happy birthday. >> reporter: tonight on "20/20" -- from home movies to a home mystery. how did these two smiling, carefree girls end up on a missing poster? >> my kids are my life. i don't wish this upon anybody. >> reporter: real-life "gone girls" and tonight, the new hunt to find them. following the trail of a secret network of children hidden by a parent. >> i was moving between houses with people i'd never known. >> reporter: like you're in a spy movie. but are they part of it? two kids were the subject of a manhunt and you had to know that. and who put them there? >> lieutenant polinski called me and said, "are you sitting down?" and then i knew that something was coming. >> reporter: do you sit here and

think, how did this happen? "footprints in the snow" hello, i'm elizabeth vargas. thanks for joining us on this saturday night. >> i'm david muir. every year, some 261,000 children are reported missing. some for a short time, some longer and some never to return. we have reported here on the agony of having no idea of where your children are, thinking the worst might have happened. >> this is how we began this story, not knowing where it would lead us. but after nearly six months of going across the country, we have pieced a jigsaw puzzle of children declared miss. but were they? where did the footprints in the snow really lead? >> reporter: it is 7:00 p.m. on a 30-degree april evening in the suburbs of minneapolis. a spring snowstorm has blanketed

the roads. and while most families are settling in for dinner, one family is about to fracture forever, when two children living at this home vanish. no shoes. no coats. no backpacks. nothing? >> poof. they were gone. >> reporter: 13-year-old gianna and 14-year-old samantha rucki disappear. the only trace, footprints in the snow. but oddly, there is no manhunt to find the girls, no police press conference. >> how can two children in the state of minnesota be gone, and no one knows where they are? >> reporter: their parents are embroiled in an ugly divorce and custody dispute but they insist they are united in their desperation for the girls. >> i'm concerned. i'm worried. i don't know what to think. >> you don't want sleep. you drive around at night. you're always looking. >> reporter: where did they go? who are they with? and why does our journey begin by asking questions to their mother inside the ramsey county jail? did you have anything to do with your two daughters running away? >> no. >> reporter: do you sit here and think, how did this happen? >> clean record, never had a problem. >> reporter: clean record and here you are in jail on a million dollars' bail? what's going on?

>> i have no idea. this shouldn't be what happens in a divorce. >> reporter: this divorce is more like guerrilla warfare than a legal proceeding. exhibit a, these 24 boxes crammed with reams of motions, appeals, and rulings. >> divorce on steroids, that would be a good word for this. >> reporter: but for every documented grievance in this harrowing tale, there is documentation too of the good times. >> look at this. >> reporter: 20 years' worth of home movies featuring both the ruckis in starring roles as an affectionate, feisty couple. >> you're figuring it out now? >> reporter: and dotting, loving parents to their five children, nico, samantha, gianna, nia and gino. that sounds like a busy home. >> they were wonderful. it was my dream. i loved being a mom. >> reporter: they make their home in lakeville, minnesota, a suburb of minneapolis.

david ran a multi-million dollar trucking business. sandra worked as a flight attendant and eventually competed in local beauty pageants using her nickname, sam. >> good evening and welcome. proudly representing lakeville, i'm sam rucki. >> in her spare time she likes cooking italian, flying airplanes and staying fit. >> reporter: but david agrees that family came first for sandra. >> there's mom. >> hi, dad. >> reporter: a loving, energetic mom. >> there it is. >> she was a great mom. very attentive to her kids. >> reporter: their oldest son nico loves hockey and theater. >> he was my first, you know, so of course he was spoiled. >> hi, mama. >> hi, nico. >> reporter: the two oldest daughters, samantha and gianna, are close and take care of their younger brother and sister. >> samantha. she's beautiful. she's smart, she's outgoing. gianna's very artistic. loves, like, animals.

>> reporter: but this story is about what sandra claims is not captured on home video. she says despite those smiling faces, there was a shocking, ugly secret in the family. years of emotional and physical abuse by david. what would he do? >> throw things, hammers at me if he got mad, um, there was black eyes, there was broken ribs. we had to lock ourselves in the bedroom because we were scared. we just didn't know how his behavior was going to be from one day to the next. >> reporter: during all those years during the marriage, did you ever take any photos? ever seek medical help? >> yes. we had photos, and we have police reports that prove it. >> reporter: and she claims david didn't just target her, but went after the children too. how often did that happen? >> once is more than enough. it happened a lot. >> reporter: after 20 years of marriage, sandra says she reaches her breaking point and finally files for divorce. she says, frightened for her life, she also gets an order of protection against david. and then she calls police on him

at least 20 times, claiming he continuously violates it. >> he broke into the house, came running up the stairs, jumped onto the bed that i was at, started choking me and then took a pillow and started suffocating me. >> reporter: the children, now ages 8 to 14, remain in sandra's custody and refuse to even see david, rebuffing all of his attempts to connect. >> it's your dad. call me. i would like you to call me back. call me. >> reporter: with his children >> reporter: the family court judge is an advocate for the children and therapist, trying to facilitate a relationship with the father. the children say they don't want one. nico goes to facebook saying, my dad is a bad person, he is abusive physically. the girls make a record of what he says. >> things were really bad. he was abusive, he had anger

issues. he would always be screaming and yelling. >> reporter: her sister samantha goes even further. >> he just choked, slapped and hit her and verbally abused my mother throughout their marriage. and he's lost it on us kids a number of times. >> reporter: sandra says the children even beg the judge directly to remain with their mother. but the judge determines thus far there has been no evidence of abuse and based on the findings from a psychologist he appointed, that it is sandra who is the real problem here. that the children are showing signs of parental alienation syndrome, meaning the reason the children are adamantly opposed to seeing david is not because he's abused them or their mother but because sandra has brainwashed them. >> i've never done anything but be there for my children. my kids are my life. >> reporter: this is when the judge takes a drastic, and for sandra, devastating step. he orders sandra out of the house and all five of her children removed from her custody.

>> that's when everything happened. i lost everything. my whole life ended then. i had no money, no car, no -- no children. i had nothing. >> reporter: how is this possible, sandra? >> i don't know. all i'm told is it's a judge's order. there was no findings that i ever hurt the children, that i ever abused them, that i ever neglected them, that i ever did anything to them. >> reporter: david's sister tammy becomes the children's temporary guardian. she moves into the rucki home to take care of them. but the two oldest girls, samantha and gianna, are having none of it. >> they came in, they were looking at the house, and then they went upstairs. >> and when they went upstairs, i heard a ringtone, a music ringtone. and i thought, okay, maybe they have a phone. >> reporter: tammy goes downstairs to the basement thinking nothing of that call or who might be on the other end. just 20 minutes later the girls are gone. >> then i called 911. >> reporter: next -- where did they go? who was on the phone? did you think where might my two daughters have gone? could they have entered a hidden

world, a network operating outside the court system for vigilante parents taking the law into their own hands? and what does their father have to say about all this? stay with us. befi was active.gia, i was energetic. then the chronic, widespread pain drained my energy. my doctor said moving more helps ease fibromyalgia pain. he also prescribed lyrica. fibromyalgia is thought to be the result of overactive nerves. lyrica is believed to calm these nerves. for some, lyrica can significantly relieve fibromyalgia pain and improve function, so i feel better. lyrica may cause serious allergic reactions or suicidal thoughts or actions. tell your doctor right away if you have these, new or worsening depression, or unusual changes in mood or behavior. or swelling, trouble breathing, rash, hives, blisters, muscle pain with fever, tired feeling, or blurry vision. common side effects are dizziness, sleepiness, weight gain and swelling of hands, legs and feet. don't drink alcohol while taking lyrica.

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>> announcer: "20/20" saturday continues. >> reporter: normally two teenage girls vanishing into thin air would be the top story on the local news, but that's not the case here in minneapolis. there is no amber alert, no search parties combing the woods. sandra, separated from her children by court order, says she finds out her daughters were missing from her attorney. what was your reaction? >> what any mother's reaction would be. i'm concerned, i am worried. everything was going through my mind. >> reporter: when sandra's ex-husband david finds out his daughters have disappeared, he is terrified. what was your biggest fear? >> i mean, these are young girls. you don't want them hitchhiking.

we live by a truck stop. we don't -- you think of all these terrible scenarios. >> reporter: david says he becomes consumed with bringing his daughters home. that he would never abuse them and that all of sandra's allegations against him are completely false. have you ever raised a hand against sandra or your children? >> no. >> reporter: have you ever struck them? >> no. >> reporter: have you ever physically abused them in any way? >> no. i'm a big guy. i kind of come across aggressive, but i never push myself upon her. i never did a thing to my children. >> reporter: but if there wasn't any physical abuse, how is it possible that the rucki children would tell such frightening stories? lisa elliot is david's attorney. >> they are parroting what their mom is saying. >> reporter: but they're not young children, why would they do this? >> i think she had them so afraid of what would happen if they went with their dad, that she said, "you have to say this, or you're going to end up with your dad."

>> reporter: as the weeks pass with no sign of samantha or gianna, david says he spends his nights driving the streets searching. he begins tailing sandra to see if she might lead him to the girls and even hires a private investigator. >> you can't get rid of that pain. it never goes away. my mother mostly would say, "you know, prepare yourself." >> reporter: prepare yourself for what? >> "if you never find the girls." how? i couldn't stop looking. >> reporter: the same cannot be said for sandra, who appears to go back to life as usual, hop-scotching around the world as a flight attendant. popping up on facebook at an nhl finals game and lounging on a boat with friends. did you call the police? >> i had an order not to contact the police. >> reporter: you have a right to contact the police if you're a victim of a crime or if you're in danger. >> i have a court order from the judge that says i'm not to contact the police.

>> reporter: but this court order directly contradicts that specifically stating that sandra should report any information she has about the girls' whereabouts to authorities. >> i guess if you are in that situation where you've been stripped of everything related to your children, you don't know what to do. >> reporter: if one of my children went missing, i'd be out there with a sandwich board saying find my child. >> the courts had completely tied my hands. >> reporter: one month after the girls' disappearance, there is a bizarre twist in the story. they show up, but in a place no one expects. the rucki girls say they want to be heard. on local television. they met with us at a hotel. we don't know who brought them here. the local fox 9 station airs this story and right there sitting in front of the reporter are the two missing rucki sisters. >> i'm just really scared it's going to end really badly. >> reporter: and once again they back up what sandra has been saying. >> he was abusive. >> really. >> in what way? >> emotionally, verbally. >> i mean, our mom was always

our protector, but now there's no one there to protect us. >> i was glad to see my girls. but, you know, what i was hearing coming out of their mouths was hard. >> reporter: and as quickly as you can change the channel, the girls are gone again, vanishing back into the night. months pass, their faces appear on the missing and exploited children's website and on thousands of plastic bags distributed in northern minnesota. and while the search continues for the rucki girls, their parents' epic divorce drags on until the judge finally makes his ruling in a painstaking 60-page order. he drops a bombshell awarding full custody of all five children to david, writing of sandra's allegations of abuse that, "the court has not received any evidence to support" her "very serious allegations." for david, it is total vindication. 17-year-old nico, 13-year-old

nia, and 10-year-old gino return to their father's care. and while david works to mend his fractured relationship with them, his two missing daughters are no closer to being found. how were the three children reacting to the absence of their sisters? were they worried? >> this was a big-time white elephant in the room. it was always something that was just there. >> reporter: the secret of what really happened to the rucki girls holds for two alarming long years. until someone who knew that secret, someone who kept it, finally speaks up. you knew sandra was lying. >> i thought she was, yeah. >> reporter: well, you knew she was. and a secret underground network willing to defy court orders and hide children. >> we sort of pass messages. we use a lot of burner phones. >> reporter: could this group hold the key to finding the rucki girls? stay with us. tomorrow's the day we'll play something besides video games.

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>> reporter: from the moment the two teenage rucki girls vanished, police suspected their mother, sandra, was lying. at any point did you tell your children to run away from home? >> no. >> reporter: you never encouraged any of your children. >> how can i encourage my children to run away? i've had no contact. >> reporter: police suspected that not only did sandra have contact with her girls, she also had help hiding them from a secret underground network of people willing to defy court orders and conceal children.

damon dumas knows all about defying court orders. he went into hiding when he was 14 years-old. using a loosely organized group of safe houses to escape life with a father, he says, was abusive. >> my mom actually made sure that she wouldn't know where i was going. she handed me off so someone she trusted, who handed me off to someone else that she trusted. >> reporter: who was taking care of you? >> whoever i was with was taking care of me. >> reporter: were they strangers? >> they were all strangers, yeah. i was moving between houses with people who i'd never known. it'll be someone who, maybe hears about me and says, "hey, well if damon ever needs someone to stay with, he can stay with me." and we sort of pass messages. we use a lot of burner phones. >> reporter: burner phones? >> yeah. >> reporter: you sound like you're in a spy movie. >> well, in a lot of ways that's what it felt like. >> reporter: so how often do you come out to the beach now? while on the run damon says he

lived in around ten different homes, never staying anywhere long. during that time, he made videos and posted them on the internet. >> i'm turning 16 tomorrow but instead of a birthday party with my friends i'm in hiding. >> reporter: but this life in shadows came at a steep price. were you home sick? >> absolutely. absolutely. every day. >> reporter: those days turned into months, and instead of getting easier for damon, life got more difficult. >> i called my mom, and i said, "i don't know how much longer i'm going to make it." because i was considering suicide at that point. it had been very long in hiding. >> reporter: in those videos damon discussed the abuse he says he suffered. >> i told police about this, i told psychologists. i even told the judge and yet somehow it was all covered up in lies. >> reporter: today, damon says he blames the courts for forcing

him into his life on the run, even though damon's father strenuously denies ever abusing his son and a judge agreed there was no credible evidence to prove it happened. >> he said that whether or not i was being abused, my mom had to stop talking about abuse and that i was going to be reunified with my father. >> reporter: why would a judge do that if he really thought you were being abused? >> because what people don't understand is that this is not something that is a one-time case. this is not something that happened to me. this is systemic. >> reporter: and the internet is teeming with videos of mothers who say they too have been victimized by family courts after they reported their allegations of abuse. >> as a mother you try to protect your son and that was the biggest mistake of my life. >> they said i cried wolf when i called 911. >> i am seeking justice. >> it is okay to protect our children. >> if you're a mother and you alleged child abuse your odds of losing custody are extremely high. >> reporter: joan meier is a law professor at george washington university who studies family courts. her research has turned up some surprising, and in her mind troubling results. >> if you raise abuse, especially child abuse, you've

got to make a very strong case. if you can't nail it, not only will you lose custody, you may lose all access because the assumption will be that you have poisoned your child's brain with these ideas. >> reporter: sandra says this is exactly what happened to her. so did her daughters run away to protest a family court ruling, like damon dumas? that's what brandon stahl, a reporter at the "minneapolis star tribune" wanted to find out. on the two-year anniversary of the girls' disappearance, he decides to write a story. >> i wanted to know if the girls are okay and if i could find them. >> reporter: he didn't find the girls but he did find this man. dale nathan, a diminutive 81-year-old who has spent years working as an attorney in custody cases. dale had his legal license suspended after he refused to reveal where one of his clients was in hiding with her child. he is a fervent supporter of sandra. >> dale is somebody who believes to the bone that the family courts in minnesota are corrupt.

>> reporter: the story dale tells is a doozy. he says he was with sandra on the night her daughters ran away. he says sandra and he were driving around in sandra's car when she took him to this field just blocks away from the rucki family home. we drove with dale to that spot. >> this is about the area, right back here, where sandra stopped. >> reporter: he showed us where they pulled over. >> that's the road we want to take. >> reporter: so you stopped. you parked. you waited. >> and after about 20 minutes, the two girls came running across that little field. they got into the car. and then sandra started driving. >> reporter: the four of them drove around back roads for more than two hours. >> she kept saying, "oh, the lakeville police, they're going to find us." so -- and she kept telling the kids, "get down. get down in the backseat." >> reporter: during the ride dale says sandra was frantically making phone calls. >> apparently, there was no plan. and she was making plans on the

run. >> reporter: dale says he knew that the children had already been taken out of sandra's custody. and that by driving off with them she was breaking the law. >> sandra was busy telling the police she had no idea where the girls had gone. and you knew sandra was lying. >> i thought she was, yeah. >> reporter: well, you knew she was. because you were in the car with her. >> that's true. >> reporter: right. >> you're right. >> reporter: so if you knew she was lying about that, why didn't you go to police and say, "i know what really happened"? >> i think sandra was trying to protect her children. i wasn't going to betray that. >> reporter: dale insists he couldn't help even if he wanted to. he doesn't know where sandra ended up taking the girls. after hours of driving around with him, she dropped dale off at a truck stop and drove away with the girls still in the car. in april, 2015, "the star

tribune" published brandon stahl's story. and one reader in particular was riveted. what did you think when you read the account of dale nathan? >> dumbfounded. and we were like, "this completely validates --" >> reporter: everything you suspected. >> everything. well, at that point we knew sandy was involved. >> reporter: and now police know too. they arrest sandra and charge her with three felony counts of deprivation of parental rights. she's thrown in jail on $1 million bond. but the mystery remains. where are the girls? one month after sandra's arrest, there is stunning news. >> lieutenant polinski called me and said, "are you sitting down?" and then i knew that something was coming. >> reporter: next, the rucki girls, found at last. but where have they been? who took them in? we're on our way to find out. and you may be surprised by what we find behind this door. stay with us.

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>> announcer: "20/20" saturday continues.

>> reporter: where can two teenage girls hide in plain sight? deep in the snow-swept fields of minnesota's north country, amid miles and miles of desolate, untouched land, this speck of property, a farm called the white horse ranch, holds the secret of the missing rucki daughters. what led police here? the trail begins with one of sandra's staunchest supporters. dede evavold, an activist friend, vocal about her belief there is corruption in the family courts. detectives search her home and find a cell phone photo of one of the girls on a farm. they trace that photo back to the white horse ranch. and with that, bingo. police discover this is where the girls have been the entire 2 1/2 years of their disappearance. we took a trip to find out how

they ended up here and how they went under the radar for so long. behind this door are the people law enforcement believes broke the law by housing the girls. >> welcome! >> reporter: they are an unlikely pair of alleged criminals. gina and doug dahlen own the ranch which offers 90-minute therapy sessions with their animals. 22 horses, 3 donkeys, and 2 alpacas. they help children who've been abused. >> our mission is to reach children and families, and to bring healing and wholeness through the animals. >> reporter: hundreds of children have made day trips to the ranch, but samantha and gianna rucki were not their typical guests. >> we received a phone call. >> reporter: from? >> dede evavold. >> reporter: dede evavold not only knew sandra, she knew the dahlens and respected their work on the ranch. >> i knew that these are good, honest, salt of the earth people that really are just about doing the right thing. >> she just said that they needed a temporary place and

that they were working through a court case. >> reporter: so you thought they were coming for three days? >> that is correct. three days isn't a big deal. >> reporter: the dahlens say it was sandra, along with dede, who dropped the girls off at the ranch one night, with no more than the clothes on their back. then sandra left and never returned. days turned into months, and then, astonishingly, years. i don't understand how three days turns into 2 1/2 years. >> i don't know if i can even answer that question. >> reporter: this is where the dahlens' attorney, travis keil, steps in, because the dahlens, along with dede evavold and sandra, are now facing felony criminal charges for their role in the girls' disappearance. >> at this point there's certain information we just can't disclose. >> reporter: but they can say that in that long period of time, the dahlens never saw sandra again. they spoke to her by phone only a handful of times. >> and it was always from a track phone so there was never a way of connecting with her.

>> reporter: and then would speak to the girls? >> no. >> reporter: no? >> she, she didn't, she didn't want to. i mean, she was very concerned about them and tell them that i love them. i almost feel like she knew that they were safe here. >> reporter: don't you think that's a little weird? >> mm-hmm. >> we run into a lot of weird stuff here. >> reporter: while the rucki girls are away from everyone and everything they know, communing with the alpacas, three hours south, their father scoured the earth for any sign of them. why did you keep them here despite the fact that you knew a parent was looking? >> i wouldn't say that we kept them here. we allowed them to stay. they could have left at any time. they didn't want to leave. >> reporter: did you try and reason with them? they are girls. they are minors. >> yes we did. >> reporter: they're not allowed by law to decide where i get to live and what's best for me. >> yes, we did. a number of times. and it was a lot of fear.

>> i've never seen anybody that scared before. >> reporter: did they ever sound coached to you? >> no. >> i believed them 100%. >> reporter: at the ranch the girls made a new life for themselves with the dahlens. they were homeschooled. their daily activities included helping with the animals. >> everybody has to do chores. >> anything from cleaning pens to feeding the animals to brushing them. >> reporter: the nearest town is herman, population 437. was it a secret that the girls were here? >> no. >> no, it was not. >> reporter: you made no effort to conceal them. >> no. no, they, they had been in public, they had been out shopping, they were in, the hair salon. >> they went to church with us. >> reporter: and they went by their first names, samantha and gianna? >> yes. >> reporter: the dahlens say they were only helping the girls. they have admitted some wrong doing, pleading one count to deprivation of parental rights.

but what about that so-called underground network that helped children like damon dumas flee court orders? are you part of this underground network? >> no. >> no. >> we were asked the question and i asked, my question back was, what is that? >> reporter: in november, 2015, doug looks out the window and sees lakeville police and county deputies sitting out front. police are simply following the trail from dede evavold's cell phone photo, not realizing the girls are actually there. >> i walked out and they told me that they were looking for the girls and wanted to know if i knew anything about them or their whereabouts and i told them yes, they're in the house. they were quite frankly shocked. >> reporter: the dahlens say the girls were devastated. is that the last time you saw them? >> yes. it was hard. >> reporter: so what would you say to them if they were watching this? >> we pray for them every day, we love them, and we want what's best for them, truly. >> reporter: so what happens when police take the girls from the farm? how does a broken family get pieced back together?

when david finally sees the girls for the first time, it is not the reunion he imagined. were you nervous? >> i ran out of the room. i start crying. i didn't recognize them because you know, you know your children. you remember what they sound like and you remember how they looked. i didn't recognize my daughters. >> reporter: the hard work begins of building trust with two girls who still fear their father. samantha and gianna said a lot of devastatingly terrible things about you, publicly. >> yeah. but again, they are in a fragile state. >> reporter: do they still believe those things? >> i don't know. we don't get deep into things, along that lines. we're moving forward. >> reporter: while the girls may note yet be recanting their accusations against their father, their big brother is. coming up -- >> i'm done playing a pawn. >> reporter: sandra's own son is turning on her, and now that her supporters are revealing her role in the girls' disappearance, what will she say

when we confront her? you sat right here and spent half an hour telling me you hadn't seen or spoken to your daughters. if you were lying to me about that, what else might you be lying to me about? stay with us. don't look now but chuck norris is right behind you. i heard superheroes read chuck norris comics. i heard at night, the boogeyman checks under the bed for chuck. i heard cats say they have chuck-like reflexes. do you think he's still got it? i bet you a buck he catches this salt shaker. you're on! hey! chuck! you owe me a buck. you can't always see what's coming but when you choose unitedhealthcare, finding an in-network doctor that's close to home is easy. so what happened? i had lunch with chuck norris. ♪ unitedhealthcare. my swthis scarf all thatsara. left to remem... what! she washed this like a month ago the long lasting scent of gain flings

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>> announcer: we continue with more of "footprints in the snow" on "20/20" saturday. >> reporter: for the second time we have come to the ramsey county jail in st. paul, minnesota, to visit inmate sandra grazzini-rucki. she's still here awaiting trial on felony charges that she hid her daughters from their father for 2 1/2 years. surprised you're still here? >> yeah, very surprised. >> reporter: when we first spoke to sandra, she told us she wasn't involved in the disappearance of her daughters.

did you have anything to do with your two daughters running away? >> no. >> reporter: you didn't know where they were these last two years? >> no. >> reporter: in our "20/20" investigation, we have explored that loosely organized underground network of activists hiding the children in nasty divorce cases. and tracked down every key player in the rucki case, the dahlens, dede evavold, dale nathan, all supporters of sandra's who say they weren't part of any network, but who authorities say helped her hide her daughters for 2 1/2 years. dale nathan said that he was with you when your two daughters jumped in the back seat without shoes or coats and then you drove off. is that true? >> this is related to the trial, preliminary. >> yeah, this, that'll all be talked about at the trial, upcoming trial. >> i can't comment on anything related to the trial, you know that. >> reporter: well, all i'm telling you is you sat right here and spent half an hour telling me you hadn't seen or spoken to your daughters. and i've now spoken to three

people who tell us, in fact, that's a lie. so if you were lying to me about that, what else might you be lying to me about? >> i can't discuss anything regarding the trial. i just can't. >> reporter: while sandra is now suddenly not talking about her case, her attorney, michelle mcdonald, hints at a possible defense, saying if sandra truly believed her children were in danger, she was free to break the law to protect them. >> they have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that she didn't have a reasonable belief that her children needed protection. >> reporter: which makes those allegations of physical abuse during the marriage, so important. if those claims are true, then a jury perhaps could forgive sandra for what she did, and from the very beginning, she has assured us there is indisputable evidence that her husband david was violent. did you ever take any photos? ever seek medical help? >> yes, we had photos, and we have police reports that prove

it. >> reporter: so confident, so certain, and yet -- i'm asking for any of the documentation that you assured us existed to corroborate what you're telling us. >> and it does exist. >> reporter: and we can find none of it. >> but it does exist. it really does exist. >> reporter: where is it? >> it was with my attorney. >> you don't have any of those records. >> they're in boxes. >> reporter: but do you have them? do you know what's in those boxes? >> i, i -- >> the other attorney. and i will turn them over to you. >> reporter: so we head to michelle mcdonald's law office for an appointment with those boxes. >> okay, so here they are. this is sandra grazzini-rucki's basically divorce case. >> reporter: we spend hours there, scouring thousands of documents and in more than 20 boxes, we didn't find a single

piece of paper or photo to prove that any physical abuse ever happened. so we reached out to the lakeville police department and they have no record of ever being contacted by sandra about abuse during her marriage. >> sandra certainly has never been afraid to call the police, ever. if there were instances of david being violent or threatening, there would be police reports of it. there are none. >> reporter: sandra's strongest proof was always the testimony of her children, but today, even that seems to be crumbling. oldest son nico, that little boy from the home videos and the same son who later posted that damning facebook message accusing his father of physical abuse. he now says all of that was a lie, and that it was his mother who pressed him into believing it was true. >> she started to say like, "your dad's this bad guy. your dad like hurt you when you were younger." i was like, "what? what are you talking about? i don't remember any of this."

>> reporter: nico now says he never saw his father abuse his mother, nor his brother or his sisters. as for that facebook post, nico says sandra stood over him while he typed, coaching him on exactly what to say. >> when i look at my writing then and what i wrote then. that doesn't sound like me. and i feel really bad. >> reporter: in june after returning home, one of the girls reluctantly spoke with investigators. >> it's going to go on my mom's trial. i know it is. >> reporter: the full video has not been released. but "20/20" obtained a transcript. it is clear, samantha, who is now 18 supports her mother. she describes argue between her mother and father, that became physical. but when asked, did he ever hit her? he responds, i think he probably

did. i saw him, like, grab her really hard. the detective asks, so he probably hit her, okay. did you see that? to which samantha replies, no. the detective goes on to ask samantha, did he ever hit you? she relies, no. >> reporter: did you somehow convince your own kids -- >> no. >> reporter: -- that their dad was abusing them? >> no, no. >> reporter: to this day, she says she stands by every decision she has made, every battle line she's drawn, every consequence she and her children have suffered. the two daughters, they spent two years working on a horse farm. they didn't go to school. >> you don't think i think about all these things? i know what these kids have been put through, but it wasn't me who put these through. this was the system that put them kids through this. >> reporter: do you think you will ever be reunited with your children? >> yes. >> reporter: you do?

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>> reporter: it is a heartbreaking time capsule of a family that no longer exists. >> happy new year! whoo! >> happy new year. >> reporter: these days, sandra spends more time with her lawyers and than children, and in july, she was back in court

to face the felony charges that she deprived her ex-husband, david of his rights by hiding their daughters and a jury found her guilty on all charges. why don't you step forward please? after the verdict, david read a statement to the judge. >> regardless of the sentence today, sandy is facing a lifetime sentence of the loss of the most precious thing of life. the life of her children. she gave that up long ago. >> reporter: at the trial, samantha rucki testified against her mother. when it was kathy's turn to argue for a punishment, she surprised the court. >> i personally made a promise to a young woman who was a witness in this case that i would not request any additional jail time, and i'm going to keep that promise. >> i want you to hear that the

court did not engage in this promise, and the court is learning of it for the first time today. >> reporter: judge karen ashbaa was not moved sentencing her to another month in jail on top of the 33 days she has served. she will be on probation for the next six years, and the judge ordered her to serve 15 days in jail for each year of her prodapr probation. that will begin on april 18th. the day her daughters were finally found. >> there is a saying. my way for the highway. you literally took to the highway with your two daughters because you did not get your way. the pain and the loss that each family member has endured is beyond comprehension. >> reporter: as sandra was led from the courtroom back to jail, the gravity of these words seemed not to have sunk in, but

her attorney, michelle mcdonald, read a more somber statement from outside the courthouse. >> i'm paying the price for doing what any loving paing par would do for their children. protect them from harm. that was her statement. >> reporter: but david says his children never needed protection, and he wants them to finally be able to move forward. >> we're going to try, and start putting this behind us now and go back to living and healing. and, you know, just trying to stay a family. >> reporter: david says the girls have readjusted to life at home, and got to celebrate christmas with the rest of their family. sandra wasn't there this year, but it might surprise you to hear how david sees his family's future. will you fight her ability to see the children? >> this is my children's mother. it's important that they have a mother. >> sandra isn't the only person to face punishment in this case

about two girl that is went missing for a total of 944 days. the woman who helped her hide her daughters was also convicted and sentenced to six months in jail. >> we have another note here. dale nathan, the man who helped police find the girls, passed away at the age of 81. that's our program here tonight. let us know what you think on facebook and twitter. i'm david muir. >> and i'm elizabeth vargas. for all of us here at "20/20" and abc news, have a good weekend and good night. >> coming up, three police officers from upper darby lift a car off a woman to save her.

>> an emaciated and neglected dog is rescued in philadelphia. that's next on "action news." yom we've ever climbed. yom and now, they've come together to create something you've never felt before. introducing the glc coupe. part suv. part sports car. all mercedes-benz. ♪ ♪ "action news," delaware valley's leading news program with meteorologist melissa magee, jeff scaversky and walter perez. ♪ ♪ >> it was a day of rallies across the nation and here in