0:00

I got out of the shower as

0:02

I was cleaning off the mirror and

0:04

I saw fingers pushing through my window.

0:07

He looked very demonic and

0:09

he said like a really

0:11

scrappy voice, he said, hey,

0:14

I headed up that way and

0:16

my dog barked and I looked over and

0:19

he was probably 20 feet away from me

0:21

walking straight towards me. He

0:23

used her phone after he had killed

0:26

her to add me on Facebook. I'm

0:29

Jamie Beebe. And I'm Jake Deptula. We're

0:31

the hosts of Strictly Stalking, bringing you heroic

0:33

stories of those who have survived at the

0:36

hands of a stalker. To hear these

0:38

stories and more, listen to Strictly Stalking

0:40

wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks

0:43

for watching, and I'll be back

0:45

in a few minutes. Bye. Bye-bye, Strictly

0:47

Stalking. Yay!

0:56

Hi Strictly Stalking. Yay! Hello

1:18

everyone and welcome to episode 361 of the

1:20

True Crime All the Time Unsolved Podcast. I'm

1:23

Mike Ferguson, and with me as always is

1:25

my partner in true crime, Mike Gibson. Hey,

1:27

baby, how are you? Hey, I'm doing okay,

1:29

how about you? Doing really well. Good. We're

1:32

talking about it on TCAB, but my youngest daughter is home,

1:36

finished her first year of college. She did.

1:38

So it's awesome to have her home, and

1:41

we've been missing her like crazy, so I'm

1:44

looking forward to having her home for the

1:46

whole summer. She's even smarter. And

1:48

I'm sure she is smarter. Well,

1:51

she was smarter than you when she left.

1:53

That's true. Now, she's smarter than

1:55

both of us, probably. Yeah,

1:57

and she knows a few things, or you know... like

2:00

it. I don't

2:02

know what that means but we'll

2:04

just keep going. Let's go ahead

2:07

and do our patreon shout outs.

2:09

We had merbin v. Hey merbin.

2:11

Chris Powers. What's going on Powers?

2:13

D Castro. Hey D. Whitney. Well

2:15

what's up Whitney? Lindsay. Hey Lindsay.

2:17

Mike. Well thank you Mike. Christina

2:20

Lu. Hey Lu. Cindy Ramirez. What's

2:22

going on Ramirez? The original Christine

2:24

Campbell. Thank you Christine. Anna Paredes.

2:27

Paredes. Deborah Dienstfry.

2:29

Jumped out at our highest level. What

2:32

up Deborah? And last but not

2:34

least, Leah. Well thank you Leah. And then

2:36

if we go back into the vault, this

2:40

week we selected Emma Boude. Boude.

2:42

So we appreciate the new support,

2:44

the continued support. We have so

2:46

much stuff out right now. Saturday

2:48

night we dropped a brand new

2:51

patreon only episode on

2:53

Edith Louise Schmidt. And

2:55

this is a case that goes back to the

2:58

60s. Edith was a young

3:00

wife and mother having an affair and

3:03

this man ended up killing her

3:05

husband. Yeah. She at first

3:07

denied having anything to do with it but police

3:09

kind of wrapped her up into it as well.

3:12

We also have a brand new episode out right

3:14

now on True Crime All the Time where we're

3:16

talking about Matthew Owens.

3:19

Oh man. And Matthew Owens was

3:21

a police officer in the

3:24

small city of Nome, Alaska and

3:26

turned out to be a really

3:28

really awful, terrible,

3:31

individual. Probably a future

3:33

serial killer. If he hadn't

3:35

have been caught. Yeah. I think so.

3:37

Alright buddy, are you ready to get

3:39

into this episode of True Crime All the

3:41

Time Unsolved? I am ready. We're talking about

3:44

Sabrina Eisenberg. Sabrina

3:46

was just five months old when

3:49

she disappeared from her home

3:51

in Valrico, Florida. Her

3:53

parents were the main suspects from

3:55

the beginning of the investigation. Two

3:58

years after Sabrina disappeared, appeared, they

4:01

were indicted for perjury and conspiracy,

4:04

but the charges were later dropped. Sabrina

4:06

has never been found, but her family

4:08

still believes she's alive. This was

4:11

a case that captivated me back in the

4:13

day. Yeah, and you said it was

4:16

kind of one of those cases that

4:18

really sparked. Yeah. You know, you're interested

4:20

in a true crime. We all have

4:22

those cases that kind of

4:24

stand out to us that we remember.

4:27

I just remember, how could this happen? And

4:30

I remember looking at the parents on the

4:32

news and had my own thoughts. And

4:35

then, you know, the

4:37

case just kind of dwindled away.

4:40

I always wondered, what happened?

4:43

Well, we will explore that in this

4:45

episode. Sabrina Paige Eisenberg was

4:47

born on June 27th, 1997. Sabrina

4:52

was the third child of Steve

4:54

and Marlene Eisenberg. She had two

4:56

older siblings named William and Monica,

4:58

who were four and eight years

5:00

old. In 1993, the family

5:03

moved to Florida. They lived

5:05

in Valrico, a suburb of Tampa.

5:08

Steve Eisenberg worked in real estate,

5:10

and Marlene ran a daycare center

5:13

from her home. According

5:15

to CNN, the Eisenbergs sometimes

5:17

left their windows and doors

5:19

unlocked because they lived in

5:21

a safe community. The family

5:24

had an alarm system, but their

5:26

neighbors told the Tampa Tribune they

5:28

never used it. Before Sabrina went

5:30

missing, there were several

5:32

reports of attempted break-ins in the

5:35

area. And I get it. You

5:37

know, a lot of people think they

5:39

live in a safe community. Sure.

5:42

And they could be correct. Until

5:44

something happens, it kind

5:46

of shatters that notion. Right. You

5:49

know, we go back to the 40s, the 50s, the 60s. There

5:53

were towns all across America

5:56

that thought, ah, this town's

5:58

great. It's safe. need to lock

6:01

the doors and windows until

6:03

that one thing occurred

6:06

in the town and it kind of

6:08

changed everybody's perspective. Before

6:10

you know it, they're locking

6:12

up or getting alarms and... Buying

6:15

guns and all of that. I

6:17

know some people I know make fun of me because

6:19

I lock up my house. You know,

6:21

I live in a pretty small farm village.

6:24

I lock it up. They're like, why are

6:26

you locking up? You can just leave it unlocked.

6:29

And look, do you not know I do

6:31

a true crime podcast? You know, I

6:33

mean... Yeah, I mean, I consider

6:35

my area to be pretty safe.

6:38

Absolutely. You know, I keep everything

6:40

locked up. I've got the alarm.

6:42

It just... I... That

6:44

just makes me feel better. My

6:47

thought has always been, why take a

6:49

chance? There's no reason to.

6:52

Yeah, I mean, it's enough said before, it's extreme

6:54

here, you know, the fingerprint

6:56

machine to get access

6:58

to retina, eye scan.

7:02

To even get through the door. Yeah, we

7:04

take no chances here at the Ferguson household.

7:07

Sabrina Eisenberg went missing between

7:09

midnight and 6 a.m. on

7:12

Monday, November 24th, 1997. Steven

7:16

Marlene tucked the kids in.

7:18

On the night of November

7:20

23rd, Marlene checked on Sabrina

7:22

around midnight and she was

7:24

sleeping peacefully in her crib.

7:26

Steven Marlene would later say they slept on

7:29

the opposite side of the home from

7:31

the kids, which made it hard to

7:33

hear small noises from their bedroom. You

7:36

know, back when my kids were that

7:38

age, I always kept a

7:40

baby monitor. That's exactly what I was

7:42

thinking about. The bedroom that my wife

7:45

and I have is across

7:47

the hall from the kids'

7:50

room. Right. But we always had

7:52

a baby monitor going when they

7:54

were when they were really young. Marlene

7:57

got up sometime after 6 a.m. She

8:00

said she was woken up by

8:02

noises from the fish tank or

8:04

a TV alarm. She checked

8:07

on Sabrina and saw that her crib was

8:09

empty. The other children were still in

8:11

the house and were unharmed. Marlene

8:13

called 911 at 6 42 a.m. And

8:17

said my baby has been kidnapped. In

8:21

2009 Steve told CNN I heard my

8:24

wife's screams. We searched in the house

8:26

and that's when my wife noticed the

8:28

garage door had been left open and

8:30

even worse the door leading

8:33

from the garage to the laundry room

8:35

and into our house was wide open.

8:38

So easy access right through

8:40

the garage through the entry door in the

8:42

garage into the house. Those

8:45

are things that normally when

8:48

I go to bed at night I make my

8:50

rounds. Yeah, I check all

8:52

those. Yeah I even have an

8:54

app on my iPhone that tells

8:56

me whether or not the garage

8:58

doors shut or closed. Yeah, I

9:00

don't even have to open the door. I can just

9:02

open up the app and it'll say it's closed. But

9:04

even back then I mean you would have major I

9:07

mean most people we would make around. Make

9:10

sure things are secure before you go to bed

9:12

at night. At least that's how I was. Yeah, no,

9:14

I get it. You know if you

9:16

want to talk about people leaving their windows

9:19

open because they want to

9:22

get a breeze or whatever it is. Right. You

9:24

can understand that. Leaving the garage

9:27

door open, leaving the

9:29

door from the garage into the

9:31

house unlocked, that's

9:34

about as bad as it gets because

9:36

the garage door being open is almost

9:38

like a flashing neon

9:41

sign. Sure. And I'm not

9:43

putting the blame on them. I'm just stating

9:45

a fact when somebody sees

9:48

an open garage door in

9:50

the middle of the night and their

9:52

intent on doing something

9:54

it could be stealing something out of

9:57

your garage. Well, now let's say they

9:59

noticed that the door doors open leading

10:01

into the house from the garage. You're

10:04

just opening yourself up to

10:06

a lot of possibilities and it

10:08

could be a complete accident. Oh, for sure.

10:10

I'm not saying this was done on purpose.

10:13

I'm just saying, obviously that's a

10:15

very bad situation. You know,

10:17

I've seen neighbors garage doors open really

10:19

late at night and I'm thinking, I want

10:22

to kind of go over there and just shut it for them. But

10:24

then I'm like, I don't want to get like caught.

10:26

You might get shot. A good deed. But

10:28

then they think I'm doing the bad deed.

10:30

Yeah. I remember, um, this was years ago,

10:33

four or five years ago, maybe. I

10:35

accidentally forgot to shut

10:38

the garage door and I didn't check it,

10:40

which is strange, not like me. Yeah. And

10:43

about three o'clock in the morning, uh,

10:45

a local, the local police showed up

10:48

an officer who was driving by, ringing

10:51

the doorbell and it freaked me out. Who's

10:53

ringing the doorbell at three o'clock in the

10:55

morning. And I go down in

10:57

my boxers, hair's all a mess.

10:59

What hair I have, opened the door

11:02

and he says, Hey, your,

11:04

uh, your garage door is open. And I

11:07

thought that was really nice. Yeah. I'm surprised you

11:09

woke up for that. Well I didn't, my wife

11:11

woke up and then she woke me up and said,

11:13

Hey, somebody's at the door. Yeah. Go get that. There

11:16

were no signs of forced entry in

11:18

the house. Why would there be? Yeah. And if

11:21

somebody came in through the garage there,

11:23

there absolutely wouldn't be Steven Marlene asked

11:25

their neighbors if they'd seen the baby,

11:27

but no one had. Sounds

11:29

a little strange. Hey, have you seen the baby? Like

11:32

it's five months old. What's the, it's not like

11:35

baby's day out. Yeah. Is that what you're

11:37

thinking? Yeah. I get it. But you're

11:39

probably so frantic as a

11:42

parent. You're just asking people things. Maybe

11:44

even if it doesn't make sense, you're

11:46

just trying to figure something out. There

11:48

was a man named Pete McDonald who

11:51

lived in the same subdivision as

11:53

the Eisenbergs. He was woken up

11:55

in the middle of the night because his dog

11:58

wanted out. He let the dog out. back

12:00

door and heard a baby crying,

12:02

which he thought was strange. And

12:04

I didn't think a whole lot

12:06

about it until he received news

12:08

that Sabrina was missing. No

12:10

one followed up with Pete after he

12:12

called the police, according to his wife,

12:15

Mary McDonald, which is

12:17

disappointing. It's disappointing. It's

12:19

also very strange because I

12:21

don't know how many tips you're having come in.

12:25

Yeah. In a case like

12:27

this. So to get this phone call

12:29

and to not follow up on it,

12:32

that does seem odd. And I don't know if

12:34

I, if I would have heard a baby crying

12:36

in the middle of the night, if

12:38

I just wouldn't at least kind

12:40

of check it out a little bit. Yeah,

12:43

I get it. I'm, I'm assuming

12:45

he probably thought maybe a window

12:47

was open. He was hearing the

12:49

baby crying from inside a house,

12:52

you know, in his neighborhood. I don't

12:54

know. The Tampa Tribune reported

12:56

that Martha and Charles Jones

12:58

were woken up by their dogs

13:01

between three and 4 a.m. Charles

13:04

looked outside, but didn't see

13:06

anything unusual. Neighbors also

13:08

said the Eisenberg's dog was inside

13:10

the house at night, but was

13:12

found outside in the morning. Now

13:15

sources did not report further about

13:17

this detail. It is possible the

13:19

dog got out during all the

13:21

chaos that occurred that morning. I

13:24

think the dog could have got out anytime through

13:26

the night if the garage door was

13:28

wide open and the door to the house was

13:30

wide open. Yeah. But here, I think

13:33

what you do have is

13:36

dog activity happening, you

13:39

know, three, four in the morning.

13:42

What do you make of that? You

13:44

know, it could be that someone

13:46

was walking around through these backyards,

13:51

something that probably didn't happen a lot

13:53

at three or four in the morning.

13:56

It seemed like the police were

13:58

suspicious of Marlene and Steve from

14:00

the beginning. They wanted to know how or

14:02

why no one heard anything

14:04

during the night. In

14:07

2001, Marlene told people, the police told

14:09

me that very first day that they

14:11

thought I had done it. A policeman

14:13

looked me right in the eye and

14:15

said, we think you know what happened.

14:17

Now I'm just going to tell you right now, if

14:20

you're five month old is missing and

14:22

you had nothing to do with it and

14:24

a police officer comes out

14:27

and accuses you of something, that's

14:29

going to be really tough to stomach.

14:32

It is. Yeah. Because you're

14:34

already grieving, you're probably

14:37

not sleeping, you're upset

14:40

for sure. I mean that would

14:42

infuriate me. Oh absolutely. I mean

14:45

I know why sometimes the police say

14:47

that. Well I know why they look

14:50

at it. Yes. Now she's

14:52

saying the very first day

14:55

this is what they said. Kind of harsh. Seems

14:58

like it. Yeah. Unless you have

15:00

some really good evidence to

15:02

support why you're saying it. Well and again, we're

15:04

going to have to try to figure out maybe

15:07

what that was or what led them in that

15:09

direction. The other thing

15:12

I want to go back to is, okay police

15:15

asking why didn't you hear anything

15:17

during the night? I can tell

15:19

you right now, I don't hear

15:21

anything at night. Yeah. I

15:23

sleep so soundly. So

15:28

my wife and I will be talking the

15:30

next morning. She'll say, did you hear all

15:32

that thunder? Did

15:34

you hear this? Did you hear, I said I didn't hear

15:37

none of it. Yeah. Yeah you don't. You're

15:39

a heavy sleeper. You made that well known

15:42

and maybe they were or maybe

15:44

because the baby was on the other

15:46

side of the house where

15:48

the other rooms were versus where the

15:50

bedroom, owner's suite bedroom was, makes it

15:53

kind of tough to hear things. Officers

15:55

search the Eisenberg's two vehicles

15:57

and question them that morning.

16:00

The couple first spoke to the media at 9 30

16:02

a.m. According

16:04

to the Washington post, Marlene

16:06

said this morning, someone came

16:09

into our home and took our baby

16:11

out of her crib and took her out

16:13

of her home. And I'm begging that person

16:16

to please bring our baby back to us.

16:18

And that's exactly what you would expect

16:20

the parents to say. Yeah. You

16:23

would expect them to plead with whoever

16:27

took this baby to bring

16:29

them back unharmed. I mean, there's

16:31

been other cases where people have

16:34

actually went into a family's home

16:36

and stolen the baby. Yeah.

16:38

We've done some of them, you know, some

16:40

of them are, or it's actually

16:42

somebody else and sometimes it's where the

16:44

family member, you know, isn't, is

16:47

involved. I mean, and then you got, you

16:49

know, some really famous cases, the

16:51

Lindbergh case. Sure. Yeah. I

16:53

mean, it happens all different types

16:55

of way. And I

16:57

understand police wanting to,

17:00

to look at the parents, you know,

17:02

you kind of look inside out,

17:04

that's normally the way they do it,

17:06

but to come out on the first day, I'm

17:09

still trying to figure out what they knew

17:12

or what they had that made

17:14

them believe they were involved. Steve

17:17

and Marlene went to the sheriff's

17:19

office on November 25th for a

17:21

second interview. They both took

17:23

polygraphs. Steve passed his

17:25

polygraph, but Marlene's results

17:27

were inconclusive. ABC reported

17:29

that she did not pass

17:31

a second polygraph. So imagine

17:34

what that looked like to the public when

17:36

that was released. Yeah. I'm sure

17:38

it swung, you know, public

17:41

opinion against them

17:44

at the very least Marlene. And

17:46

I'm sure that the investigators

17:48

that were thinking that

17:51

they had some type of involvement probably

17:53

even pushed that up higher. Well,

17:55

they definitely started questioning her

17:58

more aggressively. So she

18:00

and Steve decided to hire a

18:02

lawyer and their decision to

18:05

hire a lawyer didn't help their public

18:07

image. But Marlene said they

18:09

felt they had no choice because they

18:11

were being accused of

18:13

being involved in the disappearance. And

18:16

this is kind of something that

18:18

you see in many cases. You

18:20

know, once it's thrown out

18:23

there that someone is involved,

18:25

OK, people start to look

18:28

at them differently. Now,

18:30

you fail a polygraph. OK,

18:33

people are going to take that into account. And

18:36

then when you hire an attorney, a lot

18:38

of people view that negatively.

18:41

Yeah. Well, you must be guilty if you

18:43

have an attorney. Yeah, because there

18:45

is that perception on the part of

18:47

some that why would you need an

18:50

attorney unless you were guilty? Now, I

18:52

think we know that's not the

18:54

case. No. But that's

18:57

still a perception that some people have.

18:59

I think over the years, people understand

19:01

even more so why you would probably want

19:04

to get an attorney as soon as possible.

19:06

Well, and you can make the case

19:09

that they would have not hired

19:11

an attorney had the questioning turned

19:13

so aggressive. Yes. They hired

19:16

defense attorney Barry Cohen on November 26,

19:18

1997. Cohen

19:21

advised them to stop cooperating with

19:23

the police unless he was there

19:26

and the conversation could be recorded. You

19:29

can talk about all of this and

19:31

what it means as

19:33

far as public perception, but

19:36

you can't lose sight of the fact

19:38

of what it means to the investigation.

19:40

Right. You know, because does

19:42

it become less

19:45

of an investigation

19:47

into, you know, where

19:49

is Sabrina? What happened to Sabrina

19:51

and more into an investigation

19:54

into the parents? Well,

19:56

that's what you have to be concerned about. Like you said, for

19:58

the parents. they're

20:00

gonna be worried that hey you you're so

20:03

focused on us you're not trying

20:05

to find our daughter. Well and does

20:07

it make it harder for police because

20:09

now the parents are not

20:11

cooperating as much as they were. Or

20:15

would like to. Or would like to. They can't

20:17

because they're worried about how it's gonna be

20:19

twisted. It's a tough

20:21

situation because if they are involved

20:24

you don't want to let up on them. Right. But

20:26

if they're not involved then you've

20:29

alienated them and now

20:31

they're adversarial and

20:33

that doesn't help anybody. Meanwhile investigators

20:35

took several items from the

20:37

home including Sabrina's crib and

20:40

bedding. These items were

20:42

sent to the FBI lab for

20:44

analysis. Fox 13 reported

20:46

that seven unidentified fingerprints were found

20:48

in the home as well

20:51

as an unidentified blonde hair

20:54

and a shoe print near Sabrina's crib.

20:56

I don't know if that really means a lot to

20:59

say that there were seven unidentified fingerprints

21:01

in a home like that. I just

21:04

don't know if that really means a lot. Yeah

21:06

I don't know what it means. Obviously

21:08

it depends on how many different people

21:10

you have in your home over

21:13

the years. I'm assuming if my

21:15

house was fingerprinted

21:17

there would be unidentified

21:20

fingerprints. Oh for sure.

21:22

Not belonging to you

21:24

or the family because that's the

21:26

five people who are here the

21:28

most. Exactly. But other people

21:30

have been allowed access. Strangely

21:33

you've let other people come in

21:35

here. Cautiously. Cautiously is more like it. True

21:38

Crime All The Time Unsolved is brought

21:40

to you by progressive insurance. Most of

21:42

you listening right now are probably multitasking.

21:44

Yep while you're listening to Gibby and

21:47

I talk you're probably also driving, cleaning,

21:49

exercising or maybe even grocery shopping. But

21:51

if you're not in some kind of

21:53

moving vehicle there's something else you can

21:55

be doing right now. Getting an auto

21:57

quote from progressive insurance. It's easy. And

22:00

you could save money by doing it right from

22:02

your phone. Drivers who saved by switching to progressive

22:04

save nearly $750 on average. And

22:08

auto customers qualify for an average of

22:10

seven discounts. Discounts for having multiple vehicles

22:12

in your policy, being a homeowner and

22:15

more. So just like your favorite podcasts,

22:17

progressive will be with you 24 seven,

22:21

365 days a year. So you're

22:23

protected no matter what multitask right

22:25

now, quote your car insurance at

22:27

progressive.com to join the over 28

22:29

million drivers who trust progressive progressive

22:32

casualty insurance company and affiliates. National

22:34

average 12 months savings of $744

22:36

by new customer surveyed who saved

22:40

with progressive between June, 2022 and May, 2023. Potential

22:45

savings will vary discounts not available

22:47

in all States and situations. You

22:51

know, that's the sound of another sale

22:53

on your online Shopify store, but did

22:56

you know Shopify powers selling in person

22:58

too? That's right. Shopify is the

23:00

sound of selling everywhere online, in

23:02

store, on social media and beyond

23:05

track every sale across your business in

23:07

one place and know exactly what's in

23:09

stock. Connect with customers in

23:11

line and online to retail. Right.

23:13

With Shopify sign up for a $1 per

23:16

month trial period at shopify.com/true

23:18

crime. Ignite your

23:21

passion for discovery at the Kosai science

23:23

festival may first through the fourth experience

23:25

three days packed with interactive community events,

23:28

featuring exhibits, live demos and engaging conversations

23:30

with experts in science, technology, engineering, arts

23:32

and math. And on Saturday, May 4th,

23:35

join us for the free big science

23:37

celebration featuring over 100 exhibitors, all

23:40

with interactive activities to share. And of

23:42

course, there will be larger than life

23:44

science demonstrations, live music and more from

23:46

11 a.m. until 5 p.m. Just outside

23:48

of Kosai, visit Kosi cyfest.org to learn

23:50

more on December 10th, 60

23:52

divers and 50 Officers searched land

23:55

and bodies of water within a

23:57

five mile radius of the home.

24:00

They found nothing. On. December Eleventh.

24:02

Authorities. Searched a ten mile stretch

24:04

of the a la fia river. After.

24:07

They received a tip from America's

24:09

Most Wanted, which had recently covered

24:11

the case. During. The course

24:13

of the investigation, law enforcement would

24:16

follow up on tips and forty

24:18

nine states. And several

24:20

countries. That's. All how to tips

24:22

coming in it are taking you to

24:25

forty nine different state. That. So

24:27

whole water. When. We've discussed

24:29

it before, but. If. You

24:31

can get a case profiled on America's

24:33

Most Wanted. Back. In that

24:35

time period. There's. A lot

24:37

of people that watch that show. And

24:40

a lot of cases. That. Were

24:42

profiled. got a lot of tips.

24:45

In. January Nineteen Ninety Eight

24:47

after taking a privately administered

24:50

lie detector tests. Dies.

24:52

And Berg's went on a media

24:54

blitz, appearing on The Today Show,

24:56

Dateline, Larry King, The Oprah Winfrey

24:59

Show, and other national and local

25:01

news outlets. For. That's what she'd wanna

25:03

do, right? You'd wanna? Get. Your

25:05

story out to the media. To. Help

25:07

find your daughter. By. Is.

25:10

That the only story they're trying to

25:12

get out. Because. My saw it

25:14

is yes they're They're talking about their

25:16

daughter. They want to find their daughter.

25:19

but are they also talking about and

25:21

I'll have all the details from all

25:23

these different interviews I can't imagine. They're

25:26

also not. Bemoaning. The

25:28

fact that they're being. Hounded

25:30

or. Viewed. As sauce back

25:32

soon and all that as well. Yeah, I'm

25:35

sure that they're attorney said hey, we gotta

25:37

try to help. Clear. Up your reputation.

25:39

My were out there. On January

25:41

Thirtieth, Nineteen Ninety it dies

25:43

and birds were served subpoenas

25:45

to pure. Before. The grandeur.

25:48

They. Made their appearance on February tenth.

25:50

In. March Nineteen Ninety Eight, Marlene

25:53

was back on data expressing her

25:55

disbelief that she was accused of

25:57

harming her. don't. So. Is.

26:00

It's almost like they're on

26:02

both offense and defense at the same

26:04

time. Yeah. Offense from

26:07

the standpoint that they're trying

26:09

to get the word out, they wanna find their

26:11

daughter, but at the same time

26:13

they're having to defend themselves. That

26:15

would be rough, right? If you didn't have

26:17

anything to do with it, that you're constantly

26:19

having to defend yourself when you're going

26:22

onto these shows, just to seek

26:24

awareness and help to find your

26:27

daughter. Well, not just about the shows,

26:29

but in everyday life, it would

26:31

have to take away from your ability

26:34

to give everything to the search. Yeah,

26:39

and I'm sure, like you said, just everyday

26:41

life, you're going into the grocery store, the

26:43

bank, wherever, I'm sure you

26:45

got people looking at you like, yeah, there's

26:47

that mom who did something to her

26:50

daughter. In the summer

26:52

of 1999, the family moved to

26:54

Bethesda, Maryland, which is Steve's hometown.

26:57

They were hoping to avoid publicity,

26:59

but by this point,

27:01

that was pretty much impossible. I

27:03

think it'd be hard to move, but I

27:05

understand, if you have all that type

27:08

of publicity on you that maybe, and for

27:10

your other kids, you'd want to, but

27:12

for me, I don't know, until

27:14

I knew where my daughter was. Yeah,

27:17

I absolutely get you, and we've heard from people,

27:20

right? They wouldn't change their phone number,

27:22

ever. They wouldn't get rid of a phone. They

27:25

wouldn't move just because they

27:28

were sitting by the phone waiting for

27:30

their loved one to walk

27:32

through the door or call or whatever it

27:34

is, but I don't know

27:37

if some of those people were being

27:39

looked at as possibly having had something

27:41

to do with their

27:44

loved ones' disappearance. So maybe

27:46

that was a little easier for them. Yeah,

27:49

yeah, I'm sure. If you're going

27:51

outside to get your mail and your neighbor's all staring

27:53

at you like, we

27:55

know what you did. Marlene and

27:57

Steve recalled that their new neighbor,

28:00

The wouldn't allow their children to play

28:02

with the Eisenberg kids see was not

28:04

allowed to coach children sports which he

28:06

had always done in Florida. He said

28:09

he was only allowed to watch games

28:11

is he didn't speak to anyone. Marlene.

28:14

Moss her career working with children.

28:17

Know. That makes any sense to me if you didn't

28:19

do anything wrong. And. You are charged

28:21

with anything. How. Could that

28:23

be? Imposed. On you. Or.

28:26

Are they saying that? These. If

28:28

an organization said all your that guy, yeah,

28:30

we don't want to. Our. Coach. In

28:32

our kids and you become the games where

28:34

we don't want to speak into any the

28:36

kids. I. Don't think there was anything

28:38

it could. Restrict. Them. It.

28:41

Does seem Little Ross is you've not

28:43

been. Even charged right

28:45

where the crime. But. Months

28:48

later there was a major development in

28:50

the case. On. September ninth. Ninety

28:52

Nine Minutes. Stephen. Marlene

28:54

Eisenberg were indicted on

28:56

seven counts of conspiracy

28:58

and perjury. Steve. Was

29:01

arrested at work and Marlene was arrested

29:03

at home. People. Reported that

29:05

Marlene tried to call her lawyer.

29:08

Instead. Of opening the door immediately.

29:10

So F B I agents used a

29:12

battering ram to knock down her front

29:14

door. Pretty. Dramatic. I

29:17

guess it they did not want. To

29:19

wait. For. Her to open the door. Now

29:21

could have also been a a safety isa

29:24

sites. They had no idea what she was

29:26

doing you know behind closed doors. The.

29:28

Tampa Tribune reported that Marlene refused

29:30

open the door. After five

29:32

minutes of knocking, And. Hung up

29:35

when she was caught south. I think

29:37

that adds a little bit more. Contacts

29:39

her us to add. The. Indict

29:41

man accused a couple

29:43

of lying, misleading investigators

29:45

and the public's and

29:47

capitalizing financially on the

29:49

publicity from Sabrina. Disappear.

29:52

Fund. Raisers things like that. They. Were

29:54

not indicted on murder charges, but

29:56

the and Diamond suggest they knew

29:58

what happened to sober. that

30:00

they may be responsible for her

30:02

death and that they had a

30:05

family pact to conceal it, per

30:07

the Washington Post. So those

30:09

are very, very serious

30:12

accusations. Sure it is. Short of

30:14

you murdered your daughter. The

30:16

indictment accused the couple of using

30:19

donations to pay off their credit

30:21

card debt. It also stated

30:23

that Marlene told a deputy sheriff, who

30:25

came to the house after she called

30:27

911, that she was woken

30:29

up by a loud fish tank on

30:32

the morning of November 24th, 1997. Two hours later,

30:34

she told other investigators that she heard the

30:39

wake up alarm on her TV.

30:42

So conflicting stories. Yes. And

30:45

again, I don't know what you make of

30:47

that. Could you have heard both

30:49

things? Possibly. Could

30:52

you have been so

30:54

discombobulated that you said the wrong

30:56

thing? Maybe. Maybe. I mean,

30:59

it's a very stressful moment in your

31:01

life. If you had nothing to do with

31:03

it, that you're going to be stressed and we really

31:06

remember what woke you up. But I

31:08

want to get your take on this

31:10

allegation that the couple

31:12

used donations to pay off their

31:14

credit card debt. Yeah, if

31:17

that's true, that's wrong.

31:19

Right? Well, is it? That's

31:22

what I want to talk about because what

31:24

are the donations for? Yeah,

31:27

I mean, technically, legally,

31:29

are you obligated to

31:31

use that money specifically

31:33

for some something?

31:36

Or what if you use your credit

31:38

card to pay for

31:40

flyers? Right. What if you use

31:42

your credit card to put ads in the paper? You

31:45

know, now you got the money, you're going

31:47

to pay off your credit card. Yeah, and

31:49

I'm not saying that's what they did. I

31:51

just kind of wanted to bring that up.

31:53

When you hear it, your first reaction is,

31:55

oh, that's not good. Yeah. Because you were

31:57

assuming that they're paying off Amazon.

32:00

purchases or vacations

32:02

or whatever it is. Whatever. But

32:04

what if the credit card charges

32:07

were related to the search

32:09

for Sabrina? Would it then change

32:12

your opinion? Yeah. Or would it

32:14

then change it legally? Or

32:16

what if they use the cash they had on hand

32:18

that they were going to pay their credit card

32:20

bill with, but said, I'm going to take

32:22

this cash and go down and get a thousand

32:25

flyers printed and now it's time to

32:27

pay their credit card bill. Oh, shoot, I use

32:29

that cash. So I'll just use this donation. I

32:32

think that would be a little more gray. I

32:34

know, but I mean, but you just, unless

32:36

you dive into their credit card expenses

32:39

and see what they paid, yeah, it's hard. But

32:41

you know, if that runs, but you

32:43

know, when that ran into paper, it looks

32:46

bad. It looks really bad. Yeah. Just like

32:48

it did to you right off the top

32:50

of your head. Absolutely. The indictment

32:52

alleged that two months later, Steve

32:54

and Marlene realized they couldn't

32:56

remember what they originally said. So they

32:59

decided to tell the federal grand jury,

33:01

the TV alarm went off at 6

33:03

22 or 6 24

33:05

AM. The couple was

33:07

shown enlarged photos of

33:09

Sabrina, which were taken from a

33:12

home video recorded on November 22nd, 1997. Prosecutors

33:16

argued that a pediatrician reviewed the

33:19

photos and said it looked like

33:21

hair was pulled out of Sabrina's

33:23

head. And the area around

33:25

her left eye was bruised. Detectives

33:27

also claimed that a hairdresser

33:29

who cut the kid's hair

33:32

said she noticed hair missing

33:34

from Sabrina's head. And

33:36

you know, it's always difficult to have

33:38

to answer those type of allegations. Right.

33:40

I mean, you know, you have

33:42

one expert saying it looks like maybe her

33:45

hair was pulled out, you have a

33:47

hair stylist saying that it looks

33:49

like she definitely had less hair. Maybe

33:52

the baby was grabbing her own hair,

33:55

pulling on it. Yeah, we, we had

33:57

no idea what the answers are

33:59

for that. The last

34:01

I being Bruce. Okay,

34:04

Doesn't. Sound as it's concerning.

34:06

But. Is there an explanation for it?

34:09

I. Don't know. When. Steven. Marlene saw

34:11

the photos, Marlene ran out of

34:13

the room and Steve became red

34:16

faced for the Washington. Post

34:18

the. Couple said the bald spot

34:20

on Sabrina his head was caused

34:22

by crusty stuff behind her ear.

34:25

The most serious allegations in

34:27

the indictments focused on the

34:29

couple secretly recorded conversation. Sixteen.

34:32

Days after Sabrina when Miss. The.

34:34

Police got permission to wire taps

34:36

Stephen Marlene song. And phone

34:38

line. They. Were monitored for seventy

34:41

nine day. And two

34:43

thousand, six hundred conversations were record.

34:45

That's a lot is that that's

34:48

a big number. It's. Also

34:50

scared. To. Things. What?

34:52

You talk about in the sanctity

34:54

of your own home as being

34:56

listened to by. Someone. Out

34:58

there now. I'm not saying I

35:01

talk about anything. Bad.

35:03

But. There are things that I

35:05

don't want. Everyone to hear.

35:08

Or what? I'm just gonna say

35:10

that, I'm pretty sure. If.

35:12

The Feds were wire tapping your phone.

35:15

The. Be very bored with the. Yes,

35:17

On a yep okay I'll see what you get.

35:19

home buyer on your way home or guy about

35:22

the extent of your conversations. Yes I do not

35:24

make many calls or receive money home. Recording.

35:27

Devices were placed in the home

35:29

on December thirteenth. Ninety Ninety Cents

35:31

in January and February of Ninety

35:34

Nine year. Detectives. Received

35:36

approval to extend their monitor

35:38

because of these photos of

35:41

Sabrina Us. This allegedly showed

35:43

injury. As. Reported by The

35:45

Washington Post on December Twenty Third:

35:47

Nineteen Ninety Seven. Marlene. Allegedly

35:50

told Steve the baby's death

35:52

and bears. It was found

35:54

dead because you did. The. Baby's dead

35:56

no matter what you said. You.

35:58

Just did. Okay, if

36:00

that was actually said,

36:03

that's not looking good. No, if that's

36:05

how it was said, not good for them. Steve

36:08

allegedly said in that same conversation, honey,

36:10

there was nothing I could do about

36:12

it. We need to discuss the way we

36:15

can beat the charge. I would

36:17

never break from the family pact and

36:19

our story. Even if the police were

36:21

to hold me down, we will do what we

36:23

have to do. Now we

36:25

have been, you know, talking about

36:28

Steven Marley. What they were

36:30

up against saying, okay, if

36:32

they didn't do it, some of

36:34

these things would be horrible and how

36:37

you could view certain

36:39

things that came out

36:41

or happened. It's pretty

36:43

tough to put any type

36:45

of spin on

36:48

these conversations as

36:50

reported by the Washington Post. Like you

36:52

said, if they happened the

36:55

way that they were reported, that

36:57

looks horrible. Oh yeah.

37:00

For this couple. And that's the thing when

37:02

this was reported out to the public, right

37:05

or wrong? Because they did

37:07

use the word allegedly. Yeah. So,

37:10

you know, obviously the paper

37:12

is couching or they're,

37:15

they're safeguarding a little bit. What

37:18

the perception of the public's going to be. I

37:21

knew it. I knew it all

37:23

along. Yeah. They had something to do with it.

37:25

According to the Tampa Tribune

37:27

on December 24th, Steven Marlene

37:29

discussed their neighbors being

37:31

potential witnesses against them. Steve

37:34

allegedly said, they can't hang

37:36

me the other four neighbors.

37:38

They can't hang me unless you

37:40

attack me before the evidence. Marlene

37:43

allegedly responded. Oh, Steve, I tried

37:45

to save her. She

37:47

died and we can't confuse

37:50

them, but we'll try it, hon.

37:52

You know, they were shown

37:54

the photos of Sabrina on January

37:56

21st, 1998. Later.

37:59

day, Steve allegedly said, I

38:02

wish I hadn't harmed her. Okay.

38:05

Very damning detectives

38:07

thought they heard Marlene respond.

38:10

I just can't take the rap for this. I

38:12

mean, none of this sounds good. No. And

38:14

we've really gone from a place

38:16

of, well, we don't know

38:19

why the police are, you

38:21

know, so focused in on them in

38:23

the beginning to now,

38:27

how could they not be focused on them based

38:29

on some of these things

38:32

that they reportedly said? Yeah. I

38:34

mean, some of this stuff is, is nothing

38:37

short of a confession. Oh,

38:39

absolutely. I mean, how else

38:41

could you take it? If it's correct. On

38:44

January 31st, detectives thought they

38:47

heard Marlene's father confront her about

38:49

what she had done with Sabrina.

38:51

Marlene apparently said, per the Tampa

38:53

Tribune, I subconsciously did

38:55

not do anything. Do you

38:58

understand? Right now I can't

39:00

see them having any evidence strong

39:02

enough to indict me. Okay. Can

39:04

we analyze that for a

39:06

minute? I subconsciously did

39:09

not do anything. I

39:11

don't even understand what that mean. Wouldn't

39:13

be subconscious is like when you don't

39:15

know you're doing it, right? Yeah. Wouldn't

39:18

it be like consciously didn't know what

39:20

I was doing? So I thought that

39:22

was a strange statement. Still

39:24

like your view never changes. Wondering where

39:27

to next. It's time to

39:29

tour Lake County, the biggest little County

39:31

in Ohio. Lake County is home to

39:34

Ohio's wine country and the romantic grand

39:36

river Valley. Discover over 30 wineries, historic

39:38

lighthouses, charming farmers markets, and over 30

39:41

miles of golden coastline and sandy beaches.

39:43

Boutique lodging options range from historic homes

39:45

to hosted presidents to luxury cabins in

39:48

the woods, to stunning lakefront mansions. Plan

39:50

your relaxing getaway and start your tour

39:52

at tour of Lake county.com. Ignite

39:55

your passion for discovery at the Kosai

39:57

science festival, may 1st through the 4th

39:59

experience. days packed with interactive community

40:01

events featuring exhibits, live demos and

40:03

engaging conversations with experts in science,

40:05

technology, engineering, arts and math. And

40:08

on Saturday, May 4th, join us

40:10

for the free Big Science Celebration

40:12

featuring over 100 exhibitors,

40:14

all with interactive activities to share. And

40:16

of course, there will be larger than

40:18

life science demonstrations, live music and more

40:21

from 11am until 5pm, just outside of

40:23

COSI. Visit cosisiphest.org to learn more. You

40:26

want a chance to go to the most appealing gaming

40:28

town? Dr. Pepper is giving

40:30

away 4 tickets to the games at Huntington Park on

40:32

May 24th, 25th or 26th. If

40:35

that isn't sweet enough, the lucky winners will

40:37

be invited to the Pepsi Party Deck to

40:39

view the game with free food and beverages.

40:42

The time is ripe to enter. For

40:44

your chance to win, visit a Kroger

40:46

near you or drpepperbaseball.com. That's

40:49

drpepperbaseball.com and fill out the

40:51

entry form. What is your

40:53

chance to take your bunch to a game? Enter

40:56

today. On February 17th, 1998, Steve

40:58

allegedly asked Marlene. They

41:02

don't know the truth, right? Marlene

41:05

seemingly replied, yeah,

41:08

so in a way, you know, that

41:10

means nobody knows exactly what we did

41:12

still. You know, if this

41:14

is being said and you're hearing it, one,

41:16

you're going to be frustrated as an investigator. You're

41:19

like, oh, you know, this

41:21

is terrible. But you're also

41:23

probably a little bit excited thinking we've got

41:25

these people. We've got them. You

41:28

know, in the back of my mind,

41:30

I'm imagining some of these recordings

41:32

being played for a jury. How

41:35

else is a jury going to take

41:38

what they're saying? If this is

41:40

actually on a recording?

41:43

Yeah. If you conflate us

41:46

in front of a jury and they

41:48

can understand what's being said, you're done.

41:51

Seems like it. At a

41:53

bond hearing on September 9th,

41:55

1999, an assistant U.S. attorney

41:57

told a federal magistrate that

41:59

they They recorded Steve talking

42:01

about how he was high

42:03

on cocaine the night Sabrina

42:06

disappeared. Their conversations

42:08

suggested they were drugged when

42:10

speaking. Prosecutors

42:12

claim they had 54 examples that

42:15

suggested a conspiracy to throw off

42:17

the investigation. In February

42:19

2000, the Eisenberg's lawyers

42:21

attacked the government's case and

42:23

alleged that the recordings were

42:25

not audible and that

42:27

detectives manipulated the truth. In

42:30

May 2000, a defense audio

42:32

expert said he could not

42:34

hear the statements that prosecutors

42:36

alleged were said by the couple. In

42:39

the fall of 2000, the judge in

42:42

the case asked the US magistrate judge

42:44

to listen to the recording. On

42:46

February 14, 2001,

42:48

US magistrate judge Mark

42:51

Pizzo issued an opinion

42:53

that the tapes should be

42:55

thrown out as evidence. Wow,

42:58

that's big. It's huge. We

43:00

just got done talking about how, you

43:02

know, as the prosecution, if you have

43:05

these tapes, you're able to play these

43:07

tapes and the jury can

43:09

understand them, I think you have

43:11

an easy win. Yeah. You

43:13

may not know exactly what happened, but

43:16

you know something happened and

43:18

that this couple was responsible. Now

43:21

you've got audio experts saying,

43:24

I'm not hearing on these

43:26

tapes what the authorities

43:29

are alleging the couple said.

43:31

And then you have a US magistrate

43:34

judge who says these

43:36

things should be thrown out. Yeah.

43:39

The only conclusion you can draw from

43:41

that is that they're not audible.

43:44

Which is now a huge problem for the

43:46

prosecution, but also for

43:48

the detectives, right? How

43:51

did you come up with what you think they said? Well

43:54

the judge accused lead detectives

43:56

Linda Sue Burton and William

43:58

Blake of manufacturing. fact.

44:01

He accused the detectives of

44:03

deliberately misleading a state judge

44:06

to get permission to bug the house. He

44:09

determined that the detectives conclusions

44:11

about the audio made

44:13

no sense and their

44:15

deductions were quote pure fiction.

44:18

Judge Pizzo wrote is quoted

44:21

by the Tampa Tribune. They

44:23

omitted information and distorted conversations.

44:25

They included statements in

44:28

their applications for extensions, which

44:30

the defendants did not say

44:32

or cannot be heard. Wow.

44:36

It's almost as if they were

44:39

hearing what they wanted

44:41

to hear or they

44:43

were deliberately saying

44:45

that what was being

44:47

said was something completely different than

44:49

what everybody else was hearing. The

44:52

opinion continued. The detectives

44:54

report conversations. No

44:56

reasonably prudent listener can hear

44:59

quote conversations that do not

45:01

appear in the supporting transcript

45:04

and deliberately or with

45:06

reckless disregard summarize conversations

45:08

out of context. And

45:11

you know, let's be honest, context

45:13

is huge. Now,

45:16

if it's on a recording, then

45:18

you just let the recording speak for

45:20

itself, right? But if you're

45:22

taking snippets out of

45:24

context, well, then you can

45:27

paint a picture that is

45:29

not accurate. You know, if you

45:31

and I are sitting here talking and

45:33

you, you know, say three or four sentences,

45:36

and I take two words out of

45:38

one sentence, three words out of another

45:40

sentence, and I say, well, Gibby said

45:42

this, well, no, that's not what

45:45

Gibby said. Right. I'm taking

45:47

something out of context. Or if

45:50

I try to summarize what you

45:52

said, and I put my own

45:54

spin on it, that that's not fair.

45:56

You could change the whole meaning of what was said.

45:58

And I can make you look however I

46:00

want to make you look, which you do all

46:03

the time. I do not. On

46:05

February 21st, 2001, the

46:07

government dismissed the case against

46:09

Steve and Marlene Eisenberg prosecutors

46:12

didn't give an explanation for

46:15

their decision. I don't

46:17

know that they had to give an

46:19

explanation. I mean, without

46:22

what they thought was this

46:24

bombshell evidence. What

46:26

they didn't have, probably didn't have anything. Yeah. The

46:29

lead prosecutor was demoted in July, 2001, according

46:31

to Fox 13. I'm

46:35

sure they were. Well, and this is

46:37

the stuff that rubs people the wrong

46:40

way. And when you talk about law

46:42

enforcement, you talk about prosecutors,

46:45

gather the facts. If

46:47

you have the facts and the

46:49

evidence, present the case, you

46:51

know, make the charges, do all that, but

46:54

we can't be inventing stuff. That

46:57

that's where people get very upset.

46:59

Just keep it to the facts. Or saying

47:02

that a piece of evidence

47:04

means something that it really doesn't. Right.

47:07

The Eisenbergs later filed a lawsuit

47:09

against the federal government and

47:11

won almost $3 million to

47:13

cover their legal fees. The settlement

47:15

was based on the Hyde amendment, which according

47:18

to Fox 13, gives

47:20

the court permission to award fees

47:22

and other expenses. If the

47:24

court finds that the position of the

47:26

United States was vexatious,

47:29

frivolous, or in bad faith. And

47:32

I do not know what vexatious means. I will

47:34

have to look that up. Vectatious?

47:36

I mean, I think that's like, um, well, you said

47:39

it wrong. So yeah, but I think it's

47:42

like harassment, like a, okay. Yeah. We'll

47:44

go with that. Or whatever

47:46

word you said. Yeah. Vectatious.

47:49

Their judgment was later reduced to 1.5 million. The

47:53

Eisenbergs sued for additional

47:55

damages, accusing prosecutors of

47:57

conspiring to deprive them

47:59

of. their civil rights, the

48:01

suit against federal prosecutors was dropped in

48:03

2004 after

48:06

a judge ruled that the

48:08

law gave prosecutors immunity. And

48:10

a lot of people have an issue with

48:12

that. They do. I mean, I understand why

48:15

that exists, but I

48:17

think there are sometimes where the

48:19

prosecutors go so far out of

48:21

bounds that that immunity thing

48:23

really shouldn't apply, but unfortunately it does.

48:26

I think there's been some in the

48:28

past, not too long ago, some movement to try to

48:31

get that changed a little bit. I think there has

48:33

been. I mean, you don't

48:35

want every prosecutor to be sued

48:37

over every little thing, but if

48:40

it's egregious, if it's, you know,

48:42

so over the top out of

48:44

bounds, unethical, then,

48:47

okay, the Eisenberg's dropped a

48:49

lawsuit against the Hillsborough County Sheriff's

48:51

office in 2006. The

48:54

investigation into Sabrina's disappearance

48:57

was still ongoing. In May,

48:59

2003, the family learned

49:01

about a girl in Illinois

49:03

who matched Sabrina's description. She

49:06

was called Paloma unknown. According

49:08

to the Charlie project, Paloma unknown

49:11

was taken into Mexico by a

49:13

teen girl who claimed to be

49:15

her mother. She gave the

49:17

girl to a woman who may have been

49:19

working in the textile industry and

49:21

was about to be deported. This woman

49:24

allegedly gave the child to a friend who

49:26

was an RN at a migrant clinic.

49:29

And she signed the paperwork, allowing the child

49:31

to be put up for adoption. The

49:34

nurse gave the girl to her

49:36

sister who raised the baby in

49:38

Illinois. When the sister and her

49:40

partner tried to adopt Paloma unknown,

49:42

they were denied because they didn't

49:44

have her birth certificate or information

49:46

on her background. They were

49:48

appointed her legal guardians instead. Several

49:51

agencies tried to identify her parents,

49:54

but they were unsuccessful. A

49:56

DNA test revealed that Paloma unknown

49:59

was not. Sabrina Eisenberg.

50:02

But it looks like they did a

50:04

thorough investigation. They did. That's what it

50:06

sounds like. In 2008, the Eisenbergs

50:08

were once again under suspicion when

50:11

the Hillsborough Police received the tip

50:13

from a credible

50:15

jail informant. According to the

50:17

St. Petersburg Times, the informant

50:20

said the Eisenberg sold their

50:22

boat to him to dispose of

50:24

a baby's body at sea. They

50:27

denied this claim and said they never had

50:29

a boat. What

50:31

a credible jail informant is.

50:34

Can you really be credible if you're

50:36

a jail informant? Well, I think the

50:38

police come out and say that they're

50:40

credible if they think it'll

50:43

help them. Yeah. But I do

50:45

think, you know, it would be pretty easy to figure

50:47

out whether or not they had a boat. I would

50:49

think so. At one point in time and then no

50:52

longer had the boat. What happened to your

50:54

boat that was here two days

50:56

ago? I mean, there's neighbors, you know, it's

51:00

not like you're talking about a diamond ring, a boat

51:03

something that a lot of people can pretty

51:05

easily see. In 2008, an inmate named

51:09

Dennis Byron claimed that HCSO detectives

51:11

asked him to wear a wire

51:13

and record his conversations with

51:16

his friend and fellow inmate Scott

51:18

Overbeck, who was in jail for

51:20

being a felon in possession

51:22

of an explosive device. Byron

51:25

was arrested in December

51:27

2006 after he intentionally tried

51:29

to hit a deputy's vehicle. In

51:32

December 2007, he

51:34

agreed to try to get information

51:36

from Scott Overbeck. Before the

51:38

operation started, he passed a

51:40

polygraph test where he gave a statement about

51:42

what he knew. According to Fox 13, Scott

51:46

Overbeck once lived down the

51:48

street from a guy named

51:50

Tony Tranquillo. Tranquillo was an

51:52

investigator with the law firm

51:54

that assisted the Eisenberg. He died

51:56

in 2006. Sworn statements in

52:00

the Tampa Bay Times, state

52:02

that according to Byron, Overbeck

52:05

said he was asked to go to the

52:07

Eisenberg home to pick up a boat with

52:09

the baby's body inside. He disposed of

52:12

the body in the water

52:14

near the Courtney Campbell Causeway. Byron

52:17

said it was his impression that

52:19

Overbeck was asked to do it

52:21

by Tony Tranquillo. Byron's

52:23

attorney, John Trevino, said his

52:25

client sent a letter stating

52:27

that Tony Tranquillo, the Eisenberg's,

52:30

and their lawyer, Barry Cohen, were

52:32

targets of the sheriff's office

52:34

investigation. Trevino said all

52:36

Mr. Byron did in this case

52:38

was relay what Mr. Overbeck had

52:40

told him. He had no independent

52:42

knowledge of any of this information

52:44

and never claimed to. The only

52:46

thing he could claim directly was

52:48

that he saw this boat. Overbeck

52:51

claim was used in the disposal of the

52:53

baby. Trevino said in a

52:55

press conference that the sheriff's office bought

52:57

the boat from Overbeck for $2,500 in late

52:59

2007. Byron

53:04

was removed from prison and put in

53:06

a drug program, but he left without

53:08

permission. He claimed he fled because

53:11

Overbeck was in a motorcycle gang and he

53:13

was scared that word got out that he

53:15

was an informant. Byron was

53:17

arrested and sentenced almost 70 months

53:19

in prison for violating the

53:21

terms of his release. His

53:23

prison sentence was later reduced to

53:26

just 36 months because he cooperated

53:28

with authorities. Interesting stuff.

53:31

It is interesting, but I don't know what you make

53:33

of it. I mean, the

53:36

police buy this boat from this guy for $2,500.

53:39

It must not have been much of a boat. But

53:42

I go back to if he

53:44

claimed that he got this

53:46

boat from the Eisenberg's, it

53:48

seemed like that would have been something

53:51

that could have been or

53:53

should have been corroborated. Yeah. And

53:55

it just seems weird that somebody would

53:57

be like, hey, there's a boat over

53:59

there. over here, I need you to come and get it. And there's

54:02

a baby on board and if you could just

54:04

toss it in the water, we need

54:06

you to do that. But not just

54:08

somebody, the Eisenberg's

54:11

attorney's investigator. Yeah.

54:14

Which they didn't hire

54:17

an attorney right away. I

54:19

mean it was fairly early but, this

54:22

boat was somewhere else and that's where the baby was.

54:25

Hey we got the, I'm gonna tell you, I know

54:27

where the baby is. It's on this

54:30

boat over in this marina. Yeah

54:32

I don't know. I knocked my investigator out, he'll

54:35

throw the baby in the water, it never

54:37

happened. I don't know, it

54:40

doesn't seem like that. It

54:42

goes back to your question of

54:44

what is a credible jailhouse informant.

54:46

Exactly. Unfortunately, I

54:49

think more often than not, they're

54:51

just trying to get something. Have

54:54

jailhouse informant tips

54:56

led to real evidence? Yes,

55:00

absolutely. Do the majority of

55:02

them do? I don't

55:04

know that that's the case. Fox

55:07

13 reported that the Hillsborough

55:09

County Sheriff's Office sent a statement

55:11

denying that they ever interviewed attorney

55:13

Barry Cohen as a suspect and

55:16

they had no political agenda. Barry

55:18

Cohen passed away in 2018. In

55:22

March 2018, 2020 covered Sabrina's case revealing that

55:27

two women came forward who believed they

55:29

could be the missing group. They

55:31

underwent DNA testing and

55:34

the results were pending when the episode

55:36

aired. Marlene said she received

55:38

a message from one woman in

55:40

November 2017. She

55:43

claimed she had no baby pictures before

55:45

the age of one. She

55:48

was 20 at that time and

55:50

has a similar birthday to Sabrina.

55:52

She also learned that her social

55:54

security number matched a woman

55:57

in California. The problem is, I

55:59

couldn't. find anything kind of

56:01

on this DNA testing,

56:03

like no update. I

56:06

think it's safe to say that it

56:08

didn't come back that either one

56:10

of these women were Sabrina or it would

56:13

have been news for the, yeah, all over

56:15

the news. Diesenberg family

56:17

still lives in Maryland. In

56:19

January, 2023, Marlene

56:22

and Steve told Fox 13 that they believe

56:25

Sabrina will be found. They hope

56:27

one day she will take a

56:29

DNA test and learn the truth about

56:31

her identity. The Eisenbergs have

56:34

uploaded their DNA to

56:36

several genetic sites like

56:38

Ancestry and 23andMe. They

56:41

also work with the National

56:43

Center for Missing and Exploited

56:45

Children, which uses GEDmatch and

56:47

familytree.com. Marlene said, that's how

56:49

we're going to get her home. Anybody

56:52

that thinks they see somebody that

56:54

looks like they could be our

56:56

family, look like Sabrina, look like

56:58

William and Monica, please have

57:01

your friends take a DNA test. That's how

57:03

it's going to happen. And if

57:05

she's out there somewhere alive and

57:08

has no idea who she really

57:10

is, that is how it's going

57:12

to happen. Yeah. One day she's going

57:14

to take a DNA test and then

57:16

she's going to get this message

57:19

that, Hey, we have a match.

57:22

And she's going, Oh, this is my mom. This

57:24

is my dad. Marlene and Steve

57:26

believe someone took Sabrina because they wanted

57:28

a baby of their own and they

57:31

pray that she was loved and cared

57:33

for by whoever took her. Sabrina

57:35

Eisenberg would be 26 years

57:37

old today. You can view an

57:39

age progressed photo of her on

57:42

the National Center for Missing and

57:44

Exploited Children's website. If

57:46

you have any information about the

57:48

disappearance of Sabrina Eisenberg, you can

57:51

call the National Center for Missing

57:53

and Exploited Children at 1-800-LOST. You

57:57

can also contact the Hillsborough County Sheriff's

57:59

Office at 813-247-8200. So

58:05

as we wrap up this case gives

58:08

it's kind of been a roller coaster. I'll be honest

58:10

with you. You know, I worry

58:12

that there was so much attention

58:14

paid to the family that it could have possibly

58:20

harmed the investigation

58:23

into Sabrina's disappearance. I

58:26

don't know if it did, but there

58:28

was obviously a lot of attention paid

58:30

to the family. I

58:33

can't get over these recorded

58:35

conversation. I want to know

58:37

what was really on there as opposed

58:39

to what authorities said was on

58:43

there because obviously a judge listened

58:46

to him and he said, it's

58:48

not on there. Yeah. And an

58:50

audio expert said the same thing. I

58:52

mean, it was because you and I even

58:54

said it. If any of that stuff

58:57

had been on there, that would be

58:59

such great evidence that

59:01

these two had a hand in whatever happened to

59:05

Sabrina. Yeah. And, and obviously

59:08

it just wasn't there. So, you

59:10

know, as always, we don't

59:12

know what happened. I will say, I

59:15

feel horrible for them if they had nothing

59:17

to do with it. Cause

59:19

I feel like they've really been put

59:22

through the wringer on top of already,

59:24

you know, losing their child,

59:26

not knowing what happened to Sabrina.

59:29

Now, if they did have something to do with it, then

59:32

you hope that would come out one

59:34

day. But you would think with how

59:36

much time has passed and how

59:39

hard the police have looked

59:41

at them, if they could have made

59:44

a case, it would have, it would have happened. But

59:47

you know, public perception can

59:49

be brutal, man. Oh, absolutely.

59:52

And like you say all the time, just because,

59:54

you know, the judge comes out

59:56

and says, Hey, uh, I'm

59:58

not hearing on this tape. What? What you

1:00:00

say is on there. Well, the paper's printed it.

1:00:03

Yeah. Now they did say allegedly, but

1:00:06

people don't always know that a judge came

1:00:08

back and said, so if they just

1:00:10

read that, they would think, well, of course, these

1:00:12

people are guilty. And I think sometimes people don't

1:00:14

read that word allegedly and they just focus

1:00:17

in on what was said. And that's, you know,

1:00:19

they tell their neighbor, oh, I've

1:00:22

seen one in the paper. They said, blah, blah,

1:00:24

blah, you know, and before you know it, people

1:00:26

are talking. So I think there

1:00:28

are a number of scenarios that you can

1:00:31

walk through. Obviously the, the

1:00:34

parents doing something to Sabrina that,

1:00:36

that is one avenue. You

1:00:40

have somebody coming in

1:00:42

through the garage and

1:00:44

the unlocked door from the

1:00:46

garage, finding a baby,

1:00:49

maybe giving that off or selling that

1:00:52

baby off to somebody who wants a

1:00:54

baby. Maybe involved

1:00:56

in some type of trafficking operation.

1:00:59

I think that's one avenue that

1:01:01

you have to, to

1:01:03

consider. And then maybe

1:01:05

somebody coming in wanting

1:01:08

to do something horrible

1:01:10

and harmful to a baby.

1:01:13

That's probably a third avenue

1:01:15

you got, you have to look at. I

1:01:18

think in a couple of those scenarios

1:01:20

though, there is a possibility that

1:01:22

Sabrina Eisenberg is still

1:01:25

alive. She just doesn't know

1:01:27

who she is. So

1:01:29

that's true. I mean, you think of the

1:01:31

memories that you would have at the age

1:01:33

of five months. I don't remember anything. No, but

1:01:36

maybe we'll get the answers.

1:01:38

I hope the family gets answers. Again, if

1:01:41

they didn't have anything to do with it,

1:01:43

they deserve the answers. And absolutely. But

1:01:45

that's it for our episode on the

1:01:47

disappearance of Sabrina Eisenberg. We got some

1:01:49

voicemails. You want to check those out?

1:01:52

Hello, Mike and Gibby. This is Laura calling.

1:01:55

Um, I was just listening

1:01:58

to your unsolved. week

1:02:01

and Gibby you said something about

1:02:03

dancing around your house like that guy

1:02:05

in the movie he just watched and

1:02:08

Mike said you talking about Silence of

1:02:10

the Land? Which

1:02:12

you were not but now I have

1:02:14

this mental picture of you Gibby dancing

1:02:17

around with somebody else's hair in a

1:02:19

dress dancing around your house and

1:02:22

now I have to go see

1:02:24

a therapist because I can't get that mental picture

1:02:26

out of my head. Well thank you guys for

1:02:28

giving that to me. Love

1:02:30

you both keep your own time taken. Bye. She

1:02:33

didn't say anything about you being

1:02:35

tucked but I'm assuming that was

1:02:37

part of the mental image. Yeah

1:02:39

she's thinking that'd be tough to talk though. So

1:02:43

I'll say this she has

1:02:45

that image I have there's so

1:02:47

many things that you say not on

1:02:49

the podcast that cause images

1:02:52

that I have to live with

1:02:54

forever so it's

1:02:56

tough. I sympathize

1:02:58

with you. Hey guys this is

1:03:01

Angela from Dallas I've left a message

1:03:03

one time before but I really am

1:03:05

enjoying one of the Patreon episodes

1:03:09

and I'm

1:03:11

just gonna say Gibby I'm not sure

1:03:13

stepdad will appreciate you referring to his

1:03:15

flowing back hair. I'm pretty sure

1:03:17

I know what you meant but

1:03:19

it sure sounds like you're saying his back

1:03:21

hair is really really really long.

1:03:25

Also the guy

1:03:27

that was saying you guys are part

1:03:29

of the problem I think he is

1:03:31

obviously just speaking out of his you

1:03:33

know his hurt and I think

1:03:35

you guys do a really amazing job

1:03:37

about being compassionate. I listen

1:03:40

to a lot of podcasts that

1:03:42

I do actually like that

1:03:44

are definitely not as compassionate as you guys

1:03:46

are and so I think you're doing an

1:03:48

amazing job keep up the good work don't

1:03:50

take it personally I think you guys are

1:03:52

pretty good about that but I just want

1:03:54

you to know that I think

1:03:56

you guys are doing an amazing job. Thank you bye Yeah,

1:04:00

I appreciate that. I forget

1:04:03

that was something we were talking about on Patreon, I think,

1:04:05

wasn't it? About back hair? No,

1:04:08

I think you were talking about my stepdad's, when

1:04:10

I said he looks like Kenny Rogers, got the hair.

1:04:13

Oh, and you said the flowing

1:04:15

back hair? Yes, right. He

1:04:18

does not have long back hair. So

1:04:21

there's another image for everyone that you

1:04:23

know of that I know of. All

1:04:25

right, buddy, that is it for another episode

1:04:27

of True Crime All the Time Unsolved. So

1:04:30

for Mike and Gibby, stay safe and keep

1:04:32

your own hair in second. Pluto

1:05:10

TV has over 300 channels

1:05:12

and thousands of TV shows and movies for whatever

1:05:14

mood you're in. Just open the app and something

1:05:16

good will already be playing because it's curated by

1:05:18

people who love TV as much as you do.

1:05:20

So if you're in the mood for comedy, there's

1:05:22

18 channels that'll make you

1:05:24

laugh. Looking for drama? We got so much

1:05:26

of it, you'll cry tears of joy. Reality

1:05:29

shows, game shows, sports, Star Trek, and even

1:05:31

more Star Trek. No matter what mood you're

1:05:33

in, there's something on Pluto TV. Just download

1:05:35

the app and start streaming. Pluto

1:05:37

TV. Stream now. Pay never.