the family lived in this sprawling patch of wilderness with a private lake in the backyard. living in paradise, seems like. yeah. the kids have still have a lot of happy memories out here. it s just a very unique and special place that we were fortunate enough to purchase, you know, years and years ago. reporter: a unique and special place that only a prosperous person could afford like the prominent car dealer cal harris. he loved it out here, too, he said. and taught his kids to love it. you went hunting with the kids here and fishing? hunting, fishing. you name it. we swim in the lake, jet ski in the lake, we water ski. my kids like to bring their friends out and really enjoy. if you like to be outdoors, it s a fun place. christmas was always fun. i can imagine. opening presents. playing with the new things you got. reporter: i can t think of a more idyllic place to have christmas. did it feel like that at the time? it did.
cal got married here beside empire lake. it was a great day. just a beautiful setting. very relaxing. not very stressful. just kind of ended up being a big party afterwards. the fairytale rolled on. the kids kept coming. they built this house on empire lake. here on their private preserve, they were a family in motion, fishing, swimming, skating. michele into all of it. and now the kids, of course, are much older. taylor is 24, cayla 23, jenna 21 and tanner 19. their mom? about her, they have no real memories. it s been a long time. yeah, that s true. most of your lives. and how old were you? i m not sure how old i was. but i don t have any memories. jenna is often told by those who knew michele how much she resembles her mom. i ve seen pictures of her. she s really pretty. she s always smiling.
eyewitness. there s not one doubt in my mind he s guilty. i m not guilty. i didn t do this. hello and welcome to dateline. cal harris seemed to have it all, a beautiful family, a successful business and a big house on a lake. but all was not as it seemed. it was september 11th, 2001. as the world watched the tragedies unfold in new york, washington, d.c. and pennsylvania, the harris family was struck by heart break closer to home. cal s wife michelle had disappeared.
michele and cal got married here beside empire lake. it was a great day. just a beautiful setting. very relaxing. not very stressful. just kind of ended up being a big party afterwards. reporter: the fairytale rolled on. the kids kept coming. they built this house on empire lake. here on their private preserve, they were a family in motion, fishing, swimming, skating. michele into all of it. and now the kids, of course, are much older. taylor is 21, cayla 20, jenna 18 and tanner 16. their mom? about her, they have no real memories. it s been a long time. reporter: yeah, that s true. most of your lives. and how old were you? i m not sure how old i was. but i don t have any memories. reporter: jenna is often told by those who knew michele how much she resembles her mom. i ve seen pictures of her. she s really pretty. she s always smiling. like a really happy person. it makes me feel good that
reporter: what attracted the two of you to each other? she was very outgoing and very attractive and good personality. she was a knockout. she was funny. she was vibrant. reporter: his aunt merry harris was also taken by cal s new girl. michele, she said, was a woman up for anything. athletic. let s have a good time. jump on the jet ski. jump on the four wheeler. reporter: wasn t a dainty wee thing as it were. right. reporter: and not a shy, retiring type either? no. that s part of why their personalities to me seemed to really mesh. reporter: michele fell hard, too, for the man and his lifestyle. gary taylor is her dad. he won some dealership thing and they went to switzerland, i think. reporter: wow. there was a lot of perks there that she had never had before. so reporter: in august 1990, michele and cal got married here beside empire lake. it was a great day.