playing amateur hockey here in cleveland. matt loved the game. mark took it up in his memory. and since matt couldn't be here to play, said mark, he played for him. i'm andrea canning, and this is dateline! >> jacob disappeared, they didn't know what had happened to him. >> this needs to be reported, to the police. >> unusual for him not to tell one of us that he was going to be gone. >> what is the last time that you heard from him? >> way back to yesterday. >> his dad stated that he has been gone in the past and taken off. >> it was always pretty tense at the ranch. >> i'm not supposed to know, but i do know. because everybody has candidate a big dark secret. >> if the wrong thing was said or done there was fire in their

eyes. >> the river that runs through all of this is with money. >> very much so. >> now it's time to find out the truth. >> i just kind of froze and i said, is that what i think it is? she looked at me and said. you know you can't ever leave now. right? ♪ ♪ ♪ >> hello and welcome to dateline! colorado rancher jake loved tending the land, riding his harley, and hanging out with a type group of guys. then suddenly he stopped answering calls and texts. his friends feared the worst. but years would pass before a series of clues exposed a truth far darker than even they imagined.

here is josh mann koen's with trouble at the 7-11 ranch! >> home on the range. sometimes here in western colorado it is so quiet that all you can hear is the wind. >> beautiful meadows that wave in the breeze, it's a lovely part of the valley. >> it is beautiful, no doubt. at the same time, that lovely lonely valley can be unforgiving place to live. it can drive some people to extremes. no one understood that better than rancher, jake. >> he would always spend the majority out at the ranch, just working. >> and a ranchers work is never done. there is always a fence somewhere that needs mending. jake seemed cut out for that life. at least until one day at age 29, jake apparently gave up that life and disappeared. >> nobody ever got a call or a text or a facebook message? nothing? >> nothing.

>> yeah, he evaporated. no one heard from him for two years. >> it was weird. the ranch had been his life for most of his life. the spread was the 7:11, hundreds of acres outside of the town. under a canopy of colorado sky. he lived there with his older sister, stephanie, ever since they were kids. his parents had divorced and his mom, beth, had found another husband a guy who owned the 7:11. they home schooled jake so that he could help out more on the ranch. >> he was out there all day, every day, almost every day. >> another. jake pettigrew and rebecca used to help out at the 7:11. >> what was it like at the ranch? >> it was really quiet. maybe a couple of times a year they would have a family reunion or hunters would come up and stay in the cabin.

>> by 2003, his sister stephanie had moved out. looking for life beyond the sprawl of the 7:11. >> what about jake and his sister? >> i know that he loved his sister but he was upset that she married who she married. >> that would be david jackson. >> so, jake did not like dig so much because he was a carney. and he did the paintball booth and when the carnival came through. >> and jake thought that that she should be with someone else than works the paintball? >> exactly. >> they married in town only coming up to the ranch occasionally. jake powell said that he had an adventurers speak. >> he was kind of a recluse, but he was always willing to go and explore the mountains and try to be with his friends. >> randi martinez was another member of the party. >> it was he very quiet. especially towards girls.

he was funny. >> jake stepfather died in 2009, and the workload got heavier. now it was 23 year old jake and his mom running the ranch. except for that time that he took off to alaska to spend money on a fishing boat. but that was about the ranch. >> he was on the ship for three months. and came back with a good chunk of money. and he put all of that into the ranch to save it from going under. >> the only break that jake ever got was time with his friends. a kind of second family. >> we were all best friends. so, we would all hang out and know everything that we were doing. and do it together. >> that man's shooting pull at some local hangouts. and drinking beer. except for jake. who was always happy to be the designated driver.

>> jake would always go to the bar with a coke. even though he was only a couple years older than us he was like an old man. he was always responsible one trying to do the smart thing in tricky situations. >> i met jake in the winter of december of 2012. at the gunderson jiu jitsu. >> that was the other important part of jake's life and another group of friends. martial arts. particularly jiu-jitsu and derek was one of his sparring partners. >> and jake was good? >> jake was good. he was the most consistent student that was ever in that gym. he was there every night, four nights a week. >> jake usually announced his presence on his beloved motorcycle. a 1976 harley davidson sportscar. he had it since high school. >> i can picture him coming out there.

>> he was proud of it? >> oh yeah. he drove it. it is leather jacket. >> in mid may of 2015 they were practicing for an upcoming tournament in denver. >> he landed on his ankle and he twisted it and i believe that he had to pull out of the tournament because he could not walk. >> then came friday night, may 15th. stuck at home, he called his pal randy about going to a movie. after the movie they hit a couple of bars, paid some poll, and went around midnight. there aren't 1 million things to do there and this all seems routine but it turned out not to be. >> the next morning i woke up and we planned on doing something. i texted to see if he was up, and he didn't reply which is

really weird because i was used to talking to him every day. >> the next week, his jiu-jitsu pals were back for the tournament, and back to the mat. ow jake. they figured he was still nursing his ankle. but then after a few days, they started to wonder. >> a week goes by, we are like guys where is jake? >> unusual for him not to come in. >> also unusual for him not to tell one of us that he was going to be gone. >> gone because he was fed up with that hard life on the ranch? or was there a side of drake that even his best friends did not know about. >> coming up! >> his dad stated that he has been gone in the past and known to take off abruptly. and do things. >> the mystery deepens. >> when somebody doesn't show up there is a lot of ground to cover. >> right. >> there is a lot of things that may explain the absence that aren't criminal. >> absolutely that's why didn't want to jump to any conclusions. >> jake's mother had her own idea of what might have happened to her son. >> i'm not supposed to know. but i do know.

>> when dateline continues! - i don't have any anxiety about money anymore. - great people. different people, that's for sure, and all of them had different reasons for getting a reverse mortgage, but you know what, they all felt the same about two things: they all loved their home, and they all wanted to stay in that home. - [announcer] if you're 62 or older and own your home, you could access your equity to improve your lifestyle. a reverse mortgage loan eliminates your monthly mortgage payments and puts tax-free cash in your pocket. call the number on your screen. - why don't you call aag... and find out what a reverse mortgage can mean for you? - [announcer] call right now to receive your free no-obligation info kit. call the number on your screen. (vo) this is sadie, she's on verizon. the network she can count on.

and now she has myplan, the game-changing new plan that lets her get exactly what she wants and save on every perk. sadie is moving to the big city and making moves on her plan, too. apple one, on. now she's got plenty of entertainment for the whole ride. finally there! hot spot, on. and she's fully connected before her internet is even installed. (sadie) hi, mom! (mom) how's the apartment? (vo) introducing myplan. get exactly what you want, only pay for what you need. act now and get it for $25 when you bring your phones. it's your verizon. >> it was may, 2015 ten days

had passed. and there was still no sign of jake millison at the jiu-jitsu gym, or anywhere else in gunnison, colorado. geralt, one of his gym buddies, started to do something. >> this needs to be reported to the police. and so, i stepped up and said.

i will do it. >> because? you are not just any friend. [laughs] no. i'm a sergeant with a town of mount crescent view. and i thought, i had a little bit of credibility. and so if i had red flags. it would translate also to the deputy there. >> that deputy was gunnison, county, under sheriff. mike. his first order of business? call the mother. they deb rudibaugh. >> deb told us that he left with a friend and was going to the reno, nevada area. >> investigators also found his father. >> his dad stated that he has been gone in the past, and known to take off abruptly. and do things. >> like that fishing job in alaska, and a few camping trips. at 29, jake had no obligation to tell anyone where he was going. and it did not mean something that had happened. >> when somebody doesn't show

up, there's a lot of ground to cover. >> right. >> he meet some girl and they decide to go to las vegas? he had some fight with his family or somebody and decides to just hit the road and to hell with it? because a lot of things might have explained his absence that aren't criminal? >> absolutely. that's why i did not want to jump to any conclusions. >> there was something that jakes pal noticed. when he had gone to the ranch with a buddy, looking for jake. and they ran into jake's closest friend. >> his dog, black curly hair dog. and he runs out and meets us. and, that's weird. elmo is here so jake should be here. so we start talking to more people and we literally talk to everybody that we knew that he knew. we talk to. and everybody that we knew that he knew hadn't heard anything. had not turn and stories about any trips. it was really weird. >> in early june, the under

sheriff paid his own visits to the 7:11. and heard that jake had returned. his mom said jake had been gone for a little while, but then came back. to pick up supplies. she says that jake was with a friend. someone that she did not know. >> deb was telling us that it was late at night, he took a bunch of camping gear and loaded it up, in a pick up truck and took off. there was no room for the dog. >> none of it made sense. what could jake be up to? and who takes a trip without his cell phone? >> she told us the phone fell in an irrigation ditch. and she showed us the phone. it was in a bag of rice. >> that could definitely explain why jake wasn't answering any calls or texts. deb said that jake told her that he was off to nevada. to study martial arts. >> so we really didn't have anything to go with at that point.

>> by august, jake had been gone almost three months. and by then, it seemed even his mom was becoming concerned. she filed a missing persons report. that wasn't enough for jake's friends. they wanted to get his story out. so they contacted chris rourke. a reporter for the gunnison times. and she called jakes mom. >> hey deb, thanks for calling me back. >> no problem. >> what was deb like? >> small, wiry woman. very talkative. she liked to talk. >> i know he originally was gonna go on his motorcycle. but decided to go with somebody. >> while the reporters recorder ran. deb told her the same thing that she had told the sheriff's deputy. >> jake had run off. he had taken off in a truck with a friend. and the friend did not want the dog along. and he took enough stuffer to people. >> she started out a little reticent. and then, the details started

coming. >> he also wiped out my groceries. >> oh really? >> and, you know, he took all the chef boy spaghetti and meatball thing. ravioli,'s or whatever's. >> when is the last time you heard from him? >> i would have to look it up on a calendar. it was about the 20th. >> of september? >> no. >> no. the 20th? of may? >> yes. >> deb also told her something that the reporter had never told her before. jake had a dark side. a serious drug problem. >> i'm not supposed to know, but i do know. because everybody's kept in a big dark secret. that my son has been doing drugs. >> because of that, deb said, there was tension between mother and son. >> have you two been typically close? >> no. >> once he started doing the mixed martial arts.

and the drugs and stuff. we had one argument and fight after another. >> so maybe that's why that he left. he was sick of fighting with his mom all the time. >> and i knew he was going to be gone a while. he's been gone too long. and so, i have declared him a missing person. >> so it's possible he left of his own volition and then. >> oh he did. >> and then he ended up getting some kind of trouble? >> right. >> a picture of a different jake. was starting to emerge. >> and i think it lends itself to the two sides that were painted of who jake was. this reckless person that was irresponsible, and had run off. and his friends described him as someone who was very disciplined. who cared about his martial arts. who cared about his friend so much. >> with that in mind, chris filed her story. >> so, you make reference to the two jakes? >> right. >> and what reaction does that article provoke? >> the friends were mad. they were upset. they said that something has happened to him.

the jake that deb'is portraying is not the guy that we know. >> jake's friends seemed hell-bent on finding hit. that was in october. soon the case would get as cold as a western colorado winter. >> coming up! >> she did a posting and said big things are happening for the jackson family! a couple days later she posts again, did you ever hear such great news in the morning that you cannot stand it? >> with jake gone. his sister stephanie moves in to help with the ranch. and reveals a dark side. >> if the wrong thing was said or done, there was fire in her eyes. >> when dateline continues! ll over and stretch my legs. i think you were supposed to keep left there. hmm? what is this place? the other side of the rest stop. bundles as far as the eye can see. if you're looking for a first mate, i know a guy. me. i'm the guy. is this oak? [ sniffs ]

four types of jerky. this is where i live now. you could save a ton with progressive by bundling your boat or rv with your home and auto. hey, guys! free bags! they're just giving them away! pizza lovers know marco's is the real deal. real fresh dough, real signature sauce, three real cheeses, topped with real meats. now get another real deal, unlimited medium 1-topping pizzas for $6.99. marco's. pizza lovers get it. (mnemonic) most fragrance plug-ins just smell like fresh bathroom. new vibrant from air wick can truly elevate your living space. with two times the natural essential oil it's time to raise your fragrance expectations. vibrant from air wick. [ tires screeching ] jordana, easy on the gas. i gotta wrap this commercial, i think i'm late on my payment. it's okay, the general gives you a break. yeah, we let you pick your own due date. good to know, because this next scene might take a while. for a great low rate, go with the general.

[ tires screeching ] jordana, easy on the gas. i gotta wrap this commercial, i think i'm late on my payment. it's okay, the general gives you a break. yeah, we let you pick your own due date. good to know, because this next scene might take a while. for a great low rate, go with the general. >> he had never met jake

millison, but gerald mcdonald will have a ringside seat to the circus that was jake's family. starting with jake's brother in law, dave. >> you have known dave jackson along time? >> yes since we were nine or ten years old. >> remember dave was married to jake sister, stephanie. it was the spring of 2016. by then, jake had been gone almost a year. and without him, his mom had been running the ranch all by herself. that was about to change.

dave called jeremy and offered him work. >> he said hey, we will be taking over the ranch again. >> jake's mom deb, had been diagnosed with cancer. and recently undergone major surgery. dave, stephanie, and their then eight-year-old son had moved to the ranch to help out. dave asked jeremy to live with them. and fix up the place in return for room and board. >> i decided, you know what. that's not a bad idea. we're going to turn the ranch around have the guest cabin and all of that. >> get the ranch back to making money? >> pretty much. yes. >> what is it like when you get there? >> it is a mess and there is clutter and junk everywhere. a lot bigger projects than you even expected. >> he decided to stick it out. after all, dave was one of his best friends. >> what about deb? did you know her when you went

there? >> i never met deb until i moved there and she seemed very reclusive. but it was very obvious that she was a little bit ornery. you can say that. >> how did that manifest itself? >> she was super controlling. anytime we try to clean anything up on the ranch. for an instance, there was a building that they were cleaning out that had some couches on it. that were covered in rat feces and they were destroyed. and dave and i were moving them out and she came out and started screaming and yelling at us. that she wanted to keep those couches. >> and you chalk that up to what? >> crazy. [laughs] honestly. that's just how she was. everything she thought didn't leave. >> and jake sister stephanie? jeremy says there was outside of her that few people ever saw.

>> there is the steph that most, a lot of people knew, which was a very nice lady. but, it seems like there was a switch. and, if the wrong thing was said, or wrong thing was done. there was fire in her eyes. >> stephanie and her family seemed pretty cool with his disappearance. his friends were not. they created a facebook page, where is jake? and they peppered sheriff with phone calls. >> they would not give up on jake. every one of the friends had credibilty. >> he says one of his investigators had been looking all over for some sign of jake. >> our heads are up in alaska. our notions are in nevada. and we're still running across nothing. >> in the fall of 2016, mostly because of the attention generated by drake's friends, the case finally landed on the desk of the deputy district attorney, jessica wagner. >> his friends knew that this is not something that he would've done. >> at that point, jake had been missing for more than a year.

>> the colorado bureau of investigations got involved and we went from there to put a plan in place to do search warrants on phones. and, began the process of looking for jake. >> the more that the prosecutor talked with investigators. the most concerned that she became. >> normally when someone disappears, it is the family who is saying to you, this is not normal. something is wrong. but, in this case, family is telling you, telling law enforcement, there is nothing to worry about. >> right. and it wasn't until the friends really pushed. they started posting on facebook and calling law enforcement. and i think that is where we had to just keep digging. >> and when wagner dug into stephanie's facebook page, she noticed something that stephanie had written just a few days after her brother went missing.

>> she did a posting that said, big things are happening for the jackson family. a couple days later, she posts again, do you ever hear such great news in the morning that you can't stand it? or something like that. and her friend responded saying, oh. jake is gone. >> stephanie seem to be treating the sudden absence as some sort of opportunity. the prosecutor found that troubling. and she read through the interviews that jake's friends had given to investigators. and she saw comments like this. >> it was always pretty tense at the ranch whenever dave was out there. >> in fact, she know that no jake was afraid of dave. and taking up jiu-jitsu had not just been for the exercise. >> so he decided to start taking jiu-jitsu. because he had fear of his

brother in law trying to do something to head. so he was protecting himself. >> so that was more strange when wagner saw. this posted on dave's facebook page. him astride jakes prized bike. something that jake would've never tolerated. >> he loved that motorcycle. it had a history with him. nobody could ride it, if i heard correctly. >> he loved that bike he wrote it as much as he could to see something like his arch nemesis on his bike was really weird. >> maybe jake would ditch the ranch. maybe even the dog. but not the harley. that picture told jake's friends something that they did not want to admit. but now, could not avoid. jake was never coming back. >> where was jake? investigators turn up the heat on jake's family. and uncover a twisted trail of lies. >> coming up! >> the cities kept changing. and the reasons why he was leaving kept changing. >> and in any of those cities, you couldn't find anybody who had seen him or talk to him? and there was no financial record of him in any of those places?

>> correct. >> deb said that she thought he might be in witness protection somewhere. >> as the excuses grow stranger. the prosecutor grows more suspicious. >> we couldn't buy the families reasoning anymore. >> when dateline continues! start by cooking a lasagna. skip the rinse and load your dishes. 24 hours later when your dishwasher is full, let finish quantum clean your dishes. if the stains aren't gone, your lasagna is on finish.

my husband and i have never been more active. let finish quantum clean your dishes. shingles doesn't care. 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 for almost everyone. ask your doctor about shingrix today. >> i'm katie phang.

here is what is happening. the biden administration is defending its decision to supply ukraine with controversial cluster bombs, the same fighters are running out of ammunition against russian forces. cluster bombs have been banned by u.s. allies because they can take months or years before they are deployed. walmart shooter, killing 20 people in a rage was sentenced to 90 consecutive life terms for its crimes. he will be tried for murder in texas, next, where he faces the death penalty. now, back to dateline. to dateline.

>> spring 2017. jake had been off the grid for nearly two years. he had disappeared, without a trace. reporter, chris rourke, had been watching the story closely. as well as all of the town. >> it was always talked about in the community. always on people's mind. i recall a body was found west of town. it turned out to be a hiker, but, a the wrong way on the trail. but anytime something came up like that we always wondered, do you think that's jake? >> she was thinking back to her interview with jake's mom and to something deb had said. >> when is the last time you heard from him? >> i would have to look it up on a calendar. >> it was about the 20th >> of september? >> no.

way back in -- >> may? >> yeah. >> for just a second, think about that. >> i interview a lot of women whose children have disappeared. and they know exactly when the last time they spoke with them was. >> yeah. >> to the minute. >> yeah. >> but i can't remember when the last time i talk to him was. >> right, i would have to look at my calendar. >> very odd? >> yes. >> by now, prosecutor wagner had moved on from odd to possibly criminal. his friends seemed credible. saying jake would not have taken off like that. his family? not so much. >> we couldn't buy the family's reasoning anymore. deb had said from the beginning that he had left for reno, nevada to do some martial arts fighting. and then stephanie would tell friends and family that deb had told her that he was in portland or seattle and the cities kept changing.

and the reasons why he's leaving kept changing. >> and in any of those cities, you couldn't find anybody who had seen him or talk to him? and there was no financial record of him anywhere in those places. >> correct. >> since he disappeared, jake had never used a credit card never used his passport. that never gotten a new cell phone. and never visited an atm. and as she pieced it altogether, the prosecutor began to wonder if jake millison had really ever left the 7:11 ranch. it was time to search the land that seemed to have a starring role in this family drama that would be easier said than done. >> the property that we are talking about was massive. they owned some hunting rights in various places up in the mountains. they had a quarry across the road they had caves. >> by spring, she had enough to convince the judge to sign a search warrant.

but the prosecutor was born and raised here. and she knew, she had to wait. >> with gunnison and it's weather, we couldn't search for him in the spraying the ground of cells were frozen. and that would've caused some problems of being able to find him so we knew it had to be the summer. >> meanwhile, back at the ranch. jeremy and his experience was going from weird, to we are. >> how can you explain jake's absence? >> so. they told--i was told that he just left. he had just disappeared. i never met jake. and so i did not know anything about what he was like. so i thought maybe he did just leave. if that's what he say. there is even times where deb said that she thought he might be and witness protection somewhere. >> witness protection? >> yeah. >> so maybe he's living under another name somewhere else in the country. yeah. >> he said theories about what happened to jake could be

dinner conversation. maybe he was dead. had an accident may be worse. one night, jeremy said that he was having dinner with stephanie and dave, and throughout his own theory. just as a joke. >> i mentioned, what if deb did it? and buried him in the backyard. and at that very moment that i said that, the whole demeanor of steph completely changed and it got really awkward. and you could see that darkness in her eyes, i remember just feeling i stepped somewhere wrong. >> i just kind of froze. and i said, is that what i think it is? >> a frightening discovery. followed by a terrifying threat. >> she just looked at me and said. you know you can't ever leave now, right? >> when dateline continues! hey hon. hey dad...(sniffs) that smell could be 8,000,000 odor causing bacteria. good thing adding lysol laundry sanitizer kills 99.9% of bacteria that detergents leave behind.

clean is good, sanitized is better. ♪ ♪ prime day is coming july 11th and 12th. with two days of epic deals exclusively for prime members, you'll feel like a big deal. ♪ deals from electronics to home. it's on prime day.

oppenheimer was the father of the atomic bomb. deals from electronics we were intervening in the course of human history. detonator's charged.

3... 2... 1... >> by summer of 2017, prosecutor jessica wagner was ready to execute a search warrant at the 7:11 ranch. she had listened to jake's friends. gathered her evidence. and then waited for the colorado sun to melt the frozen ground. and there was one more thing that wagner had waited for. an annual convention of dogs. but not just any dogs. these dogs have a very particular set of skills. skills that make them a nightmare. for some people. >> so every year, a bunch of

cadaver dogs would come out and get certified for fema, by going to these old mining towns and doing the searches for the old grave sites. >> that's right, it's a gathering of some of the top cadaver search dogs in the country. and, of all places. gunnison. >> and you thought, what better time to look for a body then when there are a lot of cadaver dogs in town? >> exactly. >> lisa higgins was there a dog trainer for more than 30 years. her dogs have helped solve all kinds of cases. from missing children, to serial killers. >> the sheriff asked that i become the liaison between the canine group, and the agencies working with this case. >> so early on july 17th, the cadaver dogs formed up with dozens of investigators. about a mile from the 7:11 ranch. a small group of investigators went ahead to serve the warrant. jeremy mcdonald was asleep in a

trailer, in front of the main house. >> it was fairly early. about seven in the morning. and, all of a sudden, pounding on my door. police! open up! please come out! put your hands up! >> jeremy wasn't wondering for a moment why they were there. because? it turns out that he had seen something. >> so, let's talk about what happened where you are accidentally witnessing something. that i guess you wish you could unsee. >> yeah. >> it was two months before the day of the raid. jeremy says that david jackson was operating a backhoe. >> and as i walk around the corner, i see dave and steph standing, looking at a rib cage. >> you heard that right. a rib cage! >> and, i just froze. and i said, is that what i think it is? and at that moment. steph and dave both turnaround.

and dave had shock in his eyes. and steph turned and threw her arms up in the air. i don't know what it is. i'm gonna call mom! blah blah blah. and took off running to the house. >> you could see, you could see the rib cage. and you could see the top part of what it looked like a pair of jeans. steph came back and said that it's a bear or some wild game that jake shot. illegally. just cover it back up. >> you have to be thinking, is that jake? >> i definitely was definitely thinking it was jake. in my heart, i knew it was jake. it had to be. >> did you say anything? >> so, i guess, i didn't know what to think. and i know a lot of people

outside looking in, think why did you just call the police? you have to understand that moment, that was my family. and even though it wasn't the most functional family in the world. that was who i ate dinner with every day. so, a lot of it was i did not want the boy to be dragged into all of this. >> that boy was stephanie and dave's nine-year-old son. then, jeremy said, any thought of contacting police later evaporated in the name of self-preservation. >> steph was talking to me and dave was there, and she just looked at me and said. you know you can't ever leave now. right? >> and, at that point i didn't know what to do. >> does that sound like a threat to you? because it sounds like a threat to me. >> it did sound like a threat. >> do you sleep with one eye open that night? or maybe both eyes open? >> i don't think i slept for a couple nights. >> and you never told law

enforcement? >> i did not. i tried to just block it all out. i didn't want to be involved. and i wanted no part of it. >> and yet, you are a part of it. >> yep. >> now there they were. the prosecutor, the police. and the dogs. the search for jake was about to get very focused. very fast. >> coming up! >> an answer no one wanted. >> i think at that point we felt tapped out. damn. you mind if we take a break? >> and questions that no one can answer. >> we are all scratching our heads saying, why? and how? and asking ourselves all the questions but still no arrests. >> when dateline continues! subject 1: cancer is a long journey. it's overwhelming, but you just have to put your mind to it and fight. subject 2: it doesn't feel good because you can't play outside

with other children. subject 3: as a parent, it is your job to protect your family. but here is something that i cannot do. i cannot fix this. i don't know if my daughter is going to be able to walk. i don't know if she's going to make it till tomorrow. [music playing] interviewer: you can join the battle to save lives by supporting st. jude children's research hospital. families never receive a bill from st. jude for treatment, travel, housing, or food so they can focus on helping their child live. subject 4: childhood cancer, there's no escaping it. but st. jude is doing the work, continually researching towards cures, giving more than just my child a chance at life. interviewer: please, call or go online right now and become a st. jude partner in hope for only $19 a month.

subject 5: those donations really matter because we're not going to give up. and when you see other people not giving up on your child, it makes all the difference in the world. interviewer: when you call or go online with your credit or debit card right now, we'll send you this st. jude t-shirt. you can wear to show your support to help st. jude save the lives of these children. subject 6: st. jude is hope. even today after losing a child, it's still about the hope of tomorrow, because. childhood cancer has to end. interviewer: please, call or go online right now. [music playing] (vo) this is sadie, she's on verizon. the network she can count on. and now she has myplan, the game-changing new plan that lets her get exactly what she wants and save on every perk. sadie is moving to the big city and making moves on her plan, too.

apple one, on. now she's got plenty of entertainment for the whole ride. finally there! hot spot, on. and she's fully connected before her internet is even installed. (sadie) hi, mom! (mom) how's the apartment? (vo) introducing myplan. get exactly what you want, only pay for what you need. act now and get it for $25 when you bring your phones. >> welcome back. it's your verizon.

jake had vanished. prosecutor jessica wagner suspected foul play. she believed members of jacob family killed him and buried the body somewhere on the sprawling ranch. a property search was delayed in allowing the frozen winter ground time to thaw. now with the summer sun above, detectives were hoping to discover the ice-cold truth behind the disappearance.

here is josh--with the conclusion of trouble at the 7:11 ranch. >> july 17, 2017. jake had been missing for more than two years. while a convoy of law enforcement, in a pack of cadaver dogs waited down the road, and investigator question deb about her missing son. she was a vase of that first. and then, when deb heard about those cadaver dogs. she coolly and calmly dropped a bombshell. >> deb said that while jake was asleep, in the upstairs area of the lodge, she went up and she shot him in the head. >> the confession was almost casual as a mother described murdering her own son. >> she said that she was able to drag the body out and then she took the backhoe and buried him in a manure pile.

>> deb had pointed them to the corral. that's where dog handler alicia higgins sent jack, a german shepherd from west virginia. >> he went in and he performed his final response. which was a passive sit. in the area that he was most concerned with. >> investigators brought in a backhoe and the 7:11 ranch slowly gave up its secrets. jake was no longer missing. his remains were found wrapped in a trash bag. >> i think at that point we felt tapped out. i felt tapped out. and, reliving it right now. i'm reliving that aspect of it as well. damn. you mind if we take a break? >> jake's friends had long accepted the truth that they had never see him again.

so when they got the word, it was no shock. >> it's closure, but it sucks because that was my friend. i would rather have my friend than closure. >> now it's time to get some convictions. find out the truth. found out who was involved. >> if this feels to you as if it should be the end of the story of what happened to jake millison, listen to this no one was arrested that day the news spread quickly around gunnison. >> we learned that death had confessed. and we are all scratching our heads saying, why and how? and asking ourselves all the questions but still no arrests. >> you've got a body. you've got a confession, why didn't you put the handcuffs on people? >> there was a lot of people on scene that wanted that to happen. and i heard a lot of screaming

when i said no. but nothing was matching up yet. >> it was hard to believe. as tough as that was, she was five feet tall, 97 pounds. and remember, suffering from stage four cancer. about a week before jake was murdered, she had had surgery. >> deb admitted that she couldn't lift a gallon of milk all the way into july or august from the surgery. without help. >> investigators didn't think there was any way that she had dragged jake's 180 pound body down the stairs, outside, and then buried him all by herself. they were certain that she had help. >> the suspect needle is pointing away from deb and towards stephanie? >> this entire case. the suspect needle was pointing at stephanie. >> the motive? the prosecutor said this was all about the 7:11. millions of dollars of valuable ranch land. stephanie wanted it but jake stood to inherit it. >> jake was murdered so that he would

not inherit the ranch? >> we believe so. yes. i believe that stephanie knew almost immediately, if not at the time. >> and it manipulated this into happening? >> and had created the situation. if it was not for stephanie, jake would be here today. >> the prosecutor also believed that stephanie persuaded her husband dave to help with a cover-up. >> to not make any moves. >> finally, seven months after jake's body was discovered. deputies arrested dab. >> being arrested for a warrant on a murder charge. >> and stephanie. and dave. >> jeremy mcdonald cooperated with investigators and was never charged with any crime. >> as the district court is now in session. >> after an initially denying any involvement. david jackson pleaded guilty to tampering with a deceased body. and receive ten years. >> you repeatedly

misrepresented your knowledge about the disappearance of the victim. is that correct? >> yes, sir. >> by then, forensics left little doubt who would actually pull the trigger. at jakes autopsy, they found the slug that killed him. >> the bullet was still there. and we were able to match it to the gun. >> deb's gun. a ladysmith and wesson revolver. they found it under debs bed. with deb's dna on the handle. >> you certainly do have the right to make a statement. >> in may of 2019, four years after she killed her son. deb pleaded to second degree murder. even then, deb maintained, she alone did the crime and the cover-up. >> but my daughter stephanie jackson, in no way knowingly, had anything to do with jake's death or subsequent cover-up. >> she was sentenced to 40 years. >> i would like to start out by saying thank you. for the opportunity to speak.

>> then, facing a trial for the first degree murder of her brother, stephanie admitted that she was part of the cover-up. she pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting. and to tampering with a deceased body. >> what i am guilty of is believing the stories and lies my mother told everyone for over two years. >> all of it she said, was her mom's idea. >> i would also like to apologize to my father, my grandparents, my extended family and anyone else who has been affected by my mother's heinous actions. >> the judge didn't buy it. and sentenced stephanie to the maximum. 24 years in prison. it all seemed to flow from homespun greed. and the river that ran through it was green with money. and maybe, a drop of jealousy.

in november 2019, deb died in prison from her cancer. at the age of 70. >> so whatever really happened, deb took that to the grave with her? >> i think so. i don't think stephanie will be telling us anytime soon. what really happened that night. >> we do know this all those stories, jake taking off. jake using drugs. the idea that there were two jakes. those were all lies. and his friends never believed them. >> you know, if it wasn't for you and jake's other friends. this would quite possibly have never been solved. >> i believe that. jakes buddoes on the mat, and his friends outside. we were the ones that pushed to get this solved. >> his family underestimated his second family. didnt they?

>> absolutely. >> now, it's the end of the story of what happened to jake his friends fought for him, his family fought against him and in the end it is hard to tell who won. >> that's all for this edition of dateline. i'm andrea canning. thank you for watching! >> good morning, what are we doing here on the saturday? well, it's morning joe weekend. so let's dive right into the week's top stories. >> those losses in the midterms, and the presidency are not disappointed performances and losses. they are real, they happened, and there's no doubt about it. no way around it. and the case can be made that he is a loser. because since he got elected in 2016, he has compiled a string of them. he or his supportive candidates of loss to many races. and right now, people are voting