Dateline presents: The Man in the Black Mask
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IT was a happy habit that evening walk the summer habit, of course, too soon now that crisp bite in the air would turn bitter cold. But not yet. That day, friday, october, had been uncommonly warm for emerson, and twilight seemed to linger as they ambled along the path that want its way through their neighbor.

Od IT was a good neighborhood, safe, established, not quite grand, but not modest either. So they wandered the two of them and listen to parents calling in kids from the park, almost dark now. There, out of nowhere there, IT was sudden, shocking, terrifying.

I have never in my life felt fear like that.

That is my gohouri remembering the Young man who stumbled out of an ali and collapsed to their feet.

came across our path, just fell from bus.

stumbling along marris partner travel hosting, or was alarm too. But something about IT seemed off somehow.

And uh, to me that didn't look real, looked like he was staged.

And what what was he doing you're saying, or how you behavior?

He looked at me and said, i'm being robed.

He helped me. And I was just a instant bad feeling. IT was like everything in my body just tensed up.

I felt bad. This is a bad situation. I knew right away something was wrong.

And then, as if on to another man appeared seemingly in pursuit.

And then as I looked up, the attacker almost actually ran into me.

Attacker looked that way, at least whatever was was wearing a dark hooded switcher and a hockey mask, just like this serial killer Jason. And all those friday, the thirteenth movies.

IT was like every nightmare you had as a child after watching scary movies, every name where you've ever had, all the sun is right here. Like this mask guy is .

standing there. And the last man did something quite unexpected.

Well, he, the guy in the mask, was pretending that they were friends, that that those two were friends .

pretending, and maybe they are really word friends.

because the way that he fell to me, look, look, stage to get .

us to stop so that they can rob us.

set up for us. Now.

convinced this was some sort of choreograph mugging, mr. Took off running.

I was like, i'm getting out here right now. I was so scared. I was so scared. And I just, I needed to get out of here.

but not travel. He stayed behind, still not quite sure of the man lying at his feet, backing for help with a need of saving or now to do him harm. So you didn't know whether he was going to assault you exactly, or whether he was running from that guy for real exactly.

My response was to run and get the hello a here. His response was, what's going on here? I need to figure out what's going on down the black.

I was freaking out on him. I was yelling at him. I screaming at him.

And I was so mad at him, and I was screaming, like, high pitch travel her like, because he kept trying to figure out what was going on travel. What were you trying to do? What you trying to be hero? You trying to be hero. And I was like.

I just wanted to go, drivers said the man and the hockey mask then calmly walked away and disappeared back into the ali from which he came, but not the man lying on the path. He stayed right where he was. What in the world was going on? Travel was done trying to solve this mystery and ran after ma, maybe the man on the path behind, so pleading for help, rather like a season method actor like IT was an episode of the twilight zone. Demerara got home quick as they could and call the police, telling them about the man and the mask and the guy begging for help.

We said, well, we think we are getting robbed. Like that's how we had described IT was, we thought we were gonna be robed in. So where can they go from that? That was a weird situation.

A report was taken, squad cars proud the streets, and I is nearby, though by then IT was too dark to see much of anything .

they sniff around and I was, didn't find IT didn't find anything.

And no victim ever came forward. No one ever reported to believe that they had been assaulted in a quiet neighborhood, a man in a hockey y mask.

I still love neighbors about that mask.

So was this some sort of staged robbery attempt, or someone's idea of a sick prank? I really thought that the end of this thing, he just laughs way all the way to the bank on IT. At the end of the day, it's a big publicity for him. Or was IT something else altogether? Did you feel sometimes, like you're in the meal of Alice.

wander the matter? absolutely.

I'm he's Morrison. And this is deadlines s newest podcast, the man in the black mask, episode one where Johnny.

Edmonton, Alberta doesn't always get quite the attention that probably deserves. That generally goes to its flashy or sibling, calgary, the three r drive south. Eventing, on the other hand, is the provincial capital, home to a million people, first place of all kinds of famous types, like Michael j.

Fox, K. D. Lang, Tommy chong, booming on and off, courtesy of the massive oil sands, one hundred or so miles to the north.

Helmont onions are used to the rough next, and roustabouts you blow through town on their way to and from the oil patch. Which is perhaps why a particular sort of case often sucks up the time of the edmonton police service. Missing persons, though typically education, tend to solve themselves once the victim. So when veteran homicide detect the bill Clark got a missing person case dumped on his desk.

i'm not thinking much going to come of this.

That is, bill Clark shaved head, thick mustache, look like a cannon ball. And in that moment, bill Clark was not happy to call out a veteran homicide cop like him on a missing person case that just wasn't done.

We don't usually go to missing person like we. We're very pick. And what we go to like basically, unfortunately for to help minal if to if the person does not, not criminal, don't want the colonies, do we have a murder?

Because if we don't, this is our file. I mean, we have no indication of fall play. Nothing right.

The missing person in this case was a guy who know, surprised, worked in the oil fields. John y. Altar was his name.

The friends who call IT in and said he was thirty nine years old, tall, lanky, was short ground hair, a friend, be open face in a lobster Green. They said they hadn't see him in a couple of weeks, wasn't like him, they said. So with a grumble from Clark, they open the file on john.

I O, no idea back at the beginning how important that name was going to be. Anyway, Clark and the other investigators put together a list evolving is known, friends, family members, and started making calls to see if the guy really was missing or just out on the ender. One of those friends was a woman, and debt tycho be done was .

a very good friend. He was very warm and loving and kind.

We talked to debris too, and he told us he met john y. alting. Her on a dacy website.

Plenty of fish stock.

com. Twenty of fish, com. Yes, ever look to be in our early thirties, petite with bobbed Brown hair. SHE said nurses training had cut her far too busy to even think about dating, but now he was done and maybe ready for a man in her life. And I thought.

OK, i'm onna, get out there. And because they certainly we're not falling through my roof, I Better get out there. And I also was very like, you know, you have to be careful. I think when you put yourself out there, you have to be have some sort of air of caution. I mote yourself.

Debris has, well, well, to be fair to call of the nurse's personality, smart, hard working and quite obviously compassionate. And he was looking for those same characteristics, maybe unrealistically, in a guy, but the ones he was meeting just weren't cutting IT. And then SHE saw john y all tinges up beat dating profile and agreed to meet him for coffee.

I was there early, and then john came in after, and john quite tall, and so he came in, and he was his bub itself.

He was just like.

yeah, he did yeah. I seen pictures two of him, and we chat about the same stuff we talked about on the phone. Of course, we were both in nerves.

and so IT was a really nice visit. There was IT. But however, johna certainly sauce Sparks, dever said che did not.

I didn't feel that romantic chemistry with john.

would you like? Yeah, brother?

like.

And as friends do, they began to power around together.

I would say, we spoke almost daily. Go for coffee or lunch. I enjoyed spending time with him.

And so their friendship grew in .

a you'd never to email me hi Debra was always high. Sunshine girl, everything.

I.

yeah. Hi sunshine. I used to .

think my gosh.

but but made me feel special. So like all, that's really three. And I think part of a built our friendship. We lifted each other up his friend .

and was keep going as a friendship.

absolutely. Yeah yeah.

A friendship so close that the two were comfortable talking about all the different woman john I was meeting up with on that plenty of fish website .

when he dated for about a month. Then he didn't work out. And then there was one other girl he was somewhat interested in and I said, okay, and that's great and .

and when he told you about these women he told you about.

yeah, he did.

Then around the middle october never got an email from Johnny saying.

hi there i've met a wonderful girl name, jane. I'm going to cost to riga and I will keep in touch and call you when I get back after the holidays. John.

what did you think about that?

My my first thought was like, oh, he's freely trying to get me to see he's moved on. But I was concerned for him and I I felt like, be careful, you know, you don't just get on a plane and go me to girl and cost to reka. You have to be careful. And then I think he was a following day I was on A S A messenger, and john y popped on line and in quotation beside his name is that i've got a one way ticket to heaven and i'm never coming back.

Mind you, john y sent a message to a male friend too as well detected cark got hold of that one IT didn't mention heaven.

This is if anything happens to me and or i'm at in the love I love.

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Why get all your holiday decorations delivered the installed? Because maybe you only bought two read s but have twelve windows. Or maybe your top ler got very eager with the event calendar, or maybe the inflatable snowman didn't make IT through the snowstorm, or maybe the twinkle lights aren't twinkling. Whatever the reason this season, instincts here for hosts in their whole holiday hall get decorations from the home depot, cvs and more through installed, and enjoy free delivery on your first three orders. Service fees in terms .

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Thirty nine year old oil field worker john y outing her was missing. Maybe friends hadn't seen him around since early october, and yet those same friends were getting email messages from him saying he was on vacation and costa rica with a new love in his life. One e.

Mail seemed to explain everything he said. I've met an extraordinary woman named jen who was offered to take me on a nice, long tropical vacation. We will be staying in her winter home and coastal reka a phone number to follow soon.

I won't be back in town until december tenth, but i'll be checking my email periodical. See you around the holidays. John y, which the omaha detective bill cark seemed perfectly reasonable. Not hard to imagine that a love struck man might want to leave the snow and ice of edmonton behind and skip off the tropics.

Who knows? Maybe they go to close to you coming. Strange of things have happened, right? Do you don't know?

Still, just to be sure of investigators did a little tour of altars condemn dian and IT was messy for sure. Dishes in the sink close strewn about, but IT certainly did not look like a crime scene.

The crime scene, guys, theyve reported back from john y's house that there's nothing here. There's no blood, no signs of struggle. Yeah, the places a little bit dirty. It's a bachelor proud. You know, he didn't clean these dishes, so that's where we're at.

Oh, and his car was gone. His red must the coup.

So let's find a car. Find a car. Hopefully we find him or have an idea.

As since johna alten, your emails said he had taken off for cost to reka officers went to the airport, of course, look for that red model of his. They searched in every parking lot, but I wasn't there. They come through airline passenger lists.

He wasn't none, any of them. And just as the police, we're contemplating that puzzle, one of all in your friends service with yet another intriguing email. This email was sent too.

John y, well, he was still in edmonton, and IT was from jane, that woman, he apparently accepted the coast jica. IT was sent to him the evening of their first date, october tenth. IT was driving directions to her home, and john y had matter yet after. Also, he forward to the email to a friend, just in case I can't .

remember the last word of the email, but he says, if anything happens to me and or I met.

there wasn't a phone number, not even an address, but there were detailed directions to replace. So two patrol officers drove the very route, and the directions let them do a quiet residential neighborhood. And along a back ali to a detached two car garage, went an odd place to meet.

The officers did some checking and found out the garage had been rented to a local celebrity of sorts, a good name, mark twitcher, who was making a name for himself as a scrappy, Young, independent filmmaker. So they called him. And this twitter character readily agreed to leave his wife and daughter at that time and and drive all the way to cross town and open up the garage.

But when he got there, he took one look at the padlock on the door and realized somebody had changed IT. He couldn't get in. So with trial permission, the cops broke in, had a quick look around and found nothing to except for an empty worktable few tools on a trash room.

The place was empty just the same. Why would someone changed the lock? And why do that woman, je direct john y. Alting her to that backyard garage the very day he disappeared. Don't know, said mark ritual, but he'd be happy to take along to the police station and help out any way he could.

The first name that I know, the pala, didn't look familiar to me.

In fact, this is mark witch be explaining to a detective name, mike tabler, that he'd been using the redit garage as a poor man's sound stage to shoot a short film. IT was designed drum up publicity buzz, if you will, and with any luck, investor money to allow him to produce .

a full length feature movie short. So of course.

he had a crew out of the place during filming, said mark. Several actors, maybe one of them was up to something, but that seemed unlikely. And none of them have ever asked to borrows the set for anything.

So if there is anything like that, if somebody need to borrow the place or whatever, then they would let me know.

let you then ask .

for something like that. So yes, no, I don't know anything about that.

Anyway, he said he didn't need the garage anymore. He'd removed all as camera and props and this in that, and moved on to a real film project he was shooting elsewhere.

I was in a comedy right now.

The which matter, not at all to detective tabler point was, where was john y. altar? And who is that woman he'd been further with online is the one who gave him directions to the garage, told him sh'd, made him there and spirit him off to coastal reka, the woman who signed her emails. Je, does the new .

year mean anything to you? No, I want me about that too.

mr. Fine said mark twitter, the bad feeling about this, a man disappears after telling his friends he was going to the very place Marks movie had been shooting to meet some actress market never heard of, and now police .

were involved chill.

And on top of that now, he just discovered somebody changed the lock on his garage studio. That was all mark ritter had to say. He didn't know, I didn't think, and nothing else.

Add the less. This actress gene was some sort of phantom, and a garden variety backyard garage was unlike a magic portal like in some size fied movie. Well, detective cards thoughts were more practical at that moment and maybe urgent. So we're .

thinking in our next step out logically, is the great we've ta check inside and have a closer.

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What a strange coincident IT was the rented backyard garage and independent event film crew was using as a studio was the very place the missing man, john y. Alton, her was supposed to meet his mysterious blind date je odd, especially since the movie is producer, director mark twitter expressed exactly the same confusion as the police did. He didn't get IT either.

The dots didn't connect, mark twitches said. Didn't note john y from adam didn't know this gene woman either. And besides, there was no evidence Johnny never made IT to the garage at all, is a close friends .

where the ones that have come to the police and they basically nothing other than these emails.

The tea bill Clark wasn't in on the mark twitch al meeting, but he was curious, was the guy truly on the up and up like a andy was? So Clark pulled up the video recording that witch was chat with officer tamblyn.

And when I watch an interview, i'm not really, I listen to what the guy says, but i'm looking a body language. I'm looking for a signs of deceit. And I remember coming out of the interview going well, smart twitter guy interviewed really well.

There were no signs of deception. He free flown with the information, is answering the questions logically. I don't see any, you know, look away. I don't see any of nervousness in nothing.

Oh, but now this case was under his skin. No, Clark is. He doesn't mind the admit, an old school detective and sort. This seems to exist mostly in the movie these days, like a fifty film.

more sider my self. A T you get your teeth into. We are those a type personal dge. We want to get the guy, know, we want to get this guy and put him away.

But what guy or woman who was the bad guy to get in the john y. Alting her case? Was there a bad guy? What is there even a crime now? Who knew really? So cr kept himself on a tight leash.

The ID yet to smell anything like blood. You must have come to some point. Where is that? H this definitely file play. No.

not not at all.

All the cops had, after all, was a missing man who might just run off somewhere with or without some mysterious woman named jane, which would certainly account for the fact that his red moster coop was gone to. But really, aside from a few curious emails that might or might not make any sense, IT wasn't much for industry to go on. So being cops, Clark and his colleagues employed standard procedure.

They double back for a second. Look at things like that. dr. Johnson was apparently to be headed for when he vanished. The first time the cops went there, IT was very once over. So we're .

thinking our next step logically is a great we're got to check inside and have a close .

up until they applied for a search warrant to look more thorough, give the place a real forensic going over and IT .

gets turned down because we're told we don't have a crime. We have proven there's a crime commitment and we're going home. That is so good.

Yeah, remind a phone, twitter. He was CoOperative with my tabler let's film them up. Um maybe he'll come down or will just get the key from so, uh, I just follow up and he's all good, no problem.

And then he says, what? I'm going to my mom's house. I said, well, you know, why don't we meet you there? You give us the key and when we go in, you go, I don't need you side a consent for ren forest to search to greg.

Yes, no problem. mr. Copper, just like he was an interviewer night before, doesn't raise any red flags with middle. So we sent a detective out to meet up with mark tatcho.

Clark expected the detective to return in an hour or so with the key and consent form. But no, the detective cold clar instead, with news that just couldn't wait about a story, mark twitch l had .

just told him to CTO a red mass off guy.

and he didn't mention IT at all, never mention IT before. But he had somebody asked him about such a car before. He'd been several times about the car during the first interview.

yeah. And by the petroleum, who first met on the first night at the garage, not to mention now of the sun, he tells Murphy, I bought a red CF, a guy for slip. My mind forgot to tell you.

Sp, my mind right away.

I thought there's some fish. I.

so Clark invited twitter, come back down to the station for a meeting in ten thirty on a sunday night. And twitter agreed.

everything you do now, we're analyze, call the up are down ario. This is a barrel. mr.

CoOperative will come down, will talk to at ten thirty on sunday night as an a barrow from mark, right? right? He's being cool. Good red car master has mentioned IT big .

dowery dow, down arrow to arrows if that's all you had. IT wouldn't buy you a cup of coffee in a weird investigation by this one.

Know we're flying by the studio pants. Don't know anything about twitch. L we don't know anything about this guy. Our plan was, if he's gone to tell us about the red car, he's gonna tell us where IT.

So our plan was, as soon as you tell us where IT is, get someone in that room to go out and find a car, maybe something comes up in the car. Let's get the trong flink. We're thinking there's a body in IT maybe, right? We don't know.

So twitter chill comes in my shake his hand, you know, I mark, thanks coming in recited is going sorry about that red car and going to, if anybody could forget that, you know, is not going on. The police are involved in the whole time of thinking. Who would forget this red car here in nadia body like sound going on.

But as the interview proceeded, the Young filmmaker was the very picture of CoOperation like this .

call for my corporate phone would deprive from Milly that's helping me put together my big feature, the day players committee.

He volunteer information. He answered questions without heat or any apparent. Guy clack watched his body language, and IT was open, comfortable.

So they they got to the story about the red muster and what a story that was, said mark. He was sitting in his own car. He had stopped for some reason, just a few blocks from the ranted .

garage that this guy taps on my window.

New jc reaction.

And first i'm thinking the place to ask me, let loose change. He also something .

like that as can happen anywhere. Edmonton included.

But he didn't look like a transit. They seem to be just like a Normal person.

except what he wanted to do was not even close to Normal, said mark. The man was desperate to get rid of his car, offer her to sell IT write in and there demarch to practically nothing. And the reason is .

crazy as well. I have checked up with this really rich lady, uh, new like a suter moc situation and she's gonna care of me and she's going to buy me a new car back from the that. So i'm just looking to p on the bin.

Don't really care that about how much I garel IT I must to have on you and so say 我 forty and with that total an did everything。 I'm not expecting anything here, I guess. Sure, fair enough. I'm thinking, okay, what this like you know, two times a cocaine and a true i'm trying to figure out what .

the catches here apparently said mark, there was no catch and nothing wrong with the car, except IT had a standard transmission, which he didn't know how to drive. So he left the park and a friend's .

driveway.

Oh, so see .

a couple .

of blocks. Wait a detective .

listening in from another room, send someone out to look for the red car. And meanwhile, bill cart left the interview room part later, regroup, but also to see how mark would act when they left him alone. And if he was rattled, he certainly didn't show us. Instead, he calmly plays to call to his wife.

So well, try to um answer some more the questions and and I like that and like IT turns out that the the car is in fact uh belonging to this missing guy and it's a huge deal so that's what this whole thing about .

what in heaven's name was going on? Bill Clark didn't never clue beyond his suspicions. That is something about this guy.

He was just to to something. So bill Clark, good cop, decided to become billed. Clark, bad cop, right or wrong? He was about to on my tree.

the on me against M I.

Coming up in future episodes of a man in the black mask.

he told me that he just finished his house of cards, which was about a serial killer, but he wanted to pursue more of that. And I said, well, why not a female serial killer? Why is I gotto be a guy, you know? And I said, let's explore that in the story. Turn in a story.

And then I turned around. Finally, I see this, god, he's in this market. We hidden me all over with the sand.

There was probably the most spell binding interview i've ever had with a witness.

The man and the black mask is a production of date line. And nbc news pince early is the producer brian drew, deb Brown and Marshall households. They are audio editors just in recht as fuel producer less. The grossman is programmed ordinator adam gordin is coexisting tive producer, paul ryan is executive producer, and this coal is senior executive producer. From when we see news audio sound mixing by kd law, brazing barns is head of audio production.

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