the sweet mudetailge's life and those of her children were made real once more. family during the murder trial, like the first moment erthey heard the frightful messages from their grandchildren. >> i will tell you, that is the hard part, almost a recognition that you are in trouble, please don't be in trouble, please come home to us. >> and then, there was the day planner, when the sweet, mundane details of paige's life were made real, the family nights, soccer games, the dance recitals birthday parties, library visits, they were all there. the precious, chaotic rhythms of a family that once was, proof that there was a time when all was as it should be. proof also that that time is gone forever. orever. hello, i'm craig melvin, and a hopelessness.ne." ter: hello, i eram craig melvin. and this is "dateline. " hopelessness.

where did she go? who did she see? i just want to know what happened to my sister. >> a young mother is missing in a case gone cold. >> it was so important to me to know the truth behind that evening. >> and then, detectives had an aha moment. to solve the case, they turn to something you probably use everyday. >> why don't you establish a facebook account? i thought, that is actually a good idea. >> that is when things started to change. in court, you will see it all, pouring out. a hidden crime and a son's heart pounding moment. >> this is a horrible crime. i am glad we know the truth. california home. heartbroken, her loved ones assumed she'd left

carol lubahn was a restless young mom with two kids when she vanished from her southern california home, heartbroken, her loved ones assumed she'd left them to start a new life. as the years passed, with no word from carol, a nagging suspicion took hold, was her disappearance the result of something more sinister? before investigators could solve the mystery, her son would have to face a dark, family secret, but would it lead them to carol? here is keith morrison with "secrets in the mist." january 2013, sunny california, the wet, great morning settled in today. at noon, a police both sets off into the pea soup fog. a hail mary pass apparently, a

slim chance to find the truth at last. but why there? why after all of those lost 30 years? maybe some cases are destined to stay cold, easier that way, before they came along with their wild ideas about murder and facebook. now this. they're doomed aaron into the fog. her name was carol jean meyer, although she was carol lubahn with all of this happened in march, 1981. the night of the slamming door, the harsh words, the car roaring away. it is an old story anyway. pretty girl gets pregnant at 15, there is the guy, pretty soon, she is a 20 something with two kids. this particular pretty girl-- >> she was fun, outgoing. she had a lot of friends.

>> she had these two sisters, terry was the younger one, gail the older. >> we were very close to me made each other laugh all the time. >> but carol lubahn was not laughing at the end of march 1981 eared for one thing, she wanted to be somebody, her own somebody. >> i know carol wanted to complete school, further her career. that is when she went back to study architecture. >> sure, her husband was a nice kid. she left him with the intensity of a first love, the kid that would hang around her front porch. mike stepped up and married her after the baby was born. >> he was a good father. he seemed to really enjoy his kids. >> enjoyed carol's family too, especially her dad, milk. >> he bought mike into the family house painting business. friendly, loyal, not exactly ambitious.

he did not seem to mind at all settling down to a modest existence with two kids crept up into a two bedroom one bathroom house in torrance. carol didn't mind it very much. she'd had a secret affair by then, it may be more than one. she had got herself a cute little red car, an audi fox and ordered personalized plates. we did this one up to look just like it. quite often, she would get in her car alone and go roaring off to school or to meet markets like the local red onion was back then. and then, that night in march, the kids off to bed, their son, mike junior, was just a boy, 10 years old. >> i was in bed. i had just gotten a new stereo for my 10th birthday and i was listening to music in my headphones. >> from his bed, he could see something happening out in the

hallway. >> i remember them getting into an argument, which was unusual. >> because they just didn't? >> not that i knew of. she went out marching, slamming the front door. >> the next morning-- >> we got up and she was not there. >> mike senior told carol's dad, he wanted her to sign papers and she did not want to, and they argued and when he woke up, she was just gone. nearly a week after carol parted, her red fox showed up in the parking lot of the red onion, dusty, as if it had been there a while. >> i remember being upset about it. she was gone and i did not know where she went. >> they drove around, looking for her. went to bars, carol's picture in hand. the torrance police department opened a file, but could not answer any questions.

had she just finally gotten fed up with mike in this place and went to start a life with someone else? or had she been in an accident, or something worse? more than a week after carol disappeared, there was still absolutely no sign of her and then something strange happened here at the house, something very strange. could it be that carol, unbeknownst to anyone, sneaked back in here when nobody else was around? imagine what it was like back then in that little house. mike, thinking things over. on a hunch, he says, he placed tape on carol's dresser drawers, little trap. one day, he took the kids to universal studios, sure enough, when they returned, he noticed the tape was broken and some mail was moved on the counter as well. a few weeks later, it happened again, some of carol's close went missing, along with somebody from a place no burglar would think to look, under the butter in the

refrigerator, where mike says, he and carol kept $100 emergency cash, and i was missing. just like carol. >> she would not have taken all of it. that was carol's personality, to just be fair. >> and then, there were those mysterious phone calls. >> we would get phone calls on special days, her birthday, my birthday, my grandmother would get calls. >> almost three months after carol vanished, the detective handling her case puts it in the inactive file. in her report he wrote, no foul play involved. >> i remember i would play records over and over that she liked. i would think, where is she, when is she coming back to mark's >> eventually, mike started dating a 19-year-old named carrie, brought her into the fold. >> we were happy mike was going on with life.

>> so they did all go on with life and many years went by. until the morning in a whole new millennium, when it torrance detective happened on the case of a missing young mother and somewhere in the back of his brain, a little light turned on. >> i just had a hunch that this did not sound right to me. >> asked doubts about carol's disappearance grew, detectives turned to a surprising source to help solve the mystery. why don't you establish a facebook account for carol? when "dateline" continues. t 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. the most common side effects are injection site pain, fatigue, muscle pain, headache, and joint pain. arexvy is number one in rsv vaccine shots. rsv? make it arexvy.

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keith morrison: in march of 1981, carol lubahn, a lovely young mother of two in march of 1981, carol lubahn, a lovely young mother of two, known to be unhappy in her marriage, suddenly vanished , departing for parts unknown, leaving behind, not just her husband, mike, but her son, mike junior, then just 10 years old. >> i never felt my mother abandoned me. i was never upset with her. i never thought she did, i don't know why. i was just upset she was not there. i thought she would be there, show up at a graduation or something. >> but, she did it. and at family gatherings, as the years went by, takes giving, christmas, that awful question, why would she leave them, remained the unmentionable elephant in the room.'s

>> when it came to my family, i think they did not talk about it, because they figured it would upset me or my sister. >> my family is ready closed to talking about heavy things, so something like that, rarely talked about. segment that was the ultimate heavy thing. >> yeah. >> in 1987, almost six years after carol vanished, the police department rehashed the case. and a few more details have come back to mike. remember soon after carol vanished, mike said, they argued, went to sleep alone, woke up in the morning and she was gone? but in 1987, he remembered, they argued, went to bed together, she got up at five, 30 in the morning to go to the bathroom, he woke up, drifted off to sleep, and woke up to the sound of an car engine driving away. odd. memories do play tricks.

anyway, did not seem terribly too significant, so the case went into the file and got colder. mike took over the house painting business from carol's dad and went went to mary carey and have two more sons. gail and kerry raise their two families. >> as unhappy as you might be in your life, you might leave your husband, you will take your kids with you. >> so when you begin to suspect she would not leave her children, what did that mean to you? >> that something happened to her. >> in 1996, 15 years since they had heard from carol, the police came around again. this time, they scanned the lubahn's backyard with ground penetrating radar. scanned the ground, cannot find a thing.

funny thing, a local paper interviewed mike, this time, his memory was slightly different. he remembered that on that terrible morning when carol left, he heard the garage door go up before she drove away. just one more little detail, though, nothing profoundly different. and of course, no evidence whatsoever that the crime. the case went away again. then, one day in 2002, a detective named walt was rummaging through some cabinets behind the sergeant's desk. it was the carol lubahn's case folder. at that point, more than 20 years old. cold as they come. >> i had never heard of it before. i thought, this is interesting, i wonder if this lady is still a mystery. >> it was. and he could not help but look at the sudden changes in mike's

story. >> i would not think you would forget the last time you saw your wife. >> so, he went to see carol's parents. >> he looked up at me and started to cry. i was like, built --milt, are you okay? >> he goes, i am just so happy, i can't believe you guys are still interested in this case.>> milt died a month later, not knowing what happened to his beautiful little daughter. when terry went to the funeral and saw mike there, a private thought eight eight at her, mike didn't say anything. >> he was of course pay his respects to my family. i cannot carry on a conversation with him. >> meanwhile, walt had become a little obsessed. he had many other pressing cases, but something kept pulling him back to carol lubahn. for years, he chipped away,

and so finally in 2010, eight years after he found that musty old blue file, he decided to pay a surprise visit to mike lubahn. his colleagues thought he was a bit nuts. >> maywood, you think he will admit it to you? i said, well, i've played enough sports and i know you will not get anywhere if you don't try. is >> what story would mike tell this time? 99.9% of odor-causing bacteria in laundry everything smells so fresh.

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keith morrison: for eight years, torrance police detective walt delsigne worried away by for 8 years, torrance police detective walt worried away at the carol lubahn file, drawing at an irresistible hunch. this mother did not disappear voluntarily. actual evidence of a crime, there just wasn't any. finally, in 2010, 29 years after carol supposedly walked out with her family and never came back, he decided it was time for a surprise visit to michael lubahn. he went over with his sergeant. scene he invited us in, we did catch up unexpectedly, but he invited us in. >> was mike upset or thrown off? not at all. >> very nice, like i anticipated he would be,

because i heard from everyone in the family, mike is a good guy. >> together again, they went over the details of that last night in march 1981. right away, mike remembered a little more about the night carol presented him with a real estate contract and demand they sell their tiny house. >> did you just say, walk away with it, what happened? >> she said, you make my skin crawl. >> you make my skin crawl? >> i thought, i bet you she did say that. so i pushed him for more details. >> the details were once again a little different about when and where he last saw her, for example, it was not when he went to bed around 2:00 p.m., as he said on one occasion, or 5:30 the next morning, as he also said. this time, mike said he last saw carol about 10:30, or 11:00 p.m. in the bathtub. then, he said maybe around

midnight, or 1:00 or 2:00. and hear the garage door go up and actually see heard and saw her car driving away. also, remember the story about putting tape on the dresser drawers after carol left, and later he found it broken? did not remember that now. but, as he said here in 2010, he did remember some other traps he had said, even more elaborate. >> i would take baby power input right inside the door, so if somebody stepped in, i would see. >> by now, detective duffy was working with his colleagues. lewin specializes in tackling the most difficult of cold cases. >> the remember when you saw the results of that interview,

what you thought? >> i thought his memory had grown in areas where it shouldn't in areas where he should be saying the same story, it didn't. >> but the mind plays tricks, the mind invents things, insert something into your memory and you believe them as generously as if they actually happened. >> that is an actual theory. it can be supported. memories can be lost, but memories don't increase in details over the years and don't increase to different details. that is a sign of what we call a lie. >> his version of what happened from the start made no sense to any of us. >> and why would mike like? for the cold case, it seemed obvious. >> everything else that is going that does not make sense is because it is a lie. if you know it is a lie, it all lines up. >> mike lubahn continue to talk to them of his own free will,

without an attorney, even let the prosecutor take a crack at it. >> if you were me, what would you think? >> what you think. that i did it. >> well, mike and i can tell you, sometimes, the kind of murder cases we get, we can cases where the husband finds out that his wife is cheating on him, and he kills her. >> did you catch what mike said? it had nothing to do with that. lewin did. >> when you look at sentence structure and how people talk and communicate, it wasn't about that. what is the it? >> you gave that great significance? >> yes, i did. >> so, they kept at mike and at one point it seemed he was on the verge of confessing. confe.

no way to even prove carol was dead. >> but when he came back, he did not give them anything and they were right back where they started. suspicion, sure, but no evidence of a crime. no way to prove carol was dead. jim wallis was a detective that finally hit on an idea, to use a tool that did not even exist when carol lubahn fought with her husband on the night of march 18th, 1981. coming up, a dramatic turn in the case at fresh heartbreak for carol's family. when "dateline" continues. " c 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.

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good morning, i am jessica layton with the r's top stories. all 16 people aboard that plane that spiraled into a residential area near brazil are dead. officials say, no one on the ground was injured.

severe icing was a concern in the area, but we do not know the exact cause of the crash. in illinois, a judge has ruled that a former deputy who shot sonya massey last month will remain in jail. he is facing a first-degree murder charge. the county sheriff announced, he would be retiring by the end of the month. now, back to "dateline." "" welcome back to "dateline." i am craig melvin. detectives believed mike lubahn was on the verge of confessing to the murder of his wife, carol, but then he refused to talk and the investigation hit a wall. without a body, how could they prove there was a murder at all? the answer would send investigators in an unexpected direction. good facebook help them find out what really happened to carol? here again is keith morrison with "secrets in the mist."

a deputy da john and the torrance police department believed mike lubahn killed his wife, carol, back in 1981. but they have one big problem, they could not prove carol was dead. >> the biggest assumption would be, how do you know she's not out of the country, across the country, or change your identity? >> kind of an important question with no answer. and then in january it. it. but she mentioned to me, why don't you establish a facebook account for carol? >> i was laying in at dbed and wife came in and unfortunately, when you work these cases, all you talk about, because we are a dedicated cold case team, you talk about the case you are working. she mentioned, why don't you establish a facebook account for carol? i thought, that could actually accomplish a great deal. >> of course, back in 1981 when

carol disappeared, facebook creator, mark zuckerberg, was not born yet. 30 years later, detective wallace new social media and its ability to detect people across the globe, could determine whether carol was alive or dead. >> all of us know from using facebook it is number one, a place where we say, here i am, also a place where we find people. >> surely, if she was alive, someone on facebook or twitter would know something. of course, while this also knew carol would look vastly different 30 years after her disappearance, so he found a age progression artist to fogger out what she would look like today and placed that photo and others like it on facebook and other sites. >> it turned out a great point of contact for me to contact 350 friends and family of carol . right away we said, has

anybody seen carol? we discovered immediately that no one had seen carol since the night she disappeared. >> if carol really googled her own name, she would find herself at wallace's website. but that never happened, which meant something very significant , said the detective. >> she's not looking for herself. she is dead. >> or a farmer's wife in uruguay who does not go on the computer much. lots of people don't go on facebook. i don't check or google things. it does not mean necessarily-- >> in this large thing we are looking at, it is yet another piece that points to the same conclusion. >> if carol was dead, if mike killed her, taking the acquisition to court would be risky. totally circumstantial, of course, an unclear motive, sympathetic defendant, but prosecutor lubahn decided to roll the dice. 30 years after carol lubahn vanished from her family's life, mike was arrested for

carol's murder. >> when you went to the family and said, we will charge him, what was the reaction? >> mixed, at best. >> mixed, that is a mild world. how about upset, horrified, mystified? in fact, most of carol's only members believed the idea that mike could have murdered carol was just ludicrous. >> he was a member of our family. nobody wanted to see him be arrested, or he'll be the reason , or any of that. it is like another nightmare on top of the first nightmare. >> default mike senior's family members, perhaps, no one was as torn as his namesake, mike junior, who left his father unreservedly, followed him into the family painting business, worked side-by-side with him for decades, and who had confessed to detectives like his aunt terry, he too had

doubts about his father,.that had taken route shortly after mike senior's second wife left him. >> he talk about my stepmother's constantly for years, nonstop. >> why was that significant for you? >> because he never talked about my mother at all. never. >> but mike never confronted his father. >> i do with the back of my mind this could be a possibility and honestly at that time, i never wanted my father to go to jail, i just wanted to know. it was so important to me to know the truth behind that evening. >> to get the truth and avoid trial, prosecutor john lewin was willing to make a deal. >> we offered him voluntary manslaughter if he gave us carol's body. >> and he turned me down flat?

>> he did, repeatedly. >> mike pleaded not guilty. the case was going to trial . if members of carol's own family did not believe mike did it, what would a jury think? >> coming up, the accused on the stand. >> isn't it true mr. lubahn that carol lived her last breath in that bathtub , when you murdered her? when "dateline" continues. head & shoulders bare clinically proven dandruff protection with just 9 essential ingredients no sulfates, no silicones, no dyes. dandruff protection, minimal ingredients. job done.

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during our biggest sale of the year, save 50% on the sleep number® limited edition smart bed. shop now at a sleep number store near you. [music playing] keith morrison: it was september 11 of all days, september 11, 2012, 31 years, five months, 12 days it was september 11th, of all days. chapter 11, 2012, 31 years, five months, 12 days after the last known sighting of carol lubahn . and an auspicious date

to begin the prosecution of a popular man. could be. but deputy da john lewin went ahead anyway. >> but i am going to be able to prove, beyond any reasonable doubt, ladies and gentlemen, is that despite the fact that mike lubahn is a decent man, he murdered his wife. >> of course, lewin knew that to prove a murder had occurred, yet to show the victim was in fact no longer alive. for that, he turned to detective wallace, who explained to the jury the facebook and social media presence he created for carol had turned up a whole lot of nothing. >> have you been contacted by anybody, either by phone, email , in writing who says, you know what, i have seen carol lubahn after the day she disappeared? >> no. >> though, as lewin and his team also left the jury here, family members like carol's sister, gail, believed what

mike told them, that carol had run off. >> has it been hard for you to accept the possibility that she may be dead? >> well, yes. >> is inmate even more difficult by the fact that you care deeply for the defendant?>> yes. >> and even though she had suspected mike-- >> you still think of mike lubahn senior as a part of your family? >> yes. >> but most anguished of all, mike and carol's son, mike junior. >> was there anything about the way you remember your mom that would make you think, or made you feel that she would leave you and never come back, and never say goodbye? >> no. >> he loved his dad, but also secretly doubted him, something he had never revealed until

now. >> i was sweating so profusely during that whole trial he never knew i had these feelings here so understand, publicly, i had to basically say, yeah, i'm thinking maybe there is some weird things about your story to me and it was the first time that my father really would have known i felt that way. so, i was really, really stressed out about that. >> how hard is it for you to be here today? >> very.>> you want to believe that your dad is responsible for your mother's disappearance? >> do i want to believe it? no. >> let's assume that your dad in fact did kill your mom, ad would you want to see them punished for it? >> no, not particularly. >> prosecutor lewin knew the ambivalence of these family members did not help his case, but -- >> in the end, my job is not to make sure the family members get what they want, my job is to make sure that carol's

killer is held responsible. >> but, was mike a killer? his attorney kevin donahue. >> i think the police are just wrong. >> no forensics, no witnesses, not even a body. the defense might've stopped right there. instead, they decided to gamble. mike was a nice guy. the jury should see that. if the details had been a little different each time he was asked to tell the story come here was his chance to straighten it all out for the jury. how odd that mike, under oath now, amended his story just a little again. like when he added the detail that carol was in the bathtub when she said something mean to him. >> she said, you make my skin crawl. >> also slightly different, the way he discovered she was gone. >> i opened the front door, the garage door was up and the car

was gone. >> in earlier versions, didn't mike say, he heard the garage door go up and saw tail lights as carol drove away? why had his story changed again? >> what is the deal with that? did you hear the garage door? >> i don't think so. >> why do you think that now? what has jog your memory? >> over the years i've thought about this night so many times and i have seen that car back out of that driveway many, many times when she was leaving. i think i thought it repeatedly in my mind that is what i thought happened. i saw the car. i can see it now. >> he never thought for a moment it would be the last time he would see his wife. >> i thought she had gone out that night, went dancing, stayed with a friend. >> what did happen to her? mike insisted, he simply did not know. >> did you have anything to do with killing her? >> no. >> did you have anything to do

with her disappearance? >> no, other than i did not find the papers and made her upset, that is it. >> successful testimony, maybe. but now the downside. he would have to answer questions from john lewin. >> do you lie sometimes? >> no. >> you never lie? >> i would not say never, a white lie. >> have you ever lied about something serious that was not a white lie? >> no. >> in your entire life, you've never lied once about something that was not a white lie? >> not that i remember. >> in fact, mike had a hard time remembering things prosecutor lewin asked him about . >> i don't know. i don't remember. i don't remember. >> and how on earth could he not remember the last time he saw his wife? >> would you agree that would

be one of the most significant events, details of your entire life? >> yes, but it does not mean i have to remember it. >> lewin was not buying it . >> isn't it true mr. lubahn , that the last place that carol lived her last breath was taken in that bathtub, when you murdered her? >> no. >> why are you looking at the judge? >> because i am waiting on him to correct you. i did not murder her. in the bathtub? >> and mr. lubahn, if you had murdered her, you would tell us today? >> i would have admitted it. >> i would admitted on the stand today? >> yes. >> do you think that statement is believable? >> i think so. >> of course, believability was a question for the jury to decide. and decide, they did. though, as you will see, that was not the end of the story, not by a mile. coming up, a final push for

the truth. >> please, for your family, for your kids, tell us what happened. when "dateline" continues. . shingrix does not protect everyone and is not for those with severe allergic reactions to its ingredients or to a previous dose. an increased risk of guillain-barré syndrome was observed after getting shingrix. fainting can also happen. the most common side effects are pain, redness, and swelling at the injection site, muscle pain, tiredness, headache, shivering, fever, and upset stomach. ask your doctor or pharmacist about shingrix today. (terrie) if you're a smoker. i have a tip for you. make a video of yourself before all this happens. read a children's story book or sing a lullaby. i wish i had. the only voice my grandsons ever heard is this one. (announcer) you can quit.

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[music playing] ok, let's call the jurors out. keith morrison: there are few things in american life as okay, let's call the jurors out. >> there are a few things that american life as dramatic, as weighted with consequence. at the moment a jury, verdict in

hand, files into a courtroom. have they been persuaded that mike killed karen-- carol, or that she was dead? mike's family held with baited breath, so the the prosecutor and the police. >> you don't know what to expect. >> now, here is mike's fate. >> we the jury find the defendant guilty of the crime of second-degree murder. >> guilty of second-degree murder. mike lubahn was going to resin. and detective lewin felt surrounded by an unfamiliar action. >> i've had cases before where you get done and you walk out of the courtroom and a family throws their arms around you, they are so grateful. that is not this case. >> i was very surprised the jury would convict him on such little evidence. i don't think any of us are happy to see mike go to jail. >> you still believe mike is a

nice guy, believable guy? >> yes. >> what gail and the rest of the family wanted most was answers. >> not so much that i wanted mike to pay for what he did, i just want to know what happened to my sister. >> and at the sentencing hearing in november 2012, mike's own son echoed those sentiments. >> guilt or innocence of, i have never wanted mike bothered to go to prison, i only ask that if he knows anything-- >> and then, mike junior made a heartbreaking plea to the court. >> if sent to prison today, i want him to know, i'm going to miss our time together. it will be hard to see the world change without him. i humbly stand before the court today to request leniency for my father in his sentence. thank you for the opportunity. >> after that, then, the strange

tale of a much loved convicted killer took quite a remarkable turn. it happened that very day in court. prosecutor lewin. >> i'm asking as we sit here, mr. lubahn will have a chance, please for your family , for your kids, just let it go. tell us what happened. >> the judge granted a recessed so mike could speak with his attorney privately, did he actually have something to confess? he returned a few minutes later. >> we are asking to continue the sentencing. >> the judge pushed back sentencing by a month. >> my hope was that he would tell us what happened, that he would tell us what he did with carol, and that he would be honest about both. >> for almost four weeks, they waited until january 7th, 2013. all eyes were on mike lubahn if he headed in the courtroom . shifted to prosecutor lewin who

told that morning mike finally revealed to him the secret he had been keeping almost 32 years. so now lewin did the talking and mike for once said not a word. >> all of this, the information about them fighting about the selling of the house. he says, that was truthful to me that occurred. >> then, carol stormed out and it might've blown over as arguments, but she came back, 1:30 a.m. , and that the one thing that would not blow over, not ever. >> she told him that she was going to be taking somebody else, another man, to her sister 's upcoming wedding. he said, she was very upset. >> she tried to comfort him, and she was telling him, don't worry, you will find somebody else, et cetera. >> and that was the last thing carol lubahn ever said .

>> he did not want to. and he says, he pushed her, she fell and hit her head on a heavy in table in the living room. he said that she did not bleed for me but he knew instantly that she was dead. >> detectives who lubahn up to a polygraph machine. how much of this was true? >> after the polygraph, the test was done, he confronts him and says, you did not pass. now, the defendant changed the store and says, okay, i pushed her in the head and i punched her hard, but he says, only one time. >> and then he told lewin what he did with carol's body . >> after he killed her, he put her in the garage behind some carpet. he took her car the next morning to the red onion parking lot, dumped it there. at some point, she was placed in the trunk of mr. lubahn's vehicle .

>> and then he says, he took her to the ocean, put her on a raft, pedaled out to sea, and dropped her down, a cinderblock applied to her body. it was a shock, of course, a big shock. for so long, the family, or most of it, believe mike. and now, in this very public way , they finally knew that she was dead and he, their sweet mike, killed her. but the whole truth, was it actually out there somewhere? and so, on that cold, foggy january day, mike, surrounded by a revenue of cops and lawyers, floated out in the mist to find carol, find whatever was left. >> if they find the cinderblock in the ocean after the search, if they find that, that will give me half of the closure that i need. >> she did not get it because after the boat ride, mike admitted his ocean tale was one more life --lie. perhaps, it

was finally for the sake of his son, the son that never abandoned him, that he finally passed a polygraph and led investigators to the place he says mike's mother had been all these years. police searched the area, but were once again unable to locate carol's remains, and give the family what they had hoped for most of the chance to say goodbye. >> i don't know why getting her back is the ultimate end for me. i want to know that she is properly buried, or cremated, or whatever we would choose to do with her. >> why is that important? >> i think it just is the ultimate answer, this is it. there is no more wondering. >> no, not about that, but his father in prison 15 to life? when we last spoke to mike, it was clear he had a good deal of wandering to do about that man and what he took away. >> do you still love him?

>> yeah, i do hear it i always will, i just got to figure out hi how i am going to process the specs next. i don't know yet. i kind of thought a perfect punishment for my father was, i was going to ask him to write one sentence about my mother every week he was in prison so he has to think about her, and i can remember her again. as those weeks turned to years, mike's children never gave up on him. they wrote letters in support of his parole, but in prison he stayed. and in september 2021, a surprising twist. prosecutor john lewin, on behalf of the district attorney's office, filed a motion to have mike senior's conviction reduced from murder to voluntary manslaughter. lewin said, he believed the story that mike senior told after his conviction that carol was killed as a result of an argument about wanting to sell

their home and take the man she was having a secret affair with his sister-in-law's upcoming wedding. he would not have pursued mother -- murder charges. the hearing was held a month later and the motion was granted by the trial judge, who agreed with lewin's assessment. in november 2021, lubahn's murder conviction was reduced to manslaughter and he was sentenced to six years in state risen, the maximum for voluntary manslaughter at the time carol was killed. later that month he was released from prison, having already served more than 10 years behind bars. as for carol lubahn, remains have yet to be found. that is all for this edition of "dateline." i am craig melvin. thank you for watching. watchin good morning and welcome to "morning jo