all from the company with 99.9% network reliability. get the 5-year price lock guarantee, now back for a limited time. powering five years of savings. powering possibilities™. >> plans from homeserve start at just 4.99 a month. call 1-888-246-2612 or visit homeserve.com. >> that'll do it for me in the saturday show. thanks for watching. there's a lot going on this weekend, so be sure to come back tomorrow for the sunday show. i'll welcome derrick johnson, president of the naacp, marc morial, president of the national urban league, and janai nelson janai nelson, president of the legal defense fund, for a conversation about celebrating mlk day. on the same day as the inauguration of donald trump and what they're watching for in the what they're watching for in the new administratio going to be out at the lake. i'm calling. and we're getting nothing. pete chambers: days and days putting out flyers and just searching. rachel wellhouser: that's all i can think about is i want james.

david marshburn: i'm pretty confident we've got blood spatter on the side window. mike ballard: the last person to see him alive, that's the key. fran funderburg: he would post on facebook different personas, homicidal howie. larry donegan: he will morph to survive. why is he in a bible college? david marshburn: they got a wolf in sheep's clothing. rachel wellhouser: he's now seeing a young woman. that terrifies me. billy west: we did not even have a body. in the case. the evidence was not overwhelming. you literally cannot stop thinking about it. andrea canning: a missing son, a tangled mystery, and a desperate mother on a mission. what keeps you going on these searches? my promise. that's all i got left to give him. and he's worth every mile. [music playing]

what we're going to be doing is a foot search on each side of the banks of the river. what you're looking for is any sign of any remains that may be left. don't leave any stone unturned. andrea canning: it was a long shot, a hail mary, one more look. spring 2021. search teams scoured the thick forest some 40 miles from fayetteville, north carolina. it's going to be difficult, but it's not impossible. everything is possible. andrea canning: among them, a devoted mother, relentless in the face of a shattering loss. she never stopped searching or believing the mystery

could be solved. you have to be really careful when you pull it out. andrea canning: a mystery dating back seven long years, when her son simply vanished. rachel wellhouser: i love him. i promised him. and i'm here till-- until we find him. andrea canning: now, all this time later, could she and the others finally do it-- take a picture of that. andrea canning: --and end the nightmare that's haunted his family for so long. pete chambers: i pray it's part of my son. if it is, it's a long time coming. andrea canning: it all started on a hot and humid afternoon in august 2014, when a weekend of fun awaited james chambers. it was friday, payday, james's getaway day. he just wrapped a busy week working for his dad pete's construction company. on the weekends, he went down

to lake leamon in wallace, north carolina, and was on lifeguard down there. that's where he was supposed to be headed that night. had he always kind of had a love of swimming and the water? yes, loved it, and fishing. yeah, he loved it. andrea canning: and everybody seemed to love james, says his mom, rachel wellhouser. he's 28. he's single. there's a couple of girls he's talking to. he's figuring out which direction he's going. he was good looking. he was popular. he was outgoing. yes. he loved the women. andrea canning: a real people person, remembers his close friend and roommate, brandi sugrue. james was smart. he was very witty. he was caring. he cared about people. andrea canning: james's parents were divorced. but he remained close with both and always kept in touch. pete chambers says his son was someone you could count on. if he told you he was going to be there, he'd be there.

did you always kind of know-- always. andrea canning: --when he was coming and going. pete chambers: always. he would call, text. he would do something to let me know where he was at. andrea canning: in fact, james spoke to his mom the day before he was supposed to leave for the lake. do you remember how you ended the call. like always, i love you. i miss you. did you hear from him again over text? no. andrea canning: neither did his roommate, brandi, who said that by sunday, james hadn't returned home. brandi sugrue: we all thought that james was off doing james things. he's found a girl he likes. and he's just holed up somewhere for a few days. and then he'll pop back up. andrea canning: but as a new week began, still no james. monday morning he's supposed to be at work. doesn't show. pete chambers: doesn't show. - what's your first thought. no show. i tried calling him, texting him, never anything about him. so then i said, well, i'll just let it go for a day or so. and then tuesday shows up and he's not here.

andrea canning: rachel was now in a panic. i start blowing up his phone. i left a message. marco. andrea canning: "marco." that was her family's emergency code word. my daughter and my husband and myself always knew we had to have a safety word to contact immediately. james didn't. that must have spoke volumes to you. i was screaming inside. 5 minutes, 10 minutes, an hour goes away. james has always immediately responded to anything. andrea canning: by now, james's roommate, brandi, was also worried, and called his manager at the lake. brandi sugrue: the lake said he never showed up. i was kind of gobsmacked at that moment. i did-- i was like, what do you mean he didn't show up? they said like, nah, he didn't show up. so at that point, it was kind of a deer in the headlights moment.

andrea canning: especially when brandi realized what james had left behind. his driver's license, his dog. at that point, that was when it set in, hey, something's not right. andrea canning: maybe james had suddenly changed plans about leaving for the lake. if so, he didn't tell rachel where anyone else for that matter. rachel wellhouser: i'm an absolute basket case because i know james. were you holding out any hope that maybe he's been in an accident? maybe he's not able? i was hoping that the vehicle was off on an embankment or somewhere, somewhere i could find him. and we hit the roads. andrea canning: crisscrossing every back road in the county, little did rachel realize her journey to find her son was just beginning and would take her tens of thousands of miles to places she could have never imagined.

coming up, what had happened to james? his parents take the next step. kind of scary going to the police because you're almost sort of acknowledging-- pete chambers: yeah. andrea canning: --that this could be really bad yeah, that's all i want to know is where he was at. andrea canning: would it be another dead end? just not taking you seriously enough, is that how you felt? yes. like, how do you know he's not off on a trip somewhere? yes. but i was screaming, "i know my son." andrea canning: when dateline continues. (vo) you were diagnosed with thyroid eye disease a long time ago. and year after year, you weathered the storm and just lived with the damage that was left behind. but even after all this time your thyroid eye disease could still change. restoration is still possible. learn how you could give your eyes a fresh start at tedhelp.com.

gold bond believes touch says everything. it says... i see you. i feel you. and...i know you. gold bond. get in touch with irresistibly touchable skin. when winter season hits emergen-c supports your immune system with so much more than vitamin c. be ready to fight back with emergen-c and for on-the-go immune support try emergen-c crystals. no water needed. for something different? try our new meal plans that support your high protein or low carb diet over 50 and fabulous! check out the women's over 50 program and reduce harmful belly fat by 8% in your first month. >> low carb, high protein and women's health. >> and we all lost weight with

nutrisystem. nutrisystem. >> o if you take or have taken humira for moderate to severe crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis and still have symptoms... you don't have to settle. ask your gastroenterologist if switching to rinvoq is right for you. it's one of the latest treatments from the makers of humira. rinvoq works differently than humira and may help. rinvoq is a once-daily pill that can deliver rapid symptom relief, lasting steroid-free remission, and helps visibly reduce damage of the intestinal lining. rinvoq can lower ability to fight infections. before treatment, test for tb and do bloodwork. serious infections, blood clots, some fatal; ...cancers, including lymphoma and skin; serious allergic reactions; gi tears; death; heart attack; and stroke occurred. cv event risk increases in age 50 plus with a heart disease risk factor. tell your doctor if you've had these events, infection, hep b or c, smoked, are pregnant or planning. don't take if allergic or have an infection. rapid symptom relief and lasting steroid-free remission are possible with rinvoq. ask your gastroenterologist to switching to rinvoq is right for you. you could pay as little as $0 per month.

the thompsons' new front door looks sharp, right? to switching to rinvoq is right for you. did we need to wave her down to tell her that? no. no. for a young homeowner turning into their parents, the neighborhood is their life. wonder who's visiting the burkes. that's not their car. hey, guys. who's winning? [ giggles ] now most of the neighborhood uses progressive -for their cars and house. -okay. she didn't ask. ohhhh! [ sighs ] progressive can't save you from becoming your parents. but we can save you money when you bundle home and auto with us. here he comes...like clockwork. [ giggles ] where was james chambers. the young man who kept in constant contact with his family had simply disappeared. i start getting in touch with different ones of his friends. no one has seen him. jessica, his sister, she is posting all over facebook, trying to find where he's at. she's calling. i'm calling.

and we're getting nothing. andrea canning: five days passed with hope fading that james would somehow show up. his father, pete, made the one call everyone dreaded. something's not right. i need to call and make a police report. kind of scary going to the police, too, because you're almost sort of acknowledging that this could be really bad. yeah. that's all i want to know is where he was at. andrea canning: the fayetteville police department launched a missing person investigation. pretty routine, but it was not routine for rachel. years earlier, she'd made a promise to james, and was determined to keep it. i have a meeting. pete has a meeting. we're all meeting with the police. i think we're driving the police crazy. andrea canning: what are they telling you as far as what they're doing, what they've learned? james was a strong young man. he wasn't five. how did i know that he just didn't pick up? andrea canning: like most missing person cases, police believe james would eventually turn up.

just not taking you seriously enough, is that how you felt? yes. like, how do you know he's not off on a trip somewhere? yes. but i was screaming, "i know my son." andrea canning: this wasn't the first time rachel had felt so helpless. six years earlier, she lost her younger son, michael, to muscular dystrophy. now, the prospect that james could also be gone was becoming a painful reality. i know when that word marco came out and it did not come back, and there had been no report of an accident, i knew my son was not with me anymore. andrea canning: two weeks passed. still, no sign of james anywhere. so the missing persons unit turned the case over to the homicide division and veteran detective mike ballard. this is like he fell off the face of the earth. based on my experience, we weren't going

to find mr. chambers alive. you thought that very quickly after you got the case? mike ballard: we found out there was no contact with family. i didn't think he would be found alive. andrea canning: ballard kept that to himself as he started interviewing james's inner circle, quickly learning about the last day anyone saw him alive. chambers went to work that day. the roommates took him to work. and howard brought him home. andrea canning: howard, as detective ballard discovered, was howard ashleman, a fun loving 21-year-old coworker of james's, hired by pete. he was a nice young boy. he was polite, respectful. this was a good employee. yeah, he was. he worked out pretty good. andrea canning: howard lived in this country house with an older couple named the bensons, who knew his family and helped him get a job with pete. in fact, pete had asked howard for a favor the day his son disappeared. i said, all right, howard, do you mind taking james home?

he said, no, i have no problem. andrea canning: so detective ballard wanted to learn more about howard. raised by a religious family in illinois, howard later moved to north carolina. turns out he had been interviewed by the missing persons unit several days earlier. so ballard studied the tape as howard discussed his relationship with james. howard was soft spoken, polite, and seemed eager to help. howard recalled how he took james to buy liquor, then went to james's house where they had some drinks. howard said he left before it got dark. so this is the last sighting by anybody of james. all contact with family, social media, he disappeared

from everything, everything. andrea canning: howard then detailed what he did the rest of the evening. i stopped in there. >> he was out at the barbecue. >> he was out at the barbecue. >> the surveillance video confirmed howard's account of being with james chambers that afternoon. but what happened after he dropped james off remained a mystery. given their late start, homicide detectives were now playing catch up. and it would cost them. mike ballard: we done lost a tremendous amount of time. we was behind the eight ball. andrea canning: but sitting just a mile from the police station was a strange but significant clue. if they could still find it. coming up-- fran funderburg: i could just almost hear the desperation in her post as though i were hearing her voice, to say,

someone, please just help us find james. andrea canning: a stranger comes to a mother's rescue. without her guidance, there is no way i'd have been prepared for this journey. she was like your guardian angel. yes. andrea canning: when dateline continues. >> blink. relief. work. play. blink. relief. blink. relief. >> the only my mental health was better. but uncontrollable movements called td,tardive dyskinesia, started disrupting my day. td felt embarrassing. i felt like disconnecting. i asked my doctor about treating my td, and learned about ingrezza. ♪ ingrezza ♪ ingrezza is clinically proven to treat td, quickly reducing td by greater than five times at two weeks. number-one prescribed ingrezza has dosing that's always one pill, once daily.

and you can keep taking most mental health meds. ingrezza can cause depression, suicidal thoughts, or actions in patients with huntington's disease. call your doctor if you become depressed, have sudden behavior or mood changes, or suicidal thoughts. don't take ingrezza if allergic. serious side effects may include allergic reactions like sudden, potentially fatal swelling and hives, sleepiness, the most common side effect, and heart rhythm problems. know how ingrezza affects you before operating a car or dangerous machinery. report fever, stiff muscles, or problems thinking, as these might be life threatening. shaking, stiffness, drooling, and trouble with moving or balance may occur. take control by asking your doctor about ingrezza. ♪ ingrezza ♪ naturally. it's odor and taste free with g let's say you're deep in a show or a game or the game. on a train, at home, at work.

okay, maybe not at work. point is at xfinity. we're constantly engineering new ways to get the entertainment you love to you faster and easier than ever. that's what i do. is that love island? month. >> call 1-833-735-4495 or visit homeserve. >> com the second inauguration of donald trump morning joe kicks off coverage. then at 10

a.m, rachel maddow and team will bring you key moments of the day, followed by analysis from our prime time anchors as the new term begins monday, new term begins monday, beginning at six on msnbc. fayetteville police were chasing every lead, checking locations, interviewing virtually anybody who knew james chambers, including his roommate, brandi sugrue. brandi sugrue: we don't know where he is. we haven't heard anything from him. andrea canning: james's mom, rachel, and sister, jessica, feared the worst. so they posted an urgent message on facebook, pleading for help. it was seen by people all over the country. a lot of people saying they were praying for us. and that meant so much that someone is praying for your son to come home. andrea canning: that facebook message just happened to catch the eye of a woman named fran funderburg.

i could just almost hear the desperation in her post as though i were hearing her voice, to say, someone, please just help us find james. andrea canning: fran was a longtime volunteer with klaas kids, an organization that assists families whose children are missing or exploited. it was founded after the disappearance of polly klaas in 1993, a tragic story that captured worldwide attention. reporter: police are searching for any sign of 12-year-old polly klaas. andrea canning: fran reached out to james's family, then drove 90 minutes to rachel's house. when i opened the door, and she said, hi, i'm with klaas kids, and we are here to help you, i felt like a lifeline. andrea canning: you needed that at that moment. oh, yeah, because i was falling apart. one of the first things that i said to rachel is you, from this moment forward, you

are the voice for your child. andrea canning: fran immediately put a plan into place and gave rachel a reality check on what to expect. this may not happen tomorrow, and this may take years. without her guidance, there is no way i'd have been prepared for this journey. andrea canning: as a team, they were two sides of the same coin. i was completely in it with my heart, every bit of me. and i needed someone to come in and with a mind to go with my heart. and she was the one that came in. she was like your guardian angel. yes. how did you feel about fran getting involved? i was glad. i mean, they had resources and contacts. and if we needed to do a search or something, they were able to put people together. well, you were welcoming all the help you could get. all of it. andrea canning: fran and rachel circulated thousands of flyers and canvassed

countless neighborhoods as search teams scoured the forests surrounding fayetteville. pete chambers: we walked days and days putting out flyers and just searching anywhere we thought it might be. but nothing. nothing, nothing at all. andrea canning: it was around this time that pete told fran about howard ashleman. he had a hunch howard might know more than he was letting on, and suggested that fran, who had experience with these types of cases, talk to howard. so they met at this restaurant. what were your first impressions? oh, he was charming. he was very cordial, very polite. we wanted to understand what his last encounter with james was. andrea canning: once again, howard gave the same story he told the missing persons unit. but to fran, the way he answered her questions was a little strange. fran funderburg: sometimes he's very forthcoming.

and other times, there's a long pause, as though he's thinking of his answer. so that did make us concerned about how truthful he was actually being. did you ever ask him, did you have anything to do with james's disappearance? absolutely. what did he say? no. andrea canning: so they wrapped up the meeting, which ended as warmly as it started. when he left, we embraced. and i said, hang in there. when the police come to you, cooperate. and they'll be done with you. andrea canning: but detectives weren't done with him, especially after they checked out something odd howard said during his police interview. it was about his truck, the one he gave james a ride home in. not only sold it, howard said he sold it to a scrap yard, of all places.

sure enough, detectives found surveillance video that showed his truck being towed into the yard, just five days after james disappeared. blew it up doing donuts and burning rubber on the road for fun. howard said it wrecked the engine. so he scrapped the truck. all of which seemed very strange to detective mike ballard. mike ballard: why would you scrap a truck? if the engine locks up, you replace an engine. once they crush it, it's gone. it didn't make sense. andrea canning: but to pete chambers, it was starting to make sense. pete remembered confronting howard at work a few days after james disappeared. the very next day, howard sold the truck. and-- he never showed back up for work. that's odd yeah, very odd. andrea canning: odd? yes. but incriminating?

not really. detectives had nothing solid linking howard to james's disappearance. but little did anyone know that a stunning list of new names would soon surface, leading to a prime suspect. coming up-- mike ballard: he just lost all color in his face when he seen us walk in because he's been ignoring us and avoiding us. and we asked him if he would talk to us. andrea canning: someone knew much more than they were saying. he was with howard ashleman on the evening that james chambers went missing. andrea canning: but he didn't want to talk to police. he says, not without a warrant. so something's up with him, you feel like? something's up with him. andrea canning: when dateline continues. with dupixent, stay ahead of moderate-to-severe eczema. as you welcome the feeling of touch with clearer skin and less itch. the #1 prescribed biologic by dermatologists and allergists, helps heal your skin from within. severe allergic reactions can occur. get help right away for face, mouth, tongue or throat swelling, wheezing or trouble breathing.

tell your doctor of new or worsening eye problems, like eye pain, vision changes, or blurred vision, joint aches and pain, or a parasitic infection. don't change or stop asthma or other medicines without talking to your doctor. ask your doctor about dupixent. an alternative to pills, voltaren is a clinically proven arthritis pain relief gel, which penetrates deep to target the source of pain with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medicine directly at the source. voltaren, the joy of movement. upset stomach iberogast indigestion iberogast bloating iberogast thanks to a unique combination of herbs, iberogast helps relieve six digestive symptoms to help you feel better. six digestive symptoms. the power of nature. iberogast. if you take or have taken humira for moderate to severe crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis and still have symptoms... you don't have to settle. ask your gastroenterologist if switching to rinvoq is right for you. it's one of the latest treatments from the makers of humira.

rinvoq works differently than humira and may help. rinvoq is a once-daily pill that can deliver rapid symptom relief, lasting steroid-free remission, and helps visibly reduce damage of the intestinal lining. rinvoq can lower ability to fight infections. before treatment, test for tb and do bloodwork. serious infections, blood clots, some fatal; ...cancers, including lymphoma and skin; serious allergic reactions; gi tears; death; heart attack; and stroke occurred. cv event risk increases in age 50 plus with a heart disease risk factor. tell your doctor if you've had these events, infection, hep b or c, smoked, are pregnant or planning. don't take if allergic or have an infection. rapid symptom relief and lasting steroid-free remission are possible with rinvoq. ask your gastroenterologist to switching to rinvoq is right for you. you could pay as little as $0 per month. i guess what i'm looking for from you is, i mean, i know how the fire affected me, and there's always a constant fear that who's to say something like that won't happen again? that's fair. we committed to underground, 10,000 miles of electric line. you look back at where we were 10 years ago

and we are in a completely different place today, and it's because of how we need to care for our communities and our customers. i hope that's true. [joe] that's my commitment. [ambient noise] honey love.com. >> hi, i'm richard lui with the news update. >> israel's prime minister instructing the idf that the cease fire and hostage release in gaza set to take effect at 130 eastern time a m, will not

begin until israel has a list of freed hostages from hamas. 33 israeli hostages are set to be released, including two israeli americans, in exchange for more than 1300 palestinian prisoners and detainees. and according to a document reviewed by nbc news, immigration and customs enforcement officials are planning a major operation that will target immigrants following the inauguration set to last several days. for now, back to several days. for now, back to dateline. fall 2014 was approaching in fayetteville. james chambers had been missing for over a month. and while the weather was cooling, detectives and district attorney billy west were feeling heat from the family. at this point, we did not even have a body in the case. we didn't know if it was a missing persons case or a homicide case. and all we had were some stories from howard

ashleman that did not add up. andrea canning: so detectives brought him in for yet another interview. howard told basically the same story. but he did add a few intriguing new details. where were you at for the whole where were you at for the whole evening? except detectives had checked howard's cell phone records. and they showed he was not exactly where he said he was. okay, so that means you within this three mile radius, that means you're not at home. i think i can explain it. okay, well, explain it to me. reno's house is in here reno's house is in here somewhere. okay? he

who was reno? and why would he have howard's phone for two hours? detectives learned his full name was reno parks, and that he sometimes hung out with howard. we didn't know a whole lot about him. but what really stood out was that he was with howard ashleman on the evening that james chambers went missing. andrea canning: then howard admitted something else. he was with reno parks after that barbecue across the street. he said reno needed to treat a cut on his finger. so howard went to the hospital with him around 3:00 am. as his story kept growing, so did detectives' suspicions. right now to tell me the truth. you have not told me that truth since you walked in that door. yes, i know you have not. that's the only thing i want for you today, howard, is the truth. i'm

today, howard, is the truth. i'm sorry. i mean, som for the rest of the interview, howard didn't offer much more. but he did give detectives and the da a new lead, reno parks. reno spent quite a bit of time with howard ashleman. they socialized together. i think there maybe was some criminal record there. andrea canning: reno parks was now out on parole. but he was hard to track down. so detective ballard did a little research on when parks would be at the probation office, and paid him a surprise visit. mike ballard: he just lost all color in his face when he seen us walk in because he's been ignoring us and avoiding us. and we asked him if he would talk to us. he says not without a warrant. do you think it could just be though, at this point, that this guy just really doesn't like the police because he hasn't been so upstanding? because at that point in time, we didn't have any pressing questions for him. we just wanted to get general background. but he was avoiding us like a plague. he didn't want to talk to us. so something's up with him. something's up with reno parks. we felt like reno parks, at this time,

knew something or had something to do with it. andrea canning: with reno and howard having clammed up, rachel and fran moved ahead with their own online investigation, hoping to learn more about who howard ashleman really was. i knew i was piecing together the personality of the person that was with my son last. and we started watching. andrea canning: watching howard by watching his facebook page. i started to learn a lot about him. i was consumed by that. when you work on social media, it's like a spider trail. one person leads to another. and rachel was doing the same thing. rachel wellhouser: if i was awake, i was on social media. it kind of takes on a life of its own. it snowballs. you think you're looking at one person. but if you go from one person into their friends, and you start tagging from friend to friend,

and you see the list there of names, that's how i found 12 howards. andrea canning: did you get that? 12 different howards, 12 unique facebook accounts, according to fran and rachel, each with its own persona. rachel wellhouser: it started out where he was doing a thuggish look. and then he transformed over to a intellectual college look. but all along, he's going under 12 different names. howard ashleman, he was adrian manson. manson? there were just a myriad of different names and personas and photos that he would post on facebook. andrea canning: and they also found one more rather chilling reference to howard. rachel wellhouser: homicidal howie. andrea canning: he's calling himself that? rachel wellhouser: yes, and manson.

these are very, very disturbing pages. andrea canning: even more disturbing were some of the things fran and rachel believed howard and his friends were sharing on facebook. you want to read this one? this was one of the earlier posts. i never knew much about people until i took one apart just to see how it worked. that's pretty daunting. this really became a job for you two, just scrolling and searching and looking for clues. anything just to try to find james. andrea canning: some of the posts were bizarre, ranging from cannibalism to burning things. fran also said there were references to violence and weapons. this is a post by howard using his pseudo name. he says you might shoot fast, but i shoot faster. bust your [hum] ass like a big contractor. andrea canning: it was hard to make sense of what howard was up to or why.

fran and rachel wondered if they were just attention seeking posts from a 20-something kid. or maybe there were cryptic clues about what happened to james, like howard's exchanges with his facebook friends. sleeping with the fishes. his friend posted that? we don't do drive-bys. we do walk-ups. howard responded, "you already know." and in your mind, are you connecting this to james? yes. andrea canning: they turned the posts over to police. and even though detectives also believe they came from howard, there wasn't much they could do with them. you can't arrest someone based on that facebook post. it's not evidence. andrea canning: so the case sat on the shelf. months passed. then it was christmas, the first christmas without james. how are you coping? i'm not. i'm just desperate.

i want james. and that's all i can think about is i want james. andrea canning: but the new year would bring stunning new leads and a new investigator-- rico, find. andrea canning: --who you just might remember from dateline. smell something up here? andrea canning: coming up, a local legend hits the jackpot. david marshburn: that was like a gold mine. we started inspecting it. and sure enough, we've got spatter on the side window. it's still there. we've spatter on the radio. andrea canning: and howard ashleman faces new trouble. i warned her, you need to be careful. and that was when it came about that he had beat the teeth off of her. andrea canning: when dateline continues. have you always had trouble with your weight? same. discover the power of wegovy®.

with wegovy®, i lost 35 pounds. and some lost over 46 pounds. and i'm keeping the weight off. i'm reducing my risk. wegovy® is the only weight-management medicine proven to reduce risk of major cardiovascular events such as death, heart attack, or stroke in adults with known heart disease and obesity. don't use wegovy® with semaglutide or glp-1 medicines, or in children under 12. don't take if you or your family had mtc, men 2, or if allergic to it. tell your provider if you plan to have surgery or a procedure, are breastfeeding, pregnant, or plan to be. stop taking and get medical help right away if you get a lump or swelling in your neck, severe stomach pain, or any of these allergic reactions. serious side effects may include pancreas inflammation and gallbladder problems. call your prescriber if you have any of these symptoms. wegovy® may cause low blood sugar in people with diabetes, especially if you take medicines to treat diabetes. call your prescriber about vision changes, if you feel your heart racing while at rest, or if you have mental changes. depression or thoughts of suicide may occur.

common side effects include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, stomach pain, flu, or upset, headache, feeling tired, dizzy, or bloated, gas, and heartburn. some side effects lead to dehydration, which may cause kidney problems. with wegovy®, i'm losing weight, i'm keeping it off, and i'm lowering my cv risk. ask your prescriber about wegovy®. >> try dulcolax kiwi fruit bites for fast and gentle constipation for fast and gentle constipation relief patients who have sensitive teeth but also want whiter teeth they have to make a choice one versus the other. sensodyne clinical white provides two shades whiter teeth as well as providing 24/7 sensitivity protection. patients are going to love to see sensodyne on the shelf. i told myself i was ok with my moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis symptoms... ...with my psoriatic arthritis symptoms.

but just ok isn't ok. and i was done settling. if you still have symptoms after trying a tnf blocker like humira or enbrel, rinvoq works differently. rinvoq is a once-daily pill that can rapidly relieve joint pain, stiffness, and swelling as fast as 2 weeks for some. and even at the 3-year mark, many people felt this relief. rinvoq can stop joint damage. and in psa, can leave skin clear or almost clear. rinvoq can lower ability to fight infections. before treatment, test for tb and do bloodwork. serious infections, blood clots, some fatal; ...cancers, including lymphoma and skin; serious allergic reactions; gi tears; death; heart attack; and stroke occurred. cv event risk increases in age 50 plus with a heart disease risk factor. tell your doctor if you've had these events, infection, hep b or c, smoked, are pregnant or planning. don't take if allergic or have an infection. done settling? ask your rheumatologist for rinvoq. and take back what's yours. (♪♪)

and six long and painfulrs. months after her son james disappeared, rachel wellhouser and her second husband, dennis, made a tough decision. they moved out of state. in trying to find james, rachel was beginning to lose herself. i was obsessed. i'd have walked north carolina looking for him. if i wasn't on the computer, i was looking. my husband thought the only way i'm going to save me is to get me out of here where i'm not looking over every bridge, looking at every field. so he took me to texas. andrea canning: even 1,200 miles away in dallas, the obsession didn't leave her. rachel continued hunting howard ashleman on social media. are you starting to become more suspicious of howard ashleman the more you learn about him? when i'm seeing some of the posts he's putting up, he's terrifying me because he's out there. andrea canning: then during the summer of 2015

came another post involving howard. only this one wasn't on facebook, but rather the criminal court docket. howard ashleman was charged in a domestic violence incident with a young lady he was in a relationship with at the time. andrea canning: james's roommate, brandy, was facebook friends with the woman, and clearly remembered the allegations. i warned her, you need to be careful. and that was when it came about that he had beat the teeth off of her. andrea canning: howard was charged, a court date set, but-- billy west: we were not able to proceed to trial. and the case was ultimately dismissed. andrea canning: dismissed because the woman didn't attend a pre-trial hearing. she was so scared of him, she was afraid to see him in court. andrea canning: the james chambers case wasn't looking too promising either, even though the da now considered howard the prime suspect.

billy west: we simply did not have enough evidence to charge him with any crimes related to the disappearance of james chambers. we did not have a body to build our investigation upon. so it was going cold. andrea canning: but james's father, pete, was hot, furious that the investigation had stalled. he desperately wanted fresh eyes on the case. my brother and i were talking one day. and he said, let's contact david. andrea canning: david was david marshburn, a private investigator pete had seen on tv. marshburn is known for finding missing people on his own time and own dime. he had become a local legend after cracking a cold case in 2014 involving a missing army medic, a story we covered on dateline. how daunting of a task was it? it's not that easy to find it. andrea canning: marshburn had secured a confession and even found the body. after hearing pete's story about his son's disappearance,

he signed on immediately. the james chambers case seemed to be one that could be solved in a reasonable time. it was just something about this case that just clicked, made us want to get deeper into it. with your skill set, you felt like, i can really help on this one. yes, ma'am. andrea canning: marshburn got right to work. david marshburn: i asked pete, could we get on the property of the bensons? and that's where howard was living. and pete said, well, i think we can make that work. andrea canning: the bensons were the couple who had taken howard in after he moved to north carolina. happened to be mr. benson was not there. mrs. benson was. she didn't like howard. she said, search all you want to. david marshburn: we get the dog out and have him start looking around. andrea canning: your cadaver dog, kaz. did kaz hit on anything? he did. the first thing he did was he went to these two abandoned vehicles.

andrea canning: when pete took a closer look, he hit the jackpot. david marshburn: you could see the expression on his face, oh my god. i'm like, what? he said, these are the truck parts. these are all howard's truck that he tore apart. andrea canning: remember, howard sold his truck for scrap right after james disappeared. but now it turned out he'd kept some parts, significant ones like windows, the radio, even seat belts. david marshburn: that was like a gold mine. we started inspecting it. and sure enough, we've got blood spatter on the side window. it's still there. we've got blood spatter on the radio. so this is at least what you think it is? i'm pretty confident at this point in time because this is high velocity spatter right here. andrea canning: --suggesting someone

may have been shot inside the truck. fayetteville police were also at the scene, and collected the parts to have them tested for dna. pete chambers: maybe we have something now that we can prove that howard did this. andrea canning: while they waited for the results, marshburn had another idea, see if reno parks would talk. reno wasn't hard to find. he was locked up on a robbery rap. so marshburn arranged a meeting at the prison. david marshburn: i said, reno, i have this evidence. and he's interested now because he's like, wait a minute, what evidence? i thought it was all gone. i showed him a picture of the seat belt with the bloodstain, the radio, and the windows. what was his reaction? he shook his head, looked at them. and i said, you can either be a witness or a defendant. it's up to you. did he start talking? he looked at the pictures, looked down, and next thing i know, when he looks up, he's crying.

he's got tears streaming down his face. and he said, what do you need to know? nothing would ever prepare me for what would come next. andrea canning: coming up, murder is one thing. this was the stuff of nightmares. david marshburn: i called the dad. and i said, pete-- you don't want to know. and that's when he told me. andrea canning: when dateline continues. if you take or have taken humira for moderate to severe crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis and still have symptoms... you don't have to settle. ask your gastroenterologist if switching to rinvoq is right for you. it's one of the latest treatments from the makers of humira. rinvoq works differently than humira and may help. rinvoq is a once-daily pill that can deliver rapid symptom relief, lasting steroid-free remission, and helps visibly reduce damage of the intestinal lining. rinvoq can lower ability to fight infections.

before treatment, test for tb and do bloodwork. serious infections, blood clots, some fatal; ...cancers, including lymphoma and skin; serious allergic reactions; gi tears; death; heart attack; and stroke occurred. cv event risk increases in age 50 plus with a heart disease risk factor. tell your doctor if you've had these events, infection, hep b or c, smoked, are pregnant or planning. don't take if allergic or have an infection. rapid symptom relief and lasting steroid-free remission are possible with rinvoq. ask your gastroenterologist to switching to rinvoq is right for you. you could pay as little as $0 per month. meat. real veggies for peter. meat. real veggies for peter. >> that's peter. should [coughing] hi susan, honey? yea. i respect that, but that cough looks pretty bad. try this robitussin honey. the real honey you love, plus the powerful cough relief you need. mind if i root through your trash? robitussin, with real honey & elderberry.

how are folks 60 and older having fun these days? family cookouts! ♪♪ playing games! ♪♪ dancing in the par... (high pitched sound) (high pitched sound) (high pitched sound)

pete g. writes, "my tween wants a new phone. how do i not (hbreak the bank?"d) we got you, pete. xfinity mobile was designed to save you money and gives you access to wifi speeds up to a gig. so you get high speeds for low prices. better than getting low speeds for high prices. right, bruce? -jealous? yeah, look at that. -honestly. someone get a helmet on this guy. xfinity internet customers, get a free unlimited line for a year when you buy one unlimited line. supportive. no back fat. never. it's fun. it's beautiful. it's supportive. free 30 day return. supportive. free 30 day return. >> shop now at honey love.com. inside these prison walls, david marshburn could feel it. he had reno parks primed and ready to reveal what happened to james chambers. and i said, i need to know where this boy is. and is he, like, nervous? how's his demeanor as he's telling you this? he's nervous. he's just doing like this. and he'd look up at me, and said,

this boy did not deserve this. and next thing i know, we get interrupted by a jailer. he said, man, we got to cut this short because now they're having count. i said, dude, you need to call the warden and tell him i need more time. this guy just told me that this boy is dead. i need to know who done it, where he is, and what happened to him. so he calls the warden. the warden said, most i can give you 15 minutes. but this is strict. andrea canning: marshburn had limited time with reno. so he got him talking about how it all started. he says that reno remembered hanging out at that barbecue across the street from howard's house, when soon all hell broke loose. david marshburn: he said howard stopped at the beginning of the driveway, got out of his truck, went to the back of the truck, lowered the tailgate, got out a gun, raised it up, and just shot right into the back window

of his truck. this is huge. it is. he said, i saw him shot. andrea canning: reno insisted he wasn't involved in the shooting. but his story was horrific. he said howard first hid the body on the bensons' property. then two days later, he tried to burn it. when that didn't work, reno said howard did the unthinkable. david marshburn: and he is bawling at this point in time. and he said, man, please tell that mom and dad i'm sorry. i'm sorry. he said, he cut him up. andrea canning: cut him up, reno explained, by actually dismembering the body, and putting it into thick plastic bags. with his time in the prison running out, marshburn still needed reno to reveal the most crucial detail of all, what howard did with james's body.

david marshburn: as i'm trying to leave, i said, well, where did he put him? he said, over a bridge. it was concrete, had columns. reno said he was with howard when he threw the bags? yes, he rode with him. andrea canning: was reno parks's story for real? we tried reaching out to him but never heard back. reno, remember, had a rap sheet. how reliable was he as a witness? marshburn believed him. and now, as he was leaving the prison came the most difficult part of all. i called the dad. and i said, pete-- you don't want to know. and that's when he told me. andrea canning: he told you what happened. that howard shot him in the back-- the back of the head and, tried to burn him, then cut him up into pieces.

[sobbing] i'm so sorry. cut him up into pieces and put them in bags, and throw him in the damn river like he was trash. andrea canning: after 18 months, he finally had some answers, assuming reno was telling the truth. if so, perhaps pete and rachel could bring their son home, and maybe bring howard ashleman to justice. by now, there was a new fayetteville detective on the case, larry donegan had taken the lead. i got promoted to homicide. it was one of those, hey, this cold case is yours. andrea canning: detective donegan later learned about that disturbing interview with reno parks, and discussed the details with marshburn. but donegan wanted to conduct his own interrogation with parks on tape to make sure it would hold up in court.

he declined. he didn't even want to talk to us. did you try to interview howard again? i wanted something new to throw in front of him, to try and get him to a point like, uh-oh, they got me. that's what we try to do the dna. andrea canning: the dna-- remember the truck parts that howard saved, the ones which appeared to be stained with blood? maybe that blood would match james's dna. detective donegan expedited extensive tests at two different labs. the seat belts were tested. yes. andrea canning: and? nothing, nothing. too much time had passed? yeah, everything was inconclusive. big, big let down. and it goes, you're back to square one. andrea canning: digging deeper into the case file, detective donegan reviewed all those police interviews with howard and all his suspected facebook pages. larry donegan: watching him change, he seemed to be an individual that can move

through different crowds. and everything just kept leading back towards howard, that he was the primary key to the case. andrea canning: so donegan went to the house where howard lived with the benson family for a look around. he found nothing. but he did encounter ruth benson. that's where i found out kind of howard was a hunter. he had access to mr. benson's guns. and then she made a comment about howard, where she refers to howard as homicide howie. mrs. benson is calling him homicide howie? that name, much like the one rachel and fran had discovered. ruth benson told us that she called him homicide howie because she said he had killed a friend's dog. but police suspected the nickname really referred to what howard did to james. did you start to feel like this is an open secret, how people feel about howard and what he may have done? yes, i believe the bensons knew more,

and the same with his circle of friends. andrea canning: but the bensons told detectives and also us they were unaware of any crime howard might have committed against james. as for howard, the day detective donegan visited the bensons' property, he wasn't there. turns out howard would soon disappear, and leave fayetteville far behind. coming up, a mother's vow to her son. he says, just promise. and i said, i promise, i promise, james. andrea canning: when dateline continues. the itch and rash of moderate to severe eczema disrupts my skin, night and day. despite treatment, it's still not under control. but now, i have rinvoq. rinvoq is a once-daily pill... that reduces the itch... and helps clear the rash of eczema—

...fast. some taking rinvoq felt significant itch relief as early as 2 days. and some achieved dramatic skin clearance... as early as 2 weeks. many saw clear or almost-clear skin. rinvoq can lower ability to fight infections. before treatment, test for tb and do bloodwork. serious infections, blood clots, some fatal... cancers, including lymphoma and skin; serious allergic reactions; gi tears; death; heart attack; and stroke occurred. cv event risk increases in age 50 plus with a heart disease risk factor. tell your doctor if you've had these events, infection, hep b or c, smoked, are pregnant or planning. don't take if allergic or have an infection. ♪♪ disrupt the itch & rash of eczema. talk to your dermatologist about rinvoq. learn how abbvie can help you save. dramatically reduces redness in one minute. >> and look at the difference. >> my eyes look brighter and >> my eyes look brighter and whiter for

hank used to suffer from what felt like a cold & flu medicine hangover in the morning. ha ha. haha! then he switched to mucinex nightshift. mucinex is uniquely formulated to leave your system faster, so you wake up ready to go. uhh, hank! try mucinex nightshift and feel the difference. the wildlife series that started them all is back. join us every saturday morning on nbc for mutual of omaha's wild kingdom: protecting the wild. and celebrate conservation success stories. stream all episodes on peacock or nbc.com if you're frustrated with occasional bloating or gas, your body's giving you signs. it's time to try align. align probiotic was specifically designed by gastroenterologists to help relieve your occasional bloating and gas. when you feel the signs, it's time to try align. us music playing] to help relieve your occasional bloating and gas. [car engine running] andrea canning: it's a long drive from texas to north

carolina, 20 tedious hours. but every few months, rachel returned to the carolina countryside to search for her son, often alone, sometimes with her husband dennis. this is where we started out today. yeah, this is-- need more here. andrea canning: going off some of the grim details of reno parks's story and her own intuition, rachel would tromp through the thick forest along rivers and streams, combing the brush, surveying every bridge, searching for any trace of her son, something she could bring back home to give james a proper burial. if i can't find him in 50 miles, i'll put 100 miles. andrea canning: you'll expand your grid. yes, till i find him. is this something you'll do until you just can't do it anymore? i'll do it till i die.

andrea canning: what keeps you going on these searches? my love, my promise. andrea canning: her promise-- remember when james first went missing and rachel was frantically trying to fulfill a promise by finding out where he was? turns out that promise was one she'd made years earlier when james's little brother michael died. the day of the funeral, when we were walking away from michael's casket and james touched my arm and says mom, if something ever happens to me, put me by michael. and i begged. i said, james, please don't ask me that. you couldn't bear it, losing another son. no. and he says, just promise. and i said, i promise. i promised james. andrea canning: so rachel tried to fulfill that promise,

one step, one stream, and one bridge at a time, in all kinds of wilderness and weather. this rugged area makes searching very difficult-- thick forests, swampy terrain, wild animals, deadly snakes, not to mention how many years have gone by. andrea canning: the region had also seen a major hurricane and several other severe storms which could have washed away any trace of james. so it wasn't surprising that all of rachel's searching led absolutely nowhere. do you ever want to give up? no. i'll give up when we find him. i've had a lot of people say it's been too long. not for me, it hasn't. i'm not giving up. i can't sit and wait. i want him now. so finding him would give you at least--

yes. --a piece of the closure. yes, and to be able to go to his grave and to know that's as close as i can be to him. because right now i'm living in the where, where are you? andrea canning: when she wasn't searching, rachel was clicking, constantly checking howard ashleman's facebook pages and comparing notes with her co-investigator, fran funderburg. then, a couple of years after james disappeared, the two noticed something rather surprising. howard's social media postings just suddenly stopped. many of the postings that had been placed there in the year past were removed. it's quite the contrast from the howard that you'd been investigating. it really was. and we were quite concerned when he went off the grid for a time. he stopped posting. we were concerned that maybe he was in the wind and would not be found any time soon.

andrea canning: detectives and the da also noticed that howard seemed to just vanish. the homicide detectives certainly although there was nothing to constrain him at this time. he sort of just dropped off the face of the earth, so to speak. andrea canning: then one day, several weeks after howard had gone silent, a picture popped up on facebook. it was howard in the last place you would ever imagine. coming up-- he will morph and change into whatever he needs to change into to survive. like, why is he in a bible college? andrea canning: --where he apparently found religion, and a girlfriend too. she's standing there with evil. andrea canning: when "dateline" continues.

(vo) you were diagnosed with thyroid eye disease a long time ago. and year after year, you weathered the storm and just lived with the damage that was left behind. but even after all this time your thyroid eye disease could still change. restoration is still possible. learn how you could give your eyes a fresh start at tedhelp.com. gold bond believes touch says everything. it says... i see you. i feel you. and...i know you. gold bond. get in touch with irresistibly touchable skin. when winter season hits emergen-c supports your immune system with so much more than vitamin c. be ready to fight back with emergen-c and for on-the-go immune support try emergen-c crystals. no water needed.

your first week. looking for something different? try our new meal plans that support your high protein or low carb diet over 50 and fabulous! check out the women's over 50 program and reduce harmful belly fat by 8% in your first month. >> low carb, high protein and women's health and we all lost weight with nutrisystem. weight with nutrisystem. if you take or have taken humira for moderate to severe crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis and still have symptoms... you don't have to settle. ask your gastroenterologist if switching to rinvoq is right for you. it's one of the latest treatments from the makers of humira. rinvoq works differently than humira and may help. rinvoq is a once-daily pill that can deliver rapid symptom relief, lasting steroid-free remission, and helps visibly reduce damage of the intestinal lining. rinvoq can lower ability to fight infections. before treatment, test for tb and do bloodwork.

serious infections, blood clots, some fatal; ...cancers, including lymphoma and skin; serious allergic reactions; gi tears; death; heart attack; and stroke occurred. cv event risk increases in age 50 plus with a heart disease risk factor. tell your doctor if you've had these events, infection, hep b or c, smoked, are pregnant or planning. don't take if allergic or have an infection. rapid symptom relief and lasting steroid-free remission are possible with rinvoq. ask your gastroenterologist to switching to rinvoq is right for you. you could pay as little as $0 per month. the thompsons' new front door looks sharp, right? to switching to rinvoq is right for you. did we need to wave her down to tell her that? no. no. for a young homeowner turning into their parents, the neighborhood is their life. wonder who's visiting the burkes. that's not their car. hey, guys. who's winning? [ giggles ] now most of the neighborhood uses progressive -for their cars and house. -okay. she didn't ask. ohhhh! [ sighs ] progressive can't save you from becoming your parents. but we can save you money when you bundle home and auto with us. here he comes...like clockwork. [ giggles ] calcium supplement that

helps relax tense muscles so i can rest comfortably and slow. >> meg tablets have a slow release formula that's gentle on my stomach. that's why i use slow meg. >> the average person would rather suffer through team building exercises than look for insurance. >> the zebra searches over 100 insurance companies for you to find savings no one else can. room for one more. the zebra. we do the searching. you do the do the searching. you do the saving. it was late summer 2016 when rachel saw it, a new photo of howard ashelman. but it was the setting that really caught her attention. in the background, there's palm trees, a couple of buildings, license plates. he is now in florida. further through his page, there are pictures.

and on a corner of a picture, there is hobe sound. andrea canning: hobe sound, a quiet community near west palm beach. i start googling, looking for hobe sound. hobe sound bible college, hobe sound christian church, all this is popping up in the area. andrea canning: and then her search revealed exactly what howard was up to. he is going to a bible college. what do you think when you see that, that he is attending a bible college? he needed it. the perfect place for him, i thought. andrea canning: yes, howard ashelman, a.k.a. "homicide howie," was actually attending an accredited christian college whose mission statement in part reads, "committed to preparing servant leaders who think biblically, live spirit-filled lives." (singing) stand-- andrea canning: and here's howard sporting a new look, dramatically different from his fayetteville days,

singing a hymn called "statue of liberty," which was posted on social media. (singing) i'm so glad to be called a christian andrea canning: singing those lyrics, howard seems to be proclaiming his faith. [train horn sounds] word of the new howard spread fast to fayetteville. it is definitely like two different people. it was quite confusing to us to understand what his motivation behind that was. [organ music playing] it's divine irony for me, for somebody who's fleeing to go to bible college. i wish i could explain the cluster cluckery that is howard ashelman's mind. andrea canning: everyone now wondered, had howard come here to find god or find cover?

i think he's remorseful at this time and he wants forgiveness. i think it's eating him alive. andrea canning: rachel amped up her internet search and discovered even more about howard's new life on campus. then i find out, going through different facebook pages, he's now seeing a young woman out there. that terrifies me. andrea canning: her name was hanna jones, just 17 at the time. she also attended the bible college and sang in the choir, a high-profile school activity. the college posted videos of it on their youtube account. i was genuinely worried about her, and i didn't know if she knew what she was standing next to. through her eyes, she's standing there with-- mr. wonderful. with yeah, her god-loving, clean-cut boyfriend. through your eyes, she's standing there with a monster.

she's standing there with evil. andrea canning: panicked, rachel called david marshburn, the private investigator-- --and says, i need your help. i'm like, what's going on? come to find out howard's at a bible college. what do you think when you hear that? he's hiding. he's trying to play, i got away with it. i'm going to get into an environment that keeps me straight so i don't mess up. andrea canning: marshburn reached out to the college's youth pastor and shocked him with the news that howard, the bible student, was also howard the murder suspect. he's like, well, not howard. you know, he's in the choir. and i said, well, you obviously don't know howard like we know him. i said, go online. look at it. look up james chambers missing. i did remind him that his job was to take care of his flock. you got a-- potentially, a bad sheep in the flock. well, they got a wolf in sheep's clothing.

andrea canning: sheep's clothing. yeah. andrea canning: after alerting the bible college, marshburn spoke with the father of howard's girlfriend. and i said, i believe that your daughter could be in danger. and he's like, i can't believe. i said, sir, you can get online. here's the information. he called himself "homicide howie." he's got a song about it. i'm telling you, it's just a matter of time, this boy's personality is going to change and he's going to flip the script and your daughter's going to wind up hurt, physically, mentally, or something. andrea canning: by now, the martin county sheriff's office was alerted. detective dan dulac was assigned to what would quickly become one of the most memorable cases of his career. we were concerned for the safety of-- of everybody in martin county. we needed to find out more about what was going on. andrea canning: so dulac spoke with fayetteville police to get the lowdown on the james chambers investigation.

detective donegan filled him in and shared his concerns about howard. larry donegan: he's a true chameleon, and he will morph and change into whatever he needs to change into to survive. what is he up to? like, why is he in a bible college? yeah, usually killers find god, maybe, once they're behind bars. yes, so what's the end game to this? we were able to kind of get a background, an idea of the type of person he was and who we might be dealing with before we actually approach him. like, how dangerous could this guy potentially be? right. and that's the concern, is how do we need to deal with him? andrea canning: detective dulac now found himself knee-deep in a homicide investigation, and soon he would be sitting face to face with the man at the center of it all. andrea canning: coming up, howard's girlfriend, hannah, would also soon be meeting with police.

wanted, they'd just shoot him. wanted, they'd just shoot him. >> so he talked about andrea canning: was hannah in danger? she was concerned that if he found out that she had been talking to law enforcement already, would his demeanor change toward her? andrea canning: when "dateline" continues. reaching for names and words during conversations? >> trust me, you're not alone. >> that's why we developed new doctor's preferred mindful advantage, the cutting edge, science backed brain health supplement that will help keep your mental edge sharp. >> to get your complimentary sample of new mindful advantage, just text mind to 321321. >> mindful advantage helps you think faster by targeting five

areas of brain function attention, learning and memory, language, motor function, and even mood. with five key brain boosting ingredients. >> ingredients backed by five clinical studies. >> don't settle for slowing down. keep your mind and memory going at full speed with mindful advantage. >> to get your complimentary sample of new mindful advantage, just text mind to 321321. text now and we'll send you a bottle of doctor's preferred magnesium. absolutely free. mindful advantage is not available in stores, just text mind to 321321 now. >> are you certain he'll fit? >> sure. >> are you for imprint? >> certain. >> certainty matters. when you need certain promo gear, you can be certain for imprints. got it. quality apparel. >> got it. drinkware got it. >> bags. high tech outdoor. got it, got it, got it. so go get it

at for imprint. >> dot com for. imprint for certain. oh 64 oops b1 yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes. >> bingo. >> i want what they're having for that kind of excitement. download bingo blitz and fill your day with yes yes yes bingo moments, power ups dave's been very excited about saving big with the comcast business 5-year price lock guarantee. five years? -five years. and he's not alone. -high five. it's five years of reliable gig speed internet. five years of advanced securit. five years of a great rate that won't change.

it's back. but only for a limited time. high five. five years? -nope. comcast business 5-year price lock guarantee. powering five years of savings. powering possibilities. comcast business. per hour. the step counter, the sport mat and wireless remote call now. >> breaking news. a fast moving disaster in california. >> breaking news israel and hamas will enter a cease fire in the nation's capital. >> philadelphia, el paso, the palisades from msnbc world headquarters. >> donald trump plans to reshape the u.s. government. >> democrats have wasted no time in laying the groundwork to fight the incoming trump administration. >> donald trump wants a presidential cabinet full of

loyalists. >> don't miss the weekend, saturday and sunday mornings at saturday and sunday mornings at 8:00 on msnbc. hobe sound, florida, bills itself as a charming little beach town with understated elegance. but in january 2017, there was nothing understated or elegant about what was going down at the martin county sheriff's office. andrea canning: that's hannah jones, howard's bible college girlfriend, with her parents, undergoing a probing police interview. is there some way that you can use hannah to try to get something out of howard? yes. the first plan with hannah was just to get information from her, to find out what howard had told her about his life

in fayetteville. andrea canning: and according to hannah, howard admitted he was no choirboy in fayetteville. >> and he didn't care a lot about what people thought. if they didn't do what he wanted, they would just shoot him. >> so he's talking about >> so he's talking about shooting people my impression from hannah was that it almost seemed like this is someone who was broken and needed help and fixing. it was apparent that she truly was in love with this guy? hannah seemed to be on the fence about howard. she wasn't sure how she was going to be able to break it off with him. andrea canning: but hannah's parents feared their 17-year-old daughter was now in danger.

know when he might snap or change who he is as a person, change who he is as a person, and she'd be hannah seemed to think that howard didn't pose any kind of threat to her, but she was concerned that if he found out that she had been talking to law enforcement already, would his demeanor change toward her? andrea canning: detective dulac needed to get to howard quickly before he discovered police were poking into his past. howard was at work, but agreed to come in for an interview. what kind of person do you think he was? what impression were you getting? it was just really hard to read him. he wasn't giving me a lot to work with. he was very evasive. he didn't want to talk. andrea canning: especially about his troubled time back in fayetteville.

, and i kind of fried my brain. andrea canning: but howard offered no specifics about the murder. you asked him straight up if he killed james chambers. i did. and i told him. i said, i have no doubt in my mind that james is dead and that you know something about what happened to him. you want to be a preacher? andrea canning: howard wouldn't say. dulac even tried appealing to his newfound faith. he's here at the bible college. he's trying to be a pastor. he's learning about christianity. you're really trying to play to the new howard-- yes, yes. --not the old howard. i knew that the old howard would never talk to me. andrea canning: but in the end, the new howard wouldn't talk either.

andrea canning: after that police interview, howard went to see hannah. and she had a conversation with howard, and she recorded that conversation. did she tell you she was going to do that? she did not tell us she was going to do that. andrea canning: hannah didn't tell howard either, as her cell phone secretly recorded their conversation. she had to know, was her boyfriend also a killer? killed? okay. did you do killed? okay. did you do something? andrea canning: as the conversation continued, hannah kept urging howard to give up his horrible secret. tell you. i don't have to. you tell you. i don't have to. you should not. you didn't

when hannah said, "did you kill someone?" and he nodded his head, she tells us later that he nodded his head yes. even though he's not giving a full-out confession, he's really, like, coming right up to the line. yes. clearly the facts of the admissions that he's making lined up with the facts of the case of james chambers being missing. clearly, this was going to be strong evidence in the case against him. andrea canning: hannah's mother later turned the recording over to the sheriff's office, but not before yet another bombshell. a couple of hours later, my supervisor is calling me saying, hey, howard wants to confess to the murder of james chambers. what are you thinking when you hear that? i was like, that's amazing. over the course of one day, we went from having never even heard of this case before to him coming in and now confessing to this murder. i've heard people say-- andrea canning: detectives in two states couldn't crack howard, but it seemed his devout and determined girlfriend had finally done it.

a meeting was hastily set up in this walgreens parking lot with howard and the jones family. i told them, ok, i'm all ears. tell me what you want to tell me. andrea canning: but that was it, because-- the jones family actually said, "he needs a lawyer before he says anything." andrea canning: a florida public defender soon arrived and advised howard to hold off on talking. so, no confession. that was a huge letdown. i wanted to call fayetteville and tell them, hey, we have a confession. we've got him here in custody. andrea canning: so he just drives away? yes, we parted ways with howard. andrea canning: the bible college also parted ways with howard. the college declined our request for an interview, but its then president provided a video statement about their former student. daniel stetler (on video): when he shared the incident with us, we realized it was very serious,

and we told him that he could no longer continue as a student at hobe sound bible college. we urged him to go back to north carolina and make confession to the proper authorities. andrea canning: whether it was pressure from the college, hannah, her parents, or his own conscience, howard decided to head up the highway to fayetteville and finally confess. as that was happening, district attorney billy west was finalizing a plea deal with the fayetteville public defender assigned to howard's case. howard ashleman would plead guilty to second degree murder. he would get a sentence of 15 to 20 years. we thought that we'd get some justice for james and his family. andrea canning: and maybe even find james, but then, a snag-- a big one. coming up-- it seems like he got away scot-free. he walked off, skipping and whistling. andrea canning: --more pain for james's parents.

you must have been so mad. oh, man, yeah, livid. did you just want to give up at that point? no. the one thing howard wants me to do is give up. the one thing i want is james. andrea canning: when dateline continues. with dupixent, stay ahead of moderate-to-severe eczema. as you welcome the feeling of touch with clearer skin and less itch. the #1 prescribed biologic by dermatologists and allergists, helps heal your skin from within. severe allergic reactions can occur. get help right away for face, mouth, tongue or throat swelling, wheezing or trouble breathing. tell your doctor of new or worsening eye problems, like eye pain, vision changes, or blurred vision, joint aches and pain, or a parasitic infection. don't change or stop asthma or other medicines without talking to your doctor. ask your doctor about dupixent. an alternative to pills, voltaren is a clinically proven arthritis pain relief gel, which penetrates deep to target the source of pain with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medicine directly at the source. voltaren, the joy of movement.

upset stomach iberogast indigestion iberogast bloating iberogast thanks to a unique combination of herbs, iberogast helps relieve six digestive symptoms to help you feel better. six digestive symptoms. the power of nature. iberogast. collection of designs, upload photos, send us your art, or stop by a framebridge store to work with the design expert. >> from there, we'll custom craft your frame. custom frames. premium materials. >> transparent pricing. get started at framebridge comm or visit a store today. >> ocd is more than what you see on tv and in the movies. it comes with unrelenting, intrusive images, thoughts, and urges. if you have ocd and need

help, you can get better with specialized treatment. go to nocd.com to learn more. >> one law firm, klein inspector, has won some of the biggest verdicts in american history. so if a defective product, motor vehicle accident or medical (vo) fargo is your virtual assistant from wells fargo. (woman) oh, come on! come on! (vo) fargo lets you do this: (woman) fargo, turn off my debit card! (woman) i found it! i found my card! (vo) and also, this: (woman) fargo, turn on my debit card. (vo) do you fargo? you can, with wells fargo. what else can fargo do? quickly tell you what you spend on things like food. (dad) fargo, what did i spend on groceries this month? (son) hey dad, can the guys stay for dinner? (dad) no... (vo) learn more at wellsfargo.com/getfargo.

>> s >> s when howard ashleman returned to fayetteville to meet with his public defender and law enforcement to confess, it seemed too good to be true. turned out it was. he basically got cold feet and left the area and did not enter into the plea. andrea canning: no plea meant no deal. no confession, no justice, and most importantly, no james. his father, pete, was devastated. when i was told by fayetteville pd

was public defender told him, they don't have anything on you. they thought that they were looking out-- for his best interests, right. andrea canning: for his-- he don't care about the parents of the guy he killed. you must have been so mad. oh, man, yeah, livid, livid. andrea canning: so was james's mother, rachel. just hours earlier, it seemed like she was on the verge of getting all the answers about her son's murder. did you just want to give up at that point? no. the one thing howard wants me to do is give up, walk away, lay down, and grieve. the one thing i want is james. andrea canning: without a confession, the case against howard collapsed. district attorney billy west had to let it go. the evidence was not overwhelming against howard ashleman. we were confident that he was responsible for james's death, but we did not feel like that we were in a position right then to proceed

towards trial with a case. it seems like he got away scot-free. he walked off skipping and whistling. andrea canning: howard returned to florida and continued his relationship with hannah jones. what about the jones family? were they accepting howard back into their lives? yeah, from my understanding, he was still very close with the jones family. i believe he was staying with them and they were very tight-knit, still. so, like, after all they learned about him, they were still-- they were still very supportive of him. andrea canning: it appeared howard, the murder suspect, was back to being howard the boyfriend. we tried asking hannah and her parents to explain their 180. they declined. detective dulac, though, had a theory. something happened that made them change their opinion of howard. i don't know if they were just that forgiving, if they really just saw a lot of good in him, or what was really going on there. i can't do anything about their decisions.

if you have the information, then do something about it. but be aware. and they had it. it must have been just so baffling to you that they could welcome him into the family. he was very charming. he will let certain ones know truly what happened. and then he-- the others, i was defending myself. andrea canning: the jones family's opinion of howard may have changed, but fayetteville detective larry donegan's hadn't. even though his case had gone from solved to shambles, donegan still believed he could nail him. larry donegan: and we're starting from scratch all over again. so how much pressure are you feeling to catch howard now? it's there. because now he's back in florida. but is he going to uproot and disappear? andrea canning: or perhaps do something even worse. i was terrified he was going to do this to someone else.

and are you tracking him again daily? i'm still watching him, yes, because we're worried about the people around him. andrea canning: detective dulac also feared the worst. we would keep an eye on what was going on, and hopefully that he would go back to north carolina very quickly before anything else would happen. andrea canning: months passed. howard laid low. did you start to worry that he would never be charged? i mean, there was no solid evidence. there was no body. no. i was told early on, get prepared. you're-- this could take years. and those words just stuck with me. this could take years. andrea canning: but little did rachel know, detective donegan was continuing to compile a case against howard. i went back through the case files, started looking over stuff. we have a statement here. check.

we have the stuff that he talked to hannah. check. we have statements over there. check. it's not perfect, but is it enough now? yes. it's to the point where i can charge him. andrea canning: the case against howard included that secret tape from hannah jones, which da billy west hoped would help sway a jury. we're going to get this case ready. we're going to make sure that we've got evidence beyond a reasonable doubt, and then we're going to proceed. andrea canning: december, 2017. it was almost a year since howard's plea deal went sideways. billy west called a meeting. i remember looking at detective donegan, my homicide team, and said, we're going to charge him with murder and proceed to trial. if he will not accept our plea agreement, that's what we're going to do. andrea canning: they contacted howard's public defender. between the public defender and the prosecutor's office up here, things were worked out. a deal was worked out?

yes. first he had to confess to everything. then after the confession, he had to work with us in an attempt to find james. andrea canning: once again, howard returned to fayetteville. he showed up, more or less, here i am. did you arrest him? no, no. i charged him. so howard was supposed to come confess. as part of the arrangement, we were going to let him leave. he would return back the following day, and then the process more or less would start. andrea canning: but then, it was deja vu all over again. poof! he's gone again. andrea canning: coming up, wedding bell blues. was it a strategic move, did you think? why now? that was, i think, to keep her quiet. why do you marry somebody that you know killed somebody? why do your parents let you marry him?

i couldn't believe it. why? andrea canning: when dateline continues. have you always had trouble with your weight? same. discover the power of wegovy®. with wegovy®, i lost 35 pounds. and some lost over 46 pounds. and i'm keeping the weight off. i'm reducing my risk. wegovy® is the only weight-management medicine proven to reduce risk of major cardiovascular events such as death, heart attack, or stroke in adults with known heart disease and obesity. don't use wegovy® with semaglutide or glp-1 medicines, or in children under 12. don't take if you or your family had mtc, men 2, or if allergic to it. tell your provider if you plan to have surgery or a procedure, are breastfeeding, pregnant, or plan to be. stop taking and get medical help right away if you get a lump or swelling in your neck, severe stomach pain, or any of these allergic reactions. serious side effects may include pancreas inflammation and gallbladder problems. call your prescriber if you have any of these symptoms.

wegovy® may cause low blood sugar in people with diabetes, especially if you take medicines to treat diabetes. call your prescriber about vision changes, if you feel your heart racing while at rest, or if you have mental changes. depression or thoughts of suicide may occur. common side effects include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, stomach pain, flu, or upset, headache, feeling tired, dizzy, or bloated, gas, and heartburn. some side effects lead to dehydration, which may cause kidney problems. with wegovy®, i'm losing weight, i'm keeping it off, and i'm lowering my cv risk. ask your prescriber about wegovy®. fruit bites for fast and gentle fruit bites for fast and gentle constipa patients who have sensitive teeth but also want whiter teeth they have to make a choice one versus the other. sensodyne clinical white

provides two shades whiter teeth as well as providing 24/7 sensitivity protection. patients are going to love to see sensodyne on the shelf. i told myself i was ok with my moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis symptoms... ...with my psoriatic arthritis symptoms. but just ok isn't ok. and i was done settling. if you still have symptoms after trying a tnf blocker like humira or enbrel, rinvoq works differently. rinvoq is a once-daily pill that can rapidly relieve joint pain, stiffness, and swelling as fast as 2 weeks for some. and even at the 3-year mark, many people felt this relief. rinvoq can stop joint damage. and in psa, can leave skin clear or almost clear. rinvoq can lower ability to fight infections. before treatment, test for tb and do bloodwork. serious infections, blood clots, some fatal; ...cancers, including lymphoma and skin; serious allergic reactions; gi tears; death; heart attack; and stroke occurred. cv event risk increases in age 50 plus with a heart disease risk factor. tell your doctor if you've had these events, infection, hep b or c, smoked, are pregnant or planning. don't take if allergic or have an infection.

done settling? ask your rheumatologist for rinvoq. and take back what's yours. (♪♪) you key moments of the day, followed by analysis from our prime time anchors as the new term begins monday, beginning at six on msnbc. msnbc premium gives you early access and ad free listening to rachel maddow chart topping series, msnbc original podcasts, exclusive bonus content, and all of your favorite msnbc shows. now ad free. subscribe on apple podcasts. >> i'm richard lui with a news update. preparations are underway as a winter storm bears down on much of the united states. the northeast is expecting at least six inches of snow sunday. several cities are opening warming centers to provide shelter to people who need to escape the frigid weather, and russian forces unleashed a drone and missile

strike on ukraine's capital, kyiv, killing at least three people. city officials saying explosions booming across the pre-dawn sky as air defenses repelled the attack, which also wounded three others. for now, wounded three others. for now, back to dateline. i appreciate you coming back. andrea canning: first, he was a murder suspect, then a bible college student, and now howard ashleman was a fugitive. just a day after he promised once again to confess, howard was missing, which had da billy west worried. we didn't know where he was. people can try to, you know, drive several states away or take a flight sort of go underground. andrea canning: the da's office called the public defender's office, which didn't know exactly where howard was either. so detective larry donegan moved into manhunt mode. i'd confer with the violent criminal apprehension team.

they went and did what they had to do to track him down. andrea canning: and it didn't take long. using cell phone records, they located and then arrested howard some 48 hours later near the tiny town of randleman, north carolina. i just don't know where they plan on going from there. andrea canning: perhaps on a honeymoon, because-- howard ashleman had married hannah jones. andrea canning: that's right. hannah, now 18, was mrs. howard ashleman. just a few days before howard's arrest, the two had driven to another county and tied the knot at this local courthouse. when pete chambers got word of the wedding, he wasn't exactly celebrating. why do you marry somebody that you know killed somebody? why do your parents let you marry him? i couldn't believe it. why? but yet they run off and get married.

andrea canning: and then, apparently celebrated their marriage in rural north carolina. so there's not going to be a tropical honeymoon-- no. --in this case when he's got a one-way ticket to the big house. no. i don't know if his intention was to just give me some time with my new wife and then i'll come and take the plea deal. but it was the craziest thing i've seen. andrea canning: or maybe not crazy. maybe it was calculated. was it a strategic move, did you think? why now? that was, i think, to keep her quiet. andrea canning: so she won't have to testify against him if they're married. once they're married, she can claim spousal immunity. i'm not going to speak. he's my husband. andrea canning: and would their marriage also prevent the prosecution from presenting hannah's secret recording? there certainly was a bit of a concern from a legal point of view. are they trying to make some type of move where the evidence that hannah has is not presented to a jury

if this case should go to trial? andrea canning: so now, it was critical to establish a timeline of howard and hannah's relationship and get a window into their private lives. so detective donegan got a search warrant for hannah's cell phone and downloaded hundreds of pictures. sure enough, there was howard proposing, and their wedding at the courthouse, plus a collection of photos of the loving couple throughout their relationship. how did those photos of hannah and howard really help your investigation? it gave us a little more insight of their relationship. and my concern was that potentially, hannah could disappear just like james. by going through the photos, looking at their life together, their relationship time frame, it appeared more that he actually truly cared about her. andrea canning: after researching north carolina's

spousal privilege laws, da billy west was confident howard's tacit confession could be used in court because it was recorded by hannah before they were married. so detectives hauled howard into an interrogation room while attorneys finalized his plea deal, which included several more months of prison time to make up for that year of freedom he enjoyed after nixing the first deal. he pled guilty to second degree murder and essentially 15 to 20 years. and also, he agreed to a full debriefing about what happened between he and james. it was such a sense of relief that he was finally going to answer for what he had done. you needed one more thing, though. mm-hmm, james. i just want james.

andrea canning: that depended on howard and his confession. would he finally reveal what really happened to james that hot august afternoon, and would he share the secret of where to find him? andrea canning: coming up-- we went by probably about 10 or 11 bridges, and it was all no, no, no, no, no. andrea canning: tracing a killer's footsteps to try to find james. we walked to the edge of the bridge. he looks, and he's looking, and he's like, this is familiar. andrea canning: when dateline continues. if you take or have taken humira for moderate to severe crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis and still have symptoms... you don't have to settle. ask your gastroenterologist if switching to rinvoq is right for you. it's one of the latest treatments from the makers of humira. rinvoq works differently than humira and may help. rinvoq is a once-daily pill that can deliver rapid symptom relief, lasting steroid-free remission, and helps visibly reduce damage

of the intestinal lining. rinvoq can lower ability to fight infections. before treatment, test for tb and do bloodwork. serious infections, blood clots, some fatal; ...cancers, including lymphoma and skin; serious allergic reactions; gi tears; death; heart attack; and stroke occurred. cv event risk increases in age 50 plus with a heart disease risk factor. tell your doctor if you've had these events, infection, hep b or c, smoked, are pregnant or planning. don't take if allergic or have an infection. rapid symptom relief and lasting steroid-free remission are possible with rinvoq. ask your gastroenterologist to switching to rinvoq is right for you. you could pay as little as $0 per month. pet. real meat. real veggies for peter. that's peter. peter. that's peter. >> i [coughing] hi susan, honey? yea. i respect that, but that cough looks pretty bad. try this robitussin honey. the real honey you love, plus the powerful cough relief you need.

mind if i root through your trash? robitussin, with real honey & elderberry. 20 years. imagine you could do this without products that just temporarily hide the symptoms. imagine no more insta flex advanced. get a complimentary sample just by texting punch to 231231. insta flex advanced is different because it targets the root cause of joint soreness and stiffness. it doesn't just cover up symptoms, instead, it bathes your joints in its unique combination of five key natural ingredients found in no other product. key ingredients backed by five clinical studies, insta flex advanced is so powerful you could have better knees in just one week. maybe that's why it's number one at gnc. but you can only get your complimentary sample by texting punch to 231231 plus text now, and we'll include a tube of insta flex pain cream with its exclusive oxygenated oil for fast acting

relief from the pain of arthritis, backaches and sore muscles. absolutely free

officer: you have the right to remain silent. anything you say can and will be-- andrea canning: finally, after nearly four years, the man who morphed from homicide howie to bible college student to newlywed-- andrea canning: --was ready to confess and solve the mystery of his own making about what happened to james chambers and where his body was hidden. andrea canning: howard showed little emotion as he started spilling his dark secret, which first began when he gave james a ride home in a truck similar to this one. later that afternoon, howard took james to the benson's house where he lived. howard recalled during the drive, james said he wanted to go see a guy to collect a debt and would beat him up if he didn't pay,

which howard didn't want to do. howard said james got upset. things got heated, then got ugly. back to my truck and i picked up the rifle and i didn't even look through the scope or nothing. i just raised up and squeezed the trigger off. and i was waiting for him to come out yelling at me and say, did you just try to kill me? but nothing just try to kill me? but nothing happened. you know? then i he alludes to the fact that shooting james was perhaps an accident. did you buy that? no, no, not one bit. you don't grab a hunting rifle and accidentally shoot

through the cab of the truck. andrea canning: james died instantly. howard detailed how he dumped the body in the woods behind the benson's house. hours later, howard said he and his friend reno parks went back to where he left it. there, in the dark woods, howard lit a campfire so he could see. then he admitted he tried to burn the body, but it didn't work. so howard said reno helped him bury it. then some two weeks later, when howard learned detectives were zeroing in on him, he said he got nervous, dug up the body, and dismembered the remains. to be able

andrea canning: easier to handle, said howard, when he took the bags and drove with reno to a rural bridge where he tossed them into a creek below. it was that weekend. andrea canning: when detective donegan read the transcript of howard's grim confession to rachel, it instantly triggered memories of all those facebook posts she'd seen. as he was reading it, i went, "he posted that. he posted that." fire, dismemberment. he had been giving you all along a road map-- yes. --to what had happened to james. yes, yes he had, everything except for one. andrea canning: the one crucial detail. where was james? howard, as part of his plea deal, was supposed to help detectives find the remains. a week after the confession, donegan took howard and his attorney to the scene of the crime, the benson property. how deep did you go in? andrea canning: nothing of note turned up there,

so now they headed off looking for the bridge where howard said he dumped james's body. does he know where to go? completely clueless. he just knows it is a bridge in samson county that's concrete. how many bridges are like that? we narrowed it down to 12 to 15 bridges. andrea canning: for a week, they crisscrossed the rural county surveying every bridge. we went by probably about 10 or 11 bridges, and it was all no, no, no, no, no. andrea canning: then, a local deputy gave donegan the location of a bridge that seemed to match howard's description. we walk to the edge of the bridge, he looks, and he's looking, and he's like, this is familiar. andrea canning: they search the area, but some four years after the murder, there was no trace of james. soon after the search, howard was sentenced to a maximum

of 20 years in prison. at his court appearance covered by local media, howard was actually caught on camera smiling. if i could have got to him, i'd be in jail because i lost it that day. because now here he is actually confessing in front of me to killing my son. did he apologize? did he show any remorse? no, no, never. never turned around and looked at anybody. cold. andrea canning: a few months later, another search was done around the bridge that howard had seemed to remember. but again, nothing. another year passed. still no hint of james. time didn't heal the pain for his parents, who vowed to keep searching. i'm still not going to stop till my son is laid to rest. was it kind of the first thing you thought of when you woke up, the last thing you thought of when you went to bed? to this day it's that way. before i go to bed, when i wake up, it's all day.

you literally cannot stop thinking about it. andrea canning: but maybe there was someone who could help, someone who drove with howard to the bridge where he threw those bags with james's remains into the creek below. it's going to be reno, and reno only that can get us to the bottom of it. andrea canning: reno parks. remember, david marshburn interviewed him three years earlier. now, marshburn knew that reno's statement about the murder was very similar to howard's confession. so he went to visit reno in prison again to get specifics on the bridge where james's remains were dumped. that's the keener bridge. andrea canning: the very same bridge howard seemed to recognize. now, marshburn and others wanted to check it again.

so another search was mobilized in april 2021. for two long days, search teams tracked both land and water, looking for any remnant of james. there were a few findings, like this cell phone. zte. can you see what year it is? andrea canning: but it didn't belong to james. a bone? this big? yeah. andrea canning: neither did this bone, which turned out to be from an animal. as the sun began to set, reality set in too. james still wasn't coming home, not on this day. do you still believe that you can find him? yes. they find missing people all the time. he'll be found. what keeps me going is the fact that my son is laying in a creek bed somewhere like a piece of trash.

and that's not going to happen. andrea canning: we reached out to howard in prison to ask if he remembered any more about where he hid the remains of james chambers. he never responded. if he knows, he's not saying. who does this? confession means that you tell the truth. but i don't think he has. and i think he knows that he hasn't. but in the end, karma drives a big bus, and she knows everybody's address. andrea canning: even without howard's help, david marshburn remains optimistic. he's even hoping that reno parks, who is now out of prison, can be convinced to help confirm exactly where howard dumped james's remains. we'll keep coming back and coming back. it might take five more years, seven more years, but it's all in god's time, not ours.

andrea canning: for rachel, those long trips to north carolina to search for her son continue. a promise is a promise, and one she intends to keep until she can bring james home and bury him next to his brother. every step i take out here, i'm walking with grief. to finally take away the "where are you?" is when our peace and our healing will begin. you'll keep making those drives? mm-hmm. that's all i got left to give him. and he's worth every mile. [theme music] . i'm craig melvin. and i'm natalie morales. and this is "dateline." a phenomenal, amazing person.