that got the attention of john and kathy lang, who saw the van go straight towards the house of their good friend, byron smith. 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, kathy? what did you think had happened? >> i thought he was dead. >> reporter: kathy 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. and it's amazing. >> a worldly guy. >> very much, so. a great conversationalist and -- and fun to talk with. >> reporter: but recently, byron wasn't himself. his house had been broken into a few times. the thieves taking everything, from money to preciou