this time, it was cheryl hughes, sandi's close friend. and once again, wild bill said he had bought her land. >> that was her dream home. she would never, ever sell that property. >> reporter: and did you hear that wild bill had gotten that? >> yeah, and when i heard that, i knew that something was terribly wrong. she just would not have sold that property, ever. >> reporter: five missing people with one common denominator. bill cortez. >> this man was my neighbor. i knew them for two and a half years. wild bill and his wife. >> reporter: cher and keith lived together on their piece of paradise. their own private island, just across the water from where wild bill and jane settled in. and cheryl was really happy? >> unbelievably happy. got that little island, we said, yeah, we can die here. we can spend the rest of our days here. >> reporter: their marriage went south, and they separated. but even after, they remained in contact, until late march. >> the last three, four texts i got were just a little strange. they weren't what cher would

this time it was cheryl hughes. five missing people with one common denominator.was at my house for dinner. his wife, they came over, they were my neighbors for two and a half years. wild bill and his wife. >> reporter: cher hughes and her husband keith worley lived together on their piece of paradise. keith and cher's marriage eventually went south and they separated. even afterwards they remained in regular contact, texting several times a day until late march. >> the last three or four texts i got were just a little strange. they weren't quite what cher would say. she indicated in the text that she had met someone and she was leaving. >> reporter: keith says he now knows those messages that didn't sound like cher, weren't. it was wild bill, he says, impersonating cher. keith, sandy and others tried to alert local authorities. police finally mounted an investigation into wild bill after an ex-pat blogger broke and pursued the story. and cher's concerned relatives, including keith, flew to the mainland to meet with police. by then, wild bill and jane -- really wi