madeleine murray o'hare was america's best-known atheist responsible for abolishing prayer. >> you liked her or hated her. >> she mysteriously disappeared from her texas home with her son john murray and granddaughter rob robin. over $600,000 disappeared with them. >> what is it not to love about this story? it involves greed, gold, the most-hated woman in america. this is a sexy story and we should tell it. >> it was a local newspaper reporter playing forensic

detective who helped solve the case. madeleine murray o'hare was often called the most hated woman in america. >> mr. withers, is this a form of harassment, because i will leave. >> i'm creating a record. >> you're not creating a record. >> when you're done, call me in the ladies room when you're done. call me in the ladies room when you're down. >> she was an atheist that achieved fame by opposing prayer in public schools. she took her case all the way to the united states supreme court and won. she founded the non-profit group the american atheists as well as

a magazine preaching the gospel of strict separation of church and state and also wrote articles for "hustler" magazine and the subject of a playboy magazine interview. she was difficult woman to work with and notorious for speaking her mind. >> don't [ bleep ] with me. >> i have never encountered a more bitter, more distasteful person than madeleine murray o'hare. >> don't touch me. >> she was extremely foul mouth to the point even though we were doing an interview about something she wanted us to do a story on, we had to stop the interview in the middle because she was cursing so much. >> in august of 1995, 77-year-old madeleine, her 40 year old son and 30-year-old daughter robin left austin, texas without saying a word to

anyone. the staff of the american atheists organization found a note on their office door saying the o'hares had been called away for an emergency and didn't know when they would return. john's mercedes benz and robin's porsche were gone, too but left madeleine's diabetes medicine and her three dogs. >> madeleine didn't care for people but loved those dogs. >> couldn't get in touch so i started making phone calls and then i called john's cell phone and that's when madeleine answered. >> but madeleine wouldn't tell board member ellen johnson where she was. johnson said the calls were short and strained and she worried madeleine and her son were under some sort of duress. >> i questioned him about what was going on, and, you know, he tried to reassure me that everything was okay and i

believed it. >> just one month later, madeleine and john stopped answering their cell phone calls. when ellen johnson took over the american atheist group in madeleine's absence, she discovered since the o'hares disappeared, more than $600,000 was missing from the organization's bank account. >> suddenly, you have three people and very large amount of money all disappearing at the same time and this makes it for more interesting. >> no one associated with the american atheist reported the three missing and it wasn't until a year later that bill murray, madeleine's estranged son filed a missing person's report with austin police. madeleine and bill had a rocky relationship. in 1980 on mother's day, bill told madeleine that he had embraced christianity and was no longer an atheist and went public writing a book and making a film attacking his mother's

believes. >> my mother loved confrontations and never hels tateed to use me as an accomplice. she wanted to push the school prayer so she pressured me to keep a record of prayer and bible in school. it was here at my home my mother made me a spy. >> madeleine immediately disowned him and bill never again spoke with his mother, his brother john or daughter robin. bill didn't know if his family's disappearance was foul play or they stole the hundred and fled. a lot in return with ink plus from chase. like 60,000 bonus points when i spent $5,000 in the first 3 months after i opened my account. and i earn 5 times the rewards on internet, phone services and at office supply stores. with ink plus i can choose how to redeem my points. travel, gift cards, even cash back. and my rewards points won't expire.

so you can make owning a business even more rewarding. ink from chase. so you can. whbecause it helps meil skip the bad stuff. i'm good. that's what i like to call, the meta effect. 4-in-1 multi-health metamucil is clinically proven to help you feel less hungry between meals. experience the meta effect with our multi-health wellness line. i take prilosec otc each morning for my frequent heartburn. because it gives me... zero heartburn! prilosec otc. the number 1 doctor-recommended frequent heartburn medicine for 9 straight years. one pill each morning. 24 hours. zero heartburn. but first, we have a very special guest. come on out, flo! [house band playing] you have anything to say to flo? nah, i'll just let the results do the talking. [crowd booing] well, he can do that. we show our progressive direct rate and the rates of our competitors even if progressive isn't the lowest. it looks like progressive is not the lowest!

ohhhh! when we return, we'll find out whether doug is the father. wait, what?

a year after madalyn murray o'hair disappeared with her son jon murray and granddaughter robin, journalist john maccormack learned what the american atheist group already knew. that jon murray had withdrawn over $600,000 from the atheists' bank account just weeks after the three disappeared. maccormack also examined jon's cell phone records which indicated he'd been living in san antonio, texas, after his disappearance. many of the 200 calls were

suspicious. >> they had been calling financial institutions. they'd been calling airlines. they'd been calling drugstores to get madalyn's prescriptions. there were more than 150 calls. they called jewelry stores. >> one of those jewelry stores was on fredrickson road in san antonio. the owner said jon murray purchased $600,000 worth of gold coins using cash. even after madalyn's son, bill murray, reported the three missing the austin police showed little interest. >> there was no investigation by the austin police department. it was a total joke. >> the police reaction may have been based on their belief that madalyn and her family absconded with the atheist money and that it was an internal matter. >> how can somebody that's that famous turn up missing with all that money and still no one wants to look for her? so i decided i would be part of

the team that went looking. >> television news reporter valeri williams discovered that jon murray sold his mercedes-benz for $15,000, well below the car's value, to this man, mark sparrow. the seller identified himself as jon murray. but when shown a picture of jon murray, sparrow said it wasn't the man who sold him the car. after reviewing mugshot pictures, mr. sparrow identified the impersonator as another missing person. an ex-convict named danny fry. this was an interesting coincidence. danny fry's family told police that danny had been working with another ex-convict, david waters, who had once worked for madalyn o'hair and had a falling out. in 1993, madalyn hired david

waters as her office manager. within a few months she fired him, maintaining he had stolen $50,000 from the atheist organization. waters was charged with theft. he accepted a plea agreement and paid the money back. and in so doing, avoided jail time. but madalyn was furious that authorities allowed waters to go free. using the power of the pen, madalyn wrote an article in her magazine exposing waters as a thief and implied waters had homosexual relationships while serving an earlier prison sentence for assault. when waters saw the article, friends say he vowed revenge. journalist john maccormack

called waters and asked him if he had anything to do with madalyn's disappearance. >> i did not have anything to do with this. >> i didn't believe a word he said, but he spoke as though it was the truth. >> maccormack discovered that david waters, danny fry, and another ex-convict, gary karr, were all working together in austin, texas around the time the o'hairs disappeared in august of 1995. and not long afterwards, a headless, handless male torso was discovered in a dallas river. >> they spent three years trying to figure out who it was. but they had no fingerprints, no dental and no missing persons records that matched this disappearance, so they were totally stumped. >> maccormack had a hunch that

this body was somehow connected to the o'hair's disappearance. then, blend through lengths. our most advanced system outside the salon. it's more than colour. it's a work of art. then you'll know how uncomfortable it can be. but did you know that the lack of saliva can also lead to tooth decay and bad breath? well, there is biotene, specially formulated with moisturizers and lubricants... biotene can provide soothing relief and it helps keep your mouth healthy too. biotene, for people who suffer from a dry mouth. choose,

choose, choose. but at bedtime? ...why settle for this? enter sleep number and the ultimate sleep number event, going on now. sleepiq technology tells you how well you slept and what adjustments you can make. you like the bed soft. he's more hardcore. so your sleep goes from good to great to wow! now we can all choose amazing sleep, only at a sleep number store. save 50% on the ultimate limited edition bed, plus 24-month financing. know better sleep with sleep number. that's keeping you from the healthcare you deserve.. at humana, we believe the gap will close when healthcare gets simpler. when frustration and paperwork decrease. when grandparents get to live at home instead of in a home. so let's do it. let's simplify healthcare. let's close the gap between people and care.

not long after the o'hairs disappeared, a male torso was found in a dallas river. without a head or hands, fingerprints and dental records couldn't be used for identification. forensic anthropologists estimated the man to be between

the ages of 35 and 45. he had a stocky build and a lot of chest hair. the description didn't fit madalyn's son, jon. but journalist john maccormack had a hunch. he told police that it might be danny fry, the man who had impersonated jon murray when selling his car. scientists took dna from danny fry's brother and compared to it the blood dna of the torso. it was a match. just as maccormack suspected, the dead man in the river was danny fry. >> the blockbuster was when we could write a story that said that the headless corpse in dallas was danny fry and by the way, he was last seen with david waters in austin and by the way he spent his last month in san antonio at the same time the o'hairs did. that really kicked in the door.

>> suddenly, local, state, and federal law enforcement officials took notice and joined the investigation. when david waters' ex-girlfriend, patti steffens, read about david fry's murder in the newspaper, she immediately called the fbi. >> at first she wanted to tell us small bits and pieces. you have to understand this was a woman who was terrified. >> she gave investigators an important lead. three years earlier she said that david waters had rented a storage unit around the time the o'hairs disappeared and that waters had once gone there with this spray canister. laboratory tests on the canister revealed it had once contained bleach which is sometimes used to remove blood evidence. armed with a search warrant, police found a tiny red stain beneath a piece of aluminum

under the wall. it was so small it was almost in visible. with blood from madalyn's son, bill for comparison, a mitochondrial dna test revealed the stain was a mixture of two people. madalyn murray o'hair and her son, jon murray. next the fbi searched jon's waters' apartment. >> we found documented that belonged to the o'hairs that were dated after david waters had been fired from their organization. >> mr. waters, himself a prior convicted felon who was not allowed to have gun or ammunition was found to be in illegal possession of about 118 rounds of handgun ammunition of three different calibers. >> they even found books from the o'hair library and a bow saw. the fbi confronted david waters with the forensic and physical evidence against him. it took quite a while, but

eventually 5 1/2 years after the o'hairs disappeared, waters led investigators to a remote burial site at camp wood, texas. forensic anthropologist david glassman was there. >> when we hit the first bone, it was kind of interesting in this case because the bones was very large. >> after 21 hours of excavation, three adult bodies were uncovered. in each case, the legs had been cut off, possibly to make it easier to transport the bodies. >> there had been some effort to burn the remains. not to the point of cremation but in order to destroy maybe the clothing or any other dna evidence that might be there. >> as the remains were unearthed, shining in the

afternoon sun was the metal plate of an artificial hip. medical records revealed that madalyn o'hair had undergone hip replacement surgery several years before her disappearance. the serial number of the hip in madalyn's medical file matched the number on the hip in the grave. forensic odontologists compared the o'hairs' dental records to the skulls in the grave and confirmed that these were the remains of madalyn, her son, jon, and granddaughter, robin. >> for jon murray there were small fractures that occurred to the skull, itself, indicating some blunt trauma had been done to him during the time of his death. >> the cause of death for madalyn and robin couldn't be determined by looking at the bones, but since their heads were covered in plastic, it was

assumed they were asphyxiated. but investigators found something else. an extra head and two extra hands. the head showed a single gunshot wound at the base of the skull. forensic scientists used a photo superimposition technique for identification. they suspected the skull was that of danny fry, the man whose torso was found in the dallas river. scientists took a photograph of danny fry, then photographed the skull at the same angle and size. the two photographs were superimposed to see if the facial features matched the skull. >> every area that i examined in the video superimposition matched up. >> the motive for the o'hairs' murder had been revenge, but why had danny fry been murdered?

are you sure you're not ignoring them in your body? even if you're treating your crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis, an occasional flare may be a sign of damaging inflammation. and if you ignore the signs, the more debilitating your symptoms could become. learn more about the role damaging inflammation may be playing in your symptoms with the expert advice tool at crohnsandcolitis.com. and then speak with your gastroenterologist. with the expert advice tool at crohnsandcolitis.com. dave, i'm sorry to interrupt... i gotta take a sick day tomorrow. dads don't take sick days, dads take nyquil. the nighttime, sniffling, sneezing, coughing, aching, fever, best sleep with a cold, medicine. for over 19 million people. [ susan ] my promotion allowed me to start investing for my retirement. transamerica made it easy. [ female announcer ] everyone has a moment when tomorrow becomes real. transamerica. transform tomorrow.

transamerica.

i love my shows, sit around all day. that's why i have xfinity. their cloud based dvr lets me take everything i recorded, anywhere i go. which is perfect for me, [whispering] because i have responsibilities. ...i mean that's really interesting, then how do you explain these photos?! [people gasping] objection your honor. sustained. with the x1 dvr library you could take anywhere, xfinity is perfect for people on the go. the forensic evidence found years after the o'hairs' disappearance tied david waters and his two associates, danny fry and gary karr, to their murders. david waters' girlfriend, patti

steffens, told police that waters kidnapped the o'hairs because of the unflattering and inflammatory article madalyn had written about him. >> his girlfriend said he fantasized about torturing her, cutting off her toes, so basically i think this whole thing came down to not just money but really ugly personal chemistry between two dysfunctional personalities. >> for david waters, it was about revenge. he wanted the ultimate revenge on madalyn o'hair and the money was just a byproduct. >> after kidnapping the o'hairs, waters forced jon murray to withdraw $600,000 from the atheist bank account and then took him to the jewelry store to exchange the $600,000 for gold coins. the o'hairs were most likely dead by the time danny fry impersonated jon murray to sell his car. but why was danny fry killed, too? the answer was his drinking.

>> we knew that danny fry drank and loose lips sink ships. and what david had told bob fry about his brother, and that was you know, your brother has a big mouth, could be the thing that caused his death. >> but removing danny fry's head and hands still didn't prevent identification. dna and skull photo superimposition were all scientists needed. ironically after stealing the $600,000 from the o'hairs, waters never got the opportunity to enjoy the money. it was stolen from him. >> his first mistake was putting his money in a storage locker up in austin and having three bozos from san antonio looking for used tvs open up the locker with a master key and find a suitcase

with a half million in gold. >> this is not safe. stand back. >> for his role in this case, david waters was sentenced to 80 years in prison. his accomplice, gary karr, was sentenced to life in prison. >> mr. karr fully admitted his role and involvement with david waters in the abduction, robbery and murder of the o'hairs and he indicated that he had assisted in dismembering the bodies and putting the body parts in 55-gallon drums in a storage unit here in austin. >> for his persistence, john maccormack is one of the heroes of this case and forensic science played an important role, too. >> this is definitely one that if it wasn't for dna, we'd probably still be scratching our heads as to who this person was. >> a lot of times i kind of forget about the case when the next case comes in, so i really don't have one that always jumps to mind, but i'll remember this

one for a long time. on memorial day weekend in 1984, someone placed a body in a cardboard box and slid it down an embankment. the cause of death was homicide, but investigators had no idea when the murder occurred. but science uncovered an important detail of the victim's last night alive. would it be enough to identify the killer?