and here i am, at home on the jersey shore. and i am wishing all of you a very good and very safe night and a great weekend. from all of our colleagues across the networks of nbc news, i want to thank you for staying up late with us. i will see all of you next week. week oh. . ,. .

this is not a good sign at all. it is not. you are hitting the chat with a sledgehammer. today that's what it feels like. she began coming, to choose trying to find. trying to grab the radio. trying to honk the horn anything that she could do. because she knew, she knew. >> it was a saturday night in the summer. and they were so happy at their bachelor party. after as they laughed and danced. and played the drinking games. well outside in the dark, watchful waiting hidden in it's clever disguise. death cruised by. looking for one of them. but all around, peaceful town tucked to sleep no ghost, no

seuss air to warn that evil had fooled their defenses. and slipped inside to snatch its prey. ♪ ♪ ♪ this is the place, here in the wide handsome high desert of central oregon. the small city of been. an annual occupant of the best places to live in america. >> it's a nice place to live. i love it here, it's perfect. >> an outdoor recreation heaven on the slopes of the cascade ridge, rife with rivers and lakes. rugged independence. >> everything here is about outdoors, about connections. >> and that was home to a beautiful young woman, named kayleigh sawyer. this is kayleigh's mother, julie. >> she was probably 17. and she said to me, mom, when people describe me, i want them to describe me as smart and

strong and funny. and she was. >> yes, and feisty and fearless. a best friend naomi sleep over buddy and cheerleading partner. >> i love kayleigh so much, but she's not the most coordinate a person there was, we were probably the best on our team the squad because the communication we didn't. no to speak. we could communicate each other just by looking. >> i wouldn't really color tomboy, i would really call her a girly girl. somewhere in between. >> she could look like a model one minute and the him scrubbing clothes and ready go camping the next. >> she called her grandmother papa doug, here with grandma cheri she was our sunshine, she was just our world >> did you worry about her as a teenager? >> she had family around. so my worry was, if she left

bend, oh my goodness, one of my kayleigh goes up to portland? she won't have a grandma share in their. we'll have to move. we'll have to go and be with her. that was my worry. not being intend. >> mind you, kayleigh was on her own, it was living with her boyfriend a, young man named cam. >> i could tell that the moment kayleigh met cam that this was a good relationship for her. i could see that she was happy. >> cameron and kayleigh loved each other. we knew they would probably be getting engaged before too long. >> they were a beautiful couple together, they involve themselves with family, if we had a family dinner and everybody knew kayleigh and cam were coming, then it became a holiday. just kaylee and cam are coming. now, if you just figure out what to do with her life. >> she was going to be a plastic surgeon she's going to be a policeman she's going to

be a chef she's gonna be a photographer. the world was hers. >> she didn't pick one thing. >> no, but this year, the year she turned 23, it was changing. she held a job for two full years now as a dental assistant. >> she was my work daughter. she follow me around to learn how to do things. because she really wanted to be the best. >> lisa castro was her mentor at the dentist office. and she discovered kaylee had this rail ability to make people laugh. even when they weren't in the mood or scared. >> if there is a difficult patient, you'd put kaylee in the room and they would just melt. so, those pretty eyes and that smile. >> and then? surprise, surprise. kayleigh was making plans to enroll in college. now, she knew what you wanted to do. >> one day she comes into work and says, i've decided, i'm gonna become a dentist. >> so both of them had something to look forward to that saturday night, july 23rd, 2016. lisa was celebrating her

upcoming wedding, a bachelorette party. it was for her. kaylee had already told lisa and her sister janet, that she couldn't go. she'd be out of town. but last minute. >> i got a text from her saying, guess what's, i'm going to show up here to your party to help celebrate you. and i'm gonna show up a little late. but i'll be there. >> that's a great thing, when women get together for a bachelorette party? -- >> especially at our age. >> it was after 8 pm when kayleigh showed up and at a country bar called mavericks. the party was well underway. >> she came in a little dressed just looked adorable in it. indeed she did. here is photos of kaylee at that party, in that black dress. >> she was kicking up reveals a bit, right? >> she was having fun. >> but when the bachelorette in her party began to run out of steam, kaylee had a friend left to keep things going. and another board that downtown.

>> i checked him out and said, you girls be safe, you're okay right. and, little before 10:30 pm, she walked out into the night. happy. a little tipsy, altogether, unaware of what was waiting on the other side of midnight. >> coming up? >> a friend of cams texted him and said, your girlfriends here dancing with another guy. >> kaylee out for a night of fun, where would she be when morning came? >> the very first message that i looked at was from cam saying, have you seen kaylee? >> instantly, i had the sickening feeling in my gut. >> when dateline continues. >> whe it's so fun. two things coming together like a force of nature, like it was really meant to be, y'know? yes, yes, i do.

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july 24th, the day after the bachelor party. kaylee his mother julie was heading home from a cabin trip. she approached bend at 5 pm, reentered cell phone range. >> i turned my phone back on in my phone was just pinning and pinging and pinging. and the very first message that i looked at was from cam saying, have you seen kaylee? have you heard from kaylee kaylee? >> why would can't be asking about kaylee? julie's phone tripped over it over. she had asked all day. >> you're getting multiple messages. >> yeah. >> each getting a little more worried? >> and i called her first. and her phone went to voice mail. which kaylee let herself phone battery go really low. so that wasn't surprising. >> by then, cameron already

tested texted kelly's dad as they said in church. >> his phone in his pocket kept buzzing. elbowing him. what's going on? so, he kind of said, cam doesn't know where kaylee is. >> okay. >> so kaylee his dad questioned cam. >> what did cameron tell you? >> she went to a bachelorette party and they had an argument going home. >> an argument? >> it seemed really obvious that she just walked out on the road and probably called a friend to pick her up because she was mad. and that was it. i literally thought, nothing more to it than that. >> but cam, clearly did. he spent that sunday calling the entire family. >> cam called and said, grandma sharon, have you heard from kaylee? i said no i haven't. >> grandma sharon khalid said, have you talked to kaylee? everything is okay, what's going on? >> i don't even know how many times her phone was going

straight to voice mail. >> i figure she was out with friends, maybe she's ended up staying with them. >> but the bride to be who said goodnight to that happy young woman was alarmed. >> instantly, i had this sickening feeling in my gut. because that's not kayleigh, she would've contacted someone. or went to someone's house. or whatever. >> julie, still driving, trying to comprehend, got a call from cam. who told her that after the bachelorette party, at that other barr, kayleigh had had a few. and was having fun with some other guy. >> they were dancing. and i guess a friend of cam's texted him and said, your girlfriends here dancing with another guy. and so, he went and picked her up. and on the way home they started to argue. >> cam's story? he parked outside their apartment a little bit after midnight, temper still hot. he got out of the car, she

stayed inside. he told her, come up when you've cooled off. but a few minutes later, out she got, and walked away into the night. >> it didn't surprise me when he told me that she went for a walk, because she had always done that. when she was younger, and she would get in trouble and i would tell her, you know, you need to go to your room. chances are, she went to her room and out her window. and she go for a walk. >> she had to work it out? >> she was mad, and you know, she would go for a walk. and that wasn't unusual behavior. >> anyway, cam and kaylee lived in a crime free neighborhood, right across the street from the local college. but cam didn't sound so sure of his story. so, where did she go? why didn't she come back? why didn't she call anyone? julie encouraged cam to call police. which he did, sunday afternoon.

>> dispatch, how can i help you? >> hi, last night i got home for the bars with my girlfriend. she got upset at me and ran off. and i still haven't heard from her, her phones off. >> okay. did you pick up walking or something, she was mad? >> yeah i walked. she was mad at me. so i walked inside and told or to come and meet me in there she was like, calmed down. and then i went back out in ten minutes, she was gone. and i called a few times, and she said she was walking down the street. haven't heard from her since. >> as julie neared bend, she worried, would police take it seriously? after all, a grown woman, lovers fat? so julie's added a little urgency. and called 9-1-1 herself. >> dispatch, how can i help you? >> yes, i need to have an office or call me. i'm, my daughter is missing. and she is over 23. but she has epilepsy in some medical issues. >> i exaggerated her seizure conditions. when she was younger, she had

seizures. but she hadn't had seizures for a while. but i told them, i was worried about her. >> how did they react to that? >> they were concerned about that. they knew that she had been out the night before and she had been drinking, could that have triggered a medical incident? >> julie drove straight to the apartment, where she questioned cam. >> i was frustrated that his story just didn't make sense. and so, i walked out of the apartment and i said, i just needed to go and take a walk and get some fresh air. and while i was out there walking, the officer came and i said to him, i need you to go talk to cam. because his story doesn't make sense to me. >> what was going on? and where was kaylee sawyer? >> coming up. kaylee his mom was the only one

troubled by cam's story. >> did they really have that bad of an argument? did something bad happened? >> and what did police think about kaylee sudden disappearance? >> did you both agree at that point, something was going on here? something was off? >> yeah, we were talking back and forth, do you need to get detectives involved, i said yeah, absolutely. when dateline continues. , absolutely when datelin (dog barking) we love our pets. but we don't always love their hair. ir and lint guard with three times the pet hair fighting ingredients. just one sheet helps remove pet hair from your clothes!

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son descend toward the cascades. 18 hours after katie's lawyer argued with her board boyfriend wondered into the dark, her extended family gathered at the apartment she shared with cam. her father, jamie,. >> which part of you was suspicious of kim? >> i thought, did they really have that bad of an argument? did something bad happen? >> your mind when there because, the vast majority of time, when something happens to young woman and someone very close. >> cam is a very innocent young man, it's hard to believe, he was a nice guy. it's hard to imagine that, but you still do. >> remember, cam story troubled kaylee's mother to. and police officer kyle denny arrived. and park outside the apartment, right across the street from the campus of central oregon community college. >> it's on --

one of the more prestigious areas of town, very nice homes. >> very safe area, i would think? >> very safe. >> officer denny was soon joined by corporal ericsson plea. we'll denny talk to the family, he found that friend, the girl who had seed kaylee dancing at the bar. the one who texted cam, better come get her. >> a little after midnight, kaylee sent a text message to her friend, i'm home, everything is okay story about earlier tonight. and then her friend tried to call her just before 1 am, and kaylee didn't answer the phone. >> did there seem to be any chance that she wouldn't got back to that guy she had met at the bachelorette party? >> initially, i thought maybe there is a chance. >> did you talk to him? >> i called him on the telephone. didn't get kaylee's phone number. didn't give his phone number. it was just kind of, hanging out that night, that was the last he knew or saw of her. >> and that seemed to make sense to you? >> it did. >> so, nothing to disprove

anything cam had told them. >> what was your take on cameron's story of what happened? it didn't make sense? >> the story made sense, it made absolute sense. >> officer denny took julie side to address concerns about cam. >> he was able to come and tell me, it's not that his story has changed, his story is evolving, he's remembering things. i think that he, very early on, took on the guilt and the responsibility that if something did happen to her, that maybe it was his fault. i think it was hard for him to re-tell that story. with me thinking, why didn't you protect her? why did you just leave her in the car when you guys were arguing? >> why do you let go later go off in the night alone? >> but i never felt that he was involved in harming her. >> then, officer denny assembled the family and ask them a question.

>> i said hey, is there anywhere that you would think that you she might be? and i said the motivation to start looking at places where she could be if she was trying to cool off? >> i remember going up to the campus, and walking the route we were told or assumed that she might have walked that night. >> a terrifying thing to do, said pompeo. >> we didn't know where whether we were looking for a body, parts of clothing, a purse. >> so you are worried something pretty bad had happened? >> yes. petrified. terrified. >> i wanted to stay home and i wanted to be there, because, maybe she'd come home. maybe she'd come home, maybe should call, let you know? >> my husband went out and looked for her. we were praying that he'd find her. that she's safe. but in a way, you know that something's wrong. i was praying that he didn't find her. because i didn't want him to

have to find her if somebody had hurt her. >> now, for the two officers, a judgment call. she was a grown woman, who was missing, but she had a right to be somewhere else. there was no evidence of foul play. but -- . >> did you both agree at that point, something was going on here? something was off? >> we were talking back and forth, do you need to get the detectives in law involved? i said yes, absolutely. >> overnight, the first over missing person flyer went out. law enforcement around central oregon. and the next morning, everyone held their breath. hoping kaylee would simply show up for work at the dentist's office. and then they'd all breathe again. >> i drove in, walked into her workplace and i looked at me and their faces just showed me but they were already thinking. i asked, if he's called in?

they just shook their heads. >> it was heartbreaking, no one could talk. there was just a lot of tears. >> that's when you knew? that's when i knew something. and still didn't want to accept it. >> she was truly missing. and then, a few hours later, 20 miles up the road from bend, in redmon, oregon a police detective named eric bennett with got up to his desk. >> i got to my car and walk through my lobby, and saw isabelle ponce. >> who is that? >> she is someone that we knew in redmond. she was a police officer recruit and a redmond resident. >> she seemed to be waiting for something. curious. he walked on, back to his office, sat down. no idea what was about to worm its ugly way into his world. coming up.

a worried wife with a wild story. >> she's crying. she's crying. uncontrollably. we knew we had a big problem. >> and reality sinks in. >> ever been hit in the chest with a sledgehammer? that's about what it feels like. >> when dateline continues. what it feels like like >> when dateline and when you get off balance, you may feel it. the bloating, the gas - but align helps me trust my gut again. plus, its recommended by doctors nearly 2x more than any other probiotic brand. just one a day naturally helps promote a balanced gut. and soothe occasional bloating gas and discomfort. align probiotic. welcome to an align gut.

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by monday morning, they were swamped under waves of panic. it was 36 hours since kaylee sawyer walked into the oregon night and vanished. i'm trying to get a sense of what it felt like to be in the middle of all of that? >> complete loss of control. accompanied with sheer panic. >> ever been hit in the chest with a sledgehammer? that's about what it feels like. >> and then? going about noon, 20 miles north, at the redmond police department. a newly minute minted bend police officer, isabelle ponce, sitting calmly on a chair as if waiting for something. odd. >> it struck me as unusual. but i didn't approach her or strike up a conversation, just went into the office. >> on wrapped his lunch,

prepared to talk in. when a colleague appeared at his door. >> he had asked me if i had any idea why should be in the office? she had called and requested to talk to a watch commander or a supervisor of some kind. >> you had no idea? >> no idea. >> and then? >> and then i saw sergeant duff bring in her into his office. just a short amount of time after that, the sergeant opened his door, and yell down the hall for me to come into his office. >> of course, he rushed in there. and right into the biggest, most shocking case of his life. though it first, it was just puzzling. describe the scene to me. >> she's crying. she's crying uncontrollably. >> could you tell what's going on? >> i know we had a big problem, it never would've anticipated how big of a problem we had. >> there had been an accident, she got out through her tears. or at least, her husband said

there had been an accident, said he hit someone with his car. and it must have been missing girl who had been showing on tv, kaylee sawyer. >> did that name, kaylee sawyer mean anything to you? >> it did. when i arrived to work on that monday, i notice that ben pd had put on a missing persons flyer, and we're requesting other agencies for any information would be on the lookout for her. i knew right away which he was talking about. >> isabelle said her husband was a security guard at central oregon community college, and something must have happened there late saturday. because, she said, he seemed kind of distant all day sunday. like here. when they went to the movies. this picked up by a surveillance camera. and then, monday morning, -- . >> he comes out of the room, and his eyes were all thierry. that's one unlike, what happened? tell me what happened? what's wrong? >> and he's like i had her with the car.

>> and if you tell you which car? >> he said the, the security, the car they use at the job. >> and what did you say to that? >> so i'm like, what do you mean? what do you mean you hitter? and he's like, yeah, i hitter in a panic. >> all he said he hit her, and he panicked. he never said -- . >> it was a making any sense to me, because unlike, why would somebody hit somebody and then do that. especially you? especially him? like, it doesn't make any sense. >> didn't make sense because her husband was a good man. had a degree in criminal justice. was in training to be a cop. and then he told her that awful confusing story. and just got in his car, told him he was gonna make a run for

it, and fled. ran away. >> how long to this conversation go on before he left? >> it was pretty brief. it was just him moving around, i'm not sure if he, i don't think he grabbed anything. other than, he did grab my gun for my purse. and then he just kept saying, i need to go, i need to go. >> what did you think when you heard all these things? >> i thought we had a significant problem. we had a gentleman who, now known, who was a member of the campus public safety, whose wife was police recruit who was potentially armed, would have some knowledge of the way police initiate an investigation. >> so, now on the run, knew that police would do. but it seemed like isabelle was being rather vague about him. >> we had very little information about who we was and what his background was. >> so? >> almost alarmingly, we didn't know much about him.

>> more importantly, where he was now? >> only place that she thinks he would be traveling southbound, from central oregon. to his grandfather's place in los angeles. >> right away, back with issued a b.o.l.o., be on the lookout. and a silver nissan altima he was believed to be driving. and then he activated the major crimes team, called in dozens of investigators in town. among those responding, this sheriff who had his own questions about the story isabelle reported about her husband. >> he had told his wife this crazy tale, which might or might not be true. >> there are a lot of things left out as far as details that we needed to know, law enforcement wise, like how did it happen? where she now? >> where is kayleigh, that is? was she lying in some ditch, badly hurt? what exactly did this man due

to her? and how big a head start did he have? after all, isabelle hadn't seemed to be in a really rush to report any of this, driving from their home eight minutes away from the police department, then waiting for who knows how long just sitting in the office, waiting to speak to a sergeant. she could've been on the phone and let people know in a heartbeat? you just told me this, he's on the road, get him. she didn't. >> she did not. there's an unknown period of time in between his confession to her from when the actual report took place. it could've been a half hour, 45 minutes, however, it could've also been an hour and a half, two hours. we just don't know. >> you're on a man hunt now? >> we are. our goal was this, we are going to hunt for edwin enoch laura, as quickly and fiercely as we can, so we can a, potentially locate kayleigh alive and be, if we can't, we can find her

and we can stop anyone else from being hurt. >> and so began one of the largest manhunts in oregon history. but, not so easy to find a man who doesn't want to be found. or to know with that manned might do next. coming up. a mother's nightmare. >> you hear about news stories about people stealing young women, now, i'm gonna have to search for her being a sex slave. when >> dateline continues. slave. slave. when > and i get seven days to love it or my money back... i love it! [laughs] we'll drive you happy at carvana.

>> by monday afternoon, katie sawyer had been gone a day and a half, but the calculus was very grim. -- i told his wife the truth, kayleigh might be dead, but was he telling the truth? and was she? or was kayleigh still alive and injured, or alive and the captive of an armed and dangerous fugitive? but having told him which she came to say, is a bill -- was no longer much help. >> i don't think he has a plan. >> i think you're right. >> he knows what he's doing. i don't think he does. >> did you pick his phone? >> we think is going to mediately. initially, it pinned an eagle crest. >> equal crest as a resort,

about ten minutes west of redmond. but, it must have been a false signal, didn't pan out. so -- >> we really didn't have a good idea of where he was, or where he might go. >> none of this could be shared with kayleigh's family, not yet. not even with her mother, julie. she was conducting a search of her own. >> my best friend and i went and made missing posters, and started distributing those throughout. >> panicky day? >> yeah. and, you know, the whole time that you're doing this, you're checking your cell phone, your calling yourself phone. the part that was hard, she was call, and i will go straight to voice mail. sometimes, she would call and it would ring. so, you would think oh, my gosh, did she turn the phone off but nobody ever answered. >> did you think that made

she'd been kidnapped? >> when i heard that she had gone for a walk, you hear about new stories about people stealing young women. >> she's a blond, a good-looking young woman. you never know. >> yeah. now i'm gonna have to search for her, being a sex slave. >> that's a pretty awful thing to come up with. >> it is. >> we knew how hard the family was searching for kayleigh. how many friends and relatives were out looking for her. so, yeah, that was weighing on my mind, and other investigators as well. >> the major crimes -- was growing by the hour. the shoes county district attorney, john humble. >> this was a full-on, every man and woman, every law enforcement ages me and the counties, with the oregon state police department as well, putting all resources into it. we need to find kayleigh because we thought that she may, may, still be alive. >> edwin laura was the key.

so again, they asked his wife, where could he be? >> did you ask her whether they knew other people around town that he might hide with, or something like that? >> yes, i did. she told me that there would be no place for him to go in town or close, or anywhere in oregon, for that matter. >> no place at all, she said. no family to run to. no one. a bit later, one of the investigators -- remembered something. laura did, in fact, half emily in the area. police had once arrested his stepfather, and that's how the investigator knew that the stepfather lived five minutes from the police department. and also, only five minutes from laura's house. >> what do you know? his wife, the police officer, basically let you away from that. >> she definitely didn't lead us directly to that place, that's for sure. >> and there, lo and behold, just two blocks from the parents house, detectives found edwin laura's getaway car.

his 2008 nissan altima, abandoned. a swat team was assembled, they went to his parents door. was he at his parents house? >> he was not a disappearance house. >> and from the parents? >> there wasn't much detail, if any. only that he had come by, that he had asked for some money. they had no idea where he was, where he had gone, that there was any trouble at all. that was the initial interview. they gave no credible information. >> did they tell the officers that they had given him a car to use? >> no. >> that doesn't make it easy to find a person. >> it's typical, but it does not. >> maybe there to be something in laura's house, some clue to what made him take, or where he might have gone. detective magoffin got a search warrant, and headed over there, went inside. but nothing could've prepared him for what he would discover. nothing at all. coming up, two discoveries at

anyone laura's home. one surprising. >> there were things return on certain pages, scriptures -- >> the other, horrifying. this is not a good sign at all. >> it is not. >> when dateline continues. not >> whe i felt all people saw were my uncontrolled movements. some mental health meds can cause tardive dyskinesia, or td, and it's unlikely to improve without tren ment. ingrezza is a prescription medicine to treat adults with td movements in the face and body. it's the only treatment for td that's one pill, once-daily, with or without food. ingrezza 80 mg is proven to reduce td movements in 7 out of 10 people. people taking ingrezza can stay on their current dose of most mental health meds. don't take ingrezza if you're allergic to any of its ingredients. ingrezza may cause serious side effects including sleepiness. don't drive, operate heavy machinery, or do other dangerous activities until you know how ingrezza affects you. other serious side effects

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full force across central oregon. late that monday in july 2016. in either case did the searchers have all the facts. kaylee sawyer and her family got word out however they could. posters, facebook. >> within less than 24 hours, there was 10,000 shares of kayleigh being missing. there wasn't a spot in downtown bend, or redmond that you could go that you did not see kayleigh's missing picture.

we >> had people call and say, i canceled everything for the week, what do you need? >> kelly's family did not know with this police officer had told detectives. >> he said something like, he hitter with a car, and then he panicked. >> did not know that this security company car with the missing flyer attached was the very one edwin lara was driving when, as he told his wife, he ran into kaylee. but, was she dead or alive? it was almost certainly a race against time. >> i was holding on to hope, and every officer was holding on to hope, that she might be clinging to life. and if we could find her, we could bring her back from the point of no return. >> and, as they search for her, they searched also for him. for answers. >> detective struggle to -- the security guard a central oregon community college, i want to be cop, would cut and

run. >> how do you wrap your mind around that, that somebody in that level of trust will do such a thing? >> i don't think you can wrap your mind around that. >> by now, the major crimes team had grown to more than 30 investigators. one of whom was detective james mclaughlin, about to be -- of edwin laura's home. >> i would like to see what makes this person take. >> and it just happened, coincidence really, that mclaughlin was a former pastor, which was about to matter. a lot. >> we go through the house, and i'm immediately drawn to a music room, where there are pictures of edwin and isabel inside. various musical instruments. >> they found you to videos. lara singing love songs, but also evidence that lara was a member of his church's warship group. and here, on laura's bedside table, was a well worn bible. you preach from the bible?

>> i have. >> so you know what it looks? like >> there were things written on certain pages, certain scriptures, so i believed, at this point, this is one of the focal points of his life. >> when the detective found evidence in a note, lara that was tie then, giving 10% of his income to the church, he began thinking ahead. what did you think as you were looking at that bible? are you seeing that he's clearly, highly engaged in his religion and his could middlemen to it? >> as my first thought is, i'm here for some kind of reason, and i believe that, unless this is a complete farce, but there's a hook there. and i'm looking for a hook for that house, i want to hook. >> if there's anybody who could use that hook, it's you. >> and i believe that. that was my initial thought. i can use this. he's feeling something else, and i'm just wondering with that something else is. >> maybe that funded in the backyard shed. isabelle had told detectives, edwin lara had left some things

there. would it reveal about -- or where kayleigh was? mclaughlin opened the door, and this did not look good. >> what did you find in their? >> inside the shed, there was a trash bag. inside that trash bag, there was a green purse. that green purse had a large amount of blood stain on it. >> inside the purse, kayleigh sawyer's passport. there were the shoes she'd put on before the bachelorette party, saturday night. but then, there it was. like a punch in the gut. >> there's also a large rock, that was very sharp. half of it at least was saturated in dry blood. a >> murder weapon. had to be. this is not a good sign at all. >> it is not. >> kaylee sawyer was not a victim of a hit and run. no. it was much more than that. and in that moment, faint hope

died. >> i believe that she was dead. >> this was a murder. this wasn't in the accident. >> this was definitely not an accident. it was definitely a murder. >> but if that wasn't or horrifying enough, there was one more thing in that shed. this -- it was a post support for a criminal justice class, lara had taken, at the community college. a project on serial killers. >> he had a fascination with serial killers. so, naturally, you ask, why? are you a silly or killer? >> and if that was a real question, then what were your fears of what could happen? >> i had very real fear is that he was going to adopt, and that he was going to harm someone else. i knew he had a firearm. i knew, clearly, at this point in time, this man is willing to commit murder. this man is willing to do heinous, unspeakable things. >> monday evening, late now, 48

hours after kaylee sawyer vanished, kelly's friends and family had scour the streets around bend, oregon, and found no sign of her. anywhere. >> i told my husband -- i'm not stupid. i know she's not with us anymore. about five minutes later, there was a knock on the door. >> that's when they told her what they'd found, that kayleigh was dead. and the guy named edwin lara was on the run. now, detectives worried what or who was next. >> i'm looking at a desperate man, and anything can happen, at this point in time, is my thought. anything can happen. >> oh, it would. 9 pm, 130 miles northwest of bend, in the capital city of

salem, oregon, a 19 year old sales woman named, andrea mays was walking to her car, tired, at the end of a double shift at the, rostraver less. >> they were supposed to leave in the middle of the afternoon, but has decided to stay in cover shift. >> as she got in the car, she got on her phone and snap to selfie. >> it was just a long day, it was on my snapchat, i just took a picture of working a double shift. >> that's when she saw it. >> i just saw, in the corner of my eye -- somebody >> reaching into her window. >> that's when he unlocked the door, sat in the car really fast and he had a big backpack with him. he had a gun, just pointing it at me. >> she flinched, had to be a prank, she thought. >> i was really confused because, at first, i thought it was someone i knew. >> then she saw this wild look. >> it just happened also fast. then i saw his face, and said, what do you doing? then he started yelling at me. where >> was the gun?

>> it was in between him and his backpack. he just had his backpack on his lap, and he had his gun -- hiding it, pointing it at me. >> what did he say to you about the gun? >> he didn't say anything, he just kept it pointing at me until i started driving. >> and then, andrea started laughing. it had to be a prank. >> that's when he got really upset. he put the gun on my thigh and he had told me, do you think this is a game? do you think this is a joke? because i will shoot you, i'm not joking. >> her body reacted almost before her mind. what is a feel like? >> it's like this whole part of my face, into my ears, was numb and burning hot and read. i remember, i was just gripping the steering wheel so hard. i wasn't even crying at this point. it was just so unreal to me. >> coming up, andreas terrifying journey is just beginning. >> i kind of felt like that i'm

probably not going to come home. they're probably going to find my body in a ditch somewhere, or find me dead in a motel. or find me dead in a motel.

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kaylee sawyer had been murdered, and they were in hot pursuit of their prime suspect, edwin lara, who was more at 100 miles up the road, desperate laura kidnapped -- and forced her to start driving. he told her, he killed a girl in bend, made her look as she -- on her phone.

how did you not become hysterical? >> i don't know. in my head, i just kept thinking, it will end soon, maybe he'll just lead or maybe he'll just find another car. >> she thought about her friend, which never see them again? was he going to kill her? and then somehow, it occurred to her, her call or had it oil leak, and she made him believe it was worse than it was. would he let her go? >> i kept telling him, it's not going to make it. you need to find a different car. find somebody else. i can help you. he's like, he kept telling me, we'll figure it out. we'll just keep adding oil. >> and so, they did. they stopped at the surface station, and then, a mcdonald's, where he held her at gunpoint, while he bought food. >> it was the most frustrating feeling ever, knowing that i probably talked to maybe five people while he had me captive,

and nobody even suspected a thing. >> were you trying to make them understand what was going on? >> i wanted to, but he had told me that he if i made eye contact with anyone, he would shoot them, he would shoot me, that he didn't care, he had nothing to lose. >> and so, again, she drove. he held the gun. a strange thing happened. there >> was a couple of times where i really thought that i wasn't going to go home ever, i wasn't going to see my family. so when i would feel like that, i was just in the i don't care attitude, and i would snowbird him. i would say things -- >> instead of crying or getting terribly upset, you get mad. >> yeah. >>. >> it kind of felt like, i'm probably not gonna go home. i'm probably not gonna see anybody again. the probably gonna find my body in a ditch somewhere, or find me dead in a motel or something. >> and sure enough, 90 miles down the interstate, he told,

or were stopping. they pulled up to a motel, the relax in. here he is on surveillance video, keeping an eye on andrea, while he checks in. once inside the room, he handcuffed or, he took a shower and told her, now it's a return. >> in my head, i thought, i'd rather die than shower in front of you. i told him, i don't care what you do to me at this point because that would be worse than dying, it's the shower in front of you. i would rather die. >> what did you do? did you ever think, maybe i can make a break for it while he's in the shower? >> it's kind of silly of me, i've watched criminal mind, law in order, i was handcuffed the whole time so a couple of times i thought, i could probably just put the handcuffs around his neck and, you know, making you pass out or something to give him enough time to run, or drive away. but, then the votes would come into my head, well, it could go really bad if i'm not strong enough to do that and he's the

one with the gun. >> he moved her, handcuffed her to the bed, forced her to take a sleeping pill, put his face down beside hers. >> i was freaking out, because i had never been put in a position like that. i didn't know what to do. >> he was, she knew, about to rape her. >> just then, they alarm on the phone went off. >> i don't even know what that alarm was for, but that alarm probably saved my life because he saw it and was like, what's this, what does that mean? >> i don't know where i got the idea, but i said, that's my timer, i have to take medicine every day. he was like, for? what i said i have an ocd. he was like, you have a? why i was like i have in a study and i've been living with it and i have to take medicine every day. >> she didn't, but did you think, if i tell him that, he will want to write?

me >> yeah. >> and you are right. >> yeah. >> then, the kidnappers phone rang. it was someone from his family, saying the cops were after him. he put on a bulletproof vest, announced that they were leaving. as's car spotted on the highway, and the pitch dark, far from any town or help, let lara friday or with a fake story, that he came from a family of rapists and murderers, non-criminals. >> he had started telling me that we're going to los angeles, that he has family there. i was just thinking 1 million things, like, i'm gonna be put through sex trafficking or i'm going to be sold to somebody, i have no idea what he's planning to do, maybe just combing at the end. i didn't think i was going to live another day. i don't think i was going to see the moon that night. >> and, oh, it would get worse. the whole when it did, -- i >> didn't see anything, my

whole had just one black. >> coming up, a shooting. >> a gun just went off. >> another kidnapping. >> he's, like you just need to drive. you didn't get me out of here. >> and a facebook message from a killer. >> -- one of my family members. she's fine, and she will be fine. >> when dateline continues. and she will b fine fine >> whe it's jon. hamm, from the blind date we went on years ago. ah, the struggling actor who didn't believe he could save with snapshot based on how and how much he drn es. i'd love to talk about it over dinner sometime. well, i usually don't talk on the phone during dinner, but for potential customer tom hamm, i will make an exception. oh, boy. alice loves the scent of gain so much,

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are you ready?! - hell no. - no. the morning sun lit up the sky, as don arrived in northern california. it was tuesday, 52 hours after kaylee disappeared. aundreah maes and or kidnap, or edwin lara had been on the road eight hours. her car was overheating. >> he told me, we're gonna have to get a new car. this one is not going to make. it >> 5 am, lara pulled off the road in yreka, california, at this super eight motel, where

he saw man unloading his car, checking into his room. he grabbed aundreah, drag her along, and burst in on the man. that's when it happened. >> the guy was, like you have the wrong room, you need to leave. and edwin is like, we just need your car, we're not gonna hurt you, we just need to get out of here. >> the guy was like, no, help, help. >> and what happened? >> that's when he told him to stop yelling and he told him if he didn't stop, he would kill him. and he just kept yelling for help, and the gun just went off, and everything just one black in my head. >> the man clutched his stomach, went down. >> all i remember was my ears ringing really loud, and i was just being pulled out the room. >> they ran, lara pulling aundreah with him. >> and i'm just thinking, i just saw him shoot someone in front of me, was to stop him to shoot me in the back on my way to the car? i was just scared.

i didn't know what to do. all eyes ahead of me was just aghast nation and that's where he was running to. >> here, the mobile station, somebody was gassing up. in the car, an older woman and two young men, one behind the wheel. lara jumped in, aundreah was into. he >> was like, you just need to drive. >> he had the gun out? >> he was pointed at the driver at the time. >> he slammed the doors, took off. behind them, someone called 9-1-1. emts arrived just in time to save the life of the man laura shot. while in the car, the older woman was hysterical. >> she just couldn't understand what was going, on i mean, who would? >> lara took their cell phones, made aundreah to them out the window. >> i could just throw them -- to make sure that they wouldn't break so maybe they could pinpoint where we're going or something. >> and then, 30 miles down the road, he suddenly stopped. >> and he's like, okay, don't

get out. >> that is, all but aundreah, who, as she watched him leave, saw that one of them still had a cell phone. >> i think it was one of the phones whose -- to keep it. >> out of the car, the boy called 9-1-1, while lara unaware of what the boy was doing, kept driving. >> he was going like 120 at the time now, and he was just zooming in and out of cars, honking at people, just driving recklessly. >> so, how did you understand that somebody was following you? >> i didn't. it was just him that kept saying, oh, there's a helicopter, it's following me, they know i'm going. i think he was just paranoid. >> did you see the helicopter? >> i didn't. a couple of times he could even hear it, i guess. he would tell me, do you hear it, where is it? >> i would look, and there was nothing there. >> paranoid. but before long, they heard the

sirens. saw the highway patrol cars behind them. here's the dash cam video. but even then, screaming down the freeway, lara made phone calls to his family, and recorded this, on the phone of aundreah. >> hi, everybody, i just want to say that i apologize for everything i've done. most likely, i'm going to get tossed and i'm sorry about that girl, about that girl in oregon. -- aundreah, she's fine and she will be fine. so far, she's been doing what i've been telling her to do. if you guys are wondering if i've done dirty things to, or no, i'm not that kind of guy.

i just feel that other girl, you know? i regret it. i regret killing her. she kept screaming and i had to -- tell the cops not to shoot us. i'm sorry, everybody. by. >> and just here, aundreah made the last in a series of remarkable decisions. decisions that very likely save your life, and certainly saved her family anguish. >> he wanted me to post that to my facebook, and share it with everybody. i remember, i think, he had me caption it, crazy murderer on the loose, or something to that effect. i kept telling him, i have a lot of people i don't want to see this, because he did

recording in that video couple times. i didn't want teachers, or pastors, friends, and people to see that. >> it would be terrifying for you. >> so vulnerable, yeah. so i just change the setting on the post to just only me to see it. it look like it really did post, but only i could see it. he was threatening to kill me if i didn't post it. >> it was at this very moment, 6:40 am, when edwin lara called 9-1-1. >> 9-1-1, emergency, recording. >> yes, hi, this is edwin lara. i'm down interstate five, going a high-speed. i just want to say, i'm gonna turn myself in. >> the dispatcher try to understand. >> are you by yourself? >> no, i have someone with me. i kidnapped her in oregon. she's innocent. her name is aundreah. what's her last name? >> i'll let her give her last name, so you could tell her family. >> hello. >> yeah, hi, what's your name?

>> aundreah. >> are you heard it all? >> no. >> then, sounding a little sorry for himself, lara started bargaining. >> i want to ask you a favor. >> yes. >> so i have asthma. >> okay. >> so tell them not to be used to reform me, because i can barely breathe right now. you want me to throw my gun out of the window right now? >> no, don't do that right now. >> all right. >> i just want you to stop safely. >> or i could give it to aundreah. >> no. >> finally, just before 7 am -- >> don't keep them chasing. you pull. overall >> pull over right now. >> okay, i'll let you talk to aundreah. >> okay. don't hang up. >> i'm not. >> hello? >> hi, aundreah. you don't need any medical or anything? >> no. >> is he stopping? >> yeah. >> get your hands up! >> can you see him --

to have him in custody? >> they're putting the cuffs on him right now. on the >> putting the cuffs on him? i'm gonna hang up and just get out, and you walk back towards towards them with your hands up okay? >> okay. >> but it still wasn't over for aundreah. she was arrested two, and it was hours before detectives in oregon arrived and explained that aundreah was the innocent one. the victim. and then, two more things happened in this remote california police station. first, a horrifying story, a confession about what that man did to kaylee sawyer. and then, quiet and i noticed, an extreme complication. coming up, a brave, young woman's battle. >> -- trying to fight she? was trying to turn emergency lights on trying to honk the horn, anything she could do. because she knew. >> and an odd request from a killer. >> it was shocking to me to

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happening -- house democrats pass two bills -- and sharing access to abortion. the first caught a fisa rights previously protected by roe v. wade. second allows abortion access across state lines. only three republicans sided with democrats. the bills face stiff opposition from senate republicans. after months of negotiations, west virginia senator joe manchin dealt a major blow to the democratic party. manchin, who took more money from the oil and gas industry than any other senator, says he won't support legislation addressing climate change. now, back to dateline. addresngsi climate change. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> california, tuesday, -- county jail. after a three day, two day --

crime spree, killing, kidnapping, shooting, carjacking, man hunt, high-speed chase -- >> get your hands up! >> he finally surrendered. >> edwin lara seemed eager to talk to the detectives, who just arrived from oregon. >> we were informed, actually, as we were walking to the jail that he's been asking for you, been waiting for you. >> the question was what would he say? as the detective's soon learned, a better question might be what wouldn't lara say? >> my name is sergeant -- >> i shouldn't introduce myself, because you guys know me. >> i'm sure you guys already know who i am. there is that really, really strong hint of arrogance. and eagle behind that statement. >> right away, it was obvious, lara seemed to be enjoying his new role as notorious criminal. >> well, all i gotta say is that i want to go home.

and i want to do everything possible to go home. >> yes, sir. and home, meaning oregon? >> yes. >> first things first, the detectives implored, where was kaylee sawyer. >> we have not been able to find kaylee's body. can you please help me find her body, immediately, before we start talking about anything else? the reason why i'm asking you that, i've done this a bunch of times -- i >> want to tell you where the body is. >> and so, lara one to work. -- drawing a crude map. >> 1:26 highway. that's going towards salem. >> he dumped her along a highway, he said, ten miles outside of redmond. >> there is a mailbox right here, that reads 18 700. >> really? 18700? isn't that a significant number?

>> it's significant because -- people called for murder or homicide is 187. >> and just about then, as the detectives were talking to lara, their colleagues back in oregon found of the car he had taken from his parents. and the note inside, on which he had written repeatedly, 18700. he had been toying with him, playing games? >> i want to be cop who left the call signal for a homicide in a note. is that an address or is it a message? with the hell is it? >> that's exactly what we're thinking. that is something that he spent time developing and looking for. it just so happened to fit his desire to hide her body, behind it in a way that he's not hiding his body of work from the public. he wants it seen, eventually. >> detective back with got on the phone to oregon. >> he said, it's directly across from the mailbox, on the

south side of the highway. >> they went to look, and just like that -- >> it's about five minutes after that that we locate kaylee. >> here's where she was, a ravine just off the highway. and kayleigh sawyer's family got the call. >> last time i got to kiss my baby girl on the forehead was through a black body back. >> we asked when we could see her identify the body, and they would not let us. their words were, you cannot see her because she's unrecognizable. >> unrecognizable is the haunting word. how do you accept that? >> kaleigh's mom couldn't bring herself to visit the morgue. >> i just knew that if i went, i might climb up on a table with her and not leave.

>> back in jail with the detectives, lara seemed pleased to have an audience and, had decided to reveal more. and worse, like the reason why kaleigh's body was unrecognizable. he was in his cruiser, he told them, at central oregon community college. the cruiser that looked just like a real police car, and a uniform that made him look just like a policeman. along came kayleigh sawyer. after that argument with her boyfriend. >> i just turned and, i mean, i didn't hear that hard, i just bumped her with a patrol car. >> an accident? that's what he told his wife, isabelle, the morning he left, and what he claimed and the no he left behind in his car. >> he kind of stuck to that, i hit her with the car story for a little bit. >> you knew it wasn't true? >> we knew it wasn't true. and it was easy to get past

that. >> how? remember, detective mclaughlin, former pastor, had searched laura's home the previous day and found his bible, and evidence of his apparent devotion to his church. the hook, he now could see, with this very moment. >> i was in your house, i saw the bible, i know your thumb through it a lot. i see that you've tied for months, consecutively. >> he appealed to laura the way our pastor would, with some 24, clean hands and pure heart -- >> i said to you clean one hand when you wash your hands or you couldn't? both well, both. okay, so now is your time to tell me the real story because what you just said didn't happen that way. and he begins to describe, to my shock, and quite frankly, terror, listening to the things that he had done. >> the truth, lara said, when he saw kayleigh that night, he knew she was the one.

but when he had been looking for. -- familiar urge, his urge to kill a beautiful woman. >> he saw her as a target the moment he laid eyes on her. >> and so he cruised alongside kayleigh, excited. stopped, got out of his cruiser, and his cop like uniform, trying extra hard to look safe, hiding his ugly intention. >> mr. lara offered her arrived and she refused, she didn't want to ride from him. >> so i panic and i just grab about the throat and told, or shut up, shut up, shut up. then she passed out. >> in his words, he put her in the car. he didn't open the door, she didn't get unwillingly. he put around there. >> what did you do to their than? >> he took a cell phone from her, he told us that he knew that he felt a sense of relief once he took the cell phone. just completely under his control, and a vehicle she can

escape from. >> can't escape because you -- had a security cage in the backseat, just like a real police car. then, with kayleigh unconscious, he drove up the hill to a secluded parking lot, be 12. >> he said, she began coming to and try to fight, she started to fight through the plexiglass, caged backseat. she was trying to turn emergency lights on, trying to grab their radio, trying to honk the horn anything she could do to -- because she knew -- >> so i grabbed her, like a chokehold. and i was telling her, shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up. she was just struggling to scream. so i throw down, and i hit her with a rock on the head. >> the rock, he saved, and swirled away like a trophy in his backyard shed. >> and he decides, at that point, that he doesn't want to

sexually assault her. he sexually assaulted a while she's dying, and drags her up behind a tree and finishes the job with the big 60, 70 pawnee rock. >> and that's when i think she died, because i heard her breathing, her last breath. >> afterwards, he told them, he felt bad about what he did. >> she looked like a really nice girl, and she didn't deserve what i did to her. >> lara's confession continued for six hours. they asked if you wanted to call someone. he said, could i call the media? like a press conference about it? would in the heaven's name? >> it was shocking to me to hear him say that. >> detectives believed, they had him. nothing could've been further from the truth. >> coming up, a question from a

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vigil. from all around then, people gathered, most of them silent in disbelief. they had planned this in hope, as they searched. during those two days, the whole town seemed to adopt kayleigh sawyer. ben's daughter, they took to calling her. now, ben's daughter was dead, and unbelievably, at the hands of a security guard, at the local community college, edwin lara. the sort of thing that gives a cop nightmares. >> i can imagine meeting my own kid, my own daughter, just at walking and to have somebody

stop, and her dad's a cop, and she might associate that with being someone of safety and security interest, and in a moment like that, he takes it all from her, using what he's wearing. it's disgusting. >> it's also very unsettling. >> it's unsettling as it gets. >> you have to wonder a lot, what would possess him to be so devotee religious and to want to be a cop, and want to be an upstanding member of society, but at the same time, he had this stuff going on. >> i still wonder about that, to this day. for him to go from no criminal history to the most ever criminal history, in a matter of three days, was alarming and is still alarming to me. >> so, what to do with a man like edwin lara, now charged with aggravated murder and kidnapping, and other crimes. it was the da, john humbles job

to decide. >> if the facts, in this case, did not warrant a sentence of death, then i, in essence, would've been saying that no crime, ever, would be appropriate for the death penalty. i decided to ask the jury to impose the sentence of death. >> and so, they prepared for trial. they went over and overall the havoc, minute by minute. interviewed, re-interviewed witnesses. poured over the physical evidence. they examined, in minute detail, lara's six our convention. in short, he had been read his rights. >> you do have the right to remain silent -- >> the detectives even want the actual milan read his consulate rights, though he was a permanent legal resident, he was born in honduras. >> -- at this time? >> no. >> it was quite a bit later that they discovered, one video had been overlooked somehow. it didn't turn out for months.

mind you, it didn't exactly jump out, what laura said, off camera, almost as soon -- >> as my lawyer almost here? >> no, that's your right to request a lawyer. >> okay. >> so when you get phone call, you can request a lawyer. >> and that was it. the moment passed. laura, though entitled phone calls, did not ask again, and did not phone anyone. so, there was a hearing. the judge listened to defense arguments that the moment laura asked about a lawyer, he invoked his right to counsel. and all question should've stopped. and tossed out at one lara's confession, every word. >> wow, that had to be a bad. day >> it was. it was so hard. >> hard to take. >> very hard to take. it's something we're going to live with, and we do live with, every day with our lives. --

and when i have a hard, hollow heart. >> well, there was other evidence, besides his confession. like kayleigh's purse and shoes, and that rock covered in her blood, all found in laura's backyard shed. and kayleigh's blood inside -- the security company car, and on her body. evidence that she fought hard to survive. >> she left behind evidence that was incredibly damning. she had his dna under his fingernails -- >> investigators encourage the da do not lose faith, push ahead. >> they said, look, we got this. >> sure. >> we can do it. we have the evidence. if we thought it was a death county case before, there's no reason to back down now. >> except, then everything changed. again. >> coming up -- >> pow! >> disorder in the court.

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girl. she didn't deserve would i did to her. >> edwin lara told the whole story, how little, if anything, back. and not a word of it would be hurt by any jury, anytime. it admissible. so, as prosecutors prepared, even without that confession, to ask a jury to give him the death penalty, his defense team asked for a meeting with the da, made an offer. laura would plead guilty, -- life without parole. but with kayleigh's family go for? that a retired judge sat down with kate's mother and told her wooded jury conviction -- would almost certainly been. >> he explained to me, what

happens in a death penalty case. and the appeals. as long as he's living on death row, i would be to. >> not a choice. >> yeah. >> i would've had to show up to every appeal. >> and so, family members stuff down their grief and anger and said, make the deal. on the january day of 2018, judgment day arrived for edwin lara. the courtroom was packed. the first furrow filled shoulder to shoulder, with members of the major crimes team. scattered in the gallery behind, kayleigh's large extended family, and many friends. her boyfriend, cam. at the defendants table, edwin lara. finally, also in the courthouse that day, that young woman laura was charged with kidnapping during his getaway, aundreah maes. this >> was the first time i saw him since everything happened. it was just hard even sitting

there because i could see him trying to look over here. >> it was something in the air that day. >> you have no idea how much irreversible damage this piece of -- has done to my extended family. i'm going to fill his car keys full of lead. how! >> finally, it was time for edwin lara to speak. what could he say? >> oh, boy -- >> got almighty, who art in heaven -- all ask you, please, heal the hearts. all those broken hearts. >> -- quite thoroughly disgusted, stormed out the courtroom. >> i ask you, please, heal the hearts of this family. >> i felt like it was staged. in retrospect, i wish i had the courage to stand up and tell them to turn around because all those people had to sit there and watch that happen. that show -- >> and make kayleigh soil or

rest in peace. >> the death sentence, even if they carried it out, would've been too quick for him. he's gonna dialogue slower death. >> you may recall lara, right after his capture, asked if he could call the media. and non us desire to explain? >> hello? >> at one? >> we were skeptical. so, in may 2019, we called his bluff. i understand you've been wanting to tell your story for sometime. but was he serious about explaining himself? no. instead, lara floated a strange little conspiracy theory about his bank statements. >> yeah, i wish they would've gotten my statement. my bank statements -- i wish they would've gotten that, but they never did. right now, i'm frustrated when it comes down to it. at this point, i don't have anything to say.

>> hang on a second. you've gotta explain that to me a little bit. are you suggesting? >> well, once they look into it, but we able to figure it out. >> figure out why? >> there's a lot of things. right now, i don't have anything to say. >> and with that, lara's conversation with us was over. of course, we checked and of course, his bank statements, like everything else about him, had been examined and infinite detail and there was just nothing to look at there. and a little charade in our phone call -- who knows why. with the edwin lara sentenced and safely tucked away in prison, did kayleigh's family simply turn the page? oh no. not even close. and lara still had to answer for one more thing -- what he did to aundreah maes. coming up -- >> central oregon community college, there's some responsibility for kaylee sawyers death. they bear a lot of

responsibility for her. death >> calories legacy, and the time to heal. >> i'm not a victim, i'm a survivor. >> when dateline continues. a survivor >> when dateline continues

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sawyer's 2016 murder, her loved ones slowly and painfully work their way through the stages of grief, anger, bargaining, depression. but the final stage, acceptance, the way this crime occurred, not a chance. >> i would've never been able to tell my daughter, you are a monster, your bogeyman will pull up alongside you in a car that looks like a police officer's car. and he will get out and he will be dressed like a police officer. >> kayleigh's family was not alone --

crime committed while on the job as a captain security officer was aiden invented by the community colleges -- and patrol car with the cage. the props he used, when he kidnapped and killed kayleigh. da john humble -- >> central oregon community college bear some responsibility for her death. they bear a lot of responsibility for her death. >> why? because it turned out that, as a campus security guard, laura had underground no background check. no psychological tests, and under the general choir of royal police officers in oregon. and yet, cocc had allowed its uniformed officers to make arrests and -- and to investigate crimes. actions the da and other law officers had repeatedly demanded the college stopped. even before kayleigh's murder. how did they react to these demands? >> they would say that they

think they are legally allowed to do it. >> kayleigh's family filed a civil rights lawsuit against central oregon community college. >> do you solemnly swear -- >> depositions were taken of the campus security director, lara's boss, who had overseen many changes. >> when you first arrived here, to safety officers carry handcuffs? >> they did not. >> and why edwin lara's revealed about his behavior prior to the murder was horrifying. >> he's like, oh, here, look at this -- >> fellow security officers testified one by one, how he showed them pornographic videos, starring himself. how he'd sense inappropriate text messages to -- showcasing his obsession with dead bodies. and more. >> his behavior changed so much so that i felt like i was trapped -- >> families attorney, tim williams --

>> he had physically pinned a female cadet, within the building of cps, and forced her to reveal her religious beliefs in great detail. >> those are the behaviors of -- red flag was invented for, it seems to me. >> that was our understanding as well. >> they were disturbing depositions. and julie, somehow -- sat through everyone. >> it was really hard because at the end of these depositions, they all asked to come and say something to me. they would have tears in their eyes, and a lot of them just kept apologizing. i could've asked them, at that point, you know, why didn't you say something. but then i saw the hurt and the guilt in their eyes, and i didn't want to add, i didn't want to add to that. >> the college, for its part, admitted no wrongdoing.

but agreed to a 2 million dollar settlement with kathy's family, the maximum allowed by law in oregon. the college declined our request for an interview. but issued a statement, saying, in part, ceo cc sends our deepest sympathies to the family and friends of kaylee sawyer. and, noting its commitment to safety, the college then listed it changed its made since her death. including altering vehicles and uniforms, discontinuing the use of handcuffs and implementing background checks and criminal history checks for officers. >> it's because of kayleigh that that campus is safe, and that makes me feel good. >> but was the family done? oh no. >> we're gonna go ahead and call the senate judiciary committee -- >> they pushed organs later to pass kayleigh's law to require background checks on security officers, and to implement a host of other safety checks. in 2019, kayleigh's law was

signed into law by oregon governor. >> in the height of their tragedy, kaleigh's family stepped up and said, we're going to make sure that no young person has to go through what our daughter did. >> but there was still the matter of that other woman, who went through war hole no with lara, aundreah maes. how would he'd hunted her, caught her, terrorized her. it was like something out of a horror movie, which he endured, said one prosecutor. sometimes it all overwhelmed her. >> those days where i wake up and, i just really don't talk to anybody. i don't want to do anything. >> and so, as she waited warned the new year for her case to make it slow way through the legal system, aundreah fronted over whether or not to be in federal court, when lara was finally sentence for kidnapping and terrorizing her. whether to face him, whether to say something. but then, in 2019, at the

courthouse in eugene, oregon, there she was. >> i just didn't want to look back, ten years from now, and regret not coming or not saying anything. >> and so, edwin enoc lara summoned up every -- and said her piece to his face. no cameras in this courtroom, so she told us what she said to him. >> i'm not a victim, i'm a survivor. i'm a warrior. i defeated him. and i'm truly blessed. >> for his crimes against aundreah, a federal judge handed a laura another life prison sentence. >> lara also agreed to plead guilty to a host of california charges, related to his crime spree. lara's wife, isabelle, who was never charged with any wrongdoing, filed for divorce, resigned from the police department and moved away.

perhaps, this is sad for the madness of such a terrible story. aundreah has struck up a relationship with kaleigh's father, jamie, and the family. it's been good for them and good for her. >> well look for kayleigh's. >> yeah. >> in the years following her death, kelly's grandparents visited the library. >> oh, here it is. >> her grandma read books to kayleigh. now america lies on the sidewalk. >> kayleigh -- >> love you. >> love you, baby girl. >> her family has its ways of coping, and who's to say was the right way. maybe julie's. now that the court cases depositions and lawsuits are finally over. >> every morning, i wake up and i love her more and more each day, just like i did when she was here. you know, i have gotten to that point sometimes, when i look at a picture and i smile and i'm

so glad for that because, for 23 years, nothing made me smile more than my daughter. >> i'm craig melvin. >> i'm natalie morales. >> this is dateline. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> there's this pile of leaves, and it's where everything is clear and flat. my heart is racing 1 million miles an hour. i was using my boots to move leaves, and that's when i screamed this blood curdling scream. >> -- corporate exactly may time for romance and her three daughters -- >> she was the best mom and then she disappeared, dozens joined the search. >> we need to co h