UM segment that was a hoax - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

crystaldawn · 12-29-2006, 02:03 PM

Do you guys remember the segment UM did about the dog named Eagle who seemed to have amazing powers in finding human remains? It was discovered to be a scam perpetrated by Eagle's owner Cindy Anderson. I watched the CourtTV show "Investigators" last night that profiled the case and for those of you who didn't see it I'll elaborate. They said that Eagle seemed to have amazing powers in finding bones in cases where archaeologists and detectives and even other search dogs had already searched extensively. It seemed as soon as Eagle was on the scene he immediately found bone fragments. They were even invited to other countries to help out on cases there. However as dna testing would come in they soon found out that the bones Eagle found, presumably of particular missing persons they were searching for, dna didn't match in any of the cases. A few people started to get suspicious but the majority of LE continued to back her up. Then one person thought they saw her distract the investigators who were watching her and plant a piece of bone so they kept a closer eye on her. Finally a female police officer actually saw her plant a bone fragment and confronted her and it almost got into a physical fight! They searched her home and among all the utter filth and mistreated dogs there (two of which had to be put to sleep) found tons of bones which police think she may have gotten from a Medical Examiner and they were even able to match up these bone fragments that Eagle found at crime scenes to the bones found in Anderson's home. In fact the day she was "caught in the act" her pockets were full of bone fragments. At one point in a murder case Eagle found a knife covered in what was thought to have been the victim's blood. The blood was later discovered to have been Anderson's herself so to think of how demented she must have been to actually make herself bleed so she could plant evidence. She was arrested and continued to maintain her innocence. Then when she realized what an airtight case they had against her she pled guilty and was sentenced to 21 months in prison. She asked the judge if she could delay the start of her sentence for a few months because her mother was going in for cancer surgery. When her mother was contacted to verify her story she said it wasn't true and that her daughter was a pathological liar. Sadly Eagle died a few years ago of heart disease. I believe Anderson was sentenced in the early 2000's so she is probably out by now. They said she would even be able to work for law enforcement as long as she checked in with her parole officer although I can't imagine anyone wanting to hire her now. Anyway, interesting show.

nohwheregirl · 12-29-2006, 02:25 PM

Thanks for posting on this, CrystalDawn. I started a thread about this show a few months ago, and nobody responded. I think if people had actually seen this show, they would have A LOT to say! I watched it again last night, and man...Sandra Anderson just pisses me off. What balls! Not only could she have sent innocent people to prison, but she could actually help guilty people get out of prison if it is shown that the police used fraudulent evidence to convict. I'm not sure if that has happened to date, but thankfully, the two convicted murderers mentioned on the show are still in prison (Peter Cupaza (sp?) and the guy from Dearborn). It sounds like she could have been making a lot of money off of investigators and the families of murder victims through these "miraculous" discoveries of bone fragments, body parts, and murder weapons.

BTW, I have to say I LOVED the police officer that finally confronted her and nearly had to take her down. It took a lot of guts for her, and the Michigan police officer to speak up in the face of Anderson's "impeccable" reputation.

UMfan77 · 12-29-2006, 02:46 PM

Before this case was revealed as a hoax, whenever I'd watch that segment, there was something odd about Sandra Anderson. I could never put my finger on it. Now my suspicions were confirmed, she WAS a weirdo & a liar.

crystaldawn · 12-29-2006, 04:08 PM

I actually think she was a little nuts. I mean to inflict harm on herself to acquire some blood to plant. No doubt she loved the attention and all the money she made off of Eagle. I was actually suprised that the two cases which Eagle's findings were presented to the jury weren't awarded new trials after all of this came to light but I don't think there was much doubt as to their guilt. I totally believe her mother in that she is a pathological liar. Yes that cop that first became suspicious of her seemed to take a lot of heat from his fellow cops but he ended up being vindicated in the end.

TracyLynnS · 01-12-2009, 10:54 PM

I know this is an ancient thread, but I had to comment. Eagle's story was on tv just a few days ago. It was the first time I had ever heard of his great abilities. (And I'm from MI, just like Eagle was.)

Eagle even proved in court that he could distinguish between human and animal blood, and based on that ability, the evidence he found in the cases he worked was admitted in court, making him the first canine court witness.

Who would have ever thought it was the human who was perpetrating the deceptions, and not the dog making a mistake in his work.

Notwithistanding the horrific injustice this woman has done to the victims, their families, the innocent, and all others involved, I (as a dog lover) was completely outraged that she could set this dog up and use him as a pawn in her schemes! To me, it was almost like using an innocent child to help you commit crimes.

She tainted the reputation of a very talented dog, since he did indeed prove that he was a useful cadaver dog who could identify human blood and keep the authorities on the right trail.

And on top of that, to then see the disgusting and neglectful way that her animals were housed... poorly treated, denied medical attention. It just makes me sick.

She used Eagle to keep the attention on herself. She never cared about the animals in any way except for how could they benefit her and increase her popularity. Dispicable.

cmyweb · 01-12-2009, 11:12 PM

How random!! With all of the recent posting on the Cynthia Anderson case, I decided to research it. Last week I came across the following link:

http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs...WS03/107220060

...and that's when I first heard about Sandra and Eagle. Apparently they had planned to use Eagle's skills in an attempt to find more info on Cynthia...

I never realized Sandra and Eagle had been featured on UM. I was able to confirm that Sandra is out of jail now, but could not find any indication of what she's doing these days.

leafygreens · 01-13-2009, 01:37 PM

I saw that episode on the Investigators! It was soooo scary!!

Cori aka ChrisSCrush · 01-21-2009, 05:23 AM

In my opinion, Georgia Rudolph was way overplayed--probably because they spent so much on the beautifully-filmed reenactments--and every time I saw it, the more her story didn't add up. Here http://www.starlightinnerprizes.com/Rudolph-Medical.htm is a website explaining how she is a 100% phony fraud!

12-29-2006, 02:03 PM	#1
crystaldawn Member Forum 4000 Club Member Join Date: Dec 17, 2002 Location: Illinois Posts: 4,261	UM segment that was a hoax Do you guys remember the segment UM did about the dog named Eagle who seemed to have amazing powers in finding human remains? It was discovered to be a scam perpetrated by Eagle's owner Cindy Anderson. I watched the CourtTV show "Investigators" last night that profiled the case and for those of you who didn't see it I'll elaborate. They said that Eagle seemed to have amazing powers in finding bones in cases where archaeologists and detectives and even other search dogs had already searched extensively. It seemed as soon as Eagle was on the scene he immediately found bone fragments. They were even invited to other countries to help out on cases there. However as dna testing would come in they soon found out that the bones Eagle found, presumably of particular missing persons they were searching for, dna didn't match in any of the cases. A few people started to get suspicious but the majority of LE continued to back her up. Then one person thought they saw her distract the investigators who were watching her and plant a piece of bone so they kept a closer eye on her. Finally a female police officer actually saw her plant a bone fragment and confronted her and it almost got into a physical fight! They searched her home and among all the utter filth and mistreated dogs there (two of which had to be put to sleep) found tons of bones which police think she may have gotten from a Medical Examiner and they were even able to match up these bone fragments that Eagle found at crime scenes to the bones found in Anderson's home. In fact the day she was "caught in the act" her pockets were full of bone fragments. At one point in a murder case Eagle found a knife covered in what was thought to have been the victim's blood. The blood was later discovered to have been Anderson's herself so to think of how demented she must have been to actually make herself bleed so she could plant evidence. She was arrested and continued to maintain her innocence. Then when she realized what an airtight case they had against her she pled guilty and was sentenced to 21 months in prison. She asked the judge if she could delay the start of her sentence for a few months because her mother was going in for cancer surgery. When her mother was contacted to verify her story she said it wasn't true and that her daughter was a pathological liar. Sadly Eagle died a few years ago of heart disease. I believe Anderson was sentenced in the early 2000's so she is probably out by now. They said she would even be able to work for law enforcement as long as she checked in with her parole officer although I can't imagine anyone wanting to hire her now. Anyway, interesting show.

12-29-2006, 02:25 PM	#2
nohwheregirl THE Mystery Machine Senior Member Join Date: Apr 23, 2004 Posts: 1,057	Thanks for posting on this, CrystalDawn. I started a thread about this show a few months ago, and nobody responded. I think if people had actually seen this show, they would have A LOT to say! I watched it again last night, and man...Sandra Anderson just pisses me off. What balls! Not only could she have sent innocent people to prison, but she could actually help guilty people get out of prison if it is shown that the police used fraudulent evidence to convict. I'm not sure if that has happened to date, but thankfully, the two convicted murderers mentioned on the show are still in prison (Peter Cupaza (sp?) and the guy from Dearborn). It sounds like she could have been making a lot of money off of investigators and the families of murder victims through these "miraculous" discoveries of bone fragments, body parts, and murder weapons. BTW, I have to say I LOVED the police officer that finally confronted her and nearly had to take her down. It took a lot of guts for her, and the Michigan police officer to speak up in the face of Anderson's "impeccable" reputation.

12-29-2006, 02:46 PM	#3
UMfan77 Member Senior Member Join Date: Nov 28, 2003 Posts: 1,064	Before this case was revealed as a hoax, whenever I'd watch that segment, there was something odd about Sandra Anderson. I could never put my finger on it. Now my suspicions were confirmed, she WAS a weirdo & a liar.

12-29-2006, 04:08 PM	#4
crystaldawn Member Forum 4000 Club Member Join Date: Dec 17, 2002 Location: Illinois Posts: 4,261	I actually think she was a little nuts. I mean to inflict harm on herself to acquire some blood to plant. No doubt she loved the attention and all the money she made off of Eagle. I was actually suprised that the two cases which Eagle's findings were presented to the jury weren't awarded new trials after all of this came to light but I don't think there was much doubt as to their guilt. I totally believe her mother in that she is a pathological liar. Yes that cop that first became suspicious of her seemed to take a lot of heat from his fellow cops but he ended up being vindicated in the end.

01-12-2009, 10:54 PM	#5
TracyLynnS Don't Look Up Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Jan 07, 2009 Posts: 3,107	I know this is an ancient thread, but I had to comment. Eagle's story was on tv just a few days ago. It was the first time I had ever heard of his great abilities. (And I'm from MI, just like Eagle was.) Eagle even proved in court that he could distinguish between human and animal blood, and based on that ability, the evidence he found in the cases he worked was admitted in court, making him the first canine court witness. Who would have ever thought it was the human who was perpetrating the deceptions, and not the dog making a mistake in his work. Notwithistanding the horrific injustice this woman has done to the victims, their families, the innocent, and all others involved, I (as a dog lover) was completely outraged that she could set this dog up and use him as a pawn in her schemes! To me, it was almost like using an innocent child to help you commit crimes. She tainted the reputation of a very talented dog, since he did indeed prove that he was a useful cadaver dog who could identify human blood and keep the authorities on the right trail. And on top of that, to then see the disgusting and neglectful way that her animals were housed... poorly treated, denied medical attention. It just makes me sick. She used Eagle to keep the attention on herself. She never cared about the animals in any way except for how could they benefit her and increase her popularity. Dispicable.

01-12-2009, 11:12 PM	#6
cmyweb Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Jan 04, 2009 Posts: 85	How random!! With all of the recent posting on the Cynthia Anderson case, I decided to research it. Last week I came across the following link: http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs...WS03/107220060 ...and that's when I first heard about Sandra and Eagle. Apparently they had planned to use Eagle's skills in an attempt to find more info on Cynthia... I never realized Sandra and Eagle had been featured on UM. I was able to confirm that Sandra is out of jail now, but could not find any indication of what she's doing these days.

01-13-2009, 01:37 PM	#7
leafygreens Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Apr 12, 2007 Posts: 183	I saw that episode on the Investigators! It was soooo scary!!

01-21-2009, 05:23 AM	#8
Cori aka ChrisSCrush Member Senior Member Join Date: Dec 30, 2001 Location: USA and still trying to be proud of it! Posts: 2,071	In my opinion, Georgia Rudolph was way overplayed--probably because they spent so much on the beautifully-filmed reenactments--and every time I saw it, the more her story didn't add up. Here http://www.starlightinnerprizes.com/Rudolph-Medical.htm is a website explaining how she is a 100% phony fraud!