WEBVTT FILE

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Downloaded from
YTS.MX

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♪

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Official YIFY movies site:
YTS.MX

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In a Kentucky mall,
you can meet

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a very famous taxidermy bear.

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This is my first time
seeing the cocaine bear.

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The what bear?

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Yes, the cocaine bear.

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There's a reason why
he's called the cocaine bear.

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This story is amazing.

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♪

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One day in the woods, a bear
finds a huge bag of drugs.

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And the bear got high.

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[ Bear growling ]

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The cocaine was 95% pure.

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No, really, they found him
laying there

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with the cocaine around him.

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[ Chuckles ]

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That's a very interesting
story in itself.

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But this is the origin
story of the cocaine bear,

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featuring the larger-than-life
man who started it all.

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He was mercurial
and mysterious.

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He lived on the edge.

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He had a James Bond wristwatch
that shot tear gas.

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These are Kentucky Blue Bloods

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that got together to go
into full-time smuggling.

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He was a bad dude!

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This is such a powerful story.

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It has corruption,
it has murder.

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Judge John Wood was fatally
wounded by a single gunshot.

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Drugs, murders, gun running,
you name it.

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Holy crap, you would
never believe it,

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but it did actually happen.

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Believe it or not,
this story even has cows...

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on drugs.

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Oh, come on!
[ Laughs ]

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This is the true story
of the cocaine bear.

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You wouldn't forget it.
Let's put it that way.

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♪

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The backwoods of the
Chattahoochee National Forest

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in North Georgia
are stark and remote.

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In December 1985, a hunter
finds something here

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that sparks a legend.

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♪

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This legend has grown
to be quite a story.

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And in 2023, that legend

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is brought to life
by an incredible movie.

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[ Bear roars ]

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And soon the whole world
is talking about it.

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Number one trend on Twitter.
Everyone's talking about this.

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[ Bear roaring ]

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A bear did cocaine!

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This will be the winner
of the decade probably.

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Cocaine Bear, Fran.

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Take One. Mark.

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♪

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Well, my name
is Francis Bishop Wiley.

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And in December of 1985,

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I was Assistant
Special Agent in Charge

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of the Georgia Bureau
of Investigation,

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in Gainseville, Georgia,

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and right now I'm retired.

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I received a call at the office

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from a game warden
in Fanon County, Georgia.

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And he advised that a hunter
had found a bear

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in the woods on a mountain

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and that there was a parachute
and a duffel bag close by.

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I dispatched two of my agents
to the scene.

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They radioed back and advised me

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that there indeed was a bear,
parachute, and duffel bag.

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So I said,
well, this is very strange.

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I mean, very odd that we would
even find something like this.

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I told them to take it
to the Georgia crime lab

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in Atlanta,
and they did take the duffel bag

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and found residue
of cocaine on it.

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There was no cocaine
in the duffel bag,

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so where did the cocaine go?

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Well, the bear ate it.

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♪

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♪

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The bizarre story of this bear
and what happened

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actually begins
three months before.

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[ Thud ]

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In the middle of the night,
a Knoxville resident

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is awakened by a sound
from his backyard.

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It wasn't until
the next morning

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that he looked in his driveway

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and immediately
called the police.

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♪

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My name is Jimmy Jones.

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I'm a retired
Knox County sheriff.

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From the time
I was 16 years old,

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I knew I wanted to be
in law enforcement.

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We were just
in the office that day.

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It was a normal day,
just like any other day.

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The call came in from dispatch.
It was an elderly gentleman,

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and he said that there was
a gentleman out in his driveway

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who was trespassing,

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and if the police didn't come he
would take care of it himself.

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♪

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The "trespasser" is the dead
body of a skydiver,

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and JJ is called
to the crime scene.

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♪

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This is a very quiet
community, usually.

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There's very little crime,
very little happens.

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When we arrived on the scene,
the individual was found

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in the gravel driveway area
between the houses.

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♪

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We were surprised to see
this individual here.

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His parachute was kind of
wadded up beside him,

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like it hadn't fully opened.

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The gentleman was deceased.

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There was a duffel bag that
was hooked to the individual.

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The duffel bag
contained somewhere

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between 30 and 40 packages
marked USA.

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All of them were labelled
the same way.

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We knew when we cut into it,
it was still moist,

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and the smell would just
hit you in the face.

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It was a very high quality
of cocaine.

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♪

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Somewhere between 30
and 40 kilos of cocaine.

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It was probably worth
hundreds of millions.

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I was amazed.

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And I was just a kid. I mean,
I wasn't but 24, 25 years old.

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I had never seen
anything like that.

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It was like holy crap, you know?

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This-- You would never
believe this happened

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in sleepy, little, old
Knoxville, Tennessee.

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[ Laughs ]

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We continued to look
at the body to evaluate it.

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There was at least one attack
knife along with some daggers

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or spears that were actually
in a sheath on his arm,

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night vision goggles.

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There was about $5,000
in US currency.

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There were precious
and semi-precious stones

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in a money belt.

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He had some gold Krugerrands.

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Nobody knew what
a Krugerrand was.

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We heard of 'em,
but nobody actually--

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I don't think anybody
had ever seen 'em.

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They were gold, and they have
like a little kangaroo

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or an animal on the front.

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♪

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Initially we had no clue
what had happened.

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None of this is making sense
for JJ and his team.

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Who is this guy in the driveway?

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There's some questions that
really haven't been answered.

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He was mysterious.

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He looked a lot
like a soldier of fortune.

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He had a 9mm Browning
high powered pistol

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that was loaded
with Teflon-coated 9mm bullets.

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Those are the bullets that will
penetrate a bulletproof vest.

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He also had a wristwatch

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that was like
a James Bond wristwatch,

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but it wasn't one that you would
get out of a cereal box.

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It was actually a high-quality
watch that shot tear gas.

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I was amazed every time
something came off his body,

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a piece of equipment
or whatever it was.

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I mean, it was just more
and more and more.

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He also had some
very expensive shoes.

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In an odd fact that a lot
of people noted at the time,

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he was wearing Gucci loafers.

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[ Ding! ]

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♪

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I mean, we were still trying
to put pieces together.

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We really didn't have anything.

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Then as more agencies
became involved,

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we ultimately found out

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that the plane had crashed
in North Carolina.

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♪

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The wreckage of the Cessna 404
is still scattered

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across this ridge
of the Nantahala Mountains.

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We did hear that a body
had been found in Knoxville

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of someone who parachuted
out of a plane,

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and evidently,
the parachute didn't open.

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At this time, it kind of appears

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that that may be involved
with this.

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♪

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The location of the plane
in North Carolina

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is more than 100 miles

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from the body
of the mysterious parachutist.

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The aircraft provides
a vital clue--

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It's registered to a man
from Lexington, Kentucky.

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In Lexington,
the information filters down

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to the local papers.

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♪

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I was a investigative reporter
at the Lexington Herald Leader

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in Kentucky

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from about 1979 to 1987.

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♪

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The body was identified
as Andrew Thornton.

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And that erupted the newsroom
at the time.

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♪

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Drew Thornton was someone

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who had been
in a position of authority,

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a police officer
who came from privilege.

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He was a soldier, had, you know,
been wounded in combat.

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Personally, I wasn't
all that surprised

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when I heard that he was dead
in Knoxville in a driveway,

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having fallen out of a plane.

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He had lived on the edge
and was--

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His luck had run out.

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♪

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♪

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With the body identified,
police trace Thornton's

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flight path all the way back
to North Georgia.

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We started receiving
more information

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that there was more cocaine
that had been dumped

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along the way of his journey.

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♪

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The duffel bag Drew Thornton
had strapped to his body

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when he died

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was of the same make,
color, and type

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that they found close
to the bear in Georgia.

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The incredible story is quickly
picked up by the TV networks.

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The medical examiner says
the bear had been dead

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for at least six weeks.

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GBI agents recovered
none of the cocaine.

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They said it could have been
blown away by the wind

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or simply dissolved.

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One thing's for sure--

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The bear did not eat
75 pounds of the stuff.

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We believe that the duffel bag
that was found in Fanon County

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next to the bear

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also had 75 pounds of cocaine.

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When we found it,
there was no cocaine.

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There was 75 pounds
found with Andrew Thornton

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in a similar duffel bag
when he jumped to his death.

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♪

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So who really is
Andrew Thornton?

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And how is he
connected to the cocaine bear?

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To find answers, we need
to go back decades

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to the heartland of Kentucky's
blue-blood society.

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♪

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♪

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My name is Ron Bryant.

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I was historian for
the Kentucky State Park System

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and director of Waveland State
historic site.

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My family has been in Kentucky
for over 200 years.

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Kentucky historian Ron Bryant

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is a distant relative
of Daniel Boone.

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He knows Kentucky.

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There was always old jokes
in Kentucky

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about everyone being related
to each other.

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Well, in some cases, the gene
pool was rather shallow,

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I've got to admit.

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♪

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But not with Andrew Thornton.

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Andrew was a child of privilege.

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None of this should have
ever happened

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according to the way
he was raised.

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When the news came
that Andrew Thornton had died

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and how he died,

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society was not only
in a state of shock.

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It was in a state
of absolute shock.

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♪

257
00:12:53.919 --> 00:12:57.519
Andrew Thornton II was the son

258
00:12:57.559 --> 00:13:01.240
of, uh, Andrew Carter Thornton.

259
00:13:01.279 --> 00:13:04.000
The Thorntons had
established themselves

260
00:13:04.039 --> 00:13:05.759
in the horse industry.

261
00:13:05.799 --> 00:13:07.960
And they knew their horses.

262
00:13:08.000 --> 00:13:11.000
And they, in fact,
had at least two derby winners.

263
00:13:11.039 --> 00:13:14.480
That's quite a feather
in anybody's cap right there.

264
00:13:14.519 --> 00:13:16.519 line:5%
♪

265
00:13:20.320 --> 00:13:22.399
Andrew Thornton certainly
had the breeding--

266
00:13:22.440 --> 00:13:24.440
[ Chuckles ] It's funny
to use the word breeding

267
00:13:24.480 --> 00:13:26.080
for someone
from Lexington, Kentucky,

268
00:13:26.120 --> 00:13:28.360
because that never hardly
ever talks about people.

269
00:13:28.399 --> 00:13:29.559
It's only about horses.

270
00:13:29.600 --> 00:13:32.639
But he really did
have the breeding.

271
00:13:32.679 --> 00:13:34.960
Andrew Thornton entered
the University of Kentucky,

272
00:13:35.000 --> 00:13:36.480
but his heart wasn't in it.

273
00:13:36.519 --> 00:13:38.039
So he left the University
of Kentucky

274
00:13:38.080 --> 00:13:42.960
after a short period of time
and volunteered for combat.

275
00:13:43.000 --> 00:13:47.399 line:5%
♪

276
00:13:47.440 --> 00:13:50.720
He went into the Army,
actually won a purple heart.

277
00:13:50.759 --> 00:13:55.960
And he particularly liked flying
and parachuting.

278
00:13:56.000 --> 00:14:04.639 line:5%
♪

279
00:14:04.679 --> 00:14:09.399
In 1968, Thornton returns home
a hero and gets married.

280
00:14:09.440 --> 00:14:10.840
But it doesn't last.

281
00:14:10.879 --> 00:14:14.639
This man of action is looking
for his next thrill.

282
00:14:14.679 --> 00:14:18.799
He wanted something
that was not staid and safe.

283
00:14:18.840 --> 00:14:24.480
He wanted something that was,
shall we say, nearly dangerous.

284
00:14:24.519 --> 00:14:26.399 line:5%
♪

285
00:14:26.440 --> 00:14:29.200
After having a very
distinguished military career,

286
00:14:29.240 --> 00:14:34.159
he came back, and he joined
the police department.

287
00:14:34.200 --> 00:14:39.279
Thornton liked the idea
of being a police officer

288
00:14:39.320 --> 00:14:42.440
because that was
an adventuresome life.

289
00:14:42.480 --> 00:14:44.720 line:5%
♪

290
00:14:44.759 --> 00:14:46.000
My name is Jim Huggins.

291
00:14:46.039 --> 00:14:47.720
I was a supervisory
special agent

292
00:14:47.759 --> 00:14:50.200
for the FBI
in Lexington, Kentucky.

293
00:14:50.240 --> 00:14:54.399
from 1986
to 1995 when I retired.

294
00:14:54.440 --> 00:14:55.840
I worked very closely

295
00:14:55.879 --> 00:14:59.000
with the Kentucky State Police
Intelligence Bureau.

296
00:14:59.039 --> 00:15:04.320 line:5%
♪

297
00:15:04.360 --> 00:15:06.799
In the '70s at that time,
there was a lot of

298
00:15:06.840 --> 00:15:08.600
drug activities
starting to show up,

299
00:15:08.639 --> 00:15:11.440
particularly around
the college campus area.

300
00:15:11.480 --> 00:15:13.679
It was becoming
a major crime problem

301
00:15:13.720 --> 00:15:17.799
for the local law enforcement
agencies at that time.

302
00:15:17.840 --> 00:15:19.399
The Lexington Police Department

303
00:15:19.440 --> 00:15:23.159
creates its first
narcotics squad.

304
00:15:23.200 --> 00:15:25.799
And the promise of action
is a huge draw

305
00:15:25.840 --> 00:15:29.159
for the young Andrew Thornton.

306
00:15:29.200 --> 00:15:31.519
He volunteered
for the Narcotics unit.

307
00:15:31.559 --> 00:15:34.559
His best friend, Bill Canan,
was already working there.

308
00:15:34.600 --> 00:15:37.080
Bill Canan came from
a much different background

309
00:15:37.120 --> 00:15:38.879
than Drew Thornton.

310
00:15:38.919 --> 00:15:41.200
His family was working class.

311
00:15:41.240 --> 00:15:45.200
Drew Thornton likes the fact
that Bill Canan is a tough guy.

312
00:15:45.240 --> 00:15:48.039
As a pair,
they're made for trouble.

313
00:15:48.080 --> 00:15:54.159 line:5%
♪

314
00:15:54.200 --> 00:15:57.080
They were trying to infiltrate
student groups

315
00:15:57.120 --> 00:15:58.519
out at the University
of Kentucky,

316
00:15:58.559 --> 00:16:00.480
and they would hang out in bars

317
00:16:00.519 --> 00:16:04.519
and dress like
a regular student.

318
00:16:04.559 --> 00:16:09.600
There also were accusations that
they would arrest a drug dealer,

319
00:16:09.639 --> 00:16:11.440
confiscate his drugs,

320
00:16:11.480 --> 00:16:14.639
and then instead of turning them
into the evidence locker

321
00:16:14.679 --> 00:16:19.440
like they should have,
they'd keep them for themselves.

322
00:16:19.480 --> 00:16:20.799
There were allegations that

323
00:16:20.840 --> 00:16:24.879
they did in fact resell
some of the drugs.

324
00:16:24.919 --> 00:16:28.559
It wasn't too big a leap for
someone in a new narcotics squad

325
00:16:28.600 --> 00:16:31.000
to think that maybe if they just
held back a little bit

326
00:16:31.039 --> 00:16:33.320
of what, uh,
they had confiscated

327
00:16:33.360 --> 00:16:34.679
and then turned it back out
on the streets,

328
00:16:34.720 --> 00:16:36.639
that they could
increase their income.

329
00:16:36.679 --> 00:16:39.840
But why would a wealthy member
of the Lexington elite

330
00:16:39.879 --> 00:16:43.440
stoop to stealing drugs?

331
00:16:43.480 --> 00:16:45.960
Nobody really,
really, really knew

332
00:16:46.000 --> 00:16:47.600
what Andrew Thornton was doing.

333
00:16:47.639 --> 00:16:51.240
There had been rumors
that were going around

334
00:16:51.279 --> 00:16:54.679
that something was bad wrong
with Andrew.

335
00:16:54.720 --> 00:16:57.000
For Thornton, it may not
have been simply

336
00:16:57.039 --> 00:16:59.200
just to get some extra money.

337
00:16:59.240 --> 00:17:02.200
It may have been to do something

338
00:17:02.240 --> 00:17:04.799
that other people
couldn't do or wouldn't do.

339
00:17:04.839 --> 00:17:08.799
It would go along with his whole
soldier of fortune lifestyle

340
00:17:08.839 --> 00:17:11.160
that he cultivated.

341
00:17:11.200 --> 00:17:13.400
That would be his downfall,

342
00:17:13.440 --> 00:17:16.240
changing him from
a pillar of society

343
00:17:16.279 --> 00:17:19.640
into a pariah in society.

344
00:17:19.680 --> 00:17:23.400
The charmed life of Drew
Thornton is about to get darker

345
00:17:23.440 --> 00:17:27.440
on the way to a rendezvous...
with the cocaine bear.

346
00:17:38.720 --> 00:17:42.319
In 1975, the cocaine bear
was just a cub

347
00:17:42.359 --> 00:17:45.519
learning the bear way of life
in the woods of Georgia.

348
00:17:45.559 --> 00:17:48.880 line:5%
♪

349
00:17:52.079 --> 00:17:56.400
Meanwhile more than 300 miles
away in Lexington, Kentucky,

350
00:17:56.440 --> 00:17:59.599
Drew Thornton is relishing
his role as a dirty cop

351
00:17:59.640 --> 00:18:02.319
with his tough guy partner
Bill Canan...

352
00:18:02.359 --> 00:18:04.680
a world away from his
respectable upbringing

353
00:18:04.720 --> 00:18:07.839
in Kentucky horse
breeding society.

354
00:18:07.880 --> 00:18:11.279
I think Andrew Thornton was one
of these types of individuals

355
00:18:11.319 --> 00:18:13.480
that's grown up
with a silver spoon,

356
00:18:13.519 --> 00:18:16.559
and they've gotten just about
anything they wanted.

357
00:18:16.599 --> 00:18:20.039
So to have this kind of thrill

358
00:18:20.079 --> 00:18:22.000
is something that excites them.

359
00:18:22.039 --> 00:18:24.359
[ Chuckles ]
He was a bad dude.

360
00:18:24.400 --> 00:18:27.200
I don't think Andrew Thornton
was rebelling

361
00:18:27.240 --> 00:18:29.720
against his position in society.

362
00:18:29.759 --> 00:18:33.839
I think Andrew Thornton wanted
a different type of life.

363
00:18:33.880 --> 00:18:35.079
That's all it was.

364
00:18:35.119 --> 00:18:38.160
He saw himself
as being an adventurer,

365
00:18:38.200 --> 00:18:41.960
a person that literally
lived on the edge.

366
00:18:42.000 --> 00:18:45.519
Thornton helped create the myth
of Drew Thornton.

367
00:18:45.559 --> 00:18:49.599
He tried to build an image of
himself that was the superman.

368
00:18:49.640 --> 00:18:53.079
But it went beyond what he was
really capable of.

369
00:18:53.119 --> 00:18:56.079
Always a show-off,
Thornton liked to demonstrate

370
00:18:56.119 --> 00:18:57.680
his athletic arrest techniques

371
00:18:57.720 --> 00:19:00.240
to his buddies
in the police department.

372
00:19:00.279 --> 00:19:02.160
And so he tried
to jump over a car,

373
00:19:02.200 --> 00:19:04.839
and at the same time,
he was wearing a weapon.

374
00:19:04.880 --> 00:19:08.880
And the weapon went off,
and it ricocheted and shot him.

375
00:19:08.920 --> 00:19:11.759
[ Laughing ]

376
00:19:11.799 --> 00:19:13.680 line:5%
♪

377
00:19:13.720 --> 00:19:16.759
It does no more than graze
his leg and his ego.

378
00:19:16.799 --> 00:19:19.440
But that doesn't stop him
from escalating his game

379
00:19:19.480 --> 00:19:23.079
from street dealing to flying
illegal drugs into Kentucky.

380
00:19:23.119 --> 00:19:27.240 line:5%
♪

381
00:19:27.279 --> 00:19:29.519
I've been a pilot
for over 40 years,

382
00:19:29.559 --> 00:19:30.720
and then later I became

383
00:19:30.759 --> 00:19:33.119
an aviation writer
and photographer.

384
00:19:33.160 --> 00:19:35.079 line:5%
♪

385
00:19:35.119 --> 00:19:37.440
I think one of the most
fascinating stories you'll find

386
00:19:37.480 --> 00:19:40.200
in drug smuggling
is the story of Drew Thornton.

387
00:19:40.240 --> 00:19:44.880 line:5%
♪

388
00:19:44.920 --> 00:19:48.079 line:5%
There's a personality type
who looks for a way

389
00:19:48.119 --> 00:19:51.039
to make life bigger.

390
00:19:51.079 --> 00:19:52.680
Sometime in the mid-'70s,

391
00:19:52.720 --> 00:19:56.920
Drew Thornton decided to move
beyond street level crime

392
00:19:56.960 --> 00:19:58.559
and become a smuggler.

393
00:19:58.599 --> 00:20:02.599
Drew was primarily bringing
really plane loads of marijuana

394
00:20:02.640 --> 00:20:05.400
into Kentucky for distribution
throughout the state.

395
00:20:05.440 --> 00:20:08.119
I mean, this was a big thing.

396
00:20:08.160 --> 00:20:10.799
They had devised a plan
that worked well.

397
00:20:10.839 --> 00:20:14.240
All they did was go get it,
transport it back,

398
00:20:14.279 --> 00:20:17.319
cut out the middle man.

399
00:20:17.359 --> 00:20:22.480
I would have never imagined
that this was happening.

400
00:20:22.519 --> 00:20:24.440 line:5%
♪

401
00:20:24.480 --> 00:20:27.240
Through their contacts
in the Lexington drug scene,

402
00:20:27.279 --> 00:20:30.079
dirty cops Andrew Thornton
and Bill Canan

403
00:20:30.119 --> 00:20:32.920
establish a network
of out-of-state wholesalers

404
00:20:32.960 --> 00:20:37.319
who supply them
with larger quantities of pot.

405
00:20:37.359 --> 00:20:39.799
Thornton would be coming in
on the weekend,

406
00:20:39.839 --> 00:20:42.880
when a lot of recreational
flyers would be coming back in,

407
00:20:42.920 --> 00:20:45.839
so the radar scopes
would be full of airplanes.

408
00:20:45.880 --> 00:20:49.160
And you could easily
unload your luggage into a car,

409
00:20:49.200 --> 00:20:52.400
head up the highway,
and you're done.

410
00:20:52.440 --> 00:20:57.319
Drew Thornton flew in
many, many loads of marijuana.

411
00:20:57.359 --> 00:21:00.079
He was making
a substantial amount of money.

412
00:21:00.119 --> 00:21:04.720 line:5%
♪

413
00:21:04.759 --> 00:21:09.880
As 1976 draws to a close, life
is good for the cocaine bear.

414
00:21:09.920 --> 00:21:12.960
But 200 miles away, things
are about to get complicated

415
00:21:13.000 --> 00:21:15.279
for our pair of dirty cops.

416
00:21:15.319 --> 00:21:21.880 line:5%
♪

417
00:21:21.920 --> 00:21:24.680
In the late '70s, when
the narcotics squad in Lexington

418
00:21:24.720 --> 00:21:27.440
was cultivating people
who could become informants,

419
00:21:27.480 --> 00:21:30.559
one of those people
was Melanie Flynn.

420
00:21:30.599 --> 00:21:33.240
Melanie Flynn met Bill Canan,

421
00:21:33.279 --> 00:21:35.559
who was trying to use her
as an informant.

422
00:21:35.599 --> 00:21:38.079
She was furnishing him
with information

423
00:21:38.119 --> 00:21:40.079
about drug users and purchasers

424
00:21:40.119 --> 00:21:42.680
around the University
of Kentucky.

425
00:21:42.720 --> 00:21:43.759
Melanie by all accounts

426
00:21:43.799 --> 00:21:46.519
was just helping out
the local cops.

427
00:21:46.559 --> 00:21:48.920
She felt like this was
the right thing to do.

428
00:21:48.960 --> 00:21:52.480
Melanie doesn't know she
is working with crooked cops.

429
00:21:52.519 --> 00:21:54.160
But soon she begins to suspect

430
00:21:54.200 --> 00:21:56.480
that the drugs
circulating in Lexington

431
00:21:56.519 --> 00:22:00.039
are being supplied
by Drew Thornton and Bill Canan.

432
00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:01.839
And I think
they became concerned

433
00:22:01.880 --> 00:22:04.240
that she may be a threat
to their operations

434
00:22:04.279 --> 00:22:05.440
and would go to the authorities

435
00:22:05.480 --> 00:22:09.359
and cause them
some major problems.

436
00:22:09.400 --> 00:22:14.119
She leaves work one day
and is going home

437
00:22:14.160 --> 00:22:16.519
and is never seen again.

438
00:22:16.559 --> 00:22:23.400 line:5%
♪

439
00:22:23.440 --> 00:22:25.400
Her car was later
found abandoned

440
00:22:25.440 --> 00:22:29.240
in an apartment complex
on the north side of Lexington.

441
00:22:29.279 --> 00:22:32.240 line:5%
♪

442
00:22:32.279 --> 00:22:36.240
She was last seen
about two blocks away

443
00:22:36.279 --> 00:22:37.599
parked at an intersection,

444
00:22:37.640 --> 00:22:41.240
talking to two people
in a dark van.

445
00:22:41.279 --> 00:22:45.000
An investigation later
by Kentucky State Police,

446
00:22:45.039 --> 00:22:48.119
there was some belief that
maybe those two individuals

447
00:22:48.160 --> 00:22:50.880
had been Drew Thornton
and Bill Canan.

448
00:22:50.920 --> 00:22:54.880 line:5%
♪

449
00:22:54.920 --> 00:22:56.559
When you go from drug smuggling

450
00:22:56.599 --> 00:22:58.839
and you escalate
to a crime of murder,

451
00:22:58.880 --> 00:23:01.880
that's really taken it
to a whole 'nother level.

452
00:23:01.920 --> 00:23:04.279
And that has not been proven yet

453
00:23:04.319 --> 00:23:07.640
of however Melanie Flynn
is still missing.

454
00:23:07.680 --> 00:23:14.480 line:5%
♪

455
00:23:14.519 --> 00:23:21.200 line:5%
♪

456
00:23:21.240 --> 00:23:23.400
After Melanie Flynn's
disappearance,

457
00:23:23.440 --> 00:23:24.720
a pocketbook
that she was carrying

458
00:23:24.759 --> 00:23:27.880
was found by a fisherman
in the Kentucky River.

459
00:23:27.920 --> 00:23:32.680
And in that were some
medications that were hers.

460
00:23:32.720 --> 00:23:36.319
Melanie Flynn is probably one
of the most tragic characters

461
00:23:36.359 --> 00:23:37.880
in all of this.

462
00:23:37.920 --> 00:23:40.799
To this day, we don't know
what really happened to her.

463
00:23:40.839 --> 00:23:46.000
And the rumor mill
was running very, very much.

464
00:23:46.039 --> 00:23:47.480
One rumor is that Drew Thornton

465
00:23:47.519 --> 00:23:50.880
is the subject of an internal
affairs investigation.

466
00:23:50.920 --> 00:23:52.559
He quits the police.

467
00:23:52.599 --> 00:23:55.640
Now he's free to move into
full-time smuggling...

468
00:23:55.680 --> 00:23:58.079
and the path is clearing
for his final flight

469
00:23:58.119 --> 00:24:00.519
over the woods of North Georgia.

470
00:24:06.319 --> 00:24:10.920 line:5%
♪

471
00:24:10.960 --> 00:24:15.039
In the woods of North Georgia,
an innocent bear has no idea

472
00:24:15.079 --> 00:24:19.680
that there is a man 200 miles
away plotting something so huge

473
00:24:19.720 --> 00:24:23.680
that their worlds
will one day collide.

474
00:24:23.720 --> 00:24:28.920
I have heard many people say in
talking about Andrew Thornton,

475
00:24:28.960 --> 00:24:32.519
they would relate him
to the myth of Icarus

476
00:24:32.559 --> 00:24:34.759
flying too close to the sun.

477
00:24:34.799 --> 00:24:36.759
And that's exactly what he did.

478
00:24:36.799 --> 00:24:38.400
[ Chuckles ]

479
00:24:38.440 --> 00:24:42.440 line:5%
♪

480
00:24:42.480 --> 00:24:46.680
By 1977, Drew Thornton
is no longer a cop

481
00:24:46.720 --> 00:24:49.519
and can now expand
his drug smuggling business

482
00:24:49.559 --> 00:24:52.880
with no one
looking over his shoulder.

483
00:24:52.920 --> 00:24:56.920
He thought of himself as
smarter than everybody else,

484
00:24:56.960 --> 00:24:58.200
had no fear.

485
00:24:58.240 --> 00:25:00.200
And he would push that envelope

486
00:25:00.240 --> 00:25:03.000
where many people
wouldn't do that.

487
00:25:03.039 --> 00:25:07.480
The only way for Thornton to
go big is to find new partners.

488
00:25:07.519 --> 00:25:10.279
He turns to an old friend
from Lexington,

489
00:25:10.319 --> 00:25:13.160
a man named Bradley Bryant.

490
00:25:13.200 --> 00:25:17.839
Bradley Bryant was a childhood
school friend of Drew Thornton.

491
00:25:17.880 --> 00:25:20.000 line:5%
They went to the same
private school in Lexington,

492
00:25:20.039 --> 00:25:22.240 line:5%
and they both went
to the military academy,

493
00:25:22.279 --> 00:25:24.480 line:5%
so they had a long history.

494
00:25:24.519 --> 00:25:28.119 line:5%
Bryant was even Thornton's
best man at his wedding.

495
00:25:28.160 --> 00:25:29.599
They were the salt of the earth.

496
00:25:29.640 --> 00:25:33.279
They were-- They were
the bastions of society.

497
00:25:33.319 --> 00:25:35.519 line:5%
♪

498
00:25:35.559 --> 00:25:39.000
Bradley Bryant isn't just
an old buddy of Thornton's,

499
00:25:39.039 --> 00:25:40.960
he's a successful businessman

500
00:25:41.000 --> 00:25:44.279
with links to organized crime
all over the country.

501
00:25:44.319 --> 00:25:47.799
And he wants to be a player
in Sin City.

502
00:25:47.839 --> 00:25:53.799 line:5%
♪

503
00:25:53.839 --> 00:25:57.240
Bradley Bryant
went to Las Vegas,

504
00:25:57.279 --> 00:26:02.799
and he met the Chagra brothers,
Lee and Jimmy Chagra.

505
00:26:02.839 --> 00:26:05.839 line:5%
♪

506
00:26:05.880 --> 00:26:08.559
The Chagras were major,
major players

507
00:26:08.599 --> 00:26:11.200
in the drug business.

508
00:26:11.240 --> 00:26:16.599
They had connections with
South America, Mexico, Colombia.

509
00:26:16.640 --> 00:26:18.839 line:5%
♪

510
00:26:18.880 --> 00:26:21.599
Jimmy and Lee Chagra
would allow Drew Thornton

511
00:26:21.640 --> 00:26:23.960
to import larger
amounts of marijuana.

512
00:26:24.000 --> 00:26:27.039 line:5%
♪

513
00:26:27.079 --> 00:26:30.119
Andrew wasn't afraid to,
to go to South America

514
00:26:30.160 --> 00:26:31.799
and risk his life doing it.

515
00:26:31.839 --> 00:26:34.359
But I think that was part
of the attraction for him.

516
00:26:34.400 --> 00:26:39.640 line:5%
♪

517
00:26:39.680 --> 00:26:42.200
If you're gonna bring in
tons of marijuana,

518
00:26:42.240 --> 00:26:45.720
you're gonna need an airplane
capable of hauling that.

519
00:26:45.759 --> 00:26:49.920
Drew Thornton was flying
a four-engine cargo aircraft,

520
00:26:49.960 --> 00:26:51.359
a World War II plane

521
00:26:51.400 --> 00:26:56.720
that was able to carry tons
of marijuana into Kentucky.

522
00:26:56.759 --> 00:26:59.519
Thornton's route takes him
from South America,

523
00:26:59.559 --> 00:27:04.240
up the coast of Florida,
and over North Georgia--

524
00:27:04.279 --> 00:27:06.960
the home territory
of the cocaine bear.

525
00:27:07.000 --> 00:27:08.599
[ Bear growls ]

526
00:27:08.640 --> 00:27:10.240 line:5%
♪

527
00:27:10.279 --> 00:27:13.440
He was bringing in what's
estimated to be 10,000 pounds,

528
00:27:13.480 --> 00:27:17.599
five tons of marijuana.

529
00:27:17.640 --> 00:27:23.119
In today's money,
that's $5 million.

530
00:27:23.160 --> 00:27:24.640
These are Kentucky Blue Bloods

531
00:27:24.680 --> 00:27:27.200
that got together to go
into full-time smuggling

532
00:27:27.240 --> 00:27:29.000
and were pretty
successful at it.

533
00:27:29.039 --> 00:27:33.039
People don't understand
what a process it would be

534
00:27:33.079 --> 00:27:35.000
to fly into a foreign country,

535
00:27:35.039 --> 00:27:39.640
with a load of drugs coming back
to the United States of America.

536
00:27:39.680 --> 00:27:41.920
That takes a unique individual.

537
00:27:41.960 --> 00:27:45.640
They quickly ratcheted up
their business,

538
00:27:45.680 --> 00:27:48.200
becoming a major organization
in the southeast,

539
00:27:48.240 --> 00:27:50.079
maybe the biggest at that time.

540
00:27:50.119 --> 00:27:52.880
I mean, it was-- it-- it--

541
00:27:52.920 --> 00:27:54.759
it was unbelievable.

542
00:27:54.799 --> 00:27:59.680 line:5%
♪

543
00:27:59.720 --> 00:28:02.960
Drew Thornton and Bradley
Bryant are raking in the cash

544
00:28:03.000 --> 00:28:06.880
on their way to the top of
the drug smuggling food chain.

545
00:28:06.920 --> 00:28:09.559 line:5%
♪

546
00:28:09.599 --> 00:28:11.680
But they're so busy
living the high life,

547
00:28:11.720 --> 00:28:13.519
they ignore the warning signs

548
00:28:13.559 --> 00:28:16.359
that it's all about
to come crashing down.

549
00:28:16.400 --> 00:28:21.240 line:5%
♪

550
00:28:21.279 --> 00:28:25.000
In 1978, Lee Chagra
was assassinated

551
00:28:25.039 --> 00:28:27.200 line:5%
in his office.

552
00:28:27.240 --> 00:28:30.319 line:5%
The suspicion was obviously
that it was a retaliation

553
00:28:30.359 --> 00:28:33.319 line:5%
for some crime
that had gone bad.

554
00:28:33.359 --> 00:28:34.680 line:5%
Lee Chagra's death brings

555
00:28:34.720 --> 00:28:37.680 line:5%
unwanted police attention
for Thornton.

556
00:28:37.720 --> 00:28:42.519 line:5%
Within months, Jimmy Chagra is
arrested for drug trafficking.

557
00:28:42.559 --> 00:28:45.000
And this sets in motion
a bizarre series of events

558
00:28:45.039 --> 00:28:49.200
that will send Thornton's life
into free-fall.

559
00:28:49.240 --> 00:28:53.519
Jimmy Chagra was to go on trial
for his criminal activities.

560
00:28:53.559 --> 00:28:56.400
That trial that would be under
the, uh, supervision

561
00:28:56.440 --> 00:28:59.039
of Judge John Wood.

562
00:28:59.079 --> 00:29:00.799
Was often known as Maximum John

563
00:29:00.839 --> 00:29:03.400
for the sentences
he would hand out.

564
00:29:03.440 --> 00:29:06.400
The day before the trial
was scheduled to start,

565
00:29:06.440 --> 00:29:09.799
Judge Wood was assassinated
in his driveway.

566
00:29:09.839 --> 00:29:13.240 line:5%
♪

567
00:29:13.279 --> 00:29:16.000
Judge John Wood was fatally
wounded by a single gunshot

568
00:29:16.039 --> 00:29:18.000
as he was getting in his car
this morning.

569
00:29:18.039 --> 00:29:19.920
Emergency attendants
worked on the judge

570
00:29:19.960 --> 00:29:21.799
but could not revive him.

571
00:29:21.839 --> 00:29:27.359 line:5%
♪

572
00:29:27.400 --> 00:29:30.519
John Wood was assassinated
by a hit man

573
00:29:30.559 --> 00:29:33.839
hired by Jimmy Chagra.

574
00:29:33.880 --> 00:29:36.240
It's hard to imagine
what Thornton's associate

575
00:29:36.279 --> 00:29:40.000
was thinking
when he ordered the hit.

576
00:29:40.039 --> 00:29:43.240
It didn't make a lot of sense
in many, many ways.

577
00:29:43.279 --> 00:29:46.559
It just simply wasn't done.

578
00:29:46.599 --> 00:29:50.519
People just didn't
do things like that.

579
00:29:50.559 --> 00:29:54.319
Perhaps it was scare tactics,
but it didn't work.

580
00:29:54.359 --> 00:29:57.680
Jimmy Chagra went down
for 30 years.

581
00:29:57.720 --> 00:30:02.200
But that's not the strangest
twist in this assassination.

582
00:30:02.240 --> 00:30:07.960
Chagra had hired a gentleman
named Charles Harrelson.

583
00:30:08.000 --> 00:30:10.759
If the name Charles Harrelson
is familiar,

584
00:30:10.799 --> 00:30:14.359
it's because the hit man
has a Hollywood connection.

585
00:30:14.400 --> 00:30:19.279
He's the father of actor
Woody Harrelson.

586
00:30:19.319 --> 00:30:23.000 line:5%
♪

587
00:30:23.039 --> 00:30:25.640
The Wood killing
was international news.

588
00:30:25.680 --> 00:30:27.359
Everybody in law enforcement
in the United States

589
00:30:27.400 --> 00:30:28.680
knew about it.

590
00:30:28.720 --> 00:30:30.640
That was a line
that had not been crossed.

591
00:30:30.680 --> 00:30:33.559
A lot of attention was on
anything that happened to do

592
00:30:33.599 --> 00:30:37.039
with the Chagra Brothers,
including Drew Thornton.

593
00:30:37.079 --> 00:30:41.079
Suddenly Drew Thornton of
little-old Lexington, Kentucky,

594
00:30:41.119 --> 00:30:43.519
is on the radar of the FBI.

595
00:30:43.559 --> 00:30:45.960
There's nowhere left to hide.

596
00:30:53.400 --> 00:30:58.160 line:5%
♪

597
00:30:58.200 --> 00:31:02.519
The cocaine bear was the second
case that was worked in Georgia

598
00:31:02.559 --> 00:31:06.839
where an animal had come
to its demise from cocaine.

599
00:31:10.039 --> 00:31:13.200
In September of 1982,
the sheriff's office had called

600
00:31:13.240 --> 00:31:18.039
and said a farmer had found
a blue canister cylinder

601
00:31:18.079 --> 00:31:21.519
in his pasture with his cows.

602
00:31:21.559 --> 00:31:24.880
And his cows had gotten
into the cylinder.

603
00:31:24.920 --> 00:31:25.920
[ Cow moos ]

604
00:31:25.960 --> 00:31:27.880
And I said are you crazy?

605
00:31:27.920 --> 00:31:31.279
The cows had white powder
all over their noses.

606
00:31:31.319 --> 00:31:35.039 line:5%
♪

607
00:31:35.079 --> 00:31:37.880
There's something going on here.

608
00:31:37.920 --> 00:31:41.279
But where did the cows
get their cocaine?

609
00:31:41.319 --> 00:31:43.079
[ Cow grunts ]

610
00:31:46.359 --> 00:31:50.599
Could it be the same supplier
to our legendary bear?

611
00:31:52.039 --> 00:31:56.759 line:5%
♪

612
00:31:56.799 --> 00:32:01.519
But back in 1980, Drew Thornton
isn't a cocaine smuggler.

613
00:32:03.240 --> 00:32:07.279
He's running marijuana

614
00:32:07.319 --> 00:32:09.319
and lots of it.

615
00:32:09.359 --> 00:32:12.480 line:5%
♪

616
00:32:12.519 --> 00:32:14.559
After the murder
of a federal judge,

617
00:32:14.599 --> 00:32:18.839
Thornton becomes a person
of interest for the FBI.

618
00:32:18.880 --> 00:32:20.680 line:5%
♪

619
00:32:20.720 --> 00:32:23.480
We got notified immediately
from FBI headquarters

620
00:32:23.519 --> 00:32:25.079
that a federal judge
had been murdered,

621
00:32:25.119 --> 00:32:29.279
and there might be a person
in Lexington involved in that.

622
00:32:29.319 --> 00:32:31.799
The FBI has the killer

623
00:32:31.839 --> 00:32:34.960
and the man who ordered the hit.

624
00:32:35.000 --> 00:32:38.920
Now they are shaking down
all of his criminal contacts.

625
00:32:40.200 --> 00:32:42.799
But despite the heat,

626
00:32:42.839 --> 00:32:45.039
Thornton and his old buddy
Bradley Bryant

627
00:32:45.079 --> 00:32:47.000
are still smuggling.

628
00:32:47.039 --> 00:32:50.400
Thornton was living
a very, very good life,

629
00:32:50.440 --> 00:32:53.880
and Bryant was after the money.

630
00:32:53.920 --> 00:32:55.480
So they gambled.

631
00:32:55.519 --> 00:32:58.519
And that's an old Kentucky vice,
of course.

632
00:32:58.559 --> 00:33:02.799
They gambled, and they lost,
and they lost big time.

633
00:33:02.839 --> 00:33:10.319 line:5%
♪

634
00:33:10.359 --> 00:33:15.279
In 1981 at a hotel
at the Philadelphia airport,

635
00:33:15.319 --> 00:33:18.559
Bradley Bryant's luck ran out.

636
00:33:18.599 --> 00:33:21.880
He was arrested
with a huge supply

637
00:33:21.920 --> 00:33:25.960
of automatic weapons,
night vision goggles,

638
00:33:26.000 --> 00:33:27.920
and sophisticated
communication gear,

639
00:33:27.960 --> 00:33:30.000
something that one
federal agent told me

640
00:33:30.039 --> 00:33:33.920
looked a lot like
a complicated assassination kit.

641
00:33:33.960 --> 00:33:36.759
Another weapons stash
is discovered by the feds

642
00:33:36.799 --> 00:33:39.880
in a Lexington warehouse
owned by Bryant.

643
00:33:39.920 --> 00:33:46.880 line:5%
♪

644
00:33:46.920 --> 00:33:51.880
He's sentenced
to 15 years in jail,

645
00:33:51.920 --> 00:33:55.680
and there's bad news for
the drug operation's star pilot.

646
00:33:56.960 --> 00:33:59.759
Hidden among the weapons
is a notebook.

647
00:33:59.799 --> 00:34:02.920
Written inside
is the name Andrew Thornton,

648
00:34:02.960 --> 00:34:07.319
along with code words for
marijuana smuggling missions.

649
00:34:07.359 --> 00:34:08.760
Thornton became fearful

650
00:34:08.800 --> 00:34:12.880
for the attention that was gonna
come to bear on him.

651
00:34:12.920 --> 00:34:15.039
He immediately
dropped outta sight.

652
00:34:15.079 --> 00:34:17.679 line:5%
♪

653
00:34:17.719 --> 00:34:20.079
It turned out
that he was on the run,

654
00:34:20.119 --> 00:34:23.840
and he was still up to his old
tricks, flying his airplane.

655
00:34:23.880 --> 00:34:28.159 line:5%
♪

656
00:34:28.199 --> 00:34:33.440
For months, Thornton flies
from airport to airport,

657
00:34:33.480 --> 00:34:36.880
staying under the radar
and avoiding capture.

658
00:34:38.400 --> 00:34:40.480
Thornton liked
the idea of risk.

659
00:34:40.519 --> 00:34:45.679
He loved excitement,
he loved adventure.

660
00:34:45.719 --> 00:34:49.440
He would have
enjoyed that immensely.

661
00:34:49.480 --> 00:34:56.079 line:5%
♪

662
00:34:56.119 --> 00:34:58.000
He landed at an airport
in North Carolina,

663
00:34:58.039 --> 00:35:00.920
and customs officials were
intercepting his communication

664
00:35:00.960 --> 00:35:02.400
and tracking his flights.

665
00:35:02.440 --> 00:35:05.719
[ Indistinct radio chatter ]

666
00:35:05.760 --> 00:35:07.480
And that's where they got him.

667
00:35:07.519 --> 00:35:14.480 line:5%
♪

668
00:35:14.519 --> 00:35:16.840
But he wasn't caught with drugs.

669
00:35:16.880 --> 00:35:18.679 line:5%
♪

670
00:35:18.719 --> 00:35:22.199
Thornton's plane
is completely clean.

671
00:35:22.239 --> 00:35:24.079
Someone could have
tipped him off...

672
00:35:24.119 --> 00:35:27.880
or he just got lucky.

673
00:35:27.920 --> 00:35:34.199
Thornton was a very, very, very
lucky man in many, many ways.

674
00:35:34.239 --> 00:35:36.119
The evidence against him
is thin.

675
00:35:36.159 --> 00:35:38.840
Thornton was under suspicion
for drug trafficking.

676
00:35:38.880 --> 00:35:41.440
He was indicted for
a conspiracy involving drugs,

677
00:35:41.480 --> 00:35:45.639
pleaded no contest to a single
count of marijuana smuggling.

678
00:35:45.679 --> 00:35:50.079
Thornton gets off easy
and only serves five months.

679
00:35:50.119 --> 00:35:53.639 line:5%
♪

680
00:35:53.679 --> 00:35:55.480
With all his friends in prison,

681
00:35:55.519 --> 00:35:58.639
Thornton's marijuana empire
has collapsed.

682
00:35:58.679 --> 00:36:01.920
But he's not ready
to give up just yet.

683
00:36:01.960 --> 00:36:04.039 line:5%
♪

684
00:36:04.079 --> 00:36:06.360
That's when Drew Thornton
became the lone wolf.

685
00:36:06.400 --> 00:36:08.599
He used what connections he had

686
00:36:08.639 --> 00:36:12.119
to start bringing in cocaine...

687
00:36:12.159 --> 00:36:14.079
[ Bear growls ]

688
00:36:14.119 --> 00:36:16.599
...which changed everything.

689
00:36:16.639 --> 00:36:18.800
[ Indistinct conversations ]

690
00:36:18.840 --> 00:36:21.239 line:5%
♪

691
00:36:21.280 --> 00:36:23.960
In the '70s, there was
a huge appetite for marijuana

692
00:36:24.000 --> 00:36:26.039
in the United States,

693
00:36:26.079 --> 00:36:30.760
but then in the '80s,
the appetite shifted to cocaine.

694
00:36:30.800 --> 00:36:31.960
It became the drug of choice.

695
00:36:32.000 --> 00:36:33.800
A lot of celebrities
were using it,

696
00:36:33.840 --> 00:36:38.079
and it was attractive
for the smugglers.

697
00:36:38.119 --> 00:36:40.599
I joined DEA in 1983,

698
00:36:40.639 --> 00:36:45.599
I was assigned to working
drug cases throughout Kentucky

699
00:36:45.639 --> 00:36:48.920
that took me to South America.

700
00:36:48.960 --> 00:36:54.480
Once I joined DEA, I learned
a lot about Andrew Thornton.

701
00:36:54.519 --> 00:36:57.280
Andrew went from flying
tons of marijuana

702
00:36:57.320 --> 00:36:59.920
to flying kilos of cocaine,

703
00:36:59.960 --> 00:37:01.920
because it took
a much smaller airplane,

704
00:37:01.960 --> 00:37:05.280
which was less noticeable
by law enforcement.

705
00:37:05.320 --> 00:37:08.519
You could make 10 times the
amount of money easily on a run

706
00:37:08.559 --> 00:37:10.280
that you would with marijuana.

707
00:37:10.320 --> 00:37:13.880
And a pilot like Drew Thornton
could do everything on his own.

708
00:37:13.920 --> 00:37:18.079 line:5%
♪

709
00:37:18.119 --> 00:37:23.159
By 1983, Thornton's using
his connections in Colombia

710
00:37:23.199 --> 00:37:26.559
to smuggle cocaine into America.

711
00:37:26.599 --> 00:37:29.480
I knew that he was
a major drug smuggler.

712
00:37:29.519 --> 00:37:31.760
And several agencies
were working

713
00:37:31.800 --> 00:37:35.280
to build a case
against Andrew Thornton.

714
00:37:35.320 --> 00:37:39.039
He's now set for the flight
that will make him infamous

715
00:37:39.079 --> 00:37:43.519
and forever connected
to the fate of the cocaine bear.

716
00:37:49.559 --> 00:37:53.800 line:5%
♪

717
00:37:53.840 --> 00:37:58.519
It's 1985, and Andrew Thornton
is back in the big time,

718
00:37:58.559 --> 00:38:01.880
smuggling cocaine into Kentucky.

719
00:38:01.920 --> 00:38:04.440
But in the legend
of the cocaine bear,

720
00:38:04.480 --> 00:38:06.800
his fate is sealed,

721
00:38:06.840 --> 00:38:09.280
and his end is fast approaching.

722
00:38:09.320 --> 00:38:16.599 line:5%
♪

723
00:38:16.639 --> 00:38:21.039
On the night of September
the 10th, 1985,

724
00:38:21.079 --> 00:38:25.199
he flew a load of cocaine into
the United States from Colombia.

725
00:38:25.239 --> 00:38:27.440 line:5%
♪

726
00:38:27.480 --> 00:38:32.440
His goal was to move cocaine
into the Lexington area,

727
00:38:32.480 --> 00:38:34.880
with an intermediate
stop in Georgia

728
00:38:34.920 --> 00:38:37.119
where he had
some co-conspirators

729
00:38:37.159 --> 00:38:39.239
waiting to offload
the airplane.

730
00:38:39.280 --> 00:38:40.920
You just don't get in a plane
and fly to Colombia

731
00:38:40.960 --> 00:38:43.039
and pick up a load
of cocaine and come back.

732
00:38:43.079 --> 00:38:46.840
This would have taken
some serious prior planning.

733
00:38:46.880 --> 00:38:48.679 line:5%
♪

734
00:38:48.719 --> 00:38:51.280
Thornton's journey
started as planned.

735
00:38:51.320 --> 00:38:53.679
He passed Cuba and navigated
the coast of Florida

736
00:38:53.719 --> 00:38:56.559
without incident.

737
00:38:56.599 --> 00:38:59.480
But what happened next?

738
00:38:59.519 --> 00:39:03.119
There are certain facts upon
which most investigators agree.

739
00:39:03.159 --> 00:39:06.719 line:5%
♪

740
00:39:06.760 --> 00:39:10.320
Thornton did not make
his landing in Georgia.

741
00:39:10.360 --> 00:39:13.039
Was flying over
the National Forest in Georgia

742
00:39:13.079 --> 00:39:16.440
and started throwing out
cocaine into the forest.

743
00:39:16.480 --> 00:39:18.960 line:5%
♪

744
00:39:19.000 --> 00:39:22.320
Probably worth
hundreds of millions.

745
00:39:22.360 --> 00:39:25.599
He attached the duffel bags
to parachutes,

746
00:39:25.639 --> 00:39:27.239
pushed them out of the airplane,

747
00:39:27.280 --> 00:39:31.360
and then he had about 75 pounds
of cocaine strapped to his body.

748
00:39:31.400 --> 00:39:33.280 line:5%
♪

749
00:39:33.320 --> 00:39:35.920
And then with the remaining
cocaine strapped to him,

750
00:39:35.960 --> 00:39:38.440
he put the airplane on autopilot

751
00:39:38.480 --> 00:39:42.199
somewhere near the Knoxville
downtown airport, jumped...

752
00:39:45.400 --> 00:39:50.159
And then something happened
that he didn't expect to happen.

753
00:39:50.199 --> 00:39:51.880
[ Thud ]

754
00:39:58.960 --> 00:40:02.679
How did Andrew Thornton
parachute to his death?

755
00:40:05.840 --> 00:40:08.039
People do have a number
of different theories

756
00:40:08.079 --> 00:40:10.559
to how this happened,
why it went bad.

757
00:40:10.599 --> 00:40:14.239 line:5%
♪

758
00:40:14.280 --> 00:40:15.559
The most common story I heard

759
00:40:15.599 --> 00:40:18.239
was that the main chute
did not fully open

760
00:40:18.280 --> 00:40:20.639
for unknown reasons.

761
00:40:20.679 --> 00:40:24.480
The reserve chute
also did not fully inflate.

762
00:40:24.519 --> 00:40:28.000 line:5%
♪

763
00:40:28.039 --> 00:40:30.760
People noted at the time
that there was an obvious cut

764
00:40:30.800 --> 00:40:34.119
or bruise on his head,
and so perhaps he hit his head

765
00:40:34.159 --> 00:40:37.320
going out the door
of the airplane.

766
00:40:37.360 --> 00:40:38.679
He was unconscious,

767
00:40:38.719 --> 00:40:41.760
didn't have an opportunity
to pull his chute.

768
00:40:41.800 --> 00:40:43.760
It also may have had
something to do with

769
00:40:43.800 --> 00:40:46.400
Thornton carrying
all that cocaine on him.

770
00:40:46.440 --> 00:40:49.519 line:5%
♪

771
00:40:49.559 --> 00:40:54.599
From the injuries to his face,
the medical examiner believed

772
00:40:54.639 --> 00:40:57.800
that load of cocaine
had swung back around

773
00:40:57.840 --> 00:41:00.039
and caught him in the face
and either knocked him out

774
00:41:00.079 --> 00:41:02.719
or addled him
to where he was confused.

775
00:41:02.760 --> 00:41:05.800
You know, so, it would be
a pretty good lick.

776
00:41:08.880 --> 00:41:13.039
But what compelled Thornton
to jump out of the plane?

777
00:41:13.079 --> 00:41:15.239
The word on the street was
he felt like

778
00:41:15.280 --> 00:41:18.440
he was being surveilled
by customs or DEA.

779
00:41:18.480 --> 00:41:20.480
[ Indistinct radio chatter ]

780
00:41:20.519 --> 00:41:23.440
Somewhere along the way,
he became paranoid

781
00:41:23.480 --> 00:41:27.199
that he were being followed
or being tracked by a DEA plane

782
00:41:27.239 --> 00:41:29.599
or Coast Guard or customs.

783
00:41:29.639 --> 00:41:31.840
A lot of people think
he probably jumped out

784
00:41:31.880 --> 00:41:35.440
of the airplane
because of his paranoia.

785
00:41:35.480 --> 00:41:38.039 line:5%
♪

786
00:41:38.079 --> 00:41:41.480
But we checked, and they did not
have any aircraft

787
00:41:41.519 --> 00:41:44.119
following him
into the United States.

788
00:41:47.880 --> 00:41:52.440
If law enforcement wasn't
on his tail, why jump at all?

789
00:41:52.480 --> 00:41:55.840 line:5%
♪

790
00:41:55.880 --> 00:41:59.639
I think this was his plan
all along.

791
00:41:59.679 --> 00:42:01.519
One of the stories
that was circulating

792
00:42:01.559 --> 00:42:05.440
was that he actually was ripping
off the Colombian suppliers

793
00:42:05.480 --> 00:42:07.960
by intentionally
crashing the airplane,

794
00:42:08.000 --> 00:42:10.280
claiming the cocaine
was destroyed in the crash,

795
00:42:10.320 --> 00:42:12.199
but keeping it for himself.

796
00:42:12.239 --> 00:42:14.840
Why would he have all those
parachutes in the airplane

797
00:42:14.880 --> 00:42:17.000
tied to duffel bags
full of cocaine

798
00:42:17.039 --> 00:42:20.239
if that wasn't
the plan originally?

799
00:42:20.280 --> 00:42:21.760
No, I don't think so.

800
00:42:21.800 --> 00:42:26.039
He was way too smart to steal
from the Medellin Cartel.

801
00:42:26.079 --> 00:42:27.639
They knew who he was.

802
00:42:27.679 --> 00:42:31.440
He-- He would have not lasted
very long at all

803
00:42:31.480 --> 00:42:34.440
if he had stolen from them.

804
00:42:34.480 --> 00:42:39.519
Whether Thornton was scamming
the cartels or just paranoid,

805
00:42:39.559 --> 00:42:41.239
there's one even more
shocking theory

806
00:42:41.280 --> 00:42:44.239
about what happened that night.

807
00:42:44.280 --> 00:42:45.440
One of the theories is that

808
00:42:45.480 --> 00:42:48.119
there was a second person
on the airplane.

809
00:42:48.159 --> 00:42:55.039 line:5%
♪

810
00:42:55.079 --> 00:42:58.199
We initially thought that
other people were involved,

811
00:42:58.239 --> 00:43:01.159
but we didn't have any proof.

812
00:43:01.199 --> 00:43:04.880
This is the downtown
Knoxville Island Home airport.

813
00:43:04.920 --> 00:43:08.920
Where Mr. Thornton parachuted
into the residential area

814
00:43:08.960 --> 00:43:12.239
is about 250 yards
as the crow flies

815
00:43:12.280 --> 00:43:15.000
above us on the hill.

816
00:43:15.039 --> 00:43:18.239
About two or three months
after Thornton was found,

817
00:43:18.280 --> 00:43:24.079
another parachute was found
on the far end of the runway.

818
00:43:24.119 --> 00:43:26.639
We theorized
that Andrew Thornton

819
00:43:26.679 --> 00:43:30.239
let the other individual
in the plane jump.

820
00:43:30.280 --> 00:43:33.039
And then Thornton put
the plane on autopilot.

821
00:43:33.079 --> 00:43:35.760
He would jump out of the plane
and let it go across

822
00:43:35.800 --> 00:43:39.679
the mountains
in North Carolina and crash.

823
00:43:39.719 --> 00:43:41.639
If there was one other person
on the plane,

824
00:43:41.679 --> 00:43:44.519
it would've to be someone
that Drew Thornton trusted.

825
00:43:44.559 --> 00:43:45.880
And I don't know
of anybody back then

826
00:43:45.920 --> 00:43:48.360
that he trusted
more than Bill Canan.

827
00:43:48.400 --> 00:43:50.199 line:5%
♪

828
00:43:50.239 --> 00:43:53.119
Canan's his very close friend
who worked alongside him

829
00:43:53.159 --> 00:43:55.719 line:5%
at the Lexington
Police Department.

830
00:43:55.760 --> 00:43:58.639 line:5%
Was Thornton's old partner,
corrupt cop Bill Canan,

831
00:43:58.679 --> 00:44:00.760
with him at the very end?

832
00:44:00.800 --> 00:44:03.239
Canan was
the most likely suspect

833
00:44:03.280 --> 00:44:07.199
until someone else came forward,
uh, also named Bill

834
00:44:07.239 --> 00:44:10.079
who, uh, professed
that he was on the plane.

835
00:44:10.119 --> 00:44:13.280 line:5%
♪

836
00:44:13.320 --> 00:44:17.239
In 1990, a man named Bill
Leonard told an amazing story

837
00:44:17.280 --> 00:44:20.320
to a journalist at
the Knoxville News Sentinel.

838
00:44:20.360 --> 00:44:23.000 line:5%
♪

839
00:44:23.039 --> 00:44:27.320
Thornton had talked Bill
Leonard into travelling with him

840
00:44:27.360 --> 00:44:29.519
to help provide
security for him.

841
00:44:29.559 --> 00:44:32.599
But apparently Leonard thought
that was gonna be in Florida

842
00:44:32.639 --> 00:44:35.039
or The Bahamas,
but Thornton kept flying,

843
00:44:35.079 --> 00:44:38.880
and they ended up in Colombia,
surprising Bill Leonard.

844
00:44:38.920 --> 00:44:42.159 line:5%
♪

845
00:44:42.199 --> 00:44:44.920
You have to ask yourself
how plausible that is.

846
00:44:44.960 --> 00:44:48.599
But, you know, the Bill Leonard
that I knew was a stand-up guy,

847
00:44:48.639 --> 00:44:51.840
and you could believe him.

848
00:44:51.880 --> 00:44:54.199
Leonard has never been
charged with a crime.

849
00:44:54.239 --> 00:44:56.599
And I spoke to former detectives
from Lexington

850
00:44:56.639 --> 00:44:58.440
who believe his story.

851
00:44:58.480 --> 00:45:01.800
They're convinced that he was
an unwitting accomplice

852
00:45:01.840 --> 00:45:05.159
in that smuggling run.

853
00:45:05.199 --> 00:45:07.039
I don't know how you account
for the fact

854
00:45:07.079 --> 00:45:09.920
that someone as experienced
as Drew Thornton

855
00:45:09.960 --> 00:45:12.639
as a paratrooper
did not survive that night

856
00:45:12.679 --> 00:45:16.280
and the totally inexperienced
Bill Leonard did.

857
00:45:16.320 --> 00:45:19.800
Pure luck? Perhaps.

858
00:45:19.840 --> 00:45:21.760
I've asked a number
of the investigators

859
00:45:21.800 --> 00:45:23.119
from the federal aviation

860
00:45:23.159 --> 00:45:25.840
to the FBI to the state police
in Tennessee.

861
00:45:25.880 --> 00:45:27.840
Nobody has any answer.

862
00:45:27.880 --> 00:45:29.400 line:5%
♪

863
00:45:29.440 --> 00:45:31.760
Much of what happened
in the skies over Knoxville

864
00:45:31.800 --> 00:45:35.039
remains a mystery.

865
00:45:35.079 --> 00:45:38.760
Can more answers
be found in North Georgia?

866
00:45:38.800 --> 00:45:41.880
And what really happened
to the cocaine bear?

867
00:45:49.760 --> 00:45:52.119 line:5%
♪

868
00:45:52.159 --> 00:45:55.880
On Andrew Thornton's
final flight in 1985,

869
00:45:55.920 --> 00:45:58.639
he drops several duffel bags
full of cocaine

870
00:45:58.679 --> 00:46:02.119
over the Southern United States.

871
00:46:02.159 --> 00:46:03.519
There was a map

872
00:46:03.559 --> 00:46:05.920
that showed where the cocaine
was found along the way.

873
00:46:05.960 --> 00:46:09.840
And you could just about
track his line of flight

874
00:46:09.880 --> 00:46:12.280
where the packages
were thrown out.

875
00:46:12.320 --> 00:46:18.679 line:5%
♪

876
00:46:18.719 --> 00:46:21.719
One lands in the woods that are
the home of the cocaine bear.

877
00:46:21.760 --> 00:46:23.119
[ Bear growls ]

878
00:46:23.159 --> 00:46:25.679
One of the DEA agents
called back and said,

879
00:46:25.719 --> 00:46:27.719
"You know that a bear

880
00:46:27.760 --> 00:46:29.960
got into that cocaine down there
in the woods."

881
00:46:30.000 --> 00:46:32.199
And I was like, "Oh, come on."

882
00:46:32.239 --> 00:46:35.360
And at first I thought that,
you know, that was, they were,

883
00:46:35.400 --> 00:46:37.719
they were kind of gigging me
a little bit,

884
00:46:37.760 --> 00:46:39.960
but actually, it did happen.

885
00:46:40.000 --> 00:46:45.000 line:5%
♪

886
00:46:45.039 --> 00:46:47.920
When Fran Wiley's officers
get to the scene,

887
00:46:47.960 --> 00:46:51.800
there is no cocaine left.

888
00:46:51.840 --> 00:46:54.920
She has her own theory
about what happened to it.

889
00:46:54.960 --> 00:46:58.840
There was no cocaine
in the duffel bag at the scene.

890
00:46:58.880 --> 00:47:01.679
So where did the cocaine go?

891
00:47:01.719 --> 00:47:02.960
Well, the bear ate it.

892
00:47:03.000 --> 00:47:05.760
Well, no,
the bear didn't ate it.

893
00:47:05.800 --> 00:47:07.719
The bad guys got it.

894
00:47:07.760 --> 00:47:10.800 line:5%
♪

895
00:47:10.840 --> 00:47:14.159
The bear would've never
been able to consume

896
00:47:14.199 --> 00:47:16.239
75 pounds of cocaine.

897
00:47:16.280 --> 00:47:19.800
The pathologist told me
that it had consumed

898
00:47:19.840 --> 00:47:22.840
about 3 grams of cocaine

899
00:47:22.880 --> 00:47:26.920
that was 95% pure.

900
00:47:26.960 --> 00:47:29.920
It would probably
would have been dead

901
00:47:29.960 --> 00:47:32.639
within the first or second bite.

902
00:47:32.679 --> 00:47:35.519 line:5%
♪

903
00:47:35.559 --> 00:47:41.400
My theory is that Mr. Thornton
had a predestined location

904
00:47:41.440 --> 00:47:46.719
for his ground crew
to pick up the cocaine.

905
00:47:46.760 --> 00:47:49.840
And I think that they did.

906
00:47:49.880 --> 00:47:52.679
They probably saw the bear
had got into it.

907
00:47:52.719 --> 00:47:56.119 line:5%
♪

908
00:47:56.159 --> 00:47:59.039
And they picked up
the remaining and left.

909
00:48:04.119 --> 00:48:12.880 line:5%
♪

910
00:48:12.920 --> 00:48:17.239
I've heard many variations
of this story

911
00:48:17.280 --> 00:48:19.639
about the bear

912
00:48:19.679 --> 00:48:23.280
in Lexington, Kentucky,
that is on display.

913
00:48:23.320 --> 00:48:25.280 line:5%
♪

914
00:48:25.320 --> 00:48:29.239
They are portraying it
to be Pablo EskoBear.

915
00:48:29.280 --> 00:48:35.360 line:5%
♪

916
00:48:35.400 --> 00:48:37.840
But that is not my bear.

917
00:48:37.880 --> 00:48:39.480
There's no way.

918
00:48:39.519 --> 00:48:41.360 line:5%
♪

919
00:48:41.400 --> 00:48:46.119
The bear was in no condition
to be taxidermied.

920
00:48:46.159 --> 00:48:48.840
I think the purveyors
of the display,

921
00:48:48.880 --> 00:48:50.360
if you press them,
they would tell you

922
00:48:50.400 --> 00:48:52.800
that it's not the same bear.

923
00:48:52.840 --> 00:48:54.880
It's symbolic.

924
00:48:54.920 --> 00:48:57.719
So, what do the mall's
owners say?

925
00:48:57.760 --> 00:49:00.159
They claim that
their "taxidermy bear

926
00:49:00.199 --> 00:49:03.840
is 100% Cocaine Bear,"

927
00:49:03.880 --> 00:49:06.159 line:5%
and that "if disbelief
is your choice,

928
00:49:06.199 --> 00:49:09.519 line:5%
then we created
the most fantastic story ever."

929
00:49:09.559 --> 00:49:15.760 line:5%
♪

930
00:49:15.800 --> 00:49:18.000
The whereabouts of
the real cocaine bear

931
00:49:18.039 --> 00:49:22.920
is as mysterious
as so much of this legend.

932
00:49:22.960 --> 00:49:26.239
The story begins with reports
of a dead parachutist

933
00:49:26.280 --> 00:49:28.719
found wearing Gucci loafers,

934
00:49:28.760 --> 00:49:31.760
and even that may be a myth.

935
00:49:31.800 --> 00:49:33.159
There were incorrect accounts

936
00:49:33.199 --> 00:49:37.679
as to what exactly
he was wearing on his feet.

937
00:49:37.719 --> 00:49:41.039
There was one indication
that he had Gucci loafers.

938
00:49:41.079 --> 00:49:44.239
In reality, Thornton's
shoes were described

939
00:49:44.280 --> 00:49:48.360
as the "Gucci loafers"
of the parachuting world.

940
00:49:48.400 --> 00:49:54.079
He had some very expensive
jumping shoes on.

941
00:49:54.119 --> 00:49:58.119
When I was told about them,
they were equated to Gucci.

942
00:49:58.159 --> 00:49:59.880
That's how they tried
to correlate it to me

943
00:49:59.920 --> 00:50:02.199
was this would be like Gucci.

944
00:50:02.239 --> 00:50:06.320 line:5%
♪

945
00:50:06.360 --> 00:50:09.599
I don't think we'll ever know
what really happened.

946
00:50:09.639 --> 00:50:12.599
I think we have
gotten pretty close

947
00:50:12.639 --> 00:50:13.960
with the bits and pieces

948
00:50:14.000 --> 00:50:15.719
and the puzzles
that we've put together.

949
00:50:15.760 --> 00:50:17.800
With the individuals
that are still alive

950
00:50:17.840 --> 00:50:20.800
and the agencies that did
the legwork that they did,

951
00:50:20.840 --> 00:50:24.480
I think we got as close
to knowing what happened

952
00:50:24.519 --> 00:50:27.760
as we ever will.

953
00:50:27.800 --> 00:50:30.719
A curtain was drawn
over the conspiracy,

954
00:50:30.760 --> 00:50:34.480
the drugs, the murders.

955
00:50:34.519 --> 00:50:37.920
If I had to go to my grave
with that on my conscience,

956
00:50:37.960 --> 00:50:40.199
I would not want
to stand very tall

957
00:50:40.239 --> 00:50:43.159
on the day of judgment
is all I can say.

958
00:50:43.199 --> 00:50:45.320 line:5%
♪

959
00:50:45.360 --> 00:50:49.559
Bradley Bryant served his time
and then dropped out of sight.

960
00:50:49.599 --> 00:50:54.840
Bill Canan was jailed in 1994
for federal drug charges.

961
00:50:54.880 --> 00:50:57.360
He passed away in 2020.

962
00:50:57.400 --> 00:51:02.960 line:5%
♪

963
00:51:03.000 --> 00:51:06.519
And as for Drew Thornton,
his myth lives on,

964
00:51:06.559 --> 00:51:10.599
alongside that
of the cocaine bear.

965
00:51:10.639 --> 00:51:12.239
He was a bad guy.

966
00:51:12.280 --> 00:51:16.079
These guys
did this stuff for fun,

967
00:51:16.119 --> 00:51:19.840
and, and that's kind of scary.

968
00:51:19.880 --> 00:51:23.119
Thinking about Andrew Thornton
and the cocaine bear,

969
00:51:23.159 --> 00:51:27.360 line:5%
would've Thornton liked to have
been associated with that?

970
00:51:27.400 --> 00:51:28.840 line:5%
I think he would've thought

971
00:51:28.880 --> 00:51:30.880 line:5%
the bear was getting
more attention than he did,

972
00:51:30.920 --> 00:51:33.400 line:5%
and I don't think he would've
liked that whatsoever.

973
00:51:33.440 --> 00:51:36.440 line:5%
But he probably would've been
amused by it.

974
00:51:36.480 --> 00:51:42.119 line:5%
♪