01x02 - Horror In Yosemite

[bunniefuu]

- There are no new clues
tonight in a case

that has police baffled

and an entire
community wondering

if a k*ller is on the loose.

- I was called in by
our special agent in charge

and sent down to Yosemite

because three women
went missing.

I had a hiker bring me in
a license plate of a car.

And that license plate matches
the car you're looking for.

- The paint had
rolled off the car.

All the tires
had burned and melted.

Everything was gone.

- At this point, hair must be
going up on everyone's neck.

The FBI knows we have
a m*rder*r on the loose.

- And then four months later,
another missing woman

from Yosemite National Park.

- And then he said,
"I cut her head off."

- Wow.

- And I said, you know,

"What do you mean,
you cut her head off?"

But then he says,
"And there's more."

- In the FBI,
we make a lot of headlines.

[dramatic music]

Drug busts,

mob stings,

t*rror1st takedowns.

- Get down! Get down!

- We understand why people
want to tell stories about us.

- Mark it.

- Freeze!
- FBI.

- FBI!
- Action!

- But they don't know
the half of it.

[indistinct radio chatter]

What really goes down,

we save that for each other

when we're talking
agent to agent.

♪

This is "FBI True."

[ominous music]

♪

- Kristy Kottis is
a 24-year veteran of the FBI.

She worked gangs,
crimes against children,

as well as human
and drug trafficking.

Kottis was the supervisor

of the FBI's
threat response squad

overseeing
the Bureau's response

to terrorism threats
in New York City.

- So, Jeff, I want to talk

about the Yosemite
serial k*ller case.

I know that you had a lot
of participation in that.

- Right.
- Take me into that.

How does the FBI get
involved in that case?

- I was called in
by our special agent in charge

and advised that I was going
to be sent down to Yosemite

because Carole Sund,
her daughter, Juli Sund,

and their friend
from Argentina,

Silvina Pelosso, went missing.

- Jeffrey Rinek is
a certified criminal profiler

who worked at the FBI
for 30 years

on cases involving
crimes against children,

sexual as*ault, violent crime,
and serial homicide.

In 1999,
Rinek was a special agent

at the FBI's
Sacramento field office.

- So let me understand this.

Why were Carole,
Juli, and Silvina

in the Yosemite area?

- Their game plan was to see
a school in Stockton called

the University of the Pacific

and check it out
for Juli to attend there.

And when they got done,
they were going

to go to see Yosemite.

♪

There's a town
called El Portal,

which borders Yosemite.

It's actually 7 miles
from the Yosemite gate.

There's several lodges
that are down there

to accommodate visitors
when they want

to travel to see Yosemite.

And what we learned was that
they drove down to El Portal

and stayed at the Cedar Lodge.

♪

That was the last day
they were seen alive.

- Close to a thousand friends,
supporters, and family

of three missing women marched

in downtown
Modesto, California today.

- This mysterious disappearance
is a clear evidence

of how vulnerable a mother
and two girls

can be in this society.

- We hold hope that someone
will come forward soon

and lead us to them.

- It was the biggest search
and rescue effort in Yosemite

in California history.

- Check both sides in case
something has blown...

- It was so extensive they
actually flew an airplane

up and down Yosemite,
looking for anything

that could give
any kind of indication.

♪

And the search and rescue
workers were on foot,

on horse everywhere.

And at this time,
when we're down there,

it's February, so it's cold.

It's drizzly.

It's very dangerous
driving conditions.

And there was a lot of thought
being given to the potential

that they had had
a car accident,

or driven off a cliff,
or something.

- So who do you decide
to go to first, family?

- The first person
we interviewed

was Carole's husband.

And he was fine.

I mean, we didn't think
he had any culpability.

So once we get done
going through the family,

the next thing we want
to do is find out

who were the last people
to see our victims.

So they bring in a employee
from the Cedar Lodge.

♪

And in his belongings,
his locker, his van,

it was full
of this dark red stuff

that looked like dried blood.

And the presumptive test
came back positive.

So what we learned
the hard way is that,

when it comes back positive,

it doesn't necessarily mean
it's blood.

It means it's got oxygen in it.

And the lab came back
and said it wasn't blood.

It was just rust.

♪

- A California mother
and two teens

disappeared last month
in a case

that has an entire
community wondering

if a k*ller is on the loose.

- After they'd been missing
for three or four weeks,

the California Highway Patrol
contacts our office.

And he says to him,
I had a hiker bring me in

a license plate of a car.

And that license plate matches
the car you're looking for.

♪

But the car's been
in a little bit of a fire.

♪

The car was
completely burned out.

The paint had
rolled off the car.

All the tires
had burned and melted.

Everything was gone.

Now, they found in the trunk
two sets of skeletal remains.

♪

And one turned out
to be Carole.

And the other skeletal
remains were...

it turned out to be Silvina,
but we're missing Juli.

And we think she's alive.

And we think that her survival
is based on us finding her.

- So you've identified
the two in the trunk.

Investigation now
is all assets looking for Juli.

- About a week later,

the Modesto
resident agency supervisor

receives a letter.

And when he opens it,
it's a picture of a map.

And on the top of it,

it says,
"We had fun with this one."

♪

So we brought up a dog from LA.

And based on the map,
the dog located Juli's remains,

like, within seconds.

- And what was the state
of her remains?

- Her remains were
in the area of what's

called Don Pedro Reservoir,
and her body was located

at the bottom of a hill.

And it had been
covered up by brush.

And they found
that Juli had been k*lled

through a cut to her neck.

♪

- The victims have
finally been buried,

and investigators
are now plowing

through all their leads.

- I don't know how to explain
the intense emotional drive

when you think you have
a victim who's alive,

and their survival
is based on you finding them.

There was nothing
we wouldn't have done.

♪

That summer, about four months
after Carole and the girls,

there's
a missing person reported

from Yosemite National Park.

Her name was Joie Armstrong.

She was in her mid 20s.

And she was part
of a park program

to live in a cabin
in a meadow with others

who had the same arrangement.

And they would teach nature
in Yosemite.

♪

- Now,
who reported her missing?

And how did she come up
on law enforcement's radar

as a missing person, period?

- Joie planned to go
to the Central California coast

to meet friends.

They were going
to camp out on the beach

and do what friends do.

She didn't show up.

And when she didn't show up,
her friends called back

to the park service
and told them

that Joie did not show up and
they were concerned about her.

♪

At that point,
a park service ranger

did a welfare check
on Joie's cabin.

♪

When he first drives down it,
he sensed something was wrong.

And so they start
an investigation.

♪

And within a few hours,

they discovered Joie's body

in a nearby creek.

And her body had been pushed up
into some weeds and covered.

♪

She had been beheaded.

- Wow.

- About 30 feet away,

they were able
to recover her head.

♪

So they know they're dealing
with an abduction and a m*rder.

♪

- What happens next, Jeff?

- You start looking at who
they're supposed to be with.

And what they discovered
in this instance was

that on the day
that Joie went missing,

there was a person coming up
a road from where

Joie's cabin was located.

The person was driving

a light blue
International Harvester truck.

And he had a flat tire,
and he needed help.

So a passing park ranger
helped him out,

and his name was Cary Stayner.

♪

Everybody sort of
remembered that name

because Cary Stayner's
brother was named Steven.

And in 1973,
Steven was abducted,

and the nation
was fixated on it.

- In 1980,
Steven Stayner became famous

as the victim
of a high-profile crime.

He escaped
from a child molester

who'd held him c*ptive
for seven years.

- And so Cary
was his older brother.

♪

- I didn't like
what was happening.

- What happens next is they're
now looking at Cary Stayner

as if he's a good suspect.

They start conducting
investigations,

see where he lives.

And they determine that
he lives at the Cedar Lodge...

♪

Where Carole,
Juli, and Silvina

were abducted and m*rder*d.

♪

- So, at this point,

hair must be going up
on everyone's neck.

- Oh, yeah,
and so now they start

looking very heavily
at this guy.

And when they start conducting
the forensic examination,

in front of Joie's cabin,
there were prints.

There were prints
of another car,

prints of sandals.

And the evidence technicians
from the FBI

in Sacramento came down.

And through their photography,
which was remarkable,

enabled the analysts
to determine

that they had tire tracks
and sandal tracks

in front of Joie's cabin
that matched the tire tracks

from Cary Stayner's vehicle,
and that the sandal tracks

matched the chevrons
on Cary Stayner's sandals.

- In front of Joie's cabin.
- In front of Joie's cabin.

- Are we looking
for him at this point?

- They are looking
for him at this point.

♪

[ominous music]

- On Saturday morning,
an individual

from a nudist colony
named the Laguna Del Sol,

just south of Sacramento,
called in to say

that Cary Stayner was there.

♪

I was the first one to arrive.

And the manager
of Laguna Del Sol

was waiting for me
at the entrance.

And he was fired up because
he said that Cary was clothed.

And he thought that meant
he was hiding a weapon.

And when Cary Stayner became
aware of our presence,

he immediately stood up
and put his hands

on top of his head
like he was...

- And what are you thinking
at this point?

- Not normal behavior
for a citizen.

- Absolutely not.

- So we're like, what in
the wide, wide world of sports

is this guy doing?

And then I said, if you would,
I'd be more than happy

to give you a ride
back to our office

and then bring you back here
when you're done.

And he said, "That's fine.
That's OK."

♪

- So as you're rolling
back to the office,

is Cary chatting with you,
is he quiet?

Does he want to talk
about the weather?

Like, what's happening
in the car?

- I told him I knew
who his brother was,

and could I ask him
about his brother.

And he said I could.

And I explained to him
that that's what I did.

That was the work I did,
dealing with abducted,

m*rder*d,
sexually assaulted children.

And I had also experienced
the pain of these cases,

not only on the victim,
but on the victims' families.

And I said,
"How are you doing with that?

How is your family
doing with that?"

And he became emotional.

And he said Steven
was never the same.

And Steven began
living a life of risk.

And it finally ended when
he was riding a motorcycle...

he was 22 years old...
where he was k*lled.

And this really broke him up.

The best way I can
explain it to you,

Kris, is that he knew somehow

that I understood how he felt
and how his family felt.

♪

- So, Jeff, at this point,
you've brought Cary Stayner

into the FBI building.

- Right, and we sat him
in a interview room

outside the security area
of our office.

We left them there.

And then, eventually,
without real direction

or knowing what we
were going to do

and trying to figure out
what we could do,

Cary looked at me and said,
"I want to see Jeff alone."

- Wow.

♪

At this point,
are you a little nervous?

Because someone says,
"I want to see you alone,"

you know, FBI policy,
you always have

to have two agents there.

What are you thinking?

- I'm scared shitless
because when I went back in

after he asked to see me alone,

he was sitting in a very
hunched over position,

looking in the corner
of the room.

And he said to me,
"Jeff, I've done bad things.

I've done really bad things.
And I'm not proud of it."

- So let me ask you a question.

At that point,
were you thinking,

OK, he's manipulative?

- At this point,
I'm thinking he's testing me.

And I said, "Cary,
good people do bad things.

"It doesn't mean
they're bad people.

Let's talk about it."

At that point,
he made some indications

that he might
have had something to do

with the death of Joie.

♪

- So tell me, how do you start?

- I said to him...

- He starts off saying,
"I was up in Foresta."

- And he said, "I saw
this girl that was going out

and back to her truck
and a cabin."

And I said, "Tell me what
the girl looked like to you."

- And then at one point,
when she turns her back to him,

he pulls the revolver on her.

♪

He says, "Well, when I got her
into the back room,

and I started duct taping her,
she fought and fought."

And this is hard
for me emotionally,

but she wanted to live.

So she started fighting
for her life at that point.

- Yeah.

- And he says that once
he gets her under control,

he walks her out of the cabin.

And then he takes her
back to his truck.

- What's in my mind is,
now we're going through it

from his perspective, but also,

that was the last face
the victim saw.

- Yes.

- After he successfully
took her life,

he calmly went back and parked
his truck and turned it off.

And then he came back to her,

and he said,
"And I cut her head off."

And I said, you know,

"What do you mean,
you cut her head off?"

He goes, "Well, you know,
it seemed like a job.

I just had to do it."

- But then he says,
"And there's more."

- Oh, wow.

- I said,
"Cary, are you talking

about the three women
out of Cedar Lodge?"

And he kind of nods.

So now I'm like, what do you...

- And what does he
tell you at this point?

- You know,
we had a lot of people

coming forward claiming that.

People confess
to things all the time.

I mean, you're a pretender
to the throne.

We've got to figure out
if you are the guy or not.

- Silvina, he eventually
took her back to the bathroom

and strangled her.

- He confessed
to k*lling Joie Armstrong.

He confessed in detail
to k*lling Carole,

to k*lling Silvina,
to k*lling Juli.

He also confessed
to burning the car

that contained the bodies
of Carole and Silvina.

♪

- A jury convicted former
motel handyman Cary Stayner

Monday of murdering
three Yosemite National Park

tourists in 1999.

He now could get
the death penalty.

- Do you ever see him again?

- Yes.

I see him again
during the trial.

- And that was it?

- And then I saw him
when he was sentenced to death.

- Well, you did
a fantastic job.

I mean, you got this person
who was clearly troubled

in a very dark way
to feel safe enough with you

to say some of the most hideous
and heinous things

abut himself to you.

- I appreciate you saying that.

But then when you think
what it's about,

these four women died,

and the fact
that you're finding something

to be happy about,

I don't know how
to feel about myself.

- No, our job is
to get the evidence.

Our job is to get the facts,

bring forward
the truthful narrative

so that justice can be served.

- So this friend
of mine from the office,

when I was telling him
about this incident, he said,

"As FBI agents, we're
expected to find the truth.

And you did that."

♪

[dramatic music]

♪