. >> reporter: katie hopper is miles' ex-girlfriend and mother to their daughter emily. left iraq but it never left him. >> he was very very aware of what he was doing, that he was ending people's lives even if it was for the greater good. >> reporter: it stayed with him? >> absolutely it did. >> reporter: medical records obtained by cnn state that years after miles returned from iraq in 2004 he quote, began to experience depression with suicidal attempts. he recalled seeing dead bodies and often had graphic violent dreams. friends and family saw miles struggle with his ptsd but say he was doing generally okay until january, when he disappeared. v.a. records show friends called the iowa v.a. to look for miles and told the v.a. they were filing a missing persons report with local law enforcement. miles finally responded, days later, to his friend harry ollor who had reached out via text. >> he wrote back i didn't mean to get people worried. i just need to spend some time at the hospital to figure things out. >> reporter: thankfully miles returned and chose to stay with ka

. >> reporter: katie hopper is miles' ex-girlfriend and mother to their daughter, emylin.t iraq but it never left him. >> he was very, very aware of what he was doing when defending people's lives, even if it was for the greater good. >> reporter: and it stayed with him? >> absolutely it did. >> reporter: medical records obtained by cnn stated years after miles' return from iraq in 2004, he quote, began to experience depression with suicidal attempts. he recalled seeing dead bodies and often had graphic violent dreams. friends and family saw miles struggle with his ptsd but say he was doing generally okay. until january when he disappeared. v.a. records show friends called the iowa v.a. to look for miles and told the v.a. they were filing a missing persons report with local law enforcement. miles finally responded days later to his friend, harry oler, who reached out by a text. >> he wrote back, i didn't mean to get people worried. i just need to spend some time at the hospital to figure things out. >> reporter: thankfully, miles returned and chose to stay with katie hoppe