1 00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:19,320 Speaker 1: She was partially buried about four years old. She had 2 00:00:19,560 --> 00:00:23,640 Speaker 1: some slippers, no identification, no idea where she came from. 3 00:00:24,320 --> 00:00:26,239 Speaker 1: And that's where she got the name or a miss 4 00:00:26,280 --> 00:00:28,840 Speaker 1: nobody because I couldn't find out who she was. 5 00:00:31,280 --> 00:00:34,040 Speaker 2: In nineteen sixty, the body of a little girl was 6 00:00:34,040 --> 00:00:38,320 Speaker 2: found in the Arizona Desert. Like a lot of cold cases, 7 00:00:38,640 --> 00:00:42,960 Speaker 2: there wasn't much to go on, no eyewitnesses, no overwhelming 8 00:00:43,040 --> 00:00:46,400 Speaker 2: evidence left at the scene, no clues as to who 9 00:00:46,479 --> 00:00:52,400 Speaker 2: she was or who killed her. But this case got 10 00:00:52,440 --> 00:00:56,280 Speaker 2: even more complicated because when DNA came on the scene, 11 00:00:56,520 --> 00:01:02,080 Speaker 2: it pointed detectives in the wrong direction, unwinding. The truth 12 00:01:02,160 --> 00:01:10,120 Speaker 2: came down to whom to trust. This is America's crime lab. 13 00:01:10,319 --> 00:01:14,880 Speaker 2: I'm Alan Lance Lesser, producer Catherine Fanlosa is here and 14 00:01:15,319 --> 00:01:19,880 Speaker 2: this case was almost ruined essentially by bad DNA technology. 15 00:01:20,520 --> 00:01:22,760 Speaker 3: Yeah, it's a story of what can go wrong when 16 00:01:22,920 --> 00:01:27,320 Speaker 3: technology is in the wrong hands. What's the story, so, Allen, 17 00:01:27,400 --> 00:01:29,880 Speaker 3: This is one of the oldest cases that the National 18 00:01:29,920 --> 00:01:33,680 Speaker 3: Center for Missing and Exploited Children has ever been involved with, 19 00:01:34,240 --> 00:01:37,319 Speaker 3: and it's also one that few other labs would touch. 20 00:01:42,640 --> 00:01:46,200 Speaker 3: It starts on a Sunday in July in nineteen sixty 21 00:01:46,400 --> 00:01:49,480 Speaker 3: and a Las Vegas school teacher is looking for rocks 22 00:01:49,480 --> 00:01:52,800 Speaker 3: with his family. They like to decorate their garden with rocks, 23 00:01:53,320 --> 00:01:57,360 Speaker 3: and they pull off a small highway outside of Congress, Arizona. 24 00:01:58,120 --> 00:02:00,280 Speaker 3: And this is a road that runs between Phoenix and 25 00:02:00,360 --> 00:02:05,080 Speaker 3: Las Vegas. But where the family stops, it's miles from anywhere. 26 00:02:05,120 --> 00:02:07,080 Speaker 3: It's just kind of desert sand as far as you 27 00:02:07,120 --> 00:02:16,480 Speaker 3: can see. Ooh, so very isolated, extremely isolated. And Congress 28 00:02:16,520 --> 00:02:23,600 Speaker 3: Arizona is a former mining town. It's tiny and even 29 00:02:23,639 --> 00:02:27,399 Speaker 3: today they're under two thousand residents, so you can kind 30 00:02:27,440 --> 00:02:31,000 Speaker 3: of picture very small. And as the family is looking 31 00:02:31,120 --> 00:02:35,040 Speaker 3: for rocks, they've sort of wandered from the highway and 32 00:02:35,080 --> 00:02:39,040 Speaker 3: they're walking through the desert sand and they stumble upon 33 00:02:39,520 --> 00:02:42,920 Speaker 3: the half buried body of a little girl. Oh no, 34 00:02:43,680 --> 00:02:47,359 Speaker 3: she's wearing a shirt and a pair of shorts. Her 35 00:02:47,520 --> 00:02:51,800 Speaker 3: finger and toenails are painted bright red. She's got a 36 00:02:51,800 --> 00:02:55,519 Speaker 3: pair of adult sized flip flops on that have been 37 00:02:55,600 --> 00:02:57,639 Speaker 3: cut down to fit her small feet. 38 00:03:00,360 --> 00:03:01,600 Speaker 2: That image. 39 00:03:01,960 --> 00:03:05,880 Speaker 3: She has a full set of baby teeth which are 40 00:03:05,919 --> 00:03:10,440 Speaker 3: in pristine condition. And her brown hair has a little 41 00:03:10,520 --> 00:03:13,920 Speaker 3: bit of like an auburn tint, which leads some people 42 00:03:14,120 --> 00:03:19,160 Speaker 3: to speculate like maybe it had been dyed. The police 43 00:03:19,160 --> 00:03:23,080 Speaker 3: are called and they go out to the scene and 44 00:03:23,120 --> 00:03:26,799 Speaker 3: they find a set of footprints, which they document. They 45 00:03:26,840 --> 00:03:32,640 Speaker 3: also find a blood stained pocket knife nearby, and it 46 00:03:32,680 --> 00:03:37,120 Speaker 3: looks like there are also two shallow holes that had 47 00:03:37,120 --> 00:03:41,240 Speaker 3: been dug, maybe failed attempts to dig holes to bury 48 00:03:41,280 --> 00:03:46,000 Speaker 3: her before whoever's done this half buries her in a 49 00:03:46,040 --> 00:03:52,080 Speaker 3: third hole. The family calls the police, and I wanted 50 00:03:52,080 --> 00:03:55,280 Speaker 3: to find out what happened next, so I called John Shannon. 51 00:03:55,800 --> 00:04:03,360 Speaker 3: He's an investigator with the Yavapai County Sheriff's Office. 52 00:04:03,680 --> 00:04:09,320 Speaker 1: Our deputies responded and the normal processes that they would 53 00:04:09,320 --> 00:04:13,720 Speaker 1: do at the time, trying to identify her, doing an anthropology, 54 00:04:15,200 --> 00:04:19,680 Speaker 1: trying to find out what was there, wrote down her clothes, 55 00:04:19,839 --> 00:04:23,359 Speaker 1: wrote down it was a knife there, and what evidence 56 00:04:23,600 --> 00:04:27,000 Speaker 1: was collected at the time was stored at the county 57 00:04:27,120 --> 00:04:29,640 Speaker 1: courthouse in Prescott. 58 00:04:30,360 --> 00:04:36,680 Speaker 3: And an autopsy is ordered and pathologists examined her body 59 00:04:37,440 --> 00:04:40,720 Speaker 3: and they determined that she probably died a week or 60 00:04:40,720 --> 00:04:46,279 Speaker 3: two before she was discovered. She had been burned, but 61 00:04:46,960 --> 00:04:50,960 Speaker 3: because her body's been left out in this intense heat, 62 00:04:52,680 --> 00:04:58,680 Speaker 3: it's also really badly decomposed, so they're unable to determine 63 00:04:58,720 --> 00:05:03,360 Speaker 3: exactly how she does. But in examining her, they don't 64 00:05:03,400 --> 00:05:06,320 Speaker 3: see any signs that she had been previously injured. They 65 00:05:06,360 --> 00:05:09,760 Speaker 3: are no old broken bones that have healed, like, no 66 00:05:09,880 --> 00:05:12,120 Speaker 3: other signs of like old traumas. 67 00:05:14,440 --> 00:05:17,760 Speaker 2: At first, it was striking me that we have a 68 00:05:17,760 --> 00:05:20,480 Speaker 2: lot of information, like the color of her hair, all 69 00:05:20,520 --> 00:05:24,000 Speaker 2: of her teeth. But then when I heard that she'd 70 00:05:24,040 --> 00:05:28,640 Speaker 2: been burned, was out in the heat, was decomposing, Suddenly, 71 00:05:28,680 --> 00:05:31,599 Speaker 2: I'm thinking this is going to be hard to even 72 00:05:31,880 --> 00:05:32,760 Speaker 2: identify her. 73 00:05:33,360 --> 00:05:36,440 Speaker 3: So initially they think she's between six and eight years old, 74 00:05:37,000 --> 00:05:41,360 Speaker 3: but then as time goes on, other reports guess she's 75 00:05:41,440 --> 00:05:45,800 Speaker 3: anywhere between four and nine. She weighed about fifty five 76 00:05:45,880 --> 00:05:48,560 Speaker 3: pounds and she was three and a half feet tall. 77 00:05:50,680 --> 00:05:56,400 Speaker 2: Why does a kid that age have to meet that fate? 78 00:05:56,560 --> 00:05:59,479 Speaker 3: That's I know, it's horrible. 79 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:01,880 Speaker 2: Beginning of each one of these stories. 80 00:06:02,400 --> 00:06:05,640 Speaker 3: So they mark her death as suspicious, even though they 81 00:06:05,640 --> 00:06:09,400 Speaker 3: don't know exactly how she died. Initially, John Shannon says 82 00:06:09,440 --> 00:06:11,680 Speaker 3: investigators think they might have a lead. 83 00:06:12,320 --> 00:06:15,240 Speaker 1: They had got that she was from al Mgirdle because 84 00:06:15,279 --> 00:06:18,600 Speaker 1: a little girl was missing at Alamgirdo, So at. 85 00:06:18,520 --> 00:06:21,400 Speaker 3: First investigators think she might actually be a little girl 86 00:06:21,400 --> 00:06:25,560 Speaker 3: who went missing from Alamagordo, New Mexico, which is over 87 00:06:25,680 --> 00:06:29,679 Speaker 3: five hundred miles away from where this body is found. 88 00:06:30,480 --> 00:06:33,760 Speaker 3: But then the description of her clothing, her age, and 89 00:06:33,839 --> 00:06:37,080 Speaker 3: her footprints don't match up with the little girl who 90 00:06:37,120 --> 00:06:41,560 Speaker 3: was missing from New Mexico, so law enforcement dismisses any connection. 91 00:06:42,880 --> 00:06:48,159 Speaker 3: The local newspapers run stories about this discovery of the 92 00:06:48,200 --> 00:06:52,680 Speaker 3: little girl's body on the front page, but with really 93 00:06:52,800 --> 00:06:56,560 Speaker 3: no leads and not much evidence, the case goes cold. 94 00:06:58,200 --> 00:07:01,880 Speaker 2: That is just, honestly so tragic to me that someone 95 00:07:01,960 --> 00:07:07,280 Speaker 2: that young either doesn't have people looking for her or 96 00:07:08,200 --> 00:07:11,520 Speaker 2: somehow they don't know where to look for her. I mean, 97 00:07:11,840 --> 00:07:17,320 Speaker 2: any case, it's tragic, but this little child, who presumably, 98 00:07:17,360 --> 00:07:22,760 Speaker 2: you know, relies on people, to not have anyone finding her. 99 00:07:22,880 --> 00:07:25,680 Speaker 2: It's just it just gets me that much more. 100 00:07:25,760 --> 00:07:28,239 Speaker 4: I don't know, You're not alone. 101 00:07:28,560 --> 00:07:33,240 Speaker 3: So the residents of neighboring Prescott, Arizona, become captivated by 102 00:07:33,280 --> 00:07:39,440 Speaker 3: her story, and the community nicknames her little miss Nobody. Oh, 103 00:07:40,400 --> 00:07:42,120 Speaker 3: I know, it kind of broke my heart when I 104 00:07:42,160 --> 00:07:49,240 Speaker 3: heard that name. Yeah, A local radio announcer leads a 105 00:07:49,280 --> 00:07:52,880 Speaker 3: campaign to raise money for a funeral because the other 106 00:07:52,920 --> 00:07:55,560 Speaker 3: option was her body was going to be buried in 107 00:07:56,400 --> 00:08:01,360 Speaker 3: what they called Pauper's Field, and feels we need to 108 00:08:01,360 --> 00:08:04,440 Speaker 3: give this little girl a proper burial, even though we 109 00:08:04,480 --> 00:08:05,360 Speaker 3: don't know who she is. 110 00:08:06,520 --> 00:08:12,119 Speaker 1: The city residents of Prescott donate the money to buy 111 00:08:12,360 --> 00:08:21,400 Speaker 1: a casket and put her in the ground in Prescott Cemetery. 112 00:08:21,480 --> 00:08:24,000 Speaker 3: The small little coffin is engraved with a note that 113 00:08:24,160 --> 00:08:28,760 Speaker 3: says God's little Child. Date of birth unknown, date of 114 00:08:28,880 --> 00:08:29,840 Speaker 3: death unknown. 115 00:08:30,920 --> 00:08:34,040 Speaker 2: I mean, in a way, there's something beautiful about being 116 00:08:34,040 --> 00:08:38,120 Speaker 2: able to set someone to rest. But I'm also like, wait, what, 117 00:08:38,200 --> 00:08:40,319 Speaker 2: you're just putting all this evidence in the ground when 118 00:08:40,320 --> 00:08:44,720 Speaker 2: you haven't solved the case. I'm sure I'll find out Catherine, won't. 119 00:08:44,760 --> 00:08:48,880 Speaker 3: I also remember it's nineteen sixty, right, so they're sort 120 00:08:48,880 --> 00:08:52,480 Speaker 3: of going about this by the book for the times. 121 00:08:52,559 --> 00:08:54,520 Speaker 3: And I'll get into what they do with some of 122 00:08:54,520 --> 00:08:57,200 Speaker 3: the evidence in just a minute. But they hold a 123 00:08:57,240 --> 00:08:59,880 Speaker 3: funeral and more than seventy locals gather at the kun 124 00:09:00,000 --> 00:09:04,880 Speaker 3: Gregational Church for her funeral. The pastor, doctor Charles Parker, 125 00:09:05,000 --> 00:09:10,800 Speaker 3: gives a really emotional speech. He says, someone somewhere is 126 00:09:10,840 --> 00:09:13,880 Speaker 3: wondering what happened to a little girl left in the desert, 127 00:09:15,360 --> 00:09:19,160 Speaker 3: and they bury her with a headstone that reads little 128 00:09:19,200 --> 00:09:27,480 Speaker 3: Miss Nobody, Blessed are the pure in heart. So for 129 00:09:27,559 --> 00:09:31,480 Speaker 3: over sixty years, that's how she's known little Miss Nobody. 130 00:09:32,800 --> 00:09:39,720 Speaker 3: But that starts to change in twenty eleven. So a 131 00:09:39,760 --> 00:09:43,160 Speaker 3: woman working on a completely different cold case in Colorado 132 00:09:43,440 --> 00:09:47,920 Speaker 3: turns up in Prescott, Arizona, and she's asking about little 133 00:09:48,000 --> 00:09:51,600 Speaker 3: Miss Nobody. John Shannon says, no one really knew what 134 00:09:51,600 --> 00:09:53,679 Speaker 3: she was talking about, because, you know, it had been 135 00:09:53,920 --> 00:09:57,640 Speaker 3: five decades since the little girl was found dead, and 136 00:09:57,760 --> 00:10:00,800 Speaker 3: the detectives who originally worked on the case had retired, 137 00:10:01,200 --> 00:10:08,000 Speaker 3: people had passed away, just institutional memory had faded. But 138 00:10:08,320 --> 00:10:11,880 Speaker 3: investigator John Shannon says, detectives started to look around to 139 00:10:11,960 --> 00:10:15,679 Speaker 3: find out, what is this case? Who is this little 140 00:10:15,679 --> 00:10:16,480 Speaker 3: miss Nobody? 141 00:10:18,440 --> 00:10:22,520 Speaker 1: We had nothing to go on. Zero nobody here knew 142 00:10:22,559 --> 00:10:25,920 Speaker 1: anything about her because there was no case files. How 143 00:10:25,960 --> 00:10:29,880 Speaker 1: do we find out anything about her? And so where 144 00:10:29,880 --> 00:10:30,440 Speaker 1: do we start? 145 00:10:50,400 --> 00:10:53,120 Speaker 2: I get that they found this girl's body in nineteen sixty, 146 00:10:53,240 --> 00:10:56,360 Speaker 2: so it's been decades, but how are there literally no 147 00:10:56,640 --> 00:10:58,120 Speaker 2: case files for this crime? 148 00:10:58,640 --> 00:11:02,440 Speaker 1: That's a little bit hard to explaining because between nineteen 149 00:11:02,600 --> 00:11:08,880 Speaker 1: sixty two and roughly nineteen ninety whatever original files that 150 00:11:09,000 --> 00:11:12,640 Speaker 1: were ever put together were purged. 151 00:11:13,440 --> 00:11:16,680 Speaker 3: And this isn't unusual. I mean, back then all the 152 00:11:16,720 --> 00:11:20,439 Speaker 3: files were on paper, and you know, over the years, 153 00:11:20,480 --> 00:11:23,679 Speaker 3: police departments move or run out of space for storage, 154 00:11:24,120 --> 00:11:27,480 Speaker 3: their floods. I mean, you know, things happen and files 155 00:11:27,480 --> 00:11:31,120 Speaker 3: get lost. John does find a retired detective and he 156 00:11:31,200 --> 00:11:33,920 Speaker 3: learns that evidence was sent to the FBI back in 157 00:11:33,960 --> 00:11:36,160 Speaker 3: the sixties, and so he reaches out to them. 158 00:11:36,720 --> 00:11:40,520 Speaker 1: So we did contact the FBI. They had the clothes, 159 00:11:40,960 --> 00:11:45,040 Speaker 1: but they're gone, and they actually did a footprint from 160 00:11:46,160 --> 00:11:49,520 Speaker 1: a footprint in the sand and tried to identify that 161 00:11:49,640 --> 00:11:52,920 Speaker 1: determined they couldn't. And then when we went back to them, 162 00:11:53,000 --> 00:11:55,440 Speaker 1: they had no files. Their files were gone. 163 00:11:55,640 --> 00:11:58,760 Speaker 2: So all the evidence is gone vanished. 164 00:11:59,559 --> 00:12:01,720 Speaker 3: Yeah, the detectives really have nothing. 165 00:12:02,200 --> 00:12:04,400 Speaker 1: It was this big, gigantic puzzle that we had to 166 00:12:04,600 --> 00:12:06,040 Speaker 1: put together piece by piece. 167 00:12:06,559 --> 00:12:10,160 Speaker 3: Now John is an investigator, so naturally he's a curious guy. 168 00:12:10,880 --> 00:12:13,920 Speaker 3: So he thinks, where do I go now, and so 169 00:12:14,080 --> 00:12:16,440 Speaker 3: he heads down to the local historical museum. 170 00:12:20,080 --> 00:12:25,240 Speaker 1: Everything that we came up with was developed the research, 171 00:12:25,800 --> 00:12:30,960 Speaker 1: getting newspaper articles, and there was something like sixty five 172 00:12:31,000 --> 00:12:35,400 Speaker 1: different newspaper articles all talking about this little girl. 173 00:12:35,960 --> 00:12:38,520 Speaker 3: John makes himself at home in the museum and he 174 00:12:38,600 --> 00:12:39,600 Speaker 3: starts to dig. 175 00:12:42,120 --> 00:12:44,680 Speaker 1: And read all those and took all the names we 176 00:12:44,720 --> 00:12:48,280 Speaker 1: could find of the people involved. The preacher, the radio 177 00:12:48,400 --> 00:12:54,480 Speaker 1: disc jockey was involved, the deputy, retired judges, retired detectives, 178 00:12:55,000 --> 00:12:59,160 Speaker 1: and put all that into some kind of case file. 179 00:12:59,800 --> 00:13:02,480 Speaker 1: In those hours and hours and hours an hour. 180 00:13:04,559 --> 00:13:09,040 Speaker 2: My first thought was maybe this girl is from really 181 00:13:09,080 --> 00:13:13,240 Speaker 2: far away, because I mean, if they found her body 182 00:13:13,280 --> 00:13:17,240 Speaker 2: here and they can't figure out who it is. But 183 00:13:17,280 --> 00:13:20,160 Speaker 2: then also part of me wonders, what if this was 184 00:13:20,200 --> 00:13:25,160 Speaker 2: some kind of murder, and like maybe the parents or 185 00:13:25,600 --> 00:13:30,400 Speaker 2: somebody is actually close by. So I don't know. I'm curious. 186 00:13:31,240 --> 00:13:34,240 Speaker 3: She's found in the desert sand off of the highway, 187 00:13:34,800 --> 00:13:38,480 Speaker 3: But that highway, even though it's in a very remote area, 188 00:13:38,640 --> 00:13:44,400 Speaker 3: does connect to more populous areas, obviously Las Vegas and 189 00:13:44,440 --> 00:13:46,400 Speaker 3: then Phoenix, Arizona. 190 00:13:47,120 --> 00:13:51,360 Speaker 2: Someone's trying to drop a body in a remote area, 191 00:13:51,559 --> 00:13:55,880 Speaker 2: they might just jump on the highway and stop by 192 00:13:55,960 --> 00:13:56,680 Speaker 2: and keep going. 193 00:13:57,440 --> 00:14:00,400 Speaker 3: You can see why this case is so difficult. So 194 00:14:00,600 --> 00:14:04,240 Speaker 3: investigator John Shannon now has a new case file with 195 00:14:04,559 --> 00:14:08,640 Speaker 3: old newspaper clippings, and from reading those, he's got a lead. 196 00:14:09,440 --> 00:14:13,679 Speaker 1: And that's when we said, oh, she's buried here, and 197 00:14:13,679 --> 00:14:16,640 Speaker 1: we didn't know that either. So after we got all 198 00:14:16,679 --> 00:14:19,720 Speaker 1: the documentation together, I had your write up of justification 199 00:14:20,320 --> 00:14:23,560 Speaker 1: into the county attorney to go before the judge to 200 00:14:23,560 --> 00:14:27,120 Speaker 1: get a court order to exum her because there was 201 00:14:27,120 --> 00:14:29,560 Speaker 1: no family, you know, we didn't know who she was. 202 00:14:30,080 --> 00:14:33,400 Speaker 3: A judge grants the request and they dig up her casket. 203 00:14:33,920 --> 00:14:38,280 Speaker 3: They're able to get her skeletal remains. Now the detectives 204 00:14:38,360 --> 00:14:43,160 Speaker 3: partner with names the National Missing and Unidentified Person System. 205 00:14:43,640 --> 00:14:48,720 Speaker 1: And we actually end up getting her DNA, and then 206 00:14:48,880 --> 00:14:53,000 Speaker 1: from there it was okay, we have DNA, but it 207 00:14:53,120 --> 00:14:54,840 Speaker 1: doesn't tell us anything. 208 00:14:55,240 --> 00:14:58,320 Speaker 2: So they have her DNA, but they still don't know 209 00:14:58,400 --> 00:14:59,280 Speaker 2: anything about her. 210 00:15:00,080 --> 00:15:04,080 Speaker 1: They don't, and they developed the DNA profile and it's 211 00:15:04,120 --> 00:15:07,880 Speaker 1: given back to NamUs and it's entered into KOTAS. But 212 00:15:07,920 --> 00:15:10,400 Speaker 1: that doesn't do us any good because there was nothing 213 00:15:10,440 --> 00:15:11,160 Speaker 1: to match to it. 214 00:15:12,080 --> 00:15:16,080 Speaker 3: John Shannon is discouraged, but he doesn't give up. Detectives 215 00:15:16,200 --> 00:15:20,720 Speaker 3: keep circling back to one idea. Aileen remember I mentioned 216 00:15:20,920 --> 00:15:23,880 Speaker 3: that back in nineteen sixty, police thought there was a 217 00:15:24,000 --> 00:15:27,200 Speaker 3: chance that little Miss Nobody was actually a little girl 218 00:15:27,240 --> 00:15:30,240 Speaker 3: who had been kidnapped in Alamagordo, New Mexico. 219 00:15:31,200 --> 00:15:34,120 Speaker 2: Yeah, but I thought they rulled it out. 220 00:15:34,600 --> 00:15:37,520 Speaker 3: They did at the time. They said her clothing wasn't 221 00:15:37,600 --> 00:15:41,080 Speaker 3: the same. They also said the New Mexico girl, whose 222 00:15:41,160 --> 00:15:45,040 Speaker 3: name was Sharon Galagos, was four and little Miss Nobody 223 00:15:45,080 --> 00:15:49,400 Speaker 3: was probably older. Michael Perry from the Yavapai County Sheriff's 224 00:15:49,440 --> 00:15:51,360 Speaker 3: office said there were also some other issues. 225 00:15:52,320 --> 00:15:55,160 Speaker 5: They were able to get footprints off of the body, 226 00:15:55,360 --> 00:15:58,400 Speaker 5: but the FBI came back later on and said that 227 00:15:58,920 --> 00:16:01,560 Speaker 5: those footprints were not at The footprints from the body 228 00:16:01,560 --> 00:16:03,840 Speaker 5: in Arizona were not a match to the footprints of 229 00:16:03,880 --> 00:16:06,479 Speaker 5: Sharon Diego's Interesting. 230 00:16:07,240 --> 00:16:10,120 Speaker 2: I'm kind of surprised that they're confident that it's not 231 00:16:10,200 --> 00:16:13,880 Speaker 2: the same little girl. I mean, how exactly are they 232 00:16:14,000 --> 00:16:17,680 Speaker 2: matching footprints? I'm guessing the body of the girl in 233 00:16:17,680 --> 00:16:22,360 Speaker 2: the desert has changed from decomposition, Like, how do you 234 00:16:22,400 --> 00:16:22,920 Speaker 2: measure that? 235 00:16:23,720 --> 00:16:26,160 Speaker 3: Yeah, and even though that lead was discounted back in 236 00:16:26,240 --> 00:16:30,080 Speaker 3: nineteen sixty, John Shannon and his colleagues just can't get 237 00:16:30,080 --> 00:16:31,280 Speaker 3: it out of their minds. 238 00:16:31,600 --> 00:16:34,920 Speaker 1: So we were kind of snooping around, actually out down 239 00:16:34,920 --> 00:16:37,840 Speaker 1: on the girdle. There was nothing that alo'girdle could supply. 240 00:16:37,960 --> 00:16:42,240 Speaker 1: They gave us any clues because all they saw was 241 00:16:42,240 --> 00:16:44,720 Speaker 1: was a girl abducted and she left town, and that's 242 00:16:44,720 --> 00:16:47,080 Speaker 1: all they really knew about it. That's all their records had. 243 00:16:47,560 --> 00:16:49,960 Speaker 3: John decides to do a little digging on his own 244 00:16:50,040 --> 00:16:53,400 Speaker 3: to find out anything he can about the New Mexico girl, 245 00:16:53,560 --> 00:16:57,600 Speaker 3: Sharon Galagos, and he finds an obituary for her mother. 246 00:16:58,400 --> 00:17:00,880 Speaker 3: It turns out that Sharon had siblings. 247 00:17:01,680 --> 00:17:05,920 Speaker 1: I got a copy of the obituary. It mentioned brother Johnny. 248 00:17:06,440 --> 00:17:10,080 Speaker 1: Name Us was very helpful in trying to find him, 249 00:17:10,359 --> 00:17:13,199 Speaker 1: which we did. Name Is found him in Germany and 250 00:17:13,240 --> 00:17:15,680 Speaker 1: we had the FBI go and get his DNA. 251 00:17:16,440 --> 00:17:20,080 Speaker 2: Oh wow. So this case from nineteen sixty starts in 252 00:17:20,119 --> 00:17:24,720 Speaker 2: the Arizona Desert, brings us to New Mexico and now Germany. 253 00:17:25,760 --> 00:17:29,680 Speaker 3: So the FBI helps orchestrate this and authorities contact Johnny 254 00:17:29,720 --> 00:17:33,080 Speaker 3: with a request. And Johnny is the brother of the 255 00:17:33,119 --> 00:17:34,200 Speaker 3: missing girl Sharon. 256 00:17:34,880 --> 00:17:37,000 Speaker 1: We believe that there might be a max cher, but 257 00:17:37,080 --> 00:17:41,080 Speaker 1: we need your DNA to compare it to the little 258 00:17:41,119 --> 00:17:42,160 Speaker 1: girl's DNA. 259 00:17:42,320 --> 00:17:45,520 Speaker 3: Johnny gives his DNA and it's compared and a report 260 00:17:45,560 --> 00:17:50,200 Speaker 3: comes back saying this little girl is not Sharon Glegos, 261 00:17:50,280 --> 00:17:53,479 Speaker 3: the little girl in New Mexico, but the results are 262 00:17:53,520 --> 00:17:59,119 Speaker 3: also inconclusive. Basically, it says, we can't tell you who 263 00:17:59,240 --> 00:18:00,480 Speaker 3: little misnow that he is. 264 00:18:01,200 --> 00:18:03,199 Speaker 2: This is so frustrating. I just want to know. 265 00:18:03,640 --> 00:18:07,000 Speaker 3: At this point, detectives turned to the top forensic experts 266 00:18:07,040 --> 00:18:08,040 Speaker 3: in the country for help. 267 00:18:08,520 --> 00:18:13,640 Speaker 1: All those organizations had a shot at trying to identify her, 268 00:18:14,000 --> 00:18:17,719 Speaker 1: and these other companies all said, we can't do anything. 269 00:18:18,000 --> 00:18:20,560 Speaker 1: We can't tell you anything about her. We don't know how, 270 00:18:20,600 --> 00:18:28,960 Speaker 1: we can't identify it. And it was it was frustrating, 271 00:18:29,119 --> 00:18:32,399 Speaker 1: but it seemed like every time we did something, we 272 00:18:32,480 --> 00:18:35,159 Speaker 1: got a little closer, you know, a little closer to 273 00:18:35,240 --> 00:18:47,600 Speaker 1: trying to find out who she was. And I it's sorry, 274 00:18:47,680 --> 00:18:52,600 Speaker 1: you get emotional when you get to a solution. 275 00:18:55,320 --> 00:18:57,880 Speaker 3: The Sheriff's office has used up any money they had 276 00:18:57,920 --> 00:19:01,719 Speaker 3: on the case, Their best lead was proven wrong, and 277 00:19:01,760 --> 00:19:03,440 Speaker 3: everyone's telling them it's hopeless. 278 00:19:05,640 --> 00:19:11,320 Speaker 2: I mean, that's very frustrating, and it's weird to think 279 00:19:11,359 --> 00:19:14,040 Speaker 2: that they have DNA from her and they still can't 280 00:19:14,080 --> 00:19:15,439 Speaker 2: even figure out who she is. 281 00:19:16,760 --> 00:19:19,320 Speaker 3: And then one day in twenty twenty one, a guy 282 00:19:19,480 --> 00:19:22,160 Speaker 3: named Michael Vogan is watching the news and he sees 283 00:19:22,160 --> 00:19:25,080 Speaker 3: a story about little Miss Nobody and he picks up 284 00:19:25,119 --> 00:19:26,600 Speaker 3: the phone to call John Shannon. 285 00:19:27,280 --> 00:19:30,000 Speaker 6: So here I come, calling the investigator and I'm like, 286 00:19:30,119 --> 00:19:31,760 Speaker 6: this is new, and he's like, I already tried it. 287 00:19:32,240 --> 00:19:34,120 Speaker 6: I'm like, yeah, but this is different. Why why can't 288 00:19:34,160 --> 00:19:35,000 Speaker 6: we take a shot at this? 289 00:19:59,119 --> 00:20:01,359 Speaker 2: So remind me who Michael Vogan is. 290 00:20:01,880 --> 00:20:04,920 Speaker 3: He works with Authram as the director of case management. 291 00:20:05,200 --> 00:20:09,160 Speaker 3: He's kind of a point person with detectives, and one day, 292 00:20:09,200 --> 00:20:11,720 Speaker 3: when he sees this news story about the little Miss 293 00:20:11,760 --> 00:20:16,320 Speaker 3: Nobody case still going unsolved, he begs John Shannon to 294 00:20:16,359 --> 00:20:17,680 Speaker 3: give it one more try. 295 00:20:18,560 --> 00:20:20,840 Speaker 6: I said, you may have had a profile that wasn't 296 00:20:21,359 --> 00:20:24,400 Speaker 6: applicable for this type of analysis. You may have missmatches. 297 00:20:25,440 --> 00:20:28,280 Speaker 3: Michael's convinced that the DNA testing that's been done so 298 00:20:28,440 --> 00:20:32,600 Speaker 3: far wasn't designed for forensic DNA and so it could 299 00:20:32,680 --> 00:20:36,119 Speaker 3: be missing clues to her identity, or it could actually 300 00:20:36,160 --> 00:20:39,760 Speaker 3: even lead them away from the truth. I asked Chris 301 00:20:39,760 --> 00:20:43,320 Speaker 3: and Middleman from Outhrum to explain for starter. She says, 302 00:20:43,359 --> 00:20:46,159 Speaker 3: the evidence was sixty two years old and had sat 303 00:20:46,200 --> 00:20:47,840 Speaker 3: in the hot Arizona sun. 304 00:20:48,720 --> 00:20:53,359 Speaker 4: There was degradation caused by the heat. There was contamination 305 00:20:53,720 --> 00:20:57,280 Speaker 4: from plants, animals, everything that is out there at that 306 00:20:57,440 --> 00:21:01,480 Speaker 4: time back to you, obviously, and that made it very 307 00:21:01,520 --> 00:21:05,280 Speaker 4: difficult to work those remains. So when they weren't able 308 00:21:05,359 --> 00:21:10,800 Speaker 4: to get enough DNA markers using the correct science, they 309 00:21:10,840 --> 00:21:16,359 Speaker 4: did something called imputation where they use software software that 310 00:21:16,640 --> 00:21:21,720 Speaker 4: isn't forensic, to try to impute what the DNA would 311 00:21:21,720 --> 00:21:25,480 Speaker 4: look like. And then they tried to compare the DNA 312 00:21:25,840 --> 00:21:30,440 Speaker 4: to DNA that family references had given to the case. 313 00:21:30,880 --> 00:21:37,639 Speaker 4: They said that little miss Nobody was not sharing Gallegos. 314 00:21:38,320 --> 00:21:41,359 Speaker 4: Let me get this straight. They had somehow filled out 315 00:21:41,400 --> 00:21:44,720 Speaker 4: their missing DNA markers and predicted the rest of the 316 00:21:44,800 --> 00:21:49,199 Speaker 4: profile through some kind of calculation or mathematical way of 317 00:21:49,240 --> 00:21:53,600 Speaker 4: guessing at the DNA, but what they inferred was actually wrong. 318 00:21:54,320 --> 00:21:58,000 Speaker 4: It's like if you were to read a book and 319 00:21:58,680 --> 00:22:02,200 Speaker 4: you could only see half the ages, maybe you would 320 00:22:02,280 --> 00:22:04,040 Speaker 4: infer the wrong ending to a story. 321 00:22:04,800 --> 00:22:08,160 Speaker 3: And then there was another issue. The FBI got DNA 322 00:22:08,280 --> 00:22:12,600 Speaker 3: from Sharon Galegos's family in Germany. They got DNA from 323 00:22:12,680 --> 00:22:16,399 Speaker 3: someone who they thought was her mother's brother, but he 324 00:22:16,560 --> 00:22:17,840 Speaker 3: was actually a half brother. 325 00:22:19,160 --> 00:22:23,880 Speaker 4: It was a half sibling relationship, which CODIS isn't good 326 00:22:23,960 --> 00:22:28,679 Speaker 4: at identifying relationships unless itself or parent child. And so 327 00:22:29,320 --> 00:22:33,679 Speaker 4: they hired a genealogy group to actually do advanced DNA 328 00:22:33,800 --> 00:22:38,679 Speaker 4: testing and to do these comparisons. And that's the report 329 00:22:39,080 --> 00:22:45,720 Speaker 4: that actually said that it's certain that Sharon Gallegos was 330 00:22:45,800 --> 00:22:50,160 Speaker 4: not little miss Nobody and then the case was over. 331 00:22:50,880 --> 00:22:54,040 Speaker 4: How is the detective supposed to know that there's another 332 00:22:54,160 --> 00:22:56,560 Speaker 4: lab in Texas called authorm that's going to build a 333 00:22:56,560 --> 00:22:57,360 Speaker 4: different profile. 334 00:22:58,560 --> 00:23:01,960 Speaker 2: I completely get why the investigator is skeptical when this 335 00:23:02,000 --> 00:23:04,600 Speaker 2: guy from AUTHRAM calls him and says, hey, our lab 336 00:23:04,640 --> 00:23:08,240 Speaker 2: in Texas has technology that can work, because he's been 337 00:23:08,240 --> 00:23:10,800 Speaker 2: promised that before and it didn't lead anywhere. 338 00:23:11,320 --> 00:23:14,520 Speaker 3: And there was also the money issue, because Yavapai County 339 00:23:14,520 --> 00:23:17,280 Speaker 3: Sheriff's office had run out of funds to work on 340 00:23:17,320 --> 00:23:17,800 Speaker 3: the case. 341 00:23:18,720 --> 00:23:21,080 Speaker 6: I said, okay, well let's crowdfund it. We have this 342 00:23:21,119 --> 00:23:23,080 Speaker 6: group of people online that would probably help. 343 00:23:23,480 --> 00:23:26,159 Speaker 3: So Michael from OUTHRAM calls the reporter who did the 344 00:23:26,200 --> 00:23:27,160 Speaker 3: recent news story. 345 00:23:27,680 --> 00:23:29,040 Speaker 6: I reached out to her and I said, hey, we're 346 00:23:29,040 --> 00:23:31,520 Speaker 6: going to take a shot at this. Do you think 347 00:23:31,520 --> 00:23:33,920 Speaker 6: you guys could put us story out and help us 348 00:23:34,240 --> 00:23:37,600 Speaker 6: publicize this crowdfund? She said, I would love to because 349 00:23:37,680 --> 00:23:39,439 Speaker 6: I would love to see this little girl get her 350 00:23:39,520 --> 00:23:39,960 Speaker 6: name back. 351 00:23:40,400 --> 00:23:43,119 Speaker 3: Alan. I should explain that authram has a website that 352 00:23:43,240 --> 00:23:47,159 Speaker 3: lists unsolved cases and anyone can go online and donate 353 00:23:47,240 --> 00:23:50,920 Speaker 3: money to have a particular case solved. And so the reporter, 354 00:23:51,200 --> 00:23:54,320 Speaker 3: Brianna Whitney puts out another story. 355 00:23:54,440 --> 00:23:57,000 Speaker 6: And kudos to her and the Sheriff's office. They both 356 00:23:57,040 --> 00:23:59,000 Speaker 6: put out this blast and within twenty four hours we 357 00:23:59,080 --> 00:24:01,679 Speaker 6: raised the money to do it, which was still like 358 00:24:01,720 --> 00:24:03,119 Speaker 6: a record to this day. I don't know how they 359 00:24:03,400 --> 00:24:04,560 Speaker 6: pulled that off, but they did. 360 00:24:05,320 --> 00:24:08,760 Speaker 3: Now, little Miss Nobody's remains are sent to the Texas 361 00:24:08,840 --> 00:24:11,719 Speaker 3: Lab and they pulled DNA from one of her teeth. 362 00:24:14,560 --> 00:24:17,879 Speaker 4: The DNA worked really well in our hands, which was amazing, 363 00:24:18,520 --> 00:24:20,399 Speaker 4: and as soon as we sequence, we were able to 364 00:24:20,400 --> 00:24:21,639 Speaker 4: get a lot of markers. 365 00:24:23,760 --> 00:24:27,800 Speaker 3: This more detailed DNA profile is uploaded to genealogy sites 366 00:24:28,320 --> 00:24:32,320 Speaker 3: and suddenly they're getting clues of little Miss Nobody's real identity. 367 00:24:32,680 --> 00:24:33,600 Speaker 7: Oh my gosh. 368 00:24:33,880 --> 00:24:36,960 Speaker 3: That's when Michael Vogan gets a call from David Middleman 369 00:24:37,080 --> 00:24:37,720 Speaker 3: from authrom. 370 00:24:39,840 --> 00:24:43,280 Speaker 6: David called me and he goes, hey, who did they 371 00:24:43,320 --> 00:24:45,560 Speaker 6: think this person this little girl was? And I go, 372 00:24:45,720 --> 00:24:48,800 Speaker 6: Sharon Galagos is the little girl's name from New Mexico. 373 00:24:48,840 --> 00:24:51,639 Speaker 6: And he goes, I think that's her And I go, 374 00:24:51,760 --> 00:24:53,280 Speaker 6: no way, and he goes, yeah, can we talk to 375 00:24:53,280 --> 00:24:55,680 Speaker 6: someone there? I said sure, We got on the phone. 376 00:24:55,720 --> 00:24:59,040 Speaker 3: We talked to the investigator, and that investigator, John Shannon, 377 00:24:59,560 --> 00:25:03,960 Speaker 3: he's breaking down more clues. Outside of the family in Germany. 378 00:25:04,160 --> 00:25:06,639 Speaker 1: We found there was other people here in the United 379 00:25:06,680 --> 00:25:08,040 Speaker 1: States that popped up. 380 00:25:08,880 --> 00:25:12,640 Speaker 3: One name that popped up was Rinaldo Chavez. His mom 381 00:25:12,840 --> 00:25:16,159 Speaker 3: was Sharon's older sister, so the older sister of the 382 00:25:16,200 --> 00:25:19,119 Speaker 3: girl who went missing. And now the case is starting 383 00:25:19,160 --> 00:25:22,000 Speaker 3: to move pretty quickly. Ronaldo and his siblings get a 384 00:25:22,040 --> 00:25:24,159 Speaker 3: call from the sheriff's office. 385 00:25:24,400 --> 00:25:29,040 Speaker 7: So they reached out to me, and they asked me 386 00:25:29,119 --> 00:25:32,600 Speaker 7: a lot of questions about, you know, what happened, who 387 00:25:32,680 --> 00:25:36,199 Speaker 7: was still alive? You know, they really didn't say what 388 00:25:36,280 --> 00:25:36,960 Speaker 7: was going on. 389 00:25:37,760 --> 00:25:42,359 Speaker 3: Who was still alive. Sadly, Sharon's mom passed away in 390 00:25:42,359 --> 00:25:47,480 Speaker 3: twenty eleven and her big sister, Ronaldo's mom died in 391 00:25:47,520 --> 00:25:50,680 Speaker 3: twenty seventeen, we knew. 392 00:25:50,400 --> 00:25:53,560 Speaker 7: That my mom's sister had been kidnapped. You know, my 393 00:25:53,640 --> 00:25:55,639 Speaker 7: mom told us that, but she didn't really want to 394 00:25:55,680 --> 00:25:58,480 Speaker 7: go into specifics because it brought up a lot of emotion. 395 00:26:00,119 --> 00:26:04,160 Speaker 7: It's still very hard for my uncle to talk about it, 396 00:26:04,200 --> 00:26:07,800 Speaker 7: and it was still very emotional for you know. He 397 00:26:07,880 --> 00:26:11,080 Speaker 7: felt helpless, he said, you know, being ten years old, 398 00:26:11,880 --> 00:26:14,439 Speaker 7: being you know, the boy and the family, and he 399 00:26:14,480 --> 00:26:15,760 Speaker 7: said he just felt helpless. 400 00:26:17,080 --> 00:26:19,680 Speaker 3: Even though the family didn't really want to talk about 401 00:26:19,680 --> 00:26:24,720 Speaker 3: Sharon's disappearance, the whole community knew about it. Years later, 402 00:26:25,040 --> 00:26:29,080 Speaker 3: Ronaldo enrolled in classes at the local community college. 403 00:26:29,720 --> 00:26:34,600 Speaker 7: And my biology teacher, missus Cassiah, when she was reading rolled, 404 00:26:34,760 --> 00:26:38,600 Speaker 7: she goes, Ronaldo Chavez and you know you raised her 405 00:26:38,600 --> 00:26:41,359 Speaker 7: hands say you were here. She said, oh, your aunt 406 00:26:41,480 --> 00:26:45,119 Speaker 7: was kidnapped in nineteen sixty, I mean in front of 407 00:26:45,119 --> 00:26:49,119 Speaker 7: the whole class, and then everybody, everybody in the classroom 408 00:26:49,200 --> 00:26:52,080 Speaker 7: in clearing. Myself was shocked and I was like, how 409 00:26:52,119 --> 00:26:54,680 Speaker 7: do you know about that? Oh, well, can talk about 410 00:26:54,680 --> 00:26:58,280 Speaker 7: it after class. What it happened to be is miss Messiah, 411 00:26:58,320 --> 00:27:01,760 Speaker 7: her husband was the FBI ag on the case in 412 00:27:01,800 --> 00:27:05,400 Speaker 7: the nineteen sixties. He said, it was really a hard 413 00:27:05,440 --> 00:27:06,280 Speaker 7: case for him. 414 00:27:07,080 --> 00:27:08,040 Speaker 2: So what happens? 415 00:27:09,080 --> 00:27:11,960 Speaker 3: So after Ronaldo and his family have the zoom meeting 416 00:27:11,960 --> 00:27:16,280 Speaker 3: with authorities in Arizona, they quickly get on the phone. 417 00:27:16,520 --> 00:27:18,440 Speaker 7: So I got on with my other two siblings and 418 00:27:18,480 --> 00:27:21,840 Speaker 7: we're like, what do you think? Do you think they 419 00:27:21,880 --> 00:27:24,440 Speaker 7: found Sharon? Do you think they're going to tell us 420 00:27:24,480 --> 00:27:28,000 Speaker 7: that they know where she is? You know, those ideas 421 00:27:28,040 --> 00:27:31,439 Speaker 7: went through our head, but also, you know, that's a 422 00:27:31,440 --> 00:27:33,440 Speaker 7: long time in sixty two years. 423 00:27:34,560 --> 00:27:38,080 Speaker 3: Meanwhile, Kristen says, Authram is busy testing the DNA from 424 00:27:38,119 --> 00:27:40,000 Speaker 3: little Miss Nobody's remains. 425 00:27:41,359 --> 00:27:45,240 Speaker 4: We actually started to see that the matches we were 426 00:27:45,240 --> 00:27:49,680 Speaker 4: getting were actually consistent with Sharon Gallego's family. So we 427 00:27:49,840 --> 00:27:53,040 Speaker 4: contacted the detectives. We asked if there was a reference sample. 428 00:27:55,640 --> 00:27:58,639 Speaker 4: We were able to do a one to one match 429 00:27:58,640 --> 00:27:59,280 Speaker 4: and it worked. 430 00:28:01,800 --> 00:28:04,560 Speaker 3: Investigator's call to set up a zoom meeting with Ronaldo 431 00:28:04,600 --> 00:28:07,520 Speaker 3: and his family, and John Shannon is on the call. 432 00:28:08,320 --> 00:28:10,200 Speaker 7: You know, he talked to us a little bit about 433 00:28:10,240 --> 00:28:12,480 Speaker 7: it and said they've been working on this case. And 434 00:28:12,480 --> 00:28:15,879 Speaker 7: then they told us about authoram laps and then they said. 435 00:28:20,160 --> 00:28:24,240 Speaker 8: Excuse me, and then they told us they had identified 436 00:28:24,240 --> 00:28:33,240 Speaker 8: our aunt, they had identified her remains. You know, we 437 00:28:33,320 --> 00:28:35,760 Speaker 8: were all like, what, you know, we were all kind 438 00:28:35,800 --> 00:28:40,720 Speaker 8: of shocked, and ah, you know we were you know, 439 00:28:40,760 --> 00:28:42,240 Speaker 8: a lot of things are going through her mind. 440 00:28:42,520 --> 00:28:45,720 Speaker 7: They found my aunt, but you know, she's she's died. 441 00:28:45,840 --> 00:28:47,720 Speaker 7: And then we had all kinds of questions, how did 442 00:28:47,760 --> 00:28:50,120 Speaker 7: you find her? How old it was she when they 443 00:28:50,280 --> 00:28:52,440 Speaker 7: when they discovered her remains. 444 00:28:52,040 --> 00:28:55,720 Speaker 8: And so the rest of the Zoom call was really 445 00:28:55,760 --> 00:29:00,360 Speaker 8: about explaining the whole thing, how it came about, and 446 00:29:00,400 --> 00:29:04,040 Speaker 8: how oft from lamps is really the ones who were 447 00:29:04,080 --> 00:29:05,560 Speaker 8: able to make the identification. 448 00:29:07,120 --> 00:29:10,920 Speaker 3: Investigator John Shannon tells Rinaldo about the funeral the community 449 00:29:11,040 --> 00:29:15,000 Speaker 3: in Prescott, Arizona held and how people donated money to 450 00:29:15,040 --> 00:29:17,320 Speaker 3: buy Sharon a casket and bury her. 451 00:29:18,320 --> 00:29:20,240 Speaker 7: That people really took care of my aunt for us. 452 00:29:20,560 --> 00:29:23,320 Speaker 7: They took care of her wanting to find out who 453 00:29:23,360 --> 00:29:27,160 Speaker 7: she was, and if it wasn't for their dedication and commitment, 454 00:29:28,920 --> 00:29:30,760 Speaker 7: probably would have never found out. 455 00:29:31,200 --> 00:29:34,400 Speaker 2: I'm also thinking it's kind of wild that the original 456 00:29:34,440 --> 00:29:38,520 Speaker 2: investigators had that hunch that little Miss Nobody was Sharon, 457 00:29:39,040 --> 00:29:40,880 Speaker 2: but so many times they were told no. 458 00:29:41,560 --> 00:29:45,480 Speaker 3: And the initial DNA testing proved even more conclusively that 459 00:29:45,560 --> 00:29:49,000 Speaker 3: it wasn't her, but Kristin Middleman says it was basically 460 00:29:49,080 --> 00:29:50,360 Speaker 3: all bad science. 461 00:29:51,080 --> 00:29:56,840 Speaker 4: It was unbelievable to see that you can use advanced 462 00:29:56,880 --> 00:30:03,040 Speaker 4: DNA technology incorrectly and get the wrong answer. So that case, 463 00:30:03,120 --> 00:30:07,080 Speaker 4: to me was terrifying because it showed me that people 464 00:30:07,360 --> 00:30:10,520 Speaker 4: would go to great lengths to get an answer, but 465 00:30:10,600 --> 00:30:16,880 Speaker 4: not necessarily consider if good science was actually behind that answer. 466 00:30:17,680 --> 00:30:22,760 Speaker 4: And we're talking about confirming someone's identity as a perpetrator 467 00:30:22,840 --> 00:30:26,400 Speaker 4: or victim of a crime, taking away someone's name and 468 00:30:26,480 --> 00:30:30,360 Speaker 4: voice forever. It does make me think about how much 469 00:30:30,440 --> 00:30:34,320 Speaker 4: DNA is used in courtrooms and investigations, and I think 470 00:30:34,400 --> 00:30:38,240 Speaker 4: sometimes it gets simplified to the DNA says X. So 471 00:30:38,320 --> 00:30:41,840 Speaker 4: the answer is why, But it's actually a very delicate 472 00:30:42,000 --> 00:30:45,240 Speaker 4: science at times, and the testing methods are not all 473 00:30:45,280 --> 00:30:48,680 Speaker 4: the same. That's blown my mind working on this podcast 474 00:30:48,680 --> 00:30:52,040 Speaker 4: in general. So, now that we know that the girl 475 00:30:52,040 --> 00:30:55,240 Speaker 4: in the desert is Sharon from New Mexico, what do 476 00:30:55,280 --> 00:30:56,080 Speaker 4: we know about her? 477 00:30:56,840 --> 00:30:59,640 Speaker 3: Actually kind of a lot. So Sharon was four years 478 00:30:59,680 --> 00:31:03,400 Speaker 3: old and she lived with her mom, her grandmother, aunts 479 00:31:03,400 --> 00:31:04,080 Speaker 3: and cousins. 480 00:31:05,720 --> 00:31:13,280 Speaker 7: She had light brown hair, hazel eyes, and she had 481 00:31:13,320 --> 00:31:17,080 Speaker 7: a nickname my great grandmother called her Wedda, which means 482 00:31:17,600 --> 00:31:23,400 Speaker 7: the light one. She was a very energetic, feisty little girl. 483 00:31:24,320 --> 00:31:28,480 Speaker 7: She liked being by her grandmother's side. She'd just sit 484 00:31:28,640 --> 00:31:34,280 Speaker 7: at the kitchen table watching my grandmother make tortillas and beans, 485 00:31:34,360 --> 00:31:39,680 Speaker 7: of course, a staple in my grandparents' house. She really 486 00:31:39,760 --> 00:31:43,360 Speaker 7: loved playing with her cousins because they lived in a 487 00:31:43,440 --> 00:31:48,080 Speaker 7: multi generational home. She liked being outside. 488 00:31:48,120 --> 00:31:51,400 Speaker 3: And then one day in mid July nineteen sixty, Sharon 489 00:31:51,520 --> 00:31:53,560 Speaker 3: was playing in her yard with some of her siblings 490 00:31:53,560 --> 00:31:56,920 Speaker 3: and cousins when an old green car pulled up. 491 00:31:57,840 --> 00:32:03,360 Speaker 7: There was this green vehicle with a couple in it, 492 00:32:03,440 --> 00:32:06,440 Speaker 7: a man and a woman, and there was two other 493 00:32:06,520 --> 00:32:09,400 Speaker 7: children in the vehicle with them, and they had been 494 00:32:09,480 --> 00:32:13,920 Speaker 7: kind of scouting out the neighborhood the week before. Come 495 00:32:13,960 --> 00:32:16,640 Speaker 7: to find out that this couple was asking a lot 496 00:32:16,680 --> 00:32:22,080 Speaker 7: of questions about Sharon, specifically about my grandmother who she was, 497 00:32:22,440 --> 00:32:25,920 Speaker 7: you know, how many kids does she have. Then, on 498 00:32:26,000 --> 00:32:29,560 Speaker 7: the day that had actually happened, my aunt Sharon was 499 00:32:29,600 --> 00:32:34,080 Speaker 7: outside plane and the car drove up in an alley. 500 00:32:34,240 --> 00:32:38,640 Speaker 7: They said, hey, Sharon, would you like some candy and 501 00:32:39,080 --> 00:32:43,920 Speaker 7: we'll buy you a new clothes and she was standing there, 502 00:32:44,120 --> 00:32:46,640 Speaker 7: didn't want to go. The lady came out, grabbed her 503 00:32:46,640 --> 00:32:50,240 Speaker 7: by the arm and pulled her into the car. My 504 00:32:50,360 --> 00:32:54,320 Speaker 7: mom's cousins were there, and there was some neighborhood kids 505 00:32:54,760 --> 00:32:58,080 Speaker 7: and they ran inside and said, hey, you know, a 506 00:32:58,160 --> 00:33:02,120 Speaker 7: lady just pulled Sharon into car. My mom and my 507 00:33:02,200 --> 00:33:05,960 Speaker 7: grandmother were like, what call the police right away, and 508 00:33:06,000 --> 00:33:07,040 Speaker 7: then it all started. 509 00:33:08,080 --> 00:33:11,680 Speaker 3: Police set up roadblocks pretty immediately, but there were no 510 00:33:11,880 --> 00:33:16,560 Speaker 3: signs of the green car or Sharon. Rinaldo's mom, Sharon's 511 00:33:16,560 --> 00:33:20,240 Speaker 3: big sister. She heads out with friends to search the neighborhood, 512 00:33:20,920 --> 00:33:24,680 Speaker 3: and the local newspaper ran stories about Sharon's kidnapping. And 513 00:33:24,720 --> 00:33:28,880 Speaker 3: then there was an interesting twist. Allen remember, investigators initially 514 00:33:28,880 --> 00:33:30,640 Speaker 3: thought little miss Nobody might be Sharon. 515 00:33:31,600 --> 00:33:32,640 Speaker 7: Yeah. 516 00:33:32,720 --> 00:33:35,480 Speaker 3: Well, Rinaldo says, police reached out to his family back 517 00:33:35,520 --> 00:33:38,080 Speaker 3: then and asked if someone would come look at this 518 00:33:38,120 --> 00:33:40,920 Speaker 3: little girl's body that was discovered in the desert. 519 00:33:41,800 --> 00:33:46,640 Speaker 7: And it was determined that instead of having my grandmother 520 00:33:46,800 --> 00:33:51,200 Speaker 7: go to identify the body, they asked my grandmother's best 521 00:33:51,280 --> 00:33:54,360 Speaker 7: friend to go and identify the body. And you know, 522 00:33:54,440 --> 00:33:58,200 Speaker 7: she determined, oh no, this body's too big, it's not Sharon. 523 00:33:58,240 --> 00:34:07,480 Speaker 7: It was just devastating to my grandmother losing not knowing 524 00:34:07,480 --> 00:34:11,600 Speaker 7: what happened. It affected the whole entire family from there 525 00:34:11,640 --> 00:34:15,160 Speaker 7: on out. Everybody was very vigilant about where the kids were, 526 00:34:15,360 --> 00:34:17,480 Speaker 7: and I mean we all knew about it. 527 00:34:19,600 --> 00:34:23,000 Speaker 2: I can only imagine growing up Ronaldo and the whole 528 00:34:23,040 --> 00:34:26,880 Speaker 2: family living with us. I mean, his young aunt just 529 00:34:27,000 --> 00:34:29,040 Speaker 2: grabbed out of the family's yard. 530 00:34:29,960 --> 00:34:32,920 Speaker 3: And for years it was really just too painful to 531 00:34:33,080 --> 00:34:36,720 Speaker 3: talk about. Ronaldo says it wasn't until he was about 532 00:34:36,760 --> 00:34:41,919 Speaker 3: twelve when he started asking his mom more about Sharon's disappearance. 533 00:34:44,400 --> 00:34:50,200 Speaker 7: We always hope we never gave a pope every time the. 534 00:34:52,600 --> 00:34:58,000 Speaker 3: Excuse me, oh it's okay. 535 00:34:56,719 --> 00:35:00,600 Speaker 7: Every time the police would contact us, because throughout our life, 536 00:35:00,080 --> 00:35:05,080 Speaker 7: yes it was you know, the police would contact my grandmother, 537 00:35:05,560 --> 00:35:11,239 Speaker 7: then my mom, and then us. You know, we were 538 00:35:11,320 --> 00:35:15,800 Speaker 7: still like, you know, maybe they found her, she's still alive, 539 00:35:16,000 --> 00:35:16,920 Speaker 7: We'll get to meet her. 540 00:35:17,640 --> 00:35:20,120 Speaker 3: Ronaldo says that knowing the truth of what happened to 541 00:35:20,160 --> 00:35:21,920 Speaker 3: Sharon did bring some peace. 542 00:35:22,680 --> 00:35:26,200 Speaker 7: You know, we couldn't be there for her, and to 543 00:35:26,280 --> 00:35:29,839 Speaker 7: find out that, you know, she wasn't lost or forgotten, 544 00:35:30,680 --> 00:35:34,520 Speaker 7: and there was a whole community not just one person, 545 00:35:34,960 --> 00:35:39,040 Speaker 7: there was a whole community that was taking care of her. 546 00:35:39,800 --> 00:35:41,680 Speaker 7: It just you know, our family couldn't believe in. 547 00:35:43,440 --> 00:35:47,799 Speaker 3: Sharon's remains were sent back to New Mexico, Ronaldo and 548 00:35:47,920 --> 00:35:51,200 Speaker 3: the family gathered for a funeral and they buried Sharon 549 00:35:51,440 --> 00:35:53,400 Speaker 3: next to her mom and her grandmother. 550 00:35:54,120 --> 00:35:56,400 Speaker 7: The day before, me and my uncle and my brother, 551 00:35:58,200 --> 00:36:01,240 Speaker 7: we dug that the small grave. 552 00:36:02,000 --> 00:36:02,759 Speaker 1: We buttered it. 553 00:36:05,239 --> 00:36:11,719 Speaker 7: We beate it ourselves. Yeah, we wanted to do that. 554 00:36:17,200 --> 00:36:20,359 Speaker 3: John Shannon and Michael Perry and a whole team had 555 00:36:20,360 --> 00:36:23,440 Speaker 3: worked on this case for years and I was curious 556 00:36:23,480 --> 00:36:24,360 Speaker 3: how they were feeling. 557 00:36:26,040 --> 00:36:28,680 Speaker 1: Well, I think that the best way to say that 558 00:36:28,800 --> 00:36:32,200 Speaker 1: is we were invited to go to the funeral and 559 00:36:32,280 --> 00:36:33,520 Speaker 1: may treat us like family. 560 00:36:34,000 --> 00:36:37,000 Speaker 5: And that's just a very powerful and experience to be 561 00:36:37,040 --> 00:36:39,600 Speaker 5: part of that, and just a gratitude that the family 562 00:36:39,640 --> 00:36:42,520 Speaker 5: express towards us. It was just a very humbling experience. 563 00:36:43,280 --> 00:36:46,520 Speaker 9: The sad thing about this case is that Sharon isn't alone. 564 00:36:46,880 --> 00:36:50,440 Speaker 9: There are literally thousands of other children like her that 565 00:36:50,480 --> 00:36:55,160 Speaker 9: are unidentified. They're unaccounted for. And the truth is that, 566 00:36:55,200 --> 00:36:58,920 Speaker 9: you know, technology like ours could be aiding police everywhere 567 00:36:59,000 --> 00:37:00,480 Speaker 9: in identifying these cuts. 568 00:37:05,040 --> 00:37:09,560 Speaker 4: Everyone deserves to be buried with their family, to be 569 00:37:09,640 --> 00:37:13,799 Speaker 4: able to be visited, to have people that know where 570 00:37:13,840 --> 00:37:19,080 Speaker 4: they are know their story. Everyone deserves their voice. 571 00:37:19,239 --> 00:37:22,279 Speaker 3: The couple who took Sharon in the green car were 572 00:37:22,360 --> 00:37:27,960 Speaker 3: never found, so that part of the mystery is still 573 00:37:28,000 --> 00:37:29,200 Speaker 3: an open investigation. 574 00:37:46,680 --> 00:37:50,720 Speaker 2: America's Crime Lab is produced by Rococo Punch for Kaleidoscope. 575 00:37:51,280 --> 00:37:54,560 Speaker 2: Erica Lance is our story editor, and sound design is 576 00:37:54,600 --> 00:37:59,000 Speaker 2: by David Woji. Our producing team is Catherine Fedalosa, Emily 577 00:37:59,120 --> 00:38:03,759 Speaker 2: Foreman and Jessica Albert. Our Executive producers are Kate Osborne, 578 00:38:03,840 --> 00:38:08,320 Speaker 2: Mangesh Hadigadour and David and Kristen Middleman, and from iHeart 579 00:38:08,400 --> 00:38:13,080 Speaker 2: Katrina Norville and Ali Perry. Special thanks to Connell Byrne, 580 00:38:13,120 --> 00:38:18,560 Speaker 2: Will Pearson, Kerrie Lieberman, Nikki Etour, Nathan Etowski, John Burbank, 581 00:38:18,760 --> 00:38:22,600 Speaker 2: and the entire team at Outhrum. I'm Alan Lance lessor 582 00:38:23,000 --> 00:38:23,960 Speaker 2: thanks for listening.