tonight on "nightline," reality bites. he won over the judges of "america's got talent" with a heartbreaking tale of being injured fighting in afghanistan. but now the army says it never happened. tonight, he tries to explain his story. and, a young couple attends a strict yoga retreat in arizona, only to be found weeks later, one starving in a cave, the other dead. inside the mystery in the desert. plus, they say it slithers through icy waters like a snake. and this new footage proves it

exists. so, is this iceland's very own loch ness monther? we go in search. >> announcer: from the global resources of abc news, with terry moran, cynthia mcfadden and bill weir in new york city, this is "nightline," june 8th, 2012. >> good evening, i'm cynthia mcfadden. tonight, controversy is swirling around a country singing contestant on "america's got talent" who claimed that he was injured by a grenade while fighting in afghanistan. but the army says his war story never happened and while he may have talent, he now has an awful lot of explaining to do. tonight, our new abc news colleague amy robach brings us the latest. we're delighted to welcome her to "nightline" for the very first time. ♪ if tomorrow never comes

>> reporter: it was a dramatic fall from grace. from instant reality star -- >> wow! how does it feel, man? >> amazing. >> reporter: to ashame and confused. >> it's the truth that i truly think is real. >> reporter: it was just earlier this week when sergeant timothy poe was all smiles. >> i am doing well, thank you. >> reporter: winning the hearts of americans by telling his touching tale. a wounded soldier left with an audible scar. >> i had got hit by a grenade in afghanistan and it broke my back and gave me a brain injury, so that's the reason why i stutter a little bit. >> reporter: poe went on to say singing is the only time he doesn't stutter. ♪ would she ever doubt ♪ the way i feel about her ♪ in my heart >> wow. wow.

everything about you is amazing. >> reporter: some of sergeant pope's fellow soldiers were also amazed. not because of pope's singing, but because of his story. they say it did not happen and contacted mark seavy with the american legion, who hunts down false military claims. >> it was absolutely unbelievable from the first second i saw it. >> reporter: he investigated, and the national guard confirmed that sergeant poe's military record did not show he was injured by a grenade in afghanistan, where he served for just one month from july to august of 2009. today, poe released a military document showing he suffers from an injury or disease received in the line of duty. but thereas nothing specific about the cause. seavy also noticed this photo used in sergeant pope's story wasn't actually a picture of poe. but of another soldier. army staff sergeant norman bone. we spoke to sergeant bone

earlier tonight. >> if somebody is going to lie about what they have done in the military, that disrespects anybody and everybody who has ever put a uniform on to defend our country. ♪ gonna be enough to last last free mantle media, who produces "america's got talent" responded with this statement. well sincerely apologize to u.s. army staff sergeant norman bone for using a photo of him in our story on tim poe. it was supplied to us by tim and used on the show in good faith. it is now been removed and will not be used again. it's the same picture poe gave our abc affiliate in dallas. his fiance says that was just a mistake. >> it was just a complete mixup and he is totally, totallior ysy about that. >> reporter: but poe also told wfaa he was shot and injured in iraq in 2005. >> in the fire fight, i took a bullet in the leg. >> reporter: the national guard

said sergeant poe was never even deployed to iraq. now poe is desperate to explain the unexplainable. >> everyone to jump on a bandwagon and say such horrible things and threaten family and things like that is horrible. because i did serve my country, the best that i knew how. >> reporter: in another bizarre apparent lie, sergeant poe told the "america's got talent" judges on stage he never sang before his brain injury. >> i didn't know i could really sing until my speech pathologist told me that, to help my stutter, she said, to sing in the shower. so that's what i did. >> reporter: but abc news has learned that poe had been singing for years before his deployment to afghanistan, even singing in the band crawl space. >> i do want to thank you for your service in afghanistan.

i don't know what to say to a hero like you. >> reporter: this week "america's got talent" howard stern vented on his radio show. >> this lie is so wrong on so many levels. it sickens me. >> reporter: and his story does real damage to true here roams serving our country, safes mark seavy. >> they see this man tell this story and they cry, it taps into something. so, i think it detracts from all of us who actually served. >> reporter: for "nightline," i'm amy robach in new york. >> thanks to amy. and welcome, amy. you can see more of this interview on our dallas affiliate's website, wfaa.com. just ahead, a quest for enlightenment turned deadly. the twisted tale of what happened to a young couple at a yoga retreat. last season was the gulf's best tourism season in years.

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>> announcer: "nightline" continues from new york city with cynthia mcfadden. >> we turn now to a strange story out of arizona, involving a retreat run by a wealthy buddhist monk who claims to use the principles of yoga and deep meditation in the quest for enlightningment. but while one young couple's spiritual journey led to troubling questions and a tragic death, abc's dan harris went looking for answers. >> reporter: the highway to enlightenment runs right through this desolate patch of arizona desert, according to the controversial spiritual leader, michael roach. >> hi, this is michael roach. >> reporter: but these two followers of roach, a married couple seen here in happier days

promoting their yoga book -- >> so, this is yen. >> reporter: they did not find enlightenment out in the desert. instead, as they and 39 other people hugged their families good-bye on this saturday morning in december 2010, and entered into a three-year silent meditation retreat, as seen in this video on the retreat website, what ian thorson and christie mcnally actually encountered was something entirely unexpected. a mysterious decent into the darkness that would change their lives forever. what was it like for you to watch your son get sucked up into this world? >> it was frightening. >> reporter: this story starts more than a decade ago, when ian, then a recent graduate of stanford, found his way into the orbit of the charismatic michael roach, a princeton graduate who had made millions in the diamond business and become a buddhist monk. right away, ian's mother and

sister say they were suspicious. >> he always just seemed a little creepy to me. >> reporter: so, your first impression was -- >> creepy. >> reporter: it didn't change? >> no. >> he promised the highway to enlightenment. >> reporter: what is he asking for in return? >> total dedication. >> reporter: in your view, is michael's group a cult? >> yes. >> reporter: roach is a highly trained monk in the same tradition at the dalai lama. in recent years, he and other bu dilss have been critical and embarrassed by some of roach's decisions, like living with women, growing out his hair and building a global following of adoring others. under the sway of roach, ian thorson changed dramatically, according to his family. >> he was not his own person anymore. >> reporter: did you feel like you were losing him? >> of course. >> he was totally changed. even his hugs weren't hugs, they were, like, shells of hugs. >> reporter: the family called

in cult deep programmers to work with ian but he ultimately returned to michael roach's group. in 2010, ian married christie mcnally. this was a tricky romantic decision for him, since christie was formerly michael roach's spiritual companion. she and roach were even profiled in "the new york times," talking about how they lived together for years and were never more than 15 feet apart at all times. when she left him for the younger ian thorson, roach was reported in one gossip page to have been distraught, dropping his monks robs for abormani sui and hitting the clubs with younger women. in chris deep's new relationship with ian, she continued some aspects of that extreme intimacy. they it a out of the same bowl, red the same book at the same time -- >> one person will arch back. >> reporter: and even did yoga together. >> once we do this kind of yoga together, then the next day when we try to do, like, a series alone, it is really lonely,

actually. >> it's lonely. >> yeah. >> reporter: in 2010, ian and christie went off for that retreat at roach's quote unquote university in the arizona desert. three years, three months and three days of silent meditation. a year and a half in, though, the couple was asked to leave. according to this letter from michael roach, christie and ian were the subject of a mutual spousal abuse investigation, after a medical practitioner at the university allegedly treated ian for three stab wounds inflicted by christie who claimed it was an accident that happened when she was playing with a knife. eager to continue their spiritual quest, their journey toward enlightenment, the couple went to live in this cave in the desert nearby, where they lived off of donated food and drank rainwater. >> i think it was a couple of people that thought they could live off the land and they made a huge mistake. >> reporter: after several months, something went very wrong. christie called in an emergency.

when crews arrived, ian was dead, apparently from exposure and dehydration. police do not suspect foul play. when and how did you get the news that he had died? >> with a knock on the door. i was, of course, shocked. i'm still in shock. >> reporter: you're in shock? so, you think michael put your son in a dangerous position? >> absolutely. >> reporter: ian's mom says michael roach's allegations of spousal abuse are exaggerated and that her son's death would not have happened if roach had not asked the couple to leave. >> getting them geared up for this retreat and then kicking them off is kind of setting people up for a problem. >> reporter: roach insists he took the right precaution, offering ian and chris tee money and assistance and a rental car to ease their transition. he says they refused the help and refused to tell anybody they were heading into the desert alone. he says he is deeply sorry for

ian's family's loss, but ian's mother says this case should be a wakeup call for parents about the changers in gropes like roach's, which she maintains is a cult. do you hope something good will come out of this? >> well, there is nothing good for me personally that can come out of this, because, you know, my son is dead. i certainly would not want this to happen to someone else. >> reporter: this weekend, michael roach, who refused to grant us an interview, is holding a seminar on reaching enlightenment. a goal his one-time follower ian thorson will now, in this lifetime, at least, never reach. for "nightline," this is dan harris in new york. >> our thanks to dan harris. up next, it's iceland's version of the loch ness monster. could this be the mystical tree sure? [ male announcer ] introducing the evo 4g lte from sprint. ♪ ♪

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well, america has big foot, and apparently iceland has a giant worm monster. seriously. recently, an alleged sighting of the mystery beast caught on tape has reignited the myth. so, abc's jeffrey kofman went to see if he could get a glimps for himself. >> reporter: can you see it? that thing in the water? suddenly, island isn't latching about its own version of the loch ness monster. in a country of odd natural w07bders and lots of ice and snow, they still talk of trolls and elves. but a lake monster? it was dismissed as a charming old legend until recently. when a local man nabbed this video of the mysterious monster with the mouth gashabling

16-letter name. lagarfljotsormurinn. welcome to egilsstadir. a remote area of spectacular finger lakes. jeffrey. very nice to meet you. first stop, the witness. the sneep faheep farmer who sho video. he lives on a ramshackle farm over looking the lake where the monster is said to live. what kind of movement did the worm make? >> translator: just like a snake. >> reporter: like a snake. he was having his morning kof feel when he spotted the creature. just to be clear, you just had coffee for breakfast, nothing more to drink? >> translator: he hasn't tasted alcohol in seven years. >> reporter: he adds, he's been told about the monster since he was a boy. this is a very old monster.

>> very old. >> reporter: who better than the local historian to fill us in? >> you are looking at a map from 1595. it says in this lake lives a huge monster that often appears as something dreadful is going to happen. >> reporter: one troubling detail, ancient records and historic sitings suggest the monster is miles long, with a humpback. the creature in the video is big, but not that big. do you know anyone who has seen the monster? >> yeah, i know, actually, i know a couple of people that have seen the monster, yeah. and people that i live in. my mother-in-law, she has seen the monster, for example. i don't doubt that. >> reporter: nobody's ever going to question a mother-in-law's ci sighting of a monster. some people think this is just a fishing net or ice in the spring thaw. do you believe that there really is a lagarfljotsormurinn? >> it's a living creature.

i think it's impossible. >> why? >> because a living creature has to have something to eat. >> reporter: there are fish in there? >> i don't think it's enough for a big creel sure. >> reporter: but then, he offered this. >> when i drive around the lake, looking for anything, i always look over as i have my camera, to be prepared if i see something. >> reporter: so, you don't believe it, but you are prepared for the possibility? >> yes. >> reporter: which brings us back to the farmer, cho can be surprisingly philosophical from his perch overlooking the lake. do you believe it? it's a yes and no question, says the farmer. when they say god exists, i mean, you have never seen him. the lagarfljotsormurinn exists, well, you have to believe. that, from one of the few people to have ever seen it. i'm jeffrey kofman for "nightline" on the shores of