and there's no catch. it's fre. we make money from ads, but they don't follow you aroud join the millions of people taking back their privacy by downloading duckduckgo on all your devices today. ilar: 911 join the millions of people tcalls started coming in. they said they heard screams coming from the park. siobhan seymour: she was found naked >> 9-1-1 calls started coming and bound with red duct tape.

in, they said they heard screams coming from the park. >> she was found naked and bound with red duck taped. when >> you see the photos, you can feel the terror. >> he left her for dead. >> we were shocked. as a dna laboratory that there were no other offenders. >> how is this guy not in the system? >> then, one day, you've got a call. >> they said there's been an update on the case. it was like finally. >> i've been thinking about who this guy was for so long, i don't think anything could have prepared me for that answer. >> how do you wrap around mind around the fight that someone you trusted this. >> i can picture him smirking. >> a second customization? >> yes. might screw up. >> what kind of person does that kind of thing? >> exceptionally sick, evil.

>> reporter: the evening arrows warm and thick with anticipation. college students, returning a new, mix and drank with young locals. darkness fell on colorado. one more night to take a lusty bite of the flooding summer. that last friday in august, 2015. unseen by the party crowd, a rookie cop named dane, went around the streets. graveyard shift. he had been on the job barely two months. >> it's all new. i have no idea what is going to happen. >> reporter: midnight past. the usual roadies, busy but nothing special. and then, somebody called 9-1-1. >> about 4:00 in the morning we

get a call, females for this in a park screaming. >> reporter: more and more neighbors calling 9-1-1, about that screaming women. out on the edge of town, cottonwood glen park. >> then they started reporting, they could hear her screaming help, help. that flipped a gear in my head. that something was seriously wrong over there. i was driving about as fast as i could. my hearts in my throat, i have no idea what i'm getting myself into, or what is going to be at the end of this drive. >> reporter: he drove in, guided by the whaling sounds of the woman guided in the dark. >> i could make out what she was saying because my heart was pounding, i can hear still to this day her screams of agony, pain. >> reporter: even with his

powerful spotlight he could still see nothing. where was she? >> and as i swerved my car, i saw her, instantly my heart jumped into my throat. she's naked, she's bound. there is just read all over her face. she was seated on the ground, her hands were behind her back, and she is screaming. terrified. >> reporter: she was wearing only a sock on one foot. as a young cop approached, he saw it wasn't just blood on her body. >> the red that i was seeing was red duck tape. her hands were bound and duck taped. her hair matted across her face. bound and duck taped. her eyes covered. she was bruised, beaten, bloodied. it was incredible to see. >> reporter: reddit duck tape? binding a woman, a live enough to scream, but only just.

>> it's a horror story on a best day. it was beyond anything that i would imagine. she had been strangled and left here for dead. why is she in this part naked and bound? how did she get here? the only conclusion i can draws that someone dumped her body here, knowing full well that she was dead. and yet, she wasn't. >> reporter: as he bend down to help, a fellow officer snapped these pictures, and then sitting there on the cold concrete naked, afraid and in terrible pain the young woman looked up and told him her name. she said she was amber. amber smith. >> we were able to cut a part of her bindings on her hands, they were mittens almost and tape on her forehead and face were cutting into her skin. >> reporter: they backed the red duck tape for evidence, rushed her to the e.r.. and in the ambulance as she struggles to calm down, dane asked, what happened? >> when you woke up were you --

>> i woke up, like, naked. >> did you set yourself up? >> i don't know. i don't know. i don't know. i don't know. >> it's okay, amber, it's okay. >> i'm worried she has some brain bleed or trauma that she might not recover from. we are frantic trying to get any and all information that we can from her. because is she going to be able to survive this? >> reporter: the doctors assessed her head injuries, patched up the rest of her as best as they could. and a new cop arrived. >> what was truly astonishing to me was seeing this woman who had been so badly beaten, her face was so swollen and when i saw her drivers license picture, it was nothing like the person that was laying in that bed. >> chauvin seymour was a detective assigned to the case. she found amber in the emergency room. >> what was her condition when you've got there?

>> she suffered from a broken jaw, brain bleed. one of her eyes was almost swollen shut. she had these ligature marks on her neck where you can tell she had been strangled. >> reporter: strangled like someone was trying to kill her? >> yes, absolutely. she had a hard time speaking because her jaw hurt so badly. >> reporter: detective seymour pushed ahead, had to. but, medicated, exhausted, traumatized, amber struggled to remember. >> coming everything that you saw. >> i don't know. i lost consciousness because then the -- the next thing i know, i woke up with my eyes taped and make it. >> reporter: what shape or she unemotionally? >> she was afraid. she didn't know who did this. she had thoughts of who might have done it, but she wasn't sure. >> reporter: she had been with a guy, they had been drinking. but they were in a different part, not the one where she was found. and, the guy was a friend of hers. she got out his name.

eric. >> we were drinking, vodka? >> yes. >> what's the next thing that you remember? >> the next thing i was waking up, with some man on top of me. >> reporter: but who did this? detective seymour wondered. was it amber's buddy eric? or someone else altogether? the red duck tape, severe beatings, strangulation, like some practiced predator was living out an awful fantasy. >> i was feeling this intense need to figure out who had done this, and fear for a person out there capable of these things, we need to figure out who this guy is. >> reporter: what was your level of worry of what could happen in this community if you did not find somebody quickly? >> i was terrified that he was going to strike again. >> reporter: coming up -- the investigation begins.

starting with a body of evidence. >> she was processed forensically for dna. her hands were processed. her face, her neck. >> reporter: another clue, the brutality of the assault. >> why would you attack somebody to such a degree if you didn't have a grudge against them? this didn't seem like a stranger thing to me. >> reporter: why would he be so hard to find? >> he was like a ghost, the bookie man. >> reporter: when dateline continues. line continues. he source of inflammation. so for faster pain relief, advil the pain away. this new charmin ultra soft smooth tear is soooo soft and soo smooth. new charmin ultra soft smooth tear has wavy perforations that tear so much better

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attack your friends and steal their coins. [medical equipment] medical staff at the hospital worried about a brain bleed as they treated amber smith >> reporter: medical staff in and patched up her beaten body. the hospital worried about a brain bleed as they treated amber smith and patched up her beaten body, and completed one more test, and yes, no surprise, amber, just 20 years old had also been raped. detective siobhan seymour added that dismal result to her pile

of bad news. have you ever encountered something like that before? >> no, i haven't. >> reporter: it was just awful? >> yes, and i've seen my share of pretty horrible things. this was a very scary case. >> reporter: siobhan seymour had been seeped in crime fighting all her life, a father in the fbi, a grandfather with the cia, she was a mother now, two young boys. this one hit her hard. especially when she found out amber had a son. she needed to get moving fast. a few hours after the attack detective seymour and her partner's track down amber's sister-in-law, and, if turnout best friend kirsten agular. >> i woke up the next day to a voice mail from the detective explaining what had happened to amber. i was scared, i went into complete panic mode right away. >> reporter: frantic, she rushed to the hospital.

but the name on the room she was sent to wasn't amber smith. >> because they didn't know who did it to her, so for her safety, they put her under an alias name. >> reporter: and in that room -- >> it was very shocking, scary to see. i walked in there and her face was unrecognizable. that was my sister, my best friend. >> reporter: they had met when amber was dating kirsty's brother. >> she ended up getting pregnant with gabriel and a relationship grew from their. >> reporter: kirsty had been helping raise amber son, was babysitting the night of the attack. amber had been working hard to get her life on truck, earn her deep ged, juggle a job at the 7-eleven and trying to be a good single mom. and, she was young, pretty had lots of friends. >> we had no idea who could have done anything so horrible to her. amber was somebody that you

wouldn't think that would happen to. >> reporter: somebody it would never happen to. detective seymour wrestled with something that felt like dread. and intense pressure. she and her fellow cops had to find the perpetrator quickly before he did it again. >> everyone is a suspect when you don't know who they are. >> reporter: what is the sense, or the level of responsibility that comes crashing down on your shoulders when you see a thing like that? >> oh my gosh, it truly, at times, feels like the weight of the world. to know that i am responsible for figuring out all these parts and pieces. putting them together. so that everyone is safe, including me. >> reporter: not just solving the crime for her, but the whole town? >> yes, it's a lot. the level of rage that was exercised on this woman, that was scary. >> reporter: the forensics

people extracted what evidence they could. >> we did a sex assault examination on her, she was processed forensically for dna. her hands were processed, her face was, her neck. any area that we believe the suspect may have come into contact with was examined. >> reporter: the attacker had left his semen behind. and, may be, touched dna. they swab every inch of that red duck tape. as investigators tried to fathom the motive. >> the brutality of this was unlike anything that i had heard about. why would you attack somebody and brutalized them to such a degree if you didn't know them, or have a grudge against them? this didn't seem like a stranger thing to me. >> reporter: and detective seymour knew there was one person she needed to get a look at right away. the last person amber remembered being with, her friend, aric vanagunas.

detective seymour got a warrant, tracked his name and address. aric was 20 something, lived with his parents, but he wasn't home. >> his mother was there and she said that he usually volunteers at the church. so, a partner of mine and i went to the church to contact him there. >> the case that i am working right now is involving amber smith. >> yes, like i picked her up and then we're hanging out. >> i think he was surprised that we were there, but he also knew, i believe at that point in time that something had happened to amber because he was in connection with other people that she knew. >> and you didn't know at that point whether was guilty knowledge because he did it, or if he just knew? >> correct. >> reporter: aric echoed embers story, drinking in the park, having won too many. amber falling asleep. >> so i try to wake her up.

but she wouldn't wake up. >> reporter: so aric claimed he left it there, asleep, drove around but then got worried about her. >> i came back and she, she just seemed fine. so i thought that it would be okay like, i left her there. i didn't feel too good about it. >> reporter: so, said aric, he went home. >> i think he was surprised that it had happened, certainly, it made him look like a very bad friend. >> reporter: yes. >> that he left her in that condition. >> reporter: in his interview, did he seem to be forthcoming? >> he did. >> reporter: did you ask him if he had sex with her? >> i asked him if he had an intimate relationship with her, he said no, so there would be no reason for his dna to be on the swabs were recovered. >> reporter: unless he assaulted her when she wasn't aware of what was going on? >> correct, yes. >> reporter: aric did agree to provide a sample of his dna. which detective seymour got to

the lab. and then, hurried back to the hospital to try one more time to probe member for anything else. anything at all she could remember. and remarkably, despite injuries that could have killed her, she was somehow getting better. well enough to begin to relate the real life nightmare. >> i was beyond scared. i thought i was going to die. i thought that was my last moment on earth. >> reporter: coming up -- what do you remember next? >> i remember waking up, on the floor, my hands and feet were bound with duct tape. >> reporter: a bone-chilling tell of terror. >> as i was screaming, trying to break free, i remember a rope being put across my neck. and then some words were said to me. >> reporter: did she recognized the voice? when dateline continues.

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one day later. fort collins, colorado. and once again, restaurants and bars >> reporter: evening again, one began to fill with young people eager to meet day later, fort collins, colorado. once again restaurants and bars began to fill with young people eager to meet new friends. for detective siobhan seymour, she raced against a terrible possibility, maybe probability, that is serial kidnapper, rapist, killer had moved into her town. was the person who attacked amber smith still out here, looking, fishing? she asked the colorado bureau of investigation to rush -- and forensic analyst got to work. >> these types of perpetrators typically aren't first time offenders, when you have a case that is so brutal. so this case was worked on the rush status. >> reporter: and still,

detective seymour hadn't been able to decipher from amber what exactly happened to her. and so, 13 hours into her investigation, she returned to the hospital. >> she was able to talk, she was scared. >> reporter: scared, of course, and still very traumatized. but this time, amber was more lucid. and the story she told -- even now, years later as she began to tell us the same story, waves of anxiety all but stopped her. you know, there are some people who love nothing better than to gets lots of attention, be seen by lots of people, go on television, they act out, tell stories. you're not one of those, or you? >> no. i'm kind, carrying -- >> quiet? >> quiet, peaceful. i'm a mother. >> reporter: you don't like to make a big splash? >> i don't, know. not usually. >> reporter: so, if anybody was

going to be the person to tell the whole world about a story like yours, it wouldn't be you? >> probably not, no. >> reporter: but here you are. >> here i am. >> reporter: and so, she began. in a way, embarrassed about going drinking with her friend, aric vanagunas. >> i became and talks a gated. >> reporter: you polish off a bottle? >> yes. >> reporter: were you aware? what happened? >> i don't know, the last thing i remember was i was using his phone to listen to music, we were listening to music, drinking, and we were sitting at the park bench. and then, that's all i recall of that part. >> reporter: must of blacked out? >> yes. i drink too much. >> reporter: amber passed out, at an outdoor picnic table, for how long? she doesn't know. and what do you remember next? >> i remember waking up on my

stomach, on the floor, and my hands and feet were bound with duct tape. my mouth was bound with duct tape, but my eyes were not. i knew i was in danger. >> reporter: no kidding. >> i started to scream through the tape as loud as i could, i was trying to break free from the tape. >> reporter: where was she? what was she inside? who was that man on top of her? no idea. >> as i was screaming, trying to break free i remember a rope or something being put across my next. and some words were said to me. >> reporter: words we are simply not going to repeat. >> i remember that vividly and i kept screaming and screaming, and that i remember getting hit in the face, right here, a pretty good blow. >> reporter: amber could not see her attacker's face or recognize his voice. but there was one thing she was

sure of. >> i thought that was my last moment on earth. >> reporter: you thought i was about to die? >> yes, definitely. i thought about my son. i was like the last thing i thought about. >> reporter: her son. three-year-old gabriel. >> i can't leave my son behind, that my baby, my world. i have to be strong, pull through this for him. >> reporter: you can't die? >> i can't i, that's not an option. i thought for my life for my son. >> reporter: so she fought. struggled to breathe. >> and then, the rope got tighter and i remember it was like a 1 to 3, and then it was like a bright light. i lost consciousness. >> reporter: and then she woke up on a cold piece of pavement in a different park now, naked. but for the red duck tape that found her --

>> i knew i needed to get out of there. i was overjoyed that i was a lived. i was scared, i didn't know if i was in danger. >> reporter: maybe he wasn't finished with you? >> yes, and that was motivation enough for me to scream as loud as i could, and get help. >> reporter: and that's when officer dane stratton found and rescued her, as still living, mess of injuries. >> i remember i didn't look at myself for a good three days. >> reporter: must of known who looked pretty bad? >> when i saw my face i was like, who am i? i'm unrecognizable. >> reporter: four days after being rescued, amber was released from the hospital and transferred to a local safe house. which, to amber, didn't really feel safe at all. >> i thought he would come back for me, even in the safe houses. i thought he had left me for dead, and the fact that i was alive, and the fact that they gave me an alias for the

hospital -- >> reporter: ilias so no one could find you. >> yes, i was scared everywhere, if somebody looked at me for longer than a few seconds i would get suspicious. >> reporter: this is more than just fear, isn't it? >> yes, i definitely thought he was still lurking, still trying to find me. >> reporter: but, who? it was a face in a crowd watching her, coming for her? was it a stranger? a friend? as she round her test, the crime lab melissa was optimistic that a solid dna profile would emerge. and solve the mystery quickly. >> we expected that it would either hit to other cases or to an offender in the database. >> reporter: or of course to the last person amber remembered being with, aric vanagunas. he swore he didn't hurt her. dna would tell the truth. >> reporter: coming up -- the lab results come in. a gut punch for everyone. >> we were shocked.

as a dna laboratory were surprised. >> i felt sick. how could this be? >> reporter: what was that like? >> frustrating, irritating. i thought, like, it was rigged. i thought that they missed something. >> reporter: when dateline continues. continues. killing 99.9% of viruses and bacteria in the air. scent can't sanitize. lysol can. rsv can severely affect the lungs and lower airways. but i'm protected with arexvy. arexvy is a vaccine used to prevent lower respiratory disease from rsv in people 60 years and older. rsv can be serious for those over 60, including those with asthma, diabetes, copd, and certain other conditions. but i'm protected. arexvy is proven to be over 82% effective in preventing lower respiratory disease from rsv and over 94% effective in those with these health conditions. arexvy does not protect

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with your hour's top story, a strong system is working its way through the gulf state bringing heavy rain thunderstorm and chance of tornadoes in the western part of west carolina, virginia could see freezing rain, making conditions treacherous there. the supreme court will weigh in on winter weather colorado can disqualify donald trump for the presidential primary ballot. the states hike ruled that he was -- insurrection clause, for actions trump took leading up to the january 6th attack on the capitol. now, back to dateline. ack to dateline. ing terror, >> reporter: could anyone humiliation, loss?

understand how she was feeling? the grueling pain, the unrelenting terror, humiliation, loss? amber smith was a mess. >> i don't even know how to describe that feeling. >> reporter: black, darkness? >> yes, a place i never want to go again. >> reporter: if they could only find her attacker, arrest him, put him where he couldn't get at her anymore. investigators watch the clock for the dna results, and speculated. >> an attack like this is not somebody's first rodeo. they have had to have done something in the past. in my mind on a case of this gravity, we will get an answer within days. if we have the offender in codis. >> reporter: quotas, the national dna database that houses dna profiles of people who have been arrested for or convicted of felonies. detective senior also submitted

the sample from her only person of interest, amber's friend, aric vanagunas. >> we thought of possibly could've been eric, the person she was with the night before. >> reporter: who can know what a person is capable of? even a young man who lived with his parents and helped out church. and then, nearly a week after the attack on amber, dna analyst melissa grass picked up the phone and call detective seymour with the news. >> for the first part of the conversation was exciting, we were able to develop a dna profile. >> reporter: a full incomplete genetic picture of the suspect, which they could use to i.d. amber's attacker. that was the good news. the only good news. >> we were pretty shocked as a dna laboratory, we were surprised that there were no other cases, no offenders that were matched to. >> reporter: no match. none. zero. not one single hit among the

millions of profiles in the code is database. none of the match the dna recovered from amber, or the duck tape. and when they compared to the sample they collected from amber's friend, aric vanagunas, it didn't match him either. he didn't do it. so, who? a crime like this one, has an earmark of a practice predator. why was in his dna on the massive cote's system? >> i felt sick. i felt like how could this be? we don't have a suspect. how do we not have a suspect? like who is this guy, where is he, is he dead? >> reporter: usually there somebody you can look at? >> yes, but all the somebodies were nobodies. >> reporter: dain stratton, the patrol cop haunted by what happened to amber, by what he saw in the park, was sure that

amber was in the attackers first victim. >> how is this guy not in the system? i was dumbfounded honestly. if this is his opening act, where is he gonna go from here? >> reporter: and amber? she found it hard to even offside. quotas is a great big system with every felon in the nation, and somebody who would do a thing like that to you must be in the list, right? >> yes, i definitely thought so. >> reporter: when that result came back, nothing. nobody there. what was that like? >> frustrating, irritating. i thought that it was rigged. i thought that they missed something. >> reporter: but they did have one, call it a small consolation. the dna toll than it had to be one guy. one attacker. >> a seaman stained recovered

from her body, the dna profile match the dna profile on the duck tape. that tells us that the same individual that sexually assaulted her life dna on the duck tape that was wrapped around her body. >> reporter: the detective put that little nugget of information in her back pocket. who knew when she might need it. she and her partner's started all over again. amber's friend aric had suggested maybe check out some of other friends. he wasn't so sure about some of them. >> she had several friends that he brought up that may have been involved in this. they are from a part of her history that she was involved in some risky type behavior. >> reporter: wasn't always making the best choices? >> yes. so we followed up on those individuals. >> reporter: and so day by day, one by one, the man in amber

circle were questioned, close to ten of them. friends, acquaintances. each one provided a dna sample for melissa grass. >> as we received more samples from individuals in this case, we anticipate that one of them would eventually, or could potentially match the unknown dna profile in this case. >> reporter: but, none of them did. and a terrified victim waited, and winter came to fort collins. and anxious detective seymour watch for news, anywhere, of sexual assaults. tiktok. he had to be out there. was he watching? coming up -- for investigators, the depths of despair. >> i felt helpless, how do we not know who this guy is? >> reporter: and then for amber, a brand-new trauma. >> i would look at men and question is it him? >> reporter: what would happen to you inside when that happened? >> i would have an anxiety

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detective seymour just lihad been so sure, amber smith knew the man who raped her and nearly killed >> reporter: protective seymour

her, or if she didn't, he'd be a predator who had committed had been so sure amber smith knew the man who raped her and nearly killed her. or, if she didn't he would be a predator who had committed other similar crimes. so his dna would be in cote's, the national database. but there was simply no trace of him anywhere. not only in fort collins, but in the entire country. >> he was like a ghost. the bogeyman. we couldn't figure out, we had everything we needed as far as his dna to figure out who he was. >> reporter: whoever he was, his behavior, duct taping and torturing his victim, was unlike anything that had happened before in fort collins. >> it became clear that whoever had done this to her was a stranger. >> reporter: a stranger who had managed to avoid capture, from

whatever else he might have done. someone, amber had the bad luck to encounter in a moment of vulnerability. what was he still here in fort collins, planning his next attack? or longer than? >> the patrol officers knew the suspect had used red duck tape, and so if they had stopped a car with a strange guy in it and he had read duck tape they took his swabs, collected the duck tape. we were chasing everything we could. i was becoming, more and more discourage and frustrated. i felt helpless. how do we not know who this guy is? >> reporter: months passed. the holidays came to fort collins, nobody felt like celebrating. least of all amber, who wanted only one thing for christmas. how important was it to your

psychic health to learn who it was, and to get some sort of justice? >> very, very, very important. i felt hopeless, i would never be able to fully, you know, move on from it. >> reporter: it wouldn't just be a question of i give up, but i'm never going to find out and this wound is never going to heal? >> yes, that's what i thought. i thought he was deceased or he had left the country. >> reporter: did you feel any safer, really? >> not really. i bottled it up and tried to forget about it. there is always a fear that he would hurt somebody else. >> reporter: a year went by. but amber did not feel better with the passage of time. no. she felt guilty. >> i always felt responsible or

like it was my fault. >> reporter: i always felt that things were your fault? >> yes. definitely. if i would not have been intoxicated or at that park that night none of this would have happened, you know? i deserved for that to happen. >> reporter: sad, really, that a victim would blame herself for her own victimization. of course it wasn't amber's fault. but she couldn't see it then. and her emotions, her depression, her fear, it pulled her down for months that became years. the weight of it, heavy as her first day in the hospital. >> reporter: it was like that sense of i'm not safe, i'm never going to be safe. i would look at men and question, is it him? >> reporter: what would happen to you inside, when that

happened? >> i would have an anxiety attack. just like the overwhelming sense of doom. >> reporter: kirsty agular saw her once happy friend turned into someone she barely recognized. >> she became isolated and she was very self conscious about everything and everybody that she was around. she was completely broken and shattered from what had happened to her. >> reporter: and then, in 2015, a whole group, in a way, came to amber's rescue. how spacewalk invited her to live here with them in this safe space among friends, in a good neighborhood. good situation? >> it was fine. >> reporter: they feel safe? >> it did feel safe. >> reporter: it's a new family dynamic, isn't it, a bunch of friends, living together? like the tv show, frankly.

did it feel a bit like that? >> a little bit, yes. >> reporter: mostly guys, and soon fast friends like bryce bailey, a boyfriend buddy. and prices childhood pal, a friendly guy named stephen moon who crashed on the couch, everybody called him sam. gradually, they and the other house made helped amber learn to smile again. particularly sam, a bright gentle guy. good listener. just what amber needed. >> stefan was really supportive. >> reporter: did you tell him what your situation was and what happened to you? >> yes. he said, you know, i'm so sorry, would you like a hug, you should never have to go through that, no one should have to go through that. >> reporter: hope to feel better? >> it did. >> reporter: to her best friend kirstie, it look like the old amber was beginning to emerge again. >> she was settled in and happy, that was a place for her to

call home. >> reporter: and then she focused on raising her son. amber began to accept, reluctantly, that her case would probably never be solved. >> i blocked it out. try to move on with my life. >> reporter: and then, how to say it, there was a bicycle and a pawn shop. and a small domestic drama. how curious life can be. coming up -- a tantalizing lead, from out of state. >> there was some guy in virginia who had used duck taped in one of his murders. i was like, maybe this is my duck tape guy. >> reporter: when dateline continues. continues. look at that! the heavy duty cloths are extra thick, for amazing trap & lock. even for his hair. wow. and for dust, i love my heavy duty duster. the fluffy fibers trap dust on contact, up high and all around

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it really wo by 2015, the amber smith duct tape case was old news in fort collins. >> reporter: by 2015, the amber at colorado state university, waves of students smith duck tape case was old news in fort collins.

a colorado state university, waves of students had come and gone. life had moved on. except for a few. like detective siobhan seymour who was still chasing phantom's. chasing anything she could think of, and she kept an eye on the news from out of state. >> there were some guy in virginia who had used duck tape at one point and time in one of his murders, and i was like maybe this is my duck tape guy. >> reporter: but again, and again there was nothing to find. >> we could've swab everyone, we could've asked everyone for their consent. we could've asked -- >> reporter: the whole town? >> we could have, it's not realistic. >> reporter: the idea crossed your mind? >> yes. every time there was a violent sexual assault here in town, i was certain that it was my guy, until it wasn't. >> reporter: and, new crimes were demanding of attention.

she had to let it go. >> i felt just like i had failed. >> reporter: maybe you are not such a good cop after all? >> yes, like i couldn't put the pieces together on this one. >> reporter: did you take it home with you at night? >> yes, i had nightmares about this case. how could i not figure this out? he is still out there. >> reporter: and now, time was running out. >> we have seven years where we get to be a detective, then you get rotated back out to patrol. i was due to rotate out, i needed to figure out who did this before i didn't have the opportunity any longer. >> reporter: officially it wasn't even a case anymore. the amber smith augusta geisha was closed two years after the attack. the case, colder than the colorado winter. but not quite for officer dane

stratton, the cops who found and rescued amber in the park. it was never his investigation, but yet, years later, he was still traumatized by the horrible scene he encountered in the park. >> i had post-traumatic stress. not being able to sleep, auditory, hearing her shouts. >> reporter: cops are people to, after all. just like amber dane stratton needed relief. but -- >> i started to think well, is this guy a one hit wonder? but surely he couldn't be, because of how brutal it was. >> reporter: so, often, late at night in the patrol car, he prowl through city parks, looking for, what? a villain? a rapist? >> because, if he had done it once he is going to do it again, right? so i would drag my police car

through the park. i would try to be as sneaky as i could in these places. talk to kids in the middle of the night. i will talk to people hanging out, it was never our guy. never. >> reporter: but if he couldn't find him, maybe he could at least prevent another attack. >> i would see people stumbling home from the bars and i kind of became a self motivated taxi. oftentimes, i would drive them home. because the last thing that i wanted was somebody to turn up dead or washed up in the park. >> but, give up? he couldn't do that. >> because, if the guy is alive he can't sit idly by for the rest of his life. he is going to do something, he is going to slip up. >> reporter: then, one day. beneath everybody's notice,

somebody stole a bicycle. well, upsetting thing to have your bike stolen, they say, so, the owner called the cops. and, who was the owner? bryce bailey, one of amber's old housemates. funny how these things happen. >> so, the police went out and investigated that particular theft. >> reporter: found the bike at the ponds dealer? >> yes. >> reporter: a lucky thing, bikes, not often recovered, but the pawn owner was keen to help, talk about the thief who sold him the bike. colorado frowns heavily on people who sell hot goods to pawnshops. >> in the state of colorado it's a crime to provide false information to upon broker. so you have to provide dna sample for all felony and arrests.

>> reporter: the suspect was arrested and booked, and swab, all routine, just one more dna sample to drop into that massive cota system. which of course held the samples taken from amber smith. and? well, you can't make up what happened next. coming up -- a call from the crime lab. >> i was excited to say to her, you are not going to believe what happened today. >> melissa was like, we got him. >> reporter: later detective seymour has big news for amber. but it's nothing she is prepared for. >> i showed her a picture, and she said, oh my god. >> reporter: when dateline continues. ne continues. remember the three p's. what are the three p's? the three p's of life insurance on a fixed budget

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those picture perfect days, the kind that draw people to life in colorado. it was four years since the attack on amber smith. detective siobhan seymour was hiking with her kids. up in a place called hooter canyon, west of town. and her phone chirped. text message from her boss. >> she was like uni took all cbi there has been an update in your duck tape case. >> reporter: at that moment, what are you thinking? >> i was like we got him. >> reporter: if you get an update, it must be that? >> i couldn't imagine what also would be. >> reporter: she dialed melissa grass at the cbi. >> i picked up the phone and was really excited to say to her, you aren't going to believe what happened today. >> melissa was like, we got him. >> reporter: we have a codis hits on this case, we were screaming on the other side of the phone. >> it was elation.

i was so happy. it's one of those moments in my life, really, where i will always remember exactly where i was. >> reporter: but how? after all those years of fruitless slugging, where did this dna suddenly show up? well, of course you've guessed the answer. it came from the stolen bike that turned up at the pawnshop, the dna swab of the bicycle thief. it was that dna that match the sample recovered from amber. >> it was like, finally! finally! everybody needs to stop what they are doing, we need to go get this guy, right now. >> reporter: so she went on facebook and found his picture. what did you expect this person would turn out to be? >> he was always the bookie man to me. he didn't have a face. a name. he was just somebody really scary out there. when i saw that picture of him,

he didn't really look like a bogeyman. >> reporter: not quite the monster she expected. who raped amber, beat her within an inch of her life, left her to die, trust up and helpless. the numbers did not lie. >> when i performed the statistical analysis, the statistics was one in ten quintillion, that is ten followed by 18 zeroes, a significant match. >> reporter: did you find his dna anywhere else? either on a body, or rapping, a sock? >> we founded on next swabs that were taken from the ligature marks, and markings on her neck. we found it on the tape that was used to bind her. we found it on her injuries, and then the tape. >> reporter: all of it matching only the man arrested for that small time bike theft. officer dane stratton, he was stunned when he got the news. after four years, they finally had a suspect.

>> i woke up to an email from siobhan, she said call me, we have news about the duck tape case. i remember jumping out of bed and calling her. and she told me that we had a dna hit. i was so happy. i was over the moon, it took forever. we finally have an answer. >> reporter: and then detective seymour prepared to reveal this amazing new break to amber. after four years of bad news, she could barely contain herself. >> i called her, i told her that i had an update in her case, and can i come over and see you? and she said, yes. it was difficult to contain my joy. that we had found him. >> reporter: she raised over to tell amber, who, by then was living with her son in her own small apartment. >> she answered the door, and we said we have a hit, and i said we figured out who the dna belongs to that we recovered.

i was like yes, we did a little dance. it was great. >> reporter: could you believe it? >> no, it was surreal, crazy. i was overjoyed, i was like yes. this is the start of a new beginning. >> reporter: then, detective seymour pulled out the picture of the prime suspect. finally putting a face to that unspeakable crime he committed against her. >> i said, what? like, no. no. i was like there is a mistake. this is not real, this is not right. this is not accurate. my whole world is flipped upside down. >> reporter: those overwhelming dna results were strong? it couldn't be. and yet, amber could not believe that the man in the picture was him. there had to be some mistake. coming up --

why amber couldn't believe what she had been told. >> there is no way, this is the wrong guy. >> reporter: this is the guy you confided in? >> yes. >> reporter: the guy you trusted? >> exactly. >> reporter: and then detectives give her a job. >> she asked if i would be willing to do the phone call. >> hey, it's amber. >> amber smith? >> yes. what's up? >> reporter: when dateline continues. ne continues. arexvy is a vaccine used to prevent lower respiratory disease from rsv in people 60 years and older. rsv can be serious for those over 60, including those with asthma, diabetes, copd, and certain other conditions. but i'm protected. arexvy is proven to be over 82% effective in preventing lower respiratory disease from rsv and over 94% effective in those with these health conditions. 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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♪ ♪ it had taken for long years to this moment in amber smith's little apartment, where detective siobhan seymour >> reporter: it had taken four

could finally tell her the news, that the man who had long years till this moment in amber smith's apartment, where detective siobhan seymour could finally tell her the news. that the man who had raped and beaten and bound her up in red duck tape had been found. >> so, i have exciting news. >> okay. >> we got a hit. >> i showed her the picture and she said, oh my god. she said i know him. >> reporter: for a moment it didn't seem to register because that was her old friend, her gentle confident, her housemate. that man in the picture was sam. sam moon. but, it didn't compute. and then suddenly dawned on her what this picture could mean. >> it was like all the air had been sucked out of the room. she said, no, you don't get it,

i didn't know him until two years after the assault took place. >> i don't even know what to say right now. this is insane. >> this is my friend, there is no way. this is the wrong guy. >> reporter: so, from elation you went right back down again? >> yes. >> reporter: this is the guy you confided in. >> exactly. >> reporter: the guy you trusted, you're good friend. it was a mistake. >> i was convinced that it was a mistake. he wasn't capable of that. >> reporter: sam moon? sensitive, compassionate, sam? her former housemate, so good to her and her son gave, this was the person who did that? and if all that wasn't bad enough, now amber had to deal with something far more difficult, something detective seymour asked her to do. call him, confront sam moon on

the phone. the dna was huge, of course but if amber could elicit a confession from sam, the case would be ironclad. >> she said we can catch him, we can get him. she asked if i would be willing to do the phone call. i said yes, let's do it, let's get him. >> reporter: you didn't hesitate at all? >> i hesitated, it was a horrible thing -- >> reporter: because? >> because i thought he was my friend. i didn't know what to think, i was blown away that it was him. >> reporter: the thing was, it wasn't just the call she dreaded. she wasn't at all sure they got the right man. >> harmless. that's what i would describe him as, harmless. >> reporter: so, the next day at the police station, amber called sam, and detective seymour listened in. neither quite sure of what would happen. did they give you a script to

read or anything like that? or did they say, say what you want. >> they had a white board. and if i were to get stuck they were gonna write questions to help me. >> reporter: even as the phone rang, amber was still deeply conflicted. could she do it? could she really accuse him? if she did, would she be right, or wrong? sam answered, apparently, no idea what was happening. >> hey, is the same? >> it is. >> amber and sam hadn't talked in a while. for a minute, it was like old times. >> hey, it's amber. >> amber smith? >> yeah. what's up? >> not much. how are you? >> reporter: then, she dove in. >> so remember how i told you about that stuff that happened to me in 2013 about that guy that broke my jaw and stuff? >> yes. >> yeah, so the police contacted me and said your dna matched up.

>> what? oh my god, amber, i -- -- i don't know what to say -- i -- i did not hurt you. >> okay, but they have your dna. so how do you explain that? >> what the [bleep]? >> from the 2013 incident, the one i told you about. the when i broke down to you and told you about multiple time. >> yeah. amber, that's -- i -- i remember you talking about that. that's sick. >> he just kept stammering. kept annoying, and denying. >> amber. amber. i'm gonna -- i'm gonna stop you right there -- i did not hurt you. i don't know how this is happening. this is surreal. >> reporter: how did i make you feel? >> angry. i got angrier and angrier as the phone call went on.

>> reporter: and you told him so? >> he could tell in my voice. what do you mean you don't know? i've never met you before 2015 so how the [bleep] would my dna be in my four china dude? how do you explain that? >> i don't know, amber. i don't know. >> i wanted that confession. >> reporter: you wanted an explanation. >> i wanted him to say i did this to you, i'm sorry. that's all i wanted. >> reporter: as nikole continued, sam never wavered. not once. >> no. amber. stop. i didn't hurt you. i didn't hurt you. i didn't hurt you. >> and then, at the end of the call, it's like a light bulb went on in his head. >> it was you. rosboro park, right? >> yes. >> then sam moon said something disturbing. >> yeah, we had sex.

i didn't hurt you. we had sex. >> reporter: and then sam told a whole different story about that terrible night. the story he believed would clear his name. coming up -- >> he comes to the door, and i can tell he's with somebody else and it's a female. >> reporter: sam moon said he saw someone else attack amber. >> i opened the door and i watched him carry her out. her whole head was covered in red. it was all bloodied. >> reporter: when dateline continues. ne continues. cetaphil. we do skin. you do you.

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amber smith had overcome her worst fears and confronted her friend sam moon. >> reporter: amber smith had the dna said he had to be the man who attacked her. overcome her worst fears, and confronted her friend sam moon. the dna said he had to be the man who attacked her. and yet, back at the police station, as she pressed sam for answers, he said something top of her off-guard. >> yeah, we had sex. i didn't hurt you. we had sex. >> we had sex at rosboro park? >> reporter: roxborough park, remember? that was the place amber had been drinking with a different friend. >> you were giving out free [bleep] >> sam insisted he responded to a personal ad on

craigslist, and that must be how she picked up his dna. >> oh, loud. that was not me. >> we had sex, i did not hurt you, amber. >> reporter: that was a terrible thing to say, it wasn't true. >> that was horrible. that was embarrassing and disgusting, and disturbing. >> reporter: right after he threw out that disturbing story. sound ended the call. >> this conversation is done. i didn't hurt you. i'm sorry, i didn't hurt you. >> reporter: was it remotely possible he was telling the truth? detective seymour had been listening intently. >> you can hear his wheel spinning as he's trying to create the story that is somehow plausible. given the evidence, he is trying to figure out how to make what we have match something that could have happened. >> reporter: something that

would clear him and slime amber. the detective wasn't buying it. and soon after the phone call was done, police arrested sam moon, brought him to the fort collins police station. they sat him down here for one more conversation. except this time, some would be talking to her, detective seymour. one-on-one. as tears rolled down his face. did it seem like he was that guy, that couch surfer, that he could be your monster? he could be your bogeyman? >> no. not at first, but what this job has taught me time and time again is people are not always who you think they are. i've sat across many a person who i didn't think would be capable of the things that they were capable of. so, it didn't surprise me that he looked the way he did.

>> reporter: he insisted, again and again that he was innocent. that this was all a mistake. >> oh god! [crying] i'm not a rapist. i never heard amber. i never heard her. >> reporter: detective seymour does not fluster or threatened, and she didn't hear. >> well, a her do my best to make you as comfortable as possible. >> shoot me. >> no. stefan let's slow it down, take some breaths, slow it down. >> reporter: her voice, steady, coming as she gently lowered the moon. >> i want to be honest with each other. we have your dna in her body in 2013, okay. >> reporter: so, sam kept talking. >> i had sex with her in 2013.

>> reporter: again, he offered up his craigslist story that he responded to a personal ad, a woman offering free sexual favors in the park, that's why his dna is showing up. >> i had just gotten separated from my wife. i went out that rosboro park. i had sex with a girl. i didn't see her face. i didn't see anything about her. nothing. >> reporter: and afterwards, he said, he went home and told his roommate, bryce bailey. there's a girl in the park offering free sex. you should go there. >> after an hour to, he comes through the door, i can hear he's with somebody else, and it's a female. >> reporter: sound said he believed bryce went to the park, brought the woman back to the house.

that's when things happened, said sam. very bad things. and it was just screaming and yelling in there. until it stopped and i thought that he killed her. >> sam said he hid in his room the door closed. >> so i looked under the door and watched him carry her out, he had her over his shoulder. her whole head was covered in red. it was also bloodied. >> reporter: but sam didn't report his roommate to the police. >> the next day i asked did you had fun with somebody last night and he beat the [bleep] out of me, and he said that he killed her and i'm next if i say anything. >> reporter: quietly in her almost gentle way detective seymour pushed back. >> some of the stuff isn't

making sense to me, all right. >> yes ma'am, none of this makes sense to me. >> reporter: but, his story did seem to explain how his dna could be on amber's body, consensually. so, the detective offered some inconvenient facts. >> there are scratches on her neck that was swabbed, swabs on her hands, left hand, swapped on the tape, it's your dna. >> i don't understand, there were seamen all over her body. >> there was your dna. , stefan, you're the man who did this to her. >> i pleaded with him to be the hero that i believed he could be and allow my victim to move forward with her life by apologizing and taking accountability for the things he had done. your friend needs this, you

know that, you heard the pain in her voice. you have something to offer her. you can change this, you can change how the story ends. >> reporter: but sam wouldn't budge, he stuck to his story. blaming his lifelong friend bryce for attacking amber, leaving her for dead. seemed to the detective like a good old fashioned frame job. unless, that is, unless he was telling the truth. the tightest seymour wasn't finished investigating yet. she needed to find out a lot more about sam moon. who was he? coming up -- sam's parents say the brutal attack is just not in his nature. >> he's been mild guy, a screw up. >> he was bad for doing stupid things, but nothing aggressive like that. >> detectives interviewed the

man that sam said attacked amber. >> did you have anything to do with the incident that happened to alberni 13? >> reporter: when dateline continues. line continues.

>> reporter: i'm richard louis with our top stories. the u.s. economy added 216,000 jobs in the summer. unemployment stayed at a low of 3.7%. the numbers marked three consecutive years of economic growth in biden's three years of office. the supreme court said it would review the unprecedented ruling from colorado, it barred donald trump from appearing on the stage primary ballot due to his actions before and on january six. the move could dramatically affect this year's presidential election. now, back to dateline. dateline. accused of heinous crimes-- rape and attempted murder. >> reporter: everybody is

somebody's baby. even sam moon, the man accused of heinous crimes, rape and attempted murder. after sam's arrest, detective seymour and her colleagues went to his parents house. and while the other search for evidence, the detective asked sounds father, brian moon, about duck tape. >> has he had it and you've seen him handle it, or make stuff with it, use it? >> there was some around here a while ago. >> like, how long ago, would you think? >> well, in my recollection, it's been several years. there was a roll around it. my recollection is, it all got used up. >> reporter: next day, brian moon and his wife susan came down to the police station to tell detectives seymour about their son. >> have a seat on the couch, that way you can be cozy. >> reporter: they were the two people who might know him best. and from who the news was a

blow. >> it just really shake my whole foundation. >> i received notice that we had a match for the dna. and it came back to your son. >> reporter: something no parent wants to hear. detective seymour hoped that the moons might offer some insight, habits, fetishes, even sexual differences of their 30 something scout couch serving son. >> i don't know if there were things that he did growing up or, if you ever saw him looking at weird pornography. >> reporter: they said they couldn't remember anything unusual. >> he's a bright kid, no doubt about it. >> reporter: a smart and kind kid, who didn't always make the most intelligent choices, they

say. >> i mean he's been a screw up. >> he was famous for doing stupid things. the epitome of stupidity, but nothing aggressive, nothing violent. >> reporter: juvenile pranks, unpaid traffic tickets, those were his worst offenses said his parents. and, they were sure their once married son would never hurt a woman. much less do what happened to amber. >> if anything i've put into him how to treat women, and how i feel about beating women up, and rape, and that culture. i'm a nurse, for god sake, so yes, he understands. >> reporter: sam moon was an unlikely suspect, for sure. and he had offered alibis. so, detective seymour checked them out, one by one. remember how he said he looked under his bedroom door and watched his friend, bryce bailey commit the crime? >> i went to the home, i looked

under the door to figure out what the vantage point was that stefan moon claimed he had, and you couldn't see anything under the door besides a heel in front of you. >> reporter: then they tracked down bryce bailey, told him what sam said. how did bryce react to this? >> he was disgusted. and surprised. >> that is ridiculous. >> really? did you have anything to do with the incident that happened to amber in 2013? >> no. i didn't even know amber in 2013. >> reporter: so why would his pile sam try to frame him for the attack on amber? that was easy, said bryce. >> one, he is scared, or to he is trying to get revenge on me for getting him in trouble. >> oh, yes, he stole prices bike, remember.

that's how police got sam's dna. and bryce? >> back and forth. >> he was eager to provide me with a sample of his dna to exonerate him. >> reporter: then, bryce said this about his old friend sam. the kid he had known since they were five years old. >> the only thing i could tell you about sam is he is a constant liar. >> reporter: the heart of sam's alibi was his claim that he had sex, and only sex with amber, after reading a craigslist ad, offering free sex in the park. these days craig slip doesn't post ads like that. but in 2013, when they did -- well, investigators asked craigslist, was there any such add at the time. that one took a while. >> we did a search warrant for specifics keyword like stefan had used in his interview about

what the ad had said. and we were not able to locate and ad that had the amount of detail that stefan had reported the ad having. and on craigslist there are some cds stuff that happens, so there are ads that talk about things like that. but not to the extent that stephan moon had said. >> reporter: it had to be investigated. though case prosecutors brian and carol say they didn't believe sam's alibi for a minute, no. it looked to them like sam had a very ugly plan. >> hundred percent of me believes that mr. moons intense that night was to sexually assault her, leave her and have her dies so that no one would be able to put together what happened, and point to him about what occurred. >> reporter: the prosecutors

were certain they had their man. but, as the trial approached, the victim herself, amber smith, was not so certain. >> she routinely asked us are you guys sure? are you sure this is who did it. how do you wrap your head around the fact that the person you trusted something like this? >> reporter: amber, after all was slighted to be their star witness. and they needed her to help seal the case. here, for the first time, since that night in the park. she would finally confront sam moon, face to face. coming up -- even on the eve of the trial, amber wasn't convinced sam was her attacker. >> i still questioned. i still couldn't believe it. >> reporter: would she have it in her to testify? >> i was overwhelmed. >> reporter: when dateline continues. continues. it's the only migraine medication

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trauma of the kind suffered by amber smith is a beast with a long tail. >> reporter: trauma, the kind and still as the trial of her accused attacker approached, suffered by amber smith is a beast, with a long tale. and still, as the trial of her accused attacker approached, amber could not quite believe that her sweet friend sam moon was the one who did those awful things, a stew of emotions overlaid with confusion. >> you could just see the sense

of disorientation, everything that was real in her world disappeared. >> reporter: a second victimization. >> yes. a mind screw, if you will. this person that you developed a relationship with, and trusted. >> reporter: not only betrayed you, attacked you, assaulted you, and may have tried to kill you. >> yes. everything that was real is not real anymore. >> reporter: it was certainly real to the two seasoned prosecutors. >> the idea that anybody can treat somebody like this, even in this line of work, i've been doing this for ten years, it's still amazing. >> when you see the photos. you can feel the terror amber felt, i have not and countered something quite like this. >> reporter: and though embers survived, if only barely, her trauma, the ugliness of the

crime, made their mission personal. >> we didn't want to let her down. we wanted her to be able to walk out of that courtroom at the end of the trial knowing that the person who violated her, and the ways that mr. moon did, would never walk free. >> reporter: the trial began in the fourth caller courtroom in august 2019, nearly six years, to the day, after the attack. it was detective seymour who told the story for the jury. what was the experience like? >> it was stressful, because this is one of the most emotional cases i have ever experienced. so, there was this tremendous amount of pressure to get it right. it was almost as if i was fighting for her sister to be able to find that sense of closure so that she could move forward with her life. like we all wanted this for

her. >> reporter: dane stratton, the first responder trying to be businesslike on the stand. he couldn't do it. >> i teared up, i was choked up. it was extremely emotional for me, because it was so vivid when i was being asked about this crime scene. >> i think that was very powerful to the jury. because he added that human element to this case. >> reporter: mind you, sam himself tried to do that to. he testified, told the same story about responded to craig's list ad offering sex in the park. it was all consensual he said, he did not rape amber. investigators didn't look hard enough for that at the defense said. although even some's attorney acknowledged there was no evidence to show and posted anything on craigslist. anyway, the defense told the jury amber was found in a puddle of fluid, it must have been cross contamination that

spread sam's dna to her neck, and the duck tape. suggestions the prosecutor swatted away, because the analysts found dna where only the violent attacker could have loved it. >> she swab all areas of the tape. she didn't just swab the outside, which if you buy with the defense was trying to sell to that jerry, the contamination would only be on the outside areas. she swapped the sticky side of the tape. and those swabs had to defendants dna on them. >> the other thing to keep in mind is, if it wasn't stefan moon, there was no other dna there. someone who had such force, placed so much tape on her that sexually assaulted her, dragged her from the first park, took her to another location. deposited her in the middle of the second park, didn't lead leave any of the dna. the dna samples establish that

the only person standing eight hours that there was mr. moon. >> reporter: amber was there, in court, listened to all of it. was there a point at which it came crashing down on you that it was him. it had to be him. >> during the trial. >> reporter: wasn't until then? >> it wasn't. i still questioned. i still couldn't believe it. >> reporter: as she sat there, looking at her former friend -- >> i was angry. pretty angry. i was hurt. i was every emotion. every negative emotion. >> reporter: just looking at him. >> just looking at him. if i had laser beams i would have burned that thing at the back of his head. >> reporter: because now she knew. sam moon was her kidnapper an attacker. she needed to share her story to help put him behind bars.

no small feat. >> i just was so nervous, and so many people -- i was getting overwhelmed. it's my personal business, and it's out for everybody. >> reporter: it's like the only way through to get the justice you wanted was to tell all of these people, everything. >> yes. yes. >> reporter: even if amber doubted herself, the prosecutors never did. >> when she took the stand, she was phenomenal. she did a great job talking about the parts that she remembered, and she told her story. she did so with grace. i think she got to take back some of what stefan moon took from her, when she sat there confronted him. she has a strong woman. it's inspiring. >> reporter: his claims, ridiculous and ugly.

a craigslist ad, never happened, she said. and as she finished, amber realized she had managed to inspire herself as well. >> i felt empowered. there was a lot of people there to support me. it was helpful. >> reporter: the case was the juries now. the verdict would be swift. but, what came next. well, no one saw that coming. coming up -- after an excruciating six year odyssey -- >> there is an audible gasp. >> reporter: amber and her team hear the verdict. >> i just sobbed. i remember looking at the jury and said why. >> my heart, i don't even think was in my body anymore. i was heartbroken. >> reporter: you were afraid you had failed? >> yes. i was. >> reporter: when dateline continues.

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switch today. in the end, it didn't take very long at all. >> reporter: at the end attack less than a day, and there was a verdict. very long at all, less than a day. and there was a verdict. >> i was shaking. >> reporter: your heart goes like crazy? >> i started crying before the judge even said anything. >> reporter: and that's when it

happened. >> when the judge reads count one, attempt to commit first-degree murder, with a jury found the defendant, not guilty. and there's an audible gasp. >> reporter: amber and the people in the courtroom who had fought so hard for her were stunned. >> i just sobbed. i remember looking at the jury, and sing why, i was angry. i didn't understand. >> i cannot begin -- i don't know how to put words to it. i felt like i was going to vomit. yeah. my heart -- i don't even think it was in my body anymore. i was heartbroken. >> reporter: you were afraid you had failed. >> i was. >> reporter: there were other

charges, other verdicts to come. but -- >> the concern is they will make the same fight all the way through. that was the longest two or three seconds of my life from the first not guilty, and then tools the next one. >> reporter: and then, then it came one by one, the jury found sam moon guilty of kidnapping, and sexual assault, and more, all the other charges. >> we felt relieved. >> reporter: question now was, without that attempted murder can fiction, would he do serious time? or as amber feared, would he be released and terrify her again. months later, they got the answer. >> the judge gave mr. moon the maximum possible sentence. she sentenced him to 120 years, till the remainder of his natural life. >> reporter: what did you think about that? >> hallelujah.

can't hurt anybody else. can't hurt me. this chapter in my life, book closed. done. >> reporter: he deserves every year, every minute, every second that he spends in prison. and amber deserves every minute, every second he deserves in prison. >> reporter: patrol officer dane stratton, first person to respond to this scene, haunted by it'll for years, would spent many nights searching on his own for embers attacker. finally, in court saw her, for the very first time since he had rescued her. >> i tapped amber on the shoulder, and i very quickly spoke with her, because i wanted to hear her. because the voice in my memory

was her screaming, terrified. i want her real voice to be my new memory. >> reporter: and then the judge asked if dane stratton had anything to say. >> my parting words to stefan moon was i want you to take a look at amber smith, remember her not as your victim but as a victor. we made sure that amber was no longer the girl dumped in the park in the duck tape case. amber was the victor of the duck tape case. >> reporter: but not everyone was satisfied. sam moon's parents, mortified by what their son have done and what it all meant for their family. they were not so convinced that he was the one who beat and bound amber induct tape. and they fought his lengthy sentence was outrageous.

after all, many convicted murderers have gotten much less time. have had a chance to be released. couldn't sam? >> i'm sorry, my heart breaks for them. but i don't think that that is the right choice. they do believe that he was and is a ticking time bomb. should he be able to walk around, in our community, that it's just a matter of time before he goes off again. >> reporter: how could anyone know whether or whether he might attack anyone else where he free? she knew something else about sam, after going through his phone, something the jury didn't hear. and it wasn't pretty. >> we found hundreds of searches for rape pornography. in his phone. i went through some of the things that he had googled, it

was just gross. gross stuff. >> reporter: did you see anything that suggested would eventually happen to her? >> i saw that he had an affinity for rape, and for torturing women. based off of the searches that he had done. the searches were done years later. >> reporter: after the event? >> yes. what the searches showed me is that he still had a propensity towards rape, and hurting women. >> reporter: that is why, she believes, the only place for him is in prison. and, while amber still has her struggles ahead, she is also relishing the tender steps of a reclaimed and strengthened life. a newfound sense of self. >> i feel more at peace now. i feel like i can finally move

on with my life. it doesn't define me anymore. i'm not a victim. >> reporter: no. she is a survivor. focused on raising her son, gabriel. and giving back, somehow. it's phenomenal actually that you go from feeling like a worthless piece of meat victim, to wonder woman. >> yes. >> you got the guy. >> i feel empowered now. i actually feel a sense of hope now, and i feel like i have a future ahead of me. and i feel like i am meant to help people, and i know i'm going to do that. i'm craig melvin. >> and i'm natalie morales. >> and this is dateline!