All language subtitles for Unsolved.Mysteries.S03E18.480p.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-PLAYREADY_track3_[und]

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Butch
Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

These outlaw legends
were immortalized

by the movie starring Paul
Newman and Robert Redford.

According to history, Butch
and Sundance was gunned

down by soldiers in Bolivia.

But some experts now believe
one of the famous bandits

escaped to the United
States and lived

out his life as a prosperous
Seattle businessman.

For nearly seven
years, Cindy James

was a victim of more than
100 separate incidents

of harassment, including five
violent physical attacks.

Police suspected that Cindy
staged the incident herself.

Then in 1989, Cindy was
found dead, her hands

and feet bound behind her back.

On a desolate highway in Texas,
two women and a young boy

had a bizarre encounter
with an unidentified object.

Today, all three are plagued
by mysterious illnesses

whose symptoms began to
appear that very night.

For every mystery,
there is someone

somewhere who knows the truth.

Perhaps that
someone is watching.

Perhaps it's you.

Join me.

[theme music]

REPORTER (ON TV): The
body of the blonde woman

was clothed in brown slacks,
a pink blouse, and shoes.

The 44-year-old--

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
June 8, 1989.

Richmond, a suburb of
Vancouver, British Columbia.

The evening news
carries a report

that has become all too common,
the discovery of a dead body--

in this case, lying in the
yard of an abandoned house.

MAN: The hands were behind her
back, strapped to her feet.

REPORTER: Strapped to her feet?

Tied to her feet
with a rope or a cord.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
The dead woman

was 44-year-old pediatric
nurse Cindy James.

She lived less than
two miles from the spot

where her body was found.

For seven years, Cindy had
been reporting that she was

the victim of more than
100 separate incidents

of harassment, five of them
violent physical attacks.

The police first believed then
disbelieved Cindy's stories.

However, Cindy's parents are
convinced that their daughter

was murdered.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Cindy James graduated

from nursing school in 1966.

Within a few years, she
was named administrator

of a preschool for
children with behavioral

and emotional disorders.

Cindy was married but never
had children of her own.

In July of 1982, Cindy
and her husband separated.

Four months later,
the phone calls began.

[phone rings]

Hello?

Who is this?

TILLIE HACK: She said
it was just a voice.

Sometimes it would
change the sound,

and sometimes it
was just whispering.

Sometimes it was just
nothing, just silence.

As far as we know, she did
not recognize the voice.

Of course, I think we
should add a qualifier there

that she was very,
very reluctant to talk

about this right to the
end, and our feeling

was that she was withholding
something extremely vital.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Cindy reported

the threatening calls
to Vancouver police,

who began an investigation.

Over the next three
months, she said

that the harassment escalated.

At night, she heard prowlers.

Her porch lights were smashed,
her phone lines severed.

Bizarre cut-and-paste
notes began

to appear on her doorstep.

She told me many times that
he wanted to scare her to death.

She said, he doesn't
want to kill me.

He wants to scare me to death.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
On January 27, 1983,

Agnes Woodcock dropped by
Cindy's house for a visit.

Cindy?

AGNES WOODCOCK
(VOICEOVER): I went out

and knocked on the door.

There was no answer.

I assumed she was
having her bath.

She did every night.

And I thought I heard something,
and I wasn't sure what it was.

AGNES: [gasp]

Cindy!

What happened?

AGNES WOODCOCK
(VOICEOVER): I found

her crunched down with a nylon
tied tightly around her neck.

AGNES: Oh, are you all right?

AGNES WOODCOCK:
Cindy said she'd gone

out to the garage to get a box.

And just as she
got to the garage,

she turned, and someone grabbed
her from behind, she said.

And all she saw
was white sneakers.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Cindy
was thoroughly frightened.

She moved to a new house.

Later, she painted
her car and eventually

changed her last name.

The police continued
their investigation

and questioned
Cindy several times.

OZZIE KABAN: She wouldn't
tell them the entire story.

She would be evasive.

She would withhold information,
and she simply would not act

as a normal victim would act.

And I can see where
a police officer

would have a tremendous
amount of problem

in believing her story.

Do you live in the
city of Vancouver?

Yes.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Cindy was asked

to take a lie detector test.

The results were inconclusive.

Both times, the polygraph
indicated that she

was withholding information.

POLYGRAPH OPERATOR:
On January 27, 1983,

were you physically
assaulted outside your home?

Yes.

TILLIE HACK: Cindy told me
that after she was attacked,

the knife was held
at her throat,

and she was told that if you
talk, your sister will be next

and then your mother.

So just keep quiet.
Don't tell anything.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
On January 30, 1984,

Ozzie Kaban, a private
investigator hired by Cindy,

heard strange sounds
coming over a two-way radio

he had given her.

He went straight
to Cindy's house.

OZZIE KABAN (VOICEOVER):
I went around the house,

and the house was locked.

I was able to look into
the house through a window,

and I found Cindy lying there.

101 to base.

Get me the police.

Cindy?

Cindy, can you hear me?

OZZIE KABAN: I
took a look at her,

and I thought she was dead.

There was a note that was
pinned with a paring knife

through her hand.

I went to the
telephone, called 911.

Within about two minutes,
the medical people arrived.

And she revived
briefly, and then

they took her to the hospital.

When I interviewed Cindy,
she told me that she noticed

a man coming through the gate.

The next thing she
remembers is being

hit on the side of the
head with a piece of wood

or something of that nature.

She then remembered being
held down on the floor,

and she remembered a
needle going into her arm.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Neal
Hall of the "Vancouver Sun"

has covered Cindy's
case for two years.

$1 and 1/2 million,
it's been estimated,

police spent investigating
Cindy James' complaints,

more than 100 incidents.

And they could never
find a suspect.

They could never find a--

they could never-- there was
no sighting of a suspect.

There was never a
fingerprint from a suspect.

There was no independent
corroboration.

Cindy saw this person--

or sometimes she said there was
two, sometimes three people--

going on year after
year after year.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
After one attack,

Royal Canadian Mounted
Police tape recorded

their questioning of Cindy.

This is an actual excerpt
from that interview.

There were times I would
talk with her, and I would say,

Cindy, please tell
me what's going on.

And she'd say, I can't, Mother.

I can't.

I'd say, why not?

Because, she says,
I'm afraid for you.

[phone rings]

Hello?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
The threatening phone

calls continued but
were too short to trace.

Why are you doing this to me?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Police began to formulate

a disturbing theory.

Incredibly, they
believed Cindy might

have been staging
the entire harassment

campaign against herself.

They had 24-hour surveillance
on her house for, like, days

on end with up to 14 officers.

But never, when surveillance
was on her house, never

any event would happen.

As soon as surveillance
was taken off,

of course, then she'd get
another incident that happened.

When the police were
watching the house,

we would say to
them, well, you know,

if it's somebody doing
that, sure as heck

he knows you're there.

And of course, nobody will
do anything while you're

sitting there and watching.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
On December 11, 1985,

Cindy was found dazed
and semi-conscious

lying in this ditch six
miles from her home.

She was wearing a man's
work boot and glove

and suffering from hypothermia.

Cuts and abrasions
covered her body.

Once again, a black
nylon stocking had been

tied tightly around her neck.

Once again, Cindy said she had
no memory of what happened.

The police became more and
more convinced that Cindy

was somehow attacking herself.

The police did not investigate
the possibility of homicide,

of somebody murdering her, but
zeroed in on trying to prove

that she committed suicide.

And I'm very angry with the
ineptitude, the bungling

by those who are responsible
to protect our citizens

and to do something
about, first of all,

preventing a death like
this, and secondly,

when it does occur, not
investigating it properly.

[knocking]

Agnes, wake up!

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Several times,

Cindy asked Agnes Woodcock
and her husband, Tom,

to spend the night with her.

On one occasion, Cindy woke
them well after midnight.

AGNES WOODCOCK (VOICEOVER):
Cindy came running to the door

and said, Tom, I heard
a noise downstairs.

And Tom said, I heard it, too.

It was like a loud thump.

Something's burning.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Agnes and Tom

went downstairs with Cindy.

The basement was in flames.

Oh, my god!
Agnes, call 911!

AGNES WOODCOCK: Cindy asked me
to call the fire department.

So I ran to the phone,
and the phone was dead.

So Tom went outside
and called the neighbor

and asked if he would
call the fire department.

And when he went out, there
was a man standing on the curb.

And Tom asked him, and he
ran away down the street.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): The police

suspected once again that
Cindy had staged the incident.

--with further questions.

Thank you.

NEAL HALL: There was
no dust or fingerprints

disturbed on the outside
of the windowsill.

But somebody set the fires
from inside the home,

and we had to climb
through that window.

Now, that should have
been one sign that people

should have realized.

Also, she said she was out
walking her dog late at night

that night.

Now, if somebody was
attacked, why would

they go out alone walking
their dog at 3 o'clock

in the morning?

Does that make sense?

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): Finally,

Cindy's doctor committed her
to a local psychiatric ward.

He fully believed Cindy's
accounts of harassment

but feared she was
becoming suicidal.

ALLAN CONNOLLY: I
think one of the things

that she found
most difficult was

that people didn't believe her.

She was always doubted.

She knew she was
doubted, and that

was what slowly drove
her crazy, the fact

that she wasn't believed.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): 10 weeks

later, Cindy left the hospital.

She finally admitted to
her family and friends

that she had been
withholding information.

OTTO HACK: She told me for the
first time she was convinced

who the perpetrator was,
and in her own words,

if the police can't solve
this, I'll solve it for them.

And she said,
when it's all over,

I'll explain everything to you.

But I can't tell you now.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): On May
25, 1989, six years and seven

months after the first
threatening phone call,

Cindy James disappeared.

That same day, her car was found
in a neighborhood parking lot.

Inside were groceries
and a wrapped gift.

There was blood on the
driver's side door,

and items from Cindy's
wallet were under the car.

Two weeks later,
Cindy's body was

found at the abandoned house.

Cindy James' death had all the
earmarks of a sadistic murder.

Her hands and feet were bound
together behind her back.

A black nylon stocking was
tied tightly around her neck.

Yet an autopsy would reveal that
Cindy had died from an overdose

of morphine and other drugs.

Police believe Cindy had
committed an elaborate suicide.

OZZIE KABAN: There is no
way that she could have

been able, after ingesting
that amount of drugs,

to tie herself up.

There was absolutely
nothing at the crime scene

to indicate that she had
used any form of syringe

or she had used
any drinking device

or anything of that nature.

The morphine wouldn't
have taken effect for, say,

15 minutes, half an hour.

The knot specialist who came
in and recreated the same type

of knots in the way she was tied
up, it took him three minutes.

So basically, if she took
the drugs at the same time,

she would have had
about 15 minutes

in order to tie herself up.

Cindy was the type of person
who was a very proud person.

If she wanted to commit
suicide, she would take her dog,

dress herself up
properly, lay on the bed,

and that's how she
would commit suicide.

Not the way she was found
in that horrible place.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
At the coroner's inquest,

the theory was raised
that Cindy suffered

from multiple
personality disorder

and that one of
her personalities

was trying to destroy the other.

ALLAN CONNOLLY: There was no
indication in all of the time

that I saw her--

and I saw her not just
in conversational states.

I saw her in deep
hypnotic states as well--

there was never any
evidence that there

were other personalities there.

So the psychiatrists that
were speculating about that

were looking for an
explanation for things

that can't be explained.

Then who can argue against
multiple personality disorder?

There was never any evidence
whatsoever in our relations

with our daughter that there
was anything but the personality

that we knew, and we saw
her under many circumstances

many different times.

There's just no question that
she was not mentally ill.

NEAL HALL: So I think
that one of the defense

mechanisms that
people have is denial.

And I think it must be very hard
for them to believe that, you

know, they were taken into--

drawn into this whole thing year
after year after year and that

it was all delusional.

And you can feel sympathy
for the family and friends

and colleagues who
were all close to her

and trying to help
her and protect her.

And, well, they went
through hell themselves.

TILLIE HACK: If we could only
find out what really happened,

I think it would
be easier on us.

Right now, we just wonder.

What happened?

What happened?

I can see her in front of me.

I hear her laughter,
the fun we had.

I-- you know, I still
find it hard to believe

she's not there.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Is it possible

that Cindy James had descended
so far into mental illness

that she could inflict
terrible pain on herself, up to

and including the
point of death?

Cindy's friends and family are
convinced it is not possible.

They believe there is someone
in Vancouver, Canada, who

is getting away with murder.

December 29, 1980.

State Road 1485 on the
outskirts of Houston, Texas.

That sure was a
good dinner we had.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): At
around 9:00 PM, Betty Cash,

Vickie Landrum, and Vickie's
7-year-old grandson,

Colby, were returning
home after dinner.

Mawmaw, what's that light?

What is that light?

I don't know.

It's awful bright, though.

Is that an airplane?

BETTY CASH: We were just
driving along talking,

and all of a sudden we
seen this bright light.

We didn't know
what it was, but we

knew that there was something
that was lighting up the sky.

It seems to be moving closer.

I think you're right, Vickie.

It is.

VICKIE LANDRUM: You could
see it through the trees.

You know, you'd lose it,
and then you'd see it.

You'd lose it and you'd see it.

And we traveled about close to
a mile, I guess, when it was--

started to get real close.

Then I knew wasn't a plane.

Mawmaw, what is that?

I don't know.
I don't know, honey.

It's so bright.

I can hardly see to drive.

BETTY CASH: We had
began to feel the heat.

And all of a sudden, Vickie
screamed for me to stop.

And when I stopped,
she went forward,

and her handprint was embedded
into the dash of the car.

And I thought, well, I've
got to see what this is.

So I walked toward the
front of the automobile,

and I stood there looking
up to try to figure

out what this object was.

It was a diamond-shaped
object, four points.

But the one at the top was
rounded and so were the sides.

Then at the bottom,
flames were shooting out.

The heat was tremendous.

It just felt like I was
burning from the inside out.

Betty, let's get outta here!

BETTY CASH (VOICEOVER):
I was horrified.

I was actually afraid
really to move.

When I reached for
the door handle,

the door handle was
so hot I couldn't

even begin to hold on to it.

I was more than scared.

It's moving away.

The only thing I
was thinking was, are

were gonna get
out of here alive?

[helicopters whirring]

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): Just moments

later, a large
squadron of helicopters

descended on the area.

VICKIE LANDRUM: They were
the large helicopters that

has the double rotors on them.

I counted 22.

And Colby said, there's another
one, and I said, that makes 23.

And they were the
kind of helicopters

that you just don't
see, because I didn't

know what kind they were.

And they, I knew, had
belonged to the Army.

[helicopters whirring]

Betty Cash and Vickie
Landrum had no idea

the events of that
night would plague

them the rest of their lives.

Given the evidence, there seems
little doubt that something

incredible happened to
Betty, Vickie, and Colby,

something that no one
has been able to explain.

For more than 10 years,
they've been embroiled

in both a legal battle with
the United States government

and a desperate fight
against mysterious illnesses

whose symptoms began to
appear just six hours

after the bizarre encounter.

Mawmaw!

Mawmaw!

I need a drink of water!

Mawmaw!

Colby?

Mawmaw, I'm sick.

VICKIE LANDRUM
(VOICEOVER): At 1 o'clock,

Colby woke me up crying, and
he was begging me for water.

Honey, you're burning up.

VICKIE LANDRUM (VOICEOVER):
He had a fever,

and he had vomited
all over the bed.

I need some more water.

VICKIE LANDRUM (VOICEOVER):
And while I was seeing to him,

I got sick.

Finally, though, I got him back
to sleep, and I went to sleep.

And the next morning, I didn't
dream that we had been hurt.

When I got up, him and
me both was yet sick.

[knocking]

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The
next morning, Vickie and Colby

were still suffering from
nausea and what appeared

to be severe cases of sunburn.

Betty?

Betty, it's Vickie.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Concerned, Vickie

went to Betty's house to
check on her well-being.

Betty?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
But Vickie was

shocked by Betty's condition.

Her temperature was
dangerously high,

and large red welts had
appeared on her face and hands.

Water.

Oh, what do you want?

You want some water?

I was so sick.

All I wanted was water.

My head was killing me.

I could not get rid
of the headache.

I had an upset stomach.

Just-- I was just sick,
I mean completely.

Hi, Betty.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Over the next four days,

Betty's condition
grew more serious.

How long has
she been this way?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Vickie finally convinced

her to see a doctor in Houston.

DOCTOR: Has she been burned?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
He immediately admitted

Betty to Parkway Hospital.

Do you know if she's been
out in the sun much, maybe?

No.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): Records

show that three weeks later,
she underwent treatment

for acute radiation poisoning.

What I'd like to do is
admit her to the hospital

and run some more tests.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): During
a six-week hospitalization,

Betty lost more than 50% of
her hair and patches of skin

on her face.

DOCTOR: And I'll have somebody
from admitting come down

and check--

DR. BRIAN MCLELLAND: There was
absolutely no doubt in my mind

that Betty was exposed to
high doses of radiation.

As to what the source
was, I can't exactly say.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Dr. Brian McClelland has been

Betty's physician since 1985.

I don't know.

All I know is that she received
high doses of radiation.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
After her release,

Betty continued to
suffer side effects--

extreme swelling of her face
and arms, painful headaches, and

a dramatic loss of appetite.

Vickie and Colby had
similar symptoms.

However, their conditions
were less severe than Betty's.

JOHN SCHUESSLER:
Betty Cash called

me approximately six weeks after
she got out of the hospital.

Her case was very unusual.

It was intriguing.

It had situations
involved that I hadn't

heard about in the
Texas area before,

so I naturally became involved.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
John Schuessler

is an executive for a major
aeronautics engineering firm

and is a deputy director
of the Mutual UFO Network.

JOHN SCHUESSLER (VOICEOVER):
We had done several interviews

with Betty and Vickie, and then
we went out to the location

where this happened.

They were very, very
clear on where it happened

and how it happened.

Yes, sir.

It came right over those
trees right there, sir.

They were able to tell us
exactly where along the road

that they stopped, because
there were certain markers

that identified the spot.

They were able to point
out exactly what they saw,

the object coming down out
of the sky over the road

and hovering there.

They were able to point
out a spot on the road that

indicated that it
had been heated

to an extreme level of heating.

It was burned, and it was
very clear to the naked eye.

Several weeks after
we went to the spot

and saw this burned
area, someone came along,

dug up the road, and hauled
it away and replaced it

with new asphalt.
Some of the witnesses

that watched this happen
said that people brought

in unmarked trucks,
dug up the road,

put the material on the trucks,
covered it with a tarpaulin,

and drove away.

And what did it do when
it hovered over the trees?

JOHN SCHUESSLER: In addition
to taking Betty and Vickie's

testimony, we went to
every individual living

within five miles of this area.

And at least 10 other
people had seen the object,

and seven or eight other people
had seen the helicopters.

And their descriptions were
all very similar to what

Betty and Vickie described.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): One
eyewitness was Dayton, Texas,

police officer LL Walker.

Walker was in the
area on the night

that Betty and Vickie
encountered the object.

LL WALKER: My wife Marie
and I was returning back

from her mother and
dad's, and as we

was coming out of some tree
lines, I saw a helicopter.

It was shining a
spotlight at the ground.

And then I heard other noise
of other helicopters behind it.

And about that
time, a helicopter

started sideslipping
toward us, with the beam

hitting me in the eyes.

And I stopped the car, because
I didn't know what was going on.

The helicopters were military,
and they was all flying

fairly low to the ground.

And all of them had
search beams on.

I thought maybe there
was an airplane down,

but they didn't hesitate.

They just kept on in the same
direction they was going,

which would probably intersect
the area where Vickie

said that her encounter was.

They was headed in
that general direction.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Convinced that the military was

somehow involved, Betty and
Vickie wrote to Texas senators

John Tower and Lloyd Bentsen.

Sen.

Lloyd Bentsen and Sen.

Tower had sent us the reply back
that Bergstrom Air Force Base

had been notified and that
they had been made well

aware of what had
happened to us,

that they would be more than
glad to help us in any way.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
On August 21, 1981,

Betty, Vickie, and Colby
arrived at Bergstrom.

Expecting to receive
medical help,

they brought overnight bags.

Colby, honey, come on with me.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
As they entered the room,

Vickie noticed a large map.

Betty.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
The exact spot

where the encounter had
occurred was clearly marked.

I understand you're here
about an incident that

occurred on 29 December 1980.
- Yes.

Can you tell us what happened?

Well, sir, we were
coming home from dinner.

And as we were going down this
road, we saw this large object.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
According to Betty and Vickie,

they were questioned
for more than two hours.

The interview was recorded
by a military stenographer.

It was as big
as a water tower,

and it was kind
of diamond shaped.

What did you do
after you spotted--

BETTY CASH: It was a
deposition they were taking

from each one of us, just
general of everything that

had happened to us.

And we were still blistered
and had blisters on us.

And at the time, I was
wearing a wig because my hair

had already gone.

They wanted me to take my wig
off so they could see my head.

About how long a
period of time was this?

10 or 12 minutes.

Then what happened?

Well, as I got
in the car, then

the helicopters
started approaching.

What helicopters?

The military helicopters.

You say military.

Yes, sir.

How do you know
they were military?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
The two interviewers

denied that any military
or government operation was

conducted on December 29, 1980.

Ladies, what would
you like for us to do?

We want help.

We're sick.

What do you want
the Air Force to do?

I feel you're
partly responsible,

and I would like some help.

None of the information
that I have here

indicates that the Air
Force nor the government

is responsible for any of
the claims that you've made.

However, if you'd like--

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): The women

were told that they were
entitled to file a claim

and that the Air Force
would review the case.

Get them to your lawyers,
and get them back to us.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): Four weeks

later, Betty and Vickie's claim
for medical damages was denied.

Come on, Colby.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): In 1982,

Betty and Vickie filed a lawsuit
against the United States

government.

The case was dismissed
by a federal judge

for lack of evidence.

I thought there was no justice
left in the United States

at all.

And to think that we
had a federal judge

that would not even give
us a chance to speak up

or to be heard.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): What
did Betty Cash, Vickie Landrum,

and Colby Landrum see in
the Texas sky on that winter

night over 10 years ago?

JOHN SCHUESSLER: There are
two possible explanations

in this case.

One is it was an experiment
craft of some kind

by probably our government.

The other, it was an
unidentified flying object,

possibly extraterrestrial.

I don't believe in
the little green men.

And it had to be an object--

it could have been
a spacecraft--

that the government
was carrying.

But our government
was carrying it.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Today,
Betty Cash, Vickie Landrum,

and Colby Landrum
continue to battle

illnesses which they
believe a result

of massive radiation exposure.

Betty has been diagnosed
with several types of cancer.

She, Vickie, and Colby all have
far below normal white blood

cell counts.

Their immune systems now
have difficulty fighting

off even minor infections.

The child especially, he's
going to have to make decisions

about having
children, about what

he's going to do with his life.

And how long is
he going to live?

What's going to happen to him?

For Betty, she's just
entering into the risk

period for other cancers
or other problems.

And Vickie is, too.

Vickie's having visual
problems, and there

are lots of suggestions
that that may be

related to radiation as well.

But it depends on
the kind of exposure,

and someone needs to
tell us what the exposure

was so we can figure it out.

If it's a top secret object
that's protecting the United

States, then I could say--

I could forgive them for that.

But at least they owe us to tell
us exactly why we were burned

and what type of radiation
that we were exposed to

and how much.

The United States Air Force
declined our invitation to be

interviewed for this story.

Their official position is
that no military or government

operation occurred near Dayton,
Texas, on December 29, 1980.

Betty Cash and Vickie
Landrum disagree.

They believe that the military
knows exactly what happened

that night and hope
that someone will

come forward with information.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
When we return,

the legend of Wild
West outlaws Butch

Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

Did they really die in a
shootout in South America?

Meet Robert LeRoy Parker
and Harry Alonzo Longabaugh.

In the late 1800s, these two men
became outlaw legends as Butch

Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

Decades later, they
were immortalized

in a movie about
their lives starring

Paul Newman and Robert Redford.

The 1969 fact-based
film chronicles

the adventurous final
days of the famed outlaws.

The movie, like history,
has Butch and Sundance

meeting their demise in a fiery
gun battle in South America.

But some experts
believe that Hollywood

and history may be wrong.

Some say that Jesse James
sang at his own funeral

and fled to South America,
that Billy the Kid was not

gunned down by Pat
Garrett and lived

to the ripe old age of 92.

The folklore of
the American West

is full of stories
of famous outlaws

who somehow outlived
their own deaths.

But in the case of Butch
Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,

there is compelling
evidence that at least one

of the infamous criminals
returned to the United States

and died of natural causes.

Let's do this run.

We're gonna run
over to that feed.

Yes, sir.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Spokane, Washington, 1910.

Two years after Butch and
Sundance were reportedly

gunned down, a mysterious
man named William Thaddeus

Phillips arrived in Spokane.

How's it going, Roy?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Phillips eventually opened

a machine shop which
became a success,

earning him the reputation
as a prominent businessman.

But oddly, William Phillips
was a man without a past.

JAMES DULLENTY: The
first definitive record

of William Phillips
was his marriage

certificate dated May 14, 1908.

There is no other previous
record of William Phillips.

In the 1920s, about
1922, the first reports

began circulating in
the West that Butch

Cassidy had returned.

People began to say that Butch
Cassidy was William Phillips.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
There does indeed

seem to be an eerie resemblance
between William Thaddeus

Phillips and George
"Butch" Cassidy.

But if Phillips was
Cassidy, then how did

the outlaw escape from Bolivia?

[speaking spanish]

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
According to some historians,

the story of Butch and
Sundance's demise in Bolivia

has been attributed to
one man, Percy Seibert.

[speaking spanish]

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): Seibert

had worked with the outlaws
at a tin mine in Bolivia

and had become
friends with them.

He allegedly identified
them as the two

men killed in the shootout.

[speaking spanish]

LARRY POINTER: I believe that
Percy told the story of Butch

Cassidy and the Sundance
Kid's death in Bolivia

to pay back what he felt was a
debt of loyalty and friendship,

to allow these outlaws to
begin a life under amnesty

without a past, to bury
the legend of Butch Cassidy

and the Sundance Kid forever.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Larry Pointer

is convinced that Butch Cassidy
assumed the identity of William

Phillips and that, as
Phillips, he even returned

to the mountains of
Wyoming, the same territory

that Butch Cassidy and his
outlaw gang had once roamed.

JAMES DULLENTY: We know the
man who went with Phillips

to Wyoming in 1933.

This man died recently, but
we have interviewed him.

He was there all
summer with Phillips.

And he met all the old
timers that Phillips met.

And in almost every
case, these old timers

accepted Phillips as Cassidy.

Well, old timers' stories
are always the most interesting

and the least reliable.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): Author Dan

Buck has researched the life
and death of Butch Cassidy.

He is convinced that
William Phillips

was merely an imposter.

DAN BUCK: The William
Phillips story is

chock full of old timer tales.

People would claim they were
good friends with Cassidy

and knew Phillips was Cassidy.

And usually it's when
asked by someone,

when prompted by someone.

Well, you were a good friend of
Butch Cassidy's, weren't you?

And of course,
the answer is yes.

Who wants to say no?

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): In Wyoming,

Phillips arranged to meet a
woman named Mary Boyd Rhodes.

In 1934, Mary and her
16-year-old granddaughter Ione

rode out to Phillips' campsite
in the Wind River Mountains.

IONE MANNING: The man
that my grandmother

met that day was going by
the name of William Phillips.

And she knew him by the
name of LeRoy George Parker,

who is known as Butch Cassidy.

Mary Boyd.

IONE MANNING (VOICEOVER): He
recognized her immediately,

and she recognized him.

Oh, George Parker.

IONE MANNING: I sensed that
they had a relationship that I

had never known much about.

So my grandmother had
finally told me that he

was her childhood sweetheart.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): Three years

after his meeting with Mary
Boyd Rhodes in Wyoming, William

Phillips died of cancer.

But shortly before
his death, Phillips

mailed this ring to Mary.

It was engraved
"George C. and Mary B."

I believe William Phillips
pretended to be Butch Cassidy

because he was having fun.

He traveled out to the West.

He met some people.

He probably got some free beers.

He certainly got a lot
of adventures out of it.

He definitely looked
like Butch Cassidy.

But some people have recently
done some photo comparisons

of the two and established
that they have different heads

and different faces.

Cassidy basically had small
features on a big head

with a lantern jaw.

And Phillips had more normal
features with a more or less

pointed chin, and his head
was basically an inch or more

lower than Butch Cassidy's.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Several other clues, however,

suggest that Butch and Phillips
were one and the same man.

William Phillips wrote
an unpublished manuscript

entitled "A Bandit Invincible:
The Story of Butch Cassidy."

It contained specific details
about Cassidy's outlaw

adventures.

JAMES DULLENTY: Well, there's
material in that manuscript

that no one else knew, that
had never been published.

Either the man who wrote it
had to have intimate knowledge

of Cassidy, or he was Cassidy.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Phillips owned

this six-shot Colt revolver.

Carved into the pistol
grip is a unique brand.

LARRY POINTER: That
brand was the reverse E

box E. To most
people in Spokane,

that would be meaningless.

But to a researcher
from Wyoming,

that was exciting,
because that was Butch

Cassidy's brand in the 1890s.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Another piece

of evidence that seems
to connect the two

men is their handwriting.

"Unsolved Mysteries" contacted
certified graphologist Sheila

Lowe, who has been used
as an expert witness

by the California
judicial court system.

Sheila compared five
handwritten letters,

four penned by Butch
Cassidy, the other

written by William Phillips.

She concluded that
all five letters

are written by the same man.

SHEILA LOWE: I found that
some of the letter forms

were identical.

And especially when I laid one
transparency over the other,

they were--

it was as if they were
written at the same moment,

they were so similar.

I believe that, without
doubt, the man known to Wyoming

residents in the 1890s
as George "Butch" Cassidy

was William T. Phillips who
died in Spokane in 1937.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): Was William

Phillips indeed Butch Cassidy?

If so, then what became
of his famed partner,

the Sundance Kid?

There are some who believe that
he, too, returned to the US

and died of old age.

There is perhaps little
chance that this mystery

will ever be solved.

But one thing is certain.

Butch Cassidy and
the Sundance Kid

were legends destined to live
long past their own deaths,

regardless of when or
where that may have been.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Next,
a woman's heartwarming search

for the brothers and
sister she hasn't

seen in more than 20 years.

Lakewood, Colorado, 1960.

Another day begins
for the Smith family.

Once again,
five-year-old Aleatha

is left alone to care for her
younger brothers and sister.

Wake up, Aleatha.

We're hungry.

Is Mommy and Daddy home?

BOY: No.

We'd wake up in the
morning and be alone.

And Richard and I
would go in and get

Marty and Noreen out of bed.

Richard was 4, Marty was around
3, and Noreen was just about 2.

Sometimes, she'd halfway
fall, but we got her out.

I'd go in the kitchen,
get the bread out

and put it in the toaster,
put peanut butter on it.

And that was breakfast.

Marty, stop
sucking your thumb.

ALEATHA EVERTZ (VOICEOVER): I
remember giving Noreen bottles.

I remember asking Marty
to stop sucking his thumb.

It was empty.

We were afraid.
I know I was.

Aleatha Smith's
parents were married

as teenagers, still
unprepared for the challenges

of raising a family.

Sadly, both were often
absent from the home.

Five-year-old Aleatha assumed
the role of mother, father,

and protector for her
brothers, Richard and Marty,

and her sister, Noreen.

When their parents
separated, the children

were placed in the state's
foster care system. .

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): July 1960.

The Smith children went to
live with foster parents

Frank and Mary Anne Wiley.

For the first time,
they knew the comfort

and security of a stable home.

All right, this is the kids.

Hi, guys.

WOMAN: This is
Noreen and Aleatha.

MARY ANNE WILEY: They
were cure little kids.

Little Noreen, you
know, just a baby.

Marty was mild mannered.

Richard was a little
more of a free spirit.

And Aleatha was
just a sweet girl.

They were nice
little kids to have.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The
Wileys' small farm opened up

a whole new world for the
children, particularly

Aleatha, who got her first
real taste of childhood.

ALEATHA EVERTZ: We
played a lot outdoors.

They had farm animals.

We'd feed them or gather eggs.

Living at the Wileys
was warm and caring.

She took care of the
meals and the clothes,

and that felt good and secure.

Right up there.

- Right up here?
- Mm-hmm.

OK.

[phone rings]

Hello?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): In
December 1962, the dream ended.

Yes?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Aleatha's father

had arranged to take the
children back for Christmas.

Well, I really
don't think this

is a very good time for the
kids to have to go with you.

MARY ANNE WILEY: I told him
that I felt that they should be

able to have their Christmas
wherever they had it planned,

that disrupting
them at that point

was going to be
difficult for them.

And so they did agree to let
us have our Christmas morning

and our Christmas dinner.

And then they would
come after that

and take the children over
there, which they did.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Regrettably, the children

found life with their
father unchanged.

Aleatha was once
again left to care

for her brothers and sister.

[knocking]

But the situation
did not go unnoticed.

Hi, honey.
ALEATHA: Hi.

Uh, is your mommy home?

ALEATHA: No.

How about your daddy?

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): Concerned

neighbors had alerted
the police to the dilemma

of the Smith children.

They were once again
taken from their home

and returned to the
foster care system.

Eventually, the children were
placed with separate families

and lost touch with one another.

Aleatha was shuttled
from foster home

to foster home until, four
years later, she was sent

back to live with the Wileys.

MARY ANNE WILEY: I remember
it like it was yesterday.

I received a phone call
from social services,

and she asked me if I
remembered Aleatha Smith.

And I said, I sure do.

And she said, how would
you like to have her back?

And I said yes.

In a matter of 40 minutes, she
was walking in the front door.

But it took her a
while to loosen up.

And it was-- you know,
I think I expected her

to be all warm and wonderful.

And she had had a
lot of bad times,

and it was going
to take a while.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Aleatha's years

in foster care had
left her a bitter,

temperamental adolescent.

She longed to find
her natural parents

and eventually ran
away from the Wileys.

ALEATHA EVERTZ (VOICEOVER):
I had saved my allowances,

and I got--

I believe it was $21.

My plan was to go to Oklahoma,
Sand Springs, Oklahoma,

to find my parents.

I had an idea that my
grandmother lived there.

With my allowance money,
I bought my ticket

for the bus trip to Oklahoma.

I remember while I was riding
along flashing back on memories

of when I was little.

And that's all I thought
about, was getting there.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): Aleatha

journeyed more than 600 miles
to Sand Springs, Oklahoma.

Alone with nowhere else
to turn, she sought

refuge in a local church.

ALEATHA EVERTZ: I
went to a church

and talked to a minister.

He agreed to take me around,
and we'd drive to try to find

this farm that I remembered.

Do you remember what
the house looked like?

I think it was white or gray.

MINISTER: White or gray.

Anything else?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Aleatha and the minister

spent several hours searching
for her grandmother's farm--

Was it like that one there?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
--to no avail.

It was bigger.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Late that afternoon,

he dropped Aleatha off at
the local police station.

They identified her as a
runaway and returned her

to the foster care
system once again.

It would be years before
Aleatha was reunited

with her natural parents.

She never did find her
brothers, Richard and Marty,

or her sister, Noreen.

It's like reading a good
book and you get a phone call

you have to rush off to work.

You have to put that book down.

Most people know they can
come back to that book.

I've never gone back.

Now, I want to know.

I want to know.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): On
the next "Unsolved Mysteries,"

in 1987, Michael Francke
was hired to reform

the prison system in Oregon.

Two years later, he was
found stabbed to death

just outside his office.

His family believes
he was assassinated.

Chicago, the 1930s.

Eliot Ness, a 26-year-old
Treasury agent,

organized the immortal crime
busting unit the Untouchables

and helped bring down
the empire of Al Capone.

Later, in Cleveland,
Ohio, Eliot Ness finally

encountered the one
criminal he could not

bring to justice, a serial
killer who may have left

behind more than 30 victims.

Join me next time for
this special segment

as we illuminate a
side of Eliot Ness

few people have ever known.

[theme music]