>> pedal-pushing primates. >> grandpa would go with a young gorilla on a motorcycle, go get a slurpee. >> grappling great apes. >> people would come and watch people box and wrestle. >> but, this whole "gorilla magilla"... >> people would come and picket the facility. >> ...is no barrel of monkeys. >> i was told "don't open this envelope until i pass away." he's a good boy. >> that sounds like an ultimatum. >> it was. game on. ♪ ♪

>> i'm jamie colby, and today i'm headed to palm harbor, florida on the gulf coast, about 20 miles northwest of tampa. you know, sometimes the strange things that people inherit on this show reflect timeless american values. sometimes, though, they tell us how much times have changed. this is one of those stories where the heir is faced with a gorilla-sized challenge. >> my name is debbie cobb. my grandmother, anna mae noell, passed away in october of 2000, leaving behind her 53 primates that i had to figure out how to care for. >> debbie, i'm jamie. nice to meet you. >> glad to meet you. >> you know, i see there's a lot of retirees here in florida. yours are a pretty wild bunch. >> well, you haven't seen the half of it. >> what a beautiful place. it's a 12-acre primate sanctuary, full of ir

male orangutan. >> he really, really likes you jamie, because he doesn't >> that's purring. >> that's purring. >> i can tell he's a flirt. >> oh, a big one. >> pongo's original home was a zoo in but he didn't play well with the other orangutans. >> bye, pongo. >> these guys don't get the option of being able to go to a zoo, so they would have had to be euthanized if they didn't come here. there's somebody else i want to introduce you to, is blue -- is a spider monkey. he's 57 years old. >> what's special about blue? >> well he's a critically endangered species, and the number one thing that makes him so special to me is he's actually the same age as i am and he was around when my grandparents were here. >> debbie's grandmother, anna mae noell, is born into a north carolina family of traveling performers in the vaudeville era. as a boy, her grandfather bob joins a troop of vaudevillians

from virginia who raised him like a son. anna mae reminisces about those early years in this recording decades later. in 1931 by chance or kismet, their traveling families wind up in the same town, pamplin, virginia at exactly the same time. they combine acts for a one week variety show. >> your grandparents met pretty young. >> oh yeah. they were really teenagers. >> and suddenly, they're teenagers in love. >> grandma would always tell me "we weren't supposed to be seeing each other, but we did." [ laughing ] that's funny. they had planned this big getaway

and off they were. >> they eloped to new orleans and at first stick with what they know, vaudeville. then one day bob goes to see a man about a car. he returns, instead, with a 90-pound chimp named snookie. >> grandpa actually put up $300 to get him, and back then that was a lot of money. >> he plans to make it all back, and more by taking a new act on the road featuring the world's only athletic ape. >> so, they went from juggling and joking to monkey business? >> absolutely. yes. >> and part of this act was allowing people to go in the ring with a chimp. >> they said, "how can we do an act, not get people hurt or killed, make sure the animals have fun... grandpa would go talk to the police department and find out who was the biggest, baddest bully in the town. and then they would spread the word that this big, bad bully was gonna be there to box and wrestle with the chimpanzee. >> did any man ever win? >> no -- people didn't know what a chimpanzee was.

a 95-pound chimp can pull 850 pounds in one arm, and when they're mad 1250, so it didn't happen. >> you got to think if bob tried this today he'd be the one getting the beatdown from a disapproving public. but in 1940, it's a laugh riot. >> nothing like a chimp humiliating you. >> he wasn't the big, bad bully anymore. ♪ >> snookie is such a hit that bob and anna mae add more chimps to their show. they also add two kids -- velda mae, who would become debbie's mom, and bobby jr., her uncle who, years later, recalled the snookie routine fondly. >> for 14 years the troop follows the carnival circuit, not always to screams of delight. >> how many injuries have there been in your family as a result of dealing

with exotic animals? >> well, i don't know how many injuries, but you have to remember they have great teeth and they can hurt you. i remember that grandpa lost his fingers. >> grandpa bob noell tells the story again and again through the years. >> at least he wasn't also losing an arm and a leg. in fact, by 1954 the noells have socked away enough to purchase 12 acres of incorporated land in florida, a place to call home in the winter months. this is where granddaughter debbie is born to velda mae in 1959. >> how'd your parents feel about you hanging out at the chimp farm? >> well, my dad loved it. my dad was more like a son to my grandparents. my mom on the other hand, she was there,

but, i'll be honest, i think that was very hard for my mom. >> the noells certainly make for interesting neighbors. >> the animals had as much freedom as we did back in the day. >> bill stanton, a kid on a farm a stone's throw away, pals around with debbie and the chimps. >> some of them didn't actually go into cages at all. they literally lived in the houses and the trailers with people. >> was that smart? >> maybe not, but when you have grandparents that aren't normal... ♪ ...and you're playmates are gorillas, orangutans, and chimps it doesn't get better than that. >> somewhere along the way the noells' enterprise begins to shift. they're still entertainers, but with a growing focus on animal rescue. >> grandma and grandpa were one of the first in the state of florida to have a great ape license, and that's how it all began, 'cause they went from chimps to orangutans to gorillas. >> blue the spider monkey,

arrives about that time. then there's a young lowland gorilla named otto that her grandmother rescues in 1968. >> i was a child and i heard my grandmother was gonna go get this sick gorilla. he couldn't even stand up, and he had this septic arthritis and he had tb, so he had to be quarantined. >> the family nurses otto back to health, and he becomes almost a brother to debbie. >> you don't look afraid. >> oh, not at all. i felt more secure with him than with anybody in the world. >> was he dangerous? >> i never was afraid of him -- never. >> he grows up to be a fearsome sight though. so fearsome that american tourister casts him as the 400-pound suitcase abusing star in its famous luggage ads. by then debbie's grandparents have quit the carnival circuit. but they don't retire in florida. instead, they open their home to the public. they call it noell's ark chimp farm.

they're hoping all these lovable creatures can keep tourists entertained and support them and their rescue efforts. it doesn't quite work out that way. >> the attitude and the people changed. people would picket. they were being chastised. >> that's next. >> but first, our "strange inheritance" quiz question -- in 1953, j. fred muggs becomes the first regular animal cast member on a live television show. which show was it? "the nfl on cbs," "the price is right," or, the "today" show? the answer after the break. ♪ hi guys. this is the chevy silverado with the world's first invisible trailer. invisible trailer? and it's not the trailer right next to us? this guy? you don't believe me? hop in. good lookin' pickup, i will say that. oh wow. silverado offers an optional technology package with up to 15 different views - including one enhanced view that makes your trailer appear invisible.

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>> so, which 1950's tv show featured j. fred muggs? it's the "today" show. to raise ratings, producers cast the chimp as host dave garroway's sidekick. >> in 1971, bob and anna mae noell turned the florida headquarters of their traveling animal show into a family compound and permanent roadside attraction. they call it noell's ark chimp farm. >> everybody would come and see grandpa play with the gorilla... ♪ >> ...because that was very abnormal to see a 650-pound gorilla playing with a 250-pound man. grandpa would go with a young gorilla on a motorcycle,

go up to the 7-eleven, go get a slurpee. >> there would be chimps, orangutans, gorillas sitting up on the front wall. >> neither of anna mae and bob's kids, debbie's mom and uncle, wants a career in the family business. undeterred, anna mae devotes her golden years to the serious work of rescuing more apes. >> we have had practically no social life, because all our life is wrapped up in these animals. i don't go out to cocktail parties, i don't go to tea parties. i don't do any of that stuff. >> not that they're getting invited to a lot of parties down the block. with every passing year more and more neighbors complain the chimp farm is a smelly nuisance. >> new people come in, and suddenly instead of growing lettuce and tomatoes, there's a housing development that goes up. >> steve fiske is chairman of the local chamber of commerce. he says some new residents find the chimps a little too close to home.

>> if the wind's in the right direction you're gonna realize it has odors. >> odors? debbie doesn't even notice. throughout high school she helps care for the apes. she then studies nursing and veterinary technology in college. >> at 21, i decided to set off and go visit 21 zoos across the united states. >> and when she does, she keeps hearing something that makes her proud. seems folks everywhere actually know of her grandmother. >> and they would say "you know mae knoll"? i had a job at the atlanta zoo just off of her name and her reputation. >> but by now, back in florida, grandma's reputation is under assault. animal rights groups put the chimp farm on a black list. >> people would come from other places in the world and even stand there and picket the facility. >> how did grandma react when there would be protesters? >> it bothered her, but even then

in her only-grandma style would bring animals out to the picket line and say "this is what you're picketing against." >> things only get harder for anna mae noell. in 1991, debbie's grandpa bob falls into a diabetic coma and dies. anna mae loses her lifelong companion of 60 years. >> if you knew anything about them two, they were a team. it was the hardest time in my life watching her go through that. >> it also leaves debbie's grandma, now in her 80s, to run the chimp farm. so, debbie stays in florida to help keep it going. >> i thought i would just come to the chimp farm and work on the weekends and visit all my friends. and then my whole world changed. >> because in 1999 state and federal authorities closed the chimp farm to the public citing its small cages with rusty or jagged edges. they can keep the animals for now,

but they can no longer charge admission. >> were they right in terms of condition? >> maybe for the enclosures, but not in love, care, and consistency in the care of the animals. >> authorities give the chimp farm three years to make the necessary improvements. 85-year-old anna mae responds by taking in yet more primates. they can live for years, a lot longer than the increasingly frail anna mae can expect to. so what will happen to the place when she's gone? one day she gives debbie a sealed envelope with an explicit instruction. >> i was told "don't open this envelope until i pass away." >> then in october 2000, anna mae noell dies at age 86. >> what would happen to the chimp farm without grandma? >> mm... >> the answer is in that envelope. debbie opens it after the break.

>> here's another quiz question for you. where is america's most-visited zoo? san diego, the bronx, or washington d.c.? the answer when we return. ♪ william: 145 over 92.

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♪what you want, baby i got ♪what you need, you know i got it♪ ♪all i'm askin' is for a little respect♪ excuse me ma'am, would you like to have my seat? ♪r-e-s-p-e-c-t ♪find out what it means to me♪ ♪r-e-s-p-e-c-t ♪take care. tcb, oh ♪(sock it to me, sock it to me, sock it to me, sock it to me)♪ ♪a little respect

♪ >> so, which is america's most-visited zoo? it's the san diego zoo where the lucky animals live within site of the pacific ocean and captivate more than 3 million visitors a year. >> in the fall of 2000, anna mae noell dies leaving behind her life's work -- the chimp farm she and her late husband created. it's home to more than

50 primates, and it's sitting on some prime florida real estate. but if any of anna mae's heirs have plans for that land, she's about to throw a monkey wrench into them. >> when grandma died... >> mm-hmm? ...there was a brown envelope. >> [ sighs ] >> tell me about it. >> an envelope changed my life. >> inside that envelope is a document that names debbie's uncle bob, her mother velda mae, and debbie as heirs and trustees, and instructs the three of them to hold the property jointly for the benefit of the animals. >> grandma put a trust together for the animals, and it's clearly stated that as long as there was one animal and one person that came back, then the animal park would be there. >> in other words, if one of the trustees wants to keep the chimp farm alive, the other two cannot shut it down and sell off the land. anna mae must have known

it would be just one person -- debbie. >> that one thing she did changed my life forever. i had to either help the chimps or walk away. >> how much was the land worth when you inherited it? >> somebody said that it was worth about $6 million. >> here's the point where a strange inheritance splits a family apart. debbie's mother and uncle, she claims, push her to give up the chimp farm so they can sell the land. >> they told me "why would you want it and ruin your life for a group of animals when you could have $2 million in the bank, and you'd never have to work again?" >> you could do it. >> some would, but who are you going to sacrifice in that? were you gonna lose otto? were you gonna lose her oldest chimp that lived well into his 60s? which animal was gonna be sacrificed for a dollar bill? >> it was two against one. >> i knew that some of those animals had been ones that they had grown up with. could they really, at the end of the day, turn their back on them?

>> neither debbie's uncle or mother would appear in this program. both denied to us they wanted to see the chimp farm closed. whoever said what to whom, there's no doubt debbie was only given two options -- put up or shut down. >> that sounds like an ultimatum. >> it was. game on. >> that's next. what's your "strange inheritance" story? we'd love to tell it. send me an e-mail or go to our website, strangeinheritance.com. ♪ limu emu & doug [ siren ] give me your hand! i can save you... lots of money with liberty mutual! we customize your car insurance so you only pay for what you need! only pay for what you need.

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>> now, back to "strange inheritance." >> in 2000 when anna mae noell dies, she leaves behind a shuddered chimpanzee farm with dozens of apes, chimps, and critters. a trust provides that the sanctuary remain open -- so long as her son, daughter, or granddaughter debbie is willing to run it. only when it closes can those three sell the land.

the heirs do not see eye to eye. >> i had to be the person that said these animals needed someone. >> debbie says the family dispute is so bitter it ends her relationship with both her mother and uncle. >> but in the end, anna mae noell's trust for the benefit of the animals prevails. >> did the get anything out of the estate? >> they weren't supposed to get anything in the beginning. remember, it was a trust for the animals. it didn't say "a trust for debbie, a trust for uncle, and a trust for mom." it said "a trust for animals." >> but now what? the antiquated chimp farm is already on notice with authorities for its run-down enclosures. >> i already had planned on building a larger enclosure for the animals, because that was what my heart was. >> and if there's one thing i've learned about debbie, it's that the first thing

she inherited from her crazy family is heart. >> anybody who wants to help come to the chimp farm. it will change your life. it's changed mine dramatically. >> it takes nearly a decade, but her big plans become reality. >> in 2008, she reopens the animal shelter to the public as the gleaming suncoast primate sanctuary. [ ragtime music plays ] >> and to think this all started with a chance meeting on the vaudeville circuit, a boxing chimp named snookie, and a madcap bunch of bike riding apes. but not everything changes aboard old noell's ark. in fact, things come full circle when debbie marries and chooses to raise another generation... >> that's my daughter. say "hi," brandi. >> hi. >> hey, brandi. >> thank you, brandi. >> ...amidst the gorillas

and monkeys and birds and reptiles. it's a decision that affirms all that grandma anna mae worked for. >> good job. >> so, this is sort of a refuge -- hoping that our great-grandchildren will be able to see a live chimpanzee. >> this is the hardest journey i've ever been in in my life. all my blessings were restored by making sure i did the right thing for the right reason. you're my buddy. >> debbie tells me that parting with one of the primates is like losing an old friend. remember otto, the lowland gorilla from the luggage ads who would carry debbie around on his back? well, otto died shortly after his 42nd birthday party. but one of his fans couldn't bear never seeing him again, and so donated the funds to have him stuffed. debbie says if otto can go on display some day he'll continue the sanctuary's mission of wildlife conservation.

i'm jamie colby. thanks so much for watching "strange inheritance." and remember -- you can't take it with you. >> a "strange inheritance" mystery... >> i thought, "what? what is going on?" >> ...a norman rockwell shocker. >> is it a fake? >> well, this was the question that was in everyone's mind. >> oh, if these walls could talk. >> i want you to put your hands like this, and we're going to pull it toward me. >> aah! >> there you go. >> oh, my goodness. >> keep going. ♪ [ door creaks ] [ wind howls ] [ thunder rumbles ] [ bird caws ] ♪ >> i'm jamie colby in arlington, vermont, once home to norman rockwell. it was also home to a man who left his children

a multimillion-dollar conundrum involving the iconic american painter and illustrator. >> my name is don trachte jr. my siblings and i were supposed to inherit from our father one of norman rockwell's best-known paintings. what we got was a mystery. what the heck had dad done with it? >> hi, don. i'm jamie. >> hi, jamie. >> so nice to meet you. so great to be in vermont. what is this place? >> this was my dad's studio. >> back in the 1950s, don's dad, donald trachte sr., is a syndicated cartoonist working on the popular strip "henry," which features a bald-headed boy, simply illustrated with clean lines and minimal backgrounds. can you support a wife and four kids drawing "henry"? >> it was a good living. my dad had to come up with all the gags... >> really? >> ...and he would have a sheet of paper next to his drawing board,

and usually, he'd come up with about three or four gags at a time. >> were they gags about you kids? >> well, sometimes they were. >> so life for the trachtes is pretty good here in arlington, a picturesque artist's colony with a world-famous resident -- norman rockwell. how did your dad meet norman rockwell? >> when we arrived in arlington, we met a realtor, and if you showed artistic ability, he probably dragged you down to norman rockwell's house. >> did rockwell come to your father's studio to visit? >> he did make a couple visits but very short. you know, norman worked seven days a week, and he just was on high gear. >> don sr. even poses for rockwell, playing the principal in one of his famous saturday evening post covers. and don jr. gets his shot as a rockwell model when his dad volunteers him to pose for this photo from which rockwell paints a child life magazine cover. is that you?

>> that's me. >> you're holding hands with the girl... >> yes. >> ...which you did not like yet. >> well, i may have liked her. i was just embarrassed. >> don sr. and rockwell develop a pretty close professional acquaintance. they share tricks of the trade and the same sense of humor. here's the cartoonist with the great painter wearing matching bow ties and french berets. how close did he get to rockwell? did he look over his shoulder while he was painting? >> my dad had a great sense of observation, and when he watched rockwell, he would look at his paints, his paintbrush, what kind of varnish. my dad just worshipped norman rockwell. >> they keep in touch after rockwell leaves vermont for stockbridge, massachusetts, in 1953, where he continues to paint some of the most iconic

images of small-town america. >> all the materials that you see here were actual rockwell tools. he was very neat. you can see how clean his brushes were. >> oh, my. stephanie plunkett is chief curator of the rockwell museum in stockbridge, which includes the painter's barn studio. i see the chair. it would mean a lot to sit in norman rockwell's. please? >> jamie, we would be honored to have you sit in rockwell's chair. >> oh, my gosh. this is amazing. norman rockwell painted in this chair. oh, my gosh. it's from this chair in 1954 that rockwell paints "breaking home ties," which will become one of the most popular saturday evening post covers of all time. what is the story in this? what did he want people to know? >> his idea was, this is a young man from a very rural community in america, and he is leaving home for the first time

to go to college. his father is a rancher, and he is slumped. he's holding two hats... >> oh. >> ...which is such a beautiful memento. he's holding his own and his son's. and the collie dog is feeling... >> sad. and dad is, what, reflecting on the end of an era maybe? his son won't be a rancher with him? >> very much so. >> classic rockwell -- a single scene tells a poignant story of the joys and laments, worries and hopes, sweet and bittersweet rhythms in the life of every american family, like the trachtes. as the years go by, "henry" gives elizabeth and don sr. the wherewithal to acquire their own impressive little art collection. it's in 1962 when they see "breaking home ties" for sale at a vermont art gallery. they buy it for $900. was there anything particular

about the subject of this painting that you think your father became particularly attracted to? >> well, two things. one is the character -- the old man sitting on the running board was our neighbor floyd, and my dad thought the world of floyd, as all of us did. i think also that the painting told a story. it's a separation of your children from home, so i think it's that emotional connection that probably grabbed my dad. >> do you think it could be you leaving? >> it could be. perhaps at that time, my father was experiencing the separation of all of his kids, and maybe that was it. >> did your dad know it was a good investment? >> you know, i don't think he bought it as an investment at all. he just thought it was such a wonderful piece of art. why would you even sell anything like that? >> of course, it is a good investment. just 2 years after he purchased it, don sr. receives an offer in 1964 for 35,000 bucks.

that's a lot of money then. >> it was an extraordinary amount of money. a lot of us would've just sold right then and there, wouldn't we? >> yes. >> but not my dad, not interested. i actually have a letter right here. take a look at that. >> from norman rockwell, stockbridge, mass. "dear don, you must be crazy not to sell it, but i adore your loyalty. as ever, norman." ha! >> that's it. >> he's saying you should've sold. >> that's right. >> "breaking home ties" remains on display in the trachtes' vermont home, but as more time passes, life for the trachtes resembles less and less a norman rockwell painting. when they divorced, i mean, how do you cut a rockwell in half? >> that's a terrible thought, isn't it? >> here's a "strange inheritance" quiz question. why did norman rockwell keep a mirror in his studio -- to reflect sunlight

onto his paintings, to watch himself while he worked or to look at his painting in reverse? the answer after the break.

(sfx: orchestra warming up) where's tommy? (sfx: stage doors opening) i thought he was with you? no jack! (sfx: piano plays "twinkle twinkle little star" tommy? (sfx: audience laughing) go get him!

don't stop. keep playing. (sfx: pianist playing masterful duet) here we go here's the fun part did you do this? great job! (sfx: audience applause) ♪ >> so why did norman rockwell keep a mirror in his studio? it was to look at his paintings in reverse. he believed that if the picture was also engaging when looked at backwards, it was sure to be a winner.

>> after purchasing the norman rockwell painting called "breaking home ties" for $900 in 1962, don and elizabeth trachte display it in their vermont home. don sr. continues drawing the comic "henry" but spends more and more time painting, too. >> he did a lot of painting later in his life. he did western art. he did what i call cape cod art. >> he's pretty good. >> he was pretty good. >> but he's increasingly withdrawn and estranged from elizabeth. at some point, do you get an inkling that your parents might divorce? >> i think it was just time for them to part ways. >> and they do in 1973 after 32 years of marriage. so what to do with the art they collected together? they have seven relatively

valuable paintings from lesser-known artists in addition to that famous rockwell. when they divorced, was there an issue about... i mean, how do you cut a rockwell in half? >> well, that's a terrible thought, isn't it? >> the couple agree to give the eight paintings to their children -- their inheritance to be received upon their parents' deaths. until then, elizabeth keeps five and don three, including the rockwell. by the way, it jumps in value when rockwell dies in 1978 at age 84. don sr. builds this home and art studio in the woods. he draws the sunday edition of "henry" until it's canceled in 1994. by 2001, now in his 80s, health problems force don sr. to lay down his pencils and brushes altogether, and he begins splitting his time living with his children.

>> we just wanted him kind of with us and safe. >> with their father's house empty and cold, don jr. and his siblings worry about their strange inheritance -- the famous painting on the wall that's now possibly worth millions. looking for a safer place, they call the norman rockwell museum and chief curator stephanie plunkett. >> they say, "would you like to exhibit it?" and we, of course, were thrilled because this is actually an icon in rockwell's career. >> did you tell dad? >> yes, and he never said anything. he just nodded. >> ever take dad to see it? >> oh, no. withing a year or two, he went into assisted living. i just thought it was a lot for him to absorb, so i never took him down to the museum. i said, "why put him through that?" >> don trachte sr. passes away in 2005 at age 89, but just as his four children

formally inherit "breaking home ties," they start hearing whispers that the famous painting just might be a fake. >> one art expert walked in and said, "it's a third-rate replica," and i thought, "what?" i was concerned, like, what is going on? >> here's another quiz question. to model the girl's black eye in this painting, did rockwell put a wanted ad in the paper for a kid with a shiner, visit a boxing gym or paint his own black eye? the answer when we return. hi! we're glad you came in, what's on your mind?

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♪ >> so how did rockwell model the girl's black eye in this painting? it's a.

he placed a wanted ad offering 5 bucks for a kid with a black eye. he found this little guy, tommy forestburg, of worcester, mass, who'd taken a tumble down the stairs. >> don trachte jr. and his siblings face a multimillion-dollar mystery. they've loaned this painting, norman rockwell's "breaking home ties," to the rockwell museum in stockbridge, massachusetts, but now they're hearing questions about the authenticity of their strange inheritance. >> there were some doubts. in fact, one art expert walked in and said, "this is a fake." >> even don jr. sees subtle differences between his painting and the 1954 saturday evening post cover. >> look in the area of the boy's face, and look at those two side by side. >> well, his face is much fuller. >> yeah. there's some differences, aren't there? and that's primarily...

>> eyes are different. >> the eyes are different. >> mm-hmm. >> and the mouth is different. >> mm-hmm. but there must be an innocent explanation. the museum believes the painting was probably subjected to a subpar touch-up job. that's why, when don and his siblings decide it might be time to sell "breaking home ties," their comfortable reaching out to sotheby's in new york. sotheby's appraiser peter rathbone visits the rockwell museum to see it. like some other experts, he's perplexed. >> it just wasn't as well painted as one had sort of become accustomed to seeing in rockwell's work. but here you are in the norman rockwell museum, where the painting has been on public display for, you know, several years. >> rathbone believes the painting could bring between $3 and $5 million at auction. >> in 2002, we sold the iconic "rosie the riveter" that brought

just under $5 million, so we were obviously looking at a very bullish market for rockwell's work. >> but before they test the market, the family decides to test the painting. they send it to the williamstown art conservation center in 2006 for a detailed analysis. the family faces three possible outcomes. it's the original rockwell that's been touched up, or a second version of the painting by rockwell himself, or it could be a forgery. having them take a look could take the millions that you and your siblings are entitled to and throwing it out the window if it doesn't go your way. >> it could, but we were so adamant that we had to understand what is wrong with this painting? now, my best hope was that we'd actually find that this was the original painting, but someone had repainted or painted over parts of the painting. >> no dice. it turns out the painting

is a completely original and pretty well-executed fake! >> that's when, you know, the air was going out of the balloon. >> disheartened, confused and a lot poorer than they were days before, don jr. and his brother david go to their late father's studio in hopes of finding anything that could solve the mystery. what happened? >> when dave walked over here, he noticed this little crack. push against that. oh. uh-oh. >> wait a minute. it moves. >> it moves. we said, "what the heck is going on here?" >> what's your "strange inheritance" story? we'd love to tell it. send me an e-mail or go to our website, strangeinheritance.com. hi guys. this is the chevy silverado with the world's first invisible trailer. invisible trailer? and it's not the trailer right next to us? this guy? you don't believe me? hop in. good lookin' pickup, i will say that. oh wow.

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♪ >> now back to "strange inheritance." >> don trachte jr. is in the middle of a "strange inheritance" enigma. this norman rockwell painting,

"breaking home ties," has been in his family for more than 40 years, but now it's revealed that they're holding on to a fake. what gives? don and his brother david search their late father's vermont art studio. >> my brother walked over to this space right here. he noticed this little crack, and he pushed against the wall. push against that, and you see? oh. uh-oh. >> wait a minute. it moves. >> it moves, and we said, "what the heck is going on here?" >> don and his brother snap these pictures as they begin to dismantle pieces of their father's bookcase. >> now, i want you to come over here. i want you to put your hands like this, and we're going to pull it toward me. >> ah! >> there you go. >> oh, my goodness. >> keep going. >> behind this secret sliding wall, don and his brother discover what they didn't even know they were looking for -- the original rockwell painting,

"breaking home ties." did you scream, cry, hug each other? >> we didn't say a word. >> but they must say something to the curator at the rockwell museum. >> i received a call from don jr., and he said, "i have good news, and i have bad news. the good news is i know where the original is, and the bad news is that it's not at the museum." >> did word get out that the museum had a forgery? >> yes. as a matter of fact, it was a challenging moment for sure. >> the "strange inheritance" story makes headlines, which is actually good news to peter rathbone at sotheby's. >> we adjusted our estimate slightly from $3 to $5 million up to $4 to $6 million. this is the rockwell property of the trachte family collection. >> "breaking home ties" goes up for auction in new york city in november 2006.

you remember the first bid? >> i do. it was, "let's start the auction process at $4 million." >> i have $4 million, $4,100,000. >> so the bidding then continues. now we're at $6 million, $7,800,000, $8 million, $9 million. >> oh, my gosh. >> and then it started to go faster. >> ten million. i have 11 million. twelve million dollars. >> and then, all of a sudden, it stopped. >> all done? sold for $13,750,000. >> add to that the buyer's premium and the grand total hits $15.4 million -- at the time, a new world record for a rockwell painting. it's a happy ending for the trachte kids, even if the mystery is never to be completely solved. don can only deduce that sometime before his parent's divorce, his father was the one who copied the rockwell. accepted by a museum that just has norman rockwells.

>> that's right. >> did you know he was that good? >> no, i didn't. >> don is unsure of the answer to the bigger question. why did dad do this? >> i think he just wanted to protect this, and people would come up to me and they came up with all the "what ifs." what if the house burned down? what if it got bulldozed? what if we sold it? but i didn't have ready answers. >> all don is certain of is that his father wasn't trying to defraud anyone, much less his mother. he didn't have a war with my mom like a lot of people suspect. >> you had to let mom know. how did she react? >> she put her hands on her face like this and listened, and she said, "this doesn't surprise me." >> really? >> yeah. she was 89 at the time. >> she took it well. >> she took it well. >> by the way, remember those other pricey paintings? don sr. kept those originals hidden behind his secret wall, too.

so he painted duplicates. >> he painted eight duplicates. >> i decide to bounce off don my own theory about his cartoonist father. did your dad want to be norman rockwell? >> i don't think he wanted to be norman rockwell. i think he just wanted to absorb and be as, perhaps, as great as norman rockwell in his own right. >> and in a way, don is now helping make that happen. you're surely asking, "where is the fake rockwell now?" well, it's on its own museum tour. that's right. don jr. is showcasing his father's amazing rockwell duplicate along with the seven other paintings he copied, all nearly indistinguishable from the originals. the exhibit places the real and the duplicate painting side by side. imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

i'm jamie colby. thanks so much for watching "strange inheritance," and remember -- you can't take it with you. had. cheryl: icheryl: it is a 5:00n unprecedented delay in iowa, turning the caucuses into chaos, the results not expected until later today. still, all the 2020 candidates declared victory. lauren: the state of the union just hours away. president trump's booming economy is expected to be front and center but what else can we expect from the president's great american comeback address tonight. cheryl: and disney betting big on the new streaming service but will streaming pay off for the house of mouse? well, it is a busy tuesday, it's february 4th. "fbn: a.m." starts right now.