it's hard to look at that and know that's where you ended up, but i know you guys are all in a better place. and i know that you're together in there helping each other. you can rest now. and i can take it from here. that's all for this edition of "dateline." i'm andrea canning. thank you for watching. hello, i'm craig melvin, and this is "dateline." i walk in, and my sister's not there. her door is open. her lights are on. her bed's undone. everything was horrible, and i felt it. craig melvin (voiceover): she'd been fearless

on the front lines in iraq. pretty amazing. i saw her as a really strong soldier. craig melvin (voiceover): but something had her terrified at home. craig melvin (voiceover): a desperate call to police, and then she vanished. something made her pretty scared. yes. josh mankiewicz: there's nothing to say what that was. joey ramirez: right. craig melvin (voiceover): what had happened to this beautiful army sergeant? that question would launch a spellbinding mystery. there were a number of potential suspects, absolutely. craig melvin (voiceover): was a killer out there? she was in danger. craig melvin (voiceover): could police catch him? they'd hatch a plan of virtual genius. one of the detectives said, you're not going to believe this. [theme music] welcome to "dateline." maribel ramos was a fighter, joining the army and doing two tours overseas before returning

to civilian life. but even her military experience would not be enough to prepare her for the evil she'd battle back home. here's josh mankiewicz with "mystery in orange county." josh mankiewicz (voiceover): orange county, california. on tv, it's a place of sun, fun, and privilege. it's where the real housewives first aired their dirty laundry. it's where the kids from the "oc" showed us all what temperature cool really was. around here, you get the sense that everyone's rich, and white, and lives in a mansion with a view of the pacific. but step back from the coast, and you'll see the orange county that isn't on tv-- not as wealthy, not as white, full of those who came here from somewhere else, chasing a better life, and finding it in places like santa ana, a mostly working class immigrant community in the shadow of disneyland.

it's the part of the oc where people know that to survive, they'll have to work hard. maribel ramos arrived here as a baby, leaving mexico behind. she would not only survive here, but thrive. to tell you the truth, this should be the story of a woman who worked hard to change her life, and in doing so, carved a path for others to follow. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): but this story is going to end differently. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): there are some parts of life that hard work just can't fix. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): some things that are beyond our control.

josh mankiewicz (voiceover): all of this should have never reached that point of no return. so maybe it's a story of simple bad luck, of two lives that should never have come together. tell me about growing up with maribel. what was she like? troublemaker. mom wanted her to stay at home, and she wanted to go play baseball. tomboy? yes, yes. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): her sister lucy says tomboy maribel ramos also had a spark. she'd come in and immediately, what? introduce herself to everybody. make friends. people were drawn to her. she's easy to talk to. you saw boys interested in her? oh, definitely, yeah. josh mankiewicz: from an early age. from an early age. and that never ended, did it? no, no. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): little sister lucy remembers how maribel was also in charge of watching out for her while their single mother often worked two jobs to make ends meet.

josh mankiewicz: you were how much younger? seven years younger. a lot of girls wouldn't want their little sister tagging along. no, she didn't want to, but she had to. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): yet even as a child, maribel figured out that a different world existed, and she wanted to live there. oh, she knew at a young age that there was a lot more to life than what we had around us. there's things you can do, and go to school, and have opportunities, and live in a nicer house. she saw all of that? yeah, definitely. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): maribel ramos knew she'd have to work hard to get what and where she wanted. after high school, she worked in security at k-mart and hatched a long-term plan to become a cop. but she'd need a college degree, and that meant money. so maribel ramos became private first class ramos. she joined the army, hoping to use the gi bill. her first day was august 8, 2001. and just 34 days later, the whole world changed.

we all sort of recoil in horror, but you probably also thought, that's going to affect my sister. yes. i turn on the tv, and the towers are crumbling. first thing i thought was, oh my gosh, my sister's going to war. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): lucy worried. their mother worried. but maribel was like a rock. josh mankiewicz: what did maribel say about going overseas? she didn't express her feelings about it. she just said, well, this is what's happening, sister. you need to talk to mom. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): maribel went to war in iraq. josh mankiewicz: what was it like to see her in uniform? it was pretty amazing. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): giselle cendejas is lucy's daughter, maribel's niece. sometimes, i wouldn't even see her as my aunt. i was just like, whoa, you're going out there to save everybody. you were proud of her. yeah. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): maribel learned to jump out of airplanes, and she manned

the guns for armed convoys. she saw more than her share of combat. she also made sergeant. and when her tour in iraq ended, she re-enlisted for another. she seemed fearless. she could very easily have become a casualty. yes, and other people did die, other friends of hers. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): in 2009, after two tours in iraq, maribel left the army and set part two of her plan into action-- enrolling in college. but adjusting back to civilian life wasn't as easy as maribel had expected. like a lot of war veterans, she suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, or ptsd. she'd seen some terrible things. did she ever talk about that? not with me. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): instead, she focused on school, work, and family, especially her niece giselle. she kind of adopted you as this project. yeah.

now why did she do that? i think it was because she wanted me to have the best. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): as giselle grew older, the self-improvement message sometimes came complete with push-ups. after all, maribel was all army. when i would get in trouble, she would make me do exercise in order to work off the punishment. and all this time, maribel was hammering away at giselle-- you're going to finish school. oh, yes. you're going to study hard. you're going to have a career. yes. this is what you're going to do, miha, and she would tell her. ok, giselle? yes, tia. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): maribel got a dog and rented a two-bedroom apartment in the city of orange, which she shared with a roommate, a quiet chemist named kc joy, who also had a dog. i thought it was a perfect match. he has a dog, she has a dog. he seems quiet. he's not going to have all these people coming over.

josh mankiewicz (voiceover): by may 2013, everything seemed great. maribel was leading by example, finishing up her degree in criminal justice at cal state fullerton. giselle was following in her strong footsteps. and she was dropping off money at my house because i had gotten good grades. and she had just got her hair done, dyed and styled, for her graduation. she looked great. yeah. and she was happy. yeah, she was. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): and that's why it made no sense when, just days later, maribel ramos, soldier, student, loving aunt, simply disappeared. craig melvin (voiceover): coming up, what had happened to maribel ramos? nobody had heard from her. nobody. craig melvin (voiceover): when "dateline" continues. type 2 diabetes? discover the ozempic® tri-zone.

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so what i did is i text her at 11:00, and i said, "happy friday," because we usually text each other anyways, that was my way of connecting. and she didn't text me back. unusual? yes. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): lucy still wasn't worried. she knew her combat-hardened sister could take care of herself. but then evening came, and for maribel, friday night was softball night. she loved to play and never missed a game. but this friday night, she didn't show. now lucy's phone was ringing, maribel's teammates on the line. lucy gonzalez: they told me, go to the house, the police are there, do not take giselle. i am freaking out. and i walk in, and my sister's not there. her door is open.

her lights are on. her bed's undone. my head started spinning. everything was horrible, and i felt it. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): detective joey ramirez with the orange police department got the call that evening. and he also had a bad feeling about everything. it sounds like you were taking this pretty seriously from the get-go. absolutely. why couldn't she just be off by herself, or with some other friends, and maybe she lost her phone or forgot to call? that was our hope, that she was just missing and that she'd come walking through the door. but the family and friends expressed that she was very responsible. and nobody had heard from her. nobody. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): so ramirez and his team went into action. they quickly figured out that if she left on her own accord, it didn't look like maribel had planned to be out long. josh mankiewicz: she left her car at home. her car was there. her keys were gone. her phone was gone. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): but her toothbrush was there.

so was her big purse she used when she had a lot to carry. kc returned home hours after police first got there. he again told the cops what he'd told them that morning, that maribel was missing. lucy and the softball team went to the police station, hoping for answers. but morning came, and there weren't any. so channeling her big sister, lucy decided to stop waiting and make her own luck. i woke up on saturday, and i thought, wow, this is seriously happening. so i posted a picture of her on facebook, and it was immediate. people went into action. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): friends from the university got together, family members, her roommate, lots of people who maribel had touched wanted to help. they hung flyers in english and spanish. they reached out to reporters. it's very not like her, after eight years of service in the army, to just disappear. unusual thing was, being next day,

friday morning, she was not here. i helped my mom pass out flyers around school, pretty much anything i could do. did you think they'd find her? yes, i did. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): giselle was 14 at the time. but detective ramirez, who's been a cop for more years than giselle's been alive, was not as hopeful. she's not using her cell phone. she's not taking any money out. no one's heard from her. when you've picked up no trace of her after a couple of days, you still think you're looking for a living person? the percentages are starting to drop, not in our favor. because by then, you've called all hospitals. all hospitals, jails. there's an alert out that any police officer, what? in southern california sees her. correct. and the media was also helping. and nothing. nothing. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): no maribel on security tape from any nearby store. police checked all of them. they found only this image from the security camera

outside the manager's office for her apartment complex. it's maribel paying the rent. it's may 2nd at 8:18 pm, the night before anyone realized she had disappeared. maribel seems to be alone. so what the cops needed to do was talk to everyone who was anyone in maribel's life. turns out there were a lot of people they suddenly needed to get to know, including a current boyfriend, an ex-boyfriend, and someone maribel had just met-- a guy she'd made a date with online, a guy whose name maribel had apparently kept completely to herself. craig melvin (voiceover): coming up, that haunting phone call-- something had happened to make her pretty scared. yes. craig melvin (voiceover): when "dateline" continues.

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>> that's one. >> (800) 403-7539. >> when you need brutal honesty, when you need answers first thing in the morning. >> when you need to go. >> deep inside washington and hear from someone. >> who's. >> been there. you need your morning joe weekdays at six only. only. >> on msnbc. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): this is the city of orange, california, in the county of orange, california. much of it is a small town stuck in time. there's a university, a zoo, cute local businesses, and a police department that doesn't have to deal with a lot of violent crime. after all, the happiest place on earth is just down the street.

but in may 2013, detective joey ramirez was far from happy. he had a lot of ground to cover and a strong sense that time was against him as he tried to figure out what had happened to maribel ramos. josh mankiewicz: she just vanished. yes. how often does that kind of thing happen? it doesn't happen often. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): ramirez started by investigating the man in maribel's life. it turned out there were a few of them. did you know she was doing all that online dating? did she talk about that? yeah, she did. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): maribel sometimes met guys through a website called plentyoffish. that's how she found paul lopez. they'd been dating for a few months, and paul had even joined her weekly softball game. lopez was the last person maribel talked to on the phone. now police wanted to talk to him. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): ramirez sat across from paul and asked about his relationship with maribel.

josh mankiewicz (voiceover): and he asked lopez where he was on the night maribel disappeared. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): police also had to consider this-- maribel had told lucy that things weren't working out with paul lopez. she wasn't a match for paul, so she was online, talking to people. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): maribel was back on plentyoffish and had met a new man. he was a photographer who'd worked a lot with the military. it was a connection for both of them. josh mankiewicz: how did she describe that guy? she said, oh, i met someone. he's very interesting. we have a lot in common. and you thought, what? good? i thought, great. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): they planned a date for cinco de mayo. but two days before that date was to happen,

maribel vanished. so police talked to that photographer and made a recording of the conversation. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): so he said, anyway. there was also an ex-boyfriend who'd been calling. police needed to check him out. and there was this lead-- there was a person at cal state fullerton that was in the veterans association with her that had given her a bad feeling. he may have wanted to pursue some sort of dating relationship. but it gave her a bad feeling how? she wasn't interested in him, and she didn't give him any attention. yet, he didn't go away. so he made her feel uncomfortable. correct. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): and by now, detective ramirez had learned something else. just a little over a week before she vanished, maribel ramos had called 911.

josh mankiewicz (voiceover): maribel wanted it on the record. she wanted police to know that she was very afraid of someone. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): she might have been afraid, but this army-strong woman who'd always taken care of herself feared she might be the one putting the hurt on her attacker. josh mankiewicz: something had happened to make her pretty scared. yes. there's nothing in the call to say what that was. right. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): what was she afraid of? not clear. who was she afraid of? that was another story entirely. craig melvin (voiceover): coming up.

craig melvin (voiceover): did her roommate know something that police didn't? when "dateline" continues. (♪♪) a single touch can say a thousand words. it says... i see you. i feel you. i got you. and i'm never letting go. (♪♪) ever. (♪♪) say it all with irresistibly touchable skin. get in touch. gold bond. breathtaking. more heart racing, more soul mating. it's here.

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>> hi, i'm richard lui with a news update. marco rubio off to central america for his first international trip as us secretary of state. he will discuss president trump's top priority curbing illegal immigration, and the message that the us wants to regain control of the panama canal, and the ntsb saying a preliminary analysis of the flight data recorders. recovered from this week's crash near dca airport in washington, that it indicates there may have been a quick and sudden attempt by the plane to avoid collision. officials say they also recovered a device from the military helicopter. 67 people were killed. for now, people were killed. for now, ba welcome back. i'm craig melvin. maribel ramos had joined the army

to put herself through college. but just days away from her graduation ceremony, she vanished. earlier, maribel had called police to say she was in danger and afraid for her life. what was it, or who was it, that had her so concerned? here again is josh mankiewicz with "mystery in orange county." josh mankiewicz (voiceover): by now, posters blanketed the city of orange. maribel ramos was missing, and her family was frantic. soon as i got a call that she didn't show up to her baseball game, i got the worst feeling in the world. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): putting himself out there with all the rest was maribel's roommate, kc joy. she's my own family i have. she's my best friend. and i want her to come back, that's all. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): kc had moved from tennessee to southern california for a job. he had no family and few friends here. so he turned to maribel, and she was happy to include him. she even arranged for kc to tutor her niece in math.

he seemed nice, respectful. he liked to be involved with the family and my aunt. he didn't have a family of his own, so he kind of attached himself to yours. yeah. but they weren't boyfriend and girlfriend. no. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): even so, in photos, maribel and kc seemed to be having a great time. they even went on a cruise together. soon, police would be talking with kc joy. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): the formalities over, detective ramirez started asking about maribel. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): but, he said, he had no idea what happened to her. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): that was

thursday night, may 2, 2013. the next night, when the cops were called to maribel's house, kc wasn't there. he explained he'd been so worried that he did his own investigation, watching his own front door from his car parked out front. comes back to their. crime scene or whatever. i want crime scene or whatever. i want to see who's going to josh mankiewicz (voiceover): it sounded a little odd. maybe kc had just seen too many crime movies. but if he had, then he'd probably know cops don't miss little details like-- well, like this. he's sitting across the table from me. he's wearing a short-sleeved shirt. he has jeans on and sandals. and instantly, i can see he has scratches on both his arms.

he's got a scratch across his forehead from his hairline to his eye. >> all the time. >> why did. >> you go? exactly. you go pick up other pond. up other pond. >> you pick up fishing lines. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): kc explained he was walking the dogs when he saw a fishing line in a bush. worrying about the ducks in the park getting caught in the line, he reached in to remove it and got all those scratches. you've been around long enough, you can tell the difference between scratches that a person might get reaching into a bush or from an animal, and scratches that somebody would get during an actual fight with another person. right. and some of the scratches on his arms did look like scratches that would be from something other

than fingernails. but there was one particular set of scratches on his right bicep that, to me, clearly looked like scratches from a hand. and that says to you he was in a fight. it does. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): that was the last night anyone saw maribel, the night she was caught on camera paying the rent, which, kc said, was what they were arguing about. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): it turned out kc had recently lost his job and could no longer pay his share of the rent. maribel had asked him to move out. that was reason for concern, of course, and so was this. detective ramirez had learned about the 911 call

maribel had made 11 days before she disappeared. and he knew that in that call, the man maribel said she might have to kill was kc joy. juan. charles. what i understand juan. charles. what i understand is juan joy. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): kc said it was all just a drunken misunderstanding. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): what was the problem? detective ramirez heard from maribel's family something very interesting-- kc joy had wanted to be more than just roommates with maribel ramos. lucy told us the same thing. when did it become apparent to you

that kc had a crush on your sister? oh, he called me, and then he just says, i'm in love with your sister. so i was like, oh, that's great. because you knew that your sister wasn't in love with him. yes, and that's a bad situation. so at that point, i'm like, ok, kc, you're a good man, and i'm sure you'll find somebody out there for you, but-- but it's not going to be her. yeah. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): now the woman kc had told lucy he wanted had told him that not only did she not love him, but he had to basically get out of her life. despite that, kc continued talking with police. josh mankiewicz: mr. joy was being cooperative. he was. talking to officers, let you guys take stuff out of the house. he did. and never showed up with a lawyer. he did not. doesn't sound like that did a lot to set aside your suspicions. no, it didn't. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): suspicions, sure, but no proof

a crime had even occurred. maribel ramos was missing, that's all anyone knew. her and so kc joy walked out of that police station like all the other men in maribel's life, a free man. finally, the clue they'd been waiting for, and you won't believe how they got it. craig melvin (voiceover): coming up-- no one had searched there. no. but he's looking at it. scott simmons: yes. he knew a lot more than he was telling us. craig melvin (voiceover): 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

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josh mankiewicz (voiceover): the days were taking by, and still no maribel. forensic results were coming in-- dna, fingerprints, cell phone data-- none of it adding up to anything that told the cops what had happened to her. so police were looking at the usual suspects, like her boyfriend, paul lopez. lopez works for the gas company and goes from call to call in a company truck. the gps on that truck puts him nowhere near the city of orange on the night maribel was seen on that security video. that is until about midnight. lopez told police that's when he went home. he said he was alone and could prove it. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): that was enough to get lopez off the list. there was that ex-boyfriend who had been calling. maribel had never mentioned he'd been a problem, and police didn't think he was involved. there was the photographer from the web site plenty of fish.

his cell phone data placed him in san diego, out of the area at the time in question. and the veteran from cal state who'd come on too strong? he was in japan. none of them could be connected to maribel's disappearance. so in the end, there was just one person the cops couldn't stop looking at, the first person to report maribel missing, her roommate, kc joy. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): he was also the last to see her alive. i felt she most likely was dead. i felt that there was a high probability mr. joy was responsible for it, and he knew a lot more than he was telling us. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): so detective ramirez became kc joy's shadow, appearing in the morning,

and then later by moonlight. hours after kc's first police interview, a cheerful joey ramirez showed up at his house. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): he brought a voice recorder and a few more questions. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): detective ramirez already knew the answers to some of them. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): and to some, he didn't. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): then ramirez showed up again that night. how many times did you talk to him? i believe i talked to him at least nine times.

josh mankiewicz (voiceover): ramirez tried scaring kc about potential evidence found in his car. the red. the red. >> versa blood? yeah, right. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): he tried backing kc into a corner about what might be found on kc's hard drive. you were hoping he's going to think to himself, ok, everything i've deleted, they're going to see. right. didn't work. didn't work. we were swinging and missing regularly, on a daily basis. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): kc joy was willing to talk, repeatedly, without an attorney.

he says to you, oh, i've seen this movie, and now you're going to take my fingerprints. he's like a pro. he's seen it all. he's being very relaxed. i felt that he was very confident that we weren't going to figure it out. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): what mr. joy apparently didn't know was that other officers were watching him 24/7. the surveillance teams noticed he was spending a lot of time at the public library, and he was using the computers there, probably because police had taken away his phone and maribel's computer, which was the one kc normally used. joey ramirez: initially, we would have undercover policemen go into the library, walk around him, see what he's doing. and at one point, he's seen googling "can a cell phone be tracked if it's turned off." well, that's certainly suspicious.

it is. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): detective ramirez was consulting daily with orange county deputy district attorney scott simmons. there are things that can be called into question, but they're not immediately proof of anything. exactly, and that's why we didn't arrest him right away. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): police needed to see exactly what kc joy was doing on those library computers. that would require a very unusual plan. they obtained a search warrant allowing them to watch in real time every move made on the computer. this is a recording of kc's actual computer keystrokes and mouse clicks. that's kc checking his email. that's kc applying for a job. that's kc typing in, "how long does it take a body to decay." suspicious, maybe, but not enough. and then he did this. joey ramirez: he pulled up a facebook page. it showed there was going to be an awareness walk in the near future.

a walk to help find maribel. it was. he google mapped that park and zoomed in onto it. he then panned out, navigated over about 8 to 10 miles. this area that he was zeroing in on, was it an area that had crossed your field of vision at all? no. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): here, kc is google mapping a place that no one had searched. watch as he zooms into that area with the tree. josh mankiewicz: that tree didn't figure in the investigation in any way? not in any stretch of the imagination. and no one had searched there. no. and no reason for that to be in the paper or anywhere else. no. it's out in a remote canyon location. josh mankiewicz: but he's looking at it. scott simmons: yes, yes. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): by the time kc was walking out of the library that afternoon, police were already headed to that tree. craig melvin (voiceover): coming up, another startling discovery.

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josh mankiewicz (voiceover): as he dug deeper into kc joy's background, detective joey ramirez found more and more evidence that kc was infatuated, even obsessed, with maribel ramos. for instance, the time maribel told kc he was too old for her, and he responded by getting plastic surgery. $12,000 later, he's got a different face. correct. and he says the reason he got it was because of the woman who's missing. correct. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): now here was kc at the public library, google mapping a remote wilderness area. since the dawn of detective novels, killers have returned to the scene of the crime. but these days, there's no need for the bad guy to even get in his car. now it can be done with the click of a mouse. the good guys still have to do it the old fashioned way. detective shawn hayden got the call on the radio--

drive out to rustic modjeska canyon, southeast of the city of orange. we didn't know what to think. this is a very rural area. no one will be out here mountain biking or hiking. this is way off the beaten path. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): at the other end of the two-way radio, detective brian stanley was rewatching kc's google search, trying to give detective hayden better directions. kc focused on an intersection and then moved over to the tree. brian stanley: in the center of the shot, there's one tree that looks like a bush out in the middle of the wash. so i told him to look for that tree and then in the wash from that area. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): hayden and his partner found the tree, then moved off the road and past the barbed wire fence. and then they knew they were close. shawn hayden (voiceover): as we were trekking through this brush here, the first and foremost thing we found was an overwhelming smell of a decaying body or something dead. and my partner and i turned our head, and we looked over, and we saw this shallow grave site. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): at long last, there she was.

one of the detectives called and said, joey, you're not going to believe this. we found her. maribel ramos had been left alone in that dusty canyon since before anyone knew she was missing. now ramirez knew it was time for one last meeting with kc joy. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): ramirez didn't tell kc that maribel had been found. he just tried for the final time to get kc to be the one who would say what had happened. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): so once again, kc joy walked out of the interview room. he didn't get far. this time, he was arrested and charged with the murder of maribel ramos, the woman he had loved who had not loved him.

when he was taken into custody, kc joy was wearing maribel's dog tags. kc joy pleaded not guilty. and in july 2014, a year after maribel vanished, he went on trial for her murder. miss maribel ramos. maribel is no longer with us. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): the prosecution laid out the evidence against kc-- the unrequited love, the scratches, the 911 call, and finally, the computer searches. he's wondering, how close is maribel's body to where they're doing that awareness search? that's why he goes to google maps. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): the defense pointed out there was no dna, fingerprints, cell phone info, or standard forensic evidence that tied kc joy to maribel's murder or to the crime scene. we don't know what happened. what kind of force was used? nobody knows. who used it first? nobody knows. was there a weapon used?

was it used by maribel, or was it used by kc joy? nobody knows. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): all true. but the computer searches were enough for the jury. we, the jury, and the above entitled action find the defendant, kwang chol joy, guilty of the crime of felony to-wit-- josh mankiewicz (voiceover): kc joy was convicted of second degree murder, after which he told me, the jury got it wrong. are you dangerous? me? i'm the perfect, most honest guy there is, the trustworthy. i'm a gentleman. josh mankiewicz: you had a crush on her. no, absolutely not. i always maintained that we are platonic friends. you never told lucy that you had a crush on her. no, i never said that. you never said you were in love with her? no, never said that either. you weren't obsessed with her? no, i was not obsessed with her. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): the plastic surgery? his choice, he says, not done for maribel. and the computer search of the area where maribel's body was found? kc says he didn't do it, someone else

did, by remotely accessing the same computer right after he had used it. you don't think that's quite a coincidence? it may be a coincidence, but i didn't do it. you're being framed here? i say yes. if i had a paid attorney, somebody like oj simpson had, i wouldn't be here right now. i'd be out. so the problem here is not that you're guilty, it's that you don't have enough money. exactly. it seems like money talks. if i had money, i would not be here. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): kc joy was sentenced to 15 years to life for killing maribel ramos. what do you think happened? i think she went to bed, and i think what he did is he got a pillow and smothered her. and as he's got this pillow over her face, she struggles a little bit. and i believe that's where he got the scratches on his right tricep. if mr. joy hadn't done that google maps search leading you, essentially, to the body, would he be a free man?

if no other evidence came up, yes. he'd be a person of interest in a cold case. correct. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): maribel ramos graduated from college posthumously. her niece, giselle, who maribel had always hoped would follow in her footsteps instead ended up walking the path meant for her aunt. i received her diploma, and i got to sit in her seat, and walk up stage, and receive everything. it was difficult to see my daughter in such pain, walking for her aunt. maribel ramos, we lost this gal a couple years ago. she was an army veteran. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): every wednesday in the city of orange, they lower the flag for the fallen who served. but maribel has a legacy. giselle seems well on her way to becoming the successful woman

maribel had hoped for. your mom says that you've sort of been the rock. yeah. that they wouldn't have made it through this without you. yes. where'd you get that toughness? from her. from maribel. yeah. that's all for this edition of "dateline." i'm craig melvin. thanks for watching. [theme music] . i'm craig melvin. and i'm natalie morales. and this is "dateline." f two. she was a kindergarten teacher. there was nothing about her life that would raise any red flags. craig melvin (voiceover): she amazed them all, her whole group of girlfriends at the gym. she was totally dedicated, i say, heather, turn around.