All language subtitles for Unsolved.Mysteries.S06E01.480p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DD 2.0.x264-AJP69_track3_[eng]

ANNOUNCER: 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.

Tonight, on the
season premiere

of "Unsolved Mysteries."

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Under hypnosis, Bruce Kelly

was overwhelmed by vivid images
of American sailor's death

during World War II.

Later, he was amazed to
learn that his vision

of a sinking of a
submarine actually

took place 50 years earlier.

How could Bruce Kelly
relive inaccurate detail

events that took place
before he was even born?

After a killer tornado rips
through Woodward, Oklahoma,

the town's residents
flee to a local hospital.

The scene is chaos and
one of the survivors,

a young girl named
Joan Gay Croft,

is carried off by two strangers.

More than 40 years later,
she is still missing.

Pedro Santiago, Jr. was his
family's pride and joy--

popular, athletic,
a good student.

Then on December 12,
1990, Pedro was struck

by a car in front of his house.

The driver callously fled the
scene, leaving Pedro to die.

Join me for our
dramatic season premiere.

Perhaps you may be able
to help solve a mystery.

[theme music]

What are you afraid of--

the dark, flying, heights?

Many of us harbor at least
one secret irrational fear,

a phobia.

Sometimes when the
phobia is serious enough

to disrupt normal functioning,
we will do almost anything

to regain control of our lives.

For a man named Bruce Kelly,
the attempt to cure his phobias

took him to places he
could never have imagined.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): Bruce Kelly

grew up in Glendora,
California, a small town

just outside Los Angeles.

Bruce was a natural
athlete who went to college

on a full baseball scholarship.

Bruce eventually
became a sales manager

for a medical supply firm.

He married, divorced,
and as a single parent

raised his only daughter.

Through it all, Bruce
had been plagued

by overpowering phobias--

a fear of flying and enclosed
spaces which he believed

hampered his career and
a fear of water which

was just plain bothersome.

Anytime that I got
around a swimming pool,

I would be afraid to even go
close to the edge of the pool.

I would just walk way around it.

It even was to the
point bad enough where

I couldn't sit in a bathtub.

I didn't like the feeling of
the water coming up around me.

I'm going to count
from three down to one.

When I get to the number one,
you're going to be deep--

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Over the years,

Bruce had sought help
from several different

medical professionals.

Nothing worked.

Finally in desperation, he went
to Rick Brown, a hypnotherapist

who specializes in an unusual
and controversial technique

known as past life regression.

--this morning.

On the number three,
you're going there now.

On the next number, two,
you become a part of it.

On one, you're there.

When I was seeing what I
was seeing and I said to him,

this can't be real, his
direction at the time

was, just go with it.

Probably 99% of the
people who come to me

do not go into past lives.

Probably only 1% of the people
have spontaneous regressions

when working with
phobias, and Bruce

did have a spontaneous
regression to a past life.

RICK BROWN: Where are you?

I'm in a submarine.

RICK BROWN: What's happening?

BRUCE KELLY: I'm drowning.

Bruce was writhing
in that chair.

He was actually moving
around and going

through the death scene.

Tell me your name.

Johnston.

RICK BROWN: What
is your full name?

James Edward Johnston.

James Edward Johnston--

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
The hypnosis session

had taken an intriguing turn.

Bruce Kelly had
apparently been thrust

into the life of an
American sailor named

James Edward Johnston,
recalling specific detail that

seemed astonishing.

RICK BROWN: What's going on?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Bruce said that Johnston

had drowned in a
submarine, the "USS Shark,"

during World War II.

Bruce also said the "Shark"
had gone down near Borneo, just

off an island called Celebes.

RICK BROWN: Are you
alone in this hallway?

BRUCE KELLY: No.

There's another
man in the hallway.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Bruce even came up

with the name of a man trapped
with Johnston in the submarine,

Walter Pilgrim.

Everything goes blank
and there's the sense

that something's really wrong.

There's water coming in.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Bruce told Rick Brown

that Johnson and Pilgrim
had both died at precisely

11:34 PM, February 11, 1942.

BRUCE KELLY: Are
there any survivors?

No.

The memories were just
like it was something

that happened yesterday.

They were very close
to the surface.

They came up real easily.

At first, it was like I
was just making it up,

like this really
can't be happening,

this really can't be real.

I have to be making this up.

And I went to the library,
more to prove that it didn't

happen than it did happen.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
The next day,

armed with the names of
two sailors, a submarine,

and a date, Bruce began a crash
course in World War II history.

[explosion]

Bruce learned that
during the war,

52 American submarines
carrying nearly 3,500 sailors

were lost at sea.

21 went down in battle,
10 in accidents.

21 more simply
seemed to disappear.

No one knew exactly what
had happened to them.

Incredibly, Bruce found that
the very first American sub lost

in the war was a "USS
Shark," the submarine Bruce

had named under hypnosis.

Bruce was also astounded that
the "Shark" had disappeared

near an island called Celebes.

Once again, Bruce's
memories proved accurate.

BRUCE KELLY: They also
had a crew roster there

and on the crew
roster was James E.

Johnston, which was
the name that I had

come up with under hypnosis.

And it also gave
the approximate date

of loss, which was
February 11, 1942,

which was also the
date that I had

come up with under hypnosis.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Bruce was further amazed when

on the crew list, he found the
second name he had remembered,

Walter Pilgrim, chief
electrician's mate.

BRUCE KELLY: Hairs were
standing on the back of my neck

when I saw it.

It was like, oh,
god, this is real.

I was in total disbelief
and total shock.

And there was also
element of excitement

that maybe there is
something to this.

Is your mother married?

No.

Is your mother living?

No.

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

Bruce Kelly saw Rick Brown
on average once a week.

With each session,
more details emerged,

details that appeared
to come from the life

of James Edward Johnston.

I'm going to go now to
your mother's death.

Is that acceptable?

Yes.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
In time, Rick Brown

began to talk to Bruce
Kelly as if Bruce, in fact,

were on James Edward Johnston.

You're there now.

Are you at home or
in the hospital?

BRUCE KELLY: It's in a home.

RICK BROWN: Are there
many people there?

BRUCE KELLY: Yes.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Bruce saw himself as Johnston

around age 12, keeping
watch at the moment

of his mother's death.

A young cousin named
Elizabeth stood with him.

Other memories were far
less dramatic, even mundane.

Bruce vividly recalled
that as Johnston, he always

made it a point to
eat the end pieces

from every loaf of bread.

In another session, Bruce
remembered that Johnston

was born in February of 1921.

As a young man during
the Great Depression,

he was enrolled in a
government work program

called the CCC, Civilian
Conservation Corps.

The year was 1938,
the place California.

Bruce remembered a young girl
there named Molly Lassiter,

James Johnston's first love.

I'd like to move forward to
a time when you're with Molly.

Is that acceptable?

Yes.

Moving very quickly now--

three, to a time when
you're with Molly;

two, here there now; one.

Where are you?

BRUCE KELLY (VOICEOVER):
We're on the bridge.

RICK BROWN (VOICEOVER): What
are you doing on the bridge?

BRUCE KELLY (VOICEOVER):
We're talking.

RICK BROWN (VOICEOVER):
What are you talking about?

BRUCE KELLY (VOICEOVER): I'm
asking her to run away with me.

RICK BROWN (VOICEOVER):
Is she afraid?

BRUCE KELLY (VOICEOVER): Yes.

RICK BROWN (VOICEOVER):
What is you afraid of?

BRUCE KELLY
(VOICEOVER): Her father.

RICK BROWN (VOICEOVER): What is
she afraid of her father about,

why is she afraid of him?

BRUCE KELLY (VOICEOVER):
Probably afraid for me.

RICK BROWN (VOICEOVER):
And what is she

afraid that will happen to you?

BRUCE KELLY (VOICEOVER): That he
might harm me or even kill me.

RICK BROWN (VOICEOVER): Do
you ever see Molly again?

BRUCE KELLY (VOICEOVER): No.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Bruce Kelly and Rick Brown

began to research
Johnston's life,

and Bruce's memories checked
out with remarkable accuracy.

Johnston had been in the
CCC in 1938 and 1939,

stationed at Tuli Lake near
the California-Oregon border.

In 1940, he enlisted in the
Navy and served on board

the "USS Shark."

CCC and Naval
records listed James

Edward Johnston's hometown
as Jacksonville, Alabama.

The date on Johnson's
birth certificate

confirmed another crucial fact.

The month and year Bruce Kelly
had remembered under hypnosis

were correct, February 1921.

Bruce came up with
a significant amount

of information that was well
past being coincidental.

There were too many
lines of evidence

that pointed to
the fact that Bruce

Kelly is the reincarnation
of James Edward Johnston.

I could be the
reincarnation of James,

or it just may be some
information that somehow

or another that
I've tapped into.

And it means it's something
else that's happening.

I don't know.

Although Bruce's
phobias were cured,

his life had taken on a new
and unexpected dimension.

There seemed to be a
mysterious synchronicity

between Bruce Kelly and
James Edward Johnston.

Bruce's hypnotherapist,
Rick Brown,

made two trips to Johnston's
hometown, verifying facts,

before he finally persuaded
Bruce to go there with him.

Bruce's first visit was
filmed as it happened,

which you are about to see.

It is not a recreation.

On April 17, 1993, Rick
Brown and Bruce Kelley

arrived in the town
where James Edward

Johnston was born and raised,
Jacksonville, Alabama.

At the house where Johnston
and his mother had lived,

Bruce Kelly experienced
a sudden strong reaction.

Again, these events were
filmed as they happened.

There's a lot of stuff here.

The back bedroom's
right over here.

- You feel that?
- Yeah.

That's the bedroom.

That's the [inaudible].

We've been a lot
of places, but--

[inaudible]

It sure is.

So I remember I used
to come in the back.

There was like an
alley back here

or a dirt road or something.

It's almost like he
wasn't good enough

to come in the front door.

BRUCE KELLY (VOICEOVER):
Moving to the side of the house

when I could actually
see the bedroom

and I knew that was the bedroom,
that's when the feelings really

started hitting.

Remembering that he used to have
to come in on the back street

and come through the back
door, the back porch.

I remembered that.

I remembered the feelings
of kind of feeling

like a second class citizen.

They were poor,
she was unmarried.

I couldn't vocalize it myself
and somebody off camera

said something to the
effect of you've come home.

And that's when I got really
emotional because that's

exactly what it was.

Hi.

BETTY WATSON: So you
made it back down

to this part of the country?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Afterwards, Bruce Kelly

went to meet several
people who remembered

James Edward Johnston as a boy.

One of them probably knew
Johnston better than anyone

else, his cousin Betty.

We've heard all about you.

How are you?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Betty's real name is Elizabeth,

and Bruce believes she is
the same Elizabeth he saw

under hypnosis, the little
girl who was with James Edward

Johnston when his mother died.

Betty remembers
her aunt's death,

but not the specifics
of the scene.

However, when she met Bruce,
other memories of her cousin,

whom she called
Edward, flooded back.

Betty began to
press for details.

Do you remember
anything about bread?

Yeah.

One of the first sessions
that Rick and I had,

I talked to him about always
liking the heel of the bread,

wanting to get the
end of the bread.

Because the only that meant
anything to me was growing up,

I was the same way.

My mom would bring
home a loaf of bread

and the first thing I'd
do is open that thing up

and grab the heel out of there.

Did you open both ends?

Sometimes.

Edward did.

And I'd get in trouble
for it, sometimes, too.

Oh, really?

Yes, I did.

You went to that house,
the second on the left?

Yeah.

Did you have--

what where your feelings there?

Well, that's been the
emotional high of the trip.

It was real difficult,
real emotional.

Do you feel that you
are Edward reincarnated?

You don't really feel that?

I don't know.

I don't know.

I've been asked that
question so many times.

And all I know is for
some reason or another,

I have all this
information about him.

I don't know where
it comes from.

For me for me to stand here--

I really don't
know to believe.

I have doubts, but there
are just certain things.

Bruce said that Edward used the
back door, and this is true.

And not everyone would
have that knowledge.

The older you
get, the more you're

going to look at something
like reincarnation or anything

that offers an answer.

And reincarnation,
regardless of what

this religion or that religion
or anything else thinks of it,

it offers a solution.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): At
the Jacksonville cemetery,

a memorial stone has
been erected in honor

of James Edward Johnston.

No one knows exactly how or when
Johnston died, except perhaps--

just perhaps-- Bruce Kelly.

BRUCE KELLY: I was in my bunk
when the attack happened.

[alarm sounding]

Everybody was heading
toward their stations.

I had gotten into
the first hallway

when there was a depth charge.

The submarine was
rolling and moving.

James got to his feet and he had
gotten five, 10 feet more down

the hallway when there
was a second depth charge

and it was obviously
a direct hit.

The next memory I
have is the area

that I'm in filling up with
water and filling up real fast.

Pilgrim!

Pilgrim, is that you?

BRUCE KELLY: There was
another man in the hallway

and he was experiencing the
same thing I was, knocked

off his feet a couple of times
and now trapped in this hallway

that was filling up with water.

The last real image
that I had was

the other man in the corridor.

I wasn't alone in this corridor.

There's somebody
else here and they're

going to the same thing I am.

We are dying.

I'm probably not
as afraid of death

as most people in
the United States are

or Western civilization are.

Death isn't something that
I think about every day.

And I just try to live
every day and enjoy

every day the best that I can.

And when death comes, it comes.

I think that there
is something beyond

and I don't think it's
a final situation.

I don't think it's the end of--

there's more.

Although we know
it seems far-fetched,

there may actually
be one person who

can verify Bruce Kelly's
extraordinary experience.

Her name, if she exists,
is Molly Lassiter.

She would have lived near
the California-Oregon border

in 1938 and would today
be around 70 years old.

If Molly is out there,
perhaps the mystery

of Bruce Kelly and
James Edward Johnston

will at last be solved.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Next,
thanks to you, our viewers,

a fugitive cult
leader accused of rape

has finally been tracked down.

This is Julie Cooper of
Kansas City, Missouri.

With her is Tim Santi,
the man who rescued Julie

from a childhood that she
says was nothing short

of a living nightmare.

When Julie Cooper was
just six, her parents

joined a religious
cult in Missouri

called the DeCloud Family.

The leader of the sect was a
charismatic ex-police officer

named Nelson DeCloud.

Nelson thought that
he was God's son--

not really that he
was Jesus Christ,

but that he was
one of God's sons

and that he couldn't
do any wrong.

OK.

Now, I want you to stay out
here for a little while.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): Julie says

that by the time she
was 10, DeCloud was

demanding to have sex with her.

--what God wants you to do.

You understand me?

Yes.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
According to Julie,

she initially refused but
eventually the pressure became

so great that she gave in.

And he says, well,
are you ready now?

Of course, after all that had
happened, I just said, yes.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Julie
claims that over the next 12

years, she was subjected
to constant humiliation

and emotional
torture by DeCloud,

forced to serve as his
unwilling sex partner.

Finally in September
of 1992, Julie Cooper

made her escape,
aided by Tim Santi,

an electronics repairman.

They had met when Tim visited
the compound to work on De

Cloud DeCloud's satellite dish.

Last Thursday I
called my friend, Tim.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
At Tim's urging,

Julie went to the police.

They immediately issued a
warrant for DeCloud's arrest.

But before he could
be apprehended,

DeCloud and his
followers disappeared.

I want Nelson to get caught
because it's not fair to anyone

else that's up there.

My mom and dad,
they need to know

that he isn't the Messiah--

he's a criminal.

What he was doing was wrong.

After our broadcast, several
viewers from San Angelo,

Texas, a small town 500 miles
from DeCloud's old headquarters

in Missouri, called
to say they had seen

DeCloud's wife in the area.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
The cult had apparently

settled in this farmhouse.

When state and local agents
converged on the scene,

DeCloud kicked out the
screen of the upstairs window

in an attempt to escape.

And the deputies approached
him and he tried to wrestle

with a few of them briefly.

There were so many law
enforcement officers, thought,

that didn't last very long.

They put the handcuffs on
him and escorted him out

of the building.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Nelson DeCloud

was booked at the
local county jail

and later extradited
to Liberty, Missouri,

to stand trial on four
criminal counts, including

forcible rape and sodomy.

Since the arrest
of Nelson DeCloud,

other former
members of the group

have come forward
wanting to testify

about things they witnessed when
they were members of the group.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Nelson DeCloud

is currently out on bail, thanks
to $25,000 raised by followers.

A trial is scheduled
for November 16th, 1993.

If convicted on all charges,
Nelson DeCloud could spend

the rest of his life in prison.

I feel confident
now that I can

have a normal life
after seeing him caught,

knowing that it can be done.

For Julie Cooper her
long ordeal is almost,

but not quite over she still
has to testify to clouds

upcoming trial.

However, this courageous
young woman has already found

a happy ending to her story.

Last summer, Julie became
engaged to Tim Santi,

the man who helped her escape.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Next, perhaps you

can help find a hit
and run driver whose

victim was an 11-year-old boy.

Chicago's skyline
rises majestically

above the southwest
tip of Lake Michigan,

yet the city's
character is defined

largely by the diverse
communities which

fan out from the shoreline.

The Logan Square
section of Chicago

is was a close-knit
middle class neighborhood.

Pedro Santiago,
Jr. was born here

and knew Logan Square
like the back of his hand.

It was a place where
he always felt safe.

Pedro, a fifth grader, was
popular with his peers, a good

student and a talented athlete.

By the time he was 11
years old, he had already

earned a black belt in karate.

Hi, Mom.

Just calling to let
you know that I'm home.

Good.

How did school go today?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
On December 12th, 1990,

Pedro came straight
home from school

and called his mother at work
to fill her in on his plans

for the afternoon.

When I'm done
with my homework,

can I go over to Eric's and
show him the ball blaster?

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): Pedro left

his house just after 3:00 PM.

At that exact moment, two
neighborhood teenagers

were walking back from
the corner market.

[tires squealing]

Well, I'd never seen anything
like that happen so I couldn't

believe that it happened.

I started walking
towards the car

and I seen that it was real.

I started running
towards the car.

The driver, he got
out of his car.

He started cursing, he
started hitting his car.

I guess he was upset with
himself for doing it.

Pedro was trying to talk,
but my friend was telling

him not to waste his energy.

I'm going to
call an ambulance.

Don't let him leave.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): Seconds

later, the man jumped into his
black Oldsmobile and took off.

EYEWITNESS: When I was
on the phone talking

to the man from
the fire station,

I seen him pass right by me.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
12 minutes later,

Pedro was on his way
to the emergency room.

The hospital chaplain called
Pedro's mother immediately.

When I answered
the phone and I

heard the voice on the other
end, I kind of got shocked.

I said, what happened?

And then this other person
talked to me and said,

it's an emergency.

Your son is in the hospital.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Pedro
was unconscious and suffering

from massive head injuries.

His parents had only
a few precious seconds

to comfort him before he was
taken into the operating room.

When we got to surgery room,
they said you can kiss him now.

OK.
You can touch him.

Lean forward.

We don't have a lot of time.

EDITH SANTIAGO: And
then we gave him a kiss.

OK.

That's all the time we've got.

And then they took him in.

They said surgery
would be about an hour

and a half or two hours.

We went in the waiting room and
we kept on waiting and waiting.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): Pedro hung

on for 10 agonizing days, but
he never regained consciousness.

He was buried the day
after Christmas in 1990.

With Pedro's death, the hit
and run incident escalated

to a case of manslaughter.

Police had put out an all points
bulletin for the car's owner,

a Cuban immigrant known on
the streets as Cachimba.

When police efforts to
find Cachimba failed,

Pedro's father began to
nose around on his own.

I went to a lot of bars,
a lot of places in Chicago

and I asked everybody,
did you know Cachimba?

They said, yeah,
but he left Chicago.

He's not here anymore.

And I kept asking
everybody until one

day I went to this restaurant.

I asked the man--

[speaking spanish]

He left town a long time ago.

Cuando?

The last time I saw
him was around Christmas.

He wanted me to
lend him some money

so he could move to Nueva York.

Did he say why he was moving?

I think he was in some
trouble with the police.

He had to get out of
town so I gave him $100.

He told me he maybe is
in New York now or Florida.

He gave me a lot of places
where the man could be.

So I gave the police
all those places.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Nearly two years have

passed with no further leads.

For the Santiagos, nothing
will ever be the same.

To me, it's like it
happened just the other day.

It's very hard to let go.

I try and just--

the happy times that
we spent with Pedro

and I see his smiling face and--

we just miss him a lot.

I know I won't
get my son back,

but I would like to see him
get caught and be locked up.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Cachimba's real name

is Geraldo Gonzalez.

He has not been
charged with any crime.

However, police would
like to question him.

Cachimba is Cuban, stands
five feet, eight inches tall,

and weighs around 160 pounds.

He may be living in New York,
Florida, Michigan, or Illinois.

When we return, a
four-year-old girl

survives a devastating
tornado and then

mysteriously disappears.

The Woodward, Oklahoma
of 50 years ago

belonged to a
simpler, quieter age.

On April 9th, 1947, two events
were the talk of the town.

A popular Ingrid
Bergman film had finally

arrived at the town's
only movie theater.

More importantly, a
telephone operator strike

had left Woodward's
5,500 residents virtually

cut off from the outside world.

Had the phones been
working that day,

Woodward might have gotten
news of an impending disaster,

a monstrous tornado that
churned its way across Texas

and was headed
directly towards them.

As darkness fell, the giant
twister slammed into the town,

reducing it to rubble.

More than 1,000 people
were injured, more than 100

killed, all in a
matter of minutes.

Nearly half a century has
passed since the disaster,

but incredibly,
one survivor still

remains unaccounted for today.

Joan Gay Croft was
only four years

old when she
mysteriously disappeared

during the chaotic
aftermath of the tornado.

Although Joan Gay was last
seen more than 46 years ago,

some members of her family are
convinced she is still alive.

Perhaps with your help,
she will be found tonight.

Perhaps she will
even be watching.

Joan Gay Croft grew up
in one of Woodward's most

prominent families.

God is great, God is good,
let us thank him for our food.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Her father, Olin,

was a successful sheep rancher.

He was able to provide
a comfortable life

for the family--

his wife, Cleta, her
12-year-old daughter

from a previous
marriage, and of course,

four-year-old Joan Gay,
who is remembered fondly

by her great Aunt Ruth Bohn.

She's the most prettiest
little girl I ever seen.

She was just perfect.

Her little teeth
was white as pearls.

And she was real bashful.

When someone would
come in, she'd

get a hold of her
mother's dress tail

and kind of hide
around behind her.

She was a mama's girl.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): April 9th,

1947 had dawned ominously, with
the sky tinted a reddish cast.

That afternoon, Ruth
Bohn was visiting

her sister when the day suddenly
grew dark and threatening.

Do you feel that?

RUTH BOHN (VOICEOVER):
So I looked up

and it was just so still
that it was really odd.

It's been windy all day
and it's really calm out.

The sky's an odd color.

RUTH BOHN (VOICEOVER):
There wasn't no noise anyhow

and the birds wasn't saying.

It was just quiet.

Time we got home,
that thing had hit.

We'd hear boards and
tin stuff in the house

and I just knew that we'd
never had nothing like this.

When the tornado hit, I
stepped out on the front porch

and I saw this car
coming down the street

with all four wheels
looked up and the wind

was pushing it down the street.

I knew we were in trouble then.

Wind began to blow.

It became quite fierce
and we huddled back

in the corner of the room to
watch the windows blow out

and the electric light lines
bounce down the street.

It was just a horrible,
horrible experience.

I was very scared.

It lasted four to five minutes,
which seemed like an eternity.

We were very lucky.

We had broken
windows, minor damage.

And then mother and I went
to search for our relatives.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Marvella and her mother,

Ruth, joined the
survivors streaming

to the town's only hospital.

Ruth had been unable to
find her mother or brother,

nor had she heard from
Olin Croft and his family.

Marvella, over here.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
An eerie calm had settled

over an unforgettable scene.

Mama, where are you?

MARVELLA PARKS: We
stepped over bodies.

Some of them had their skull
all cut off and some of them

had their throats cut.

Some of them was dead.

It was just like wartime
if they dropped a bomb.

That's just about
what it looked like.

It was just terrible.

There's Betty Irwin.

Betty?

Betty, have you seen my mama?

Have you seen my family?

No.

I haven't seen your
mama, hon, but Joan Gay

and Jerry are in the basement.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Ruth
learned that her nieces had

made it through the tornado.

Their father, Olin,
was seriously injured.

Tragically, their
mother, Cleta, was dead.

I thought, oh, no.

Lord, it can't be this.

It just can't be
this, that's all.

She was a perfect
mother to those kids

and the kids who loved her.

And that was hard.
It was hard.

It was real hard.

Joan Gay, Jerry?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Ruth
picked her way through the dead

and wounded in the
hospital basement

until she finally
found her nieces.

Joan Gay's leg had
been pierced clear

through with a finger-sized
splinter of wood.

Her sister was bruised
from the flying debris.

RUTH BOHN (VOICEOVER): Well, I
thought, God saved them both.

They're going to be all right
because neither one of them

was hurt very bad.

You just think of it as
a big ol' splinter, OK?

I want my mommy and my daddy.

I know where your daddy is.

I'm going to see if
I can find your mama.

The poor kids, I got
to tell them mama's gone.

And that was just heartbreaking.

So I didn't let on like I even
knew because that wouldn't

help those girls at all.

They would have just
went hysterical.

I'm sure they would have.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): Relieved

that her nieces were safe,
Ruth hurried back outside.

There, she finally found
her mother and brother.

Mama.

Carl, is she going
to be all right?

No, Ruth.
She's bad.

We've got to get her
to Moreland Hospital.

Mama, can you stand?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): When
she got to the other hospital,

Ruth was pressed
into service helping

the overburdened
doctors and nurses.

The next morning, she finally
returned to her nieces.

Aunt Ruth.

Where's Joan Gay?

Some men took her.

Some men took her?

Did you know them?

No.

Betty?

Betty?

What is it, Ruth?

Where's Joan Gay?

Well, two men came
by last night and--

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): The two men

had claimed they were
taking the little girl

to a hospital in Oklahoma
City, some 120 miles distant.

But calls to all the
hospitals in that area

turned up absolutely no
trace of Joan Gay Croft.

Less than a week
after the tornado,

Ruth received the phone
call she had been dreading,

a call from the local mortician.

When the bodies were laid
out in the chapel area,

their relatives would
come in and look at them.

Well, when you finally got
down, we had two left over

that nobody had identified.

Franklin?

Franklin?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
One of the unclaimed bodies

was a young blonde-haired girl
who bore a striking resemblance

to Joan Gay Croft.

The mortician asked Ruth to
bring some of her niece's close

to the mortuary.

Ruth, these are too big.

It's not your niece.

I pray to God you're
right, Franklin.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Ruth insisted

on viewing the little
girl just to be

sure she was not Joan Gay.

I was really relieved it
wasn't our little Joan Gay.

I just-- that was one burden
of my heart right there.

You will find her, Ruth.

I hope so.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): With
Joan Gay still unaccounted for,

her family launched
an all-out search.

They listed her missing with
all of the law enforcement,

FBI.

They went to all
extremes to look for her.

And there was never,
ever a trace of her.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
After nearly 50 years,

the identity of the two men
who carried off Joan Gay

is a source of
lingering speculation.

According to Ruth, they asked
the nurse very specifically

for the Croft children.

Had the men known the family?

Were they even the
rescue workers?

And where did they
take Joan Gay?

Whatever the answers, many
of Joan Gay's relatives

believe she is still alive.

It's a possibility she
could be out there alive.

I have no idea.

I think maybe she
might be because she

wasn't really hurt that bad.

Until somebody can
prove to me otherwise,

I will always believe--

I'll firmly believe--
she's out there somewhere.

And we want to find her
and bring her back home.

We'd just have a great big
reunion, that what we would do.

We would celebrate, yeah.

All of us would.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Very few pictures of Joan

Gay Croft survived the tornado.

Joan Gay had blue eyes,
blonde hair, and at the time

spoke with a mild lisp.

She would probably still
have scars on her left calf

from a tornado injury.

Joan Gay Croft was
four years old when

she disappeared April 9, 1947.

On our next "Unsolved
Mysteries," in Australia,

a panicky young pilot radios
that he's being tailed

by a bizarre light source.

Seconds later, the
pilot and his plane

literally vanish from the sky.

Some believe it was
a close encounter

of the most sinister kind.

Also, the curious saga
of a convicted bank

robber who refuses to tell
authorities his real name.

The more we kept digging into
this gentleman's background,

the more mystery surrounded him.

Everyone that surrounded
him eventually disappeared.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Perhaps someone

watching will know his
identity and what, if anything,

he is trying to conceal.

Join me next time for
another fascinating edition

of "Unsolved Mysteries."

[theme music]