i wish you were here. she was just very, very giving, i mean, even from the second i met her. i just wish we had more people like that in the world. do you think meghan is dancing in heaven somewhere? oh, i know she is. and you know, it's tested our faith. and i know she watches over us. you know, there are times when i kind of feel like someone's watching me, you know? and i feel it's her. [music playing] [audio logo] nobody seen her, nobody heard from her-- she's really missing. keith morrison: chelsea was out to scare up some halloween fun. she had a poison ivy costume-- bright lipstick, a wig on. she looked beautiful in her costume.

keith morrison: but next morning, she was gone. i got a couple of facebook messages-- did you see chelsea? do you know where chelsea is at? you had a majority of people in costumes, disguised-- a worst case scenario to start an investigation. keith morrison: was somebody lying? a halloween mystery that will leave you chilled to the bone. very eerie place-- the trains going by, the echoes. what did you think when you saw that? the hair on the back of that kind of stands up. i had to find her. [music playing] keith morrison: in a quiet rural township in southeastern michigan, as october chilled into the autumn, two young women prepared for the social event of the season.

it's going to be great, there will be so many people. keith morrison: or so they imagined, so they hoped, in their sunny naivete-- they and so many others of a particular demographic on the farms and in the small towns around monroe county. it was like a build up that whole summer that we couldn't wait to go to this halloween party. keith morrison: halloween-- becky brinson and her friend chelsea bruck just loved dressing up for halloween. chelsea and becky worked together at a restaurant called "olga's kitchen" in monroe, and as they served their customers, they talked endlessly about what was coming. this wasn't going to be just any halloween party. it was big mike's annual halloween bash of 2014. everyone-- just everyone knew big mike has the biggest halloween party. keith morrison: and after all, their friends were going. and there'd be bands and noise and excitement, and who

knew what all there'd be. we were definitely going to be there. keith morrison: big mike had made quite a name for himself with his heavy metal music and his epic party here at his mother's farm. the girls had been to some of those parties before, and nothing bad ever happened-- so really, why should they worry as they'd dreamt up their costumes, their clever impersonations of evil. we were both going be batman villains. keith morrison: chelsea would be the essence of evil-- batman's nemesis, poison ivy. she looked beautiful in her costume. keith morrison: i bet. i'll never forget. keith morrison: chelsea made it herself-- spent weeks bent over a needle and thread, and by hand, sewed on each leaf of artificial ivy. i didn't even know she could do that. keith morrison: and she found a wig, just the right thing-- maroon, with tips of red like blood, like the wine jug she carried, like the bright red

of her poisoned lips. she must have very proud of it. she was. keith morrison: did they imagine, even for a moment as they prepared, that true evil would find them here on this sleepy country road, not just the pretend kind-- no, not as they tingled with excitement that saturday, october 25th, 2014, and blended into the wild bacchanalian scene inside-- two giant tents big mike had set up for the occasion. and the revelers poured in-- 600, 700 people, hundred more maybe-- who knew? a parade of eight heavy metal rock bands blasted their shock waves into the night-- one of them big mike's very own band, "pickaxe preacher." that's him, singing. the band had dressed up as ninja turtles for halloween. somewhere out there in that crowd were becky and chelsea and their friend penny watkins. me and chelsea kind of attached at the hip.

keith morrison: penny was a decade older than chelsea-- had four growing kids. but that night at the party-- we were walking around and being goofy, like two little schoolgirls just laughing and giggling and drinking a little bit. i felt 21 again when i was hanging out with her. keith morrison: chelsea was 22, grew up in a tiny safe place called maybee. she was the youngest of five children-- still lived at home with her parents. she was nice, she was friendly-- kind of wholesome, just this girl that, you know, came from the country and was ready to meet new people and do new things and have some fun. happy-- happy to start her life, happy to adventure and explore and do new experiences. keith morrison: just after midnight, the last band stopped playing, and big mike lit up a huge bonfire-- flames up to 15, 20 feet high. we actually walked over there together. on this one, she bumped her nose. keith morrison: chelsea, that is, bumped her nose on a tent pole--

had to hurt. was it bleeding? it wasn't bleeding. there was a mark where she had hit it, and she was holding her face. we were kind of laughing at her, because, you know, she's clumsy sometimes. it hurt-- you know, when you hit your nose, it kind of stings. keith morrison: sure. you know, i kind of babied her a little bit, like, oh, you're going to be ok. she wanted to go home right then. i'm like, it's going to be ok, it's going to be ok-- just drink a little bit, it'll go away-- you know. and after a minute or two, she was fine, and she was back enjoying the party. keith morrison: then, by 1:00 am, it was time to go home. earlier, chelsea had asked penny for a ride home, but sometime during the bonfire, they lost sight of each other. and penny's sister had to work the next morning and so had to leave right then. and she had to be up at 6:00, so it was time to go. keith morrison: such confusion. by then, becky was holding chelsea's phone, because chelsea had no pockets in her poison ivy get-up. but becky couldn't find chelsea either.

and i was like, ugh, like, what do i do? like, do i find a different ride? do i get stuck here? like-- go find chelsea? i assumed that, you know, she knew other people, and she'd-- someone would give her a ride home. i felt like she was there with people in the community, people that knew her. so i didn't have a reason to be concerned that anything bad would happen. keith morrison: so they left-- penny, and becky, who still had chelsea's phone. probably the biggest regret of my life. in hindsight, it's probably the worst mistake i've ever made-- was not looking out for her better than i did. there is so much i could have done to help protect her, and i didn't. keith morrison: later-- much later-- someone would report seeing chelsea as the party wound down-- in the dark, alone, seemed to be crying. and then nothing. chelsea bruck simply vanished into the cold night air.

coming up-- where was chelsea? certainly, she'd turn up by the next day. at the time, i guess, there was a hope that maybe something silly happened. keith morrison: but that hope faded fast. there were probably about 15 people here, they're all searching through the field. that's when it started getting more alarming. this is real. yeah keith morrison: when dateline continues. [music playing] (♪♪) ♪ (slow down) ♪ (♪♪) cut!!!! i get it! slow motion. slow down geographic atrophy. but we don't need gimmicks. stick to the facts. ga, the advanced form of dry amd, can irreversibly damage your vision. but syfovre is an fda-approved eye injection that gives you the power to slow ga. syfovre was proven to slow ga lesion growth over 2 years with increasing effect over time. it's the only treatment to slow ga

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there it is. all the parts you need, guaranteed to fit every time. ebay. things. people. love. sneezy without feeling sleepy. >> get 0%. >> brain interference for fast. non-drowsy allergy. relief. with allegra, it's a no brainer. allegra, it's a no brainer. disney's snow wh the day after big mike's halloween party 2014 was a sunday-- recovery day. i remember just telling my dad how much fun it was, and how happy i was to get out of the house and-- you know, just all good things. keith morrison: penny watkins and becky brinson failed to understand just yet it was going to be second guessing day, too. becky, through the haze in her morning after head, called chelsea's mom-- left a message that she had chelsea's cell phone.

and whenever chelsea woke up that day she could come get it, because i'd be home all day. did you hear anything back? i didn't hear anything until late that night. keith morrison: when chelsea's sister sent becky a message on facebook saying chelsea hadn't come home-- so becky responded. she's probably at a friend's house, she's probably-- maybe still sleeping, who knows? maybe got up, ate, went back to bed-- you know, who knows? keith morrison: who, indeed? by monday, when chelsea had still not turned up at home, or called, or sent word, her worried family contacted whoever they could think of-- friends, the police, big mike. this is big mike. i was sitting at breakfast-- this is big mike, the party guy. his real name is mike williams, and this is his mother's farm, where he's lived pretty much all his life. i got a couple of facebook messages-- did you see chelsea, do you where chelsea's at? and i'm like, i don't know even know who they are talking about at first. keith morrison: it was chelsea's sister who messaged big mike.

the family was worried-- very worried now. people were, like, messaging me, michael, look through your field. you know-- go look, take a walk. you know, i'm like, all right. keith morrison: but look for what-- a body? surely not. anyway, look he did. i took my dog with me and we went walking. i went hiking through the field, probably hiked a couple miles. and then my dog stumbled on a fox trap. keith morrison: so mike took his injured and bleeding dog back to his house, and there encountered chelsea's mom, who he said gave him a chilly reception. he excused himself, took his dog to the vet. and then i came back here. there were probably about 15 people here, they're all searching through the field. that's when it started getting more alarming. this is real. yeah, this is real. she's missing. keith morrison: chelsea's family was frantic-- did not waste time. they set up camp here. big mike: yeah, they did. they kind of like-- this was like their base

for a little bit. did they actually put up a tent or something? put up a tent, had a generator, porta potty. and i talked to my attorney and what we should-- how we should handle it. and he said, let's leave him alone for now, and eventually they'll go away. and we took that advice and we just kind of let them do their thing. and-- did they say, do you mind if we set up here? or did-- actually, i don't think they even asked. i think they just did. yeah. because they sort of suspected you? yeah, they kind of suspected me, and i don't think they really-- maybe they were trying to put heat on me, or something. maybe. you know, i don't know. keith morrison: meanwhile, a few sheriff's deputies joined the family and searched the fields behind mike's house with their atvs and a search dog and found nothing, but suspicion was in the air. that monday evening, at least as mike saw it, chelsea's mom, understandably very worried, took on an accusing tone. is she in your basement? is she in your trailer? do you have her-- like i have her locked up somewhere, you know, that kind of threw me out. like, you know, i'm out here helping. keith morrison: but here around the farm, people wondered.

was he? anyway, that was about the time penny heard that chelsea never made it home after the party. kind of got a lump in my throat, like, what? keith morrison: and she joined the search that night. at the time, i guess there was a hope that maybe something silly happened, like she got her leg caught in somewhere, or she was-- just somehow was on the property and-- keith morrison: got lost, was in the woods somewhere, or something? yeah, i mean, it's monroe. stuff like that don't happen in monroe. it's a safe, safe little place. no. keith morrison: the next thing becky heard was very early the next morning, tuesday. i got a knock on my door from the police. keith morrison: and then finally becky understood something awful may have happened to her friend chelsea. what did your mind go to? the worst possible scenarios-- maybe she walked home, what if she got hit by a car? what if she's in a ditch somewhere? what if somebody kidnapped her-- or trafficking?

there were cases of human trafficking? yeah. so people were being snatched-- young women, particularly, and then taken off to become prostitutes against their will? yeah. how did that feel? it was helpless. keith morrison: penny used facebook to get the word out about chelsea, and kept looking. i was out there almost every day. some nights i'd put the kids to bed and go out searching all night. keith morrison: out on big mike's property, the family invited the media, including our detroit affiliate wdiv, to their command post. and chelsea's mother tried to stay focused through her fear and regret. had i known she was going to a party with over 600 people-- unrelenting, 22 or not, she would not have been going. keith morrison: this was agony for a mother-- and for a sister. if she was able to come home, she would have by now. from mike's farm, the family sent

volunteer search parties around the neighborhood and beyond. big mike: and they were still conducting searches throughout the fields, they were knocking on farmers' doors, asking if they could look around their fields and things like that. keith morrison: detectives from the sheriff's office were very active, too, by then. but they'd already encountered a serious problem-- how to investigate six or eight hundred people, many in halloween disguise? coming up-- an eyewitness. he saw chelsea. he described her as being tipsy. keith morrison: he also spotted someone walking away with her. he described this guy pretty good, which ultimately led us to this composite sketch. upon releasing it, we get flooded with phone calls. keith morrison: when dateline continues-- [music playing]

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entertainment, all in one place. >> that's. >> 1-800-403-7539. >> what was it. >> like when trump got elected? >> what was. the what. >> was the reaction? do you. >> think about ice. >> coming to. >> knock on your front door to. >> you for president trump's first 100 days? alex wagner travels to the story to talk with people most impacted by the policies. >> were you. >> there on january? >> i was there. >> on january 6th. >> did it surprise you that you. >> were fired. >> given how resolutely. >> nonpartisan you. >> have been? >> and for more in-depth reporting, follow her podcast, reporting, follow her podcast, trumpland with each day that first week, little groups of people showed up at big mike's place out in rural monroe county,

eager to follow a worried sister's direction. five mile radius out the first circle, my house, 10 miles out. that's where we're looking, that's where she'd go. keith morrison: while in town, the sheriff's office confronted the baffling mystery. it's a halloween party, so you had the majority of people in costumes. keith morrison: it didn't take but a minute for detective brian sroka and mike preadmore to get the picture this wasn't going to be easy. somehow, they had to figure out what happened to one young woman at a rowdy party of more than 600 people who'd been drinking, many of whom had disguised themselves for halloween. so we put all those together, it almost makes it a worst case scenario to start an investigation. keith morrison: there certainly wasn't a list of people they could contact. you're in the middle of nowhere. it's pitch black, you know, minus the fire and the little bit of moonlight. and this party is going all throughout the early morning hours, people are coming and going-- there's just no accountability, who's there, who's coming,

who's leaving. so somebody walking you through the grounds of the party, if they weren't right beside the fire, it'd be a little hard to tell who they were. i mean, it's like some ghostly presence coming out of the darkness. yes. and they're wearing makeup, and then they're gone. yes. it was just chaos, almost. still, they needed to figure out what happened. also, they wanted to understand the young woman who was missing. chelsea, she almost became her sister during this. we talked to the family, i mean, we've searched her room. i mean, we know almost everything about her, it seems like. you know, she's 22 years old, she's the youngest of five children-- almost a baby of the family. she was the only one still living at home with mom and dad, and they kind of were lenient on her. keith morrison: there's something very special about that-- youngest daughter. - yes. keith morrison: now, you've got a large family. yes. so her place in the family was sort of family sweetheart, that kind of thing? brian sroka: pretty much. and we started to establish this-- you know, her personal history. she has nowhere to really go, she doesn't drive,

she wouldn't just up and leave. keith morrison: which is just what chelsea's sister told nbc's toledo affiliate, wnwo. she-- even i told my mom that night, i'm not even staying that long. i'll be home in a couple hours. she was just going to go with her friends for a little bit and come back. keith morrison: detectives talked to chelsea's friends, too, of course. and what did they tell you about her dating history? she wasn't currently seeing anybody, but there were a couple of guys she was interested in. so we-- obviously, we looked into those people. these were guys she had dated before. she had dated or was interested in. how carefully did you look at these guys she had been interested, or had dated? very in depth. did any of them go to the party? no. oh. so we were trying to determine, did they pick her up? did they have someone pick her up? what did they know about chelsea that night? we brought them in, we talked to them, we searched their homes. we searched their cell phones.

you know, we-- at one point, we even collected some of their clothing, you know, to maybe possibly get some type of evidence, dna fibers. keith morrison: but detectives were hearing from people who had been at the party. we actually have six different people that we made contact with, who let chelsea borrow their phone for phone calls. and then she actually tried to call two friends. keith morrison: one of those friends was penny, who was home by the time chelsea called. she asked if i could come get her. at the time, i thought i was being responsible, and i told her i'm sorry, i drunk too much, i really have no business driving. she didn't sound desperate for a ride, she didn't sound upset. she never tried to call her my mom or anybody else. she was seen crying a few times by the fire. she was saying nobody's-- you know, she has no friends to give her a ride. she was cold, she was just upset. keith morrison: but then, a couple of days after the party, a woman called in--

said her son may have seen something important. he saw chelsea-- and he remembers clearly that it was chelsea, because he talked to her about her poison ivy costume, and that how badly allergic he is to poison ivy. did you remember what time this was? it was approximately 3:30 in the morning. he described her as being tipsy. but here's the thing-- and maybe it was some kind of break in the case. he said he saw a man hovering over chelsea. he's kind of comforting her, standing with her, you know, talking to her. keith morrison: almost like they knew each other, said the witness. he described him as a little taller, slender, hair swooping, wearing glasses. keith morrison: and then the two disappeared into the dark, he said. he described this guy pretty good to one of our michigan

state police sketch artists, which ultimately led us to this composite sketch. keith morrison: and released it to the public? mike preadmore: right away, soon as we had it. upon releasing that, we would get flooded with phone calls. we didn't realize how common of a look that actually is. i mean, a lot of people actually look like the sketch. keith morrison: mike williams offered an opinion. it looks like 150 different people that i know. you know, i don't know-- i can take you to a bar right now where everybody in the bar looks like that. keith morrison: but mike told the detectives that a couple of members of a milwaukee band that worked the party looked a bit like the sketch. maybe talk to them, i don't know. maybe she hopped in their tour van and went back to milwaukee. i don't know, she was kind of a free spirit. so i mean, i thought maybe she just cut town, you know? so we sought assistance from the fbi tracking them down, nothing panned out. they all had alibi? yes. keith morrison: but big mike-- neither the detectives nor chelsea's family could shake the idea this guy was hiding something.

coming up-- brian sroka: we asked for his consent to search the house, and he denied us consent. keith morrison: big mike in the spotlight-- and a new witness who says he saw chelsea right before she went missing from mike's party. when dateline continues-- [music playing] ♪♪ life with norman is fun and full of adventure. he just started to slow down a little bit on walks and seemed like he had some discomfort. his doctor diagnosed him with osteoarthritis pain and recommended that we try librela. veterinary professionals administering librela who are pregnant, trying to conceive, or breastfeeding should take extreme care to avoid self-injection, which can cause allergic reactions like anaphylaxis. librela has helped norman get back to his old self. ♪♪ ugh, when is my allergy spray going to kick in? -you need astepro. -astepro? it's faster, bro. 8x faster than flonase.

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sexual harassment allegations. sexual harassment allegations. for now, back to dateline. four days after chelsea bruck disappeared, the detectives decided it was time for a serious talk with big mike william. funny thing about mike-- on the one hand, he seemed cooperative, but on the other-- we asked for his consent to search the house, you know, for any kind of evidence from the investigation, make sure chelsea wasn't even in the house, and he denied us consent. keith morrison: so they did it the hard way. they came in with 13 swat guys in full gear. and i said, do you have a search warrant, and they presented it to me right there and then, and then are you going to let us in, or we got to kick in the door. and that's when i let them in. this is getting tough for you at this point. yeah, you know, when they went through my house, and they were searching for things, like, they left a terrible mess. it's the first time i think ever in my entire life living here for, you know--

you know, i didn't feel comfortable in my own home. keith morrison: outside investigators took one look at mike's firepit and-- was there something in there? they dug through years of burning stuff, you know, having parties-- what was that like? i kind of shook my head. they had it all taped off, and i think they dug all day looking in there. keith morrison: nothing. still, was he a person of significant interest-- oh, yes. absolutely. we kept mike-- big mike close. keith morrison: but the investigation was about to take a turn. detective preadmore was at the office when a new tip came in about a young man named harlin bird. did he possibly have information that would help us find chelsea, or what happened to her? keith morrison: which was how the 19-year-old mr. bird wound up in an interview room at the sheriff's office.

he remembers two subjects harassing a female in the parking lot of the party. and at this time, they were shoving her around and pushing around, assaulting this female, and that she was crying and yelling for help. he intervened, and he fought these guys off, and he helped chelsea up off the ground. and he actually got blood of chelsea's on his shirt. could he describe her? he described her as chelsea. ok. wearing poison ivy-- poison ivy, the wig-- he described chelsea to a t. keith morrison: finally, a witness who could actually tell them something. harlin said he put the woman in a red four door car, though he didn't know who the car belonged to. and then he went back to the party to find anyone who knew her.

the detectives knew chelsea bumped her nose at the party, so when harlin mentioned blood, that got their attention. of blood on your right shoulder. not this shirt i was wearing was a different shirt. but yes, it was. i'm not saying a big spot. it was like a little dab, and i didn't realize it until i got home that night and looked at my shirt. you still got the shirt? i shouldn't, i'm pretty sure it's being cleaned right now because my fiance has a girlfriend, so his fiance will girlfriend, so his fiance will work unfortunate, if true. but there was something about young harlin that didn't seem quite on the level. didn't see her

having a bloody nose, but i figured that she was bleeding somewhere because i was. >> like, you told. >> me she had a bloody nose. >> i didn't say i seen it, i said, i. >> even asked, you said it was up here. >> i said it had to be because where she rested her shoulder on or her face on my shoulder. that's what i figured, because that's. >> when i asked you how much blood there was. >> you said, oh, just a few spots. and i said. spots. and i said. >> i don't know. when a person tells a story like that, frequently it's cover for having actually done something bad. correct, correct. you start thinking, he says that he has her blood on his clothing-- keith morrison: but i tried to save her. yes. is he trying to make a excuse-- if something did happen to chelsea, if we find her with some injuries, is he trying to account for that and cover that up? hey, are you in here for another reason, you know? did something happen? and you're coming forward, but you don't want to come forward and just be direct-- this is your way of telling us that you possibly had something to do with chelsea's disappearance. and he denied-- he denied, you know,

doing anything to chelsea. keith morrison: they put some pressure on harlin. and it was through more questioning his story kind of got-- you know, it wasn't making sense at all. and that's when, you know, ultimately we ask him did you ever see her, do you even know chelsea? did you have any contact with her? he ultimately said, no, i just wanted to look good. keith morrison: he made the whole thing up. he made the whole thing up. keith : of course, they had to waste more time checking harlin's stories, whether made up or not. come on. keith morrison: and then they arrested him for lying to the police. what's it like to think you got a lead like that, and then, poof, it's gone?

it's deflating. keith morrison: still, something about that young man-- as they moved on, they kept him in mind just in case. coming up, one tip that sounds too good to be true-- and another tip that's all too real. she says, oh my god, brian, that's her shoe. keith morrison: when dateline continues-- type 2 diabetes? discover the ozempic® tri-zone. i got the power of 3. i lowered my a1c, cv risk, and lost some weight. in studies, the majority of people reached an a1c under 7 and maintained it. i'm under 7. ozempic® lowers the risk of major cardiovascular events such as stroke, heart attack, or death in adults also with known heart disease. i'm lowering my risk. and adults lost up to 14 pounds. i lost some weight.

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she's your baby sister, you're supposed to take care of her and be there for her, and you can't. keith morrison: chelsea's family moved their search operation from big mike's place to a more permanent base. brian sroka: they actually went to a vacant bank, monroe bank & trust, set up a headquarters. lot of new faces today, which is good, because people are tired. keith morrison: and from here, her family held for dear life to a fading hope that chelsea was alive-- might still come home. absolutely miss you, love you. if somebody is holding you, no matter where you're at, no matter-- we just want you home. keith morrison: the family's organization was impressive-- each volunteer assigned to a group, each group sent to a particular area or neighborhood. and this just went on and on. keith morrison: soon, there were posters of chelsea's face and purple ribbons, her favorite color, everywhere. friends like penny worried she might have been kidnapped by sex traffickers, so penny went

looking in the darker corners of toledo, ohio, a half hour south of monroe. i was handing out flyers-- did anyone-- have you seen this girl, you know, in the areas where prostitution is known and all that stuff. i had a policeman tell me you don't need to be out here, you need to go back home-- because i'd go out at night, because that's when the prostitutes are out. kind of a dangerous thing to do, you know? i had to find her. i just-- you know, what do you do? i mean, i couldn't live with myself just sitting at home and hoping that she turned up. keith morrison: chelsea was featured on dateline's own "missing in america" series. her mother tried to stay positive. cannot lose hope. cannot not give up-- the faith and players gives us that hope. if anything, it's only gotten stronger. keith morrison: but penny and others couldn't quite keep that up. i know her sweet mom always had hope. and-- i know, one time i introduced myself, and i said i was chelsea's friend. and she corrected me--

no, you are chelsea's friend. chelsea is out there. keith morrison: but christmas 2014 came and went-- no sign of chelsea. and then a week into the new year-- a break, maybe the break they'd been waiting for. a terrified woman in toledo reported that her ex-boyfriend confessed to her that he killed . chelsea. ok kerri, i'm detective preadmore, this is detective smith. we brought her in right away, and another detective and i sat down with her and interviewed her. her name was kerri carr. trying to. >> get in she provided information that this ex-boyfriend of hers told her that, you know, he was at the party, and that he left with chelsea, and that he ultimately ended up

killing chelsea and dumping her body in the toledo area in a cemetery. keith morrison: and kerri said he threatened to kill her, too. a. >> knife. >> and he goes, this is. >> what i used. >> with chelsea. >> with chelsea. >> h you could tell that she was nervous, you know, real on edge. keith morrison: kerri said she lived in fear of her ex-boyfriend, and she wanted him arrested right away. >> okay. if kerri was telling the truth, this was very big. did you actually confront this guy? we did. we interviewed him.

and we brought up the same information that was provided to us without even mentioning her name. he says this girlfriend of mine, kerri carr, we've had problems for a long time. and i believe that she's doing this to get back at me, because she don't like me. she wants to see me in trouble. keith morrison: the detectives brought carrie in for another chat. mike preadmore: after a lengthy discussion, she ultimately said yes, what her ex-boyfriend told us, that she was trying to get back at him and trying to get him in trouble-- almost like i got you kind of thing. keith morrison: you know-- frustrating work that you do. yeah, this was-- i mean, this took days. you know, it took us away from what we're thinking we're investigating, trying to locate chelsea and find out what happened to her with this information that someone comes in and brings to us.

keith morrison: so they arrested kerri, too, for lying to the police. and they went back to square one, while chelsea's family waited for something, anything good. still very hopeful she is somewhere alive and well. keith morrison: and the searchers slogged. it's pretty marshy back there-- it's a lot of mud. and so it's pretty tough to get through a lot of downed timber, so it's challenging. keith morrison: cops, deputies, volunteer firefighters-- any type of clues-- maybe some things that she might have been wearing, or anything, disturbed ground or something like that. keith morrison: and everybody waited for something from the detectives. brian sroka: a lot of pressure. mike preadmore: oh, intense pressure. we did work on it every single day. all of our resources were still on this case-- new leads coming in, you were just going to be busy, and you just kept chipping away at it. keith morrison: and then it was a sunday in late march-- spring cleaning time. and a woman called in-- she'd found something on the edge of her property.

how far away from the party was this? it was 2.3 miles, so that is a route that, you know, many people leaving the party would have taken. keith morrison: her name was sheryl retzlaff-- this is her. she told the detectives she'd been cleaning up a winter's worth of debris along the country road, just like every other spring. what sort of stuff do you find out here, because there are cars going by here all the time? oh, yeah, i find all manner of things. i mean, i have found cameras hanging from my trees with, you know, the disk cards in them. we've found car radios, and speakers, and cases of booze, and broken booze bottles. keith morrison: she followed her usual route along the tree line. where were you that particular day? here. i start usually here, and make my way all the way around, and then end up back here. keith morrison: and that's where it was--

a shoe. what kind of shoe was it? it was leather, flat, red-- like a mary jane type of shoe. ok cheryl threw it in the trash bag, moved on. so my husband comes home from work, and as per the usual, he's like, so what did you find this year? and i'm like, well, i didn't really find anything but trash other than the shoe. and he was instantly on alert. he was? he's, like, you know, cheryl, really, maybe do you think it could be hers? and i knew who he meant right away-- right away. and i'm like, no, there's no way. all winter, they searched everywhere here-- how could they have missed it. how could they have missed it? keith morrison: sheryl called the monroe county sheriff's office, and deputies came to pick up the shoe. and the next day, detectives sroka sent a photo of the shoe to chelsea's mom. i'm on the phone with her. i told her i had just sent the email to you, did you get it? she opens it up, and she says, oh my god, brian, that's her shoe. and it was just surreal-- at that point, your heart drops,

and you're, like, this may really be, you know, something we've been waiting for. and she checks with other family members, and they also confirm it was chelsea's shoe. keith morrison: now that was a tip. yes. keith morrison: the shoe was tip number 623. mike preadmore: but what does it tell you, really? yeah, it didn't look good. again, she's still missing-- we have one shoe, you know, where's the other shoe at? where's chelsea at? where's her costume, where's everything else at? and nothing else found in that area? nothing else. we searched within several miles on foot and in the air-- fields, woods, and not a single sign of anything else. keith morrison: and then-- then a certain young man ran out of money-- fascinating what a person will do when he has to. coming up-- it looked kind of like a plant, like, a fake plant. keith morrison: chelsea's costume, and a strange coincidence. what did you think when you saw that? the hair on the back of your neck kind of stands up.

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forty's going to be my year. it was five months after chelsea disappeared, and the only trace of her was one red shoe on a roadside two miles from the halloween party. but when chelsea's mom found out about that shoe-- i could tell a change in her demeanor, because she had been real upbeat during the whole investigation. you can just feel negativity-- she knew, at that point, i think-- air coming out. yeah. keith morrison: spring-- people go outside. they see things. was this here before? was this here when you came that day? this berm, this earthen thing you climb over-- yeah. it wasn't as big, to my knowledge, but it was definitely there. keith morrison: eric kassab and a friend were trying to make some quick cash finding and selling abandoned bits of metal.

this was 10 miles from big mike's. that day, i was coming here to find any scrap metal that i could take out. i was in a rock and a hard place, and i needed money pretty quickly. keith morrison: people call it scrapping, or something? yeah, i was scrapping. keith morrison: eric wasn't having much luck. and then, inside this half collapsed ruin, he turned over a piece of disintegrating plywood and-- i saw what i thought was like-- it looked kind of like a plant, like, a fake plant. so i went and picked it up. i didn't realize what it was, because it was all bunched up, and it had leaves on it-- like, fake leaves. sown on? yeah. keith morrison: there was also a maroon wig-- and i did see the wig. it kind of creeped me out, so i didn't want to pick it up at all. keith morrison: so did you and your friend do at that point? i showed him. he told me it was a poison ivy costume. we actually contemplated keeping it, because it looked cool. yeah. and decided that it wasn't worth our time--

threw it back down right where it was underneath the plywood. and then continued to look for scrap metal. keith morrison: the two left with what little metal they could salvage and forgot all about it until-- about a week later, i was at work, i saw a poster for the missing girl wearing that costume. keith morrison: oh, and immediately you thought-- hey, that looks just like what i found. keith morrison: so, should he report it? well, he probably should-- he knew. but after all, he touched that costume. couldn't that make him look kind of suspicious? i've seen enough television shows to know what dna is. yeah. and i was around the same age as the girl-- there were just so many circumstances that could make me look like a suspect. sure. i contemplated it. i didn't want to turn it in, i just wanted to leave it alone and pretend like it didn't exist. but i couldn't get it out of my head. keith morrison: eric joined his sister for easter brunch, and told his sister about the costume and his dilemma.

she knew right away what eric had to do-- had to. she was telling me that, like, i had to report it, and she basically gave me an ultimatum-- she calls the police or i call the police. keith morrison: so he made the call. i was actually sitting down for easter dinner. and then the phone rings, and our sergeant called, and he said, i need you to come in, we have chelsea's costume and wig. and i'm thinking, are you sure? you know, are you sure this is hers? he texted me a photograph of it, and you get that feeling in your heart and stomach, and you're like, wow, this is what we've been looking for for a long time. keith morrison: the costume had been ripped at the straps and the crotch-- important? maybe. they sent it to the state lab for tests. and officers picked through the discarded junk, on foot, by air, all day, and into the evening. and right away that easter sunday, the detectives brought eric kassab to the station

for a talk. it's suspicious that he just happens to find this costume. he waited a week to call us. there's a lot of things that are looking kind of suspicious. keith morrison: just as eric had feared. one's ever gone to a party in fact, his ex-girlfriend lived on war road, the same road where chelsea's shoe was found. eric swore he was at home with his daughter that weekend-- had nothing to do with chelsea's disappearance. he agreed to give his dna and fingerprints. but there was something else about the discovery of the poison ivy costume-- and it had to do with harlin bird.

remember him? the guy who tried to sound like a hero, who told detectives he helped chelsea at the party, then admitted his story was a lie? this abandoned building where the costume and wig were found was literally a 100 yards-- 200 yards tops from harlin bird's house. you could pretty much see harlin bird's residence from where the costume was found. keith morrison: coming up-- harlin back in the interrogation room. and a discovery. has chelsea finally been found? when dateline continues-- you about. >> my french. >> door air fryer 360. >> this is my biggest air fryer

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