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What Happened to the “Perfect Child” A Dark and Disturbing Mystery · The Evolution of Evil - True Crime Stories

• 0:11
  Speaker 1: How old were you when you were a doctor?
• 0:13
  Speaker 2: I was nine, and that's what I wanted. I want
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: to feel loved and I want a family.
• 0:30
  Speaker 3: I wanted a lot of children. You see your friends
• 0:33
  Speaker 3: having children, and you try and you can't.
• 0:36
  Speaker 4: It was difficult.
• 0:38
  Speaker 5: When we finally learned that we were going to be
• 0:40
  Speaker 5: able to go over to Russia and pick up a
• 0:41
  Speaker 5: little boy and girl of our own, it was just
• 0:43
  Speaker 5: a tremendous event and we were very excited.
• 0:47
  Speaker 3: We had seen pictures of the children and they were beautiful.
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: How did the agency describe currently.
• 0:55
  Speaker 6: A wonderful, outgoing, intelligent little girl, loved to be around
• 1:00
  Speaker 6: all ages of children and desperately looking for parents.
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: Was that an accurate description?
• 1:06
  Speaker 7: No, it was not.
• 1:07
  Speaker 6: Now, after we returned home, we would see her staring
• 1:15
  Speaker 6: off into the distance blankly, in a trance like state.
• 1:19
  Speaker 5: She started to stand over our bed at night, wake up.
• 1:21
  Speaker 4: And she'd be right over my face.
• 1:24
  Speaker 8: There was a coldness in her and an anger and
• 1:27
  Speaker 8: just a distance. She became someone I didn't know at all.
• 1:32
  Speaker 9: I mean at all.
• 1:35
  Speaker 8: Carroly began stealing everything in the house. She stole all
• 1:39
  Speaker 8: my jewelry, Our knives were disappearing. She would do things
• 1:42
  Speaker 8: like putting a kitten in the middle of a pack
• 1:44
  Speaker 8: of dogs, cruel type behavior.
• 1:46
  Speaker 5: And then she snapped and tried to kill Joshua.
• 1:52
  Speaker 8: She had him in her hands and was going to
• 1:54
  Speaker 8: throw him over the deck. She had him yes, yes, yes,
• 1:59
  Speaker 8: and I just started put him down, Caroline, put him down?
• 2:03
  Speaker 4: What are you doing? I'm going to kill him?
• 2:08
  Speaker 8: I called the psychiatrist.
• 2:09
  Speaker 4: What am I gonna do? You know, what?
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: What do we do?
• 2:11
  Speaker 8: She's becoming violent?
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: Doctor?
• 2:13
  Speaker 10: There is no question in her mind that Caroly is
• 2:16
  Speaker 10: a very troubled little girl.
• 2:18
  Speaker 11: No, there's no question in my mind about it at all.
• 2:21
  Speaker 11: This child I would consider to be a homicide risk.
• 2:25
  Speaker 8: She has been on all kinds of medication and none
• 2:28
  Speaker 8: of it has worked. And we've had cameras installed and
• 2:31
  Speaker 8: we've had alarms installed on her doors. You know, I
• 2:36
  Speaker 8: don't know what the solution is.
• 2:38
  Speaker 4: What am I gonna do? I'm gonna get you the guest.
• 2:43
  Speaker 12: Hope you can, okay. I I love him.
• 2:54
  Speaker 13: I've done many stories during the course of my career,
• 2:58
  Speaker 13: but this was one that really stuck with me.
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: You want to rescind the adoption.
• 3:06
  Speaker 4: We feel like we tried everything.
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: It hit me in my heart. So you plan on
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: taking Caroly back to Russia?
• 3:14
  Speaker 10: Yes?
• 3:14
  Speaker 13: Yes, I felt helpless leaving her behind. I didn't know
• 3:25
  Speaker 13: what would become of her.
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: You're a strong girl, strong girl, you canna be fine.
• 3:40
  Speaker 14: Okay, Oh Josh, I don't.
• 4:40
  Speaker 12: See him, Mama.
• 4:44
  Speaker 13: More than two decades ago, an American couple adopted this
• 4:48
  Speaker 13: little girl from Russia.
• 4:49
  Speaker 5: Thirty seconds ago. He was terrified her.
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: They soon came to believe she was dangerous. Can't you hurry?
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: Even capable of murder? You take care? Okay, it's I.
• 4:59
  Speaker 13: Was with them when they brought her back to Russia
• 5:02
  Speaker 13: and left her covering. The story changed my life and
• 5:06
  Speaker 13: left me steeped in a haunting mystery that began when
• 5:10
  Speaker 13: the couple first arrived in Moscow hoping to find the
• 5:14
  Speaker 13: perfect child.
• 5:21
  Speaker 3: I think it's innate and every woman to want to
• 5:23
  Speaker 3: be a good parent, to have children, and to share
• 5:26
  Speaker 3: your life.
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: There's Kristal, she's tired.
• 5:32
  Speaker 8: Often comments would be made about, well, when are you
• 5:34
  Speaker 8: gonna have children?
• 5:36
  Speaker 4: It was hard. We thought this is going to be.
• 5:39
  Speaker 8: A wonderful journey.
• 5:46
  Speaker 13: Moscow, nineteen ninety seven. Crystal and Jesse, we agreed not
• 5:51
  Speaker 13: to use their last name, are both thirty and have
• 5:55
  Speaker 13: tried for years to have a child of their own.
• 5:57
  Speaker 8: It was something we really wanted to do. We wanted
• 6:00
  Speaker 8: to parent. We really wanted a house full.
• 6:03
  Speaker 13: Far away from home. They're finally about to become parents.
• 6:07
  Speaker 8: We really wanted to give a child an opportunity adoptive parents.
• 6:10
  Speaker 6: I was adopted myself. I know the benefits that adoption
• 6:14
  Speaker 6: can bring.
• 6:15
  Speaker 13: They found their daughter on an adoption agency's web page
• 6:18
  Speaker 13: posted on the internet.
• 6:20
  Speaker 8: She was a beautiful child for them.
• 6:23
  Speaker 13: She was the perfect child, a blond, blue eyed nine
• 6:27
  Speaker 13: year old.
• 6:28
  Speaker 8: We thought, you know, this is an older child we
• 6:30
  Speaker 8: can give a normal life.
• 6:31
  Speaker 13: Before leaving for Russia, the adoption agency gave them the
• 6:35
  Speaker 13: little girl's medical records.
• 6:37
  Speaker 6: The agency described Carey as a wonderful, outgoing, intelligent little
• 6:43
  Speaker 6: girl who is charming to be around.
• 6:45
  Speaker 10: You understood, though, that adopting an older child carries certain risks,
• 6:52
  Speaker 10: certain risks.
• 6:57
  Speaker 13: They took an eight hour train ride from Moscow to
• 7:00
  Speaker 13: an orphanage in the small town of Borovici. They already
• 7:04
  Speaker 13: paid nearly thirty thousand dollars to make all the necessary arrangements,
• 7:10
  Speaker 13: and the child, they called Cara Lee, was anxiously awaiting
• 7:14
  Speaker 13: their arrival.
• 7:16
  Speaker 8: She looked in my eyes very warmly, with my mama.
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: She calls your mama.
• 7:21
  Speaker 8: She didn't from the very beginning, my American mama, she said.
• 7:25
  Speaker 13: At the orphanage, the couple would not only adopt Cara Lee,
• 7:29
  Speaker 13: they also found her a baby brother, a three year
• 7:32
  Speaker 13: old they would name Joshua. It was exciting, but there
• 7:36
  Speaker 13: were signs that the road ahead might be rocky.
• 7:39
  Speaker 8: We did see the anger, but it could be explained, certainly,
• 7:43
  Speaker 8: a child arriving to a new culture or new family,
• 7:45
  Speaker 8: you know, leaving her home.
• 7:47
  Speaker 4: That's the only thing she's ever known.
• 7:49
  Speaker 13: Back in the United States, the family settled into a
• 7:52
  Speaker 13: brand new home in a comfortable suburb of Atlanta, a
• 7:55
  Speaker 13: short commute to Jesse's computer engineering job, to.
• 8:00
  Speaker 8: Make it very homey for and happy little princess. And
• 8:04
  Speaker 8: we tried to give her everything we thought a little
• 8:06
  Speaker 8: girl should happen.
• 8:07
  Speaker 13: But the beautiful little girl was having big problems.
• 8:11
  Speaker 8: As soon as we brought her home, she was very,
• 8:13
  Speaker 8: very withdrawn and isolating. Didn't cry at all, but just
• 8:17
  Speaker 8: very angry.
• 8:18
  Speaker 13: It was nothing they thought a little love couldn't finish.
• 8:23
  Speaker 8: I've spent all the time with her, I quit my job.
• 8:25
  Speaker 8: I gave her one hundred percent of me.
• 8:27
  Speaker 13: It wasn't working, they say off camera, she started acting badly.
• 8:32
  Speaker 8: She just began becoming very destructive.
• 8:36
  Speaker 13: Then the unthinkable happening. On Caroly's second Christmas in America.
• 8:44
  Speaker 13: Things seemed to have started off well.
• 8:47
  Speaker 8: Carly just got a new bike and we were learning
• 8:49
  Speaker 8: how to write it. She had never ridden one before.
• 8:53
  Speaker 8: I really thought that everything was going great.
• 8:55
  Speaker 13: It was not long after when Crystal heard the horrible sound.
• 9:00
  Speaker 8: So I was over planting and I heard Joshua screaming.
• 9:05
  Speaker 13: Crystal says that's when she first saw Carolee holding her
• 9:09
  Speaker 13: four year old brother Joshua over the railing of the
• 9:12
  Speaker 13: thirty foot high deck.
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: She had him, yes, yes, over the side here. Yes,
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: this wasn't roughhousing.
• 9:20
  Speaker 8: No, her face there was anger and hate.
• 9:22
  Speaker 13: Crystal says, that moment changed everything.
• 9:26
  Speaker 8: I'm going to kill him, She said, why I'm.
• 9:29
  Speaker 4: Mad at him? What did he do?
• 9:32
  Speaker 8: He's getting on my nerves. I said, you would kill
• 9:35
  Speaker 8: him for trying to get on your nerves. Surely you
• 9:37
  Speaker 8: don't mean it, You don't mean kill him, and she said,
• 9:40
  Speaker 8: yes I do.
• 9:43
  Speaker 7: Why can't you do?
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: Yes, I can do that.
• 9:46
  Speaker 13: We asked Joshua about it.
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: Are you afraid of Caroline, Yes, because she throughout that,
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: because she tried to throw you off the deck.
• 9:56
  Speaker 12: Yes, that's why her failure.
• 10:19
  Speaker 8: Are you worried that she's going to do something to
• 10:21
  Speaker 8: you right now because she's not moments, heered.
• 10:24
  Speaker 13: Crystal and Jesse's relationship with Caro Lee was in free
• 10:28
  Speaker 13: fall after the incident involving Joshua on the family's thirty
• 10:33
  Speaker 13: foot outdoor deck.
• 10:34
  Speaker 8: She started telling me, you know, I'm hearing voices and
• 10:38
  Speaker 8: I'm saying things.
• 10:40
  Speaker 4: She says.
• 10:40
  Speaker 8: When the voices tell her to do something, she has
• 10:42
  Speaker 8: to do it or they'll hurt her. And the voices,
• 10:45
  Speaker 8: she said, told her to kill him.
• 10:47
  Speaker 7: She was loosening that she was doing snakes.
• 10:50
  Speaker 13: The couple had her admitted to a psychiatric hospital. She
• 10:54
  Speaker 13: spent almost four months under constant care before Crystal and
• 10:58
  Speaker 13: Jesse say their insurance started running out and they were
• 11:02
  Speaker 13: forced to bring Caro Lee back into their home again.
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: This is what you see.
• 11:08
  Speaker 6: Yes, she repeated this for months on multiple occasions. If
• 11:13
  Speaker 6: I get another chance, I will kill him.
• 11:15
  Speaker 13: And she told us.
• 11:16
  Speaker 7: That too, to kill Joshua.
• 11:22
  Speaker 13: So they're installing an elaborate security system.
• 11:26
  Speaker 10: So you have cameras installed at various points in the house.
• 11:30
  Speaker 8: Yes, in the living room, her bedroom, her bathroom.
• 11:33
  Speaker 13: Carolee is forbidden to be alone with Joshua.
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: Is he safe now? That's why you have to get out.
• 11:46
  Speaker 11: She is a risk to the family members.
• 11:49
  Speaker 13: Doctor Brian Kennedy was one of the psychiatrists who saw Carolee.
• 11:54
  Speaker 11: She's got a tremendous amount of rage and anger that
• 11:58
  Speaker 11: she's hidden inside her. There's clear evidence of a clinical depression.
• 12:04
  Speaker 11: There's definitely clear evidence of an attachment disorder. Now there
• 12:11
  Speaker 11: may be other developing psychiatric difficulties such as biporter and schizophrenia.
• 12:18
  Speaker 13: She was given heavy medication, but they say the medications
• 12:24
  Speaker 13: aren't working.
• 12:25
  Speaker 8: Can you get you the best hope you can?
• 12:27
  Speaker 12: Okay, it's gonna be all right.
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: You love her, but you're frightened of her.
• 12:33
  Speaker 8: Yes.
• 12:34
  Speaker 5: The anger that she has focused towards Joshua is like
• 12:38
  Speaker 5: something I've never seen before.
• 12:40
  Speaker 8: Mommy's not ever gonna let her hurt you.
• 12:43
  Speaker 6: Four year old boys should never have to ask their
• 12:45
  Speaker 6: parents the question, why did my sister try to kill me?
• 12:49
  Speaker 13: But since being home from the psychiatric hospital, there's already
• 12:52
  Speaker 13: been another frightening incident. They say Carolly tried strangling the
• 12:58
  Speaker 13: family dog, Aurora.
• 13:00
  Speaker 8: Woke up at three in the morning, and Aurora was
• 13:03
  Speaker 8: home from her collar with the leash tied to a poe.
• 13:07
  Speaker 12: I've got to go to my grandma today.
• 13:10
  Speaker 13: So Joshua's being sent six hundred miles away to live
• 13:14
  Speaker 13: at his grandmother's house in Texas.
• 13:16
  Speaker 3: Why do we have to send him to Grandma's to
• 13:18
  Speaker 3: keep him sin.
• 13:20
  Speaker 12: Because I may hurt him.
• 13:23
  Speaker 8: Just imagine you think you're bringing a bright girl to
• 13:26
  Speaker 8: your home, but no one's told you that they're sociopathic
• 13:29
  Speaker 8: and they have no conscience.
• 13:31
  Speaker 13: In fact, they say the agency that arranged Caroly's adoption,
• 13:35
  Speaker 13: the Frank Foundation, told them the opposite.
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: Caroly is mostly nice.
• 13:41
  Speaker 10: She's open, she's tender, she's obedient, she's friendly.
• 13:45
  Speaker 5: Nothing in that sentence would lead you to question, Wow,
• 13:48
  Speaker 5: could there be a tremendous variety of hidden medical issues here?
• 13:53
  Speaker 13: It was a glowing report except for one thing.
• 13:57
  Speaker 4: They did say she was aligophrinic.
• 13:59
  Speaker 13: Translated that and as mental retardation, But the couple says
• 14:03
  Speaker 13: they asked about it and were told not to worry.
• 14:06
  Speaker 8: They stated that it was developmental delay just slow to learn.
• 14:11
  Speaker 4: And we were sure.
• 14:12
  Speaker 8: That this child was healthy and that in a good
• 14:14
  Speaker 8: home with proper nutrition, with the best of doctors in
• 14:18
  Speaker 8: America helping her with the developmental issues, that she should
• 14:21
  Speaker 8: be fine.
• 14:23
  Speaker 13: Only after the adoption was official, Crystal and Jesse say,
• 14:26
  Speaker 13: did the Frank Foundation provide them with more documents that
• 14:30
  Speaker 13: revealed troubling things about Cara Lee's past.
• 14:34
  Speaker 8: Says the mother was a moral and anti social. You know,
• 14:37
  Speaker 8: these types of words are very loaded. They carry a
• 14:40
  Speaker 8: lot of psychological meaning.
• 14:44
  Speaker 13: The new documents described how Caraly's birth mother left her dirty, hungry,
• 14:50
  Speaker 13: and in rags. Crystal and Jesse believe the mistreatment had
• 14:54
  Speaker 13: a lasting effect on Cara Lee.
• 14:57
  Speaker 8: Oh and I dreamed of adopting a little girl. This
• 15:00
  Speaker 8: was not my dream.
• 15:03
  Speaker 4: We would not have adopted the child.
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: You would not have adopted her.
• 15:07
  Speaker 13: And as they continued digging into Caroly's past, they found
• 15:12
  Speaker 13: out more officials that the orphanage say Caraly was in
• 15:15
  Speaker 13: a special dorm for children with mental disabilities. Critical information,
• 15:20
  Speaker 13: the couple says, the adoption agency failed to share with them.
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: You didn't hide any information.
• 15:26
  Speaker 15: Never, and why would I back then?
• 15:30
  Speaker 13: Nina Castina, a Russian Emigret ran the Frank Foundation. She
• 15:34
  Speaker 13: said the medical information she received was limited by Russian
• 15:38
  Speaker 13: privacy laws, but adopted parents once in Russia can get
• 15:43
  Speaker 13: anything they need.
• 15:45
  Speaker 15: Once the parents are in the orphanage, they have access
• 15:48
  Speaker 15: to any medical records, to the doctors, to anything, and
• 15:52
  Speaker 15: this is their time when they should ask any questions.
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: So it's their fault.
• 15:57
  Speaker 15: I'm not telling fault. I'm telling you that this is
• 15:59
  Speaker 15: their obligation. This is lifetime decision. They should do it
• 16:02
  Speaker 15: while they're in the orphanage.
• 16:03
  Speaker 13: When we first covered this story more than two decades ago,
• 16:07
  Speaker 13: Nina Castina said that no information had been withheld from
• 16:10
  Speaker 13: the family. But at the time, forty eight Hours spoke
• 16:13
  Speaker 13: with eight families who adopted through the Frank Foundation, and
• 16:17
  Speaker 13: they all said they had received inaccurate medical information. Their
• 16:22
  Speaker 13: children had been diagnosed with illnesses like fetal alcohol syndrome,
• 16:26
  Speaker 13: hepatitis C, brain tumors, and a slew of psychological problems.
• 16:31
  Speaker 13: They claim the Frank Foundation didn't prepare them for. Three
• 16:35
  Speaker 13: of the families who spoke with sued but lost. Crystal
• 16:40
  Speaker 13: and Jesse feel like they're out of options, so as
• 16:44
  Speaker 13: Joshua leaves for the safety of his grandmother's home in Texas.
• 16:48
  Speaker 4: Oh, I'm going to miss you so much.
• 16:52
  Speaker 13: They make a painful decision.
• 16:56
  Speaker 5: We cannot continue to be your parents.
• 16:58
  Speaker 13: They say, the only way their son can return home
• 17:01
  Speaker 13: is to send Caro Lee away forever.
• 17:04
  Speaker 8: We've been here every day, loving her, nurturing her, helping her.
• 17:10
  Speaker 4: We couldn't savor.
• 17:30
  Speaker 5: And because you get your picture made, Carolyn.
• 17:32
  Speaker 8: She has so many psychological problems.
• 17:35
  Speaker 4: What we're going to do is we canna get your
• 17:36
  Speaker 4: picture made today.
• 17:37
  Speaker 8: She is a danger to society, but more than that,
• 17:40
  Speaker 8: she is a danger to our son.
• 17:42
  Speaker 5: So you still like to get your picture taken after
• 17:44
  Speaker 5: all this time. The fact of the matter is that
• 17:47
  Speaker 5: we cannot be her parents anymore.
• 17:49
  Speaker 13: One Crystal and Jessee are about to do something that's
• 17:55
  Speaker 13: difficult to imagine.
• 17:56
  Speaker 4: How did you want to see it?
• 17:58
  Speaker 13: They are taking Caro Lee back to Russia.
• 18:01
  Speaker 8: And.
• 18:03
  Speaker 10: There are parents out there that will not be able
• 18:06
  Speaker 10: to understand what you're about to do.
• 18:08
  Speaker 8: If I hadn't been in this position myself, I might
• 18:11
  Speaker 8: have been stating the very same thing that I expect
• 18:14
  Speaker 8: to hear from them.
• 18:16
  Speaker 4: How could you do this? How could you do this?
• 18:18
  Speaker 12: It's a long trip.
• 18:19
  Speaker 14: Supt of color.
• 18:20
  Speaker 10: There must be a family somewhere in America that would
• 18:23
  Speaker 10: adopt her.
• 18:24
  Speaker 5: We thought that there would be a family out there.
• 18:27
  Speaker 4: How are you today?
• 18:28
  Speaker 5: And we've actually spoken to a few families in every
• 18:30
  Speaker 5: case so far, after reviewing the medical information.
• 18:33
  Speaker 8: She tried to throw my son off a very high deck.
• 18:36
  Speaker 5: They've said thanks, but no thanks.
• 18:37
  Speaker 13: They have told ka Lee they are taking her to
• 18:40
  Speaker 13: a new hospital, but she has no idea. It's a
• 18:46
  Speaker 13: psychiatric hospital in Russia.
• 18:49
  Speaker 10: This twelve year old girl has been abandoned by her
• 18:51
  Speaker 10: birth parents and now her adoptive parents are also rejecting her.
• 18:57
  Speaker 5: Well, it's not a case of her adoptive parents rejecting her,
• 19:00
  Speaker 5: but that's what she's going It's going to be of
• 19:03
  Speaker 5: her adoptive parents not being able to care for her.
• 19:08
  Speaker 7: What's wrong?
• 19:09
  Speaker 4: But you have to understand.
• 19:10
  Speaker 8: Psychiatrist tells that Caylee has no bonding, no affection.
• 19:17
  Speaker 5: I think the best thing in the rule for her
• 19:19
  Speaker 5: is he did not see.
• 19:20
  Speaker 8: So Carolee most likely will just move on.
• 19:24
  Speaker 15: It looks cruel to me, cruel and that's thoughtful.
• 19:26
  Speaker 13: Nina Castina, the woman who arranged Caroly's adoption, is distraught
• 19:32
  Speaker 13: over the decision.
• 19:34
  Speaker 15: I feel very sorry for her.
• 19:35
  Speaker 13: For her part, she questions whether Caro Lee is even
• 19:39
  Speaker 13: that sick.
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: They say that she tried to kill her little brother.
• 19:44
  Speaker 4: This is what they say.
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: She tried to kill the family dog. She's extremely violent.
• 19:48
  Speaker 4: That's what they say.
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: Yes, do you believe it?
• 19:52
  Speaker 4: That's what they say.
• 19:53
  Speaker 13: Psychiatrist Brian Kennedy says Caroly suffers from attachment disorder in
• 19:59
  Speaker 13: effect and inability to love to that, he says, makes
• 20:03
  Speaker 13: her dangerous.
• 20:04
  Speaker 10: It's hard for me to digest because when I look
• 20:07
  Speaker 10: at her, she seems like a very sweet little girl
• 20:10
  Speaker 10: and smiles and laughs.
• 20:12
  Speaker 11: She does love to smile and laugh, and I think
• 20:15
  Speaker 11: in certain situations that her non stress were for her.
• 20:19
  Speaker 11: She presents as a very amiable child. But I think
• 20:23
  Speaker 11: when you look at what she's been through and when
• 20:25
  Speaker 11: you see how she functions under stress, she can become
• 20:29
  Speaker 11: very different and have very significant rage. She has taught
• 20:33
  Speaker 11: about killing her brother. She has tried to kill him,
• 20:36
  Speaker 11: and she could not give me assurances that she wouldn't
• 20:38
  Speaker 11: kill him.
• 20:39
  Speaker 13: Others who treated Caro Lee had concerns as well, but
• 20:42
  Speaker 13: at least one psychiatrist had another opinion. After treating Caro Lee,
• 20:47
  Speaker 13: he wrote Carolee's behavior was impeccable. He said. The staff
• 20:51
  Speaker 13: perceived that Crystal and Jessie were too often cool and
• 20:55
  Speaker 13: distant towards their daughter, and that caroal Lee at times
• 20:59
  Speaker 13: appear to be fright and by her interactions with them, Cara.
• 21:03
  Speaker 8: Lee is a very different person when you relegate to
• 21:05
  Speaker 8: know her. It took me a year and a half
• 21:09
  Speaker 8: to break through the facade.
• 21:11
  Speaker 13: They have made up their minds Cara Lee must return
• 21:15
  Speaker 13: to Russia.
• 21:22
  Speaker 8: The doctors in America have told me that if she
• 21:24
  Speaker 8: returns home, she will kill my son. I believe them.
• 21:27
  Speaker 8: She's already tried it once. It's very strong. Possibly she'll
• 21:30
  Speaker 8: try it again with success.
• 21:32
  Speaker 13: They tapped into their life savings to bring ker Lee
• 21:35
  Speaker 13: here to be treated by Russian doctors.
• 21:38
  Speaker 5: They had worked with kids from Russian orphan agracy.
• 21:41
  Speaker 13: They found a bed for ker Lee at this children's
• 21:44
  Speaker 13: psychiatric hospital in Moscow, but they don't hold out much
• 21:49
  Speaker 13: hope and they're now thinking about annulling the adoption.
• 21:53
  Speaker 16: Doctors suspected they were trying to abandon her and demanded
• 21:57
  Speaker 16: copies of their passports and made them to return for
• 22:01
  Speaker 16: Carolee in two months, so Carolye understands that she is
• 22:04
  Speaker 16: here to be treated by Russian specialists.
• 22:07
  Speaker 4: And that's all she's here for at the time.
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: But she does not understand that you will not be
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: returning for No.
• 22:14
  Speaker 4: That's not the case at this time.
• 22:15
  Speaker 8: The only thing we're stating is that she's here for
• 22:17
  Speaker 8: a diagnosis and evaluation.
• 22:19
  Speaker 13: But Carolee senses something is terribly wrong.
• 22:23
  Speaker 12: They tell me that they love me, and Ever told
• 22:28
  Speaker 12: him I loved them very much, but I didn't believe me.
• 22:33
  Speaker 13: Then, just a few minutes before she'll enter the hospital,
• 22:37
  Speaker 13: Caro Lee tells me something she's never told me before.
• 22:41
  Speaker 12: I did not try to kill my brother.
• 22:43
  Speaker 13: That she never tried to kill her brother, Joshua.
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: You didn't try to kill Joshua. You're telling me the truth.
• 22:53
  Speaker 12: Just try to speak him up at because he was
• 22:57
  Speaker 12: too heavy.
• 22:58
  Speaker 13: Caro Lee says, it was all a big misunderstanding. I
• 23:04
  Speaker 13: love him, but there's no turning back.
• 23:11
  Speaker 16: You've pursued every possible avenue and this is the.
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: Only thing you can do.
• 23:15
  Speaker 5: This is this is the only thing we can.
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: Do, honey.
• 23:22
  Speaker 13: Crystal and Jesse left her there. Days later, I returned
• 23:31
  Speaker 13: with a hidden camera and visited Caroline Hey, now in
• 23:38
  Speaker 13: a locked wards. She was frightened. I'm but Crystal and
• 23:46
  Speaker 13: Jesse have made a final decision.
• 23:51
  Speaker 4: It's been a long trip, oh Usa.
• 23:54
  Speaker 13: They're not bringing Carolee back.
• 24:13
  Speaker 7: Hey.
• 24:15
  Speaker 13: The last time I saw Ka Lee was in Russia,
• 24:19
  Speaker 13: more than twenty years ago.
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: She was terrified.
• 24:23
  Speaker 13: She was in a locked ward in her children's psychiatric hospital.
• 24:28
  Speaker 13: The door slam shut, and I wasn't sure if I'd
• 24:31
  Speaker 13: ever see her again. Over the years, we repeatedly tried
• 24:37
  Speaker 13: to find her. I always wondered how she was doing,
• 24:41
  Speaker 13: if she was thriving, if she was happy. Many years passed,
• 24:49
  Speaker 13: she was in my thoughts and in my heart, Oh
• 24:55
  Speaker 13: my gosh, And finally she got in touch with me.
• 25:01
  Speaker 13: Now she calls herself Sabrina, look at you and is
• 25:06
  Speaker 13: married with four children.
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: What have you been doing over the last twenty one years?
• 25:11
  Speaker 4: Making babies so beautiful?
• 25:14
  Speaker 13: We met near her home in North Carolina. We have
• 25:17
  Speaker 13: a lot to catch off on.
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 25:19
  Speaker 13: I had a thousand questions for Sabrina. How did she
• 25:23
  Speaker 13: end up here? What she says happened on that deck
• 25:27
  Speaker 13: that day, and what she thought went wrong with Jesse
• 25:32
  Speaker 13: and Crystal.
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: You liked her?
• 25:34
  Speaker 4: I did you liked him. I did.
• 25:37
  Speaker 2: It was a family that said, hey, I will adopt
• 25:40
  Speaker 2: this child and I would like to give them a home,
• 25:42
  Speaker 2: and that will love me for who I am.
• 25:45
  Speaker 13: But to Sabrina, back then, it seemed that Joshua was
• 25:49
  Speaker 13: always the favorite.
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: Did that create any jealousy?
• 25:53
  Speaker 2: You didn't create jealousy. I felt more down. I felt
• 25:57
  Speaker 2: like I wasn't good enough. I felt like I wasn't
• 26:01
  Speaker 2: this child that they wanted. Because I was older, I
• 26:05
  Speaker 2: had my own feelings. I already had a history.
• 26:09
  Speaker 4: You know. I loved that he was getting loved, he
• 26:13
  Speaker 4: was having a family. Yes, it sucked for me.
• 26:16
  Speaker 13: You didn't have an emotional connection with Crystal and Jesse because.
• 26:19
  Speaker 2: Joshua was so centered. I think we lost it. I
• 26:22
  Speaker 2: think it was just lost. I was starting to become
• 26:26
  Speaker 2: very depressed. It came to the point I was very
• 26:29
  Speaker 2: suicidal suicidal.
• 26:31
  Speaker 4: I was very suicidal.
• 26:33
  Speaker 2: There were days I tried attempt multiple times and I
• 26:36
  Speaker 2: just couldn't do it.
• 26:40
  Speaker 4: That's when I started creating a story. I told Crystal,
• 26:44
  Speaker 4: you know I'm seeing and hearing things. Are you seeing
• 26:46
  Speaker 4: something now? Did you see something earlier? Because I wanted out?
• 26:55
  Speaker 13: I wanted out, So were you hallucinating at that time, know,
• 27:01
  Speaker 13: no hearing, no seeing things.
• 27:03
  Speaker 4: It's just a child trying to get out.
• 27:05
  Speaker 8: She had him in her hands and was going to
• 27:07
  Speaker 8: throw him.
• 27:07
  Speaker 17: Over the deck.
• 27:08
  Speaker 13: And as for what happened on the deck, Sabrina has
• 27:11
  Speaker 13: a decidedly different version of events from Crystal that she
• 27:15
  Speaker 13: says started when Crystal asked her to get Joshua.
• 27:19
  Speaker 2: Cristal was gardening and Joshua was screaming on top of
• 27:22
  Speaker 2: the deck, and Crystal said I.
• 27:25
  Speaker 4: Needed to go get Joshua.
• 27:26
  Speaker 2: Trying to pick up a child that's really almost as
• 27:29
  Speaker 2: big as.
• 27:30
  Speaker 4: You is kind of hard. So I'm trying to walk
• 27:32
  Speaker 4: down the steps.
• 27:33
  Speaker 2: I'm just able to hold him so he doesn't fall.
• 27:36
  Speaker 2: Christa looked and she said, put him down, Carly, put
• 27:40
  Speaker 2: him down, put him down. I eventually put him down,
• 27:43
  Speaker 2: and she's like, you tried to kill him, didn't you?
• 27:45
  Speaker 2: And I said no, I was trying to pick him
• 27:47
  Speaker 2: up so he doesn't fall because he was sliding off
• 27:49
  Speaker 2: my hands. And she's like, no, you were trying to
• 27:52
  Speaker 2: kill him, and she kept saying it and saying it,
• 27:54
  Speaker 2: and I said yes, so I just I finally said yes.
• 27:58
  Speaker 13: Sabrina repeated that story that she tried to kill Joshua
• 28:02
  Speaker 13: to everyone, including me, what.
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: Happened that day out on the deck the deck, You're
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: trying to push.
• 28:11
  Speaker 7: Him off the deck, try to kill Joshua.
• 28:19
  Speaker 13: What happened on that deck seemed to take on a
• 28:22
  Speaker 13: life of its own. Crystal brought Sabrina to various doctors.
• 28:27
  Speaker 4: I went to psychiatrists.
• 28:28
  Speaker 2: After a psychiatrist and I remember Christ to say, I
• 28:31
  Speaker 2: just remember if you wanted to kill Joshua.
• 28:33
  Speaker 4: I said, okay, I will tell them.
• 28:36
  Speaker 13: Doctor Kennedy said you were potentially a schizophrenic, bipolar, you
• 28:42
  Speaker 13: had homicidal tendencies, and you were a danger to this family.
• 28:46
  Speaker 4: Hmm, that's hard to hear.
• 28:50
  Speaker 2: If I wanted to hurt somebody, it would have been done,
• 28:53
  Speaker 2: and that never happened.
• 28:55
  Speaker 4: I'm not that person. I was never that person.
• 28:58
  Speaker 13: Today, Sabrina said she is not on any medication and
• 29:02
  Speaker 13: suffers from no mental illness. A number of doctors back then, though,
• 29:07
  Speaker 13: seemed to think she needed help. We tried to contact
• 29:10
  Speaker 13: doctor Kennedy but have been unable to reach it. You
• 29:14
  Speaker 13: were also accused of trying to kill the family dog.
• 29:19
  Speaker 2: I don't know where that came from, because I love
• 29:21
  Speaker 2: that dog, It's okay.
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: How did you learn that you were going back to Russia?
• 29:29
  Speaker 2: Crystal said, they were running out of options and they
• 29:37
  Speaker 2: think the Russian institute would be better.
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: So how is it going here? Not good?
• 29:45
  Speaker 13: How did that make you feel when you're sitting there
• 29:48
  Speaker 13: in the hospital in Moscow waiting for them to return
• 29:53
  Speaker 13: to pick you up, and they didn't.
• 29:56
  Speaker 4: I knew there weren't coming.
• 29:57
  Speaker 13: I felt so guilty because I wanted to take.
• 30:02
  Speaker 4: Care of I wanted to take me. I was like,
• 30:05
  Speaker 4: why is nobody taking me?
• 30:07
  Speaker 2: I just brought it out.
• 30:08
  Speaker 13: Sabrina said. She cried and was frightened.
• 30:12
  Speaker 2: I feel like I was in jail. But then I
• 30:14
  Speaker 2: think of it. I put myself there, you know, all
• 30:16
  Speaker 2: those lying and doing what they want me to do.
• 30:21
  Speaker 2: I put myself there.
• 30:23
  Speaker 13: Then after two months, it was Nina Castina from the
• 30:27
  Speaker 13: adoption agency who arrived at the institute.
• 30:30
  Speaker 4: Nina showed up and she brought me clothes. She asked
• 30:34
  Speaker 4: me if I remembered.
• 30:35
  Speaker 13: Her, and she took Sabrina to live with her in Virginia. Eventually,
• 30:40
  Speaker 13: Sabrina moved in with a new set of parents in
• 30:43
  Speaker 13: North Carolina.
• 30:44
  Speaker 2: I have parents, They're the parents that took me in
• 30:48
  Speaker 2: that took their time to learn who I am and
• 30:53
  Speaker 2: make me a better person.
• 30:54
  Speaker 13: After high school, she volunteered for the nonprofit Mercy Ships
• 30:58
  Speaker 13: and spent two years in Africa helping to provide medical
• 31:02
  Speaker 13: care to underprivileged people.
• 31:05
  Speaker 4: Loved it, really, I did.
• 31:07
  Speaker 13: When she returned home in twenty ten, she got a
• 31:10
  Speaker 13: job in a hospital and at church, she met math
• 31:13
  Speaker 13: teacher Phil Caldwell.
• 31:16
  Speaker 2: I fell in love with him when I saw him
• 31:18
  Speaker 2: antiact with kids and where he was treating them, how
• 31:21
  Speaker 2: community was.
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: She's just very.
• 31:23
  Speaker 18: Real and very genuine and I love that about her.
• 31:27
  Speaker 13: But before she would even consider getting engaged, she insisted
• 31:32
  Speaker 13: that Phil watch the original forty eight hours show about
• 31:35
  Speaker 13: her early life.
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: My heart broke for her.
• 31:38
  Speaker 18: I really couldn't believe all of the things that she
• 31:40
  Speaker 18: had gone through. I think she expected me to run,
• 31:44
  Speaker 18: but it was the opposite reaction of what she expected
• 31:46
  Speaker 18: me to think.
• 31:49
  Speaker 13: They married in twenty fourteen and now have three lovely
• 31:54
  Speaker 13: daughters and a son.
• 31:55
  Speaker 8: Fun kids love them.
• 32:00
  Speaker 18: She's very loving and she's very caring.
• 32:02
  Speaker 13: Well, it's Lillian.
• 32:04
  Speaker 18: And I think probably what Sabrina went through has added
• 32:08
  Speaker 18: a greater impact on her parenting than she can see herself.
• 32:12
  Speaker 18: You go, girl, because she is so amazing at it.
• 32:16
  Speaker 14: You are doing it all by yourself.
• 32:20
  Speaker 13: Phil recently stopped teaching and started a new job at
• 32:24
  Speaker 13: the same hospital where his wife works.
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: Seems like you're in a really good place.
• 32:28
  Speaker 2: I am.
• 32:31
  Speaker 4: You're happy, I am.
• 32:35
  Speaker 13: But Sabrina, like me, has always wondered what happened to
• 32:39
  Speaker 13: Crystal and Jesse, and she says that after two decades,
• 32:43
  Speaker 13: she was ready to find out.
• 32:48
  Speaker 9: See more of Sabrina's story and her life now at
• 32:52
  Speaker 9: forty eight hours dot com.
• 32:57
  Speaker 13: After she became a mother, Sabrina, she says she wanted
• 33:01
  Speaker 13: Crystal and Jessee to know she had a family of
• 33:04
  Speaker 13: her own, and she wanted to share her side of
• 33:07
  Speaker 13: the story. She found Crystal on social media and finally,
• 33:12
  Speaker 13: with the send button, I'd.
• 33:14
  Speaker 2: Send her a message stating to her that I hope
• 33:18
  Speaker 2: she's well and I just want to make this really
• 33:22
  Speaker 2: clear for you. I've never wanted to heart Joshua, and
• 33:26
  Speaker 2: I never heard or saw things in my life.
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: And how did she respond?
• 33:31
  Speaker 2: She said, she prayed that I would have a better family.
• 33:35
  Speaker 1: Did you love Crystal and Jessee?
• 33:38
  Speaker 2: I did, and I still have a high respect for them,
• 33:42
  Speaker 2: putting myself in their shoes.
• 33:44
  Speaker 4: I would have probably done almost.
• 33:46
  Speaker 9: The same thing, but not everything.
• 33:52
  Speaker 4: I would never take a child back.
• 33:56
  Speaker 13: Still, she says she harbors no hard feelings to them.
• 34:01
  Speaker 2: I learned to forgive my past. I have an amazing husband.
• 34:04
  Speaker 2: I can't thank God enough for him. I have amazing kids.
• 34:10
  Speaker 4: But if I didn't go through what I went through,
• 34:12
  Speaker 4: I won't have.
• 34:12
  Speaker 13: That, Sabrina says. Crystal and Jesse have three biological daughters
• 34:18
  Speaker 13: of their own along with Joshua. They declined our request
• 34:21
  Speaker 13: for an interview. However, Jesse said that he and Crystal
• 34:25
  Speaker 13: were glad Sabrina's life had turned out so well, and
• 34:28
  Speaker 13: that Joshua was now a father too.
• 34:33
  Speaker 1: Hi girls.
• 34:35
  Speaker 13: In the end, it appears that Crystal and Jesse, like Sabrina,
• 34:39
  Speaker 13: eventually found families and happiness, and as it turned out,
• 34:45
  Speaker 13: so did I don't be scared, okay, and my journey
• 34:48
  Speaker 13: started the minute I left Sabrina in Russia. I cried
• 34:53
  Speaker 13: as I was leaving. Then I started saying to myself,
• 34:58
  Speaker 13: you know, maybe one day I can rescue an older child.
• 35:07
  Speaker 13: But the timing wasn't right. I was single and as
• 35:10
  Speaker 13: a CBS News correspondent I was still traveling endlessly. Then
• 35:17
  Speaker 13: I had a story in Johannesburg, South Africa, and I
• 35:22
  Speaker 13: went to an orphanage there to make a donation. I said,
• 35:26
  Speaker 13: you know what, I'm close to forty now I'm going
• 35:31
  Speaker 13: to go for it. In two thousand and three, I
• 35:34
  Speaker 13: became certified to adopt a child and learned about a
• 35:38
  Speaker 13: woman in Djibouti, Africa, who wanted to find someone to
• 35:42
  Speaker 13: adopt her four year old son. And I looked at
• 35:46
  Speaker 13: his photo and the resemblance was Kenny. This looks like
• 35:53
  Speaker 13: my kid. I had been to Africa twice and never
• 35:57
  Speaker 13: heard of Jibouti, but that thing. I flew there to
• 36:01
  Speaker 13: meet this young boy and his mother. His name was
• 36:07
  Speaker 13: Anlekadra mahmud Abdi. I noticed that his eyes danced. That's
• 36:13
  Speaker 13: the signal that he's smart, he's clever. His mother was Kadra.
• 36:20
  Speaker 13: She gave birth to her son after a short affair
• 36:23
  Speaker 13: with a French soldier, and ever since then she feared
• 36:26
  Speaker 13: for the boy's safety because he was mixed race. They
• 36:30
  Speaker 13: were homeless and living in an abandoned building. He was sleeping
• 36:35
  Speaker 13: on the floor and so was she. Begging was his routine.
• 36:40
  Speaker 13: I took them to lunch, and over the course of
• 36:42
  Speaker 13: the next two weeks I got to know them. I
• 36:46
  Speaker 13: began bonding over Hamburger's, herd fries and walking around on
• 36:53
  Speaker 13: the street. He spoke four languages, but not English.
• 36:57
  Speaker 1: We mind, like, let's eat, you need to go home sleep.
• 37:02
  Speaker 1: I mean, that's how basic it was.
• 37:06
  Speaker 13: Fortunately, there was a bowling alley and a small beach
• 37:09
  Speaker 13: at a nearby military base.
• 37:11
  Speaker 1: We went bowling a lot with something he had never
• 37:14
  Speaker 1: done before.
• 37:16
  Speaker 13: We didn't know how to swim, so we took a
• 37:18
  Speaker 13: boat to this small little beach island that was reserved
• 37:23
  Speaker 13: for the military personnel. I made two more lengthy visits
• 37:29
  Speaker 13: to Djibouti, but when it came time for the adoption,
• 37:33
  Speaker 13: there was a problem. Cadra never signed her name before.
• 37:40
  Speaker 13: She didn't know how to sign her name. Your practice
• 37:48
  Speaker 13: over and over again, you know, over over again. And
• 37:56
  Speaker 13: it was such a loving and selfless The attorney's sitting
• 38:02
  Speaker 13: next to us said to Cadra, Troy will be a
• 38:08
  Speaker 13: good father. And she looked me dead in the eye
• 38:11
  Speaker 13: and she said, time will tell.
• 38:23
  Speaker 17: My name is Jonah Gray Roberts, and my father is
• 38:26
  Speaker 17: Troy Roberts.
• 38:28
  Speaker 1: That's the stream of moved on in Djibouti.
• 38:33
  Speaker 17: The whole adoption process.
• 38:35
  Speaker 1: That was four years old.
• 38:36
  Speaker 17: There wasn't really much to tell a four year old
• 38:39
  Speaker 17: you are I was just there's a man here who's
• 38:43
  Speaker 17: taking care of me, who's feeding me. He also did
• 38:47
  Speaker 17: get me a tutor, so I was getting education. At
• 38:50
  Speaker 17: that age, you don't really think anything about it. You're
• 38:54
  Speaker 17: just this could be, you know, my long lost dad.
• 38:57
  Speaker 13: And then ten months after meeting my son, it was
• 39:01
  Speaker 13: finally time to go.
• 39:03
  Speaker 17: That was an intense day. I'm thousands of feet in
• 39:08
  Speaker 17: the air. This is my first time ever on an airplane.
• 39:13
  Speaker 17: Then my dad tells me we're in New York City.
• 39:16
  Speaker 17: This is your new home. And I remember seeing my
• 39:19
  Speaker 17: first home, my first real home, and he's like, this
• 39:24
  Speaker 17: is your room. It's my own bed. I didn't have
• 39:26
  Speaker 17: to share with anyone. I had a desk, a place
• 39:29
  Speaker 17: where I started studying, had the tutors. It was it
• 39:34
  Speaker 17: was amazing.
• 39:38
  Speaker 13: We did everything together, so much together. I really enjoyed
• 39:44
  Speaker 13: watching him learn new things and introducing him.
• 39:48
  Speaker 1: To a whole new world.
• 39:51
  Speaker 17: There was never father and adopted son. It was always
• 39:55
  Speaker 17: you know, father and son, And.
• 39:58
  Speaker 13: Like any father, I have a lot to learn from
• 40:01
  Speaker 13: my son who three March.
• 40:05
  Speaker 17: I am, you don't understand technology.
• 40:08
  Speaker 1: Empty Brita.
• 40:09
  Speaker 13: We're refrigerating plastic.
• 40:11
  Speaker 1: What can I do?
• 40:13
  Speaker 7: You just stand there.
• 40:16
  Speaker 17: Every Thanksgiving we have this thing where before we start eating,
• 40:19
  Speaker 17: after I've made the full meal, because he doesn't know
• 40:23
  Speaker 17: how to cook, would always start off by saying like, well,
• 40:27
  Speaker 17: we're grateful for this year.
• 40:30
  Speaker 13: And now when I think about Sabrina's journey and Crystal
• 40:34
  Speaker 13: and Jesse's and Jonah's and my own, I realize how
• 40:39
  Speaker 13: much we all have to be thankful for. It seems
• 40:42
  Speaker 13: like everyone's story has a happy ending, and that's that's
• 40:51
  Speaker 13: pretty cool.
• 40:52
  Speaker 9: You know, two young women, two unsolved murderers.
• 41:05
  Speaker 4: They were both killed the same.
• 41:06
  Speaker 9: Night, matching socks found it two different crime scenes. Now
• 41:10
  Speaker 9: can DNA from a fast food bag finally catch the killer?
• 41:14
  Speaker 9: It was like forty eight hours next on CBS A
• 41:18
  Speaker 9: streaming on Paramount Plus.