image. it is hard no matter how many years pass by. >> that is all for this edition of dateline. i'm natalie morales. thank you for watching. e morale. thank you for watching >> this is carroll. i just saw something on you on tv. i hope you are all right. oh, my god. >> paige, if you get this please, please call somebody. everybody is worried about you. everybody is looking for you. please let us know you are okay. >> paige was a woman with a premonition. >> she said she knew something bad was go to happen. >> we found out she had a second life. >> quite obviously it is dangerous. >> she had been playing a risky game. >> that opened up the door to a

multitude of people that we needed to start looking at rmpt a -- >> they had a list of names and whether or not they would have sex. >> could investigators get their man before he struck again. >> i turned around and he said i am going to kill you. >> it has been years since she vanished but few people in grand junction, colorado have forgotten paige. the story of the young mother's disappearance has woven itself into local lore. it is a mystery we have been following since it began and now as thunder heads darken the high

desert sky, finally a trial. >> what he told me is that he knew how to get rid of a body so that nobody could find it. >> he said i am going to kill you and he slapped me repeatedly. >> finally rumors and gossip would be dispelled or made fact and the secrets, known not only by the guilty and also the shamed. it would finally be revealed. why so many secrets, whispers, rumors. because in this town where everybody knows everybody else's business there were enough suspects to fill a minivan. >> i was put on care for the first 48 hours and then sent to jail. >> i did not kill paige. bottom line. >> it was late june, 2007. news of the disappearance spread

like the morning sun. over the mountains in denver, four hours away frank was driving to his office and the phone rang. >> voice on the phone say this is is somebody with the mesa county sheriff's office. he said are you paige's dad. he said did you know she is missing. >> barbara campbell got the call from her husband who told her paige is missing. >> what do you mean she is missing. >> andrea lamb got the news in an e-mail. >> paige is missing. i knew something horrible had to have happened. it did not make any sense that she would be missing. >> no way to prepare for such a thing. >> one of those women that was just a little bit intimidating at first if you are more of an average mom. >> andrea land and the other young mothers could have been forgiven for feeling a little envy. she had the look, the money, the

big house on the hill and three attractive kids. but no. it wasn't like that at all. >> the way that she talked and the way that she acted and treated you. everything about her was just so wonderful. >> barbara campbell, andrea and paige were members of grand junction's mom's club international. the kind of social and support group for young stay at home mothers. once a year they would throw a spring fling and put on prom for moms. fancy clothes. red carpet entry. even a pretend reporter throwing fashion questions. paige was always the star, of course. and this year the party was held at her place which made it a very special event. >> most of us did not live in a home that large. she was so down to earth and humble about it. once you got over the artwork on

the walls and how beautiful of a home that it was, you almost forgot you were in this really very high end home. >> she was so comfortable hosting people that she made anybody there feel comfortable. sometimes you meet someone and you instantly have a good feeling about them. you are going to be friends with them and it will be an instant match. >> they said that after meeting a friend on the after of thursday june 27th, paige simply did not come home. as they drove from denver to grand junction, paige's parents tried to understand what was happening. >> i don't know that i was very

tense or i thought of the worst. gee, i wonder where she is. but as the drive went on it became more and more anxious and more and more tight. >> i will be calling the kids on the home phone just saying that we are going to be there and trying to sound reassuring. >> the kids just had a nanny with them because paige parted with her husband who moved out of state. as a single mom with three kids paige had her life well in control due in no small part to her obsessive organizational skills, ran several small businesses and kept track of every soccer and dentist appointment in a old-fashioned day planner. >> she would come over to visit and it came in the door and right there in front of her.

she was always checking it and phoning. >> overbooked, divorced, three kids. the first question you was there a chance that paige simply walked out on her life. >> we talked about, boy, sometimes i just want top run away. and she said you know i never feel that way. i never want to run away even if i did want to run away just to get away from here i would want to take my kids with me. >> there is no way she would leave without her children. >> if she needed to hide she would have found a way to do it with them. >> what happened to paige, her friends and parents did not know what to do or where to look. maybe a clue could be found, tucked away in her day planner. except it too was missing. planr except it too was missing. >> coming up.

>> hi mom. i was just wondering -- >> police piece together the hours leading up to paige's disappearance. >> hi. i'm at the corner of 23 and logos. there is a car on fire in the parking lost the building right here. >> and one encounter grabs their attention. >> we found out that she was visiting her ex-husband, obviously he was a person of interest. >> when dateline continues. perf interest >> when dateline continues with valspar signature beautiful color holds up to common stains and cleans up easy. take back your walls and discover what's possible at lowe's.

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>> it was a thursday, june 28th when paige birdfeld of grand junction, colorado quite suddenlily went off of the radar. the mesa county sheriffs investigators set out to trace her steps that day.

>> we found out that she had been at eagle visiting her ex-husband and they were reconciling at that point. >> he having been the last person to see her would be a person of interest. >> yes, obviously he was a person of interest. >> this person of interest was paige's first ex-husband. they married right out of high school, young, immature and soon divorced. but funny how this works. ten years had sanded off their sharp edged disputes and they saw a new why they fell in love. >> it was like no time passed at all. >> this is ron taking to a dateline producer soon after paige's disappearance. >> what point did you rekindle your relationship? >> about six months ago. we tried to take it slow but there was no denying it was just as it was before. >> he lived in denver, a

four-hour drive east. the two lovers would often meet on a midway point. >> we were going to have a picnic and hang out together all day. we went to subway and brought it back to where we were sitting outside down by the river. it was familiar. i brought pictures. you know we just sat there and relaxed and enjoyed the day and the weather. it was a special, wonderful day. >> around 7:00 p.m., they kissed and said good-bye and drove back to their respective sides of the state. two hours later paige called. >> to see if i made it back in to denver and then we had a brief conversation. >> paige told him she wasn't home yet and was stuck behind a bad traffic accident in grand junction and investigators confirmed there was a fatal traffic accident at this incident. somebody saw paige's car here

that very evening. the thing is this is five miles past her house. why was she here? an hour later, 9:56, paige's 8-year-old daughter left the anxious voicemail on her mother's cell phone. >> i was wondering when you will get home. love you. bye. >> no response. her daughter waited and worried and called again. >> hi mom. i was just wondering when you were go to get home, bye. they slept them best they could all three children and awoke the next day, friday june 29th to a whole new kind of anxiety. she still wasn't home. hi mom. you said you would be back last night and you're not even back today, bye. something in the pit of the stomach, paige's old and new love. >> hi.

where are you? call me if you get a chance. i'm getting worried about you. >> hour and hour they piled up. phone messages like a normal day. >> hi paige. >> hi this is sears repair service. >> your pool cleared up. give me a call. >> not a single call was returned. again that night the children with their nanny waited for their mother. the following day, saturday june 30th ron called the house and spoke to paige's 8-year-old daughter. >> she didn't sound that distraug distraught. i don't think she had any idea what was going on. of course she didn't. >> the next call was to 9-1-1. >> i need to talk to you about a missing person emergency. >> who is missing? >> her name is paige dixon.

>> how old is paige. >> she hasn't been home all night thursday, today. >> and that is when word of paige's disappearance began to spread across colorado and investigators did not have a clue what happened to paige. they wondered if he did. >> have police questioned you? >> they have. >> have they released you as a potential suspect? >> i don't know what they have done on that. i know that was never a concern or worry of mine and having anything pinned on me, you know. >> you have an alibi for that night? >> i am confident that the police know that i have nogueira do wi -- anything to do with it. >> do you have any idea what was happen something. >> a major premedidatated

abduction or a random incident. >> but sometimes those not asking questions find answers. it was the third day, sunday july 1st, 2007, 9:58 p.m. a woman driving home from work slammed on her brakes and called 9-1-1. >> hi. i am at the corner of 23 and logos and there is a car on fire in the parking lot of the building right here. >> there is a car in fire. flames and smoke? >> yeah. a lot of flames. >> coming up, paige's car. what will it reveal? >> it was on the driver's side. >> and something else, belonging to paige. >> it was an awful feeling of dread thinking how did it get here and what did it mean. >> either paige's abductor was trying to throw them off track. >> she was in the car or dumped

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sunday night, the 1st of july, the grand junction fire department was called to an industrial parking lot. a little red car was on fire. frank birdfeld heard about the fire the morning after, roared over there and could do nothing

but watch from a distance as investigators crawled over his car. that morning frank gave the first of what would be many, many interviews. >> we were hopeful when we found the car that things would fall in to place and maybe they would. >> this interview though was one that frank couldn't get through. >> you know it occurred to me i haven't cried in a long time. >> you can see that the glass itself was all burned out. you can see where it is still over here. it is really obvious to see more intense on the driver's side. >> meaning that is where the fire started and where the arsonist wanted to be sure to erase evidence. under the car, damaged skid plates and strands of wild grass caught in the suspension meaning

someone had driven off road very recently, afterwards dumped and torched the call in an industrial area. >> didn't fit for the car to be there. >> news of the car fire was a turning point. no longer did the public suspect it was the case of an overwhelmed run away mom. the response was an outpouring of volunteers and a spontaneous community project to find paige. >> i know what i would be feeling like. i wanted to try to help if i could. >> paige's dad was there every day greeting a small army of volunteers. >> for people to give of themselves to that degree. >> one of our moms was gone. her kids needed her. we needed our friend.

our kids needed to know that if someone's mom is missing that people are going to work hard to find her. >> paige's brother and wife came from seattle to help. >> we are looking for clues to find that person. >> but this seemed odd. not helping to find paige was her ex-husband and current boyfriend. >> do you feel you wish you could go there and help search for there. >> a part of me does, definitely. >> what is keeping you away from there? >> i don't know if i can handle being right in the situation. >> and then knowing that we were preparing a report about the case he made a strange request.

>> try to keep me out as much as possible. i don't want to be on talking about things. >> hundreds of people, many who never met paige searched on horse back and foot appeared under bushes and walked miles in desert brush in 100 degree heat and nothing. paige could have been anywhere. four days after paige's disappearance, a driver stopped along a lonely stretch of highway 50 and as he stepped out of his truck a piece of litter caught his eye. a blank check trapped in the roadside weeds. the name on it paige dixon, paige's married name. so then the flock of searchers descended on that road. >> making my way back west, i saw a checkbook. an awful feeling of dread thinking how does it get here or

what does it mean. >> paige's wallet, charm bracelet, the shoes, cards, dozens of checks from paige's personal and professional accounts, nearly 100 items spread along 13 miles of road leading investigators with two different theories. either paige's abductors was trying to throw them off track. >> or she was dumping the items out to create a trail. paige's most recent ex-husband, rob dixon came back to town to look after the kids and help with the search. his reappearance stopped volunteers in their tracks because of the stories that paige told while they were married, many thought him the most obvious suspect. >> she was afraid of him. >> coming up. >> 9-1-1, what is your

emergency? >> my husband and i had a fight. he was supposed to watch my children and he said i would come home and find them all murdered. >> what else paige told loved ones about rob dixon. d ones about rob dixon robinhood believes now is the time to do money.

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here is what is happening. there are over 5.4 million cases of the coronavirus in the united states and more than 170,000 people have died from the virus. earlier california became the first state to report over 600,000 cases of covid-19. the u.s. postal service announced they will postpone removing collection boxes for the next 90 days following complaints about the removal of dozen of usps collection boxes. now back to dateline. >> a wave of whispers spread of

the speed of suspicion among the search ares missing from the missing mother. the ex was in town, rob dixon. the one that paige had all of the trouble with. the relationship did not start out that way. it never does. >> at first we only saw what we referred to as the good rob side. >> that is certainly what paige only saw. >> and we -- he was part of our family. we loved him as much as an in-law would be. he was a good guy to have. >> dixon had been a hard working paramedic until his dad made a one-time fortune in the tech industry and passed it on to his kids. not long after getting his millions dixon met and married paige. they had three kids and moved into a fine, big house. >> he admitted to having over $10 million. i think when you admit to that

you have maybe twice that much. >> paige's parents watched him change. the whole town saw that actually. >> in his garage, i saw three range rovers, a jaguar, two porsches and later a lemon yellow ferrari. if you have been to grand junction and want to fit in a yellow ferrari is not what you do. >> mom's club would get together. they would have occasions when all of the families would get together but he would never come to any of them. >> i was so baffled as someone as upbeat and eternally happy as paige could have this grump around. >> but in hopes of promoting good will or himself dixon joined the grand junction fire district board and donated a brand-new fire truck and his generosity made news and had

locals wondering if they misjudged him but soon it turned to dust. dixon got himself in charge of fire district investments, put public money in what he said was a sure thing. it wasn't. the money vanished. >> i recall about $750,000 in bad investments. i made the decision to take that case to the grand jury and ultimately the grand jury decided felony stupid but not worthy of criminal charges. >> one day a repo man showed up for the shiny new fire truck. >> turned out the fire truck was leased. they came and took it away from the fire department. >> that is when frank and paige and the whole town found out dixon's money was gone too. >> he gave it to someone who

pyramid schemed it. >> it all kept dixon on the front pages of the local paper for months, a serious of public humiliations extending with an exclamation point. >> he was a big deal because he had a lot of money. then to lose it and to be disgraced in a relatively small community. i think that was predictable and i think for rob that is what happened. she told friends that she was afraid he would kill her. >> he said he would kill her several times. >> in 2004 paige in the midst of the downward spiral called

9-1-1. >> what is your emergency? >> my husband and i were in a fight and he was supposed to watch my children when i went to work. he said i would come home to find them all murdered. >> police were dispatched but no arrest. according to paige's parents, the fighting got worse. >> it was very ugly the psychological and emotional abuse that she endured all of the time. when i was there visiting i saw an awful lot of it. >> after a second incident, dixon was arrested on suspicion of third degree assault. >> we have a misdemeanor do mystic violence case with him as the victim. >> dixon pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and the entire case was later thrown out. paige filed for divorce. dixon for bankruptcy and moved away to philadelphia to work as an emt again.

paige did what she could to keep the kids in the only home they had ever known, that big place with the mortgage to match. close to six grand a month. >> she would sit and ponder how can a single mom with three kids to make enough money to stay in the house that her husband used to support. >> she sold cooking products for a company called the pampered chef and slings for babies, taught dancing classes for kids, anything to turn a buck keeping track of it all in that big day planner of hers. the one that was an hour to hour record of her life and even though that he was now far away, she also kept an eye out for dixon. >> flat out she was afraid of him. she was afraid of him coming back to town. she sufficiency always nervous he would be coming back to town.

>> sure enough in june 2007, the week before she vanished paige got a call from dixon saying he missed the kids and that he was moving back to colorado. >> she said that she knew that rob was coming back and that he was going to do something. i was floored. what does do something mean. she knew something bad would happen but murder or kidnapping did not enter my mind. >> very strange to hear that? >> it was a staggering conversation. we were just two moms with small children faced with an unknown situation. a couple of days later she was missing. >> coming up, inside the wreckage of paige's burned out

car. her day planner. inside the planner, a shock for everyone in the case. >> that was stunning. >> quite obviously dangerous. >> when dateline continues. >> 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.

>> it was a dismal clue, the trail of bits and pieces of paige's life scattered by the

highway but no paige, alive or dead and now detectives had two ex-husbands to investigate. ron, the last person known to have seen her alive and rob dixon, the man she told people she lived in fear of. >> most friends believed that rob dixon had something to do with this. >> he pops up to the list. he and rob both. >> as for hard evidence there was very little except for the investigator's little secret, the one bit of evidence they were hiding from everyone. something that by pure luck survived the car fire, paige's day planner. >> the melted dash had fallen on to the floor covering the day planner and it was protected from the heat and the fire. >> what sort of condition was it

in? >> smoke and heat damage but it still had the pages intact. >> the day planner still very readable was full of appointments, plans and contact numbers, most mundane and routine. but, and this was strange, three key pages, june 26th through 29th, the dates surrounding paige's disappearance were ripped out. there was something else. one particular business card that did not belong for a company called ladies e en confidante. that shared the same phone number with a business called models inc. that appeared support a strange story told by ex-husband that paige had clients that she would see. >> lonely older married men buying companionship from an

intelligent woman they wanted to spend time with. >> as hard as paige tried, she simply could not keep up with the bills. so paige, investigators learned, had taken on one more job. she started moonlighting as an escort. >> finding out that paige was running a rather high class and high quality sort of prostitution business was kind of stunning. i had no idea that took place in my jurisdiction. >> living in a nice house in a nice part of town. >> and known to a number of people that i knew. she was a soccer mom. one of my best friend's daughter i believe played on the same team as paige's kids. >> how did paige manage to keep her escort service a secret from everybody but clients for so long? she went by the name carrie selling her services through a

front company she ran. some friends suspected and most didn't. >> it was hard for me to believe that she would want to have sex with men for money. >> but she did. according to the investigative report paige would charge up to $1,000 per session and you can imagine how it hit paige's mom and dad. they couldn't believe it. >> if i knew about it i would try to use whatever persuasion about it. if nothing else it is dangerous. >> it was a shock, obviously. but they said they could understand her motives. after all rob dixon's money had run out. >> she was doing what she had to do to keep life as normal as possible for the children.

>> the news spread, of course. pretty soon most people in town knew. >> there were people that wrote to the paper saying horrible thing like why are we spending all of this time looking for a dead hooker. >> we knew her heart and who she was with us and her kids and it only put us into defend her mode. >> a much bigger problem is that paige's secret life made a complicated missing person case far more difficult. >> we look at the phone she was using for models inc. and the people that had the most recent contact with her and we came across multiple people. >> every client that contacted

paige on june 28th was a potential suspect. here is just a sampling of her phone messages that day. >> yes this is buddy. >> please call me back. >> just calling to see if carrie were available. >> this is glen. i am wondering if anybody's still available. >> i'm at the country inn. >> this is jim. i tried to call you last night. >> i want to speak to one of your female escorts. >> this is john at motel 6. >> so they put together a list, called it possible suspects. the two ex-husbands, now joined by six of paige's clients. nothing to do but check out all of them. beginning with the last client that paige called.

the day that paige disappeared called her 19 times. >> i couldn't get rid of them. he is still haunting me. >> coming up what the woman saw. >> it hit me. >> and what she told investigators. >> he totally did this. >> when dateline continues. y dis >> when dateline continues every day. people are surprising themselves the moment realize they can du more with less asthma. thanks to dupixent, the add-on treatment for specific types of moderate-to-severe asthma. dupixent isn't for sudden breathing problems. it can improve lung function for better breathing in as little as 2 weeks and help prevent severe asthma attacks. it's not a steroid but can help reduce or eliminate oral steroids. dupixent can cause serious allergic reactions including anaphylaxis. get help right away if you have rash, shortness of breath, chest pain, tingling or numbness in your limbs. tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection

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the most popular place to find a place. >> grand junction is a modern town in every way, but lift your eyes from the humdrum and watch a setting sun fire the great cliffs all around and for a moment you are in the old west, a mystique that clings to the place as do the drifters attracted to such things. young men who split their time between odd jobs and the county jail like for example george

from new jersey, eager to hustle a buck or whatever. megan williams knew him because he and her then husband had partnered in a house painting business. knowing him as she did, she was not surprised by a visit that she got on july 1st, 2007. >> sheriffs came to the house and said is george here. i thought they were there to talk about the kidnapping case. >> to megan the kidnapping case meant one six months earlier in which he allegedly took this woman against her will on a long, scary ride. >> i spilled to them everything i knew. >> thinking you were talking about a different crime all together. >> deputies were really looking into the disappearance of paige three days earlier. where was he that day. well, very interesting, he

failed to show up for work. and later that night he offered a truly bizarre reason why. >> about his family had been in an accident. what kind of an accident. my brother and sister-in-law were beheaded on the turnpike in new jersey. he was sobbing. hans were flying. i don't know what i am going to do. just very upset. we believed him. >> he said that he took the first available flight. the detectives thanked her and left. did not mention a thing about paige. and then the very next day megan was watching the news on tv and saw the story about the burned out car. >> her car was ablaze in this parking lot. >> i saw paige's face come across the news. i looked at my ex-husband, i said that's what happened.

i said he murdered that woman. it just hit me. >> and then of course she had to know. was that wild story about a decapitating accident in new jersey just his excuse to run from what he had done to get out of town. >> i scoured the internet and made phone calls. >> scoured the internet looking for evidence. >> i called the newspaper. talked to a reporter. nothing happened. newspaper, coroner, hospitals. nothing. >> megan was able to locate him and pass that on to the lead investigator who would end up playing a key role. you will hear more about her later. gerald caught up with him in new jersey and grilled him for five hours but he denied everything and more important he was in new jersey when paige's car was set

ablaze. >> if he didn't burn the car does that let him out? >> no. >> why not? >> his actions lead me to believe that he did something so disgusting and vile he had to leave grand junction and lie about his family dying. >> there is something else. >> he told multiple people he did something so terrible he could never take it to the grave and could never be forgiven. george was a sketchy person and totally did this. >> he was cunning enough to have one of his pals help him, somebody like this guy, his best friend jose tavera. detectives found tavera and brought him in for questioning. what do you know. he recently injured his arm. >> i had a bandage on it.

>> i said i burned myself at work. i said are you good enough of a friend to burn a car down for george. >> it was a dramatic time with the fruitless search for the missing mother of three loved by so many who turned out to have secrets and a day planner. and voicemails and phone records that seemed to point eight different ways at once. two ex-husbands, and six clients. >> i don't think that i have ever seen a more difficult case in my entire career. >> one by one the detectives cleared their suspects, or tried to. ex-husband number one and current husband, ron beagler. >> we were able to determine he had been in the denver area through cell phone records.

>> rob dixon, the one man she said she feared. >> we were able to corroborate with his employer he was in the philadelphia area at the time. >> and rob dixon's cell phone connected to a tower in pennsylvania the night that paige disappeared and three days later. >> paige, if you get this, please, please call somebody. i love you. please, please, please let us know that you are okay. >> still there were caveats to their alibis. >> that doesn't eliminate them as far as having some involvement in maybe paying somebody. >> then there was a list of clients. coroluzzo at the top of it given he didn't have a solid alibi. >> he was the one that was the most concerning. >> not to mention his friend, jose tavera, the one with the big burn on his arm. >> i said i burned myself at work. >> who swore he did not help

coroluzzo by setting fire to the car. so they let him go too, for the moment. the other clients, a prominent real estate investor named steven hield. almost as well known as rob dixon. like dixon, for the wrong reasons. >> the first major case i handled when i came to the jurisdiction was his multimillion dollar fraud case. i prosecuted him and he went to prison for that. when he came up again as a suspect, it was interesting. >> when detectives questioned him, hield admitted he embezzled money for the company to pay for dates with paige. and then he claimed that paige turned the tables on him. >> he made allegations that she was essentially blackmailing him and asking for extra money.

>> authorities wondered if it could be a motive for murder? coming up, a startling discovery about one of paige's clients. >> i thought my god. >> triggers a police search. >> strange maybe, but did it mean anything when dateline continues. d it mean anything when dateline continues. and motorcycle polic? >>wow...ok! that's 15% on top of what geico could already save you. so what are you waiting for? idina menzel to sing your own theme song? ♪ tara, tara, look at her go with a fresh cup of joe. ♪ gettin' down to work early! ♪ following her dreams into taxidermy! oh, it's...tax attorney. ♪ i read that wrong, oh yeeaaaah! geico. save an extra 15 percent when you switch by october 7th. ♪ give it up for tara! when you switch by october 7th. witha color change is easy.des, nutrisse has 77. from our darkest blacks, to our lightest blondes. it nourishes while it colors. plus avocado, olive and shea. change a little, or a lot. nutrisse. nourished hair. better color.

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page had disappeared, leaving behind three children and a life as an escort. what if client told police she was blackmailing him. except heald's wife supplied an alibi -- they were home that night, reading, watching tv. so heald seemed to be in the clear -- which made it all the more shocking when -- after being questioned by detectives -- heald attempted suicide. that, d.a. hautzinger assumed,

was not guilt but shame. >> people don't really want to have it out in public that, "oh, yeah. i was patronizing a call-girl." >> reporter: they checked out a drifter named john livingston, who, the night paige vanished, called her again and again from a motel 6. desperate, apparently, for her attention. >> yeah, this is john at motel 6, room 237. >> reporter: except there was no evidence paige ever went to see him. but then there was this client, lester ralph jones. that's him standing in the shadow of his front door. investigators got a tip about jones from this friend of paige's named carol linderholm. paige had scheduled an appointment with jones the night before she disappeared. but for some reason didn't want

to go, asked linderholm to meet jones instead. >> and he was expecting her. and then i think -- >> and then you showed up at his door. >> right. >> i'm sure -- he had some expectations, right? i mean, he called a escort service. he --. >> well, he let it be known almost immediately that he wanted sex. >> reporter: linderholm said that didn't happen. instead they talked for an hour or so and then she left. couple of days later, she said, she called paige. >> it's carol. where the heck are you? >> reporter: got no response. >> at first i thought she was just busy and she couldn't call back. >> then when i heard on the news that the kids actually went to the police department about it, that's when i knew something terrible had happened to her. >> paige, this is carol. oh, i hope you're all right. i hope this isn't rob. oh, my god. >> reporter: linderholm mentioned paige's second ex-husband, rob dixon, because she knew paige was afraid of him. then, the next day linderholm heard about paige's car and the fire.

>> i wanted to go over and -- and look at it -- and i arrived just in time for -- it was put on a platform on a trailer and it was being hauled away. >> and when it passed me i just -- it just left me with this horrible feeling. >> reporter: as she drove away something across the road caught her eye. it was a sign for bob scott rv's. >> lester jones had told me that he worked for bob scott rv. and when i drove around i saw a car in the parking lot that was the same one that was in the driveway when i walked up to lester jones' house. and i thought, "oh my god." >> reporter: right away carol went to the sheriff's office, told them all she knew about lester ralph jones. how much credence did you give that story, or did you? >> we gave it a lot of credence. >> reporter: in fact, a week after paige disappeared they

brought jones in for questioning >> mr. jones, i appreciate you coming down, ok? >> sure. >> reporter: jones was once chief of a rural fire department, which is where his story gets strange. >> i know rob. >> ok. >> reporter: rob dixon. paige's ex-husband. >> go down that road. what do you know? >> i used to be with the fire department up in hotchkiss. there. >> okay, all right. >> i met him there. >> ok. >> that was a long time ago. >> reporter: and had also met dixon's then wife, paige. >> 'cause she, at one time, had come up there. >> and she had come to where? the fire department, you mean? >> yeah. >> ok. >> reporter: and was taken aback --jones claimed, when a couple of years later he went to the models inc massage parlor, and was greeted by, rob dixon's ex-wife. >> do you know if she recognized you? >> i wouldn't -- >> do you think she would? >> i wouldn't think. >> ok, so it kind of made you feel uncomfortable? >> yeah.

>> but things went okay. >> yeah. >> and how often have you done business with them? >> i think twice, i think. >> reporter: while jones answered questions downtown, investigators scoured his house and bob scott's rvs, where he worked. what did you -- what'd you find when you searched bob scott's rv location? >> a list of names of escorts that we knew in the grand junction area, where he had their names, phone numbers, bra size and whether or not they would have sex. >> some viagras, and also some -- condoms. >> reporter: along with wigs -- a black bra -- and in a locked cabinet -- this old scale from pampered chef, one of paige's many businesses. creepy. certainly suspicious but not necessarily incriminating. besides, jones had no reason to kill paige -- no motive. which led investigators to a new theory. >> i still have difficulty believing that you killed her. unless you're working for rob dixon. coming up, investigators get lester ralph jones on the phone for a very strange call. >> if you asked me where i should bury the body.

>> it came out of nowhere. >> nobody asked that? >> nobody. >> did you like rob dixon? >> reporter: when "dateline" continues. eaner its dual action formula tackles grease and limescale finish clean dishwasher clean dishes ♪

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did you like rob dixon? >> reporter: detectives investigating the disappearance of paige birgfeld had a big hunch. there just had to be some connection between lester ralph jones and paige's second husband, rob dixon. >> when was your last contact with rob? >> reporter: they already knew dixon had been looking for dirt about paige something he could use in family court as a way of getting custody of their kids. so, as the cops saw it, rob dixon had the motive while lester ralph jones had the means. so, maybe murder for hire? but -- big but, they couldn't

find evidence of any contact between jones and dixon before paige vanished. no phone calls. no wire transfers. nothing suspicious. nothing at all, really. jones himself, on the other hand. well, there were just too many holes in his story. for starters--no alibi the night paige went missing. even worse, jones admitted that when paige's car was set on fire, he was at bob scott rv's practically across the street. >> you're there. by your own admission you're there when the fire's -- >> i understand that. >> tell me that. explain that. >> i -- i can't explain it to you. >> reporter: and guess what they found at jones' work site? a discarded package that once contained a pre-paid, tracfone, the disposable kind that doesn't reveal the identity of the user. except, on the package was the phone's serial number.

>> and from that, we were able to determine that the phone was bought at walmart on north avenue. >> reporter: so they got the security camera video. and -- well, well, well, the buyer looked a lot like lester ralph jones. why was that important? because someone using that particular tracfone called paige at models, inc. five times the night she disappeared. >> if there was one thing that rose above all else it was the video of him buying the tracfone on that was used to call her that evening. >> reporter: except jones denied that was him in the video. >> i have you on video buying a tracfone at walmart. >> i didn't buy no tracfone at walmart. >> how do you explain the video? >> oh, i don't know. uh, i'd -- i -- there is no video. >> reporter: jones, as you can see, was unflappable, talked for five hours, and then, they had to let him go. a couple of days later, a detective called jones to say his two cars which had been impounded, were now free to pick up. and jones' wife answered the phone. >> hello? >> yes, may i speak with ralph please? >> hold on please. >> hello. >> mister jones? >> yes, sir. >> this is art smith with the

sheriff's office, just calling to let you know that we have both your cars ready. both of them, obviously, are down here at the sheriff's office right now. so are you with elaine right now? >> no. >> i'm sorry? >> i don't think so. >> mr. jones, i'm not following you. >> you asked me where i would bury a body. >> i'm sorry. >> you asked me where i should bury a body. >> which came out of nowhere, which surprised us. >> because nobody had asked him where he buried the body? >> nobody had asked him about where he buried the body. we were calling him about his vehicle. and the day before, we never talked about burying the body. >> reporter: very, very strange. and most certainly interesting when they found out why jones seemed so out of it, he'd just taken an overdose of sleeping pills, after leaving, for his wife, what appeared to be a suicide note. "my dearest love," he wrote. "i've prayed all night and this

morning. i've asked for his forgiveness! i want you to know how much i love you. you're the best thing that has happened to me. please forgive me!" and then he added this, "tell the cops to get. i never did it, but i can't be railroaded." jones recovered quickly but his actions that day remained a mystery because he wasn't talking anymore to investigators. >> the evidence was definitely pointing toward lester jones. but we still had to keep an eye open on mr. livingston, mr. heald, mr. coralluzzo. and remember that these are the ones we know about. is there somebody else out there we don't even know about yet? >> reporter: didn't help when lab results from paige's car came back negative. the fire burned it clean of evidence.

so the sheriff's office turned to a volunteer search dog team for help. and sure enough, the dogs appeared to hit on jones' scent in paige's charred car. and along highway 50 where all those items were found. and then they sniffed their way down this gravel road that dead ends at the gunnison river. when given paige's scent, the dogs followed exactly the same path along highway 50 down the gravel road into the gunnison river. so was paige's body in here somewhere? they called in divers. >> basically, we go across the river about a 100 feet. they let us out five feet. we come back across the river, 100 feet. and basically just searching by feel, i just got out of there and it's pitch black on the bottom. >> reporter: but, there just wasn't a body down there. swept away by the river, perhaps? anyway, the labor-intesive search of the countryside, which had been going on for two long months, now seemed rather pointless. so, at summer's end, the command post closed. >> i guess that's the only thing, at this point, to do because there isn't anymore volunteers that are coming up. and people do have to return to their own lives. >> reporter: but that was not an option for paige's family.

her parents rented an apartment in town and carried on the search alone. >> this is my life now. i really wish i could get into a different line of work. >> reporter: even offered a $15,000 reward, no questions asked. >> it's about 100 days, and if she's out there, we need to find her. and uh, if this will help stimulate that, so be it. >> reporter: but, no useful tips. not a one, even though frank stayed on in grand junction for a whole fruitless year. >> at some point, you have to say, "do i want to stay here doing this? or is it time to go back to denver?" >> what was it like on the way back to denver, as you realized you were leaving for good? >> i would say kind of a heaviness to it, that -- somewhere, she's back there and i'm -- i'm leaving her. >> reporter: but while no one knew where paige was. there was one woman who had an idea as to what may have

happened to her. this is lisa nance, who was rather briefly married, once upon a time, to lester ralph jones. lisa will always remember him. coming up, the ex-wife's tale. >> he looked at me and said, i'm going to kill you. >> when "dateline" continues. no matter how you stay fit keep it light with light & fit's rainbow of delightful, protein-packed flavors. ♪ ♪ who've got their eczema under control. with less eczema, you can show more skin. so roll up those sleeves. and help heal your skin from within with dupixent. dupixent is the first treatment of its kind that continuously treats moderate-to-severe eczema, or atopic dermatitis, even between flare ups.

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my kids really liked him. no doubt about it, thought lisa nance -- lester ralph jones was a catch, tall, strong, a firefighter, for heaven's sake. and -- >> he was a really nice person. >> really nice, huh? what do you mean by really nice? nice how? >> he just seemed really nice and genuine and sweet. >> reporter: well, you know how people are, caught up in the blinding glare of new love. and then, in a month, or two, or six, disturbing things begin to occur -- unimagined traits emerge. and sometimes a nightmarish story like the one lisa nance told us about lester ralph jones. >> i caught him, you know, watchin' me and stuff, you know? >> what do you mean? >> like, watchin' me where i was going and stuff like that.

>> reporter: he tapped her phone, she said. he hid secret recording devices. >> like, if i'd talked to any of my friends or anything like that and i didn't tell him, you know, he would already know that i had talked to whoever. >> reporter: it just wasn't working for lisa. she ended it. better sooner than later, she thought. and she moved on. but of course, it wasn't over. and one morning, as she was driving her new boyfriend to work. a car drew up beside her car, it was him, jones. >> he -- got up beside me and hit my car, which knocked me over into a ditch and then he pulled up and backed up really hard and rammed my car. and it caused the airbags and stuff to go off. >> reporter: the new boyfriend took off running. but jones had a gun. >> he shot at him twice. >> one bullet hole went through his cap. and i think the other one grazed his head. >> and you were gonna be next? >> uh-huh. i thought.

i thought that. >> you must have been shaking like a leaf. >> it was scary. i asked him to put the gun down, you know? 'cause he had it pointed right at me. and finally he put it in the backseat -- the back floorboard. and then, you know, i talked to him and tried to calm him down, you know? >> what was he saying to you? >> that i didn't love him anymore. and i didn't want him anymore. stuff like that. and i was tryin' to convince him otherwise. >> reporter: eventually he left, she called the police, he was arrested. but in no time made bail. and then, lisa was at home a few weeks later. >> i came out of my room. and i went to the kitchen. and i turned around. and he was just sitting on the couch. i mean, just sitting in the dark. >> my stomach just -- you know, just sank. i mean, i didn't -- i asked him, "what on earth are you doing here?" you know? and he didn't say anything. >> and that's when i really got scared, because he just didn't

look like himself. afrt ho -- and he wouldn't say anything. >> reporter: he had something on his mind? >> i think so. we -- it seemed like it anyways. i didn't know what it was. but he just didn't -- and i wanted to get out of the house, you know, as quick as we could. >> i just wanted to get out in public, around other people. >> reporter: she said what came into her head, lets go out to dinner, and he agreed -- got behind the wheel, and started driving but then she realized he wasn't going to dinner. he was headed out of town toward the mountains. >> i was like, "where are we going?" and he wouldn't say anything. he just kept rubbin' the back of my head, saying, "it's gonna be okay." >> rubbing the back of your head? >> uh-huh. >> what sort of tone did he have in his voice when he said that? >> he wasn't being loud. he wasn't yelling or anything like that. he was just really, really quiet. uh-huh. >> it's a little creepy. >> uh-huh. >> and looked at him and i said, "we're not gonna eat, are we?" and he looked at me. and he said, "no." and i said, "what are we gonna do?" and he was like, "i'm going to kill you." and then he just started slapping me over and over. >> the moment had come for you? >> uh-huh. that's what i thought. 'cause all i could think about was my kids, you know, not

seeing 'em. >> but i was, like, tryin' to talk to him, you know? and trying to get him to talk to me, listen to me, you know? he's like, "you don't love me anymore." you don't want me. and i was like, "no, that's not true, you know?" and he's like, "well, then prove it." i said, "how?" you know, and he wanted me to make love to him in the car. and so i tried, you know? but there wasn't no room. >> so i asked him if we could just go get a room and talk, you know? and so finally he agreed to that. >> so what happened when you got to the -- got to town? >> we went to that motel. and he pulled in there. and he looked at me. he's like, "you'll be waitin' here when i come back." and i said, "yes." so he goes in. as soon as he went in that second door and he was out of sight, i took off. >> i started drivin' back toward town. and i was goin' really fast, hoping that i -- >> i should think so. >> hopin' that someone would pull me over. and they did. >> and finally i told him what was happening. and -- and then they took me back to the police station. >> reporter: some officers went to the motel to arrest jones. but --. >> they said they couldn't find him. he wasn't there. >> reporter: where was he? lisa, still shaken, still terrified, went home. and he called. >> and the first thing he said

was, "where are you?" and -- i just hung up and i called 911. >> and they took me to a safe house. >> and did they catch him? >> no, they didn't know where to look. >> reporter: a few days later, somebody broke into lisa's mother's house in oklahoma. >> she called me, la -- later that day and said when she was leaving work that she noticed this car was following her and she said it was ralph. she called the sheriff's department and she's like, he's here, he's following me, and they arrested him. >> my mom said she asked him what was he doing. and he said, "looking for your daughter." >> reporter: lester ralph jones was convicted of assault and kidnapping and served three years. and now he was out and remarried and by the fall of 2007 a pile of circumstantial evidence connected him to paige birgfeld's disappearance. >> why didn't you just go arrest him? >> our job is to gather the facts.

and then present it to the district attorney's office and they make that determination. >> you wanna add 'cause -- he had to fight that battle constantly for years. >> oh, i think you hit it -- hit it right on. >> reporter: meaning they were ready to pick up jones, but d.a. hautzinger was not. why didn't you decide to pull the pin on lester ralph jones? >> i didn't have a body. >> and that was the defining -- >> absolutely. that was really --. >> i mean, there are lots of no body cases that go to trial. >> not a lot of no body cases where the victim has a double life and has been lying to her family and friends. >> because of her double life the possibility that -- defense attorney could throw out there that -- she ran off with some rich client and is living on a beach in brazil or something -- >> reporter: and as the years passed, paige's story went from the front of the paper -- to being filed away on microfiche. where was she? coming up, they were about to find out, and it would transform the case. >> we need to make a critical decision. >> and then, a brand-new theory of what happened to paige. >> i think that triggers something and something went

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grand junction, colorado, has been a boom and bust place over the years with the great, majestic cliffs. the monuments, they call it the beautiful places that draw hikers, bikers and rafters for years. a couple trekking through the wells gulf march 6, 2012. pretty soon, paige's dad got another one of those phone calls, this time from a local reporter. he said, do you know they found paige's remains this morning? he asked if anybody had called me. i said you are the first one.

>> reporter: it took time though, to be certain it was her. >> a couple weeks or so was verified it was paige's remains. >> reporter: a few miles south of where the documents were. it had to be paige that left the trail. a call for help or arrow pointing where to find her. all that, while restrained. they found remnants of duct tape wrapped around her jaw. >> we really think the searchers were here. to miss it, you know, it's like, darn, how did that happen? >> reporter: probably, said the detectives, her killer buried her five years earlier, back in 2007 when she first disappeared. eventually, what was left of her was unearthed by run off. so, the d.a. said -- >> this is what we have been waiting for. we need to put the pedal to the

medal and make a decision. >> reporter: now, with a body, they decided to fashion a murder case against one of the eight possible suspects, rob dixon and bieglor had solid alibis. with both of their cell phones being hundreds of miles away. so, that left the six clients. of course, lester ralph jones was at the top of the list. george coralluzzo, remember him? >> coralluzzo is the suspect that gave me, as the d.a. heart burn and concerns. that's because his alibi was so hard to pin down. he was partying at jose's apartment. but what time exactly? that depended on who you spoke to. what everybody did agree was this, coralluzzo was out of control. >> he was intoxicated, slurring his words, not being able to

focus. he wouldn't have been able to murder her and get rid of the body. he wasn't capable of it. >> reporter: of course, he might have been lying to protect his friend. detectives wanted to talk to coralluzzo himself but they couldn't find him. they asked for help. >> dune where george is? i said george is dead. >> drown the year before while swimming in a river in new jersey. still, to satisfy the d.a., investigators had to make a case that coralluzzo was guilty of innocent. because dead men don't talk, they had to go through seven years of reports, interviews and statements. it was two years after paige's body was discovered, investigators stumbled upon an overlooked piece of evidence that would change the case. it was security camera video of

coralluzzo's friend. they were at a market the night that paige disappeared. he wasn't in the video but the time stamp backed up the story, minute by minute that he had been telling the cops, lifting his credibility and, in turn, helping to establish coralluzzo's whereabouts the night paige disappeared. >> it helps corroborate what the witness was saying, piecing together a time line of where he was, where we could prove he was during the relevant window of opportunity -- >> right. >> that evening or next day when paige went missing. by interviewing lots of people that had been with coralluzzo or talked to him, we were able to painstakingly alibi him. >> reporter: they felt they had enough to take the case to a jury. in november 2014, 7 1/2 years

after paige vanished, police arrested lester ralph jones for her murder. did they know the whole story now? oh, no, they certainly did not. they didn't know where or how paige was killed. >> it would have been nice to have that additional piece of evidence or additional puzzle piece to put into the jigsaw. >> reporter: help you tell the story, too. >> exactly. >> reporter: that's an important thing for a prosecutor to do. >> it's the entire thing. i don't have to prove motive, for example, but i usually try to anyway because the jury wants to know, why did this person do this. >> reporter: tell us the story, what happened in your view? >> i think lester jones was obsessed with paige and she had not enjoyed her time with him and was putting him off. i think that triggered something and that's why he got the tracfone and something went wrong.

my guess is that he physically subdued her and drove her down to where her body was found but she was conscious and had the ability to throw things out the window or trunk or whatever it was leaving the trail going down to delta and she was ultimately killed not far from where her body was found. >> reporter: but the defense had its own compelling story to tell or rather stories. a separate tale for each of those alternate suspects, waste of time? well, maybe not. remember, it takes just one juror with reasonable doubt to throw a whole case into, well, you'll see. coming up, at trial, the defense goes hard at the original lead detective in the case. >> did you actually receive an official reprimand for the poor quality of work you did in this case? >> reporter: maybe the case

against jones never stood a chance. >> if you are doing shotty work in the beginning, your investigation is sick. it's impossible to make it well again. >> when "dateline" continues. sn. i get as much fresh air as possible. good for you, but shingles doesn't care. because 1 in 3 people will get shingles, you need protection. but no matter how healthy you feel, your immune system declines as you age, increasing your risk for getting shingles. so what can protect you? shingrix protects. for the first time ever, you can protect yourself from shingles with a vaccine proven to be over 90% effective. shingrix is a vaccine used to prevent shingles in adults 50 years and older. shingrix does not protect everyone and is not for those with severe allergic reactions to its ingredients or to a previous dose. the most common side effects are pain, redness, and swelling at the injection site, muscle pain, tiredness, headache, shivering, fever, and upset stomach.

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and kick open the universal gates. we're finally back... and can't wait until you are too. in a town with zero degrees of separation paige birgfelds' disappearance and murder impacted many here. if they didn't know paige personally, then they were in on the search, or were a potential witness, or knew somebody who was or, in the worse case, they knew one of the possible suspects. so when the trial finally got underway. the town's attention was very much focused on this courtroom. >> we're on the record, >> reporter: but the trouble began before a single witness could be called. ron beigler was angry, wound up. the new district attorney dan rubinstein was set to call paige's first husband.

he was a key witness, but was afraid he might actually attack jones in the courtroom because beigler had actually threatened to kill him. >> and indicated that he wanted mr. jones to be found not guilty so that he could kill him and feed him his genitals, although he used a different word than that. >> reporter: proceedings ground to a sudden halt. beigler was hauled before the judge. >> if you have any outbursts or you do anything in an attempt to harm anybody in the courtroom, that will result in serious consequences. >> i think it was over exaggerated. taken out of context. >> all right. >> sarcasm may be taken out of context. >> reporter: chastened, but still insisting it was all a misunderstanding, beigler took the stand and testified about his last day with paige. >> we talked about me moving into her house in grand junction. we talked about her quitting that business. >> which business? >> the adult entertainment business. >> did you give her reasons why you wanted her to quit? >> mm-hmm.

>> what were the reasons you said? >> because she could get killed, for one. >> reporter: the jury heard about it all. the day planner, items along the roadside, the bits of paper left along the highway, the search dogs who scented on jones the tracfone jones bought then lied about. and the apparent suicide note he'd left for his wife, and the jury heard that strange call jones had with a deputy. when jones said -- >> you asked me where i would bury a body. >> reporter: lisa nance told the jury the harrowing tale of the night jones took her into the mountains. >> and he looked at me. he said, "i'm going to kill you." >> reporter: and, there was this. >> hi mom. it's me. i was just wondering when you would get home. >> reporter: the prosecution played the fearful phone messages paige's then 8-year-old daughter jess left on her mother's cellphone. >> love you, bye. >> reporter: and here was jess today, now a senior in high school, but still able to give a

child's perspective of a very loving mother. >> she was pretty much a typical soccer mom. she -- she -- we did everything with her. we all slept in the same bed with her, and -- [ sniffs ] we always went shopping together. and she took us to all of our soccer games, and to school, and she provided us with everything that we needed, whatever that may have been. >> reporter: a procession of witnesses that lasted for weeks. and the defense team's response? that this was all so much show to distract from a shoddy investigation that focused on jones from the start, despite the lack of any physical evidence. >> do you solemnly swear -- >> reporter: and they drove that theory home by boldly calling former lead investigator, beverly jarrell. remember her? she was in charge of the investigation and all those detectives from the beginning,

yet was never called to testify for the prosecution, perhaps for good reason. >> would you agree, investigator jarrell, that you made some mistakes in this investigation? >> um, yes. >> okay. has it come to your attention that you did, in fact, forget to book in a few recordings into evidence for this? >> yes. >> reporter: jarrell admitted reports had gone unwritten and evidence was actually lost, like jose tavera's first police interview. >> and did you actually receive an official reprimand for the poor quality of work you did in this case? >> i don't remember that. >> you don't remember getting a major disciplinary action because you kept evidence from this case in your office?

>> in writing? no. >> reporter: jarrell said her memory's been fuzzy since a 2010 horseriding accident, something that happened three years after the slip-ups on the birgfeld case. and then came the alternate suspects, the guy who called paige from that motel 6. >> and in that storage unit you had numerous guns, right? >> i did have, yes. >> reporter: this former client, who allegedly discussed killing paige. >> did you tell ms. waylan that you had killed ms. birgfeld by putting ms. birgfeld through a woodchipper? [ laughs ] >> no, ma'am. somebody had said something about, did you do this to paige? did you murder paige?" and i said, just out of context, "had i -- had i -- they wouldn't find her because i would have used a woodchipper." and it was totally out of context. >> reporter: the client who admitted embezzling his company's money to pay paige. >> did you kill ms. birgfeld? >> no. >> are you responsible for her disappearance. >> absolutely not. >> reporter: and then the defense went after jose tavera, who admitted he was so tight with coralluzzo he would have done just about anything for his friend. >> including burning a car to help him if he needed that done. >> i wouldn't do that. >> you wouldn't do that? >> no. >> that's the one thing you wouldn't do? >> yeah. >> reporter: meagan williams

told the jury she was sure the killer was really corralluzzo. >> he was a pathological liar, and anything that came out of his mouth was a lie. and any story that he made up, was made up! >> reporter: so many suspects, said the defense, and they put on a retired detective to accuse the police of tunnel vision. >> because if you're doing shoddy work in the beginning, and you're not paying attention to all the details and all the information, and vetting all of the leads, your investigation becomes sick, it's almost impossible to make it well again. >> reporter: as for forensic evidence, said the defense, forget about it. they called an expert to say there is no way a dog can follow a month-old scent. >> my opinion is that it's not possible. >> reporter: if true that meant there was no proof jones had

ever been in paige's car or along the highway where her belongings were found. by the end of the six-week trial, the jury had heard from more than a hundred witnesses, testifying about a nine-year investigation, involving multiple suspects. so it wasn't surprising--during deliberations--the jury came back with one question after the other. the prosecutor -- >> i started to get worried and the question popped into my mind, "is it possible to ever convince 12 people beyond a reasonable doubt, unanimously as to an answer on this case?" and i started to worry about that. >> please rise for our jury. >> reporter: by day three, the judge called the jury into his courtroom to ask -- >> is there a likelihood of progress towards a unanimous verdict? >> reporter: after getting this far, was the prosecution's case coming undone? coming up, jurors speak out saying the case went wrong from the start with the original lead detective. >> she boggled me when she was like, i don't remember, i don't know. you are a lead investigator?

by day three of

deliberations, the jury sent word to the judge they were deadlocked. >> is there a likelihood of progress toward a unanimous verdict? >> no. >> all right. thank you. >> reporter: the judge ordered them back to deliberate further. now there was concern. >> they won't make another effort consider their opinions further. if they are unable to make a verdict -- >> reporter: less than two hours later, another message from the jury. >> the jury remains in the same position period. we are not unanimous in our decision, period. we do not feel any further discussion will change our current state, period. >> that was it. the judge had no option but declare a mistrial. minutes later, paige's dad, frank, tried to keep it positive. >> if we hadn't had a trial, it was a massive effort.

i am grateful they gave us a shot at it. >> reporter: like many times in the past, frank cracked and the pain slipped through. >> at the end, they should have -- that all -- >> in my heart, i believe he was guilty. >> reporter: a handful of jurors spoke to us afterward to explain how the trial played out for them. this man, william sullivan voted guilty. >> because of the evidence. you know, nobody has that bad of luck in one week. >> this man was disturbed by the lead investigators testimony. >> she boggled me on the stand, i don't remember, i don't know. whatever. and you are a lead investigator? they should have replaced her immediately. >> reporter: still, he voted guilty. there were others, three, who

couldn't go with their doubts. >> not enough evidence for them to get past a reasonable doubt. >> reporter: the prosecutor said, in a way, he understood. >> the biggest weakness of the case, in my opinion was, there were no eyewitnesses that placed him with miss birgfeld that night. >> reporter: he conceded they did a good job defending jones. >> the point they were trying to make is a good one, it could be anyone. it could be anyone we never thought of. >> reporter: the seasons slipped by. with the leaves gone and snowfalling, a retrial. >> good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. >> reporter: with time and money tight, this would be the last shot at jones. another mistrial would be just as good as an acquittal. >> do you solemnly swear --

>> reporter: it all played out before. >> you have a track record of being dishonest? >> yes. >> reporter: the same witnesses. >> did you kill her? >> no, ma'am. >> reporter: the same testimony. >> i have never been able to run a dog on a trail that is a month old. >> reporter: the same suspects. >> did they conduct a good investigation? >> no. >> reporter: the same closing argument from the defense. >> this man is innocent and he stays that way unless these people can convince you otherwise, beyond a reasonable doubt. >> reporter: what is different this time is the closing argument taking the alternate suspect seriously, he went after each theory, one by one, with attitude. >> and to think that somebody whose so drunk that three people have to cart him around, who is also on cocaine, is capable of doing this, carefully and going back and cleaning us up, carefully, with a car fire that specifically targeted to get the evidence, to tear pages out of a day planner.

does this sound like george at all? no. >> reporter: would that make a difference to the new jury? few thought so. while deliberations went on from one day to the next, paige's parents braced themselves. >> i think there's a reasonable chance it could be another mistrial. if it is a mistrial, i suspect jones will walk out a free man. >> reporter: just as in the first trial, the jury deliberated for three days before sending a note to the judge. >> please be seated. >> reporter: this time, there was a verdict. we the jury find the defendant lester ralph jones guilty of count one, murder in the first degree. >> reporter: the jury found jones guilty of second-degree murder and second-degree kidnapping. >> when the verdict came in, i think we were supposed to feel

elated, like the home team kicked a field goal with two seconds left and we just won. to be honest, i didn't feel that. there were no winners in this case. none of this brings paige back to us. >> reporter: what about you? >> this is about paige. this is about paige who has been gone and will not be able to come back to her friends, her brother, her parents, her kids. >> reporter: who now live far away in pennsylvania, as they have since paige first vanished. the birgfeld's tried to get custody, but the court ruled in favor of the father. >> just trying to get back to our normal lives. we won't. we never will be what we were

ten years ago. it's changed each of us, but we are working it, trying to get back to normal. >> reporter: or something like it. >> a big word that always hangs over is closure. i'm not sure what that means. >> paige was kidnapped. >> reporter: there were difficult moments for them during the murder trial. the first time they heard the frightened voicemail messages of her children. >> hi, mom. you said you would be back last night and you are not back today. bye. >> that was the hard part. >> that was the hardest for me. >> there is almost a recognition that you are in trouble, please don't be in trouble. please come home to us. >> reporter: and then, there was the day planner, when the sweet, mundane details of her life were made real once more. the family night, soccer games,

the dance recitals and birthday parties and library visits, they were all there. the precious, chaotic rhythms of a family that once was. proved there was a time when all was as it should be. proof, also, that time is gone, forever. democratic ticket. >> she's ready to do this job on day one. >> joe biden picks his running mate. >> your next vice president of the united states, kamala harris. >> the first woman of color ever on a national ticket. >> we need a mandate that proves that the past few years do not represent who we are or who we aspire to be. >> the trump campaign, struggling to find a consistent line of attack. >> she left angry. she left mad. there was nobody more insulting to biden than she was. >> how will this ticket fare with progressive democrats? this morning, my interview with senator bernie sanders of vermont.