this is date line. >> one of the investigators brought somebody over to me saying this is our -- because all of the massive police presence. they said they believed that he had been murdered. >> dad of 7 cared deeply about his kids. >> he was a loving man. a provider. warm. >> so, it was puzzling and alarming when he vanished. >> to say craig is not here. i said that is weird.

>> i didn't know what was happening. >> i said something was wrong. i did not know how long. >> a disturbing discovery in the basement. >> it appeared there was an ambush. >> revelations about craig's wife. >> he did not want to believe that there was a romantic relationship between them. it became painfully obvious there was rmpt a. >> two young men acting strangely. >> the victims two sons. >> finally a string of security videos would lay bare the bone-chilling truth. >> diabolical plan is forming. >> i was stunned. absolutely stunned. >> i remember holding him, crying. >> this is a family divided like no other. >> yeah.

hello and welcome to date line. they appeared to be a tight knit family but when they told they were divorcing it became quite a surprise. craig went missing and then more surprises. the family secret, dark as they come. >> this is devil's bathtub formed by glaciers milen ia ago. >> sirens in my head. red lights going off in my head. >> the discovery would tell the tale of an all-american family torn apart and a twisted loyalty

hard to comprehend. >> it was like hitting a brick wall and life just stopped. >> this is the ultimate story of betrayal. >> yes. >> pittsburgh, new york. big houses. big families. top ranked schools that make the people that move here want to stick around. >> in this community you are growing up in a bubble. the community is a bubble. >> the rideout family lived in that bubble. chelsea dated the oldest boy, colin. >> i remember the first time i went over to his house in high school. he was cooking dinner. man, that's pretty cool. >> very responsible. >> yeah. that was one of the reasons why i fell in love with him. he loved his family. >> a big one, three girls, four

boys. the household was always bustling, family dinner and holidays and craig and laura embraced the chaos. this is craig's sister. >> clearly they liked being parents. they were enjoying this. >> right. >> seven kids. >> seven kids. >> dad, craig, worked as a computer programmer and spent time mentoring kid. >> craig is a personalable person. you would meet him and you would like him. >> p.j. was craig's best friend. p.j. was there when craig fell in love with laura. >> laura is compassionate and really intelligent. she had a double major in physics andengish 4.0. >> the kids were smart, hard working and articulate. family life took a toll on craig and laura's marriage.

money was tight. >> it circles back, i believe, to financial hardships. >> it is understandable. seven children. bills. these are real life issues. >> problems. >> craig and laura separated in 2014. craig took it really hard. >> he sent an e-mail to me saying well it looks like i am getting divorced. i don't think i can talk about it without crying. >> p.j. said he wasn't surprised to see the marriage dissolve. >> it is a feel. a lot of positives that came out of the relationship but a lot of negatives. >> older son, college, away at college when his parents split. >> i asked if he would be okay. he said i am going to be okay i have you. i am more concerned making sure my siblings are okay. >> he decided to put family first and help out his mother.

he moved back to rochester and putting aside college and his goal of becoming a navy seal. >> he left his dream to put his siblings first. >> what will be the custody arrangement? >> older kids were free to make their own choice. custody that is sticky with the two youngest kids. >> the divorce still wasn't final in the summer of 2016 and robin says there was tension over the shared custody of the 6 and 12-year-old kids but craig said he was trying to make the best of a difficult situation. >> one of the phrases he used most recently was that he saw light at the end of the tunnel but it was stressing him out. >> and on top of that something weird happened to craig that summer. someone broke into the townhouse where he recently moved. thought it it was no big deal, maybe one of his sons playing a prank but his sister was worried

and urged him to report it to police. >> i wake up at midnight with a sharp pain in my arm. i jump up. this will sound crazy. a hooded black figure, not a black man was running out of the room. my blackberry was taken that night. >> robin made a point to talk to her brother every day. july 19th, a few days after the break-in was no exception. >> said i will call you in the morning and check on you and the kids. >> morning came and craig wasn't returning robin's calls. >> if he had been in a meeting and felt his phone go off he would have sent a response in a meeting call you later. >> concerned, robin decided to pay a visit to craig's townhouse and inside the house the beginning of a dark family drama that could never be unwritten.

>> i know something is wrong. i don't know how wrong. >> what was going on with craig? the discovery in the basement would provide an ominous clue. what they found next would change everything. >> this is a big moment in the case. >> it is. >> when date line continues. the. the feeling of freedom that drives us to go out and discover.. at chevy, we're committed to getting you there with confidence and peace of mind. that's why your chevy clean dealers commit to using enhanced vehicle cleaning measures with cdc-approved cleansers. if you need a new equinox, get 0% apr for 72 months or, four thousand five hundred dollars cash allowance on most models. you may even shop online and take delivery at home where available. so you can find new roads with confidence. and take delivery at home where available. with this one little nexgard chew comes the confidence, you're doing what's right, to protect your dog

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robin could not imagine where her brother, craig was. it was a warm summer morning, wednesday, july 20, 2016. >> you can't reach him at work or home. >> i am getting no response. >> that break-in was fresh in robin's mind when she decided to leave work at lunch heading to craig's townhouse. laura was there and she couldn't find him either. >> she said i would not be long until someone came looking for him. i don't know where he is. >> he said it was craig's night with the two youngest children but the kids texted her saying dad wasn't there when he woke up and colin came over to get them. >> colin was always picking up the siblings. >> robin decided to look around her brother's house and went upstairs to the bedroom. the door was locked. >> i thought that was really

odd. >> did you worry he might be in the bedroom. >> i was. >> exactly what she didn't know. she called 9-1-1. >> my brother hasn't been answering texts or cell phone calls or e-mails and i could be making a mountain out of a mole hill. >> deputies arrived at craigs but stayed outside and told robin they needed a warrant to search the house. after all her brother was a grown man and this was his private property. dave bolton was one of the investigators. >> she called a number of times and this made her nervous not being able to get ahold of him on e-mail or text. >> laura went home but came back to the townhouse with the two kids to see what was going on. >> did she express she had any idea where craig might be? >> no.

>> she said craig was home when the kids were dropped off the night before. >> you are a little concerned about him? >> his personality wouldn't be -- >> the investigator asked the kids some questions. first the 6-year-old daughter. >> was he there when you woke up? >> we woke up and dad wasn't there. >> last time you saw your dad was when? >> yesterday. he was playing video games on the computer. went to the bathroom and then he went upstairs. that night he was downstairs and disappeared in the morning. >> the 12-year-old son said the same story. >> when is the last time you saw him? >> 11:30 last night when i went to bed? >> what happened this morning? >> he wasn't there. so i was just guessing he went to work. >> no one could find craig. laura texted p.j. >> she said craig is not here. i said that's weird. >> colin called chelsea.

>> were you concerned for him? >> yeah. i was concerned. nobody wants to hear somebody went missing in their family. i just assumed he had to step outside or go on a quick trip. >> late that night investigators finally had their search warrant. >> you go inside. >> we go inside. >> what do you find? >> initial walk through the house is very neat and very well put together. it does not appear to be any forced entry. >> investigators unlock the master bedroom. it was undisturbed. no craig. we looked around and we found nothing and then headed to the basement. >> what do you find? >> boxes on the shelves all neatly stacked and on the other side it is dishevelled. >> it was mess you but nothing out of the ordinary for a basement until they noticed something alarming. >> we more closely examined the area and found what appeared be

blood spatter on the walls and shelving unit. >> they sprayed the floor and found more blood. blood someone tried to wipe away and then a discovery inside of a garbage bag. >> we find what appears to be two handles with a pair of cord knotted so that you could hold on to both handles. >> a weapon used for strangeulation, the evidence was telling them a story and one that would not end well for craig. >> we were sure we had our murder scene. >> this is a big moment in the case. >> it is. >> coming up, a bombshell about craig's soon to be ex-wife. >> craig did not want to believe that there was a romantic relationship between them and i think that over time it became painfully obvious it was. >> and then just off of a country road a passerby sees something that will transform the case. >> in the woods there is a body

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it was late afternoon, july 20th, 2016. craig, father of seven had been missing since early in the morning and investigators discovered a scene in craig's basement that told him he wasn't

coming home. craig's sister, robin, waiting outside watching the action unfold outside her brother's townhouse. >> one of the investigators brought someone over to me saying this is our -- >> did your heart sink? >> it did. they said they believed he had been murdered. >> murdered in his own home? investigators surmised that it happened overnight as his young children slept. craig's sister told the investigator about the break-in at the home. >> i wake up at midnight with a sharp pain in my arm. >> he says in the middle of the night he was awoken by someone pulling a hair out of his arm. >> craig told his sister that he thought it was a prank.

how long had craig and laura been separated? >> about two years. >> it wasn't a good separation? >> it hadn't been. >> the reason, laura had a new man in her life and it was awkward would be an under statement. her boyfriend was craig's old buddy, p.j. >> paul tucci goes from craig's best friend now to craig's estranged wife's boyfriend. >> yes. >> that does not always work out so well for relationships. >> certainly not between the two of them. >> craig and laura were close friends with p.j. and wife for many years. >> all of the kids really grew up together and they would go out together. they had parties together. >> around the same time that laura and craig's marriage was falling apart p.j.'s wife died

of liver disease. >> his best friend. >> in a romantic relationship? >> really did not want to believe that there was a romantic relationship going on between the two of them and i think it became obvious that there was. >> i think craig sent me an e-mail saying i don't know if you found yourself in a damsel in distress or if you are happy. >> i thought it was interesting. >> interesting to the homicide detective but he got some news, two counties over a shovel was

left by the side of the road and 50 feet into the woods a man's body was discovered. >> we discovered in the woods there is a body under a tarp. >> okay. is it near your home? >> down the road. >> could it be craig? the victim's identity was not obvious right away. >> it sounds like someone had a major grudge with this person. >> seemed like they were not interested in him being found. the answer was found in the pocket. the person popping up on the caller i.d., robin, craig's sister.

the cell phone was ringing in his pocket. sounds like really dumb criminals. they had a crime scene, a body and a marriage with a soap opera ending. it would lead to a place called devil's bathtub. >> it gets stranger quickly. >> coming up, a chance sighting and a call to police. >> we saw a couple of males in the parking lot and what they believed to be garbage bags being thrown out. >> when dateline continues. aleve it. aleve is proven stronger and longer on pain than tylenol. when pain happens, aleve it.

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found in the garage of driver bubba wallace at talladega super speedway and nascar vowing to find those responsible and eliminate them from the sport. trump officials are defending remarks the president made about covid-19 in a rally on saturday saying he was joking when he asked advisors to slow down testing. now back to dateline. detectives that were looking into whether craig rideout was murdered and a call to 9-1-1 led them to craig's body. with it police started to quickly connect dots and they were about to get another tip. one that would lead to two unlikely suspects. here is andrea with devil's

bathtub. >> the case of the missing dad was now a murder investigation. now the investigator was about to be called to another location, that place called devil's bathtub, a secluded pond. they saw a couple of males in the park and what they believed to be garbage bags being thrown out. when deputies on the scene detained the two young men they recognized the last name, rideout, the same name being worked in the case.

>> colin was in the park with his 19-year-old brother who just graduated from high school and the investigator pulled out his iphone, pressed record and the investigators asked the brothers questions. alex was first. >> what is going on. you and your brother out for a walk? >> we were just like out and suddenly people show up. i have never really encountered police before. so it was like -- >> never been in trouble before. >> i don't do drugs or drink or party. i am 19. he knew one of craig's sons might be behind the break in.

the investigator asked what they happened to their dad. >> colin said he did not know where his dad was either. >> i heard from him monday. the investigator wanted to keep colin talking and he did. >> he talks about the family dynamic. the investigator asked him directly what was in the garbage bags they were trying to get rid of.

>> i don't know what is in the bag. >> investigators did not think that colin was being honest. >> all of that talk about truth worked. the boys admitted something big. they were at their dad's house the day before. listen to this. >> well, there was a lot of blood in the basement. i was worried that something had happened. >> they just placed themselves at the scene of the wriem. colin, the would be navy seal

and his book smart brother were taken to the sheriff's office and arrested. they were charged with tampering with evidence. >> shell-shocked would be the best word for it. >> colin called chelsea from jail. >> oh, my god. >> i was arrested. my lawyer says i am not supposed to talk about anything. >> what was his state of mind like? >> he is confused. he loves his family. it was like hitting a brick wall and life just stopped. >> any part of you that thought i don't know colin the way that i think. >> he had everything ahead of him. he would not have thrown it away.

we know him and the man he is. the investigation turned to the mom, laura who had been married for 20 years and raised the sons. >> there is a separation and custody battle going on where they are not supposed to see each other even at drop-off. >> craig's former best friend, p.j. tucci was preparing for a big change. >> the intention was to move as a family down to north carolina and it was supposed to happen in a couple of days but craig had primary custody of the two

youngest and would not let laura take them out of state. >> how is laura moving to north carolina? >> that is a good question. >> robin was suspicious of laura from the moment she arrived at the brother's townhouse. >> cleaning up a crime scene. what is what the investigator suspected. they thought it was the mother that gave them the bags of bloody clothes. >> something my mom told me, okay. >> did she give you the bag? >> yeah. >> just hours after arresting the two sons investigator bolton headed to the home that laura shared with p.j. tucci.

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expecting sheriff's deputies to show up at the front door and wasn't dressed for a trip to the county jail. but that is where she was going. >> told her to get shoes. laura loves to wear heels. they said a different kind of shoes. she throws on a pair of nike golf shoes. they came down and i watched them arrest her. her kids are there watching the mother get arrested. she said what for? the arresting officer said you had to have been expecting this. she is like no. what. she said if i were expecting this i would have had makeup on. >> p.j. thought there was some sort of misunderstanding, a terrible mistake. >> had laura ever said i wish craig was out of our lives? >> no. she wanted craig to have a relationship with the kids. she did not have animosity

towards craig. >> when deputies searched the home where laura lived there were clues everywhere. a key fob to unlock craig's car and tape, bits of incriminating evidence in the home where p.j. also lived. >> when craig was killed where were you? >> we were at home. >> you were with laura? >> i was with laura. >> the investigator believed he was with laura but not innocently at home and six weeks after craig's murder p.j. tucci was under arrest too. >> i can tell you this, i have never been in the guy's house. >> were you part of the overall plan to cover it up? >> there is no plan. >> four people were under arrest and all four let out on bail. >> do you have any comment? >> only charged with evidence tampering as investigators tried

to figure out exactly who did what. nobody was talking anymore. >> anything to say? >> all four lawyered up and presented a united front. investigators did not know if this was a crime of passion or a conspiracy. if it had been planned who was the ring leader? investigator bolton said the answer to some of the questions came after analyzing items found on or around craig's body that was dumped in the woods. >> we found the cords and also have a tarp and from backtracking the receipts found video evidence at a number of stores and particularly the walmart. >> when investigators pulled security video they saw what appeared to be a murder plot in the making. two days before the murder, laura, colin, one of the younger kids go shop to buy drain cleaner which was used to disfigure craig rideout's face. the next day just a few hours

before the murder laura and p.j. are at a different walmart buying a large tarp, cable and more cleaner. >> it matched up to the one found on craig's body. >> the day of the murder colin is buying a shovel, identical to the one left by the side of the road where craig's body was found. a diabolical plan is forming. >> it appears that way. >> over a number of days. >> yes. >> there is laura on tape looking completely relaxed, wife, mother and now investigators believe a killer. craig's sister saw a woman that somehow turned two sons against their own father. >> honest to god i don't know how that happened. what was said that could have turned the kids against him? >> this is the ultimate story of betrayal. >> yes. >> what do you believe happened that night? >> my belief is that the two

younger children are brought over to craig rideout's house that evening. laura or paul go up to craig's room to talk about the move to north carolina. i think laura gets him to come down into the basement. >> it was in the basement investigators believe that members of craig's own family and even his one-time best friend were there to do the unthinkable. >> i think the intent is to murder him with no blood at all and i think the victim started to fight and one of the suspects i think hit him in the head in order to get control of him. >> anything you would like to say? >> when the charges came down all four, including colin who had just proposed to his girlfriend, chelsea, were charged with murder. >> that was a surprise. >> you have to have a million questions. >> million and one. >> as the investigation unfolded authorities had more questions too. including a big one about p.j.

tucci. it had to do with his first wife, jennifer, who died from liver disease. the sheriff of monroe county thought it was a suspicious coincidence that her death was the same time as his new relationship with laura. >> you learned it would be possible to poison someone and it could look like scerosis of the liver. did you think about that paul tucci poisoned his wife? >> without a doubt. >> the medical examiner was satisfied with the original autopsy. >> the medical examiner wrote on the death certificate what happened. stop bringing her into this. she had nothing to do with it. >> the questions about jennifer tucci's death went nowhere. the prosecutor did not pursue it. as the summer of 2017 approached

the craig rideout case was set to go to trial and the city braced to hear the story. >> this does not happen in a bubble. we were not ready for this. >> nobody was ready for what would happen in court as the families united front was about to implode. >> coming up -- four defense teams about to throw each others clients under the bus. >> everyone starts to point fingers at each other and then the jury speaks. >> i hear the words and i blacked out. >> i had to check the verdict sheet to hear that i heard it right. >> when dateline continues. hpv can cause certain cancers when your child grows up. get in its way. hpv can affect males and females... and there's no way to predict who will or won't clear the virus. but you can help protect your child by taking a first step. the cdc recommends hpv vaccination at age 11 or 12 to help protect against certain cancers.

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welcome back. a few years earlier the rideout family seemed happy but laura, alex, colin and her boyfriend p.j. tucci were heading to trial accused of murdering laura's estranged husband, craig. to this point the four stood together but that united front was about to be tested. one thing was certain, the rideout family would never be the same. they all had big plans. colin rideout was looking forward to getting married. younger brother alex was planning go to college and laura

and p.j. were preparing for a fresh start in north carolina but instead in the summer of 2017 they were all going to court to stand trial for second degree order. in a highly unusual ruling the judge decided that all four would be tried together, four trials in one. >> it is bizarre this family would be on trial together. >> i don't think i ever saw anything like that. >> each had his or her own attorney that sat down with us. >> colin's attorney. >> alex's attorney. >> this is a lack of evidence case. >> no proof whatsoever. >> two attorneys for laura. >> it was a circumstantial case. >> does anyone know who the real killer is? >> the real killer knows. it could have been one of many people. >> a closz who done it.

>> they admitted they did not know who delivered the final blow but that did not stop them from saying all four defendants were responsible for craig rideout's death. >> you can charge all four with second degree murder even if one did not provide the final blow. >> exactly. >> a bank robbery, the driver as criminally responsible as the person going into the bank. >> the prosecution showed the jury the security videos and told them about the purchase of things like the tarp, acidic drain cleaner. >> they learned about the garbage bag full of bloody clothing. they said colin and laura's jeans had the most amount of blood putting them squarely in the murder. d.n.a. from all four defendants was found on those items.

>> you had d.n.a. on either the gloves or the clothes and craig rideout's blood. >> yes. >> the motive behind it all, the prosecution said it was simple and obvious. >> we believe the motive was to allow the mother to take the younger children out of the state and start off with a new life with her boyfriend, p.j. tucci. >> it is so hard to understand why the sons would want to do this for their mother. >> perhaps there was an underlying agreement between the son and the mother we were not aware of. >> now time for all of the defense attorneys to have their say. >> who killed craig rideout? who did it. >> the defense said the walmart videos did not reveal a murder conspiracy. the tarp, the bungee cord and drain cleaner were all purchased in that big move to north carolina. >> we got the trucks coming. the foosball table to deal with. i need something to strap the

things on the side of the u-haul. i said i need something big. >> what did you need the drain cleaner for? >> we have girls with long hair and they clog up shower drains and sinks all over the place. laura said this stuff works really well. i said okay great. >> the family on trial together went on the attack against one another. colin's attorney starting to point fingers. >> who is getting divorced? >> the united front came crashing down. >> we pointed the finger at the person closest to us in terms of items of evidence. >> who is moving to north carolina? colin is not. colin is not moving there. laura rideout. paul tucci. they are moving to north carolina. >> laura's attorney fought back. >> you can't get around the

incriminating evidence against colin rideout. >> you are pointing the finger at laura on behalf of colin. >> everybody else at me. >> yeah. >> you are pointing the finger at colin on behalf of laura. >> that affects the family dynamics during the trial. >> we have mother and son. >> sure. >> paul. >> i never said it was colin or laura or alex. we said there is evidence connecting them to the scene, not my guy. >> i think you need a football diagram. >> yeah. we had to. >> after a month of testimony the case went to the jury. colin's fiance, chelsea remained his biggest supporter to the very end. >> do you think that the way that you described him as being a protector of the family, do you think that is ultimately what might have gotten him in trouble? >> he is a smart guy, no. i don't think he would ever put himself in a situation like. that he had a life ahead of him. he had no need. >> after five days of

deliberations the jury reached a verdict. >> we said a prayer. >> hearts racing. game face on. >> tensions were high for everyone as the crowd filed back into the courtroom. the verdicts were read, one by one. beginning with the sons. first younger son alex. >> you have been found in the of murder in the second degree. >> alex was acquitted of the murder charge but found guilty of tampering with evidence. >> colin. >> then the oldest son, colin. >> the jury has found you guilty of murder in the second degree. >> i hear those words and i was just set back and blacked out. >> deputies led colin away in handcuffs. chelsea was inconsolable as she left the courtroom. it was the grownups turn hear their verdicts. p.j. tucci. >> mr. tucci you have been found in the of murder in the second

degree and tampering with physical evidence. >> p.j. tucci was acquitted on all counts. >> i had to check the verdict sheet i heard it right. >> laura rideout. >> what about the mother at the center of it all. jury has convicted of murder in the second degree. >> not surprised at all. >> what is that emotion like? >> relief. justification. >> laura and her son colin were sentenced to 25 years to life. alex was sentenced to a maximum of eight years and alex and colin are appealing their convictions. p.j. tucci walked out of court a free man. prosecutors had no evidence to ever prove he was in craig's house. >> did paul tucci get away with murder? >> i believe he did. >> there will be people saying he has something to do with this. >> half the people are going to

change one thing and you are not going to change people's believes. i am not here to change your mind. it is a sad story. a murder did occur but i do not think that the whole story is out there and i do not think that the jury necessarily got it right. >> p.j. tucci was free, a widower who planned to make a new life with laura and now she is behind bars. >> does she want you to find love again? >> she always wants you to find love, sure. she set a really high standard. >> she has been convicted of murder. >> i know in my heart she didn't do it. >> craig's sister, robin, is left trying to make sense of it all, the darkness that destroyed the big family, a family that once had so much ambition and promise. >> it is just heartbreaking.

nobody wins. nobody wins in this. >> this is a family divided like no other. >> yeah. >> that is all for this edition of dateline. thank you for watching. nobody has seen her or heard from her and she is really missing. >> chelsea was out to scare up halloween fun. >> she had a night, bright lipstick all the way down. >> she looked beautiful in her costume. >> but next morning she was gone. >> i got a couple of facebook messages. did you see chelsea. >> the vehicle you put her in was gone. >> majority of people in disguise. worst case scenario to start an investigation.