middle of the night. haunted for more than two decades, he would make a chilling discovery that would unlock this mystery. now you know the whole story. yes, sir. everything kind of clicked. it s just so unbelievable. i knew he was telling his mom s story. hello and welcome to dateline. aaron fraser was only 3 years old when his mom left the house, never to be seen or heard from again. police soon learned that aaron may have witnessed the unspeakable, the murder of his own mother. the boy would become a man before the whole truth was revealed. and though memories faded, the evidence pointing to the killer couldn t stay buried. here s dennis murphy with she never left. she d been gone from his life, unaccounted for, for more than 20 years. his mother, bonnie. it was odd to be the one that found her. because you d spent a lot of your life looking for her, right? yes, sir. there s a poignant video of the mother and child s last christmas morning toget
mother s house to see if her car was there. it wasn t. and just why had bonnie left? there was an argument. she allegedly, according to him, had stormed out. and he d volunteered all that? and now nobody could find her. investigators heard from friends and family that bonnie was unhappy in her marriage. and by christmas time, just two weeks before she disappeared, weeks before she disappeared bonnie told her sister she d put a deposit on an apartment and found a new school for aaron. now family members were wondering if bonnie broke the news to mike the night she disappeared. eve ann said she and bonnie had planned to get together that night, but instead bonnie had called her, crying. she says, mike and i are having a discussion and i m just going to stay home. i said, do you want me to come out there, bonnie? and she goes, no, i ll be fine. that was the last time
he had this bowl cut that went all the way around his eyes, and he had these big eyes. bonnie s mother, patty, and mike s aunt, eve ann, sat in that day to make aaron more comfortable. his mother had gone missing just 48 hours before. did you know much in advance? the only thing i really knew was that the mother was had disappeared. that they suspected foul play. he was traumatized. i could tell. a few hours and a happy meal later, aaron began opening up. and the story he told was alarming. aaron tells me that his daddy shot his mommy. shot? shot. yes. oh, and i asked, shot her with what? and he said a gun. i asked him where he shot her, and he said, in the stomach. and he pointed, you know. but i ll never forget the most poignant moment was when i said i was trying to determine what she had on, you know, clothing. and he got real quiet and whispered, and he said, red blood. and i
mike was the manager of the company. bonnie wore two hats. she did the books and with her knack for computers she was the i. t. person as well. all the employees just loved her. and eve ann, you got to be pretty good friends with bonnie? yes. our relationship just grew over the years, working together. good mother, good employee, no known enemies. which made her sudden disappearance all the more mysterious. her abandoned purse and car had investigators following theories of foul play. detective hinson went to the couple s home. i m looking for a crime scene. i m looking for spatter. we re luminoling the house. i was looking at everything i could look at. and there was nothing there. nothing in the back yard either. so police launched a massive search. helicopters scoured the wooded areas near the motel. family members searched as well. everyone came up empty-handed. mike said he
went all the way around his eyes, and he had these big eyes. bonnie s mother, patty, and mike s aunt, eve ann, sat in that day to make aaron more comfortable. his mother had gone missing just 48 hours before. did you know much in advance? the only thing i really knew was that the mother was had disappeared. that they suspected foul play. he was traumatized. i could tell. a few hours and a happy meal later, aaron began opening up. and the story he told was alarming. aaron tells me that his daddy shot his mommy. shot? shot. yes. oh, and i asked, shot her with what? and he said a gun. i asked him where he shot her, and he said, in the stomach. and he pointed, you know. but i ll never forget the most poignant moment was when i said i was trying to determine what she had on, you know, clothing. and he got real