Skip to main content

48 HOURS MYSTERY: "Into Thin Air,"

A WIFE AND MOTHER DISAPPEARS, LEAVING BEHIND A MYSTERY THAT WOULD HAUNT FRIENDS AND FAMILY FOR 30 YEARS

"48 HOURS MYSTERY" ON SATURDAY, JUNE 20

As the wife of promising engineer Eugene Zapata and mother to three children, Jean Zapata was not your typical stay-at-home mom. Strong and independent, she was a trailblazer, one of the few female flight instructors of her day. But in 1976 she vanished from her Madison, Wis. home leaving behind friends, family and a mystery that would take 30 years to resolve.

After just three weeks, the initial investigation into her disappearance went cold. The Zapatas’ youngest daughter Linda, who was 11 years old at the time, grew up thinking her mother had abandoned them. Linda remained haunted until she received a visit from local authorities 28 years later. Thanks to the persistence of Jean’s lifelong friend Peggy Weekley, the case had been reopened. And with the help of Madison detective Marianne Flynn Statz, these women were united in their quest for answers, one that would involve sexually explicit photos, hidden documents, a safety deposit box and a secret that would tear the Zapata family apart.

Richard Schlesinger reports on 48 HOURS MYSTERY: "Into Thin Air," Saturday, June 20 (10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. This broadcast is produced by Brian Leonard. Nancy Kramer is the senior producer and Al Briganti is the executive editor. Susan Zirinsky is the executive producer.

Editors' Note: Click Here to watch a preview of the broadcast. CBS News 48 HOURS MYSTERY broadcasts are now available on iTunes.com.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Florida Sex Offender Registry

Reading the news today, I was taken back to see that the Florida Sex Offender registry was being criticized. Having had the chance to look at it previously, I had always found it rather informative, and well organized. The issue that many are having with it now wouldn't be noticed by the occasional browser on the site. Which makes it even worse. A review of the FSR has found some rather unsettling statistics: The News-Press analyzed the Florida Department of Law Enforcement database of 36,306 sex offenders and found: • 9,205 of them are incarcerated • 7,037 have run away or can't be found • 824 have been deported; and • 516 are dead. Of the 15,573 sex offenders listed as released and not on parole or probation, only 11,355 of those actually live in Florida. Sex offender registries can only be usefully, and only fully do what they where designed to do when they are updated, maintained and monitored continuously. When you are relying on the SO registries to monitors how safe your...

This land is my land, this land is not your land...

I was reading the illegal immigrant news this morning... you know, all about the Spanish National anthem... and all about their big rally May 2... and I started thinking. Perhaps, just perhaps we need to stand up. It may be a really good time to remind everyone who's country this is. 12 million illegals... heh, I think we can beat that. The rough estimate is that the US has a population of 298,000,000, or close too it. Take away the estimated 12 million illegals, and we still have 286,000,000 give or take some. So, basically, if one were to be honest- a boycott by legal citizens would be more impressive. 12 million illegals, who can not legally vote verses 286 million citizens who can minus children and some criminals. My country. Not theirs. My taxes, my jobs, my political leaders. 286 million people should be able to remind law makers just who put them in office. 286 million people should be able to remind companies who buys their products. 286 million people should be able to si...

Jamie Rose Bolin

Jamie Bolin was last seen alive on Wednesday, while at the local library... and although she was reported missing when she failed to return home, no Amber Alert was issued until Thursday night. I understand the need to maintain certain criteria should be met when issuing an Amber Alert... I realise the importance of attempting to ensure that the public doesn't become conditioned to the alerts and slowly begin to ignore them... and yet, something in me is completely bothered that a 10 year old can go missing without people being informed of it. The police believe, according to a statement released that even if an Amber Alert had been released- we'd still be faced with the same horrible end to this story... but how can they know that? What is the possibility that someone may have seen even the smallest piece of evidence and called LE? Can we really accept that there was nothing that could have saved this child? Now, I don't mean to criticize anyone, I really don't. I ju...