and then, as you can imagine, the whole town knew about the disappearance of debbie hawk. and they knew something else, too. two days after she vanished, there was a find, and it wasn't good. but it wasn't debbie. instead, police found her van. it was parked on the street in a high crime district of fresno, 40 miles from home. the drug samples debbie kept in the back, medications for nasal allergies and asthma were missing. this was weird. the windows were down. the keys in the ignition. the license plate had been replaced with a stolen one. >> it appears whoever left it there wanted somebody to get in and drive off. >> oh, and one more thing the van's back seat was covered with blood. >> at that point whoever was driving the van would immediately become a suspect in debbie hawk's disappearance. >> police were pretty sure that is exactly what the killer wanted. it was a ruse, an attempt to plant blame somewhere else. but around town, some people had already begun directing blame. at one individual. they thought they knew who did it. >> she had said to me, you know, if anyth

. >> surely, not easy going for the children of dave and debbie hawk. >> we do the best we can. >> that's all for this edition of "dateline." thanks for watching. >>> she mainly comes in dreams, and it's so real that it feels like her. and she'll just give me a hug. >> why'd it have to happen to our family? why'd it have to happen to michelle? why that day? >> a young nursing student disappears. >> she was still dressed in white hospital scrubs. something drew her out to her car. >> the cousin she grew up with, the brother she raised. desperate to find her. >> they were able to do what a lot of other families have never been able to do. >> text messages, security monitors, surveillance video. were they signs she was trapped, reaching out for help? >> one of the things i was so angry about is nothing made sense. >> moment by moment -- >> take a look at this. >> -- "dateline" was there for every turn. was she missing or murdered? was this the key? >> i will take your life and hers. >> a threat. a voice seething with hate and rage. >> you deserve to die for your lies. it's your last and fina

hawk." steven thought that was awesome. >> reporter: steven soon became fast friends with harvey and his wife, debbie. >> what'd you thinkf steven? >> he was so funny. and he had such a great love of music. and he loved to cook. and i thought, "oh, this man's going to be perfect to go on the boat with us." >> reporter: ah yes, the boat. harvey had it docked at the l.a. yacht club. a 69-foot beauty called the "iolair mara." harvey and debbie had big plans for that boat. they'd talked about it ever since their first date. >> he says, "what do you want to do when you retire?" and i said, "i want to sail all over the world." >> reporter: it was her dream of a lifetime and now debbie actually found the man who shared it. they married at the dawn of the new millennium, right here on the front porch of their new texas home. all that adventure to look forward to. and now harvey had invited steven to go along as chef on their beloved yacht. steven moved aboard, lived with them on the boat. but before they set sail, there was some work to do. >> he had bought this kind of basically old rusty tub, right? >> yeah, yeah, yeah. >> rep