marriage to work, i did not give up. soon he was gone, vanished without a word or a trace. he left the young daughter behind. he left the house. was this a husband who did not want to be found? or could this be something else. detectives are not an undercover operation. that would lead to a long hard to say ready for that? i know that it has to happen. disappearance in the desert. could it be the perfect crime. i can only imagine what would be like to keep that. welcome to dateline. i m lester holt. for eight years it was a mystery, a husband who had simply vanished. on the surface it didn t make sense. he had a wife, a lucrative job, a daughter he loved. but investigators were told he also had a secret. so was he missing or was he hiding? that question would lead detectives to a dark discovery because someone else had a secret to. here s josh michael it s. there is an old saying, that two people can keep a secret if one of them is dead. we never talked about
executive. but as your career was on the rise. her marriage was on the rocks. sydney i still wanted this marriage to work, i did not give up. soon he was gone, vanished without a word or a trace. he left the young daughter behind. he left the house. was this a husband who did not want to be found? or could this be something else. detectives are not an undercover operation. that would lead to a long hard to say ready for that? i know that it has to happen. disappearance in the desert. could it be the perfect crime. i can t imagine what would be like to keep that. welcome to dateline. i m lester holt. for eight years it was a mystery, a husband who had simply vanished. on the surface it didn t make sense. he had a wife, a lucrative job, a daughter he loved. but investigators were told he also had a secret. so was he missing or was he hiding? that question would lead detectives to a dark discovery because someone else had a secret to. here s josh michael it s.
executive job. so you re not some shrinking violet whose home cowering under her husband s direction. when it came to being home, and only in that door, was that shrinking that s how things were. he ran the show. it was two different l two different lives. detective wilson interviewed her old boss. a man named james cassell. he told detective he remembered an incident where she came to work with bruises. she was wearing her sunglasses. i said why wearing sunglasses? so if i took a sunglasses up and shed a nice big old shiner. i asked her i said what happened to you? she had faded to me, supposedly, mike and michael got into some big will battle and michael s been the so she jumped in the middle and, of course, she took the brunt of it. was she giving the classic battered wife s explanation for
ellen now held an executive level position at a large dealership. she was the boss to 30 mechanics, and making upwards of $90,000 a year. she put your feet to the fire, to make sure you get the job done and move on. she was no pushover. she was no pushover. she stood up for herself. right. inside the walls of that nice home, allen s rank was near the bottom. he became very condescending, controlling. where i could go, who i could see. at home, mike made the rules and ellen obeyed them. you had a significant executive job at a big company. yes. so, you re not some little shrinking violet, whose home cowering under her husband s direction? but, when it came to being home and opening that door, i was that shrinking violet. that s how things were, he ran the show. it was two different ellen s,
yes. reporter: so you re not some little shrinking violet who s home cowering under her husband s direction. but when it came to being home and opening that door, i was that shrinking violet. that you how things were. he ran the show. it was two different ellens, two dint lives. reporter: detective wilson interviewed ellen s old boss, a man named james cassell. he told the detective he remembered an incident when ellen came to work with bruises. she was wearing her sunglasses. i said why are you wearing sunglasses? so she finally took her sunglasses off and she had a nice, big old shiner. i asked her, i said what the heck happened to you? she stated to me supposedly mike and michael got into some big old battle and mike was beating the crap out of him so she jumped in the middle of it, and, of course, she took the brunt of it. reporter: was she giving the