i don't go undercover every day. that's what made me nervous. >> they had a secret plan. >> were you armed ? >> yes. >> and you were wearing a wire? >> yes. >> to solve a baffling case. a college student on a friday night out who had vanished. >> she was a very shy girl. she was something special. >> the possible suspects just about everyone. the friend. the boyfriend. the mysterious older man. even her mom. >> i was shocked that they even suspected me. >> why were police at a dead end? enter this guy. do you see things other cops don't see? >> phenomenal. >> they call him the evidence whisperer. he's about to crack this case before your eye. >> the answer was in the details? >> it was right there. >> and you won't believe how. >> you walk out of there

thinking, i spooked him. it worked. >> i hoped. i wasn't quite sure. >> the night lindsay disappeared. thanks for joining us. i'm lester holt. it stumped police for years, the case of a young missing college who went missing. they finally get their big break from a very small thing. take a look at this photo. there's a key clue here, a single detail spotted by an eagle eye detective. that's what helped him turn this nine-year mystery into a slam-dunk case. watch now and see exactly how he did it. here's josh mankiewicz. >> sometimes the facts are as clear as the southern california sky, but other times you have to know where to look to see the truth. this man has made a career of noticing what others do not. >> what's his reputation? >> meticulous investigator.

just pores over the volume of evidence and found what others did not find. >> the evidence whisperer? >> correct. >> at night i went out dancing. >> does this man act guilty? does he know more than he's saying. >> i didn't know anything was going on, all right? >> what about this man? can you believe the story he's telling? >> i was supposed to pick her up twice and she was so out of character, she didn't show up on either day. >> the evidence whisperer wasn't present at either of those interviews, but watching them helped him solve the mystery of what happened to a vivacious young woman and bring answers to the mother who loved her. >> i was always proud of her. she was a real fighter. >> lindsay eckan arrived, the youngest of three. maybe that fighting spirit isn't visible in her photos, but her mother, nancy, says it was

always there. she had a passion for animals. she helped out in her spare time at a local shelter. kim davidson, who worked at linds lindsay's middle school remembers young lindsay also had a sense of compassion. >> it was freezing cold and i didn't bring a jacket that day and i felt these little hands up on my shoulder and a sweater came up around me and i turned around and it was lindsay and she said i just can't stand sitting here, watching you shiver and wrapped me up in her sweater. she just melted me. >> she gave back in other ways. she would lie about her age so she could give blood. remarkable in itself because lindsay struggled with her own disabilities. her alarm was paralyzed, her leg impaired. >> she said she was in a car accident and that she was thrown when she was a little girl, but very, very -- just matter of fact. you know, not poor me or not feel sorry for me or anything

like that. >> growing up, lindsay needed so much care. her mother, nancy, was with lindsay, like her shadow. >> somebody had to be with her 24 hours a day. >> and that was you? >> yes. it was her and i alone. she was my only purpose in my life, was to make her as normal as she could be. >> by the time kim met lindsay, her dad and brothers moved away. kim remembers a very tight family unit of just two. how close were lindsay and nancy? >> unbelievably, extremely. >> as lindsay reached adolescence, that started changing. like a lot of teens, she wanted her own identity. she changed the spelling of her name from this to this. by high school, there were girlfriends, even some boyfriends and by the time she was 20, after so many years of mom and daughter being each other's best friends and confidants, lynsie began keeping

things to herself, like where she was really headed in february 2001. would it make sense that she would lie to you about what she was doing that night? >> i've never known her to lie to me, but you don't know what you don't know. >> it was a friday night. she was in college part time and working, but still living at home. she told her mom instead of their usual friday night dinner she was staying the night with a girlfriend named andrea, someone nancy had never met. and a young man named chris came to the door to pick lynsie up. she introduces you to this guy, chris. >> uh-huh. >> did he say hello to you? was he polite? did he have good manors? >> uh-huh. >> but nancy said something was wrong. >> i had a feeling about him. >> what feeling? >> i don't know. >> but you put it aside? >> uh-huh. >> she spent so many years

worrying about lynsie, it was a struggle to let go, but she did. >> last thing i said to her was remember your seat belt and she looks over her shoulder and says back at you, mom. love you. that's the last thing she said to me. >> nancy locked up the house and went to bed. lynsie was supposed to call after she was done tutoring two kids in the neighborhood. after the call never came, nancy drove over and found out that lynsie never showed up at her job. >> all of a sudden my daughter is never where she was supposed to be. she taught these girls four months about. >> you had no way of reaching her? >> no way. >> nancy was frantic. >> i started calling hospitals, the morgue. that's how desperate i was, to see if there was a jane doe in the morgue. >> there was no jane doe and there was no lynsie ecklan.

>> most people that disappear like that come back in a couple of days. >> if not 24 hours. >> is that what you thought was going to happen? >> i think we did. >> you had no unidentified bodies? >> no unidentified bodies. >> you checked the e.r.? >> we checked everything. we checked everybody. we checked everything. there was just no sign of her. it was just as if she vanished. >> when we come back, lynsie had a secret that she kept from just about everyone. >> when was the last time you saw lynsie? >> a week ago. >> the night lynsie disappeared continues. okay. whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. i'd stay clear of that cleaner, too, if i were made of wood and granite. why don't you try pledge? ♪ pledge multi-surface. [ man ] its formula's safe on all kinds of stuff, like this... and this... and this. so furniture has nothing to fear. good boy. pledge multi-surface. no worries. just clean.

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her daughter was missing. nancy started handing out flyers and counting off days without lyns lynsie. ticking them off on little post-it notes. she also went to talk to the police department. nancy wanted corrine to know about her lynsie, how nancy always knew where she was, how they were best friends. it was a speech corrine had heard before. >> it's typical with a lot of parents or family members when they report a missing person. sometimes they give you the idea that it's an idyllic family life because i think there's a fear if they don't paint a rosie picture that they're not going to look for them. >> that you're not going to work

hard? >> that we're not going to work hard. i think that was the case for nancy. >> they brought in the usual suspects like the boyfriend. >> when you were dating, she hadn't been dating anyone else, to your knowledge? >> no. >> his name was matthew ramirez. >> when i went thursday, she was like, i want to break up. >> what was off was soon back on. l lynsie and matt were back together in time for the weekend but not in time to make plans for that friday night. >> going to san diego and i told her, have fun. be careful, okay? she was like, okay. >> then the last person known to have seen her, chris mccamis, 21 years old, out of school. he told the cops he was unemployed. l lynsie met him through friends about four months prior and it turned out he never drove lynsie to andrea's house for a

sleepover. chris said that was a lie lynsie made up for her mother. the real plan was to go clubbing all night in san diego. >> don't tell my mom we're going to san diego because my mom won't let us go or won't let me go. and definitely don't tell her that we're clubbing. >> chris told police when their night of clubbing went bust, they headed home earlier than expected. he dropped off the other girls, he said, and then headed to lynsie's house. it was after 4:00 am when he finally got back here to lynsie's neighborhood and was worried that her mom might hear his truck pulled up at that hour. so she asked to be dropped not at the house but the corner, 50 yards away. it sounded weird to police until they heard from her other friend who said at times she asked to be dropped off right here. chris said he then drove home and police even found a photo

from a bank atm of what looked like chris' truck heading north on the right street at the right time. to the cops, chris' story added up. and that was when police learned matthew and chris were not the only men in lynsie's life. there was someone else both matthew and chris mentioned to investigators, an older man who drove lynsie around. no one knew his name. they heard lynsie refer to him as her friend. >> that's all anyone knows him by, as her friend? >> yeah. >> nancy had no idea lynsie was friends with any older man. she was about to find out. two days after lynsie vanishes, you get a phone call. >> yes. >> you're pretty much at your wit's end. >> yes. >> the phone rings and it's a guy named marty. >> no. >> as far as you know, did lynsie know a marty? >> no. >> he told nancy he went to pick up lynsie at school but she

wasn't there. he had money of lynsie's that she needed for tuition. none of that made sense to nancy. >> after lynsie goes missing, nancy gets a phone called, guy named marty. >> marty rossler. >> what does he say to her? >> he says that he befriended ly lynsie, he is a friend of lynsie's and he's concerned because he hadn't heard from her. >> what did you know about marty rossler? >> he was not marty rossler. >> he was really marty pregenzler. he had a relationship with lynsie he hadn't told his wife about. he would often pick lynsie up and give her rides, but that was about it. marty was 58. and she was 20? >> she was 20. >> they were boyfriend and girlfriend? >> don't think so. >> so police brought in marty. over two days they recorded those interviews.

at times on video and sometimes just on audiotape. >> when was the last time you saw lynsie? >> a week ago. >> no, i don't think so. >> absolutely. >> no, absolutely not. >> marty said he had last seen lynsie the day she went to san diego, on that friday. >> did you believe him? >> we didn't believe him. >> they didn't believe him because of the tip they had received. a clerk at a local clothing store had called to say she had seen lynsie and a much older man who matched marty's description together at her store after the day lynsie went missing. >> i wasn't there on that day, okay? i have been in that store, all right? i said i'm like you, i'm easily, you know, identified. probably every place i've been would know that i was in there with her, okay? >> it was a very long, very long interview. >> friendly? >> no, no.

i remember drilling down on him because i really thought that he might know where lynsie was. >> you're a parent? >> yes. >> how many kids do you have? >> two. >> if you had a child gone for eight days, vanished into thin air, would your heart not be broken? >> oh, absolutely. >> do you not feel some compassion for nancy? >> unbelievable. i think this is a nice girl and, you know, this family has had their share of hard -- you know, ha hardships. and this is just -- i feel so, you know, helpless. >> i don't think you are helpless. i think you can help us. >> marty insisted he couldn't, that he didn't know what had happened to lynsie. detectives weren't buying. >> did you ever hit her? >> no, never.

>> even by accident? accidents happen. >> never touched her. >> have you put her some place where she's left? >> no, no. >> police searched marty's home and found nothing, no proof that marty had anything to do with lynsie's disappearance so they moved on to a new suspect, someone closer to lynsie than anyone else on earth. coming up -- >> i was shocked that they even suspected me. >> lynsie's own mother. were investigators ruling her out or roping her in? >> i don't know what this is all

nancy and lynsie had been together all lynsie's life. now, alone, nancy waited, ticking off the days, in the dark about where her daughter was and where about the investigation. police were not keeping her in

the loop. nancy was delighted when they called to say they were coming to visit. >> you interview the boyfriend, matthew, look at marty, the older guy, the relationship nobody knew about. he denies it. >> right. >> you look at chris. he says i dropped her off and i never saw her again. >> right. >> and you looked at lynsie's mother. >> you have to. >> i made these cookies and all this silly stuff. >> the cops weren't coming for coffee. they arrived with a search warrant, shovels and cadaver dogs. >> i was shocked that they even suspected me. i didn't know what even a search warrant was. >> the house nancy and lynsie had once shared was torn apart. >> how much of a suspect was nancy? >> i don't know that she was on the radar for a long time. she was not on the radar long enough to be able to set her aside.

>> after that search, they did just that. they believed this anguished mother had nothing to do with the disappearance of her daughter. so they took nancy off the list. they also took off the boyfriend, matthew. he had an alibi that held up, putting him somewhere else at the time lynsie went missing. so that left just two. >> eye haven't seen her since that day. >> marty, who police didn't trust because of his secret relationship with lynsie and because he had lied about his identity. and the man who dropped lynsie off at that corner. the last person to see her before she vanished, chris mccamis. >> do you remember loomis? >> yeah. >> april 2002, more than a year after lynsie went missing, detectives decided to start over. they brought chris mccamis back to see if his story still held up. >> i would like to think that

l lynsie has been like either abducted or something has happened to her. >> like what? >> i would really rather -- i would rae really rather like to think -- >> police turned up the heat. >> and strip away the i'd like to think, polyanna mind, you know, how things in a perfect world. >> it's a possibility she's dead. >> what? >> police thought chris seemed oddly calm, talking about a friend who may have been murdered. >> if it turns out somebody killed her, what do you think should happen? >> find them. >> find them and then what? >> throw them in jail. >> how long do you think they would serve jail? >> long time. >> like what?

>> they would be gone for a while. >> that's as strong as you could get out of him? >> as strong as we could get out of him. >> not go to hell or i personally would electrocute him? >> he should get the gas chamber. she was my friend. she didn't deserve that. she wouldn't hurt a fly. >> lack of emotion was suggestive that perhaps chris should move to the top of the list. but it wasn't evident. after the interview, he was free to leave and detectives weren't even closer to learning what happened to lynsie ekelund. and neither was nancy, who was convinced her daughter one day would just come home. >> you thought one day she would walk back through the door? >> yes. >> she believed it because she wanted to. and because over the years, several people had told her they had seen lynsie. >> they never saw the front of her face. they always saw the back of her. and i held on to every word they

said. >> her friend, kim, remembers how hard it was on nancy, thinking lynsie had just left her. >> she went through a period of her being angry at her and thought okay, maybe she did leave me. and she threw some of her pictures out and clothes out. >> she threw lynsie's stuff away? >> she did, because she was so angry and she thought how could she do that? >> how could she leave me? >> how could she leave me? >> it was torture for nancy, no matter what version of events you believed and police still weren't telling her anything. nancy during this time feels she's been sort of cut out of the loop. >> yes. >> like you're not telling her anything. maybe you're not actually working on it. >> right. >> whatever you are doing, you're certainly not sharing it with her. >> nancy was pretty angry. we worked this case diligently for a long time. at some point you hit the wall. >> there are nine detectives in

placentia, working everything, drugs, rape, murder, cold cases. by 2008 it was clear placentia pd would hit that wall. they needed help on this one. who they needed was a guy named larry. tell me about larry. >> larry is phenomenal. >> phenomenal because what? he sees things other cops don't see? >> phenomenal because he sees things cops don't see. i don't know anybody who could have done a better job than larry. >> the evidence whisperer was about to listen to what the facts of this case were really saying. when we come back, was there something that police had missed? you bet. that picture of the truck spotted on the night of the crime, something about it just doesn't seem right. and the evidence whisper er is all over it. when the night lynsie disappeared continues. pluggable febrezecan a 30-d

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in 2008, lynsie ekelund had been missing for seven years. the case had got gone from cold to frozen in time. so placentia pd decided to outsource the case to a guy named larry montgomery. with more than 30 years working homicide, larry's put away his share of bad guys. not usually by knocking on doors. instead, larry works by looking very closely at the evidence.

he didn't work fast. in fact, larry is meticulously slow. and that was just what this cold case needed. was there anything in the original investigation that struck you as something that you needed to reexamine? >> everything. >> everything that had led placentia police into that wall, trying to decide between two suspects. >> i'm concerned about this girl, okay, you know. and she's missing. >> marty, lynsie's older friend who kept their relationship a secret and lied about his name. and chris. >> in my heart, it seems loik she might be still alive. >> the last person known to have seen lynsie when he dropped her off at that corner. >> any idea on your part which of the two were a more likely suspect? >> no. i don't know until i get into it and see the details. >> you're no doubt aware you have the reputation for believing that -- i don't know, god's in the details but guilt's in the details. >> and innocence. >> guilty or innocent?

was it marty or chris? larry even considered another possibility. could it have been random, someone who had seen lynsie at just the wrong time? >> so you've got a bad guy just waiting, hoping the girl drops out of a car at 4:25 in the morning. >> it happened. >> you consider it, but then you weigh it and you go, is that a good possibility? probably not. but still, keep an open mind. >> larry sat down and read through the entire case file, all the witness statements, all the interviews. he did that for two years. he watched the february 2001 interview that police did with a very unhappy marty. doesn't it strike you as tremendously suspicious that marty would call after lynsie disappears, talk to lynsie's mother and give a phony name? >> if you didn't know the

background of marty, then absolutely. >> when i talked to the mother on the phone, i just gave her an identifier, okay? marty rossler. >> which is a lie. >> which is a lie. >> watching that interview, larry chocked up marty's dishonesty as an attempt to save his marriage. >> i don't want my wife to be brought into this thing. >> larry also took a closer look at the idea that marty and l lynsie were together at that clothing store after she went missing. >> wasn't there on that day. >> no one ever found any security video of that. and larry learned over the years that well-meaning people often get dates wrong. and larry learned a key fact. marty had actually participated in those early searches for lynsie. you eliminated marty fairly quickly then? >> yes. >> marty's behavior matched up with that of an innocent person, not with a guilty one?

>> that's correct. he is actually doing exactly what you would do if you were looking for lynsie. he was searching. >> larry montgomery turned his attention to chris mcamis. guilty or innocent? chris was the last person known to be with lynsie. he told police he drove straight home after dropping lynsie off. and police found that fophoto o what looked like his truck heading north away from lynsie's neighborhood, which took him past this atm camera. >> the video from the atm camera, police at the time saw that as not iron clad proof that chris was telling the truth, but suggestive that what he said, he actually did. >> correct. >> but when larry compared photos of chris' truck with the photos from the bank, he saw something no one else had noticed. the paint on the back of the side view mirrors on chris'

truck was white. >> what about the truck in the photo? >> the truck in the photo had a dark spot in that area which means whatever mirrors were there, if there were mirrors there, were black. >> so it's not the same truck? >> that's right, they're not. >> suddenly chris' alibi had a big hole in it. he moved on to chris' history with women. two ex-girlfriends talked to police about how chris would become unhinged by rejection or what he called disrespect. larry heard about how chris had once crushed a pet crab with a hammer right in front of one of his girlfriends because he thought the crab had killed one of his fish. >> this is a guy with significant anger issues. >> certainly appears that way. >> she told me it was from a car accident. >> larry listened to chris' interviews and caught him talking some of the time about l lynsie in the past tense. >> her hand was pretty much like this. >> larry found something in the paperwork from placentia pd that

proved chris mcamis lied to the police early on about his whereabouts on saturday, february 17th, the day lynsie didn't come home. chris told the cops he stayed close to home. but larry checked chris' credit card statement. >> there was one entry february 17th, and it turns out it was santa clarita, 50 miles north of where chris lived. >> why would chris be in santa clarita? >> well, that's what i wanted to know. >> digging through the reports he found information about ch s chris' dad, that he was in construction and that in 2000 and 2001, he had a job site in santa clarita. you can't tell now, but back in 2001, this was a major construction site. now chris had told police that he did not work for his dad that winter, that he was on unemployment. but larry saw some big cash deposits going into chris' bank

account in addition to his unemployment checks. so he thought that kiss might have been working for his dad off the books. and larry came up here to ask around. >> and they told you it was chris' father's construction company? >> chris' father did some of the tractor work at that site. >> and chris worked there? >> and chris was one of the tractor drivers that the superintendent said was there every day. >> is this when you thought to yourself, that's where lynsie ekelund is? >> i thought chances are excellent if i killed lynsie and i was in chris mcamis' situation and i had the use of a tractor out in the middle of nowhere, i mice might use that tractor to dig a hole to put her in. >> now all the evidence whisperer had to do was prove it. coming up, an undercover operation. were you armed? >> yes. >> and you were wear iing a wir?

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disappeared. nancy ekelund was still waiting and doing what she could. she was now at 3,535 days without lynsie. she didn't know it, but a few miles away, larry montgomery was tightening the noose around chris mcamis. larry had recruited a motorcycle cop from a nearby town to go undercover. >> they needed a police officer who looked like a college student and didn't have the mannerisms of a police officer. >> she fit the bill. how were you dressed? >> jeans on and just a little shirt, something that a college student would wear. but something that would also appeal to a guy. >> were you armed? >> yes. >> and you were wearing a wire? >> yes. >> hi, are you chris? >> yes. >> hi. my name is nicole arounderson. i'm from the fullerton college

magazine. >> complete with a phony press pass, she knocked on chris' front door. chris had talked to a student reporter from lynsie's college in the past. >> did you use your real name? >> no, a fake name, told him who i was -- >> we just received word at the magazine that remains have been found that they believe belong to lynsie. i guess they're doing dna testing right now. in the meantime, i'm supposed to contact friends, family to get their initial reaction for a story. >> okay. >> when i told him that the police believed they found lyns lynsie's remains, his demeanor changed. >> how? >> quite drastically, actually. i could see the color in his face went white. >> the police had not found lynsie's remains. that was a lie. police do it all the time and it's legal. in fact, larry had tried to find lynsie up at the construction location where chris had worked and he had gotten some interest

from cadaver dogs, but nothing more. just down the street from chris' house, detective bryce angel of placentia pd, assigned to work with larry, was listening and keeping an eye on the action. so you're watching him while this interview happens on the front doorstep? >> yeah. i was sitting ten houses down, watching the reporter or the undercover police officer. once she left the area, we were in business. >> what happened? >> later that night, he was seen coming out of his house and going into the garage, lights go on. we're talking like 3:00 in the morning. it was clearly the sign of somebody who couldn't sleep. >> detectives were sure they had ratelled their suspect. they trailed chris the next day when he left his house. >> at some day it became apparent that he knew we were following him. >> they broke off surveillance. and brought chris in. >> have a seat. >> larry had learned all about

chris mcamis and looked at tape every time chris had been in for an interview. today, he and chris were going to meet for the first time. >> i have been investigating the case for about two years now. >> larry had a plan to get chris to talk without asking for a lawyer. >> you probably want to know what's go iing on, what's happening. why you're sitting here. >> larry promised to fill him in on the case in detail, thinking chris would want to know if the cops have the goods and then maybe he would have something to say. >> i do have to advise you of your rights, which i will do in a moment. after that, what i would like to do is explain to you everything. >> larry read chris his rights and then before chris could really respond, larry laid out his case. he said he knew chris had never dr dropped lynsie off that night because the atm photo that at first fooled investigators actually proved chris wasn't there. >> it wasn't your truck. but for years, it was thought

that it was your truck and it was not. in fact, your truck did not go by that night. it wasn't there. >> he told chris about the credit card statement and how he found someone who remembered chris working on the job site. all of a sudden, big red flags. you are working. you are up there when you said you were not. but he said you guys don't work on saturday. lynsie disappeared on a saturday morning. none of your credit card usage up there is on any weekend. all of it on weekdays except for the day lynsie disappeared. so you're not up there working that day. >> he told chris the lie about lynsie being found. >> we took dna from mother and dad, had that checked against the body and now we've got lynsie up there, right in the area where you were, right at the time when you did not drop her off and we have enough to prove the crime. >> and knowing about chris' anger issues with previous

girlfriends, larry summoned up a little empathy to draw chris in. >> i know you have that ability to be angry, but i don't know what would cause her to get you that angry, what she could have done. >> chris didn't say much until a little body language revealed that larry was on the right track. >> was it a premeditated thing? i didn't think it was. so what did she do? >> larry finished talking. he was hoping chris would give it up. >> i think i need a lawyer to talk to you about this with me. >> well, that's up to you. >> the supreme court had made it pretty clear. if someone declares that they want an attorney, the interview is supposed to stop until one can be hired or provided. but in this case, larry was

walking a line, believing that asking for a lawyer isn't the same as wondering if you need one. corrine loomis was watching from the other room. >> it's about as close as you can get to asking for a lawyer. were you holding your breath? >> yes. this was a make or break interview. if he didn't confess he was going to walk again. coming up -- >> i knew that was the moment of truth. >> years of mystery come down to one chance. >> the other side of the story. >> what kind of story would he tell, when the night a heart attack?

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because something happened to her. >> larry montgomery spoke for 45 minutes, giving chris mcamis everything he had. >> credit card usage. >> photo, the job site. >> how did you know lynsie? >> it's not a very convenient time. >> okay. >> phony story about finding the body and then the interview had suddenly stopped dead. >> i think i need a lawyer to talk to you about this with me. >> well, it's up to you. >> and because chris said i think i need a lawyer and not i want a lawyer, larry thought whatever came next would be admissible in court. detective angel, who had been letting larry do the talking then spoke up. >> i knew that was the moment of truth and i had to interject something very quickly. >> chris, nobody likes to be labeled a monster. in this case, that's the way it's pointing. we want to hear the other side

of the story. it that's why we're here now. i'm sure there was some circumstances that happened that night or that morning. >> he kind of sighed and he laid out a story. >> all right. what happened was -- >> and suddenly you realize -- >> this is it. he's going to give it up. i was sitting next to the detective from the other agency and i reached over and grabbed his arm and i said he is going to confess. >> it was sad and it was ugly. >> she, uh -- i was going to take her home. >> okay. >> she was telling me, why don't i just sleep over your place, because i don't want to upset my mom. >> makes sense. >> as larry had suspected, chris never dropped off lynsie at that

corner. >> i was trying to kiss her. and then she elbowed me in the chest and then i went to my -- i went to my kitchen in my apartment and i drank a lot of vodka. and then i went back and i tried to do the same thing. >> okay. >> she pretended to be asleep and i pulled her pants down and i was totally drunk. >> okay. >> she got up, said, oh, my god, what are you doing? i'm calling the police. when i got up and walked to her, she tried to knock me out with my phone, with my home phone. >> did she -- >> to my face. yeah, like this to my face. >> okay. >> and being drunk, it enraged

me. it set me on fire. and i grabbed her, threw her on to my bed and i got her into a head lock. >> okay. >> and she died. >> then what did you do? >> then i tried to figure out what i should do, because i couldn't believe how it just happened that way. >> quickly, huh? >> i couldn't believe it. i thought she was just going to pass out and i ended up killing her. >> that was it. lynsie ekelund had been killed before anyone realized she was even missing. chris says he then drove up to the work site and used a skip loader to dig a hole. he held on to lynsie's body for a few days and then when no one was around, he buried her. >> does it feel better to finally no?

>> no, because i was really devastated. there was a relief that, but i wasn't any happier because of it. >> after the confession, detectives left chris in the interview room with another detective to watch him. and chris simply could not stop talking. >> unbelievable. >> what's that? >> it's been so long. to finally -- you know, it feels better when you finally just say what you were supposed to say, you know? i know my life is ruined now. you know, if i'm going to get the death penalty for this. >> you'll have to ask them those questions. >> then larry came back, always meticulous. he wasn't done. he wanted that final detail. where exactly chris had left

lynsie. he explained to chris that even though they found her remains, which wasn't true, the grave site had shifted over the years from flooding. >> exactly where you dug the hole, where you parked. >> with the detectives, chris returned to the site that had become lynsie's final resting place. >> right where this tree is, i pulled my truck over and parked it. >> this tree to our left here? >> uh-huh, right where this tree is. >> okay. >> he wasn't sure of the exact spot. >> it's over in this vicinity. >> but it could be way up there or way over here? >> from this tree all the way to that brush. >> that brush over there? >> yeah. >> it took more than a day of digging to find what was left of lynsie. first they found a shoe, then a

jacket, and a bracelet. that's how nancy knew they had found her. the coroner confirmed it, using dental records. >> the back of my truck was over here. >> two years after he confessed, chris mcamis pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. his sentence is 15 years to life. >> you told me that you thought you had let this consume your life too much. >> oh, it did. it already -- it does to this daysday. >> well, now it's over. what are you going to do? >> i don't know. a new life is opening up and i don't know. i don't know. i don't have any answers. i just have to get over this. that's all for now. i'm lester holt. thanks for joining us. this morning on "meet the

press" -- an unfolding scandal in washington. and a new battle over the fiscal cliff. the election celebration is short-lived. a surprise resignation by cia director david petraeus comes days before congressional hearings over the attack on the u.s. consulate in benghazi. we'll get reaction this morning from capitol hill and the very latest reporting on this developing story from our chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell, who broke the story friday afternoon. also the president and republicans get set to negotiate new taxes and spending cuts. is a breakthrough possible? >> i'm open to compromise. i'm open to new ideas. we've debated over and over again. and on tuesday night we found out that the majority of americans agree with my approach. >> mr. president, this is your moment. we're ready to be led. not as democrats or republicans but as americans. now, we want you to lead. >> where does it all go from sneer we'll ask democratic

senator from new york chuck schumer and republican senator from oklahoma tom coburn. also we check in with cnbc's jim cramer, hear about the economic stakes should washington fail to avert fiscal disaster by the end of the year. plus, what is the future of the gop after a stinging defeat for romney and the republicans? and how will president obama govern in a second term? we'll talk to a newly elected document congressman, joaquin castro. plus republican strategist steve schmidt, presidential historian doris kearns goodwin, nbc's political director and chief white house correspondent chuck todd, and the "washington post's" bob woodward. >> announcer: from nbc news in washington, the world's longest-running television program, this is "meet the press." with david gregory. >> and good sunday morning. the newly re-elected president's message on friday, get back to work. but the focus of that work and on that work is now overshadowed by friday