you know? where did she go? who did she see? i just want to know what happened to my sister. >> a young mother missing in a case gone cold. then, one detective's a-ha moment. >> why don't you establish a facebook account? i thought, that could actually accomplish a great deal. >> that's when everything started to change. could facebook help solve this mystery? >> something happened to her. >> in court, it all comes pouring out. a hidden crime and a heart-pounding revelation. >> this is a horrible crime. >> i'm glad we know the truth.

>> secrets in the mist. but first, two other moms face the unthinkable. >> it was just chaos. lots of screaming. lots of gun fire. >> any bullet to pass through me first before it gets to these children. >> i just laid on them and prayed and just prayed and prayed and prayed. >> inside the mall attack that stunned the world. through the eyes of two moms and their kids. >> i just kept telling them to be quiet like a mouse. >> asked him not to cry. this is it. >> for one of the moms, even more terror. her two boys on their own somewhere else in the mall. >> she said she wanted her brothers and i told her we would see them later. >> when things seemed hopeless, two heroes would appear. >> i told the lady, now. >> a little girl would show us

all the meaning of courage. >> when porsche got up and ran, did you have a moment you thought, oh my god? >> i'm lester holt and this is "dateline." here's kate snow with "nowhere to hide." >> it's the modern-day town square. a gathering place that fulfills our every need, shopping, eating, socializing. a trip to the mall is an escape on weekends. and not just in america. in nairobi, kenya, the upscale and modern westgate mall was the place to unwind at the end of the work week. it was the last place you'd expect something like this. gunshots, explosions, armed men taking over every floor, method methodically shooting anyone in their way. that was the unbelievably brutal

scene that played out in front of a shocked world september 21st, 2013. just after the smoke cleared, "dateline" traveled to nairobi. tonight, we'll take you inside the mall attack. with never before seen pictures of how it unfolded and new details from those who lived through it. you'll hear from two mothers caught in the crossfire. >> pretty terrifying. it really was. it was very, very, very fearful. >> two mothers caught on camera. >> what's going to happen? i'm going to die. the kids are going to die. >> in a matter of seconds, these moms, an american and a kenyan, would go from strolling through the mall to being forced to make life and death decisions to save themselves and their children. for katherine walton, it began like any other saturday, with

her husband phillip away on business she took her five kids to the westgate mall. it was a place where all of them could be entertained. the teens and the toddlers. her kids like the chicken place, the canada store. >> just an opportunity to walk around, kill a couple hours and go home and have naps and everybody would be happy. >> the waltons chose to move to kenya two years ago from texas. for katherine and phillip, it was like going home. they were children of missionaries and grew up in countries in west africa. they met in boarding school in africa, married in the states and started raising their family. blez was born 14 years ago, and then porsche, g igi 2 and petra the baby 13 months old was born in kenya. their morning at the mall unfolded just as any family's might. they had lunch together in the foot court. after lunch, the boys decided to

race down to the first floor to a big department store, sort of like a super walmart. mom and the three young girls were still finishing up lunch so they lagged behind. as they were walking through the mall to catch up with the boys, with the baby in a sling and two toddlers holding mom's hands, it happened. an explosion. >> first thing that tells you something's wrong is a huge bang. >> yeah. yeah. >> coming from where? >> it was the main entrance so it was off to my right and behind me. i remember turning around and looking at it and just seeing people screaming and running. >> in those first seconds, katherine was unsure what was happening. she thought it sounded like broken glass or something falling but she immediately grasped that she and her girls were in danger. the chaos confused another mother, not far from katherine, on the main floor.

faith was in the mall with her two children, 9-year-old daughter sigh and 21-month-old son ty. the agricultural researcher was shopping for an anniversary present for her husband. she was in a flower shop when she first heard the noise. >> it was so loud that i actually thought it must have been an earthquake and the building was collapsing so that's the point i just told my kids to lie down. of course, i'm scanning the area wondering where we are going to go. >> scenes captured on security cameras in the mall show how quickly the attack began. you can seema sheen gun bullets flashing down the main concourse as shoppers scramble and dive to the floor. >> and then i saw tracer rounds starting to hit the shops that were straight ahead. >> katherine's first thought, protect her kids. >> it was, you know, just instinct to grab the girls and run. but we must not have gone very

far and a kenyan woman came, scooped up porsche and we both ran right behind this display table, display cabinet. >> katherine, her girls and the kenyan woman took cover the only place they could. here they are crouching under a flimsy temporary display table. >> petra was crying because i was laying on her. and it was loud. it was very loud. very kchaotic. >> what was happening around you? what were you hearing? >> everybody was scrambling. the shooting was like coming from all directions. >> katherine knew her boys were headed to the department store amid all the noise and commotion, she managed to call them and cry out a quick warning. >> don't come out. they're shooting. go, run, hide. do not come out. >> katherine knew the situation was dangerous, extremely dangerous, but at least she had some cover. faith and her kids were also

trapped on the ground floor but cowering out in the open exposed to the gunmen stalking new victims. >> i'm telling the kids to lie down. then now there's a continuous loud sounds and that's when i knew they were shooting. then i thought, huh oh. wrong choice of hiding place. i remember my daughter at one point asked me, mama, was this a best place we could hide? >> the assault continued. you're not hearing one gunman? >> no. it sounded like it was all over and in the building it was just echoing and reverberating. >> you could look up and see other floors? >> where i was laying, i could see across and up the different levels. you know? it was just chaos. >> what's the smell like? >> the whole mall was cloudy and just smoke everywhere. gun powder. burning. smell. >> did any of them come anywhere near you? >> i saw two of them that walked

from the main entrance in front of the line of stores that were directly in front of us. >> hold on. what did you see? i mean, you saw their feet go by? >> no. i saw them. i saw two whole men, you know. they were 50 yards, 30 yards away. i don't know. >> what did they look like? >> they had tan and gray clothing and they were carrying very, very large weapons. very large guns. >> hearing the gun fire and screams echoing through the mall, both katherine and faith could tell the gunmen were spreading out. killing people as they went along. two mothers trapped with young children worried they'd be next and a growing fear seized katherine. her boys were no longer answering their phone. where were they? >> one of the worst parts of the whole ordeal was just that, the terrifying uncertainty. for those inside the mall and loved ones outside.

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armed men stormed into the westgate mall in nairobi, kenya, firing round after fatal round. katherine walton was hunkered down near where the shooting had started, crouched in a small kiosk with a stranger and her three young daughters. she was desperately worried about her sons who were somewhere out there but she had to focus on keeping her dau daughters quiet so they wouldn't attract attention. were you hiding from the gunmen? >> yeah. we were laying down on the ground hiding. porsche kept her fingers in the ears. gigi said she wanted her blanket and flashlight. she said she wanted her wro

brothers. i told her that we would see them later. >> katherine could only hope that was true. half a world away a phone rang in a hotel room in north carolina. filip, katherine's husband, went back to the u.s. for business meetings leaving his wife alone in nairobi with the five kids. >> i was woken up by from paul wheeler who was the dear family friend and it was not good. >> do you remember what he said? >> there's an attack going on at westgate and your wife and sons are in there and they're separated. that's the call you don't want to have to make. >> yeah. paul weaver, the walton family friend was at home recovering from surgery getting an urgent text from katherine. >> what time did you first message come in? >> 12:52. she said pray. shooting in westgate. hiding. >> that's a message. >> just blew me away. so i actually wrote her back really and she said, yes, i

don't know where the boys are. she said, find blaise. >> paul texted blaise but he didn't answer. >> i started looking on the internet. somebody put 0 a statement on facebook saying don't call anybody. the people are shot when the phones are ringing. >> oh god. paul stayed in connection with katherine through text messages, the lifeline to the outside world. >> i sent a text, get me out of here. like i thought he could. i was desperate. >> my heart just sunk. >> katherine didn't text her husband filip because he was too far away to do anything. back in north carolina, all phillip could do is wait. it was 6:00 a.m. and news of the attack hadn't hit the u.s. yet. >> i'm trying to imagine the feeling of getting that phone call. and being so far away. >> i think helplessness is a pretty accurate word. you know there's nothing that you can do.

i was so worried the girls would be screaming, like, uncontrollably panicking and drawing attention. >> exactly what katherine was trying to prevent the girls from doing. >> i just kept telling them to stay little, to stay very quiet. and that the kenyan lady that was with porsche kept patting her and soothing her and gigi just was curled up in a little ball. her breathing was so quiet and shallow. i kept rubbing her back and touching her because i was like maybe she's hurt and i don't realize it. >> cramped in the hiding spot, she was desperate to reach her boys. after trying and trying, she finally got through again. >> i was able to send a text and said are you okay? he told me that they were okay and that they were safe. >> you thought your boys had gotten out. >> i did. when he told me they were safe, i thought they had gotten out. >> but they hadn't. the walton boys were hiding in

the back of the store. this cell phone video captured the battlefield the store became. the aisles were a bullet-riddled maze. shoppers were stunned. some drawing fire. and now, there were gunmen headed towards katherine's sons. faith was the other mother trapped in the night mare. she had her two young children with her and worried about controlling her toddler son. >> i feel bad right now because i was lying on him trying to shield him at one point and i said, oh my goodness, laying on this ground and pressing down on his back. he must be so uncomfortable. that's when i put my fingers in his mouth you know? hoping to give him something to suck on. >> they remained like that frozen in place first for minutes and then for an hour.

she was terrified her son would start crying and give him away. >> i can see his face creasing into a cry. and i know my goodness, he is going to cry. this is it. >> coming up, faith makes a fateful choice. >> do it now. our cover has been blown. >> while our other mom katherine becomes terrified that she and her girls are moments away from being discovered. >> i knew that as those men came around behind us that they could see us. >> when "dateline" continues. how can you see yourself in new glasses...

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katherine walton was still in her makeshift hiding spot on the main floor of the mall. an hour into the attack, she was still trying to keep her three restless daughters contained under the flimsy table. their only protection from the roaming gunmen. it was a job that got harder as the mall got quieter.

>> there was a lull and petra picked up the phone and was playing with it. gigi was trying to take it away from her. then, the shooting started again. one threw the phone and it got underneath our body. i couldn't reach it. >> reporter: you couldn't text anybody? >> i couldn't text any body or get ahold of any body. >> for a couple hours i was texting her. no more texting from then. other people called saying this is really bad. we have seen pictures of people being killed. >> reporter: she is not responding to you now. >> no. >> reporter: just down the corridor, a mother struggled to keep her children quiet. >> i'm thinking about our survival. and will this stop and run to an area safe? >> reporter: but there was nowhere else for faith and her children to go. she told them being quiet wasn't enough. she made an incredible decision they would all play dead. her 9-year-old daughter could understand how important it was to stay still. amazingly, her 2-year-old son

seemed to sense it, as well. he didn't move except for an occasional blink. men with machine guns scoured every inch of the mall. >> we were right next to a corridor where we could hear them passing from time to time. but there was no way i was going to change my position. >> reporter: as the the minutes dragged into hours, knowing her son might stir at any moment, faith was relieved when he dozed off for a bit. >> he was lying there on the ground, you know, snoring away. i didn't know whether he was alive because when one eye was shut, the other was open. and it was hard to sleep. >> reporter: hot, cramped, with numb limbs, faith urged her kids to fight the need to move. >> my daughter whenever i felt like she was twitching or changing her position because my hand was on her arm, i would just, you know, squeeze a little bit. then she totally understood that to mean to stay still. >> reporter: but then 2-year-old ty woke up. faith wondered how much longer

he could hold on. she took a chance and played a game. she pretended glass and cement were insects to keep him distracted. >> tell him, there is an insect coming. he would watch it so fascinated. he really likes insects. >> reporter: the gunmen continued to brazenly troll the mall floors looking for victims. katherine was worried they would see her and the girls. after all, she was seeing the gunmen. when they walked by you were they shooting? >> no. they were walking very slow. they almost had a demeanor like they owned the place. look they knew they were in control. >> reporter: did they see you? >> they looked my direction. i knew that if the men came out of the store and came around behind us that they could see us. >> reporter: those men had already killed dozens of shoppers. in this video captured by a security camera, a wounded person is prodded by a terrorist. other parts too graph tubing broadcast show the gunmen

callously shooting people throughout the mall even the injured. as the the siege dragged on the outside world was beginning to get some idea of how terrible it was. >> good evening. loud explosions were heard tonight in the kenyan capital of nairobi. >> reporter: those still trapped inside the mall couldn't know they were part of a terrorist attack. faith wamboa and their two kids remained absolutely still. it was their only chance for survival. but her mind raced. >> thinking about my husband. where is he? how will he get to know about the incident? and i am wondering will, will any of my children get shot? will i get shot and my children have no mother after this? >> reporter: faith was determined to protect her children at any cost. >> i remember at some point i was covering the children. my son's head. my daughter's head. and i said any bullet would have to pass through me first before

it gets through my children. >> reporter: faith and her children had been flat on the floor for 3 1/2 hours. when suddenly she heard something. >> we had heard voices from above us, on higher floors. asking us to get up. mother, mother with the children, you down there with the children. i knew they were now addressing me. but immediately we got up on to our knees and were trying to get up to go, the shooting started again. >> reporter: she thought by moving she had drawn attention to herself. >> we were scared first because now our cover has been blown. because now they know that we are really not dead. >> reporter: faith didn't trust anyone now. so when a man approached she was sure it wasn't good. >> now when i felt somebody touching me. i knew they had come for us. now they know we are alive. so we just laid down there. and i remember, shh, quiet. coming up -- faith has to make a split-second decision. their lives depend on it. should she trust the man talking

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to every screen. so what's next? rio 2016. welcome to what's next. comcast nbcuniversal. for three and a half hours after armed gunmen stormed the westgate mall, two mothers had been trapped. katherine walton crouched two three young daughters. and faith wamboa, she and two young children played dead all this time, they moved once and were instantly shot at. as a man approached them, faith held her position but he wasn't a terrorist. he was a police officer. >> baby, baby, touching my daughter, baby, baby. are you okay? are you okay?

i said, wow. in my mind this must be a good person. not are we alive? are we okay? and then he said, it's safe. it's safe. it's the police. >> faith's 9-year-old daughter was the first to move. >> my daughter put up her head, hesitant and asked him, are you with the bad guys? because, i mean, i was looking down. i was scared. i thought they have come where we are. so my daughter put her head up and too late to tell her to go back down, engage the policeman in a conversation. are you with the bad people? mama, look up. >> and then, almost against the instincts, faith began to trust. >> when i looked up, i saw the civilian jacket. i didn't know who he was. not in a uniform. and then he as we sat up, i saw the shirt. i was able to recognize the uniform. and then, he said, it's fine. i'm going to lead you to safety.

get up. >> desperately afraid to move, faith gree agreed it was time te a move. faith slowly got up and crept toward the exit with her children. >> i remember seeing a body lying there on the steps as we ran out but i said i'm focusing on where we are going. there was the policeman, the one carrying my daughter was running too fast and way ahead. the one with my son was lagging behind. i am thinking don't separate us. i kept saying, my son, my son. >> reporter: after all those hours, forced to keep her children quiet, they were finally out. >> i am crying now because i am free. you know? there is all these tears of joy. >> reporter: in his hotel room, 6,000 miles away in charlotte, phillip walton could only hope his story would have a happy ending. he was combing through kenyan news reports he saw on social media. >> i remember one, specifically,

where they said they were -- somebody had just seen them bring a child's body out in a shopping cart. they said it was a 5 or 6-year-old little boy. i thought to myself i don't think they could confuse one of the boys for being 5 or 6, but could they confuse one of our little girls for being a boy? that piece of news was very traumatic to me. >> reporter: in agony and alone, he prayed and started playing one song over and over in his mind. >> i think we do have a measure of grace that comes to us in very difficult times. for me, a u-2 song in the back of my head. it's called "40" from the 40th psalm. ♪ i will sing, sing a new song >> just started reading that psalm over and over again. it was exactly what i needed to

hear. and so, i took a lot of comfort from that. >> reporter: it's got that great -- i know the song. >> it is an awesome song. ♪ how long to sing this song >> exactly. it became kind of the inspiration of hope, gave me something to pray about during the time that i didn't know what was going on. >> reporter: he was comforted by his faith, but it was impossible not to worry. by now, he knew what his wife didn't. >> she is injured. we hind us. >> reporter: that his entire family was caught in a carefully coordinated full-blown terrorist attack. >> you think the worst, you know. when you know that these are terrorists and you know that their intent is not to steal something and get out of there. but it is -- it is to kill people. and you know that their intent

is to -- is to hurt christians. you know that their intent is to try to disrupt our way of life in kenya. you know -- it's -- it's, the realities of what that could mean are very present. >> reporter: he had no way of knowing whether his family was alive or not. no way of knowing that soon some of his prayers would be answered. coming up -- phillip and katherine's sons are trapped in the most violent part of the mall. and a 14-year-old realizes it is up to him to protect his younger brother. >> i just thought -- ian first, save them. me second. >> what he did next when "dateline" continues. understands being at the corner of "looking for a good deal" and "sheesh, i should've looked some more." ♪ that's why walgreens makes it easy to save even more on your medicare part d prescriptions. ♪

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three hours had passed since phillip walton was awakened by a call telling him his family was

trapped inside the westgate he had been on his computer all morning checking for updates. then suddenly he received a sight. his two sons alive and outside the mall. >> my two sons standing with my business partner. a very big, noticeable man. >> paul weaver raced down to the mall area and confirmed the picture was real. the boys were out. >> just seeing them, i mean, i don't think there has any bigger hugs in the world. it was joy, at the same time, just seeing the anguish in their face. and blaise, we sat on the floor and he just laid his head down and all the emotions coming through him. one of the greatest moments and saddest moments at the same time. >> reporter: a joyful moment for phillip knowing his boys were finally safe. but too brief.

because he knew his wife and three young daughters were still trapped in that mall. the walton boys, 14-year-old blaise and 10-year-old ian had endured 3 1/2 hours in the most dangerous area. in the department store where terrorists hunted down innocent victims, terrifying for anyone but especially for two boys separated from their mother. this is blaise walton. it was difficult for him to recount the story of what happened to him and his brother. but he wanted to tell it, starting from the beginning. the two brothers had just paid and were still standing in the checkout line when they saw something strange. >> what's the first thing you hear or see that is weird? >> everybody looks to the main entrance. and, we all look, as well. everybody, in nakuma, and then a loud sound happens. three people go flying. that's when people realize what is going on and they run. >> reporter: three people going

flying into the air? >> just fell backwards. just went -- it was scary. >> reporter: did you think it was a bomb or something? >> i thought it was a bomb at first but then when i heard the two gunfire sounds i knew it wasn't just a bomb. it was something else. >> reporter: he knew he had to protect himself. more than that he knew he was responsible for his younger brother. >> reporter: you grabbed your brother, fast as you could. >> yeah. and just ran. >> reporter: were you pushing him? >> yes. >> reporter: you didn't want him to see it? that's hard, that would be hard for me. hard for a grownup. >> yeah. >> reporter: at 14, it is pretty darn hard. >> it really is. >> reporter: blaise clutching his brother, ian race add way from the gunfire with just one thought. >> i just thought ian first. save him. me second. >> reporter: you headed towards the back of the store. >> other people at the time were rushing back. we followed the crowd.

>> reporter: they made it to a storeroom at the back of the store, others were hiding there, too, including an american mother with her own kids. without katherine there to comfort them, the boys stayed with that mother. blaise hoped they were far enough away from the gun toting terrorists but they weren't. surveillance video shows the terrorists made it all the way to the back, hunting for more victims. but this wise 14-year-old did something ingenious. >> i finally just pulled ian aside, sat him down on a thing of flour, one by one, meters of flour on all sides of him. >> reporter: like a barricade of flour bags? >> yeah. and then we had pulled toilet paper on top of our heads so nobody could see us. >> reporter: why did you need to be hidden? >> we didn't know if people would walk back and looking for us. we pulled out all stops. >> reporter: 10-year-old ian walton remembers how scared he was. did you see any of the bad guys?

>> no. but it did seem like someone closed the gate to where we were and trying how to shoot through it and throw grenades to blow it up. they never got through. >> reporter: you heard a lot of loud sounds? >> yeah. >> reporter: yikes. you said you were back there, how long? >> 3 1/2 hours. >> reporter: you thought about it a little bit, yeah? when you were there, i know if it were me i would have been really, really scared. were you pretty, pretty scared? >> all my brother and me did was just pray for our family and just laid there. >> reporter: they lay there and listened. >> every once in a while we would hear gunfire, grenade sounds, and at one point, these people came and said, we are the police. it is okay. >> reporter: the gunfire the walton boys had been hearing briefly paused and those voices identifying themselves as police were encouraging people to come out. around him, blaise heard people

start moving. >> they walked out. loud of machine gunfire, for 30 second. then it was just quiet. >> reporter: you think it was the bad guys luring them out? you did right thing by staying where you were. >> yeah, the lady we were with. told us what to do every step of the way. without her, i don't think -- i think me and my brother would have gone out with the crowd. thanks to her we are still alive. >> reporter: the walton boys were holed up in the back room when eventually police were able to break down the door and get people out. this security camera shows the chaos in the crowd after being released. look closely. there is blaise in his red shirt. ian with his backpack. free, after 3 1/2 hours of being trapped. relief washed over phillip walton when he saw his boys in the image his friend sent him. at least his sons were okay. >> i remember thinking at that time at least i won't be alone.

i remember thinking, however horrific this day is, at least the boys and i will have each other if it turns out worse than, we would -- than we would hope or imagine. >> reporter: his wife katherine was still trapped under that tiny table with her three girls. and now, things were looking worse. a man with a gun was headed their way. coming up -- just who was he? and then a daring escape plan from an unlikely hero. >> i told the lady now. >> what happened next amazed the world. coming up in our next hour. a "dateline" mystery. >> how hard is it for you to be here today? >> very. >> a son reveals a secret about the strange disappearance about his mom. >> it's a real conflict for me. i was thinking, zip your mouth. >> it was a case gone cold until detectives turned to facebook.

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for more than four hours, katherine walton, her girls, and the kenyan woman helping them huddled in a hiding space barely bigger than a bathtub. closed off from the outside world, katherine didn't know she was part of a terrorist attack. all she knew was that gunmen were canvassing the mall shooting at everyone. and now, a man with a gun was creeping toward her. >> you were under that table for hours. at some point, you hear something, you see something? >> i think there was a little bit of commotion and the kenyan woman said the cops are here. >> but it wasn't the police. it was a kenyan man, the businessman and father of four had received a text message from his brother earlier that morning.

>> the message was very brief. it just read, at westgate terrorists. pray for me. >> reporter: abdul haji bolted to the mall and was stunned by what he saw when he got there. carnage everywhere. he was terrified for his brother who works for the kenyan intelligence service and had received death threats from al shabah, the same terror group now attacking the mall. >> at this point in time the magnitude of the whole situation dawned on me. >> reporter: security forces were just arriving. and abdul who is licensed to carry a gun decided in an instant to join them. they entered the mall from the parking garage on the top floor. abdul's brother was in the mall not far from katherine walton and her girls on the main floor. he was hiding in a bathroom. abdul worked his way done to the main floor, and as he did, his brother managed to escape. >> i reached my phone, try to call, call him. i see this message on my screen

saying i am out. i am safe. please come out. >> reporter: but abdul haji didn't come out, despite the scene, blood, bodies, the smell of smoke, constant gunfire, he decided to stay and help. abdul searched through the mall looking for victims. then he made a discovery that shocked him. >> i look down and i see somebody hiding behind a table. it was a lady. she looked very scared. and i'm thinking, she was in the middle of the crossfire. >> reporter: katherine spotted abdul, and sensed he wasn't a threat. how did you know they weren't terrorists? >> they weren't carrying the large guns we had seen that the terrorists had. >> reporter: with just a few words between them, katherine walton and abdul haji quickly coordinated an exit strategy. >> we opened fire toward the door to scare the terrorists away. >> reporter: then it was time.

>> then we hold fire. then i told the lady now. and suddenly this young girl appears out of nowhere. and i just call to her to run toward me. she starts running. and immediately i am thinking, what a brave girl. >> reporter: when porsche got up and ran, did you have a moment where you thought, oh my god -- >> i think i realized it was precarious, but i was also trusting that if they were telling us to run that it was safe. >> reporter: for katherine it was a gigantic leap of faith. after shielding her daughters for 4 1/2 hours, she knew that to save them, she would have to let them go. the image of 4-year-old porsche, running to abdul haji, was one no one would soon forget. katherine wasn't far behind. they weren't alone. these images show the terror on the faces of others being rescued by the police in those same moments.

their desperation to be free. in north carolina, phillip got a phone call from his business partner, eric hirschman. >> i got confirmation from eric that he was standing there with them and that they were all safe. >> reporter: your whole family? >> yeah. i broke down and cried. yeah. then it -- then, you know, then you can let go. you know, then you can just kind of -- you can collapse. >> reporter: later, a picture followed. his wife and children trapped in that mall for hours in terror, were now in the safety of a friend's house together. >> simply the most precious thing i could even imagine to see all of them sitting there in safety and knowing that they had come through it. >> reporter: phillip grabbed the first flight back to kenya. must have felt really good when he got off the plane. >> it very good. as a mom when dad is not around

you feel you hav keep together and be st. the kids were excited to see him. they had been asking. they were relieved to finally be able to touch him and hug him and have that extra security. >> reporter: these exclusive images show the devastation and destruction of the westgate mall, ravaged by a siege that dragged on for four days. terrorists with links to al qaeda claimed responsibility and the kenyan government says at least 67 people died. for the survivors, it's been difficult to make sense of it all, to move on. faith wamboa went home, hugged her husband and two days after the attack, there was cause for celebration and time for reflection. >> i'm grateful first for being alive, for our children to be alive. i am grateful to be reunited with my husband. i never thought i would see a second anniversary. we did. this incident has brought us more closer.

we don't want to leave each other's sides. >> reporter: faith and her children were reunited with the police officer who reached out to her on that terrible day. grateful, he risked his life to save theirs. the waltons, too, are grateful for friends, new and old. especially young porsche. who beamed when we showed her a picture of her rescuer on a smartphone. is that mr. haji? what did he do? >> he saved us. >> reporter: he saved you! >> good, how are you? >> nice to see you. >> reporter: three days after the worst day of their lives, the waltons were reunited with their hero. abdul haji himself the father of a 4-year-old daughter and a muslim. it is not lost on him that he is now forever linked to a christian family who chose to live in kenya. >> that's what humanity is about.

d was a muslim. they were christians. at that time what i was seeing was a little girl and her mother. i was not seeing what the religion the person was. >> a lot of emotions. religion was. as we have been able to tell the story, spend time with haji, to see the courage of a man like that is an inspiration for me. >> reporter: at 14, blaise walton has a new perspective. you have seen the worst of humanity and the best of humanity. >> yeah, same day. just a miracle to deal with both of those in one day. >> reporter: for katherine and her children, as dismal and dark as the events in that mall were, she refuses to do anything but grow and be positive for herself and her family. >> i don't want them to come out of this in hate or be angry about what happened. >> reporter: it would be easy to be angry. >> it would be very easy to be angry. i don't want them to see the bad part of it. i want them to come turn that bad situation into something

positive. >> reporter: what will you tell the girls when they get older? >> i think i will tell them that they were brave. you know? that we were in a bad situation. but they were so good. that's what i tell them now. when i hug and kiss them i just say, you are just my brave girls. you are so -- i just can't believe you are so brave. now the second hour. a "dateline" mystery centering on a young mother who vanished young ago. back then, the internet was still in the inthat sy. police didn't have the high-tech tools to track people who went missing. it wasn't until decades later that a cold case investigator had an idea. could facebook somehow help solve this case of the missing mom?

♪ >> reporter: january 2013, california. the west gray morning cold settled in to stay. at noon, a police boat sets off in the pea soup fog. a hail mary pass, apparently a slim chance to find the truth at last. but why out there? why after all 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 of all things. and now this. their doomed errand into the fog. her name was carol jean meyer and carol lubon when it happened in march 1981. the night of the slamming doors, the harsh words, the car roaring away. and it's an old story anyway.

pretty girl gets pregnant at 125, marries the guy and then a 20-something wo kids and a hankering to live, really live for a change. and this particular pretty girl -- >> she was fun. she was outgoing. she had a lot of friends. >> reporter: she had these two sisters, terry was the younger one. gail the older. >> we were very close and made each other laugh all the time. >> reporter: carol wasn't laughing at the end of march '81. for one thing, she wanted to be somebody. her own somebody. >> i know that carol wanted to complete school and further her career and when she went back to study architecture. >> reporter: sure her husband was a nice kid and she loved him once with all the intensity of first love. the handsome high school player. >> his friends would come over. i thought that was kind of cool. all those football athlete

friends. >> reporter: mike stepped up and married her after the baby was born. >> he's a good father. he just seemed to really enjoy his kids. >> reporter: enjoyed carol's family, too. especially her dad milt. >> so mike became kind of like his son. >> reporter: milt brought young mike into the family house painting business. >> just took to him immediately. everybody thought that way about mike. his friends, everybody. he was always a very likable person. >> reporter: friendly, loyal, but not exactly ambitious. he didn't seem to mind at all settling down to a modest existence cramped in a house in torrance. but carol did mind it. very much. >> i think she may have outgrown him somewhat. >> reporter: she had a secret affair by then, maybe more than one. she got herself a cute little red car, an audi fox, ordered specialized plates. we did this one up to look just

like it. and quite often she would get in the little car alone and go roaring off to school or to meat markets like the local red onion was back then. >> i know she was going to the red onion. i never went there with her so i don't know what she was like. >> reporter: she had a corner of her life you weren't part of? >> yeah, yeah. >> reporter: and then that night in march. kids off to bed. their son mike jr. 10 years old. >> i was in bed. i had just got a new stereo for 10th birthday and listening to the headphones. >> reporter: from his bed, he could see something happening out in the hallway. >> i remember them getting into an argument. which was unusual. >> reporter: it just didn't? >> not that i knew of. i remember her marching past and going out the front door. >> reporter: heard the slam? >> i heard the slam. i know that. >> reporter: the next morning --

>> we got up and she wasn't there. >> reporter: mike sr. told carol's dad she demanded to sell the house and they went bed and when he woke up in the morning she was just gone. >> so we just assumed she needed to get away for a few days but as the days went on, we got extremely worried. >> reporter: nearly a week after carol's departed, her red audi 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. i didn't know where she went. >> reporter: they drove around looking for her. went to bars. carol's picture in hand. and? >> nobody had seen her. >> reporter: what feeling was that? >> hopelessness. you know? where did she go? who did she see? >> reporter: the torrance police department opened a file but they couldn't answer any of the questions like had she gotten fed up with mike and this little place and gone off to start a

new life somewhere 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, nobody else was around? imagine what it was like back then in that little house. mike, thinking things over. on a hunch, she said, he placed tape on the dresser drawers, a little trap. one day he took the kids to universal studios and sure enough when they returned, he noticed the tape was broken. and some mail on the counter was moved, as well. a few weeks later, it happened again. some of carol's clothes went missing and money from a place no burglar would know to look. under the butter dish in the refrigerator keeping $100 in

emergency cash and now $60 was missing. just like carol. said her sister, gail. >> she would not have taken out of it. that was in carol's personality to be fair. >> reporter: made sense then? >> uh-huh. >> reporter: and then there were the mysterious phone calls. >> we would get the calls on special days, her birthday, my birthday, my grandmother would get calls. >> reporter: and just silence on the other end? >> yeah. >> reporter: what did you do? >> carol, we love you. we hope you come back. we felt like she was finding a happier life somewhere. >> reporter: and understood that to make that successful she might have to make a complete and total break? >> yeah. >> reporter: almost three months after carol vanished the detective handling her case put it in the inactive file in his report he wrote no foul play involved. >> i remember thinking about her all the time. and i used to play records over and over she liked. just thinking, where is she?

when is she coming back? >> reporter: mike started to date a 19-year-old named carrie. brought her into the fold. >> we were happy mike was going on with life. >> reporter: and so they did. all go on with life. and many years went by. until the morning in a whole new millennium when the torrance detective happened on the case of the missing young mother and somewhere in the back of his brain a little light turned on. >> i just had a hunch that this just didn't sound right to me. coming up -- doubts about carol's disappearance grow and others also would have suspicions about what really happened. later, they turned to a surprising source to help solve the mystery. >> why don't you establish a facebook account for carol? >> would they finally answer on facebook? [ female announcer ] it's the yoplait greek taste-off.

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in march of 1981, carol

lubahn, a lovely, young mother of two, known to be unhappy in her marriage, suddenly vanished, departed for parts unknown leaving behind not just her husband, mike, but her son, mike jr., then just 10 years old. >> i never felt that my mother abandoned me. i was never upset with her, never. >> reporter: really? >> i just was upset she was never there. i thought she would be there, show up at a graduation or something. i always thought, well, she could show up, she could show up. >> reporter: but she didn't. and at family gatherings as the years went by, thanksgiving, christmases, that awful question, why would she leave them, remained the unmentionable elephant in the room. >> when it came to my family, i think they didn't talk about it because they figured it would upset me or my sister, so they just kind of like -- it was a taboo subject and didn't really talk about her. >> my family is pretty closed to talking about heavy things, so something like that, rarely

talked about. >> it was an awfully heavy thing. >> yeah. >> could you see it in your mother's eyes, or your father's? >> in my father's for sure. >> what would you see there? >> a lot of emotion, a lot of sadness. i'm going to cry thinking about it. >> reporter: 1987, almost six years after carol vanished, the torrance police department revisited the case and time seemed to have altered mike's memory a little. a few more details had come back to him. remember, soon after carol vanished, mike said they argued, he went to sleep alone, woke up in the morning early and she was gone? but in 1987, he remembered they argued, went to bed together, she got up at 5:30 in the morning to go to the bathroom. he woke up, drifted back to sleep and woke up to the sound of a car engine starting and driving away. odd. but memories do play tricks.

anyway, it didn't seem terribly significant, so the case went back into the file and got colder. mike took over the house painting business from carol's dad and went on to marry carrie and have two more sons. gail and terri raised their own families and it was having babies started to change terri's way of looking at her sister's disappearance. >> as unhappy as you might be in your life, you might leave your husband, you would take your kids with you. >> and so when you began to suspect that she wouldn't leave her children, what did that mean to you? >> that something happened to her. >> reporter: in 1996, 15 years since they had heard from carol, the police came around again. this time they scanned the lubahn's background with ground-penetrating radar, even dug up the ground. didn't find a thing. funny thing, though.

about four months later, the local paper "the little breeze" did a little story, interviewed mike, and 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 of any crime. case went away again. and then one day in 2002, a detective named walt delsigne was rummaging through some cabinets behind his sergeant's desk. >> i was just being nosy. i thought what is this? >> reporter: it was the carol lubahn case folder. over 20 years old and as cold as they come. >> i never heard of this before and i thought, this is interesting. i wonder if this lady is still missing. >> reporter: of course she was. so again he read through the police reports. couldn't help but notice the subtle changes in mike's story.

>> and i thought that was kind of strange because i wouldn't think that you would forget the last time you saw your wife. >> reporter: so he went to see carol's parents, her mom, melba, her dad, milt. >> he looked up at me and was starting to cry. i'm like, milt, are you okay? he said, he goes, oh, i'm just so happy. i can't believe you guys are still interested in this case. >> how much did that have to do with you driving ahead on this case, that conversation? >> a lot. i'm the father of three daughters, as well. i thought what if this is my middle daughter. >> reporter: milt died one month later, never knowing what happened to his beautiful middle daughter. but when terri went to her father's funeral and saw mike there, a private thought ate at her. mike must know something. >> i didn't say anything. i tried to keep away. he was, of course, paying his respects to my family, but i couldn't carry on a conversation with him. >> reporter: meanwhile, walt delsigne had become a little

obsessed. he had many other more pressing cases but something kept pulling him back to carol lubahn. >> i actually would shove some of my work away. i got in a little trouble for that sometimes. >> reporter: for years the detective chipped away, until 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. >> there was those that thought, well, yeah, what do you think he's going to admit it to you? i thought, well, i played enough sports in my time, i know you're not going to get anywhere if you don't try. >> hi. detective delcine, i want to talk about carol. >> reporter: what story would mike tell this time? coming up, this version was straight out of 007. >> i think i did that james bond thing with the paper on the door.

>> but one detail did ring true. >> she said, you make my skin crawl. >> i bet you she did say that. >> when "dateline" continues. bu, the lower the rate. how 'bout sketchy jeff? he gets billed separately, right? [ male announcer ] get up to 10 separate bills and everyone gets unlimited talk, text and one gig of data for as low as $25 a month each. cool. one more. we need more beard. ♪ that'll do. [ male announcer ] the framily plan from sprint. with a new price, new plan, and an all new network. visit a sprint store today. [ male announcer ] the rhythm of life. [ whistle blowing ] where do you hear that beat? campbell's healthy request soup lets you hear it in your heart. [ basketball bouncing ] heart healthy. [ m'm... ] great taste. [ tapping ] sounds good. campbell's healthy request. m'm! m'm! good.® over the age of three have gum disease? so give your dog dentastix® as part of their oral care routine. dentastix® treats have a unique texture that's clinically proven to reduce up to 80% of tartar buildup.

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for eight years, torrance police detective walt delsigne worried away at the carol lubahn file, drawn by an irresistible hunch, that this young mother did not disappear voluntarily. but actual evidence of a crime? there just wasn't any. so finally, in 2010, 29 years after carol supposedly walked out on her family and never came back, he decided it was time for a surprise visit to michael lubahn. he went over with his sergeant. >> he invited us in. we did catch him unexpectedly but that was the plan. >> reporter: but was mike upset or thrown off? not at all. >> very nice, like i anticipated he would be, because i had now heard from everybody in the family how mike is a good guy. >> reporter: so together they

went over again the details of that last night back in march of '81, and right away mike remembered a little more about the night carol presented him with a real estate contract and a demand they sell their tiny house. >> she came here and said -- did she just turn and walk away with it or what happened? >> she said you make my skin crawl. >> you make my skin crawl? >> yeah. >> hah. >> i thought, bing. i'll bet you she did say that. so i pushed him some more for more details. >> reporter: and the details were, once again, a little different. about when and where he last saw her, for example. it wasn't when he went to bed around 10:00 p.m. as he said on one occasion or 5:30 the next morning as he also said. no, this time mike said he last saw carol about 10:30 or 11:00 p.m. in the bathtub. >> how long was she in the bathroom? >> i used the bathroom. >> reporter: and then he said

maybe around midnight or 1:00 or 2:00, he heard the garage door go up. he went to the door and actually saw carol's car driving away. >> i see taillights. >> you see taillights? >> yeah. >> and you're sure it was her car? >> yes. >> reporter: also remember that story about putting tape on the dresser drawers after carol left and later he found it broken? he didn't remember that now. >> you don't remember that? >> no. >> reporter: but as he sat here in 2010, he did remember some other traps he'd set, even more elaborate. >> i would take like baby powder right inside the door so if somebody stepped in, i'd see it. >> baby powder. okay. what else? anything else? >> i think i did that james bond thing with the paper on the door. >> paper on the door? >> paper falls. >> okay. >> reporter: by now detective delsigne was working with his colleague, john wallace and

deputy d.a. john lewin. lewin specializes in attacking the most difficult of cold cases. >> do you remember when you saw the results of that interview what you thought? >> yeah, i thought that his memory had grown in areas where it shouldn't, and in areas where he should be saying the same story, it was different. that's the hallmark of deception. >> sure. but the mind plays tricks. the mind invents things and inserts them into your memory and you believe them as strenuously as if they actually happened. >> that's an interesting theory. i don't think it's really supported. memories can be lost. but memories don't increase in details over the years, and they don't increase in different details and that's a sign of what we call a lie. >> his version of what happened from the start made no sense to any of us. >> this is what makes the case. >> reporter: and why would mike lie? to the cold case team it seemed obvious. >> he killed her that night. she stopped living that night. everything else that's going that doesn't make sense is all because it's a lie.

if you know it's a lie, then it all lines up. >> reporter: remarkably mike continued to talk to them three more times of his own free will. very friendly, without an attorney. he even let the prosecutor take a crack at him. >> if you were me, if you were in my position, tell me what you would think. >> probably what you're thinking. >> which is? >> that i did it. >> well, mike, i can tell you, you know, the kind of murder cases we get, we get cases where the husband finds out that his wife is cheating on him and he kills her so -- >> it had nothing to do with that. >> reporter: did you catch what mike said? it had nothing to do with that. lewin did. >> when you just look at sentence structure and how people talk and communicate, it wasn't about that. what is the "it"? >> you gave that great significance, didn't you? >> oh, absolutely. >> reporter: so they kept at mike. and at one point it seemed to them he was on the verge of

why don't you give me a few days to think about all of it? >> reporter: but when he came back, he didn't give them anything, and they were right back where they started. suspicion, sure, but no evidence of a crime. no way to even prove carol was dead. that is, until detective jim wallace hit on an idea. to use a tool that didn't even exist when carol lubahn fought with her husband on a march night in 1981. coming up -- the long arm of facebook. >> it's the kind of a place where we say here i am. it's also a place you can find people. >> the result, a dramatic turn in the case and fresh heartbreak for carol's family. >> another nightmare on top of the first nightmare. ♪ [ female announcer ] if you're struggling with bipolar depression, theif once a day latuda,tor

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deputy d.a. john lewin and the torrance police department cold case team believed mike lubahn killed his wife, carol, back in 1981. but they had one big problem. they couldn't prove carol was dead. >> the biggest assumption is going to be how do you know she's just not out of the country or across the country or changed her identity? >> reporter: kind of an important question with no answer. and then in january, 2011, jim wallace got the flu. lucky break. no, really. >> and i was laying in bed. my wife came in and unfortunately when you work these cases, all you talk about is, because we were a dedicated cold case team, you're talking about the case you're working on. i'm sure she was tired of hearing it. but she mentioned to me, why don't you establish a facebook account for carol. i thought that could actually

accomplish a great deal. >> reporter: of course, back in 1981 when carol disappeared, facebook creator mark zuckerberg wasn't even born yet. but 30 years later, detective wallace knew social media and its potential to connect to millions of people around the globe instantly. it could determine once and for all, he thought, whether carol was alive or dead. >> because all of us know from using facebook that, number one, it's kind of a place where we say here i am. it's also a place you can find people. >> reporter: surely if carol was still alive, wallace thought, someone on facebook or twitter would know something. of course wallace knew carol would look vastly different so he found an age progression artist to create an image of what she might look like and then he placed that photo and others like it on facebook and other sites. >> it turned out it was 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 nobody had seen carol since the

night she disappeared. >> reporter: if carol merely googled her own name, she'd find herself at wallace's website. carol jeanne meyer lubahn.com. but that never happened, which meant something very significant, said the detective. >> she's not looking for herself. she's dead. >> or, a farmer's wife in uruguay who doesn't go on the computer much. >> maybe. >> lots of people are not on facebook. >> right. >> don't check or google things doesn't mean she is dead for sure. just means you have made a fairly good case for it. >> in this large, cumulative thing we're looking at, it's another piece that points to the same conclusion. >> reporter: if carol was dead, if mike killed her, taking the accusation to court would be risky. totally circumstantial, of course. but they decided to roll the dice. 30 years after carol lubahn vanished from her family's life,

on april 13th, 2011, mike was arrested for carol's murder. >> when you went to the family and said, we're going to charge him, what was their reaction? >> mixed at best. >> reporter: mixed? that's a mild word. how about upset, horrified, mystified? in fact, most of carol's family members believed the idea mike could have murdered carol was just ludicrous. >> well, he was a member of our family, you know. nobody wanted to see him be arrested or him be the reason or any of that. it's like another nightmare on top of the first nightmare. >> this was a case where i think the family would have been more than happy to believe that carol is still out there somewhere, she's not dead, and their beloved son-in-law is not a killer. >> reporter: but of all mike sr.'s family members, perhaps no one was as torn as his namesake

first born son, mike jr., who loved his father unreservedly. followed him into the family painting business. worked side by side with him for decades. and who had confessed to detectives that, like his aunt terri, he, too, had doubts about his father. doubts that had taken root shortly after mike sr.'s second wife left him. >> he talked about my stepmother constantly, for years, nonstop. >> and why was that so significant to you? >> because he never talked about my mother. >> at all? >> never. >> reporter: but mike never confronted his father. >> i just knew in the back of my mind that this could be a possibility, and i really 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. >> reporter: to get the truth and avoid a trial, prosecutor john lewin was willing to make a deal.

>> we had offered him voluntary manslaughter if he gave us carol's body. >> and he turned you down flat? >> he did, repeatedly. >> reporter: mike pleaded not guilty. the case was going to trial. and if members of carol's own family didn't believe mike did it, what would a jury think? coming up -- a father in court and a son on the stand. >> i was really, really stressed out about that. >> and he watches his dad answer this. >> isn't it true, mr. lubahn, that carol lived her last breath in that bathtub when you murdered her? >> when "dateline" continues. [ male announcer ] mcdonald's dollar menu & more is all about getting more.

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it was september 11th, of all days. september 11th, 2012, 31 years, 5 months, 12 days after the last known sighting of carol lubahn.

an inauspicious day to begin the prosecution of a popular man? could be. but deputy john lewin went on anyway. >> what i'm 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. >> reporter: of course, lewin knew that to prove a murder had occurred, he had 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, e-mail, in writing, who says, you know what, i've seen carol lubahn after the day she disappeared? >> no. >> reporter: though as lewin and his team also let the juror hear, 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 it maybe even more difficult by the fact that you cared deeply for the defendant? >> yes. >> reporter: and younger sister, terri, even though she had suspected mike for years -- >> do you still think of mike lubahn sr. as a part of your family? >> yes. >> reporter: but most anguished of all, mike and carol's son, mike jr. >> is 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 good-bye? >> no. >> reporter: 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 so on the stand publicly i had to basically say, yeah, i'm thinking maybe there's some weird things about your story, 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. >> do you want to believe that your dad is responsible for your mother's disappearance? >> do i want to believe it? >> yes. >> no. >> let's assume that your dad, in fact, did kill your mom. would you want to see him punished for it? >> no, not particularly. >> reporter: prosecutor lewin knew the ambivalence of these family members did not help his case but -- >> in the end, my job isn't to make sure that the family members get what they want. my job is to make sure that, you know, carol's killer is held

responsible. >> reporter: but was mike a killer? his attorney, kevin donahue. >> i think the police are just wrong. >> reporter: no forensics, no witnesses, not even a body. the defense might have stopped right there. instead, they decided to gamble. mike was a nice guy. the jury should see that. and if the details had been a little different each time he was asked to tell the story, here was his chance to straighten it all out for the jury. how odd then 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. >> reporter: also slightly different, the way he discovered she was gone. >> i opened the front door and went out and the garage door was up and the car was gone. >> reporter: in earlier versions, 't heard the garage door go up and then saw taillights as carol drove away?

why had his story changed again? >> what's the deal with that? did you hear the garage door? >> i don't think so. >> why do you think that now? what has jogged your memory? >> because i think over the years, i thought about this night so many times, and i just -- you know, i seen that car back out of that driveway many, many times, you know, when she was leaving. so i think i just thought repeatedly in my mind that that's what i thought happened. i saw the car. i can see it right now. >> reporter: he never thought for a moment, he said, it would be the last time he's see his wife. >> i thought maybe she had gone out that night and went dancing and stayed the night with a friend. >> reporter: what did happen to her? mike insisted he simply didn't know. >> did you have anything to do with killing her? >> no. >> did you have anything to do with her disappearance? >> no. other than i didn't sign the papers and that made her upset

but that's it. >> reporter: successful testimony? maybe. but now the downside. he'd have to answer questions from john lewin. >> do you lie sometimes? >> no. >> you never lie? >> i wouldn't say never. a white lie, who knows. >> let me ask you, have you ever lied about something serious that wasn't a white lie in your life? >> no. >> in your entire life, you've never lied once about anything that wasn't a white lie? >> i'll just say not that i can remember. >> reporter: in fact, mike had a hard time remembering a lot of things prosecutor lewin asked about. >> i don't remember. i don't remember going to bed. i don't remember saying that. i don't know. >> reporter: but how on earth, asked lewin, could he not remember the last time he saw his wife? >> would you agree that that would be one of the most significant events, details of your entire life? >> yes. but i -- doesn't mean i have to remember it.

>> reporter: lewin wasn't 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? why are you looking at the judge? >> because i'm waiting for him to correct you. no. i didn't murder her, i'm sorry. in the bathtub? >> mr. lubahn, if you had murdered her, you would tell us today that you did? >> i would have admitted it. >> you would have admitted it on the stand today? >> yes. >> do you think that statement is believable? >> i think so. >> i'm done. >> reporter: of course, believability was a question for the jury to decide. and decide they did. though, as you'll see, that wasn't the end of the story. not by a mile. coming up -- a son overcome

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let's call the jurors out. >> reporter: there are few things in american life as dramatic, as weighted with consequence, as the moment a jury, verdict in hand, files into a courtroom. have they been persuaded that mike killed carol, or even that she was dead? mike's family held its collective breath. so did the prosecutor and the police. >> you know, you don't know what to expect. >> reporter: and now, here was mike's fate. >> we, the jury in the above-entitled action, find the defendant, michael clark lubahn sr. guilty of the crime -- >> reporter: guilty of second-degree murder. mike lubahn was going to prison.

long-time detective jim wallace felt surrounded by a very unfamiliar reaction. >> i've had cases before where you get done, you know, and you walk out of the courtroom and the family throws their arms around you. they're just so grateful. that's not this case. >> i was just very surprised that the jury would convict him on such little evidence, and i don't think any of us are happy to see mike go to jail. >> and you still believe mike is a nice guy, believable guy? >> yes. >> reporter: what gail and the rest of the family wanted most were some answers. >> not so much that i want mike to pay for what he did, i just want to know what happened to my sister. >> reporter: and at a sentencing hearing in december 2012, mike's own son echoed those sentiments. >> guilt or innocence aside, i've never wanted my father to go to prison. i've only asked that if he knows anything to please let me know. >> reporter: and then mike jr.

made a heartbreaking plea to the court. >> he's been a good father and a good person. if he's sent to prison today, i want him to know i'm going to miss our time together. it's going to be hard to see the world change without him. i humbly stand before the court today to request leniency for my father when giving his sentence. thank you for the opportunity to speak. >> reporter: after that, well, then the strange tale of the much-loved convicted killer took quite a remarkable turn. it happened that very day in court. prosecutor lewin. >> i'm asking right now 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. >> can i have a moment? >> reporter: the judge granted a moment so mike could speak with his attorney privately. did he actually have something to cfe he returned a few minutes later. >> and we're asking to continue

the sentencing. >> reporter: time to think? 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. >> reporter: for almost four weeks, they waited. until january 7th, 2013. all eyes were on mike lubahn as he entered the courtroom. and then shifted as one to prosecutor lewin who told the court that that very morning mike finally revealed to him the secret he had been keeping almost 32 years. and so now lewin did the talking and mike, for once, said not a word. >> all of the information about them fighting about the selling of the house, he says that was truthful, that occurred. >> reporter: then carol stormed out, and it might have blown over as arguments do, but she came back at 1:30 a.m. and said 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, terri's upcoming wedding. he said he was very upset. >> reporter: she tried to comfort him then, he said, and >> she was telling him, don't worry, you'll find somebody else, et cetera. >> reporter: and that was the last thing carol lubahn ever said. >> he didn't want to hear it and he said that he pushed her. she fell and hit her head on a heavy end table in the living room. he said that she didn't bleed. but he knew instantly that she was dead. >> reporter: detectives hooked 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 didn't pass. now the defendant changes his story. and he says, okay, i punched her in the head.

and i punched her hard. but he said only one time. >> reporter: 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. >> reporter: and then he said he took her to the ocean, put her on a raft, paddled out to sea and dropped her down, a cinder block tied to her body. it was a shock, of course, a big shock. for so long the family, or most of it, believed mike. and now in this very public way, they finally knew that carol was dead and he, their sweet mike, killed her. but the whole truth, was it actually out there somewhere?

and so, on that cold and foggy january day, mike, surrounded by cops and lawyers, floated out into the mist to find carol. to find whatever was left. >> if they find the cinder block in the ocean after the search, they find that, that will give me half of the closure i need. >> reporter: she didn't get it because after the boat ride mike admitted his ocean tale was one more lie. and perhaps it was finally for the sake of his son, the son who never abandoned him, that he finally passed a polygraph and led investigators to the place he now says mike's mother has been all these many years. the police searched but couldn't find her remains and now after so much time no one knows if they ever will. >> i don't really know why getting her back is the ultimate bookend for me. i want to know that she is properly buried or cremated or whatever we will choose to do with her.

>> why is that so important? >> i think it's just the ultimate answer. this is it. there's no more wondering. >> reporter: no, not about that. but his father in prison, 15 to life, a good deal of wondering left to do about that man and what he took away. >> do you still love him? >> yeah, i do. i mean, i always will. i've just got to figure out how i'm going to process these facts. i know. 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 to me every week he's in prison so he has to think about her and i have to -- i can remember her again. >> that's all for this edition of "dateline." we'll be back again friday at

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