06x09 - Fire Angel

[bunniefuu]

Narrator: a terrifying kidnapping.

This was the most horrific crime that I've ever worked.

Narrator: the victim's life hangs in the balance.

I've never seen anybody burned so badly.

Narrator: a family in shock.

I remember the time exactly,

Because that was the point where my entire life

Was changed.

Narrator: only this security camera footage

Can help detectives catch the monster...

...before he strikes again.

To me, that kind of person

Possesses a sickness that you can't cure.

Narrator: this is the story of a miraculous escape.

My name is diane,

And I'm a survivor of an attack.

Narrator: caught on camera.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

Narrator: 53-year-old diane pranske

And her partner, john kawalec,

Had just got home after a successful fishing trip.

Look at these.

Your turn to cook dinner.

Diane's outlook on life is unique.

Fair enough -- you caught the fish.

Always looking for the positive,

And always making it positive for everybody else.

She's amazing. A true diamond.

A true, true jewel.

Narrator: the couple has been together for eight years.

They're deeply committed but still

Live separately in their own homes.

I gotta show this to april.

Hi, mom.

Look what I got!

Narrator: every day, diane calls her daughter, april,

Who recently left home to work in florida.

I remember when my mom and john first started dating,

My mom kept going fishing with john.

She was so happy to be a fishing buddy.

And I thought that was so bizarre,

Because my mom was definitely more of a girly girl,

So I knew that she must have really liked him.

-I miss you. -I miss you, too.

April: me and my mom were really close,

And she was sad that I was going away to college,

But she always said, "I'm proud of you.

I love you."

-Bye, honey. -Bye, mom.

Narrator: diane works behind the bar at nearby theo's restaurant.

She was definitely the light of the bar.

People would come to theo's to sit at the bar

Just to have a drink or an appetizer with her.

Narrator: tonight, diane closes up at 10:30 p.m.

On her way home, she calls john.

I'm just stopping off at the store before it closes.

-I'll see you tomorrow. -John: okay, goodnight.

-Sleep well. Love you. -Love you, too.

It was a rather moderate chitchat call

And telling her I was already in bed

And she told me that she'd call me back

After she was done shopping...

But she never did.

Narrator: later that night,



Over radio: female in distress.

She's been robbed, assaulted, and set on fire.

Location is gas station on melton road.

Urgent assistance required.

Unit 147 responding.

[ Siren wails ]

Komisarcik: in my entire career,

I had never heard a call go out like that,

Especially three horrific things in one call

Of being robbed, burnt, and r*ped.

I'd never heard anything like that.

[ Siren wailing ]

Narrator: at the scene, emts are already

Hard at work on the victim.

She was severely burnt on her face,

And her hair was singed all over.

She had red marks on her face, blistering.

♪♪

I really didn't know what to think.

I've never seen anybody burned so badly.

[ Beeping noises ]

Komisarcik needs to find out what happened.

Please, ma'am.

If I don't get this information right now,

I might not ever get this information.

And if I didn't get the information,

We wouldn't be able to find out who did this to her.

Can you tell me your name?

[ Muffled ] diane pranske.

Just looking at her,

I honestly was shocked that she could even speak.

You could see that her mouth and tongue

Were charred, and she was having difficulty talking.

I honestly didn't think she was gonna make it.

I knew that the typical burn

Only gets worse as time goes,

And it's usually a pretty rapid movement

To really bad very quickly.

Narrator: komisarcik can tell that this fire was no accident.

Komisarcik: when I smelled the strong chemical coming off of diane,

I knew at this point that this was very intentional.

I felt that someone had actually put

An accelerant on her to catch her on fire.

And can you tell me, please, if you remember anything at all?

A man.

He had a hammer.

Komisarcik: diane told me that when she got home

That a large black male had come out of her garage

Holding a hammer, and he threatened her

And made her get into the trunk of her vehicle.

And that's when he had r*ped her.

She was able to give me her vehicle registration

Plate number, which helped tremendously

Because she was able to tell me

That the suspect still had her vehicle,

And that he had stolen her car.

Narrator: while police put out an alert for the stolen vehicle,

Diane is rushed to the er.

Her life hangs in the balance.

Back in lansing, detectives chuck weeden

And tony curtis take charge of the case.

I had a chill down the back of my neck,

Because in my 30 years of working

Dozens and dozens of homicides,

This was the most sensational,

Most horrific crime that I've ever worked.

Curtis: someone who goes to the extent of driving

That distance to an isolated area

To setting her on fire to the other things

That happened to her.

To me, that kind of person

Possesses a sickness that you can't cure.

They're as big of a monster as I've ever seen in my life.

Narrator: weeden starts by running a background check

On the victim.

I could not find anything on diane other than,

I believe, a parking ticket from many years ago.

She had no criminal history.

She had no contacts with us.

Narrator: but weeden's partner, tony curtis,

Recognizes diane's face.

Wait, I know her.

Our kids were in dance class together.

Whenever I find out that there's a personal connection

To a crime victim,

It's kind of ups the, uh, stakes a little bit.

What I knew about diane was that she didn't have an enemy,

Didn't have a fear,

Didn't have any kind of reason to believe that something

Like this would happen.

Let's get someone over to diane's house

To see what they can find.

Narrator: and officer is dispatched to diane's home

In lansing, illinois,



[ Door creaking ]

Weeden: the door was kicked in.

There were numerous items that appeared to be missing,

Such as televisions where cables were there,

But there were no televisions, and the house was ransacked,

So we had a bona fide burglary.

Narrator: there aren't any obvious clues

To the identity of diane's attacker,

But there is one potential lead...

A receipt from grocery store strack & van til,

Time stamped 11:29 p.m.

Diane's house is only about 3 blocks away from that store,

So we know what time she would have come home,

Only a few minutes after that,

And that's what time she would have been abducted.

I'll get on that right now.

Narrator: detective curtis hurries to strack & van til's

Grocery store.

Curtis: gives us a place to start, you know,

We can go there and see if maybe she had a run-in

With somebody while in the store.

Somebody might have followed her from the parking lot.

Narrator: curtis is in luck.

The store has cameras covering the parking lot

And the inside.

Detective curtis, lansing police.

I need to see all the footage from last night.

I'm very eager to see what's on the video

Because I think this is going to be

Point one of us finding out who did this to her.

Narrator: the search for diane pranske's assailant

Has led investigators

To the grocery store she visited

Right before her horrific attack.

They hope the store's surveillance cameras

Caught the perpetrator on tape.

Go to 11 p.m.

♪♪

Keep playing.

Narrator: a car pulls in.

Zoom in.

Narrator: it matches the description of diane's vehicle,

But curtis can't see who's inside.

Keep playing.

Narrator: a figure gets out,

And they're on their own as they head towards the store.

Switch to inside.

♪♪

Narrator: at 11:01 p.m.,

Curtis can see the person more clearly.

It's diane.

There are other shoppers, but they pay diane

No attention as she heads towards the food aisles.

Curtis: watching the video,

Seeing how she's just going about normal day-to-day

Diane stuff

And seeing how she just gets her groceries

And has no idea or indication what's about to happen...

It was, um, it was pretty tough.

Go to 11:29 -- that's the time

On the receipt we found at her house.

[ Music building ]

Stop there.

Zoom in.

Okay.

♪♪

She checked out.

There was no indication at all

That anyone noticed her,

Except for the clerk that was helping her out.

Switch to the parking lot camera.

♪♪

Narrator: diane puts her groceries in the trunk...

Zoom in.

...drops off the shopping cart...

...and returns to her vehicle.

There's no one else in sight.

Everything looks normal.

♪♪

♪♪

A few hours after diane pranske was left for dead,

Her partner, john kawalec,

Arrives at loyola hospital to be by her side.

When I got to the hospital,

I was terrified and still extremely panicked.

They had her bandaged, all but

A small area where they would put an oxygen mask on her face,

So it was quite disturbing.

I was very...

Stressed at that point, crying my eyes out.

I told her that I would be there for her

And not to worry.

I would see through everything that she needed.

Just hang in there, and you're gonna make it.

Narrator: now john has to make the hardest call

Of his life.

Calling april was a very odd and scary situation.

[ Sniffs ] I never...

Was put into the position of having to do that before.

[ Cell phone ringing ]

-Hello? -April.

It's your mom. She's in the hospital.

He said, "your mom was really badly burned.

"Somebody or some people

"Ransacked her house

And attacked her and burned her."

You're not serious.

I wish I wasn't.

It was the worst thing I ever heard.

That's why I didn't believe it.

I didn't think he was serious, because I didn't think

Something like that could really happen to my mom.

Is she going to live?

I don't know.

♪♪

Narrator: back at the p.d., Detectives search for diane's vehicle.

It's -- it's pranske -- p-r-a-n-s-k-e.

Yeah.

The chief from porter, indiana,

Called me back and said, "chuck,

"Diane's car's got onstar.

"We've located it

And it's in holland, michigan."

We were hoping that that would be a huge break in this case

To possibly find

The offender's dna and fingerprints

If we tracked it and were able to locate that vehicle.

Narrator: officers are dispatched to secure the car,

But lansing police have their hands full

Trying to follow leads from three different states.

Before then, we weren't certain

If this task force could handle illinois and indiana.

Now that we knew we had michigan involved,

We had no choice but to contact the fbi.

Narrator: and now, some more information arrives...

...cell phone records that show

Diane's phone was switched on all night.

Investigators can track it from her home

All the way to porter, indiana,

Minutes before the 911 call was made.

I'm gonna scour out the service station.

♪♪

Narrator: agents head straight to the location

Of the final cell ping.

They discover an abandoned warehouse.

♪♪

♪♪

Curtis: during the canvass of the search of that area,

Investigators find what they believe to be

Evidence of a burn site.

Narrator: there's only one way to be sure this was the crime scene.

Investigators need cameras.

And then when they turn and, like, look around

The surrounding area,

They look across the street, and they see a camera on

A business across the street from this location.

Narrator: their luck is in.

The camera on this building faces the warehouse.

That video surveillance now becomes

Top priority and probably the key to this whole thing.

Narrator: investigators from lansing, illinois,

Have found a warehouse where they believe diane pranske

Was left for dead.

They hope a camera on the building across

The street will show them exactly what happened.

♪♪

The building manager has the footage

But cannot play it on site.

Well, they're sending it to the station as soon as possible.

Okay.

♪♪

Narrator: the day after her mother's attack,

April arrives from florida.

That was when I finally learned extensively what

My mom's health condition was like at that time.

What's the prognosis?

She basically said that people who have

That percentage of their body third-degree burns,

Anything can happen.

She could suffer an infection and die from the infection.

Her donor sites

Might not be accepted by the burn sites.

And if she can't get skin

On the burns, she can't live.

April.

I don't think I can do this.

You can do this.

April: I didn't want to go in.

I didn't want to face

The person that this nurse was describing.

I just want my mom back.

♪♪

Kawalec: april had asked me,

She goes, "but what if mom doesn't look like mom anymore?"

I said, "who cares?

"She's still mom.

She's always gonna be mom on the inside."

[ Medical instruments beeping ]

[ Breathing shakily ]

♪♪

I went over to her side and grabbed her hand,

And she squeezed it back so hard.

I have no idea how she had the strength to squeeze

My hand back like that with the condition she was in,

But I was really glad to be there,

And she was glad that I was there.

♪♪

Narrator: back at the p.d...

This just came in.

...the footage of the crime scene has arrived.

Let's load it up.

♪♪

Narrator: the camera shows the warehouse,

But it's partly covered by trees,

And it's very dark.

We don't know if it's gonna show an actual suspect.

We don't know if it's gonna show the actual incident.

But it could be the one piece of information

That's gonna blow the case wide open.

Narrator: detectives cue the footage to 1:48 a.m.,

The time diane's phone signal showed she arrived.

They know this might be difficult footage to watch.

Curtis: we saw what we believed to be diane's car.

Because of the distance and the quality of the surveillance

And because it's at nighttime, I believe it was raining,

Can't make out too much other than the shape of the car.

Narrator: the car drives behind the warehouse

And disappears from view.

But then

A few minutes after, you see a big fireball.

♪♪

The fireball continues for several minutes.

♪♪

And then you see the vehicle leave,

And it travels to the north toward the interstate.

Narrator: the driver must have been diane's attacker,

But it's too dark to see him.

Minutes pass.

The fireball continues to glow.

Then, suddenly...

Curtis: you see movement.

Zoom in.

And you see a figure emerge from behind the warehouse.

Narrator: as they take in the shocking footage,

Detectives realize they're watching diane...

I can't believe it.

...still on fire, fighting for her life.

♪♪

Diane only manages to walk for 36 seconds

Before she drops to the ground.

♪♪

What's she -- what's she doing?

♪♪

Then we realized that it was diane trying to put the fire

Out, because there was a water puddle right there.

I can't believe it.

Curtis: at this point, the fact that she's even able to

Roll around and try to put the fire out --

I don't know if I could have done it.

I don't know how many people could have done it,

But it's amazing to me that she was able to do that.

I haven't felt that kind of pain physically,

And I don't want to feel that kind of pain,

But it makes you and everybody else

On this case want this thing to resolve quickly.

You want her to make it.

You want her to be okay,

And you want to do your best to solve this thing.

♪♪

Narrator: unfortunately, the footage doesn't provide any leads.

So we're basically still at square one

As far as identifying the suspect.

But I want to find out who did this.

I wanna hold whoever did this responsible,

Because there is no person

In this world that has a right to do that to someone else.

♪♪

Narrator: at that moment, diane's bank records arrive.

They reveal that her debit card

Was used at two different atms

At night before diane was taken to the warehouse.

On diane's bank records,

It gives a specific location where the transactions

Took place, like a branch number,

So we're able to get the exact location.

Narrator: detectives rush to the banks to look for evidence.

Now our focus is trying to get video from the atm machine

To see if we can get a visual

Of the actual person that was using her card.

Narrator: there's bad news at the first bank.

The atm cameras weren't functioning.

Fortunately, the second bank has a camera built into the atm.

And it's working.

The bank clerk cues the footage to the time of

The withdrawal,

And curtis prepares to see the face of a monster.

Let's play it.

Investigators believe they may have found surveillance footage

Of diane pranske's attacker

From a camera mounted in an atm.

They cue up the footage...

But find themselves looking at an empty frame...

...until at 11:57 p.m.

Curtis: we see diane's blue chevy pull up.

We see a african-american individual reach out of

The car, insert the card.

Punch him.

Narrator: it's clear they're face to face with diane's attacker.

Tried to disguise himself by putting this nylon

Over his nose

So his nose looks a little distorted,

But you can still make out features.

And this individual is wearing latex surgical gloves,

So to keep from leaving a fingerprint.

They do these kind of things to try and get away

With whatever crime they're committing.

We don't see diane at this point,

But we know that this individual forced her into her own trunk.

We see the individual pull away

What we assume is money and the card

And then drives off in diane's car.

♪♪

Curtis calls his team together

And distributes stills of the suspect.

Anyone recognize him?

This is probably the most critical

And most important piece of information we have obtained.

The cell phone was key, but...

The bank information and the atm video was the most

Important information that we had up to this point.

While we don't have a name for who this person is,

We have a physical identification of him

On a piece of video tying him to our victim.

♪♪

We decide that we're going to release information

To the news media in asking for assistance in identifying

Who this individual is.

Narrator: just before the image goes public,

Curtis calls april to update her.

[ Phone ringing ]

Hello?

Curtis: I recall telling april that we're going

To release something to the media.

Because of the emotions of what she was going

Through already, she doesn't need to see

The person that did this to her mother.

Okay, I understand.

Thank you.

I told her try to not view it,

But out of curiosity, she probably would view it.

Narrator: sure enough, april turns to the tv news.

Woman: federal officials say a man abducted her from

Her lansing, illinois, home around midnight,

Took off in the victim's car, going on a tour of

Three states.

These images were taken at the munster atm, the suspect

Wearing gloves and a nylon stocking over his head.

April: seeing the face of someone

Who did that to my mom on the news was horrible,

Because I knew that the person that hurt my mom

Was on the loose,

So all my thoughts were based around,

Where is this guy? Why did he do this?

And what is he gonna do next?

So I didn't think I was going to sleep

Until they caught him.

♪♪

Curtis: overnight, you sit there, and you hope

That there's an identification made.

It wasn't a very good night of sleep.

That's who I am.

That's who these investigators are.

I mean, we toss and turn, going through our mind,

What could we do? What didn't we do?

And hoping, praying that when we come in in the morning,

We have a piece of information.

Narrator: the next morning, investigators' prayers

Are answered.

Look what came in.

Narrator: a member of the public has sent detectives

A name and photo.

Curtis: we obtained an arrest record,

And without a doubt, we're able to state that

The person that's on the atm footage

Using diane's card is an individual by the name

Of carleous clay.

We do a background check.

We find out that he's got a criminal background.

Narrator: carleous clay has a history of violence

And once shot a man in the head during an armed robbery.

The victim survived, and clay is now out on parole.

Other investigators had found out

A lot about clay, the offender,

And that he had been

Employed from a flooring company in lansing,

And that he also lived in another house in lansing

That was only a few blocks away from diane's house.

Narrator: clay also has an address on his record in holland, michigan.

It's close to where diane's car was located.

[ Indistinct radio chatter ]

Weeden: we were in contact with the fbi,

And the fbi was able to get out

To holland, michigan, a lot faster than we were.

They had offices close to there.

Lansing police listen as agents move in on clay.

[ Indistinct radio chatter ]

Curtis: we're all waiting for word.

It's minutes, minutes, minutes.

I mean, it's takin' forever, in my opinion.

It was probably only 10 minutes, tops.

Over radio: that's him. Go. Go, go, go!

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

-Over radio: suspect detained. -Yes! Got him!

I mean, inside,

You know, I just won the world series.

I just won the super bowl.

Narrator: at the hospital, doctors summon

Diane's family for an important update.

I didn't know if diane was going to live

Or die or what the situation was.

At one point, the doctors mentioned that

Two out of three people wouldn't come through.

They wouldn't, uh, wouldn't make it

Through the experience.

April: I thought my mom was going to die.

I fully expected to go to her funeral.

♪♪

Narrator: but instead, a miracle.

My name is diane pranske,

And I'm a survivor of

An attack on september 2015.

Narrator: against all odds,

Diane pranske has survived a brutal attack

And can finally tell her story.

It was a thursday night,

And I stopped at strack & van til,

The grocery store.

And then I got checked out,

And I went out to my car

And put the groceries in and then drove home.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

A man came into my house

With a hammer in his hand.

He told me he wanted some money.

♪♪

♪♪

He made me ride in the trunk of my car.

I had to get in there,

And I'm very claustrophobic.

It's very loud.

You can hear everything, because you're right there

By the floor, and it's very scary.

♪♪

Narrator: while diane is locked in the trunk of her car,

Clay uses her card and pin to withdraw money.

Diane: and I prayed and prayed and prayed

So I can come out of this alive.

♪♪

Narrator: 40 minutes later,

Clay pulls up at an old storage warehouse

In porter, indiana.

And then he got in the back seat with me.

And he r*ped me.

And then I got up.

And then he started coming after me.

And he has his hands up,

And he choked me,

Strangled me around my neck

Until I passed out.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

Narrator: leaving her for dead, he drives away in diane's car.

♪♪

I woke up, and...

I saw my legs were on fire,

But, like, someone was actually

Pushing me to get going.

♪♪

So I rolled in the grass to put the flames out.

It was crazy, because, like...

I was just on fire, and I tried to save my own life.

Narrator: diane sees the lights of a gas station

And somehow finds the strength to reach help.

I think it was spiritual -- I think it was like angels

Or spirits or god, I don't know.

♪♪

♪♪

Narrator: july 2018, clay is charged

With kidnapping and attempted m*rder.

He pleads guilty and is sentenced

To life with no possibility of parole.

The main thing is that

He's locked up in jail forever.

In my own heart, I forgave him,

But it doesn't mean I want to see him out of prison.

This is one of the bravest heroes...

Narrator: diane continues to make a remarkable

Recovery from the depths of darkness.

April: my mom's life is changed forever.

She will never work again.

She will never tend bar again like she loved so much.

She will never be able to tend to her garden again.

She will never be able to drive a car again.

See requires 24-7 care.

There was no way I was going to let her go to a nursing home

For any reason, so I took it upon myself

To bring her home.

April: john has to do everything for her,

From cook and prepare and cut up her food

To take her to the bathroom,

Give her a shower every day.

She can't do any of that on her own.

I love him very much, and...

I thank him so much

For taking care of me

And being with me every day.

Kawalec: it wasn't a difficult decision to decide whether or not

I should quit my job

And put my life on hold for a woman

That had helped me

Without question and was there for me always.

April: my mom never refers to herself as a victim.

She never seeks pity or attention

For what happened to her.

She thinks of herself as a survivor,

Because that's what she is.

I realize now how precious our time is here

And how much we should all love each other

And care for each other

And not have so much hatred,

Negativity in this the world.