receive everything >> it was difficult to see m daughter in such pain, walking for her aunt >> maribel ramos, we lost -- a few years ago. she was an army veteran. >> every wednesday, in the cit of orange, they lower the flag for the fallen who served. but maribel has a legacy gisele seems well on her way t becoming a successful woma that maribel had hoped for >> your mom says that you ha sort of been the rock. >> yeah. >> that they would not hav made it through this without you. >> yes >> what did you get that toughness? >> it's from her >> from maribel? >> yeah. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> that's all for this edition of dateline, i'm craig melvin. thanks for watching.

and this is dateline now >> she's a married mothe of two she was a kindergarten teacher there's nothing about her life that would raise any red flags >> she amazed them all her whole group of girlfriends at the gym >> she was totally dedicated >> say how, they're turnaround you've gotten smaller. >> a stunning 200 pound weight loss, and a whole new life cam without. >> you can see tha transformation you can see the confidence i her. >> then, she was gone. missing at school. >> i caught all the girlfriend -- >> will find you one where the other. >> the clues, an email to he husband, and a secret she wa reluctant to share >> kind of a bombshell how there was possibly seein another man. >> what was really behind he sudden disappearance that would be the most

mind-blowing twist of all. >> do you think that heather would still be alive if sh hadn't gone through this transformation >> the >> welcome to dateline. heather jones, a motivationa teacher, had shed pounds and her past she was starting to live the life of which he dreamed, then suddenly she vanished. here's andrea canning with the last dance >> there is a place in downtow memphis tennessee, a little ho spot not far from nearby beale street yeah >> they don't play th memphis blues and this club. in the sultry darkness of th rubber room, bodies sway to th beat of latin sounds now in april 2013, a woman

named heather jones came i with her friend to dance the night away, wearing a bland ne dress. >> how did she look that night >> she had her head up s high, and her shoulders back and just beaming and she fel absolutely beautiful >> there was a time, not too long ago, where heather didn't feel very beautiful at all but on this evening, she had the night of her life. >> she really didn't sit dow very much. she was being spun around an danced >> just two nights later everything spun out of control >> breaking news about the missing germantown teacher >> they're jones suddenly an inexplicably disappeared fro her home >> her cars on her driveway, her purse, keys, and stuff o her missing. >> thinking of her being scare and hurt them made you sick. >> what happens? the answer was sickening >> oh my god, is that her? >> the why, more twisted and

surprising than anyone could fathom >> that's not normal, it's not natural, it's not right. >> how could all this darkness fallen woman so sunny? no >> i loved her. when i loved her energy, she was due -- if you can think of a colo that is a person, like, sh would be like bright yellow. >> friends say how there can always light up a room her cousin, diane perry, say that upbeat attitude is what drew them together from th time they were young >> you too are more like sisters. definitely very close >> upon that only grow teenagers when how they're moved from florida to tennessee, closer to diane. they became an inseparable pai and even went to college together in memphis. so, it was only fitting dian was there the night heathe fell instantly in love with guy named chris jones. >> how they're went to a party on 19 i nine, and she came home, and we sat down and talked and giggled about this new guy tha

she'd bad, chris >> diane recalls that heathe found chris fascinating. >> he dazzled her with his knowledge of wine and just his knowledge of the world >> she like? that >> she loved the. >> she absolutely love >> diane was surprised to se how fast the new couple were moving within weeks, they were living together and not long after, dian noticed a change in her cousin a big one. >> they got a lot involved i online gaming and things lik that, and they had a very very sedentary lifestyle. that's when she gains i'dsay about 250 pounds >> 250 pounds about how much time are we talking about? >> maybe, a year and a half. it was a very short long time. >> that's life-changing. >> it was tough. >> did she seem depressed abou the weight gain? >> absolutely. >> her cousin recalls chri said he didn't mind what siz heather was. a few years into the relationship, he asked heather to marry him it seemed his love didn't wave as the numbers on how they'r

scale only continue to ris after the birth of their two children >> did he make her feel good >> yes, she felt beautiful, sh felt loved she felt wanted, she fel taking care of >> chris also took on the role of stay at home dad, while heather worked unattende college part-time. >> it took about ten years t get her degree from college, and it was almost to the day that she graduated from colleg that everything changed. now guy >> at one point before graduation, heather tipped the scales up 400 pounds, but dian said that hard one diploma now became a roadmap for how they're, pointing her to a brighter and later future. >> she had so much mor confidence, she saw a differen life herself, she immediatel started working on her weight. >> and that's when she found a special group of new fronts. woman like her who join this high powered dance exercis class each week to improve

their physique and their lives >> gary cooper was heather's dance instructor >> when he just game behind you, it was like happy hour >> everyone in heather's lif and notice that happy i wa doing wonders for her. >> how, i said, you've gotte smaller. >> she's like, yeah. >> with the pounds just meltin up of? are >> melting off in front of your eyes. >> it was nothing short of a total transformation in 18 short months, she went from this, to this >> i remember that she brought a picture of a before and then where she was now, and was s proud. she's like, look what i've done there she was so proud o herself. >> no one was more surprised when how they're soon land hur her dream job, teaching at a elementary school in memphis a fellow teacher, jessic moxley, was in awe of th amount of energy miss jone poured into a classroom. >> how their loved being a kindergarten teacher from the moment that the

stepped foot into the door, to the moment that they left, the were dancing, they were singing, they are playing >> for april 2013, it was al coming together for how they'r jones. on a saturday night, she hit that rubber room dance floor t try to some moves she picked u at the gym and to show the world what she'd become. >> it was so much fun. we were there for probably about a good three hours o just dancing >> three days later, on tuesda morning, chiefs are just g moxley headed to school, expecting to see her energetic coworker how they're already there. >> our school day didn't start until eight or 8:30 that year, and she was here every morning by 6:30, 6:45. >> heather usually couldn' wait for the school day to begin, sir jessica was surprised by what she didn't see that morning >> i pulled into the parking lot, and it didn't see her car i'm like, oh, what is going on >> thinking maybe she caught a

right to school, just got made a beeline for mother classroom. >> and i remember her door was closed, her lights were off, and i remember thinking he lights are off and then saying again, her lights were off. like, she's gone >> gone? what could that mean as the search began to find th missing teacher, investigators would soon uncover a disturbin connection between how there's dramatic weight loss and her mysterious disappearance coming up next, a closel guarded secret >> i don't even know his name. >> when dateline continues hi non-drowsy claritin-d knocks out your worst allergy symptoms including nasal congestion, without knocking you out. feel the clarity and make today the most wonderful time of the year. claritin-d. ha-ha! it was me the whole time. -whoo-hoo! -[ laughs ] well done, ma'am. what...did i do exactly?

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alarm bells one-off among your fellow teachers and friends. >> how they would never missed a day of school. she was totally dedicated. >> homesick, didn't seem likely best friend melissa smith knew how they're wasn't about to be sidelined by little sniffle. >> there was no excuse for her not to be there. school officials couldn't reac other on the phone and one her cousin diane heard she was a no-show, she had right over to heather's hous in germantown, where she saw a encouraging sign >> there was relief when i saw a car in the driveway. because i thought she wa there. i thought oh, she's sick >> diane thought heather was probably just sleeping >> knocking, knocking, knocking, please into the door, but no answer alarmed, she called heather's mother to bring over a. keep >> soon germantown police arrived, open the door, and on

in first >> they said she's not i there. they said nothing looks just herbs. >> is that a relief in any way that she's not in there? >> no, no, it was terrifying something is very much wrong >> it was now a missing person case detective tony kemp took the lead and did his own wal through of the house >> did you find any signs of something that might hav happened in that house >> no, i did not see the any weapons, i do not see any bloo or anything in that house. >> but how there is car stil in the driveway, stuck i detective kemp's mind. obviously, if she left, she ha to be on foot or she had mad contact with somebody for he to pick her up >> the grapevine was not working overtime friends from others dance clas soon heard that she wa missing. one of them was carrie cooper. the class instructor she also won over to the house turns out, carrie knew as much

about crime scenes as she di about dance moves. >> that's because carries a co in your by memphis >> well, i kind of took on tha police officer role at tha moment and i combed like every inch of her property >> did you find anything >> i found nothing and i looked in her store shed and i looked all along the railroad tracks behind her house, and there's nothing >> the afternoon how they're disappeared, chris came to the police station wanting to help >> when i can't miss a opportunity -- i do want to miss a call, don't want to miss a chance, i knew she was gonna come by, don't want to miss the knock o the door we know >> you sure? >> i'm worried >> chris told detectives tha something that could be vita to the investigation he said heather had hidden i written him an email the night before the subject read, i'm sorry. in its, she mentions the littl girl eva it rod, come get eva, i cannot face everyone with this. please forgive me, it is too

much please raise them to remembe me as they're loving mommy >> how concerned were you when chris told you about this emai that his wife had sent, that heather had such >> i was concerned it did not sound good to me. >> kemp thought the email wa open to all kinds of interpretations. all bad, it seemed it >> basically sounded like i'm throwing in the towel. >> throwing in the towel detective kevin asked crist if heather might be suicidal. >> has she ever talked about wanting to harm herself or anybody else you that you know? >> not that i recall >> friends and family police spoke to were ottomans heather would never take her own life not after struggling so hard t transform it for the better. but there was another possible explanation for what might hav happened to this woman who built such a promising future. police were about to uncover a

secret she kept hidden fro almost everyone. >> i didn't even know his name >> just as heather was heade off into that bright new future, her past came calling. >> when coming up. >> the search heats up, and th secret is out. >> kind of a bombshell that heather was possibl seeing another man >> this was definitely, yo know, a person of interest tha we need to speak with. >> when dateline continues

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for 24 hours er loved ones put prayed for the best, and launched int action the memphis mother had recentl lost 200 pounds without up a dance aerobics class, and no her gym friends pasted the after photo she was so proud o all over town. >> you're putting up flyers >> we had flyers, w stopped at restaurants aroun germantown >> carry, heather's friend a dance instructor, who also hav to be a cop, organized a searc party. >> we had our backpacks on, an we have good walking shoes and we had snacks and towels and water. >> around lakes, parks, an railroad trucks, carrying th other women search methodically, not knowing what they migh find >> and i had told all the girls, you'll be prepared because w

might find her >> your foot hit something har and you think, oh my god, is that her but it's - it's a branch, and you jus never know with each step. >> to put together the puzzl of what happened to how they're, and what she meant by that disturbing goodbye email detective kemp wanted to kno more about heather, starting with her relationship with chris. when >> i wanted to know mor about their marriage and what' been going on between them the past year. >> he knew the major event and their marriage in the past yea was had there's dramatic physical change. when >> the friends and family said it was about so much more than just dropping pant size as heather lost the weight, sh gained a whole new outlook o life >> she was kind of quiet and reserved back then, when ivory first met her, and to see that contrast from then until where she had decided, i'm going t make some healthy decisions in

my life, and the butterfly description with her is a very great description. just her coming out of her shell, and becoming who she wa created to be. and you know, you could se that come >> in all different - >> in alternate specks yes. >> her cousin diane ha explained that once die and th butterfly had spread her wings she felt like just like her ol clothes, her husband chris wasn't fitting anymore >> he was not really a part of the new life >> exactly >> the future? >> exactly i think you saw the run on the wall >> she saw that i'm young, i'm healthier now that i've ever been, i'm pretty now that i've ever been, i'm feeling good, i'm feeling confident, and i'm feeling independent. she didn't have just one choic anymore. the world was hers >> detectives learned that i january 2019, how they're move out on chris without telling him. >> she had a name for. it >> she did? >> ninja style

>> almost like operation ninja style that she was gonna mov on her own >> it was, it was. >> how they're moved into this rental house with the help o family and friends >> she was backed by a lot o awesome girls. so, she was ready. >> she was say you know, i don't want anything in my hous but my crock pot and m mattress and my brown books, but that's okay, because i'm happy. >> in his interview with police, chris said that after nine years of marriage, he and ho they're began to have some differences. but, he said, he had no clue she was going to move out on him and was even more shocke when he found out she had file for divorce. >> i was totally new sid swiped did not see him coming >> chris told detective kemp h had been trying to patch thing up with other everson's. >> i want my life. i want the family dynamic that we had no i wanted us to be a family.

i wanted to work things out. >> kemp questioned what heathe had been up to what chris wa trying to win her back >> it's common, a lot of times when a couple is going through divorce, that maybe somebody was seeing somebody, and i asked him not. >> that's when chris confide in the detective that he feare heather had in fact moved on >> is she seeing anybody else? does she have a boyfriend righ now? >> yeah. >> can you tell me what yo know about that? >> the only thing i know i that we they were friends from a younger age new, and it' been going on for sometime >> when you're talking to chris, he brings up kind of a bombshell. that heather was possibl seeing another man >> yes, he did he did tell me that he believe that she was seeing somebody and i try to get information from him about that person >> i really don't know anythin about it they've been corresponding heavily.

>> did she talk one of much? >> she doesn't talk about hi at all she doesn't want me or anyon else to know about him >> kemp just covered heather had been talking about this ne guy, just not with her husband >> they had started texting, i think initially, kind of facebook-ing and like hey ho are you. i think so those text messages and those facebook message became very flirtatious. >> i don't even know his name. all i knew is that she was talking to somebody who wa making her happy and she fel very special and ver beautiful. >> but police did need a name, fast chris was able to provide at least part of that crucial detail >> can you tell me about him you start me off with a name what's his name? >> edward is all i've got. >> edward? >> did you think that this other man could be a game-changer in this investigation? >> to me, this was definitely, you know, a person of interest that we need to speak. with >> detectives now launche a hunt for a man named edward. they want to know, did heather

the butterfly leave behind her whole life to build a new on with another man >> coming up the other man reveals. >> i would hide her if that' what she wanted. >> when dateline continues nout symptoms from over 200 allergens without knocking you out. feel the clarity and make today the most wonderful time of the year. live claritin clear. with a majority of my patience with sensitivity,

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making this so difficult >> and she still wasn' answering her cell phone the one police learned she had used to exchange flirtatious taxed with a mystery man >> she was in the process of having an affair, whether loca or long distance, i don't know >> chris jones couldn't tell detectives much else about thi other man, who he only knew by the name of edward >> i've just seen thei correspondents - >> how do you know were you able to see some of the texting yourself >> yeah. >> on her phone or

>> yep >> you must have had concern about southern >> yes, i did. because, he was one of the first names that we had come u with >> detective kemp knew i heather had split town as he goodbye email suggested, she hadn't driven away in her car. it was still parked on her driveway >> when you're gonna color >> i don't know anything about him. i really don't >> did he leave here locally obviously, in germantown >> no. from >> memphis? you know >> not that i know of. i don't think he lives i memphis. >> detectives had to fin edward another way so the access heather' facebook account and mind it for clues, and there it was. a profile with the last name attached >> what was that name? >> edward rogerson >> police dialed a phone numbe they found for at. he told him he lived 500 miles away and eastern tennessee, an agreed to make that drive to germantown to be interviewed

detectives wondered, had h made the trip once already tha week to take how they're away, and most importantly, could he tell them where she was now? >> just because you've got somebody living fun 100 mile away, does not mean that the didn't have anything to do wit this disappearance >> police recorded at roller since interview. during questioning, and made u a potentially importan mission. >> i love death, i would d anything for her, when the detectives asked me, who would she call if you want t disappear, and she'd be me i'd be here in however man hours it took me to get here today. >> but, he insisted, heather never made that call and there was more edge will detectives he wa surprised by the first questio he was asked what initiall contacted by the police. >> detective cam, and he said, is there as we go from there >> and i said yes, she's the backyard >> he said, good, okay, so heather is okay?

>> i said how there's not micr front, she's a friend of mine. we've been friends for 2 years. >> so if added heather weren't an item, and he was dating someone else, what exactly was going on >> the detective wanted to hea from you immediately once they learn the name >> oh yeah, once they knew who i was. >> detectives learned from add that his relationship with heather went back decades, lon before heather married chris ed said he and heather met i 1993, when they were both teen living in florida. at remembers they fell fast fo each other >> it was young love they say don't know what lov is, but i do >> and said the data for two years before he moved away but that puppy love wa something he never got over, even after heather married >> we're used her carrying tha torch? >> yeah. but, i do really light show. i respected how they're to much

>> around how there is britain's spring of 2013, afte she had also that weight, an their told detectives he reached out to wish her well, got more than thank you. heather had big news she and chris had separated. >> at that moment her life, sh had her friend, and that was what i was there for i was there right when she needed me the most >> but ed said that shoulder t lean on soon turn into something more >> talking just, you know, listening to our problems, and it just, you know, progress from there. >> progressed in what way? >> oh, you know, i'm a flirtatious person and, yo know, just became flirtatious. >> detective kemp scanned th recent temp talks between th two from other cell phone, and it appeared that things he did even more a few days before sh went missing >> there was some sexual

content them that i ha noticed. >> ed says it was heather wh first turn the texting int sexting. >> what do you think >> it was partly that, you know, she was in a highly flirtatiou mood that day. on i was really quite sure >> did you buy >> i bet >> detectives want to know how much, and whether ed was truly willing to drop everything t help heather start a new lif in secret? >> no matter what it took, i would protect her. >> and knew it probably didn't look good to police. >> i guess knee admitting that i would hide her if that's wha she wanted, when you know, i can understand them saying maybe that he's hidden her >> did you hide her? >> i wish. >> did you drive to see ho there that night >> no. >> were you with how that? i >> know. >> did you have anything to do with her disappearance

>> no. >> agile police he was at home far away in eastern tennessee. and revealed that despite thos steamy tax, he and how they're hadn't actually seen each othe in person in years >> we discuss seeing eac other. i guess it would've been well, would've been another month. >> and insisted to police he had no idea where another was, but he did give them a big clue he told investigators, that in fact, he spoke to had there on the phone the very night she disappeared. and he heard something on that call that was alarming then, and even more alarming now >> i called her, she answered. and immediately i could hear kind of arguing. >> ed said he heard a man' voice in the background during that call. but whose voice was it >> the pieces of the case ar about to fall into place and those flirtatious tax,

turns out they aren't at all what you may think coming up. >> i need to put that on m mind >> are you thinking, this coul potentially be our last chance to solve this? >> this was our shot >> when dateline continues two pills relieve allergy headache pain? and the congestion that causes it! flonase headache and allergy relief. psst! psst! all good! ♪ crunchy ♪ ♪ tasty ♪ ♪ sweet or savory ♪ ♪ always satisfying ♪ ♪ gimme blue diamond! ♪ ♪ crunchy, tasty, sweet or savory ♪ ♪ always satisfying ♪ ♪ gimme blue diamond! ♪ ♪ crunchy, tasty. sweet or savory, ♪ ♪ always satisfying, gimme- ♪ blue diamond almonds. ♪♪ this is how it feels to du more with less asthma...

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sign of how they're drones, he gym friends got back t exercise class with a hope heather would dance with the once again >> i kept that back door ope to the gym, and i said how they're if you can hear us we're dancing, we're looking for you. if you're out there, you dance with us. adam, we're gonna find you, on way or the other >> detective tony kemp als vowed to find her. he was convinced heather jim not run off with her old boyfriend had. so he asked your friends, what else would cause heather t leave her husband and children that's when kemp began to flus out what really happens when heather moved out on chris >> it was very scary, and it only continue to deteriorate >> friends of family told hi how it first, chris try to woo her with flowers and chocolates but those loving gestures soon turned ugly. >> he would texture and call her, it is time they were just

violent, you're not taking m kids from me, i'm not gonna le you leave. you won't get away with this, will come after you. >> then, front side, chris start acting more desperate an heather started getting really scared >> he would show up on her work, he would show up at the gym, h surge showing up at the hous in the middle of the night and i just remember thinking, like this is insane i'm like, you are literall stalking her >> i got a lot of informatio on chris on what these peopl thought of him, and it was not good >> detectives decided they d more than just keep an eye o chris. they secretly attach a gps device to his car to track his movements. >> we want to know, possibly could he take us to war ho there was up >> they also asked chris t come in for a second interview the interrogation was led by detective brian wallace. >> are you thinking, this coul

potentially be your last chanc to solve this? >> certainly this was our shock >> detectives watched as christmas car made its way towards the police station but then, it stopped a quarter mile away at a nearby mall police thought he might be running an errand, but moments later, he popped up at the station. why depart so far away chris was escorted in. >> when thank you for coming out. >> my pleasure and then can do. >> crystal detectives he wen to heather's house the night she disappeared to talk. but before he could say much t her, he said her phone rang. >> and so she's like, well this is a call that i've kin of been waiting for. and i said well, you know, i really got a permit matter t discuss with you, if there's any way you could not have the call you back. >> what was the part no matter >> it was letting her know tha i discovered that she'd been having an affair this entire time >> was that he was calling her the person that you suspected?

>> i can get that feeling that what she was calling her >> in fact, it was a federal o son. >> i called her, she answered, and immediately i could hear her and chris kind of arguing. so, just telling him to get out, and he is costly saying, i nee to talk to you, i need to talk to you, i just need tw minutes. >> and ed said he hear something else come out of chris's mouth. >> he's talked to her, it's matter in life of death. she asked him, what do you mean, a matter of life and death >> in his interview, chris admitted he and heathe continue arguing when she hung up with a. but he insisted she was aliv when he went home, and he said she sent that good by emai only after he left >> i'm freaking out. you know, because i still, i don't know that this is in the game >> detectives have bee analyzing that strange email and they asked forensic expert to comb through christma computers season's apartment i theory begin to emerge

investigators now believe chri had written email himself. >> did you suspect that chri was posing as heather, sending that email >> yes, i did, because chris was an expert when it came t computers. >> and what's more, they suspected it was kris wh actually sent those sexy tax t ed, not heather. he believed he had stolen he phone and was pretending to be her. >> that is really weird. >> oh yeah >> you're getting sexting from her husband. >> yeah, her husband kind of -- ig put out of my mind. >> chris's plan, detective thought, was to throw them off the trail, to make it look lik heather ran off and was having an affair. but they didn't believe a word of his story, or that hi concern for mother was genuine >> the reason you are freaking out is because she was dead. when your actions after that make no sense.

>> everything else or that was an alibi >> okay, so did i do with? her >> that's what we're asking, chris. >> chris was talking to hi story, but the biggest break and the case was about t happen what chris didn't know is that wall detectives were turning u the heat inside th interrogation room, outsid they sent some cadaver dog over to the mall to se different's car, and now the team at the mall wanted to speak with detective immediately. >> they said the dog jus hammered his car they said they're all over it. >> they found the scent of human remains. >> i don't know why the cadave dogs in my car >> i do. they don't just hit on anybody's cars, they don't you don't cars on the blue >> what is it they're traine to detect? i mean, when - >> de gaulle position. >> wallace had chris against the ropes, and was finally going to get some answers, not just about what happened, bu why. >> the startling revelation. how those radical makeover

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welcome back to dateline. heather jones as estranged husband maintain he knew nothing about what happened to her. but police were hot in his trail. would it lead them to ho they're? here's andrea canning with the conclusion of the last dance >> i would love to help you. i really would >> for hours, chris jones ha been going over his story with detectives about what happened the night his wife heather disappeared. but after cadaver dogs found the sent out human remains o christmas card detective brian wallace was in buying a story >> your story about what happens the night sh disappeared some total - >> wallace pushed him for th truth. >> how did it happen did she fall yeah she did was she drunk? what happened? >> that's exactly it we were struggling over th

phone. angela, only this time we were outside in the steps and, she lost her footing. she fell at the step. then i heard the crack >> you said they wer struggling over cell phone she slipped, fell backwards, and hit her head and died. >> did you believe this? >> no. no way >> finally, chris admitted heather was dead but insisted it was only a accident still, the most importan evidence was missing heather's body krystal detectives he dumped her at a gas station police went there, found nothing, and checked securit cameras. >> they got videos from th last 15 days they've looked at everything from 10 am to four i am, you

car never even pulled in the lot. >> chris then changed his stor and said he paid someone to ge rid of the body. >> i jokingly asked, hey you want to make a couple hundre bucks. >> no no, chris, stop. now this isn't working that's crazier than the firs one. >> for hours into the interview, wallace sends crystals out o stories, and out of options. so the detective gave him on last chance. >> i said, let's get it ou chris. your time is running out eta tells where she is, and yo tell us now. >> the room went quiet and chris motion for a pen and paper. then he drew a map not i said, this is where she? is he said that's where she is >> detectives raced the area and followed crisis directions down a path into the woods tha lead into a clearing >> once we could see an area o

the ground or a fire, what had looked like a fire takin place. once we got closer that, w could tell that there was stil a human form there >> seven days after sh disappeared, detectives ha found heather. her body had been badly burned when >> we were broken hearted no we had lost her yeah, and she was a big smiling beautifu part of our group. >> chris jones was arrested an charged with first degre murder now, the woman who had helpe heather find the courage t leave her husband supporte their front in death staring down chris jones a every court appearance >> there is a monster inside that hurt our friends, and w want justice >> prosecutors rejected chris' story that heather had die from an accidental fall. they believed he argued with her those that night, strangle

her, and then burned her bod in the woods but the question remains, why? how those friends provided a surprising answer. they were convinced how they'r dramatic weight loss got her killed >> do you think that how they're would still be alive i she hadn't gone through this transformation and bettere herself? >> yes >> yes >> heather's friends and famil said over the course the relationship, chris used heather's weight as a tool t control her. >> at the beginning, he wanted her to be bigger, that he felt like that would be mor attractive to him. then as she got bigger, then h would say to her, nobody els would want her because she was so obese >> when heather finall achieved her unbelievabl transformation, she confided t her friends that chris didn' have the reaction she expected >> she told me, chris wants me to gain the weight back. i said, heather, that's

controlled technique, okay >> he doesn't want you to ge out there. he is what anyone else looking at you >> according to her best frien melissa, heather said chri even brought fatty foods to he hoping she would pack th pounds back on >> he would go up to the schoo with food, and she would not want any part of it. >> with the sole purpose o getting her to gain weight >> is what she told me, yes. >> friends said the new an improved heather never took th bait and after injuring years o increasing unhappiness intermarriage, they set heathe found out something that for her was lost trump >> when she discovered that chris was having an affai with another woman >> that's when she finally spread her wings and found the courage to leave her marriag and she never looked back. >> you could see that he spirit was lighting up and her sense of security when and wha all the future was going t hold for her >> in february of 2015, chri

jones went on trial. >> at this time -- >> how those friends took th stand to help prove th prosecution's theory when chris realized he los control of how they're, he too control and another way. >> find that man guilty of first degree murder. >> the prosecutors laid ou their case to the jury >> it wasn't an accident >> assistant drifted attorne daniel mccullough. >> she didn't fall down, there was a struggle, he did strangl her either with his hands or however he did it. he was up close and personal t her, and he was there watching that brought go out of her >> but the defense stuck to th story crystals on tape that heather fell and died after they struggled over cell phone. >> he never admits to killin her. >> the judge asked kristen i he wanted to tell a story to the jury >> i think that i will choos to not testify >> it was now up to the jury t decide his fate. when friends and family filled

the courthouse, waiting fo word when, but there would not be a quick verdict finally, after deliberating fo a day. >> we, the jury, find th defendant guilty of murder first-degree we the jury find the defendant guilty to abuse of a corpse. >> here's flow for how they're a woman who worked so hard t shape her own life, free o chris jones, will now likely spend the rest of his life behind bars. >> heather is a piece. he will never hurt anybody again. >> even after his conviction christians insisted that h didn't kill heather. he told dateline in a phon call from jail, that he neve try to control how they're that he is absolutely innocent of murder of any type, and tha his taped statements to police were coerced when >> the detectives sai chris jones talk to them voluntarily, and could hav ended the interview at any times. as for cousin diane, she i obtained legal custody o heather and chris's tw

children how there's jim friends, the find comfort in knowing that before her death, heathe achieved that remarkable journey, becoming the person she was always meant to be >> she got to experience tha before she left this earth she had to experience what was like to be as beautiful as she wanted to be inside and out. i'm glad she did >> the dance class or ho they're spread her wings still kept in place for her. a heart with how they're's nam on it. how reminder of a woman whos transformation inspired all wh knew and loved heather jones name >> is she dancing >> absolutely. and we believe that. if you believe in angels, ther is one dancing up there. i promise you. and every time we have class she is dancing >> that's all for this edition of dateline. i'm craig melvin, thank you fo watching >>