. >> reporter: all detectives joel kisner and dolphis boucher knew was that the body of a female was last room we touch. >> joel, i'm trying to explain to you what happened. >> reporter: why were you called to this house? >> i had a call from a missing persons detective, a lady named ginger, her daughter had called and said they couldn't find her. >> reporter: ginger is 44-year-old ginger candela, an aspiring writer and single mother of two daughters. 23-year-old tabitha, her youngest, reported her missing. >> i told the officer that i had to confirm that she might -- she might be -- something might have happened to her. >> reporter: tabitha described her mom as a spiritual seeker and said it wasn't unusual for her to leave town once in a while. she'd been receiving text messages from her mother, including this one from two weeks earlier saying, just letting you know that i'm going to a meditation retreat tomorrow. can't wait. and a few days later, all is wonderful. my body has no pain anywhere. i'm in bliss. you'll have to do this, too. love and life. but tabitha sensed something mi