet.

And we even dug in the
cave and found old ropes

that was buried in there.

And one of things in the letter,
it said from our lookout,

you can see the
turf growing back

over where we buried the
treasure, down in the mouth.

I have found all the clues
that there is in the letters,

every one of them.

When I once found the
right place to look,

where everything fit,
and everything is there.

So I know the treasure is,
I'm near where it's at.

It's there.

Billy Grounds, who is supposed
to have written the letters,

was a 19-year-old Texas
cowboy rustler type who had

migrated from Texas to Arizona.

It's unlikely to me that he
would have been writing home

detailed letters about, hey
we robbed these Mexicans

and we've buried
this huge treasure.

Here's how to find it.

Maggie was Billy Ground's
sister, and she, her and a man

had spent two years
living in a cave

out there looking
for this treasure.

And we found this vase in a
cave, it says Maggie on it.

1885, World's Fair.

So I know that was Billy
Ground's sister that was there

looking for this treasure.

For two years she spent there.

NARRATOR: March 19th, 1882.

A Sheriff's posse cornered
Billy Grounds and Zwing Hunt

in a remote desert outpost.

Zwing, come on out of there!

NARRATOR: In the ensuing
shootout, Billy was killed.

Zwing was seriously injured.

[mumbling]

NARRATOR: In
Tombstone, Zwing Hunt

revealed the secret
location of the treasure

to his uncle, who drew
up a detailed map.

Zwing later managed
to escape, only to be

killed in an Indian attack.

ROBERT PALMQUIST: It
seems to me that it's

another typical
treasure hunting yarn.

It's always somewhat removed
from the original documents.

We never get to see
the map, we never

get to examine it
for its genuineness

or see if it matches
up with any handwriting

samples we might have.

NARRATOR: Fern Hamill
claims to have seen the map

made by Zwing Hunt's uncle.

FERN HAMILL: The
map shows the canyon

and it shows where the cave is.

Everything matches.

But I think the
treasure now, on account

of the earthquake in
1886, I think the treasure

is around 20 feet deep.

Part of the mountain
caved off on it.

And so0we've It's got millions
of tons of rock to find it

and we don't know
right where to dig at.

NARRATOR: Today,
even though there

are a great many skeptics,
the legend of buried treasure

in Skeleton Canyon
continues to attract fortune

hunters from around the world.

CAPT. HARRIS: I think the
Skeleton Canyon treasure is

a very plausible story,
from the standpoint

that every time it would rain,
somebody's skull would show up,

or bones of a mule
would be exposed,

or another coin
would become evident.

And compared to a
lot of other stories,

it's got a lot more plausibility
than I would say the Lost

Dutchman mine, for instance,

ROBERT PALMQUIST: It is possible
that there is a Skeleton Canyon

treasure out there to
be found somewhere,

but the initial reports given
by the Mexican government,

given in the local press,
indicate that there was

a very small amount of money
taken, which would have

been spent very, very quickly.

Thus I don't think there
was a treasure, given

historical sources,
to hide and thus,

for 20th century
Americans, to find.

When I find the treasure,
I'll stop looking for it,

that will be when I'll stop.

Because I know it's real,
this treasure is real.

And I know I found the
right place where it's at.

Everything is real.

NARRATOR: Is there
a treasure buried

beneath the full building
walls in Skeleton Canyon

or is it merely
another fake leftover

from the days of wild west.

In over 100 years of
scouring the region,

treasure hunters have unearthed
a multitude of bleached bones

and a handful of Mexican coins.

They are convinced they are
the remnants of the ambush

in Skeleton Canyon.

Although people have
searched for the elusive

treasure for years,
at this time it

is illegal to dig in the area.

When we return, a
terrifying story of a woman

attacked and robbed along a
highway in North Carolina.

March 22nd, 1990.

Business route 95, just outside
Fayetteville, North Carolina.

State troopers Chris Dew and
Ron Knight stop to compare

notes during a routine patrol.

Yeah, lot of
traffic out today.

RON KNIGHT: About two
minutes into conversation,

a lady walked out of the
woods about 75 yards away

and started towards
us, staggering.

The other trooper had
a set of binoculars

and he looked at her
through the binoculars,

and saw that she
appeared to be injured.

She had blood on her
shoulders and she

was coming in our direction.

All right, we're going
to get you a blanket.

RON KNIGHT: I laid on the
ground and the other trooper

went to his car and
called for an ambulance.

And shortly thereafter,
an ambulance

arrived and transported
the lady to the hospital.

NARRATOR: The young
woman had been

shot once in the face with a
12-gauge double barrel shotgun.

Her left jaw was
completely shattered

and she was unable to speak.

She carried no identification.

It was not until 10 hours
later, when her condition

had stabilized, that she was
able to write down her mother's

name and telephone number.

Police discovered that the young
woman was from Winston-Salem,

North Carolina 120 miles away.

Doctor, we'd would like
for you to sit in on--

NARRATOR: Detective Ken Bishop,
of the Winston-Salem police

department, worked on the case
with Fayetteville detectives.

--If this is getting too
hard on her, you just put

a stop to it, and we'll leave.

I want to let you know
that she cannot talk,

she can only write.

I also want to warn you that
her injuries were massive.

I want to prepare you for
what you're going to see.

OK.

OK we'll easy with her.

All right, thank you.

Good morning.

I brought two fellows
in to see you.

KEN BISHOP: He did take us
in and introduce us to her.

We conducted probably a 30
minute interview with her.

It was probably the most
severe injury I've ever seen

for a person that survived.

Where the liquor store
was when you stopped?

NARRATOR: The victim seemed
to remember everything.

Though she could
not yet speak, she

wrote down detailed descriptions
of the attack and her attacker.

Working with her, a police
artist created this drawing.

It's important that
this man be caught,

because he is not rational,
he's very dangerous

and he may harm someone else.

NARRATOR: This story depicts
a brutal senseless crime that

may not be easy to watch,
however police fear

that if the man responsible
is not apprehended,

he could strike again.

The young woman who has
victimized courageously

agreed to be interviewed.

Because she has requested
we not it was her real name,

we will call her Debbie.

On the morning of
March 22nd, 1990,

Debbie made a large cash
withdrawal from the First

Union Bank in Winston-Salem.

She left the bank at 9:40 AM.

Debbie told police that the man
forced her to drive to a liquor

store three miles away.

OK, stop the
car, stop the car.

Give me the keys,
give me the keys!

NARRATOR: The man went
inside to buy whisky,

holding Debbie's car keys
and watching her like a hawk.

Debbie was petrified with fear.

The man had threatened to kill
everyone in the liquor store

if she tried to
make a run for it.

Start the car.

Start the car!

NARRATOR: The man
ordered Debbie to take

Interstate 40 heading east and
421 south toward Fayeteville.

For nearly four agonizing
hours, he threatened her life.

He drank heavily
and bragged that he

once killed a man in New York.

For Debbie, the journey
was a living hell.

DEBBIE: A lot of
the time, he just

wouldn't talk to me at all.

And when he did, he was
very abusive, very angry.

It got worse as time went on
because he was drinking also,

the liquor.

And he would just get more
angry and more irrational.

And I got more afraid knowing
I could not reason with him.

NARRATOR: About three miles
north of Fayetteville,

the my man forced Debbie
to pull off the road.

Get out.

Get out!

Sit!

Where are you running to?

Where are you running to?

You ain't going nowhere!

NARRATOR: At almost
that same moment,

State Trooper Ron Knight
noticed the gray station wagon.

I was going to cross
over and check the vehicle.

And just about this time, I met
a speeding vehicle traveling

south on I-95
business, so I turned

and pursued after this vehicle.

[yelling]

NARRATOR: Debbie was
beaten and sexually

assaulted, then left for dead.

The next day,
Debbie's station wagon

would be found
abandoned 300 miles away

in Hamilton County,
Florida, just south

of the Georgia state line.

Authorities in Fayetteville
investigated the crime scene.

Rob, looks like we might
have some gloves here.

NARRATOR: Their search
turned up a dark blue pea

jacket and brown cloth gloves.

Debbie told authorities
they had been worn

by the man who attacked her.

KEN BISHOP: The navy blue pea
jacket and the brown cotton

work gloves that were recovered
at the Fayetteville crime scene

had a strong odor of some
type of petroleum product

about them.

We think we're looking
at a person that

works around that
type of product,

it could possibly be
a mechanic, somebody

who works with greasy, grimy
motors, that kind of thing.

Possibly even
somebody that drives

a fuel, heating oil type truck.

NARRATOR: Debbie's assailant
was about 5 feet 10 inches tall

and weighed between
150 and 160 pounds.

He appeared to be
in his mid-thirties

and wore his hair close cropped.

Although he abandoned his
car in northern Florida,

authorities believe he could be
anywhere in the United States.

DEBBIE: I feel like
until they find him,

I'm going to continually
feel like he's there.

And he, I know it's an
unlikelihood that he will try

to find me, but it's that
fear of him being there,

and that he also might
hurt someone else.

From the beginning
after my sister was shot,

we knew that we wanted
her to be careful,

as far as just seeing herself.

We wanted her to be with
her doctor and for him

to be alongside when she saw
herself for the first time

after this.

A friend happened to send a
Mylar balloon that she tied

to the foot of her bed, and in
the back of this Mylar balloon,

she saw herself
actually by mistake one

day and was alone
when this happened.

DEBBIE: I feel like
you have two choices.

You can just lie
down and cry and die.

Or you can live and go
on from where you are.

And I have so much to live for.

I have three children,
I have a family,

and I have such good friends.

There is no reason for me to
just feel sorry for myself

and do nothing.

Debbie has had
extensive plastic surgery

and doctors hope they'll
soon be able to restore

her shattered jaw.

This is the jacket
he was wearing.

It is navy blue wool, size
42, with a belt in the back.

The jacket is not US Navy issue.

Police have physical
evidence that

will enable them to make
a positive identification

should a suspect be located.

When we return, the bizarre
saga of a mysterious recluse,

and the unclaimed
fortune she left behind.

Heavenly Father,
we commit the body

of our dear sister Dorothea,
to be consumed by fire.

Ashes to ashes--

NARRATOR: On a dreary
January day in 1990,

in the a tiny English village
of Sutton-under-Brailes,

a notoriously mysterious
woman was laid to rest.

It was rumored that Dorothea
Allen, the wealthiest, most

famous resident
of the county had

once danced with
Fred Astaire and had

dinner with Gary Cooper.

But when she died at 89, only
five people came to mourn her.

In her prime, Dorothea Allen
was considered a great beauty.

By all accounts, she was
devoted to her husband, Robert.

He died in 1965 and the
couple was childless.

When Dorothea died,
she left no will,

only an intricate mystery.

The saga of Dorothea Allen,
boasts a plot and characters

rivaling any Dickens novel.

The most intriguing
character, Dorothea herself.

She had a quirky mystique, a
wealthy business executive,

a beauty who hobnobbed
with movie stars.

Yet to some, she was
a shrew, mistreating

the people who worked for her,
hoarding money like a miser.

Her $4 million fortune
remains unclaimed.

Because Dorothea had extensive
ties in this country,

some think her
heirs may be right

here in the United States.

After Dorothy's death,
the British government

assigned investigators to search
her manor house in an effort

to locate the rightful heir.

What they found
instead was evidence

of a woman who had
attempted to obliterate

all traces of her past.

CHRISTOPHER PROUDLOVE:
I spent a lot

of time going through
drawers and cupboards trying

to find anything
that would give me

clues as to who this woman was.

And quite frankly,
I found very little.

We found her passport, which
had pages ripped from it.

Of course, these
were the pages that

gave us all the information
we might have needed.

When we got upstairs,
we found dressing rooms

absolutely stashed with the
most amazing clothes and shoes.

I don't think I've ever seen
as many pairs of women's shoes

in one place.

We looked through
photograph albums.

And all the pictures had
been pulled out of the albums

and someone had taken a
pair of scissors to them

and cut off the heads, and so
we couldn't identify anyone.

It was disappointing
and frustrating,

because at that stage, no
one had a clue who she was.

NARRATOR: Dorothea Allen
and her husband Robert

had always been elusive people.

Intensely private, they
had kept their backgrounds

shrouded in mystery.

Even those who knew them best
know little about their past.

The Allens had
made their fortune

manufacturing plain
surgical corsets for women,

then adding frills, lace,
ribbons, and bows to make

the corsets more feminine.

The decorated corsets
sold like hotcakes,

and Dorothea oversaw
every detail.

BRONWEN HANKS: She
had an eye for beauty

and she certainly used it.

She made that factory
a great success.

She was an absolute
perfectionist.

She would count the
stitches to the inch

on everything that was done.

It should be 12 years to
the inch, you've only done 11.

Dorothea with a very
nasty piece of work.

She ran her servants ragged,
from what I can gather.

I also think she didn't pay
very well to her employees,

and ran quite a strict regime.

She demanded people walk
out of her office backwards.

CHRISTOPHER PROUDLOVE:
She was probably quite

a ruthless business woman.

She had a business plan, she
was going to make herself rich.

And when she got herself
rich, she was going to go

out and spend it and enjoy it.

She spent very freely.

CANDY ATHERTON: They
went on the Queen

Mary in great extravagance
all over the world.

There are a few pictures which
show them on the Queen Mary,

a time when they weren't able
to stop pictures being taken.

The rest of the time,
photographs, they just wouldn't

allow them to be taken.

NARRATOR: At
Christmas, the Allens

entertained only those
employees who had

a specific productivity quota.

A select few were
actually allowed

to speak to the Allens,
who felt free to indulge

their illusions of grandeur.

DOROTHY KEARSE: He used to sit
right at the end of the room,

behind a little rope.

And people used to come
up and talk to them.

They used to be like
royalty, really.

[inaudible]

NARRATOR: In 1965, Robert Allen
died after a long illness.

Dorothea's whole life had
been built around her business

and her husband.

She seemed unable to
cope with his death.

I think she could always
count on his support,

and when he went she felt
that prop had gone, I suppose.

And she just went to
pieces, apparently.

BRONWEN HANKS: Oh, she
was very, very upset.

They absolutely thought
the world of one another.

And she was very much affected.

After the death of Mr
Allen, one of her habits

was to get his cigars and light
them and leave them burning

in the hall and in the library,
so that she got the atmosphere

of him still being there.

NARRATOR: Dorothea began
to neglect her business,

and the American parent
company, Burger Brothers,

finally forced her out.

She spent more and
more time alone.

After an accident
in her Rolls-royce,

Dorothea Allen never
left her estate again.

CHRISTOPHER PROUDLOVE: No
one was allowed in there.

And she lived with a
gardener and a housekeeper

in one room in the kitchen.

NARRATOR: As her
health began to fail,

Dorothea became obsessed
with eliminating

all traces of her past.

According to her lawyer,
she mutilated photographs

of herself and her husband.

She destroyed the
page in her passport

that contained her
place and date of birth.

On January 4th, 1990,
Dorothea Allen died in bed.

She'd been a recluse
for more than 20 years,

steadfastly refusing
to make a will.

CANDY ATHERTON: Well
she told some people

that she thought people
had too much money anyway.

And therefore they didn't need
to be left money in a will.

But then she would have
known that the state would

come in and take
the money, and I

wouldn't thought anyone
who would want to leave

money to the government.

So she had to have
something to hide.

And she wanted, she
mistakenly thought

that by not leaving a will,
she will be able to disguise

her life after she died.

NARRATOR: There appeared to
be no record of when or where

Dorothea Allen was born, or even
what her maiden name had been.

Then a smallpox vaccination
certificate surfaced.

On it, Dorothea's birth date
was listed as January 21st 1901.

Her last name, Farquharson.

Finally there seemed to
be a clue to Dorothea

Allen's true identity.

BRONWEN HANKS: She
told me her name

was Farquharson and several
times she told me that.

And that she was
born in Scotland.

CHRISTOPHER PROUDLOVE: Well
I'd like to know where the name

Farquharson comes from.

I think that this is some
red Herring that's being

put forward fairly early on.

There is no Dorothea
Farquharson that

fits in, either, 10
years either side

of the alleged date of birth.

NARRATOR: Investigators could
find absolutely no record

about a female British citizen
named Farquharson born anywhere

near Dorothea's date of birth.

CHRISTOPHER PROUDLOVE:
My own personal theory

is that Dorothea was a
woman of lowly birth,

that she was a seamstress
or perhaps a barmaid.

If it is true that she did
come from a humble background,

then I think it's
probably something

she would want to keep quiet.

Another theory is that
she and her sister

were born in Berlin at the time
of the problems in Germany.

They got out at the right time.

Dorothea was educated at an
Ursuline convent in Belgium

and found her way to either
this country or America.

CANDY ATHERTON: I think
the true story is that she

met, in the 1920s,
Robert Longwell

Allen in the north of England.

He was married and I
think they fell in love.

He left his wife
and child and set

up home with Dorothea Allen.

They then had to carry
on the charade of being

a married couple,
and as she got older,

she became more convinced that
the infidelity would come out,

and wanted more and
more to protect it.

CHRISTOPHER PROUDLOVE: We think
she was married in America,

we think Connecticut,
but we don't know when.

And we assumed that she
married Robert Allen,

but we're not sure.

There are theories that
Robert and Dorothea

were brother and sister.

That is something
you want to keep

very quiet, because obviously
incest is punishable by law.

NARRATOR: Is it possible with
Dorothea and Robert Allen

were brother and sister?

Rumors from their staff have
indicated that they always

slept apart, yet
the sibling theory

is almost impossible to prove.

Robert's background is nearly
as obscure as Dorothea's.

Who was this mystery couple?

Did they have some dark
secret to cover up,

or were they simply
obsessed with wealth

and possessions, cut off from
their fellow human beings?

[music playing]

NARRATOR: In 1966, Navy medic
Mark Dennis was reported

killed in action in Vietnam.

But when this photograph
appeared four years later,

his family believed
he had survived

and been taken prisoner.

Today there is
compelling evidence

that the body buried in Mark
Dennis's grave may not be his.

Dorothy Eizad, a
Canadian housewife,

has photographs that
have confounded skeptics.

Are they evidence of
life beyond the stars,

or another ingenious deception?

Also we'll bring you an
update on the capture of one

of the FBI'S 10 Most
Wanted criminals.

Thanks to our viewers, a
suspected serial child molester

is now in custody.

Join me next week for another
edition of Unsolved Mysteries.