>> i'm craig melvin. and i'm natalie morales. and this is dateline. >> i don't go undercover every

day. that's what made me nervous. >> they had a secret plan. >> -- >> and you are wearing a wire? >> yes. >> to solve that baffling case. a college student on a friday night out who vanished. >> she is a very shy girl. but she was something special. >> the possible suspects? just about everyone. the friend, the boyfriend. the mysterious older man. even her mom. >> i was shocked that they even suspected me. >> so why were police that a dead end? enter this guy. >> do you see things other cops don't say? >> phenomenal. >> they call him the evidence whisper. he was about to crack this case opened before your eyes. >> the answer was in the details? >> it was right there. >> and you won't believe how. >> i'm thinking, i spoke to. it worked. >> i hope, i'm not sure. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> hello.

and welcome to dateline. 20 year old lindsey the told each other everything. or so her mother believed. when the college student vanished after a night out clubbing, nancy thought that she was at a sleep over with friends. and that wasn't the only thing that lindsey was hiding. it would take years for detectives to uncover the truth. in a pile of lies. but could they find lindsey? here's josh mankiewicz with the night lynsie disappeared. >> sometimes the facts are as clear as the southern california sky. but other times, you have to know where it will look. to see the truth. this man has made a career of noticing what others did not. >> what is his reputation? >> a meticulous investigator. just pours over volumes of

audience. and finds things that other investigators do not find. >> correct. >> does this man act guilty? does he know more than he is saying? >> i didn't know anything was going on. >> what about this man? can you believe the story that he is telling? >> i was supposed to pick her up twice. and she -- she did not show up on either day. >> the evidence whisper was not present at any of those interviews. but watching them helped him solve the mystery of what happened to our vivaciously little woman. and bring answers to the mother who loved her. >> i was always proud of her, she was a real fighter. >> lynsie ekelund arrived on july 7th, 1980. she was the youngest of three. maybe that fighting spirit isn't visible in her photos. but her mother nancy said it was always there. lynsie had a passion for animals. she helped out in her spare

time at a local shelter. kim davidson, who worked at the middle school, remembers young lynsie also had a sense of compassion. >> i was freezing cold, and i didn't bring a jacket that they. and i felt this little hands up my shoulder. and a sweater that turned around, and it was lynsie and she said i just can't stand watching you shiver. >> she gave back in other ways, her mother says that lynsie would lie about her age so she could give blood. remarkable in itself, because lynsie struggled with their own disabilities. her left arm was paralyzed, her left leg impaired. >> did she ever talk about how she came to -- >> she brought it up to me. and said that she was in a car accident and she was thrown. and when she was a little girl. but very, very matter-of-fact. >> growing up, lynsie needed so much care. her mother nancy was with lindsey. like her shadow. >> she was my only purpose. and my life, it's to make her

as normal as she could be. >> by the time that kim met lynsie, her dad and brothers had moved away. cam remembers a very tight family unit of just two. >> how close were lindsay and nancy? >> unbelievably. extremely. >> but as lynsie reached adolescence, that started changing. like a lot of teens, she wanted her own identity. she changed the spelling of her name. from this, to this. by high school, there were girlfriends. even some boyfriends. and by the time that she was 20, after so many years of mom and daughter being each other's best friends and confidence, lindsay began to keep some things in her life to herself. like where she was really headed. one night in february, 2001. >> does it make any sense that she would lie to you about what she was going to do that night? >> i have never known her to lie to me. but you don't know what you don't know. >> it was a friday night,

lindsay was in college part-time and working, but still living at home. she told her mom that instead of their usual friday night dinner. she was staying the night with a girlfriend name andrea. someone that nancy had never met. and then a young man named chris came to the door. to keep lindsey up. >> she introduces you to this guy, chris? did chris say hello to you? was he polite? >> but nancy says that something felt wrong. >> i had a feeling about him. >> what feel? >> i don't know. >> but to put it aside? >> yes. >> of course, she was used to things feeling wrong. she had spent so many years worrying about lynsie. it was a struggle to get go. she did. >> the thing i said to her was remember your seatbelt. and she said, back at you mom, love you. that is the last thing that she said to me. >> nancy locked up the house and went to bed. the next day, lindsay was

supposed to call after she was done tutoring two girls from the neighborhood. when the call never came, nancy drove over. and found out that lynsie never showed up at her job. >> all of a sudden, my daughter is not where she is supposed to be. she had taught these little girls for four months about. >> and you have no way of reaching her? >> i had no way. >> less nancy ekelund frantic. >> i started calling hospitals, i called the mark. i was desperate, i thought it was a jane doe in the. mark >> there was no jane doe, and there was no lynsie ekelund. >> most people who disappear like that, they come back in a couple of days? >> if not tierney for hours, yes. >> kareem was a detective with the police department. >> we had no and identified bodies. >> you check the? are >> we checked everything. which everybody. we checked everything. there was just no sign. >> coming up!

>> when was the last time that you saw lynsie? >> a week ago. >> now, i don't think. so >> when dateline continues! > when dateline continues! i go to spin classes with my coworkers. good for you, shingles doesn't care. because no matter how healthy you feel, your risk of shingles sharply increases after age 50. but shingrix protects. proven 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. an increased risk of guillain-barré syndrome was observed after getting shingrix. fainting can also happen. the most common side effects are pain, redness, and swelling at the injection site, muscle pain, tiredness, headache, shivering, fever, and upset stomach. shingles doesn't care but, shingrix protects. shingrix is now zero dollars

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i'm a big advocate of recommending things that i know work. >> her daughter was missing. nancy ekelund began handing out flyers, and counting the days without lynsie. taking them off a little post it notes. she also went to talk with a detective of the police department.

she wanted kareem to know about lynsie. nancy always know where she was, how they were best friends. it was a speech that kareem had known before. >> it's typical with a lot of parents or family members when they report a missing person, sometimes they give you the idea that this is an idea like family life. because i think there is a fear that if they don't paint a very rosy picture of this person. we won't be sympathetic and look for them. >> that you're not gonna work? hard >> were not gonna work hard. and there was a little bit of that with nancy ekelund. >> they were working the case, they brought in the usual suspects. like the boyfriend. >> when you guys were dating, she hasn't been dating anyone else to your knowledge? >> no. >> his name was matthew, he had been at college with lindsey. they were on and off a bit. but then. >> when i went to her house, she was like, i want to break up. >> as can help in with young romance, what was awful is back

on. lindsay and matt were back on in time for the weekend. but not in time for making plans for that friday night. >> she's like, maybe i'm going to san diego and visit with chris and everybody. i told, or have fun, be careful, okay? she's like okay. >> then in came the last person known to have seen her. chris, 21 years old. out of school. he told the cops that he was an. lindsay had met him through friends about four months prior. and it turns out, he had never drove lindsey to the house for a sleepover. chris said that that was a lie that lindsey made out for her mother. the plan was to go clubbing all night, in san diego. >> she said, don't tell my mom that we are going to san diego. because my mom won't let us go. or will let me go. or something like that. and definitely don't tell them that were club. >> chris told police that when the night of clubbing went bust, they head out earlier than expected. he dropped off the other girls,

he, said and then headed to lindsay's house. chris said that it was after 4 am when he finally got back to lynsie neighborhood. and he said that lynsie was worried that the mom would hear the truck pulled off at that hour. and lynsie she asked that he would have dropped her off a corner away. and it wasn't suspicious to police, until they heard from her friends that she would be dropped off right here. chris then went home, but then they found a photo of chris is truck heading home on the right street at the right time. so to the cops, his story added up. and that's when police learned that matthew and chris were not the only man in lynsie life. there was somebody else with both matthew and chris had mentioned to investigators. an older man who drove lynsie around. no one knew his name.

they had heard lynsie referred to him as her friend. >> that's all anybody knows him by. as him. >> as her friend? >> yes. >> nancy had no idea that lynsie was friends with any older man. she was about to find out. >> two days after she vanished as you get a phone call? >> yes. >> you are at your winds and? >> yes. >> and the phone rings, and it's marty. did you know marty? >> no. >> as far as you noted lynsie know marty? >> no. >> the plan was to pick up lindsey at school, but she wasn't there. he said he had money of lynsie that she needed for tuition. none of that made any sense to nancy. >> -- nancy her mother gets a phone call. a guy name marty. >> marty. >> and what is marty say to her? >> marty says that he has befriended lindsey, he is a friend of lindsey's and he is concerned because he had not heard from her.

>> what did you learn about marty? >> marty was not marty. >> he was really marty per gensler, he did not have a criminal record. what he did have was a relationship with lindsey, that he did not tell his wife about. he told police that he would often pick lynsie up and give her rides. but that was about it. marty was 58. >> and she was 20? >> she was 20. >> and they were boyfriend and girlfriend? >> i don't think so. >> so police brought in marty. over two days, they recorded those interviews. at times, on video. and sometimes just an audiotape. >> one is a lesson that you saw lindsey? >> a week ago. >> i don't think so. >> absolutely. >> absolutely not. >> marty said that he had -- lindsey on the day that he had gone to san diego on a friday. >> did she see? when >> we really didn't believe him.

>> they didn't believe him because a tip that they received, a clerk at a low the clothing store had called to say that she had seen lynsie and a much older man that match marty's description together at her store. after the day that lynsie went missing. >> i, wasn't there on that day okay? i haven't been in that store. all right? and like i said, i'm like you. i mean, i'm easily identified. okay? i probably, every piece i've been with her, would know that i was in there with her, okay? >> it was a very long, very long interview. >> friendly? >> now. now. i remember drilling down on him because i thought that he might know where she was. >> you're a parent? >> yes. >> how many? kids >> too. >> if you had a child, gone for eight days. vanished. vaporized and thinner. would your heart not be broken? >> oh, absolutely. >> do you not feel some

compassion for nancy? >> unbelievable. i think that this is a nice curl. and. this family has had their share of hardships. and this is just, you know, i mean, i feel so, you know, helpless. >> i don't think you are helpless. i think you can help us. >> marty insisted that he could. not that he did not know what happened to lindsey. the detectives were not buying it. >> have you harmed her? >> no. never. >> even by accident? accidents happen? >> i never touched her. okay. you know, i never touched her. >> have you put her someplace where she's? left >> no. no. >> police searched his home, and found nothing. no proof that marty had anything to do with her disappearance. so they moved on to the new suspect. someone closer to lindsey than anyone else on earth. >> dateline returns after the break! th break!

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been together all lynsie life. but now nancy waited, taking off the days. in the dark about where her daughter, was and about the piece of the investigation. police were not keeping her in the loop. so nancy was delighted when they called to say that they were coming to visit. >> look at the boyfriend, matthew. you look at marty. the older guy, the relationship

no one knew about. he denies it. >> right. >> you look at chris, he says i dropped her off and never saw her again. >> right. >> and you look at lindsey's mother? >> you can look at lindsay's mother, you have to. >> so i made my cookies, and all this silly stuff that i always do. >> coffee, right? >> yeah. >> the cops were not coming for coffee. they arrived with a search warrant, shovels, and cadaver dogs. >> i was shocked, that they even suspected me. i did not know but even a search warrant was. >> the house that nancy and lynsie had one shared, was torn apart. >> how did you feel knowing that it was nancy? >> i know that nancy was on the radar for a long time. she had been on the radar enough, to set aside. >> having -- they did just that. they believe that this english mother had nothing to do with the disseverance disappearance of her daughter. so they took her off the list.

they also took off the boyfriend, matthew. and that he was someone else the time she went missing. that leftist too. marty, who police did not trust because of his secret relationship with lynsie and because he had lied about his identity. and the man who dropped lynsie off at the corner. the last person to see her before she vanished. christopher mcamis. >> do you remember it -- >> yes. >> april 2002, more than a year after lynsie went missing. detectives decided to start over. they brought christopher mcamis back to see if his story still held up. >> i definitely think that lindsey has been, like, either abducted or something happened to her. >> right, well like what? >> i'd really rather, really rather think that she is with friends or something like that. >> police turned up the heat. >> let's talk about the

positive. and strip away the nitty-gritty. in my mind, like, in a perfect world. then i want to see if she's okay? >> it's a possibility that she is dead. >> right. >> police thought that chris seemed obviously calm, talking about a friend who may have been murdered. >> now, if it turns out someone should kill, or what do you think should happen? >> find them. >> when they find them then? what >> they go to jail. >> how long do you think they should go to jail? >> as long as it takes. >> like what? >> i don't know. i don't, i'll go to jail for a while. >> that's a strong as you can get out of him? >> that's a strong as we could get out of him. >> not, go to hell.

or personally electrocuted? >> not personally electrocuted, go to the gas chamber, she was my friend, she did deserve, that she would not heard of fly. >> the lack of emotion suggested that perhaps chris should move to the top of the list, but it was not evidence. after the interview, christopher mcamis was free to leave, and detectives weren't any closer to learn what happened to lynsie ekelund. and neither was nancy, who remained convinced that her daughter would one day just come home. >> you thought that one day that she would walk back through the door? >> yes. >> she believed it because she wanted to. and because over the years, several people had told her that they had seen lynsie. >> i never saw the front of her friends, they always saw the back of her. and i hung on to everywhere that they said. >> it was torture for nancy, no matter what version of events that you believe. and police still weren't telling them anything. >> nancy, during all this time.

feels like she has been certainly caught out of the loop. >> yes, she was pretty angry. we work this case diligently for a long time. at some point you hit the wall. >> at that point there were nine detectives in -- , working drugs, gangs, murder, and cold cases. it was clear that the pd had hit that wall. they would need help on this one. and who they needed was a guy named larry. >> tell me about larry. >> larry is phenomenal. >> phenomenal because what, he sees things that other cops don't see? >> phenomenal, because he sees things that cops don't say. i don't know anybody who could have done a better job than larry. >> the evidence whisperer was about to listen to what the facts of this case we're really saying. >> was there something that police had been just, you bet.

>> coming up! that picture of the truck spotted on the night of the crime. something about it just does not seem right. but the evidence was where is all over it. when dateline continues! when dateline continues! kids are so expensive, dad. now katie needs braces. maybe try switching your car insurance to progressive. you could save hundreds. i don't know, dad. ♪♪ maybe try switching your car insurance to progressive. you could save hundreds. that's a great idea, tv dad. but i said the exact same thing. some day when you're a father, you'll understand. i'm his father. it's not a competition. listen to your tv dad. drivers who switch and save with progressive save nearly $700 on average.

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hours tough story. donald trump found retribution for his enemies at cpac saturday. he went on to win the 2024 gop primary strong poll. was 62%. well ryan desantis did not attend but did receive 20%. and thousands take into the streets in israel again saturday, protesting the government's plan to overhaul the country's judiciary, a controversial bill that would give them the power to overturn high court decisions. this is the ninth straight week of protests. now back to dateline! to dateline >> welcome back to dateline, i'm craig melvin. where was lindsey? the investigation was at a

standstill, the detectives had to possible suspects that no evidence linking either of them to a disappearance, enter cold case detective larry montgomery, also known as the evidence was for. could he uncover some crucial clues so many others had missed? here again is josh mankiewicz with the night that lynsie disappeared. >> by 2008, lynsie ekelund had been missing for seven years. the case had gone from cold, to frozen in time. so the pd decided to outsource the investigation. to a cold case unit at the orange county da's office. to a guy named larry montgomery. with more than 30 years working on the side, he has put away his share of bad guys, usually by knocking on doors, but instead he works at looking very closely to the evidence. he does work fast, in fact, he is meticulously slow.

and that is just what is called case needed. >> was there anything in the original investigation that struck you as something to be needing to re-examine? >> everything. >> everything that had led the police into that wall. trying to decide between two suspects. >> i mean, i'm concerned about this girl. okay? you know? she is missing. >> marty, lindsay's older friend. who kept their relationship a secret, and lied about his name. and chris. >> it seems like she might be still alive. >> the last person to have been known to see her when she was dropped off at that corner. >> and he in your mind, which of the two was a better suspect? >> no, i don't know until i get into the details. >> you're no doubt aware that you have a reputation for seeing the guilds in the details? guilty or innocent? was it marty or chris?

larry needed to consider another possibility. could it have been random? someone who had seen her at just the wrong time. >> so, we have, a bad guy just waiting and hoping that a girl drops out of a call it for 25 in the morning? >> it happens. >> yeah, but you consider that. and then you weigh it. and you go, is that a good possibility? probably not. but still keep an open mind. >> and so, he sat down and read through the entire case file. all of the witness statements, all of the interviews. he did that, for two years. he watched the february, 2001 interview. that police did with a very unhappy mighty. >> did that strike you as tremendously suspicious. that he would go after she disappeared, talk to the mother, and give a phony name? >> if you did not know the background of marty, then absolutely. >> i talk to the mother on the

phone, i just gave an identifier, okay? marty russell or, that's what i said. >> right, which is a lie. >> watching that interview, larry chalked up marty's dishonesty as a attempt to save his marriage. >> i don't want my life to be brought into this thing. >> larry also took a closer look at the idea that marty and lindsey were together at that clothing store. after that she went missing. >> i flat wasn't there on that day, okay? >> no one ever found any security video of that. and larry has learned over the years, that well meaning people often get dates wrong. and larry learned a key fact. marty had actually participated in those early searches for lindsey. >> you eliminated marty very quickly that? >> yes. >> marty's behavior matched up with that of an innocent person, not a guilty one? >> that is correct. he is actually doing something

that you do when you are looking for lynsie. he was searching. >> so then they turn to christopher mcamis, guilty or innocent? >> he was the last person known to be with lynsie, he told police he drove straight home after dropping lynsie off. yet police found that photo of him heading north, away from lindsey's area. -- >> the day of lynsie disappearance, police say at the time that it was not ironclad proof, but suggested that what he said, he actually did? >> correct. >> but when larry compared photos of christmas trucks, with the photos from the bank? he saw something that no one else had noticed. the paint on the back of the side view mirror on his truck, was white. >> what about the track in the photo? >> the track in the photo had a

dark spot in that area. meaning, whatever mirrors where their, whatever mayors were there. they were black. >> so it's not the same truck? >> that's right. they were not. >> suddenly, chris's alibi had a big hole in it. larry moved on to his history with women, to ex girlfriends talk to police about how chris would become unhinged by rejection. or what he called, disrespect. larry heard about how chris had crushed a pet -- with a hammer. right in front of one of his girlfriends. because he felt that the crab had killed one of his fish. >> this is a guy with some significant anger issues? >> it certainly appears that way. >> she told me it was from a car accident. >> larry listened to the interviews, and caught him talking some of the time with lindsey. in the past heads. >> it was pretty much struck like this. >> okay. >> then, he found something in the paperwork from the pd. that proved chris headlight to the police early on.

about his whereabouts on saturday, february 17th. the day that she did not come home. chris had told them that he had stayed close to home, but larry checked chris's credit card statement. >> there was one entry. on february 17th. and it turns out that it was in santa clarita, which is 15 miles north of where he lived. >> why would crispy in santa clara? >> that is what i wanted to know. >> digging through the reports, larry found information about crisis that. that he was in construction. and that in 2000, and 2001, he had a job site in santa clarita. >> you can't tell now, but back in 2001. this was a major construction site. now, if chris had told police that he had not worked for is that that winter. it was unemployment. but larry saw some big cash deposits going into crisis think account. with the unemployment checks.

so he thought that chris might have been working for his that off the books. and larry came back, here to ask around. >> and he told you that it was kris's father's construction company? >> chris's father did some of the construction work at that site. >> and chris work? there >> he was one of the tractor drivers. >> is this where you thought to yourself, that is where lynsie ekelund was? >> i thought that the chances were excellent, that if i killed her, and i was in christopher mcamis situation, and i saw a tractor in the middle of nowhere. i might use that track to dig a hole to put her in. >> now, all of the evidence whisper had to do. let's prove it. >> coming up! an undercover cooperation. were you there? >> yes. >> and you are wearing a wire? >> yes. >> when dateline continues! teline continues

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larry had recruited a motorcycle comes from a nearby town to go undercover. >> they needed a police officer who looks like a college student and didn't have the mannerisms of a police officer. >> this was that officer. >> how are you dressed? >> jeans on, and just a little shirt. something that a college student would wear. >> where you armed? >> yes. >> and you are wearing a wire? >> yes. >> hi, are you? chris >> yes. >> hi, my name is nicole anderson. i'm with college torch magazine. >> the officer was posing as a student reporter, complete with a press pass. she knocked on chris's front door. he had talked to a student reporter from the college in the past. about the case. >> you use your real name? >> now, i use a fake name. told him who i was. and. >> you just -- that remains to be found that

they believed it belonged to lindsey. so i guess they're doing dna testing right now. and, in the meantime, i am supposed to go contact the family to get the initial reaction for the story. >> when i told him that the police said the account of lindsey's remains, the demeanor changed. >> how? >> quite drastically. i could see that the color in the face went white. >> the police had not found the remains. that was a lie. they did it all the time, it was legal. in fact, larry had tried to find lindsey up at that construction location where chris had worked. and had gotten some interest from the cadaver dogs, but nothing more. just down the street from the house, the pd that had been decided to work with larry was keeping an eye on the action. >> sarah watching while this interview happens on the doorstep? >> yeah, i was sitting ten houses down watching the reporter, undercover police

officer, once he left the area, we were in business. >> what happened? >> later that night. he was seen coming out of his house and going into the garage with the lights on and we're talking about 3:00 in the morning and it was clearly the sign of somebody who could not sleep. >> detectives were sure that they had rattled the suspect in the next day that they trailed him when he left his house. >> at some point, it became apparent that he knew that we were following him. >> they broke off surveillance. and brought him in. >> chris, have a seat. >> larry had read all about chris and he looked at a tape of every time that chris had been in for an interview. >> here is what the situation is. >> today, he and chris were going to meet for the first time. >> i have been investigating this case for about two years now. >> larry had a plan to get chris to talk without asking for a lawyer. >> you probably want to know what's going on, what's happening while you're sitting here? >> larry promised to fill him

in on the case in detail. figuring, chris would want to know if the cops had the goods. and then maybe he would have something to say. >> we just want to advise you of your right. which would help. and then after that, i want to explain to everything. >> larry read chris's rights, and then before chris could really respond. larry laid out his case. he said that he knew chris had never dropped her off that night. because the atm photo that had first fooled investigators, actually prove that he was not there. >> it wasn't your truck. but for years, it was thought that it was your truck. and in fact, your truck did not go by that night. it wasn't there. >> he told chris about the credit card statements. and how he found somebody who remembered chris working on the job site. >> all of a sudden? big red flags. you know. you're working. you're up there, when you said you are not. but you said, i don't work on saturday.

she disappeared on the saturday morning. and your credit card usage up there is [inaudible] on weekdays except for the day that she disappeared. so you're out there working that day. >> he told chris the lie about her being found. >> we recently got dna that had that truck, against the body. so now we've got lynsie up there, right in the area that you were, right at the time where you did not draw her off. and we have enough to prove that crime. >> and knowing about his anger issues with previous girlfriends. he summoned up a little empathy, to draw kristen. >> i the no you have the ability to be angry. and i don't know what she cause to be that angry. [inaudible] >> chris did not say much,

until a little body language revealed that larry was on the right track. >> was that what happened? i don't think it was. so what did she do? [silence] >> larry finish talking. he was hoping that christopher mcamis would give it up. >> i think i need a lawyer to talk to you about this with me. >> well, that's up to you. >> the supreme court had made it pretty clear, if someone declares that they want an attorney. the interview is supposed to stop. until one can be hired, or provide it. but in this case, larry was walking a line. believing that asking for a lawyer, isn't the same as wondering if you need one. kareem loomis was watching from another room. >> that's about as close as you can get from and i want a lawyer line apart from seeing it. >> but where you holding your breath when he said? that >> yes. if he didn't confess he was

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comcast business. powering possibilities. so that i do the right thing. because something happened there. >> larry montgomery spoke for 45 minutes, he had given chris everything that he had. >> look. your credit card usage. >> the photo, the job site. >> how did you low lindsey?

>> -- >> the phony story about finding the body. and then the interview had suddenly stopped dead. >> i think i need a lawyer to talk to you about this. i think. >> while, that is up to you. >> and because chris said i think i need a lawyer and not i want a lawyer, larry thought that whatever came next would be admissible in court. detective who had been letting larry do the talking then spoke up. >> i knew that was the moment of truth and in interjected something very quickly. >> nobody likes to be labeled a monster. and in this case. it's a way of pointing. only you have the other side of the story. nobody is going to be able to speak cheerio. that's why we want to know.

>> there's a reason everything happens. i'm sure that there were some circumstances that happened that night, or that morning. >> he kind of side, and he laid out a story. >> all right, what happened was. >> and suddenly realize? >> this is it. he is going to give it up. i was sitting next to the detective from the other agency, and i reached over and grabbed his arm and i said he is going to confess! >> it was sad. and it was ugly. >> she, i was going to take her home, she was telling me why don't i just sleep over at your place because i don't want to upset my mom. >> it makes sense. >> as larry had suspected, chris never dropped off lindsey at that corner. >> i was trying to kiss her and then she dug elbowed me in the chest. and then i went to my kitchen

and my apartments would. and i drink a lot of vodka and then i went back and i try to do the same thing. and she pretended to be asleep. and i pulled her pants down and i was totally drunk. she got up, said oh my god what are you doing. i am calling the police. when i got up and walk to her she tried to knock me out with my phone, with a home phone. yeah, she, like this to my face and being drunk, it enraged me and set me on fire and i grabbed her. and threw her on to my bed.

and. i got her into a headlock. and she died. >> and then what did you do? >> and, i try to figure out what i tried to do because i couldn't believe how it just happen that way. >> quickly? >> i just couldn't believe it, i thought she was going to pass out and i ended up killing her. >> that was it. lindsay had been killed before anybody had realized that she was even miss saying. chris says that he just had driven up to the worksite, and used a skip loader to dig a hole. he held on to the body for a few days, and when nobody was around he buried her. >> did it feel any better to finally know? >> now. because i was really devastated. there was a relief but i wasn't any happier because of it. >> after the confession, the detectives left him in the

interview room with another detective to watch him and chris simply could not stop talking. >> unbelievable. it's been so long. you know it feels better? when you finally just say what you are supposed to say. you know? [silence] i know my life is ruined now. the uniform and get the death penalty for this? >> you're gonna have to ask them those questions. >> then, larry came back, all was meticulous, he wasn't done, he wanted that final detail. >> where was it that you dug the hole and put her? >> where exactly he had left lindsey. he explained to chris that even though they found the remains, which wasn't true, the grave site had shifted over the years from flooding. >> it's treacherous parts.

and exactly where you've done the whole. >> with the detectives, he returned to the site that had become the final resting place. >> and right where this tree is, i pulled my truck over and parked it. >> this tree to our left here? >> yes. this tree didn't used to exist there when they did construction. >> okay. >> he wasn't sure of the exact spot. >> it's over in this vicinity. >> way over there? way over here? >> this tree. all the way into that brush. >> it took more than a day of digging to find what was left of lindsey, first they found a shoe, and then a jacket, and then a bracelet. and that's how nancy knew they found her. the coroner confirmed that that's how they found the records. two years after he confessed

chris was found guilty of second degree murder. his sentence? 15 years to life. >> he told me that you thought he let this consume your life too much. >> it did, it does to this day. >> well now it's over, what do you going to do? >> i don't know. a new life is opening up to you and i don't know i don't, really have any answers. i just have to get over this. >> and that's all for this edition of dateline, i'm craig melvin thank you for watching. melvin thank you for watching. >> as we begin a new hour, conservatism versus trump-ism? the status for cpac's big networking event has become a sideshow, e