i love it, because my boys get to hear about her. and they always bring cars out for connor, or i think, they brought a baseball out this time. keith morrison (voiceover): it's a place where they can celebrate a life, someone they loved. she's in heaven, and she's in our hearts. keith morrison (voiceover): their laci. woman: beautiful. oh, how pretty. [camera clicking] . i'm craig melvin. and i'm natalie morales. and this is "dateline." 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? yes. and you were wearing a wire. yes. craig melvin (voiceover): --to solve a baffling case, a college student on a friday night out who vanished. she was a very shy girl, but she was something special.

craig melvin (voiceover): the possible suspects? just about everyone. the friend, the boyfriend, the mysterious older man, even her mom. i was shocked that they even suspected me. craig melvin (voiceover): so why were police at a dead end? enter this guy. josh mankiewicz: he sees things other cops don't see? phenomenal. craig melvin (voiceover): they call him the evidence whisperer. he's about to crack this case open before your eyes. josh mankiewicz: the answer was in the details. it was right there. craig melvin (voiceover): and you won't believe how. josh mankiewicz: you walk out of there thinking, i spooked him. it worked. - i hoped. i wasn't quite sure. [theme music] hello, and welcome to "dateline." 20-year-old lynsie ekelund and her mother nancy told each other everything-- or so her mother believed. when the college student vanished after a night

out clubbing, nancy thought she was at a sleep over with friends. and that wasn't the only secret lynsie was hiding. it would take years for detectives to uncover the truth buried in a pile of lies. but could they find lynsie? here's josh mankiewicz with "the night lynsie disappeared." josh mankiewicz (voiceover): sometimes the facts are as clear as the southern california sky. but other times, you have to know where to look to see the truth. this man has made a career of noticing what others do not. josh mankiewicz: what's his reputation? bryce angel: meticulous investigator, just pours over the volumes of evidence and find things that other investigators did not find. the evidence whisperer. correct. so that night, i went out dancing. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): does this man act guilty? [inaudible]. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): does he know more than he's saying? i mean, i didn't know anything was going on, all right?

i just was, where's lynsie? ok? josh mankiewicz (voiceover): what about this man? can you believe the story he's telling? i was supposed to pick her up twice, and she was so out of character. she didn't show up on either day. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): the evidence whisperer wasn't present at either of those interviews, 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. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): lynsie ekelund arrived on july 22, 1980. she was the youngest of three. maybe that fighting spirit isn't visible in her photos, but her mother, nancy, says it was always there. lynsie had a passion for animals. she helped out in her spare time at a local shelter. kim davidson, who worked at lynsie's middle school, remembers young lynsie also had a sense of compassion. kim davidson: i was freezing cold, and i didn't bring a jacket that day. and i felt these little hands up on my shoulder and a sweater

come up around me. and i turned around, and it was lynsie. and she said, i just can't stand sitting here watching you shiver. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): and lynsie gave back in other ways. her mother says lynsie would lie about her age so she could give blood. remarkable in itself because lynsie struggled with her own disabilities. her left arm was paralyzed. her left leg, impaired. josh mankiewicz: did she ever talk about how she became disabled? she had brought it up to me and said that she was in a car accident and that she was thrown when was a little girl, but very, very, just matter of fact. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): but growing up, lynsie needed so much care. her mother, nancy, was with lynsie-- like her shadow. nancy ekelund: she was my only purpose in my life was to make her as normal as she could be. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): by the time kim met lynsie, lynsie's dad and brothers had moved away. kim remembers a very tight family unit of just two. josh mankiewicz: how close were lynsie and nancy?

unbelievably, extremely. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): but as lynsie reached adolescence, that started changing. like a lot of teens, she wanted her own identity. she changed the spelling of her name from this to this. by high school, there were girlfriends, even some boyfriends. and by the time she was 20, after so many years of mom and daughter being each other's best friends and confidantes, lynsie began to keep some things in her life to herself-- like where she was really headed one night in february 2001. josh mankiewicz: does it make any sense that she would lie to you about what she was going to do that night? i've never known her to lie to me, but you don't know you don't know. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): it was a friday night. lynsie was in college part time and working but still living at home. she told her mom that, instead of their usual friday night dinner, she was staying the night with a girlfriend named andrea, someone nancy had never met.

and then a young man named chris came to the door to pick lynsie up. josh mankiewicz: she introduces you to this guy chris. did chris say hello to you? nancy ekelund: uh-huh. josh mankiewicz: was he polite? he have good manners? - mm-hm. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): but nancy says something felt wrong. i had a feeling about him. what feeling? i don't know. but you put it aside. mm-hm. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): of course, nancy was used to things feeling wrong. she'd spent so many years worrying about lynsie. it was a struggle to let go, but she did. nancy ekelund: the last thing i said to her was remember your seat belt. and she looks over her shoulder, and she says, back at you, mom. love you. it's the last thing she said to me. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): nancy locked up the house and went to bed. the next day, lynsie was supposed to call after she was done tutoring two girls from the neighborhood. but when 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 four months about. and you have no way of reaching her. had no way. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): nancy ekelund was frantic. nancy ekelund: i started calling hospitals. i called the morgue. i mean, that's how desperate i was, see if there was a jane doe in the morgue. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): there was no jane doe, and there was no lynsie ekelund. josh mankiewicz: most people who disappear like that, they come back within a couple of days. if not 24 hours, yes. is that what you thought was going to happen? i think we did. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): corinne loomis was a detective with the placentia police department. we had no one unidentified bodies. you check the er. we checked everything. we checked everybody. we checked everything. there was just no sign. it was just as if she vanished. craig melvin (voiceover): coming up. craig melvin (voiceover): when "dateline" continues. my kids can't hide anything from me.

i'm home! especially when they've been using toilet paper that doesn't hold up. hold it, mister! here's new charmin ultra strong. it cleans better*, you can count on it. new charmin ultra strong has a diamond-weave texture that's more durable and it cleans better* so you can use less. ahh, much better. hey! you passed the clean test, and your math test. oh yeah! we all go. why not enjoy the go with charmin.

whether you need to lose 10, 20, 50, or over 100 pounds, make the healthy choice with golo. head to golo.com that's g-o-l-o.com

josh mankiewicz (voiceover): her daughter was missing. nancy ekelund began handing out flyers and counting the days without lynsie, ticking them off on little post-it notes. she also went to talk with detective corinne loomis of the placentia police department. nancy wanted corinne to know about her lynsie, how nancy always knew where she was, how they were best friends. it was a speech corinne loomis had heard before.

corinne loomis: it's typical with a lot of parents or family members when they report a missing person. sometimes they give you the idea that this is an idyllic family life because i think there's a fear that if they don't paint a very rosy picture of this person, we're not going to be sympathetic and look for them. that you're not going to work hard. we're not going to work hard. and i think there was a little bit of that with nancy. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): placentia pd was working the case. they brought in the usual suspects, like the boyfriend. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): his name is matthew ramirez. he was at college with lynsie. they'd been on and off a bit, but then-- josh mankiewicz (voiceover): 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.

josh mankiewicz (voiceover): then in came the last person known to have seen her, chris mcamis, 21 years old, out of school. he told the cops he was unemployed. lynsie had met him through friends about four months prior. and it turned out he never drove lynsie to andrea's house for a sleepover. chris said that was a lie lynsie made up for her mother. the real plan was to go clubbing all night in san diego. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): chris told police that when their night of clubbing went bust, they headed home earlier than expected. he dropped off the other girls, he said, and then 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. and he said that lynsie was worried that her mom might hear

his truck pull up at that hour. so chris said lynsie asked to be dropped not off at her house, but here 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. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): chris said he then drove home, and police even found a photo from a bank atm of what looked like chris' truck heading north on the right street at the right time. to the cops, chris' story added up. and that was when police learned matthew and chris were not the only men in lynsie's life. there was someone else who both matthew and chris had mentioned to investigators, an older man who drove lynsie around. no one knew his name. they had heard lynsie refer to him as her friend.

josh mankiewicz (voiceover): nancy had no idea lynsie was friends with any older man. she was about to find out. two days after lynsie vanishes, you get a phone call. yes. you're pretty much at your wits end at this point. yes. and the phone rings, and it's a guy named marty. mm-hm. did you know a marty? no. as far as you know, did lynsie know a marty? no. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): marty told nancy that he'd gone to pick up lynsie at school, but she wasn't there. he said he had money of lynsie's that she needed for tuition. none of that made any sense to nancy. josh mankiewicz: after lynsie goes missing, nancy, her mother, gets a phone call from a guy named marty. marty rossler. and what does marty rossler say to her? marty says that he's befriended lynsie. he's a friend of lynsie's, and he's concerned because he hadn't heard from her. but what did you learn about marty rossler? marty rossler was not marty rossler. marty rossler was really marty prigenser. he did not 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'd often pick lynsie up and give her rides, but that was about it. marty was 58. josh mankiewicz: and she was 20? and she was 20. and they were boyfriend and girlfriend? don't think so. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): so police brought in marty. over two days, they recorded those interviews-- at times on video and sometimes just on audiotape. and marty said that he had last seen lynsie the day that she went to san diego on that friday. did you believe him? we really didn't believe him. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): they didn't believe him because of a tip they had received. a clerk at a local clothing store had called to say she'd seen lynsie and a much older man who matched marty's description together at her store

after the day lynsie went missing. it was a very long, very long interview. friendly? no. no. i remember drilling down on him because i really thought that he might know where lynsie was.

josh mankiewicz (voiceover): marty insisted he couldn't, that he didn't know what had happened to lynsie. detectives weren't buying. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): police searched marty's home and found nothing, no proof that marty had anything to do with lynsie's disappearance. so they moved on to a new suspect, someone closer to lynsie than anyone else on earth. craig melvin (voiceover): "dateline" returns after the break. can neuriva support your brain health? mary. janet. hey! eddie. no! fraser. frank. frank. fred. how are you?

support up to seven brain health indicators, including memory. when you need to remember, remember neuriva. when you see what it's really like when our skin touches wool... you see why we need downy free and gentle with no perfumes or dyes. it not only makes your clothes softer, it is gentle on your skin. it breathes life into your laundry.

josh mankiewicz (voiceover): nancy and lynsie had been it is gentle on your skin. 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.

welcome back to "dateline." 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. mr. clean magic eraser... wow - where has this been my entire life?

having to clean with multiple products is a hassle. with magic eraser... i use it on everyday messes. i even use it on things that i think are impossible to clean. you need mr. clean magic eraser in your life.

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. craig melvin (voiceover): "dateline" returns after the break.

when you want something, you pursue it. and with vitiligo, the pursuit for your pigment is just the same. it's time you found a proven choice to help restore what's yours. opzelura is the only fda-approved prescription treatment for nonsegmental vitiligo repigmentation. restoring what's yours over time. with a steroid-free cream that you can apply yourself. opzelura can lower your ability to fight infections. tell your doctor if you have or had an infection, tb, hepatitis b or c, blood clots in your legs or lungs, heart attack, stroke, cancer, high cholesterol, are a smoker, or pregnant. opzelura may cause serious lung infections, certain cancers, immune system problems, blood clots, and low blood cell counts. major cardiovascular events or death occurred in those 50+ taking oral jak inhibitors. the most common side effects were acne and itching where applied. ask your doctor about opzelura or book a virtual appointment at opzelura.com. repigmentation is possible. can neuriva support

your brain health? mary. janet. hey! eddie. no! fraser. frank. frank. fred. how are you? support up to seven brain health indicators, including memory. when you need to remember, remember neuriva. i'm "aches” and i'm "pains” and we keep you up at night because we're aches and pains support up to seven brain health indicators, including memory. you think you're sore in the morning because of your age. ha ha ha you don't hurt because you're old. you hurt because your mattress stinks. which makes our job a lot easier oh that's going to hurt in the morning. purple is proven to help you rise refreshed. which is awful for us. it's very good news for you. do not go to purple.com do not visit a purple store can a body wash transform your chest, arms, legs? it's olay body wash with skin care ingredients and 10x more vitamin b3 complex. so, in 14 days see visibly better skin. olay body wash. discover yours.

jen b asks, "how can i get fast download speeds while out and about?" jen, we've engineered xfinity mobile with wifi speeds up to a gig, so you can download and do much more all at once. it's an idea that's quite attractive. or... another word... -fashionable? i was gonna say- "popular! you're gonna be pop-uuuu-larrr!" can you do defying gravity?! yeah, get my harness. buy one line of unlimited, get one free for a year with xfinity mobile. and see “wicked,” in theaters now.

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] good morning, and welcome to this saturday edition of morning