that will do it for me. thanks for watching on this holiday weekend. tune in tomorrow to the sunday show when i will be joined by democratic congressman elect derek tran, fresh off his win in california where he flipped the red to blue. that is tomorrow at 6:00 p.m. eastern on msnbc. follow us on social media using the handle at weekend capehart. listen to every episode as a podcast for free. scan the qr code on your screen to follow. n your screen to follow. something was wr ong. my suspicions were there. all of a sudden, in one second, everything

makes sense. christina: it didn't seem weird that chris would just up and leave because he was single. and he loved to travel. he talked about going to galapagos islands. paul smith: he would go from one place to another. i'm in austria. i'm in india. keith morrison: month after month, you were getting these emails. no phone calls. no. whoever was emailing us, i felt like this wasn't my son. who is this? detective: there's blood on the ceiling, blood on the carpet. there's blood on the walls. this case was about greed at its most diabolical. keith morrison (voiceover): a surfer goes missing. worldwide adventure or mind-bending murder? [sigh] it was tough, you know? it hit you right in the gut. it's as if we were working with the devil himself. [wave crash] keith morrison (voiceover): again and again, he rode them,

as if they were his waves, and this, his own private ocean, as if the sea could wash away the trouble that threatened to sink him. why him, of all people? he was the dude, the charismatic, carefree, creative one, whose talent would surely make him rich. steve smith: he's one of those people that thought anything was possible. he was very independent. he always wanted to figure out a way to do it on his own. keith morrison (voiceover): he was-- what would you call it? a beautiful dreamer, out here on his own, going his own way, like always. no idea what was waiting for him. chris smith grew up on california's central coast in a town called watsonville, a very close family of deeply committed christians, parents, steve and debi, brother paul. steve was a cop and then a firefighter, debi a teacher. home was a kind of boy's eden.

we lived on a private ski lake called kelly lake, so-- not bad. yeah, we were very fortunate. keith morrison: i mean for kids, oh, my god. yeah, it was a great place to grow up. we had jet skis for a period of time before we got in trouble with them, and he sold them. we had a boat. keith morrison (voiceover): but just minutes away, like a magnet, irresistible, where pacific beaches, manresa and la selva. and back and forth they went, chris and paul, lake to ocean and back again. paul smith: we'd go wakeboarding and then take a shower and go surf a half hour later. keith morrison (voiceover): chris, a little quirky, talented and intense, part surfer dude, part do-gooder, even as a teenager always eager to help those in need. he'd get a new coat for christmas. and then i'd think, well, where did it go? well, this other guy needed it, gave his bike to a girl that was just needing it, he saw down in santa cruz. and that was just part of who he was. keith morrison (voiceover): he tried out

professional wakeboarding, but discovered also, he had a knack for making money as he went to community college, and partied a bit, and went surfing-- a lot. paul went to university and met leah. i would say that i didn't understand paul until i met chris. and then it was like two puzzle pieces coming together. it made total sense. they were almost like twins, but not. it was fun to be around them, together. chris always the big brother? very much so. mm-hmm. keith morrison (voiceover): and chris was a natural entrepreneur. he got into the tech world, advertising, moved to la, and began investing in gold to, in krugerrands. he was able to get a nice, plush condo in malibu, on the beach, and got a bmw. and-- that ain't bad. paul smith: no. it was nice. yeah, he was excited. i remember being with him and-- in his bmw, listening to madonna with the top down

and going through wilshire-- wilshire boulevard. and he was proud of himself, where he was in life. keith morrison (voiceover): and he was generous, took paul off on an exotic adventure and picked up the tab i think he was making 40 to $75,000 a month at the time. holy cow. i would say a lot of money for a young guy. and he's like, where do you want to go? you know? you pick. what do you want to do? and so i said, let's go for a surf trip. let's go to tahiti. and so he booked a 23-day vacation. we hopped around all these different islands in tahiti. and it was definitely one of the best times of my life. keith morrison (voiceover): 2009, chris moved a little more than an hour south from la, to laguna beach. he had teamed up with another young go-getter named ed shin. christina: ed was actually very professional, very calm, very poised, very professional, dressed very well. keith morrison (voiceover): and christina grice

would know. she worked the front desk at the new advertising company chris and ed started. the 800xchangexchange they called it. and two more different men would be hard to find, said christina, outwardly, anyway. chris was single. ed was married with kids. chris was a surfer. ed was a sports memorabilia collector. and chris-- he was very casual, dressed in board shorts very often, sweatshirts, would not be the uber professional person that-- that ed actually seemed to be very often. keith morrison (voiceover): chris, with his free-spirited creativity, was the yin to ed's number-crunching yang. and yet, there were shared passions too, their christian faith, for one thing. ed seemed especially devout. both liked the finer things. and both wanted to make money. and they did. they worked a profitable little corner of the advertising game. they made and placed ads for debt consolidation,

that sort of thing. the idea was to get viewers who saw the ads on tv interested enough to call an 800 number. and when they did, their information would be farmed out to companies around the country. each call was a lead. we were getting leads for people that were calling in that had either credit card debt or student loan debt, and putting them towards companies that would be able to consolidate their debts. keith morrison (voiceover): right away, the new business took off. christina: i would tell everybody, yeah, the company i work for is doing amazing. we're doing great. and i was super excited to work there because i thought, it's a lot of opportunity for me to grow. keith morrison (voiceover): chris even brought his brother paul on board. by then, paul and leah were married with two little girls. and there they were, two brothers, living in southern california. my brother would come over from time to time. and we'd go surf salt creek together. it was-- life couldn't have been better. keith morrison (voiceover): and uncle chris always made time for his nieces. he would like, have water balloon fights.

yeah i heard about this water balloon. tell me about-- what was that all about? our daughters were probably three and one. our oldest wanted to have a water balloon fight. and so they just went at it. and she nailed him. [laughs] i mean, for a grown man to be willing to get so soaking wet, i was surprised. keith morrison (voiceover): and at a work, in the office? he was playful. he would buy remote control toys and fly them around the office when i remember. and he liked to play pranks on our neighbors that were nearby, in the office suite. keith morrison (voiceover): mind you, chris had a serious side too, certainly when it came to making money. but also in early 2010, he was serious about someone. i remember her being very striking, very beautiful, really sweet. keith morrison (voiceover): chris's girlfriend was a dancer and a pilates instructor. and he was in love. he introduced her to his parents. and they stayed at the house. and she had said, i just-- she-- she grabbed my arm next to the fire pit. and she said, i just love him so much.

i just love him so much. and then that was pretty special because i remember chris talking about her. and literally, you know, my dad, isn't she beautiful? and every once in a while, he'd go, dad, i think she may be the one. she may be the one. keith morrison (voiceover): but meanwhile, pulling always, there was the surf, the ocean, always calling, even when it meant his days were a little upside down. chris, i was told, would work long hours in the evening or sometimes from home just because i was told he liked to go surfing during the day. he loved the idea of being out on the water. and i remember him making a joke how he said he was going to try to get our office to be on a boat so we could be outside. keith morrison (voiceover): and yet by june of 2010, paul could see his brother was becoming distracted, growing, restless. paul smith: him and i sat in the hot tub before, you know, one of the last times we were together. and he was very stressed. keith morrison (voiceover): oh, they'd find out eventually, what was bothering him. it would wind up haunting them all.

coming up. i thought he finally did it. i just said, ok, you know, do what you got to do. keith morrison (voiceover): chris smith's life takes a sudden turn, word of a globe-trotting adventure with a glamorous new companion. a "playboy" playmate? he didn't ever talk about those kinds of girls. i mean, why would he ever do that? keith morrison (voiceover): it would be the first question of many in this mysterious case. maybe you could explain. inmate: there just some secrets that man is willing to give up his life for. keith morrison (voiceover): when "dateline" continues. - bye, bye cough. - later chest congestion. hello 12 hours of relief. 12 hours!! not coughing? hashtag still not coughing?! mucinex dm gives you 12 hours of relief from chest congestion and any type of cough, day or night. mucinex dm. it's comeback season. why just give a gift, when you can give a gift with meaning? shutterfly, make

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saint jude-- maybe this is what's keeping my baby girl alive. [music playing] narrator: you can join the battle to save lives by supporting st. jude children's research hospital. for just $19 a month, you'll help us continue the life-saving research and treatment these kids need now and in the future. speaker: cancer makes me feel angry, like not in the feel on the outside, just the inside. i'm angry at it. speaker: when your kid is hurting and there's nothing you can do about it, that's the worst feeling in the world. [music playing] narrator: 1 in 5 children diagnosed with cancer in the us will not survive. speaker: those that donate to st. jude, i hope that you will continue to give. they have done so much for me and my family. [music playing] narrator: join with your credit or debit card for only $19

a month, and we'll send you this st. jude t-shirt, or, for a limited time only, join for $39 a month to receive this exclusive st. jude jacket you can proudly wear to show your support. speaker: are you ready to go have some fun? speaker: yeah. speaker: when we came here, we didn't know what tomorrow would hold. st. jude showed us that tomorrow, there's hope for our little girl to survive. narrator: let's cure childhood cancer together. please donate now. [music playing] keith morrison (voiceover): chris smith used to scorn what he called "the moo," the masses of people who plod through life like cattle, following the crowd, bowing to the man. i had heard him say "the moo cow." so-- the moo cow? the moo cow.

keith morrison (voiceover): chris's brother, paul. he'd refer to the us as the moo cow, just getting milked and just, everybody working such long hours and-- not living. yeah, not living, a job where you're just like, sitting with your butt in the seat, you know, on a computer all day, that's one thing he never wanted to do. he thought that was just something that just took your life, took the life out of you. keith morrison (voiceover): and by june of 2010, it seemed maybe that very thing had happened to chris. the man who loved the wide-open sea was feeling penned in. paul knew because he worked alongside chris at 800xchange. he was definitely very stressed out. keith morrison (voiceover): still, paul was shocked at the way chris just left. paul, leah, and their kids had just come back to california from a vacation in oregon. and chris had agreed to pick them up at the airport. no one ever showed up. didn't call? nothing. nothing.

i was irritated. it's a long flight with kids and then nothing. leah smith: yeah. so we just got a taxi and went home. i was, you know, a little bit frustrated. but it's your brother. and there had been a good explanation, so-- keith morrison (voiceover): well, there was an explanation, all right. the next day, paul talked to ed, who said chris had sold his share of the business. to not tell his brother that he was talking about a buyout, and going through with a deal like that, it hurt. you know, it hurt for a while. keith morrison (voiceover): but where was chris? his family soon found out. he sent his parents, steve and debi, an email. and then i said, good for you. take pics if you can. you will see amazing things. yes, breathe. see only chris. love you, mom. keith morrison (voiceover): it was all so sudden. but given that this was chris, the free-spirit surfer

dude of the family, the decision made sense too. i thought he finally did it. he really did it. i just said, ok, you know, do what you got to do. get out of the situation. i wanted the best for him, whatever decision he was going to make. there were times where he stood in the kitchen and said, i'm just so over it. i'm going to be done with it all and just go be a bartender on the beach. [laughter] keith morrison (voiceover): debi knew it wasn't unlike her driven son to suddenly take a sharp 90-degree turn in life. well, i don't know exactly what happened. but he talked about going to galapagos islands. it sounds like you're talking about somebody who is really ambitious, interested in something new, but if the stress got too much, he might just go off and do something else instead. he'll just take a break. keith morrison: take a break, yeah. yeah, right. keith morrison (voiceover): but then they learned that chris's break wasn't only from all the moos of the world. it was from his girlfriend too. he dumped her by text. so much for the chill surfer dude.

as his mom, yes, i was shocked. and i thought-- but what kind of treatment of a woman was that? i think the hard part, as a parent and a mom-- you know, you your kids-- is thinking, this is weird. keith morrison (voiceover): and getting weirder. paul finally got an email from chris. and it featured a picture of his brother's new traveling companion. her name was tiffany taylor, a playboy playmate. i mean, why would he ever do that? and this isn't-- i remember-- i remember telling steve, i mean, this is-- this is wacky. a playboy playmate? he didn't ever talk about those kinds of girls. keith morrison (voiceover): over the following weeks, chris sent more emails to his family about his travels with tiffany. keith morrison (voiceover): by july, chris's three-week holiday had turned into a month.

he was supthe emailsome home continue to come in. and he would go from one place to another. oh, i'm going here now. i'm going to the tip of chile. keith morrison (voiceover): and then on to argentina. but here's what bothered them most. chris hadn't called home, not even once. in an email dated july 13, he explained why, bluntly. keith morrison: why no phone calls? what did he say about that in his emails? he threw his phone away. he said he didn't need it. he was just-- he was traveling and so he was just going to be operating-- i guess when he was at sea, he wouldn't be able to send them. right. so you were just-- you were just operating by email. and then there were some emails that, you know, i'm running from the irs and this and that. and so he didn't want to be tracked or traced,

so you know, creating this kind of like, paranoid, you know, reason for not having a phone. running from the irs? that was news to you folks? yeah. yeah. keith morrison (voiceover): by august, his father, steve, was more than just annoyed. probably the second month into it, i got a little suspicious on it too. and i started asking him questions that nobody'd really know. keith morrison (voiceover): maybe it was the former cop in steve. he thought the email sounded like chris in word, but not behavior, like he wasn't acting like himself. that's when steve decided to set a trap. coming up-- it was like you needed space and we were going to give him some space. yeah. keith morrison (voiceover): what was really happening with chris? a surprise clue surfaces in las vegas-- i didn't recognize her at first, when she entered the room. keith morrison (voiceover): --tiffany taylor, the playboy playmate. i was so excited to talk to her and figure out, you know, where have you been with my brother?

i mean, where's my brother? she just looked at me like i was crazy. keith morrison (voiceover): when "dateline" continues. eggs make all our family moments better. especially when they're eggland's best. taste so fresh and amazing. deliciously superior nutrition, too. for us, it's eggs any style. as long as they're the best. eggland's best.

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keith morrison (voiceover): chris smith's family was trying to be patient. in june of 2010, he abruptly cashed out of his business, dumped his girlfriend, set sail for a three-week tour of south america with a playboy playmate. oh, dear. i wanted him to be happy. so if he needed to check out, and he was offered a deal and he took it, then so be it. you know? i'd support him any way i could. it was like he needed space. and we were going to give him some space. yeah. mm-hmm. that couldn't have been easy to do. keith morrison (voiceover): but then chris's three-week trip turned into a month, and then two. and he still hadn't called home.

emails only. that just wasn't like chris, thought his dad. so in august, steve typed out a strange, brief email to this "chris." what lake we used to live on, what type of boat did we used to drive, stuff like that. keith morrison (voiceover): questions only his son would know the answers to. well, then there was a reply from chris. kelly lake was the place their family once lived. keith morrison: what was your feeling then, when you saw that? that's confirming it was chris. i mean, who would be diabolical enough to research that information, to be able to come back and give the answers to it? keith morrison (voiceover): steve was comforted. his son chris was all right. the family tried to refocus on their own lives. paul was still working at 800xchange, chris's old business. the company was doing well. our clients didn't go anywhere. they were still there. they were still making payments, you know, just like they were when chris was there. the company was doing very well. keith morrison (voiceover): by october 2010, four months after chris left, ed had a plan to make

the business more profitable. it involved a trip to vegas. paul smith: we were there, meeting an investor that wanted to invest in the company. so he took us all there and-- big lavish trip. big lavish trip. keith morrison (voiceover): and everyone from the office was invited, even christina. and you know, here i am, just the assistant. so why would i go? but because we were such a small office, ed actually said, no, everyone can go. and i was very excited. and i have this great room. i remember thinking, wow, i didn't realize that we were this big time. keith morrison (voiceover): dinners were sumptuous affairs at fancy restaurants. ed hired a local fixer to help, a man who went by the name johnny vegas. his specialty, hiring guests for events. yeah, he would hire these playmates to-- to join these dinners that we would have with investors and our clients.

keith morrison (voiceover): one particular dinner turned very strange when paul noticed just who had joined the party. i didn't recognize her at first when she entered the room. keith morrison (voiceover): but then it clicked. this had to be her. he was looking straight at tiffany, the woman who had taken off with his brother four months earlier. and i sat right next to her because i was so excited to talk to her and-- keith morrison: yeah. --figure out, you know, where have you been with my brother? keith morrison (voiceover): paul asked, are you tiffany taylor? she said she was. now he was gushing with questions. where's my brother? how was it? how was the galapagos islands? and i asked her that, and she just looked at me like i was crazy. it was a weird feeling. like you were crazy? yeah, like, what are you talking about? i have no idea what you're talking about. and she looked at her-- the other friend that she had with her. and they both just-- like you were crazy? like i was crazy, yeah, like, what is this guy talking about? keith morrison (voiceover): he was totally baffled.

and then he caught someone else's eye. and i looked up at ed. and he looked at me and just shook his head like, that wasn't the girl. it was a different tiffany taylor. but i was sure it was the same girl. a different tiffany taylor? that's what he told me. but it was the same girl that was in that picture, on the email. what did you think after that? something's rotten in denmark. you know, something doesn't make sense. but yet, you know, i didn't know where to take the thoughts. i mean, what was the alternative? keith morrison (voiceover): it was possible, certainly, that paul had got it all wrong about tiffany. but then he couldn't really dwell on it either, not when the next series of emails arrived. chris had long since left south america for europe and then india and then africa. his emails reflected a man not on vacation, but in turmoil, angry at everyone. all of a sudden, he gets into talking about, this has

been the worst year of my life, i've gone through a lot of stresses in my life, i've contemplated suicide, drug abuse. it sounded like he was unraveling or something. but did-- [audio out] mm-hmm. right. something in his childhood. and i go-- and it's trying to turn, and it would switch-- switching around to us again. what is it like, though, when get an email like that? you feel sick to your stomach. just, what is he-- i thought i provided a really good childhood for them and stuff like that. and just, what was he angry about? total shock when it-- yeah. it hurt. i was receiving emails as well, about suicide and abandoning his faith in the lord. and it was just-- it was the same type of thing, just this person that's questioning everything and losing sight of who he is. so i was just there, sending emails back, reassuring him of who he is. and it was-- it was tough to deal with. keith morrison (voiceover): all through the fall of 2010, chris seemed to be on edge. but then in december, six months

into his unpredictable voyage, he'd pulled himself out of his funk. he emailed paul that he wanted to start a new software business a little closer to home. keith morrison: there were a couple of ideas. one was, you were to go and meet him in costa rica or something. right. keith morrison: start a business there, make lots of money. right. yeah, and it was at a location that only him and i had talked about. so yeah, wanting to-- me to bring my family down to costa rica. so i-- you know, i had this image that he's just out, you know, living-- living life. did you contemplate doing that? i did, for a little bit, definitely not bring my family there. but myself, yeah, i definitely was-- i missed him. i would travel anywhere to see him. keith morrison (voiceover): of course, there was a catch. chris was still in africa. and he told them that before he left, he needed to travel deep into the continent for what sounded like a very shady business

deal and a dangerous trip. now his family was really worried. coming up-- debi smith: my gut instinct told me something was really, really wrong. i contacted the us department of state. keith morrison (voiceover): a father sets out on a journey of his own, to learn the truth. he felt, in his opinion, in the state department, that chris had never left the united states. keith morrison (voiceover): when "dateline" continues. go-friends, gather! keke! chris! jason! boop! friends. let's go, let's go, friends! hold onto your dice. woohoo!! -nice frosting, pratt. -thank you! how we doin', keke? tastes like money to me. i can't go back to jail! wait, did you rob my bank? -hehe. -are we winning!? -ha ha ha! -oh boy! yeah! money, power, friendship.

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i am richard lui with the news update. donald trump tapping loyalist cash patel to serve as the new fbi director. patel, who still needs to be confirmed by the senate, has been a proponent of false

claims surrounding the 2020 election. trump also announced he would oppose a 100% tariff on the nine brics nations if they shift away from using the u.s. dollar in trade. for now, back to dateline. dangerous places. he was going to sell his krugerrands, that gold he invested in, to help finance his next business venture. and on december 26, 2010, chris sent this email to his brother, paul. he was going to head back up into rwanda and exchange some gold krugerrands that he was carrying in his pocket for cash. that sounds like a pretty foolhardy thing to do.

yeah, at that point, i was like, ok, he's lost his marbles. he was never stupid. he was a very shrewd person, very smart, street smart. and it just-- at that point, it was like, this isn't making any sense. and that's when, you know, the-- the possibility of it being something that you hope it's not starts to come to the door of your mind. and it's-- you don't want to let it in. no? why? because it's-- it's an abyss. and you don't know where the emotional roller coaster will take you. keith morrison (voiceover): by that time, the whole family started feeling the same way, a foreboding sense of dread. all along, chris's mom had been sending him emails, urging her son, be careful. we still love you and don't do anything, you know. and we just kept saying how much we all miss him. but my gut instinct told me something was really, really wrong. so-- and then they ended there. keith morrison (voiceover): ended.

the emails stopped. after six months, chris went totally silent. paul smith: when we stopped getting emails, you know, we thought he had been mugged, he'd been killed. you know, it's-- it's what happens commonly probably, down there. you're walking around with gold in your pocket. you know, he probably got mugged and killed. i remember being on google and looking everywhere, just on, you know, auto accidents, just trying to find any foreigner, any caucasian that had been killed, you know, in any of these. i looked up all these different countries and south africa and couldn't find anything. wow. keith morrison (voiceover): chris's mom scoured the internet too, hoping a satellite might have caught a glimpse of her globe-trotting son. debi smith: i would go down on google earth, to every kind of video that they had, that might have been around, to see if there's a glimpse of him, walking around. you know, you're just desperate. keith morrison (voiceover): by march 2011, it had been nine months since anyone had seen chris. and chris's father, steve, the ex-police officer,

decided it was time to start his own investigation. steve smith: i contact the us department of state missing persons overseas. and i submit all our emails to them, showing his tracking, going around south america, back up, crossing over to india and back down to africa, and starting the way back up through the congo. keith morrison (voiceover): steve was hoping the state department would be able to track chris down by seeing where he had last used his passport. but a few weeks later, a government official called back with some disturbing findings. he felt, in his opinion and the state department's, that chris had never left the united states. keith morrison (voiceover): never left the united states? it just didn't make sense. steve's next move was to take his own trip. he traveled from his home in bend, oregon, to laguna beach, california, where chris lived. he was hoping people like chris's ex-business partner, ed shin, might have some valuable information. steve smith: during that period of time, he gave all types of information out.

is, trying to find my son. and he related to me that chris had gotten a false passport. he used a false passport? steve smith: correct. that's what ed said. chris got a fake passport, left the country. keith morrison (voiceover): no contact with his son, a passport that never left the country, and now a fake passport? desperate for help, steve went to the laguna beach police department to file a missing person report. they refused to take it. why? they said i needed to report it to my own city of bend. but eventually, they did take the report when i submitted it. keith morrison (voiceover): after getting the runaround, it seemed to steve, finally, that someone was truly going to investigate chris's disappearance, take on the case. surely, the laguna beach police would get some answers. coming up--

keith morrison (voiceover): police turned to chris's business partner, ed. keith morrison (voiceover): could he help solve the mystery? keith morrison (voiceover): when "dateline" continues. billy: one second, grandma. this guy is going to buy my car. okay? grandma: you need carvana... entering plate number... grandma: no accidents, right? billy: no. grandma: generating offer... carvana can pick it up tomorrow! billy: that's an amazing offer. announcer: sell your car the easy way with carvana. - bye, bye cough. - later chest congestion. hello 12 hours of relief. 12 hours!! not coughing? hashtag still not coughing?! mucinex dm gives you 12 hours of relief from chest congestion and any type of cough, day or night. mucinex dm. it's comeback season.

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maybe he knew where chris went. ed told them how they'd gone into business together. keith morrison (voiceover): but by the summer of 2010, ed said chris wanted out. keith morrison (voiceover): and ed wanted to help his friend and partner. so he made him that offer, which was frankly, tough to refuse. keith morrison (voiceover): ed said he'd pay chris $250,000 in gold coins. and he'd wire him another $250,000 monthly installments. and if they ever sold the company,

ed would wire chris another $500,000, truly a million-dollar payout. and why did chris suddenly leave? ed had a theory. keith morrison (voiceover): and, ed said, chris had a darker side. keith morrison (voiceover): ed told them chris drank and worked late into the night, writing the company's radio ads and tv ads. and he added in sleeping pills and even harder drugs to inspire creativity, apparently. keith morrison (voiceover): ed said chris would sometimes go on bender-like shifts.

keith morrison (voiceover): in early june 2010, chris was planning his trip, still working at the office, and according to ed, coming apart at the seams. and ed said he came into the office early on friday morning, june 4, and discovered a mess. it smells horrible. the carpet's are wet. keith morrison (voiceover): christina grice saw the place when she came back to work. it was cleaned up by then, except for the stain outside of chris's office. we thought maybe chris got too crazy one night and vomited on the carpet right by his office. keith morrison (voiceover): the man was a mess. so ed said he took chris off to vegas for the weekend

to decompress, and so they could give themselves some time to finalize their deal and say goodbye. keith morrison (voiceover): later that monday, june 7, ed said he went over to chris's apartment, separation agreement in hand. keith morrison (voiceover): laguna beach police already heard chris hadn't used his passport and about using a fake passport. but they wanted to know why.

ed told the detectives, chris just didn't want to be found. keith morrison (voiceover): johnny vegas, that fixer ed shin used in las vegas to grease the wheels on his trips to the casinos. ed said chris was now the one asking johnny for some favors. keith morrison (voiceover): in los angeles, just before chris took off, gold in hand, for parts unknown. over the next few months, ed said he heard from chris, always by email. and he regularly wired chris's money. keith morrison (voiceover): he'd saved all the records.

keith morrison (voiceover): ed told the detectives he'd get them copies of everything, emails, wire transfers, that agreement letter. but in the end, he wasn't able to shed very much light on the case. keith morrison (voiceover): the laguna beach police just couldn't seem to find chris. but what is it they say? the best detective is luck. coming up-- basically, we kind of stumbled across this case.

keith morrison (voiceover): --enter a private detective with some questions of his own. and one of the things that struck me odd was that the writer was trying too hard to make the receiver believe that this is me, this is chris. keith morrison (voiceover): did something seem fishy about all those emails? and you're starting to think, who is this person? if this isn't chris, then who is it? keith morrison (voiceover): when "dateline" continues. why just give a gift, when you can give a gift with meaning? shutterfly, make something that means something. enjoy 40% off your order with code

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keith morrison (voiceover): it's one of the curious things about life, the way a mere coincidence can change things. basically, we kind of stumbled across this case. somebody called you up and said, look into those people down the hall? yeah. keith morrison (voiceover): joe dalu is a private investigator and former detective. in april 2011, joe and his partner

had an office in this complex south of laguna beach. a client walked in a couple of weeks later. a property manager came into our office-- they realized we were an investigative company-- and asked us if we'd do skip-tracing work, locating people. and we said, sure. keith morrison (voiceover): it turned out the 800xchange office was, or at least had been, practically next door to dalu's office, a couple of months before the whole company left for parts unknown and left behind a bundle of unpaid rent. so the landlord is kind of upset. yes. keith morrison (voiceover): the landlord hired the pis to find 800xchange and see if they could find that rent money. so presumably, you got to find out about these people? what? what? what do you do? we start off with database searches, running their name, finding last-known addresses, finding out any assets they may have. so we start off with a database first. and then it's field work after that. you kind of have to get to know

the people you're looking for before you can find them, in a way. yes. keith morrison (voiceover): the company wasn't hard to find. it was a few miles up the freeway, in another office park. by july, dalu and his partner were boning up on the company, looking for the assets, trying to find that rent money, when the property manager walked back into their office and said, laguna beach police detectives had been looking for 800xchange too. we asked why. and he says, well, chris smith is missing. then we learned that chris was bought out of his share of the company, took his, you know, earnings, and just sailed around the world. keith morrison (voiceover): he wanted to know more about chris's disappearing act. so he contacted chris's father, steve. steve filled him in about his son's escape from the rat race. and he told me-- he goes, look, after this buyout from ed shin, chris was emailing us. he was just-- he couldn't take the stress. and he just wanted a break.

keith morrison (voiceover): it had been a year since chris had disappeared. dalu found out about the missing persons report chris's family had filed. so by the time you got into the case, they were already worried, concerned? yes. but i think there was a sense of hope. they were curious. keith morrison (voiceover): but chris's dad, steve, told dalu-- he was at least communicating with us. and i asked him how. and he said, by email. and i said, well, do you know it's him? he said, there's just things in the email that would-- that would-- no one else would know. so i asked him if i could take a look at those emails. keith morrison (voiceover): he started poring over all of chris's communications from his globe-trotting voyage. it's kind of like a travelogue, right? islands we've sailed around are amazing. yes. just docked in port of argentina. keith morrison (voiceover): the emails were like picture postcards in prose, from all around the world.

but dalu thought something didn't smell right. what intrigued you about them? i remember one of the things that struck me odd was that the writer was trying too hard to make the receiver believe that this is me, this is chris. keith morrison (voiceover): take this email from october 2010. chris wrote to his dad, it was almost like, well, his dad knows where he grew up. his dad knows where this is. you wouldn't say "to your hometown." yeah, i think the normal thing that somebody would say would be, hey, let's-- i want to go back to where-- where you grew up. and that would be the end of it, not name the-- the city, country, you know, the zip code, practically. and that kind of stood out to me. keith morrison (voiceover): and remember how chris's dad, feeling a bit worried, sent those test questions to his son? what lake did you use to live on?

and what type of boat did you ski behind? there's some doubt about who he was talking to. there's only a few people that would know that, obviously, his family, and chris. keith morrison (voiceover): which is why steve was relieved when chris responded they lived on kelly lake, except steve had asked his son two questions, the name of their lake and the kind of boat they had. and dalu noticed. his cop sense was tingling. and i thought, wait, he answered the lake question, but he never answered the type of boat. and that bothered me. keith morrison (voiceover): and then dalu read this email that chris sent to his brother paul after his dad had asked him those questions. and the penny dropped. and paul replied back. and then i thought, this is it. he didn't know the answer. keith morrison (voiceover): dalu now knew it was not chris

smith writing those emails. it does get a little creepy at that point because then you're starting to think, who is this person? if this isn't chris, then who is it? keith morrison (voiceover): oh, boy. coming up-- chris's desk was here. ok. there was a credenza behind him. keith morrison (voiceover): --a disturbing discovery in chris's office. joe dalu: i looked at the light switch. and there was what i thought was blood. it was red, dark red. keith morrison: what appeared to be blood on the light switch-- - yes. keith morrison: --and then on the door frame. when you saw that, what's the first thing that occurred to you? that is wasn't just a missing persons. something seriously happened to chris. keith morrison (voiceover): when "dateline" continues. when a tough cough finds you on the go, a syrup would be... silly! woo! hey! try new robitussin soft chews. packed with the power of robitussin... in every bite. easy to take cough relief,

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