The Predator | FULL EPISODE | The FBI Files

a young girl set out to run an errand for you [Music] as the minutes tick by it became clear she did not simply with no clues to the world local authorities called in the FBI Vicki Lynne Hoskinson was going on their backs with the search [Applause] [Music] [Music] every parent faces the question what is it child old enough to leave the house alone her mother in Tucson her eight-year-old daughter's bike ride to the Conner mailbox turned into a two-month nightmare under the federal kidnapping statute the FBI can enter a case after 24 hours I'm Jim Kallstrom former head of the FBI's New York office it would take dozens of agents working in two states to track down a paroled sex offender but it would take a mother's courage to change the laws that release the monster Monday September 17 1984 at around 3:00 in the afternoon and flowing wells Arizona outside Tucson eight-year-old Vicki Lynne Hoskinson just home from school was helping her mom send a belated birthday card to her aunt because her big sister was staying late at school for track practice Vicki asked her mom if she could mail the card by herself the mailbox was little more than two blocks away after telling her daughter to be back before 3:30 debbie carlson gave her consent to her elated youngest daughter according to mrs. Carlson the trip to the mailbox and back would take less than 10 minutes they sent Vicky by herself which was the first time I'd ever sent any one of my children by their self to run an errand we always use the buddy system little Vicki Lynne Hoskinson was on her first big solo adventure according to her mother she beamed with pride over the responsibility she'd been given she promised to come right home after mailing the card about 20 minutes after Vicky left debbie carlson was reassured by the sound of the front door and a little surprised to see that he's Vicky's older sister Stephanie the track practice had been canceled mrs. Carlson told her that Vicky went out to mail a locker but hadn't returned [Music] Stephanie thought her sister might be playing with a friend is that because oh I'll go look for her she probably stopped at Jennifer's house so Stephanie the second time in one day I sent one of my kids without the buddy system Stephanie found Vicki's bike lying on the side of the road maybe she called her little sister's name [Music] she hurried home to tell her mom right away that was an antenna for me because Vicki would have never left her bike in the middle of the street that was her pride and joy it was she took care of that bike like it was you know a prized possession Debbie Carlson drove to the spot with her daughter to collect Vicki's bike stephanie checked the house nearby to see if anyone had seen her little sister no one else shortly after loading Vicki's abandoned bike into the car mrs. Carlson was overwhelmed by ocean I was on my way back home I just uncontrollably started crying I just it was like I knew something was wrong it just was so out of character something was wrong mrs. Carlson called the Pima County Sheriff's Office she also called mr. Karlson home for me a little girl had been missing less than 90 minutes but concerned within the community everybody's reaction was the same that there was something wrong there was something not right with this situation Debbie Carlson provided photos of Vicky to deputies from the Pima County Sheriff's Department police retraced her room to see where she might have encountered trouble her destination was the mailbox convenience store near a busy intersection a deputy asked the manager if he'd seen me the manager recognized it from previous visits but haven't seen it that day have you seen lassie outworked deputies also canvassed the surrounding neighborhood they checked first at her best friend's house mrs. Spencer said that neither she nor her daughter had seen Vicki that day [Music] then her five-year-old son spoke up he said Vicky had stopped by earlier looking for Jennifer after he told her she wasn't home Vicky rode off toward her house apparently having already as the little boy finished his story to older they said they'd also seems ready riding away from the convenience store just minutes before they will pastor we saw a small black car with California plates it was moving so slowly they passed it on their bikes they said it was heading in Vicki's direction but they didn't wait to see if it passed her and they never noticed the driver a slow-moving out-of-state car hearing it around the same time that he vanished struck the investigators as suspicious although it simply may have been someone's guests looking for a house number the sheriff had to consider the possibility that the little girl could have been abducted [Music] authorities take a case like this very seriously they've learned to expect to embrace for the worst the sheriff called in homicide detective Gary de MERS the sheriff decided that it was important to have the homicide detail handle this particular case because of the disappearance of Vicki Lynne Hoskinson it was felt that she had been abducted and that we were looking at a case that could eventually become a homicide case so we were called out a little earlier than usual a few hours later a command center was set up at the nearby elementary school which was closed for the day it became the clearinghouse for any information and he leads as word of Vicki's disappearance spread there was no trouble finding volunteers to Madinah phones because sheriff's deputies along with hundreds of volunteers organized a search of the area they systematically moved out in concentric circles from Vicki's last known sighting they called the fields for some song but none was found even the dogs couldn't pick up her scent [Music] you know before you know it you know the minutes turned into half hour and two hour and a more law enforcement more deputies started coming people within the neighborhood started coming over and everybody started looking for Vicki the deputy remained at the house with new information coming for Anson call be made hours passed with no word the only calls were from concerned friends and family in terms of news there was still nothing [Music] still no Vicky under the federal kidnapping statute the Pima County Sheriff's Department was empowered to ask the FBI to enter the case on day two of Vicki's disappearance a special Agent Larry Bagley from the FBI's Tucson field office took the assignment the evidence was simply that a young child who was very responsible left home and her bicycle is found in the middle of the street and she never returned home and that was enough to trigger our entry under the kidnapping statute in the case of a missing child chances for a safe return increase when immediate action is taken the FBI had the power to extend the investigation beyond the state of Arizona necessary the agent's participation gave Debbie Carlson hope for a quick resolution a few blocks away the command center in the elementary school deputies and volunteers continued toward the phones by now it seemed that all of to Silent Hill about the disappearance of the four-foot-tall 60-pound River and it seemed like everyone discovered some were pranksters some merely misinformed or had to be answered filtered and processed finally among the dozens of hopeful but futile tips and leads one called held a glimmer of hope a woman called to report that she thought she saw Vicki Lynne Hoskinson at the mall the previous evening she was a clerk at a toy store she told authorities that a woman in a wide-brimmed hat came in with an upset little girl who looked like Vicki Lindy the woman tried to placate the child with a toy she paid cash for the purchase pulling it out of an envelope the clerk also noticed that she carried a shopping bag from another store in the mall after paying the two left arguing over what to have for dinner the clerk agreed to come to the command center to provide a sketch from her description a police artist created a composite drawing of the customer it was their first real lead [Music] from the way the woman was described treating the girls investigators believe she may have lost a child who was trying desperately to replace it in someone else's while it was reassuring to think that Vicky was being cared for by her abductor the theory had some nagging inconsistencies for agent Bagley it was pretty unlikely to me that someone would have taken Vicky Lynn and then took taken her to a public place and to be seen with her that and the fact that that Debbie said that Vicky Lynn would never knowingly accompany a stranger in public and not try to get away but perhaps Vicky did not run from the woman because she was not a stranger to the child [Music] investigators return to Vicky's neighborhood hoping that someone would recognize a sketch and provide a name not sure well they found it you guys have a good day a number of leads that identified or people believe they identified this woman were telephoned into the command post and each one of those leads were followed up by a investigator or a detective ma'am investigators canvassed the malama including the store and shop around the corner Terry scat clerk there recognized delimiter remembering that a little girl was with her girl and even commenting that the woman had worn a wide-brimmed hat which wasn't included in the sketch as new witnesses came forward all of Tucson held its breath with the hope that Vicki Lynne Hoskinson would be found alive by the second day of the search for 8 year old Vicki Lynne Hoskinson the news coverage was extensive local and national news teams broadcast hourly updates though Vicki was reportedly seen in the Tucson mall the night before arguing with the strange it seemed implausible to agents and deputies that if Viki was still alive her abductor would have taken it to a public place investigators continue to search a nearby rural areas they also continue to prepare themselves and Vicky's mother Debbie Carlson for the worst I remember them coming in and the second day on Tuesday and wanting access to Vicky's room you know they made us close up her room and they started taking hair samples from her bed they took her sheets they took her pillow they took her hairbrush they took all these things and almost like you know they were preparing a homicide cases basically it was what they were doing and I was not real receptive to that you know because I in my mind this was not going to be a homicide case despite their doubts investigators continued to pursue their only lead they needed to identify the woman in the law whom a witness believed had abducted Vicki at the nearby high school the student thought he recognized the woman's face [Music] he said he saw the woman with the little girl in a dark-colored car on the previous afternoon he recalled the car was a black Monte Carlo a little girl who resembled Vicki was looking out of the window he believed that the woman driving was the same one depicted in the sketch investigators wondered if it was the same car seen earlier in the neighborhood by the two boys on the bikes okay the Monte Carlo that was seen was a lead for us because it sounded like it had a great deal of potential but there wasn't much we could do with it we did look for Monte Carlo sand had got no hits with that at the command center witnesses of all ages were coming forward [Music] a mother came in with her three-year-old she helped her son describe to investigators what he had seen the day before they lived across the street from where Vicki Lynn's bike was found earlier that afternoon she told the detective her son was playing in the front yard while she went into the house for just a moment the boy said he saw a little girl he's being knocked down by what he called a black racecar he said a big girl was long hair got out of the car and helped the little girl in then they drove off this little boy had a parent I witnessed the abduction of Vicki Lynne Hoskinson [Music] his portrayal prevents rekindled suspicions that Vicki may have been abducted by the woman from the mall but he was too young to give any more useful details and his mother hadn't seen or heard anything [Music] agents check the spot where vicki Lynne's bike had been found to see if anything had been overlooked hae-jin banglar made a crucial find something that hadn't been reported earlier there was a fresh couch on the post about 16 or 18 inches above the ground which was not the contact point for a large car so we looked to me like it was fresh it certainly appeared to me that perhaps the car that had hit the bicycle had run into this post he surmised that the small black car with California plates spotted just yards away could have been the car that struck the post at that height the agent asked if any other investigators had received reports of a black and out-of-state car in the area one detective hat earlier that day he had taken a statement from Sam Hall the coach of the elementary school all reported seeing a suspicious vehicle at the school yard at about 3 o'clock on September 17th just 20 minutes before Vicky was last seen in the neighborhood [Music] he said he first noticed a low black car of California tags driving slowly near the schoolyard then he noticed that the driver was watching the children at play he described the driver as male with long hair and a beard Paul told detective de MERS that when he looked at the strangers face the chill went up and down his spine he described it as his hair raising on the back of his neck when he saw this individual so he kept a close eye on the subject as the man began to drive off Paul had the presence of mind to jot down his license number the next day when the gym teacher had heard that Vicki Lynne Hoskinson was missing he believed that his sighting might be relevant when we obtained the license number from Sam Hall and heard his story he got me pretty excited because this was probably the break we were looking for it would take several hours for the FBI to trace the license number to the car's owner investigators were uncertain if there was any connection between the strange woman at the mall and the bearded man in the car each investigator in this case was highly charged with emotion because every hour that passes makes the likelihood that Vicki Lynne would be recovered safely it diminished with every hour time conspired against them and hope for vigilance safe return began to falter as day two came to a close September 19th 1984 day three hunt for Vicki Lynne Hoskinson while the license plate for the small black car was being traced investigators continued collecting statements from potential witnesses another neighborhood woman came in to describe how her child was almost abducted the woman told investigators that she'd been doing laundry on her apartment building [Music] while she was busy with the machine a woman came in and tried to lure her child away the mother managed to drive her life scattering police showed the witness their sketch of the woman from the shopping mall was definitely the drawing did not look like the woman who grabbed her body but the mother couldn't be sure [Music] police canvassed the area and found the woman in question [Music] she was a fixture in the neighborhood eccentric that ultimately harmless she was released another one of 200 or so dead ends that investigators pursued each one meant dashed hopes late that afternoon mrs. Carlson held a press conference with her family she pleaded for Vicky's safe return by reaching out to millions of people through the evening news she hoped someone would come forward with information on her young daughter's whereabouts one minute I had hope they were gonna find her and the next minute I was waiting for them to walk through the door and tell me they found her body and it was a rollercoaster it's like am I gonna be having a funeral on three days I'm gonna have my daughter in my arms in three days is she gonna be one of those missing kids that is missing forever the FBI was inching closer to the answer the trace on the license plate led to a 28 year old Los Angeles man named Frank Jarvis Atwood agents gave the information to the FBI identification division to check for priors about 10 o'clock that evening we received by fax a rap sheet from the identification division and that about blew our mind because we noticed that there was a prior conviction for child molestation and another for kidnapping Frank Atwood was currently out on parole in California Arizona FBI alerted agents there they decided not to tell the Carlson's until they knew more the following warning day for in the case of Vicki Lynne Hoskinson agents went to the LA address where Atwoods vehicle is registered it was the home of atwood's parents retired Army Brigadier General Frank Atwood senior as his wife is that what Australia would like the airship yet was acknowledged that his son had committed crimes in the past they also told investigators that he had visited a few days earlier but they did not know where he was now agents told them that he might be involved in the kidnapping of a child and time was of the essence neither parent had any information to share he does get common agents left their business cards in case the Atwoods learned anything new the mother was very protective of him and the father listened to the pleas that perhaps if we acted soon enough that perhaps Vickie Lynn might be recovered alive a few hours after the agents left the Atwoods received a call it was they're sad Frank he needed their help he said his car had broken down in Texas he needed money wired to him so he could get it fixed his mother took down the address and told him not to worry [Music] his father copied it and left the house he went to a pay phone and called the FBI he gave them the address of the garage in Kerrville Texas where his son Frank and a friend who waited money for a new transmission the California office called agents in Arizona who in turn called agents in Texas the request to apprehend Frank at will [Music] the Texas recalled the garage yeah yeah the manager confirmed that Abby was there with one other man he didn't see anyone else with them he did not know if that woman's arm agents asked him to stall the future too until an arrest team drive the wheels were set in motion for the arrest of Frank Atwood there was one more call that agent Bagley wasn't sure he should make the the problem is whether or not to let the parents know that we have a good lead on this it's breaking extremely fast we're worried about whether Vicki Lynne is with him in that car and all sorts of things go through your mind ultimately they decided to inform the Carlson's of this sudden turnabout in the case of their missing daughter the story was too big to keep under wraps for much longer they came over but before the arrest was made and they briefed us that they were about to make an arrest in another state it was going to be on the TV and basically they briefed us on the situation who they were going to be arresting there was no signs of Vicky they had him under surveillance without any idea about where the little girl might be or even if she was still alive federal agents moved in to arrest Frank Atwood for kidnapping [Music] four days after Vicki Lynne Hoskinson disappeared from Arizona the FBI made an arrest in Kerrville Texas [Music] Frank at his traveling companion James McDonald were picked up without incident at an auto repair due to suspected kidnapping [Music] there was no sign of Gary de MERS of the Tucson Sheriff's Department headed to Texas to interrogate him he told us that he would speak to us about certain things and there are certain things that he would not speak to us about some of the information that he provided was that he in fact was in the Tucson area Atwoods history of child molesting and kidnapping made him a likely suspect in the case [Music] that would admitted to being in Vicki's neighborhood on Monday September 17th the day she disappeared he said he'd been staying in a nearby partly at about three o'clock he left to buy drugs and returned to the park two hours later around 5:00 p.m. he wouldn't account for his whereabouts during those two lost hours he claimed he was not responsible for his disappearance James McDonald corroborated Atwoods story on the day in question he told investigators that he and Atwood had had an argument in the park at about 3 o'clock just after that Atwood left in his car for about two hours but Donald said that a gnat would return around five o'clock he had blood on his hands and clothing that would told him he'd gotten into a fight with a drug dealer and stabbed him McDonald also gave authorities the names of other people in Tucson that he and Atwood hung around most were transients officially focus shifted away from the mysterious woman at the mall and centered on Atwood but Debbie Carlson didn't want to entirely give up on the mall lady theory at first I really wanted to stick to that theory that it was probably a woman possibly had lost a child was trying to replace a child and I think that's what kept me going those first that first week was that possibly with someone taking it would be someone who would be taking care of her though mrs. Carlson held out hope investigators were less optimistic about a happy ending [Music] when he was arrested and she wasn't with him the reality really started to set in that those last words I love you were the last worth that I was going to hear my daughter say to me while the FBI scrambled for a warrant to search Atwoods car agents and Arizona authorities returned to Tucson the next day to track down the other Park dwellers mentioned by McDonald investigators found two men who said that Atwood had spent a few nights in their trailer one of the men known as mad dog recalled seeing in their Monday night the night of Vicki's disappearance his story supported what Atwoods traveling companion Jim McDonald told the FBI MacDonald said that he had observed atwood on Monday afternoon with bloody clothes and blood on his knife and on his boots Mad Dog said the same thing separately that he had observed the same thing at his trailer and that they had even discussed that Atwood should get rid of his bloody clothes in the knife agents presented a warrant and searched the trailer for any evidence that might suggest kidnapping or murder initially it looked as if the search proved fruitful they collected a blanket that appeared to be blood-stained along with a hairbrush believed to be at woods both were subjected to a battery of blood and fiber tests both revealed nothing at woods clothes and knife were never found [Music] the search continued both were evidence against athlete and for some trace of the victim FBI agents and detectives including myself continue to search for Vicki Lynne Hoskinson there was certain amount of frustration that had set in because we were unable to locate her the area is vast it's a lot of desert and trying to use all the investigative skills at you know available we're we had been unable to locate her but we continued to pursue any type of lead though clues to Vicki's we're about to his gifts detectives continued to canvass the park or Atwood had spent most of his time while in Tucson agents found a couple who knew Frank Edwin they also claimed to have seen the suspect in blood-stained clothes the day Vicki disappeared like the others Atwood told them that he had stabbed a double-crossing drug dealer while that was certainly possible the timing of the knife exactly at the time of Vicki's disappearance seemed to stretch coincidence though investigators now had corroborating stories that suggested Atwoods guilt they still had no physical evidence and no body to prove that Vicki had been in his car they needed to match some hair or fiber from the car with one's collected from the victims bedroom it didn't turn out that way we didn't get a hair or fibers or blood that we could identify during that time and even at this time the best florins ik experts in the country we're at the FBI and they were the ones that processed the vehicle so I truly believe that if there was something in there that could have been found it would have been found what agents were looking for wasn't inside the car but rather outside it FBI examiner's lifted a sample of paint from Vicki's bike to compare to a speck of pink paint found on atwood's front bumper the paint speck just a few millimeters wide was tested at the FBI's materials Analysis Unit the examiner first assigned the case passed away shortly after completing the tests former special agent examiner James Corby would re-examine the minut evidence usually the victim of a crime you have no association with the victim or the family and we work so many of those cases that you try not to get involved but it's very very difficult when a crime involves a baby or a small child somebody that's defense defenses and you find yourself I think working harder to try to establish something in the case but if it's not there I mean it's not there but you certainly I think take a more critical look at that case and I think it's human nature in microscopic and chemical tests core be determined the bicycles paint and the paint found on the bumper matched Corby also found chrome-plating from the bumpers smeared on the bike so what we have here is an interchange of materials the paint from the victim's bicycle was on the suspect car the plating from the suspects car is on the victims bicycle and this interchange of materials establishes contact between the bicycle and the suspects vehicle it was good but without a body it would not be enough to charge Frank Atwood Jr with the murder of Vicki Lynne Hoskinson authorities braced themselves for a difficult case with few witnesses few visible clues and no body [Music] the case against Atwood could easily slip through any one of those cracks almost three weeks after little Vicki Lynne Hoskinson disappeared off a street in her Tucson neighborhood Frank Atwood jr. was arrested in Texas and charged with kidnapping Vicki was still missing and presumed dead investigators knew that if her body was not recovered prosecution for murder would be next to impossible [Music] the Tucson community living this nightmare day by day soon learned that Atwood had slipped through the cracks before Atwood was currently on parole after serving three years of a five-year sentence after a child molestation charge involving a seven-year-old boy who was plea bargained down to abduction the enraged citizens of Tucson marched in the streets behind Vickie's families to protest lenient laws against convicted child molesters most wore yellow ribbons to show their faith in Vicki's safe return Edward fought extradition from Texas to Arizona with no evidence that Vicki had been taken across state lines the FBI dropped its federal charges against Frank Atwood but state charges of kidnapping still held in November more than a month since Vicki's disappearance Atwood returned to Arizona under heavy guard to stand trial for kidnapping bail was denied and I will remember the day that they says oh you know it will take probably at least six months and I'm thinking six months get out of here you're crazy little did we know it was going to take almost three years on December 3rd 1984 a clean-shaven Frank Jarvis Atwood jr. pled not guilty at his arraignment due to publicity the judge ordered Atwoods trial to be moved from Tucson to Phoenix jury selection had proved long and arduous taking almost six weeks but the case continued to unfold on April 12th 1985 a woman walking her dog just off the main road found a small human skull in the desert northwest of Tucson we immediately cordoned off the area the FBI was called in to assist we systematically worked the area what had happened was that the body had been scattered the animals had actually gotten to it and had moved a number of parts around and we just took our time I think we were out there for five days collecting everything that we could possibly get out of that area about a hundred people meticulously scoured a 20 square mile stretch of desert investigators photograph the entire area to record the condition of the location forensic technicians marked areas where evidence needs to be collected in a case with so little physical evidence overlooking the smallest bone fragment my grief cost twelve hours a day for five days authorities recovered and reported bone fragments their location and their condition over 20 bags of evidence were delivered to the lab for identification in late May of 1985 including a portion of lower mandible that still held teeth a witness came forward who testified to seeing hat would arrive in the area with a child then leave alone the coroner found that weathering on the bones was consistent with eight months exposure to the elements dental records proved these were the remains of Vicki Lynne Hoskinson you know they found lowered the lower mandible on a gopher hole one year later one of the search-and-rescue people that searched for her remains had taken a bouquet of flowers and put it in that gopher hole where she found the lower mandible Vicki Lynne affected a lot of people these are people who never knew her as the vibrant tomboy little girl that we had and I don't think there anyone who lived here during that time will ever forget how this community came together because I heard [Music] Vicky's family laid her to rest on May 30th 1985 [Music] 500 mourners attended her funeral the community was outraged that the life of one of its youngest members was cut so short [Music] debbie carlson valid that her daughter's death would have significance for the living I became very politically active to help fight for children's issues and uh we got a couple los changed in the state of Arizona and I think that was my saving grace because it gave me some focus it gave me a focus away from the pain and the gutwrench and that the tearing at my heart that I felt every second to I was doing something positive for Vickie and for other kids that my daughter was not going to die in vain she was could make a difference [Music] Frank Atwood was indicted for first-degree murder on March 26th 1987 two and a half years after Vicki disappeared he was found guilty Frank Atwood was sentenced to death [Music] but a case like this is never truly over [Music] sixteen years later memories of hope and despair still linger now never forget the sound of a helicopter to this day when I hear a helicopter I remember those days I remember the smell of the air the time of the year and the noise of a helicopter [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] you

Channel: The FBI Files

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Keywords: FBI, FBI Files, FBI Documentary, Documentary, Crime, Crime Documentary, Crime Patrol, True Crime, True crime daily, Unsolved, Crime Stories, Crime Documentaries Full Episodes, Full Episode, unsolved true crime, fbi files full episodes, we got him, mystery, solved, investigation, police, criminal, prison, jail, vicki lynne, vicky lynne, Hoskinson, Frank Atwood

Id: 3_zHWjga96Y

Length: 49min 53sec (2993 seconds)

Published: Sat Feb 15 2020