[FILMRISE SOUND EFFECT PLAYING]
NARRATOR: Tonight on
"Unsolved Mysteries."
ROBERT STACK: 21-year-old
Angela Maher was intelligent,
energetic, and spirited.
A passionate young crusader
against drinking and driving.
When Angela climbed into her
car on a summer night in 1994,
no one could have imagined
the cruel twist of fate
she was about to encounter.
Viewed from the sky,
Peru's Nazca Plateau
is a breathtaking marvel.
Hundreds of ramrod straight
lines that converge
in geometric perfection.
Giant figures formed by a
single, continuous strokes.
Who created these
massive artworks and why?
If you're looking for
a good night's sleep,
you might want to steer clear of
this ranch house in West Texas.
Those who didn't have a
hair raising story to tell.
Paul Pollis lives in the
shadow of ugly suspicion.
The day his wife,
Charlotte, disappeared,
Paul says he was out running
errands with his children.
But Shawna's family
claims Paul is lying.
Stay with us.
Perhaps you hold the key.
Perhaps your call can help
solve one of tonight's
unsolved mysteries.
[THEME MUSIC]
 Tell Patricia I'd pick her up.
Shouldn't be long.
Just a couple of hours.
 I love you, honey.
 Love you more.
 You look so pretty
tonight, Angela.
ROBERT STACK: 21-year-old Angela
Maher grew up in a close knit
family in Scottsdale, Arizona.
On July 29, 1994, Angela was
home from college to celebrate
her mother's birthday.
[CAR STARTS]
At 10:00 PM, she left
the house to pick
up a friend who needed a ride.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Around the same time,
31-year-old Gloria Schulze
was leaving a local bar.
Moments later, the paths
of these two strangers,
Gloria Schulze and Angela
Maher, would collide.
[TENSE MUSIC PLAYING]
[CAR HORN HONKING]
ROSE MARIE MAHER: There
was a knock at the door.
It was the police officers.
And they said that there
had been an accident.
And my question was,
is my daughter OK?
And they said no.
[AMBULANCE SIRENS SOUNDING]
ROBERT STACK: Angela had
suffered massive blunt force
trauma to her head.
By the time paramedics were
able to cut her out of the car,
it was too late.
Gloria Schulze survived.
Although she sustained
a broken jaw,
she was lucid enough to be
questioned at the scene.
 Ma'am, have you had
anything to drink tonight?
 Yeah.
Obviously too much.
ROBERT STACK: Tests later
revealed traces of marijuana
in Schulze's system and a
blood alcohol content of 0.15.
Well above the legal limit
for driving in Arizona.
Angela Maher had apparently
become one of them
more than 16,000 Americans
killed in alcohol
related accidents in 1994.
But Angela Maher is more
than just a statistic.
In a cruel tragic
irony, Angela Maher
had been an active crusader
against drinking and driving.
When she was a
high school junior,
a close friend was killed
while driving drunk.
Rather than do nothing,
Angela took a stand
and helped establish
a chapter of SADD,
Students Against Drunk Driving.
ANGELA: Being involved
with SADD means
that you just care enough
to be a really good friend.
If any have you ever gotten to
a situation where you needed
a ride home, you could
just give me a call
and I would come and get
you no questions asked.
You're probably wondering why
you're holding these balloons.
Well if everyone that
has a black balloon
could go ahead and release it.
These balloons
signify the number
of people that were
killed in drunk driving
accidents in Arizona last year.
By releasing this white balloon,
it signifies hope that this
will never happen to one of us.
DONALD MAHER, JR: What's
really an awful irony
is that the night that
my sister was hit,
she was on her way
to pick up a friend
who had called from a bar here
in Phoenix for a ride home.
My sister felt strongly enough
that if she knew she was going
out with friends and that
they were going to drink,
she would not drink so she
could drive everybody home
and make sure that everybody
got home safe and sound.
ROSE MARIE MAHER: Always.
She always wanted to be
the designated driver.
That's why she would
always take our car.
And she'd always just
answer us by saying, mother,
I want to make sure I get home.
 Your honor, it is the
state's position that a bond
should be set in this manner--
ROBERT STACK: On
September 6, 1994,
Gloria Schulze was
arraigned on charges
of manslaughter and
reckless endangerment.
Schulze was represented
by a prominent attorney,
experienced in handling
drunk driving cases.
 Do the families
wish to be heard?
 Yes, your Honor.
Rose Marie Maher,
the victim's mother,
wishes to make a statement.
 Judge Ryan, we all
know in this country
that a person is
innocent until proven
guilty in a court of law.
But does that mean that
the life of the accused
continues on as if
nothing had happened?
ROSE MARIE MAHER: She wasn't
arraigned until four and a half
weeks after the accident.
She's never spent a day in jail.
She kept her driver's license.
She went on every day
like nothing happened.
 At this point,
Ms. Schulze, I'm
going to release you
under the supervision
of the pretrial services
agency in this court.
And this will include
drug monitoring.
ROBERT STACK: To
the Mahers' dismay,
Gloria shows was
released without being
required to post bond.
The judge, however, did
stipulate that Schulze submit
to drug testing
three times a week,
and that she report to the
court by phone once a week.
JUDGE: Now, do you understand
the conditions of your release?
 Yes, your Honor.
 Thank you, your Honor.
May we be excused?
 Yes.
ROBERT STACK: It was
the beginning of months
of frustration for the Mahers.
Gloria Schulze's attorney
would seek and receive
six trial postponements.
The prosecutor and judge
originally on the case
were reassigned.
Gloria Schulze would
also be permitted
to leave the state on
three separate occasions,
despite the Mahers' and the
prosecutor's objections.
Finally, more than a year
after Angela Maher's death,
Gloria Schulze was offered
a plea bargain arrangement.
If Schulze waived
her right to a trial
and plead guilty to the reckless
endangerment and manslaughter
charges, she would serve
a reduced sentence.
A pretrial hearing was scheduled
for September 15th, 1995.
A day Rose Marie Maher
will always remember.
ROSE MARIE MAHER:
When I didn't see
her sitting in the courtroom,
all I could think of
was, where was she?
Had she skipped?
 Let's go out in the hall
and talk for a second.
I need to talk with
you out in the hall.
 Well is anybody
looking for her?
 We've issued a
warrant for her arrest.
ROSE MARIE MAHER: We
discovered that she
had missed six drug test dates.
And then to find out her
last time that she called in
was the end of August or
the 1st of September--
she could have called
in from anywhere.
DONALD MAHER, JR: The fact that
Gloria Schulze ran definitely
affected my mother
and I. The healing
that goes along with
grieving and mourning
somebody you love--
it just hasn't happened.
There's no closure.
 Here's to Miss Congeniality.
 Hi.
 Congeniality.
ROSE MARIE MAHER:
She was bubbly,
friendly, full of life and
vitality, and always smiling.
I had a young lady that
was polished and educated,
personable, and loved life,
and this woman took that away.
Not only from me, but
from everybody else
who's touched Angela's life.
ROBERT STACK: At the
time of her death,
Angela was a senior at Creighton
University in Omaha, Nebraska.
 Accepting this honorary
degree for Angela
is her mother, Mrs.
Donald J Maher.
ROBERT STACK: On May 13, 1995,
in an unprecedented display
of respect, Angela was granted
a diploma posthumously.
[CROWD APPLAUSE]
 Gloria Schulze has not been
seen in more than seven months.
She is wanted on
manslaughter charges
in the death of Angela Maher.
There is also a federal
warrant for her arrest.
Scottsdale police
have only two pictures
of Schulze, her
booking photo and one
from her driver's license.
Gloria Schulze is 5
feet, 5 inches tall
and weighs 115 pounds.
She is 33 years old and has
red hair and green eyes.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Next, the wondrous
Nazca Lines in Peru.
Are they other calling
card of an ancient lost
civilization or guide posts for
visitors from beyond the stars?
And later, a husband stands
accused in the baffling
disappearance of his wife.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
They are like enigmatic
gifts from a vanished time.
The Sphinx rises inscrutable
above the sands of Egypt.
Stonehenge, somber monoliths
circled in silent prayer.
And the statues of
Easter Island, the faces
curiously turned
away from the sea.
In South America, another
ancient mystery has defied all
who would uncover its secrets.
Here inexplicably,
monumental drawings have been
etched into the desert plain.
Were they created to
placate angry gods,
or map out the heavens,
or perhaps to welcome
visitors from another galaxy?
Welcome to the
Nazca Plateau, 100
square miles of unanswered
questions in Western Peru.
This spider prowls the
eastern corner of the plateau.
It is formed by a single
winding line that starts
and ends in the same place.
But for what purpose?
This gigantic monkey, its
contours dimmed by time
could fill two football fields.
But how did this jungle
dweller come to be
marooned in an empty desert?
More than 800 ramrod straight
lines shoot across the plateau.
Laid end to end, they
total 1,000 miles.
The lines converge at
62 different points.
Archaeological evidence suggests
that the ancient Nazcas,
famous for their
ceramic art, inscribed
the giant drawings between
1,500 and 2,500 years ago.
However, the Nazcas
left little that
tells us the meaning
of the figures
or reveals how they were made.
Imagine standing on
the Nazca Plateau
without modern surveying
tools, aerial photographs,
or topographical maps.
How would you plot out
the enormous monkey?
Where would you put its tail?
Its head?
How would you make
sure that the parts
all fit perfectly together?
Somehow, the ancient
Nazca artists
were able to do exactly that.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
All totaled, nearly 1,000 lines
of geometric shapes and figures
are tattooed across
the Nazca Plateau.
When they are mapped
and cataloged,
the images form an
astounding body of work.
To this day, no one has
fully explained the drawings,
though many have tried.
One of the first
archaeologists to visit Nazca
theorized that the plateau was
a giant celestial calendar.
He observed that on
a summer solstice,
the sun set in perfect alignment
with one of the markings.
Over 40 years, a
German mathematician
named Maria Reiche spent
virtually every waking hour
studying the Nazca Plateau.
She concluded that dozens of
the lines and animal figures
pointed to major constellations.
 If you go out there at dawn,
where you can see the sky
and you can see the dawn glow
reflecting off of those lines--
and they really
become like lighted
pointers to the heavens.
ROBERT STACK: A radically
different theory
was proposed by Swiss
author, Erich von Daniken,
in the late 1960s.
He claimed that
some of the markings
were nothing less than
giant landing strips
for alien spacecraft.
In his book Chariots
of the Gods,
von Daniken suggested that the
ancient Nazcas had regarded
the aliens as gods and had
constructed the runways
under their direct orders.
Von Daniken identified this
840 foot marking as a signpost,
pointing the way to
the landing strip.
And this, a portrait of one
of the intergalactic voyagers,
complete with space suit.
 Scientists aren't against
the idea of, necessarily,
extraterrestrials, per se.
But we do expect some
evidence before we
then start doing a lot of
research in that direction.
ROBERT STACK: Dr. Reinhard
and other scientists
believe that the plateau was
an immense outdoor cathedral.
Prayers were once
whispered here in the name
of a priceless resource.
Water.
The plateau was one of the
driest places on earth.
In five years--
five good years--
the plateau would
be blessed with just
one half inch of rain.
 The main concern for people
living in that kind of a desert
environment is
precisely that they're
very dependent on the rainfall
in the mountains to the east.
And they're also dependent
on the water level
that goes underground,
and which is
also coming from the mountains.
ROBERT STACK: But how
were the drawings created?
In 1982, an attempt was made
to replicate the process using
only the simplest of tools.
 We pirated a
couple of broomsticks
from the local hotel and
some pieces of string, laid
out a line, and we
proceeded to clean and sweep
away the surface of the line.
It took us-- a group of 12--
one morning-- we got back
to the hotel for lunch--
to make a line
about 20 yards long,
two yards wide,
clear it completely,
and here was a brand
spanking new Nazca line.
ROBERT STACK: Dr.
Aveni's line certainly
looked like the genuine article,
but clearing a 60 foot curlicue
was a relatively simple task.
How did the Nazca
artists accurately
model gargantuan figures
like this sprawling monkey
while looking at them
only from ground level?
 It took a tremendous
leap of imagination
to make these large
models on the ground,
which they themselves
presumably did not see,
not being able to fly.
ROBERT STACK: But perhaps
they were able to fly,
argued Jim Woodman, a
British author and explorer.
To prove his point, Woodman
hired Peruvian craftsmen
to stitch together
a hot air balloon
from materials that would have
been available centuries ago.
A raging campfire provided
the requisite hot air.
Perhaps for the first
time in centuries,
Nazcas figures are being
viewed as intended.
From a hot air balloon hundreds
of feet above the desert.
However many scientists
still believe
that the markings are meant to
be experienced at ground level.
ANTHONY AVENI: The straight
lines look like roadways.
I mean, they start
from someplace.
They lead to some place.
So the idea that the lines
are meant to be walked on
seems to me to be a much more
feasible one than the notion
that somebody had to
look at them from above.
The animals are made
out of a single sinuous,
continuous line that begins
and ends at the same point.
I can imagine that a
worshipper of a deity
would walk around one
of these animal figures
to pray to the god--
or gods-- that had
to do with an animal;
that probably some
invocation to the gods
would have happened here.
 Maybe it's because,
in our culture,
we give a very high priority
to visual experience
that we want and think
that, ultimately, we
have to be able to explain
how these people saw
the lines in order for there
to be a rational explanation
for them.
And I think here
that maybe we reflect
more of our own interest and
the limitations of our own point
of view than any kind of
limitation that might have
existed for the Nazca people.
ROBERT STACK: In the end,
there are no answers.
Those who created the
wondrous artworks of Nazca
have been dead now
for centuries, buried
in tombs that ring the plateau.
Over the years, their
bones have been carelessly
scattered by grave robbers.
However, the ancient
mysteries of Nazca
will, in all likelihood,
remain undisturbed forever.
Coming up a most
unusual hunting in Texas
proves that some ghosts would
rather be heard than seen.
And when a young wife
and mother vanishes,
two families become locked
in a bitter dispute.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
[ANSWERING MACHINE BEEPING]
PAUL (ON PHONE): Hey, guys.
What's up?
This is Paul.
Just wondering if
Char is over there.
I haven't seen her all day.
I took the kids out--
ROBERT STACK: These
are the opening words
of an actual phone message.
It is left by a man named
Paul Pollis on March 12, 1984,
the day his wife, Charlotte,
vanished from their home
in Girard, Ohio.
PAUL (ON PHONE):
And I just wondered
if maybe she was with
you guys, or if she
called you, or something, man.
You know, what is up?
I'm-- I'm sort of getting
a little freaked out here.
ROBERT STACK: To
the casual listener,
a husband's message of concern.
But Charlotte's
family is convinced
that Paul Pollis knows exactly
what happened to his wife.
 I think Paul got in a
fit of rage over something.
And I think he got
angry and he struck her.
And he couldn't stop himself.
And I think Paul
killed my daughter.
 They can point the
finger at me all they want.
I didn't do anything wrong.
I know I didn't
do anything wrong.
And I can't change what
other people think.
ROBERT STACK: There are
only two possibilities.
Paul Pollis is totally
innocent, a bereaved husband
wrongly accused.
Or perhaps Paul Pollis has
gotten away with murder.
The police can't say.
There's not even enough evidence
to prove a crime was committed.
Until solid leads developed,
Paul Pollis will very likely
remain locked in an ugly
dispute with his wife's family
over just what happened
back in March of 1994.
About the only thing
everyone agrees on
is that Charlotte was
sick on Friday, March 11,
the day before she vanished.
- Hey, we're back.
- Hey.
 Oh.
Hi.
ROBERT STACK: That
night, Paul's parents
looked after the
couple's two children
while Paul took Charlotte
to the hospital.
She had an acute ear infection
marked by pain and dizziness.
 --met you, perhaps?
 No.
Hi, mom.
Yeah.
We just got back
from the hospital.
ROBERT STACK: After
Paul's parents left,
Charlotte phoned her mother.
It would be the final
moment that Charlotte
Pollis was indisputably alive.
 Well she said, I'll take
to you in the morning.
And at 1:25 AM, I had hung
up the phone from her.
That's the last I
ever spoke to her.
At ten to 9:00 on Saturday
morning, I called the house
to check on my daughter.
Because we'd talk-- generally,
we'd talk on the phone anywhere
from 10, to 12, 14 times a day.
And Paul answered the phone.
 Oh, she's doing a
little bit better.
She's still up in bed.
 She's still sleeping?
Well is she OK?
 Well doctors
said the best thing
now is just to get some rest.
 Well you have Charlotte
call me when she gets--
gets up, would you?
 All right.
Talk to you later.
Bye.
Char?
Char?
 Yeah?
 How you feeling?
ROBERT STACK: Paul says the
last time he saw Charlotte was
shortly after that phone call.
 I going to go out and take the
kids with me for a little bit.
I'm going to do some--
 I think it was
about 11:00 o'clock.
I took the kids out to do
errands for the afternoon.
And I told her, just
stay in bed and relax.
I'll bring the medication
that you need back.
Just stay in bed.
Take it easy.
ROBERT STACK:
According to Paul, he
buckled the kids
into their car seats
and headed off for
a day of errands.
There were stops at the
pharmacy, the laundromat,
and the scrap yard.
- Hey, guys.
We got a lot of stuff
to do here today.
ROBERT STACK: Then burgers
at a fast food restaurant.
And finally a couple
of hours spent
looking at houses for sale.
 We're going to get
something to eat.
How does that sound?
Good?
I know you guys are hungry.
ROBERT STACK: However,
Paul's account of that day
is disputed by several people.
 --stop at the playground.
[PHONE RINGING]
ROBERT STACK: For example,
Charlotte's mother
claims that she
called several times
when Paul, by his own account,
should still have been there.
CHARLOTTE NAGI:
And I called 10:00.
I called 10 after 10:00.
I called at 20 after 10:00.
I just kept calling and calling.
I thought,
something's not right.
And no answering machine,
nobody answering the phone.
Nothing.
And I thought,
well where is she?
You know, why is there
nobody answering?
ROBERT STACK: One
of Paul's neighbors
contradicted his claim that
he simply put the children
in the car and left.
NANCY HUBBARD: It
was 10 after 11:00
when I pulled out
of the driveway.
And as I backed
out, I looked over
at Paul's house and he had--
Paul had his car
backed up to the porch.
The trunk was open.
All four doors were open.
His car was completely
packed with boxes and bags.
There was no sign
of the children.
And there was no way
they could be in the car.
There was no possible way
that car seats could fit
in the car AS packed as it was.
And as I drove by, he looked
at me with a really strange,
eerie look.
 He indicated that he
had the children with him
all this time.
We've talked to people
that he made contact with.
No one saw the
children with him.
 My children were
with me all afternoon.
I don't abandon my children.
Not for a second.
I don't leave the house
and leave them unattended.
I don't leave them
in a car unattended.
I'm not that type of a parent.
Never will be.
 Charlotte, we're home.
ROBERT STACK: Paul
says that when
he returned home at around 4:00
PM, Charlotte wasn't there.
At that time, he had no
concerns for her safety.
 Char, are you in here?
PAUL POLLIS (VOICEOVER):
Really didn't
think anything was wrong.
I figured that she was feeling
better and had gone out.
Put the kids up to finish their
nap in bed and just watched TV
and finished cleaning the house.
About 7:30, I noticed her
purse up on the cabinets
and my wife doesn't go
anywhere without her purse.
I can't believe that she
would have left without it,
so I started calling
around to see
if she'd gone out with anybody.
 Hey, guys.
What's up?
This is Paul.
I'm just calling to see if
you guys had seen Char at all.
I've been--
ROBERT STACK: When
Charlotte's family
learned that she was missing,
they rushed to the house.
After talking to Paul,
Charlotte's sister, Amriah,
decided to take a look outside.
She noticed two sets of
footprints in the snow.
They stretched from a side
door towards a small shed
and then back around the house.
AMRIAH NAGI: The doors
were bulging into pretty
much out of the shed.
They just had, like, a
regular padlock on it.
And it kind of
bothered me, the way
the shed was, because the
doors weren't flush against it.
So I had gone into the house and
I had asked Paul for the keys.
 He got very angry.
"The shed has nothing
to do with Charlotte
and I'm not giving
you the keys."
and she'd asked him repeatedly
for these keys to the shed.
And he got angrier and angrier.
 It's a shed.
All the normal garden
tools, lawnmower.
It's-- as matter of
fact, I think at the time
there was a key lock.
And there was a key
on Charlotte's ring.
If they wanted it open, I
would have given them a key.
I don't remember
anything about that.
ROBERT STACK: Paul's parents
were now staying at the house
and the air was
thick with suspicion.
 There was an extremely
lot of cleaning.
They are clearing everything
from the attic to the basement.
They were washing walls.
He had washed-- he did laundry.
He had washed, like-- scrubbed
up the kitchen real good
and stuff, which isn't-- you
know, it's not characteristic
of Paul to do that.
 What was his mother
cleaning, and his father?
What was all this cleaning that
went on while they were there?
 The only floor I scrubbed
was the kitchen floor
so I wouldn't stick to it where
the baby had dropped his food.
 I'll clean.
I live there.
I like to live in a clean house.
 The State Bureau of
Criminal investigation
came in to check the house.
Sprayed with luminol or to find
out if any crime of violence
had been committed.
The house was spotless.
It was cleaned
from top to bottom.
And it's very unusual that
a house is cleaned this way.
ROBERT STACK: Investigators
did find a stain of human blood
in the trunk of Paul
and Charlotte's car.
The sample was too small to
allow positive identification,
but quite enough to fuel
speculation that Charlotte's
body had been in the trunk.
JOHN A. LEOPARDI: Paul
weighs 150 pounds.
Charlotte weighed
approximately 300 pounds.
Paul would be required to
transport a body that was twice
his weight and take
it out into the open
and put the body in
the trunk of the car.
To me it just does not
seem possible at all.
ROBERT STACK: For
Charlotte's family, however,
the pair of footprints in the
snow hinted at an explanation.
Paul had help.
 And I looked at
Paul's shoe prints
and they were the
same footprints
that were in the snow.
And the other foot prints
were fairly large with a shoe
boot who I can
suspect would have
been his father's,
but they-- you know,
I can't be definite on that.
 Either his
parents were brought
in after the fact to
help him or they were
there at the time it happened.
 Oh I think that's
positively ludicrous.
There-- to think that
anyone would think that us.
We have lived in this
area for 40 years.
We're not that type of people.
I can't imagine why
they would think that.
 It gives them an outlet
to vent their anger.
I can only explain
me and my actions.
And I've been very
straightforward
explaining where I was
and what we did that day.
ROBERT STACK: Paul even agreed
to take a polygraph test.
He made an appointment
for Tuesday, three days
after his wife disappeared.
But Paul Pollis did not show up.
 Paul?
Paul?
ROBERT STACK: Paul
wasn't at home either.
He had left a note on the
bureau, which read in part, "I
love my wife and would
never do anything
to harm her intentionally."
Paul stayed out of
sight for three months.
Then he resurfaced
with an explanation.
PAUL POLLIS: I had a
lot of mental anguish
I was going through.
And I wanted some time alone.
People were driving in
front of the house nonstop.
They didn't come by to give
me a hug or a pat on the back
and say, we're with you.
They just came by to look.
ROBERT STACK: For
more than two years,
Paul Pollis has
proclaimed his innocence.
But according to
Charlotte's family,
there is at least one
eyewitness to the alleged crime.
Paul and Charlotte's
daughter, now four years old.
 Talk to you later.
Bye.
ROBERT STACK: Since
her mother vanished,
the child has lived with
Charlotte's parents.
They claim the little
girl has volunteered
several disturbing comments,
some of which they recorded.
CHARLOTTE NAGI: I feel
that my granddaughter
witnessed the violence and that
it's locked into her memory.
We had to get rid of all
dark trash bags in our home
and go with light
colored trash bags.
She's paranoid of
a dark trash bag.
She screams and she
cries because mommy
was put in a dark trash bag.
 I think the child
is being coached
and the tapes are being made
with this coached information
that's being given to her.
And I-- and the
sad part about it
is it's very detrimental
to the child.
They're destroying this child.
 I didn't kill my wife.
And I don't know where she is.
I didn't have anything
to do with it,
nor did my family have anything
to do with it as far as I know.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
ROBERT STACK: In a moment we'll
take you to a remote ranch
in Texas where three cowboys
claim that a noisy ghost is
making their lives miserable.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Everybody loves a
good ghost story.
A spooky tall tale about things
that go bump in the night.
The three Texas cowboys you're
about to meet have a great one.
But their ghost isn't satisfied
with th little old bump.
Quite frankly, this noisy
entity scares the daylights
out of everyone in earshot.
It started out as a
simple business venture.
In June of 1995, three partners
took over a 3,000 acre ranch
in the Texas hill country.
 All right.
They left us a little furniture.
ROBERT STACK: They
planned to sublease
the game-rich land to hunters.
 Needs a little paint.
 Get rid of that.
 Got a fireplace.
 Not too bad.
Not too bad.
ROBERT STACK: While
they get things rolling,
the three cowboys moved
into the main building.
It was a four bedroom wood frame
house constructed in the 1950s.
Could any house
be more ordinary?
Well from the very first
night, the three men
discovered they had company.
Heavy footed company.
[HEAVY FOOTSTEPS]
JOHNNY WAY: It sounded
as if when it started,
it was, like, off
in the distance.
And each time it
would make a step,
you could hear the individual
steps that he would make.
But in my mind, you
know, I didn't want to--
I didn't want to--
consider the fact
it might be a ghost
or something of that nature.
[HEAVY FOOTSTEPS]
ROBERT STACK: Almost every
night, there was something new.
Crashing footsteps, thunderous
blows on the walls or ceilings.
The men never saw a ghost,
but they heard plenty.
one of the cowboys, Bobby, had
a most unnerving experience,
which his partner slept through.
[CRASH]
BOBBY: I immediately
picked the pistol up
and I jumped to my feet.
It was so loud.
It sounded just like
wooden chairs been kicked
just plumb across the floor.
[CRASH]
There wasn't a chair moved.
All the chairs were
right in place.
There was nothing
turned over anywhere.
 This thing-- whatever it is--
it was almost as if it
would not let you rest.
It was almost as if it wanted
to keep you awake all night.
Just about the time
you would doze off,
he would hit the wall.
And I mean-- when I say hit
it, it would clobber it.
[CRASH]
ROBERT STACK: The unearthly
racket continued, every night
in the dark hours before dawn.
Pounding footsteps
had threatened
to break the floorboards or
crash through the ceiling.
Sledge hammer blows that
smashed at the wall.
Sometimes everyone heard it.
Other times, the entity chose to
torment the cowboys one by one.
JOHNNY WAY: This was the night
that I was here by myself.
DISEMBODIED VOICE: Johnny.
JOHNNY WAY: It
didn't say Johnny.
It said (WHISPERS) Johnny.
And I looked around.
My room was ice cold.
I mean, that room
was cold as ice.
Cold chills running
down me. (LAUGHS)
And I was just shivering
under the sheets, you know.
Looking around, you know,
thinking to myself, man.
ROBERT STACK: Another
night, Bobby woke
up sensing someone next to him.
BOBBY: I don't know.
It was probably 2, 3
o'clock in the morning.
[BED CREAKING]
The side of my bed
just mashed plumb down.
I mean, really went
down, like someone
had stepped on the side
of it with their foot
or sat on the side of it.
Which really scared me, because
he had never done that before.
ROBERT STACK: Mike Richards
had a similar experience
equally terrifying.
MIKE RICHARDS:
Approximately 3 or 4 o'clock
in the morning, my right
knee, it woke me up.
I mean, it was pain like
I've never felt before.
It was actually like somebody
was sitting on my knee.
I went to roll off the bed,
but my right leg stayed
in the same position it was.
And I looked and I couldn't
see nobody sitting on it.
Because, you know, you can't
roll off the bed, you know,
because somebody's
got you pinned down.
So all I could do
was-- you know, hey,
I raised my other leg
up and started waving
it across my leg, you know?
Like, get off, whatever it is.
It stopped and I could
get off the bed, you know?
And the minute I got up and
walked around, it felt fine.
 Y'all need anything,
you let me know, OK?
 OK.
ROBERT STACK: Finally,
Mike's sisters
paid a visit to the
ranch house to check
out the noises for themselves.
- Yeah, right.
[LAUGHS]
 Goodnight.
 Night.
SUSIE RYAN: I guess--
I don't know what
I really expected.
I guess I expected to
just hear a little bump
and that there'd be some
logical explanation for it.
But what I heard that night no
man or animal could have made.
 Before we went to bed Susie
and I decided that if I heard
something, I was to nudge her.
And if she heard something,
she was going to nudge me.
Well we were nudging
each other pretty quick.
[DISTANT THUD]
- Kelley?
- Yeah?
 Did you hear that?
 Yeah.
[HEAVY FOOTSTEPS]
[LOUD CRASH]
 Oh my god.
It sounds like there's
something on the ceiling.
 Oh my god.
 It's like it's right above us.
 It sounds like--
[LOUD CRASH]
It's in the wall!
It's coming through the wall!
 This went on for an hours.
We heard whistling that
was started off very faint.
Grew to very, very loud.
You could hear the air.
You know, like a
person whistling.
And then bam, bam, bam.
Banging in the
walls, like something
caught up in the walls.
I mean, I thought the ceilings
were going to cave in,
it was so loud.
[PANICKED WHISPERING]
KELLEY RICHARDS: And we
just laid there and whined
and fretted all night.
I don't know what you'd call it.
[CRASH]
It was so unreal that getting
up or calling for my brother
was not an option.
It was almost like
I was trapped there.
Basically, all I
kept thinking is,
pretty soon, the
sun's going to come up
and I'm going to
get out of here.
 That night, I
didn't hear anything.
But there was no doubt, by
the expression on their faces,
they-- they had
definitely been put
through something that night.
And they just said,
it's time to go.
I said, well you want
me to cook breakfast?
They said, no, it's time to go.
Let's go.
You know?
[LAUGHS] We-- we was out
here pretty quick, you know?
ROBERT STACK: We decided to
try to find out just what was
happening at the ranch house.
We brought in noted
parapsychologist,
Dr. William Roll.
He and his assistant set up
equipment inside and outside.
Video cameras and
monitoring devices
are used to measure sudden
temperature changes, evidence
of radioactivity,
and fluctuation
in the electromagnetic
fields in the area.
 First of all, we recorded
a number of sonic effects
from bangs, to booms,
to milder sounds.
And the most
striking of these was
associated with a sudden
increase in the magnetic fields
in the house.
ROBERT STACK: Dr. Roll
believes the noises can
be attributed to a
physical phenomenon
called the Peltier effect.
According to Dr.
Roll, this can occur
when water seeps between
underground slabs of limestone.
The resulting reaction not
only produces real noises,
but also creates an
electromagnetic field that
may affect human brains,
making people imagine
all kinds of experiences.
WILLIAM ROLL: These
magnetic fields
affect the human brain, because
the human brain is a conductor.
And this electrocurrent
produces striking
psychological experiences
that only happen in the mind.
[FOOTSTEPS]
ROBERT STACK: A
trick of the mind?
Not to those who've heard it.
Not by a long shot.
 I was the most
frightened I've ever
been in my whole entire life.
I mean, I've been robbed and
had a gun sticking in my back.
But that wasn't anything
like what this was,
because you're in such shock.
 Believe me, I've come up
with 1,000 different excuses
that I would like
to blame it on.
And-- and none of
them work, you know?
All I can say is come on
over and we'll fix you up.
You can-- you can-- you know,
you're more than welcome
if that's what you want to do.
It won't take long.
It made a believer
out of me quick.
And we'll make a
believer of you.
[CRASHING SOUNDS]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
ROBERT STACK: On our next
"Unsolved Mysteries,"
they call it chupacabras.
A strange, reptile-like
creature who
roams the countryside
in Puerto Rico,
preying on livestock
and small animals.
It may sound fantastic, but
eyewitnesses have no doubts.
The beast is real.
When she passed away
in 1993, tobacco
heiress Doris Duke was
one of the wealthiest
women in America.
Now a bitter dispute over
control over a billion dollar
estate has boiled
over with accusations
of treachery and foul play.
Join me again next week.
Perhaps you may be able
to help solve a mystery.
[THEME MUSIC]
[FILMRISE SOUND EFFECT PLAYING]
