at the center of any criminal investigation is a dark heart and the iron hand of justice. >> it's so horrible. your sister's dead. you know it. you can't find her body. you don't know what to do. >> happy new year, everybody. >> two women, each one vanishes without a trace. >> i knew right away that she was murdered. >> no bodies, no weapons, no arrests. >> she would have never left her dog. she would never have left her money. >> no real physical evidence any crime was ever committed. so why are their families convinced they know what happened and even who is responsible. >> when you're a victim of a crime, you think that the police are going to come to your

rescue, and no such thing. it doesn't happen like on television. they don't solve a case overnight. >> are they missing or murdered? that's next on "dark heart, iron hand." two young single women who both lived in new york city vanished seemingly without a trace. they never knew each other, but their similar circumstances have brought their sisters together, each of them working furiously to prove a crime was committed and bring someone to justice. >> the first thing i said is, he killed kristine. he killed her. you weigh the pros and cons. and chose that he could just kill her and get away with it. >> 28-year-old kristine kupka. according to the police, she's a missing person. according to her sister, she was murdered by her boyfriend.

her body has never been found. >> losing kristine was really the hardest, you know, was the hardest thing that ever happened to me. >> kathy's sister, kristine, was five months pregnant when she disappeared october 24th, 1998, from her brooklyn home. >> my life is so different since she's gone. she was -- you know, she was the person that i always counted on in new york. we talked all the time. even now when something big happens, i want to tell kristine. >> kathy kupka has sacrificed years of her life searching for her sister's missing body in hopes of bringing a killer to justice. >> when i think about it, i just don't have a choice. i have to find kristine. i would never just abandon her. nor would she me. so this is like what i have to do. >> kathy first turned to the

police for help. >> when i got to the police station, i totally was hysterical. because they said there's nothing they can do. and in my desperation, i said i know she's dead and someone has to help us. it's so horrible. your sister is dead, you know it. you can't find her body. you don't know what to do. no one tells you what to do. it was hell. it was horrible. >> kathy says after repeated rebuffs by police, she hired a private investigator, retired detective gil alba. >> some of the cases i work on are with families that want to get involved and help, who want to have control of their own investigation. >> a 28-year veteran of the new york police department, gil served with the fbi task force and the major case squad handling high profile crimes, kidnappings, bank robberies and police shootings. >> one of the reasons i went into the police force is not because i'm an aggressive guy. i didn't go in because i could get a gun and uniform. and go in there.

i wanted to basically help people. >> he says that philosophy is now at the heart of his private investigations. but gil not only wanted to help people, he also wanted to teach them. he wanted them to benefit from his years in law enforcement. >> i have this idea that i wanted to teach the art of the investigation, how you do this. we all have to ask questions, yeah. you all want to know what's going on. >> so the seasoned detective turned his private investigation work into a course at westchester community college. >> i wanted to pick two real cases where i could get ideas from people who they can talk and do a little research and maybe give me ideas how to solve these cases. ann marie scivetti and kristine kupka, two missing people. >> when my sister's roommate called me and said that anna disappeared, i knew right away that she was murdered. >> the disappearance of

34-year-old anna marie eerily mirrors that of kristine kupka. once more, a sibling's determination to find her sibling's missing body and the boyfriend under suspicion. >> i think she was really trying to break away from him. you know, and in the end he just got her. >> you always live with the pain. i mean, i miss my sister so much. you know, to have someone robbed from you, from murder, is the worst thing that can happen to anyone. ♪ each night i ask the stars up above ♪ >> angel's sister anna was last seen on august 19th, 1998, leaving her job in new jersey. she had recently confided in a few friends that she was pregnant. just as kathy kupka had done, angel went to police for help, with disappointing results.

>> i had reported to the police that this guy has a history, he was abusive. my sister was afraid of him. she feared for her life. >> according to angel, police would not question anna's boyfriend, insisting she would come back. >> when you are a victim of a crime, you think that the police are going to come to your rescue. and no such thing. it doesn't happen like on television. they don't solve a case overnight. >> every year in new york city, approximately 10,000 missing persons reports are filed. of those, only about 200 are investigated by law enforcement for foul play. angel and kathy said police reassured them that their sisters would be among the 98% that return alive. the new york city police department declined msnbc's request to discuss the cases.

>> we explained the situation to about eight detectives or so. they listened to what i had to say and basically didn't believe me. >> maybe they should have. angel and kathy's instincts may be more than just that. according to a study recently published in the "journal of the american medical association," a pregnant or recently pregnant woman is more likely to be a victim of homicide than to die of any other cause. and the fbi reports one-third of all women who are murdered are killed by an intimate partner. >> still to this day more than two years, i just can't believe my sister's dead. >> i loved kathy. i admire her. we sort of feed off on each other. >> kathy and angel, a friendship born of tragedy. >> we have developed, unfortunately, under the wrong circumstances, a very good relationship. >> being with angel is really great, because you don't have to like talk. you don't have to explain it. you don't have to feel

uncomfortable. a lot of people don't want to ask me how i'm doing, because it's uncomfortable. >> we are the driving force behind the success of our sisters' cases being solved. >> when we come back -- >> i called and her roommate said, kristine never came back. >> one of my first steps in conducting the investigation was to come to the last place where kristine was seen.

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>> look. >> that's nice. >> that's nice. >> isn't that beautiful? >> kristine kupka dropped from sight in the fall of 1998. her sister kathy hired retired detective gil alba to prove she wasn't simply missing but murdered. >> one of my first steps in

conducting the investigation is come where the last place that kristine was seen. >> it was an unusually warm day in late october. accompanied by her boyfriend, rudy persaud, kristine kupka left her brooklyn home with just a light sweater and her handbag. kristine's sister kathy was home sick with pneumonia. >> she called me around 12:30 and rudy was there. she said, kathy, i'm going with rudy to see his new apartment in queens, and i hope you feel better. i'll call you later this afternoon. >> that was the last time kathy was to hear her sister's voice. >> she went willingly, but before that there was a history of rudy and kristine, and she did fear for her safety at some point. >> and i called and her roommate said kristine never came back. i said oh, my god, he killed her.

>> those who knew kristine say she would never run off as police had suggested. friends say 28-year-old kristine kupka had everything to live for. with a 3.97 grade point average, she was two months from graduating from baruch college and had plans to go to law school. she had a steady job at a new york city restaurant, and she was having a baby. >> get over here. you were a good dog. you didn't bark. >> kristine's mother, elaine bodell. >> she was ready to have a baby. her older sisters had babies of their own. she wanted a baby. >> kristine had become involved with rudy persaud, the only son of guyanese parents. he was her chemistry lab instructor at baruch. some who knew rudy said he's charismatic but controlling. >> they started seeing each other in june, and to tell you the truth they slept together pretty quickly and then that's when kristine got pregnant.

>> his reaction to her pregnancy, he wanted an abortion, really made kristine fearful that he might do something to her. >> he proceeded to, you know, cry and beg and plead with her not to have the baby, that it would ruin his life. >> in july, rudy told kristine he was going to turkey on a business trip. kristine would later find out he was actually on his honeymoon. upon his return, rudy confessed he had gotten married. kristine was in shock but determined to keep the baby. >> she said, okay. i'm going to have the baby, and you don't have to do anything to do with us. she said, i'm not asking you to, you know, be its dad. i just want to have the baby. i'll be a single mother. >> kathy says there was, however, one thing kristine did want from rudy. she had read in a baby book for single mothers that she should get a legal document signed by the father stating that he would

never sue for custody. kristine told kathy she had tried numerous times to contact rudy by paging him. finally one day his new wife rochelle responded. >> rochelle called kristine several more times and actually talked. they had like discussions. finally rochelle said, i know you're pregnant. >> kathy said kristine admitted she was but told rochelle if she wanted to know more, speak to rudy. kristine told friends she had no intention of breaking up his marriage. >> rochelle said i'm leaving him. i'm throwing him out of the house. i can't believe he did this. she was irate. and called kristine one last time and said i threw rudy out. you can have him. >> kathy now believes this was the beginning of a set-up for murder. the first step to gaining back kristine's trust and more. >> at this point, he said he was homeless. he had lived with his cousin for a little while in queens but then his cousin threw him out. his parents disowned him. he took showers at the new

jersey dental school where he was a student. >> and he wanted to participate in the baby. he had a change of heart, and so there was nothing more to be fearful of. >> kristine told kathy rudy had agreed to sign the custody document and arranged for them to see a lawyer on a sunday morning in early october. >> i said, kristine, are you crazy? there's no lawyer at 8:00 on a sunday who's going to see you. i said, what's this about? that's not okay. that's not right. you got to tell him no. >> kristine told rudy she wanted to bring her roommate with them. he called back and canceled saying his car had broken down. then on october 12th, a strange incident. rudy was at kristine's house. kristine told kathy they were making vitamin shakes to drink. >> kristine had like maybe not even half and started to feel very sick and have cramping in her stomach and got very dizzy and she kind of blacked out. she was scared at that point that he poisoned her. >> rudy went to the kitchen and washed kristine's glass.

her roommates claim he never washed the dishes before. >> i know he worked at an adhesive plant and he was a biology major and he taught lab at baruch college. so he knows his chemicals. >> she said, will you take me to the emergency room? and he said no, you'll be fine. don't worry about it. >> kathy's husband came and took kristine to the hospital. fortunately she and the baby were fine. two weeks later on october 24th, rudy came back to pick up kristine. she told friends and family she was going to help him clean his new apartment. kristine's roommate said he was acting suspiciously. >> he came upstairs and proceeded to pace. he didn't want to eat. he didn't want to talk. he was just very nervous, like agitated. >> kristine left with rudy, never to be seen again. two days after her disappearance, kristine's close friend, nick, went looking for rudy.

he had been told which street rudy lived on in brooklyn. >> finally, as we walked down here, we looked on the ground, and there was rudy's name. that was his house. >> they were shocked to learn he had not been disowned by his family as he claimed. in fact, rudy was living with his parents in their home with his wife. >> rudy comes out of the car, he has his hands in his pocket. he's very nervous. he's always looking at the ground. so obviously the first thing that came out of my mouth, i go, where's kristine? i also told him, i know you killed kristine. where is she? >> rudy told nick he had taken kristine to a mall, then dropped her off at a health food store several blocks from her house. but it was what rudy didn't say that nick found suspicious. >> he never once said i didn't kill kristine. i don't know what you're talking about.

>> rudy has since stopped talking. he did, however, speak to police briefly ten days after kristine's disappearance. he has not been charged with any crime. >> a lot of the questions at the time that he was interviewed weren't answered because his attorney was present and advised him not to answer certain questions. >> where is kristine? where is kristine? >> kathy, however, would not let rudy's silence deter her. >> i wanted him to keep knowing that she was loved, that she is not forgotten, and he's just not going to get away with it. >> you can't get away with murder. >> when we come back -- >> i called the police because it's been a couple days. and they tell me, oh, she's off in atlantic city somewhere. she would never have left her dog. she would never have left her money. she would have called. [ male announcer ] feeling like a shadow of your former self? c'mon, michael! get in the game! [ male announcer ] don't have the hops for hoops with your buddies? lost your appetite for romance? and your mood is on its way down. you might not just be getting older.

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good afternoon. i'm so glad you could make it to my estate. >> anna marie scivetti vanished with her car on august 19th, 1998. she was last seen leaving work in new jersey around 6:00 p.m. co-workers say she had a tense

telephone conversation that afternoon. >> i called the police because it's been a couple of days. and they tell me, oh, she's off in atlantic city somewhere. >> anna's sister, angel, told police she suspected anna's boyfriend, charlie chorman, of foul play. >> she had made a comment to my aunt that if anything ever happened, it was charlie that was responsible. >> according to friends and family, anna and charlie had a volatile relationship. >> charlie had a history with my sister. it was a typical domestic abuse relationship where he's beating the crap out of her for four years. >> angel believed anna must have come to harm. she had left behind $1,200 in cash at her mother's house. and even more dear, her dog, odie. >> she would have never left her dog. she would have never left her money. she would have called.

>> according to friends, anna was trying to break away from charlie at the time of her disappearance. she was finally getting her life together, they said. she had just started a new job as a customer service representative and was looking for a new apartment. >> from my estimation, she was really trying to break up with him, but he kept luring her back. >> anna met charlie at grant city cars in 1994, where she worked as a driver and he as a mechanic. he told anna he had a son but said he was estranged from his wife. he was different from her bohemian boyfriends. >> she saw stability in him because from the outside he was a regular guy and seemed stable. >> this was san francisco. >> anna capalutti was anna's cousin and next door neighbor. >> the relationship was weird. anna had to call him and tell him her every move. >> she said they fought over

something that was insignificant, and that he would have these outburst of fit and anger out of nowhere. >> that's it. >> the family noticed a dramatic change in anna. >> thank you. >> she had become uncharacteristically submissive and isolated. they believed the abuse was getting worse. >> they started arguing, although they went in the next room. i couldn't make out what they were saying, but i knew voices were being raised. and when she returned back to the kitchen, which is where i was, i noticed hand marks on her neck. and when he left, i asked her about it. and she said, yes, he had his hands around my neck. >> the violence eventually became too much. she obtained a restraining order in september of 1997. >> she called me up the next morning and she was crying. i went over to see how she was

doing, and she showed me the chunks of hair that he pulled out of her head. and she showed me that he dragged her and that he punched her, and she had all these black and blue marks all over her. and i said get rid of this guy. i mean, where did he come from? >> charlie was arrested and behind bars but not for long. >> at 6:00 that morning, he called her up laughing that, you know, almost to say ha, ha, nothing happened to me. he was already out of jail. >> charlie was charged with third-degree assault and harassment. he pled guilty to a lesser charge of disorderly conduct and paid an $85 fine. >> i knew she loved him very much, but i also know there were some dark areas that she did not know. everything was a big mystery about charles chorman. >> this was not the first time charlie had seen the inside of a jail cell.

after anna's disappearance, her family was stunned to learn he had been imprisoned in 1988 for 4 1/2 years for running what police called new york city's largest stolen car ring. anna's family made another shocking discovery. five months after he was released from prison, his sister-in-law, elizabeth bump, vanished without a trace. it was rumored the two were having an affair. >> as soon as he gets out of jail, bump disappears. then he starts dating my sister that following year. he was a control freak, an abuser. boom, she disappears. who else could it be? >> anna's step-dad, phil, went to confront charlie. after a half hour of questions, phil got the impression charlie was not telling him the truth. >> i asked him how it was that he wasn't looking for anna marie after she had disappeared. and he certainly stopped coming around and everything else. and he told me it was because of

the order of protection. he was afraid of the order of protection. he had just finished telling me they had gone up to woodstock for the weekend. >> charlie stopped answering questions. he has never been interviewed by the police, and he is not officially a suspect. >> i knew he was lying to me. i felt that under professional interrogation by detectives, certainly they would pick him apart immediately. but he's hidden behind his lawyer. >> charlie has not been charged in anna's disappearance, and like the kristine kupka case in brooklyn, the police have no physical evidence, no body to prove that a crime has actually been committed. there are only the family's strong suspicions of rudy and charlie's guilt. when we come back -- >> i feel a little confident that something could have been done here. along these lines, along this whole area where we drove. so it feels pretty good around here that you can basically get rid of a body and nobody would

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another body has been found from the italian cruise ship. the death toll is now at 17. they suspended work today due to bad weather. at least 15 people are still missing. british prime minister david cameron meant with karzai in london today. they signed a pledge for ongoing peace efforts in afghanistan ar a withdraw. now back to missing or murdered at the center of any criminal investigation is a dark heart and the iron hand of justice. >> kristine kupka and anna marie scivetti, two missing women whose disappearances brought

their families together in their struggle to prove they were both murdered. though neither of their boyfriends have been arrested, the families believe they are responsible. and as the wait for answers from police becomes unbearable, kathy kupka turns to a private investigator for help. >> in the beginning, we were doing a ton of work at the beginning every day. gil was always there. and then it slowed down. we laid a really good foundation, got everything clear. >> they had to learn everything they could about their prime suspect, rudy persaud. they had to start thinking how he was thinking. rudy had dated kristine briefly. she had gotten pregnant. >> he was desperate. his wife knows. she could be pushing him to get something done quick. so who are we going to ask? rudy is very controlling, you know. he had to know exactly what happened. >> they systematically met people close to him. >> we found out a lot, just about his family. who he hung out with.

who he would trust, who he was around. >> in building their case, they would have to disprove rudy's version of events the day kristine disappeared. he told police he took kristine to queens mall and dropped her off at a health food store near her house. he claims that was the last he saw of her. >> i did a canvass of almost every store, going up and down to see if they saw kristine, see if they saw anything on that day. and nobody saw anything on that day. >> the next step was to figure out where he might have taken her. since october of 1998, they've searched abandoned buildings and spoken to hundreds of people. >> here's what we're going to do. we're going to go to cam rogers' place which is right behind us over here. that's a cousin of rudy's and owns a body shop in queens. they suspect he might have been involved. >> when we were doing our investigation in the beginning, we found out that tim was a close cousin of rudy and could help him under these conditions. >> there's a drive-in place so

rudy could have driven his car inside the garage. that's why no one saw kristine with him, maybe. >> they also discovered that several weeks after kristine disappeared, a four-inch cement slab floor was poured inside the garage. >> there's a possibility she may be buried underneath the garage. i mean, it's not definite, but there's a strong possibility. >> the pressure is really on him, police have been going to see him, he gets really nervous, he may start thinking that he might get in trouble instead of rudy. and he might decide he wants to talk. >> he did not respond to our request for an interview. gil hopes by investigating those around rudy someone will come forward. >> and that's what we're looking for, the final answer. i want somebody to call me. i know that one call is going to come in and they're going to say, listen, this is what i know and it's going to be right on the button. >> we're investigating it as a homicide case. i mean, does the chance exist that she's still alive? but that's like one in a million shot. i mean, most likely she's the

kristine's case. kathy provided them with the information she had uncovered about rudy. >> and he is definitely a suspect. i'm not pointing the finger and saying he definitely did it, but he's definitely a suspect and there are other suspects. >> where is kristine? >> kathy's unwavering commitment was paying off. >> where is kristine? where is kristine? where is kristine? across the harbor in staten island, police had determined the fate of anna scivetti one year after her disappearance. >> our investigative efforts on

the case has led us to the conclusion that she's been the victim of a homicide. >> but still no arrest. her sister angel remains defiant and focused on charlie chorman. >> i spent a whole year researching criminals and domestic violence because i wanted to see who i was dealing with. >> angel said charlie's violent nature became more apparent as she spoke to more of anna's friends. >> i saw him grab her, throw her up against the wall, choke her. put his arms on her neck and left marks where his hands had been. >> as part of his course on investigations, gil alba helps angel to reconstruct what might have happened on anna's final day. >> we're at the place where anna marie and charlie resided for a few months, and then anna finally moved out because she couldn't take the abuse anymore. >> he could have came home after say killing her and come her and changed his clothes and washed his hands and did something.

because there was information that he did change the sink in here after the disappearance. >> police got a warrant to search the apartment seven months later. the results were disappointing for the family. >> to quote one of the inspectors, the place was completely sanitized. there was not a drop of evidence anywhere, not a hair, no samples at all, nothing. >> very much like five years before when charlie's sister-in-law elizabeth bump had disappeared. he and bump were rumored to have had an affair. when police searched her car, no physical evidence was found either. not even her own fingerprints. coincidence or m.o.? >> yeah, let's go take a walk back there. now charlie, if he's going to get rid of your sister's body, it is tough to say, but he'll go someplace where he's familiar with it. >> i don't think he would have

put her here. >> you don't think he would have taken her here? >> no. you know why? because even though it's in the woods -- >> yeah. >> it's still surrounded by a very main thoroughfare, and there's people's backyards. >> there's always the possibility, but the probabilities are lower when you say something like that. here is his house and could her body be there? >> this is a typical dumping area that staten island is surrounded by bodies of water. and here is where people dump their garbage. there are also containers where he could have easily taken her body. >> i don't know. i feel a little confident that something could have been done here.

along these lines, along this whole area where we drove. so it feels pretty good around here that you can basically get rid of a body and nobody would find it. and you could be confident that nobody's going to find it. >> because of angel, she would probably put a stop to his actions, and i'm pretty confident that because of her hard work it's going to pay off at some time. so hopefully she keeps a confident disposition. because i know this is going to be solved and through her. >> when we come back -- >> they want to hear what they want to hear and not the truth. >> your son had nothing to do with her disappearance? >> everybody knows that. you understand? there's no truth in it. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] when you're a true fan... [ exhales ] ...there are no sick days. [ crowd cheering, screaming ] vicks dayquil. defeats 5 cold & flu symptoms. [ snoring ]

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can we talk to you for a minute? mr. chorman, we want to ask you about anna marie scivetti. >> some might argue if rudy persaud and charlie chorman are innocent, why won't they speak out? >> do you have anything to say? do you know what happened to kristine? >> both declined interviews after our repeated requests. however, rudy's father told us his son had nothing to do with kristine kupka's disappearance. >> well, the sisters want to hear what they want to hear and not the truth. >> your son had nothing to do with her disappearance? >> everybody knows that. you understand? there's no truth in it. >> charlie chorman's lawyer also declined to be interviewed but says the allegations of murder are false. he spoke to a local news organization in 1998 shortly

after anna's disappearance. >> there isn't a scintilla of evidence that a crime has been committed or that he committed such a crime. >> we did speak to a prominent defense attorney, joe hurley, about why rudy and charlie may be keeping quiet. hurley represented thomas capano when he was tried for murder following his girlfriend's disappearance. hurley's first rule, never talk to police. >> it's the same thing as deers out in the forest and one of the deers leaves the group and comes back in and says hey, guys, it's hunting season. let's go stand out in the opening. you don't do that. you're a target. you have a target right on your head and a target right on your chest, and it's hunting season and the police are out to get you. >> hurley contends even innocent people will make mistakes when talking to police. >> they're trying to trick you and trap you. no matter how innocent you are, you're a human being, you're frail and you can make mistakes. all it takes is one trip over the wrong log. you find yourself on the wrong end of an indictment. >> rudy and charlie don't have

to talk. the constitution's fifth amendment gives them that right. no person shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself. >> first of all, i believe there's no such thing as the perfect crime. >> john dematto is the attorney for anna's sister, angel. >> as a former prosecutor, i can tell you your legal training, your experience as a prosecutor and your prosecutorial instincts tell you that a crime was committed and it's very likely that this person committed the crime. however, the same experience, the same training and the same instincts tell you that at this point in time, you don't have enough evidence to sustain a verdict of guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. >> if, under pressure, a prosecutor goes to trial and loses, an acquittal is far worse for the family to endure. gil alba counsels them not to rush the process. >> right now, there's not enough

evidence in your case. right now you have to put it together. we're almost there. wait a second. we're almost there. they take this to court and they can't prove it, he is going to walk right by you and laugh in your face. and there's going to be nothing worse than that. >> despite the silence of rudy and charlie, kathy and angel keep the pressure on, waging a psychological war. >> where is kristine? >> we do demonstrations in front of his home. we go to his dental school. and let people know what's going on. we do mailings. we're just out there letting people know what rudy did. >> both families have taken out large billboards in their neighborhoods. >> he has to pass it every day. so that's a little reminder. that's a little reminder. mr. chorman, you know, everybody is waiting and watching, and we're not going to forget anna. i'm not going to let my sister die in vain.

>> you tell the client from the very beginning, you are going to become hannibal lecter or worse, expect that. >> hurley tells clients to expect to be legally stalked. but counsels them never to sue because once in the courtroom, they'll be faced with the questions they were trying to avoid. >> the defendant in that matter is going to say we are not maliciously trying to harm anybody. we are using our first amendment rights to point out something that we believe in. the moment that you have that issue, then they will be entitled to ask rudy, rudy, i think you killed ms. kupka. where were you the night she went missing? >> kathy and angel know rudy and charlie may never talk. but they're hoping their efforts will provide a break in the case. >> the fundamental basic investigation process is just completed.

so all the groundwork is laid there. personally, i feel that there's somebody out there who wants to talk to either myself or the police, and i'm pretty certain that person's going to come forward. >> when we come back -- >> there was a case in ohio, which you guys can research it, the guy killed his girlfriend. the guy prosecuted him. no body, no weapons, no nothing. prosecuted him, and they found him guilty. so nowadays there's more hope in that. >> carrie was very outgoing, very active, friendly. she was beautiful. >> i believe that there would be a lot of people that questioned whether we could prove a case without a body. [ male announcer ] feeling like a shadow of your former self? c'mon, michael! get in the game! [ male announcer ] don't have the hops for hoops with your buddies? lost your appetite for romance? and your mood is on its way down. you might not just be getting older. you might have a treatable condition

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prosecutors will often tell you no body, no crime. but the conviction of an ohio man for the murder of his girlfriend gave new hope to kathy kupka and angel back in new york city whose sisters have disappeared. retired detective gil alba uses the ohio case in his college course on the art of an investigation. >> angel, okay. there was a case in ohio, which you guys can research it. the guy killed his girlfriend. the guy prosecuted him, no body, no weapons, no nothing. prosecuted him and found him guilty. so there's hope. nowadays there's more hope in that. >> the search for 22-year-old carrie culberson has become an obsession for blanchester, ohio. a small rural town of 4,600 people.

>> carrie always called if she wasn't going to come home. so i knew there was more to it. >> carrie's mother, debby culberson, feared the worst when her daughter did not return home the night of august 29, 1996. >> from the moment that i discovered she was missing, i knew that vince was involved. >> carrie and her boyfriend of two years, vince doan, had a tumultuous relationship. >> i thought maybe she had been held captive by vince because he had done that one other time. he tied her up in this barn several months before. >> when we were first informed, we obviously did not believe we had any kind of a case at all of of any nature. >> bill peel is the clinton county prosecutor who investigated carrie's disappearance. >> but certainly, a person in an automobile in blanchester, ohio, doesn't disappear very frequently. >> the police launched a formal investigation. >> carrie was very outgoing,

very active, friendly. she was beautiful. she was just a happy person, fun to be around. >> vince and carrie began dating several years after they graduated from blanchester high school. in the months before her disappearance, she had told friends it was time to break ties with vince. she considered moving away, and the day before she disappeared she took a placement test for nursing school in north carolina. >> we determined that it was likely that we only had one true suspect. >> vince doan. his defense attorney contends he was unfairly targeted. >> it was the public outcry that they needed a suspect. they needed somebody charged. i'm sure that put pressure on the prosecution. vince doan was the most logical suspect. >> vince was charged with carrie's murder. he pled not guilty. >> i believe that there would be

a lot of people that questioned whether we could prove a case without a body. >> a case without any dna, any fingerprints, footprints, hairs, anything like that. if i were a prosecutor, i'd stay away from it. because if a jury follows the rule of law, guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, they're going to acquit the person. >> prosecutor peel's worst nightmare. >> if we were unsuccessful in the prosecution and he were acquitted, he could then bring her body in and provide it to law enforcement and he would be in a situation where he would have completed the crime and never would have to stand trial for it. >> it's our contention that they still didn't have the evidence that our system of justice would require a conviction. >> many believed bill peel was taking too big a risk. >> at this time the jury has returned a verdict. the verdict they have returned is that the defendant receive life imprisonment without parole. >> the risk paid off. the prosecution had built a

convincing case of circumstantial evidence. no direct physical evidence, only witness testimony that merely implied vince's guilt. testimony like that of vince's sister-in-law who said vince came to her house to see his brother very late the night carrie disappeared. >> what did you see? >> blood. >> where did you see blood? >> his chest, his arms, it was on his pants. >> how much blood? >> it was covered, like smeared. he was covered on his arms, on his chest and then on his pants. >> according to jurors, the most powerful testimony was about the domestic abuse carrie had endured during her relationship with vince. >> she had to go to the hospital for a skull fracture, bruised kidneys, both eyes were blackened, her lips were swelled. her whole head and face were swelled. >> there's no question in my mind that what got the

conviction was the series of witnesses paraded on by the prosecution that vince hit her before, vince beat her before, vince did this. so, therefore, he must have killed her. >> vince doan never took the stand and maintains his innocence to this day. >> vince doan has a fifth amendment right not to testify. jurors are supposed to give him that right, and they're supposed to not draw any inferences against that. >> we the jury in this case duly impanelled, sworn and affirmed, find the defendant, vincent doan, guilty of aggravated murder as contained in count two of the indictment. >> but it was a hollow victory for the culberson family. >> yes, we did convict the man who took my daughter's life, but yet we still didn't have what we wanted most and that was carrie. >> even though this case in ohio

is providing kathy and angel some hope that rudy and charlie might one day be brought to trial, there's no justice that will compensate their loss. >> if i had to choose kristine's body or rudy in jail, i'd much rather find kristine and take care of her. >> as far as i'm concerned he won. he robbed my sister of her life. she was 34 years old. she had her whole life ahead of her. >> neither charlie nor rudy has been charged with any crime in connection with the disappearance of anna or kristine. we tried repeatedly to contact both men as well as their lawyers or others who might speak on their behalf. all declined to comment or failed to return our calls. as for angel and kathy, they continue their fight. they're now pushing for new police guidelines for missing persons, eliminating the waiting period before investigating a case and assigning detectives with specialized training. that's our report for tonight. thanks for watching. i'm john seigenthaler