hi, i'm jessica layton with a news update. in israel, a drone strike was launched toward the home prime minister benjamin netanyahu just north of tel aviv. that's according to his office.

netanyahu and his wife were not in the building at the time and there were no injuries or deaths. boeing and its machinists union reached a new contract proposal. union officials say could end a more the month-long strike a vote to accept or reject the deal is set for wednesday. for now, back to dateline. i'm andrea canning. where was kelli bordeaux? after the alibis that both her estranged husband and her boyfriend checked out, police suspected a man named nick holbert had the answer. a convicted sex offender, nick told detectives he drove kelli home from the bar that night, but never touched her. to police, the story just didn't add up. and now a total stranger was ready to prove it. once again, here is "deep in the woods." andrea canning (voiceover): autumn 2012, kelli bordeaux had been missing for months. the searches continued, but were winding down,

and so was hope. privately, many around town felt kelli would never be found. but in the forest outside fayetteville, there was someone still secretly searching for her. no one knew, not police, not even kelli's family. his name was david marshburn. he didn't know kelli, but had an intense interest in her case from the day she disappeared. she was in the military. you just don't up and disappear. she was a young female. that's not right. andrea canning (voiceover): marshburn is both a bounty hunter and private investigator. his specialty? finding people, dead or alive. i knew she wasn't alive. i knew she needed to be found. she seemed like a really nice-- andrea canning (voiceover): remember that tv interview nick holbert did? marshburn saw it, too. when i'm watching him, it's like, dude, i can tell you're lying. he did it. he knows where she's at. he killed her.

andrea canning (voiceover): and marshburn was also convinced he could find kelli bordeaux. operating on his own time and own dime, marshburn started carefully researching the details of kelli's disappearance. i don't know what the hell got into me to do it. i mean, i just did it. to bring some answers to her family. yeah, i love doing it. i love helping the family out. andrea canning (voiceover): marshburn was convinced holbert had buried kelli close to the froggy bottoms bar, somewhere in the thick forest surrounding fayetteville. how daunting of a task was it? [sighs] it's like-- i don't know-- taking a rock no bigger than this and just throwing it out here and saying, go find it. and you miss it by an inch, you might as well have missed it by a mile 'cause it's not that easy to find something. andrea canning (voiceover): marshburn needed help. so several months into his very private search,

he added two new members to his team-- an assistant named marsha ward and a specially trained search dog with a keen sense of smell named kaz. he's trained on track and trail and whatever you want, what odor you want. andrea canning (voiceover): including buried bodies. together, marshburn, marsha, and kaz slogged through ponds, fields, forests, thousands of acres, and searched for months, but no trace of kelli. i got really frustrated and disappointed. and i'm at my wit's end. andrea canning (voiceover): then came an unlikely break. in may 2013, nick holbert was released from jail after being locked up on that parole violation. if holbert was happy, david marshburn was thrilled because now he could deal with him face-to-face. so just a day after his release,

marshburn pulled up to the house where holbert was staying. well, i've never talked to a killer. have you? i work for "dateline." well, anyway, anyway, i tell you what. what were you nervous about, that he would try to hurt you or just that the stakes are high here? sort of like star struck. you know what i mean? you're like, wow, it's happening. andrea canning (voiceover): marshburn took a deep breath and knocked on the door. and he answered the door. and i said, hey, nick. i'm david marshburn. i'm a private investigator. i'm here to try and find kelli bordeaux. and i think you can help me. andrea canning (voiceover): his strategy was simple-- trick holbert into thinking that he was an ally. it was basically telling him, i'm your angel. i'm your help. let me help you. help him how, though? for people to see the light, that he was not guilty. and he buys that? hook, line, and sinker. andrea canning (voiceover): so now the bounty hunter and the prime suspect talked.

over the next few months, marshburn gradually started to win holbert's confidence, coaxing him to confess about what really happened to kelli bordeaux. i had to get into his mind and see what he was about. did you think that he was going to just confess to you? mm-mm, i knew that-- i didn't know how i was going to get it out of him. andrea canning (voiceover): at this point, police were aware of david marshburn and his diy investigation. did you take david marshburn seriously? absolutely. he came to us and wanted to befriend nick holbert. what did you think of that? i go for it. we can't tell him what to do. andrea canning (voiceover): marshburn, remember, is a private eye, not a police officer. and unlike detectives, he could try tactics that were, to say the least, unorthodox. a few months after they met, marshburn told holbert that the da was ready to cut a deal if he confessed.

marshburn even presented holbert with this very attractive plea bargain agreement. it would be something like manslaughter. and he would do three or four years. and he would go to a mental hospital. andrea canning (voiceover): the so-called deal was completely bogus. you see, i put a fake judge on there. it was justin f. case, honorable justin f. case-- just in case. did he believe it? yeah. he believed it to a point. but then he threw it back at me after looking at it for about five minutes. said no, they'll just take it back. andrea canning (voiceover): marshburn thought that wasn't exactly the reaction of an innocent man. now he was fully convinced nick holbert had killed kelli. but he needed to get holbert to reveal where he buried her body. how can i be his friend? and i had to do some things, say some crap that i just didn't believe, but i had to do it to play the part.

andrea canning (voiceover): marshburn bought holbert countless meals, beers, even hired him to do odd jobs, slowly becoming a bff, or maybe more of a frenemy. but marshburn said he paid a high price, as he practically abandoned his wife and young son. i didn't do any family stuff. if we were eating somewhere and nick picked up the phone and called and said, hey, i need cigarettes, man, i need some money, i'd get up and i'd leave. and i'd go straight to him and do what i had to do and come back. were you obsessed? when i have somebody i'm hunting down, i don't stop till i get them. it's just-- isn't that being obsessed? i don't know-- dedicated. i'm not going to stop-- get the answers you need. --until i do get the answer, or the answer comes. andrea canning (voiceover): but holbert still wasn't providing any answers about kelli, who had now been missing some 18 months. by this time, marshburn had spent thousands of hours and some $40,000 trying to crack holbert. he was losing hope and considered quitting or even

trying something drastic. at times, i wanted to just take nick and cut his fingers off and say, you tell me, or i'm going to chop another one off. i wanted to torture him because i knew he knew. you really would have done that? oh, yeah, i hated him that bad. i despised him. andrea canning (voiceover): marshburn didn't resort to torture, but he did need a new tactic, something that would make holbert finally share his deadly secret. coming up, marshburn finds a new pressure point. that was his achilles heel. mm-hmm. andrea canning (voiceover): but will it work? when "dateline" continues. alright, we got your home and auto bundled and you saved hundreds. oh, that's nice, with the economy and all. what's the economy? [chuckling] where do we start? what isn't the economy? yes. [ laughter ] uh, it's -- it's so many thing.

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without talking to your doctor. there were still a few fliers scattered around fayetteville. but nearly two years after kelli bordeaux had mysteriously vanished, the investigation had cooled. new crimes now took priority. kelli's family still visited fayetteville periodically to keep the case alive, somehow, never losing hope. people would ask, how do you keep thinking she's alive? i was like, well, until you can prove otherwise, why should i believe it? and it was like, i'd rather believe the better scenario. how did you have that hope that it would happen? 'cause the other avenue wasn't one i wanted to go down. andrea canning (voiceover): back in florida, kelli's boyfriend, justin thompson, had been living in limbo with a bad case of survivor's guilt. i could have done more. somehow, i should have been better.

how-- i feel i should have told her no, don't go. i should have tried to argue about it. i don't know. what was the waiting like and the not knowing? terrible. it just, like, slams on the brakes. in your life, you can't do anything. i honestly didn't think we'd ever find her. really? what was going to change? andrea canning (voiceover): but little did justin know things were about to change. up in fayetteville, private investigator david marshburn had befriended nick holbert, the prime suspect in kelli's disappearance. marshburn was working practically 24/7 to get a confession, chasing every clue holbert dropped. we'd go talk to him. and then we would go out and try and figure it out. we knew we were going on wild goose chases. we had to do it. i mean, what else have you got? andrea canning (voiceover): marshburn needed to turn up the heat on holbert and had an idea.

nick was always worried law enforcement was watching him. that was his achilles heel. mm-hmm. so i knew that was a weakness. andrea canning (voiceover): which marshburn exploited by enlisting a friend who owned a vehicle that looked like an unmarked police car. he had them park near holbert's house and conduct surveillance-- fake surveillance. it worked like a charm because he saw them right out the gate when he came outside and got paranoid. andrea canning (voiceover): so paranoid that marshburn tried yet another trick to push holbert to give it up. he had his wife pose as a paralegal and drop phony indictment papers charging holbert with kelli's murder. i took one of his old charges, changed who the detective was, changed the charges. he was being indicted. and i got cece, my paralegal person, on the phone-- who's your wife. --who-- yeah, who's helping me. the plan was working good. and he was worried. andrea canning (voiceover): holbert

took one look at the indictment papers and went into a panic. sensing nick was near his breaking point, marshburn reminded him about that sweetheart plea deal if he confessed. so they took a ride to froggy bottoms back to where it all began. i said, look, nick, you're fixing to be indicted on this. they haven't barely got evidence. you need to get me to where kelli's at. and he's standing there, just looking straight down. and it feels like he's imaging all this stuff going on of what he's done. do you think he's finally going to reveal to you? oh, i know he is. i know-- this is it? this is it. oh, yeah, i had chills. andrea canning (voiceover): marshburn then applied one last bit of pressure, his own ticking clock of sorts, to push holbert over the edge. so i pick up the stick. i figured if i sit there and snap it, that it would ring in his mind, hey, i'm on a time limit. the clock's ticking.

i start snapping the twigs off of it. and finally, i got to that last little piece off of it. and he said something like, ok, i'm ready. andrea canning (voiceover): ready to confess. finally, after a year long cat and mouse game, holbert revealed to marshburn that he killed kelli bordeaux. they got back in the van, and holbert directed marshburn to a remote area where he remembered burying the body. david marshburn: and then he said, right here. so we pull down this path. andrea canning: are you getting nervous? no, i'm excited i'm going to find her. and i took kaz. and me and kaz are trying to find her. andrea canning (voiceover): marshburn and kaz spent the next several hours combing through the thick woods, trying to get a scent of kelli's grave. david marshburn: we searched till almost dark, and kaz starts laying down. and so we start digging. we can't find nothing. what is that telling you, though? i'm thinking, we're close.

andrea canning (voiceover): but not close enough. holbert couldn't remember exactly where he'd buried kelli's body. it was almost dark. everybody was exhausted, so marshburn reluctantly called it a day. but he didn't take holbert home. david marshburn: i gave him a hotel room, and i tell him, i'm going to be back in the morning. did you worry that he might get spooked and take off? i was worried he was going to kill himself. andrea canning (voiceover): and take the secrets of kelli's grave to his own. coming up, an excruciating few hours. i couldn't sleep that night. marsha couldn't sleep. andrea canning (voiceover): in the morning, one final search, and at long last, a sign. all of a sudden, he starts whimpering, and he stops. andrea canning (voiceover): after two long years, are all questions about to be answered? when "dateline" continues. i have moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. thanks to skyrizi, i'm on my way with clearer skin. 3 out of 4 people achieved 90%

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welcome back. under intense pressure from private investigator david marshburn, nick holbert had finally confessed to the murder of kelli bordeaux. he even agreed to take david to kelli's body. but after hours scouring the forest for her grave, their search was in vain. now the unlikely pair was about to try again. question was, could the admitted killer make good on his promise and give kelli's family the peace they deserved? here is the conclusion of "deep in the woods."

andrea canning (voiceover): it was a long night in north carolina. nick holbert was holed up in a hotel, while a few miles away, david marshburn was wide awake, wondering, worrying, hoping that tomorrow would be the day that he could finally bring kelli bordeaux home. i couldn't sleep that night. marsha couldn't sleep. i mean, we were just all excited for the next day. so next day comes. we go pick him up. and he's real quiet. andrea canning (voiceover): he, of course, was nick holbert, who was now back in the forest outside fayetteville. it was may 14, 2014. two years of searching had now come down to this one sweltering spring morning. but holbert still couldn't remember exactly where he had buried kelli's body and went off searching in a different direction. and we're staying there.

i'm like, all right, i cannot figure this out. and all of a sudden, i looked over to my left, and there's some clearing over here. and there's the sun coming down. andrea canning (voiceover): then, in that very same spot, kaz seemed to pick up a scent. and all of a sudden, he starts crawling to it, like whimpering crawling. and he stops. that was our spot. andrea canning (voiceover): they carefully pushed a metal rod into the ground. the soil was loose, like a hole had been dug and filled in. it was at that moment marshburn was overwhelmed with emotion. at that time, i said, baby girl, you're going home. you're going home, baby girl. said-- mm, sorry. i get emotional. andrea canning: had you even seen her yet? mm-mm. andrea canning: you just knew? mm. we just knew. andrea canning (voiceover): but they had to be sure. so now the grim task of digging began. we found a little piece of a jacket. when we pulled that jacket back, that's when we stopped.

we said, well, this is hers. i mean, this is it. andrea canning (voiceover): throughout the day, marshburn had been texting fayetteville police about his progress. now, minutes after finding kelli's body, he sent them something definitive and dreadful. a photo, what appears to be a human bone, the place he's digging. and at that time, we contacted him and said, hey, cease and desist on digging. don't do nothing else. andrea canning (voiceover): police rushed to the scene, and soon detective jeff locklear was interrogating holbert on camera. andrea canning (voiceover): holbert told the whole horrible story, how he took kelli to the bar and they hung out. then later, said holbert, someone there told kelli about his prior sex offense. she got upset and swore at him in the empty parking lot. and so i just snapped and zoned out and hit her and knocked her out.

andrea canning (voiceover): holbert said he took kelli to his campsite, where she woke up and started screaming. and i hit her again, knocked her out again. you know, i mean, she-- i mean, she was dead. andrea canning (voiceover): holbert said he then took kelli's body deep into the woods and buried her. officer: you ok with going back in there? i don't know. i don't want to. andrea canning (voiceover): holbert was then taken downtown and arrested. this morning, detectives with the fayetteville homicide-- fayetteville police department homicide unit recovered what we believe to be the remains of private first class kelli bordeaux. andrea canning (voiceover): by now, kelli's family had gotten the news. she was at work. matt called me, and he was like, hey, you need to come to mom's now. they found kelli. and i just remember dropping to the floor, and i was like, i'll be right there. and then it's like a sense of relief, instead of just wondering, what if, what if, what if, what if. andrea canning (voiceover): olivia called kelli's boyfriend, justin thompson. as soon as she called, i just-- i knew they found her.

i was just so grateful, honestly. i was just so happy that she was found. i can't say happy. relieved. yeah, i guess i was relieved. i was, like, sad again all over again. now we're going to have to do the funeral thing. [horn playing] andrea canning (voiceover): two weeks later, they paid their final respects. the funeral in florida was such big news, it was actually televised. aim, fire. [gunshots] andrea canning (voiceover): kelli bordeaux was just 23. everybody rise, please. andrea canning (voiceover): just over a year later came a measure of justice. are you, in fact, guilty of each of these crimes? yes, sir. andrea canning (voiceover): facing the possibility of the death penalty, nick holbert pleaded guilty to kidnapping and killing kelli in exchange for a life sentence. i wanted my sister, and i wanted her body. i wanted her. and so i was like, you know, what happens to nicholas holbert-- [inaudible]. --isn't going to change what he's done. whether he says he's sorry or whether--

it doesn't matter. andrea canning (voiceover): for david marshburn, his remarkable work was done. case closed, justice served. kelli bordeaux was finally home. but he says solving her case left him with mixed emotions. once we got finished, we were depressed. it was a depression like you would not believe, because we went for two years nonstop-- kelli, kelli, kelli, kelli. do you think this case ever would have been solved without you? no. i don't think that nick would have ever told anyone unless they were his friend. but he did tell me. andrea canning (voiceover): for the family of kelli bordeaux, the loss, the pain, the sorrow never goes away. but david marshburn at least gave them a chance to heal. he ended a suffering for my family. where we're sitting here, agonizing for these last two years, he was the one that was able to come in and end that

for us and to make it to where you can try to start rebuilding and doing things that will make kelli proud and to live your life. andrea canning (voiceover): the family also had something for david marshburn, a very special gift from kelli. kelli's dog tags, which that's a great honor in itself. this is a very important thing for a soldier. i'll always have these. these will stay with me forever. that's all for this edition of "dateline." i'm andrea canning. thank you for watching. [music playing] helmy friend called me,ng, and she was hysterical. and she said sandra's been killed. i was like, oh, my god.