keith morrison, nbc news. >> an amazing report. you can watch the entire story coming up tonight on "dateline." >>> when we come back in just a moment, a tribute to those who made a perilous journey. how a symbol of their adversity became art. >>> the scene in new zealand today as a strong earthquake struck near near christ church on the south island. the quake had a magnitude of 5.8. >>> the plight of migrants and refugees crossing into europe is dramatically illustrated in a new exhibit. in berlin a raft is on display. it's the work of a chinese dissident artist. more than 3,700 migrants died last year trying to cross the mediterranean to europe. >>> and on this valentine's day, it's a love story for the ages. he's 104. she's his younger wife at just 100. john and ann batar of fairfield, connecticut, are said to be the longest married couple in the united states -- 83 years. today, through the twitter account of a company that has embraced their story, they offered some advice to questions like how do they keep thing fresh and ne

. >> reporte i'm lester holt andthis is dateli here's keith morrison. >> reporte grieflikehe ocn,olled into their lives inaves. ride the waves or sink, it seemed to say. ride them again and again. >> it's just a shot through the heart. >> rorter: oe there were ur fast friends. four tall men, before it all went down and thwavetook o their new meaning.>> it didn't have to end like this. >> reporter: no. except it did. and when id? just fe like soe you the sch rlly rd and waed tcry. >> ror riit's what ha would have

here's keith morrison. >> a freak snowstorm like an omen. smothers the little town in the blue ridge mountains. february 19, 2003. just before 9:00 a.m. winter or no, they were not used

. >> keith morrison has the rest of the story tonight tonight at 10:00 on dateline here on newschannel8. >>> now to what is making headlines across america tragic story out of new york. a father who saved his daughter from a burning home is dead. the man carried her out and ran back in to look for the rest of the family. he never made it out. his wife carried the other two children to safety. the nine-year-old has burns on 90% of her body. >>> in atlanta, a large fire destroyed dozens of apartments. 36 units were damaged. luckily, no one was injured but the red cross is helping all of the families. in missouri, a firenado caught on camera during a grass fire. no one was hurt. >>> a utah woman claims she got a little surprise in a can of green beans. a snake head. she was working on a church event when she found it. cans are already being pulled from store shelves as a precaution. she hopes it doesn't happen to anyone else. >> when i went to get it out, i thought it was a burnt bean, but it was a snake head. that was my biggest concern was that somebody else would get the body or somethi

here's keith morrison with under a full moon. >> she was finished now. tired, wrung out. must have been as she walked away from the incessantly chirping machinery and the bleary eyes of the gamblers on holiday from real life who'd again and again. outside in the night, a full moon bathed the great houses of delight and sin in an unaccustomed shade of pale. it was september 29, 2012. at precisely 3:00 in the morning, in a back room of the palms casino, the cocktail waitress named shauna tiaffay inserted her time card in the staffing machine and set out to break a little rule. shauna had parked her car in the back lot, a practice discouraged because surveillance cameras were unable to track her all the way to her car. still easier this way. quicker. and after all, would a stalker really be waiting for her here, under a full moon? and we felt so helpless. >> it's every woman's worst nightmare. >> we didn't know if any of us were next. >> it never occurred to shauna to become a cocktail waitress when she moved to vegas as a 20-something back in the mid-90s. to family, meaning

. >> i'm lester holt and this is here's keith morrison with "dangerous leeiasons". >> it didn't have to end here. with attorneys at war. >> you've got the evidence. >> no they just say that. >> the theater of the absurd. >> i want to know who -- >> detectives upset. >> i thought it was disgusting. i thought it was just really horrible the way they dragged that family through the mud. >> nor did there have t t be a sobbing witness. >> i'm trying to be honest up here and so disrespectful. >> even a judge -- >> it's getting totally out of control. >> visibly on edge. little bit. >> victim bashing. >> no, it didn't have to turn into a battle royale, played out in public court for all the world. >> emotions can be high. >> it didn't have to go that way at all or end this way. >> that's all hindsight now. >> where a person begins a story as twisted and strange as this one can seem arbitrary, but in this case, it makes sense to begin on friday morning in april, 2013 in the city of grand rapids, michigan. when a phone rang on the desk of detective amy lowry. there was a call from an attorney

here's keith morrison. >> a freak snowstorm like an omen. smothers the little town in the february 19, 2003. just before 9:00 a.m. winter or no, they were not used to this. through the white deadening blanket that buried the town, a piercing sound. fire alarm. now the snowstorm was the last thing on fire chief preston gentry's mind. >> the tone went off for a fire with occupants possibly trapped inside. that ramps everything up to full force. >> the alarm was on a quiet start. >> there were a lot of kids in that nabtd. you're running a lot of things through your mind. who are the occupants you have to rescue? >> the fire trucks raced to the home of a recently separated woman of anne charles and children. thick black smoke poured from the second story eaves. part of the roof burned away. >> we were concentrating on getting up the steps and getting to the rooms where we were >> neighbors crowded in behind police barricade. one was an 18-year-old who lived up the street. an awkward sort of kid, a bit immature for his age. he had strep throat th

here's keith morrison. >> reporter: grief, like the in waves. ride the waves or sink, it seemed to say. ride them again and again. >> it's just a shot through the heart. >> reporter: once there were four fast friends. four tall men, before it all their new meaning. >> it didn't have to end like this. >> reporter: no. except it did. and when it did? >> just felt like someone hit you in the stomach really hard and wanted to cry. >> reporter: what could they do? ride, it's what harp would have wanted, after all. >> reporter: harp. jason harper, sports loving, outdoors loving california boy. with a childhood best friend named paul severns who, as they grew, became tall paul. >> we were always together. in the early years, he was always taller than me. but then i caught up to him. we were both the two tallest guys in school. >> reporter: so when they got to high school, there was one sport they were very well-suited to play, volleyball. >> harp was a stud, you know. i'm not gonna lie to you. i'm not gonna sugar coat it. he was -- he was -- you know,

and this is here's keith morrison with "a place on the sand." ittle island, its own bit of fantasy, off the gulf coast of florida. here. >> it is paradise. and it just gets better and better, we think.nna maria island, where high rise condos are banned, is seven miles of unspoiled white sand, unspoiled , too, most of them. >> when you come across the bridge, it's a whole different life.mean, yeah, you just come across the bridge and it's like ah. >> it is. >> reporter: and here is where she found her little paradise, too.ay from germany for it. sabine musil-buehler. and whether they called her sabina, or as some did, sabine, re on the island. larger than life person. >> absolutely. you met her, you just were drawn to her. those people that you wanted to get to know better.nd even now, looking back on what happened to sabine on the awful mystery. it just doesn't seem possible, not here. >> i mean, nothing happens on this island. mean, this is a sleepy little town. >> it's sweet town. we don't have things like that happen here. certainly not to he

. >> without keith morrison. or did he? >> yes, no, it is. really good. you have to start watching it. >> check it out. >> go back and re-watch. if you haven't been watching, i encourage you to watch. >> "house of cards" season three, it's behind that. >> i have a lot to binge watch. >>> have you intervened when it comes to having your kids, having their friends over, maybe they're misbehaving a little bit? how do you talk to a stranger's child? do you have any problem disciplining? >> no. >> i don't either. >> there's a nice way of doing it. >> especially if the child is in danger. >> risky. >> that's exhale what happened. actly what happened. a woman said she was intervening in a situation where a young boy was apparently poking at his little sister while his mom went into the cafe to get a cup of coffee. poking to the point where he was about ready to hurt his younger sister. the boy -- the woman saw this all playing out and she was like, i have to -- i can't let this kid hurt his sister. so she stopped it and said, you know, i wouldn't do that. you co

this is keith morrison with a perfect spot. >>> a winter's night in a southern forest. the inc. black darkness the headlights and closed around them like a shroud. overcast, and then, the ragged clearing, muddy patch of sand and dirt away from the whole word, a place for their valentine's tryst. as is if they could see a hand in front of their faces. or the fate, lurking out there, in the dark. >> what a way to begin a love story, the hot air balloons the man so loved. the motorcycles on which together in daylight, they discovered their own special place, the remote forest, belton park, although park is a grand word beside the river, north of atlanta, georgia. >> i knew them both very well. scheck. their love the scouting that >> both of our sons were cub scouts. >> with kids, boys especially, they were naturals. >> stacey was a ball of energy. full of ideas, would literally drag us to do things. >> the go-getter. >> and we also called her mama spreadsheet, because everything that she did had to be laid out in a spreadsheet. >> one a planner? >> she was. >> scouting is how bill