>> she had a lot of hope for her future. she had everything to live for. >> that is all for this edition of dateline. i am natalie morales. thank you for tuning in. for tuning in. >> her and i will really close. everyone asked me, where is your mom, couldn't give an answer. just so hard. that was surreal, kind of, just an ache in the heart. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> it was one of the most baffling cases investigators had ever seen. >> this tops the charts for most bizarre. >> no one can believe that this actually happened. >> a single mom and with, smart computer whiz who seemed to disappear. >> i am starting to get text

messages saying that she which her job. >> she had something down in kansas. >> left behind a puzzling computer trail. >> emails, text messages, so active on social media. nobody can locator. >> she did not want to be found. >> exactly. >> a mom turned ghost. was she missing? or hiding? >> i wanted to know. taunts, threats, violence -- >> my leg is soaked with blood. oh, jesus. >> a deadly mystery that would lead three moms and one man. >> you were the last one to see her? >> it was as if i had already done something, and he already knew it. he was a drilling me with the ironies. >> it was almost an obsession to get it solved. >> a heart stopping case of jealousy, secret identity, and murder. >> it is like, they are on edge. what's gonna happen next? ♪ ♪ ♪ >> it was dark when they

started searching, dark and cold. the 5th of december, 2015, just across the night black mystery from omaha, back and forth when the chopper, as a proud the park, big lake park, iowa, looking for shooter. >> 9-1-1. what's the address of your emergency? >> i have been shot in the leg. >> looking for whoever shot her, the woman who had come out here alone to clear her mind, get that nemesis out of her head. and instead, was bleeding through a hole shot clean through her fire. >> is there any serious bleeding? >> my pant leg is soaked with blood. oh, jesus. >> oh, she knew who did it, she said. as they catch up her wounded leg, she knew all too well how deadly that crazy woman had

been. >> so, she gets to shoot somebody, and then, she gets to call another person. and then, she gets to move in with a day. and she gets to be free. and you guys are not arresting her. >> she? who was she? that furious woman's scorned. and what horrors was she capable of eliminator rivals, to win, or punish? the one man she is so desperately wanted, the man who didn't want her. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> it began, as these things often do, on and innocent and ordinary day in omaha, nebraska, three years earlier. the fall of 2012. >> i am working. i'm behind the counter. doing ten things. >> it happened in an auto repair shop to a mechanic named dave kroupa. >> she walks, and i see her, we meet eyes. just, for a moment, i kind of stopped. i go, well, low. >> he was working. she wanted her suv repaired.

>> in the back on my mind, i am thinking, wow, she is gorgeous. but, i'm at work. i'm representing the company i work for. that is off the table. it's not a possibility. >> but did you see the signal coming back? >> yeah, i did. >> then, a few weeks later, it seemed like faith. dave went on a dating website, and there she was. her profile, her picture, her name, cari. he started typing. >> i said, hey, i know you, ha. and she replied, the same thing. >> and then before long she came into his shop again. >>, without saying anything, there was some sparks. we're both looking at each other, trying to say something, and we did. and we exchanged phone numbers. >> they had dinner. the food didn't matter. >> and we were very, i would say, controlled with each other. >> he invited her back to this place and she agreed. and that's when something else happened.

it didn't seem so important, not than, not like it would later. just as they walk into the apartment, the doorbell rang. it was days ex-girlfriend, liz, here to pick up some things she left behind in her apartment. awkward. but cari just laughed, bowed out. >> she said, i get it. it's not a big deal. i'm gonna go home. you can call me when you are done dealing with this mess. >> so, they've escorted cari to the door. and her endless past each other at that moment, and there were no words spoken. >> they did start then, at that moment? later, once listened left his apartment, dave called cari. she invited me out to her place, which was, like an hour drive outside a town. cari when i got to her place was there for 20 minutes making coffee, bs-ing. and of course, seen her on the couch, and we are getting a

little close, i'm, like at this point, we haven't even kissed. she turns to me and she said, look, if you're gonna have sex, that is all it is. period. there is nothing more to it. >> ha. >> and she asked me, are you good with that, is there gonna be a problem? and i said, pink, i hit the power ball. >> because dave felt exactly the same way. >> as a man, i want companionship. so much looking for a girlfriend. but never committed relationship. >> and you let them know that this is the way it's gonna be? >> that was the first conversation, yeah, take it or leave it, that's how it is. >> but with cari he, did not have to bring it up. >> it was all her. and we hit it off right from there. >> she told him she was a computer programmer. her office was close to his apartment. they met there, often, made love, talked. >> she was extremely intelligent. she was much smarter than i am.

just in general, she just, had a brain on her. >> different than the winning had dated before? >> yeah, well, for instance, what she did for a living, programming, i considered myself a little bit of a computer nerd, compared to her, i don't know what computer was. >> dave we considered his no commitment role. a rule he had broken before. with a woman named amy flora. they had two kids together, but it didn't last. >> after 12 years, you would think that there would be some kind of a proposal, or something. but like i said, he's kind of a motionless, so -- >> you really didn't want to get married? >> no, and i want to eventually be merry. you know, every girl does. everybody wants their fairytale wedding. >> amy and dave state friendly for the sake of their kits. and amy neo-about dates other women. heard about carrie. >> you expected you to meet her to some point, if it continues? >> yeah, if it continued, i

would have liked to meet her. >> but amy did not meet cari, not then. no idea it was coming. >> early that november of 2012, cari told dave she had a big project at work. she would stay over at his place, instead of driving home to the country every night. until they began their work week together, and then, on tuesday, november 13th -- >> i gave her a kiss on her way out to the door. like, high, see later, honey. i was almost like a, that sort of 50s tv show garbage. >> that doesn't sound like a guy who has got no attachment. i >> didn't say, honey, but that's the way it came out. she brought that out of me. that's why i say, with cari it, is potential, it might have been different with a long term thing. >> so you are in a pretty good mood? >> i was in a great mood. i have this beautiful lady was gonna be in my house when i get home. i don't know who wouldn't smile about that? >> dave was at his shop by

6:30. and he was entirely unprepared. and then -- >> by 10:00, i received a text from her that says, do you want to move in with me? or should we need to move in together, or something along those lines. >> really! >> i texted her back immediately, no, we have known each other for two weeks, it's not gonna happen. as soon as i texted her back, i get a text that says, fine, i don't ever want to see you again. go away. i am taking somebody else. i hate you. on and on and on and on. >> weird. >> very weird. very, what is going on here? but i was at work, it was very busy. i didn't have time for that nonsense. so, back in my mind i'm thinking, if you, dutch a bullet there. >> oh, but he didn't. now, it was just beginning. >> coming -- up who was this woman named carrie? she was about to vanish and a

very mysterious way. >> where is she? >> yeah, i didn't know what to think at that point. >> when dateline continues. when dateline continues casserole!" [ both laugh ] i just love that word "bundle." 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. and i'm so glad you wanna save money. rodney, set up a bundle for jon hamm. mm! of course! jon, is it still cool if i catch a ride home with you? i never said it was. but technically you didn't say it wasn't. it's not. yet. it only takes a second for an everyday item to become dangerous. tide pods child-guard pack helps keep your laundry pacs in a safe place and your child safer. to close, twist until it clicks. tide pods child-guard packaging. oh, marco's pepperoni magnifico. classic and old world pepperoni® on one pizza—and a large is just $9.99?!

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6:11 committed, was confused. the woman who seemed to share his philosophy had turned on him, was behaving like a woman who expected something from him, like a woman scorned. suddenly, she wanted to move in. and when he refused, she responded with a nonstop staccato of angry, often misspelled texts. cari, now, that name sounded like his personal horror show. >> she is the woman from hell now. >> all of a sudden, yeah. in the course of a couple of hours. >> wow. >> maybe to dave omaha, that's how it would seem. but an hours drive away, there

was quite a different story. >> here in this tiny sweet farming town called macedonia, iowa. >> i think there is only around 250 people that live there now. it is very -- it is just home. >> home to cari. cari farver, and where she was raised by her stepfather mark, and her mother nancy, who would stick with cari through it all. but of course, if they have always known there is something different about cari. >> she felt she wanted to do her own thing, and sometimes -- >> that doesn't always go well. >> it doesn't always go well, yeah. >> the thing is, cari was smart, supersmart. school was easy. but then, so we're boys. >> guys were just drawn to her. >> and she liked it? >> yeah, she did. >> hello, cari! >> but there was something else about cari, said her friend holly drummond. brady, yes. but she sometimes made dubious

choices, like when she was away at college, and there was this guy, or a parade of guys. >> she would instantly talk about this night, where they were all dressed up, and it was midnight, they were walking in the streets with a bottle of champagne, i mean, she made a sound like, she made it sound like a romantic movie. >> didn't last. even when cari found out she was pregnant. >> did it come as a surprise? >> yes, yeah. i was just, i knew which was gonna have to go through, because i had been divorced with children, young children. and it's hard. >> it's not easy. >> she moved home, took computer courses, and she named the baby maxwell. everyone called him max. >> she was such a good mother, that i know she had so much on her plate too at that time, going to school and everything else. but she did very well. she held up very well. >> except that is, for mood swings, the dreadful

depressions. >> she just would go under the covers and sleep, you know, she just hibernate. she would close herself off from everything. >> it is hard for a mother to watch her daughter go through that. >> yeah, it is. trying to get it out of her, you know, what can i do? and there is really nothing that i can do or say. >> but it got better, once cari was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, medication, even things out, and cari and max set it into an apparently happy and successful life. and then, that inexplicable turn. cari i just started that high tech job of hers in omaha. >> she didn't really like that job. >> which was she doing? >> she was computer programming. >> and then, november 2012, she took on that big project. max was a teenager than. he understood about her long hours and how she decided to stay in the city for a few days. he didn't ask about the man she was staying with.

>> i didn't know dave at the time. i just had heard of a day, that was about. >> even talk about him? >> >> no. , usually, things like that he wouldn't talk about. >> dave, that's all her family knew. >> she wasn't a very good place. she had been for a long time, and i didn't think too much about. >> and so, that weekend, nancy picked up max, and later cari drove off to omaha just spend the week with jay. she didn't text me or anything that monday. >> and then, i started getting text messages saying that she got a job, she was going to kansas to live, and -- >> what was it like to get that? >> it was totally off the wall. >> that was about the same time date was getting those andrey and we tax. that, nancy had no idea about that. anyway, her news came as a big surprise to nancy. though, to max, maybe not so much. >> because she had something

down in kansas that she was gonna be going interviewing for, after those few days at work. >> it's mom had mentioned a possible job change. she even discussed with him staying with grandma to finish high school. and then, early that weird week -- >> i got a text, saying, hey, i got a second interview. >> but she would be back from kansas on the weekend, she texted, for a family wedding, at which max was an usher. but as the bright walked down the aisle, no sign of cari. >> i was, okay, she is running late. she would be at the reception. she'll be there for the party. but at the party, i remember probably, five, ten minutes i was glancing back at the door, just waiting for her. >> where is she? >> just wondering where she was. i just kept saying, she'll be or any minute. she'll be or any minute. but not got around. and she wasn't there. i didn't know what to think at that point. >> coming up --

unsettling doubts about cari's story. was she moving? or was she missing? >> i got this feeling in my bones something wasn't right here. >> i wasn't sure what's going on. >> it scared me tremendously. and i thought, i've got to do something. >> when dateline continues. when dateline continues ♪ ♪ meet our collection of exclusive brands. quality home furnishings at an affordable price. only at lowe's. enamel is the hardest tissue in the body. it's a protective layer outside your teeth. pronamel repair is our first line of defense. it goes deep into the surface of the tooth to actively repair it. i personally use pronamel repair every single day,

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max believed he knew his mom cari, as well as anybody possibly could. we were really close. i was our second opinion on most things. >> so when cari was a no-show at the wedding, max knew something was way off. >> i wasn't sure what was going on. but, i was, i just knew something was wrong. >> i just get this feeling in my bones that i was, it was something that wasn't right here. >> nancy could not eller grandson about the truly disturbing text she had received from carrie. this one didn't say anything about a new job. instead, cari texted she broke up with her boyfriend. and was thinking about checking into a mental hospital. >> that is scary. >> yes, it scared me tremendously. >> but boyfriend? did she mean this mysterious death? >> do you know how to reach this guy? do you even know what his last name was? >> i didn't know what to start looking for. >> so it was not like?

>> it is hell. it's just you -- frustration and just helplessness. >> so, before dropping off max in the wedding, she called the county sheriff's office, to file a missing persons report. they took down all the information, of course, and they couldn't, they didn't really offer too much. >> well, i guess they thought she's a grown woman. she can leave if she wants to leave. >> nancy told the deputies about carries struggles with bipolar disorder. and here's what they told her, said nancy. >> well, she's probably gone for a medicine, and you, know these things happen. and that happens a lot. >> narcy tried calling, but cari just would not pick up. she did respond to text, but sent mixed messages. >> by moving down with this dave, i had no idea who this day was.

>> it was confusing did she have some sort of mental breakdown? cari which are job in omaha, center company a text to let them know, and texted her mom but she was taking that job in kansas. and moving away. and has sold her furniture. she attached a photo of a check from the buyer. cari wanted nancy to let the buyer pick it up out of macedonia, and take it away. >> i said, absolutely not. i said, either you call me, you can say may, you come see me, i'm not doing anything before i can see you. that is a nasty text that started coming. >> but i was a bad mother. that she was gonna leave -- >> terry texted max too and let him know. >> you're coming with me, you have no choice. on the adult here. and what i say goes. >> i'm just trying to imagine what it was like to be you in the middle of this. >> it was a bit scary because we all thought that someone might come at school to try and

get me. because the school would legally have to let them let me go with them, like if my mom showed up. >> max was scared, had no idea what was going on with his mom. he wanted to stay with his grandparents. >> i have heard all these horror stories about people having these personality changes. and going off the deep and. and i thought, i've got to do something about max. i've got to keep him safe. >> nancy applied, temporary guardianship of max. >> that must be so we are? >> oh. >> fraught? >> yes. i'm just wondering, what am i doing to my daughter, if we were doing this, the lawyer said, now, this is just temporary. she comes back, you can always undo this. i said, okay. >> meanwhile, surely the sheriff could find her daughter with some help. she showed them cari's texts about the furniture.

the phone company said they were competing from a location in omaha. officers went there. no cari. >> sergeant jim doty off and ryan avis of the pottawatomie sheriff's office who joined the investigation much later, said the next step was to find the women who paid for the furniture. her name was shanna golyar. >> we called her. like the voice mail, which she returned that call the next day. >> shanna went by her middle name, liz. and it turned out that was the same liz they dave kroupa once stated. she lived in omaha with her two kids. liz told the cops that somebody stole her checkbook, and she suspected that somebody was the woman she ran into at dave's place. lewis took his contact information. >> she is with, him suddenly, she goes off the rails, and starts doing weird stuff like this. so, you must know something here. >> yeah, definitely the person you want to talk to. >> and by then, the story dave

could tell the police, scary. >> coming up -- >> they would drilling me with that. >> police have some questions for dave. >> she was at your house. you are the last one to see her. >> it was as if i had already done something, and he already knew it. >> when dateline continues. continues skip the rinse with finish quantum. its activelift technology provides an unbeatable clean on 24 hour dried-on stains. skip the rinse with finish to save our water. there is nothing glamorous about migraines. since i was a teenager the pain has taken me away from my family and friends. but i finally found relief with nurtec odt it's the only medication that can treat my migraine right when it strikes and prevent my next attack. treat and prevent all in one. don't take if allergic to nurtec. most common side effects, in less than 3%, were nausea, indigestion/stomach pain. with quick dissolving nurtec i can get back to normal fast

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around boston celtics legend bill russell has died at a teacher's. old the all-time defensive great became the first black coach in pro basketball, that became 2:11 nba titles. he was a fierce advocate for civil rights. and groundbreaking actor, nichols, has died at 89. nichols played the lieutenant on star trek. she was one of the first black families on tv. she later became a spokesperson for nasa, and is credited with helping to recruit women, and minority astronauts. now, back to dateline. dateline. >> dave kroupa was upset.

maybe as upset as he'd ever been. ever since he told cari that she couldn't move in with him, she had been texting and emailing and saying awful things, and making his life miserable. he tried calling her, but she didn't answer. and then, a little more than a week later, the cops showed up at his autoworkers shop. >> how did you find out they were there? they just showed up? >> yeah, there was no warning. >> the detectives took him outside for top. they >> told me, do you know cari? i was like, yeah, what? when did you see her last? the morning of? okay, where is she now? i have no idea. >> the detectives didn't seem to buy that. >> he was drilling me with the place man iris, the ones that are like, you know, -- >> where were you at 6:30 on that morning? >> yeah, no, i totally had the -- >> she was at your house. you are the last one to see

her. >> and that was how he approached me, it was as if i had already done something, and he already knew it, and it's time to deal with it, you know? and i was like, wow, wow, slow down. >> david tried to explain, he said. >> hey, man. i don't know where she is at, but i have nothing to do with it. you know, i don't know where she's at. and i don't want to know where she is at that point. i just wanted to go away. >> because dave told detectives, cari would not stop messaging him. he showed him his phone, and was adamant he had not seen her since the morning he left her at his place. >> do you think they believed it when you said you didn't know where she was? >> 100% they believed me. >> and then, the strangest thing, cari started texting the detective too. i would really appreciate it if you leave dave kroupa out of it. the detective texted cari back. >> we can't stop looking into it. we need to locate you, and you

are a missing person, it's your entry won't be taking out until someone talks to in-person. to where we know you are okay. >> did she respond to that? >> she said it was pointless. >> she didn't want to be found? >> exactly. >> but the detective got another text. this one seemed ominous. i want one person to go away for destroying everything for me. who might that person be? the detective had a pretty good idea. dave showed them texts in which cari blamed liz for their breakup, even though, as he explained, he and les weren't even together, when he met cari. it made sense of that cari must have stolen liz's checkbook, maybe even forged that check for five grand. the detectives called liz right away, and told her she should follow report to the omaha speedy. it was their jurisdiction. but before she got the chance, liz went to her garage, and

there, sprawled on the wall, she found the words, horror from dave. all of it was so strange, thought detectives. >> it's pretty hot. >> like maybe she'd had a breakdown or something, like a psychotic episode. >> that would be the only answer. >> to the police in omaha, cari was now a suspected stalker. back home, in pottawatomie county, iowa, she was still a missing person, with a very worried family. cari's mother heard about the threatening texts, the harassment, the police reports filed against her daughter. to her, didn't seem like cari at all. and it made her wonder. how serious were the police about finding her daughter? >> i got a little callous towards the authorities. i was thinking that, i didn't think they were doing what they should have been doing. >> do you get the feeling, they just want to get in there, and stormed the barricades, and make something happen? >> yeah.

again, i didn't know how much i can do. i didn't know where to start. >> cari i've been gone for almost two weeks. thanksgiving, a day away. nancy said cari message her on facebook. >> i've got a roast in the crock pot, and we will eat about six. we are going to dads for thanksgiving, and eating about noon or one. we love you, cari. cari didn't respond, and didn't show up for thanksgiving dinner. less than a month later, nancy's ex husband, cari's father, died of cancer. cari didn't come to the funeral. instead, she sent a message on facebook, i am sorry i missed the funeral! i'm just a few days before that, she posted on facebook, david kroupa proposed to me. i said, yes. what in heaven's name was going on! nancy called the detectives who called dave, who swore, no way he was engaged with cari.

he said he hadn't even seen her, but still heard from her constantly, a hail of texts and emails that was only getting thicker. >> i would receive 50, 60 a day. >> a day? >> yeah, all day long. at one point, my phone was completely useless. it will just be running so much, i just couldn't answer a phone, or send a text. >> like why don't you change your phone number? >> i did that a couple of times. >> you did, and it still kept coming? >> they did. >> cari's that seemed almost normal. i know i ruined it. i tell myself don't be crazy this guy was nice to you but something takes over. but mostly, the emails and messages were angry grants, about perceived romantic rivals, miss golyar in particular. >> she is a horror, you shouldn't be with someone like that. i hope we can see each other soon. and then, with a shutter, they realized cari did see him.

she seemed to be watching this every moment. >> it was very traumatizing for me to get messages, emails, to say, i see you through your window. you are doing this. i'd go, i am doing this. okay, great. now that your outside, you are looking for somebody, because somebody knows what i'm doing. >> even more disturbing, cari messaged dave that she had taken his extra apartment to, and had been coming and going when he was going when he was not there. liz got unsettling emails too. i am out in your garage, so what should i do to your car? i see my handiwork is still on the wall. attached to the email, a photo, to prove cari was there. eventually, the messages got threatening. cari wrote dave a note, claiming she kidnapped liz. you will do exactly as i say, and then, i will let her go. do it or say goodbye to her. attached was this photo. a woman bound, couldn't see her face, but was that liz?

>> i told her, bs, that is crap, i don't believe you. go away, leave me alone. >> through it all, cari remained invisible. even after she texted dave, she was moving into an apartment building nearby. >> yes, a couple of buildings away, why, does that bother you? i am only doing month to month till i find something else. dave told the cops, of course. they went looking for cari. >> and the building number was correct, but the apartment number did not exact. >> cari was still nowhere to be found, but knew the complex, dave did find something that belonged to cari. >> coming up -- >> a crucial discovery, almost buried in the snow. and the danger escalates. >> it was like, what in the hell? >> into something deadly. >> it's like you are on edge, what's gonna happen next? >> when dateline continues. teline continues

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winter of 2012, 2013. the winter cari farver's decks were driving dave kroupa crazy. they were nothing compared to them. the worst, said they, this can crawling feeling that she was stalking him, spying on him. but always, like a ghost. and in a look, she was gone. then, one day, about two months

after it started, dave was starting home from a shop. >> i come into the parking lot. and i noticed the truck there, because it still had all the snow on. and when i got close, i said, i was just an explorer. it's the right color. so, i called the sheriff and said, i'm pretty sure i found her truck. >> he was right. it was cari's suv, still half buried in the snow. >> they impounded it. we had a crime scene tech process it. and it was really clean. >> they did a thorough investigation? >> yeah, they invested it for prince, they found a fingerprint inside, we covered that. >> the fingerprint was found on a mint container in the cup holder of the suv. they ran the print through the national database. no hits. but if cari wasn't using her suv, at least, certainly not daily, her presence was unavoidable as ever, through those texts and emails, fiji, threatening photos, sent to

both dave kroupa and liz golyar. now, the detectives made sure to do a phone check from both of their devices to preserve the evidence, and perhaps, figure out where she was. it was even a link to a fake obituary for liz. see what i made for the horror? i will kill her, and i already made her an obituary, so it's done. then, minutes later, i'm trying to hire someone to get rid of that horror list for us. you told me before, you wanted her gone. do we want to pay just for the bitch or the two kids too. i hope to see you soon. your beautiful cari. >> trying to enlist you in her scheme, and took its. >> yeah, that was a very interesting breed, the first time ever thought. i was, like oh my god. what in the hell? >> cari didn't seem to realize that her ongoing harassment was

actually pushing dave and liz back together. >> i compared notes on the harassment? >> spent hours talking about it. sending each other texts and emails, now -- >> kind of comforting each other. >> i mean, who else would understand that? >> exactly, nobody else did understand. >> now, dave and liz were regulars of the omaha beady, filing one complaint after the other against cari. at the time, they reported that cari broke dave's apartment window and that's when the detective stepped in to investigate. >> he said, yeah, it's her, she's done to me before. and fights photos of her, shows me some text messages, and she had made a text referencing the fact that she broke out his window. >> the girl could see the attacks were escalating from angry texts to theft, and then vandalism, and then threats to physical harm. he obtained an arrest warrant for cari farver, not that he had much hope of finding her.

he knew cari was a computer expert, probably using software to discuss the phones and computers for messages came from. >> i thought, well, maybe, this must be some kind of avenue she is utilizing, because, nothing is there, we can find her. >> weeks passed, and each time dave and liz were hit with an even more outrageous barrage, the girl would look again, and again not find cari. and yet, it all seemed to be leading somewhere bad. >> we're dave and liz afraid? >> all, yeah. it's not so much you are terrified of the individual. it's like, you are on an just what's gonna happen next? >> and sure enough, what's happened next was terrified? >> early saturday morning, august 17th, liz called dave, frantic. >> the house burned out. oh my god, that dorsey crazy person cari stalking me again. liz has been in the middle of moving out. she undercuts were already sleeping on the new place when she went back to the old place

that saturday morning to pick up more of her things. instead, she had to call the omaha fire department. they responded right away. later, so did detective look row. >> inside the house is pretty charred and burned, and pretty sufficient. really could've ended up turning burning the house, but just didn't quite get to that point. >> but it was deadly enough. liz had two dogs, one cat, and a pet snake, all we're still in the house. all of them were found dead. across the street, they saw women in a car parked outside liz's house a few weeks before the fire. detective lagreau showed them a photo of cari. the neighbors said they couldn't be sure but she had the same general appearance. with an email to dave made no secret of who did it, i am not lying. i set that nasty's house on fire. i hope the whore undercuts die.

and later, hope you and your kids burned to death. >> we are getting into situations like arson, threats to individuals lives, or those around them, their children, the ex-boyfriend. certainly, you are gonna take that much more seriously. >> suddenly, the case against cari was very serious indeed. but still, like smoke from the fire, she vanished. >> what i did was try and find some way, somebody saw her, and then, came up with nothing, over and over again, nothing. >> this time, said day, he was afraid to try to attack his kids but too. what did she say when she threatened your kids, for example? >> oh, something along the lines i would slip your children's throats. >> wow! >> that's pretty hard to read. >> it took a toll, sad day. >> for a while, i was drinking heavily, which is not me. never been a time in my life where i was a real drinker, and

i was closed, and going to start again at 6:00 in the morning. >> wow, and you bought a gun? >> sure, yeah. >> why? >> for my safety and my children safety. for just protection in general, i was like, i didn't know. >> so, dave and liz kept watch in the city, wary, your full. back in macedonia, cari's family was hoping with a whole different set of emotions, emptiness, grief. and a terrible knowing uncertainty. nasa had sent several pleading messages, come home. cari, you are my daughter, and i always love you no matter what. we just need to see you, hear your voice, know where you are. i love this so much. you're my little girl. come home. >> for apparent, for a mother, i don't know how do you characterize this episode in your life? >> how do you talk about those

feelings and make sense of? >> there was no sense of it. there was no making sense of it. >> what's happened to cari farver? and why? >> coming -- up he was like a lightning bolt for a family in anguish. someone claims have seen cari. >> my heart was just racing like crazy. >> could it be, after all this time? >> did you rehearse what you would say when you saw her? >> where have you been? >> when dateline continues. when dateline continues

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i didn't win the lawsuit, but everybody knows i wrote that song. flo? gosh, it's been forever. you look fantastic. 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 drives. 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. >> where laws cari farver?

everyone wanted to know, especially her family. >> it was it like a christmas time without her? >> it was hard.

it was hard. >> christmas was once magic for max here in macedonia, a celebration of his amazing bond with his mother of little things like their families gift opening traditions. >> our house, everyone goes on once we go by age, do rounds, and christmas. and just, growing for me to grandma, to receive gift. >> what was wrong? you kind of had the bottle of that, didn't you? >> kind of. >> he didn't show his emotion too much to me, because he knew that i was -- >> you're worried. i >> was really worried. but i found out from his girlfriend's mother that he would go over to her house after school, instead to his girlfriend's house. and her mother told me that he did a lot of crying at their house.

and -- that bothered me, of course. >> a bit of hope after that first christmas without cari an april 2013. the phone rang. on the line was a man. >> saying that cari was at this homeless shelter in omaha. and that we were to go pick her up. >> what is happening in here, a new? >> just flutters, i mean, my heart was just racing like crazy. >> the shelter was about an hour away. nancy, who had neither seen her daughter nor heard her voice for months, with two and we to drive. so she asked her brother to take her. >> i was so tense. and it was just trying to catch a breath, and just -- >> did you rehearse what you would say when you saw her? >> where have you been? yeah, and you know, do you want to come back home? >> and investigator met naci at

the shelter. he had a photo of cari with him. >> when we went into the shelter, and investigators showed me the picture, and wanted to know if there is been anybody there like her. and i said, she hasn't been here. >> what is that like? >> well, you know, your hopes are dashed again. it just, i think, where can she? >> it's a feeling that comes with realizing her -- >> yes, i went home and i thought, i can't live with this anymore. this is just too much. >> again nancy message gary. cari, we were at siena house, where are you? no response. then, a facebook post weeks later. i'm a grown woman and if i feel like leaving home, i have the right. i asked my son max to come with me, but you didn't want to, so when i'm ready to come back home, i will. i love you all very much, but i need time still to sort things out. then, there were posts like

this one. liz is the whole of it took my boyfriend away from me. now, i'm at a really nice guy. nancy have to wonder, maybe self delusion, but these messages just didn't sound like her. >> because my daughter was so meticulous about grammar, and spelling, and the way it sounded. >> this stuff was like what? >> oh, it was just garbage. >> sort of chaotic. >> yes, it was chaotic. the language that was used and everything else, cari wouldn't use any kind of language. >> unless you become a different sort of person? >> right, yeah. that too, i'm thinking, is this the case. >> and her daughter had a total breakdown? or what if cari's disappearance was not wet it seem to be? >> coming up -- max reaches out to his mother

with a test. >> things only she would know? >> things only she would know. >> and dave buys another gun that soon goes missing. good cari to be behind it? >> she is still active, sending text messages, pictures. >> or maybe it wasn't cari at all. soon, police would be investigating a whole new suspect. >> when dateline continues. hen dateline continues y own vegetables shingles doesn't care. we've still got the best moves you've ever seen 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. 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.

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every search you make, every click you take,

every move you make, every step you take, i'll be watching you. the internet doesn't have to be duckduckgo is a free all in one privacy app with a built in search engine, web browser, one click data clearing and more stop companies like google from watching you, by downloading the app today. >> her family was desperate for duckduckgo: privacy, simplified. answers. no one had seen or spoken to her in months. yes, there were texts and facebook messages, but somehow, they just didn't sound like her. >> at least, not to her mother. she was beginning to suspect our daughter may have been the victim of some kind of crime. what if she was kidnapped? what if someone stole her identity? she has the police about that. >> what did they say? >> they said, we'll check it

out. you know, that kind of. >> nothing came with it. but after karen's father died, her ex-husband, she had this weird dream. , she had this weir d dream. he can be very vividly in the dream. . he said, don't worry nancy, she's with me. that sounds silly, but that's when i knew that -- because i knew she just would not just vanish. >> but of course, nancy did not know for sure. >> and every time something would pop up online, or we get a text or something, there was this hope that maybe she is still out there. >> max was looking for answers his own way. about a month after nancy went

to the show during omaha, max sent his mom a message on facebook. i. that was it then the next day, carrie responded. halo man, how are you. max message back. i have three questions >> things only she would know. >> things only she would know. >> max asked, one, what is my middle name to. , what was our first boxers name the dog,. three, who was my best friend as a little kid? >> and what was the response? >> nothing, i never got a response to that one. >> which meant what? was that his not in her right mind mom? or could his grandma be right? that somebody had kidnapped carry? there was no way of knowing, really. and the messages kept coming. like this one, from cari's mom. >> i'm not her mom, i miss everyone to. i just had a breakdown, and i think i'm getting over it.

i should've came to my senses sooner and realize the guy was not worth it. and then following year for mother's day, happy mother's day mom. how has max been? nancy, frustrated, replied, call me and i will gladly tell you about it. this is not talking. i need to hear your voice. >> cari never called. >> for, the anguish of missing cari never stopped. and meanwhile, all dave croup won it was to escape or. in february of 2015, they've moved from omaha to council bluffs, iowa, across the river. his kids lived there with amy flora. and you want to spend more time with them. and he hoped cari would not find him there. he bought another gun just in case. and after about three years of relentless harassment, things finally started to quiet down for liz and dave. they were not as many messages from cari, she seemed to be fading away. and as that happened, liz and

dave saw each other less and less to. there was just one rather scary thing, that gun they've bought for protection, the one he kept hidden high in a closet, disappeared. and you're the only guy in that apartment? >> yeah, i'm the only guy living there. my mind is racing, there's no forced entry, the doors all shut unlocked, -- >> why did you? think >> i don't know what the hell to think. >> meanwhile in pottawatomie county iowa, before cari live before she became a dangerous digital persona, her disappearance was more active chatter and then active case. that's when these two corporal got hooked on it. >> we heard some stuff, you know, just water cooler talk about the case. >> the strange crazy woman? >> it was interesting. >> it peaked our interest. so we requested to take a look at it. >> that was april 2015, more

than two years after cari's reign of tower began. the file was huge biden, and bizarre digital house of mirrors. so, duty and events decide to sort things out, beginning with a very simple question police had never really considered before. though, her family certainly had. was cari farver really the vengeful woman she seemed to be? or, did she even exist? >> i thought the smart idea was not have tunnel vision in any direction. so, ryan walked in as if cari was still alive, and he was going to work until he came to a dead end. i was going to work it like she was not alive. because there is things that would lead us to both conclusions. she still active sending text messages, pictures. >> certainly seems like it. >> but she's also lying, and has missed so many events, and has it been physically seen by anyone. >> we start from scratch. rereading.

>> reviewing all the old material? >> reading all the reports, looking through those phone downloads, listening to interviews that had been recorded, just driving in. >> of course, they spoke to dave kroupa, no doubt in his mind cari was alive and crazy. >> he was transparent, he gave access to his whole email account. >> 11,000 emails that he had saved over the years. could have been more. >> that was not all they had. right there in the file was a wholesale dump of material from liz golyar's cell phone. so there are learning a lot about both dave and liz. they had been a person all that for months, but had not interviewed liz yet, when in the office one day, pure coincidence. >> i was in the hallway talking with a county attorney, and another investigator was walking down the hall with liz to his office. >> wow. >> and to me, it was like i saw a famous person. and i knew everything about

her. and she was there to file a harassment report. >> but this was odd, her complaint was not against cari, it was someone else. >> amy flora, that's the mother of daves children. >> wait, amy? not cari? first detective avis did a psychic double take, then he asked if he could be the want to interview liz. >> her ex boyfriend? >> dave kroupa >> dave cooper? >> kroupa >> and he has kids with amy flora? >> liz told detective avis that her on again off again relationship with davis off again. but ever since their most recent split, dave's ex amy had been stalking her on facebook, and she was very worried because -- >> not even two days after you broke up, his apartment is broken into and his gun was stolen. so, i told the police officer i

was kind of worried that -- since she has a key to his apartment -- >> that, says liz, is when she suddenly realize that she and dave hadn't played for fools. for three years, she believed cari was the woman behind the threatening messages, the harassing graffiti, the deadly fire that killed the kids. but suddenly it was a like a light went on said lives. it wasn't cari at all. that scary awful online villain that was responsible for all the trouble had to be amy flora, days acts, the mother of his children. diabolical. but think about it, said liz, amy was the one who so desperately want it dave. she had the -- butt carry, not really. >> like i said, they only dated for two weeks, and i don't understand why a person would still be stalking him almost three years later. >> cari and dave dated for two weeks? >> yes. >> and she --

>> supposedly is the one stalking for three, three years. i would find it more reasonable to believe that his kids moms is the one that's -- >> head spinning, detective avis made some notes, told liz he would do what he could to help her out, and no surprise, the very next evening, december 5th, liz felt like she needed some time alone to think. she drove out to big lake park, took a walk around the trailer, sat down on a bench, quiet, alone in the gathering cold and art. and that is when it happened, the deafening bark of a gun and the pain tearing through her thigh. >> i've been shot in the leg. >> coming up -- >> somebody in the park, what's, armed and dangerous? >> yes. >> a shooter on the loose. and the prime suspect? >> all i heard was, open up, please. they had to officers with guns drawn. >> pointing at you? >> yes.

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>> i don't think so, i took off running. >> do you know if it was a male or a female? >> female. >> it was dark when the council bluffs pd rolled into -- , found a wounding and lead it liz golyar. pachter off to the hospital, wild caught -- helicopter ground with -- >> somebody on in the park, are on foot, and dangerous. >> yes. >> while other cops search for the shooting, detective matt lee cool and checked on liz in the hospital. >> but liz was lucky, the bullet went clean through her like, miss boone's antarctic reads that could've been much worse. she told a detective what happened. >> she says she came out here

to clear her mind, and she walked out to a bench and sat down. and then a female, who she believed to be amy floor, came up behind or stuck a gun to her back, told her to get on the ground, and shot are in the leg, and then ran off. >> a few minutes later, a city police task force around amy's apartment. >> i kind of saw somebody leaning against my building. and i said, who's there? and all i heard was, open up, please. so, i opened the door. and they had to officers with guns drawn. >> pointing at you? >> yes, yeah. >> what do they say to you? >> they had said that i was accused of shooting lives. >> they searched her home, and later sat her down in an interview room and hooked her up to a polygraph machine, ask your questions like this one, among others. did you go to big lakes park that day? >> no. >> amy also denied that she shot liz, again and again.

but, she failed the polygraph. still, something did not add up. when that local detective arrived at amy's place right after the shooting, she felt the hood of her car, ice-cold, had not been driven for a while. and the neighbor said amy was home all afternoon. so, was amy so nervous she blew the polygraph? or was something else going on? detective davis went to see liz at the hospital. his recorder rolling. >> i feel like it's just writing on the wall, one it is. it's amy shot you with dave's gun, isn't it? >> pretty much. that's what i'm thinking. >> dave still does not think so. >> seems like the friendly cop. >> or the don juan. i'll be whatever she wanted, as long as she kept telling us information. >> wait, what? avis was playing dumb, he said, to pump liz for information, because he and his partner had

a strong suspicion about who really shot her. a shocking idea, something beyond devious. >> she thought she shot herself, i thought. >> liz shot herself? that's on a crazy, or maybe a certain kind of crazy. remember, to help cari farver, liz had given police herself phone. and here's what detectives doty and avis found on that phone. a photo of cari farver's suv, which did not make any sense at all, because -- >> we looked at the date that was taken. and it was taken christmas eve, 2012. >> was that not when her car was actually missing? >> yeah, it had not been recovered to january 2013. >> i thought, that's where the police could not find, it dave did not know where it was, but somehow liz was able to take a picture of it. >> that was not all. remember that threatening photo cari emailed to dave, of a

woman bound and duct tape? that photo was linked back to liz, which made them wonder, was it possible those wild and scary electronic messages all sent in cari's name were really sent by liz? tricky, even for a computer whiz to nail that bit of jell-o to the wall. >> it is beyond our expertise, and it's why you gotta say -- >> how well you know computers, social media, that nonsense. >> made us want to pick up a phone, call tony carver, and ask if he has any more information? >> by day, i do information work and i do that for years. and by night, i solve crimes. >> [noise] [laughs] , you're solving a superhero. >> anthony carva's danger of

was i.t. for this county. but by night, he's a reserve deputy sheriff officer. >> what did you have to go through? >> it was terabytes of information. half a dozen email accounts, facebook accounts, a number of different apps. >> and in his tiny office, he sat hour after hour, late into the night, decipher an enormous amount of digital data. >> and five minutes, you might create a email account. it might take me five minutes to prove it was her. >> among those many counts was a youtube account with this video. >> the title of the video is husbands cheating ways. and that video showed the apartment, of dave kroupa. >> but the ip address of that where that video was uploaded, was where liz lived. >> so that was another arrow pointing atlas. >> painstakingly, hour by hour, anthony compile the evidence. his conclusion? every one of those threatening emails and tax and facebook posts and youtube videos lead

right back to liz golyar. , meanwhile detectives doty and avis busy themself with good old-fashioned earthbound evidence. remember that one identified fingerprint found on a mint container in cari's iowa spotless suv? >> we ask our forensics expert we compare disfigurement to a known fingerprint of liz, see what we came up with? >> it was a match. >> this lady who should've had very little interaction with carrie should have no reason to be in her vehicle. >> only matter in pi passing, one time. but now, her fingerprint is in her car. >> liz in cari's, liz impersonating cari online, there was no logical explanation for it, unless -- >> we think liz may have been involved with making cari disappear. >> a case about to dive right through the looking glass. and on the other side, hard to

believe. coming up -- >> why house would you disguise yourself as cari, if you are not responsible for it? >> what had really happened to cari? police have a bold plan to get to the bottom of it all. >> i'm an investigator with the sheriff's office. >> when dateline continues. when dateline continues tide pods ultra oxi one ups the cleaning power of liquid. can it one up whatever they're doing? for sure. seriously? one up the power of liquid, one up the toughest stains. any further questions? uh uh! one up the power of liquid with tide pods ultra oxi.

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here is what's happening. kansas now the first state to put abortion on the. ballot activists on both sides of the issue are working around the clock ahead of tuesday's vote on a constitutional amendment. if it passes, the state could restrict or ban abortion entirely. and the 2020 midterm elections just 90 days away. the high stakes races could be impacted by historic clashes over the january six insurrection, the fight for reproductive rights, and inflation and the lingering covid pandemic. now, back to dateline. k to dateline. by the time these two county

detectives started looking into the strange case of carey cari farver and all those jealousy fueled tax and emails and threats of arson, cari's son max was getting ready for high school graduation. he had not seen his mom three years. but, always the optimist, he decided to try one more time to reach her on facebook. >> i was, at that point, just a last-ditch effort hoping something would happen. >> if this is really you, please come back. i want you to be at my graduation. >> when she didn't respond, how did that feel? >> i was not really surprised. because, like i said, i knew that it was not her. >> max and nancy has suspected for months that all those digital grants were not actually from cari. they didn't know it yet, but detectives jim doty and ryan avis agreed with them. the detectives already had proof liz was improves and dating carry online.

they also suspected something much darker. remember another part of their investigation room ball of this basic question, was cari farver alive or dead? >> her father died, and she didn't go to the funeral. and she missed her son's birthday. it did not take ryan very long at all to come up with a dead angle, he could not find anything to find that she was alive. >> suddenly, cari farver look not like a villain, but like the real victim. and the woman who claimed she was the victim, liz golyar, looked like the prime suspect in cari's disappearance. >> because why else would you disguise yourself as cari, if you are responsible for her? why would you be in cari's if you are responsible for it? >> all that is so counterintuitive and so bizarre that, you know, it wouldn't be expected to believe such a thing. it was stunning, really.

liz, apparently impersonating cari for years, sending thousands of texts and emails in her name. but now they had a bigger question, and a much bigger problem. >> i guess part of the worry was, even if we could prove that it's liz sending all this stuff out as cari, well, that doesn't prove murder. >> murder? yes. sergeant doty and corporal avis believe liz killed cari out of jealousy. in an effort to win back dave, and famous ex partner amy for everything, even going so far as to set is i was on fire, kill the family pets, and shooter self in the leg. pretty wild stuff, but could they prove it? >> we need something more, so we weren't quite sure how to get to that point. >> and then, liz herself, by accusing amy of shooting her, gave them their big idea.

>> and that's when we introduced jim to liz >> i'm investigator doty, i worked for the sheriff's office. >> a week after the shooting in the park, liz arrived at the sheriff's station, wearing her work uniform. >> i told you i was looking into a mrs. persons case briefly on the phone. >> he told her there is a break in the case. >> there have been some remains that were located. >> it was a ruse, of course. >> we are waiting on the lab results to make a positive i.d., but the initial indication is these remains are cari's. >> okay, good. >> meanwhile, said detective doty, he was hoping liz could establish a timeline, including when was last timeless saw cari. that was easy, liz said. one unannounced encounter when cari i days apartment in 2012. >> i don't know he was dating anyone else at the time. so, she came out, and i was

going in. and she made a smart comment to me. >> why did she say? >> she called me a bitch. >> okay. >> it was not a big deal at the time. i just want to get my stuff. >> that is the only time you ever seen her in person? >> she told detective doty that it was dave that blamed cari for all the harassing messages over the years. but, just as she told detective avis, she now thought that amy was really the one behind it all. >> she was with him for 12 years. and she wasn't out of his life at all. >> so you think she's the person that did some of the stuff to you. >> i'm just saying as another person who would be protective of dave, it would be her. so, i would not put it past her. >> detective doty pretended to agree. >> if she was bold enough to go, to you. she could easily be bold enough to do something too cari.

>> of course he said, he would need to prove it. >> we have messages from her saying hey, i did. this or i did that. angle i could easily start building that case. >> we want to build a case against amy. we want to get any thrown in prison. which, we were hoping whereas music to her ears. >> and apparently, it was. liz agreed to help the investigation, and she limped away. >> and she became a little deputy for you? >> yeah. >> no telling what liz might come up with next. coming up, liz forwards emails and propels me investigation. >> when we first heard coming in, they were pretty vague. >> so you want me to try an email her back? >> and that's -- i'm leaving that in your court, liz. i mean, if that's something you would feel okay doing, that would be really helpful for us. >> and detectives give dave a dire warning. >> since liz did come and tell

you this, i would avoid her like the play right now, okay. >> when dateline continues. when dateline continues a lot of folks ask me why their dishwasher when cari farver never returned doesn't get everything clean. i tell them, it may be your detergent— that's why more dishwasher brands recommend cascade platinum... ...with the soaking, scrubbing and rinsing built right in. for sparkling-clean dishes, the first time. cascade platinum.

little macedonia, iowa back in 2012, cops and neighbors alike seemed all too willing to believe she simply lost her mind, left her son with her mom, and split. >> in the small community where she is from, they all came out, and believe that to. and nancy never could stand up and argue. >> nancy felt lonely indeed. until one day, detective doty knocked on her door. >> i was a little bit standoffish because -- >> then down that road before. >> right, yeah. >> finally, he said to me, i want you to know that i don't think she left on her own.

and i tell you, my attitude just changed. >> the very thing she suspected -- >> saw what you had seen all along. >> right. named the investigation really got going. >> an investigation as unusual and convoluted as the apparent crime, in which a eager liz golyar would try and help prove that her rival amy killed cari. of course, all the while, detectives knew amy was innocent. but they let liz think otherwise. >> she made any -- inferred threatening statements, to carry, the goal is to get something like that. >> and what do you know, within days, liz began for running them emails from aimee, she said. although the misspellings looked awfully familiar. >> i shot you liz, to make sure dave stayed away from you.

i made a couple of those fake emails and numbers even dave thought were cari to get rid of you liz. didn't work too well. >> when they first start coming in, they were pretty vague. >> so, detective doty spoke to liz again. he needed more, he told her. >> so, you guys want me to try and email her back? >> and that's -- i'm leaving that in your court, liz. i mean, if that's something you would feel okay doing, that would be really helpful. >> liz said she would try. >> cari's family, some closure would be nice, i guess. >> yeah, that is true. give her family some closure. >> so, she sent this email to amy. >> so, if you really shot me, then what kind of gun was it? did you ever get to meet up with dave's ex cari? according to liz, amy responded. the gun was days that i used. don't worry, you didn't get it

as bad as cari. then, she wrote this. so when i met crazy cari, she would not stop talking about dave and him being her husband. she tried to attack me, but i attacked her with a knife. i stabbed 3 to 4 times in the chest and stomach area. i then took her out and burn her. i stuffed or body in a garbage bag with crap. sort of a detail a killer would know. to see while working on it must of been enormously exciting. >> for sure. >> a couple of days later, dave kroupa called detective avis, to say he just had a disturbing conversation with liz. >> she told me that the sheriffs had found remains, like, somebody is dead. and that they thought that this was cari. and that supposedly they had all this evidence against amy. you know, that she's complicit, or know something, or whatever. i don't know.

>> dave was understandably shaken up. avis could not tell him much, but he did drop a big hint. >> i'll be damn near moved in with amy if i were you. >> okay. >> a, since liz did come and tell you this, i would avoid her like the plague right now. >> dave took his advice, moved in with amy, so they could protect each other and their kids. but that outraged liz. she called the police to say so. >> looks like the only person that benefit was her. so she gets to shoot somebody, and then she had to kill another person. and then she has to move in with dave, and she gets to be free. and you guys aren't arresting her. >> detective doty told her he still needed more evidence. so liz gave her access to her email account. and over the next month, emails came pouring in. allegedly from amy, of course. i got hold of carry, and we drive in her car. i reach over and stabbed her in

the stomach. when i killed cari, you know she begged me to call dave at work. and then she begged me to talk to her family before she died. i remember when i killed cari, that she had a yin yang sign on her left thigh. all that read like a detailed confession. but, -- >> we had to find evidence that would match what she is telling us, to confirm that what's she is telling us is true. >> coming up, the chilling clue that might finally unlock this mystery. >> so we took off the passenger seat, pulled off the fabric of the van, and there was a dark red stain right on that seat. >> that's huge. >> that was. >> when dateline continues.

my with have and in the emails

described the murder, details only the killer. no december, she said, was dave's wife amy. investigators thought otherwise, and needed to look in carries car again. but the car had long since been sold to somebody else. but they found it, much used, in a whole other county. >> took off the passenger seat, pulled up the fabric of that, and there was a dark red state right on that seat, large stain. >> they tested it, human blood. dna confirmed it was cari's blood. >> that's huge. >> it was. but we did not know what to do next, for sure. >> but they were sure they had to move fast, because it appeared liz was scouting a new target. >> we would see are circling amy's apartment, multiple times

a day. >> because doty and avis believed amy was murdered in omaha, they asked city police for help. and the omaha police picked up liz on an unrelated misdemeanor crime. but in their interview, their questions were about cari liz stuck to her story that she was the victim in the strategy. >> what do you think happened to cari farver? >> i don't know now. i don't know what's amy's saying is true. i do not know. i'm more scared that something is going to happen to me, and my kids won't have anybody. >> the omaha detective added some pressure. why, he asked, was her fingerprint in cari's car? >> i don't know. i've never even been in her car. i don't even know what's harshly drives. >> she denied everything. >> you are just going to lie to

me. >> i'm done talking. and i want to have my attorney. because i did not do anything. >> at the end of the night, she bonded out and the county attorney wanted more time to review the evidence. >> what was it like, waiting for that, was it frustrating? >> it was. >> months went by. max, who had not heard about any of that reason investigation, graduated from high school without his mom. >> that was a real, kind of, stake in the heart. because -- >> god knows if there's any indication she was going to attend, it certainly would be at your graduation. >> yeah. >> summer came and went, another winter set in, and then, december 22nd, 2016, four years after cari farver vanished, after reviewing all the evidence, the county attorney finally felt there was enough.

liz golyar was arrested for murder. >> the best part of it was being able to go to nancy and tell her, we have arrested somebody for the murder of your daughter. >> that was a big day for her. >> that made working this whole case worth it. >> feel like driving out there this year. >> could not drive fast enough. >> it was big news for dave, too. >> that was the first time i could go outside and take a breath of fresh air and say i've got someone over my shoulder today. >> liz sat in jail, while the prosecutors prepare for a trial they knew would not be easy. these cases are tough? >> circumstantial, it was very circumstantial. >> then, as the child it was bearing down, a teeny, tiny memory card yielded an amazing discovery. >> it was just basically bs luck that you got that, right, last minute? >> i don't think it's luck, just divine intervention. >> coming up, a signature

tattoo, the ultimate computer clue -- >> a turns up on a picture -- >> of a dead body? >> yeah. >> holy cow. >> would cari farver get justice at last? >> it was nerve-racking. >> when dateline continues. when dateline continues

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tell your doctor about an infection or symptoms or if you had a vaccine or plan to. tell your doctor if your crohn's disease symptoms develop or worsen. serious allergic reaction may occur. best move i've ever made. ask your dermatologist homicides and bizarre cases, that certainly, in all my cases, certainly tops the charts for most bizarre. >> not just bizarre, challenging. even for season prosecutors brandon beagle and james mast all are. >> your typical murder case, you know exactly when the murder happened, when the murder happened. when you have a body, you don't really have a good date, time, or location. >> this is a bizarre and twisted case of failed action. >> nevertheless, on may 10th, 2017, they put liz golyar on trial, for the murder of cari

farver. >> it is a vote on obsessive woman that would stop at nothing to get what she wanted. >> liz waved her right to a jury trial. a judge would hear the evidence. the prosecutors laid it out methodically. cari's blood in the car, liz is blood on the mint container on the main container, the emails, the vast probe of digital forensics. they even tracked down a purchase on cari's bank card after she vanished, a walmart receipt. >> one of the items was a shower curtain. and the shower can was familiar to us because, in that phone than we did in 2013 of liz's phone, there was a picture of that shower curtain. >> and they found the shower curtain itself at lewis's apartment. there was also a photo of cari 's drivers license with a large knife next to it, email today. he thought it was a threat from cari. in fact, it was sent from an

email account created by liz. >> all these pieces together made a big difference. >> all of it, put together, the prosecutors told the story said it told the story of how liz golyar murdered cari farver. they told the judge it have in the morning on november 13th, 2012, after dave kroupa left for work. cari was on her laptop. >> we know from examination of cari farver's known facebook that she logged into her facebook at 6:39 am that morning. >> about two minutes later, she logged off. she was supposed to be going to work, but never made it. >> she was intercepted. something happened. that something was the defendant. >> hard to know exactly what liz did to cari, but -- >> it did not take her too long. because at 9:54 am, cari farver's cell phone is being used to access facebook. >> at that moment, it appeared cari unfounded dave.

>> the fact that she had facebook friends, the actor temerity, one of the first acts she takes is to eliminate that facebook friendship. >> from then on, in cyberspace, liz became cari. >> all from that purpose, for the reason of convincing people her friends, her family, relatives, everyone, that she was still alive. >> nancy went to court every day for the trial. heard the details for the very first time. >> when i heard all of this, what this person was doing in her name, it just made me so angry. because, cari did not deserve that, at all. >> so, strong case? the prosecutors hope so, though, nobody cases are tough to prove. but, was it lock, divine intervention? before the trial began,

detective avis and tech grew carva went back to dave kroupa, and asked if he had anything that might help them? and that's when it hit him, he put a tablet into storage and had forgotten all about it. so he fished it out, and carva examined it. >> tony remove the external sd card, out of memory, that had been deleted and reformatted. >> blank, or so it seemed, until carva took a closer look. peter. >> there were, i want to say, thousands of pictures that he was able to locate. >> thousands of photos that liz thought she had to leave it. >> one of the pictures that we found was a chinese symbol, that we were able to determine met mother. and there were dark lines in the picture. >> dark lines? they look more closely. those lines were veins, and

what looked like someone's foot, someone's deceased foot. avis called cari's mom nancy. >> nancy was able to email a few pictures, and sure enough, cari had that same tattoo on her left foot. >> wow. >> identical. >> and remember the yin yang tattoo mansion in one of those possibly confessional emails? >> all the sudden, it turns up in a picture -- >> of a dead body? >> yeah. >> holy cow. that was cari's too. the tattoo parlor kept a record. >> my first thought when i saw those photographs is that this defendant took a trophy, or trophies, of the person she killed. >> the motive, an old one, jealousy. >> it was all because of dave kroupa, she did it because she wanted this man. >> jealousy can make you do strange things, but that's just -- why so much? why?

>> i think it snowballed. when she did it, she could not stop. she had to make cari look like she was still alive to get the heat off of her. and it just went on and on and on for years. >> dave kroupa heard it all, and finally understood. >> i mean, it makes sense now, at the end. but, you know, the tarantino movie always make sense of the end. you know, it does not make any sense getting there. >> and liz is a defense attorney, james martin davis, a greek. it was a movie. a fictional one. >> i know they have all this bizarre behavior, and have all this circumstantial evidence, but he does not show my client on that day in this jurisdiction -- and stabbed cari farver to death. >> without that, no murder case. >> you may have camcorders, and you may have smart cards, and you may have phones. but you do not have a body. and you do not have a cause of death from a medical examiner.

what we have is their belief, their speculation, their notion, that this is what happens. but that cannot convict. >> and then the judge retired to think about it. and returned to an anxious courtroom. max, inside the courtroom, waited for the words. >> it was nerve-racking. >> and then finally, an answer. >> the court finds the judge, the defendant is guilty. >> guilty of first degree murder for killing cari farver, that second-degree arson for setting fire to her own house and killing her pets. she was sentenced to life in prison. just a few rows behind liz, cari's mother nancy finally heard the long forwards from the judge. >> saying that cari did not vanish off the face of the earth and she did not just vanish into thin air. it was just totally relief to me, and i just started crying.

>> you can't grieve, really, until you know. and now they did. >> it will never go away. but, at least we can deal with it now. have to deal with it. >> so important, said nancy, to finally set the record straight about a loving mother and a good woman who never abandoned anyone. >> and i think it would've been important to carry too, because she would have wanted people to say, this was not me. >> max followed his mother's footsteps, pursuing a career in software engineering. >> yeah, she was the one that really got me to understand computers. i will never type as well as she could. but, she is definitely a big influence there. >> she inspired your -- >> yes, she definitely did.

but, -- i have her to think for the road i'm going down now. >> i think should be pretty proud of you. >> i hope so>> i hope so welcome to "morning joe." special hour. we're officially 100 days away from the midterms. and over the next hour, we will take a look at what's at stake in this pivotal election. it's an extraordinarily important election. and that of course includes control. house and the senate and key governors races in states like pennsylvania, georgia, and arizona. these midterms come as fallout from the january 6th insurrection continues.