All language subtitles for Unsolved.Mysteries.S11E05.AMZN.WEB-DL.DD+2.0.H.264_track3_[eng]

ANNOUNCER: Tonight on
"Unsolved Mysteries--"

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
A 19-year-old college

student's car becomes
disabled along an interstate.

Minutes later in full
view of other motorists,

the same young
woman finds herself

in a life or death struggle as
she hurtles down the highway.

Authorities need your
help to find her attacker.

When Helen Root was diagnosed
with cancer and Dave Cernan

with hepatitis,
they began searching

for a medical miracle.

They believed they found it
Dr. Caplinger, a physician

with an experimental remedy.

Could the doctor's
treatment save their lives

or would it turn
out to be deadly?

He was a well-loved
teacher, a selfless family

man and a community icon.

In fact, considered him a hero.

Who would have ever thought
that Frank Montenegro would be

charged with child molestation?

A small Idaho town is shaken
by the mysterious disappearance

of a young gay college student.

Wil Hendrick vanished
one January night

and hasn't been
heard from since.

Did he willingly walk
away or is it possible he

was a victim of crime?

Join me for these
stories that have

defied reason and explanation.

Perhaps you could be the
one to solve a mystery.

[theme music playing]

A beautiful spring day
outside Little Rock, Arkansas.

Routine lunch hour
traffic was suddenly

interrupted by an
unfolding drama

that was anything but routine.

A white pickup swerved
erratically as it

barreled down the highway.

Inside, a terrified
female passenger

struggled for her life
with a male driver.

Frantic 911 one calls
poured in, but no one

could come to her rescue.

Horrified witnesses
were powerless to stop

what seemed inevitable.

Guy's going crazy.

She's hanging out.

She's about to
fall out the door.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
The driver sped off

without a moment's hesitation.

19-year-old Carson Prince
was rushed to the hospital

with massive head injuries.

As doctors tried to
stabilize Carson's injuries,

Arkansas State
Police investigators

swung into action.

Identifying and locating the
driver of a white pickup truck

became their number
one priority.

But authorities had
other puzzling questions

related to the shocking
broad daylight attack.

Did Carson know her assailant?

And if not, what was
a well-liked college

student doing in his truck?

Carson Prince grew up
in Maumelle, Arkansas,

a suburb of Little Rock.

She was the oldest of three.

Carson was a neat kid, a very
caring and giving young lady.

But she didn't expect
anything in return.

SUZANNE HIXSON PRINCE:
She was very, very funny.

Carson could always make you
laugh, even if she didn't

feel like laughing inside.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
However, Carson's outlook

changed dramatically
when her parents

divorced when she was 13.

SUZANNE HIXSON
PRINCE: I think Carson

was struggling with who she
was and where she was going.

And she kind of grew up in the
middle of a 16-year divorce.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): After coming

to terms with her
parents' divorce,

Carson went on to earn
a college scholarship

to the University of Arkansas.

Carson was that friend
who everybody adored.

She was the person that was
more excited about your stories

than you were.

She was selfless, she
was more into everybody

else than she was herself.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): During
her sophomore year in college,

Carson left school and moved
back home with her dad.

Then came that ill-fated
spring morning.

TOM PRINCE: As I was heading
out the door to go to work,

I passed by her bedroom.

And she said, would you
get me a glass of water?

You know how a daughter can
pull on your heartstrings.

I got her a glass
of water and came in

and sat down beside her bed.

And she sat up and we
talked about what she

was going to do during the day.

She was going to go
to school and pick up

the forms for registering
in the university

there in Little Rock.

I like that idea.

I'll come home early
tonight and we'll

go out and celebrate then.

OK.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
But Carson and her father

would never have that
celebration dinner.

Carson's mother, who
was a county prosecutor,

was returning from lunch when
she learned the dreadful news

from her boss.

Suzanne, Carson's
been in an accident.

An accident?

She's at the hospital.

Where's Tom?

He's down there.

Donny, we're going to get
Suzanne down to the hospital.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Co-workers immediately rushed

Suzanne to the emergency room.

Tom, where's Carson?

Have you seen her?

She just got out of surgery.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Carson's divorced

parents are brought
together under the direst

of circumstances.

She's out of surgery and
she's in intensive care.

There were some spinal injuries
and swelling of the brain.

If the swelling doesn't
go down, we may lose her.

TOM PRINCE: You could tell
very early only that Carson

wasn't going to pull through.

Her mother and I were there
and it was very peaceful.

We stayed at Carson's
side throughout the day

as she slowly slipped away.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
19-year-old Carson Prince

died at 10:30 that night.

Investigators were already
busy reconstructing the events

leading up to Carson's death.

Carson's Ford Bronco was
found alongside Interstate

430, just half a mile from
where her body was recovered.

[engine cranking]

The car's gas tank was empty.

Strangely, less than 30 minutes
after leaving her house,

Carson seemed to be headed back
home in the opposite direction

of her errands.

A number of witnesses recall
seeing Carson after she pulled

to the shoulder of the highway.

A gas station was
within walking distance,

so Carson's apparent
next move does

not make sense to her parents.

TOM PRINCE: There's
something strange in the fact

that she didn't
leave her vehicle

and walk a quarter of a mile
to the gas station to get gas

or to get help.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Witnesses saw a young man

with a white pickup truck stop
near Carson's disabled vehicle.

He was holding a gas can.

Although investigators
have yet to find

anyone who witnessed it, Carson
somehow got inside the truck.

SUZANNE HIXSON PRINCE: I don't
think Carson would have gotten

into a truck with somebody
she didn't know just

because she was out of gas.

I have a hard time
believing she'd

get in a truck with a stranger.

Either she knew
the person and she

got in the vehicle or
the person forced her

in under threat of her life.

Otherwise, she wouldn't
be in that vehicle.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Motorists reported witnessing

a violent struggle going
on inside the truck's cab

as it sped down the interstate
at nearly 70 miles an hour.

TOM PRINCE: Carson
was being beaten.

Carson was fighting back,
trying to defend herself,

and that somehow the guy reached
across, the door was opened,

and Carson was shoved
out of the door

and trying to hang on while
the truck was speeding

away and hung on as long as
she could and then fell out

and fell to her death.

And the driver continued which
naturally in the highway patrol

guy's mind says, OK,
well, obviously this guy

has left the scene
of an accident

here where someone
is critically injured

so we've got to find him.

This truck was described
to us by the witnesses

as not being a totally white.

It was more of a off-white or
a cream-type white color even.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Unfortunately, to this point,

authorities have been
unable to locate the truck.

Next came an investigation
into all aspects

of the college student's life.

Authorities would learn
that Carson had developed

a stormy relationship with a
young man of dubious character

whom she had met while working
at the local country club.

Hey, Carson.

How are you doing, sweetie?

I have to go back to work.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): Friends

were concerned that Carson
could not seem to break

away from the turbulent affair.

JENI COOPER: The reasons that
she wanted to be with him,

I still don't know.

I don't know what she saw
in him because he just

made her unhappy all the time.

All right.

I've got to go.

All right.

I told her.

I was like, Carson, this
guy is not good for you.

He's not good for you at all.

All he does is make you
cry, he makes you upset.

He's not doing anything
for you at all.

[phone ringing]

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
The young man was also

no stranger to law enforcement.

He was a suspected drug dealer.

Yeah.

Let's do this at about 7:30.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
It's believed

Carson's boyfriend
occasionally used

her car when making deliveries.

I told her that if
she were out with him

and he got arrested, she was
going to get arrested too.

Whatever his fate was,
she would share it.

She didn't seem to be
too worried about that.

Hi, hon.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): Then the day

before her death,
Carson unexpectedly

showed up at her mother's home.

The prediction that had been
made about her boyfriend's

arrest had actually come true.

I didn't give Brian anything.

Yes, you did.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Carson
was upset because she believed

her mother, as a deputy
district attorney,

could have been involved
in her boyfriend's

arrest and prosecution.

No.

Brian got exactly what
he was supposed to get.

No.

And at that
point, I got afraid.

I thought that he was outside.

The Bronco had pulled
into the carport lights

on, engine running.

I thought he might be going to
come to the door and hurt me,

blaming me for a prison
sentence that I didn't

even know anything about.

Carson, I didn't have
anything to do with it.

Yes, you did.

SUZANNE HIXSON PRINCE: And I
told her, y'all need to leave.

It's just a friend.

SUZANNE HIXSON PRINCE: And
that's the last time I saw her.

I find it a very
strange coincidence

that within 12 hours
of her telling me that,

she's on the side of the
road fatally injured.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
So who killed Carson Prince?

While Carson's boyfriend has
been cleared of any involvement

in her death, could
it have had anything

to do with his drug dealing?

Could she have been
fleeing a stalker?

Or had Carson merely run out
of gas at the wrong moment?

SUZANNE HIXSON PRINCE: I
wish I had some answers.

I don't think there will
ever be justice for Carson.

But I think there will be truth,
and I will settle for that.

Helen Root packs her bags
for a trip to Santa Domingo

in the Dominican Republic.

Sounds like you're
in good hands.

Sure does.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): She is not

headed for a tropical
vacation, but is on a mission

she believes can save her life.

HELEN ROOT: I had third
stage colon cancer

and the whole right side
of my colon was removed.

They wanted me to have six
months of chemotherapy.

And I chose not
to have that and I

was looking for an alternative.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): So
Helen Root and her husband,

William, mortgaged their
home for the $40,000 Helen

needed for an
experimental drug therapy.

A friend had told them
about a Dr. Caplinger

in Santo Domingo, who reportedly
had an amazing treatment

for fighting cancer.

Dr. Caplinger's resume was
a long and impressive list

of medical schools,
including Harvard University.

According to his brochure,
the clinic in Santa Domingo

was a world class facility.

There, his remedy, a drug
cocktail called Immustim,

didn't need FDA approval.

Caplinger claimed Immustim
could fight many deadly diseases

including AIDS and hepatitis.

Helen was glad to
arrive in Santo Domingo,

but was taken aback by the
poor condition of the facility.

Right down here is
Dr. Caplinger's office.

HELEN ROOT: I noticed that there
was no patients in the rooms.

It was pretty old fashioned
looking, kind of dumpy,

and not certainly what
I was expecting to see.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Within a few hours,

Helen was relieved to
finally meet the doctor

she'd heard so much about.

NURSE: Mrs. Root.

Mrs. Root, Dr. Caplinger.

Nice to meet you.

HELEN ROOT: He looked
very professional

and very caring and very
concerned about my condition.

And so I thought,
well, finally I'm going

to get some good help here.

It could become malignant.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Although US doctors

had confirmed Helen
to be cancer-free,

Caplinger said his
review of her file

revealed a small tumor that
needed aggressive treatment.

Helen was frightened,
but also confident she

had made the right choice
to travel so far from home.

You're in good hands.

HELEN ROOT: Because of
the degrees that he had,

because of his
background, I thought

I was in excellent hands.

[phone ringing]

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Until the next morning,

when she received a phone call
from her husband, William.

WILLIAM (ON PHONE): Helen,
you can't take the treatment.

HELEN ROOT: 9:00
AM Saturday morning

and it's my husband on the
phone almost hysterical saying,

Helen, you've got to come home.

That man is not a
doctor, he's a crook.

WILLIAM (ON PHONE): We
have to get the money back.

Tell him we had a
family emergency.

WILLIAM ROOT: I said, Helen,
you've got to get out of there.

He's ripping us off.

Say whatever you have to say,
but don't take any treatments.

Get out of there.

Come home as quickly as you can.

I'll try.

What Helen's
husband discovered

is that Gregory Caplinger
is not a doctor,

he is a fugitive
wanted by the FBI.

Caplinger is an alleged con man
accused of scamming millions

from investors and
unsuspecting patients

willing to support his
cure-all drug, Immustim.

The FBI believes
Immustim could contain

a combination of
illegal steroids,

vitamins, and amphetamines.

STEPHEN BARRETT: Caplinger
was a medical impostor.

He had more phony credentials
than any other medical impostor

in history.

LINDA VIZI: Caplinger
is a con man

because he plays on the
people that are dying,

he plays on their families.

He gives them that one last
hope to live, takes their money,

and provides very little care.

STEPHEN BARRETT: He never
went to any medical school.

He got some of his
papers by sending money

to British diploma
mills that simply issued

them when they got his money.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Dr. Barrett has created

an extensive website
dedicated to medical scams.

It is there that a
friend of the Roots

read the disturbing
truth about Dr. Caplinger

and quickly called Williams.

WILLIAM ROOT: When I
heard that he was a fraud,

I feared for her life.

There she is down
here all by herself

and I'm going, how is
she going to handle this?

She doesn't speak Spanish,
she doesn't know anyone

and now her friends
are the enemy.

Dr. Caplinger, Mrs.
Root is here to see you.

HELEN ROOT: I knew that
I had to go to his office

and ask for my money back.

And now I'm not talking
to Dr. Caplinger,

I'm talking to a crook.

What could be more
important than your life?

HELEN ROOT: He said,
there's no emergency

at home that's more important,
Helen, than your health.

I can save your life.

I think you're making
a great mistake.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Helen
insisted, and by the next day

Caplinger agreed to return
$20,000 of the $40,000

payment she had made.

HELEN ROOT: We figured
we would take that

and be happy that we got that.

So we thought $20,000
was better than none.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Three
years after Helen's ordeal,

she remains cancer-free, but
she is one of the lucky ones.

There are dozens of others who
suffered at the deadly hands

of the doctor imposter.

LINDA VIZI: Usually
in many, many cases

they'd never make it out
of the Dominican Republic.

Most of them-- many
of them died there.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Linda and Dave Cernan

also put their faith
in Dr. Caplinger

when it looked like Dave
had no other options.

They had been married three
years when Dave was diagnosed

with hepatitis C.
Two years later,

he needed a liver transplant.

But finding a match
in time wasn't likely,

so they gambled with
Linda's inheritance

and went to Santo Domingo.

Buenos dias.

I'm Mrs. Cernan.

I'm here to check
in my husband, Dave.

LINDA CERNAN: The
money that we had

to come up with was
worth every penny

because Dave wanted to live.

We would have done
anything, which

we did do everything we could.

And by going down there, I felt
like it was an answer from God.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Dave's
treatment began immediately.

LINDA CERNAN: Dave
was hooked up to an IV

for six to eight hours a day.

And on alternating days,
he received vitamins.

The other days was a
clear liquid that we were

told that was the Immustim.

Dr. Caplinger assured us
that Dave's chances of living

were very, very good.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): But
instead of getting better,

Dave's health
deteriorated rapidly.

I'm getting very worried.

Dave isn't eating.

He's too weak to walk or stand.

I don't understand
what's going on.

Well,

With of Immustim,
things actually get

worse before they get better.

LINDA CERNAN: Dr.
Caplinger reassured me

that a lot of times, the
patient will go downhill

before the drug really kicks
in, before the vitamins really

kick in, before the
treatment really

produces extravagant results.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
As the weeks went by,

Linda was shocked by the
unsanitary conditions

of the clinic.

LINDA CERNAN: There
was no water probably

80% of the time there, was
no electricity probably

60% of the time.

There was lizards
crawling on the walls.

There was roaches everywhere.

The conditions of this
world renowned institute

was appalling.

Look, I want to go home.

I want to see John, like now.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Although Dave hadn't been

strong enough to get
out of bed for weeks,

Linda was desperate to get
him home to see his son.

Mrs. Cernan, what
can I do for you?

We're going home,
Dr. Caplinger.

We can't stay here any longer.

LINDA CERNAN: He
was rather upset.

He said that you have to get
the treatment a chance to work,

you have to stay
and stick with this.

- I can still save him.
- No.

LINDA CERNAN: I told him
that there was no way

that there was any
kind of improvement,

it was just deterioration.

We realized we had made
a mistake at this point

and we were going
home and we left.

When we got to Santa
Domingo, Dave was weak

but he was walking,
he was eating.

At the end of six
weeks, my Dave could not

stand, he could not eat, he
could not even talk to me.

He was too weak to
even hold a phone.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): Dave Cernan

passed away just 24 hours after
returning to the United States.

LINDA CERNAN: I very
much believe Dr.

Caplinger killed my husband.

Shortly after completing
production on this story,

"Unsolved Mysteries" was
informed after two years

of evading law
enforcement, Gregory

Caplinger has turned
himself into Dominican

Republic officials.

Outstanding warrants allowed
Caplinger to be immediately

extradited to the US.

Due to an injury, Caplinger was
transported in a wheelchair.

LINDA VIZI: He spent two
days in the care and custody

of the Dominican authorities and
then agents from the Charlotte

Division flew down to
the Dominican Republic,

were there no more than a half
hour, took custody of him,

put him in a plane
and flew him back.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): The FBI

added Caplinger to
their wanted list

after he fled
during a 1999 trial

in Charlotte, North
Carolina, where

he was convicted
of money laundering

in the Immustim scheme.

Caplinger is also facing
indictment in Philadelphia

for 39 counts of wire
fraud related to the travel

and treatment of patients
who went to his clinic

in Santa Domingo.

LINDA VIZI: When you look
at the charges of wire fraud

or you look at the
charges of mail fraud,

they may not seem to reach
that level of why are you

just charging this
man with simple fraud

when in fact, people were dying,
and dying terrible deaths?

But it's a sure fire way of
putting this man in jail.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Linda Cernan, whose husband,

Dave, died soon after receiving
treatments from Caplinger,

will be a key witness at
Caplinger's pending fraud

trial.

Caplinger may not be able
to be tried as a first degree

murderer, but he did murder
these people because he

knew that his drug was a fraud.

In my eyes, he is a murderer.

I'm hoping that when he is
sentenced that he is given

enough time that he can
never get on the streets

again so that there's no way
he can do this horrible thing

to families again.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): By
any measure, he was a hero.

At the age of 24, both of
Frank Montenegro's parents

suddenly died, leaving behind
Frank and five children

under the age of 18.

Frank's response was
both unselfish and noble.

He immediately gave up his
carefree life in San Diego

and moved back to
Hayward, California

to raise his orphan
brothers and sisters.

MANUEL MONTENEGRO:
He basically was

kind of like an angel that
came in there and said,

it's going to be all right.

You'll stay together
and you don't

have to worry about
being in different places

and not being taken care of.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Soon,
the story of Frank's sacrifice

was national news.

Numerous newspapers
and magazines

proclaimed how
Frank's generosity

should be a lesson to us all.

To support his family, Frank
taught special education

at the local elementary school.

Good morning, gentlemen.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): He seemed

to be not only the
perfect teacher, but also

the perfect citizen,
an avid churchgoer,

a devoted family man, and
a compassionate mentor

to troubled kids.

Good morning.

Aren't you a little bit late?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Known affectionately

as Mr. Monte, everyone admired
and trusted Frank Montenegro.

Then a mother of a
boy in Frank's class

says she made an odd discovery.

PATRICIA JACKSON: I
noticed in his clothes

a new pair of underwear.

Billy, whose are these?

PATRICIA JACKSON: And I asked
him, where did you get these?

And he said, my teacher, Mr.
Monte, bought them for me.

I thought that was strange.

Why would a teacher at school
be buying a student underwear?

I couldn't really come up
with a sensible reason,

but I just kind of kept
it in the back of my head.

And a year after this had
happened, my son said--

he goes, I forgot to
tell you something.

And I go, what?

And he goes,
remember my teacher,

Mr. Monte, the one that bought
me those underwear and stuff?

And I said, yeah.

What about him?

He said, well, he raped me.

Honest, kind-hearted,
even heroic.

These were the
words commonly used

to describe Frank Montenegro.

Could somebody
who seemed to care

so much for children
to be harming them

was such an unspeakable way?

Because false
accusations have been

made in past cases of
alleged child abuse,

authorities were faced
with a troubling dilemma.

Was Frank an upstanding
citizen or was he really

a child molester in disguise?

The allegation against
Frank Montenegro

landed on the desk of
Fremont, California police

detective Teresa Martinez.

An officer since the
age of 22, Martinez

became a detective
three years earlier

and now worked on the
Sexual Assault Unit.

TERESA MARTINEZ:
Frank Montenegro

is seen as his huge
icon in the community.

And you can't ruin
his career because one

child says it happened.

And you can't go into
court and convict the guy

for child molest
or sexual assault

when there's nothing
to corroborate it.

Do you know why
you're here today?

Yeah.

So you know about good touch
and you know about bad touch?

Yeah.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): Martinez's

professional experiences
with children

had shown that
they sometimes lie,

so she had to corroborate
the boy's story.

She brought him to
an interview center

for childhood sexual
abuse victims,

where a specialist
questioned the boy.

Teresa watched on closed
circuit television

so as not to frighten the child.

Do you want to show me on the
picture where he touched you?

Here.

COUNSELOR: And what
do you call that spot?

My private parts.

TERESA MARTINEZ: What
came out of the interview

is the victim said that all
the students in his class

had seen what occurred.

When we heard that,
everybody's opinion was,

OK, we know that's not true.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Despite her doubts,

Detective Martinez immediately
interviewed all of the children

in the boy's class.

They all denied seeing anything.

Martinez decided to
re-interview the boy herself.

I talked to the kids
and not one of them

said they saw what happened.

I want you tell me the truth.

Did any of those kids
see what happened?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
The boy admitted

to lying about the other
students seeing the assault.

He said he became scared
during the initial interview

and thought this lie
would stop investigators

from questioning him.

But he insisted that everything
else he had said was true.

Frank Montenegro
had attacked him.

You don't have to
believe me, but he did it.

This kid was so believable.

His demeanor wasn't
one of being untruthful

and he just wasn't lying
and I believed him.

This is Mr.
Montenegro's classroom.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Detective Martinez searched

Frank's classroom,
where the victim

said the attack took place.

As she made her way
to the back, she

found something
you'd never expect

to see at an elementary school.

Through a nondescript door
were two hidden rooms.

Separating them,
a two-way mirror.

TERESA MARTINEZ: There should be
no reason for a two-way mirror

between those two rooms.

I'm thinking, why
would he need that?

And in my mind as an
investigator, I'm thinking,

this guy's probably
filming these acts.

The computer that I
was telling you about.

It's pretty nice, isn't it?

TERESA MARTINEZ: The way the two
rooms are set up in the back,

if Frank wants to do
this with this child,

he can shut those doors
and even if somebody walked

into the classroom,
they wouldn't be

able to see what was going on.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
The following day, Detective

Martinez returned to the rooms.

According to Martinez,
the two-way mirror was now

a regular pane of glass.

Fearing that Frank
might have gotten wind

of the investigation and was
possibly destroying evidence,

Martinez moved into high gear.

A search warrant was immediately
secured for Frank's home.

TERESA MARTINEZ: And when
we searched his room,

we found gifts for smaller
kids and books about sex

with younger kids.

Now we're starting to
get some things that

are going to help to cooperate
the profile of a child

molester.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Frank
was not home during the search,

but a female relative was.

Detective Martinez says the
relative then later disturbing

revelation.

Are you here about the
little boy in Frankie's room?

I don't know anything
about that little boy.

Can you tell me more?

TERESA MARTINEZ: She
told me of an incident

involving another
victim that was

found in Frank's bedroom naked.

I went to the police
about two weeks ago.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
After hearing

about the possible second
incident of molestation,

Detective Martinez asked Frank
to come in for questioning

and he agreed.

Is there any reason why
Billy would say you're

the one that molested him?

I know Billy, he's a liar.

he's always telling stories.

Why would he lie about
something like this?

TERESA MARTINEZ: We talked to
him for close to four hours,

and in that whole time he never
denied that he did anything.

It was always, it
couldn't have been me;

not, no, I didn't do it.

It was more very
passive, very clear to us

that he wasn't being truthful.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
But it was still

word of a little boy
who had initially

lied against that of a
well-respected teacher

and community leader.

And for allegations
of child abuse,

that is often not enough
to get an arrest warrant.

Detective Martinez
needed to corroborate

her victim's testimony.

Fearing that Frank
might run at any moment,

Martinez raced to find
the alleged second victim.

She discovered that a
neighboring police department

did have a complaint
against Frank

involving a boy in his bedroom.

Detective Martinez
immediately picked the boy up

from school for an interview.

So I'm just going to talk to
you about Frank a little bit.

OK?

So why don't we come on
over here to the car.

TERESA MARTINEZ: His
eyes started tearing up

and he looked as if, oh
my gosh, I am caught.

I need to talk.

I knew that something
had happened to that kid.

I want you to be real
truthful about what happened.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Detective Martinez

says the boy finally
told his terrible secret.

TERESA MARTINEZ:
The stories he told

me were probably some of
the most horrific stories I

had ever heard.

And to even picture
in my mind how

this guy did these things
to this little boy,

it made me sick.

Am I in trouble?

TERESA MARTINEZ: No.

You're not in trouble at all.

And it broke my heart to
see this little kid, who's

a great little boy,
think that he was

bad when he wasn't bad at all.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Detective Martinez

now had the
corroboration she needed

to arrest Frank Montenegro.

But it was too late, Montenegro
was already long gone.

Six days after Frank was
interviewed by police,

a car rented in
his name was found

abandoned in La Paz, Mexico.

His whereabouts are
currently unknown,

but police believe he has likely
returned to the United States.

MANUEL MONTENEGRO:
It was hard for me

to believe that he did this.

I still had the
tendency, like everybody

else did, to look up to him.

My heart has to go
out to these children

that this has been done to
because their innocence has

been taken away from them.

I don't think just because he
had a close run-in with the law

that that would motivate him or
scare him to stop his actions.

That obsession is still
with him wherever he goes,

and I hate to think that other
kids are going through what

my son went through.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Moscow, Idaho, population

25,000, is a quiet
college community

in one of the most conservative
states in the country.

The University of Idaho sits in
this picturesque rural setting,

making the town a unique mix
of cowboys and academics.

Little happens out
of the ordinary here,

so when a local university
student suddenly vanished,

Moscow was shocked.

People don't disappear around
here murders don't happen.

I can name them on one
hand in the last 20 years.

We don't expect it, so it
couldn't have happened.

It didn't happen here.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
On an early January morning,

Wil Hendrick mysteriously
vanished without a trace.

Family and friends
are desperate to know

if Wil met with foul
play or just walked away

from his seemingly happy life.

There are a few clues to lead
detectives in their search.

At 25, Wil Hendrick
seemed to have it all.

He was a well-liked senior
in the theater department

and had a good job on campus.

He recently landed a small part
in a Hollywood action film.

Some believe the disappearance
may be connected to the fact

that he was gay.

No one seems to
know what happened

late one night in
Moscow to interfere

with Wil's bright future.

Is the outlet
clear down there?

Yeah.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The
evening began with hard work.

Wil and his partner,
Jerry, who'd

been together for five years,
were remodeling their kitchen.

That's it.
I'm done.

Well, Katie's party's
tonight and we're going.

JERRY SCHUTZ: Wil decided he
wanted to go to Katie's party.

I didn't want to go.

I wanted to go to sleep.

And at about midnight, he
said, OK, I'm going to go

and I'll be home in a few hours.

I'll see you in a few hours.

The last thing I told
Wil was, I love you.

And he said, I love you back.

It was the last weekend before
school started and everyone was

coming back into town
from Christmas break

and it was a perfect
excuse for a party.

Oh, hey, Wil.

Hey, Katie.

How's it going?

Good.

How are you?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
By the time Wil arrived,

two parties were in full swing.

On the third floor were Moscow
locals, mostly former athletes

from the town high school.

Katie's party on the second
floor was for her friends

from the college
theater department.

KATIE PAYNE: Because of the two
different worlds that were kind

of colliding that
night, my concern

was that there could be a
possibility for some sort

of confrontation since Wil has
no problem being open with how

he is and with every opinion.

OK.

I'm a little
worried about Karen.

I don't like that guy.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Throughout the night,

Wil was preoccupied with another
friend, Karen, and the trouble

she was having
was her boyfriend,

a local resident
who was attending

the third floor party.

You're causing a scene.

Good.

I'll cause you a scene.

Hey.

KATIE PAYNE: Wil was very
protective of his friends.

And being as he was drunk, it
enhanced his concern naturally.

But he just wanted to
make sure she was OK.

There were times when if
he'd had a bit to drink,

he'd get belligerent.

If somebody yelled a slur
at him, he'd respond,

he'd take the bait.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): By
about 2:30 in the morning,

Karen had gone home, leaving
Katie to keep Wil from putting

himself in an
unpredictable situation

with Karen's boyfriend and the
partiers on the third floor.

- I'm going upstairs.
- No, you're not.

Yes.
I want to go upstairs.

No, you don't.

KATIE PAYNE: And then I
thought, I want to make

sure that Karen got home OK.

So I called her house, found out
that she was OK and found out

she was asleep, and I walked
back outside onto the porch

and Wil was gone.

Wil?

Wil?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Katie noticed

Wil's car was still
parked out front

and assumed he
had gone upstairs.

By the next morning,
the car was gone.

It was about 11:30, 12:00
when I called Katie's.

And I said, can you wake
Wil up and send him home?

We've got some
stuff to do today.

And she said, well,
he's not here.

He didn't stay here last night.

And I started calling around
to all theater students trying

to find out if he'd
gone to somebody

else's house,
continued drinking,

passed out on their couch.

And nobody had seen him.

He called about 7:30 Sunday
evening and he was concerned.

And I was immediately concerned.

It was winter and my initial
concern was hypothermia.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): When
Wil hadn't shown by Monday

morning, nearly 36 hours after
the party, his friends combed

the city searching for him.

Find anything?

Nothing down here.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): A big break

came when a search
team found Wil's car

parked on a downtown street.

I was just driving
around and saw it.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Jerry examined the car

and was surprised to
find it was unlocked

and that Wil had left
his portfolio inside.

That portfolio carried
all of Wil's artwork--

his drawings, his
makeup sketches.

Everything that was important
to him was in that portfolio.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
And on the dash,

his work keys from
the university.

JERRY SCHUTZ: The keys
that were left there,

they never left his body.

They were clipped to his
belt or they were at home

because if he lost the
keys, then he would

have to re-key the building.

We did go through the
car with a fine tooth comb

with crime lab folks.

There weren't any
blood or any hair

samples that weren't Wil's.

There wasn't anything
in there that

would indicate that
any kind of foul play

occurred, at least in the car.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): Finding

the car had only
raised more questions

about Wil's disappearance.

Some of his friends thought
it possible that Wil

had left voluntarily
to start a new life.

Wil had a lot of
trepidation about school

and I think he
shared that with me

because we had that in common.

Sometimes you just
get overwhelmed.

And his comment was, I'd
like to tour the country.

I'd just like to
take off someday.

I was like, wow, and
not tell anyone--

not even your parents?

What about your commitments?

He said, well, I'd just go.

I think he took the car downtown
and intentionally parked it.

He left his work keys,
he took his wallet.

Maybe he even
hitchhiked out of town.

I spent probably about
a year hoping, praying

that he had walked away
because the alternative was

he was dead.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
But after nearly two years

and still no sign
of Wil, his friends

and family feared the worst.

Katie believes it all
goes back to her apartment

building that January night.

KATIE PAYNE: My hypothesis,
I guess you could say,

is that something happened
and it got out of control

and it probably
didn't mean to happen.

But then whatever happened
got covered up simply

because it became so huge.

I could see that this might
have been a possibility,

that he ran into somebody
that didn't like gays

and they did him in.

DAN WEAVER: We did interview all
of the folks on the top floor

and did not get any
indication from any of them

that they had done anything
other than just talk to Wil.

Subsequent to our initial
contact with them,

those individuals
on the top floor

took a polygraph and all of
them did pass the polygraph.

The gap between
3:30 in the morning

and then finding the car at
11:00 on Monday, it's a hole,

it's a blank hole.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Jerry believes

the car might hold
the most important

clues to Wil's disappearance.

When the police
released the car,

he discovered
disturbing details.

I found out that there was
mud caked on the inside wheel

wells of the car.

So there was no reason for
mud to be caked on the inside

of the wheel wells.

And then the other odd thing
was that somebody had moved

the seat all the way to
its far back position,

indicating to me that
a large person may

have been the last person
to drive Wil's car.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Grasping for answers, Jerry

pursued a theory that
someone they both knew

might have crossed Wil's path
early that January morning.

Two months prior to
Wil's disappearance,

Jerry had fired a van driver who
worked for his shuttle service.

One morning, he
came in from his shift

demanding that the
operations manager go out

and change a headlight.

It's your van.

You own the van, you
fix the headlight.

I don't want to
argue about this.

OK?

JERRY SCHUTZ: He started
yelling, screaming,

and ended it with a
slur at my sexuality.

Faggot!

JERRY SCHUTZ: I terminated
him on the spot.

What did you call me?

Get off the property.

I don't want you hear again.

He subsequently went
to work for a long-haul

trucking outfit.

And on the morning of
Wil's disappearance,

at approximately 4:30,
5:00 in the morning,

he checked out a
refrigerated truck

from the dispatch in Lewiston,
30 miles south of here.

There is a coincidence there in
that the last time Wil was seen

was about the time
this driver would

have been going to Lewiston.

DAN WEAVER: We have had a number
of sightings across the country

that people call us up and
say, hey, we have seen Wil.

We have checked each and
every one of those calls out

and they have not
proven to be Wil.

We have checked out
hundreds of leads,

put in hundreds and hundreds of
hours on this particular case.

And as far as absolute
facts that we can lay down

on a piece of paper to show
what may have happened,

we are no closer than
we were on day one.

I don't know that it's
important to find him

because if he's dead,
and I believe that he is,

I know where he's at.

But I think having
a body can relate

definitely put some closure.

Join me next time for
more intriguing true tales

on "Unsolved Mysteries."

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