there is a joint. >> reporter: now she runs and works out in the gym, things she always wanted to do but never could do before. >> reporter: it's changed your life? he said it's given new life? >> it's given me life, yeah. >> reporter: experts argue the calls puts it out of reach for many families. the price tag is two point $2 million, but it's likely insurance will cover at least some of it. >> reporter: let's hope they figure out a way to get this treatment to as many people as possible. it's needed. and on that note, i wish you a good note. i'm symone sanders-townsend in for stephanie ruhle, and from all of our colleagues across the networks of msnbc news, thank you for staying up late. goodnight. she was the person that you wanted, vichy emil aged everything that was good. >> she just sailed through the

door, i love you. and that was last time i talked to her. >> i said worth broke, he said we can't find her. >> a college student vanishes. >> i had this chill go through my whole body. >> they asked us do of the crime scene? no we don't, we have flip-flops in a parking lot. >> we had a community that was scared, who is going to be the next victim? >> 1000 miles away, another student in danger. >> she said he's got a knife and trying to kill me. >> there was a girl there and there was blood. >> this is not the first time that he's done this. >> one case would help solve the other. one man behind two mysteries. >> this was dynamite to us, that is the smoking gun. >> you're not going to believe what we found. >> we've gotten so close. i want to know where she is.

>> some images are eternal. timeless. one moment of the future seems immeasurable, the possibilities endless. but, in an instance, you can be left with only memories to hold until the end of time. >> brooke wilbur lived as if she had all the time in the world to grow up, to marry, to create a close knit family like her own parents. had >> we have six children and brokers number five. >> always want to have a big family? >> we ended up with one. >> camry wilbur gore and her husband, greg, raised their children near beautiful eugene oregon, a family that included brooks older brother bryce and sister stephanie. >> we just used to have so much fundraising up, she was kind of a toy, if you will.

>> i know, let's dress up brooke. right? >> she was just fun. >> little brook didn't speak until she was four and, even, that could be a bit hard to understand. but, as brook grew, her natural talents spoke loudly. she loved animals and for age, played basketball and ran track. >> she was good. she's better than most of the rest of us at the sports that we played. >> she snowboarded on slopes around oregon and, as her little sister jessica remembers, took pride in being scrappy on the soccer field. >> she came home from soccer and had a black eye. my brother had asked what happened and she said i got in a fight. he goes, you didn't, broke. you don't get into fights. she laughed and said, you're right, i got hit in soccer practice but isn't so cool? >> brook was also an honors student at al naira who loved bake, scrapbook, and see the sights on the west coast. >> this is my home. yay!

>> she could be seriously silly. >> this is my crib. >> or a stylish, happy to shop for shoes or fashion. she was reliable, thoughtful, popular, and pretty inside and out. >> she made people feel better about themselves. >> people want to be with? her >>. yeah >> she was nice, intelligent, beautiful, but she was also really nice. >> the minute that she turned 16, when dad rules allowed her to start dating, if she knew that she wanted her childhood friend, justin, to be her boyfriend. when they graduated from high school, broker decided to follow him to brigham young university in utah. >> she just really wanted to experience life outside of our community and just kind of branch out. >> the girl who had grown up saying words a little funny decided to study speech pathology. brooke loved her new friends at byu, but returned home her freshman year for thanksgiving

to spend time with her family and job. >> we had gone to myron franken before, they came to the macy's. she had really liked this watch. it was kind of addressing what. joe shoe is a pretty classy in the things that she chose to wear. she sees it in the case and she mentions it to you. ? >> i really like that watch, mom. >> easy christmas present? >> it was. >> six months later, in the spring, her freshman year was history. brook returned home to oregon. she had a summer job in corvallis, about 30 miles from home working at the oak park apartment, managed by her sister stephanie and stephanie's husband. on monday, may 24th, 2004, she left the house where her sister jessica was getting ready for another day of seventh grade. >> she was kind of in a rush and she walked out the door and left. about five minutes later she walked back in and just yelled through the door, i love you. and walked out. and that was the last time i

talked to her. >> by nine a.m., brook was at the apartments and an hour later, hard at work. >> i could see through my apartment to the back window facing the patio, and brooke was bending over filling over a bucket of water. it was last time that i saw her. >> at what point did you realize that she wasn't out there anymore? >> not until probably 1:00. i had fixed lunch for my children and for her and she hadn't shown up. >> what starts going through your head when she doesn't go through for lunch? >> it's a large complex, there's over hundred apartments, so wasn't immediately worried because a shot she could be cleaning in the laundry room somewhere. i even said something like, let's take out the search party tongue-in-cheek and took my kids out with me and started walking around, seeing if we could see her to tell her that her lunch was ready. >> you're not in a full blown panic? >> no, no. >> but, before long, stephanie would come upon these near a lamppost brooke had been

cleaning. her flip-flops were on the pavement. >> a little piece of plastic that goes between your toe was ripped out on one and there were muddy tow prince sliding down actual soul of the shoe, so it was clear that she was trying to keep them, trying to stay put and stay grounded when she lost her shoes. >> you knew that right then? >> immediately. >> still, though, no panic, no cries for help for a couple of hours until 307 pm when stephanie's husband placed a very calm call to 9-1-1. >> 9-1-1, what's your emergency? >> i've got to someone who's missing. a worker of mine that we can't seem to find. >> missing from? where >> are the manager of the oak park apartments. >> and this actually happens to be my sister in law. she's 19. >> when was the last time anybody saw her? >> around 10:30. >> where had brook wilbur gone? why couldn't anybody find her?

brooks mom was about to learn of her daughter's disappearance and a phone call with one of her sons. >> i said, whereas brooke? he said we don't know. i said, what do you mean you don't know? he goes, we don't know where she is. i said don't tease me, what are you talking about? he said, no, seriously, mom, we can't find her. and, right, then -- i had this chill go through my whole body. >> coming up, a whole community turns out to search for brooke while the police start their investigation by focusing on her family. >> you need to go through what is the family suspect? we had to get that work done and the investigators are doing that. >> stephanie was just grilled about, you know, where was she? did you do it? >> when dateline continues. n dateline continues most common side effects were nausea, indigestion, and stomach pain. ask about nurtec odt.

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on a sunny spring day tuin corvallis, oregon,ts. the clock was ticking. >> on a sunny spring day in 19-year-old brooke wilberger had disappeared about 10:30

corvallis, oregon, the clock was ticking. 19 year old brooke wilbur had to disappeared about a 10:30 a.m.. she worked cleaning lampposts in the parking lot of the oak park apartments. just a block away from the bus lane campus, of oregon state university. at one pm, her sister stephanie got worried when brooke didn't show up for lunch. >> it just wasn't like her. she was always on time. >> by three, stephanie's husband called police. >> we've looked everywhere we could think to look for her here. >> were it was a spreading among brooks five siblings, they're sweet but feisty little sister had disappeared. >> when did they call you? >> it was mid afternoon sometime. i think we knew something was seriously wrong when the call was we can't find brooke. it didn't take anything longer than that. >> bryce went to pick up his mother who was trying not to panic. >> a lot of people talk about

that maternal feeling that sometimes you get inside. did you get a feeling? >> i just kept thinking, you know, maybe she met up with one of her friends that is going to msu. but brooke wouldn't do that, it's not broke. >> late in the afternoon with brooke missing for hours, so phones started buzzing. >> i was sitting at my sons table game and i got a phone call from one of our patrol lieutenant at the time who said, john, we have a missing girl. >> captain jonathan and lieutenant tim brewer both with the corvallis at the time we're about to begin a journey unlike any of them had ever experienced. >> i asked him, what do you think? is this real? he had natural gut instinct that this was not a walk away, it was something bad had happened. >> when captain salman arrived at the apartment, he was struck by how few clues he had to work with. >> it is a parking lot with a pair of flip-flop. and a bucket with soap and some

water under a lamppost. >> also left behind, brooks wallet, person, cell phone, and car. nobody, it seemed, saw anything, but somebody heard something. about 10:30 that morning, a blood curdling scream. the evidence pointing to an abduction, but investigators started with questions for the people closest to the victim. first question, where was brooke's boyfriend, just? and it turned out he was serving a two-year mission for the mormon church 4000 miles away in venezuela. next, brooks family. >> you need to go through what is the family suspect? and we had to get that work done and we investigators are doing that. >> stephanie was just grilled about, you know, where was she? why don't you know where she was? did you do it? >> that had to be awful. >> it is awful. it is awful. >> it was terrible. we had made a decision that we,

as a family, we would do anything to get broke back. whatever the police ask us to do, we will do it. if they suspect us, that is okay. we don't care. we want to find brooke. >> soon, a community came gather. within hours of brooke's disappearance, dozens then hundreds of people showed up, many from the will burgers church, others are concerned citizens and cops. >> i suppose they could be anywhere, we just have looked everywhere. >> they came in droves that first evening and every day after with one goal. find brooke. >> come hell or high water we are going to find. her >> for detectives the sheer number of researchers presented a challenge. >> as an investigator responsible for this, we are looking at is there a bad guy here? it is not uncommon for people who commit the crime to circle right back around, the present, learn, see what is going on. >> by this time, the fbi had

also answered the investigation. supervisory special agent joe boyer's first question, had brook been taken by someone who lived at the apartment complex and could that person be among the tens of thousands of oregon state students who would soon be leaving town for the summer? agent boyer asked fbi profiler's for help. >> they asked us, well, you have a crime scene? no, we don't, other than flip-flops in the parking lot. do you have a witnesses? no we don't. you have a vehicle description? no we don't. you have body? no i don't. and they said, frankly, there is very little we can do for you at this point. >> with so little evidence, investigators found themselves thinking back to another crime, the crime any year in corvallis barely recall. on another day in may, nearly 30 years to the day and one mile away from where brooke disappeared, a young oregon state a student vanished. it wasn't until her body was discovered and her killer

caught that people here realized this town had been visited by one of america's most notorious serial killers, it had to bundy. authorities in corvallis wondered if there was now a mother sexual predator bold enough to abduct a young woman in broad daylight. >> it was a rough day for the sex offenders in our county because there is a team who went out and put their finger on every single one of them. >> how many sex offenders are there in this area? >> i think that was something that was very startling and realize is how many there actually were. >> when police told brooks family there may be 2000 sex offenders in the area, they were horrified. >> when they would get into details i would just have to lay back on the bed because i'd become nauseated. just the whole trauma of it was too much. >> it just took a couple of days, i think, to think in that was something bad had happened and that she was really gone. >> there seemed to be little question.

brooke was gone and engraved danger. the family took to the airwaves, her father, greg -- >> if anyone has seen brooke at all, if they would just please call in. >> tips poured into police hotlines. >> we had dozens and dozens of brook sightings in practically every state. >> everyone who went for a walk, you know, in the following days who saw someone who just looked out of place called a stop. >> this girl was abducted -- >> the search expanded daily. at times, it seemed the whole state of oregon was pitching in to find brooke. >> i have daughters this age and i want to help. >> more search teams, dozens of square miles. >> what is the geography at like around here? when could someone have taken brooke? >> we are ten miles from interstate five. we've got a north south running right through corvallis on the east west. so it really could drive five miles from corvallis and be in

a very remote area. >> in the deep woods? >> absolutely. >> but, despite the odds, within days investigators or hot on someone's trail. coming up, imagining red flags are going off all of the place when you start getting this information. >> from our perspective every red flag went off. >> a police search turns up a terrifying checklist. >> either someone is planning a very heinous mutilation, sexual assault crime and murder, or it is a fantasy. but either way it is extremely important to us and our investigation. >> when dateline continues. teline continues unlike some medicines that only treat bipolar i, caplyta treats both bipolar i and ii depression. and in clinical trials, movement disorders and weight gain were not common. call your doctor about sudden mood changes, behaviors, or suicidal thoughts. antidepressants may increase these risks in young adults. elderly dementia patients have increased risk of death or stroke.

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nearly a week into the head-spinning hunt for their daughter and sister-- hundreds of volunteers combed through this-- kate snow (voiceover): --brooke nearly a week into head wilberger's family somehow kept their unfailing spinning hunt for their daughter and sister. brook wilbur's family somehow kept their unfailing optimism afloat. >> how are you coping? are you praying together all the time?

>> i think that is all we could think to do. you know, as a family. we just stayed in steph's little apartment and it was a small, and that became the command center. >> did you think she was live somewhere? >> yes. that was the overwhelming feeling that we felt. and i think that is why the focus was fined broke. it is what drove us. we know the statistics, but this is our family. she's got to be there. >> i think that you have that hope and no matter what every day that goes by, whatever this just to 60, are the chances are that they were dead. we didn't let ourselves go there because, if you go there, then i think life would become pretty dark. >> and there was reason to hope. >> you heard it first on msnbc, elizabeth smart found alive and, from what we can tell so far, physically in good shape.

>> in that summer of 2000 for the story of elizabeth smart who was still fresh. she was the 14 year old who snatched from her bedroom -- held captive by a strange creature, and after nine months returned to her family. lives >> i would think, maybe somebody just held her captive and they'll decide let her go one day. >> a family friend put the will burgers in touch with elizabeth smarts uncle. >> was it comforting? >> he was very positive. because, of course, of their experience and he said, you, know never give up hope. just keep thinking positive. >> she came home? >> right. i don't know how, i don't know the circumstances, but i cannot give up hope. >> and while the search continued, what seemed to be a lead emerged. >> they pointed them to this man. >> this name son who came came

to investigators left in a week after brooke vanished. kim was a reclusive 30 rolled with a degree in genetics and cellular biology who still lived with his parents in this home 80 miles from corvallis's suburb of portland. he spent much of his time online, trading stocks. just weeks before, a search of kim's home had turned up thousands of pairs of women's underwear, stolen from college dorms throughout the area. burglary charges had been filed and he went to soon be charged with stealing underwear from a dorm at oregon state university, just blocks from where broo . police out an investigative theory based on their experience in other cases. >> when you start making steps to entering other buildings and dormitories and going and stealing other peoples property, namely underwear, that is a progression. >> meaning do violent? >> there's going to be step two, step three, and contacting somebody next. ultimately, abducting somebody.

>> then, just five days after brooke's disappearance, another search. in a dramatic, middle of the night raid captured by videotape by police, an oregon state swat team blew open the front door of the home that kim shared with his parents. >> oregon please. >> 15 officers stormed inside to service search warrant, looking for physical evidence. air, body fluid, and more. evidence of kim's possible involvement in brooks's disappearance. >> come out of the house with your hands in the air! >> they found no ethical evidence, but what they discovered to their attention. on cain's computer, investigators found tens of thousands of photos and thousands more video of what police term a vast collection of pornographic images, including a small number of stage two scenes depicting torture, rape, and mutilating women. then there was this, a document labeled oh yes you, as an

oregon state university. it read like a how to guide for committing a sex crime, it included a list of supplies, who could, glasses, video, and digital cameras. >> it is more than just a checklist. either someone is planning a very heinous mutilation, sexual assault crime and murder, or it is a fantasy. but either way it is extremely important to us and our investigation and very startling. >> as detectives dug deeper they discovered this while kim was stealing underwear from dorms and laundry rooms he had also developed a bizarre fetish for collecting lind from clothes dryers. in comes home they discovered a bag of some of that wind labeled with the name of an oregon state university swim team member, like brooke wilberger she was young, blond, blue eyed, and used to hang out a lot with other swimmers in corvallis, right here at the oak park apartments. i'm imagining red flags are going off all over the place

when you start getting this information? >> from our perspective every red flag went off. that we had to spend some energy looking at sung koo kim. >> the media pounced. >> any comment about being a person of interest? >> no comment. >> sung koo kim life was examined from every angle. newspaper headlines blared his new nickname, the panty thief. and, soon, brook wilberger family heard news reports that kim, on the day of brooks disappearance, had purchased cinder blocks. >> my thought was maybe if he were the person, and if he took brooke, then he might have tied her to bricks and dropped in a river. >> those reports about kim buying bricks were never substantiated. is besieged family attempted to clear his name anyway he could. >> everybody knows. he is not related to the disappearance of girl.

everybody know. >> despite all of the suspicion, was it possible that sung koo kim really was innocent? coming up -- >> to put it all together, it doesn't ironclad alibi. >> new information about the person of interest in brooke's disappearance. >> prosecutors should look at that and say this is a case we simply can't charge. we've got the wrong guy. >> where the investigation lead? >> you have a community looking for answer and a community that wasn't scared. was there someone else out there? who's going to be the next victim? >> when dateline continues. n dateline continues lowe's knows the best deals are the ones that keep on giving. so shop our 25 days of deals where you can discover brand new offers. ring in the savings now through the 24th.

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hour's top stories. the texas supreme court is temporarily halting a lower court ruling allowing a woman to have an emergency abortion. kate cox sought to end her a pregnancy when the fetus was diagnosed with a failed disorder. the state appealed and the attorney general threatened legal action against doctor or

hospital who perform that procedure. the fda has approved to gene therapy and treatments for patients suffering from painful sickle cell disease. that blood disorder affects about 100,000 people across the country. mostly african americans. now, back to dateline. back to dateline. >> nearly two weeks after in corvallis, oregon-- brooke wilberger disappeared after working outside these apartments in corvallis, oregon. >> search teams spent a days surveying acres of land. >> the search was winding down. the official and would soon come. members of brooks family expressed their gratitude. >> you've given up so much to help, and i was thinking yesterday that brooke will be saying they didn't even know me. >> while detectives were still looking at sung koo kim as a person of interest, at least one of brooks siblings took one look and thought no way. >> we never once for a second

thought he had anything to do with it. i personally didn't because i just kept thinking, she could get away from him. he didn't look very threatening to me. >> soon, more reasons surfaced to cast doubt on the idea that kim was involved in brooke's disappearance. >> he offers an alibi. >> offering an alibi and us being able to validate that alibi are two different things. >> but kim's alibi for the day of brooke's disappearance consisted of not just one, but three pieces of evidence. put together, they showed kim could not have been in corvallis at 10:30 a.m. when the kidnapping occurred. first, these records show an online purchase of 500 shares of stock with ameritrade, executed on kim's computer 75 miles of the crime scene at 11:14 a.m. pacific. next, a witness came forward saying kim answered a phone call at the family home at 12:10 pm. and, finally, there was a videotape showing kim and his

father entering an electronics store in portland at 12:42 pm and a receipt showing a purchase at the same store at 1:11 pm. >> but all three of those together it doesn't ironclad alibi. >> steven shore like was one of kim's attorneys. >> prosecutors should look at that and say this is a case we simply can't charge. we've got the wrong guy. >> did they say that? >> they didn't, in fact. they went public naming sung koo kim as a person of interest in the wilberger abduction. >> investigators insist it was a lead they had to follow. >> when it came to sung koo kim, there were moments where we were challenging each other with how much time do we spend here versus spend it over there? >> looking for someone else? >> we didn't want to chase the red herring with 100 percent of our resources. it was the healthiest thing for our investigation. it made sure nothing fell through the cracks. >> any comment about being a person of interest? >> it took months, but authorities officially cleared came. kim's family lyle filed a

lawsuit claiming excessive use of force in the nighttime swath. read the state of oregon, without it committed any wrongdoing, settled with the family paying them more than $330,000. >> there's a lot of pressure to try to save this young woman. undoubtedly, officers were hoping they could find her and hoping they could find her alive, but the really didn't have many facts here and the search was done in a very aggressive, i think quite radical fashion. >> kim was eventually convicted of burglary and other charges in connection with his panty stealing, and served seven years of an 11-year prison sentence. he was released in 2012. the summer of 2004 wore on and investigators in the wilberger case seemed to be back at square. wanted members of the fbi and corvallis police department worked hard, but leads were wearing thin. >> the weeks turned into months, two months, three months.

how frustrating is it to not have more of a lead? >> it was extraordinarily stressful. you had a community looking for answers. you had a community that was scared. was there somebody else out there? who is going to be the next victim? we have got a family in tremendous pain and they are hurting. and they are doing everything that they can to support us, to encourage us, to inspire the investigators did not give up. >> in what sense? >> they didn't turn. they never became an adversary. they were partner with us and it was incredible. >> but the wilberger were feeling the strain as, well and in september, three months after brooke's disappearance, it was time to return to school. jessica was heading into eighth grade. >> i always thought about it. the re-days i would get up in the morning and be like, i don't want to do just today. but i would put a smile on my face and go to school and worry

about school. >> their mother tammy would do the same, returning to her job as a third grade teacher. >> how did you go back to school? how did you walk in the classroom and teach little third graders? >> you know what, i wasn't sure if i could do it. but it actually became very therapeutic because when i walked through that school door, i was mrs. wilberger. it gives you the opportunity to love little children and to be concerned about their needs. so, it was really a good therapy for me. it kept my mind busy on other things. >> the wilberger didn't know, it but before the holidays would arrive in 2004, there would finally be a legitimate break in the case of the abduction of their daughter, brooke. >> coming up -- >> he was waiting. he was lurking right there. there is no question what he was waiting. for >> halfway across the country, a college student runs streaming from a kidnapper. >> i told, or get in the car. i wouldn't let anybody hurt

her. >> a lot of people didn't stop. >> nobody stopped. >> with one woman's quick thinking helped bring brook home? when dateline continues. dateline continues. 's resolve. love the love. resolve the mess. i got this $1,000 camera for only $41 on dealdash. dealdash.com, online auctions since 2009. this playstation 5 sold for only 50 cents. this ipad pro sold for less than $34. and this nintendo switch, sold for less than $20. i got this kitchenaid stand mixer for only $56. i got this bbq smoker for 26 bucks. and shipping is always free. go to dealdash.com right now and see how much you can save.

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police in corvallis, oregon were frustrated. >> six months after brooke her family's hopes were fading, slim yet steadfast. wilberger his appearance, please in car vallas, oregon or frustrated. her family's hopes were fading. slim, yet steadfast. >> what was that thanksgiving like? around that table? >> we still had a good time. just because we love each other and we said, we're pretty hopeful. i think that when we get together, for myself, it brings a lot of joy and a lot of comfort. so, even though we missed brooke, there was just comfort and being together. >> police announced the reward had been doubled, hoping more money would loosen lips and shake out new leads. but, even investigators felt trapped, as if it were groundhog day. >> we don't have a suspect, we don't have -- >> every press conference, simply another chance to make the same plea. help us find brooke.

>> the investigation had kind of got to a point where they were still plugging away, following up on tips, still talking to people. still turning over rocks, still searching, and we are at that point hoping for something to break. >> just waiting? >> it was difficult. >> then, that very weak, the last week of november, 2004, it happened. nearly 1400 miles away in new mexico, a place happily known as the land of enchantment. the break they had been praying for. in albuquerque, in one of the cities tougher neighborhoods, a waitress named dara thinks was driving her suv down the street with her three daughters, just after dusk when they saw a young woman. >> we were sitting at the light and the girl was running across the street and my daughter in the front seat says that she doesn't have any clothes on. >> that was kind of weird. you see it naked roaming running across the street. >> we watched her run into the restaurant.

my daughter was ready to jump out of the car. i was like no, no, we'll go over there and see what's going on. >> it was clear, dara says, the young woman was in trouble. frantically trying to get help from someone inside the restaurant across the street. >> no one hoped or because we pulled around their, my daughter got out of the car and met her out of the door and brought her over to the car. >> your car? >> that's when she said he's got a knife, he's trying to kill. meet >> the woman said she had been kidnapped, but escaped. >> i told her get in the car, lock the door, and i won't let anybody hurt her. >> how scared were you? >> my tire is needs the front seat of the car. my kids are in the, car i'm not gonna let anybody heard. us >> but then the young woman saw something back out in the street that made her scream. he was back, the man who kidnapped her was looking for her. >> she sees him. she pointed at him, he was sitting at the light. >> the person who had kidnapped or? >> he had kidnapped. >> it was true, the man with the knife had finally -- come to find.

her derrick hold 9-1-1. she described the man, is right compact car, within minutes a place where there. >> a lot of people wouldn't have stopped. a lot of people didn't stop. >> no, nobody stopped. >> they didn't even help her in the restaurant. she was in the restaurant, at the counter talking to someone. >> who was this young woman? blond, blue eyed, abducted, on her neck what she said was a mark from her kidnappers nice? she was a college student not from oregon, but from russia and the story this 22-year-old told officers was a pretty incredible. she was walking home from work, down this street near the university of new mexico campus. she noticed a small red car parked near the curb and a man standing next to it, but she didn't think much of it. walked right past. a few steps later she felt someone grabbed her from behind and holding a knife to her inside the car, she was sexually assaulted.

then, her abductor stopped at these apartments, tied her up with her own shoelaces, and went inside. incredibly, the woman was able to wriggle three, left the shoelaces lying in the parking lot, and ran into the street with no clothes on where she was rescued by dara thinks. >> what made you want to help? what made you stop? >> my upbringing, the way we were raised, i feel god put me here for a reason. to help that, girl because he knew we would help. or >> it was gutsy as hell. i think she is the hero, dara is the hero of that night. >> teresa what lee was the prosecutor who handled the case for the district attorney's office. >> had they not been, there he would've picked him up again. >> he was waiting, he was lurking right there. there's no question that what he was waiting for. >> though the victim was now safe, her attacker was still on the loose. the young woman caves and incredibly detailed description of the man and of his car. >> she described the car seats down to the detail.

she described the tinted windows, she described the fact of the car was to door, it was red. >> and the victim remembered something else. a small stuffed animal on the cars side window. enter albuquerque police officer, eta taylor. he showed up at the scene ready to help track down the bad guy, first stop, the apartments where the victim escaped from her kidnapper. >> so you go to the door or the apartment, who answers? >> it is a female. we went inside the apartment and, right off the bat, you can tell that she was not going to be helpful at all. >> not cooperative? >> not cooperative. she did tell us that she knew him as a joe and he spoke spanish. and that was about to get. >> the name joe, he spoke spanish. would it be enough to find him? and, for states away, as you're about to see, would it be enough to help find brooke? coming up. >> i called out to him as joe. i said, joe. he acknowledged me.

as he got closer, this is your vehicle? he said yes. >> police tracked down a suspect in the new mexico kidnapping case and starts to speculate about his m.o.. >> this is not the first time that he's done this. you don't start grabbing people in broad daylight when you're almost 40. >> was it possible this wasn't his first abduction? when dateline continues. " dateline continues. ve without treatment. i felt like my movements were in the spotlight. #1-prescribed ingrezza is the only td treatment for adults that's always one pill, once daily. ingrezza 80 mg is proven to reduce td movements in 7 out of 10 people. people taking ingrezza can stay on most mental health meds. ingrezza can cause depression, suicidal thoughts, or actions in patients with huntington's disease. pay close attention to and call your doctor if you become depressed, have sudden changes in mood, behaviors, feelings, or have thoughts of suicide. don't take ingrezza if you're allergic to its ingredients. ingrezza may cause serious side effects, including angioedema, potential heart rhythm problems, and abnormal movements.

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ask your eczema specialist on a november night in 2004, albuquerque police were on a manhunt. just blocks from the university of new mexico on overnight in 2004, campus, a man had kidnapped a 22-year-old student albuquerque police were on a man hunt. just blocks from the university of new mexico campus, a man had kidnapped a 22-year-old student off the street and sexually assaulted her. but, when he carelessly tied her up and left her in his car in this apartment parking lot, she had bolted. run naked into traffic and thankfully had been rescued by this woman. >> that could be my daughter. she is a human being. she did not deserve to be

running down the road with no clothes. on >> now, albuquerque police officer and taylor was among those looking for the suspect, a white male with a shaved head wearing a cap. police had learned from a woman who lived in the apartment where the victim escaped that the man's name was joe, and that he spoke spanish. she would say no more. >> i went back to the station and spoke to my supervisor. i told him, i believe that, if i went by myself, she will tell me more information. >> why did you have that? feeling >> i thought i had a connection with her. so i returned to the location and i told her. i said this is what's going on. this is what happened. basically, god forbid something like this were to happen to you, or somebody that you know. and she reluctantly ended up telling me, you might be able to locate the vehicle behind the restaurant, just south of gibson. >> riding solo, officer taylor followed the woman's directions and parked right here on this a dead end street, it was a red two door honda with a stuffed animal stop to the window.

>> so i waited a little bit and, a few minutes later, i noticed three individuals walking out of that house. >> that white house? >> i called out to them, joe. he acknowledged me. and, as he got closer, it is your vehicle? he said yes, i had to turn around and have placed him in custody. >> did you find anything on him? >> i found a glass pipe too used to smoke crack cocaine and a small knife. >> did he ever ask you why he was under arrest? >> i think he knew he was caught. >> caught was this man, joel patrick courtney, soon identified by his victim and booked into jail on charges of sexual penetration, aggravated battery, -- joe courtney was 38 years, old he lived in this albuquerque suburb in this home with his wife and three young children. he had worked as a mechanic and fishermen and had lived all over the united states, a

fluent spanish speaker he had also lived in mexico. but, the man who appeared in family photos as the ever smiling, attentive father also had a dark side. six months before, his wife had taken out of restraining order against him reporting that he had to choked her. >> the first time i saw him i remember thinking it was a stronger reaction as i had richard ramirez. >> romero, the vittoria's night stalker, convicted of murdering more than a dozen people in the 19 80s. he died in 2013 awaiting execution on california's death row. prosecutor teresa wadley once crossed paths with premiers in the courtroom. >> he actually made the hair on my arms stand up. because he this all evil. the only other person who has ever done that to me is joel courtney. >> when you first read the reports about this case, what went through your mind as a prosecutor? >> this is not the first time he's done this. you don't start grabbing people in broad dre light off the street, when you are almost 40.

that's not the way the criminal mind works. >> the new mexico prosecutors know yet how right she was. and, back in oregon, the family wilberger knew nothing out of these developments as they faced the holidays, still hoping that brooke would walk through the door and take her place on the stairs for the families annual christmas pageant and pictures. >> smile, angels. >> that is exactly what we kept thinking. this can't happen. this just can't happen, it is brooke. she is two full of life. fauci is too dynamic, too much a part of us. i've got to keep hoping, and i've got to keep thinking positive. >> this is my home. yay. >> where was brooke? six months had passed. was she still alive, somehow, somewhere? her sister stephanie was dealing with a lot of guilt. brook was working for her when she disappeared. >> i was driving somewhere and reflecting on where we were so

far and i remember thinking, gosh, i wonder what it will be like when i don't think about this every day. what could i have done differently or this little thing had changed? >> but something was finally about to change. the quick thinking that led to joel courtney's capture in new mexico was about to lead to more questions, and investigators would soon want to know if this father of three, now charged in a daring abduction, could also be the man who took brooke. he had been caught carrying a knife and a crack pipe hours after a university of new mexico student said courtney abducted her near campus and sexually assaulted her. miraculously, she had escaped. >> this is an incredibly brazen crime. he abductees her in broad daylight. >> 6:45, it's probably just about. dark >> that is either incredibly stupid or insane. >> no, it is experienced.

he knows what he is doing. he's done it before, he knows how to make it happen. >> he picked his spot really well. it is a very quiet street, it is dinnertime. as awful as it sounds, it is a smart move for what he is trying to. do >> with joel courtney safely in custody, albuquerque police began a routine background check on their suspect. they found that, in addition to new mexico, he had lived in several states. alaska, florida, and oregon. and the detective noticed that, nearly a year before, in january 2004, in coastal lincoln county oregon, courtney had been pulled over by a state trooper and charged with driving under the influence. but, courtney had failed to appear in court, so it warrants had been issued for his arrest. that is one and albuquerque detective did something that he didn't have to do. he decided to dig deeper. picked up the phone, and made a call to oregon that would lead

to a long awaited break in the case of brooke wilberger. >> he calls up lincoln county sheriff's department and gets to a detective and says, hey, what do you know about this case? this is what he did down in new mexico and he is relaying the circumstances. and, the lincoln county detective having heard about brooks case -- >> because everybody here has heard about the case? >> he says to him you need to call the corvallis police department. it's that simple, and he does. >> coming up, it was not just police asking questions about bookcase, so is the suspect's own sister. >> there were some similarities. >> you thought to yourself -- >> could it be? no. you couldn't even say the whole sentence because it was unthinkable. right? >> when dateline continues. n dateline continues arexvy does not protect everyone and is not for those with severe allergic reactions to its ingredients. those with weakened immune systems

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sitting in jail in albuquerque. it was december 2004. the married father of three was facing decades in prison if convicted of kidnapping, sexual assault, and battery charges. as investigators began checking out the possible link to brooke wilbur's case, a call went out to her family. they had waited more than six months for news, any news about their daughter's disappearance. now, there was a man in custody who they thought might be able to reunite them with their daughter. just as elizabeth smart had been returned to her family. >> what are you thinking when you hear this? >> actually, i had prayed so faithfully all fall that whoever had done this would make a mistake. and when i heard the news, i thought they made a mistake. they tried it again. and no one else knew what i've heard, because i hadn't told

anyone else because it was always find brook, help us to find brooke. i guess that was a selfish prayer, help whoever had done this to make a mistake. i felt like they made a mistake. >> but if this mistake could help find brooke, investigators first had to find out all day could about this latest possible suspect. >> and specifically, they wanted to know more about that suspects ties to oregon. detectives quickly determined that joel courtney grew up in beaverton, a portland suburb around 75 miles from where brooke had disappeared. but that had been 20 years before. police also knew he had lived in several different states. the question was, had courtney been anywhere near corvallis on the day of the kidnapping? there was one person who could answer that question, and many more. her name, dina mcbride. she is joe courtney's older sister. she lives in portland. >> my first thought is cued

dimpled little blond haired mischevious kid, you know, with the sweet little spirit and the hilarious laugh. >> days before, a corvallis police got that phone call from albuquerque and heard the name and joel courtney for the first time, dina had received a call herself. it was from joel's wife with word of his arrest in new mexico. dina and her mother took in the news together. >> how did your mom react? >> she was horrified. and there were very few details that she felt like the truth needs to come out. >> but the truth was hard to figure out in those first moments. scally man in the mugshot was hardly the joel his sister knew when he was a little. >> i remember him coming home from the hospital. i remember him toggling, i remember all the classic childhood milestones. and we were a very happy family. >> at some point, did you see a shift? >> when he was probably 11-ish, he started hanging out with

some older kids. i remember my mom kind of backtracking insane, you know, i think that's when it started. >> it was joules drug use. and before long, when joel became a teenager, more reason to worry. >> he was starting to dabble in some satanism, a little bit. we kind of explaining how much power it gave him in the sense of a rush of being in control, or whatever. india. he was pretty good at throwing a punch here or there. >> scary? >> yeah, it hurt me. >> around the same time that he dabbles and satanism, he starts becoming physical? >> but as joel got older and more violent, his sister says he was handsome enough, charming enough, and smart enough to get away with a lot of that behavior. >> at some point in time, it was the thing to have iq testing in school. i remember not been as smart as i would hope. and hearing that he had a

genius level iq. >> genius level? did he study a law? they read books? >> he loved to read books. but now, he got away with really good grades with very little effort, which seemed monumentally unfair to me. >> joe courtney's luck would eventually run out. he had a string of arrests for shoplifting and other offenses and was in and out of juvenile detention until he was 18. >> that's when joel admitted beating and sexually assaulting a woman high school. blamed crime on drugs and alcohol and the judge sentenced courtney to probation. he never finished high school and work various jobs as a fisherman in alaska and as a mechanic. he got married at 23 to rosie, who was from mexico. he and rosie had three children, and eventually, courtney seemed to settle down, savoring his role as a father and building alive in that home in an albuquerque suburb. >> what kind of's father was he? >> changed diapers, got up in

the middle of the night, made lunches. there are a lot of pictures of him on the ground wrestling with the kids, and you know, lane in the grass. looking at four leaf clover kind of thing. the kind of dad that we had. the kind of dad who was involved and wanted to be there for his kids. >> but now, at age 38, the seemingly loving father was facing the trial of his life, locked up, caught with a crack pipe and a knife, charged with kidnapping and sexual assault. and given his checkered history, something maybe intuition, maybe the massive media coverage throughout oregon of a similar crime, a young, beautiful female college student snatched off the street just months before. something compelled dina and her family to ask the question themselves. the very question corvallis police were just beginning to look at. >> the details that we heard

about the case in new mexico, there were some similarities. >> so you thought to yourself -- >> could it be? no! you couldn't even say the whole sentence, because it was unthinkable. >> coming up -- new clues provide an answer and breaks bookie brooks case wide open. >> this was dynamite to us. >> when dateline continues. go to carvana and track your car's value today. after advil: let's dive in! but...what about your back? it's fineeeeeeee! [splash] before advil: advil dual action fights pain two ways. advil targets pain at the source, acetaminophen blocks pain signals. advil dual action. even the most chill of parents know when it's time to go into protect mode. nothing kills more viruses on more surfaces than lysol disinfectant spray. ♪

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for clues in the disappearance of brooke wilberger-- slowly during those long months when investigators were searching for clues in the disappearance of we brooke wilberger. minutes, hours, days. but in early december 2004, more than six months after she went missing, it was as if the clock suddenly sped up. police in corvallis, oregon were struck by the parallels between her objection and the crime is joel patrick courtney was accused of in albuquerque. >> from our perspective, it's a signature crime. right next to the university of mexico campus, a young woman, attractive, broad daylight, abduction in a vehicle, drives away. so yeah, we were excited that we are on the right track at that point. >> by the time police learned jewel courtney's name, joel sister dina and her family had been thinking about the same connection for days.

>> we couldn't even say the words out loud. we actually were up until late hours of the morning going on the calendar, thinking could he have done that? we decided to pray about it. >> what were your prayers? >> we really prayed that god would forgive us wisdom that we would make the right choices, that we would speak when we needed to speak and not speak when it was not wise. >> dina waited, saying nothing until a week later. corvallis police looking for information about her brother called her. >> in that moment, do you know in your heart that he did something? >> in that moment, i did not know that. i thought too many coincidences to automatically discount it, right? you can't just assume because he's your brother, somebody that you love, that he couldn't have, right? >> what dina told police was revealing. during their first interviews,

she shared some dark family secrets. when she was a teenager, her brother joel had attacked her. >> he would come in in the middle of the night and put a hand around my neck and attempted to sexually assault me. >> more than once? >> more than one, so yeah. and i had a great old-fashioned wind up alarm clock that met his head. >> tomorrow courtney family members would soon come forward, claiming joel had raped or tried to rape them. >> the further we got into the investigation as far as the number of people we interviewed, the more sexual salts candlelight. >> and more pieces of the puzzle were coming together, quickly. despite their troubled past, dina and joel had maintained a relationship over the years. joel sister now showed police these photographs of joel and his family, not at their home in new mexico, but visiting dina's home in the portland suburbs in may 2004.

the very month brook will burger disappeared. with joel, his wife rosie, and three kids, needed a place to stay. joel had gotten a job supervising the cleaning crew, a job that meant he'd be traveling all over the state of oregon. we >> were under the impression that he'd be there for a couple of months of. a lot of the time, there would be -- you know, he would bow out early on and do something for work. so it was mostly rosy and the kids with the rest of us. >> so he was traveling quite a bit? >> that was my understanding, yeah. >> and then this bombshell. may 24th, the day brook was abducted, was one of those days when joel courtney was traveling. he had a court day, turns out, over on the oregon coast on that drunken driving charge. but he never showed up. according to court records, he called the courthouse and said he was going to be late. and that phone call was made from the very town where brooke

disappeared, right here in corvallis. >> joel courtney then disappeared for about 36 hours before returning to dina's home in the portland suburbs. >> he walked through the door when and announced kind of loudly, you'll never believe where i've been! and i said, okay, where were you? i was kidnapped. there were these guys, there were guns and knives, and what they were in the woods, and it was rainy and cold. there was a girl there. we were hiding beaugrand. you know, there was blood. it was awful. >> at the time, dina chalked up to joules chronic drug abuse. >> he's delusional. >> we yes. >> you just think he's coming off some bad drugs? you don't call 9-1-1? >> no. >> dina said she didn't feel like she was in danger and that moment, so she did not call authorities. but all those months later, sitting with investigators, and

she suddenly realized how crucial that strange conversation with joel might have been. we >> just as i was saying that, it occurred to me, oh my word, could he have been with -- was he talking about that? >> and she remembered the very next day after brooke disappeared, her brother joel would visit his doctor in portland, complaining of chest pains and anxiety. but all this information while damning, was nothing more than circumstantial evidence of joel's potential involvement in brooks disappearance. without brooke or, if she were dead, her body, detectives had no physical proof linking joel to the crime. until, that is, police learned what joel was driving the day she disappeared, a green dodge caravan with minnesota license plates, supplied by the cleaning company he worked for. >> the minute you heard green mini van with the minnesota plate, somebody remembers that

that was one of your tips? we >> absolutely. >> actually, two separate gifts pulled from the database of thousands called into police. the first at 9:30 a.m., just an hour before and 100 yards north of where brooke was kidnapped. a blond osu students at a white male adult in a green mini van approached her and open the back of his van to look for a map when she saw a blanket on the floor, she rushed off, telling the man she was light for class. then a university athletic official call to report a man in a dodge caravan, possibly green, with minnesota plates, asking a female student for directions in the stadium parking lot in close proximity to where she was abducted. the witness was later asked to identify the man in this photo lineup and picked out joel courtney. >> this was dynamite to us. this told us this is our guy at the moment. we need to focus on him and find evade. that's our one piece of physical evidence that we've

got to get now. >> and that's exactly what the fbi did. agent joe boyer found the van in washington state and had it taken apart piece by piece and shipped to an fbi lab across the country. >> we knew that if we were going to prove that joe courtney was responsible for this, the best chance we had was to find evidence of brooke been in the van. >> the family was informed. they want to know the truth, but we're almost afraid to discover more about joel courtney and his crimes. we >> -- passed it on to you. >> google him? >> sure, yeah. >> what was like to see his face? >> i just looked at him and, at that point, it was a numb feline, you know. even, then i didn't feel hatred. i was just all about getting brooke back. i want to know what you did and where she is. >> but neither the family nor investigators nor courtney's

sister could ever have guessed willow they would get the answer to the question, where is brooke. >> coming up -- evidence finally implicates joel courtney in brooks kidnapping. >> that's the smoking gun. that's the nail in the coffin. >> but will that help bring brook home? when dateline continues. ♪ control is everything to me. ♪ feel significant symptom relief at 4 weeks with skyrizi, including less abdominal pain and fewer bowel movements. skyrizi is the first il-23 inhibitor that can deliver remission and visibly improve damage of the intestinal lining. and the majority of people experienced long-lasting remission at one year. serious allergic reactions and an increased risk of infections or a lower ability to fight them may occur. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms, had a vaccine or plan to. liver problems may occur in crohn's disease.

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in the months after joel courtney had emerged as a suspect in brooke wilberger's disappearance, >> in the months after joel brooke's mom had desperately tried to hold on to the hope

courtney had emerged as a suspect in brooke wilberger's disappearance, her mom had desperately held on to the hope that her daughter was still alive. but cammie will berger's heart was finally given to what her head was telling her. >> i just had the sick feeling, even though i would never give up hope, you know, my motherly hope was always there, i knew deep down that she was probably gone. >> and it would be another mom in another state who would move the story forward feet. joel courtney had already been interviewed by the fbi, but refused to answer any questions, and when shown her photo, he denied ever seen brooke. but when confronted by his own mother, courtney came perilously close to a confession. >> she actually asked him point

blank, joel, did you do this? and he said it's not really what it seems like, and i will never be held accountable for this. >> he said that to your mother? i'll never be held accountable for this? why would he say? this >> because i don't think he feels the need to be held accountable for the things that he does. >> power? >> yeah, power. and doesn't have to play by the same rules of the people have to. >> the rules, to investigators, it did seem like joel courtney thought he was playing a game for. the inmate whose sister said he had above average intelligence knew that without physical evidence or brooke's body, it would be nearly impossible for investigators to charge him with murder. by the spring of 2005, fbi scientists were working feverish really examine every inch of that green mini van that he wants drove a hunting for dna evidence. on the day marking the first anniversary of brooke subduction, her family and police do to flee held a news

conference. privately, the family had held the secret for months that police had a strong suspect and that brooke was likely no longer alive. yet, in public, they held fast. >> we still have that hope, though. you don't give that up. >> one year after brooke wilbur disappeared, her tattered picture is still posted on street signs in corvallis. >> but as local stations played the story of a grim anniversary, some real news was about to break. >> we were heading back to eugene and we got a call, and they said, how far out of town or? you and we said, not too far. >> unbelievably, that very day, on the one year anniversary of her disappearance, fbi supervisory special agent joe boyer had received a long awaited call from the lab. >> they told me that you are not gonna believe what we found. and i said, what is that? they said we found joel cortese dna in the van. and i said, that's good, but that doesn't quite get us there. they said we also found brooke

wilberger some dna in the carpet in the van. >> it was the physical evidence they've been waiting for. beneath the back seat in the mini vans carpet, analysts had found material consistent with a mixture of male and female dna belonging to joel courtney and brooke wilberger. >> what happens here at corvallis police headquarters when you find that out? >> it was an amazing day. that was the smoking gun. that's the nail in the coffin. >> the wilbergers return to corvallis to get the news themselves. >> they said we got a dna confirmation, brooks dna and his dna in the van together. >> did you breakdown? >> no, you get up for certain things. you steal yourself for that. and it was like, yes, you know. and then, of course, i solved the whole way home. >> the dna evidence had revealed details no mother should ever have to hear, and no witness had yet disclosed. >> it was the nature of the dna evidence which told an even bigger story. >> benton county oregon

district attorney john harrelson. >> the dna evidence was in the form of bodily fluids, which were comingled. that told us a story. in terms of what had occurred in that van. >> the comingled dna indicated brook had been raped, so joel kourtney was charged with that crime in addition to kidnapping and murder. >> so you've got him in corvallis, near the point of abduction, you've got evidence that she was in his van, that he assaulted her in that van? the only thing you don't have is brooke wilbur. did you charge him with the death penalty? >> yes. i believe it was justified by the evidence we had before. us >> news of the indictment had not leaked out yet, as joel courtney sat in new mexico courtroom for a hearing on that case, he was served with the oregon charges. >> they came to court, they give to, me i give to the defense attorney, who gave it to courtney in the jury box with other inmates. and he starts laughing when

he's reading death penalty, death penalty, and he's laughing. >> he's laughing? >> he's laughing. and he's showing it off to all the other inmates, like this is a badge of honor somehow. >> what does that tell? you >> owe, that we read him exactly right. that this is something he's proud of. i think he felt at that time, particularly because he knew with that case didn't have the body that this was something that he can enjoy because it was going to affect him in the long term. >> and from that day forward, joel courtney did everything he could to delay and disrupt his own case. he knew that the charges here in new mexico of kidnapping and rape would have to be dealt with before he could ever be sent back to oregon. so he did all he could to turn the proceedings here into a farce. that meant he sometimes didn't communicate with his own legal team, he even fired one of his own attorneys. and at other times, he refused to show up for court appearances. and then, finally, joel courtney claimed he was mentally incompetent to stand trial. >> once that was brought, up

when he would come into court, he would come in all bow down, he would shuffle. he would only look at the floor. his whole demeanor had changed because now he wanted to be incompetent, because we couldn't try him. >> and what did you think was really going on? >> oh, it was totally an act. it was absolutely an act. >> nonetheless, gordon had to be tested by mental health experts at the state of hospital in las vegas, new mexico. the fbi now worry courtney might try to flee. >> i was concerned that the entire time he would be looking for an opportunity to escape. he's fluent spanish. i thought that he was going to head south across the border where he lived before and disappear into mexico and make it very difficult for us to find him. >> and as the fight over whether or not courtney was competent to stand trial dragged on through 2007, folks mom was struggling. for her, the mission to find her daughter was no longer rescue mission, but one of recovery. and her hopes were being threatened by what many saw as the courtroom shenanigans of joel courtney. >> i can remember one time i

was near the edge. i knew that if they found him, mentally incapable, that that was a black hole for us. because we would never get brooke. he would never come to oregon. he would be there forever, you know, playing this game. >> it was nearly a year before a new mexico judge finally ruled in january 2007, nearly three years after brooke disappeared that joel courtney was competent to stand trial. >> we were on our way to san francisco, and we got a phone call, and they said they found him mentally stable. and we got out of the car, the girls and, i ended a dance around the car. it was just like, i felt like the world was lifted. and i didn't realize how close i was, maybe. >> close to what? >> close to a breaking point. and tell i felt that being lifted, and then it was like,

okay, we can do this. >> later that year, in september, 2007, joe courtney would finally plead guilty to kidnapping and sexually assaulting that university of new mexico student he snatched off the street, the young woman who somehow escaped. at his sentencing, another circus. >> it didn't take long for joel patrick courtney to tell district judge kenneth martinez exactly what he thinks of him. >> i have no respect for this court. you are the rudest person i've ever met. >> i do believe that you are, again, attempting to delay this matter as you have repeatedly. >> the judge sentenced joel courtney to 18 years in prison, but not before courtney took a parting shot. >> i would spit in-your-face if i was close enough. >> time had finally run out for joel courtney. he would soon be back on his way to oregon, where investigators were ready for his head games.

their goal, the same it had been four years, find brooke. >> there was a degree of vigor. you are not going to win. we will. >> coming up -- brooks family issues of plea to joel courtney to help them finally find brooke. >> we just wanted her back. we just wanted to bring her home. >> when dateline continues.

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hour's top stories. on friday, 63 days since the israel hamas war first began, the united states once again blocking a cease-fire resolution at the u.n. security council. the 15 members of that council, the u.s. was the sole vote against the resolution. in a federal appeals court on friday upheld than -- in his election interference case. the new version barr as trump for making public statements about potential witnesses or prosecutors, but also allows him some leeway. the high profile witness makes disparaging comments about him. now back to dateline. >> joe courtney was finally in an oregon courtroom, pleading not guilty to murder charges. it was the spring of 2008, a full four years after brooke wilbur had disappeared. the man charged with stealing a beautiful 19 year old from her loved ones had also stolen

years from their lives. he manipulated the legal system, forced delays in new mexico to avoid returning to oregon to face charges. if he were convicted now, it could mean the death penalty. >> did you think that he deserve to die? >> it didn't matter. we know the end result. how did it happen and where is she. so it wasn't a feeling of revenge or a feeling of retribution. it was just, okay, what now? how do we now find her and recover her. >> the family simply needed to know. remember, the thousands of searchers had covered dozens of square miles in every direction from oregon's coastal range of mountains to its rocky coast without any success. joel courtney had not said a word to police or prosecutors since asking for a lawyer years before. the man who had studied law in jail had to know that despite dna evidence linking him to

brooks rape and murder, without a body, the case would be much harder to prove. so, if courtney knew where to find brooke, he was keeping the secret to himself. dea john harold son, you can't appeal to this man to do the right thing, can you? >> i never saw that as an incentive for him. i felt that the incentives were probably going to be more based from the perspective of the narcissist. >> selfish? >> yes. what can you do for me versus what can i do for society. >> so the prosecutor thought, what could be more precious to a narcissist and then his own life? after consulting with the wilbergers, the dea offered courtney a deal, admit to the murder, reveal the location of her body, and avoid the death penalty in exchange for a sentence of life in prison without parole. >> actually, you know, that's

what we hoped for, because the death penalty would draw that out years. >> but you want something in return? >> we wanted brooke, we wanted her remains. >> why was that so important to the family? >> we just wanted her. our goal was still really that we wanted to bring her home clearly not the way that we had hoped, but i think that was important to us to have your back. >> so the prosecutor went to courtney with the deal and true to form, the inmate made everyone wait again for months until his defense lawyers deliver the word, joel corden was not interested, he did not return a counter offer on, he outright rejected our offer. it feels like holding her family hostage in some ways, you know. >> courting sister dino watched all of this unfold, knowing a trial would mean she'd have to testify about the times joel

tried to rape her as a teenager. about his unexpected visit to her oregon home just before brooke subduction, and about his incriminating, presumably, drug induced statements. dina knew her testimony could help let her own brother on death row. >> my mom and i actually talked about this before she got sick, and talked about, you know, we always said that we believe in the death penalty, and here it is. >> you are brother? >> my brother, her son. and so, if you believe in it for some person that you don't know, does that still hold true if it's your loved one? >> and, we did a lot of thinking and praying about, it and we came to the conclusion that yeah, we still did. >> dina said she was ready to testify, but what she didn't know was that the pressure was building on her brother to find another way out. in new mexico, the courts

rejected his appeals and life in oregon's jail wasn't pleasant for a notorious inmate, who is alleged crimes against women were now well-known nérilia. more than once courtney was beaten by fellow inmates, as you can see in this jailhouse video in which courtney is being tended to by medical staff after one particularly brutal beating. then there were new charges of assault, after courtney through a fax machine at a prison doctor who wouldn't give him what he wanted. that was the very beginning of the end. >> why do you say? that >> we knew then he was frustrated. he was feeling that, he was getting close because he threw the fax machine, because he couldn't get some anti-anxiety medication. so we knew that he was feeling very anxious. >> but still, no sign of joel courtney was willing to reveal the location of brooke spotty? the prosecutor was fed up. he was ready for a trial, still the judge wasn't quite ready to

move on. he asked both sides to try one last time to settle the case before trial. during weeks of tense talks with joel courtney's attorneys, the prosecutor finally discovered the one incentive that might appeal to courtney and give the will burgers their daughter back. courtney wanted out of oregon. he might admit to murder and reveal the location of brooks remains if he could serve his prison time near his own family in new mexico. >> the wilbarger family quickly agreed, anything, they thought, to get brooke back. >> we needed to have the approval of the oregon governor and we needed to have the approval of the new mexico governor. those were the two final pieces >> you would think they would give their approval. we >> are becoming extremely concerned that this process was taking so long that you'll courtney was going to change's mind mock away. and we desperately needed that approval and we needed it now. >> but while oregon's governor signed off on the deal almost immediately. new mexico's did not.

brooks family couldn't believe. it >> i was frustrated to think that something like that could stop this whole process that had gone so far. you've come so far. we've come so close and here we were at this point. and then to think that it could all fall apart because of that. >> so brook's mom decided to make a personal plea to the governor of new mexico did try to get her daughter back. >> this one was unusual. i wanted full details and i wanted to be sure that i did the right thing. >> i said that we had gone through a lot already appealing to their hearts. >> i was. >> the emotional plea from brooke's mother for the deal that would finally solve the mystery. where was brooke? when dateline continues. ehind. clean is good. sanitized is better. >> so many years have passed

so many years had passed, and now that the deal was nearly and now that the deal was nearly done that might allow brooke wilberger family to bring her body, home could it all fall apart at the last-minute? brooke suspected killer joel carney out agreed to tell investigators where brooke's body was, if he could spend the rest of his life not in an oregon prison, but in new mexico. oregon's governor was set to sign the agreement, so it was up to then new mexico governor bill richardson, who hesitated. you're talking about a convicted rapist and a man who is accused of a heinous murder. imagine that you must of

thought, well, i don't know if i want this person in our state. >> that's true. he was a very bad guy. and i said to myself, let's be sure of all the facts. let's be sure that we're doing the right thing. >> richardson wanted to hear from brooks's family, books mother tammy will burger, call the state capital and spoke with a top aide. >> jim are the exact words that you used in that call? >> i remember that i said that we had gone through a lot over the -- and that we were hoping that this could be the end of it. and that we would hope that they would consider it. >> you're appealing to their hearts? >> i was. >> how critical was that phone call, that personal phone call from the wilberger family to your office? >> it was absolutely critical. as long as there is life imprisonment, as long as the family of brooke wilberger felt that this would bring closure, i was comfortable in a signing

this agreement. >> it was done. the word police in corvallis had been waiting. for >> i think we were all kind of on pins and needles for several days there. >> that call finally? comes >> remember learning that the document was signed, the plea was done, and now it's a matter of, we've got to find a way to get him, where she actually is. >> what had happened to brooke? her family and investigators who had spent more than five years trying to answer that question would, in the coming days, get their first details from the killer, joel courtney. courtney's lawyers relate the story to the d.a., who then told brooks family. >> i thought everything had been difficult until that time. when he told us the details of the crime, it was the first time i had heard some of them. it was all i could do just sit there and look straight ahead. i just kept thinking, you can get through this day. you can get through this day. >> the story told by joel courtney was this. he said that morning, in may,

he was high on cocaine when he drove up to broke in the parking lot in his green van, asked for help delivering a package, and when she came closer he pulled out a knife and pulled her into the van. brook began screaming as he tore her out of her flip-flops. from there, courtney said he drove westward the town of a saloma. he kept broke tied up in the van for hours, even going through a mcdonald's drive-through, he said, doing more drugs the four night fell. he raped brooke and, when she fought back, he killed her by bludgeoning her in the head with a piece of wood before concealing her body in the forest. >> it's good to know that she fought. it didn't surprise us. it was just a really difficult time, and very emotional for all of us as a family. >> in addition to those details, joe courtney provided the most critical piece of information. what brooks family and

investigators had been waiting for. >> he drew a rough and sketched map that he says depicts where he took her. >> do you know this location? >> it is not too far away. >> detectives drove from the police department passed the apartment complex where brooke was abducted, west five miles, through the small town of slowness. then, five miles further off the highway onto a logging road shown on the map. >> had you've been there? >> not precisely. >> close by? surging? >> absolutely. >> ten miles of so close by. >> yeah, but it might as well be eternity. we went up into the woods and we're trying to be quiet. we don't want the world to know and we're looking and we're not finding. iran being rather frustrated. >> did you think he lied? >> it certainly crossed our minds that he lied. >> the team called it tonight. but, the next day, they went back with more details supplied

by joel courtney. >> it's about 9:48 am on september 19th. >> with the help of a cadaver dogs, through heavy timber, just a few hundred yards off that highway. >> the chief deputy medical examiner came back and said i think we found her. >> on a hillside investigators found some clothing, including a sweat shirt and, before, long some small flags sadly marked several spots where human remains had been recovered. one of organs most timeless mysteries had apparently been solved. >> i certainly can't sit here and tell you that i wasn't choked up a few times. there were emotional times there. >> it would take time to identify the remains, so searchers told the district attorney about one particular item found on that hillside and wanted him to ask brooks turns about it. >> he text me and said, can you describe her watch? >> that was the law to give her for christmas? >> yes. >> that beautiful what brooke had wanted so badly, one of the

last gives cammie would everybody for daughter. now signaled that time had come. >> i described her watch and he said we found her. it was like having the first day in six years and then the snowball just came down on top of you. everything landed. >> brook's parents then told the rest of the family. the weight was over. >> when she said the words they found broke, i didn't feel -- at all. it wasn't what i thought i would feel. i just sat there and i cried and i cried. that hoboes are coming home alive was torn for me. >> in that moment, i felt such a powerful wave of emotion and have been in my heart. as a human being, as a parent, i was just personally really struck at that point with what that really meant for the family. that the dream of, an elizabeth

smart miracle would be dashed forever. >> the next day, joel courtney pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated murder and was sentenced to life in prison without parole. >> during that day? >> i just remember thinking, how could you have done that to that precious child? i can't imagine holding out for that long. without needing to come forward and say, this is the truth. here is your precious baby. >> after sentencing, most of brooks family paid a brief visit to the site where brooks remains were found. >> i could hardly breathe. it was booted and-shaded and someone made the comment that it was a beautiful, peaceful place. i thought, it would be if your daughter hadn't been murdered here. >> other corvallis library, a number of police agencies gathered at the end as a five-year effort. >> as the news broke that day,

brooke's mother stepped to the podium to say thank you, not only to cite those investigators who worked so hard towards this day, but also in a moment of incredible grace, to thank brooke's killer. >> it might be hard for you to understand, but at this time we really feel gratitude, even to mr. courtney, that he could see fit to tell us where he left brooke. and for our family, what happens to him, we are thankful that justice was served and he won't have the opportunity for parole. but now he can go on with what is left of his life and we want to strengthen our family and to go on with our life. >> did it surprise you to hear mr. wilberger say thank you to joel courtney? >> it didn't surprise me. they are a giving and caring family. you can only hate for so long. at some point, as people, we

have to be able to get beyond that. >> people always throw the word closure around. >> when people use that term, they are trying to be helpful and comforting, but i think in the death of anyone there is no closure. >> it is the end of a horrible ordeal, one that lasted much longer than it needed to. for brook's killer, joel courtney, a lifetime of solitude awaits at the penitentiary of new mexico. >> you have no sympathy for this man? >> no, i think he's an animal. i hope that he feels trapped, caged, defeated, week. he has been beaten at his game. and, like it or not, accountable. >> many wonder, would joe courtney have been caught if a waitress and mom in new mexico named dara thinks hadn't taken the time to save another woman from an unknown fate. >> what would've happened if dara had and stopped? >> the victim would be dead.

i have no doubt that he would've grabbed her again and we would've never found her. >> and, for brooke wilberger family, they keep this wristwatch of brooks, along with their memories, knowing that time is healing. but, only to a point. >> i don't think that i could be 80 years old and have my entire life behind me and think that i will ever reflect on what happened to her and be okay with it. you know, time is not gonna make that okay. >> she was the person that you wanted to be, or be like. >> she emulated everything that was good. she was my sister. and it is just, it was a really mean thing. it's tough to breathe and tough to keep wondering if this is as good as it gets. but trelegy has shown me that there's still beauty

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