thanks for watching. i am ayman mohyeldin in for stephanie ruhle. you can watch a show saturdays and sundays at 10:00 p.m. eastern right here on msnbc. for all of our colleagues across nbc news, thanks for staying up late. see you next week. aying up lat. see you next week. people kept asking where my mom was, we were definitely really close.

people kept asking where my mom was and i couldn't give an answer. that was really kind of a stake in the heart. >> it was one of the most baffling cases investigators had ever seen. >> this tops the charts for most bazaar. >> no one can believe that this actually happened. >> a single mom and whip smart computer whiz who seemed to disappear. >> i started getting text messages saying she had quit her job. >> left behind, a puzzling computer trail. >> emails and text messages so active on her social media but nobody can locate her. >> she didn't want to be found. >> exactly. >> was she missing or hiding? taunts, threats, violence. a deadly mystery that would lead three moms and one man --

you're the last one to see her? >> is if i had already done something and he already knew it. he was drilling me. >> this is almost an obsession. >> a heart stopping case of jealousy, secret identity and murder. >> it is like you are on edge. what's going to happen next. >> it was dark when they started searching, dark and cold the fifth of december, 2015, just across missouri from omaha. back and forth want the chopper as squad cars proud the park, big lake park, iowa, looking for a shooter.

looking for whoever shot her, the woman who would come out here alone to clear her mind and get that nemesis out of her head. and instead, was bleeding through a hole shot clean through her thigh. >> is there any serious bleeding? >> my pant leg is soaked with blood. oh, jesus. >> did she know who did it as they patched up her wounded leg? she knew all too well how deadly a crazy woman could be. >> so she gets to shoot somebody and then she gets to kill another person and then she gets to move in with dave and she gets to be free and you guys aren't arresting her. >> she, who was she? that furious woman scorned. and, what horrors was she capable of to illuminate her rivals to win or punish the one man she so desperately wanted, the man who did not want her?

it began as these things often do, on an innocent and ordinary day in omaha, nebraska three years earlier. the fall of 2012. >> i'm working behind the counter, i'm doing 10 things. >> it happened in an auto repair shop. a mechanic named dave kroupa. >> she walks in and just for a moment i kind of stop and go well, hello. >> he was working. she wanted her suv repaired. >> in the back of my mind i'm thinking wow, she's gorgeous but i've got to work.

>> did you detect the signal coming back your way? >> i thought i did. >> then a few weeks later, it seemed like fate. dave went on a dating website and there she was, her profile, her picture, her name, cari. he started typing. >> i just said hey, i know you and she replied the same thing. >> and before long, cari came into his shop again. >> we are looking at each other like we both want to say something, and we did, and we exchanged phone numbers. >> they had dinner. the food didn't matter. >> we would very i would say enthralled with each other. >> he invited cari back to his place, and she agreed and that is when something else happened. it did not seem so important, not them, not like it would later. just as they walked into the apartment, the doorbell rang. it was dave's ex-girlfriend, liz, here to pick up some things she had left behind in his apartment. awkward, but cari just laughed and bowed out. >> she said oh, i get it. it's not a big deal.

i'm going to go home. you call me when you're done dealing with this mess. >> so, dave escorted cari to the door. >> her and liz passed each other at that moment. there were no words spoken. >> didn't start then at that moment? later, once liz left his apartment, dave called cari. >> she invited me out to her place, which was an hour drive outside of town. when i got to her place, was there 20 minutes making coffee, bs thing and pretty soon we are on the couch and getting a little closer. at this point we have not even kissed and she turns to me and she said look, if we're going to have , that is all it is, period. there is nothing more to it and asked me, are you going with that, is that going to be a problem and i thought i had the

powerball. >> because, dave felt exactly the same way. >> is a man, i want companionship so i'm always looking for a girlfriend, but never committed relationship. >> and you let them know this is the way it's got to be. >> that is the first conversation. take it or leave it, that is how it is. >> but, with cari, he did not have to bring it up. >> it was all her and we hit it off right from there. >> cari told him she was a computer programmer. her office is close to his apartment. they met there often, made love, talked. >> she was extremely intelligent. she was much smarter than i am, just in general. she had a brain on her. >> different than the women you had data before? >> yeah. well, for instance, what she did for a living, programming. i consider myself a little bit of a computer nerd but compared to her, i didn't know what a computer was. >> dave reconsidered his no commitment rule, rule he had broken before, with a woman named amy flora. they had two kids together, but it didn't last.

>> after 12 years, you would think there would be some kind of a proposal or something, but like i said, he's kind of emotionless, so. >> he really didn't want to get married? >> no, and i wanted to eventually be married. every girl does. everybody wants their fairytale wedding. >> av -- amy and dave stayed friendly for the sake of their kids and amy knew about these other women, heard about cari. >> expected you would meet her at some point of it continued? >> if it continued, yes, i would've liked to have met her. >> but, amy did not meet cari. not then. no idea what was coming. early that november of 2012, cari told dave she had a big project at work. she would stay over at his place instead of driving home to the country every night. until they begin their work week together , but then on tuesday, november 13th -- >> i give her a kiss on the way

out the door like see you later. it was almost like that sort of 50s tv show garbage. >> it doesn't sound like a guy who's got no attachments. >> no, i didn't say honey, but that's the way it came across but she brought that out in me that's why i say with cari, there was potential. >> so, when you went off to work that day you are in a pretty good mood. >> yeah, i was in a great mood. i had this beautiful lady that was going to be in my house when i got home. i don't know who wouldn't smile about that. >> dave was at his shop by 6:30, entirely unprepared. >> by 10:00, i received a text from her that says do you want to move in with me, or we need to move in together or something along those lines. but immediately i text her back, no. we've known each other two weeks. it's not going to happen. as soon as i text her back, i get a text back this is fine. i don't ever want to see you again, go away. i'm dating somebody else, i hate you, on and on.

>> weird. >> very weird. very -- what is going on here, but i was at work. it was very busy. i didn't have time for that nonsense, so in the back of my mind i'm thinking i dodged a bullet there. >> no, but he didn't. no. now, it was just beginning. coming up, who was this woman named cari? she was about to vanish in a very mysterious way. where is she? >> i didn't know what to think at that point. >> when dateline continues. poi. >> when dateline continues. that helps treat and prevent, all in one. to those with migraine, i see you. for the acute treatment of migraine with or without aura and the preventive treatment of episodic migraine in adults. don't take if allergic to nurtec odt. allergic reactions can occur, even days after using. most common side effects were nausea, indigestion, and stomach pain. it's time we all shine.

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ith morrison: dave kroupa, grow what feels good. the man who liked his sex life uncommitted was confused. the woman who seemed to share his philosophy had turned dave kroupa, the man who likes his sex life and

committed was confused. the woman who seemed to share his philosophy was behaving like a woman who expected something, like a woman scorned. suddenly, she wanted to move in and when he refused, she responded with a nonstop staccato of angry, often misspelled text. cari. now that name sounded like his personal horror show. >> this is the woman from hell now? >> all of a sudden. >> an hours drive away, there was quite a different story. here, in this tiny, sweet farming town called macedonia, iowa -- >> i think there's only around 250 people that live there now. it's very -- it's just home. >> come to cari, cari farver , and for she was raised by her stepfather, mark and her mother, nancy, who would stick with cari through it all , but of course, they had always known there was something different about cari .

>> she felt like she wanted to do her own thing and sometimes -- >> sometimes that doesn't always go well. >> yeah. >> the thing is cari was smart. supersmart. school was easy but then, so were boys. >> guys were just drawn to her. >> she liked it? >> yeah, she did. >> but, there was something else about cari, said her friend, chloe drummond. brainy, yes, but she sometimes made dubious choices like when she was away at college and there was this guy, one of a parade of guys. >> she would constantly talk about this night where they were all dressed up and it was midnight. they were walking down the streets with a bottle of champagne. i mean, she made it sound like a romantic movie . >> did not last, even when cari found out she was pregnant. did it come as a surprise? >> yes, yeah.

i know what she was going to have to go through because i was divorced with young children and it is hard. >> she moved home, took computer courses, and she named the baby maxwell. everyone called him max. >> she was such a good mother, but i know she had so much on her plate at that time going to school and everything else, but she did very well. she held up very well. >> except, that is, for the mood swings, the dreadful depressions. >> she just would go under the covers and sleep when she would just you know, she would hibernate. she would close yourself off from every thing. >> it's hard for her mother to watch her daughter go through that. >> yeah, it is, trying to get it out of her you know, what can i do and there's really nothing i can do or say. >> but, it got better once cari was diagnosed with bipolar

disorder, medication even things out and cari and max settled into an apparently happy and successful life, and then that inexplicable turn. cari had just started that high- tech job of hers in omaha. >> she really liked that job. she was computer programming. >> in november 2012, she took on that big project. max was a teenager them. he understood about her long hours and how she decided to stay in the city for a few days. did not ask about the man she would be staying with. >> i did not know dave at the time, just had heard of a dave. >> she didn't talk about him? >> no. usually things like that she didn't talk about. >> dave. that is all her family knew. >> she was in a good place. she had been for a long time, and i did not think too much

about it. >> so that we can, nancy picked up max and later, cari drove off to omaha to spend the week with dave. >> she did not text me or anything that monday and then i started getting text messages saying she had quit her job. she was going to kansas to live, and -- >> what was it like to get that? >> it was totally off-the-wall. >> that was about the same time dave was getting those angry texts, though nancy had no idea about that. anyway, cari's news came as a big surprise to nancy , the two max, maybe not so much. >> she had something down in kansas that she was going to be going and interviewing for after those few days at work. >> his mom had mentioned a possible job change and had even discussed him staying with grandma to finish high school but then, early that weird week -- >> i got a text saying hey, i got a second interview.

>> but she would be back from kansas on the weekend for a family wedding. but, as the bride walks down the aisle, a sign of cari. >> i was like okay, she's just running late. shall be at the reception. she'll be there for the party and everything, but at the party i remember probably every five or 10 minutes i was glancing back at the door. >> where is she? >> yeah, just wondering where she was. i can't say no, she will be here any minute. midnight came around and she was not there. i did not know what to think at that point. >> coming up, unsettling doubts about cari's story. was she moving or was she missing? >> i could feel it in my bones, something was not right here. >> i was not sure what was going on. >> scared me tremendously. i thought, i've got to do something. >> when dateline continues. tel e 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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keith morrison: long as he could remember, max farver believed he knew his mom cari as well as anybody possibly could. max farver: we were definitely really close. >> as long as he incan remember

max fervor -- farver believed he knew his mother as well as anybody possibly could. >> we were definitely close. i was her second opinion on those things. >> when cari was a no-show at the wedding, max knew something was way off. >> i was not sure what was going on but i knew something was wrong. >> i could feel it in my bones that something was not right here. >> nancy did not tell her grandson about the truly disturbing text she had received from cari. this one did not say anything about a new job. instead, cari texted that she had broken up with her boyfriend and was thinking about tech checking into a mental hospital. that is scary. >> yes, it scared me tremendously. >> by boyfriend, did she mean this mysterious dave? that you know how to reach him, did you know what his last name

was? >> i did not know how to start looking for her. >> what is that like? >> it is hell. it is just -- frustration and helplessness. >> so, before dropping off max at the wedding, she called the county sheriff's office to file a missing persons report. >> they took down all the information. of course, they did not really offer too much. >> i guess they thought what, she's a grown woman, she can leave if she wants to leave. nancy told the deputies about cari's struggles with bipolar disorder and here is what they told her, said nancy. >> well, she has probably got her medicine and you know, these things happen so that happens a lot. >> nancy tried calling, but

cari would not pick up. she did respond to text, but is sent mixed messages. >> i'm moving down with this dave. i had no idea who this dave was. >> it was confusing. did she have some sort of mental breakdown? cari quit her job in omaha, sent her company a text to let them know, and texted her mom that she was taking that job in kansas and moving away , and sold her furniture. she attached a photo of a check from the buyer. cari wanted nancy to let the buyer pick it up out in macedonia and taken away. >> i said absolutely not. i said either you call me, you come see me -- i'm not doing anything until i hear you and that is when the nasty text started coming. >> what did she say then? >> that i was a bad mother and she's going to take max and we're going to leave. >> cari texted max, too and let him know. >> you're coming with me. you have no choice. i'm the adult here and what i say goes. >> trying to imagine what it

was like to be you in the middle of the situation. >> it was a little bit scary because we all thought that some might try to come at school to get me because the school would legally have to let them let me go with them like if my mom showed up. >> max was scared, had no idea what was going on with his mom. he wanted to stay with his grandparents. >> i have heard all of these horror stories about people having these personality changes, and going off the deep end, and i thought, i have to do something about max. i've got to keep them safe. >> nancy applied for temporary guardianship of max. best be so weird. front. >> yes, and just wondering, what am i doing to my daughter if we were doing this. the lawyer said no, this is just temporary. if she comes back you can always undo this, so i said okay. >> meanwhile, surely the sheriff could find her daughter, get some help. she showed them carries texts about the furniture.

with the phone company said they were coming from a location in omaha. officers went there. no cari. sergeant jim doty and corporal wyatt davis, who joined the investigation much later, said the next step was to find the woman who paid for the furniture. her name was shanna golyar. >> i called her and left a voicemail which she returned the next day. >> shana went by her middle name, liz, and it turned out that was the same liz dave kroupa one stated. she lived in omaha with her two kids. this told the cops that somebody stole her checkbook and they suspected that somebody was the woman she ran into it dave's place. liz gave the detectives his

contact information. >> she's with him and then suddenly she goes off the rails and starts doing weird stuff like this, so he must know something. >> definitely a person to want to talk to. >> by then, the story dave could tell the police, scary. coming up -- >> police have some questions for dave. she was at your house. you were the last one to see her. >> as if i had already done something and he already knew it. >> when dateline continues. it. >> when dateline continues. it is coming down. [ cellphone buzzes, chimes ] oh, flood warning in louisiana. are they obsessed? oh, yeah. the stuff they do on the green screen, unbelievable. they said 10% chance of rain. -seems more like 40% to me. -no. it has nothing to do with the dew point. progressive can't save you from becoming your parents, but we can save you money when you bundle home and auto with us. what are those, cumulus clouds?

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high, a news update. the fix was deployed by crowdstrike after the largest outage in history and the number of democratic lawmakers calling on president biden to end his re-election campaign continued to grow, now nearly three dozen urging him public and to step aside. biden remains defiant, saying he will return to the campaign

trail next week. for now, back to dateline. >> dave kroupa was upset. every sense he told cari that she could not move in with him he she had been texting and emailing and saying awful things and making his life miserable. he tried calling her, but she did not answer and then a little more than a week later, the cops showed up in his auto repair shop. how did you find out they were coming, they just showed up? >> yeah, there was no warning. >> the detectives took him aside for a talk. >> he tells me hey, do you know cari . let yeah, that crazy one. when did you see her last? oh, the morning of. and okay, where is she now? no idea. >> the detective didn't seem to buy that. >> he was drawing me with them policeman eyes, the ones that are like you know, you feel

like you're in the principal's office. i had totally had the feeling -- >> she was at your house. you are the last one to see her. >> that was how he approached me, was as if i had already done something and he already knew it and it was time to deal with it, you know when i was like whoa, slow down. >> dave tried to explain, he said. >> amen, i don't know where she's at but i've got nothing to do with it. i'm back pedaling as fast as i can. i don't know where she's at and i don't want to know where she's at. i just want her to go away. >> because, dave told the detectives, cari would not stop messaging him. he showed them his phone and was adamant he had not seen her since the morning he left her at his place. >> do you think they believed you when you said you didn't know where she was? >> hundred percent they believed me. >> in the strangest thing. cari started texting the detective . i would really appreciate it if you leave dave

kroupa out of it. >> the detective texted carryback. >> we can't stop looking into it. we need to locate you in the missing person entry will be taken out until someone talks to you in person to where we know you are okay. >> did she respond to that? >> she said it was pointless. >> she did not want to be found? >> exactly. >> the detective got another text. this one seemed ominous. i want one person to go away for destroying everything for me. who might that person be? the detective had a pretty good idea. dave showed them text in which cari blamed liz for their breakup, even though, as he explained, he and liz were not even together when he met cari. made sense then carry must have stolen liz's checkbook all right, maybe even forged that check for five grand. the detectives called liz right away and told her she should

file a report with the omaha pd. it was their jurisdiction. but before she got the chance, liz went to her garage, and there, scrawled on the wall, she found the words, from dave. it had to be cari. all of it was so strange. maybe she had a breakdown or something or psychotic episode. >> that would be the only answer. >> to the police in omaha, cari was no suspected stocker. back home in pottawattamie county, iowa, she was still missing person with a very worried family. cari's mother heard about the threatening text , the harassment, the police reports filed against her daughter. to her did not seem like cari at all. and, it made her wonder how serious were the police about finding her daughter. >> i got a little callous toward the authorities, thinking that -- i did not

think they were doing quite as much as they should've been doing. >> did you get the feeling you just wanted to go down there and storm the barricades and make something happen? >> yeah, but i didn't know how much i could do. i did not know where to start. >> cari had been gone for almost two weeks. thanksgiving, a day away, nancy sent cari a message on facebook. i've got a roast in the crockpot and will eat about 6:00. we are going to dad's for thanksgiving and eating about noon or 1:00. we love you, cari. cari did not respond and did not show up for thanksgiving dinner. less than a month later, nancy's ex-husband, cari's father, died of cancer. cari did not come to the funeral. instead, she sent a message on facebook. i'm sorry i missed the funeral, and just a few days before that, she posted on facebook,

dave kroupa proposed to me, i said yes. what in heavens name was going on? nancy called the detectives, who called dave, who swore no way he was engaged to cari. he said he had not even seen her, but still heard from her constantly, a hail of texts and emails that was only getting thicker. >> i would get 50, 60 a day. all day long. at one point, it rendered my phone completely useless. it just came in so much i couldn't answer the phone or send a text. >> did you change your phone number? >> i did that a couple of times. >> and they still kept coming? >> they did. >> occasionally carries text seemed almost normal. i know i ruined it. i tell myself don't be crazy

but something takes over. but mostly, the emails and messages were angry rants about perceived romantic rivals, ms. goylar in particular. she is a you should not be with someone like that. i hope we can see each other soon. then dave realized cari did see him. she seemed to be watching his every move. >> it was very common for me to get messages, emails that would say i see you through your window, you are doing this and i go, i am doing this. okay great, now i can go outside and look for somebody because somebody knows what i'm doing. >> even more disturbing, cari messaged dave that she had taken his extra apartment key and had been coming and going when he was not there. liz got unsettling emails, too. i'm out in your garage, so what should i do to your car? i see my handiwork is still on the wall. attached to the email, a photo to prove cari was there. eventually, the messages got threatening. cari wrote dave a note claiming

she had kidnapped liz. you will do exactly as i say and then i will let her go. do it or say goodbye to her. attached was this photo, a woman bound. could not see her face, but was that liz? >> i told her that's crap, i don't believe you. go away, leave me alone. >> through it all, cari remained invisible, even after she texted dave she was moving into an apartment building nearby. a couple of buildings away, why, does that bother you? i'm only doing month-to-month till i find something else. dave told the cops, of course. they went looking for cari. >> the building number was correct but the apartment number did not exist. >> cari was still nowhere to be found. near the complex, dave did find something that belonged to cari. coming up, a crucial discovery almost buried in the snow.

and, the danger escalates. >> it was like what in the hell -- >> into something deadly. >> you are on edge as to what would happen next. >> when dateline continues. >> when dateline continues. our. for up to 8 hours of powerful relief. new advil targeted relief. [♪♪] there's a way to cut your dishwashing time by 50%. try dawn powerwash dish spray. it removes 99% of grease and grime in half the time. it cleans so well, you can replace multiple cleaning products. try dawn powerwash.

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>> big snow in omaha the winter of 2012-13. the winter cari farber's -- cari farver's text were driving dave kroupa crazy. the worst, said dave, the skin- crawling feeling that she was stocking and spying on him but always like a ghost. when he looked, she was gone. then one day about two months after it started, dave was driving home from his shop. >> i come in through the parking lot and i noticed the truck there because it still had all the snow on it and when i got up close, it's an explorer. oh, it's a red color. so, i called the sheriff and said i'm pretty sure i found her truck. >> he was right. it was cari's suv, still half buried in the snow. >> we impounded it. we had a crime scene tech process it and it was really clean.

i dusted for prints and they found a fingerprint inside and recovered that. >> a fingerprint was found on a mint container in the cup holder of the suv. they ran the printer the national database. no hits. but, if cari wasn't using her suv certainly not daily, her presence was as unavoidable as ever, what was texts, emails, graffiti, threatening photos sent to both dave kroupa and liz goylar. detectives made sure to do a phone down from both of their devices to preserve the evidence and perhaps figure out where cari was. there was even a link to a fake obituary for liz. go see what i made for the i will kill her.

i already made her obituary, so it's done. then minutes later, i'm trying to hire someone to get rid of that liz for us. you told me before you wanted her gone. we want to pay just for the or her two kids, too? i hope to see you soon your beautiful cari. >> tried to enlist you in her scheme to kill liz and the kids? >> yeah, that was a very interesting read the first time i read that was like oh my -- what in the hell? >> cari did not seem to realize that her ongoing harassment was actually pushing dave and liz back together. >> you compare notes on the harassment? >> we would spend hours talking about initialing each other text and emails we got. >> comforting each other. who else would understand, right? >> exactly. nobody else did understand. >> now, dave and liz were regulars at the omaha pd filing one complaint after another against cari, like the time they reported that cari had broken dave's apartment window. that is when detective chris

lone grove stepped in to investigate. >> she said yeah that's her she's done this before. he shows me a photo of her and text messages referencing the fact she had broken out his window. >> the detective could see the attacks were escalating to threats of physical harm. he obtained an arrest warrant for cari farver, not that he had much hope of finding her. he knew cari was a computer expert, probably using software to disguise the phones and computers are messages came from. >> i thought well, this must be some kind of avenue she is utilizing because nothing is there. we can't find her. >> weeks passed, and each time dave and liz were hit with an even more outrageous barrage, the girl would look again and again not find cari but it all seemed to be leading somewhere bad.

>> worked dave and was afraid? >> yes, not so much you are terrified of the individual, it is like you are on edge. what's going to happen next? >> sure enough, what happened next was terrifying. early saturday morning, august 17th, liz called dave, frantic. >> her house burned down, o my god, it's that crazy person stocking me again. >> liz had been in the middle of moving out. she and the kids were already sleeping at their new place but she went back to the old place that saturday morning to pick up one of their things and instead, she had to call the omaha fire department. they responded right away and later, so did the detective. >> the inside of the house is pretty charred and burned. she really could've ended up running down the house but did not quite get to that point. >> but, it was deadly enough. lid has -- liz had two dogs,

one cat and a pet snake. all of them are still in the house. all of them were found dead. neighbors across the street said they saw a woman in a car parked outside liz jake's house a few weeks before the fire. the detective showed them a photo of cari. the neighbors so they could not be sure , but she had the same general appearance. an email to dave made no secret of who did it. i am not lying. i said that nasty house on fire. i hope the and her kids diane later , cari to liz. hope you and your kids burned to death. >> once you get into situations like arson or threats to an individual's life or to those around them, their children, the ex-boyfriend, certainly you're going to take that much more seriously. >> suddenly, the case against cari looked very serious, indeed.

but still, like smoke from the fire, she vanished. >> what i did was try and find somebody who saw her and again came up with nothing over and over again. nothing. >> by this time, said dave, he was afraid she would try to attack his kids, too. >> what did she say when she threatened her kids? >> something along the lines of slit your children's throats. >> wow. >> it was pretty hard to read. >> it took a toll, said dave. >> for a while there, i was drinking heavily, which was not me. i was a drinker until the bar closed and going to work at 6:00 in the morning. >>, and you bought a gun. >> sure, yeah. >> why? >> for my safety and my children's safety, for just protection in general because i didn't know. >> so, dave and liz kept watch in the city, wary, fearful while out in macedonia, cari's family was coping with a whole different set of emotions --

emptiness, grief, and a terrible, gnawing uncertainty. nancy had sent several pleading messages. come home. cari, you're my daughter and i'll always love you no matter what. we just need to see you, hear your voice, know where you are. i love you so much, you are my little girl., home. >> for a parent, for her mother , i don't know. how do you characterize this episode in your life? how do you talk about those feelings that didn't make sense? >> there is no making sense of it. total loss. >> what had happened to cari farver and why? coming up, news like a lightning bolt for a family in anguish. someone claimed to have seen

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keith morrison: where was cari farver? everyone wanted to know, especially her family. keith morrison: what was it like at christmas time without her? max farver: that was hard. that was hard. keith morrison: christmas was once magic for max where was cari farver? everyone wanted to know, especially her family. what was it like at christmas time without her? >> hard. it was hard. >> christmas was once magic for max here in macedonia, celebration of his amazing bond with his mother and little things like their families gift- opening traditions. >> at our house, we go by age and do rounds at christmas and just going for me to grandma just seemed wrong. >> well, it was wrong.

and you kind of had to bottle it up, didn't you? >> kind of. >> he did not show his emotion too much to me, because he knew that i was -- >> you were worried. >> i was really worried but i found out from his girlfriend's mother that he would go over to her house after school and her mother told me that he did a lot of crying at their house, and -- that bothered me, of course. >> there had been a sudden bit of hope after that first christmas without cari in april, 2013. the phone rang. on the line was a man. >> saying that cari was at this shelter in omaha and that we needed to go pick her up. >> what was happening in here? >> just flutters.

i mean, my heart was racing like crazy. >> the shelter was about an hour away. nancy, who had neither seen her daughter nor her heard her voice for months was too overwrought to drive so she asked her brother to take her. >> i was so tense and i was just trying to catch a breath >> was like what have you been? >> the investigator went into the shelter and show the picture, wanted to know if there had been anyone there like her and they said she hasn't been here. >> what's that like? >> and your hopes are dashed again. you think where can she be? >> the feeling that comes with realizing you're on a wild goose chase. >> i came home and think i

can't live with this anymore. this is just too much. >> again, nancy messaged cari. cari, we were at siena house. where are you? no response but then the facebook post weeks later. i'm a grown woman and if i feel like leaving home i have the right. i asked my son, max, to come with me but you didn't want to so when i am ready to come back home, i will. i love you all very much, but i need time still to sort things out. >> and there were posts like this one. liz is the hole that took my boyfriend away from me. now i met a really nice guy. nancy had to wonder. maybe it was self delusional, but these messages just did not sound like cari. >> because my daughter was so meticulous about grammar and spelling and the way it sounded. >> the stuff was like what?

>> it was just garbage. it was chaotic and it just -- the language that was used and everything else. >> unless you become a different sort of person. >> yeah, so in that, too thinking -- is this the case? >> had her daughter had a total breakdown what if cari's disappearance was not what it seemed to be? coming up, max reaches out to his mother with a test. >> things only she would know? and, dave buys another gun that soon goes missing. could cari be behind it? >> she is still active and sending text messages and pictures. >> or, maybe it wasn't cari at all. soon, police will be investigating a whole new suspect. when dateline continues. spect. when dateline continues.

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how much you can save. keith morrison: cari faver's family was desperate for answers. no one had seen or spoken to her in months. kerry's family was

desperate for answers, no one had seen or spoken with her for months. yes, there were texts and facebook messages, but somehow they just didn't sound like kerry. at least not to her mother, who was beginning to suspect her daughter may have been the victim of some kind of crime. what if she was kidnapped? what if someone stole her identity? she asked the police about that ? >> what did they say? >> they said, well we will check it out, that kind of thing. >> nothing came of it. but after her father died, nancy's ex husband, she had this weird dream. >> he came to me, very vividly in the dream and said he says don't worry, nancy, she is with. and that is-- sounds silly, but

that is when i knew that-- because i knew she wouldn't just vanish. but of course, nancy didn't know for sure. we would get a text or something and there was this hope that maybe she was still out there. >> max was looking for her in his own way. he sent his mom a message on facebook. hi, that was it. and then the next day cari responded. hey, little man, how are you? he messaged back, i have three questions. >> things only she would know? >> things would she would only know. max asked one, what is my little name, two, what was my first boxer's name, the dog, and

who was my best friend as a little kid? >> what was a response? >> nothing, i never got a response. >> could his grandma be right? that someone had kidnapped carrie? no way of knowing, really. and the messages kept coming, like this one, for cari's mom. i just had a breakdown and i think i am getting over it. i should have come to my senses sooner and realized the guy wasn't worth it. and then the following year, for mother's day. happy mother's day, mom, how has max been? >> nancy, frustrated, replied call me and i will gladly tell you about him, this is not talking i need to hear your voice. cari never calls. the english of missing cari never stopped. and meanwhile, all dave wanted was to escape her. and that your 2015, dave moved

from omaha to council bluffs, iowa. his kids lived there with amy floor and he wanted to spend more times with them. and he helped carry wouldn't find him there. he bought another gun just in case. and after three years of relentless harassment, things finally seems to be quieting down for liz, and dave. there weren't as many messages from cari, she seems to be fading away and does that happened, liz and dave saw each other less and less too. there was just one other scary thing. that gun they had bought for protection of the one he kept taking high in the closet disappeared. >> and you are the only guy in that apartment? >> right, the only one living there. now, my mind is racing, there is no forced entry, all of the doors are shut and locked, windows are shut and locked. >> what did you think? >> i didn't know what the think. >> meanwhile, in iowa, where

cari farber lived before she became a dangerous and digital persona, her appearance was more office chatter than active case, and that is when the detective, ryan avis got hooked on it. >> we heard some stuff, you know, watercooler talk i guess about the case. >> this strange, crazy woman. >> it piqued our interest, so we requested to take a look at it. >> that was april, 2015, more than two years after cari's reign of terror began. the file was huge, by then. a bizarre, digital house of mirrors. and so, jim doty and ryan avis began with a question police had never really considered before, though her family certainly had, was cari farver really the vengeful woman she seems to be? or did she even exist? >> the smart idea was not to

have tunnel vision in any direction, so ryan worked at as if cari was still alive he was going to work until he came to an dead-end. and i was going to work it like she was not alive, because there was things that could lead us to maybe both both conclusions. she was still active, sending text messages pictures. >> so, maybe she is alive, but she has missed so many events and hadn't been physically seen by anybody. >> we started from scratch. >> reviewing all of the old material? >> call reports, looking through those phone downloads-- listening to any interviews that had been recorded, just diving in. >> of course, they spoke to dave kroupa, no doubt in his mind, cari was alive and crazy. >> he was transparent and give us access to his whole email account. >> 11,000 emails that he had saved over the years, could be more. >> wow. >> that wasn't all they had, right there on the file was a wholesale dump of material from

liz's cell phone. so, they were learning a lot about both dave and liz. they had been immersed in all of that for months but hadn't interviewed liz yet, when in the office one day, pure coincidence. >> i was in the hallway talking with county attorney, and another investigator is walking down the hall with liz to his office. and for me it was like a famous person. >> but this was odd. her complaint wasn't against cari, it was someone else . >> amy flora. that is the mother of dave's children. >> wait, amy? not cari? first, detective msnbc.com avis did a double take and then he asked if he could be the one to interview liz ? >> dave kroupa

>> liz, motold detective avis that her on-again off-again relationship with dave was off , but since her recent split, dave's x, amy, had been stalking her on facebook and she was very worried, because-- and that, said liz, is when she suddenly realized that she and dave had been played for fools. for 3 years, she had believed cari was the woman behind all of the threatening to suggest, the threatening graffiti, the deadly fire, but suddenly it was like a light went off, it wasn't carry at all. that scary awful online villainess, the woman responsible for all of the trouble? it had to be amy flora, dave's

x, diabolical. but think about it, amy is the one who so desperately wanted dave, she had the motive. but carry? not really. >> head spinning. detective avis made some notes, and no surprise, the very next evening, december 5th, liz amy

all i heard was open up, police. and two officers with guns drawn. keith morrison: pointing at you? amy flora: yes. keith morrison: when dateline continues. [birds chirping] for nourished, lightweight hair, the right ingredients make all the difference. ♪♪ herbal essences sulfate free is now packed with plant-based ingredients your hair will love. like pure aloe and camellia flower oil. and none of the things it won't. hair feels deeply nourished, soft and lightweight. ♪♪ plant power you can feel. herbal essences sulfate free. finish ultimate. engineered for the toughest conditions. dry burnt-on stains.

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operator: is the assailant still nearby? helps deliver the ultimate clean. liz golyar: i dont think so. i took off running. operator: do you know if it was a male or a female? is the assailant , still nearby? >> you know if it was a male or a female? >> a female. >> it was dark when they roared out to big lake park, found a wounded and bleeding liz golyar, packs are off to the hospital. the chopper trained down a searchlight and ground-based path cops scoured the paths and bushes. >> someone on foot, armed and dangerous? >> yes. >> while other cops searched for the shooter, detective, matthew checked on liz at the hospital. >> you could tell she was in pain. >> obvious wounds to her leg. >> but she was lucky, the bullet went clean through her leg, missed bones and arteries, it could have been much worse. she told the detective what happened. >> she said she came out here

to clear her mind and walked out to a bench and sat down. and then a female, who she believed to be amy flora came up behind her and stuck a gun to her back and told her to get on the ground and then shot her in the leg and then ran off. >> a few months later, a task force surrounded her apartment. >> i kind of seen somebody leaning against my building, and i said, who is there? and all i heard was open up, police. so, i opened the door and they had two officers, with guns drawn. >> pointing at you? >> yes. yeah. >> what did they say to you? >> they had said that i was accused of shooting liz. >> they searched her home, and later sat her down in an interview room and hooked her up to a polygraph machine asked her questions, like this one among others. >> did you go to big lake park that day? >> no. >> amy also denied that she shopped liz, again and again. but? she failed the polygraph.

still, something didn't add up. when that vocal detective arrived at amy's place right after the shooting he felt the hood of her car, ice cold. it hadn't been driven for a while. and the neighbors that amy was home all afternoon. so-- was amy so nervous she blew the polygraph? or was something else going on? detective avis went to see liz at the hospital, his recorder rolling. rolling. dave still doesnt think so. keith morrison: you seemed like the friendly cop. ryan avis: or the dumb one, ill be whatever she wanted, as long as she kept telling us information. >> seemed like the h friendly c? >> or the dumb one. i will be whatever she wanted, as long as she kept telling us information. >> wait, what? avis was playing dumb, he said, to pump liz for information, because he and his partner had a strong suspicion about who really shot her, a truly

shocking idea, something beyond devious. >> she shot herself is what i thought. >> liz shot herself? that sounded crazy? or maybe a certain kind of crazy. remember, to help catch cari farver, police had given them her cell phone and here is what detectives doty and avis found. a photo of cari farver's suv , which didn't make sense because- - >> it was taken christmas these 2012. >> wasn't that when her car was actually missing? >> yeah, it wasn't recovered until january 2013. so, we thought that was weird that the police couldn't find it, dave didn't know where it was, but somehow liz was able to take a picture of it. >> that wasn't all. remember that threatening photo cari emailed to dave about a woman found in duct tape?

that photo was linked back to liz, which made him wonder, was it possible those wild and scary electronic messages all sent in cary's name? were really sent by liz? tricky, even for a computer whiz to nail that to the wall. >> it is beyond our expertise. >> how well do you know computers and social media and all of that nonsense. >> we know how to pick up a phone and call tony kava he has a lot of information to look at. >> tony kava? >> your cave! >> by day i do i.t. work and i have done that for about 15 years and then by night i fight crime. so-- >> you sound like a superhero. >> anthony's david day job was a supervisor, but by night, a

dollar a year, he is a reserve sheriff's deputy. >> how much stuff did you have to go through? >> it was terabytes worth of information. maybe about three dozen email accounts, a dozen facebook accounts and a number of different apps. >> and in his tiny office, kava sat, hour by hour, processing enormous amounts of digital data. >> it might take her five minutes to create an email account and it might take me 15 hours to prove it is actually her. >> among those many accounts was a youtube account with this video. >> the title of the video is husband's cheating place and that video showed the apartment of dave kroupa. >> with the idea that address where that video was uploaded was where liz lived. >> so, again, it was another arrow pointing toward liz. >> so, arrow by arrow, anthony compiled the evidence. his conclusion? every one of those threatening emails and text on facebook post and youtube videos linked right back to liz golyar.

meanwhile, doty and avis linked himself to earthbound evidence. remember that fingerprint in a mint container, in a an otherwise spotless suv? >> we asked our crime scene, can you compare that fingerprint to the known fingerprints of liz and see what you come up with? >> it was a match. >> this lady who should have had very little interaction with cari, she had no reason to ever be in her vehicle. >> only met her in passing one time, but now her fingerprint is in her car. >> liz and cari's suv, liz impersonating cari online , there was no logical explanation for it-- unless-- >> we think liz may have been involved with making cari disappear. >> a case right about to dive through the looking glass, and on the other side? hard to believe.

coming up. >> why else would you disguise yourself as cari if you weren't responsible for it? >> what had really happened to cari? police catch a bold plan to finally get to the bottom of it all. >> we are working for the sheriff's office. >> when dateline continues. lin and the cleaning power of dawn. watch it make soap scum here... disappear... and watch how sprays can leave grime like that with up to 10 times the cleaning power, foamy melts it on contact. magic. it makes this ring a thing of the past. it makes you forgetti about baked on spaghetti. new ultra foamy magic eraser. clean with more magic than ever. protect against rsv with arexvy. arexvy is a vaccine used to prevent lower respiratory disease from rsv in people 60 years and older. arexvy does not protect everyone and is not for those with severe allergic reactions to its ingredients. those with weakened immune systems may have a lower response to the vaccine.

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morrison: by the time one in rsv vaccine shots. these two county detectives started looking into the strange case of cari farver, by the time these two

county detectives started looking into the strange case of cari farver and all of those jealousy fueled text send emails and threats, arson, cari's son, max, was getting ready for graduation. she haven't seen his mom in three years, but always the optimist, he decided to try one more time to reach her on facebook. >> i was-- at that point it was just a last ditch effort, just hoping something would happen. >> if this is really you, please come back. i want you to be at my graduation. >> when she didn't respond, how does that feel? >> i wasn't really surprised, because, like i said, i knew it wasn't her. >> max and nancy had the record for months, all of those digital rants were not actually from cari . they didn't know it yet, but detectives, jim doty and ryan avis already had proof. liz was impersonating cari online. but they also suspected

something much darker. remember, another part of their investigation involved this basic question, was cari farver alive, or dead? >> her father died, and she didn't go to the funeral. mr. son's birthday, all of these things. it didn't take ryan very long at all to come to a dead end, where he-- he couldn't find anything to show that she was alive. >> no. >> suddenly, cari farver looked, not like a villain, but like a real victim , and the woman who claimed she was the victim, liz golyar looks like the prime suspect in cari's disappearance. >> because why else would you disguise yourself as cari if you weren't responsible for it? why would you be in cari's vehicle if you weren't responsible for it? >> all of that is so counterintuitive and so bizarre that, you know, you wouldn't be expected to believe such a thing. >> no. >> it was stunning, really.

liz, apparently impersonating cari for years, sending thousands of text send emails in her name. but now, they had a good question. and a much bigger problem. >> i guess part of the worry was , even if we could prove that it is liz sending all of this stuff out as cari will that doesn't prove murder. >> murder? yes. sergeant doty and avis believed she impersonated cari to try to win dave back and then tried to frame his ex-partner, amy for everything, even setting her house on fire, killing the family cats and shoot herself in the leg. pretty wild stuff. but can they prove it? >> we did need something more, so we still weren't quite sure how to get to that point. >> and then, liz herself, by accusing amy of shooting her, gave them their big idea. >> that is when we introduced jim to liz.

>> i am investigator doty i work for the sheriff's office. >> a little over a week after the shooting , liz arrived in the sheriff's station wearing her sheriff's uniform. >> we are looking into a missing person's case. >> he told her there was a break in the case. >> there have been some remains that have been located. >> okay. >> it was a ruse, of course. >> we are waiting on the lab results to make a positive i.d., but the initial indication is that these are cari. >> meanwhile, said detective doty, he was hoping liz could help establish a timeline, like when was the last time liz saw cari? well, that was easy, said liz, one brief encounter, when liz went unannounced today's apartment, back in 2012. >> i didn't know he was dating anybody else at the time, so she came out and i was going in. and she made a smart comment to

me. >> what did she say to you? >> she called me a . it wasn't a big deal i didn't care at the time i just wanted to get my stuff and go home. >> that is the only time you had ever seen her in person? >> she told detective doty that it was dave who blamed cari for quality harassing messages over the years, but just that she had told detective avis, she now thought, perhaps amy was really the one behind it all . >> she was with him for 12 years. and she still goes in and his out of his life all the time. so-- >> so you think she could have been the person who did some of that? >> i'm just saying, as another person who would be possessive of dave, it would be her. so-- i wouldn't put it past her. >> detective doty pretended to agree. >> i'm thinking, if she was bold enough to go and then shoot you, okay? she could easily be bold enough to do something to carry. >> of course, he said, you would need to prove it.

>> we have messages from her, saying hey, i did this or i did that, you know? i could easily start building that case. >> right. >> we want to build a case against amy, we want to get amy thrown in prison. which we were hoping was music to her ears. >> and apparently it was. liz agreed to help with the investigation and she limped away. >> and she became a little deputy for you? >> yeah. >> no telling what liz might come up with next. coming up, liz forwards emails and propels the investigation. >> when they first started coming in they were pretty big. >> so, you guys want me to try and email her back? >> and that's-- i'm leaving that in your court, liz, i mean if that is something you would feel okay doing, that would be really helpful for us. >> and detectives give dave a dire warning.

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i am richard louis with an update. the congresswoman, sheila jackson lee has died. she became a champion of african-american women's rights. jackson lee announced she had pancreatic cancer in june. she was 74 years old. and a source familiar with the matter has told nbc news, the gunman who shot former president, donald trump, at a rally in butler, pennsylvania blew a drone over the rally site just hours before trump took the stage. for now, back to dateline. when cari farver never returned to little macedonia island back in 2012, cops and neighbors alike seemed all too willing to believe she simply lost her mind. left her son with her mom and

split. >> in the small community where she is from they all kind of believe that's too. and nancy never could stand up and argue. >> nancy felt lonely indeed, until one day, detective doty knocked on her door. >> i was a little bit standoffish, because >> been done that we wrote before. >> right. finally he said to me i want you to know that i don't think she left on her own. and i tell you-- my attitude just changed. >> the very thing she had suspected. >> they saw what you have seen all along. >> right. so, then they-- then the investigation really got going. >> an investigation as unusual and as convoluted as the apparent crime, in which an eager liz golyar would try to help prove that her rival, amy,

killed cari. of course, although i'll detectives new amy was innocent. but they what liz think they believed otherwise. >> have you made any real threatening statements were inferred that she did anything to carry? because that would be the goal to me if we had something like that. >> what do you know? within days, liz began forwarding them emails from amy, she said. although, the misspellings looked awfully familiar. i shot you liz to make sure dave stayed away from you, i made a couple of those fake emails and numbers you and dave thought were carried to get rid of you liz. didn't work too well. >> when they first started coming in, they were pretty vague. >> so, detective doty spoke to liz again. they needed more. >> so, you guys want me to try and email her back? >> that's-- i'm leaving that in

your court, liz. i mean, if that is something that you would feel okay doing, that would be really helpful for us. >> liz said she would try. >> cari's family, some closure would be nice probably. >> yeah, that-- that's true. get her family some closure. >> so, liz said she sent this email to amy. so, if you really shot me, than what kind of gun was it? so did you ever get to meet up with dave's x, carry? according to lex, amy responded. the gun was dave's that i used, don't where you didn't get it as bad as crazy carry. then, she wrote this. so when i met crazy carry she would not talk talking about dave and him being her husband. she tried to attack me but i attacked her with a knife. i stopped her 3 to 4 times in the chest and stomach area. i then took her out and burned her. i stopped her body in a garage back with crap.

the sort of detail a killer would know. >> to see that it was working there must have been just an enormously exciting. >> it felt good. >> days later, dave kroupa called liz golyar say he just had a disturbing conversation with liz . >> she told me that the sheriffs had found remains-- like somebody is dead. and that, and that they thought it was this carry and that supposedly they had all of this evidence against amy, you know, that she is complicit or something whatever, i don't know. >> dave was understandably shaken up. avis couldn't tell him much but he did drop a vacant. >> i to be near moved in with you. each other and their kids. but that outraged liz, she called the police to say so. >> dave took his advice and moved in with amy so they could protect each other and their kids. but that outraged liz. she called the police to say so.

>> looks like the only person that benefited was her, so she gets to shoot somebody, and then she gets to kill another person and then she gets to move in with dave, and she gets to be free and you guys are interesting her. >> detective doty said he still needed more evidence, so liz gave them access to her email account and over the next month, emails came pouring in. allegedly, from amy, of course. i got a hold of cari and we drive in her car. i reached over and stabbed her in the stomach. when i killed cari, you know she begged me to call dave at work. and then she begged me to talk to her family before she died. i remember when i killed cari that she had a ying yang on left side. all of that detailed confession, but-- >> we had to find evidence that would match what she is telling us to confirm that what she is

telling us is true. coming up. the chilling clue that might finally unlock this mystery. >> took on the passenger's seat and pulled up the fabric of that and there is a dark red stain right on that seat. >> that is huge. >> it was. >> when dateline continues. aya... quick, the quicker picker upper! bounty absorbs spills like a sponge. and is 2x more absorbent so you can use less. bounty, the quicker picker upper.

cari farver in a convoluted plot to win back and is 2x more absorbent so you can use less. detectives were convinced, liz killed cari farver in a plot to inch back her boyfriend.

she handed them emails describing the murder, details only the caller would know. the center, she said, with dave's ex-wife, amy. investigators thought otherwise. and they needed to look at carry's kara gann. but the car had long since been sold to somebody else. but they found it, much used in a whole other county. >> took out the passenger's seat, pulled the fabric off of that and there was a dark red stain, right on that seat. a large stain. >> they tested it. human blood. dna confirmed, it was carry's blood. >> that is huge. >> it was. >> we high-fived. but we didn't really know what to do next for sure. >> but they were sure they had to move fast. because it appeared liz was scouting a new target. >> we would see her circling the apartment multiple times a day. >> because doty and avis

believed cari was murdered in omaha they asked the police for help and the omaha pd pick up liz on and unrelated misdemeanor, in the interim their questions were about carry. liz stuck to her story that she was the victim in this tragic tale. >> what you think happened to carry? >> i don't know. i don't know if what amy is saying is true, i don't know. >> okay. >> i am more scared that something is going to happen to me and that my kids won't have it. >> the detectives added temperature. why, he asked, was her fingerprint and carry's car? >> i don't know but i've never been in her car i don't even know what kind of car she drives. >> she denied everything. >> the fingers pointing right at you. >> i'm done talking and i will

have my attorney, because i didn't do anything. >> at the end of the night she bonded out, and the county attorney wanted more time to review the evidence. >> what was it like waiting for that was it frustrating? >> it was. >> months went by. max, who hadn't heard about any of that recent investigation graduated from high school, without his mom. >> that was a real, kind of-- stake in the heart, but because- - >> god knows if there was any occasion she was going to attend it would have been your graduation. >> yeah. >> summer came and went. another winter set in. and then, december 22nd, 2016. four years after cari farver vanished, after reviewing all of the evidence, the county attorney finally felt that there was enough.

liz golyar was arrested for murder. >> the best part of it was being able to go to nancy and tell her , we have arrested somebody for the murder of your daughter. >> that was a big day for her? >> that is what made working this whole case worth it. >> did you feel like driving out there to see them? >> couldn't drive fast enough. >> it was big news for dave too. >> that was the first time i could go outside and take a breath of fresh air and say i don't have to look over my shoulder today. >> liz sat in jail while the prosecutors prepared for trial. they knew it would not be easy. >> nobody cases are tough right? >> and circumstantial it was very circumstantial. >> and, as the trial date was bearing down? a teeny tiny memory card yielded an amazing discovery. >> what was basically just bs like that you forgot that right? >> i don't think it was luck, i think it was divine intervention. coming up, a signature tattoo, the ultimate computer clip. >> it turns up on a picture of

a dead body? >> yeah. >> holy cow. >> would cari farver get justice at last? >> it was nerve-racking. >> when dateline continues. lin it can progress faster than you think. when ga threatens your eyes, take a stand. slow ga with syfovre. syfovre is an eye injection that was proven to slow damaging lesion growth over 2 years with increasing effect over time. it's the only fda-approved treatment to slow ga in as few as 6 doses per year. don't take syfovre if you have an infection, or active swelling in or around your eye that may include pain and redness. syfovre can cause serious side effects, such as eye infection and retinal detachments, severe inflammation of vessels in the retina which may result in severe vision loss, wet amd, eye inflammation, and an increase in eye pressure.

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>> not just bizarre, challenging. even for seasoned prosecutors, brenda beetle and james. >> your typical murder case you know exactly when the murder happened, you know exactly where it happened and if you don't have a body you don't really have a good date or time or location. >> this is a bizarre and twisted case of fatal attraction. >> nevertheless, may 10th, 2017, they put liz golyar on trial for the murder of cari lea farver. >> an obsessive woman who would stop at nothing to get what you wanted. >> liz waived her right to a jury trial. a judge would hear the evidence. the prosecutors laid it out methodically. carry's blood in the car, liz's fingerprint on the mend container of the car, the emails that read like confessions. the vast trove of digital forensics. they even tracked down a purchase on cari's bank card , made after she banished. a walmart receipt.

>> one of the items was a walmart shower curtain. >> that looked familiar to us, because they found out that we did in 2013 was a picture of that shower curtain. >> and they found the shower curtain itself, liz's apartment. there was also a photo of cari's drivers license with a large knife extra that was emailed to dave. he thought it was a threat from cari. in fact it was sent from an email account created by liz. >> all of these pieces together made a big difference. all of it, put together, so the prosecutors, told a story about how liz golyar murdered cari farver. it happened the morning of june 17th after dave kroupa left for work, cari was on her laptop. >> we know, by examination of cari farver's be facebook, that she logged into her facebook at 6:39 a.m. the that morning. >> two minutes later she logged

off. she was supposed to leave for work but never made it. >> she was intercepted, something happened. that something was the defendant. >> hard to know exactly what it is she did to cari. >> it didn't take her too long, because at 9:54 a.m., cari farver's cell phone is being used to access facebook. >> at that moment it appeared cari unfriended dave. >> the fact that they ended facebook friends, one of the very first steps it takes to actually eliminate that facebook friendship. >> and then, from then on, in cyberspace, liz became cari. >> all for the purpose, for the reason of convincing people her friends, her family, relatives, everyone, that she was still alive. >> nancy went to court every day for the trial. heard the details for the very first time. >> when i heard all of this,

what this person was doing in her name-- it just made me so angry. because cari-- she didn't deserve that at all. >> so, strong case? the prosecutors hope so, though nobody cases are tough to prove. but was it luck? divine intervention? before the trial began, detective avis ended tech guru, dave kroupa went to tony kava and asked if he might have anything that could help them. that is when it hit him, he put a tablet into storage, and he forgot it. so he fished it out and tony kava examined it. >> tony removed the external xt card , the memory. it had been deleted and reformatted. >> or so it seemed, until tony

kava took a closer look. paydirt. >> i would say there were thousands of pictures he was able to locate. >> thousands of photos that liz thought she had deleted. >> one of the pictures we found, it was a chinese symbol that we were able to determine mother, and there were dark lines in the picture. >> dark lines? they looked more closely, those lines were veins and what looked like someone's foot, someone's deceased foot. avis called cari's mom, nancy. >> nancy was able to email a few pictures and sure enough cari has that same tattoo on her left foot. >> wow. >> identical. >> and remember the ying yang tattoo mentioned in one of those possibly confessional emails? >> lo and behold it turns up on a picture? of a dead body? >> yeah. >> holy cow. >> that was cari's too.

the tattoo parlor kept a record. >> my first thought when i saw those photographs was, this defendant had taken a trophy your trophies of the person she had killed. >> the motive? a very old one, jealousy. >> it is really all about dave kroupa, she did it because she wanted this man. >> jealousy makes people do strange things, but that is just -- why so much ? why? >> i think it snowballed. i think once she did it, she couldn't stop. she had to make cari look like she was still alive to keep the heat off of her and it went on and on and on for years. >> dave kroupa heard it all, and finally understood. >> i mean, it makes sense now at the end, but the tarantino movie always makes sense at the end, you know? it doesn't make any sense getting there. >> and liz's defense attorney, james martin davis agreed. it was like a movie. a fictional one.

>> i know they have got all of this bizarre behavior and they have got all of this circumstantial evidence, but it doesn't show my client on that day in this jurisdiction took a knife and stabbed cari farver to death. >> without that, no murder case. >> you may have camcorders and you may have smartcards and you may have phones, but you don't have a body and you don't have a cause of death from a medical examiner. what we have is their belief, their speculation, their notion that this is what happens. but that-- that can't convict. >> and then the judge retired to think about it. and returned to an anxious courtroom. max, inside the courtroom waited for the words. >> it was nerve-racking. >> and then finally, an answer. >> the court finds and judges

the defendant guilty. >> guilty of first-degree murder for killing cari farver and second-degree arson for setting fire to her own house and killing her pets. she was sentenced to life in prison. just a few rows behind liz, cari's mother, nancy, finally heard the long four words from the judge . >> saying that cari did not vanish off of the face of the earth, and she just didn't vanish into thin air. it was just -- total relief to me. and i just started crying. >> you can't grieve, really, until you know, and now they did. >> it will never go away, but at least we can deal with it now. we have to deal with it. >> so important, said nancy, to finally set the record straight. about a loving mother and a good woman, who never abandoned anyone. >> and i think it would have been important to cari too. because she would have wanted people to say, this was not me.

>> max followed his mother's footsteps, pursuing a career in software engineering >> yeah. she was the one that really got me to understand computers. i will never type as well as she could. but she is definitely a big influence there. >> and inspired your love of them? >> she definitely did. so, i have her to thank for what i am going down now. >> i think she would be pretty proud of you. >> i hope so. [music playing] hello, i'm andrea canning, old soul, a beautiful soul. i know he's my son, but he was the kindest person