would protect her. >> reporter: ed knew it probably didn't look good to police. >> i guess me admitting that i would hide her, if that's what she wanted, you know, i can understand them saying that, you know, maybe he's hidden her. >> did you hide her? >> i wish. >> did you drive to see heather that night? >> no. >> were you with heather that night? >> no. >> did you have anything to do with her disappearance? >> no. >> reporter: ed told police he was at home, far away in eastern tennessee and revealed that despite those steamy texts, he and heather hadn't actually seen each other in person in years. >> we had discussed seeing each other. i guess it would've been, well, about another month. >> reporter: ed insisted to police he had no idea where heather was, but he did give them a big clue. he told investigators that, in fact, he spoke to heather on the phone the very night she disappeared, and he heard