>> they are, they told us, broken, still, and always will be. they cling now to amber's best friends, ashley and monica. >> they are our adoptive daughters. >> they have each main daughters after amber, and they hang on to memories, like gold. >> it's like you have to put it in a box and then keep it there for safekeeping because that's what you have, that's what you hold on to. >> it hurts. it hurts. life will never be what it was with her. >> that's all for this edition of dateline i'm natalie morales, thank you for watching. >> i'm craig melvin. >> i'm natalie morales. >> this is dateline.

>> she is and will always be my sister. i don't know what happened to her. i don't get to say goodbye. it was awful. it makes your whole world fall apart. >> if you took her, please just let her come home. >> her name is heather elvis. it was news nationwide when she vanished. >> she had a new job. she was going on a first date. >> it was overwhelmingly horrible. >> where she at? >> police work the clues, her car abandoned. >> i was scared to death. >> a mysterious caller captured on camera. >> why would this person call from a payphone, in the middle of the night? >> then came the secret. >> he was married. >> rumors about her being pregnant. >> she truly did believe that she was gonna leave his wife. >> anger, betrayal, revenge.

>> a bomb exploded. it was world war three. >> this crazy love triangle, kidnapping, potential murder. >> yes. >> this is heather's life we're talking about. >> terrifying. when you see your parents hurting, you wish that you could take all their pain away. and with something like this, it's impossible. >> hello and welcome to dateline. heather elvis was charging headlong into her future. an independent young woman eager to make her mark on the world. then one night, she disappeared. investigators would quickly discover a love triangle and thought they had their motive, but there was a big question the elvis family still needed answered, where was heather? here is andrea canning with "the landing". >> myrtle beach, south carolina. vacation heaven.

60 miles of instagram-worthy sand and surf. and thrills at every turn. but leave the tourists behind and go inland, america 20 minutes, to the river. it's tranquil, the trees are draped in moss, there's a boat landing here with a fancy name. peachtree landing. >> it's a quiet spot that you can go think. you don't get a lot of that in a small town. so when you find a spot, i mean you go all the time. >> what happened here to 20 -year-old heather elvis won december night in 2013 became an enduring mystery. >> i know that there is no way that has she would not come home if she could come home. no way. >> you don't realize how much somebody's face means to you until you can't see it anymore. >> a family anguished, clinging to hope, searching for answers.

a journey that would consume them for years. >> one of my best friends came to the house and he looked at me and said, he said, i hope she didn't suffer. i can't get that thought out of my head. >> heather was born in 1993, the middle kid sandwiched between older brother chris and younger sister morgan. as morgan vividly remembers, heather would never let a label define her. >> she wasn't a girly girl or a tomboy, she was somewhere in between. she would drive four wheeler's, and play volleyball. she would shoot paintball guns. and she would turn around and put on address and go, you know,

look beautiful for photos. >> her parents, debbie and terry elvis say that she was driven by a passion to create. she drew all the time. decorating the family house with her doodles. >> everywhere you went in the house there were some kind of writing, some kind of drawing, some kind of doodle. >> her brain is working overtime? >> constantly. >> just as a reminder, small desk in the house that has a computer at it, there are sticky notes on them, all over the top part of the desk, and the one that is right in front of my face in her handwriting says heather is amazing with a little heart. >> and heather was amazing when it came to cause cosmotology. the art of makeup, in a way that only siblings can she sparked morgan's interest in it to. >> she said cosmotology was hers. i was not allowed to have it. and i did it anyway. and that's what sisters do. don't tell me no because i'm gonna do it anyway. >> after graduation from high school in 2011, heather began

working at a local pub called the tilted kilt where she became a hostess. breonna worked with her there. >> she had people laughing, had conversations, same thing when people were leaving. bree shared everything with heather including her apartment, and when heather confided that she didn't always see eye to high eye with her parents, that was hardly unusual for a young woman determined to make her own way. >> they love each other dearly, it's just i think that they knocked heads because has our wanted to explore. >> as for boyfriends, bree watched headers go through ups and downs. just recently sheet emerged from a difficult relationship with an older man. >> i know for a fact she still had feelings for him. you don't just fall out of love like that. as much as sometimes we wish we could. >> but on december 17th 2013,

everything was falling into place for heather elvis. she got a new job as a makeup artist, had a date with a new guy. even learned how to drive a stick shift in her date's truck. there she is in a picture she texted her dad. >> she was proud of herself. it was a good day. >> you two must of been so proud of her, that day? >> the picture was, i did it without you. but you couldn't help would be proud. >> and then, two days later, a knock at debbie and terry store. a police officer with an odd question, were they missing a car? >> that was his exact words. are you missing a car? >> i looked in the driveway and i said nope, they're all there. not thinking -- that he found a car somewhere. >> was heather's car registered in her name? >> no it was still in our name. >> that's why he's at your doorstep. >> terry came right behind me and asked what was going on, he

explained that he found heather's car at the landing. >> what was going on if heather's cars at the landing, then where was she? >> the search for heather turns up a lead that gives her family hope. coming up. >> one of the local hospitals said that heather had come in on her own and had been released. >> but fear creeps in. >> i felt like something was wrong. >> he said let's take a look at the trunk, i was scared to death to open the trunk. >> when "dateline" continues. in 99% of people over 50. it's lying dormant, waiting... and could reactivate. shingles strikes as a painful, blistering rash that can last for weeks. and it could wake at any time. think you're not at risk for shingles? it's time to wake up. because shingles could wake up in you. if you're over 50, talk to your doctor or pharmacist

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peachtree landing, abandoned. >> the officer said do you have extra keys or spare keys, i said yes, and he said grab them and let's go take a look at it. >> heather's mom, debbie, tried calling her daughter's cell phone. >> it was just going straight to voice man. it wasn't ringing. >> her dad terry rode with the officer. >> we pulled up and we could see the car was sitting facing the water. >> he took us there explaining what the officer showed him that night. >> he had a spotlight at the back on the car checked the tag. >> it was his car, terry could see something was off. >> but instead of being this way, the car was turned this way. basically taken up three parking spaces. >> i unlock the car for him and he put on gloves, he handed me a pair, and said just to be on the safe side.

>> terry elvis couldn't understand. it the last time he heard from elvis is when she sent that photo from her date, she was fine. now she was nowhere to be found. he was searching her abandoned car. >> on the center council her drivers license was there. >> that's weird. >> a couple of other business cards and identification cards. but there were no keys. >> that's when the officer said something that made terry elvis''s heart skip a beat. >> he said let's take a look in the trunk. i went back and i turned the key and he said let me open it, i said let me lift it. >> he held his breath as the lid to his daughter's trunk pumped open. were you worried about -- >> i was scared to death to open the trunk, we both looked in and it was fine. there was nothing there. >> there was plenty of clutter, no signs of foul play.

by that point, bree who had been out of town for several days had gotten word her best friend heather was missing. >> i called her dad, who was with police, at the time, at peachtree and he had asked when was the last time i spoke to heather. >> bree told the two men that heather called from the apartment at around 1:30 am, tuesday, fresh from her date. >> she said i had an amazing date, i'm supposed to see him tomorrow when he comes off work. >> bree said heather did not want to talk about the new guy, she was upset about a call she had gotten from the older man she had once dated. his name was sidney, weeks earlier he dumps heather. >> her exact words were sidney called me, and i said what's, and she said, yeah, and i said what did he say, she said he wanted to be with me and see me. >> bree told her friend not to do anything rash. >> and she was like, you know what, you're right. i'm gonna get some sleep, i'm exhausted. i love you. we always say i love you when we hang up. and hung up.

>> that was it, bree said. the last time she spoke with heather. it was news to terry. he'd never heard about a sidney before. then, the officer had an idea. >> the officer starts calling hospitals to check and see if she's been admitted somewhere. when he called one of the local hospitals, they said that heather elvis had come in on their own and had been released. >> he thought heather must be okay, eventually, the officer told terry to take heather's car and head home. but terry's relief was short lived when he told his wife the story of heather checking into the hospital, she didn't believe it. >> she knows that it's expensive to go to the emergency room and she wouldn't want that kind of expense, so she would've called me and said this is what's wrong, what do i do? >> so the couple did what they could, calling family and friends. no one had heard from heather. eventually though, one relative

cleared up that hospital mystery. >> we found out that the heather that was in the hospital is my cousin's daughter, named the same thing. we didn't have the middle name, just first and last. >> what are the odds that it's another, heather elvis at the same time going in the hospital? >> it was puzzling. >> so where was their heather, confusion was turning into fear. >> i felt like something was wrong. >> heather sister's, morgan, arrived home from a basketball game. had they told you at this point what was going on? >> they hadn't and i just picked up what was going on through conversation. >> that heather -- >> was nowhere to be found. >> that's when it dawned on them. they could retrace heather's steps by way of her cellphone. she was still on their family plan. >> we ended up going online and going to our cell phone provider, because you can look at the call records. they pull up the information

and email it to us. >> they could see the most recent calls their daughter made and received. after her call to bree, heather dialed another number, several times. these are the early morning calls? >> yeah, and i'm like whose numbers this. >> the worried parents suddenly find themselves playing detectives in the very real case of their missing daughter. >> we google the numbers trying to figure out what they went to. >> and they got a hit. the numbers heather dialed belong to a man named sidney moorer, they figured that had to be the ex-boyfriend bree had mentioned earlier. >> terry was like i'm going to call, i'm just going to call him. i said terry you can't call somebody in the middle of the night. >> he did anyway and on the other and a man answered, the way terri recalls, the man was not happy. >> i said you don't know me, but i'm heather's father. heather elvis. and before i could get the next word in, i'm getting cussed out left and right. >> cussing about what?

>> nothing, just cussing, don't call me. i don't know what you're talking about, i don't know this person. >> that's an odd reaction. >> that's what i thought. >> but it was just cursing after cursing. >> the man who had dated their daughter was denying that he had ever heard of her. as the hours ticked by terry and debbie grew more anxious. they knew calling family and friends wasn't enough, they needed a new plan to find their missing daughter. coming up. two new on camera clues. someone at a pay phone. >> it appears that this is someone she knows. >> right, exactly. >> then someone in a pick up. >> you can see a dark pick up truck go by soon after that her phone goes dead and nobody ever heard from her again. >> when "dateline" continues.

>> her parents couldn't get in touch with her. police couldn't find her. and then, all of myrtle beach was searching for her. heather elvis, a missing person. >> volunteers keep searching for the 20-year-old. >> heather's desperate parents called on everyone to scour the area. they printed out flyers. >> there wasn't a store front in myrtle beach that didn't have one, or two, flyers and it. and then they were in georgia,

tennessee, and florida. >> they posted pleas online for information. they turned to the news media. local. >> is heather alive? >> my heart tells me that my daughter's alive. >> and national. including dateline's missing america series. the elvis'let us in the agonizing early days. >> it's just this hole that we all the feel--that the family just feels. >> and bearing silent witness to their anguish was another daughter, morgan. >> i can probably count on one hand how many times i've seen my dad cry. and to see something like that makes your whole world fall apart. >> police quickly turn their attention to heather's new guy. the man who had been with her on a day that night. his alibi, that he dropped heather at her apartment and

returned home, checked out. >> the date has been questioned, he's cooperated with law enforcement and he has not listed as a person of interest or a suspect. >> but what about the old boyfriend, sidney? police wanted to know more about his relationship with heather. her best friend bree was just the person to tell them about it. >> he flirted with her just as much, if not more, than she flirted with him. it was mutual. >> bree said that the two had met that spring at the tilted kilt, the pub where heather had been a hostess. sidney took care of maintenance there. >> you could tell that he really did care about heather. when he would come in and see her, or, just the little things, the texts or the calls to check up on her at work. >> but there was a big problem. sidney was married. although heather didn't seem to mind. >> heather had it in her head that he was going to leave his wife. she swore up and down that he was going to leave.

>> bree knew that would never happen. sure enough, in october 2013, sidney's wife got wind of the affair. he broke things off with heather. >> it hurt her. it hurt me see her go through that. >> sidney told police that he was home the night have a disappear. but he did say that heather called her. police went back to the phone records and saw the call to sidney. but they also found a mysterious call that had never called heather before. investigators traced it to a pay phone at a gas station. a security camera was pointed right at it. >> this random pay phone number called heather's phone, called it once, last about four minutes and then she actually tried to call that number back, multiple times. >> marissa tansina from nbc affiliate wnbf covered the case. it appeared that this was someone that she knows, if she's having a conversation that's lasting that long and

repeatedly calling back. >> right, exactly. >> was it sidney? they pulled the security footage from the gas station. >> you can see somebody walk up to the payphone and place that call to heather elvis. >> police wondered if that somebody was sidney. they asked him to come in for another round of questioning. if he'd been home, what was he doing at a payphone calling heather. he finally faced up. >> sidney moorer told them that he made that phone call to heather. >> investigators began to build a timeline from heather's phone. at 1:35 am, sidney called heather from the payphone. nine minutes later, at 1:44, heather called her friend bree. between 2:29 and 3:05, heather called the payphone nine times, but no one answered. her phone did connect to sidney's cell phone at 3:17 am

for four minutes. then, from 3:25 to 3:37 her phone was in her car on her way to peachtree landing, but where was sidney around that time? police didn't know. that is until a woman who lived near the landing area told police her home had a security camera. perhaps, she thought, it captured something around the time of heather's disappearance. >> around 3:30 in the morning on december 18th you can see a dark pick up truck, go by her home. >> police believed it was sidney struck. it was a huge break. police thought they could now place heather elvis in her car, and sidney moorer in his truck heading to peachtree landing, at the same time. >> soon after that, her phone goes dead and nobody ever heard from her again. >> it was 3:42 in the morning. police now had a theory, somehow, heather had become a problem for sidney, so he lured heather to the landing and killed her. and there was more, investigators believed sidney

and heather weren't alone. someone else was at the landing. >> coming up -- who was that mystery person at the landing? and why would anyone want to harm heather? >> the fire, the jealousy explodes into utter rage. >> when "dateline" continues. all good man. [vacuum cleaner] advil targets pain at the source. when pain comes for you, come back fast with advil liquid gels.

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nobody should have to take a class or fill out a medical form on public wifi with a screen the size of your hand. home internet shouldn't be a luxury. everyone should have it and now a lot more people can. so let's go. >> hello. the digital age is waiting. i'm dara brown. here's what's happening. house speaker nancy pelosi in a first statement with brutal attacks against her husband. she wrote she is heartbroken and traumatized by the incident. david depape has been charge of murder for confronting close with a hammer. pelosi says her husband's condition is continuing to improve. 150 people are confirmed dead following a stampede during a halloween celebration in seoul, south korea. 82 people have been injured. now, back to dateline. now, back to delatine.

>> welcome back to dateline. i'm natalie morales. what happened to heather elvis, the 20 year old vanished in the middle of the night. investigators believe that heather's ex-boyfriend sidney moorer had arranged to meet her at a secluded spot and they thought that he may have had help. as police continue to piece together the puzzle, heather's family was grappling with the reality. once again here's andrea canning with "the landing". >> terry elvis wasn't exactly sure when he realized his daughter wasn't coming home. maybe it was the afternoon, long after heather disappeared, when he was standing at his mailbox talking to his best friend. >> one of my best friends came to the house, he looked at me and he said, he said i hope she didn't suffer. i can't get that thought out of

my head. >> the not knowing made it worst and then stunning news. >> new development tonight in the heather elvis case. >> two months after heather's disappearance, sidney, heather's ex-boyfriend was arrested and did not go to jail alone, he was joined by his wife tammy moorer. both were charged with heather 's kidnapping and murder. was this surprising to people, tammy and sidney moorer are parents, they have three children and now they are involved in this crazy love triangle, kidnapping, potential murder? >> yeah. it's something that you see in a dateline episode. it's not a storyline that matches up with two people who have three children, and are supposed to be happily married. >> in an interview with dateline, tammy told dateline her marriage was a happy one.

we were a normal family. it was about our children, our kids always came first. >> tammy home schooled kids and sidney worked at a restaurant. they enjoyed family vacation together. >> i've always loved sidney but i hated the things that he done. >> tammy said that she found the affair upsetting but quickly got over it. she said within a day or two she had a nice conversation with heather on the phone. >> i said i'm not mad at you, and she said, well, and then she told me the stuff that they had done and what had happened. >> prosecutors didn't buy tammy 's story for one minute. but they had to drop the murder charges, after all, they didn't have a body. >> how did that feel when they told you about that? >> there is some tiny bit of justice in the world for a brief moment, and then all of a sudden, it's like it never happened. >> but it wasn't over yet, it was only just beginning. both sidney and tammy both face

kidnapping charges. sidney was up first. his trial began in the summer of 2016, he pleaded not guilty. >> good morning ladies and gentlemen of the jury. >> the prosecution's case was purely circumstantial. there was no evidence. but they argued, those surveillance videos and phone records proved the last person to talk and meet up with heather with sidney. however, the jury deadlocked. >> a mistrial has been declared in this case against sidney moorer. >> the prosecution didn't give up. when it came time for tammy's trial, they came up with a bold new strategy. they argued that tammy had not only been sidney's partner in crime, she'd been the mastermind calling all the shots. >> they believed that she was the ultimate brains behind this whole plan. >> prosecutors said it all boiled down to this. far from being the understanding wife who had accepted sidney's affair, tammy had been consumed by it.

>> a fire of jealousy was lit in the defendant. she was livid. she was angry. >> an anger that became something more sinister when tammy heard a rumor around town. heather might be pregnant with sidney's baby. >> when this gets out and it becomes common knowledge, the fire, the jealousy that is in tammy moorer explodes into utter rage. >> prosecutors said that that rage wouldn't be satisfied until heather was out of the way. they said it was obvious how much the affair had upset tammy by the way she had treated sidney afterwards. >> she said she beat the hell out of him. >> this witness said sidney had a tattoo of tammy's name across his abdomen, his understanding was that tammy made sidney get it. >> the states theory was that that was tammy's way of saying

you're mine and you're never going to be anyone else is. >> the prosecutor says tammy had even chained sidney to the bed with handcuffs. >> i'm not speaking figuratively, i'm literally saying that she tied to the bed. >> but as angry as she was at sidney for cheating prosecutors say that tammy was furious with heather. she sent her several texts, the prosecution said some of them are threats. heather was really afraid of tammy? >> she was. her friends had played a prank on her at work where they pretended to be tammy calling heather's phone, and she was absolutely terrified. >> and the prosecution said that if there was any doubt about the way tammy felt, just look at this nasty facebook post tammy had written after heather disappeared. calling her a psycho whore. >> she could've said, oh i'm so sorry this girl is missing and i hope you find her. and left it alone. but no, she goes on the attack. >> tammy was the one with the motive. she is the hunter. >> and it was a hunt. the prosecution said, the investigator told the jury he'd

use cellphones added to track the moorer movement. in the days before the disappearance, they showed up near heather's workplace. some of the bars she liked, even her home. the prosecution suggested the couple was stalking her. then, in the early hours of december 18th 2013, with heather's roommate out of town, the prosecution said that the couple struck. it began here, the prosecution showed the jury surveillance video of sidney walking into a walmart and purchasing a pregnancy test for heather. >> as soon as they leave for walmart, they go and call her. why? because the test is for her. >> the prosecution's theory was that sidney had called heather to come and get the test. and then meet up with him later at the landing. they said what's she didn't know was that tammy would be there too. >> there is no doubt, sidney is the bait. he's the bait.

>> prosecutors admitted that they couldn't say what happened to head there at the landing but they asked the jury to use their common sense. investigators show the jury of a photo of several items on the moorer property. >> there is a bag of concrete mix, and off to the side out here, was some type of bottle of a cleaning solution. >> the prosecution suggested it was nothing less than a kidnapping kit. what's the moorers might have needed to kill heather and dispose of her body. how hard was it for you, being in that courtroom every day hearing those details, having to see tammy? >> most days when i woke up i didn't want to come to the trial but i went because, when you see your parents hurting, you wish that you could take all their pain away. and something like this, it's impossible to ask me to do, but

you can do small things. you can sit with them. and you can hold their hands when they need it. >> after seven days of testimony, the prosecution rested. and the defense announced tammy was going to testify in her defense. as hard as it might be to listen to her, that was something morgan didn't want to miss. >> coming up. >> did you kidnap heather elvis? >> no, i did not. >> tammy moorer on the stand and on the offensive. >> tammy was just indignant. >> there is answers to this mystery and they refused to solve it. >> when "dateline" continues. with type 2 diabetes you have up to 4 times greater risk of stroke, heart attack, or death. even at your a1c goal, you're still at risk ...which if ignored could bring you here... ...may put you in one of those... ...or even worse. too much? that's the point. get real about your risks and do something about it.

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sidney moore is traveling commanding of heather elvis ended with the jury deadlocked. >> now his wife tammy was in court with the same crime. prosecutors painted tell me as a vindictive spouse who masterminded heather's disappearance after learning the 20-year-old was having an affair with her husband. tammy was about to take the stand and would present a very different story. here again is andrea canning with "the landing". >> tammy moorer said her kids should have been tackling

homework and hanging with friends. instead, they were sitting in a courtroom watching her be accused of a terrible crime. >> tammy is the one with the motive. she is the hunter. >> nobody deserves this. i just want to get home to my children and take care of them. >> tammy believed she was being victimized by a relentless prosecutor. >> heather is not getting justice by putting an innocent person in jail. she never will. >> i think that from the beginning, tammy was just indignant that she was even charged with this. >> brett mccollum was tammy's attorney. >> they cannot prove to you that anybody named moorer ever went to the boat landing. >> the defense told the jury to look at the evidence or lack of it, starting with heather's car. >> the vehicle did not indicate anything occurred inside the vehicle. >> the police officer who processed heather's car testified he couldn't find any

evidence of a struggle. investigators found no trace of a crime inside the moorer's house or truck either. speaking of their truck, the defense said you couldn't tell whether it actually was sidney and tammy's truck caught on camera heading towards peachtree landing. >> you have low image, low resolution surveillance video. our position is that you absolutely cannot draw any conclusion beyond the fact that that may be a certain make and model. >> this video did not pass the smell test for you? >> this video did not even give off an odor. okay? >> another piece of flawed evidence, according to the defense, was the cell phone data that seem to suggest tammy and sidney had been stalking heather. >> i would say you could compare earphone activity to anybody else is who worked in that area. those are where their nightclubs are, there were restaurants there. it would appear that i were stalking her as well, if you

just look at where my phone went. >> the defense said that what the jury really needed to understand was a simple fact, no piece of evidence put tammy at the landing. if anything, her alibi placed her miles away. >> did tammy's children stay in the house there with you or your mother while they left? >> yes. >> tammy's sister ashley told the court she was baby sitting tammy's kids on the night of december 17th, 2013. she said tammy and sidney went out together in the hours leading up to heather's disappearance. but ashley remembered when her sister came home. >> she texted me that night saying that she was home. >> do you know about what time that was? >> it was the beginning of 3:00 in the morning. i believe it was 3:10. >> for the defense, it was a time stamp. proving tammy was home well before heather went missing. that wasn't all, he said.

both sidney and tammy's phones were on and pinging from their house, not from the landing, when heather was there. it was also hard for morgan to listen to. some days she wished she had come to court. but that all changed during a crucial moment in the trial. >> when i found out that tammy was going to testify, i really wanted to be there, because i do look like heather. and she ran into me in the hallway and it was the first time she had other ever made eye contact with me, and then up close and personal with. me, and i could hear her audibly gasp. >> but when tammy took the stand, she seemed confident, ready to tell her story. she told the jury she wasn't a ruthless kidnapper. she was a mom. >> my youngest is on the far left over there. >> and she was a wife who'd found out her husband was cheating on her. initially, tammy said she texted the other woman's phone number to find out who she was. >> the messages were never directed towards heather elvis, they were directed to the mystery person. i just wanted to know who it was. >> at the end of the day, tammy

said the only reason she was angry with sidney was because he wasn't forthcoming about his affair. in their marriage, they had an arrangement. >> i said i think it's a good idea to have an open marriage for a little bit and to see if we were meant to be together. the only thing i asked to you is to be honest with me. sidney wasn't honest with me, and that's why i got angry with sidney. >> she said when heather went missing, she and sidney were working on their marriage, even hoping to get pregnant. that tests sidney bought at walmart, she said, was for her. not heather. also, she denied that she made sidney get a tattoo as punishment. she said he had gotten it long before he met heather. and she had a answer about the handcuffs, to. >> did you ever handcuff him to the bed? >> no, i have not. sidney is a strongman. he could get out of anything. >> and tammy had her own explanation for that so-called kidnapping kit. sidney needed the concrete for work. the cleaning fluid was for

their dirty camper. and the shotgun shell? probably just a spent casing from a turkey hunt. >> did you kidnap heather elvis? >> no, i did not. >> do you know who kidnapped her? >> i do not. >> are you glad that you are able to tell people what happened and what you did do and didn't do? >> i want people to know the truth. and i do want heather found. >> tammy has said that she wants to find heather. she actually liked heather. she didn't do this. and yet, she goes on facebook calling her a psycho [bleep] which is it? >> you know, i can't really explain everything that tammy said or felt. i think it was a huge mistake to call her names and do that sort of thing. >> he said if tammy had kidnapped heather, why would she be writing nasty facebook post about her? the elvises listened to tammy's

testimony about heather with disgust. >> she deserves to be found. >> it was so offensive to hear her name come out of that woman 's mouth. >> you sat there so quietly in that courtroom. did you just want to -- >> scream? it was infuriating, some of the things that she said. >> the trial was far from over. it was the prosecutor's turn to question tammy, and the prosecutor wasn't going to pull any punches. >> coming up -- fireworks in the courtroom. >> this is a story about jealousy and deceit. >> they don't have one fiber, one tear drop, one piece of a shoelace. >> high stakes in the jury room. >> the jury has reached a verdict. >> when "dateline" continues.

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defense argued that there is nothing linking her to the kidnapping of heather elvis. in fact, she seemed to have an alibi placing your miles away from the alleged crime scene. tammy told her story on the stand. now it was the prosecutions time to question her. and they came armed with more of tammy's text messages. sparks were about to fly.

here is andrea canning with the conclusion of "the landing". >> when tammy moorer took the stand in her own defense, she sailed through her direct testimony. but then came prosecutor nancy livesay. >> do you know who i am? >> i do. >> who am i? >> nancy lifesay, you've made my life miserable. >> but nancy was just getting started, the prosecutors mission? to show the jury that tammy was hardly the tolerant wife she claimed to be. when it came to heather elvis, the prosecutor argued, tammy was angry, vengeful and tammy's text to heather proved it. >> you've texted her, you can tell me who you are right now or i will find out another way, that way won't have a great turnout for you. >> yes. >> and at the time, how old were you? >> i think i was 41, or 42, i'm not sure. >> so do you know now when you sent her that text that she was a 20-year-old. >> i know now, i did not know

that then. >> the prosecutor suggested that tammy behaved like a stalker. >> and you said, at 11:11, i think a -- isn't that what you said? >> if it's on there. >> here's my question to you. how many times had you gone up there and looked her up to believe that she was there, because it's certainly -- >> never. >> what makes you think that she's in hiding? >> i was just being a jerk i guess, nancy. it's all i can say. >> have we ever met outside of this courtroom? >> i don't think so. >> okay. i didn't know when we got on the first name basis. >> after days and more than 40 with this is, each side wrapped up. >> this is a story about jealousy and deceit. and this story has been around

for a long, long time. >> the prosecution driving its case that tammy had motive to kidnap heather elvis. >> they don't have one fiber, one tear drop, one piece of salt, one piece of a shoelace at the boat landing. >> the defense arguing there was not a scrap of evidence to prove it. what would the jury do? >> ladies and gentlemen i understand that the jury has reached a verdict. >> it took jurors less than four hours to reach a verdict. >> we the jury find the defendant tammy moorer guilty of kidnapping. >> guilty of kidnapping and conspiracy to kidnap. two counts. in court, tammy took it stoically. later, she was emotional. >> i told my kids if the verdict came guilty i would go away. >> the elvis is got the verdict that they wanted but it wasn't going to bring heather back.

>> it didn't change anything. it didn't change the big picture, it didn't change the little picture. >> you expect it to feel good. to be a victory, but it doesn't feel like that at all. >> heather sister morgan looked across to the moorers, the only thing i saw was another family being torn apart. >> those children sitting behind their mom? >> yeah. i have lived firsthand a family getting torn apart. and i wouldn't wish that on anybody. >> tammy moorer was sentenced to 30 years, she is appealing her husband sidney was jailed in 2017 convicted of obstruction of justice. the state wasn't done with any moorer, in september 2019 prosecuted and recharge him on his kidnapping charges. this time he was convicted and like tammy, received a 30-year term. as for debbie and terry, they're in the same place they've been since the day their daughter went missing, living with the hope that one day they'll get answers about what happened to heather. the young woman who had so many

years ahead of her. what would you say to heather? if that little sliver of hope is still alive? >> i'm gonna bring you home, somehow, some way, i'm gonna bring you home. >> we're not giving up. we're never gonna give up. >> it doesn't matter what it takes. >> everything else takes a backseat. it really does. life does not go on. people around you, life goes on, but you are still stuck. you're holding on to the hope. >> that's all for this edition of dateline, i'm natalie morales. thank you for watching. >> i want to turn to big news this sunday, the violent attack against house speaker nancy pelosi's husband, paul pelosi, the rising threat of political violence. the speaker's office says her husband is expected to make a full recovery after a shoot