it's exactly what happened it steven mcdowell from laguna beach.he irs deposited $110,000 into his bank account. he went ahead and spend it, paid off his student loans, got out of foreclosure. well, now he has been arrested and theta, attorney is saying it's not -- the tax attorney is saying it's not his fault. >> he said, look, i screwed up. i spent it on my student loans. and i spend it on my home mortgage. it doesn't sound like this man exercised criminal intent anywhere along the way. >> well, police say that a 67- year-old woman from los angeles apparently gave the irs the wrong bank account number when she filed her taxes. mcdow contacted the woman to make monthly payments but she declined. >>> the new lawsuit over popular beauty products and their organic claims. ,, [ banker ] mike and brenda found a house that they really wanted. it was in my sister's neighborhood. i told you it was perfect for you guys. literally across the street from her sister. [ banker ] but someone else bought it before they could get their offer together. we really m

. >> reporter: 15-year-old steven mcdowell came up with a revolutionary idea for a science fair. >> i thought about the drought and the fence. what if you could store water in your fence? and i went with the idea. i built a model. >> reporter: he created a water fence that would change the way people water their lawns. >> it starts with the rain cloud. the water rains on to your roof. >> reporter: the rainwater then goes through a screen gutter into the fence that's actually a water tank. steven calculated that a 2,000- square-foot roof with one inch of rainfall would collect about 1200 gallons of water that could be stored for dry months. his project amazed everyone. >> i would be interviewed with judges and they would ask me for, you know, how much does it cost and i would like one in my yard. that's when it occurred to me that i have a good product. >> reporter: so he started his own company working with engineers and investors the water fence should be on sale in october. this idea put steven and the school in the spotlight. >> this is one that's actually going to make a meaningfu

wearing shackles, steven mcdowell seemed to hold back tears as he appeared in court for the first time>> everything in the investigation leads to us that he acted alone. >> reporter: chambers county sheriff, brian hawthorne, said mcdowell admitted he strangled his ex-wife crystal, and led investigators to her body. >> it took a number of different interviews before he confessed. >> reporter: one day before hurricane harvey hit southeast texas, on august 25th, crystal mcdowell texted her boyfriend, paul hargrave, saying she was on her way to pick up her two children. no traffic today, she wrote to him. you are so sweet. >> i knew something was wrong and because of the conversations we had had about her ex-husband, i was a bit concerned when i didn't get a reply back. >> mcdowell was staying at her ex's house because her home was being renovated. the children, ages 5 and 8, were also staying there. >> she never went and picked up her kids. >> reporter: mcdowell's car was found abandoned in this flooded motel 6 parking lot three days after she vanished. >> so the cops were here busting in

the 38-year-old mother of two was divorced in june but still shared a home with her ex-husband, steven mcdowellered but he told crystal's relatives she intended to pick up the kids and ride out the storm in dallas. >> i think she was concerned for her well-being. >> reporter: paul hargrave said he and crystal started dating in june-her divorce and suggests the relationship with her ex-husband was not an amicable one. >> i think she wanted to get out of that situation as quickly as possible and move forward. >> i think there was probably some animosity between boyfriends and husbands and husband probably might think the boyfriend had something to do with it and the boyfriend might think the husband had something to do it which is what we're faced with right now. >> reporter: sheriff hawthorne knows this family wants answers and wants them fast but he says resources are stretched thin. two of the investigators on this case have been flooded out of their homes. >> oh, boy, michelle, that sounds sinister. sounds like a story for 48 hours. children are missing their mother and it's a sad story. than