WEBVTT - Episode 2: The Star Man 0:00:15.316 --> 0:00:23.996 Pushkin previously a deep cover sort of like I got 0:00:24.036 --> 0:00:27.996 on a train track there was clearly the wrong train track, 0:00:28.036 --> 0:00:30.756 and at some point you're just thinking, crap, how do 0:00:30.836 --> 0:00:34.556 I stop this train from like going off the rails? 0:00:33.756 --> 0:00:40.756 Who went missing? Her mama was very very upset, as 0:00:40.756 --> 0:00:45.396 if she knew Brooke wasn't coming home. The NYPD cop 0:00:45.476 --> 0:00:48.636 caused and says, yep, she's broke. You can clear your case. 0:00:49.156 --> 0:00:53.676 So I said, I'm not happy with that. I want DNA. 0:00:53.956 --> 0:00:56.756 When she didn't show up to give DNA, she was 0:00:56.756 --> 0:01:04.436 in the wind, John Campbell had a million questions, like 0:01:04.836 --> 0:01:10.156 who was this mysterious student at Columbia University was increasingly 0:01:10.196 --> 0:01:13.556 convinced that she was not really Brooke Henson, that he 0:01:13.596 --> 0:01:17.356 was dealing with an impostor, especially after she ducked that 0:01:17.516 --> 0:01:22.756 DNA test, which made him wonder who was she? Did 0:01:22.796 --> 0:01:24.876 she have anything to do with the disappearance of the 0:01:24.956 --> 0:01:28.676 real Brooke Henson? And then there was the most important 0:01:28.756 --> 0:01:34.236 question of all, where was this mystery woman? Now? The 0:01:34.316 --> 0:01:38.036 obvious first move was to ask Columbia for help, So 0:01:38.316 --> 0:01:41.196 John says he reached out to the university's director of 0:01:41.276 --> 0:01:45.876 Investigations in technology, then sent him a subpoena explaining the 0:01:45.996 --> 0:01:51.596 entire situation. John requested Brooks records, including any photos, letters 0:01:51.636 --> 0:01:55.516 of reference essays, student loan forms, that kind of stuff. 0:01:55.956 --> 0:01:58.036 And he started facts them down and I got about 0:01:58.076 --> 0:02:00.676 thirty pages or so, and then it just it was 0:02:00.716 --> 0:02:03.036 like half a sheet. And then he called me. He said, 0:02:03.076 --> 0:02:05.116 lawyers walked into this office and ripped him off of 0:02:05.596 --> 0:02:09.476 the whole file, off of the facts. So there's John 0:02:09.836 --> 0:02:13.196 standing by the fax machine with some files in his hands. 0:02:13.676 --> 0:02:16.876 He says he got a few documents, including Brooks College 0:02:16.876 --> 0:02:21.836 admissions essay, and then the transmission was interrupted. What he 0:02:21.916 --> 0:02:25.996 had so far was tantalizing. The essay said she'd grown 0:02:26.076 --> 0:02:28.836 up in a tiny town in South Carolina, and that 0:02:28.956 --> 0:02:32.716 much was true. The real Brooke Henson was from Traveler's Rest, 0:02:33.396 --> 0:02:37.476 But the essay also described a super religious childhood and 0:02:37.596 --> 0:02:41.116 that definitely didn't match up. So what was going on here? 0:02:42.036 --> 0:02:44.836 John felt if he could just get the rest of 0:02:44.876 --> 0:02:48.196 these files, he'd find the clues that would tell him 0:02:48.276 --> 0:02:51.636 who this woman really was and where she might be now. 0:02:53.356 --> 0:02:57.436 So John, he was on a mission. He just needed 0:02:57.476 --> 0:03:17.836 to out fox Columbia University. I'm Jake Halbern and this 0:03:18.036 --> 0:03:44.996 is deep Cover Season three, Never Seen Again, episode two, 0:03:45.916 --> 0:03:52.836 The Starman. According to John Campbell, officials at Columbia told 0:03:52.876 --> 0:03:56.036 him that they would no longer cooperate with him unless 0:03:56.036 --> 0:04:00.196 he got a federal subpoena. Now this is a technical distinction, 0:04:00.676 --> 0:04:04.076 but it's an important one. John had sent a state 0:04:04.156 --> 0:04:10.316 subpoena from Greenville County, South Carolina, and Columbia was basically saying, no, no, no, 0:04:10.396 --> 0:04:13.556 we don't recognize that you're out of your jurisdiction. We 0:04:13.636 --> 0:04:17.036 need a federal subpoena. And of course I said that 0:04:17.076 --> 0:04:19.476 because they thought, well, some small town detective in South 0:04:19.476 --> 0:04:21.676 Carolina's not gonna be able to get a federal subpoena. 0:04:21.876 --> 0:04:24.716 John may have been a small town detective, but he 0:04:24.796 --> 0:04:28.236 did have some powerful connections. In fact, he knew exactly 0:04:28.276 --> 0:04:31.836 whom to call. And this becomes really important. So bear 0:04:31.916 --> 0:04:33.316 with me for a sec while I give you a 0:04:33.356 --> 0:04:40.076 little backstory. A few years before this, when John first 0:04:40.116 --> 0:04:42.996 started working on the Brook Henson case, he wanted to 0:04:42.996 --> 0:04:45.836 get an office computer. He didn't have one at the time, 0:04:46.276 --> 0:04:48.036 and he felt if he was going to pursue this 0:04:48.076 --> 0:04:50.756 case seriously, he needed one. You know, how to take 0:04:50.756 --> 0:04:55.036 advantage of things like spreadsheets and the Internet. So he 0:04:55.116 --> 0:04:57.556 asked the chief for some money to buy one. His 0:04:57.676 --> 0:05:02.516 chief apparently said, sorry, don't have the funds. John, ever determined, 0:05:02.636 --> 0:05:07.516 started making inquiries, asking other law enforcement guys, Hey, what's 0:05:07.516 --> 0:05:10.356 the best way to get a free computer, And turns 0:05:10.396 --> 0:05:15.436 out they had an answer for him. Call the Secret Service. Yeah, 0:05:15.476 --> 0:05:19.396 those agents with the earpieces who run alongside the presidential motorcades. 0:05:20.156 --> 0:05:23.116 But the advice was, don't just ask them for a laptop, 0:05:23.796 --> 0:05:27.916 ask to do a case with them, because apparently everyone 0:05:27.996 --> 0:05:30.636 knew do a case with the Secret Service. They seize 0:05:30.636 --> 0:05:33.036 everything and give it right back to local law enforcement. 0:05:33.036 --> 0:05:35.236 You're telling me that, like, you work with the Secret 0:05:35.276 --> 0:05:37.716 Service deliberately so that you could if you bust some 0:05:37.756 --> 0:05:39.916 guys with the computers, you can keep it. Yes, that's 0:05:39.956 --> 0:05:42.156 how you do it on the municipal level when you 0:05:42.196 --> 0:05:47.836 have no money. Now, in case you didn't realize this, 0:05:48.076 --> 0:05:50.476 the Secret Service does a whole lot more than protect 0:05:50.516 --> 0:05:56.236 the president. It also investigates financial crimes and chases down counterfeiters, 0:05:56.636 --> 0:05:59.436 you know, people who print fake money. And John's like, 0:05:59.916 --> 0:06:02.876 I can find some guys like that, because, as it 0:06:02.916 --> 0:06:06.076 turns out, at the time, there was someone in trial 0:06:06.116 --> 0:06:09.916 theer's rest passing out phony twenty dollar bills. It looked 0:06:09.916 --> 0:06:12.996 like they were being made with an inkjet printer. Anyway, 0:06:13.516 --> 0:06:16.596 John puts the word out among the local businesses. He says, 0:06:16.916 --> 0:06:19.876 call me if you see anything suspicious. So one of 0:06:19.876 --> 0:06:23.516 the businesses was Burger King and this girlfriend Burger can call. 0:06:23.596 --> 0:06:25.636 He goes, hey, those guys are back and they gave 0:06:25.636 --> 0:06:28.636 me a fake twenty again. What do I do? He said, 0:06:28.916 --> 0:06:32.076 tell will be a few minutes to their fries. He's 0:06:32.156 --> 0:06:35.356 laughing now, right, but at the time he's like, here's 0:06:35.396 --> 0:06:38.036 my big chance to bust some counterfeiters and befriend the 0:06:38.036 --> 0:06:41.636 Secret Service and you know, get a free computer. They're 0:06:41.636 --> 0:06:44.156 waiting for their fries, and we were right down the streets, 0:06:44.156 --> 0:06:47.996 so we come zooming in behind them, and we come 0:06:48.076 --> 0:06:49.876 running up to the car and the guys has this 0:06:49.996 --> 0:06:52.116 big water twenties and he crams it down into his 0:06:52.236 --> 0:06:55.556 drink and we grab the drink and everything, pull the 0:06:55.596 --> 0:06:57.836 thing of twenties up and the ink is just ripping 0:06:57.876 --> 0:07:03.916 off these guys. He's busted. They're local college students looking 0:07:03.916 --> 0:07:07.676 for some free whoppers. John calls the Secret Service tells 0:07:07.716 --> 0:07:11.596 them he's busted some counterfeit and the Secret Service is pleased, 0:07:12.236 --> 0:07:14.956 so pleased that they continue to work cases with John. 0:07:15.436 --> 0:07:18.196 Eventually they even give him an award for his work 0:07:18.316 --> 0:07:22.316 on another counterfeiting case. So the Secret Service guy said, 0:07:22.396 --> 0:07:24.116 he is such a good job on that they sent 0:07:24.796 --> 0:07:27.996 a thing up to Washington and got me thing, a 0:07:28.076 --> 0:07:31.076 citation thing. So I had that on my wall and 0:07:31.156 --> 0:07:32.916 it was signed by the director of the Secret Service. 0:07:33.236 --> 0:07:35.756 You know, he did a great job. What really made 0:07:35.836 --> 0:07:39.156 John happy, though, was back in their dorm room, those 0:07:39.196 --> 0:07:43.836 counterfeiters had a sweet computer which soon became John's computer. 0:07:44.316 --> 0:07:52.236 Score right, But the real windfall came later. Fast forward 0:07:52.276 --> 0:07:56.036 a few years. There's John standing by his facts machine 0:07:56.396 --> 0:07:58.676 with half a set of records from the woman who 0:07:58.716 --> 0:08:01.716 claimed to be Brooke Henson, and he's got a big 0:08:01.876 --> 0:08:06.596 fat snub from Columbia University, which was demanding a federal subpoena, 0:08:06.996 --> 0:08:13.076 a potential dead end for John. But turns out all 0:08:13.356 --> 0:08:15.796 John had to do was look up on his wall 0:08:16.156 --> 0:08:19.436 at that fancy citation thing from the Secret Service. And 0:08:19.596 --> 0:08:24.716 remember he had some friends, some pretty powerful friends, who could, 0:08:25.156 --> 0:08:29.836 if they were so inclined, tell Columbia University to shut 0:08:29.916 --> 0:08:46.276 up and play ball. The person that John Campbell connected 0:08:46.276 --> 0:08:49.796 with at the Secret Service is a guy named Don Long. 0:08:50.516 --> 0:08:52.876 I am an assistant Special Agent in charge with the 0:08:52.916 --> 0:08:55.996 Secret Service. I've been employed with the agency for about 0:08:55.996 --> 0:08:59.316 thirty years now, and I'm currently located in our office 0:08:59.316 --> 0:09:03.396 in Columbia, South Carolina. If Don sounds like a clean cut, 0:09:03.636 --> 0:09:07.956 no nonsense law man, well that's because he is. Don 0:09:08.076 --> 0:09:10.996 is not an obsessive Files fan or a guy who 0:09:11.036 --> 0:09:14.236 buys into a lot of conspiracy theories. In this way, 0:09:14.596 --> 0:09:17.276 you might say that he and John are kind of 0:09:17.276 --> 0:09:22.236 like opposites. Even so, Don is quick to give John props. 0:09:22.876 --> 0:09:25.916 John is a very thorough investigator. If you had a 0:09:25.956 --> 0:09:29.916 case that you wanted somebody to really turn over every 0:09:29.956 --> 0:09:34.196 single stone to look for a possible suspect, you would 0:09:34.196 --> 0:09:37.916 certainly want someone like John on the case. Don says 0:09:37.996 --> 0:09:40.716 that back in two thousand and six he wanted to 0:09:40.756 --> 0:09:43.796 help John if he could, and he was intrigued by 0:09:43.796 --> 0:09:47.276 the Brook Henson case, but he couldn't just fire off 0:09:47.316 --> 0:09:50.436 a federal subpoena as a favor to John. This was 0:09:50.476 --> 0:09:53.956 a serious matter, and if the Secret Service got involved, 0:09:54.236 --> 0:09:58.036 it would become an active partner in this investigation. So 0:09:58.276 --> 0:10:03.396 Don's first question was, what is this case exactly? Don 0:10:03.436 --> 0:10:07.076 says he conferred with the assistant US attorney in Greenville, 0:10:07.236 --> 0:10:10.196 who would be prosecuting this case if it went forward, 0:10:10.796 --> 0:10:13.156 and the two of them they debated what to do. 0:10:13.836 --> 0:10:16.196 In the end, it was decided that they should open 0:10:16.276 --> 0:10:19.836 up a fraud and identity theft investigation and see what 0:10:19.916 --> 0:10:23.316 was in those files at Columbia. And just like that, 0:10:23.916 --> 0:10:28.076 John now had a partner, Don Long, the Secret Service agent. 0:10:28.836 --> 0:10:32.436 And even though this was now technically a federal investigation, 0:10:33.156 --> 0:10:36.356 John was still, as he told me, a backseat driver. 0:10:37.196 --> 0:10:42.636 I might add, a very active backseat driver. So off 0:10:42.676 --> 0:10:49.316 goes that federal subpoena kind of amazingly, Columbia University rejects it. Basically, 0:10:49.316 --> 0:10:52.556 Columbia just tells the assistant US attorney, a guy named 0:10:52.556 --> 0:10:57.356 Walt Wilkins, sorry, no dice, and what lost his mind? 0:10:58.036 --> 0:11:01.316 Are you kidding me? Your Columbia University, This is a 0:11:01.356 --> 0:11:04.196 federal grand jury subpoena. If you can't give us these records, 0:11:04.476 --> 0:11:06.676 you come down to talk to the judge and explain why. 0:11:07.436 --> 0:11:11.676 It wasn't clear why Columbia was refusing to cooperate. Maybe 0:11:11.676 --> 0:11:13.996 it was just trying to protect the privacy of a student, 0:11:14.636 --> 0:11:18.996 or perhaps, as Don Long speculated, the university was embarrassed 0:11:18.996 --> 0:11:22.556 that it had possibly been duped by an impostor. I 0:11:22.676 --> 0:11:25.876 reached out to Columbia University, by the Way, and they 0:11:26.116 --> 0:11:30.196 declined to comment. In the end, Don flew up to 0:11:30.196 --> 0:11:33.476 New York to speak with officials at the university in person, 0:11:34.396 --> 0:11:38.516 and at long last, Columbia relented. A little while later, 0:11:38.876 --> 0:11:49.236 investigators had the complete records for one Brooke Henson. The 0:11:49.356 --> 0:11:52.876 records from Columbia included a bunch of documents. There were 0:11:52.916 --> 0:11:57.276 two admissions essays. Together, they presented an intimate portrait of 0:11:57.316 --> 0:12:00.316 a young woman who claimed to be Brooke Henson. I 0:12:00.356 --> 0:12:03.116 asked my producer, Amy Gaines, as she would read from 0:12:03.116 --> 0:12:07.596 these essays. My young life consisted almost entirely of events 0:12:07.596 --> 0:12:11.716 that would take place inside four church walls. My parents 0:12:11.716 --> 0:12:14.476 didn't feel that a public education was the right place 0:12:14.516 --> 0:12:17.396 to teach their children about the world and the skills 0:12:17.396 --> 0:12:20.356 it would take to survive in that world. Along with 0:12:20.396 --> 0:12:23.836 three other children, my brother and I were educated under 0:12:23.836 --> 0:12:26.956 the tutelage of my mother and another woman from church. 0:12:28.036 --> 0:12:30.196 In spite of what is considered by others to be 0:12:30.236 --> 0:12:33.836 a horrific environment to educate children. Somehow, my brother and 0:12:33.876 --> 0:12:38.036 I excelled in our academic surroundings. Weird right, because the 0:12:38.116 --> 0:12:41.116 real Brookhanson she grew up in a house without a 0:12:41.116 --> 0:12:44.596 lot of rules, with laid back parents. The essay goes 0:12:44.596 --> 0:12:47.876 on to say the moment that truly defined her life 0:12:48.196 --> 0:12:51.076 was when her mom was dying of cancer. She says 0:12:51.116 --> 0:12:53.436 she took care of her mother and that in her 0:12:53.476 --> 0:12:58.476 spare time, she found solace by playing chess online. I 0:12:58.636 --> 0:13:01.596 loved to dive into a world filled with sixty four squares, 0:13:02.036 --> 0:13:05.236 thirty two pieces, and a never ending supply of new 0:13:05.276 --> 0:13:09.916 combinations to learn and master. This black and white world 0:13:09.956 --> 0:13:12.916 made sense to me. I was in control of strategy, 0:13:13.316 --> 0:13:17.676 of risk, and ultimately of death. When her mother passed away, 0:13:18.036 --> 0:13:21.916 she said something within her shifted. After I came to 0:13:21.996 --> 0:13:24.676 terms with losing her and living my life without her, 0:13:25.076 --> 0:13:27.796 I felt very free in a strange way. I saw 0:13:27.836 --> 0:13:31.036 the world as something I could explore and conquer. I 0:13:31.076 --> 0:13:33.876 never really looked outside my little town and my little 0:13:33.916 --> 0:13:37.516 life until that life had disappeared. I was no longer 0:13:37.556 --> 0:13:46.076 an option for me. John Campbell read all of this 0:13:46.236 --> 0:13:50.356 with great interest. But what was it exactly? Seemed like 0:13:50.356 --> 0:13:53.436 a work of fiction, confirmation that they were dealing with 0:13:53.476 --> 0:13:56.956 a con artist. After all, the real Brooke Henson was 0:13:56.996 --> 0:13:59.556 a free spirit who liked to hang out and party 0:13:59.556 --> 0:14:04.436 with her friends, not some Christian who played chess. Even so, 0:14:04.996 --> 0:14:09.636 John found himself wondering could this possibly be true at 0:14:09.716 --> 0:14:12.716 least some of it, Like did the real Brooke Henson 0:14:12.796 --> 0:14:16.276 have some secret life that he didn't know about? Was she, 0:14:16.516 --> 0:14:20.196 for example, a chess player. John forced himself to be 0:14:20.236 --> 0:14:23.756 methodical about the whole thing, and just to vet this properly, 0:14:23.796 --> 0:14:27.116 I called Travel's Dress High school and I said do 0:14:27.156 --> 0:14:30.876 you have a chess team? And lady over a Travelers 0:14:30.956 --> 0:14:33.756 risso fell out of the chair when she stopped laughing. 0:14:33.876 --> 0:14:37.116 She said, no, honey, we don't have any kind of 0:14:37.116 --> 0:14:40.516 a chess chess club. And Travel's rass Travels Dress is 0:14:40.876 --> 0:14:44.796 for their football. I don't have a chess club. They 0:14:44.916 --> 0:14:47.436 never had a chess club. You don't even find anybody 0:14:47.436 --> 0:14:50.156 in this area that plays chess. But even if these 0:14:50.276 --> 0:14:54.196 essays were all lies, they were lies that might prove 0:14:54.316 --> 0:14:56.716 useful down the road. He didn't need to be a 0:14:56.716 --> 0:15:00.236 detective to see that. I myself have always believed the 0:15:00.276 --> 0:15:03.956 old adage the best liars always stick close to the truth, 0:15:04.956 --> 0:15:09.476 and so maybe this imposter, whoever she was, was a 0:15:09.556 --> 0:15:12.636 chess player who was raised in a strict Christian home 0:15:13.156 --> 0:15:16.316 and who lost her mother at a tender age. Maybe 0:15:16.356 --> 0:15:19.716 these were clues that needed to be taken seriously, a 0:15:19.836 --> 0:15:25.516 glimpse into who this mystery woman really was. There were 0:15:25.556 --> 0:15:28.956 other clues in the Columbia records. The young woman claiming 0:15:28.956 --> 0:15:32.316 to be Brooke Henson had gotten her ged she had 0:15:32.316 --> 0:15:36.436 aced the SATs, but once she arrived at Columbia, she 0:15:36.556 --> 0:15:40.676 often failed to attend class. In an email, she confided 0:15:40.716 --> 0:15:44.116 in her academic advisor, I haven't decided whether I will 0:15:44.156 --> 0:15:47.156 attempt school next year at Columbia, but clearly I will 0:15:47.196 --> 0:15:49.796 need to take a closer look at the financial aspects 0:15:49.796 --> 0:15:53.636 of it. She ends by saying, sometimes being without my 0:15:53.716 --> 0:15:56.636 mom is tough when I have a big decision to make. 0:15:57.636 --> 0:16:00.876 The picture that emerged was of an ambitious young woman 0:16:01.156 --> 0:16:07.796 who was struggling. At some point in the investigation, John 0:16:07.916 --> 0:16:11.436 got his hands on a rather curious photo. It looked 0:16:11.476 --> 0:16:14.116 like it was taken at a military school, and it 0:16:14.236 --> 0:16:17.356 showed a slender young woman dressed in a formal gown, 0:16:17.756 --> 0:16:20.876 the sort you'd wear to a gala. The woman didn't 0:16:20.876 --> 0:16:24.236 really look like Brooke Henson. She was standing next to 0:16:24.276 --> 0:16:30.356 several sharply dressed cadets. John studied the photo closely, so 0:16:30.396 --> 0:16:34.756 I had a loop like a photographer's loop, and I 0:16:34.796 --> 0:16:37.636 had this picture, and I'm down on this picture like this. 0:16:38.236 --> 0:16:40.556 Have you ever seen the movie The Good Shepherd. John, 0:16:40.636 --> 0:16:44.156 by the way, loves making pop culture references, especially to 0:16:44.236 --> 0:16:48.316 spy stories. In The Good Shepherd, there's this CIA agent 0:16:48.476 --> 0:16:51.276 played by Matt Damon, who spends much of the movie 0:16:51.316 --> 0:16:57.836 analyzing magnified images from this one mysterious photograph. Anyway, John 0:16:57.916 --> 0:17:01.116 was determined to figure out, among other things, where was 0:17:01.116 --> 0:17:04.196 this photo taken. Kept narrowing down based on what was 0:17:04.276 --> 0:17:08.836 on their uniforms. I sent the picture to VMI, the Citadel, 0:17:10.716 --> 0:17:14.756 several other places that were military colleges. In one picture, 0:17:14.756 --> 0:17:16.396 you could see they had a sash. He said, we 0:17:16.396 --> 0:17:20.676 don't wear sashes. And wear sashes. The architecture in the 0:17:20.676 --> 0:17:24.796 back was an arch Nobody had that. And eventually we 0:17:24.916 --> 0:17:27.756 got back to West Point, so there was a West 0:17:27.756 --> 0:17:31.076 Point connection. But John didn't know exactly what to make 0:17:31.076 --> 0:17:35.556 of that. There was one other document in the Columbia 0:17:35.636 --> 0:17:38.796 Records that caught the attention of both John Campbell and 0:17:38.876 --> 0:17:42.076 also of Don Long at the Secret Service. It was 0:17:42.116 --> 0:17:46.116 a letter of recommendation for Brooke from a professor named 0:17:46.156 --> 0:17:49.956 doctor Shirley Fleishman. The letter mentioned that Brooke had visited 0:17:49.956 --> 0:17:52.316 her home, that she was a friend of her son. 0:17:53.476 --> 0:17:56.876 This seemed promising. Maybe the Fleischman family could tell them 0:17:56.916 --> 0:18:00.276 more about who this young woman really was. When I 0:18:00.356 --> 0:18:04.196 called mister Fleshman, I said, I'm John Campbell, I'm with 0:18:04.236 --> 0:18:07.156 Travels Verst Police Department. I'm calling about a girl you 0:18:07.276 --> 0:18:11.236 might know named Brooke Henson. And he said, I wondered 0:18:11.236 --> 0:18:13.356 when you were going to call And I said, what 0:18:13.476 --> 0:18:15.076 do you What do you mean when I was going 0:18:15.156 --> 0:18:17.436 to call him the world? How would you know that 0:18:17.556 --> 0:18:19.516 I was going to call him? He said, when my 0:18:19.596 --> 0:18:25.516 son brought her home, I knew she was troubled. According 0:18:25.556 --> 0:18:28.556 to John, mister Fleishman told him that this young woman, 0:18:28.756 --> 0:18:32.076 this Brooke Henson, had dated his son for about a year, 0:18:32.516 --> 0:18:35.436 and at that time his son was a cadet at 0:18:35.476 --> 0:18:40.876 West Point. After the break, what John Campbell and Don 0:18:40.916 --> 0:19:03.036 Long uncovered when they spoke with the Fleshman's So far, 0:19:03.636 --> 0:19:07.516 everything I've told you about the mysterious woman fleeing Columbia 0:19:07.596 --> 0:19:11.236 University and then John Campbell fighting to get her college records, 0:19:11.836 --> 0:19:15.596 all of that happened in two thousand and six. Now 0:19:15.596 --> 0:19:18.436 we're going to turn back the clock a few years earlier, 0:19:18.796 --> 0:19:26.156 to two thousand and one. Picture this scene the quad 0:19:26.156 --> 0:19:30.636 at Catholic University in Washington, DC, A big green expanse 0:19:30.716 --> 0:19:34.836 with leafy trees and gray stone buildings. There were lots 0:19:34.836 --> 0:19:38.516 of excited college kids strutting about. They were here for 0:19:38.596 --> 0:19:41.916 a debate tournament. One of these students was a nineteen 0:19:41.996 --> 0:19:45.596 year old named Ian Fleischmann. Ian was a cadet at 0:19:45.596 --> 0:19:48.316 West Point, where he was on the policy debate team, 0:19:49.196 --> 0:19:52.636 and it was here on this quad at Catholic University 0:19:53.036 --> 0:19:59.116 that Ian first spotted her. She was a very attractive woman, 0:19:59.636 --> 0:20:04.516 relatively short, brown hair. She had a great smile and 0:20:04.596 --> 0:20:07.876 a fun laugh. I remember that. So they get to talking. 0:20:08.476 --> 0:20:12.556 She introduced to herself Natalie. I knew her as Natalie. 0:20:13.276 --> 0:20:16.956 Natalie was not competing. She had debated another tournaments in 0:20:16.956 --> 0:20:20.316 the past, but that day she was just there hanging 0:20:20.316 --> 0:20:23.516 out with some friends. She told Ian that she wasn't 0:20:23.556 --> 0:20:26.716 currently enrolled in college, and that she had a pretty 0:20:26.796 --> 0:20:31.236 unusual job. She introduced herself as a professional chess player, 0:20:31.596 --> 0:20:34.636 which was interesting because I had never met a professional 0:20:34.676 --> 0:20:38.236 chess player. Natalie said she had a manager in Germany 0:20:38.516 --> 0:20:41.276 and that she traveled around the country playing in tournaments. 0:20:42.196 --> 0:20:46.516 Ian was intrigued. Soon after this, they started dating, which 0:20:46.756 --> 0:20:49.516 wasn't so easy because they didn't live near one another. 0:20:49.996 --> 0:20:52.436 Natalie always seemed to be on the road traveling for 0:20:52.516 --> 0:20:55.636 her job, and Ian well, he was at West Point 0:20:55.916 --> 0:20:58.596 where he had a strict curfew and couldn't leave campus 0:20:58.596 --> 0:21:02.636 without a pass. So they chatted online and talked a 0:21:02.636 --> 0:21:06.076 lot over the phone. Ian remembers leaning out his dorm 0:21:06.076 --> 0:21:08.996 window to get a better cell signal and talking late 0:21:09.116 --> 0:21:13.956 into the night, long after lights out. His roommate, David Labovich, 0:21:14.156 --> 0:21:18.316 remembers hearing some of these conversations, and he also chatted 0:21:18.316 --> 0:21:22.276 with Ian about his new girlfriend. But David, he wasn't 0:21:22.476 --> 0:21:26.076 entirely buying Natalie's story, you know. He shared with me 0:21:26.156 --> 0:21:29.476 the little detail of, oh, she's a professional chess player, 0:21:29.996 --> 0:21:32.756 but she's got this manager that has all the money, 0:21:33.196 --> 0:21:36.516 and if she needs money, she has to email him 0:21:36.556 --> 0:21:38.596 and he has to respond and give her the money. 0:21:38.636 --> 0:21:41.276 It was this really odd and I remember saying that 0:21:41.436 --> 0:21:44.196 to Ian at the time. It's like, yeah, man, something 0:21:44.196 --> 0:21:48.436 about that just doesn't seem right. David is quick to 0:21:48.476 --> 0:21:52.556 add that Ian is a really smart guy, extremely talented. 0:21:53.076 --> 0:21:55.196 In fact, Ian was such a good student that he 0:21:55.236 --> 0:21:58.076 was rewarded a set of gold stars, which he wore 0:21:58.116 --> 0:22:00.636 on his uniform. There was a term for guys like 0:22:00.716 --> 0:22:04.716 Ian at West Point Starman. They were the guys who 0:22:04.716 --> 0:22:09.036 were going places. All that being said, David suspects the 0:22:09.196 --> 0:22:13.236 Ian was perhaps blinded by love because he missed other 0:22:13.476 --> 0:22:17.356 slightly suspicious things about Natalie. One other kind of odd 0:22:17.356 --> 0:22:20.276 thing that she did was she sent him some cookies 0:22:20.516 --> 0:22:23.476 and said, hey, these are you know, homemade cookies. And 0:22:23.516 --> 0:22:25.756 I remember looking at him and I was like, Ian, 0:22:25.836 --> 0:22:28.556 those are suspiciously round, Like she just got the little 0:22:28.596 --> 0:22:31.716 two cookies and just cut them up and baked them. 0:22:32.476 --> 0:22:35.956 Ian says his old roommate, well may have been onto something. 0:22:36.516 --> 0:22:39.556 I mean, like in retrospect, where would she have made 0:22:39.596 --> 0:22:42.276 these cookies? Right? Like she was living out of her car, 0:22:42.516 --> 0:22:46.836 traveling the country, going I mean, you know, she did 0:22:46.876 --> 0:22:50.636 always like to stay in like extended state places. But 0:22:50.836 --> 0:22:55.196 I doubt you can use those kitchenettes to make perfectly 0:22:55.276 --> 0:22:58.796 round cookies. But at that point, Ian said he had 0:22:58.836 --> 0:23:02.196 already bought into Natalie's whole story, that she was a 0:23:02.276 --> 0:23:06.116 chess champion with a German manager who traveled the country 0:23:06.476 --> 0:23:10.596 and occasionally hung out at debate tournaments. And so if 0:23:10.636 --> 0:23:14.156 you start with the acceptance of that as you as 0:23:14.156 --> 0:23:18.916 your starting point, some of these small minor things over time, 0:23:19.036 --> 0:23:22.876 I think you know, it's easy to gloss over, right, 0:23:22.876 --> 0:23:26.796 because you've you've already accepted the most ridiculous thing as 0:23:26.956 --> 0:23:31.036 true and honestly, when you're dealing with somebody that you 0:23:31.276 --> 0:23:33.956 genuinely care for, that you have spent a long time 0:23:34.076 --> 0:23:37.156 building up a relationship with, I think it's easy to 0:23:37.836 --> 0:23:40.156 miss a lot of those, you know, smaller things, or 0:23:40.196 --> 0:23:44.476 to forgive them, because you trust the person enough to 0:23:44.596 --> 0:23:48.436 accept the excuse or the explanation that they give you. 0:23:49.556 --> 0:23:52.636 Natalie talked a little bit about her own family. She 0:23:52.716 --> 0:23:55.356 told him about her mother, who had died and whom 0:23:55.396 --> 0:23:59.836 she adored, and a bit about her stepfather too. She 0:23:59.916 --> 0:24:02.676 said that he was abusive, that he was stalking her, 0:24:02.996 --> 0:24:05.636 and that occasionally he would find her and she would 0:24:05.636 --> 0:24:09.076 have to flee. At one point, she told Ian about 0:24:09.156 --> 0:24:13.156 an incident that he had found her someplace in Tennessee 0:24:13.276 --> 0:24:16.396 in a hotel room and threatened her with an iron, 0:24:17.036 --> 0:24:21.676 like to beat her with an iron. All of this 0:24:22.236 --> 0:24:25.916 was upsetting to in. I mean, it didn't really have 0:24:26.076 --> 0:24:30.476 the option to essentially run to her to protect her, 0:24:30.516 --> 0:24:32.796 and so that, I mean that did tug out my heartstrings. 0:24:33.476 --> 0:24:35.756 At some point, Ian says, she told them that she 0:24:35.836 --> 0:24:39.796 was changing her name from Natalie Fisher to Natalie Bowman, 0:24:40.636 --> 0:24:44.436 same first name, just a different last name. Ian says, 0:24:44.476 --> 0:24:46.876 as best as he can recall, she said that she 0:24:46.996 --> 0:24:50.156 was doing this to protect herself, which made sense to 0:24:50.196 --> 0:24:54.156 Inn under the circumstances, and for him, it didn't change 0:24:54.156 --> 0:24:59.636 who she was. It was the same Natalie. I mean, 0:24:59.676 --> 0:25:03.476 she was the same person, regardless of the moniker that 0:25:03.556 --> 0:25:07.596 she was she was using. She had the same flaws, 0:25:07.716 --> 0:25:13.436 the same loves, the same laughs. On several occasions, Ian 0:25:13.516 --> 0:25:16.756 brought Natalie home to meet his parents. He said that 0:25:16.916 --> 0:25:20.996 his mother, Shirley Fleishman, welcome Natalie into their home with 0:25:21.076 --> 0:25:23.236 open arms. I mean, everyone's going to tell you that 0:25:23.236 --> 0:25:25.236 their mom is the most loving and caring person in 0:25:25.236 --> 0:25:27.956 the world right. But for me, my mom is I 0:25:27.996 --> 0:25:33.396 think the most loving and caring person, and she unconditionally 0:25:33.436 --> 0:25:38.476 accepted and love Natalie because of the relationship that I 0:25:38.556 --> 0:25:42.356 had with her. And this relationship between Ian and Natalie 0:25:42.836 --> 0:25:48.556 was serious and at times tumultuous. It was an emotional relationship. 0:25:49.236 --> 0:25:53.756 From the moment we met, I think there we were, 0:25:54.436 --> 0:25:58.236 you know, madly in love or fighting or somewhere in 0:25:58.276 --> 0:26:01.836 between or both at the same time, for the course 0:26:01.916 --> 0:26:05.836 of a year or so before we eventually broke up. 0:26:06.796 --> 0:26:11.196 The breakup happened in part because of biography. Natalie decided 0:26:11.236 --> 0:26:14.236 she wanted to go to college in California, and she 0:26:14.476 --> 0:26:19.476 essentially gave me the ultimatum of quit West Point and 0:26:19.636 --> 0:26:22.996 moved to California while I go to cal State Fullerton 0:26:23.316 --> 0:26:26.316 and get my degree or we're going to break up. 0:26:27.036 --> 0:26:30.796 And I seriously considered leaving West Point. So there was 0:26:30.916 --> 0:26:35.356 in a star student at west Point, literally a starman, 0:26:35.916 --> 0:26:38.476 and he was going to walk away from that for her. 0:26:39.556 --> 0:26:43.236 Ian wrestled with his decision, and then one day it 0:26:43.276 --> 0:26:46.196