pegye was driving. board. >> well, i mean there's a wave and all of a sudden it got real big, and of a sudden it just jerked out of my hand. >> oh, ok. >> you know, i just couldn't hold on. so i came up. i thought pegye would be right there. she wasn't. the boat was just going in circles, and i couldn't see her. i could just see that pegye wasn't standing there on the wheel. and the boat kept going farther and farther away. and i couldn't see any other boat. i was screaming and looking around. it was my fault. if only i could see her right now. >> reporter: and so pegye bechler was simply gone. maybe even within sight of the same beach that had spawned her marriage. eric seemed devastated fearing his wife and business partner was dead,but eric's mother, linda saw things quite differently. >> i was sure that they would find her, that it would all turn out well. >> reporter: not just because pegye was a strong swimmer. everyone knew that. linda knew more. a secret about her daughter-in-law. >> reporter: a

and so eric called pegye's mom, june. >> he says, "we can't find pegye."an you can't find her? where is she? what -- what are you trying to tell me?" >> reporter: eric told june that pegye was driving the boat. towing him on a body board when all of a sudden a wave wiped him out. when he came up from under the water, he said, he could no longer see pegye inside the boat. >> we thought they should be finding her because we really just thought she would swim out of it. >> reporter: you see, pegye was quite at home in the water. growing up, it was the only time she didn't have to wear that back brace. and she became a very accomplished swimmer. >> she wouldn't panic. she would swim because she loved the water. >> reporter: the next morning june and glen marshall were on the first flight out to california. pegye had been missing almost 24 hours. >> of course, that ocean is just bigger, bigger, bigger than you think about if you're in new mexico. >> reporter: pegye's friend glenda tried to stay optimistic. >> absolutely thought they'd find her. >> maybe alive.