i couldn't do it. >> mike pannell couldn't do it either. he would rather not think about tim permenter and the last moments of his precious baby sister's life. >> i'm not interested in remembering karen associated with that crime. >> it's been a long ordeal for you? >> i want to remember karen as a brilliant beautiful young woman she was. >> maybe this smiling person. someone who loved her friends, loved the beach, and died too young. >> that's all for this edition of dateline. i'm craig melvin. thank you for watching. spring sendele: i don't go undercover every day. that's what made me nervous. craig melvin (voiceover): they had a secret plan-- were you armed? i don't go undercover

everyday. that's what made me nervous. >> they had a secret plan. >> were you armed? >> yes. >> to solve a baffling case. a college student who vanished. >> she was a very shy girl. >> the possible suspects? just about everyone. the friend. the boyfriend. the mysterious older man. even her mom. >> i was shocked they even suspected me. >> why were police at a dead end? enter erthis guy. did you see things other guys don't see? >> phenomenal. >> they call him the evidence whisperer. the answer was in the details. >> it was right there. >> you won't believe how. >> i wasn't quite sure.

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

he pours over volumes of evidence and finds things other investigators did not find. >> the evidence whisperer. >> correct. >> does this man eact guilty? the scene no more than he is saying? >> i didn't know anything was going on. >> what about this man? can you believe the story he is telling? >> was supposed to pick her up twice and she was out of character. she didn't show up either day. >> the evidence whisperer was not at either interview but watching them helped him solve the mystery of what happened to a vivacious young woman and bring answers to the mother who loved her. >> i was always proud of her. she was a real fighter. >> lynsie ekelund , the youngest of three. maybe that fighting spirit is invisible in her photos, but her mother nancy says it was always there. lynsie had a passion for

animals and helped out in her spare time at a local shelter. kim davidson who works at lynsie middle school remembers her and she had a sense of compassion. >> i was freezing cold and did not bring a jacket. i felt these little hands on my shoulder. a sweater come up around me and i turned around and it was lynsie and she tusaid i can't stand watching you shiver. >> lynsie kbak in other ways. her mother said lynsie would lie about her rage so she could give blood. remarkable because lynsie struggled with their own disabilities. her left arm was paralyzed, her left leg and peered. did she talk about -- >> she brought it up to me and said she was in a car accident and she was thrown when she was a little girl, but just like matter of fact. >> growing up, lynsie needed so much care. her mother nancy was with lynsie like her shadow. >> she was my only purpose in my life was to make her as

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

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

the next day lynsie was supposed to call after she was done tutoring two girls in the neighborhood but the call never came. nancy drove over and found out lynsie never showed up at her job. >> all of a sudden, my daughter is not where she's supposed to be. she taught these little girls for about four 'smonths. >> nancy was frantic. >> i started calling hospitals. i called the more, that's how desperate i was, to see if there was a jane doe in the morgue. >> there was no jane doe when there was no lynsie ekelund. most people who disappear like that, they come back within a couple of days. >> if not 24 hours. >> she was a detective with the police department. >> we had no unidentified bodies. >> you check the er? >> we checked everything. there was no sign. it was as if

she vanished. >> when's the last time you saw lindsay? >> a week ago. whistleblower. [ distorted ] i just think everyone should know there's an insurance company out there exposing other companies' rates so you can compare them and save. hmm. sounds like trouble. it's great, actually! it's called autoquote explorer from progressive. here, look! see, we show you our direct rates and their rates, even if we're not the lowest. so, whistleblower usually means you're exposing something bad. i thought it meant calling attention to something helpful. you know, like, toot toot, check it out! this thing's the best! no? inez, let me ask you, you're using head & shoulders, right? only when i see flakes. then i switch back to my regular shampoo. you should use it every wash, otherwise the flakes will come back. he's right, you know. is that tiny troy? the ingredients in head & shoulders keep the microbes that cause flakes at bay. microbes, really? they're always on your scalp... but good news, there's no itchiness, dryness or flakes down here. i love tiny troy. and his tiny gorgeous hair.

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josh mankiewicz (voiceover): her daughter was missing. and for stubborn dandruff, nancy ekelund began handing out flyers and counting her daughter was missing. nancy edelund began handing out flyers and counting the days without lynsie. taking them off on post-it notes.

she also went to talk with the detective of the placentia police department. nancy wanted her to know about her lynsie. nancy always knew where she was . how they were best friends. it was a speech that she had heard 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 it's an ideal like family life because there's a fear that if they don't paint a rosy picture, we won't be sympathetic and look for them. >> that you're not going to work hard. >> i think there was a little of that with nancy. >> they were working the case and brought in the usual suspects like the boyfriend. >> when you were dating? she hadn't been dating anyone else? >> his name was matthew who was at college with lynsie. they had been on and off but then -- >> she was like, want to break up. >> as can happen with young

romance, what was off was soon back on. lynsie and matt were back together in time for the weekend but not in time to make plans for that friday night in came the last person known to have seen her, chris mcamis, 21 years old, out of school. >> then, in came the last person known to have seen her. chris mcamis, out of school. he told the cops he was unemployed. lynsie had met him through friends about four months prior. it turned out, he never drove lynsie to andrea's house for a sleepover. chris said that was a lie that lynsie made up for her mother. the real plan was to go clubbing all night in san diego. headed to lynsie's house. josh mankiewicz: chris said it was after 4:00 am

when he finally got back here to lynsie's neighborhood. >> chris told police when the night of clubbing went bust, they headed home earlier than expected. he dropped of the other girls, he said, then headed to lynsie's house. chris said it was after 4:00 a.m. when he finally got back to lynsie's neighborhood. he said lynsie was worried that her mom might hear his truck pull up at that hour. chris said lynsie has to be dropped off not at her house but at the corner, about 50 yards away. that sounded strange to police until they heard from lynsie's friends that at other times, she had asked to be dropped off right here. chris city then drove home and police even found a photo from a bank atm on what looked like his truck heading north on the right street at the right time. to the cops, his story added up. that was when police learned matthew and chris were not the only man in lynsie's life. there was someone else that matthew and chris mentioned. an older man who drove lynsie

around . no one knew his name. they had heard lynsie refer to him as her friend. >> nancy had lyno idea lynsie w friends with any older man. she was about to find out. two days after lynsie vanishes, you get a phone call. >> yes. >> you are at your wits end and it's a guy named marty. did you know we marty? >> no. >> did lynsie know we marty? >> no. >> he said he went to pick up lynsie at school but she was not there. he said she had money that she needed for tuition. none of that made sense to nancy. after lynsie goes missing, nancy, her mother gets a phone call. a guy named marty. and what say to her? >> he says he has befriended lynsie. nt is concerned because he had

not heard from her. >> what did you learn about marty? >> he wasn't marty. >> he didn't have a criminal record. what he did have was a relationship with lynsie that he hadn't told his wife about. he told police he would pick lynsie up and give her rides, but that was about it . marty was 58. she was 20. >> she was 20. >> they were boyfriend and girlfriend? >> don't think so. >> police brought in marty and over two days they recorded those interviews, times on video and sometimes just audiotape. that she went to san diego on that friday. >> marty said he had seen lynsie that day. >> did you believe him? >> we really didn't believe

him. >> they had received a tip. a clerk at a local clothing store and called to say she had seen lynsie and a much older man who matched marty's description. together at her store. after the day lynsie went missing. friendly? no. no. >> o it was a long interview. >> friendly? >> no. i remember drilling down on him because i thought he might know where lynsie was. >> you are a parent? >> yes. >> how many kids? >> two. >> if you had a child gone eight days in vanished, vaporized in thin air, which her heart not be broken?

>> absolutely. >> do you not feel some compassion for nancy? >> unbelievable. i think this is a nice girl and this family has had hardships. this is just, you know, feel so helpless. >> i don't think you are helpless. i think you can help us. >> marty insisted he could not and didn't know what happened to lynsie. detectives were not buying it. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): police searched marty's home and found nothing, no proof that marty had anything to do >> have you put her someplace where she is left? >> policed search marty's home and found nothing. no proof marty had anything to do with lynsie's disappearance. they moved onto a new suspect. someone closer to lynsie than anyone else on earth. >> dateline returns after the

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josh mankiewicz (voiceover): nancy and lynsie had been together all lynsie's life. now alone, nancy waited, ticking off the days, in the dark about where her daughter was and about the pace of the investigation. police were not keeping her in the loop, so nancy was delighted when they called to say they were coming to visit. josh mankiewicz: you look at the boyfriend, matthew. mm-hm. you look at marty, the older guy, the relationship nobody knew about. he denies it. - right. josh mankiewicz: you look at chris.

he says i dropped her off. i never saw her again. right. and you look at lynsie's mother. we did look at lynsie's mother. you have to. nancy ekelund: so i made my cookies and all this kind of silly stuff that i always do. made some coffee, right? yeah. yeah. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): the cops weren't coming for coffee. they arrived with a search warrant, shovels, and cadaver dogs. nancy ekelund: i was shocked that they even suspected me. i didn't know what even a search warrant was. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): the house nancy and lynsie had once shared was torn apart. josh mankiewicz: how much of a suspect was nancy? i don't know that nancy was on the radar for a long time. she was on the radar long enough to be able to set her aside. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): after that search, they did just that. they believed this anguished mother had nothing to do with the disappearance of her daughter, so they took nancy off the list. they also took off the boyfriend, matthew. he had an alibi that held up, putting him somewhere else at the time lynsie went missing.

so that left just two. i haven't seen her since that day. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): marty, who police didn't trust because of his secret relationship with lynsie and because he had lied about his identity, and the man who dropped lynsie off at that corner, the last person to see her before she vanished, chris mcamis. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): april 2002, more than a year after lynsie went missing, detectives decided to start over. they brought chris mcamis back to see if his story still held up. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): police turned up the heat.

josh mankiewicz (voiceover): police thought chris seemed oddly calm talking about a friend who may have been murdered. josh mankiewicz: that's the strongest you could get out of him? that's the strongest we could get out of him. not, he ought to go to hell, or i'd personally electrocute him. i'd personally electrocute him. he should get the gas chamber.

she was my friend. she didn't-- she wouldn't deserve that. she wouldn't hurt a fly. there was nothing. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): his lack of emotion was suggestive that perhaps chris should move to the top of the list, but it was not evidence. after the interview, chris mcamis was free to leave, and detectives weren't any closer to learning what happened to lynsie ekelund-- and neither was nancy, who remained convinced her daughter would one day just come home. josh mankiewicz: you thought that one day she would walk back through the door. yes. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): she believed it because she wanted to-- and because, over the years, several people had told her they'd seen lynsie. they never saw the front of her face. they always saw the back of her, and i held on to every word they said. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): it was torture for nancy, no matter what version of events you believed. and police still weren't telling her anything. josh mankiewicz: nancy during all this time feels like she's been sort of cut out of the loop.

yes. nancy was pretty angry. we worked this case diligently for a long time. at some point, you hit the wall. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): at the time, there were nine detectives in placentia working everything-- drugs, gangs, rapes, murder, and cold cases. by 2008, it was clear placentia pd had hit that wall. they would need help on this one. and who they needed was a guy named larry. josh mankiewicz: tell me about larry. larry is phenomenal. phenomenal because what? he sees things other cops don't see? phenomenal because he sees things cops don't see. i don't know anybody who could have done a better job than larry. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): the evidence whisperer was about to listen to what the facts of this case were really saying. was there something that police had missed? you bet. coming up, that picture of the truck

spotted on the night of the crime, something about it just doesn't seem right. but the evidence whisperer is all over it when "dateline" continues. ♪♪ when your child has moderate-to-severe eczema, it's okay to for them to show off. show off their clearer skin and noticeably less itch with dupixent. because children 6 months and older with eczema have plenty of reasons to show off their skin. with dupixent, the #1 prescribed biologic by dermatologists and allergists, they can stay ahead of their eczema. it helps block a key source of inflammation inside the body that can cause eczema to help heal your child's skin from within. serious allergic reactions can occur that can be severe. tell your doctor about new or worsening eye problems such as eye pain or vision changes including blurred vision, joint aches and pain,

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hi, i'm richard lui with a news update. tensions continued to escalate in the middle east over the weekend following israel's latest strike in gaza and of fatal stabbing attack and they tel aviv's supper. it comes as israel braces for a potential attack this week. 27 are dead in bangladesh following protests against the prime minister sunday. the bangladesh government declared a curfew in addition to shutting down internet services across the country. co. i'm craig melvin. where was lynsie ekelund? the investigation was at a standstill. detectives had two possible suspects but no evidence linking either of them to her disappearance.

enter cold case detective larry montgomery, also known as the evidence whisperer. could he uncover some crucial clues so many others had missed? here again is josh mankiewicz with "the night lynsie disappeared." josh mankiewicz (voiceover): by 2008, lynsie ekelund had been missing for seven years. the case had gone from cold to frozen in time. so placentia pd decided to outsource the investigation to the cold case unit at the orange county da's office to a guy named larry montgomery. with more than 30 years working homicide, larry's put away his share of bad guys, not usually by knocking on doors. instead, larry works by looking very closely at the evidence. he doesn't work fast. in fact, larry is meticulously slow. and that was just what this cold case needed.

josh mankiewicz: was there anything in the original investigation that struck you as something that you needed to re-examine? everything. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): everything that had lead placentia police into that wall trying to decide between two suspects. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): marty, lynsie's older friend who kept their relationship a secret and lied about his name, and chris-- josh mankiewicz (voiceover): --the last person known to have seen lynsie when he dropped her off at that corner. josh mankiewicz: at that point, any idea on your part which of those two was a more likely suspect? no. i don't know until i get into it and see the details. you're no doubt aware that you've got a reputation for believing that, i don't know if god's in the details, but guilt's in the details. and innocence. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): guilty or innocent? was it marty or chris? larry even considered another possibility. could it have been random?

someone who'd seen lynsie at just the wrong time. so you've got a bad guy just waiting, hoping that a girl drops out of a car and 4:25 in the morning. it happens. yup. and you consider that, but then you weigh it. and you go is that a good possibility? probably not. but still, keep an open mind. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): and so larry sat down and read through the entire case file, all the witness statements, all the interviews. he did that for two years. ok, here we go down this road again. all right. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): he watched the february 2001 interview that police did with a very unhappy marty. josh mankiewicz: doesn't it strike you as tremendously suspicious that marty would call after lynsie disappears, talk to lynsie's mother, and give a phony name? if you didn't know the background of marty, then absolutely.

josh mankiewicz (voiceover): watching that interview, larry chalked up marty's dishonesty as an attempt to save his marriage. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): larry also took a closer look at the idea that marty and lynsie were together at that clothing store after she went missing. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): no one ever found any security video of that, and larry's 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 lynsie. josh mankiewicz: you eliminated marty fairly quickly then. yes. josh mankiewicz: marty's behavior matched up with that of an innocent person, not with a guilty one. that's correct. he is actually doing exactly what you would do if you were looking for lynsie. he was searching.

josh mankiewicz (voiceover): so larry montgomery turned his attention to chris mcamis-- guilty or innocent? - can i keep it? - come on. ok. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): chris was the last person known to be with lynsie. he told police he drove straight home after dropping lynsie off. and police found that photo of what looked like his truck heading north away from lynsie's neighborhood, which took him past this atm camera. josh mankiewicz: the video from the atm camera, police at the time saw that as not ironclad proof that chris was telling the truth, but suggestive that what he said he actually did. correct. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): but when larry compared photos of chris' truck with the photos from the bank, he saw something no one else had noticed-- the paint on the back of the side view mirrors on chris' truck was white. josh mankiewicz: what about the truck in the photo? truck in the photo had a dark spot in that area, which means that whatever mirrors were there, if there were

mirrors there, they were black. josh mankiewicz: so it's not the same truck. that's right. it's not. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): suddenly, chris' alibi had a big hole in it. larry moved on to chris' history with women. two ex girlfriends talked to police about how chris would become unhinged by rejection-- or what he called disrespect. larry heard about how chris had once crushed a pet crab with a hammer right in front of one of his girlfriends because he thought the crab had killed one of his fish. this is a guy with some significant anger issues. it certainly appears that way. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): larry listened to chris' interviews and caught him talking some of the time about lynsie in the past tense. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): then larry found something in the paperwork from placentia pd that proved chris mcamis had lied to the police early on about his whereabouts on saturday, february 17th, the day lynsie didn't come home.

chris had told the cops he stayed close to home, but larry checked chris' credit card statement. larry montgomery: there was one entry on february 17th, and it turns out it was santa clarita, which is 50 miles north of where chris lived. why would chris be in santa clarita? well, that's what i wanted to know. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): digging through the reports, larry found information about chris' dad. 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, chris had told police that he did not work for his dad that winter. that he was on unemployment. but larry saw some big cash deposits going into chris' bank account in addition to his unemployment checks. so he thought that chris might have been working for his dad off the books, and larry came up here to ask around.

josh mankiewicz: and they told you that it was chris' father's construction company? chris' father did some of the tractor work at that site. and chris worked there. and chris was one of the tractor drivers that the superintendent said was there every day. is this where you thought to yourself, that's where lynsie ekelund is? i thought chances are excellent that if i killed lynsie, and i was in chris mcamis' situation, and i had use of a tractor out in the middle of nowhere, i might use that tractor to dig a hole to put her in. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): now all the evidence whisperer had to do was prove it. craig melvin (voiceover): coming up, an undercover operation. josh mankiewicz: were you armed? yes. and you were wearing a wire. yes. craig melvin (voiceover): when "dateline" continues. nothing dims my light like a migraine. with nurtec odt, i found relief.

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but it's under siege

from big out-of-state media companies and hedge funds. now, california legislators are considering a bill that could make things even worse by subsidizing national and global media corporations while reducing the web traffic local papers rely on. so tell lawmakers, support local journalism, not well connected media companies. oppose ab 886. paid for by ccia. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): it was october of 2010, nine years after her daughter disappeared, nancy ekelund was still waiting and doing what she could. she was now at 3,535 days without lynsie. she didn't know it, but a few miles away, larry montgomery was tightening the noose around chris mcamis. larry had recruited a motorcycle cop from a nearby town

to go undercover. spring sendele: they needed a police officer who looked like a college student and didn't have the mannerisms of a police officer. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): spring sendele was that officer. josh mankiewicz: how were you dressed? spring sendele: jeans on and just a little shirt, something that a college student would wear. were you armed? yes. and you were wearing a wire. yes. spring sendele (on recording): hi. are you chris? chris mcamis (on recording): uh, yes. spring sendele (on recording): hi, my name's nicole anderson. i'm from "fullerton college torch magazine." chris mcamis (on recording): ok. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): officer sendele was posing as a student reporter, complete with a phony press pass. she knocked on chris' front door. chris had talked to a student reporter from lynsie's college in the past about the case. josh mankiewicz: you use your real name? no, i used a fake name. i told him who i was. and-- spring sendele (on recording): well, we just received word at the torch magazine that remains have been found that they believe belong to lynsie. chris mcamis (on recording): uh-huh.

spring sendele (on recording): so i guess they're doing dna testing right now. and in the meantime, i'm supposed to go contact friends, family to get their initial reaction for a story. chris mcamis (on recording): ok. spring sendele: when i told him that the police believe that they found lynsie's remains, his demeanor changed. how? quite drastically, actually. i could see that his color in his face went white. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): the police had not found lynsie's remains. that was a lie. police do it all the time, and it's legal. in fact, larry had tried to find lynsie up at the construction location where chris had worked, and he'd gotten some interest from cadaver dogs, but nothing more. just down the street from chris' house, bryce angel of the placentia pd, who'd been assigned to work with larry, was listening and keeping an eye on the action. josh mankiewicz: so you're watching him while this interview happens on his front doorstep. yeah, i was sitting 10 houses down watching the reporter, the undercover police officer. once she left the area, we were in business.

what happens? later that night, he was seen coming out of his house and going into the garage, lights go on-- and we're talking like 3 o'clock in the morning. it was clearly a sign of somebody who couldn't sleep. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): detectives were sure that they had rattled their suspect. the next day, they trailed chris when he left his house. bryce angel: at some point, it became apparent that he knew that we were following him. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): they broke off surveillance and brought chris in. chris, have a seat. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): larry had read all about chris mcamis. and he looked at tape of every time chris had been in for an interview. here's what the situation is. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): today, he and chris were going to meet for the first time. i have been investigating this case for about two years now. i'm a cold case investigator. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): 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, why you're sitting here. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): larry promised to fill him in on the case in detail, thinking

chris would want to know if the cops had the goods. and then, maybe, he'd have something to say. since you're under arrest, i do have to advise you of your rights, which i will do in a moment. after that, what i'd like to do is i'd like to explain to you everything. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): larry read chris his rights. and then before chris could really respond, larry laid out his case. he said he knew chris had never dropped lynsie off that night because the atm photo that at first fooled investigators actually proved chris wasn't there. larry montgomery (on recording): it wasn't your truck. but for years, it was thought of that it was your truck, and it's not. matter of fact, your truck did not go by that night. it wasn't there. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): he told chris about the credit card statement and how he found someone who remembered chris working on the job site. larry montgomery (on recording): all of a sudden, big, red flags. you know, you're-- you are working. you are up there when you said you were not. but he said you guys don't work on saturday. lynsie disappeared on a saturday morning.

none of your credit card usage up there is on any weekend. all of it's on weekdays except for the day lynsie disappeared. so you're not up there working that day. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): he told chris the lie about lynsie being found. larry montgomery (on recording): we went recently and got dna from mother and dad of lynsie and had that checked against the body, and it's lynsie. so now we've got lynsie up there right in the area where you were, right at the time when you did not drop her off, and we have enough to prove the crime. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): and knowing about chris' anger issues with previous girlfriends, larry summoned up a little empathy to draw chris in. i know that you have that ability to be angry, but i don't know what would cause her to get you that angry or what she could have done. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): chris didn't say much until a little body language revealed that larry was on the right track. was it a premeditated thing?

i didn't think it was. [heavy sigh] so what did she do? [sighs] josh mankiewicz (voiceover): larry finished talking. he was hoping chris would give it up. i think i need a lawyer to talk to you about this with me. well, it's up to you. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): the supreme court has made it pretty clear-- if someone declares that they want an attorney, the interview is supposed to stop until one can be hired or provided. 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. corinne loomis was watching from another room. josh mankiewicz: that's about as close as you can get to the i-want-a-lawyer line without actually crossing it. saying that i want it, right. were you holding your breath when he said that? yes, this was a make-or-break interview. if he didn't confess, he was going to walk again.

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media companies. oppose ab 886. paid for by ccia. i need to know what occurred so i do the right thing because something happened there. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): larry montgomery spoke for 45 minutes. he'd given chris mcamis everything he had-- take a look, all your credit card usage. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): --the photo, the job site-- spring sendele (on recording): how long did you know lynsie?

chris mcamis (on recording): this is not a very convenient time right now, so-- spring sendele (on recording): ok. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): --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 with me. well, it's up to you. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): and because chris said, "i think i need a lawyer," and not "i want a lawyer," larry thought whatever came next would be admissible in court. detective angel, who'd been letting larry do the talking, then spoke up. bryce angel: so i knew that was the moment of truth. i had to interject something very quickly. bryce angel (on recording): chris, nobody likes to be labeled a monster. and in this case, that's the way it's pointing. only you have the other side of the story. nobody is going to be able to speak for you. that's why we're here now. [heavy sigh] that's good. there's a reason everything happens.

i'm sure there was some circumstances that happened that night or that morning. [heavy sigh] larry montgomery: he kind of sighed, and he laid out a story. all right. what happened was-- josh mankiewicz: and suddenly you realize-- kim davidson: this is it. he's 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. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): it was sad, and it was ugly. she, uh-- i was going to take her home. ok. she was telling me, why don't i just sleep over at your place because i don't want to upset my mom. makes sense. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): as larry had suspected, chris never dropped off lynsie at that corner. i was trying to kiss her, and then she, uh, elbowed me in the chest. and then i went to my, um--

i went to my kitchen in my apartment, and i drank a lot of vodka. and then i went back, and i tried to do the same thing. ok. she pretended to be asleep, and i pulled her pants down. and i was totally drunk. ok. she got up and said, oh my god, what are you doing? i'm calling the police. when i got up and walked to her, she tried to knock me out with my phone, with my own phone-- did she hit you with it? --to my face. yeah, she-- like this to my face. larry montgomery: ok. and being drunk, it enraged me. it, uh, set me on fire. and i grabbed her, threw her onto my bed, and i got her into a headlock.

larry montgomery: ok. and she died. larry montgomery: then what'd you do? then i tried to figure out what i should do because i couldn't believe how it just happened that way. larry montgomery: quickly, huh? it just-- i couldn't believe it. i thought she was just going to pass out, and i ended up killing her. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): that was it. lynsie ekelund had been killed before anyone realized she was even missing. chris says he then drove up to the work site and used a skip loader to dig a hole. he held on to lynsie's body for a few days. and then when no one was around, he buried her. josh mankiewicz: did it feel any better to finally know? no, because i was really devastated. there was a relief, but i wasn't any happier because of it. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): after the confession, detectives left chris in the interview room with another detective to watch him,

and chris simply could not stop talking. unbelievable. what's that, sir? ah, it's been so long. and i'm finally-- you know, it feels better when you finally just say what you were supposed to say, you know? i know my life is ruined now. do you know if i'm going to get the death penalty for this? you're going to have to ask them those questions. all right. see ya. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): then larry came back. always meticulous, he wasn't done. he wanted that final detail-- where approximately was it that you dug the hole to put her? josh mankiewicz (voiceover): --where exactly chris had left lynsie. right up in here? josh mankiewicz (voiceover): he explained to chris that, even though they'd found her remains-- which wasn't true-- the grave site had shifted over the years from flooding. and show us where the tractor was parked and exactly where you dug the hole.

josh mankiewicz (voiceover): with the detectives, chris returned to the site that had become lynsie's final resting place. and right where this tree is i pulled my truck over and parked it. larry montgomery: this street to our left here? chris mcamis: uh-huh, right where this is. it didn't used to exist there when it-- when we had construction. ok. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): he wasn't sure of the exact spot. it's over in this vicinity. larry montgomery: but it should be way up there or way over here? could be from this tree all the way to that brush. larry montgomery: that brush over there? chris mcamis: yeah, whatever that-- josh mankiewicz (voiceover): it took more than a day of digging to find what was left of lynsie. first, they found a shoe, then a jacket, and a bracelet. that's how nancy knew they'd found her. the coroner confirmed it using dental records. the back of my truck was over here. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): two years after he confessed, chris mcamis pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. and the machine was over there.

josh mankiewicz (voiceover): his sentence-- 15 years to life. josh mankiewicz: you told me that you thought you had let this consume your life too much. oh, it did. it does to this day. well, now it's over. what are you going to do? i don't know. a new life is opening up to you, and i don't-- i don't know. i don't 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. [theme music] hello, i'm craig melvin, and this is "dateline." hello, i'm craig melvin, a i fell to the floor." i just remember, like, she's dead, she's dead.