that got the attention of john and cathy lang, who saw the van go straight towards the house of theirsmith. a 64-year-old retired man living on his own. >> i was decorating the christmas tree. i saw a big, huge truck go down his road, called the crime scene unit. and i shouted for john, i think you were in the kitchen. and i said, call byron's cell. something has happened. >> what did you worry, what did you think had happened? >> i thought he was dead. >> cathy and john feared the worst for their friend, who had seemed out of sorts in recent months. everything was fine when byron first moved back to his hometown of little falls about five years earlier, after a career that took him all over the world with the u.s. state department. >> he was talking about living in moscow and cairo and dakar. it's amazing. >> a worldly guy. >> very much so. a great conversationalist, and fun to talk with. >> but recently, byron wasn't himself. his house had been broken into a few times, thieves taking everything from money to family heirlooms. they say their friend, who had mentored boy scouts, had b