. >> reporter: samantha musante had attended sunday school at the church from the time she was knee-highshe remembers how close the pastor and his wife seemed to be. >> the church members always said, "oh, betty and a.b. never do anything apart. they're always together." >> reporter: and that's how life passed for seven years -- a.b., betty and their new expanded family of yours and mine. but death was stalking the pastor yet again. >> we came down the road and spotted a vehicle. >> reporter: it was a warm july night sometime close to 2:00 a.m. stanley dickerson and his girlfriend were driving down a deserted country road when they noticed a pt cruiser down off the shoulder, jammed against the guardrail. >> there was some smoke coming out from under the hood. we slowed up next to the vehicle, but being so dark and with the windows being up on the car, we couldn't really tell what was going on inside. >> reporter: dickerson got out of his car and knocked on the driver's side to see if he could help. the man rolled down the window. it was a.b. schirmer. >> he said, "i'm fine, but i don't t