pegye was driving. eric was being pulled on the board. >> all of a sudden, it just jerked out of my hands. >> it was just going in circles and i couldn't see her. the boat kept going farther and farther away. and i couldn't see any other boats. i looked around. >> and so pegye bechler was simply gone. at 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. >> not just because pegye was a strong swimmer. everyone knew that. linda knew more. a secret about her daughter-in-law. and you thought, what, pegye faked her death? or disappeared deliberately? >> uh-huh. >> coming up, pegye's secret. what was it? >> she stopped me the stairway, said i have to talk to you. >> and enter the bikini model. >> she was just a hot number as they say. >> how would she figure into all of this? when "dateline extra" continues. justice i

and so eric called pegye's mom, june. >> he says, we can't find pegye. and i said, what do you mean you can't find her? where is she? what are you trying to tell me? >> eric told june that pegye was driving a 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. >> 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. >> the next morning, june and glen marshall were on the first flight out to california. pegye had been missing almost 24 hours. >> of course, the ocean is just bigger, bigger than you think about, if you're in new mexico. >> pegye's friend, glenda, tried to stay optimistic. >> i absolutely thought they'd find her. >> maybe alive? >> mm-hmm. i did. becaus