. >> deborah: three young women, one missing, one murdered, one kidnapped. >> david: now the hidden secrets that cracked this case. an all-new "20/20" starts right now. >> i get a call from our sergeant. something suspicious happened at exxon gas station. >> going to get right to that michigan mom who vanished. a massive hunt for her right now. >> everybody was asking, where is jessica? what happened to jessica?

have you seen jessica? can you find jessica? >> she's just a hard-working girl. she just needs to come home. >> you start to piece together that something violent happened in this location. >> she saw this silver minivan. she thought it was kind of weird. >> what these two individuals were witnessing in that parking lot was the abduction of heeringa. >> but that wasn't their only mystery to solve when a different crime comes into play. >> oh my gosh. >> this young mother, on the run, being shot and killed. >> this was at close range. this was certainly execution style. >> two females, one missing, one deceased. >> and one other who lived to tell. >> he was just staring at me the entire time. i'm like, let me out, let me out, let me out. >> at what point do you realize you're in real trouble and that you could die?

♪ this is muskegon, in west michigan. just south is the small community of norton shores. beach towns on the sunset coast of lake michigan. >> i describe muskegon as sort of a microcosm of the state of michigan. we have our urban areas, our suburban areas, and then the eastern part and northern part of our county is more rural. >> norton shores is a nice community on the southern edge of our county. >> it's one of the most beautiful areas of west michigan because it's right near lake michigan. so that's the big draw, is our lakeshore just absolutely gorgeous. >> i have a lot of pride of coming from muskegon county. i think it's just a really good place to live in and grow up in. >> but a series of apparently unconnected crimes began to sow

fear into this quiet community. it all begins in the final hour of an april night, when a young woman named jessica heeringa simply vanished. swallowed up, or so it seemed, in a mystery as vast and deep as the big lake itself. >> it's april 26th, 2013, in norton shores, michigan, at this exxon station on east sternberg road. 25-year-old jessica heeringa is inside, closed to be closing up. >> that night i needed gas, so i stopped right here. it's the closest place from my employment. >> he pulled up to the gas station, noticed the door was open, and looked inside, and there was no jessica heeringa. >> just very strange that there's no one here. >> that's what alerted the police, is a customer came in and realized that there was nobody in the store. >> muskegon 911. what is your emergency? >> i don't know if it's an emergency.

i just got out of work and i'm at the exxon gas station on sternberg road, and there's nobody here. it's very suspicious why there's nobody here. >> there was nobody that would answer. so, i looked around the store. >> and what did you see when you looked around the store? >> i went into the bathroom. i looked around. there was really no disturbance. just nobody there. >> okay. so did you yell or anything or -- >> yeah, i hollered, "hey," you know. walked around the building. but i don't see anybody, hon. >> i walked inside, "hey, hey, is anybody here?" i even went inside the cooler and looked inside there and seen nothing abnormal. but in my gut said something's not right. >> i just -- you know, i'm just concerned that nobody's hurt or alive.

>> she has a young son that she's raising, and she was working hard trying to get extra hours at the gas station because of financial problems. so she was covering anybody who needed time off. she covered their shifts. that was her only job, and she was there by herself. >> the ironic thing is that she really wasn't scheduled to work the day that she disappeared. she actually had taken over a shift from somebody. >> did jessica ever express concerns about feeling unsafe at work? >> never. never, not once. she likes working there. >> so norton shores police department responded. >> at the time, the head of detectives was a gentleman by the name of mike kasher. >> i get a call from our sergeant.

something suspicious happened at the exxon gas station. about a mile, mile and a half away from my house. >> from the crime scene photographs, when you take a first glance at it, the inside of the store didn't look as though it had been disturbed. there didn't look like there had been a big struggle. >> there was no real crime scene. >> they find nothing. in fact, that's what's so weird. it's so undisturbed. >> all the cleaning supplies and things were out, so it appeared she had been cleaning and finishing up for the night. >> they go back into the store register drawer with all the money, all the cash, all the change still intact. >> it didn't appear that she had just grabbed her stuff and left. >> her purse was still there with her -- her jacket, cigarettes, lighter, still there. inside that purse was a wallet, and it contained the identifying information for jessica heeringa.

within that wallet there was about $400 in cash. seemingly undisturbed. >> her car was still parked out front. >> whatever happened in this store, robbery was not the intent. >> there was really no explanation as to what happened to her. it was almost like she just left, disappeared. >> and now is beginning the investigation into jessica's disappearance. >> police tonight say they have evidence that backs up their theory that a norton shores woman was abducted from the gas station where she worked. i'm juliette dragos. the news starts in one minute. >> it sounded very odd, you know, that she just disappeared. so we all wondered, "what is going on here?" >> at the time, that location did not have a camera system or anything. >> no security cameras, and i don't think she should have been working by herself.

i used to talk to her about it and ask her about it. of course, 25 years old, you think you're invincible. >> my goal was, right at the beginning, is to establish a timeline, because i -- i figured it would help us at some point. >> so about 10:52, we had a woman who had went in and purchased a cigarette lighter, and that was the last person to see jessica alive. >> the last sale that was recorded here was at 10:52. you were here at the gas station like 11:07, 11 -- >> 11:07, 11:08. >> 11:07, he pulls up. he doesn't see anybody. so sometime between 10:52 and 11:07, we have her missing. >> and that was the -- the start, if you will, of what turned into be a -- a very public and national cold case. >> police continue to search for a missing woman from norton shores. >> the biggest story in all of west michigan for months and months and months. >> the first big break is a page

out of agatha christie. >> as they look and they keep looking, they see a drop of blood. >> then a woman who worked another shift at the gas station approaches detectives. >> she and her husband saw this silver minivan back behind the exxon gas station. she thought that was strange. >> played an extremely important role helping to move the initial investigation forward. >> a drop of blood, a silver minivan, and one more small-caliber clue. the search for jessica heeringa ricochets in a totally different, and dire, direction. >> we are now prepared to reclassify this case as an abduction. "cleanup in aisle five." here we go again. what? oh, this drawer just won't close. ooh, looky who's got lay's. man, those lay's sour cream & yum-ions

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"cleanup in aisle five." here we go again. oh, wow. oh, this drawer just won't close. hmmm. ohh, looky who's got lay's. looky who indeed. man, those lay's cheddar & sour cream snacks just keep me coming back. you said it. and i bet you'll... ...say it again. and i'll say it again. [no laughter] oh. [a laugh] you okay? we're going to get right to that michigan mom who vanished. >> search for a young mom who

vanished. >> while working the late shift -- >> vanished without a trace. >> when jessica heeringa disappeared, it was a very big deal in our area. >> everybody was asking, "where is jessica? what happened to jessica?" "have you seen jessica? can you find jessica? how can we help?" >> the media was very involved in -- in this case. >> this expands beyond the borders of muskegon county and becomes national news. the nation is looking for jessica heeringa. >> a massive hunt for her right now. abc's alex perez is in norton shores, michigan, with the latest. good morning, alex. >> good morning, robin. overnight, jessica's family desperately waited for any word from police, but no luck. >> she was going to get out in 15 minutes. in 15 minutes, that store would've been closed and she would've been on her way home. >> flyers were presented to the community. they were everywhere. >> somebody's seen something and doesn't even know how important

it is yet. >> is there any more flyers that i can get? because i will put them up for you. i'll stick a couple around for you. >> let's join together in prayer to call upon you for jessica's safe return. >> there were vigils, they passed out flyers. they were on our air very regularly, you know, saying, "please jessica, come home. if you have her, bring her home." you know. "we want you back." >> she just needs to come home. >> the small norton shores police force gets reinforcements. michigan state police, the muskegon county sheriff, the fbi, and even the secret service. >> helicopter searches. police k-9s were involved. and ground searches. >> a lot of people in our newsroom thought, "did she just leave? is she having personal problems? could she have just done this because she just had to get away?" >> it doesn't make any sense.

she wouldn't take her purse. she wouldn't take her car. she loved her son. her son zevyn meant everything to her. >> jessica may have vanished, but not without a trace. >> one of the officers said, "i think we need to look at something back here. it's kind of weird." >> and lo and behold, you know, they discover i think some very important pieces of evidence. >> about three or four feet from the back door, we saw a probably about a half dollar size of a blood spot. >> jessica heeringa. it was jessica heeringa's blood. >> and then next to that was these two little round batteries that appeared like watch batteries. >> there was a small black piece of plastic that had the words carl walther written on it.

>> later determined to be a laser cover for a laser sight from a handgun. >> detectives determine that battery-powered walther laser sight is commonly attached to a specific gun, the walther p22 semi-automatic pistol. >> but it also could fit a couple other guns. it could've fit a bb gun, i was told too, at the same time. so it wasn't like, okay, it's only for this specific gun. >> then a woman named susan follett, who worked a different shift at the gas station, approaches detectives. >> she came up to me and she goes, "i think i -- i think i saw something." which i'm like, "okay, what'd you see?" >> she and her husband were out riding motorcycles, and she saw this silver minivan. she thought it was kind of weird. >> this happens right around 11:00 p.m. right in that 15-minute window when jessica disappeared. >> the van ducks behind the gas station. doesn't go out in front where the pumps are, goes behind the gas station, which, at that time of the night, it's kind of weird.

it turned off its lights, and it parked behind the store. >> there's no reason for a customer to go back and park their car. >> suspecting someone may be stealing, the worker and her husband stop nearby, just watching. they say they only see the driver. he gets out of the minivan, he's doing something, they're not sure what. >> they see the tailgate of the van go up, because they recall seeing the dome light. >> pushes the tailgate down, doesn't go, pops it up and adjusts something. shuts the tailgate, gets in the van, and drives away. drives right by them. >> when the van was leaving, susan gets a look at the van driver, you know, as good as you can in the dark. >> it was a male, somewhat heavyset, brownish hair, beard, moustache. they describe the van as being silver in color. >> i wish they would've at least

gone and seen if jess was okay. i'm sorry. >> they didn't see jessica. they didn't think anything. well, maybe there's nothing to report. >> but for police, what the witnesses say they saw, along with the blood and pieces of a gun, are powerful evidence. >> when you couple how the witnesses described what was going on behind the gas station with a laser sight cover and a spot of blood, you start to piece together that something violent happened in this location. >> i felt that the van was crucial because it was parked right where those -- those parts were found. >> what these two individuals were witnessing in that parking lot was the abduction of jessica heeringa. >> police pull surveillance video from several businesses -- shadowy images of that mysterious silver minivan driving by within minutes of jessica heeringa's disappearance.

we're able to determine that this van is now going northbound on grand haven road. >> but that's where the trail of the silver minivan fades to black. >> good afternoon. my name is daniel shaw, i'm the chief of police for the norton shores police department. >> two days later, police hold a news conference. >> we are now prepared to reclassify this case as an abduction, or a kidnapping, under michigan law. >> but, police don't reveal everything they've found to the public. >> we have parts of a gun that we didn't disclose to the public. >> so at this point our only clue is the white male that i described to you and the silver minivan. >> anybody knows anything, call the hotline. that's all i can say. i think i'm done now, man. >> who would have a motive to take jessica heeringa?

the investigation now turns to secrets of her love life. including a married man. >> he asked her to move away and she said, no, sheaves going to stay put. hour later, she's missing. here we go again. oh, this drawer just won't close. ooh, looky who's got lay's. man, those dill-icious lay's dill pickle just... ...keep me coming back. [ticking clock] i said those dill-icious lay's dill pickle... ...just keep me coming back. [ticking clock] dill-icious. [silence] the right age for neutrogena® retinol? that's whenever you want it to be. it has derm-proven retinol that targets vital cell turnover, evens skin tone, and smooths fine lines. with visible results in just one week. neutrogena® retinol looking for a smarter way to mop?

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"cleanup in aisle five." here we go again. here we go again. this drawer just won't close. this drawer just won't close. ooh, looky who's got lay's. ooh, looky who's got lay's. man, those tart little lay's limóns just keep me coming back. you said it. and i'll say it again! and i'll say it again! ha- ha- ha- ha- bu- bu- you- you- ha- ha- ha- ha-

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able to be there for her. you know. i'm sure she's scared and doesn't know what to do. or -- i just hope she knows that we're all looking for her and we're going to find her. >> the police did. i mean, they really did rely on the media for help. as everyone held out hope that she could be found, so they res -- they released a sketch of a gentleman. this is a man that they're looking for, a man of interest. if you've seen him or he -- you recognize or this silver minivan, that was always the prevalent thing, looking for that silver minivan. >> due to the fact that there's no signs of a disturbance within the store, we tend to believe it is someone either that she knows, like an acquaintance, or someone that she knows through the store, maybe a customer or someone that she has met before. >> she was always trying to make people smile, be happy, love life. it's sad to think that that great quality was probably a downfall in this situation, you know. >> we're here because we have

not given up hope for jessica's safe return. >> we're receiving numerous tips from the public, which we truly appreciate, but we need more. >> and boy did we get a lot of calls and a lot of sightings. to our newsroom, probably hundreds. and people thought they saw her at a campground up north. they thought they had seen her at a store. >> people were saying they saw her in arizona, and then they saw her in new jersey, and, uh, i got somebody in chicago that acts suspicious. >> every tip that was brought in was -- was taken seriously and investigated. >> there was quite a long list of potential suspects, when we were looking at the heeringa case. >> she was abducted. somebody took her. >> one of the first people they did talk to was her boyfriend. and you know, because he admitted to them that they did have a rocky relationship. >> i saw her right before she

went to work, and i talked to her an hour before this happened. she was going to be out early and home quick, so -- >> i mean, obviously we always think of, right off the bat, maybe there is a problem with the relationship. >> anybody knows anything, call the hotline. that's all i can say. >> he's the one who called me to tell me that she was missing. he's devastated about the whole thing. this is the mother of his child. they were in love. he had asked her to marry him. and dakotah's part of the family. >> dakotah is quickly excluded as a suspect. detectives turning their attention to other men in jessica's life. >> jessica heeringa was pretty. she was a pretty blonde, people even would say, "there's a good-looking lady who works at that gas station."

>> there were other people of interest in her life that would frequent the gas station. what we had heard is that she may have had a boyfriend or two in addition to the father of her baby. >> police say jessica was having a relationship with a regular at the gas station. a married man. >> his name came up multiple times. he was always in the gas station, always around, and he said that, you know, they had some type of an intimate type relationship going. >> the week before jessica's disappearance, police say the man's wife had come into the gas station to confront jessica. >> she found out about the relationship, entered in, and tried to make contact with jessica. kind of talk with her about it. and jessica got upset and told her to get out of the store, which she did. >> the police say jessica had a

tearful talk, maybe a breakup with a married man just hours before she vanished. >> an hour before she went missing, just an hour beforehand, they had an emotional -- his quote is, "we had an emotional discussion." he asked her to go away with him, to move away, and she said no, she was going to stay put. hour later, she's missing. >> is there a love triangle? is there jealous lovers out there that, you know, got so enraged with jealousy that they went to the extreme to solve that issue? >> i called him a suspect for a good probably year. we checked phone records. we got search warrants. we brought in polygraph twice for him and his wife. but ultimately, he's innocent, and he had no involvement. >> detectives cross the married man and his wife off their list. another dead end.

>> started out as a -- it looks really, really good, and it ends up melting right in your hand, right down to it. >> all those suspects, all those tips to police here. but still no jessica. weeks, months, a full year goes by with no word about the missing woman. >> the tips start dwindling, so they're not hearing as many tops, not hearing anything more about a silver minivan. there was nothing more investigators could do. so we also stopped covering it. >> as 2013 becomes 2014, her case, colder than a west michigan winter. and then some miles away, in another part of muskegon county, another young mother, not lost, but found dead. >> 911, where is your emergency? >> we come up to this lady, she's laying in the road.

>> oh my gosh. who could do with this? who can hit a woman and just leave her? >> could there be a connection? " here we go again. drawers are tricky, aren't they? oh, this drawer just won't close. ooh, looky who's got lay's. [an understanding laugh] i just got these for you because i know how much you love them. you're right! these lay's chile limón sweet and spicy snacks just... ...keep me coming back. and i'll be back. because i'm never gonna get out of here.

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"cleanup in aisle five." here we go again. this drawer just won't close. mmm. ooh, looky who's got lay's. [nervous laughter] are we in hell? security! spicy customer with the lay's flamin' hot, register two! let me outta here.

do you know how many lay's flavors there are? no. you're never getting out of here. we haven't even gotten to the lay's veggie poppables yet. ooh, they make veggie poppables? so, we're going to turn on the road that, uh, becky used to jog or walk on. this is automobile road. >> it was a sunday evening, late june, 2014, when a couple was driving here along automobile road in muskegon county. >> in the middle of summer. 6:00 in the evening. >> suddenly they saw something in the road, maybe a deer. but soon discovered it was worse, much worse. >> 911, where is your emergency?

>> it's on automobile road. we come up to this lady. she's laying in the road. i think she was hit by a car. she's got a head injury. >> okay, we've got to start cpr if she's not breathing normally. i want you to go ahead and start. >> this is dash-cam video from the first muskegon county sheriff's deputy arriving on the scene. you can see an ems worker rushing in to help the 911 callers. >> the wife is a nurse, and she was trying to see what she could do. >> it started out initially a hit and run. she was found on the side of the road. she was in running gear, so she had been out for a run. >> oh my gosh. who could do this? who can hit a woman and just leave her? >> and unfortunately, shortly after she was discovered, she succumbed to her injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene. >> the woman is rebekah bletsch. she lives just down the road. and as they place her in the ambulance, police are stunned to find her death was no accident.

>> in the back of her head, she's got three bullet wounds. >> rebekah bletsch's case went from a hit-and-run to a homicide. >> so it was a shooting, murder. >> people were crying, people were upset, people were scared. people -- i was scared. i was scared to be in my own yard. >> rebekah's sister, jessica, sees a report of a woman killed on facebook. >> and then i called her, and she didn't answer. so then i called her again, no answer. so then i called her daughter. >> she called me and asked if my mom was home. i said, "no, i don't know where she's at." >> i said, "where's your dad?" she said, "he's outside talking to the police." and i knew it was her. >> rebekah's daughter, elli, says her grandmother told her what happened.

>> my dad was outside, and my grandma was inside -- told me. >> she used to jog by here all the time. very nice, friendly girl. always would say, "hi. how you doing?" whatnot, when she went through. >> from all accounts, she was just a nice person. >> everyone just loved rebekah bletsch. >> tell me about your sister. >> becky was the oldest of the three of us sisters. kind of more of a mother to us in times of need. absolutely great spirit. big laugh, great smile. >> always the life of the party. you couldn't help but know that she was there, she walked in a room, you knew. >> yeah. >> what was she like as a mom? >> very involved. she was very active with -- with elli.

>> she loved to go on runs, bike rides, walks through the woods. >> at the crime scene, police find rebekah's belongings, cell phone, sunglasses, earbuds, all in a neat pile across the road from her body. >> why was her body on one side of the road and these items in a nice little pile on the opposite side of the road? >> i mean, it only seems that someone would've ordered her to take off, you know, everything that she had had and set it down. >> investigators speculate that after the killer forced rebekah to put her things down, she tried to get away. >> i think when she realized what was happening, i think she tried to run. >> there was a trail of casings that went from the middle of the road and then toward her body, three different casings. >> i think he -- he hit her with the first shot and it knocked her down, and she tried to crawl

away. and this is where she made it until he walked over to her and -- >> the killer shoots rebekah three times with a .22-caliber gun. investigators recover cci brand shell casings. >> this was at close range. this was certainly execution style. there didn't seem to be any rhyme or reason as to why, on a sunday afternoon, that she would be targeted and killed in such a -- in such a fashion. >> and the only witnesses are my horses. they absolutely stood at that fence and watched it, i can guarantee you. if they could only talk, they would've got this solved a lot quicker. >> jessica heeringa's disappearance and rebekah bletsch's murder were never really tied together. i mean, people speculated and wondered. >> here we have two females that are, one's missing, one's deceased.

but there were no real strong ties. >> i made a call. i always do. "hey, what kind of description do you have?" >> he just couldn't see how these two were related. >> there was no mention of a silver minivan or any minivan of that nature being anywhere in that area at the time that she was shot and killed. >> there is one possible connection. firearms experts say that the .22-caliber shell casings found near rebekah's body may have been fired by a walther .22 pistol, and that's the same kind of gun possibly involved in jessica's case. >> it was explained to us that that characteristics left by the firing pin of the gun that was used to kill rebekah bletsch was very similar to what they've seen a walther p22 would've

left. >> unconvinced their cases are related, investigators turn their attention to the person closest to rebekah. >> they were focused on her husband. they really decided that he must have done it. >> at any point, did you guys think maybe he did it? >> it never crossed my mind. >> you guys never thought it was her husband? >> no. >> because he would never do anything like that. he's not like that. >> it was determined that he didn't have anything to do with this crime. >> with kevin bletsch cleared of any involvement in his wife's death, her murder is unsolved. >> i hate to call it a cold case 'cause we were still -- we were still actively working on it, and we didn't stop. but we had no solid leads. we had nothing. >> what happened was an incident that blew the case open, that changed everything. >> this u-pick 'em blueberry farm seems an unlikely place to solve cold cases. the jessica heeringa disappearance.

the .22-caliber killing of rebekah bletsch. but police say an incident just down the road from here, and what these security cameras see, puts it all into focus. i jumped out of the car. >> what kind of car was it? >> a van. >> what color was the van? >> silver. >> that was the turning point. "cleanup in aisle five." here we go again. trouble? oh, this drawer just won't close. ooh, looky who's got lay's. man, those perfectly seasoned little slices of sunshine sure do keep me coming back. you said it. and i'll say it again. [laughter] [sighs] some migraine attacks catch you off guard, but for me a stressful day can trigger migraine attacks too. that's why my go to is nurtec odt.

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911, where is your emergency? >> come immediately, we have a man that has picked up a girl, he has a gun, and he's outside the house -- >> stay on the line with me, who has the gun? >> april of 2016, we received a 911 call from a homeowner who just had a young lady come running up to her house, screaming, saying that somebody was trying to kidnap her. >> a female -- the girl is still there? shaking. miracle right now and >> can i talk to her? >> yes, here she is. >> hello? >> this is 911, okay? >> are you coming, are you coming? >> we're going to get some help there. >> that phone call, that was the turning point.

>> jessica heeringa vanished in april 2013. rebekah bletsch shot and killed in june 2014. try as they might, frustrated detectives in norton shores and muskegon county cannot solve either crime. >> two cold cases, unsolved for years, no arrests, until a scary 911 call after a teenage girl runs for her life on this very road. >> i had to jump out of a car. i had to run to her house. >> who was it? >> i don't even know him. i was like, "please let me out right now, please let me out." >> a young teenager by the name of madison nygard finds herself walking home in a rural part of muskegon county after attending an all-night party. >> walk us through what that night was like, what was this party? >> so we had a big old bonfire, and then everyone left and went

to a different party, so -- and then i started walking home. >> oh, so you were out all night. >> all night long. all night. >> it's early in the morning. she's walking along the road. >> did you know where you were? >> no. but i figured, like, i'll be able to figure it out. >> did you have a cellphone? >> i did have a phone, but it was dead. >> by now, madison is lost and in tears. >> instead of taking a left and going towards town, i took a right and went towards the lake. i'm crying at this point. >> a silver minivan pulls up, "hey, do you need a ride?" the man in the minivan said to her. >> and i was like, "no, absolutely not. can i please just use your phone?" and he was like, "yeah, just come on, get in," and i was like, "okay." so i got in.

>> she got in the car, and he took off. >> i don't know why she decided to hop in that car, but i think she was just really desperate at that point. >> so you get in the car. >> i get in the car, he rolls up the window and locks the doors, i'm still crying. and i feel bad because i think he's a nice guy, so i'm like, "i am sorry," like, "i'm not trying to be mean, but please roll my window back down." >> the man in the minivan turns off the main road onto more isolated north green creek road, not where madison wants to go. >> she didn't know where she was, but she knew enough to where that was definitely the wrong direction. >> i asked to use his cellphone, and he was like, "it's dead." and he's just staring at me the entire time, and i'm like, "let me out, let me out, let me out."

and he's just staring at me. and then that's when he reached under and grabbed his gun. >> he's now pointing a gun at her. she has two choices, really. one, just submit and hope for the best. or two, run. >> as soon as i saw the gun, i was out. unlocked the door and jumped. >> you were in the vehicle and jumped out? >> yes, yeah. >> okay. >> oh my gosh. >> when she jumped, she jumped right out of her shoes, rolled, got road rash. they found broken fingernails. she was going to get away from this man. >> you haven't been back over here? >> no. >> madison has moved on, so she has not been back to the scene of her death-defying leap until this moment, when she agreed to go back to show us what happened. >> and i remember running completely down this road. >> did you look back? >> i did look back, and that's when he was like standing there

with his gun aimed at me, and i was like, "don't kill me. please don't kill me." >> did you say that to him? >> yeah. i was like, "please do not. i have family." and he was like, "it's just a joke. come back, come back." >> "it's a joke"? >> yeah. i was like, "absolutely not," and i just kept running. >> there were two unspent .22 cartridges lying in the road. >> i think those two live rounds were because the gun itself jammed. we believed he pulled the trigger. it jammed up. and so you rack it, get that round out, so you get the next round. somehow, it jammed up again. >> were you assaulted at all? >> no. >> okay. >> but i need to go on the hospital, i jumped out of his car while it was moving. >> do you want an ambulance? >> yes. >> she was very lucky.

she was very bold to be able to jump out of a vehicle. i don't know how many people would've done that. >> takes a lot of fortitude, and she had -- had what it took to save herself. >> he chased me, he was chasing me. >> where was he chasing you? >> to this house. >> you don't know where he went? >> no rr. >> now deputies are on a van hunt, driving up and down country roads, looking for telltale surveillance cameras. >> when they said they were looking for anyone with video, i thought, you're not going to find any video, especially in that stretch where she was. >> police figure, find the silver minivan, solve the madison nygard case. but what detectives never figured on -- finding that ordinary minivan would be the key to solving two more cold case mysteries. >> the detective asked if he could see the video. i said, sure. and he wasn't up there four or five minutes, and he says, "i

see it. he just pulled through the lot." >> when madison got away and they were able to connect the dots, were you surprised? >> i was very shocked that one individual could've been responsible for three women. >> he really is a monster. who lives with secrets that dark? "cleanup in aisle five." here we go again. what? oh, this drawer just won't close. ooh, looky who's got lay's. man, those lay's sour cream & yum-ions just keep me coming back! you keep saying that. and i'll say it again.

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here we go again. oh, wow. oh, this drawer just won't close. hmmm. ohh, looky who's got lay's. looky who indeed. man, those lay's cheddar & sour cream snacks just keep me coming back. you said it. and i bet you'll... ...say it again. and i'll say it again. [no laughter] oh. [a laugh] you okay? jessica herring ga's disappearance and rebecca blech's murder. >> here we have two females. one's missing, one's deceased. >> but how do they connect? and how do they connect to a new victim? >> they showed the 16-year-old girl and she said, "that's the man who pointed a gun at me and tried to kill me."

>> bells and whistles started going off of, holy cats, what did we stumble upon here? >> that's a medical diagram on where to inject someone. >> they discovered a file folder labeled "vics." >> inside the house we found some recording equipment, almost like a covert hidden-type camera. a significant amount of bleach bottles in the basement of this house. >> they found evidence after evidence after evidence. i mean, it did blow the case wide open. >> he's saying he didn't kill her, but he was there. >> can you tell me anything? >> they questioned me so hard. >> he just kept saying, "i'm sorry, i'm sorry." >> it majors me shudder. i get goosebumps to think what they found.

the first questions are easy. what's your name? >> madison. >> spell that for me. >> >> we have the 911 call. i want to play it for you. >> 911, what's your emergency? >> he just told me he was going to let me use his phone, so i got in and then he wouldn't give it to me and then he said it was dead, so i was like, "let me out." he reaches for the gun, and i jumped out of the car. >> it is very clear based on the evidence that we collected at this particular crime scene that madison, through divine intervention, is a life. we discovered that there were two unspent .22 cartridges lying in the road. it's only that the gun jammed, not once but twice, that she's able to make to it this house alive. >> nobody knew i left the party that i was at. so if his gun didn't jam up, he would have just left me and -- no one would have known anything. >> investigators are able to determine that it's a

.22 cartridge manufactured by the cci company. >> those bullet casings and madison's details about the van will become more important than police in this area realize. >> what kind of car was it? >> a van. >> what color was the van? >> silver. >> police are searching the area for cameras that may have caught something that could be useful to this investigation. >> when they said they were looking for anyone with video, i thought, you're not going to find anyone with video, especially in that stretch where she was. >> it's madison's description of her would-be captor and his silver van that brings detectives here to the sodini blueberry farms. locals and visitors come here to pick blueberries, but detectives are picking through surveillance video, hoping security cameras captured that mysterious man and his silver van. >> he asked if the cameras were real and if he could see them. so, i said, "sure. anything you want." >> it had two security cameras. one that kinda pointed to the -- the semicircle drive they had

and the other that kinda pointed out to the roadway. >> and he wasn't up there four or five minutes, and he says, "i see it." >> right there on that surveillance footage, a silver minivan. >> what are the chances the blueberry farm has surveillance video that shows a silver minivan? >> the cameras only have a 30-day loop. if a week would have gone by, i think it would've been too late. >> it gave really good close-up images of this particular silver minivan. >> he turned in on the south drive and went out the north drive. >> he turned around in the blueberry farm to go back and watch me. >> what did he look like? the man that pulled up? >> he was heavier set, and he had dark facial hair and dark hair. >> kind of normal? >> yeah. he looked normal to me. >> you didn't think anything of him when you saw him pull up? >> he didn't look creepy. >> madison is also able to remember some specific details from inside the van. >> in the middle there was like this little netted thing so he could put his stuff in there.

i remember seeing his phone in the net thing. and it was a flip phone, which i thought was really weird 'cause who has flip phones nowadays? >> while the video is pretty clear, authorities can't make out the license plate, so they're now searching for a proverbial needle in a haystack. the first step is to identify the van's make and model, and for that, they turn to a local car dealer. >> my name is mike kring, and i was the owner of rich's auto mart, which was a minivan car lot. i was able to establish that it was a 2004 to 2007 dodge caravan. they call it a soccer mom vehicle for a reason. it just was a grocery-getter and then you went to soccer games, football games, and families would buy them. >> kring notices the van has some unique features, similar to the ones he demonstrates on this dodge caravan. >> the doorhandles were not painted. so, these, these doorhandles are not painted as well, so that's very similar. so i knew it was an se package, but i knew it had stow 'n go seatings.

and then they would have a compartment in the floor that you could flip these down and then turn them into the floor. when they're up in this position, the compartment's completely empty to stow whatever you'd like to stow. >> more importantly, the moldings on the side of the van and a black antenna catch the minivan expert's eye. >> i saw that little antenna that was on the roof and that told me that van was more than likely made in canada. because of that, the detectives were able to involve the secret service and find some database that told them how many minivans were in the county that were made in canada. >> they were able to take the, the vin numbers from those vehicles and compare them to registered vans here in michigan. and then from that, narrow the list down by geographic area. >> we were able to establish that there were roughly 33,000 vehicles in the state of michigan that matched those attributes. >> that's a number, now, that investigators can take, and they

can start ticking off vehicles in muskegon county. so, that's exactly what they do. >> and they go from 33,000 silver minivans all the way down to just one and, most importantly, to the man behind the wheel. >> and all the different clips and pictures that we had seen, this silver minivan that was dark and shadowy. and they found it. >> now authorities wanted to see if madison could confirm this was the man who allegedly attempted to kidnap her. so they put together a photo line-up. >> when you saw the pictures -- >> yep. >> -- that they showed you, the lineup. >> i picked him out. >> like, right away? >> yep. >> and they showed the 16-year-old girl. and she said, "that's the man who pointed a gun at me who tried to kill me." and that man was jeffrey willis. >> jeff willis happened to work at this manufacturing plant at the time. and a detective walked through the parking lot, discovered the vehicle, and noticed through the

window that this vehicle had cargo netting in the center console area. this netting that had a bunch of stuff in it that seemed to be similar to what madison had described. >> and jeffrey willis is a name police have heard before. >> three years earlier, an exxon gas station employee jessica heeringa vanished. at the time, detectives got a tip about a man named jeffrey willis who owned a silver van, so they went to talk to him. >> we asked him how long he's owned this van, if he'd ever been to the exxon gas station, if he knew jessica heeringa. >> and witnesses in that case described seeing a silver minivan. the same type of minivan detectives recognize on surveillance images from sodini blueberries. >> it turns out willis was a regular at the exxon. and when police catch up to him again, this time it's about the alleged kidnapping of 16-year-old madison. >> we've established that you drive a gray van.

i want your side of what happened. >> and willis is about to offer up something jaw dropping, something that takes the detectives by surprise. >> so you're saying that i took her? you think i took her? here we go again. oh, this drawer just won't close. ooh, looky who's got lay's. man, those dill-icious lay's dill pickle just... ...keep me coming back. [ticking clock] i said those dill-icious lay's dill pickle... ...just keep me coming back. [ticking clock] dill-icious. [silence] you know that feeling of having to re-wash dishes that didn't get clean? i don't. cascade platinum plus has me doing dishes...differently. scrub, soak? nope. i just scrape, load... and i'm done. platinum plus is cascade's best clean ever.

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"cleanup in aisle five." here we go again. here we go again. this drawer just won't close. this drawer just won't close. ooh, looky who's got lay's. ooh, looky who's got lay's. man, those tart little lay's limóns just keep me coming back. you said it. and i'll say it again! and i'll say it again! ha- ha- ha- ha- bu- bu- you- you- ha- ha-

ha- ha- the search for a silver minivan linked to an alleged attempted kidnapping leads police to 46-year-old jeffrey willis. after madison picks him out of a photo lineup, police haul him in for questioning. >> when mr. willis is getting off of work at 6:30 in the morning, he is being pulled over by a state trooper, and then, ultimately, taken into custody. his van is then secured and taken to a location where it can be searched. he walks in very relaxed, you know, sort of matter of fact. >> jeffrey willis was a worker at a furniture manufacturer in nearby spring lake. he worked the overnight shift. >> he was well under the radar. he had no criminal history. he was a middle-aged guy, married. >> kind of your normal, ordinary

person in the community. a regular guy next door. >> willis grew up in michigan, attending high school in uskegon county. he has a daughter from a previous relationship. >> turns out he's also a grandfather. >> he has no criminal history, but a work history of being a janitor at two local elementary schools back in the '90s. according to school district records, willis was eventually fired for allegedly using a school computer to look at adult websites. >> he appears to want to cooperate. you know, it's like, "oh, man, what, what's this all about?" and yet he finds it, the opportunity to -- to make small talk or even flirt a little bit with the female detective. >> you look familiar. >> i do? >> yeah. >> have we met? >> i'm trying to think. no, i think you just remind me of a movie star. >> and while police are questioning him, willis makes a surprising admission -- he tells them he was questioned back in 2013 about the unsolved

disappearance of jessica heeringa at the exxon gas station. >> i got bugged about the other one too. >> really? >> yeah. well, they were doing the routine thing, going around and -- >> yeah. as far as someone actually came to your house? >> yeah. they just come to the house and asked me a couple questions. >> back in 2013, i told him that we were investigating silver vans and registered owners that are in the area due to the jessica heeringa investigation. he said he had heard about that and understood. >> receipts show that willis was actually a regular at the exxon, and many of his visits happened during jessica's shifts, including on the very night she disappeared. >> he had actually stopped into the gas station that night, and jessica was working. he recalls seeing her there.

and he said that he didn't have a relationship with her, didn't talk to her a lot, just had seen her working in the gas station. >> remember, police were talking to many potential suspects, and when they searched it, willis' van appeared clean. >> we asked if we could see it. it was empty, and it smelled of cleaning products. >> they asked him about what he was doing that night. >> he had an alibi. he was home with his wife. he was at the gas station earlier in the evening, but at that time he was home. >> they did a really good job at that point in time of following up and helping establish his relationship, or what he had done that night. >> i was angry. i was emotional. i was upset about what we might have stopped had we brought him in, sat him down, polygraphed him, and went at him. >> they had him right there. he was right under their noses. but if you don't have evidence, how can you arrest him?

>> they're not to be blamed for not having arrested him initially, because they didn't have probable cause initially. it happens often that police speak to suspects in these kinds of cases early in a spree like this, and only come back to a suspect later. >> but madison nygard's alleged attempted kidnapping puts jeffrey willis back on police's radar. and now they're grilling him about his whereabouts on that morning. >> can you tell us why you were on weber road? >> going home. i don't know. >> we know that you were at river and weber road. >> all right. okay. >> and that girl was taken right in that area -- >> okay. >> -- at about the same time that you were there. >> so you're saying that i took her? >> we're saying -- >> you think i took her? >> we want to know what happened. >> i can't tell you.

i don't know. i wasn't there. >> listen, you know -- >> i mean, i wasn't there with whatever happened to her. that's what i'm telling you. i might've been there. i wasn't for whatever happened to her. >> willis' comfortable demeanor changes when detectives tell him they have his minivan on surveillance video. >> everything is on video. >> mm-hm. >> so, why were you up there? >> i don't know if i was up there for -- i don't know why i was even up there. >> obviously something happened out there, all right? but when you go from, "i was home" -- >> well, you asked me where i went and i said, "i don't know." honestly, i -- >> "i know i got my oil changed." and then, "i might've been up north." >> you know what? i'm done. i'm done. >> and i'm not trying to -- >> if i get up and walk out, are you going to slam me down and tase me? >> jeffrey willis heads for the door. >> well, then, i'm going to walk. >> just relax. we did a -- >> are you arresting me? >> just sit down, please.

will you please sit down, okay? >> i'm trying to tell you, i'm going to go. >> all right. okay. we're not here to have a pissing match with you. i got a couple more things to say and i want you to hear me out, all right? okay? it's that simple. >> investigators tell willis that he is not free to leave, and not only that, but they are searching his home and that silver minivan. >> they got the two search warrants -- ooh, and boy. >> willis seems worried about what police will find. >> may i ask what you're searching for? >> and what they're about to uncover would shock even the most seasoned investigator -- evidence of a dark double life. >> it makes me shudder. i get goosebumps to think what they found. "cleanup in aisle five." here we go again. drawers are tricky, aren't they? oh, this drawer just won't close.

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"cleanup in aisle five." here we go again. this drawer just won't close. mmm. ooh, looky who's got lay's. [nervous laughter] are we in hell? security! spicy customer with the lay's flamin' hot, register two! let me outta here. do you know how many lay's flavors there are? no. you're never getting out of here. we haven't even gotten to the lay's veggie poppables yet. ooh, they make veggie poppables? detectives have been talking to jeffrey willis for hours about the alleged kidnapping of madison nygard. and now they tell him they're also searching his home and his van. >> the search, what's the search for? >> i was just patting you down

to get all the stuff out of your pockets. >> no, no, no, the search at the house and the car. >> evidence. always evidence. >> well, obviously you're looking for something. >> it turns out that that model of minivan had hidden compartments. >> and in that, they find this metal toolbox that is padlocked, that's locked. >> and the things that were in the toolbox are disgusting. >> we find, uh, things that you would use in a bondage situation, like chains and rope, what they call a j-hook, which is something that you hang from the rafters, and you kinda, you know, hook a rope or chain to so you're kinda dangling with your arms spread. they also find, uh, some rubber gloves. >> there were syringes. along with the syringes were vials of insulin. so on the inside cover of this toolbox is a -- a laminated, small laminated diagram of -- of a human body. >> that's a medical diagram on where to inject someone with insulin. so it's a diagram of a human

torso showing the injection points. >> and so ultimately, he had this map, if you will, of where if i wanted a low dose, where would i inject somebody? if i wanted a high dose or something to move rapidly, where would i inject somebody in order to make that happen? insulin for a noninsulin-taking person could have some very detrimental effects. it can literally render you unconscious. >> it was at that point in time that lightbulbs started and bells and whistles started going off, "holy cats, what have we stumbled upon here?" >> investigators also find a second box in the minivan, hidden under the driver's seat. and in this one, they find a gun, a walther p22. >> it's a different gun from the bersa 380 willis told police about during his interrogation. >> i own a 380, bersa 380. >> okay. do you own any other guns? >> i do not. >> also found in the secret

lockbox is a box of .22-caliber cci brand ammunition. >> we recovered the .22 casings from rebekah bletsch's scene. >> the lab was able to conclusively show that the shell casings and bullet fragments collected at the rebekah bletsch scene were fired from the gun that was recovered from jeff willis' van. >> so bingo. that's when they started to put everything together, when it all started to add up. >> now investigators have evidence connecting jeffrey willis to both jessica heeringa's disappearance, and rebekah bletsch's murder. >> we get a search warrant, and we go back to his house. >> during the search at willis' house, investigators speak to his wife. >> she had no idea about anything nefarious that he was involved in. >> there was nothing that suggested to her that there was anything creepy, weird, or evil going on in jeff's life. >> the second search warrant on his house we found a kind of

hard drive that was hidden. >> we check the duct work, and up inside the furnace cold air return, stuck to the wall, was a portable hard drive. >> in his hard drive, they discovered a file folder labeled "vics," v-i-c-s. inside that folder, there were two subfolders, one containing the initials of rebekah bletsch, the other containing the initials of jessica heeringa. >> "vics," we automatically assumed, would stand for "victims." >> jessica lynn heeringa, in that folder was all these little like, um, pictures of her. things from the internet, things from the news. anything that he -- he found, he would put in that folder. the other one was rb. rebekah bletsch. and in there was all these pictures, different pictures and different articles of her. >> while we were at his home, doing the search warrant there and talking with his wife, we learned about the bailey street address, which was his grandfather's home that he had access to, and his grandfather

was deceased, so he had pretty much sole access to that property. there was a significant amount of bleach bottles in the basement of this house, to the point where you would really question why somebody would have that many empty bleach bottles in a run-down, abandoned house. >> jefrey willis is accused in the attempted abduction of a 16-year-old girl last month and is under investigation in the murder of rebekah bletsch two years ago and the disappearance of jessica heeringa. >> willis pleaded not guilty to the attempted abduction of madison nygard. >> as they continued to investigate and they arrested jeffrey willis, and they found evidence after evidence after evidence -- i mean, it did blow the case wide open. >> while willis sits in jail, the investigation continues. detectives talk to family and friends, trying to figure out who this guy is. >> you're asking, "who's jeffrey willis? where'd this guy come from?"

and interviewing friends and relatives and all that kind of stuff. and one of the names that came up was bluhm. >> well, kevin bluhm is his cousin. they say they were like brothers. they were very close. >> we then went to his house, talked to him about, you know, jeffrey willis, how do you know him? >> and -- and it was really, if anything, a fact -- what we call a fact witness, somebody that was really not of interest to us other than that. >> well, then the information came out, i believe in the news, that we were -- we located the gun. >> shortly after that, one of the detectives gets a phone call from mr. bluhm. mr. bluhm tells this detective, "hey, you know, um, i -- i just wanted to tell you something. i -- i had this really weird dream about, uh, handling the -- this particular weapon." >> you probably touched it? or you had a dream that you thought you touched it? >> you know exactly what happened. >> so police are now wondering, is it possible their prime suspect, jeffrey willis, had a partner in crime?

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for the department of corrections. he was a corrections officer at one of our local prisons here in town. he was talked to just as a witness that might be familiar with jeff willis. we then went to his house, talked to him about, you know, jeffrey willis, and, "how do you know him?" "well, i haven't seen him in a long time." and we didn't think much about it. it's like, "okay." >> what's really interesting about this is that shortly after that interview, one of the detectives gets a phone call from mr. bluhm. mr. bluhm tells this detective, "hey, you know, i just wanted to tell you something. i had this really weird dream about handling this particular weapon and jeff being there." >> "i think i might have touched that gun." "you think you might have touched the gun?" "yeah. i'm not sure if i touched it, or it was in a dream, but i think i touched it. so i, i'm not sure." and she was played it cool. she was, "oh, okay. well, we'll come over and talk

to you about it." >> this detective had been around for a while, and the red flags just went screaming off in her head. >> basically, the two detectives go, "we're not buying this. would you do a polygraph?" >> he was interviewed for a long period of time, uh, he had taken a polygraph, uh, he had failed. >> but kevin bluhm continues to talk to police and eventually tells them that his cousin jeffrey willis told him that he was the person who abducted and killed jessica heeringa. >> i get a call at about 2:00 in the morning at home from, from the detectives. and they said, "you need to get here. he's starting to talk about heeringa and what they did with the body." i was like, "this can't be happening. do i finally have somebody talking?" >> let's go back to that gun in case first. >> that's the only time i've ever seen him have a handgun. >> he had told them that he was around saturday night when he saw jessica, or he saw a body at

the grandpa's house. and he believes that he might have seen that she was dead and helped him move the body. >> and he said, "if you don't do this, i'm going to end up hurting your family." and then i come down and helped him wrap her up, and he carried her into his van. >> he's crying, he's up -- emotionally upset. he's saying he didn't kill her, but he was there. >> and he states that he was with jeffrey willis when he buried her body, and that he knew where that -- where her body was buried. >> i felt confident. i didn't think anybody would be lying about this. >> so, he talks about getting rid of the body. and how they carried her out in a grey sheet out to the van. >> i opened the van, and i followed him, and then we went here and we put her somewhere in

there. >> i felt like i finally have a witness to this. i said, "well, can you bring me to the body?" he said, "absolutely, i can do that." i thought, "okay, finally. we're going to have really good closure all the way around." >> so we go out there, and we brought out cadaver dogs from the state police. and everyone's got a shovel, and we're all looking. and we're walking up and down, and up and down. and he goes, "i, i just can't remember." so i went in there, and i confronted him. >> i though you would've found her. >> no, i did not find her. no. if i had found her, i'd be bringing you home right now, that's what i'd be doing. >> and he stopped, he looks, and he goes, "i'm lying." i go, "uh, yeah. i know you're lying." i go, "well, let's get to the truth." >> so you weren't there at all? >> no rr # >> all of this was a lie? >> ya. >> he goes, "no, i'm lying about everything. i wasn't at jeffrey -- i didn't see the body.

i didn't move the body." everything, he retracted. >> he just said he made it up. >> that doesn't happen very much. it's not that common that somebody makes up a story that puts themselves directly involved in it. he was charged with lying and then accessory after the fact, and he was convicted of both. >> in those interviews he did with police, he also mentioned rebekah bletsch. he didn't implicate himself in her murder, and was never charged in relation to the case, but it did leave rebekkah's sister jessica wondering if maybe he knew more about what happened to her than he'd said. >> so i had went to the jail to talk to him. >> who's this? >> i'm rebecca bletsch's sister. >> hi. >> he just kept saying, "i'm sorry, i'm sorry." >> can you tell me anything? >> all i'm going to say is, the police were wrong when they investigated me and when they questioned me that day.

they questioned me so hard. >> "i lied, i made it up, i'm not that kind of person, i didn't know anything about it." >> all made up. >> what were you hoping to get from him, talking to him in jail? >> "you know more than you're telling us." i don't know what i wanted. i just felt i needed to go see him and see what information he would give me. >> it's time for jeffrey willis' day in court and at the rebekah bletsch trial he surprises everybody and takes the stand to testify. >> we're never told whether a defendant's going to testify. >> mr. willis, you are charged with, in this case, of killing ms. bletsch. did you in fact do that? >> nobody does that. that's not normal. what he thought was funny? nobody was buying that line. here we go again. what? oh, this drawer just won't close.

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jeffrey willis has now been charged with the murders of both jessica heeringa and rebekah bletsch. he pleads not guilty to both and his first trial up is the bletsch case. >> it's not just another murder, and it's not just another trial. it was a big stage. there were a lot of people paying attention. >> the physical evidence was, was, was better in the, in the rebekah beltsch case. >> part of the, uh, forensic examination of the handgun, and athletic type gloves, we're able to find, blood in, in various, uh, locations, and that blood matched the dna profile of rebekah bletsch. >> prosecutors made a very smart, strategic decision to try rebekah beltsch's murder case first. there, they had a body, and they could prove up the facts very clearly for first degree murder.

>> they called to the stand kevin bluhm. at the time, the defense was, "i didn't do it," i being jeff willis, "but my cousin did." we knew going into this that because kevin had his own case going at the time that he was not gonna testify in, in fear of incriminating himself, and so he took the fifth. >> kevin bluhm had an alibi for the bletsch murder and was never charged in connection with that crime in any way. >> he was a non-player in this, he wasn't a person who was going to impact the outcome for my client one way or the other. >> when willis appears in court, he looks like a different man than the one who sat in the interrogation room a year earlier. >> he looks different. he'd lost a lot of weight. now he was trimmed and fit. >> you may call your next witness mr. johnson. >> your honor, we call jeffrey willis to the stand. >> in the bletsch case, we put my client on the stand. >> the defendant almost never takes the witness stand in a criminal case. to see jeff willis get up on the

witness stand and try and talk his way out of a conviction is pretty astounding. >> the penalty for first-degree murder in this state is you spend the rest of your life in prison with no possibility of getting out. >> please have a seat and state your name for the record. >> jeffrey thomas willis. >> when you have that much on the line, ultimately you leave that call to him. >> mr. willis, you are charged with, in this case, of killing ms. bletsch. did you in fact do that? >> i did not. i did not kill ms. bletsch. i wasn't even there. i was home. >> do you have any other recollections about that day in general? >> well, i cut the grass that day, between 4:00 and i want to say 6:30, i was cutting the grass. >> the problem with it is once you take the stand, you got to answer questions too. and if you have a highly skilled prosecutor, as they did, he's going to have some questions that you may not want to have asked. >> and there's nobody else that can verify that but you?

>> well, my wife, she was home. >> by this time, willis and his wife had divorced. >> over three years have passed. his wife doesn't remember. she doesn't remember whether he was home or not. she has no real independent memory about that particular evening. >> so what i'm saying is if your wife has no recollection of that, the only one that can verify that is you? >> yeah, i guess. >> i remember when he got on the stand, he said -- when they asked him about the toolbox in his van, he chuckles, "oh, it's kind of a funny story." >> my grandson would come over on wednesdays. >> that toolbox is full of adult toys. he laughs it off like, oh, my grandson got into there. >> so i put it in the van. that's how it ended in the van. >> nobody does that. that's, that's not normal. to laugh it off like he's so innocent to that jury. nobody was buying that line. >> do you think he was trying to

be charming? >> yeah, mm-hmm. >> a complete debacle on the witness stand. not charming, not convincing, and not telling the truth. >> ultimately, the jury deliberates for about 90 minutes. >> you have given the signal that you have arrived at a verdict. >> and they find him guilty of first-degree murder in the death of rebekah bletsch. >> with one trial finished, willis' defense now prepares for the next, the murder of jessica heeringa. >> if you read those two trials, the evidence coming in is almost identical in both cases. you just try again and see if you can't figure out a different argument that might be more effective this time. >> i believe he will have information that paints him as an evil person and that may be your judgment. but you will not have evidence that he killed or kidnapped ms. heeringa. >> the victim's body is never discovered. so under those circumstances,

we're able to pursue the argument that the person is not deceased. >> the prosecutors have some powerful evidence, and they tell jurors about those pieces of plastic and batteries from a laser sight found at the exxon station where jessica vanished. they explain that the gun recovered from jeffrey willis' van was originally sold with a laser sight on it. but when the gun was recovered that laser sight was missing. >> usually, you can't talk about a defendant's prior, alleged bad acts to prove that he did the bad act in this case, but there are exceptions. >> in this case the judge allows prosecutors to call madison nygard, the 16-year-old police say willis attempted to abduct. not only does she help establish a pattern of behavior on willis' part, but she is also able to link him to that silver mini-van. because she was a minor at the time, she was not shown on camera.

>> jeffrey willis pulled up. >> now did you know mr. willis? >> no. the first time i had to testify, i sat outside and like, cried and cried, and i was like, "i do not want to do this. i don't want to." but i had to do it. >> were you scared? >> i was still scared, yeah. >> what did you do? >> i unlocked the door and jumped out. >> this child being traumatized. that was the bit of evidence, i think, which locked them into a course that we couldn't turn the ship around. >> please rise. on count one murder guilty of first degree murder -- >> it almost seems unreal. we're looking at a guy that's a potential serial killer, that at a minimum has killed two people, was probably in line to kill a third. >> they never did a trial for your case. >> no. the prosecutor says it's a waste of their time, he's already going away for life.

>> what would you have liked to have seen happen? >> i think i would've just liked to have the option of things. that's kind of a huge slap in my face. >> madison played a key role up to this point, but he had been convicted of two sperate counts of first-degree murder. so he's essentially going to die in prison. ultimately, i made the decision, that there wasn't a need to move forward with the criminal prosecution. >> at the sentencing, the victim or her family is allowed to look the defendant in the eye and tell him, this is what you did to my loved one. this is what you did to me. >> i was looking forward to him being there to hear what i had to say. >> but jeffrey willis had one last sickening surprise in store.

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"cleanup in aisle five." here we go again. here we go again. this drawer just won't close. this drawer just won't close. ooh, looky who's got lay's. ooh, looky who's got lay's. man, those tart little lay's limóns just keep me coming back. you said it. and i'll say it again! and i'll say it again! ha- ha- ha- ha- bu- bu- you- you- ha- ha- ha- ha- about six weeks after willis is found guilty of murdering rebekah bletsch, he is sentenced.

a standard part of any trial, but this time it is different. >> usually at the sentencing, the victim comes in or her family is allowed to look the defendant in the eye and you get to tell him, "this is what you did to my loved one. this is what you've done to her children. this is what you did to me. mr. willis knew that was coming. >> i get approached by his lawyer, uh, who basically says, "hey, my client, uh, doesn't want to be present." >> your honor, may we approach? your honor, it is the position of the defense that we hereby request that my client be allowed to leave these proceedings at this juncture. >> in my 24 years of doing this this was a first for me. >> i desire to be relieved. >> you don't have to be here. >> that was a moment i had waited two years for. you know, to have my chance to look him in the eyes and talk to him and say what i wanted to say. not only is it my time, but i

was looking forward to him being there to hear what i had to say. >> the victim's family is sitting there, and he looks over at them and he blows a kiss to them. >> he blew a kiss! he blew a kiss! >> when he blew the kiss in your direction -- >> shock. i couldn't -- i couldn't believe it. >> again, he got his way and got to walk out and not listen to us. >> it's one of the lowest points in my career. it was just a horrible thing to do. it was just a horrible thing to do. >> shortly after the sentence, the sheriff came to me and said, "hey look, um, do you think there would be an issue if, when we transport mr. willis, that on that trip, my guys just played the victim impact statement the entire trip?" i said, "i see no issue with that. go for it." >> he claims that he is not a monster, but his actions speak

louder than words. >> they played it loud. >> she was amazing, inside and out. she was easy to love, and people wanted to be around her. >> and they played it for him over and over again. he didn't stand up there and take it, but he heard it. >> your three names are always connected. you're the reason that they figured all this out. >> for a long time everybody would be like, "you're a hero, you put the -- solved it." and i'm like, "i didn't want to be the one that solved it." i didn't want to go through that. i mean, it feels good that i'm the one that got away, but -- i wish it didn't happen. >> for their part, jessica heeringa's family didn't support willis' prosecution and have never believed he is the person responsible for her abduction and murder. >> the family, they still have their facebook page.

they still, you know, "help us find jessica." they still have not acknowledged that jeffrey willis had anything to do with her disappearance or her death. they're still holding out hope that she might come home. >> so this is a memorial that was set up for becky after she passed. a friend of the family made the cross. so the plaque says, "becky beltsch. 1977 to 2014." and then it says, "sister" next to it with a heart, and an infinity sign on it. when i'm in the area, i try to stop, share a little moment with her, and let her know i'm thinking of her. we haven't forgotten her.

>> david: we should point out tonight that she's now remembered in a new michigan law, the rebekah bletsch law, office that ensures a defendant unless the courtroom when a victim impact statement is read. >> deborah: as for the minivan that played such a big role in the case, a judge ordered it could be sent to a scrap yard, where it has been destroyed. i'm deborah roberts. >> david: i'm david muir. from all of us here at "20/20" and abc news, good night.

and this is a live look outside tonight. and it's relatively calm right now. but that is expected to change. there is a major storm heading our way and it could be even more intense than the one thatrillionolled through on wednesday. good evening. thank you for joining us. i'm ama daetz. let's take a live look from our camera at zephyr cove, overlooking lake tahoe. we have seen snow throughout the day, at times quite heavy. take a look at video from earlier tonight from heavenly mountain. the flakes were flying and it was really coming down enough to cause the camera to periodically freeze. we certainly could use the snow because statewide it is well below normal, and all of this ul