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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees

Police Continue Search for Child Pornographer; Hermann Goering's Suicide Solved?; Atlanta Bride-to-be Still Missing; Massachusetts Money Find a Hoax?

Aired April 29, 2005 - 19:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


ANDERSON COOPER, HOST: Good evening, everyone. A young girl, a pornographic predator, and a mystery police need your help to solve. 360 starts now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER (voice-over): The search intensifies for the girl without a face. Who is she? And does this little girl know a sickening secret that might lead cops to a child porn predator? We take you inside the nerve center of the search. Will tonight be the night the case is finally cracked?

A woman attacked by four tigers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One started attacking, and the other three must have come over.

COOPER: Was this an accident waiting to happen? Tonight, we take you into the hidden world of exotic pets.

The mystery of the missing bride. Vanished without a trace. Tonight, crime fighter John Walsh weighs in on the case, as her family pleads for help.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We would give our life and everything that we own to have her return.

COOPER: A Nazi leader sentenced to death escapes the noose by swallowing cyanide. Tonight, a 60-year-old secret revealed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was afraid. I was scared I'd be in serious trouble.

COOPER: Did this World War II veteran accidentally help a Nazi escape justice?

And is sleeping together driving you apart? Millions of Americans sleep-deprived because their partner snores. Tonight, what you can do about that awful sound. Solutions that may finally help you get a good night's sleep.

ANNOUNCER: Live from the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is ANDERSON COOPER 360.

(END VIDEOTAPE) COOPER: And good evening again, a good Friday to you. For several nights this week, we have been bringing you the story a young girl, a child, who for three years now has been photographed in pornographic pictures all over the Internet. Now, I know it's a sickening story, and I know it is disturbing and I don't want to talk about this story anymore than you want to hear it, but there is a child out there who needs your help right now, and the police, frankly, are desperate.

A couple of days ago, they released this photograph. Please take a look at it. It is another girl. Police say she's not the victim, but perhaps a witness. She is photographed on the very same couch that the other girl, who has been a victim, has been on.

Police won't show you that girl's face. But they want to find her. They want to help her.

We've been doing this story for days; others have as well. We all thought that the calls to the police tip lines would be pouring in, thousands of calls. But guess how many calls they have gotten? Guess? A hundred and seven. That's all, 107 calls.

I just want to show this picture again. Someone out there must know who this girl is. In a few minutes, we're going to speak with the two lead investigators in this case, but first a look at how those tips are coming in and a theory as to why there are not more of them.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER (voice-over): Every time the tips come in, there's hope for this little girl, hope a vicious criminal might be caught. Some tips arrive by phone; others by computer.

Here at the Orlando home base for the Central Florida Crime Line Program, tips for all kinds of cases are processed and distributed, including those that may lead police to this little girl, a young sex abused victim. Police won't reveal her face, but on Wednesday investigators released this picture, saying they believe this girl may know the other girl, the subject of some 200 explicit photos. But they don't say she is a victim herself.

LT. MATT IRWIN, ORANGE COUNTY, FL. SHERIFF'S DEPUTY: There's no evidence at this point that says that this girl is a victim in any way. There's nothing sexual about it. There's nothing illegal about the manner in which the photos were taken. And we have no evidence at this point that she is a victim.

COOPER: People who have information about this girl have been asked to call 1-866-635-HELP. A Canadian center handles the calls, and then shares that information by computer with the Orlando Crime Line base.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah, I got it...

COOPER: Initially, tips were coming in strong, but they have since dwindled. The Orange County Sheriff's Department says as of now, the tip line has received little more than 100 calls related to this case.

GEORGE MCNAMARA, EXEC. DIRECTOR, CRIME LINE: The calls have been steady. They haven't been nearly as heavy as we thought they would. We were expecting actually thousands of calls.

COOPER: Police believe the calls may have subsided in part because of the picture itself. It was found in the collection of explicit photos, a collection that spans several years. The picture's believed to be three or four years old, which means the girl wouldn't look the same today.

But Florida authorities say they have received a few good leads and they're looking into them.

If investigators do find out who she is, chances are we won't learn her identity right away. Police will likely keep her name a secret until she and the other unidentified girl are found, and the predator who took these photos is finally behind bars.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Well, joining me now are the two top investigators in this case. In Orlando, Florida, Lieutenant Matt Irwin of the Orange County Sheriff's Department. And in Toronto, Ontario, Detective Sergeant Paul Gillespie of the Toronto Police Department. Gentlemen, appreciate you being with us tonight.

Lieutenant Irwin, I cannot believe that the police have only received about 107 calls. You know these photos were taken at a Disney resort in Florida. Why aren't more calls coming in, do you think?

IRWIN: Well, I think it's difficult for people to look at -- first of all, you don't have a full facial shot of the girl. She's looking down. And it's difficult, like you said in your earlier piece, about the timeframe that has elapsed.

Actually, out of the 107 calls that we've gotten, probably 20 or 30 of those are parents that swear that that is their daughter. I knew right then that we were going to have a problem when parents themselves couldn't tell.

COOPER: So you have 20 different parents who say that that is their daughter?

IRWIN: At least that many. Probably -- that's a conservative number.

COOPER: Wow. Sergeant Gillespie, Florida law prohibits you from showing the young victim's picture. Is there any way around that? I mean, you're in Canada. Can't you just release it there? I know you want to.

DETECTIVE SGT. PAUL GILLESPIE, TORONTO POLICE DEPARTMENT: We could, but we're cognizant of the fact it's an American investigation, and we will let it travel its course. But at some point in this and thousands of other cases we have that are of similar nature, we may in fact end up doing that.

COOPER: Both of you guys, I mean, you do heroic work. I cannot imagine what you go through every day looking at all the pictures that you look at.

Sergeant Gillespie, you have been working this case in particular for years. You have been staring into this little girl's eyes. Have those eyes changed over the years?

GILLESPIE: What we see when we look at these pictures, unfortunately, is a broken spirit. Often in -- when you think of somebody being abused or hurt, you would think that they would be resisting, but like in most cases involving child pornography and terrible child abuse, there almost seems to be a sense of, this is the way life is, and that is as disturbing as, you know, the almost dead eyes. It's very, very disturbing.

COOPER: The eyes are dead.

GILLESPIE: It seems -- it's a way of life. And that's the hard and disturbing part. And ultimately, ruined forever, and you know, unrealized potential.

COOPER: Lieutenant Irwin, what do you know about this girl in the photograph, about the person maybe taking these pictures? Are there any clues? I mean, I've read you think maybe the person is a motorcycle enthusiast, because of a bike that was seen in one of the shots?

IRWIN: That's correct. One of the poses of our victim shows her sitting on a particular style Harley-Davidson. And it has been tricked out, so to speak. There is also some indication from the photographs that have been taken that there's a professional quality to them. So we think that there's at least some indicators that he's photography enthusiast, if not a professional of some kind.

COOPER: Sergeant Gillespie, I heard you say the other day, there are pornographic images of some 50,000 children on the Internet. You have been able to track down I guess a couple of hundred. What tools do you need, does Lieutenant Irwin need, that you're not getting? What can people do to help the police? I mean, 50,000 kids out there being photographed on the Internet is just -- I mean, that's a -- just a -- that's just an outrage.

GILLESPIE: And it's bizarre. And just to be clear, Anderson, these aren't just photographs. These are horrific acts of torture, and basically they're crime scene photos.

What we as law enforcement need to do is simply get more coordinated in our efforts. There's a lot of duplication going on all over the world. It's one of the reasons we worked with Microsoft to build the child exploitation tracking system. I am hoping it will some day be a global database, that one platform we can all work off together, share information. And you know, if you think of the exponential value of all of us doing the same job and understanding what everybody else is doing, it would be very valuable. COOPER: Well, Detective Sergeant Paul Gillespie and Lieutenant Matt Irwin, appreciate you being on the program tonight. I mean, I got to tell you, you guys just do extraordinary work. Again, I just think you're doing heroic work. What you see every day no one should have to see, and we do appreciate it. Thank you very much.

GILLESPIE: You're welcome.

COOPER: I also just want to put up that tip line number one more time. It's 1-866-635-HELP. Again, there are two little girls out there out of these 50,000 children who are out there who need your help. But right now, the police are looking for these two. If anybody has any information, please call that number.

Coming up next tonight on 360, a woman who was mauled by four tigers. They were kept in someone's backyard cages illegally. How many times have we heard this story? I mean, the owner is under arrest now; this woman is in serious condition. Tonight, we are investigating the secret world of exotic pets. Thousands of wild animals being kept in people's homes, where they shouldn't be. There is a whole black market in animals a few people know about. We are going to investigate that tonight.

Also ahead, the missing bride mystery. Police call off the search for this woman. Her family offers a reward. She was supposed to be married tomorrow. "America's Most Wanted's" John Walsh weighs in on the case.

And on a far lighter note, but a noisier note, is your partner's snoring driving you nuts? Or at least keeping you awake? Tonight, some simple relief that may lead you to a sweeter slumber. All that ahead.

First, let's take a quick look at your picks, the most popular stories right now on CNN.com.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Here's a sad but true fact: there are more than tigers in captivity here in the United States than there are in the wilds of Asia. Now that points out two problemS: the diminishing natural habitat for the tiger, and the fact that so many people here in America seem to think of tigers as pets. They're not pets. And here's a prime example of why. A woman attacked by four tigers.

CNN's Keith Oppenheim investigates.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): About five miles outside the city of Redwing, Minnesota is a rural property with a lot of fences. Inside there are seven full-grown Siberian tigers. According to their owner, on Wednesday, four of them attacked the woman who feeds them.

DEAN ALBERS, GOODHUE COUNTY SHERIFF: The owner, Grant Ole (ph), as I understand it, yelled at the tigers. They did back off. He was able then to pull her out of the pen and then called for help.

OPPENHEIM: Despite gashes to her neck and leg, the caretaker survived and is being treated for the deep wounds. Now the owner of the animals, 48-year-old Grant Ole, is in some trouble -- not because he owned tigers, rather that he simply owned too many.

CAROL LEE, ASST. GOODHUE COUNTY ATTORNEY: Our ordinance would allow him to own three at this time. But in excess of three, you're required to have a Goodhue County conditional use permit.

OPPENHEIM: Assistant county attorney Carol Lee explained, Ole has been battling with local government for a while. For years, he showed off his tigers to the visiting public. And was licensed to do so by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

LEE: We started investigating tiger bites I believe in 2002.

OPPENHEIM: But after a series of comparatively minor incidents, local officials demanded Ole comply with the county limit. No more than three tigers. He never did. He's been charged with three misdemeanors, and has been temporarily banned from his property. It's now up to the county to make sure the tigers are fed and guarded so no one else gets hurt.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, Nick. Hey, big girl.

OPPENHEIM: Weird as this may all sound, it's part of a bigger picture. The legal exotic animal trade is booming in the U.S. second only to the illegal drug trade in dollars spent. The Internet makes it possible to click and make a fast purchase: a chimpanzee for $65,000, a giraffe for the backyard for $40,000.

The Humane Society of the United States reports an astounding number of tigers held in captivity, a number of greater than in all of the wild of Asia.

(on camera): And that number is estimated to be more than 5,000 tigers.

And get this, less than 10 percent of those tigers are kept in professionally-run zoos and sanctuaries, much of the remainder are in places just like this. A road-side habitat with some fences to keep the wild animals inside.

(voice-over): For the moment, Grant Ole's animals are being taken care of by trained experts, but county officials aren't sure whether to let some of the tigers stay, to force some to go elsewhere, or to euthanize some or all of them because of concerns about rabies.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're stuck with trying to deal with this. And I don't are have the resources to deal with seven tigers. What would happen if someone ran and got two elephants? I just don't have those resources.

OPPENHEIM: Keith Oppenheim, CNN. Redwing, Minnesota.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Well, in a moment, if your partner's snoring is driving you nut, we have some solutions. But first Erica Hill of Headline News takes a look at what is happening right now across the country. Hey, Erica.

ERICA HILL, CNN HEADLINE NEWS ANCHOR: Hey, Anderson.

It is a heartbreaking story, first of all, out of Illinois tonight where the mother is charged with killing her two children. Hoffman Estates Police say Tanya Vaselez (ph) stabbed her three-year- old daughter and nine-year-old son each over 100 times. It happened in their home while their father was at work.

Cape Canaveral, Florida: a launched delay for the space shuttle Discovery. Next month's planned lift off has been pushed back to July. NASA officials say they need more time to ensure foam chunks or ice won't break off during lift off. Two years ago, a chunk of debris hit Columbia's wing during liftoff. That's what's been blamed for the shuttle's disintegration.

And in Western Iraq, a massive dust storm. The unusually strong storm lasted some 45 minutes. It may have reached a mile into the sky. The picture you see was taken by a U.S. Marine. Pretty amazing stuff there.

And that is the latest from Headline News. Anderson, back to you.

COOPER: Wow. Those are amazing, amazing picture.

Hey Erica, do you snore at night? I don't get too personal but...

HILL: You know, I don't snore so much, but in terms of keeping the partner snoring, yeah, I will take those tips.

COOPER: OK, good. Well, stay tuned, because we got a lot on that. Erica, we'll talk to again in about 30 minutes.

So, if you are like Erica, driven apart by snoring, if you can't stand the loud noises your spouse or partner make the night, well, stay tuned That's not Erica, by the way. I don't know who that is in that bed.

Find out how one couple finally managed to get some peaceful shut eye together. Part of our special week long series "Sleepless In America."

Also -- who are they?

Also tonight, missing bride mystery. She is supposed to be married tomorrow, but has vanished without a trace. Her family spoke out for the first time today. And tonight, "America's Most Wanted," John Walsh, speaks out as well. And a little bit later, did you hear about those guys who said they found a buried treasure? Yes, well, it was a hoax. But the really funny thing is, they probably would have gotten away with it if they didn't keep going on TV shows and yammering about it.

Yes! Note to self, don't go on TV. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DESI ARNAZ, ENTERTAINER: You want to sleep on your stomach in your bed.

LUCILLE BALL, ENTERTAINER: Right.

ARNAZ: Right. (INAUDIBLE) 11 years, married 22 pounds.

BALL: Oh.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: That's a funny scene from a TV classic "I Love Lucy." As you just saw, Luci and Ricky slept in separate beds, at least on television they did. It seems that sharing one mattress can be a nightmare for a lot of couples. According the National Sleep Foundation, two-thirds of people in relationship say their significant other's snoring keeps them up at night -- two-thirds. For some couples snoring gives a whole new meaning to sleeping with the enemy. But do not worry there is hope. Maybe even a cure.

Adaora Udoji shows us the way tonight, as we conclude our series, "Sleepless in America."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ADAORA UDOJI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A family dinner at the Buells. Just the beginning of a long night, at least, for Danielle who's been a walking zombie for years. That's her husband Tom. He snored throughout their 10-year marriage, often sending her to the couch in their Long Island, New York home.

DANIELLE BUELL: I'm surprised he doesn't have bruises, because I'm either kicking or...

THOMAS BUELL: That's the only time I yelled at her. I'm like,why do you have to hit me? You can shake me nice and kiss me?

D. BUELL: And as I, explained.

T. BUELL: Say, honey, you're snoring. Can you rollover? And instead, I get the elbow in the back.

D. BUELL: (INAUDIBLE) we've already gone through that processes.

UDOJI: The results -- painful sleep deprivation felt by tens of millions of couples. So bad the National Sleep Foundation estimates 1 in 10 sleep apart. Half the time, snorers don't know they're make those annoying and grading noises. But partners like Danielle do. Losing the foundation estimates 49 minutes of precious sleep every night. That's 300 hours a year. The whole family feels it. Their 5- year-old daughter rejoiced when daddy went golfing recently with buddies.

D. BUELL: She turned around and went, mommy no, snoring tonight. We went, whoa. No snoring. Great! Good night for us!

UDOJI: It's funny coming from a 5-year-old, but experts say it can be a serious problem driving couples apart. Men are twice as likely to snore than women, say doctors. They're more susceptible to blocked airways triggering all that noise.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, it's a family problem. It's not just you and your wife.

UDOJI: New York City dentist Michael Gelb, a sleep specialist who treated Tom says the first tip, try lifestyle changes.

DR. MICHAEL GELB: Best advice that I could give would be to not drink too much alcohol right before bedtime. Leave about three, four hours. Don't have a heavy meal. Try to lose weight.

UDOJI: The extra weight helps close the airway, he says. Another tip, try sleeping on your side, not your back. If that doesn't work, there's over-the-counter remedies. Desperate for help, Tom's tried them all.

T. BUELL: I've tried the breathe-lite strips. I tried throat spray. I tried like Vic's, you know, Vapor Rub, try to keep my nose open so maybe my mouth would stay shut.

UDOJI (on camera): Did it work?

T. BUELL: None of those things really worked.

UDOJI: They didn't work for Tom because his condition's more serious. It's called severe sleep apnea. Dr. Phyllis Zee sees it all of the time in her Chicago snoring clinic.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Breathing, breathing. Snoring, snoring. The moment this line goes a little flat, not breathing.

UDOJI: Patients stop breathing up to 45 seconds, sometimes hundreds of times a night.

DR. PHYLLIS ZEE, NORTHWESTERN MEMORIAL MEDICAL CTR.: It's a medical problem. It is not just a social problem. It's very easily treatable. If untreated can be associated with high blood pressure, perhaps even strokes. Very serious kind of consequences from a medical standpoint.

UDOJI: Norbert Diez, like Tom, has a wife who's going crazy because of his snoring. And like, Tom, sufferers from sleep apnea which affects 23 million Americans. Diez has considered the range of treatments from surgery, to oral devices to breathing masks. A deputy fire commissioner who needs his sleep, he chose the mask.

NORBERT DIEZ, SLEEP APNEA PATIENT: I really did have a good night's sleep with it. I didn't have any apnea or snoring.

UDOJI: Back in Long Island Tom couldn't stand the mask.

T. BUELL: It's not very sexy. Not that I'm the sexiest guy in the world anyway, but having that mask didn't help me at all.

UDOJI: So he turned to what looks like a mouth guard -- the Gelb Snoring Device created by his dentist Dr. Gelb.

GELB: What happens at night is that when the muscles relax and the lower jaw goes back, the tongue and pallet go back and they sag into the airway. And what we're doing is were preventing the lower the jaw and the tongue from dropping back at night.

UDOJI: Just listen to Tom sleeping now. You can barely hear a thing. The quiet, truly music to Danielle's ears.

D. BUELL: Last night was the quietest night sleep I've gotten a a really long time. It was dramatic.

UDOJI (on camera): What kind of advice for other couples?

T. BUELL: You feel bad for your spouse or your partner. And for me it's kind of become a medical issue. So and like, as you get older, you need to try things.

UDOJI (voice-over): Perseverance has made all the difference. Not long ago a good night's sleep was just a dream at the Beulls.

Adaora Udoji, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Well, if sleeping together is truly driving you apart, you can find some sleep solution by logging onto the National Institute of Health's Web site. Search for the National Center on Sleep Disorder's Research -- www.nih.gov.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER (voice-over): The mystery of the missing bride, vanished without a trace. Tonight, crime fighter John Walsh weighs in on the case, as her family pleads for help.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We would give our life and everything that we own to have her return.

COOPER: A Nazi leader sentenced to death, escapes the noose by swallowing cyanide. Tonight, a 60-year-old secret revealed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was afraid. I was scared. I knew I would be in serious trouble.

COOPER: Did this World War II veteran accidentally help a Nazi escape justice.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Well, tomorrow was to be Jennifer Wilbanks' wedding day. Instead, with a 32-year-old woman missing since going for a run on Tuesday evening, her family today offered a reward of $100,000 for any information leading to a breakthrough in her case. For the moment, authorities say they have tried all they can to find her. They have called off the search. And the man who would have become her father- in-law tomorrow, says his son, Jennifer's fiance, John Mason, is not involved.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLAUDE MASON, FIANCE'S FATHER: He wants her back. He wants her back. He wants people to know that, number one, he had nothing to do with it, and that he wants her back real, in the worst way.

I think tomorrow will be the day that will -- may make or break us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Well, we talked earlier about the Wilbanks case with John Walsh, who was in Philadelphia for a Justice Department conference on missing persons.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: In a case like this, when you read about these cases or told about these cases by police, what do you instantly look for? What are the details that you look for to try to figure out what's going on?

JOHN WALSH, "AMERICA'S MOST WANTED": Well, certainly the police have to investigate anyone that was close to her. Her fiance included, but anybody that might have come in contact with her. You know the case that was just solved in Massachusetts of the lady writer after three years, it was the garbage man that tracked her.

So first of all, you have to look at the people that are close to this woman or have access to this woman. And then number two, you have to not discount the fact that it might just have been a random abduction.

I don't think she ran away. There's no indication. And you know, Anderson, we never used to care about missing women until Chandra Levy went missing. And everybody took that case because everybody speculated that Congressman Gary Condit might have had something to do with her disappearance, and he didn't.

But at that time, there were 5,000 missing women in the FBI computer. And I bet you, I challenge you right now to give me one name of one of those women.

So this, unfortunately, this woman may become one of those statistics.

COOPER: And you raise a good point. I mean, I could not name one of those people.

What is it -- you know, it's fascinating to me, and I think the news is -- plays a role in this, certainly. You know, some of these cases draw national attention, and then you look around and see, you know what, there were a dozen people gone missing on this one particular day, but we don't talk about them. We focus in on the person who has the pretty smile or the person who has a compelling story. For all those other families out there, that's just got to be, I mean, a crime.

WALSH: It absolutely is. I've never been able to figure it out, and I'm in the media. I mean, "America's Most Wanted," you know, thankfully has been on 17 years and solved so many cases, but I've dealt with thousands of parents of missing adults, like this conference today. There's lots of parents here with missing children that were college age or in their 30s. I've met lots of parents who have said the same thing. Why does the media gravitate to one case and not to my case? How come I have never seen anything but local coverage of my son's disappearance or my daughter's disappearance?

Anderson, I can't figure it out. Somehow the media is involved. I guess the old question is, is it pack reporting? Why was it Laci Peterson? Because she was pregnant? That was a great story to cover. I think it had a lot to do with the conviction of Scott Peterson and finding the perpetrator, but there were lots of missing girls at that same time, and some of them pregnant.

I have never been able to figure it out. I just don't know. But it is heartbreaking, Anderson, absolutely. If you're the parent of a missing child, adult or juvenile, you always say, the media could be the way to break this case open and they just won't cover it.

COOPER: And that is -- it's -- you know, we're all culpable in this. You know, Jennifer Wilbanks is the person we are talking about today. It could be one of hundreds or thousands of other people who are out there missing in the United States.

John Walsh, it's always good to talk to you. Appreciate it. Thank you very much.

WALSH: Thank you, Anderson.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Well, we went back and checked, just how many missing women there are right now in the U.S. The number is staggering. According to the FBI's National Crime Information Center, right now there are more than 22,000 women over the age of 18 reported missing, 22,000. It's possible that could be just the tip of the iceberg, because as one Justice Department official told us, thousands more never even get reported to the FBI.

Coming up next on 360, a Nazi mystery. Decades old, perhaps finally solved. A former GI tells us how he thinks he might have helped a founder of the Gestapo cheat his executioner.

Also tonight, a buried treasure in a backyard, two chatty Cathys going to TV show after TV show, yammering on and on, and now they are so busted. It was a hoax, and they're arrested.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADOLF HITLER, LEADER OF THE NAZIS: (SPEAKING GERMAN).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: You might not have realized this, but 60 years ago tomorrow, Adolf Hitler took his own life as his 1,000-year Reich fell in about a dozen years.

But since, mysteries have remained. One of the biggest is how one of Hitler's key henchmen, Hermann Goering, managed to cheat the hangman by taking his own life first. How was it possible to slip poison to him past numerous guards whose express purpose were to make sure none of the convicted Nazis committed suicide? For six decades now, all we've had are questions. Tonight, we may now have an answer. Thelma Gutierrez with "The World in 360."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For five savage and bloody years, humanity has waited for this moment of retribution.

THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The year was 1946. The place, Nuremberg, Germany.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Twenty-one Nazis are to hear their fate.

GUTIERREZ: It was the mother of all trials.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: History's greatest trial nears its fateful close.

GUTIERREZ: The defendant who got top billing? Hermann Goering, the number two Nazi at the center of one of the greatest unsolved mysteries of World War II.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sentences you to death by hanging.

GUTIERREZ: But Goering didn't die by the hangman's noose. Instead, he cheated his executioner by dropping cyanide. Somehow, someone was able to get it into the fortress where 11 of the Nazis awaited execution.

For 60 years, many have wondered who that could have been.

In the high desert of Hesperia, California may lie the key to this mystery.

(on camera): Who was this?

HERBERT STIVERS, FORMER WWII HONOR GUARD: Albert Speer. Rudolf Hess. That was Goering, back in his heyday.

GUTIERREZ: For 60 years, decorated World War II veteran Herbert Stivers kept a secret. He is 78 now, but long ago he says, he was one of Herman Gering's prison guards.

HERBERT STIVERS, FRM. WWII HONOR GUARD: We talked about baseball. We talked about Charles A. Lindbergh. I talked to him like I'm talking to you.

GUTIERREZ: Back then, Army private Herbert Stivers was just 18 1/2 years old. He was an honored guard representing his country at the Nuremberg trials. He said his duties included guarding the infamous Nazis while they awaited execution.

STIVERS: Our duty was to kept them from killing themselves -- committing suicide. That was our prime job.

GUTIERREZ: But Stivers says he was young and naive at time, so when a flirtatious German girl name Mona befriend him and questioned him about the Nazi prisoners, he didn't think twice.

STIVERS: She asked me, she said. Would you -- could you get the autograph of Goering -- we would like to have it.

GUTIERREZ: Herbert says once he gave Mona Gering's autograph and proved that he had access to Gering, Mona immediately introduced him to two older men, Matthias and Eric.

STIVERS: They told me about Goering. He was a good friend of the family and they had known him for years. And he's -- they're not giving him the proper medicine. And would you be kind enough? I said, well, I can't take the medicine to him. We'll arrange it so that you can take it to him. So they put it in a fountain pen.

GUTIERREZ: Stivers says they gave him a Schaffer (ph) fountain pen with two small notes hidden inside. He said he took the pen to Goering in his cell.

Was it hard it sneak it in?

STIVERS: Oh, no. I could have taken an AK-47 in there. They didn't search us. We were trusted.

GUTIERREZ: Stivers says he then took the pen back to Mona and the men. And three or four days before Goering was scheduled to hang, Matthias told him to sneak the pen back in.

STIVERS: Evidently he told Goering -- the goods are in the pen. So he took the pen in his cell, what I gave him. He said just hand the pen to him, give him the pen. He knows what to do with it.

GUTIERREZ: Stivers says he only told one other person, also a guard, that he had taken Goering medicine. STIVERS: And he looked at me and said that medicine you took must have done the job.

GUTIERREZ: Stivers says much to his horror, he learned that two hours before Goering was to be hanged, his body was discovered in his cell. He had committed suicide by swallowing cyanide.

For 60 years, Stivers says he worried he was the one who allowed the Nazis to escape the gallows.

STIVERS: I don't have words for it. I was -- I just felt sick all over. I just felt weak. I felt like all life had left my body. I didn't know it was potassium cyanide. I wouldn't have dreamed of getting involved in something like that, something of that nature.

GUTIERREZ: An internal investigation was conducted.

Why didn't you speak up back then?

STIVERS: I was afraid. I was scared. I knew I would be in serious trouble.

GUTIERREZ: Stivers says he finally told his daughter Linda his story 15 years ago.

LINDA DADEY, STIVER'S DAUGHTER: I told my dad that when you pass away, a huge part of this puzzle in history's going to be gone forever. And you need to tell it.

GUTIERREZ: Over the years, there have been many theories about how Hermann Goering got the cyanide. One was that he had smuggled it into the prison himself by hiding it in a body cavity.

STIVERS: No way. They took up their clothes. Take a shower in the bathtub.

AARON BREITBART, SIMON WIESENTHAL CENTER: The other one is that his wife passed it to him in the last kiss from mouth to mouth.

GUTIERREZ: Holocaust expert, Aaron Breitbert says Stivers story may not be that far-fetched.

BREITBART: This is one of many theories I have heard. It's crazy enough to be true.

GUTIERREZ: Herbert Stivers has no way it prove his story. The other guard who held his secret died years ago. But Stivers says he would rather not be remembered as the young naive kid who helped a Nazi.

STIVERS: There is no way to prove a ticket, or no way to prove I didn't. Because no one that knew that was in it. The only one who knows is the guy that gave me the fountain pen, Matthias, and Hermann Goering, the guy I delivered it to.

(END VIDEOTAPE) GUTIERREZ: Herbert Stivers told me that very question weighed heavily on his mind for six decades. He says it was his daughter to break the silence and go public with the story. But Stivers says he only agreed to do so after she assured him he wouldn't be prosecuted, because the statute of limitations had run out years ago.

As for Mona and the two men, Stivers says they vanished after he delivered the pen -- Anderson.

COOPER: That's a remarkable story. If it's true, it must have been a hard secret to keep for all of these years. Thanks very much, Thelma, appreciate it.

The buried treasure hoax has been revealed in a moment. But first Erica Hill from HEADLINE NEWS joins with us a quick news note.

HILL: Hi again, Anderson.

We start off with some tough news out of Iraq. At least a dozen bombings there across the country today. At least 28 people killed. Most of them Iraqi security forces, 100 others were wounded. Among the dead? Three American soldiers. The violence comes a day after the Iraqi National Assembly chose a new cabinet.

In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, an HIV scare at school. A third grader pricked 19 other students with her mother's diabetes testing needle. Now health officials say one of the students has tested positive for HIV. They stress, though, it could be a false positive. The CDC says the risk of HIV from a needle prick is pretty low. On average, 1 in 300 cases.

In San Francisco, California, a win for logging protesters. A federal jury has found police used excessive force in 1997 when they put pepper spray in the eyes of the protesters. But the jury awarded the eight plaintiffs just a $1 each.

And in Eastern India, check out this baby. Yes, it's really a baby. 11 months old, weighing in at 48 pounds. And in this corner, the rice powder which may to be blame. His mom says he eats two pounds of the stuff every day. She insists, though, he is in good health. And, yes! That's your headlines for this hour.

Look at size of that kid!

COOPER: Yes. We showed those images to American Idol judge Paula Abdul a short time ago. I just wanted to show her your reaction.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAULA ABDUL, SINGER: This happens -- it seems to happen every single season.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Yes. She was amazed. HILL: Things happen, Anderson.

COOPER: Yeah. Later, actually, she even got very emotional. I think we have that video of her.

Yeah. She was overcome. She couldn't even talk anymore. She was just crying.

HILL: It happens. But, you know, what's nice is she really always has a kind word to say.

COOPER: Even for the little baby who eats two pounds of rice powder a day.

Erica Hill, thanks very much. See you again in about 30 minutes.

We've got a lot ahead tonight on 360: buried treasure hoax. You see these guys? They were talking a lot of morning shows about the loot they said found buried in the ground? Yes, it turns out it wasn't true and they've been arrested. We'll tell you details of that ahead.

Also, tonight, the fall of Saigon. 30 years ago, remembering this image.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: All right, so you know the saying "Silence is golden." Perhaps the meaning was lost on a couple of guys from New England. They made the rounds on TV. Maybe you saw them claiming to have found thousands of dollars buried a in backyard. Well, today the cops call it a hoax and the men are now facing some serious charges. This has been one of the most popular stories all day on CNN.com.

Rudi Bakhtiar is here to give us an angle you won't see anywhere else.

Rudi, what did you find?

RUDI BAKHTIAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: If there is any time where silence is golden, this one is it. We went looking, not for the treasure, but for an explanation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BAKHTIAR (voice-over): The first hint of trouble came of all places on late night television.

JIMMY KIMMEL, "JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE": So we arranged a live remote with these guys. These guys who found a treasure.

BAKHTIAR: Barry Billcliff and Timothy Crebase were supposed to be on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" last night to talk about finding all of that money. But it soon became clear that something was wrong.

KIMMEL: Is anyone there actually? Is this a producer or anybody out there.

BAKHTIAR: And then another guest showed up in their place, the police chief.

POLICE CHIEF JOSEPH SOLOMON: Right now, they're with the detectives, the U.S. Secret Service, and state police.

KIMMEL: Are they in trouble?

SOLOMON: Well, we're doing our investigation. And we'll know shortly, I hope.

BAKHTIAR: It didn't take long to find an answer.

SOLOMON: It came from a construction job that the men were doing. And they discovered the money in somebody else's house. And they came up with ploy so it would seem real. And that they'd be able it keep the money. Personally, if it was me, I wouldn't have gone on national TV.

BAKHTIAR: But they did. And that's what got everybody's attention.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I started digging and digging and all of a sudden I hit something.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He opened up the can and started pulling the dollars up out of the can.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was like this is just my dumb luck.

BAKHTIAR: Fifteen minutes of fame and that thirst for publicity may have been their undoing.

SOLOMON: I just think the excitement just grew and grew and grew. And it is exciting talking in front of the TV, and particularly when it's something so famous, that -- who finds buried treasure? I mean, I wish it was real and I wish it was me who found it. But that's an exciting thing to talk about, and I think it just got out of hand.

BAKHTIAR: If attention was what these men wanted, this wasn't the kind they may have been hoping for.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This stupid misunderstanding. So we'll get to the bottom of it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BAKHTIAR: Now in case you are wondering, the stash includes 1,800 bank note and bills baiting back from the 1899 to 1928. The materials actually had a face value of only about $7,000, but prosecutor Gabriel Clark said that the men had been offered $125,000 by a collector. There's an owner of a New Hampshire coin shop who also examined the currency and said it's all authentic. He gave varying experts ranging from $50,000 to $100,000. COOPER: Man, you know what, if you will steal something, if that is in fact what these two young men did, you just don't go on TV bragging about it.

BAKHTIAR: Well, that was the whole point of the guy we talked to. He said, you know, they're after attention really.

COOPER: Yes, well, they got. All right, Rudi Bakhtiar, thanks.

Lets find out what's coming up at the top of the hour on "PAULA ZAHN NOW" -- Paula.

PAULA ZAHN, HOST, PAULA ZAHN NOW: Hi, Anderson, thanks so much. Imagine being told you have to leave your homeland, leave behind your family, everything you've ever owned. And even though you're just a child, you have to get into a big airplane, go it a country you've never seen before, where you don't speak the language, you have it make a new life. And at the top of the hour, we're going to meet some courageous people who have been living that exact story for 30 years. Part of a legacy of the Vietnam War -- Anderson.

COOPER: All right. Paula, at the top of the hour, about seven minutes from now. Thanks.

Coming up next on 360, the strange names of Michael Jackson's offspring.

And 30 years later, the fall of Saigon and the mislabeled photo.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Last night as part of our coverage of the Michael Jackson case, I mentioned the name of one of Jermaine Jackson's son. His name is Jermajesty. Some of you e-mailed in your doubts.

K from New Britain, Connecticut writes, "Great show and all, but Jermajesty? I give you my sincere advice, dude, lay off the jokes."

K, dude, if I may call you dude. K, no joke. Jermaine Jackson has several kids. There's Jeremy (ph) and Jafar (ph), Jordan (ph) and Jermaine Jr and yes, Jermajesty. Michael of course has Prince Michael and Prince Michael II, so they're building quite a little royal court there in Neverland. Now, if only LaToya will step up and produce a LaQueena (ph), they'll be set.

Richard from St. Paul, Minnesota has a problem. He writes, "It seems the last couple of weeks I have been experiencing a lot of static on CNN, especially when picture changes from one person to another. Can you tell me about this?

You know, Richard, I've -- see -- you see, I've been noticing the same thing over the last couple of weeks. Let me just see if I can just fix this. OK. There. Got it. Good. I hope that cleans it up for you Richard.

If you've got something on your mind, just send us an e-mail at CNN.com/360. Click on the instant feedback link. What could be more simple?

Tonight take the unforgettable truth to "The Nth Degree." Certain images we remember forever. We've only to close our eyes to see them. Like this one. The scene in Saigon 30 years ago tomorrow, the last American helicopter poised to take off from the roof of the U.S. embassy, ending a war in which this country had been involved for a decade by then, at a cost of nearly 60,000 American, and perhaps one million Vietnamese lives. Except, as the man who took the photo writes in today's "New York Times, that isn't what this photo showed.

The free-lance photojournalist Hubert Van Es, says he sent the picture off, correctly captioned -- April 29, 1975. An Air America chopper leaving the roof of a Saigon apartment building. But something happened somewhere along the line, and this picture of his has become the one we all now see in our mind's eye whenever we think of the fall of Saigon.

The real fall was a day later. The real last chopper was not a Huey, but one of those big twin rotter Chinooks, which did take off from the embassy. Those on it were all Americans, not in Hubert Van Es famous picture, Vietnamese. So why, whenever we close our eyes, do we still this? Perhaps, because it would be impossible to imagine a more perfect illustration of a enterprise come to grief. A Jacob's Ladder not to heaven, but to a little helicopter far to small to accommodate those desperate to cross what is just about to become a bridge to nothing at all.

And those dozens of people still wait on that ladder as you saw, all Vietnamese, waited for many no more helicopters came to take them to safety.

I'm Anderson Cooper, thanks very much for watching 360 this week. Hope you have a great weekend, and we'll see you back on Monday.

CNN's prime time coverage continues right now with Paula Zahn. Hey Paula.

END

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com


Aired April 29, 2005 - 19:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, HOST: Good evening, everyone. A young girl, a pornographic predator, and a mystery police need your help to solve. 360 starts now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER (voice-over): The search intensifies for the girl without a face. Who is she? And does this little girl know a sickening secret that might lead cops to a child porn predator? We take you inside the nerve center of the search. Will tonight be the night the case is finally cracked?

A woman attacked by four tigers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One started attacking, and the other three must have come over.

COOPER: Was this an accident waiting to happen? Tonight, we take you into the hidden world of exotic pets.

The mystery of the missing bride. Vanished without a trace. Tonight, crime fighter John Walsh weighs in on the case, as her family pleads for help.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We would give our life and everything that we own to have her return.

COOPER: A Nazi leader sentenced to death escapes the noose by swallowing cyanide. Tonight, a 60-year-old secret revealed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was afraid. I was scared I'd be in serious trouble.

COOPER: Did this World War II veteran accidentally help a Nazi escape justice?

And is sleeping together driving you apart? Millions of Americans sleep-deprived because their partner snores. Tonight, what you can do about that awful sound. Solutions that may finally help you get a good night's sleep.

ANNOUNCER: Live from the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is ANDERSON COOPER 360.

(END VIDEOTAPE) COOPER: And good evening again, a good Friday to you. For several nights this week, we have been bringing you the story a young girl, a child, who for three years now has been photographed in pornographic pictures all over the Internet. Now, I know it's a sickening story, and I know it is disturbing and I don't want to talk about this story anymore than you want to hear it, but there is a child out there who needs your help right now, and the police, frankly, are desperate.

A couple of days ago, they released this photograph. Please take a look at it. It is another girl. Police say she's not the victim, but perhaps a witness. She is photographed on the very same couch that the other girl, who has been a victim, has been on.

Police won't show you that girl's face. But they want to find her. They want to help her.

We've been doing this story for days; others have as well. We all thought that the calls to the police tip lines would be pouring in, thousands of calls. But guess how many calls they have gotten? Guess? A hundred and seven. That's all, 107 calls.

I just want to show this picture again. Someone out there must know who this girl is. In a few minutes, we're going to speak with the two lead investigators in this case, but first a look at how those tips are coming in and a theory as to why there are not more of them.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER (voice-over): Every time the tips come in, there's hope for this little girl, hope a vicious criminal might be caught. Some tips arrive by phone; others by computer.

Here at the Orlando home base for the Central Florida Crime Line Program, tips for all kinds of cases are processed and distributed, including those that may lead police to this little girl, a young sex abused victim. Police won't reveal her face, but on Wednesday investigators released this picture, saying they believe this girl may know the other girl, the subject of some 200 explicit photos. But they don't say she is a victim herself.

LT. MATT IRWIN, ORANGE COUNTY, FL. SHERIFF'S DEPUTY: There's no evidence at this point that says that this girl is a victim in any way. There's nothing sexual about it. There's nothing illegal about the manner in which the photos were taken. And we have no evidence at this point that she is a victim.

COOPER: People who have information about this girl have been asked to call 1-866-635-HELP. A Canadian center handles the calls, and then shares that information by computer with the Orlando Crime Line base.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah, I got it...

COOPER: Initially, tips were coming in strong, but they have since dwindled. The Orange County Sheriff's Department says as of now, the tip line has received little more than 100 calls related to this case.

GEORGE MCNAMARA, EXEC. DIRECTOR, CRIME LINE: The calls have been steady. They haven't been nearly as heavy as we thought they would. We were expecting actually thousands of calls.

COOPER: Police believe the calls may have subsided in part because of the picture itself. It was found in the collection of explicit photos, a collection that spans several years. The picture's believed to be three or four years old, which means the girl wouldn't look the same today.

But Florida authorities say they have received a few good leads and they're looking into them.

If investigators do find out who she is, chances are we won't learn her identity right away. Police will likely keep her name a secret until she and the other unidentified girl are found, and the predator who took these photos is finally behind bars.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Well, joining me now are the two top investigators in this case. In Orlando, Florida, Lieutenant Matt Irwin of the Orange County Sheriff's Department. And in Toronto, Ontario, Detective Sergeant Paul Gillespie of the Toronto Police Department. Gentlemen, appreciate you being with us tonight.

Lieutenant Irwin, I cannot believe that the police have only received about 107 calls. You know these photos were taken at a Disney resort in Florida. Why aren't more calls coming in, do you think?

IRWIN: Well, I think it's difficult for people to look at -- first of all, you don't have a full facial shot of the girl. She's looking down. And it's difficult, like you said in your earlier piece, about the timeframe that has elapsed.

Actually, out of the 107 calls that we've gotten, probably 20 or 30 of those are parents that swear that that is their daughter. I knew right then that we were going to have a problem when parents themselves couldn't tell.

COOPER: So you have 20 different parents who say that that is their daughter?

IRWIN: At least that many. Probably -- that's a conservative number.

COOPER: Wow. Sergeant Gillespie, Florida law prohibits you from showing the young victim's picture. Is there any way around that? I mean, you're in Canada. Can't you just release it there? I know you want to.

DETECTIVE SGT. PAUL GILLESPIE, TORONTO POLICE DEPARTMENT: We could, but we're cognizant of the fact it's an American investigation, and we will let it travel its course. But at some point in this and thousands of other cases we have that are of similar nature, we may in fact end up doing that.

COOPER: Both of you guys, I mean, you do heroic work. I cannot imagine what you go through every day looking at all the pictures that you look at.

Sergeant Gillespie, you have been working this case in particular for years. You have been staring into this little girl's eyes. Have those eyes changed over the years?

GILLESPIE: What we see when we look at these pictures, unfortunately, is a broken spirit. Often in -- when you think of somebody being abused or hurt, you would think that they would be resisting, but like in most cases involving child pornography and terrible child abuse, there almost seems to be a sense of, this is the way life is, and that is as disturbing as, you know, the almost dead eyes. It's very, very disturbing.

COOPER: The eyes are dead.

GILLESPIE: It seems -- it's a way of life. And that's the hard and disturbing part. And ultimately, ruined forever, and you know, unrealized potential.

COOPER: Lieutenant Irwin, what do you know about this girl in the photograph, about the person maybe taking these pictures? Are there any clues? I mean, I've read you think maybe the person is a motorcycle enthusiast, because of a bike that was seen in one of the shots?

IRWIN: That's correct. One of the poses of our victim shows her sitting on a particular style Harley-Davidson. And it has been tricked out, so to speak. There is also some indication from the photographs that have been taken that there's a professional quality to them. So we think that there's at least some indicators that he's photography enthusiast, if not a professional of some kind.

COOPER: Sergeant Gillespie, I heard you say the other day, there are pornographic images of some 50,000 children on the Internet. You have been able to track down I guess a couple of hundred. What tools do you need, does Lieutenant Irwin need, that you're not getting? What can people do to help the police? I mean, 50,000 kids out there being photographed on the Internet is just -- I mean, that's a -- just a -- that's just an outrage.

GILLESPIE: And it's bizarre. And just to be clear, Anderson, these aren't just photographs. These are horrific acts of torture, and basically they're crime scene photos.

What we as law enforcement need to do is simply get more coordinated in our efforts. There's a lot of duplication going on all over the world. It's one of the reasons we worked with Microsoft to build the child exploitation tracking system. I am hoping it will some day be a global database, that one platform we can all work off together, share information. And you know, if you think of the exponential value of all of us doing the same job and understanding what everybody else is doing, it would be very valuable. COOPER: Well, Detective Sergeant Paul Gillespie and Lieutenant Matt Irwin, appreciate you being on the program tonight. I mean, I got to tell you, you guys just do extraordinary work. Again, I just think you're doing heroic work. What you see every day no one should have to see, and we do appreciate it. Thank you very much.

GILLESPIE: You're welcome.

COOPER: I also just want to put up that tip line number one more time. It's 1-866-635-HELP. Again, there are two little girls out there out of these 50,000 children who are out there who need your help. But right now, the police are looking for these two. If anybody has any information, please call that number.

Coming up next tonight on 360, a woman who was mauled by four tigers. They were kept in someone's backyard cages illegally. How many times have we heard this story? I mean, the owner is under arrest now; this woman is in serious condition. Tonight, we are investigating the secret world of exotic pets. Thousands of wild animals being kept in people's homes, where they shouldn't be. There is a whole black market in animals a few people know about. We are going to investigate that tonight.

Also ahead, the missing bride mystery. Police call off the search for this woman. Her family offers a reward. She was supposed to be married tomorrow. "America's Most Wanted's" John Walsh weighs in on the case.

And on a far lighter note, but a noisier note, is your partner's snoring driving you nuts? Or at least keeping you awake? Tonight, some simple relief that may lead you to a sweeter slumber. All that ahead.

First, let's take a quick look at your picks, the most popular stories right now on CNN.com.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Here's a sad but true fact: there are more than tigers in captivity here in the United States than there are in the wilds of Asia. Now that points out two problemS: the diminishing natural habitat for the tiger, and the fact that so many people here in America seem to think of tigers as pets. They're not pets. And here's a prime example of why. A woman attacked by four tigers.

CNN's Keith Oppenheim investigates.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): About five miles outside the city of Redwing, Minnesota is a rural property with a lot of fences. Inside there are seven full-grown Siberian tigers. According to their owner, on Wednesday, four of them attacked the woman who feeds them.

DEAN ALBERS, GOODHUE COUNTY SHERIFF: The owner, Grant Ole (ph), as I understand it, yelled at the tigers. They did back off. He was able then to pull her out of the pen and then called for help.

OPPENHEIM: Despite gashes to her neck and leg, the caretaker survived and is being treated for the deep wounds. Now the owner of the animals, 48-year-old Grant Ole, is in some trouble -- not because he owned tigers, rather that he simply owned too many.

CAROL LEE, ASST. GOODHUE COUNTY ATTORNEY: Our ordinance would allow him to own three at this time. But in excess of three, you're required to have a Goodhue County conditional use permit.

OPPENHEIM: Assistant county attorney Carol Lee explained, Ole has been battling with local government for a while. For years, he showed off his tigers to the visiting public. And was licensed to do so by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

LEE: We started investigating tiger bites I believe in 2002.

OPPENHEIM: But after a series of comparatively minor incidents, local officials demanded Ole comply with the county limit. No more than three tigers. He never did. He's been charged with three misdemeanors, and has been temporarily banned from his property. It's now up to the county to make sure the tigers are fed and guarded so no one else gets hurt.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, Nick. Hey, big girl.

OPPENHEIM: Weird as this may all sound, it's part of a bigger picture. The legal exotic animal trade is booming in the U.S. second only to the illegal drug trade in dollars spent. The Internet makes it possible to click and make a fast purchase: a chimpanzee for $65,000, a giraffe for the backyard for $40,000.

The Humane Society of the United States reports an astounding number of tigers held in captivity, a number of greater than in all of the wild of Asia.

(on camera): And that number is estimated to be more than 5,000 tigers.

And get this, less than 10 percent of those tigers are kept in professionally-run zoos and sanctuaries, much of the remainder are in places just like this. A road-side habitat with some fences to keep the wild animals inside.

(voice-over): For the moment, Grant Ole's animals are being taken care of by trained experts, but county officials aren't sure whether to let some of the tigers stay, to force some to go elsewhere, or to euthanize some or all of them because of concerns about rabies.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're stuck with trying to deal with this. And I don't are have the resources to deal with seven tigers. What would happen if someone ran and got two elephants? I just don't have those resources.

OPPENHEIM: Keith Oppenheim, CNN. Redwing, Minnesota.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Well, in a moment, if your partner's snoring is driving you nut, we have some solutions. But first Erica Hill of Headline News takes a look at what is happening right now across the country. Hey, Erica.

ERICA HILL, CNN HEADLINE NEWS ANCHOR: Hey, Anderson.

It is a heartbreaking story, first of all, out of Illinois tonight where the mother is charged with killing her two children. Hoffman Estates Police say Tanya Vaselez (ph) stabbed her three-year- old daughter and nine-year-old son each over 100 times. It happened in their home while their father was at work.

Cape Canaveral, Florida: a launched delay for the space shuttle Discovery. Next month's planned lift off has been pushed back to July. NASA officials say they need more time to ensure foam chunks or ice won't break off during lift off. Two years ago, a chunk of debris hit Columbia's wing during liftoff. That's what's been blamed for the shuttle's disintegration.

And in Western Iraq, a massive dust storm. The unusually strong storm lasted some 45 minutes. It may have reached a mile into the sky. The picture you see was taken by a U.S. Marine. Pretty amazing stuff there.

And that is the latest from Headline News. Anderson, back to you.

COOPER: Wow. Those are amazing, amazing picture.

Hey Erica, do you snore at night? I don't get too personal but...

HILL: You know, I don't snore so much, but in terms of keeping the partner snoring, yeah, I will take those tips.

COOPER: OK, good. Well, stay tuned, because we got a lot on that. Erica, we'll talk to again in about 30 minutes.

So, if you are like Erica, driven apart by snoring, if you can't stand the loud noises your spouse or partner make the night, well, stay tuned That's not Erica, by the way. I don't know who that is in that bed.

Find out how one couple finally managed to get some peaceful shut eye together. Part of our special week long series "Sleepless In America."

Also -- who are they?

Also tonight, missing bride mystery. She is supposed to be married tomorrow, but has vanished without a trace. Her family spoke out for the first time today. And tonight, "America's Most Wanted," John Walsh, speaks out as well. And a little bit later, did you hear about those guys who said they found a buried treasure? Yes, well, it was a hoax. But the really funny thing is, they probably would have gotten away with it if they didn't keep going on TV shows and yammering about it.

Yes! Note to self, don't go on TV. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DESI ARNAZ, ENTERTAINER: You want to sleep on your stomach in your bed.

LUCILLE BALL, ENTERTAINER: Right.

ARNAZ: Right. (INAUDIBLE) 11 years, married 22 pounds.

BALL: Oh.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: That's a funny scene from a TV classic "I Love Lucy." As you just saw, Luci and Ricky slept in separate beds, at least on television they did. It seems that sharing one mattress can be a nightmare for a lot of couples. According the National Sleep Foundation, two-thirds of people in relationship say their significant other's snoring keeps them up at night -- two-thirds. For some couples snoring gives a whole new meaning to sleeping with the enemy. But do not worry there is hope. Maybe even a cure.

Adaora Udoji shows us the way tonight, as we conclude our series, "Sleepless in America."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ADAORA UDOJI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A family dinner at the Buells. Just the beginning of a long night, at least, for Danielle who's been a walking zombie for years. That's her husband Tom. He snored throughout their 10-year marriage, often sending her to the couch in their Long Island, New York home.

DANIELLE BUELL: I'm surprised he doesn't have bruises, because I'm either kicking or...

THOMAS BUELL: That's the only time I yelled at her. I'm like,why do you have to hit me? You can shake me nice and kiss me?

D. BUELL: And as I, explained.

T. BUELL: Say, honey, you're snoring. Can you rollover? And instead, I get the elbow in the back.

D. BUELL: (INAUDIBLE) we've already gone through that processes.

UDOJI: The results -- painful sleep deprivation felt by tens of millions of couples. So bad the National Sleep Foundation estimates 1 in 10 sleep apart. Half the time, snorers don't know they're make those annoying and grading noises. But partners like Danielle do. Losing the foundation estimates 49 minutes of precious sleep every night. That's 300 hours a year. The whole family feels it. Their 5- year-old daughter rejoiced when daddy went golfing recently with buddies.

D. BUELL: She turned around and went, mommy no, snoring tonight. We went, whoa. No snoring. Great! Good night for us!

UDOJI: It's funny coming from a 5-year-old, but experts say it can be a serious problem driving couples apart. Men are twice as likely to snore than women, say doctors. They're more susceptible to blocked airways triggering all that noise.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, it's a family problem. It's not just you and your wife.

UDOJI: New York City dentist Michael Gelb, a sleep specialist who treated Tom says the first tip, try lifestyle changes.

DR. MICHAEL GELB: Best advice that I could give would be to not drink too much alcohol right before bedtime. Leave about three, four hours. Don't have a heavy meal. Try to lose weight.

UDOJI: The extra weight helps close the airway, he says. Another tip, try sleeping on your side, not your back. If that doesn't work, there's over-the-counter remedies. Desperate for help, Tom's tried them all.

T. BUELL: I've tried the breathe-lite strips. I tried throat spray. I tried like Vic's, you know, Vapor Rub, try to keep my nose open so maybe my mouth would stay shut.

UDOJI (on camera): Did it work?

T. BUELL: None of those things really worked.

UDOJI: They didn't work for Tom because his condition's more serious. It's called severe sleep apnea. Dr. Phyllis Zee sees it all of the time in her Chicago snoring clinic.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Breathing, breathing. Snoring, snoring. The moment this line goes a little flat, not breathing.

UDOJI: Patients stop breathing up to 45 seconds, sometimes hundreds of times a night.

DR. PHYLLIS ZEE, NORTHWESTERN MEMORIAL MEDICAL CTR.: It's a medical problem. It is not just a social problem. It's very easily treatable. If untreated can be associated with high blood pressure, perhaps even strokes. Very serious kind of consequences from a medical standpoint.

UDOJI: Norbert Diez, like Tom, has a wife who's going crazy because of his snoring. And like, Tom, sufferers from sleep apnea which affects 23 million Americans. Diez has considered the range of treatments from surgery, to oral devices to breathing masks. A deputy fire commissioner who needs his sleep, he chose the mask.

NORBERT DIEZ, SLEEP APNEA PATIENT: I really did have a good night's sleep with it. I didn't have any apnea or snoring.

UDOJI: Back in Long Island Tom couldn't stand the mask.

T. BUELL: It's not very sexy. Not that I'm the sexiest guy in the world anyway, but having that mask didn't help me at all.

UDOJI: So he turned to what looks like a mouth guard -- the Gelb Snoring Device created by his dentist Dr. Gelb.

GELB: What happens at night is that when the muscles relax and the lower jaw goes back, the tongue and pallet go back and they sag into the airway. And what we're doing is were preventing the lower the jaw and the tongue from dropping back at night.

UDOJI: Just listen to Tom sleeping now. You can barely hear a thing. The quiet, truly music to Danielle's ears.

D. BUELL: Last night was the quietest night sleep I've gotten a a really long time. It was dramatic.

UDOJI (on camera): What kind of advice for other couples?

T. BUELL: You feel bad for your spouse or your partner. And for me it's kind of become a medical issue. So and like, as you get older, you need to try things.

UDOJI (voice-over): Perseverance has made all the difference. Not long ago a good night's sleep was just a dream at the Beulls.

Adaora Udoji, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Well, if sleeping together is truly driving you apart, you can find some sleep solution by logging onto the National Institute of Health's Web site. Search for the National Center on Sleep Disorder's Research -- www.nih.gov.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER (voice-over): The mystery of the missing bride, vanished without a trace. Tonight, crime fighter John Walsh weighs in on the case, as her family pleads for help.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We would give our life and everything that we own to have her return.

COOPER: A Nazi leader sentenced to death, escapes the noose by swallowing cyanide. Tonight, a 60-year-old secret revealed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was afraid. I was scared. I knew I would be in serious trouble.

COOPER: Did this World War II veteran accidentally help a Nazi escape justice.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Well, tomorrow was to be Jennifer Wilbanks' wedding day. Instead, with a 32-year-old woman missing since going for a run on Tuesday evening, her family today offered a reward of $100,000 for any information leading to a breakthrough in her case. For the moment, authorities say they have tried all they can to find her. They have called off the search. And the man who would have become her father- in-law tomorrow, says his son, Jennifer's fiance, John Mason, is not involved.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLAUDE MASON, FIANCE'S FATHER: He wants her back. He wants her back. He wants people to know that, number one, he had nothing to do with it, and that he wants her back real, in the worst way.

I think tomorrow will be the day that will -- may make or break us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Well, we talked earlier about the Wilbanks case with John Walsh, who was in Philadelphia for a Justice Department conference on missing persons.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: In a case like this, when you read about these cases or told about these cases by police, what do you instantly look for? What are the details that you look for to try to figure out what's going on?

JOHN WALSH, "AMERICA'S MOST WANTED": Well, certainly the police have to investigate anyone that was close to her. Her fiance included, but anybody that might have come in contact with her. You know the case that was just solved in Massachusetts of the lady writer after three years, it was the garbage man that tracked her.

So first of all, you have to look at the people that are close to this woman or have access to this woman. And then number two, you have to not discount the fact that it might just have been a random abduction.

I don't think she ran away. There's no indication. And you know, Anderson, we never used to care about missing women until Chandra Levy went missing. And everybody took that case because everybody speculated that Congressman Gary Condit might have had something to do with her disappearance, and he didn't.

But at that time, there were 5,000 missing women in the FBI computer. And I bet you, I challenge you right now to give me one name of one of those women.

So this, unfortunately, this woman may become one of those statistics.

COOPER: And you raise a good point. I mean, I could not name one of those people.

What is it -- you know, it's fascinating to me, and I think the news is -- plays a role in this, certainly. You know, some of these cases draw national attention, and then you look around and see, you know what, there were a dozen people gone missing on this one particular day, but we don't talk about them. We focus in on the person who has the pretty smile or the person who has a compelling story. For all those other families out there, that's just got to be, I mean, a crime.

WALSH: It absolutely is. I've never been able to figure it out, and I'm in the media. I mean, "America's Most Wanted," you know, thankfully has been on 17 years and solved so many cases, but I've dealt with thousands of parents of missing adults, like this conference today. There's lots of parents here with missing children that were college age or in their 30s. I've met lots of parents who have said the same thing. Why does the media gravitate to one case and not to my case? How come I have never seen anything but local coverage of my son's disappearance or my daughter's disappearance?

Anderson, I can't figure it out. Somehow the media is involved. I guess the old question is, is it pack reporting? Why was it Laci Peterson? Because she was pregnant? That was a great story to cover. I think it had a lot to do with the conviction of Scott Peterson and finding the perpetrator, but there were lots of missing girls at that same time, and some of them pregnant.

I have never been able to figure it out. I just don't know. But it is heartbreaking, Anderson, absolutely. If you're the parent of a missing child, adult or juvenile, you always say, the media could be the way to break this case open and they just won't cover it.

COOPER: And that is -- it's -- you know, we're all culpable in this. You know, Jennifer Wilbanks is the person we are talking about today. It could be one of hundreds or thousands of other people who are out there missing in the United States.

John Walsh, it's always good to talk to you. Appreciate it. Thank you very much.

WALSH: Thank you, Anderson.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Well, we went back and checked, just how many missing women there are right now in the U.S. The number is staggering. According to the FBI's National Crime Information Center, right now there are more than 22,000 women over the age of 18 reported missing, 22,000. It's possible that could be just the tip of the iceberg, because as one Justice Department official told us, thousands more never even get reported to the FBI.

Coming up next on 360, a Nazi mystery. Decades old, perhaps finally solved. A former GI tells us how he thinks he might have helped a founder of the Gestapo cheat his executioner.

Also tonight, a buried treasure in a backyard, two chatty Cathys going to TV show after TV show, yammering on and on, and now they are so busted. It was a hoax, and they're arrested.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADOLF HITLER, LEADER OF THE NAZIS: (SPEAKING GERMAN).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: You might not have realized this, but 60 years ago tomorrow, Adolf Hitler took his own life as his 1,000-year Reich fell in about a dozen years.

But since, mysteries have remained. One of the biggest is how one of Hitler's key henchmen, Hermann Goering, managed to cheat the hangman by taking his own life first. How was it possible to slip poison to him past numerous guards whose express purpose were to make sure none of the convicted Nazis committed suicide? For six decades now, all we've had are questions. Tonight, we may now have an answer. Thelma Gutierrez with "The World in 360."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For five savage and bloody years, humanity has waited for this moment of retribution.

THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The year was 1946. The place, Nuremberg, Germany.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Twenty-one Nazis are to hear their fate.

GUTIERREZ: It was the mother of all trials.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: History's greatest trial nears its fateful close.

GUTIERREZ: The defendant who got top billing? Hermann Goering, the number two Nazi at the center of one of the greatest unsolved mysteries of World War II.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sentences you to death by hanging.

GUTIERREZ: But Goering didn't die by the hangman's noose. Instead, he cheated his executioner by dropping cyanide. Somehow, someone was able to get it into the fortress where 11 of the Nazis awaited execution.

For 60 years, many have wondered who that could have been.

In the high desert of Hesperia, California may lie the key to this mystery.

(on camera): Who was this?

HERBERT STIVERS, FORMER WWII HONOR GUARD: Albert Speer. Rudolf Hess. That was Goering, back in his heyday.

GUTIERREZ: For 60 years, decorated World War II veteran Herbert Stivers kept a secret. He is 78 now, but long ago he says, he was one of Herman Gering's prison guards.

HERBERT STIVERS, FRM. WWII HONOR GUARD: We talked about baseball. We talked about Charles A. Lindbergh. I talked to him like I'm talking to you.

GUTIERREZ: Back then, Army private Herbert Stivers was just 18 1/2 years old. He was an honored guard representing his country at the Nuremberg trials. He said his duties included guarding the infamous Nazis while they awaited execution.

STIVERS: Our duty was to kept them from killing themselves -- committing suicide. That was our prime job.

GUTIERREZ: But Stivers says he was young and naive at time, so when a flirtatious German girl name Mona befriend him and questioned him about the Nazi prisoners, he didn't think twice.

STIVERS: She asked me, she said. Would you -- could you get the autograph of Goering -- we would like to have it.

GUTIERREZ: Herbert says once he gave Mona Gering's autograph and proved that he had access to Gering, Mona immediately introduced him to two older men, Matthias and Eric.

STIVERS: They told me about Goering. He was a good friend of the family and they had known him for years. And he's -- they're not giving him the proper medicine. And would you be kind enough? I said, well, I can't take the medicine to him. We'll arrange it so that you can take it to him. So they put it in a fountain pen.

GUTIERREZ: Stivers says they gave him a Schaffer (ph) fountain pen with two small notes hidden inside. He said he took the pen to Goering in his cell.

Was it hard it sneak it in?

STIVERS: Oh, no. I could have taken an AK-47 in there. They didn't search us. We were trusted.

GUTIERREZ: Stivers says he then took the pen back to Mona and the men. And three or four days before Goering was scheduled to hang, Matthias told him to sneak the pen back in.

STIVERS: Evidently he told Goering -- the goods are in the pen. So he took the pen in his cell, what I gave him. He said just hand the pen to him, give him the pen. He knows what to do with it.

GUTIERREZ: Stivers says he only told one other person, also a guard, that he had taken Goering medicine. STIVERS: And he looked at me and said that medicine you took must have done the job.

GUTIERREZ: Stivers says much to his horror, he learned that two hours before Goering was to be hanged, his body was discovered in his cell. He had committed suicide by swallowing cyanide.

For 60 years, Stivers says he worried he was the one who allowed the Nazis to escape the gallows.

STIVERS: I don't have words for it. I was -- I just felt sick all over. I just felt weak. I felt like all life had left my body. I didn't know it was potassium cyanide. I wouldn't have dreamed of getting involved in something like that, something of that nature.

GUTIERREZ: An internal investigation was conducted.

Why didn't you speak up back then?

STIVERS: I was afraid. I was scared. I knew I would be in serious trouble.

GUTIERREZ: Stivers says he finally told his daughter Linda his story 15 years ago.

LINDA DADEY, STIVER'S DAUGHTER: I told my dad that when you pass away, a huge part of this puzzle in history's going to be gone forever. And you need to tell it.

GUTIERREZ: Over the years, there have been many theories about how Hermann Goering got the cyanide. One was that he had smuggled it into the prison himself by hiding it in a body cavity.

STIVERS: No way. They took up their clothes. Take a shower in the bathtub.

AARON BREITBART, SIMON WIESENTHAL CENTER: The other one is that his wife passed it to him in the last kiss from mouth to mouth.

GUTIERREZ: Holocaust expert, Aaron Breitbert says Stivers story may not be that far-fetched.

BREITBART: This is one of many theories I have heard. It's crazy enough to be true.

GUTIERREZ: Herbert Stivers has no way it prove his story. The other guard who held his secret died years ago. But Stivers says he would rather not be remembered as the young naive kid who helped a Nazi.

STIVERS: There is no way to prove a ticket, or no way to prove I didn't. Because no one that knew that was in it. The only one who knows is the guy that gave me the fountain pen, Matthias, and Hermann Goering, the guy I delivered it to.

(END VIDEOTAPE) GUTIERREZ: Herbert Stivers told me that very question weighed heavily on his mind for six decades. He says it was his daughter to break the silence and go public with the story. But Stivers says he only agreed to do so after she assured him he wouldn't be prosecuted, because the statute of limitations had run out years ago.

As for Mona and the two men, Stivers says they vanished after he delivered the pen -- Anderson.

COOPER: That's a remarkable story. If it's true, it must have been a hard secret to keep for all of these years. Thanks very much, Thelma, appreciate it.

The buried treasure hoax has been revealed in a moment. But first Erica Hill from HEADLINE NEWS joins with us a quick news note.

HILL: Hi again, Anderson.

We start off with some tough news out of Iraq. At least a dozen bombings there across the country today. At least 28 people killed. Most of them Iraqi security forces, 100 others were wounded. Among the dead? Three American soldiers. The violence comes a day after the Iraqi National Assembly chose a new cabinet.

In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, an HIV scare at school. A third grader pricked 19 other students with her mother's diabetes testing needle. Now health officials say one of the students has tested positive for HIV. They stress, though, it could be a false positive. The CDC says the risk of HIV from a needle prick is pretty low. On average, 1 in 300 cases.

In San Francisco, California, a win for logging protesters. A federal jury has found police used excessive force in 1997 when they put pepper spray in the eyes of the protesters. But the jury awarded the eight plaintiffs just a $1 each.

And in Eastern India, check out this baby. Yes, it's really a baby. 11 months old, weighing in at 48 pounds. And in this corner, the rice powder which may to be blame. His mom says he eats two pounds of the stuff every day. She insists, though, he is in good health. And, yes! That's your headlines for this hour.

Look at size of that kid!

COOPER: Yes. We showed those images to American Idol judge Paula Abdul a short time ago. I just wanted to show her your reaction.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAULA ABDUL, SINGER: This happens -- it seems to happen every single season.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Yes. She was amazed. HILL: Things happen, Anderson.

COOPER: Yeah. Later, actually, she even got very emotional. I think we have that video of her.

Yeah. She was overcome. She couldn't even talk anymore. She was just crying.

HILL: It happens. But, you know, what's nice is she really always has a kind word to say.

COOPER: Even for the little baby who eats two pounds of rice powder a day.

Erica Hill, thanks very much. See you again in about 30 minutes.

We've got a lot ahead tonight on 360: buried treasure hoax. You see these guys? They were talking a lot of morning shows about the loot they said found buried in the ground? Yes, it turns out it wasn't true and they've been arrested. We'll tell you details of that ahead.

Also, tonight, the fall of Saigon. 30 years ago, remembering this image.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: All right, so you know the saying "Silence is golden." Perhaps the meaning was lost on a couple of guys from New England. They made the rounds on TV. Maybe you saw them claiming to have found thousands of dollars buried a in backyard. Well, today the cops call it a hoax and the men are now facing some serious charges. This has been one of the most popular stories all day on CNN.com.

Rudi Bakhtiar is here to give us an angle you won't see anywhere else.

Rudi, what did you find?

RUDI BAKHTIAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: If there is any time where silence is golden, this one is it. We went looking, not for the treasure, but for an explanation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BAKHTIAR (voice-over): The first hint of trouble came of all places on late night television.

JIMMY KIMMEL, "JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE": So we arranged a live remote with these guys. These guys who found a treasure.

BAKHTIAR: Barry Billcliff and Timothy Crebase were supposed to be on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" last night to talk about finding all of that money. But it soon became clear that something was wrong.

KIMMEL: Is anyone there actually? Is this a producer or anybody out there.

BAKHTIAR: And then another guest showed up in their place, the police chief.

POLICE CHIEF JOSEPH SOLOMON: Right now, they're with the detectives, the U.S. Secret Service, and state police.

KIMMEL: Are they in trouble?

SOLOMON: Well, we're doing our investigation. And we'll know shortly, I hope.

BAKHTIAR: It didn't take long to find an answer.

SOLOMON: It came from a construction job that the men were doing. And they discovered the money in somebody else's house. And they came up with ploy so it would seem real. And that they'd be able it keep the money. Personally, if it was me, I wouldn't have gone on national TV.

BAKHTIAR: But they did. And that's what got everybody's attention.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I started digging and digging and all of a sudden I hit something.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He opened up the can and started pulling the dollars up out of the can.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was like this is just my dumb luck.

BAKHTIAR: Fifteen minutes of fame and that thirst for publicity may have been their undoing.

SOLOMON: I just think the excitement just grew and grew and grew. And it is exciting talking in front of the TV, and particularly when it's something so famous, that -- who finds buried treasure? I mean, I wish it was real and I wish it was me who found it. But that's an exciting thing to talk about, and I think it just got out of hand.

BAKHTIAR: If attention was what these men wanted, this wasn't the kind they may have been hoping for.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This stupid misunderstanding. So we'll get to the bottom of it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BAKHTIAR: Now in case you are wondering, the stash includes 1,800 bank note and bills baiting back from the 1899 to 1928. The materials actually had a face value of only about $7,000, but prosecutor Gabriel Clark said that the men had been offered $125,000 by a collector. There's an owner of a New Hampshire coin shop who also examined the currency and said it's all authentic. He gave varying experts ranging from $50,000 to $100,000. COOPER: Man, you know what, if you will steal something, if that is in fact what these two young men did, you just don't go on TV bragging about it.

BAKHTIAR: Well, that was the whole point of the guy we talked to. He said, you know, they're after attention really.

COOPER: Yes, well, they got. All right, Rudi Bakhtiar, thanks.

Lets find out what's coming up at the top of the hour on "PAULA ZAHN NOW" -- Paula.

PAULA ZAHN, HOST, PAULA ZAHN NOW: Hi, Anderson, thanks so much. Imagine being told you have to leave your homeland, leave behind your family, everything you've ever owned. And even though you're just a child, you have to get into a big airplane, go it a country you've never seen before, where you don't speak the language, you have it make a new life. And at the top of the hour, we're going to meet some courageous people who have been living that exact story for 30 years. Part of a legacy of the Vietnam War -- Anderson.

COOPER: All right. Paula, at the top of the hour, about seven minutes from now. Thanks.

Coming up next on 360, the strange names of Michael Jackson's offspring.

And 30 years later, the fall of Saigon and the mislabeled photo.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Last night as part of our coverage of the Michael Jackson case, I mentioned the name of one of Jermaine Jackson's son. His name is Jermajesty. Some of you e-mailed in your doubts.

K from New Britain, Connecticut writes, "Great show and all, but Jermajesty? I give you my sincere advice, dude, lay off the jokes."

K, dude, if I may call you dude. K, no joke. Jermaine Jackson has several kids. There's Jeremy (ph) and Jafar (ph), Jordan (ph) and Jermaine Jr and yes, Jermajesty. Michael of course has Prince Michael and Prince Michael II, so they're building quite a little royal court there in Neverland. Now, if only LaToya will step up and produce a LaQueena (ph), they'll be set.

Richard from St. Paul, Minnesota has a problem. He writes, "It seems the last couple of weeks I have been experiencing a lot of static on CNN, especially when picture changes from one person to another. Can you tell me about this?

You know, Richard, I've -- see -- you see, I've been noticing the same thing over the last couple of weeks. Let me just see if I can just fix this. OK. There. Got it. Good. I hope that cleans it up for you Richard.

If you've got something on your mind, just send us an e-mail at CNN.com/360. Click on the instant feedback link. What could be more simple?

Tonight take the unforgettable truth to "The Nth Degree." Certain images we remember forever. We've only to close our eyes to see them. Like this one. The scene in Saigon 30 years ago tomorrow, the last American helicopter poised to take off from the roof of the U.S. embassy, ending a war in which this country had been involved for a decade by then, at a cost of nearly 60,000 American, and perhaps one million Vietnamese lives. Except, as the man who took the photo writes in today's "New York Times, that isn't what this photo showed.

The free-lance photojournalist Hubert Van Es, says he sent the picture off, correctly captioned -- April 29, 1975. An Air America chopper leaving the roof of a Saigon apartment building. But something happened somewhere along the line, and this picture of his has become the one we all now see in our mind's eye whenever we think of the fall of Saigon.

The real fall was a day later. The real last chopper was not a Huey, but one of those big twin rotter Chinooks, which did take off from the embassy. Those on it were all Americans, not in Hubert Van Es famous picture, Vietnamese. So why, whenever we close our eyes, do we still this? Perhaps, because it would be impossible to imagine a more perfect illustration of a enterprise come to grief. A Jacob's Ladder not to heaven, but to a little helicopter far to small to accommodate those desperate to cross what is just about to become a bridge to nothing at all.

And those dozens of people still wait on that ladder as you saw, all Vietnamese, waited for many no more helicopters came to take them to safety.

I'm Anderson Cooper, thanks very much for watching 360 this week. Hope you have a great weekend, and we'll see you back on Monday.

CNN's prime time coverage continues right now with Paula Zahn. Hey Paula.

END

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