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On this episode of
"Expedition Files"...

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In 1974, the body of a brutally
murdered, unidentified woman is

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found in the sandy dunes
of Cape Cod.

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[woman screams]

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[Josh] Was she the victim of
a mob hit?

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Or something even
more sinister?

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Now, nearly 50 years later,
the Lady of the Dunes' identity

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is finally revealed.

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Then, for centuries,
Christians have believed Judas

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was the ultimate betrayer.

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But a recent archaeological
discovery is challenging that

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narrative and raising
the question, what if the story

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of Judas isn't what we've
always been told?

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And in 1828, a teenage boy
stuns Germany by claiming

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he's a long-lost prince from
a famous royal dynasty.

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Will new evidence confirm
that he's of royal blood

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or a master of deception?

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In the corridors of time

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are mysteries that
defy explanation.

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Now, I'm traveling through
history itself

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on a search for the truth.

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New evidence.

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Shocking answers.

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I'm Josh Gates.

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And these...

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are my "Expedition Files."

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Scientists have calculated that
you make a first impression of

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someone in just a tenth
of a second.

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That's all the time it takes to
form an opinion, good or bad.

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And to put that in context,
you've already been watching me

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for over 150 times that.

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And the good news is,
you've decided that

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I'm awesome, right?

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Tonight, we're taking this
concept to the opposite extreme,

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examining three strange
and shocking stories

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from history where, far from
getting to know our main

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characters in under a second,
it will take decades,

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centuries, even millennia
to solve the mysteries

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of who these people really are.

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And we begin on a beautiful
summer morning

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in Cape Cod in 1974.

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It's here that we find a young
girl exploring the scenic

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Race Point Dunes
near Provincetown,

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but she's about to walk
straight into a nightmare.

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[woman screams]

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It's the decomposing body of
an auburn-haired woman,

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face down, half buried
in the sand.

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And horrifically,
she's missing both her hands.

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Authorities will soon arrive,
but despite an exhaustive

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investigation, they will be
unable to identify her.

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In fact, her name will remain
a mystery for almost 50 years,

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buried in the sands of time.

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That is, until groundbreaking
DNA analysis finally answers

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the question --
who is the Lady of the Dunes?

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[phone rings]

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Hello?

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[Josh] Minutes after the body
is found...

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Where?

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...Provincetown Police Chief
James Meads is alerted.

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At the dunes?
Any witnesses?

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[Josh] He's led the police force
for just four years.

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This is by far the biggest
and most shocking case

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to ever cross Meads' desk.

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When Meads arrives at
the crime scene,

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he immediately examines the body
and finds it's brutalized.

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The woman's hands have been
completely severed

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and are missing, presumably

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to prevent identification
through fingerprints.

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Her head has almost
been decapitated.

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The left side of her skull has
been crushed by a massive blow.

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Who did this to you?

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[Josh]
Under her head, almost like
a pillow, Meads finds a neatly

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folded bandana and a pair of
Wrangler jeans.

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The woman appears to have been
dead for at least ten days.

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And in the summer heat,
her body is in a sorry state.

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With no identification
and very little to go on,

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their best hope of discovering
what happened to this Jane Doe

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is through an autopsy.

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The medical examiner suggests

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she's between 25
and 40 years old,

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5'6", 145 pounds,
with an athletic build.

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She's had a lot of dental work.

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[Josh] And something else.

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She has several missing teeth,
and those that are left

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are unusual.
She has seven gold crowns.

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With no matches on the missing
person databases,

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Meads comes to believe that the
victim's extensive dental work

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could be the best chance
of getting an ID.

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Meads and his team contact
thousands of dentists,

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desperate to make a connection.

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But despite their efforts,
the cops come up empty.

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And meanwhile, no one has come
forward to claim the body.

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It's as if the Lady of the Dunes
is a ghost.

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October 1974, three months on
from the body being found,

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she's buried here in an unnamed
grave in Provincetown's

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St. Peter's Cemetery.

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The funeral is paid for by
the town itself.

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The community has become
invested in the tragic story,

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and they're looking
for answers.

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And no one wants those answers
more than James Meads himself.

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He pledges to solve this case,
whatever it takes.

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Six years later, in 1980,
he has the woman's body exhumed

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in hopes of finding a clue
he missed the first time.

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Samples are taken,
and the body is reexamined

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with the latest technology.

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Unfortunately,
nothing decisive is found.

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But unwilling to give up
on the case,

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Meads retains the skull when
the remains are reburied.

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He stores it at the state
medical examiner's office,

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hopeful it may one day
help identify the body.

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Over the next several years,
police use the skull to create

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forensic facial composites
of the Lady of the Dunes,

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releasing them to the public.

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[phone rings]

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[Josh]
One woman claims the victim
looks like her missing sister.

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Another says her father
was the killer.

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A psychic suggests
her hands were buried

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under a nearby building.

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Meads and the other officers
follow these and hundreds

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of other leads,
but none pan out.

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-[Meads] Thank you all so much.
-[clapping]

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[Josh]
Then, in 1992, after more than
30 years on the job,

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18 of those working
the Dunes case,

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Chief Meads retires from
the force, seemingly no closer

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to solving the case than
when he started.

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With the advancement
of DNA analysis,

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the body is exhumed again
in the year 2000.

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However, it's early days
for this technology,

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and no match is found.

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The case fades from public
attention until remarkable

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new leads bring it back
into the spotlight.

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The first lead comes in 2012,
when an informant comes forward

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saying that he saw a woman
matching the composite

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of the Lady of the Dunes hanging
out with the notorious mobster

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Whitey Bulger in July of 1974,
the same month she died.

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Bulger was known for
removing his victim's teeth

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to prevent identification.

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But disturbing MO aside,
investigators are unable

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to link the mobster to
their Jane Doe.

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Then in 2013, the body is
exhumed for a third time

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to collect additional samples
for newer forensic techniques.

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But once again,
no identification is made.

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In 2015, perhaps
the most bizarre lead

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in the case emerges.

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It's a theory that one can only
describe as jaws dropping.

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Joe Hill, son of author
Stephen King,

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is watching
the 1975 movie "Jaws."

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And in one of the beach scenes,
he spots a woman

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in the background
with long auburn hair,

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wearing a blue bandana
and jeans that look just like

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those found alongside
the Lady of the Dunes.

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Hill, familiar with
the Lady of the Dunes story,

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reports his lead to a friend at
the FBI, noting that the film

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had been shot in Martha's
Vineyard the same year of

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the murder, just 100 miles
south of Provincetown.

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He also posts his theory
to social media.

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Hill's post goes viral,
but a Universal Studios

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archivist is unable to find
the name of the extra,

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and the FBI doesn't turn up
any new leads.

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All hope of ID-ing the victim
seems lost.

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That is, until the FBI makes
a stunning announcement

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in 2022.

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Thanks to the latest
forensic analysis,

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and after nearly 50 years,

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the Lady of the Dunes
has a name.

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[Josh]
For almost half a century,
Massachusetts' most mysterious

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murder victim, the so-called
Lady of the Dunes,

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has remained unidentified.

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But in 2022, advanced genetic
testing conducted by the FBI

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finally unlocks the truth.

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Journalist Megan Carpentier
has been tracking the story.

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[Megan]
Investigators were able to get
DNA from a couple of sources

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in order to build out
this genetic profile.

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One was from the body
of the Lady of the Dunes,

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who had been interred.

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The other part was from
her jawbone, which was part of

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the investigator's materials.

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And then they were able to use
forensic genealogy to find

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family members who had uploaded
their own genetic profiles

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to public databases looking for
family members.

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And that's how they were
finally able to identify her.

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She was no longer
the Lady of the Dunes.

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Her name was Ruth Marie Terry.

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[Josh] Who was Ruth Terry?

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Well, she was born in 1936
to a working-class family

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in Tennessee.

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She moved to Michigan and worked
in an automotive plant,

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where she married, divorced,
and had a son whom

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she gave up for adoption.

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She then headed to California,

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where she met
her second husband,

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an antiques dealer
named Guy Muldavin.

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And that's when her life took
a serious turn for the worse.

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[as Ruth sobs]

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[as Guy] Move over.
What's wrong with you?

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[Megan]
When Ruth brought Guy
home to her family,

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he was significantly older.
He didn't seem like he fit in.

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She was acting different.
He was acting controlling.

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The family had a lot
of concerns.

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These concerns were more
than justified.

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By the time he met Ruth,
Muldavin already had

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an extremely checkered past.

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[Megan]
Over the course of his life,
he had five wives.

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00:11:30,434 --> 00:11:31,868
Ruth was his fourth.

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00:11:32,033 --> 00:11:34,167
His first wife, he was married
to for ten years.

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00:11:34,334 --> 00:11:37,000
They had a child together,
and then they got divorced.

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00:11:37,167 --> 00:11:40,200
He had his second wife,
he was married to for a year.

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00:11:40,367 --> 00:11:43,467
And then, according to Guy,
she abandoned him.

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[indistinct police
radio chatter]

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[police] Ugh.

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00:11:50,133 --> 00:11:53,467
[Megan]
And eventually, police began to
question what happened to her,

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00:11:53,634 --> 00:11:57,834
and they discovered remains in
the septic tank of their home.

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00:12:00,367 --> 00:12:03,267
Police believed the remains
belonged to Guy's missing

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00:12:03,434 --> 00:12:06,167
wife and stepdaughter,
but Muldavin had apparently

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00:12:06,334 --> 00:12:07,467
fled the scene.

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00:12:07,634 --> 00:12:09,868
The FBI launched
a nationwide manhunt,

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00:12:10,033 --> 00:12:12,834
and Muldavin was
ultimately apprehended.

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00:12:15,300 --> 00:12:18,467
But unbelievably, the cops
couldn't directly tie him to

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00:12:18,634 --> 00:12:20,667
the crime, and he walked free.

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00:12:20,834 --> 00:12:24,167
That led him to his third wife,
who had him convicted of theft,

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after which he served
a year in prison.

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00:12:30,501 --> 00:12:35,400
In 1974, Muldavin met wife
number four, Ruth Marie Terry.

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00:12:35,567 --> 00:12:37,567
He was married to her
for just five months

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00:12:37,734 --> 00:12:39,467
before he claimed she vanished.

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00:12:41,100 --> 00:12:45,567
After Terry's disappearance,
Guy returned, driving her car,

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00:12:46,667 --> 00:12:48,701
and seems to have told
her family they'd had a fight

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00:12:48,868 --> 00:12:50,901
on their honeymoon,
and she just left him,

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00:12:51,067 --> 00:12:53,567
and he had no idea what
happened to her after that.

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00:12:53,734 --> 00:12:57,000
-Where is she?
-I don't know, man.

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She walked out on me.

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00:13:00,167 --> 00:13:03,968
[Megan]
The family believed that Terry
had made it back to California.

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00:13:04,133 --> 00:13:06,501
They flew out there, they hired
a private investigator,

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00:13:06,667 --> 00:13:10,701
they did everything they could
in 1974 to try to find her,

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00:13:10,868 --> 00:13:12,667
but they were unsuccessful.

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00:13:12,834 --> 00:13:15,968
Even after hiring a PI,
they were told she'd joined

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00:13:16,133 --> 00:13:17,901
a cult, and there was no trace
of her.

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00:13:20,100 --> 00:13:23,367
Over the years, Ruth's relatives
contributed DNA swabs

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00:13:23,534 --> 00:13:26,300
in hopes of one day finding out
what happened to her.

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00:13:26,467 --> 00:13:28,400
And eventually, it worked.

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00:13:28,567 --> 00:13:32,167
In 2022, her DNA was
definitively matched to

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00:13:32,334 --> 00:13:33,467
the Lady of the Dunes.

242
00:13:35,467 --> 00:13:37,667
The story of what happened
to Ruth Terry

243
00:13:37,834 --> 00:13:40,968
has its tragic ending.
So who killed her?

244
00:13:41,133 --> 00:13:44,567
Well, Guy Muldavin is
the extremely likely suspect,

245
00:13:44,734 --> 00:13:48,167
but unfortunately,
justice cannot be served.

246
00:13:48,334 --> 00:13:52,200
Guy married his fifth wife
about two years after Terry

247
00:13:52,367 --> 00:13:55,801
disappeared, and they stayed
married until his death in 2002.

248
00:13:57,467 --> 00:14:00,868
In 2023,
the district attorney's office

249
00:14:01,033 --> 00:14:03,400
announced that they were
closing the case in the death

250
00:14:03,567 --> 00:14:04,767
of Ruth Marie Terry.

251
00:14:04,934 --> 00:14:07,000
The police and prosecutors
had determined

252
00:14:07,167 --> 00:14:08,901
that her killer was Guy,

253
00:14:09,067 --> 00:14:12,667
and given his background,
given the disappearance of

254
00:14:12,834 --> 00:14:14,801
his second wife
and the stepdaughter,

255
00:14:14,968 --> 00:14:17,868
the sum total of the evidence
prosecutors felt like pointed

256
00:14:18,033 --> 00:14:19,334
to Guy and no one else.

257
00:14:21,801 --> 00:14:25,267
It feels pretty rotten that
he was able to just live out

258
00:14:25,434 --> 00:14:28,000
his life like nothing happened.

259
00:14:28,167 --> 00:14:31,567
[Josh]
While Muldavin sadly escaped
justice, he ultimately couldn't

260
00:14:31,734 --> 00:14:35,100
escape being identified
as a cold-blooded killer.

261
00:14:35,267 --> 00:14:37,767
And thanks to the determination
of investigators,

262
00:14:37,934 --> 00:14:39,567
advancements in DNA science,

263
00:14:39,734 --> 00:14:41,868
and the persistence
of her family,

264
00:14:42,033 --> 00:14:45,000
the Lady of the Dunes
is anonymous no more.

265
00:14:45,167 --> 00:14:47,100
She is Ruth Marie Terry.

266
00:14:48,767 --> 00:14:51,567
One lingering
question remains --

267
00:14:51,734 --> 00:14:53,767
could Ruth have been
the background extra some

268
00:14:53,934 --> 00:14:56,167
believe appears in
the film "Jaws"?

269
00:14:56,334 --> 00:14:59,767
The timeline fits, and her body
was discovered just 100 miles

270
00:14:59,934 --> 00:15:02,000
from where the movie
was filmed.

271
00:15:02,167 --> 00:15:04,000
But despite
the intriguing connection,

272
00:15:04,167 --> 00:15:08,667
no definitive proof has ever
surfaced that Ruth was on set.

273
00:15:08,834 --> 00:15:12,267
Still, the theory reignited
global interest in the case,

274
00:15:12,434 --> 00:15:16,167
and in the end, that attention
helped bring Ruth her name back.

275
00:15:17,667 --> 00:15:20,267
The mystery that haunted
the dunes for generations

276
00:15:20,434 --> 00:15:22,000
and the woman
at the very heart of it

277
00:15:22,167 --> 00:15:24,767
may finally rest in peace.

278
00:15:31,367 --> 00:15:33,200
It's AD 33.

279
00:15:33,367 --> 00:15:36,000
I'm in the Garden of Gethsemane
in Jerusalem.

280
00:15:36,167 --> 00:15:38,667
It's normally a place of peace
and reflection,

281
00:15:38,834 --> 00:15:41,667
but all that is
about to be shattered.

282
00:15:41,834 --> 00:15:44,968
A man is being arrested
on charges of blasphemy.

283
00:15:45,133 --> 00:15:46,667
Actually,
you might have heard of him.

284
00:15:46,834 --> 00:15:48,501
His name is Jesus.

285
00:15:48,667 --> 00:15:52,200
And in the next 24 hours,
he will be tried and crucified,

286
00:15:52,367 --> 00:15:55,300
marking the defining moment in
the Christian faith.

287
00:15:55,467 --> 00:15:58,400
And the person said to be
responsible for betraying him

288
00:15:58,567 --> 00:16:00,901
is this man, Judas Iscariot.

289
00:16:01,067 --> 00:16:03,200
But two millennia after
Jesus' death,

290
00:16:03,367 --> 00:16:06,367
an artifact will emerge
that some say rewrites

291
00:16:06,534 --> 00:16:10,868
the story of Judas and proves
he wasn't a traitor after all.

292
00:16:20,868 --> 00:16:23,000
OK, folks, hope you've
got your Sunday best,

293
00:16:23,167 --> 00:16:25,200
because it's Bible recap time.

294
00:16:27,267 --> 00:16:30,100
The story of Judas Iscariot
as we know it today

295
00:16:30,267 --> 00:16:33,400
comes from the four canonical
gospels of the New Testament,

296
00:16:33,567 --> 00:16:37,000
the books of Matthew, Mark,
Luke, and John.

297
00:16:37,167 --> 00:16:38,901
In around A.D. 33,

298
00:16:39,067 --> 00:16:41,567
Jesus has been preaching
for several years throughout

299
00:16:41,734 --> 00:16:45,200
the region of Judea,
achieving his famed miracles

300
00:16:45,367 --> 00:16:48,067
like curing blindness
and walking on water,

301
00:16:48,234 --> 00:16:51,300
not to mention gathering
passionate followers.

302
00:16:51,467 --> 00:16:56,000
But that adulation has also left
Jesus with powerful enemies,

303
00:16:56,167 --> 00:16:58,701
none more so than
the Judean ruling authorities

304
00:16:58,868 --> 00:17:01,100
and their backers,
the Roman Empire,

305
00:17:01,267 --> 00:17:03,200
who brand Jesus as a heretic.

306
00:17:04,300 --> 00:17:07,167
Meanwhile, Jesus has been
continuing to spread the good

307
00:17:07,334 --> 00:17:10,467
word alongside his 12 most
devoted followers

308
00:17:10,634 --> 00:17:14,267
known as the Apostles.
And one of them is Judas.

309
00:17:16,200 --> 00:17:19,567
The night before his arrest,
Jesus hosts history's most

310
00:17:19,734 --> 00:17:22,400
famous dinner party,
the Last Supper.

311
00:17:22,567 --> 00:17:24,767
During the meal,
he announces that one of

312
00:17:24,934 --> 00:17:26,901
the apostles will betray him.

313
00:17:27,067 --> 00:17:28,167
What you were about to do,

314
00:17:29,701 --> 00:17:31,968
do it quick.

315
00:17:32,133 --> 00:17:35,400
[Josh] And later that night,
just as his prophecy foretold,

316
00:17:35,567 --> 00:17:38,968
Judas follows Jesus into
the Garden of Gethsemane.

317
00:17:39,133 --> 00:17:41,000
In the darkness,
where the soldiers cannot

318
00:17:41,167 --> 00:17:43,467
easily distinguish him
from his followers,

319
00:17:43,634 --> 00:17:46,567
Judas agrees to identify
Jesus with a signal,

320
00:17:47,567 --> 00:17:48,567
a single kiss.

321
00:17:48,734 --> 00:17:50,467
[distant crowd shouting]

322
00:17:50,634 --> 00:17:53,567
[Josh] With that, the soldiers
move in and arrest Jesus.

323
00:17:53,734 --> 00:17:55,667
[distant crowd shouting]

324
00:17:58,000 --> 00:18:00,801
[Josh] But hold on.
Why would Judas give up Jesus,

325
00:18:00,968 --> 00:18:03,267
the leader he
supposedly worshiped?

326
00:18:03,434 --> 00:18:06,767
Well, the Gospels indicate that
he's motivated by greed.

327
00:18:06,934 --> 00:18:09,567
According to Matthew,
Judas asks the authorities

328
00:18:09,734 --> 00:18:12,300
what they'll give him
if he turns Jesus in.

329
00:18:12,467 --> 00:18:15,467
Eager to put Jesus on trial,
the priests respond with

330
00:18:15,634 --> 00:18:19,801
an offer of 30 pieces of silver,
a hefty sum today.

331
00:18:19,968 --> 00:18:22,167
Matthew tells us
that Judas accepts

332
00:18:22,334 --> 00:18:24,100
and that Jesus' fate
is sealed.

333
00:18:28,267 --> 00:18:31,367
Interestingly, however,
the Gospel of Matthew indicates

334
00:18:31,534 --> 00:18:34,667
that when Judas makes the deal,
he doesn't know that Jesus'

335
00:18:34,834 --> 00:18:37,100
punishment is going to
be crucifixion.

336
00:18:38,100 --> 00:18:41,567
When he finds out,
Judas returns the money

337
00:18:47,000 --> 00:18:48,701
and then hangs himself.

338
00:18:50,667 --> 00:18:53,667
Judas takes his own life,
apparently consumed by

339
00:18:53,834 --> 00:18:57,467
the grief caused by betraying
the man he once revered.

340
00:18:57,634 --> 00:18:59,801
But is that the whole story?

341
00:18:59,968 --> 00:19:03,868
Shocking new discoveries
may rewrite the tale of Judas.

342
00:19:10,100 --> 00:19:11,801
For centuries, the legend
of Judas betraying Jesus

343
00:19:11,968 --> 00:19:14,767
has been embraced by
the Christian faithful as fact.

344
00:19:14,934 --> 00:19:17,167
But some speculate
the apostles' motives

345
00:19:17,334 --> 00:19:18,901
aren't so clear-cut.

346
00:19:19,067 --> 00:19:21,801
Does the Bible really tell
the whole story?

347
00:19:21,968 --> 00:19:24,567
To answer that question,
we have to dig deeper into

348
00:19:24,734 --> 00:19:27,801
the good book and what was
and wasn't included.

349
00:19:29,000 --> 00:19:31,901
The four canonical Gospels,
Matthew, Mark, Luke,

350
00:19:32,067 --> 00:19:34,868
and John, are considered
by modern Christians to be

351
00:19:35,033 --> 00:19:37,167
the definitive accounts
of Jesus' life,

352
00:19:37,334 --> 00:19:40,501
despite being written decades
after his death.

353
00:19:40,667 --> 00:19:44,000
But intriguingly, they are not
the only ancient texts

354
00:19:44,167 --> 00:19:45,968
that tell his story.

355
00:19:46,133 --> 00:19:49,267
In the early centuries of
Christianity, dozens of other

356
00:19:49,434 --> 00:19:52,801
writings about Jesus are also
being published, and some of

357
00:19:52,968 --> 00:19:56,167
them tell a very different
story about Judas' betrayal.

358
00:19:57,667 --> 00:20:00,901
Perhaps the most famous of
these is the Gospel of Judas,

359
00:20:01,067 --> 00:20:05,567
a text known to early Christians
and condemned around 180 A.D.

360
00:20:05,734 --> 00:20:08,868
by the bishop Irenaeus
as false teaching.

361
00:20:09,033 --> 00:20:11,801
Written anonymously,
it portrays Judas not

362
00:20:11,968 --> 00:20:15,567
as a traitor, but as the one
disciple who truly understands

363
00:20:15,734 --> 00:20:18,567
Jesus and carries
out his wishes.

364
00:20:18,734 --> 00:20:19,868
In this account,

365
00:20:19,868 --> 00:20:23,167
Jesus speaks of leaving
behind the physical world

366
00:20:23,334 --> 00:20:26,367
and entrusts Judas with
the role of handing him over

367
00:20:26,534 --> 00:20:29,868
to authorities so he can be
sacrificed and his spirit

368
00:20:30,033 --> 00:20:33,567
can ascend to heaven.
But is it true?

369
00:20:33,734 --> 00:20:37,100
That's harder to answer because
the text itself was lost for

370
00:20:37,267 --> 00:20:40,567
centuries after being rejected
by the early church.

371
00:20:40,734 --> 00:20:43,968
Our only knowledge of it came
from critics like Irenaeus,

372
00:20:44,133 --> 00:20:46,000
whose account is
openly hostile.

373
00:20:47,567 --> 00:20:51,100
The debate over Judas' role
largely remained unchanged for

374
00:20:51,267 --> 00:20:54,901
nearly 2,000 years,
until a discovery in the late

375
00:20:55,067 --> 00:20:58,167
20th century brings the text
back into the spotlight.

376
00:21:00,067 --> 00:21:03,267
While details remain murky,
it's reported that somewhere

377
00:21:03,434 --> 00:21:06,701
near El Minya in Egypt,
a local farmer uncovers

378
00:21:06,868 --> 00:21:10,501
an ancient limestone box
hidden in a cave.

379
00:21:10,667 --> 00:21:14,167
Inside is a leather-bound
collection of papyrus texts

380
00:21:14,334 --> 00:21:15,667
written in Coptic,

381
00:21:15,834 --> 00:21:18,968
the ancient language
of Christian Egypt.

382
00:21:19,133 --> 00:21:22,167
The farmer, unable to read
the text, apparently sells

383
00:21:22,334 --> 00:21:24,868
the papers to an antiquities
dealer in Cairo.

384
00:21:26,200 --> 00:21:28,868
From there, the documents
change hands more times

385
00:21:29,033 --> 00:21:31,167
than the cursed idol in
Raiders of the Lost Ark.

386
00:21:33,000 --> 00:21:35,467
In 2001, the documents
find their way

387
00:21:35,634 --> 00:21:37,667
to a Swiss antiques dealer,

388
00:21:37,834 --> 00:21:40,467
Frieda Nussberger-Tchacos,
who partners with

389
00:21:40,634 --> 00:21:43,367
preservation specialists
to restore and translate

390
00:21:43,534 --> 00:21:44,767
the mysterious text.

391
00:21:46,400 --> 00:21:49,067
The restoration of
the text takes years,

392
00:21:49,234 --> 00:21:52,167
but when it's completed,
it rocks the Christian world,

393
00:21:52,334 --> 00:21:55,000
becoming known as
the Codex Tchacos.

394
00:21:55,167 --> 00:21:58,467
Dr. Cavan Concannon,
a professor of religion at USC,

395
00:21:58,634 --> 00:22:01,901
describes it as nothing
short of revolutionary.

396
00:22:02,067 --> 00:22:05,601
When the Codex Tchacos
was unveiled,

397
00:22:05,767 --> 00:22:08,000
a lot of people were
very excited.

398
00:22:08,167 --> 00:22:10,501
The Gospel of Judas was
a text that we knew existed,

399
00:22:10,667 --> 00:22:12,000
but no one had seen it,

400
00:22:12,167 --> 00:22:14,300
and no one had been able
to access it.

401
00:22:14,467 --> 00:22:16,667
We have so little
material evidence.

402
00:22:16,834 --> 00:22:20,601
So little textual evidence from
the ancient Christians that any

403
00:22:20,767 --> 00:22:23,767
new addition of material is
always exciting and always

404
00:22:23,934 --> 00:22:26,701
brings with it a chance
to revise and to rethink

405
00:22:26,868 --> 00:22:30,100
and to expand our understanding
of the first centuries

406
00:22:30,267 --> 00:22:31,567
of Christianity.

407
00:22:31,734 --> 00:22:34,701
The announcement that this
codex was the lost Gospel of

408
00:22:34,868 --> 00:22:37,767
Judas sends shockwaves
through the archaeological

409
00:22:37,934 --> 00:22:39,767
and theological communities.

410
00:22:39,934 --> 00:22:41,367
But it's also
immediately confronted

411
00:22:41,534 --> 00:22:44,767
with an urgent question --
is it real?

412
00:22:44,934 --> 00:22:47,501
There are a number of ways
in which ancient manuscripts

413
00:22:47,667 --> 00:22:49,701
can be verified.

414
00:22:49,868 --> 00:22:52,567
One of the ways in which this
text was dated was through

415
00:22:52,734 --> 00:22:55,167
the use of carbon-14 testing.

416
00:22:55,334 --> 00:22:58,567
And this is a form of
scientific testing where, um,

417
00:22:58,734 --> 00:23:04,167
you use the decay of isotopes
to determine when an organic

418
00:23:04,334 --> 00:23:06,567
piece of material, um,
had its lifespan.

419
00:23:06,734 --> 00:23:10,868
The dating of things precisely
with carbon-14 is difficult,

420
00:23:11,033 --> 00:23:14,100
so, uh, you don't always get
the thing that we really want,

421
00:23:14,267 --> 00:23:18,367
which is this text was written
on this day in this year.

422
00:23:18,534 --> 00:23:21,901
In the case of the Tchacos
Codex, the carbon-14 testing

423
00:23:22,067 --> 00:23:24,767
indicated a range
of dates in the fourth

424
00:23:24,934 --> 00:23:26,267
to the fifth centuries.

425
00:23:26,434 --> 00:23:29,167
It's clear that this is not
a text that was forged

426
00:23:29,334 --> 00:23:32,400
in modernity,
but a genuine ancient document.

427
00:23:32,567 --> 00:23:35,000
So the document is
certifiably ancient,

428
00:23:35,167 --> 00:23:37,501
but not quite as old as
the canonical Gospels

429
00:23:37,667 --> 00:23:40,100
that make up the New Testament
we know today.

430
00:23:40,267 --> 00:23:42,467
Those date from several
centuries earlier.

431
00:23:43,567 --> 00:23:45,501
And that's why scholars
pay attention

432
00:23:45,667 --> 00:23:47,167
to the Gospel of Judas,

433
00:23:47,334 --> 00:23:51,000
because despite its later date,
it comes from a time when early

434
00:23:51,167 --> 00:23:54,801
Christianity was still taking
shape, reflecting a range of

435
00:23:54,968 --> 00:23:57,667
different views about Jesus
and his followers.

436
00:23:59,300 --> 00:24:02,000
Ultimately, though, it isn't
the age of the document

437
00:24:02,167 --> 00:24:03,400
that's most fascinating.

438
00:24:03,567 --> 00:24:06,968
It's what it actually says,
particularly about Judas.

439
00:24:08,667 --> 00:24:10,067
[Cavan]
The Gospel of Judas is

440
00:24:10,234 --> 00:24:12,000
different from
the canonical Gospels.

441
00:24:13,601 --> 00:24:16,167
It adds some extra scenes.

442
00:24:16,334 --> 00:24:18,267
Scenes that are
important for how

443
00:24:18,434 --> 00:24:21,968
one should understand
the life and death of Jesus.

444
00:24:22,133 --> 00:24:24,501
In this text, we were gonna
get a different Judas,

445
00:24:24,667 --> 00:24:29,467
a Judas who was not a betrayer,
but Jesus' closest disciple,

446
00:24:29,634 --> 00:24:33,667
uh, a kind of tragic hero who
did what no one else could do,

447
00:24:33,834 --> 00:24:36,267
uh, and helped Jesus
fulfill his destiny.

448
00:24:38,167 --> 00:24:40,467
You will exceed all of them,

449
00:24:40,634 --> 00:24:43,400
for you will sacrifice the man
that clothes me.

450
00:24:43,567 --> 00:24:46,868
Jesus tells Judas
what he's going to do

451
00:24:47,033 --> 00:24:51,601
that Jesus is pushing Judas
to do this for him,

452
00:24:51,767 --> 00:24:55,100
and he doesn't seem to have
any agency about this.

453
00:24:55,267 --> 00:24:57,167
He doesn't get to choose
whether he's gonna do

454
00:24:57,334 --> 00:24:58,367
this or not.

455
00:24:58,534 --> 00:25:01,100
This is just kind of
written in the stars

456
00:25:01,267 --> 00:25:03,167
that this is gonna happen.

457
00:25:03,334 --> 00:25:06,300
Judas is the passive actor

458
00:25:06,467 --> 00:25:09,868
in what ultimately is
a tragic drama for him.

459
00:25:10,033 --> 00:25:13,868
The best of the disciples who
ultimately will not be saved.

460
00:25:14,033 --> 00:25:17,167
But as you can imagine,
this new interpretation rankles

461
00:25:17,334 --> 00:25:20,267
the church as it flies
completely in the face of

462
00:25:20,434 --> 00:25:24,000
the, well, gospel truth
of Christianity.

463
00:25:24,167 --> 00:25:27,467
The Gospel of Judas was
received with a great deal of

464
00:25:27,634 --> 00:25:30,467
fanfare and presented as
something that was going to

465
00:25:30,634 --> 00:25:33,667
upend Christian theology
and challenge

466
00:25:33,834 --> 00:25:35,901
the Catholic Church
or challenge, you know,

467
00:25:36,067 --> 00:25:38,000
Christian theology
more broadly.

468
00:25:38,167 --> 00:25:41,901
Christian communities reacted by
calling this text a false text

469
00:25:42,067 --> 00:25:44,400
as a representative
of a heretical form

470
00:25:44,567 --> 00:25:46,167
of ancient Christianity.

471
00:25:46,334 --> 00:25:48,767
Now, though the Gospel
of Judas is different

472
00:25:48,934 --> 00:25:53,400
from the canonical Gospels,
it's not radically different.

473
00:25:53,567 --> 00:25:57,167
Jesus is still presented as
a salvific figure

474
00:25:57,334 --> 00:25:59,868
who comes into the world,
performs miracles,

475
00:26:00,100 --> 00:26:04,400
gathers disciples, um,
dies on the cross eventually,

476
00:26:04,567 --> 00:26:10,000
and as someone who is offering
wisdom to a fallen humanity.

477
00:26:11,100 --> 00:26:12,968
I think when it comes to
the question of what's

478
00:26:13,133 --> 00:26:15,667
the right version or the right
story about Judas,

479
00:26:16,801 --> 00:26:18,200
there isn't really one.

480
00:26:20,667 --> 00:26:25,400
Judas is probably an invented
character to help answer

481
00:26:25,567 --> 00:26:27,100
a particular question,
which is --

482
00:26:27,267 --> 00:26:29,601
if Jesus was the Son of God,

483
00:26:29,767 --> 00:26:34,167
if he was this important
pre-existing divine figure,

484
00:26:34,334 --> 00:26:36,767
why did he have to die?

485
00:26:38,000 --> 00:26:39,267
It gives you a kind of narrative

486
00:26:39,434 --> 00:26:41,167
around which to build
that story,

487
00:26:41,334 --> 00:26:45,100
to explain why
a crucified person

488
00:26:45,267 --> 00:26:48,167
is actually a agent
of the divine.

489
00:26:49,200 --> 00:26:50,901
So the Gospel of Judas is not

490
00:26:51,067 --> 00:26:56,000
necessarily a deviation from
the canonical tradition,

491
00:26:56,167 --> 00:26:57,868
but just a different
perspective on it.

492
00:27:01,667 --> 00:27:05,167
The Catholic Church does not
accept the Gospel of Judas,

493
00:27:05,334 --> 00:27:09,767
regarding it as a heretical text
with no theological authority.

494
00:27:09,934 --> 00:27:12,567
But regardless of your faith,
or lack of faith,

495
00:27:12,734 --> 00:27:15,767
in what it says about Judas
and Jesus' relationship,

496
00:27:15,934 --> 00:27:19,000
there's no debating that its
discovery and restoration

497
00:27:19,167 --> 00:27:20,501
is extraordinary.

498
00:27:20,667 --> 00:27:25,167
That a truly historic text
could be lost for 1,500 years

499
00:27:25,334 --> 00:27:28,100
only to have its message
preserved and deciphered

500
00:27:28,267 --> 00:27:32,167
reminds us that humanity's
story is still being filled in

501
00:27:32,334 --> 00:27:35,100
and that ancient chapters
are still out there

502
00:27:35,267 --> 00:27:37,000
just waiting to be found.

503
00:27:37,167 --> 00:27:39,701
And that is something
we can all believe in.

504
00:27:45,400 --> 00:27:49,000
It's May 26th, 1828.

505
00:27:49,167 --> 00:27:52,000
I'm in Nuremberg, Germany,
and I'm not the only one

506
00:27:52,167 --> 00:27:53,567
who's new in town.

507
00:27:53,734 --> 00:27:57,167
This 16-year-old boy's name
is Kaspar Hauser.

508
00:27:57,334 --> 00:28:00,100
But other than saying his name,
he can barely speak.

509
00:28:00,267 --> 00:28:01,667
Heck, he can barely walk.

510
00:28:01,834 --> 00:28:05,367
And his only possessions are
two strange letters that raise

511
00:28:05,534 --> 00:28:07,701
as many questions as answers.

512
00:28:07,868 --> 00:28:10,968
Who is Kaspar?
Where did he come from?

513
00:28:11,133 --> 00:28:14,167
Some will say he's
a destitute feral child

514
00:28:14,334 --> 00:28:15,868
raised in isolation.

515
00:28:16,033 --> 00:28:18,601
But other will whisper something
even more shocking,

516
00:28:18,767 --> 00:28:22,367
that he's a secret German
prince, hidden from society

517
00:28:22,534 --> 00:28:25,300
to prevent him from claiming
his rightful throne.

518
00:28:25,467 --> 00:28:29,267
And for the next 200 years,
no one is able to solve

519
00:28:29,434 --> 00:28:31,300
the riddle of Kaspar Hauser.

520
00:28:31,467 --> 00:28:35,167
That is, until 21st century
science reveals the truth

521
00:28:35,334 --> 00:28:37,801
about the so-called wild child.

522
00:28:48,000 --> 00:28:51,801
As the story goes, Kaspar
is taken by a local shoemaker

523
00:28:51,968 --> 00:28:53,667
to meet the authorities
in Nuremberg.

524
00:28:53,834 --> 00:28:55,367
[indistinct chatter]

525
00:28:55,534 --> 00:28:58,267
There, they examine
two letters he's carrying.

526
00:28:58,434 --> 00:29:01,501
The first is strikingly brief,
apparently from the boy's

527
00:29:01,667 --> 00:29:05,400
mother, listing only Kaspar's
name, his birth date,

528
00:29:05,567 --> 00:29:07,567
and that his father
was a deceased,

529
00:29:07,734 --> 00:29:09,300
unnamed cavalry officer.

530
00:29:10,367 --> 00:29:12,367
The second letter
is stranger still,

531
00:29:12,534 --> 00:29:14,667
addressed to
Captain von Wessenig,

532
00:29:14,834 --> 00:29:17,167
the commanding officer
of a cavalry regiment

533
00:29:17,334 --> 00:29:18,767
in Nuremberg.

534
00:29:18,934 --> 00:29:21,267
It begins by stating that
the boy wishes to join

535
00:29:21,434 --> 00:29:24,701
the army, but quickly
takes a darker turn.

536
00:29:24,868 --> 00:29:27,767
This letter is not from
his mother, but from a poor

537
00:29:27,934 --> 00:29:30,467
laborer who claims the child
was given to him,

538
00:29:30,634 --> 00:29:33,567
raised in isolation,
and never allowed outside

539
00:29:33,734 --> 00:29:35,801
before being abandoned
in Nuremberg

540
00:29:35,968 --> 00:29:37,567
in the middle of the night.

541
00:29:37,734 --> 00:29:41,267
The two accounts don't align,
offering no clear explanation

542
00:29:41,434 --> 00:29:44,467
of who Kaspar is
or where he came from.

543
00:29:44,634 --> 00:29:46,167
And most unsettling of all,

544
00:29:46,334 --> 00:29:49,601
the second letter ends
with a chilling instruction.

545
00:29:49,767 --> 00:29:51,968
If no one is willing to take
the boy in,

546
00:29:52,133 --> 00:29:53,367
he should be hanged.

547
00:29:55,067 --> 00:29:58,567
A new home or a hanging is
a pretty extreme request,

548
00:29:58,734 --> 00:30:01,601
but we're just getting started
in this bizarre tale.

549
00:30:01,767 --> 00:30:03,400
When questioned
about the letters,

550
00:30:03,567 --> 00:30:05,501
Kaspar can only
repeat the words --

551
00:30:05,667 --> 00:30:07,100
[speaking in German]

552
00:30:09,567 --> 00:30:12,868
And any attempts at gaining
more information

553
00:30:13,033 --> 00:30:15,968
cause him to cry or say
he doesn't know.

554
00:30:16,133 --> 00:30:17,868
However,
to everyone's surprise,

555
00:30:18,033 --> 00:30:20,067
when asked to write
his name,

556
00:30:20,234 --> 00:30:22,968
he does so in clearly
readable letters.

557
00:30:23,133 --> 00:30:26,067
So what's the truth behind
Kaspar Hauser?

558
00:30:26,234 --> 00:30:27,868
All will soon be revealed.

559
00:30:36,667 --> 00:30:41,000
[Josh] In 1828, a strange boy
arrives in Nuremberg.

560
00:30:41,167 --> 00:30:43,801
He's unable to say anything
much more than his name,

561
00:30:43,968 --> 00:30:45,367
Kaspar Hauser.

562
00:30:45,534 --> 00:30:48,100
A letter he brought with him
says he was brought up in

563
00:30:48,267 --> 00:30:50,968
secret and has never been
allowed outside before

564
00:30:51,133 --> 00:30:53,501
being dumped here on
the streets of Germany.

565
00:30:53,667 --> 00:30:54,868
The letter also says that

566
00:30:55,033 --> 00:30:57,400
if someone can't take him in,
he should be killed.

567
00:30:59,000 --> 00:31:01,767
The boy is, in short, an enigma.

568
00:31:01,934 --> 00:31:03,968
According to the letter,
he knows nothing of

569
00:31:04,133 --> 00:31:05,367
the outside world.

570
00:31:05,534 --> 00:31:08,567
But observers notice that
he does seem to recognize money

571
00:31:08,734 --> 00:31:10,767
and can even read
limited words.

572
00:31:11,968 --> 00:31:14,667
But with no knowledge of
who raised him or where,

573
00:31:14,834 --> 00:31:16,667
the boy will need someone
to care for him.

574
00:31:16,834 --> 00:31:18,033
[indistinct chatter]

575
00:31:19,000 --> 00:31:22,000
[Josh] As word spreads about
this mysterious young man,

576
00:31:22,167 --> 00:31:24,467
a prominent citizen in
Nuremberg named

577
00:31:24,634 --> 00:31:28,200
Professor Daumer takes him in
and begins tutoring him.

578
00:31:28,367 --> 00:31:31,267
Under the professor's guidance,
the boy's communication skills

579
00:31:31,434 --> 00:31:33,968
develop quickly,
and Kaspar starts sharing

580
00:31:34,133 --> 00:31:35,901
his remarkable story.

581
00:31:38,367 --> 00:31:42,267
For as long as he can remember,
Kaspar sat in a small dark room

582
00:31:42,434 --> 00:31:46,100
without never getting to see
another soul or go outside.

583
00:31:47,868 --> 00:31:49,901
He was given only bread
and water,

584
00:31:50,067 --> 00:31:52,367
but never saw the person
who supplied it.

585
00:31:52,534 --> 00:31:54,400
It always arrived
during his sleep.

586
00:31:56,868 --> 00:31:59,567
His only companions
were wooden toys,

587
00:31:59,734 --> 00:32:02,968
two wooden horses
and a wooden dog.

588
00:32:03,133 --> 00:32:07,367
He says he lived this way for
13 years, until a few days ago,

589
00:32:07,534 --> 00:32:10,100
when a man appeared
and taught him how to walk,

590
00:32:10,267 --> 00:32:12,601
parrot a few sentences,
and write his name.

591
00:32:13,701 --> 00:32:17,501
This unknown man then took him
to Nuremberg and abandoned him.

592
00:32:17,667 --> 00:32:19,501
[man]
Es ist Zeit zu gehen.

593
00:32:19,667 --> 00:32:23,167
[Josh]
The story is shocking,
but could it possibly be true?

594
00:32:25,267 --> 00:32:28,267
Well, Kaspar is given several
medical examinations,

595
00:32:28,434 --> 00:32:31,300
and they support and challenge
his claims of isolation.

596
00:32:31,467 --> 00:32:32,667
[doctor] Raise your right arm.

597
00:32:34,000 --> 00:32:36,667
[Josh] Doctors confirm that
he has poor motor skills

598
00:32:36,834 --> 00:32:38,767
and may be
intellectually impaired.

599
00:32:39,868 --> 00:32:41,901
But he's otherwise
physically healthy,

600
00:32:42,067 --> 00:32:43,667
and his memory
appears sharp.

601
00:32:45,467 --> 00:32:47,300
[speaking in German]

602
00:32:49,767 --> 00:32:52,467
[Josh] Whatever the story of
his origins, Kaspar has

603
00:32:52,634 --> 00:32:55,567
seemingly found a better life
thanks to Professor Daumer.

604
00:32:55,734 --> 00:32:57,400
[speaking in German]

605
00:32:59,501 --> 00:33:01,868
[Josh]
But in October of 1829,

606
00:33:02,033 --> 00:33:04,901
five months after the boy first
appeared in Nuremberg,

607
00:33:05,067 --> 00:33:08,267
his new life takes
a violent turn.

608
00:33:08,434 --> 00:33:10,100
One Saturday, he's alone,

609
00:33:10,267 --> 00:33:12,868
sick and resting at the home
of the professor.

610
00:33:13,033 --> 00:33:14,801
Hauser needs to use
the outhouse,

611
00:33:14,968 --> 00:33:16,267
so he heads outside.

612
00:33:20,968 --> 00:33:22,968
But a hooded man
is lying in wait.

613
00:33:24,000 --> 00:33:25,567
He attacks Hauser
with a knife...

614
00:33:25,734 --> 00:33:26,667
[Hauser yells] Ahh.

615
00:33:26,834 --> 00:33:28,267
[Josh]...cutting his forehead.

616
00:33:28,434 --> 00:33:31,267
Hauser says the man shouts,
"you still have to die

617
00:33:31,434 --> 00:33:33,300
before you leave the city
of Nuremberg!"

618
00:33:33,467 --> 00:33:34,767
[man]
...city of Nuremberg.

619
00:33:35,667 --> 00:33:38,868
[Josh] He later claims he has no
idea what the attacker means.

620
00:33:40,100 --> 00:33:42,067
The incident turns Kaspar Hauser

621
00:33:42,234 --> 00:33:44,868
into a household name
across Germany.

622
00:33:45,033 --> 00:33:47,667
Why would someone
want to harm this strange

623
00:33:47,834 --> 00:33:50,300
but seemingly innocent
young man?

624
00:33:50,467 --> 00:33:54,167
People begin to speculate that
Hauser is someone important.

625
00:33:54,334 --> 00:33:57,567
Important enough that powerful
people might want him silenced.

626
00:33:58,701 --> 00:34:02,300
Some even whisper
they know exactly who he is.

627
00:34:02,467 --> 00:34:04,400
He's the lost Prince of Baden.

628
00:34:08,100 --> 00:34:12,667
180 miles west of Nuremberg is
the German state of Baden.

629
00:34:12,834 --> 00:34:15,467
At this time it's ruled by
the Grand Duke Leopold,

630
00:34:15,634 --> 00:34:17,167
but it shouldn't be.

631
00:34:17,334 --> 00:34:20,100
Leopold's uncle, Charles,
was the Grand Duke,

632
00:34:20,267 --> 00:34:22,100
but after Charles' young
son died,

633
00:34:22,267 --> 00:34:23,667
he was left without an heir,

634
00:34:23,834 --> 00:34:26,567
and so the throne
passed to Leopold.

635
00:34:26,734 --> 00:34:27,868
But the thing is,

636
00:34:27,868 --> 00:34:30,868
not everyone believes
Charles' son actually died,

637
00:34:31,033 --> 00:34:34,868
and some begin to speculate
that he could be Kaspar Hauser.

638
00:34:36,767 --> 00:34:40,601
They theorize that in 1812,
Leopold's mother snuck into

639
00:34:40,767 --> 00:34:44,000
Charles' house and secretly
swapped out the real healthy

640
00:34:44,167 --> 00:34:46,968
infant prince with
a dying baby.

641
00:34:47,133 --> 00:34:50,267
When the sickly child died,
Leopold was then set to

642
00:34:50,434 --> 00:34:52,200
eventually inherit the throne.

643
00:34:54,100 --> 00:34:58,167
Supposedly, the healthy stolen
baby, the true Prince of Baden,

644
00:34:58,334 --> 00:35:01,667
would become, after 16 years
imprisoned in secret,

645
00:35:02,667 --> 00:35:03,667
Kaspar Hauser.

646
00:35:05,801 --> 00:35:07,501
Once the rumor spills into
the open,

647
00:35:07,667 --> 00:35:09,601
it becomes the talk of Germany.

648
00:35:09,767 --> 00:35:12,868
The claim that the mysterious
Kaspar Hauser is really

649
00:35:13,033 --> 00:35:16,701
the stolen Prince of Baden is
nothing short of scandalous,

650
00:35:16,868 --> 00:35:20,567
so much so that it's about
to cost the wild child his life.

651
00:35:26,868 --> 00:35:30,901
[Josh]
It's 1833, and it's been five
years since Kaspar Hauser,

652
00:35:31,067 --> 00:35:34,067
the mysterious wild child
who could speak little more

653
00:35:34,234 --> 00:35:37,200
than his name, first appeared
in Nuremberg, Germany.

654
00:35:38,400 --> 00:35:41,901
He's now 21 and lives in
the town of Ansbach under

655
00:35:42,067 --> 00:35:45,400
the care of a new schoolmaster,
Johann Georg Meyer.

656
00:35:47,467 --> 00:35:50,701
One night, Hauser returns from
a park and stumbles into

657
00:35:50,868 --> 00:35:52,868
the house bleeding from
a deep wound.

658
00:35:53,033 --> 00:35:54,400
[Hauser yells in pain]

659
00:35:54,567 --> 00:35:55,968
[man speaking German]

660
00:35:58,267 --> 00:36:01,167
[Josh]
Hauser says he was walking
through a park when a stranger

661
00:36:01,334 --> 00:36:04,767
handed him a purse and then
stabbed him with a dagger.

662
00:36:04,934 --> 00:36:06,567
Ah!
[groans]

663
00:36:11,000 --> 00:36:13,467
[Josh] Authorities then
recover a cryptic note

664
00:36:13,634 --> 00:36:16,367
from where Hauser was
apparently stabbed.

665
00:36:16,534 --> 00:36:19,467
The note reads, quote,
"Hauser will be able to tell

666
00:36:19,634 --> 00:36:23,467
"you quite precisely how
I look, and from where I am.

667
00:36:23,634 --> 00:36:25,367
"However, to spare you
the trouble,

668
00:36:25,534 --> 00:36:27,868
"I want to tell you myself
where I come.

669
00:36:28,033 --> 00:36:31,067
"I come from the Bavarian
border, on the river.

670
00:36:31,234 --> 00:36:33,100
I will even tell you the name."

671
00:36:33,267 --> 00:36:37,133
The note is then signed in some
kind of code M.L.O.

672
00:36:39,601 --> 00:36:42,000
Three days later,
Hauser dies.

673
00:36:42,167 --> 00:36:45,300
The author of the strange note
is never identified,

674
00:36:45,467 --> 00:36:47,400
and rather than quell
the royal rumors,

675
00:36:47,567 --> 00:36:49,901
Kaspar's death only
fans the flames.

676
00:36:50,067 --> 00:36:52,601
The possibility that
a long-lost prince

677
00:36:52,767 --> 00:36:56,501
was mysteriously assassinated
before he could claim the throne

678
00:36:56,667 --> 00:37:00,167
becomes a captivating legend
that endures for two centuries,

679
00:37:00,334 --> 00:37:04,467
that is, until 2024,
when the case is re-examined.

680
00:37:04,634 --> 00:37:07,200
Doctor Charla Marshall,
a forensic geneticist,

681
00:37:07,367 --> 00:37:09,501
closely studied the work.

682
00:37:09,667 --> 00:37:13,000
Kaspar Hauser was
a very mysterious man.

683
00:37:13,167 --> 00:37:15,601
He also had a mysterious death.

684
00:37:15,767 --> 00:37:18,467
The more you learn about it,
the stranger it becomes.

685
00:37:18,634 --> 00:37:22,300
The study looked at hair
samples from Kaspar Hauser

686
00:37:22,467 --> 00:37:25,667
that were in private collections
in museums in Germany.

687
00:37:25,834 --> 00:37:30,100
And they compared those to DNA
samples taken from cheek swabs

688
00:37:30,267 --> 00:37:32,667
from the descendants
of what would have been

689
00:37:32,834 --> 00:37:34,567
Kaspar Hauser's grandmother.

690
00:37:34,734 --> 00:37:39,868
If the DNA from Kaspar Hauser's
hair samples was a match to DNA

691
00:37:40,033 --> 00:37:43,467
taken from the House of Baden
living relatives,

692
00:37:43,634 --> 00:37:47,300
then it would be likely that
he was related to them.

693
00:37:47,467 --> 00:37:49,067
If the sequence did not match,

694
00:37:49,234 --> 00:37:50,868
then the story probably
wasn't true.

695
00:37:51,901 --> 00:37:54,968
[Josh]
It was a rare stroke of luck
that any of Hauser's hair

696
00:37:55,133 --> 00:37:56,400
survived at all.

697
00:37:56,567 --> 00:37:59,667
Strands were likely preserved
as keepsakes at the time,

698
00:37:59,834 --> 00:38:01,601
given the widespread
fascination with

699
00:38:01,767 --> 00:38:03,567
his mysterious story.

700
00:38:03,734 --> 00:38:05,667
They now provide
crucial evidence.

701
00:38:07,000 --> 00:38:10,167
Getting a full genetic match
was key to the study.

702
00:38:10,334 --> 00:38:13,767
Any ambiguity in the data would
only leave the door open

703
00:38:13,934 --> 00:38:15,367
to more speculation.

704
00:38:15,534 --> 00:38:18,501
[Charla]
The study concluded that
Kaspar Hauser did not share

705
00:38:18,667 --> 00:38:20,701
the same mitochondrial DNA

706
00:38:20,868 --> 00:38:23,067
as descendants
of the House of Baden.

707
00:38:26,601 --> 00:38:29,167
The DNA samples are so
different that they couldn't be

708
00:38:29,334 --> 00:38:31,701
found in two people from
the same family.

709
00:38:31,868 --> 00:38:35,467
And so the Parson study rules
out the lost prince theory.

710
00:38:35,634 --> 00:38:39,300
So Kaspar Hauser is not from
the Baden royal family.

711
00:38:39,467 --> 00:38:41,267
While those results
are concluding,

712
00:38:41,434 --> 00:38:44,667
they only close the door
on one part of this mystery.

713
00:38:44,834 --> 00:38:47,467
If Hauser wasn't descended
from royal blood,

714
00:38:47,634 --> 00:38:50,200
the question remains --
where did he come from?

715
00:38:52,000 --> 00:38:56,167
[Charla]
Even though we can't tell who
Kaspar Hauser was from his DNA,

716
00:38:56,334 --> 00:38:59,000
we can use other parts
of the story as evidence,

717
00:38:59,167 --> 00:39:00,100
forensic evidence,

718
00:39:00,267 --> 00:39:02,701
to investigate
who he really was.

719
00:39:02,868 --> 00:39:05,667
[Josh] What evidence exactly?
The letters.

720
00:39:05,834 --> 00:39:08,467
Both the strange letters
carried by young Kaspar when

721
00:39:08,634 --> 00:39:11,868
he first appeared in Nuremberg
and the cryptic note found at

722
00:39:12,033 --> 00:39:15,300
the scene of his death were
transcribed by authorities.

723
00:39:15,467 --> 00:39:18,267
These letters were subjected
to forensic analysis,

724
00:39:18,434 --> 00:39:22,200
and the results were nothing
short of jaw-dropping.

725
00:39:22,367 --> 00:39:25,100
The handwriting and language
analysis of the letters

726
00:39:25,267 --> 00:39:28,167
explained his background
and where he came from.

727
00:39:28,334 --> 00:39:31,901
And the letter from the crime
scene where he was stabbed

728
00:39:32,067 --> 00:39:34,367
indicates that they were all
done by the same person,

729
00:39:34,534 --> 00:39:35,801
Kaspar Hauser.

730
00:39:35,968 --> 00:39:38,868
The phrasing and sentence
construction of the two letters

731
00:39:39,033 --> 00:39:41,467
Kaspar Hauser arrived with,
and the one found

732
00:39:41,634 --> 00:39:44,467
after his death
show key similarities.

733
00:39:44,634 --> 00:39:48,100
They also match with phrases in
letters that Kaspar wrote while

734
00:39:48,267 --> 00:39:50,467
being tutored by
Professor Daumer.

735
00:39:50,634 --> 00:39:54,367
The conclusion is that Kaspar
was in fact the real author of

736
00:39:54,534 --> 00:39:57,567
all of them, which also
indicates that there was

737
00:39:57,734 --> 00:39:59,868
no mysterious assailant
who murdered him.

738
00:40:00,033 --> 00:40:03,901
Many experts now theorize
he likely stabbed himself.

739
00:40:04,067 --> 00:40:06,100
Far from being
a long-lost prince,

740
00:40:06,267 --> 00:40:10,467
it turns out Kaspar Hauser was
more likely a long lost soul,

741
00:40:10,634 --> 00:40:13,100
who yearned for
acceptance in society.

742
00:40:14,367 --> 00:40:17,000
I think Kaspar Hauser
did all this for attention.

743
00:40:17,167 --> 00:40:20,467
It's really hard to come up
with a reason why he would

744
00:40:20,634 --> 00:40:23,868
put together a story
about being royalty

745
00:40:24,033 --> 00:40:26,400
and being isolated
his whole childhood,

746
00:40:26,567 --> 00:40:28,100
never talking to another human.

747
00:40:28,267 --> 00:40:30,167
Just really hard to come up
with a reason other than

748
00:40:30,334 --> 00:40:32,067
begging for attention.

749
00:40:32,234 --> 00:40:36,100
Maybe he was ashamed
of his own actual true life,

750
00:40:36,267 --> 00:40:39,767
and he wanted a more fantastical
life -- think about it.

751
00:40:39,934 --> 00:40:42,767
He was taken in by the elite.
He was given a home.

752
00:40:42,934 --> 00:40:45,400
He was given
an education, food.

753
00:40:45,567 --> 00:40:46,901
Sounds pretty good, right?

754
00:40:47,067 --> 00:40:50,200
He certainly upgraded
his circumstances.

755
00:40:50,367 --> 00:40:52,100
Who knows? Maybe that's
not even his real name.

756
00:40:53,701 --> 00:40:56,868
Our story, therefore, ends with
some remarkable answers,

757
00:40:57,033 --> 00:40:58,767
but not the most important one.

758
00:40:58,934 --> 00:41:00,767
Who was Kaspar Hauser?

759
00:41:00,934 --> 00:41:02,868
There is still hope
to solve the mystery.

760
00:41:03,033 --> 00:41:05,968
Samples of his blood are held
in a German museum.

761
00:41:06,133 --> 00:41:09,400
Dr. Marshall thinks future
forensic testing might allow us

762
00:41:09,567 --> 00:41:13,067
to learn even more about
the so-called wild child.

763
00:41:13,234 --> 00:41:15,868
Until that happens,
Hauser's own gravestone

764
00:41:16,033 --> 00:41:17,601
sums it up best.

765
00:41:17,767 --> 00:41:21,100
"Here lies Kaspar Hauser,
riddle of his time.

766
00:41:21,267 --> 00:41:25,167
His birth was unknown,
his death, mysterious."

767
00:41:25,334 --> 00:41:28,267
I'm Josh Gates, and I'll see
you on the next expedition.