better than getting low speeds for high prices. -right, bruce? jealous? yeah, look at that. -honestly. someone get a helmet on this guy. get a free unlimited line for a year when you add one unlimited line. plus, get a new google pixel 9 on us. bring on the good stuff. (♪♪) behind every splenda product is a mission. helping millions of people reduce sugar from their diets. now try a sweetener grown by u.s. farmers. introducing zero-calorie splenda stevia. at splenda stevia farms, our plants are sweetened by sunshine. experience how great splenda stevia can be. grown on our farm, enjoyed at your table. (♪♪) enjoyed at your table. [music playing] hello, i'm andrea canning, and this is "dateline." maria was a very loving person.

she had a heart of gold. what happened to this woman? my job is to be a truth teller and seek out the truth. maria was a very loving person. she had a heart of gold. what happened to this woman? to. andrea canning: she'd found a new sense of purpose in the church, her pastor and his wife like family. they had taken her in. they were helping her out. it's like i'm proud of you. you're finding god. andrea canning: then one baffling text and she was gone. i go i know i probably watch a lot of "law and order," but i had this really gut feeling. because i was a mom, i just knew that she didn't leave on her own. there was no way she left that baby. andrea canning: two moms at opposite ends of a mystery. could one get justice for the other? this case for sure was an investigator's worst

nightmare. andrea canning: soon clues to a hidden life. a very amorous, romantic, wild relationship. it was lustful. oh my goodness. andrea canning: there were secrets here, deadly ones. it hit me hard. i'm like no, no, no, no, no. come to jesus moment. it was, yeah. i was scared to death. [theme music] hello and welcome to "dateline." marie carlson was a force of nature, enthusiastic, spirited, and beautiful, but behind the radiant glow, she hid a darkness. for a while, marie drifted, and then a pastor and his wife welcomed her into their lives. it was a spiritual awakening which made marie's sudden disappearance all the more mysterious. it would take a detective with a special bond and some divine intervention to find out what happened to marie. here's keith morrison with "secrets

on the emerald coast." [music playing] keith morrison: how do you catch a dancing sprite? do you put her in a bottle? can you package the joy she brings? can you keep it when she goes? she was like a gravitational pull. keith morrison: her name was marie, marie carlson. she was magnetic. andrea canning: when she was happy, she could make the whole world sing. live life to the fullest is what marie would tell me. you know, you might not have tomorrow. andrea canning: and so she offered herself, her goodness, gave her vulnerable heart, and stored her secrets until, well, what happened. but she was always that way was marie from the time of the very first secret in her life. she was born in the philippines to a single mother then taken in by the family of an american serviceman. and it was years later when she learned that kind serviceman was actually her father, which

meant that esther bridges, the best friend she grew up with, was also her sister. what was that like to find that out, that she is-- esther bridges: i was happy. keith morrison: actually your sister? i was really happy because i always thought she was since we were little girls. keith morrison: when they got older, esther and marie moved to florida and lived together, the location ideal. esther bridges: we chose an apartment that was behind a karaoke club so that we could just go there all the time like we were stars. [music playing] keith morrison: and she wore pink, always pink. esther bridges: it was her. it was her personality. it's full of life. keith morrison: and always trying to perk up everyone else with her favorite word, beautiful. it's like, oh, she's so beautiful, you know. i want to be like her. but she always told them, no, you are beautiful. she loved that word. keith morrison: kay barber was like a mother to marie, hers the second family to take marie in when she was 18 and struggling.

kay barber: marie's nickname that i gave her was rosie because she was always just, you know, peachy and rosy and happy. keith morrison: like she was when she met jeff carlson and he fell hard. and it was like [snapping] instant. keith morrison: so they married, and they had a daughter named paris. and they thought their life together would be grand. marie got a college degree in criminal justice, became a deputy sheriff. her ultimate goal was to try to get into the fbi. keith morrison: but then for all the love between them, there were issues. jeff learned there were more secrets, that as a girl marie had been sexually assaulted and sometimes her love and joy were chased into a darker place. the biggest issue was she didn't love herself. keith morrison: they tried, but the marriage didn't last. and after that, marie drifted a little. jobs fell through.

she had to move frequently. jeff suggested paris, then three, would have a more stable life with him. she fought it initially, but she agreed that it was probably for the best. so paris was with me. keith morrison: though she saw paris often and called all the time. and then marie finally found what her vulnerable loving soul seemed to need. i was actually happy for her because she found god. keith morrison: marie had found a spiritual home of the calvary emerald coast church. it was hardly a fancy cathedral placed within a strip mall , but fancy wasn't the point. salvation was. here finally marie felt right. and jesus is saying you know what. you're missing out. the pastor was a charismatic man named james flanders who preached the bible foursquare, preached in jeans and sneakers, livestreamed and youtubed his sermons. it was a very happening place. jason anderson was the youth pastor. jason anderson: didn't fall asleep listening his sermons.

keith morrison: but more than that, the pastor and his wife, james and tanya flanders, were known for their big hearts, their charity. and that's when for a third time a family took in marie. esther bridges: she's saying that she was there until she got on her feet. keith morrison: but a whole year went by , and then what was coming couldn't be hidden. the story floating around, there had been an abusive boyfriend who abandoned her and left her pregnant. and in july 2011, marie gave birth to a baby girl and named her grace. the pastor and his wife took care of both of them. jason anderson: it was explained to me that they were helping her out, that she was kind of down on her luck. keith morrison: she was by all appearances saved, spiritually by faith and practically by the pastor and his wife. so imagine the surprise when a strange group

text message popped up on the phones of her family and friends. can you still remember the words of that mass text? she said that yesterday she left fort walton beach to do something that she always wanted to do. she didn't want us to try to stop her. her last words was i love and appreciate you all. keith morrison: but the biggest surprise, marie did not take her three-month-old baby. she left grace behind with the pastor and his wife, and right away her sister esther sensed that something wasn't right. she called her family. i go i know i probably watch a lot of "law and order," but can you find out what's going on because i have this really gut feeling? and she's like, oh, you watch too many of those kind of shows. i'm like, no, this is different. keith morrison: it was the fall of 2011, the very same time that a detective named nesli suhi-moore became a mother, a fact which as you will see may have made all the difference.

you get a better understanding of what it's like to love somebody to the end of the world and back. [music playing] keith morrison: it was almost like fate intended to tie these two together in a mystery of love and lies and loss. where had marie carlson gone? the detective who just became a new mom felt a special connection to the case. coming up-- the investigator said we're going to open a case which surprised me. keith morrison: the antenna must have gone up, huh? the antennas did go up. i just knew that she didn't leave on her own. there was no way she left that baby. andrea canning: when "dateline" continues. still have symptoms from moderate to severe ulcerative colitis or crohn's disease after a tnf blocker like humira or remicade? put them in check with rinvoq. rinvoq works differently and it's a once-daily pill. when symptoms tried to take control, i got rapid relief with rinvoq. check. when flares tried to slow me down, i got lasting steroid-free remission with rinvoq.

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ask your child's eczema keith morrison: marie carlson had notified family and friends she was leaving fort walton beach, and nobody could figure out why or where she went. and this was very strange. she left her three-month-old baby in the care of her pastor james flanders and his wife tanya and not her family, not the woman she looked to as a mother figure, kay barbour. it was heartbreaking. it was heartbreaking. keith morrison: marie's ex-husband jeff carlson got the text, too. didn't make sense to him that she'd leave without calling her seven-year-old daughter paris. kay called jeff and said he should file a report. and she said i don't know what's going on but i think something happened,

and i said, yeah, i agree with you. keith morrison: and then jeff called the okaloosa county sheriff's office to report marie missing. jeff carlson: the investigator said we're going to open a case, an investigation on this, which surprised me because she's an adult. she could have just left. keith morrison: because marie was adventurous. she liked to travel. and when the mood struck her, sometimes she just took off for a few days on some whim. but something seemed different this time. she would have never have left without talking to me about it and talking to paris. keith morrison: she'd been gone a week when the sheriff asked detective keith matz to look into it. that text message, something off said her family. keith matz: this doesn't sound like marie. keith morrison: so when you got that one, the antenna must have gone up, huh? the antennas did go up. keith morrison: detective nesli suhi-moore didn't hear about the case then because-- i was-- keith morrison: on maternity leave.

correct. so and i came back two weeks after she was initially reported missing. keith morrison: and that's when nesli heard from other detectives about the case keith was working on. poor keith had no idea that i was going to come bully my way into that investigation. and why did you want to bully your way into the investigation? nesli suhi-moore: i think the connection of just having a child, i just knew that she didn't leave on her own. keith morrison: so here they were partners, the young detective who happened to be a brand new mother and the veteran who'd seen just about everything and who soon learned from friends and family that marie was deeply attached to both her daughters. nesli suhi-moore: she had a heart of gold and loved her paris more than anything in the world. keith morrison: but what happened in her life, and how did she end up with another baby? from esther the detectives learned about the divorce and how marie had lost her job and how the pastor and his wife offered her a place to stay. but the questions about baby grace, esther

said her relationship with marie was always supportive and not judgmental, and when marie didn't tell her who the father was, she didn't push the subject. i've never questioned her because marie will tell me in her own time if she wants to tell me. i've learned with my sister i never pry. keith morrison: but that was the job of the detectives, nesli and keith, to pry and hopefully to find marie. one of their first calls was on her church pastor james flanders and his wife. impressive guy they discovered. james flanders, what was he like? very charismatic. i would say he was good at his job. wonder what it would be like to listen to him preach. you can youtube him. keith morrison: yes, you can. we all at times forget the promises of god's word. keith morrison: the pastor grew the cavalry emerald coast church from scratch, spread it through youtube, and by the time marie began attending,

every service filled up. they were a tight knit family, that church. keith morrison: and now with marie gone, they were caring for little grace. so did the flanders have any idea what happened to marie? perhaps they knew who the father was and where that abusive boyfriend might be found and, oh yes, there was a story all right. andrea canning: coming up, questions mount and leads are running out. was time running out, too? nesli suhi-moore: we searched it, but it was-- there was nothing to search. it was clean. this case for sure was an investigator's worst nightmare. andrea canning: when "dateline" continues.

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keith morrison: the calvary emerald coast church of fort walton beach, florida, was far more than just a place to gather on a sunday morning. led by pastor james flanders and his wife tanya, this place was a beacon of charity, too. the pastor and his church sacrificed their own needs to send money to the victims of katrina. and when marie carlson needed help, they took her in, too. that's what pastors do for their congregation. keith morrison: but now-- keith matz: i'm left with a missing person who's just vanished off this earth. keith morrison: a week and a half after marie vanished or drove away or whatever she did, the detectives went

calling on the flanders who said they fully expected marie would return soon. this wasn't the first time she took spur of the moment trips they said. nesli suhi-moore: never to the point where she had to be reported to law enforcement missing though. she came back. keith morrison: although the flanders told detectives they were quite worried about marie's state of mind. keith matz: they noticed a downward spiral. like she was going into depression or something? she was-- might be going into a depression state, yes. keith morrison: thing was, said the pastor and his wife, marie could have wild mood swings, and they knew she had a diagnosed mood disorder. did they tell you that she was bipolar? yes. told me she was bipolar, she had been taking medication, and was off of her medication probably because of her giving birth to the child. keith morrison: but there was another prescription bottle, too. and then they also showed us a bottle that was empty, you know, that maybe alluding to the fact that she had taken medication and was going

to use it to hurt herself. keith morrison: the day she left, james told detectives he was so worried about her state of mind he stayed home from work to keep an eye on her. keith matz: james says that she was acting up and he didn't want to let marie take the baby. he was afraid the baby might be harmed or something. right. keith morrison: then late that afternoon, said pastor james, marie said she was tired, went to lie down. tanya took the baby out shopping so marie could rest. the pastor said he waited around for a bit, talked to her briefly when she woke up, and then went out for a run. and when he returned, marie and her white mazda pickup truck were gone. strangely, the flanders said, marie had packed her bags but didn't take them. keith matz: why would she take off and not take her bags with her? keith morrison: anyway, said the flanders, when she didn't come back that day or the next, they drove around town looking for her, went to the airport. maybe she'd parked her car there and flown away.

did they find it? they did. james says that he finds it in a long-term parking. keith morrison: at least part of the mystery was solved said the pastor. she must have flown off to visit someone. they took her pickup home. so the mazda-- what did you do about that car when you got your hands on it? we searched it, but it was-- there was nothing to search. it was clean. keith morrison: they went to the airport. we checked the airlines. there's nothing. she didn't fly out. [music playing] keith morrison: so why would marie's car be at the airport if she hadn't flown out of there? of course, she could have been trying to hide her tracks from snoopy friends and family. or what if someone else took the car to the airport, someone who wanted to make it look like she'd left town. rather fishy. then the detectives had an idea. you know the machine that spits out tickets when you enter an airport parking lot? that very ticket goes back to the tollbooth when you leave.

nesli suhi-moore: keith and i went to the little tollbooth where you give there-- your ticket. keith morrison: maybe, thought the detectives, the parking ticket for marie's mazda would tell them not just when it was dropped off but a more important question, by whom. we were thinking let's get a thumbprint or a fingerprint and went through every single one of them until we found the one that marie's car had received. keith morrison: and, yes, they got a print, but, no, it wasn't clear enough to tell whose it was. then another thought. nesli suhi-moore: hey, let's go pull surveillance video, and, of course-- you looked at all of it. nesli suhi-moore: well, no, the video didn't work-- wasn't working-- - oh. nesli suhi-moore: during the time that we needed. this case for sure was an investigator's worst nightmare. dead ends everywhere. yes. [music playing] keith morrison: and weeks went by. no sign of marie anywhere. time to embrace the thought they'd frankly had all along.

and it wasn't a good one. keith and i both no longer believed we had a missing person. we believed we were dealing with a homicide investigation. but what's the hardest homicide investigation you can be given? one without a body. keith morrison: yeah. and we didn't have marie. andrea canning: coming up, the startling secret that marie kept from just about everyone. i went up and i put my hand on her stomach, and i said what's-- what's going on with this. andrea canning: when "dateline" continues. if you have wet amd, you never want to lose sight of the things you love. some things should stand the test of time. long-lasting eylea hd could significantly improve your vision. more people on eylea hd had no fluid in the retina, compared to those on eylea at 4 months. eylea hd is the only wet amd therapy that helped 8 out of 10 people go up to 4 months between injections,

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ask your retina specialist about eylea hd today welcome back to "dateline." marie carlson had disappeared without a trace. she hadn't taken any extra clothes or her baby. adding to the mystery, marie's car had been at the airport, but she never got on a plane. was she depressed? that's what the pastor and his wife she'd been living with told investigators. short on clues, detectives thought they knew one thing.

marie didn't just vanish. and now the missing persons case had turned into a murder investigation. back to keith morrison with "secrets on the emerald coast." [music playing] keith morrison: what a nest of puzzles. what happened to marie carlson? where did she go, or did she go anywhere? and what about grace, the baby she left behind? who, for example, was the father? churches tend to be beehives of gossip, so the detectives asked around. this is a member of the calvary emerald coast church. in other words, she was going to have an abortion. but pastor flanders and his wife had strong views about abortion, and when they discovered her situation, they offered to help solve her dilemma.

the flanders had an older daughter, always wanted another child, but one miscarriage after another. and so as this church elder told the detectives, the pastor and his wife came to an arrangement with marie. a gift? maybe. it was just like marie to be generous toward the couple who'd been so good to her. but to skeptical detectives, especially this brand new mother, something about the story didn't sound quite right. the father, for example, in fact, the alleged abusive guy didn't seem to exist. but then they talked to ex-husband jeff, and the story he heard, completely different,

and it came directly from marie when she came to visit jeff shortly after she got pregnant. jeff carlson: put my hand on her stomach, and i said what's-- what's going on with this. and she wasn't really showing, and her story at that time was, well, i'm just being a surrogate for james and tanya. so we did basically a type of artificial insemination. keith morrison: well, well, well, the pastor was the sperm donor. in this new story, marie's gift was to be the pastor's artificially inseminated surrogate, but why the conflicting stories? to find out, the detectives consulted three special church ladies, tanya flanders closest confidants. did you have a name for this group? we called them the inner circle. keith morrison: and the inner circle said, yes, tanya told them but swore them to secrecy. but then tanya gave up a little more. the method was very homemade.

wait, at that point? yes. because tanya couldn't just leave it there. the next time, she admitted something very, very shocking. james and marie had sex, which tanya told the ladies was ok with her. and as months passed and marie started showing, there was a baby shower. but, oh, no, not for marie. this baby shower was for tanya . she put a balloon under her shirt for a funny photo with marie, but something here didn't seem quite right. the inner circle had to keep their secret. if the story got out, it could threaten everything she and the pastor had built. and as it got more and more and more into weird stuff, it was just that the stakes got higher. that's right.

imagine the secrecy that the inner circle that tanya actually told the truth to, that it's james's baby. keith morrison: but no room for secrets in an official investigation. the detectives invited james and tanya to voluntarily come in for a chat, but only tanya showed up. and here in this little room at the sheriff's office, she let it all come out about that night of sake and sex when grace was conceived. yes, in the room. but, of course, she was said tanya. and almost casually she revealed the heresy that should it ever become public would surely ruin them. nesli suhi-moore: marie was going to move in, and she was going to be number two. a plural wife or whatever you call them? a sister wife i think. keith morrison: it was in short polygamy or their home grown version of it.

tanya told detectives she understood the bargain very well. a very secret bonus, of course, kept from almost everyone. but inside the bubble of their relationship, tanya said they were happy. but then, then marie gave birth, and it wasn't cool for marie, not anymore and certainly not adoption. so maybe tanya wouldn't get baby grace. maybe marie wanted it all, the baby

and james all for herself. that's what this member of the inner circle believed. did tanya strike back somehow, fight for her marriage by getting rid of marie? listen to how church members quoted tanya's words. so wouldn't that lead you like a bloodhound direct to tanya? she certainly would have a motive. she would. [music playing] keith morrison: tanya, now the only mother figure in grace's life, did she know more than she was saying? did she do something? did someone in the church have a confession to make? coming up-- keith morrison: so if the news got out to the rest of the church, did tanya worry about what

might happen there? that's what she was covering up. she had to protect james and protect their-- that was their world. andrea canning: a confrontation in the congregation. keith morrison: this is a forgive my saying come to jesus moment. it was the hardest thing i've ever had to do. andrea canning: and divine intervention, a sudden earth-shaking tip-- i can remember getting that tip and thinking no way. andrea canning: when "dateline" continues. rsv can severely affect the lungs and lower airways. but i'm protected with arexvy. arexvy is a vaccine used to prevent lower respiratory disease from rsv in people 60 years and older. rsv can be serious for those over 60, including those with asthma, diabetes, copd and certain other conditions. but i'm protected. arexvy is proven to be over 82% effective in preventing lower respiratory disease from rsv and over 94% effective

in those with these health conditions. (♪♪) arexvy does not protect 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. your best defense against erosion and cavities is strong enamel. nothing beats it. i recommend pronamel active shield because it actively shields the enamel to defend against erosion and cavities. i think that this product is a gamechanger for my patients. try pronamel mouthwash. the season finale is upon us. huzzah! libations? help thy yourself. thou keep this dog food in thy fridge. oh, it's not dog food, it's freshpet. real meat, real veggies. for thy beast?

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i richard jewell with breaking news update. the israeli military said they launch preemptive strikes against lebanon sunday targeting 40 sites. this comes as hezbollah also starting an attack on israel targeting some 11 military sites. it is because of the killing of one of its top commanders in beirut. the militant group said they launch more than 300 rockets. secretary of defense lloyd austin speaking with israel's ministry of defense about those strikes. strikes. to really think different. keith morrison: an attentive churchgoer might have noticed the intrusion of an odd idea in one of the sermons of pastor james flanders-- what do you think we'd experience? keith morrison: when he mentioned a couple of verses in the old testament that seemed to approve somehow of polygamy. keith matz: he wanted to justify

his relationship to everybody else through a biblical sense. so he went to the old testament and pulled up those few lines that suggest polygamy. that's correct. keith morrison: a trial balloon? if it was, it quickly imploded, and the very practical polygamy in the home of the pastor stayed carefully under wraps. so if the news got out to the rest of the church, did tanya worry about what might happen there? that's what she was covering up. she had to protect james and protect their-- that was their world. keith morrison: did she do something to marie to protect james? two months after marie disappeared, the detectives got permission to look at the cell phone records of all three of them. would they prove tanya was with marie when she vanished and thus maybe did something to her? cell phone tower information put her away from the area. keith morrison: no. nowhere near marie. so then they checked the cell towers for james's phone,

and what do you know? when marie sent that mass text message saying she was leaving town, both her phone and the pastor's were pinging off the same cell tower two blocks from his house. and when marie's mazda was dropped to the airport-- nesli suhi-moore: we've got james flanders' cell phone touching towers near the airport. why would his phone be near the airport? [music playing] keith morrison: well, either james innocently drove marie to the airport and neglected to reveal that, or he drove her car there to cover up a crime. no way to prove it either way. so they were stuck again, which is when jason, the youth pastor-- remember him-- out of the blue, jason came to call. he had something the detectives needed to hear he said. and it would take a certain amount of courage. absolutely. we would have never known about that if jason wouldn't have come forward. keith morrison: known what? the secret incident that got junior pastor jason involved.

it happened soon after marie disappeared when a very distraught james asked this church elder for help. james seemed suicidal said the elder. so he called a doctor friend, and the doctor committed the preacher to a psychiatric ward for 10 days during which time jason anderson took over preacher duties. but then jason heard things not about what happened to marie but about the polygamy. with other church leaders, he confronted james and tanya. this is a forgive my saying come to jesus moment. it was the hardest thing i've ever had to do, myself personally, was to confront my pastor. your mentor, your senior guy. yeah, right. sure. [music playing] keith morrison: and james admitted it.

he'd been sleeping with two women in the same house, but then youth pastor jason told the detectives in that cloistered setting james kept talking and told a terrible story. jason anderson: him and marie had had a physical altercation before she went missing, and she had scratched him on his arms. keith morrison: james insisted marie was still alive the last time he saw her. i was just so in shock of everything. keith morrison: that was it. he could not continue as pastor. james would have to resign. he announced that he and tanya were leaving town. they were supposed to leave the following morning to say goodbye to some church members, and lo and behold around 12:00 or 12:30, they got in that truck and they hauled butt. they went to arizona. they fled. keith morrison: like thieves in the night with baby grace. it was a few days after they left when jason went to the police to tell his disturbing story.

[music playing] then a piece of luck. before they left, marie's friend kay had asked a pastor and his wife for marie's belongings, and they gave her marie's computer. the bad news was it had been erased but-- kay barber: i brought it into the sheriff's department for them to take a look. we had our forensic tech reanalyze the computer, and it gave us a beautiful copy of her phone download that she had done when she backed her phone up. keith morrison: wow. but maybe it wasn't so lucky. there were thousands of text messages, but they were an unreadable jumble of symbols and words. this particular coin-- keith morrison: though look at this. marie shot this video that did survive, showing the pastor hawking gold and silver online apparently while running the church. valuing this coin at over $500. let me tell you. that's exciting stuff. keith morrison: was james just a pastor

or a part-time flimflam man? [phone ringing] so this is where things stood when an anonymous tip came in. emerald coast crime stoppers. keith morrison: startling. if true, it would solve the case. and in the tip, it says that james buried her in the backyard. that's some tip. nesli suhi-moore: yeah. i can remember getting that tip and thinking no way. like, who would-- who would kill somebody and bury them in their own backyard? keith morrison: could be bogus, of course, just another false lead. but nesli was hopeful. nesli suhi-moore: we brought cadaver dogs and ground penetrating radar, and we didn't find anything. nothing. nothing. keith morrison: no body. so what happened to marie? more months went by. police kept trying to speak with james but got no response. james flanders: hi, this is james. i can't take your call. keith morrison: and then after a whole year, they tried again, and he picked up.

but he did talk, talked for two hours, in fact, from his car at times sounding like he was the victim. the pastor said he knew he was the prime suspect.

and that was that. they were stalled. marie was missing, and the case was getting very cold. andrea canning: coming up, new revelations from the pastor. they were sending pornographic photos back and forth from the church. andrea canning: and an answer at last to the biggest mystery of all. where was marie? nesli passed me a note that said i missed her. i was pretty devastated. the guilt, the feeling of i could have found her six months after she was reported missing. andrea canning: when "dateline" continues. rsv can severely affect the lungs and lower airways.

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i actually need that. keith morrison: unlike a fine wine, a cold case doesn't get better with age. it just gets colder, and state attorney bill eddins wasn't optimistic it would ever be solved. what chance did you give it? i really felt that it was about a 50/50 chance of it being solved. keith morrison: eddins assigned one of his most experienced prosecutors angela mason to work on it. she wasn't optimistic either. angela mason: i was certainly vulnerable in that i did not have a body. i also was vulnerable with the tanya element, that people thought she could be a suspect. keith morrison: and then three years after marie disappeared, the most amazing thing happened. marie's computer yielded to a new forensics program

and out spilled in crimson blushing clarity text messages between marie and james. keith matz: i love you. i love you so much and getting graphic details of what he wants to do with her. keith morrison: kind of pornographic. keith matz: pornographic even to the point that we're sending pornographic photos with each other from the church. keith morrison: some things are hard to unsee. we'll spare you. oh, and most important, everything stopped the day she disappeared. angela mason: no credit cards, no phones. i thought that was strong evidence that she was, in fact, dead and not, in fact, missing. keith morrison: and her last conversation with a family member was-- nesli suhi-moore: she wanted out of the circumstances she was in, but she wasn't going to leave her baby behind. keith morrison: and then there was this, one of those sermons posted on youtube just a month before marie vanished and now in the evidence file. now whenever someone is backstabbing me, lying about me, gossiping about me, trying to tear me down,

or whatever, you know what i want to do? my feelings say choke the life out of them. [chuckling] keith morrison: is that what the pastor did to marie? the detectives spelled out their case-- circumstantial, difficult, but the prosecutors bought it. and james flanders was charged with second degree murder. persistence paid off. we were 4 and 1/2 years in. most people would have given up by now. keith morrison: but as the pastor waited in jail for his trial, his attorney and former church member glenn swiatek was optimistic. what did you think your chances were if you went to trial? i didn't believe that the state had second degree murder. they didn't have a body. keith morrison: maybe not. but as the pastor and his attorney looked at the evidence that might put him in prison for life, just before the trial, they made a deal. the state reduced the charge from second degree murder to manslaughter, and james agreed to tell them what he did to marie and where he put her.

marie's family grudgingly agreed. that was the hardest thing, but i wanted to know where my sister was. i didn't want to go years and years and years and not know. as much as i just absolutely hated to agree to it, i knew that was probably the only way. keith morrison: first, as part of the deal, the pastor told the story of marie, of the polygamy arrangement. he said marie even had a name for their relationship. throuple. then the pastor offered his version of that last awful night. he claimed that marie was in a downward spiral mentally and erupted after he told her she should be hospitalized for depression.

a fatal bear hug? not possible thought nesli. and then she braced for the answer she'd waited five years to hear. at that point, the detective got up and left the room. nesli passed me a note that said i missed her. i was pretty devastated. i was in that backyard in 2012. not like you didn't look. yeah, but, you know, human nature, you still have the guilt, the feeling of i could have found her six months after she

was reported missing. [music playing] keith morrison: the pastor insisted that tanya wasn't around, was shopping, knew nothing. do you wonder whether tanya had more to do with this? i think that will always be in the back of our minds, but, you know, i think she may have known more than she wants to say. keith morrison: but tanya was never charged, and her defense attorney said she was truly shocked by james's confession. glenn swiatek: i can tell you as a matter of fact from having to tell her what happened, she did not know. keith morrison: later that afternoon, nesli escorted james flanders into his former backyard where he marked with little flags the spot where he buried marie carlson five years earlier. and then he fell on the ground and cried and told her i'm sorry.

what an act thought nesli. it took hours, but finally almost five feet deep wrapped in a blanket, they found what was left of marie. i was shaking. i was crying so much. i don't think i've ever cried so loud. keith morrison: nesli and prosecutor angela mason wept, too. it's my fault. keith morrison: back in court that afternoon, james flanders was sentenced to 15 years. nesli suhi-moore: he's going to get to have a life after he's done. marie is gone forever. she doesn't get a life, especially with her kids, which is for most mothers the world. keith morrison: jeff carlson had to tell his daughter paris her mom was not coming back. wasn't easy. what do you say? you don't know how to prepare them for the future of living with this.

he deprived her of her mother. keith morrison: later marie's family and many others gathered for a celebration of marie's life. they did her favorite thing. they sang karaoke. and esther told us that when marie's daughter paris came to visit her cousin, esther's daughter, the two would sit down at the piano and play, make music just like their mothers years ago. and grace-- esther bridges: i want to tell her all about her mom. it's-- it's one of those where i just-- i want to show her, you know, like, your mother really did love you. keith morrison: maybe some day she'll know about that uncontainable woman who while she stayed brought joy, marie. andrea canning: that's all for this edition of "dateline." i'm andrea canning. thanks for watching. strike that is all for this edition of dateline.