to do with knowing too much about a notorious scandal, but a victim simply of an all consuming jealousy. >> that's all for edition of date line. thank you for watching. >> this is date line. >> oh, please. god. why? >> it is the case that stunned parents everywhere, the dad whose young son died in the car. >> apparently he forgot the child was in the car seat in the back and went to work. >> any parent could put themselves in that situation. full denial. >> then the jaw-dropping news, police said it was murder.

>> there was far more to the story that we were beginning to realize. this guy clearly was leading a double life. >> could any parent ever do this on purpose? inside this landmark case. >> there were a whole lot of secrets about to be revealed. >> yes, ma'am. ross and leanne harris seemingly picture perfect world was shattered when their toddler, cooper, was left in a car for seven hours and died of overheat. was it a horrific mistake or murder? >> reporter: you're watching as a police cruiser races to an atlanta parking lot. a call for help has come over the radio.

a child not breathing. he had been found in the back seat of a hot car. every year an average of 37 children die from heat stroke after being forgotten or left behind in cars in the heat of the sun. and parents pay the ultimate price for lives that are busy, distracted, sometimes overwhelming. police were not able to save 22 month old cooper harris in 2014 and his death in a hot car made headlines nationwide. >> the death of a georgia toddler. >> but there was something different about cooper's story, something darker. because cooper's dad, ross harris ended up being charged with the crime, accused not of forgetting cooper but of murdering him and his murder weapon of choice prosecutors said was a hot car. >> some disturbing news --

>> but even if you have seen the headlines there is a lot more to the story you may not know. we will take you to the scene and show you surveillance footage from the day and show you the evidence. >> it sent chills down our spine. >> we will talk to insiders who never have spoken out before. they say ross harris was not a killer. >> was he a proud dad? >> so proud. >> he loved that boy. >> a father that ended up on trial for an unimaginable crime. >> the entire case was a house of cards. >> and just like the people around him you can decide is this the face of a dad that just made the worse mistake of his life or a murderer.

ross harris grew up in tuscaloosa, alabama and that is where his close friend, billy kirkpatrick knew him. >> he is a massive dork. >> reporter: billy said that ross was a lot of fun to be around. he remembers one beach holiday in particular. >> ross took his guitar, walked up to people on the beach and started conversations. that's who he is. >> but ross seemed to settle down when he met his wife, leanna. she encouraged him to get his college degree. his cousin, katie, said she made ross want to be a better man. >> we said that without leanna ross would have been a lost little puppy. >> after six years of marriage they moved to atlanta when ross was offered a job as a web developer at home depot and cooper was born a few months later. >> what was it like for you the first time that you saw cooper?

>> man, he was so beautiful. blonde hair. blue eyes. just tiny little perfection. >> i had this vision of, you know, ross and cooper on the couch. ross is just goofing around with him and getting on the floor with him. it was hilarious. >> any extra thing that cooper could do and any milestone that he would share it with everyone. one of the conversations that i had with ross, he said that it was so cool that cooper knew his name. he loves to yell it at me. instead of saying dad he would just yell ross at him all the time. >> it was ross who took cooper to day care most mornings. that was where leanna expected to pick him up june 18th, 2014. here she is arriving at the day care. >> she got to the day care and cooper wasn't there. >> leanna called ross to see if there was a mix up but he didn't

pick up and then she had a worrying thought. maybe ross accidentally left cooper at home. >> she texted her neighbor asking her to go and look. she has a key to the apartment. go and look and see if he is there. maybe the house will be torn up. a toddler tornado. but he will be there. obviously he wasn't. >> she rushed over to ross' office to see if cooper was there and it was at home depot a police officer tracked her down. the conversation was recorded as he gave her the worst possible news. >> your child is deceased. i am very sorry to have to tell you that. >> where is my husband? >> up at our headquarters right now. >> the officer explained ross never took coop toer to day car that day and left cooper in the car for seven hours in the georgia heat.

>> has he ever done anything like that? >> no. >> do you know what might have made him forget about it? >> no. >> any parent could put themselves in that situation with their own child. it is so hard to fathom being in a place like that. >> i think she was in full denial. i am going to wake up and it will be gone. >> leanna was take tone police headquarters and ross there was in an interview room telling police what happened. but something about ross harris and his story wasn't adding up. >> what really happened that morning? was it a tragic accident or something far more sinister? coming up -- >> oh, please, god. why? >> questions about a father's story. >> the antennas went up on the

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>> ross harris sat alone in the place they call the box. an interview room at the cobb county police department. >> oh, god. why? >> he could barely keep still as he waited for detectives to question him about the death of his son, cooper.

he had a horrible story to tell. the prosecutor was brought in early on. >> the main goal in a case like this is to get a timeline of the events. >> ross told detectives the morning had begun like many others. leanna set off to work early and ross decided to stop for breakfast at chick-fil-a near his office. >> approximately two to three times a month together. >> after they ate ross said he strapped cooper into the car seat. i gave him a kiss. he gave me a kiss. what i do every time. it's my routine. today, just got careless. i got in my car. i said i was going from here to here and i went straight to work. >> ross said he simply had forgotten to take coop tore day care. >> i went to work as if he

wasn't even in the back and probably didn't hear him because he falls asleep easily when you drive the car. >> he said he didn't realize what he had done until hours later when he got in and started driving. >> when i looked to my right to change lanes. >> ross said that he went flying into the closest parking lot and pulled a lifeless cooper out of the car. a bystander called 9-1-1. >> there is a baby on the are ground. >> dashcam video from the police cruiser captured ross at the scene minutes later pacing, hands on the head. audio of ross exploding in anger at police. they cuffed him and put him in a patrol car to cool off and this was the moment police started to

wonder about the way that ross was behaved. he cried out one moment. then the next moment he seemed calm. at the police station detectives that interviewed ross thought his demeanor seemed a bit strange. they noticed he never shed a tear in front of them and instead was casual as they searched his pockets. >> okay. yeah. >> even joking. >> english is your primary language. >> it is. >> prosecutor jesse evans. >> you said whatever the reaction is that you are supposed to have, that ain't it. >> what really got detectives attention is how much ross knew about children dying in hot cars. >> the worst fear for me is to leave my son in a hot car. even if you have the windows

down. regardless, you know i am going to show you how hot it got in the car. >> the antennas went up on the detectives when they heard that. >> detectives were not in the room when ross was finally reunited with leanna but the cameras rolled and ross showed a different emotion to his wife. >> ross pulled himself together and told leanna his story just like police. >> i turned out to chick-fil-a and i just went to work. like it was nothing. he wasn't making a sound, you know. i think he fell asleep. >> he had comfort for leanna too. >> i know he is in heaven right now. >> i know he is.

>> it was something else ross told leanna. >> he said that he was dreading how cooper was going to look when he got him out. almost like he knew what was there. he knew what was going to be found. >> they were also struck by how calm leanna seemed to be. >> did you say too much? >> detectives wondered what she meant. they came back into the room and told ross he wasn't going home. >> he's going to jail. he's being charged. >> investigators thought they had enough to prove ross had been negligent causing the death of his son, and their investigation was just beginning. later that night when katie reached leanna on her phone and told her she was sitting outside

on the sidewalk. >> she told me as long as she sat outside she could pretend it wasn't happening. once she goes inside there is an empty bedroom. empty crib, his toys, pictures, it's not real if she doesn't go inside. >> katie said that leanna was numb without her child and husband. >> did she go through that emotion. i am angry at you. >> i don't know if she was ever angry at him. >> you go through that as a parent. what if my spouse did that. would i be able to understand. >> she is such a composed woman. her faith, i don't think would letter be angry at him for something he did not do intentionally. >> as cooper's family began to grieve detectives started to build their case against ross harris, and what they found convinced them that this was no simple case of negligence. they believed that this was

premeditated murder. >> coming up -- >> did he lie? >> absolutely lied. >> there are a whole lot of secrets about to be revealed? >> yes, ma'am. >> when dateline continues.

after his son, cooper, died from being left in a hot car ross harris was brought in for questioning. even though he was apologetic to

his wife authorities were not convinced. he may have been negligent but were his actions intentional. here again is andrea king. ♪ >> reporter: the day after cooper's death ross harris sat in jail, his family and friends were in shock. billy was a pallbearer at cooper's funeral. >> i had to carry that little casket, you know. >> katie said that the family grieved in few view of the media. >> i felt like it was a circus and we were the monkeys. everybody was watching us. >> police were watching too. prosecutor susan treadway. >> we have to review all of the

evidence to see where it leads us. >> investigators pulled surveillance from the chick-fil-a restaurant where ross said he took cooper for breakfast. there they were, father and son. >> this looks like a father and son grabbing breakfast, not a child killer waiting to carry out his crime. >> i would say completely the contrary. i looked at the video and i thought that it seemed very out of the ordinary, in particular the way he was introducing cooper to some of the worker there is and how they described it to us like he was putting on a show, like going out of his way to do that. >> maybe more interesting prosecutor jesse evans said is what it showed about cooper. >> ross told detectives cooper was most likely asleep in the car and that is why he forgot about him. but detectives were skeptical. the entire drive from the restaurant to ross' office was

only about a half mile. >> there is something else that was interesting, how quickly he would have forgotten cooper if it happened the way that he said. we decided to retrace his route. making a right out of the chick-fil-a parking lot and have to cross a lane of troaffic to get to this u-turn. he made it quickly and headed towards the intersection up here. this is a critical intersection coming up. it was here ross had to make a decision. going left would have taken him to cooper's day care and going straight on would have taken him to work. that means he forgot cooper was in the car two minutes after strapping him in the car and giving him a kiss. >> dr. david diamond is a neuroscientist at the university of south florida and for a decade he studied hundreds of

cases of children that died in hot cars. >> in a recent case in australia, a mother drove one block, a 30-second drive and in a matter of brief time forgot her child was in the car. >> there is actually a name for this. >> forgotten baby syndrome. it is a phenomenon in which normal attentive and loving parents lose awareness that their child is in the car. >> diamond said that it could happen to anyone. distraction and exhaustion play a role. once the child is forgotten, the brain plays a dangerous trick. >> what is remarkable about the cases is that the parents create an artificial memory that the children are actually at day care. they are safe. >> but in this case investigators were increasingly convinced that cooper's death had nothing to do with a slip of the mind. >> there is a lot made of how

can you forget something that quickly. i don't know what was going through this man's mind. i do know i have five children, and i forget things in an instant. it just happens. is it fair to say, oh, he would not be able to forget something so fast? >> this is something where if you look at it alone, can somebody forget something that fast? is it possible? yes. then you look at the location of the car seat and the other factors together and that showed us that he could not have. >> investigators noted that cooper's car seat was inches from the driver's seat and when they looked at surveillance video from ross' parking lot they saw this. video of ross backing up before he parked and were sure ross must have seen cooper when he backed up. >> we are in the same type of car that ross harris is driving and place the same model of car seat in the same spot where cooper was sitting. if i turn around i can definitely see it.

if i use my mirrors to back up, i can't. >> and there was another detail from home depot revealed. ross had gone to lunch with friends. there he is getting picked up. look here. nearly an hour later there he is getting dropped off at his car, opens the driver's door, throws a box of light bulbs in the front seat. he never told detectives about going back to the car the same day. did he lie about going to the car? >> i think you look at it he absolutely lied about it. >> investigators were sure that ross was hiding something. they believed there was no way he could have opened the door and missed his son in the back seat of the car. >> did you consider the possibility maybe he just did throw the light bulbs in there and didn't see cooper? >> absolutely. but when you look at everything else in the case, absolutely not. >> and that everything else included what investigators

uncovered on ross' cell phone. >> there were a lot of secrets about to be revealed. >> yes, ma'am. >> coming up. >> did you engage in sexual acts with him? >> yes, three different occasions. >> this guy was clearly leading a double life. >> when date line continues. hpe. now rudy's 13, and going on 3. ♪ why accept it frompt an incompyour allergy pills?e else. flonase sensimist. nothing stronger. nothing gentler. nothing lasts longer. flonase sensimist. 24 hour non-drowsy allergy relief with this one little nexgard chew comes the confidence, you're doing what's right, to protect your dog from fleas and ticks for a full month. it's the #1 vet recommended protection. and it's safe for puppies. nexgard. what one little chew can do.

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>> two trump administration officials have been infected with coronavirus according to the white house. vice pence press secretary and president trump's vallet have tested positive for the virus. governor gavin newsom signed a order to send all voters mail-in ballo ballots. now back to dateline. welcome back to dateline.

investigators probing the hot car death of cooper harris discovered video evidence proved his father, ross, would have known cooper was still in the car. now secrets about ross' personal life were about to be revealed. surprising details that could provide a glimpse into a possible motive for murder. >> police were suspicious of ross harris from the moment they met him on the first terrible day. but their next discovery would turn the strange case into an explosive one. police seized his phone and computers and that is when they found the photos and texts. >> this guy clearly was leading a double life. >> investigators found a sordid stash of sexually explicit online chats between ross and a number of women, one as young as 15 and some of the sexual chats

happened on the day that cooper died. >> he was communicating with women ten minutes after he left cooper. >> yes. he was messaging at least six different women that day. asking for photographs. >> prosecutors believed that ross harris was in the grips of an escalating obsession with sex and ross wanted so badly to be rid of the constraints of family and father hood that he decided to kill his own child. >> does being a creep with women make him a child killer? >> absolutely not. in this case it showed us the extent to which he was living this other life and how it had overtaken in his life what was important to him. >> they threw the book at him. ross was indicted for malice murder, the first person ever accused of using a hot car to intentionally kill a child. the case became a media

sensation with more revelations. investigators said that ross had done internet research on hot car death and even visited an online forum for people interested in living a child-free life. a monstrous portrait was emerging but ross' friends were still convinced he never meant to hurt cooper. >> did you ever hear ross get frustrated with cooper? >> no. >> treat him like he was a burden at times? >> no. >> there are times kids can get on our nerves. >> no. no. there were times you definitely need a break, okay. but he loved that boy. >> ross harris' family enlisted the help of a defense attorney and his team. >> the entire case was a house of cards. we felt that despite public sentiment and despite the bravado of the state and the

charges we felt extremely confident that house of cards was going to collapse in trial. >> in october 2016, more than two years after the death of his son ross harris went on trial for murder. chuck warren, the lead prosecutor told the jury why ross' story never added up. the chick-fil-a video showed cooper wide awake. the drive was too short to forget a toddler. the car seat was inches behind ross and at the office there was a photo of cooper and gift from cooper and sent a text to leanna in the afternoon about cooper. when are you getting my buddy it said. none of that jogged his memory? >> there was cue after cue after cue that if he actually had forgotten would have triggered something. then the prosecution showed what

it believed was powerful evidence ross had to have known cooper was in the back seat. the video of ross returning to the car. why would ross harris return to the scene of the crime? >> we know first of all, doing this job enough people do return to the scene of the crime. once he went into the car he realized the child was still alive or was dead and he couldn't take what he had done and he threw the light bulbs. >> prosecutors dissected ross' behavior later that day. witnesses at the scene testified that his reactions were off. >> did he ever ask to be with the child or hold the child? >> not that i recollect. >> prosecutors pointed out that when ross got into the patrol car he complained of all things the heat in the back seat. and while jurors heard that ross seemed disconnected from his son's death, they also heard he was obsessed with the sexual contacts he made outside his

marriage, a parade of women took the stand. a woman ross said he was in love with and another he met at his home. >> we had sex. >> and a prostitute. >> did you engage in sexual acts with him in may. >> yes. on three different occasions. >> this is one of the six women ross was communicating with the day he said he forgot cooper. >> 5:46 a.m. within 17 seconds of your messages did he respond? >> he did. >> did you have to consider that maybe all of these women were causing a distraction for ross which then led to what happened versus that the women were actually a motive? >> absolutely. but when you look closely at the content of the messages and what is going back and forth you are trying to prove to a jury that the person had an intent in his mind to kill a child. you have to know what they are made of. >> prosecutors say that one

message in particular said it all. just minutes before ross strapped cooper into his car seat for the last time he messaged a woman on an app called whisper and typed this. i love my son and all but we both need escapes. >> it sent chills down our spines knowing that we were in the head of a murderer. >> nonsense according to the defense. >> if he is in the throws of committing a heinous murder, is he really going to announce that by texting it through this application? right in the middle of doing it? >> ross' defense team said the entire case against him was outrageous, built on evidence that was twisted by prosecutors to make him look like a killer. they say the message about escape for instance was about hanging out with friends, not killing his son. >> if you take the one message in isolation, you can make it mean all kinds of things. >> another case in point that

child-free website that ross supposedly visited, he found it repulsive. >> the link was sent to him by a friend in jest. ross goes to the link. looks at it. he responded grossness. >> and the defense says that there was more misinformation released early on, like the story about ross researching hot car deaths. ross clicked on one video posted on a popular website about pets in hot cars but the defense said that was hardly research. a computer expert said ross never actively searched for information on hot car deaths. >> i did not see him searching for anything at any point in time that would have been how to kill the child in the car or hot car deaths or anything like that. >> as far as his return to the car that day the defense said that ross had no idea his son was in the back seat and never glanced inside as he tossed the

light bulbs on to the front seat. >> his head never got below the roof of the car. he was turning in the other direction. >> what about the reminders during the day. >> shouldn't one of those have triggered his mind to say that, wait, cooper. where is cooper? >> i think that is a fair question to ask. if ross had forgotten that he had a son, seeing a picture of cooper would have reminded him he had a son. he didn't forget that he had a son. once ross slipped into his workday he had every reason to believe that cooper was at the day care. >> as for the witnesses that say ross seemed detached. they didn't know him. they called people that did like his friend, billy. >> in my opinion, was incredibly loving and doed iting.

>> a colleague from home depot. >> all he would talk about. >> even prosecution witnesses vouched for ross as a good dad. >> he would spend quality time with him and interacting with him during the activities. >> some of the women that testified about the prosecution about sexting with ross, even they agreed he seemed to love his kid. >> what would he say about his son? >> that he was great and that he loved his son. >> talked about how much he loved him and how he would never do anything to hurt him. that kind of thing. >> the woman that should have known ross harris the best was about to take the stand and she had something to say about the man that betrayed her and left her son to die and it may be the last thing that you would expect to hear. >> coming up -- >> cooper was the sweetest little boy. cooper's mom tells her story. >> i just went into a panic. he ruined my life.

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>> leanna harris had lost so much. her child and her life as she has known it. by the time that ross went on trial leanna heard all of the revelations she could stand and divorced him. if anyone had a reason to hate ross and be angry at ross and not get up on the witness stand

for ross it was her but yet she did. >> because she believed 100% it wasn't intentional. >> there she was in court, not condemning ross but defending him. >> tell the folks a little bit about cooper. >> cooper was the sweetest little boy. he had so much life in him. he was everything to me. >> and everything to ross too she testified, as the jury watched family videos of father and son. >> that is them in our bed. they would just -- that is a game they would play. >> leanna said that ross was the type of dad that would always play at the park.

and made goofy videos of his son at snack time. >> did ross love this little boy? >> yes he did, very much. >> did you ever see ross express anger or hatred or malice towards his son ever? >> never. >> and then came the terrible day, the courtroom was silent as leanna described arriving at cooper's day care and being told he wasn't there. she said he didn't come today. i just kind of went into a panic. it didn't make sense. cooper was supposed to be at day care. i was supposed to be the one to pick him up. it didn't make sense. the only thing that made sense

to me based on everything that i knew that day is that ross must have left him in the car. >> it made sense because she knew ross so well. he could be forgetful. when she saw the video of him with police she recognized that ross too. >> this morning we woke up. chatting away. >> he would talk to everybody very outgoing and very vocal. he never met a stranger. >> but leanna also told the jury when how ross first looked at the police station that he was in terrible pain. >> it was very difficult to see him like that. >> this was the true face of ross' grief and guilt the defense said. leanna explained to the jury why she asked ross that question

that made investigators so suspicious. >> i couldn't understand what was happening. i didn't understand why he was being charged. and the only thing that i could think in my head is what did you s say. so those words came out. >> as for the prosecution theory that ross wanted to escape his family for a secret life, leanna said it wasn't true. she had known for years that ross had a problem. >> i came home from work one day and he told me that he had a problem with pornography. two years after that, probably i found a message on his phone that i guess you would describe it as sexting. >> she said they worked hard to save the marriage and if ross wanted out all he had to do was ask. >> i just very bluntly one night said do you want a divorce.

do you? if you want a divorce you can have it. i will give it to you if that is what you want. i believe his answer back to me was that is the last thing that i want. >> prosecutors told them there was no evidence leanna knew what her husband was planning and suggested she didn't know her husband at all. >> you agree there is a whole part of his life you had no clue about. >> i would agree i did not know the depth. >> have you read the text messages from these other women? >> no. i have no reason to have read them. >> okay. so if he is saying things to a 15-year-old girl you would not think that is something different than the way he portrayed himself to you? >> i think it's horrible. >> the prosecutor pointed out that ross lied to her all the time. >> did you know that he actually

called a prostitute and went to have sex with her? >> i didn't know that. >> humiliating as it was, she stuck it out for nearly two days of testimony. >> that woman had every reason in the world to hate ross harris and despite all of that she was willing to testify for him because she knew what the truth was. >> and then in his final question to leanna, ross' attorney wanted to make something clear. she there was for one reason only. she believed what happened to cooper was a mistake and not a crime and now she was ready to walk away. >> how do you feel about your ex-husband? >> he ruined my life. just ruined my life. i am humiliated. i may never trust anybody again the way that i did. if i never see him again after this day that is fine.

>> nothing further, jmudge. >> ross harris is an innocent man. >> the jury has itself verdict when dateline continues. with this one little nexgard chew comes the confidence, you're doing what's right, to protect your dog from fleas and ticks for a full month. and it's the only chew, fda approved to prevent infections that cause lyme disease. nexgard. what one little chew can do. you have power over pain, so the whole world looks different. the unbeatable strength of advil. what pain? you know your kid doesn't step around puddles. and you know cheap leaky diapers are an amateur move. you need luvs pro-level protection. luvs. parent like a pro.

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the prosecution presented a compelling case pointing towards his guilt. what would the jury decide? here with the conclusion to the story. >> ross harris was about to have his future decided by 12 strangers. how were you feeling when they went out to deliberate? >> i didn't think there was any chance of coming back with guilty. >> ross' cousin, katie, said nothing she had seen at trial convinced her. >> it will never come out of my mouth. it will never come out of my mouth. >> ross' best friend, billy, was equally confident. >> the prosecution did not do well at all. they did not prove motive. they did not get close to it. i feel like the witnesses could

have been defense witnesses. >> the jury took their time to deliberate the charges. multiple counts of child cruelty and murder and sexually exchanging explicit images with a minor. on the fourth day word came. a verdict. >> we the jury find the defendant guilty. >> guilty on all counts. i am sure he will never forget that moment. it is ludicrous. it sinatraa sanity. what do you say to the jury? >> i am disappointed. i don't feel like they did their job. >> none of the jurors would speak to us on camera but one told us they paid close attention to the video that showed ross harris returning to his car at lunchtime and the jury wanted to re-examine the video during deliberations and told us in his heart of hearts he believes ross harris meant to

kill his son. the prosecution said the jury got it completely right. but hearing the word guilty was no cause for celebration. >> what i want to hear the most is we can bring cooper back. you can't get that. >> three weeks later a judge sentenced ross hair toys life in prison. >> sentence to the court is life to serve in confinement without parole. >> his defense team already filed an appeal arguing among other things the judge never should have allowed all of that testimony about sex into the murder trial, and the defense says that inaccurate information released early on about ross' computer searches made it impossible for him to get a fair trial. >> my personal belief, not lawyer talk, our personal belief in knowing ross and knowing this case better than anybody in the world, ross harris is an innocent man. >> are you going to keep

fighting? >> this case is far from over. >> having seen the appeal, vic reynolds believes that it won't change the outcome. >> i have complete confidence in the jury's verdict and in the evidence that was presented and i believe when the day comes this verdict will be affirmed. >> but ross harris' supporters say that there is another tragedy in all of this. and they believe the conviction will make things worse for parents that make similar, terrible mistakes. >> this sets the precedent that anyone that does this is a monster. that is not the case. this really can happen to anyone. >> cooper. >> cooper's family may never stop grieving for the little boy who just learned to say his dad's name, loved had his trucks and loved to smile. >> i don't wahow do you want co legacy to be?

>> that he was loved. he was very loved. by everyone that knew him. especially his parents. >> that's all for this edition of "dateline." i'm craig melvin. thanks for watching. i'm craig melvin, i'm natalie morales, this is "dateline." there's this pile of leaves, and it's where everything else is clear and flat. my heart is racing a million miles an hour. i was using my boots to move leaves, and that's when i screamed this blood-curdling scream. >> nique leili, a corporate executive who made time for romance and her three daughters. >> she was the best mom. >> then she disappeared.